EP.189|Tell Me You're Scared!
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Ben let out a deep sigh, he couldn't sleep knowing that Araden's torture on him was only hours (maybe less) away.

For weeks, he watched as his friends' bodies and spirits were broken by the ruthless demon.

Jasper lost, not only his scales, but years of his life.

Operetta got a third degree burn, causing her to lose her long hair, leaving it up to her neck now.

Carlos succumbed to the evil desires of Araden's Feral Spray, forcing him to attack his beloved Pirate Princess.

Zeref learned the hard truth that he wasn't immortal.

Mal, his wife and queen, relieved her horrible memories of her father's abuse.

Hunter learned the truth of his dark side, or Shadow, learning how to work with it.

Evie, sadly, was raped by Kuno. Ben knew her and Mal would have the most mental trauma out of the 10 of them.

Freddie bravely stood up to the demon, but soon faced his wrath.

CJ, not only lost her hat, but almost lost her sword. It wasn't even a sword anymore, it was now a beautiful, and hard to control, spear.

She ended up naming it Firefly because of its rapid movements and it's glow reminded her of a firefly's glow.

And now it was his turn.

Ben didn't know what would happen to him, but he couldn't show he was scared.

Ben shook his head, "I'm the king," for a moment, pride flashed in the king's eyes, soon turning back in fear "but does that mean I can't be scared?"

"You're a really bad king." Hunter commented rather rudely.

Ben jumped up a little at his best friend's voice "when did you get in here!?"

"You flashed me in here," Hunter sighed, shaking his head "remember?"

"No," Ben shook his head. "Must have been another animalistic with flashing power."

"It was?"

Hunter was this close to strangling Ben, "never mind!"

Ben chuckled at his friend's reaction, "do you want me to flash you back?"

"Not till we talk," Hunter stated, standing in front of Ben, "what's been going on with you? You've seemed...distant."

Ben was only half listening to Hunter's concerns, out of the corner of his eye he watched Mal sturr in her sleep.

Subconsciously, Ben ran his fingers through his wife's purple locks, trying to ease the demoness.

Mal smiled at his touch, leaning into his lap. Ben noticed the scars on Mal's arms and legs. He shivered, he knew he could never be as strong as she was.

"You're scared." Hunter said, his voice breaking the silence.

"No I'm not!" Ben quickly got defensive. "It's alright to be scared, you don't always have to be tough." Hunter chuckled.

"You're never scared." Ben muttered. Hunter bursted out laughing, "I may put up a tough demeanor, but I'm still scared. I'm scared about losing the twins, losing Operetta, my parents, the Vks, you."

"But I learned that admitting when I'm scared doesn't make you weak, it makes you stronger." Hunter smiled at Ben, he noticed the king wasn't listening to his words.

"But that doesn't mean I'm scared. I'm king Hunter, kings don't get scared." Ben proudly stated, trying to throw Hunter off his trail.

Hunter glared at him "you can't keep using the stupid king excuse." Hunter was getting annoyed "it's not some trump card you can pull every time you don't want to talk about something."

"You just don't understand Hunter." Ben sighed, looking away from the demon. "No, I do understand," Hunter stood up in an angry huff "you're a little bitch who's scared of what Araden's gonna do to you."

"That's not true."

"Oh really?" Hunter voice grew cocky "you shake like a little dog when you see what he did to Mal and the VKs."

"I'm not scared, I'm worried about my wife. If that's a crime then lock me up!" Ben exclaimed, Mal rubbed her eyes, waking up a little.

"Ben," Hunter rubbed his hands down his tired face "you weren't worried, you were scared! You weren't scared about Mal, cause we all know she has more balls than you, your scared of what Araden's gonna do to you!"

"I can take Araden, Hunter, so just mind your business." Ben scoffed, trying to hide his worry.

"Ben, just because you have new powers and all doesn't mean you're ready to fight Araden." Hunter stated, Ben didn't understand that he wasn't invincible.

"Maybe you're the one who's scared, Hunter, hm? Ever thought of that?" Ben quickly tried to switch the topic, but Hunter growled.

"You're right Ben, I am scared, you 9 are by closest friends, one of which is my mate and the mother of our children." Hunter explained, "I'm scared because at any moment that shield on her stomach could disappear and one swift blast to her stomach and I lose the 3 most important people in my life."

"Hunter," Ben muttered, trying to get a word in but Hunter continued. "The fact that I can admit I'm scared means I'm more of a man you'll ever be." Hunter stood proudly.

"Are you saying I'm not a man? Hunter I'm a king," Ben pushed on Hunter's chest in a demeaning way, as though Ben was telling Hunter he wasn't worthy "you're a little demon."

"Fine," Hunter growled, "since you're king, admit you're scared."

"Why should I? Royalty doesn't get scared, Hunter!" Ben repeated, Hunter scrunched up his fist. "Your wife's loyalty, she's scared, she admits it! Why can't you?!"

Mal smiled softly at the demon's words, she tried to get Ben to admit he was scared but he would deny till the end.

Please, help him Hunter.

"Be-Because I can't!" Ben stuttered a bit, he knew Mal was awake, he couldn't look weak in front of her, "I can't sho-show weak-weakness."

"Yes, you can Ben," Hunter slowly walked towards him, his voice growing quiet, "it's alright, just talk to us, we're here to help you through all of this."

Ben shook his head, "I-I do-don't need help!"

"Yes you do, Ben," Hunter gripped his shoulder, "but you have to admit you're scared first."

Ben shook his head, his dad told him to never show fear, he conditioned that into the king's mind and old habits die hard.

"That's it!" Hunter pinned Ben to the wall, his eyes burning a bright crimson red. Hunter beard his fangs, snarling at Ben "say your scared!"

"Hun-Hunter..." Ben shivered.

"Say you're scared, Ben!"

"I-I-I-"

The VKs watched as the scene went down, they've never seen the two fight like this before.

"SAY YOUR SCARED BEN!!!"

Ben couldn't take it anymore, breaking down in tears "I'm scared, Hunter! I'm so scared!"

Hunter smiled softly, pulling Ben into close, "he has hurt everyone I love!" Ben couldn't stop crying.

"Please..." Ben looked up at Hunter, "I'm so scared...I'm scared I'll never see Lucifer again, I'm scared of my new powers!"

"Shh..." Hunter soothed, Operetta smiled, Hunter calmed down Ben so quickly, he knew he'd be great with kids.

"Ben," Mal rubbed her eyes, trying to hide the fact she was awake through their argument "come back to sleep."

Ben smiled and walked over to his wife wrapping his arms around her "I know you were awake..." Ben muttered, flashing Hunter back into his box.

"I know you're scared." Mal whispered, snuggling in closer, "I know the VKs and I will help anyway we can," she kissed his lips, "but I don't care what it is, talk to me, even if it's little okay?"

Ben nodded and kissed her forehead, "I promise, my queen."

Mal gulped, "Ben, if I said I didn't want to be queen anymore, would you want to divorce me?"

"Of course not! I don't want to be king anyways! These last few months traveling with the VKs and you have been amazing!" Ben cheered, hugging his wife tightly.

"Malena, will you not be my queen?"

"Ben will you not be my king?"

"YES!" They both answered simultaneously. The now former king and queen of the villain iles fell down laughing.

Ben smiled at his wife, intertwined his fingers with her, now that he told her and the VKs his worry.

"Hey," Mal kissed his hand, "we'll beat him."

Ben nodded, trusting in his friends and his wife. A dark aura filled the room as Araden walked in, on the inside, Ben was scared shitless. Ben gulped, trying to calm his nerves, but it didn't work.

Araden smirked, slamming his palm against the wall of Ben's box, "do you know how long I've been waiting to hurt you?"

Ben stayed quiet, he couldn't think of any good comebacks.

"Oh? Quiet aren't we?" Araden glared at him.

Ben stood up tall, trying to conquer his fear, "do you worst."

"Oh believe me," Araden's eyes turned a bright green, the VKs could feel the massives amounts of power swirling inside the demon, "I will."

──✱*.｡:｡✱*.:｡✧*.｡✰*.:｡✧*.｡:｡*.｡✱ ──

Meanwhile, the parents of the VKs all gathered in the NPA's large study, ever since the attack, the inhabitants of the Villain Isles have been preparing for battle and the NPA graciously let them use the palace as their base.

"It's been almost a month," Venus rake her hands through her hair, the VKs have been gone for more then a month now and nobodies' seen them "what is something bad happened to them?"

"They're tough as nails, Venus, if anything they're just fighting." Acadia assured her, even though Acadia knew she was lying, she wanted her best friend to feel better.

"They would have sent a message though..." Christine muttered, drumming her fingers on the table. She was worried about Operetta, but not only her, but the twins she was carrying in her stomach.

"Christine's right, the VKs wouldn't just up and disappear for almost a month without saying anything." Cruella agreed, she knew her son, he would've said something to her. Even if he didn't, she still had the mental link to Alvarez but even she hasn't been responding.

"Even the magic trackers Healer put on them aren't responding," Dante commented, "something has to be terribly wrong."

"Well maybe there's a malfunction? Or they're somewhere this isn't any signal for the trackers use." Esther guessed, trying to stay optimistic.

Facilier shook his head, "no, the trackers don't need signal, they run on their own, there must be something blocking them."

"Like what? Healer said those trackers were perfectly designed." Farrah reminded them. "With any tech there's bound to be mistakes, hun." Gaston countered.

Farrah sighed, "what if something actually did happen to them? What if they died?" Farrah began to tear up "Hunter's our only son, Gaston!" she sobbed into her hands.

"Farrah, if they were dead, I would have gotten their souls," Hades informed her, sitting down across from Farrah, "and since I haven't that means their alive."

"See, Farrah," Hex smiled at her, "they're not dead."

"They might not be dead but they might be on the verge of death." Hook said, earning a slap behind the head from Gaston and Nikita "not helping!"

"The pirate knows what he's talking about though," Jafar nodded slightly, "as strong as these VKs are, and eventually will be, they're not invincible."

"So you have no faith in your son?" Maleficent questioned. "No, I never said that," Jafar sighed, "it's just, he's barely gotten control of his dragon powers, he's like a baby dragon, he still needs time to grow but his stubborn ass thinks he's all mighty."

"I wonder where he gets it from," Nikita rolled her eyes. "I know," Jasper nodded, "probably from Serena's side.

The Villains all sighed and shook their heads, "never mind..."

Persephone drummed her fingers on the table, "baby," Hades kissed her cheek, "Zeref's fine."

Persephone stayed quiet. Hades sighed and wrapped his arms around her "you're nervous."

"Am not!" Persephone pouted, Hades chuckled. "You drum your fingers when your nervous," Hades intertwined his fingers with hers "it's where Zeref gets it from."

"I feel bad about never telling Zeref about losing his immortality." Persephone muttered, she and Hades knew all this time but Healer told them not to say anything.

"Healer said it was for the best," Phantom sighed, he should have told Operetta about her childhood memories, "and she of all people knows what's best for them."

"But were their parents! We should have a say!" Stefan defended. "And you do Stefan," Healer said, appearing out of nowhere as usual.

"Now, don't worry," Healer smiled, "all will turn out well, believe me."

"Now, they should be here soon," Healer fixed her hair. "The VKS?!" Maleficent smiled widely. "No darling," Healer rested her hand on Maleficent shoulder, Maleficent felt the warm touch, the dragon mumbled and slumped in her chair.

"Somebody better," Healer smiled, counting down form 3 before Didi ran into the room. "Uh, you might want to see this." Didi led the villains outside to see some guards fighting off a wolf who seemed to be protecting something.

"Back off...mine...she mine." the wolf growled deeply, "don't touch...mine!"

"Cruella, you wanna try?" Gaston offered. Cruella laughed, "no way, that's a wolf," he filed her nails, "I'm better than that thing."

"Okay...anyways, I'll deal with him." Caleb shifted into his wolf form, approaching the wolf. "Hey there, why don't you calm down." Caleb suggested.

The wolf growled deeper, shaking his head, he was getting ready to attack Caleb but stopped when Serenity began waking up.

"Where...are we?" Serenity rubbed her eyes. The wolf's tail wagged, licking Serenity's face eagerly. "Oh okay! Stop that tickles!" Serenity laughed.

Jafar and Venus heads quickly whipped in that direction, "Jafar...you heard that right?! I-I-I;m not going insane!"

Jafar was long gone before he could answer, rushing towards Serenity, pushing the wolf out of the way. "SERENITY!!!" Jafar cried, hugging his long lost daughter.

"Daddy!" Serenity crutched her father's shirts, crying into it, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"For what honey? You know what- never mind! I can't believe you're back!" Jafar smiled widely. Jafar pushed her husband away, tackling her daughter.

"GODS AND GODDESS ANSWERED MY PRAYERS!!!" Venus praised. Serenity chuckled and hugged back.

"I missed you too mom," she smiled, feeling the touch of her mother again was amazing. She noticed the wolf looking confused.

"Oh, Kuno, come here." Serenity called over the wolf. "Kuno?" Jafar muttered. "Dad this is Kuno Ababwa." Serenity introduced.

"What?!"

~A/N~

Sooooo there might be a tiny, itzy bitzy problem.

1) idk if there a limit on how many parts a story can have

2) WHY'D EVERYONE STOP READING AFTER CARLOS' CHAPTER!?!?

Anyway! If there is a "limit" then I'll make another book and continue there. Lol! Please keep reading! We ain't stopping soon!