"Ben," Pesche finally said. "We've decided on something."
Ben looked at Pesche curiously. He had such a grave tone in his voice, as if there was something on his mind.
"Something wrong, Pesche?" he asked.
"Ben," Dondochakka said now. "We think it might be best if Nel stays with you."
This wasn't what Ben had been expecting.
"Nel," Pesche said to his sister. "Go play with Bawabawa for a little bit, okay? Dondochakka and I need to talk to Ben."
Nel gripped Ben tightly. "Why?" she asked.
"Just go, Nel," Dondochakka said softly. "We'll be along softly."
Frowning, Nel finally let go of Ben and went off to play with Bawabawa. As she did, Pesche and Dondochakka turned to look at Ben.
"What's going on?" Ben asked them.
"Ben," Pesche said in a serious voice that Ben never expected him to have. "It's obvious that Nel's fond of you. You're someone she looks up to."
"And you obviously care about her," Dondochakka agreed, not once using that goof tone of his. "You're a big brother to her just as we are."
"And after hearing that you beat Nnoitra," Pesche continued. "We realize that you'd be better suited to protect Nel than we could ever be."
"Hold on," Ben said abruptly. "Nel needs you guys too. You can't just leave her. What kind of brothers are you?"
"Ben," Dondochakka replied. "The truth is, Nel got hurt because of us."
Ben did a double take. "What?"
"It's true," Pesche confirmed. "We were used as bait to lure Nel into a trap."
"That doesn't make any sense," Ben said. "Why would someone want to lure Nel into a trap? She's just a little girl."
"There's a lot to explain, Ben," Pesche told him. "But ever since we got kicked out of Las Noches, Dondochakka and I have been training so that we could always protect Nel when she needed us."
"And you still can," Ben said. "We can all protect her together."
"We can't tell you exactly, Ben," Dondochakka said. "But hearing that you beat Nnoitra reminded us that there might be things out here that we'd still be too weak to protect her from. We can't take that chance. But you. We know that you would be able to protect her from anything."
Ben founded himself truly honored by Dondochakka's words.
"Ben," Pesche said. "We are begging you to protect Nel. We know that you can."
Ben looked at the ground. Sure he would protect Nel, but he just couldn't see why Pesche and Dondochakka would just abandon her. He looked at the two of them.
"Can you at least tell me what happened to her?" he asked.
"It's difficult to explain," Pesche said. "But we can tell you who hurt her. It was Nnoitra."
Ben froze as anger surged through his body. "What?" he asked coldly.
"Which is why, after hearing that you beat him," Pesche continued. "We knew that you would be able to keep Nel safer than we ever could."
Ben nodded at the two of them. "I promise nothing bad will ever happen to Nel again."
"Thank you, Ben." Pesche and Dondochakka both said with a bow.
Then they instantly reverted back to their goofy selves. "Now let's play some tag!"
Using any form he could think of, Ben made sure that their eternal tag was going to be one to last. Every once in a while, Ben would look over at Nel, who was giggling happily. His anger at Nnoitra had grown even more. How could anyone harm a sweet little girl like Nel? Now Ben felt very satisfied as he remembered beating Nnoitra up.
After the gang was done playing, Nel was all giggles. Until she learned that she was the only one going to Las Noches.
"Pesche!" she cried. "Dondochakka! Why are you weaving Nel?"
"We think you'll have more fun with Ben, Nel," Pesche said.
Dondochakka nodded. "He promised to look after you, don't cha know?"
"Besides," Ben pointed out. "We'll come visit them whenever you want to."
Nel looked back and forth between Ben and her brothers, unable to make up her mind. Finally, she walked over and gave her brothers hugs.
"Nell will miss you," she said them. Pesche and Dondochakka were trying their best not to cry either as they hugged Nel.
"Come and see us anytime, Nel," Pesche chocked out as Dondochakka began balling huge tears. Nel let go of them and walked over to Ben.
"Nel's ready," she told Ben.
Ben smiled softly as he gave Nel a reassuring hug. "Don't worry, Nel. We'll be sure to visit them."
Nel finally began to smile. Hearing Ben tell her that made her happy. Activating the Ultimatrix, Ben slammed the dial down and turned into Big Chill. After transforming, he scooped up Nel.
"Let's fly," he said as he took off into the sky. Nel clutched Big Chill's arms tightly as they took off. But Big Chill flew low so that he wouldn't scare Nel. Soon they reached Las Noches, where Big Chill used his intangibility to phase them through the walls. Once they were inside, Big Chill turned back to normal and put Nel gently down.
"Here we are, Nel," he told her. Nel's eyes widened at the big hallway they were in.
"Follow me," Ben told her as he held out his hand. "I think I've figured my way around this place."
"Well," a voice said. "This is an unexpected surprise."
Ben and Nel turned around to see Szayel walking towards them, amusement on his face.
"Can I help you with something, Szayel?" Ben asked, while Nel cowered behind Ben.
"Oh I was just passing by when I saw you go through the wall," Szayel explained with that annoying smile on his face. He looked down at Nel. "And it seems you brought a guest."
Nel quivered behind Ben, causing the wielder of the Ultimatrix to step in front of her protectively.
"It's…it's Szayel Aporro Granz!" Nel squealed. "The top scientist in Las Noches!"
Szayel's smile widened. "You remember me? How nice." He took a step towards her, which caused Ben to take a step backwards to shield her.
"Come now, Ben," Szayel said. "I don't mean any harm to her. I just haven't seen her in so long."
"But…" Nel said. "Nel never met you."
A brief flash of surprise came across Szayel's face until it was replaced by his smile again.
"I see," he said quietly. "You can't remember, can you?"
Ben's eyes narrowed. "Can't remember what?" he asked edgily. "What Nnoitra did to her?"
At here, Szayel paused at looked at Ben in shock. Nel looked up at Ben in confusion. What was he talking about?
"What?" was all Szayel could say.
"I was told that Nnoitra hurt Nel and he's the one responsible for her and her brothers living out in that desert," Ben told him. "And I'm gonna make sure he doesn't come anywhere near her."
Szayel nodded as he thought about this. "Very well then," he said finally. "I'll just be on my way."
With that, Szayel turned around and walked in the opposite direction. But not before giving Nel one final look, causing the poor girl to tremble and Ben reaching for his Ultimatrix. But Szayel merely turned away before something else happened. Once Szayel was out of view, Ben turned his head to look down at the trembling Nel.
"It's okay," he said gently as he picked her up and gave her a hug. "He won't hurt you."
Nel clutched onto Ben tightly, seeing that he was the only one she could feel safe with.
Ben returned her tight hug. "I won't let anything hurt you, Nel." He said soothingly to her. "I promise."