Can You Stand The Rain

Author's Note: WOOOOO this took a whole lot longer to update than it should have. This was due to me taking multiple summer classes in college. However, I'm happy to say I'm done with all those classes and updates should be more frequent for the remainder of the summer. Once again, thank you all for your support! Let's get right into it!

Intro Music: Ben 10 Original Theme

Chapter 3: The Process

It's been a long, long day for Charmcaster. From seeking out the Tennysons, explaining what she's been through her entire life, to Gwen proving she absolutely hated her guts, the young sorceress needed some much-needed rest. Given that it was late at night, she was already sleeping.

Though, she wasn't sleeping peacefully at all.

Charmcaster's Nightmare

Hope was brought to her home Ledgerdomain, the painful day replaying in her head for the millionth time in her life. She's never been able to get over it, no matter how hard she's tried.

"Daddy, what's happening?" a young Hope asked, seeing her home not only being attacked, but destroyed.

"There's no time to explain, sweetie!" Spellbinder replied, picking up Hope while grabbing his wife. They started to run for their lives, knowing their planet was now in an all-out war. Blood curdling screams could be heard on every corner, as the people of Ledgerdomain were getting murdered left and right.

It seemed like the stone ground was being covered in nothing but blood, resembling the carnage that was transpiring. It wouldn't be too much longer until Hope's Uncle Hex arrived, being absolutely exhausted from all the fighting he's done.

"Spellbinder… There's too many of them." Hex managed to get out, although it was in between multiple pants. Spellbinder looked at his brother, then his people, and finally his family.

There was a long pause among all of this, Spellbinder closing his eyes as he came to grips on what was going to happen. He opened his eyes, giving one look at his wife.

She also understood what had to happen.

Spellbinder set Hope down, kneeling to her level and put his hands on her shoulders. "Hope… You're going to have to escape with your uncle. It's too dangerous to be here."

Hope and Hex looked at Spellbinder in shock, not believing what Spellbinder was saying. Hex knew what his brother was trying to insinuate, but the young Hope didn't quite get it.

"You're still going to meet up with us eventually, right?" she asked her father. This question broke Spellbinder's heart, not fully able to look into her eyes. Truth be told, Spellbinder felt like breaking down right then and there, because he knew this would be the last time he would ever see his daughter.

His wife covered her face, signaling she was struggling with accepting the reality of the situation.

Spellbinder lifted his head up, finally being able to look at Hope. "No, Hope. I won't be able to."

Hope's face became saddened, now starting to realize what might be happening, but she wasn't accepting it. "What do you mean?"

Spellbinder touched Hope's silver hair, before embracing her in one last hug. His wife would kneel and join in on the hug as well, before breaking away.

"Hope, whatever happens to us, I want you to continue on with your life. It's the last thing we'll be able to give you." Spellbinder explained. "But no matter what happens, never forget who you are."

Hope's eyes were starting to water, everything now making sense. "No! I can't go without you guys! You'll die!"

"The same thing would happen to you if you stayed." her mother said, but Hope wasn't having any of it.

"Then I guess I'll just die too!" Hope shouted; her parents being taken back by this statement. Her tears were starting to flow, as they ran down her face. "I can't leave you guys! You're my family!"

This was not turning out well at all.

"What will I do without you guys?!"

"Your uncle will be able to take care of you." Spellbinder said, but Hope's tears didn't stop. Spellbinder looked at Hex, coming closer to his brother.

"Hex… please, whatever you do, take care of my daughter."

Hex knew this would be his brother's last wish. At the time, Hex understood the magnitude of the situation. But, just like how Hope proved to lose her way years later due to this event, the same thing could be said for Hex.

He didn't mean to go down the wrong path and influence his niece to do the same in the process. It was never his intention.

Unfortunately, that's what traumatic events can do to people.

"You have my word, brother." Hex said, giving a nod.

Before Spellbinder was able to reply, something came crashing down at the speed of a meteor, interrupting the moment between the two brothers. In mere moments, claws struck Hope's mother, impaling her.

What followed up afterwards was a cry of agony.

BGM: Dragon Ball Z – Future Gohan's Death

"Waste of life."

Hope's mother coughed up blood, her eyes soon turning into nothing but white. The murderer threw her body to the ground. The body was absolutely motionless, a pool of blood forming around it.

The whole world froze for, Hope, Spellbinder, and Hex.

But Hope couldn't stay still forever.

"MOM!" Hope yelled, running to her mother's side, Hex and Spellbinder not being to far behind. Hope kneeled to her mother's dead body, refusing to believe this was happening. "MOM! MOM GET UP! PLEASE!" She started shaking her mother's body over and over, but… it was already too late.

"No…" Spellbinder muttered, clenching his fists out of anger. Hex had no idea what to do or say in this situation. I mean, what could he do?

Spellbinder turned to the murderer of his wife, looking at him and knowing exactly who it was. A giant turtle-like creature with pink mana fire surrounding his head, the flames started to come around his body as it was becoming some type of aura.

This was Addwaitya.

"ADDWAITYAAAAA!" Spellbinder didn't waste any time, immediately charging at his wife's murderer.

"It's time we end this, Spellbinder."

Extending his arms, more pink flames started to surround him. Once he clapped his hands together, a massive amount of mana fire came all over Ledgerdomain, all of it being directly shot at Spellbinder.

Seeing the large amount of fire come after him, he had to think quickly. There was an enormous chance the fire could not only hit him, but Hope and Hex. Emitting a powerful yell from his vocals, Spellbinder raised his hands in the air, creating a huge forcefield to protect him and his family.

"HEX, GET HOPE OUT OF HERE!" he commanded, gritting his teeth as he felt himself struggling to shield everyone from the constant oncoming fire.

"I'm on it!" Hex said, grabbing his niece's hand. "Hope, we have to go!"

As he tried to pull her, Hope was showing resistance by standing her ground. "No! I won't leave him!" she retorted, meaning every word she said, and Hex knew she meant it too. In all honesty, Hex didn't want to leave either. Leaving his brother to essentially die while he and his niece run away like cowards?

This was a major blow to his pride.

But he had to accept this entire thing for what it was, because if they don't escape, they'll surely die as well.

Then they'll be no 'hope' to take back Ledgerdomain.

"HOPE, LISTEN TO ME!" Hex screamed, his grip becoming tighter. "I promise we'll find a way to get our planet back, but we have to survive first!" This was becoming harder and harder by the second, and Hope's mind didn't seem to change whatsoever.

As for Spellbinder, he continued to furiously yell, releasing all his power as he shot his own forcefield straight at Addwaitya's fire, pushing it back. Addwaitya took the blow, feeling every inch of his own power being deflected back at him.

But yet, that's all that happened.

He felt it, but didn't feel any pain.

I guess that's the benefit of having the Alpha Rune.

During this moment, Addwaitya absorbed not only all of his flames, but the mana from Spellbinder's forcefield. This increased his power tenfold, his aura now being more vibrant than ever.

Spellbinder's mouth was agape. Addwaitya shouldn't have treated his attack in such a casual manner. Spellbinder was the most powerful sorcerer in Ledgerdomain.

But Addwaitya… was the most powerful sorcerer in the universe.

With all the powerful mana flowing through his veins, Addwaitya looked up at Spellbinder, having a devilish smirk on his face.

"My turn."

Addwaitya's body suddenly turned into mana itself, creating an unfathomable super explosive wave of energy that could very well destroy all of Ledgerdomain.

That is, if he really wanted to. However, he's not because then he would have no planet to rule over.

He was in complete control of his overwhelming power, showing his mastery of mana as the explosive wave of energy continued to spread all across Ledgerdomain, eliminating anybody who was in the vicinity of his light show.

Hope and Hex could only watch as the explosive wave got closer and closer to Spellbinder. At that very moment, even though Spellbinder knew it was coming, these were the seconds where he truly accepted his fate.

He looked back at his family one last time, showing a smile that could make anyone think everything will be alright.

"Goodbye, my family."

Spellbinder was engulfed into the explosive wave after saying those last words.

"No…" Hope muttered, her tears not stopping.

Hex looked away, cursing himself over and over. "Brother…"

Addwaitya scoffed at Spellbinder's demise, not feeling any remorse. "Hmph. In the end, such is the weak power of the old ruler of Ledgerdomain."

As soon as he said this, what Addwaitya and Hex didn't notice was Hope going through a change. As Hex held her hand, he could feel Hope's mana rising to levels that shouldn't have been possible, especially for someone her age.

Her rage, her sorrow, her hatred…

Everything would come out now.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

This was the moment where Hope died, and Charmcaster was born.

Charmcaster's eyes turned into nothing but purple, unleashing all of her hidden power as she exploded with her own explosive wave of energy, colliding right with Addwaitya's. Hex looked on in amazement and horror, not sure whether to be happy or fearful for his life.

There was power within Charmcaster, power beyond Hex's and her wildest dreams to the point where they can't even fully comprehend it.

Once the two explosive waves fully clashed, that's when everything turned to white.

"You're useless!" one person would yell to Charmcaster, now being in Juvenile Hall on Earth as she got punched to the ground.

"Worthless piece of trash! That's all you'll ever be!" another person said, kicking Charmcaster in her stomach while she was down.

The rest of her fellow Juvenile Hall mates came around Charmcaster and started abusing her, the pain seeming like it would never end.

"S-stop! Please!" Charmcaster cried out, not able to defend herself from getting abused.

One punch equaled a bruise.

One kick meant her coughing up blood.

One degrading word would break her spirit.

Hope was long gone, and this only solidified the existence of Charmcaster.

End of Nightmare

BGM: Naruto Shippuden OST - Loneliness

Charmcaster woke up in a cold sweat, letting out a yell from everything she saw. This clearly wasn't the first time she's been through this, living in her past once again. Being physically broken is one thing, but being mentally broken is a completely different beast. Sometimes, you try to call out for help, but those words may fall on deaf ears. Or, the person could feel like calling out for help would be useless in the end anyway, because nobody truly cares about them.

That's what life has taught Charmcaster over and over again.

She was worthless, useless, a waste of breath.

At this point, it's surprising that she hasn't taken herself out.

Her hands covered her face, breathing heavily as all the pain felt fresh.

Then she would get a knock on the door.

"Charmcaster? Are you okay?"

Charmcaster looked at the door, knowing the voice.

For a moment, she forgot she was living here in the first place.

She turned away, forcefully mustering out her words.

"I'm fine."

That didn't sound convincing at all.

The door would open, revealing Ben as he saw Charmcaster's back being turned to him. Ben took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say.

He would come closer to Charmcaster, making sure she would be able to hear him even if she didn't want to.

"Charmcaster, you don't have hide your problems from me. This whole entire thing deals with helping you, remember?" Ben reminded, but Charmcaster still didn't turn around. "I want to know how I can help you." he said calmly, showing a genuine smile that Charmcaster wouldn't see.

"You can help me by leaving me alone." Charmcaster replied coldly, catching Ben a bit off guard.

Deep down, Charmcaster didn't mean those words. Though, when life has been treating you a certain way for years, with no one never really helping you, she's treating Ben trying to help her like it was something crazy.

She was too far gone anyway.

It would be a never-ending process to get her back on track and not have a mental breakdown. She should just get rid of herself, for her sake and for Ben's.

Ben stood quietly, his whole being feeling unfathomably sad for Charmcaster.

Though, that doesn't mean he'll listen to her request. Instead, he'll try to test her.

Ben acted like he would listen to Charmcaster, almost exiting her room with the sounds of his footsteps getting farther and farther away.

Charmcaster gritted her teeth, now feeling like the worst person in the world.

"Wait."

Ben stopped when he heard Charmcaster speak, figuring that his plan was working.

"I'm… sorry for acting like this. I just had a nightmare, that's all." she told him honestly, Ben now making his way towards her. He would sit beside her on her bed, knowing she needed to talk some things out.

"It's about everything you told us, right?" Ben asked, Charmcaster giving a confirming nod.

"Yeah."

Ben gave a nod of his own. "I know it's been hard for you. I can only imagine the pain you go through on a consistent basis, but I want to let you know you don't have to deal with your problems alone."

Charmcaster's head turned to the opposite direction Ben was facing her in. "I've been dealing with my problems alone all my life for this long." she replied, her tone giving off sadness. "Besides, it's not like anybody wants to help me anyway."

"That's not true." Ben told her.

"How is it not true?" Charmcaster retorted, her head turning back into Ben's direction.

"I want to help you. I've been wanting to help you for years. I wanted to help you ever since you told me about your past five years ago. Even if we remained as enemies during that time, my mindset never changed." Ben explained, Charmcaster being silent at first but still didn't fully believe Ben.

"I don't believe you." Charmcaster said bluntly.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"

"It's like Gwen said," she began, "I've tried to kill you guys on multiple occasions. You can't honestly expect me to believe that when I was going on my rampages, you were still holding on to some ridiculous dream about helping me. It doesn't make sense."

Ben took a deep breath, before speaking. "Believe it or not, your antics only inspired me to help you more."

Charmcaster rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure."

"I'm being serious." Ben explained, his voice carrying honesty. "Why do you think I defended you when Kevin and Gwen were on the fence about you joining the group? Why do you think I'm here right now? Why do you think I tried to become friends with you years ago?"

He was making valid points.

"I want to help you, Charmcaster. I'm not trying to hurt you, use you, or anything like that. I know you may not believe me, and given what's happened to you, I understand why." Ben knew it was going to be a process with Charmcaster, but it was a process he's willing to go through.

"Don't you ever get tired of doing this?" Charmcaster asked. "I'm sure I'm not the first psycho you've tried to help."

"You're right, the first psycho I tried to help was Kevin. Now look at him, he's beating down alien baddies with me and Gwen." Ben smirked, seeing as Kevin getting a successful second chance as evidence he truthfully wanted to help Charmcaster.

"Did you really want to help him initially?" Charmcaster continued her line of questioning.

"You mean back when I was a kid? Yeah, I tried to help him, even if he was my biggest rival next to Vilgax. Now, I will say it wasn't the smoothest transition years later when it came to him officially joining the group. I'll be honest and say I had my doubts, but he's proven he's not the same guy he was back in the day. Both of us had to go through trials and tribulations so we can see eye to eye. Now we're kinda like brothers."

Charmcaster sighed. "Lovely story, really. Still, it's not the answer I was looking for."

Ben was now scratching the back of his head, showing confusion. "I'm… not sure I follow?"

"Do you ever get tired of helping people?" Charmcaster made sure to rephrase her question in a way Ben would fully be able to understand where she's coming from. "You're the so-called great Ben Tennyson, protector of earth, the galaxy, the universe, whatever people want to call you. But do you ever get tired of carrying the weight of the whole world on your shoulders? Do you ever get tired of being a hero? Do you ever get tired of putting other people's needs before your own?"

Here's the question she was leading up to.

"Have you ever gotten tired of wielding the Omnitrix?"

Ben was silent for a moment, before answering, "That's… a lot of questions. A lot of interesting questions, mind you."

Charmcaster casually shrugged. "Just curious. Considering the amount of responsibility you have, I'm surprised you haven't lost it yet."

Ben took a deep breath, replaying all of Charmcaster's questions within his mind. He looked like he was deep in thought about this, knowing his answers to these questions, but tried to figure out how he wanted to say them.

"I'm not going to say it isn't tiring." Ben confirmed. "It's one of the reasons why I quit being a hero for a long time." He pointed to his Omnitrix as he was speaking to Charmcaster. "This thing came off for a good while, because I wanted the chance to have a normal life. Yeah, when I first got the Omnitrix, I couldn't wait to go hero. But as I got older, I got tired. There were days where I wanted my life to go back how it once was, life before the Omnitrix."

This caught Charmcaster's attention. "Life without the Omnitrix? That's the thing that makes you the most powerful person in the universe! Why would you want to give it up?"

"Like I said, I got tired." Ben repeated. "Along with that, having the Omnitrix was always a constant reminder of me never being able to be normal. I'm sure you can relate to wanting a normal life." he pointed out, Charmcaster remaining silent as her eyes averted to the floor, before looking at Ben again.

Ben would continue speaking. "There were a lot of things I had to give up, to sacrifice, because this thing was attached to my wrist. It got worse as the years went on, and due to that, I gave up. I wanted to be a regular kid that went to school. I wanted to play on my soccer team. I wanted to be away from all the alien madness that consumed my life for the longest."

Charmcaster looked at Ben's Omnitrix, before looking at Ben himself. "So, what made you come back?"

Ben brought his Omnitrix closer to him, almost like he was in a trance while staring at it. The memories of him facing all the evil threats throughout the years, the day when the thing came crashing down like a freaking meteor on the first official day of his iconic summer vacation, how it attached itself to his wrist, everything was hitting him full force.

"People needed me." Ben confirmed, remembering when the Highbreed were making themselves a threat to be reckoned with. "It's like you said, I'm the so-called protector of earth, the galaxy, the universe. If I have to put everybody else's needs before my own, then that's the way it has to be. I want people to remember me as somebody who always made their day brighter in some form. Some people may not understand it, but that's their problem. I'd simply say you never had anything worth protecting."

As Ben was speaking, it's like this was getting more difficult to talk about. His voice sounded like it was on the verge of breaking, almost like he was choking up.

"It's who I am. That's my mentality, and if it means being stuck with the Omnitrix forever, if it means I have to sacrifice everything for other people to be happy instead of seeking my own happiness, if it ultimately ends up with me losing everything about myself since I'm always putting other people's problems before my own, if I end up losing people I love because of this watch… then fine."

Even if he didn't say her name, the person Ben was talking about during the last part was Julie, and how he essentially lost her because of him having the watch.

Heck, Julie said it herself.

"Maybe if you didn't have the watch, maybe we could have a chance at working things out. But you have it, and I know you're not giving up on protecting people, nor do I want you to give up. The fate of so many people rest in your hands, and like I said already, I thought I could handle it. I later found out that I was wrong, and it would be best for us to go our separate ways."

"I'm sorry, Ben…"

Ben ended his long answer on that note, getting up and walked out of Charmcaster's room, leaving the sorceress speechless. Before he left, she could have sworn she saw a tear come down Ben's face.

She was left to her own thoughts, as the entire house became silent.

Morning Time

BGM: Kingdom Hearts 2 - Lazy Afternoons (A/N: Or in this case Mornings, lol)

Ben groaned, getting out of his bed as he saw it was time to wake up. He was expecting his conversation with Charmcaster to be deep, but he wasn't expecting it to be that deep.

He sighed heavily, walking out of his room until a certain voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey."

Ben turned around to see Charmcaster leaning against the wall with her arms folded.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"Long enough." Charmcaster replied, coming closer to him. "Listen, about last night, I-"

"You don't have to apologize. You were going through a lot, I understand." Ben said, until a silence happened between them. "Wait, you were planning to apologize, right?" he inquired, scratching the back of his head since it would be embarrassing if he just assumed she was going to apologize.

Charmcaster let out a small giggle. "Yes, I was planning to apologize. More than that, I want to apologize. I gave you a hard time last night when you were only trying to help me, and I'm sorry for that."

Ben showed a smile. "It's fine. I wasn't expecting myself to open up the way I did. It's probably why I walked out in the first place."

"Which is what brings me to my suggestion," Charmcaster began. "How about we have some fun today?"

Ben went wide eyed, not expecting those words to come out of Charmcaster's mouth. "Come again?"

Charmcaster put her hands on her hips, having a sly smirk. "What? Didn't think I'd be the type of person to like fun?"

Ben was acting like this wasn't the case. "Pffffff, what?! That's absolutely ridiculous. You're the most fun person I know."

"Lies and slander." Charmcaster was calling out Ben on his crap, which made him slouch.

"Okay, okay. Yes, I wasn't expecting the word fun to come out your mouth. But still… why?"

"Both of us need some fun." Charmcaster told him. "You knew about my struggle, but I never knew about yours. If we took a day where we didn't think about our problems, I feel like it would help us."

She did have a point.

Ben gave a nod. "I… can agree with that. Though, what do you find fun?"

"Beating your cousin in every way imaginable."

"Charmcasterrrrrr…" Ben trailed off, crossing his arms.

Charmcaster laughed. "I'm joking, I'm joking. In all seriousness, I'm leaving you to choose the fun part."

Ben held his chin, thinking about what could be fun. It made sense that Charmcaster would give the fun responsibility to Ben, because really, what would she know about what was fun?

Her whole life has been the total opposite of fun.

That's when he had a light bulb moment.

"You ever had chili fries?"

Charmcaster thought about it, before answering. "I don't think so."

"Chili fries will change your life." Ben said, smirking. "It's settled then. You'll be tasting chili fries for the first time ever today."

"I hope they're as good as you're making them out to be." Charmcaster replied, Ben keeping his smirk.

"Oh, trust me. You're gonna love em'." Ben confirmed. "That probably won't be the only thing we do, though. It's breakfast time right now." he told her, motioning his hand for Charmcaster to come follow him. "I'm sure my parents wanna see who the new member of the family is."

This was the part Charmcaster was slightly afraid of. Meeting Ben's parents? What would they think of her?

As she was thinking to herself, a quote replayed in her mind.

Did he say new member of the family?

"Wait, what did you just sa-"

Ben was already walking downstairs, making him not able to hear what she was trying to say. She sighed heavily, giving up as she decided to follow him.

As Ben walked into the kitchen, he was greeted by his mother and father, Carl and Sandra Tennyson.

"Good morning, Ben." Carl told him, reading the newspaper as he drunk his coffee. He had fair skin, brown hair, and brown eyes.

"Morning."

"Morning, sweetie." Sandra told her son. "You're just in time for breakfast. We're going to have avocado spaghetti with red sauce."

Once he heard what his mother was making for breakfast, he wanted to throw up right then and there. Who in their right mind would be so evil to do such a thing to spaghetti?

Sandra Tennyson, that's who.

She's a health nut, and that causes her to make some… healthy cooking experiments.

"Oh, wow. That sounds delicious." Ben said, trying to put on the best act he could so his mother wouldn't suspect anything. He came closer to Carl, whispering in his ear.

"We're both going to die today."

"We've been eating her cooking for a good amount of years now. I'm sure we'll be fine." Carl said. Yes, he felt like he was going to die too, but he wasn't going to say it unless he actually wanted to die by the hands of his wife.

As he was reading the newspaper, he noticed something, or someone else by the corner of his eye. He saw Charmcaster coming down the stairs, and it didn't take too long for Sandra to notice too.

Ben assumed nothing was wrong since Max said he was going to explain the whole thing to his parents.

Seems like that wasn't the case.

"Um… Hello." Charmcaster awkwardly said, having an awkward wave as well.

Carl and Sandra both looked at each other, before looking at Ben.

"Ben, who's the girl?" Sandra asked seriously.

Ben laughed. "Okay guys, you can stop playing around. This is Charmcaster. Grandpa Max already told you guys about her."

Carl gave a disconfirming nod. "Your Grandpa didn't tell us anything about a random girl being in our house." Though, that's when he came closer to Ben and began to whisper. "I see what you're trying to do, son. You're finally getting over Julie! And this new girl is cute too. I approve."

Ben's cheeks became slightly red. "Dad, it's not like that at all."

"Ben, I think you need to explain." Sandra said.

"Wait, Grandpa really didn't tell you guys anything?"

"Nope." his two parents said in unison.

"Ohhhhhh, I'm gonna kill him!" Ben declared, not wanting to deal with this. He brought his parents to the side so he can talk to them in private.

"So, why is she here?" Sandra inquired.

Ben sighed, cursing himself and his Grandpa Max in his mind for putting him in this situation. "Okay. Charmcaster over there," he said, pointing backwards to her, "has been through a lot, but wants to make a change in her life. She came to Grandpa Max, and this made him come up with the great idea for her to live with me… or us rather."

As Ben continued to explain, he tried to give a minimized version of Charmcaster's history, even though that wasn't really possible. When he finally got done explaining everything, Sandra put her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, that poor thing."

"Sheesh, she's been through a lot." Carl said.

"Indeed she has," Ben agreed. "So, can she stay?"

Carl and Sandra both looked at each other, then proceeded to look at Ben.

"It would've been nice if we knew about this ahead of time." Sandra pointed out.

"That is Grandpa's fault. He should've told you guys." Ben said, getting nervous at what their answer was going to be.

"I'm going to have a talk with your Grandpa, but if you want to know… Yes, she can stay." Carl confirmed, making Ben pump his fists.

"Yes!" he shouted.

The trio came back to Charmcaster, knowing they had to remove the awkwardness from the situation. "Hi, Charmcaster. I'm Sandra, Ben's mother."

"And I'm Carl, the father obviously."

Charmcaster still wasn't completely comfortable, especially since she saw them speak in private. "Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Tennyson."

"You must be hungry, dear. Don't worry, I'll cook you up a nice bowl of avocado spaghe-"

Ben cut his mother off, suddenly grabbing Charmcaster's hand since he already had a plan in mind. "Charmcaster isn't really hungry! Oh boy, look at the time, we made plans with Gwen and Kevin to meet up somewhere! Can't be late, now can we?! KAY, BYE!"

Ben pulled Charmcaster as they both ran out the house, quickly opening and closing the door. Sandra tilted her head, not getting why Ben was acting so strange.

"Hmm. Guess neither of them were hungry."

"I think I know why…" Carl thought to himself, sighing.

Ben was out of breath, along with Charmcaster from suddenly running so fast.

"What was that about?" Charmcaster asked.

"Trust me, I thought my mom would cook something regular for once, but my hopes and dreams were crushed in the matter of seconds. We'll get something else to eat." Ben explained.

"Okaaayyy… Oh! Another quick question!" she exclaimed.

"Go ahead." Ben told her.

"Can you please let go of my hand?"

Ben's eyes went to his hand not letting go of Charmcaster's, quickly letting go and had a faint tint of red appear on his cheeks. "Sorry."

"Uh-huh." Charmcaster shook her head, sighing. "So, where's your car?"

Ben's eyes widened, wanting to slam his head into the pavement. "I… don't have one."

"Fine then. Turn into one of your aliens so we can go to this chili fries place."

"I'm trying to keep my identity a secret. At least, for now anyway."

There was another silence that came between the two.

"You really don't think these things through, huh?" Charmcaster pointed out.

"That's what Gwen tells me." Ben added, sighing deeply. He knew only one person that could pick them up.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiine, I'll call Kevin."

END OF CHAPTER 3: THE PROCESS

BGM: Ben 10 Credits 2005

Ben: Finally, chili fries! At long last!

Charmcaster: He's… certainly aggressive with his food.

Kevin: Ben's like that with chili fries.

Gwen: Sigh…

Next time on Can You Stand The Rain!

Trust Issues

Gwen: I already know this chapter is going to be about me!

Author's Note: Woo! Well guys, there goes chapter 3. I hope you guys enjoyed it. This update still took longer than it should have, but for real this time, expect more consistent updates since I'm done with my college summer classes. Until the next update, be sure to check out my Spider-Man fanfic if you're a fan of Spidey. It's called Spider-Man: Fire And Desire, as it's mainly a Peter/Felicia story. I'm working on the third chapter right now as we speak, lol. To answer some questions.

You10: Ben is currently 15 since this is set in the Alien Force timeline.

Guest: I completely understand where you're coming from when it comes to the flashback part. Explaining it and then showing the flashback can be a bit redundant, but I do think everything will make sense in the end. The first part of this chapter obviously explained Charmcaster's history even though we already know what happened. Though, there's a certain detail that's in there that's going to be expanded upon mightily in the upcoming chapters, and I can't wait for it to all come together so these flashbacks can truly make sense.

I think that's all the questions. If you guys like what you read, leave a follow and a favorite! Don't forget to READ AND REVIEW! See you guys next chapter!