Hope you all enjoyed a few flashbacks to Ben's time with the Titans because more are on the way! For now though, we're finally getting into the action with Wildfire against the team! How will they fare?
Let's find out!
GOING WILD
"Where am I?" Wildfire asked himself, having arrived at the Plumber Headquarters' exit at its hangar level. His eyes glowed a bright red again before unleashing starbolt lasers, blasting through the doors as the explosion blew out into a highway tunnel. Several cars screeched to a halt and even crashed as the Tamaranean prince walked through the flames, floating up after a moment to head to the end of the passage. Once he made it, he flew upwards, widening his eyes at the sight of the city that lay before him. "This… is not Tamaran…" he realized, letting the red glow disappear from his eyes, "Was Father unable to return me home?" he wondered as he looked at his hands, "Or was the experiment a failure?" he questioned to himself.
"Hey!" a voice cried out, catching his attention as he looked back down to see Sunset, Rook, and Rainbow running out from the tunnel. Seeing them made him growl angrily, lighting up his eyes and hands before firing a starbolt from his left one down at them.
"Look out!" the former pony exclaimed, ponying up in a flash of light as her pony ears and ponytail grew out, while her skin became a light amber. She jumped in front of her comrades, sticking out her extremities to form an amber-yellow barrier of energy, which the attack came in contact with to create a burst of smoke. As it subsided quickly, the trio grimaced to see the royal heading off towards the city.
"This… is not good…" the Revonnahgander realized as he pulled out his Plumber badge, pressing a button on it as he went off to the side for a moment.
"Huh…" his girlfriend breathed out, bringing down her magic shield, "I'm so sorry about all this…" she apologized, catching her athletic friend's attention, "I wanted to make sure Wildfire was okay so that Ben could stop worrying…" she confessed as she rubbed her arm in an ashamed manner.
"Sunset, it's okay," the rainbow haired girl reassured, placing her right hand onto her shoulder, "My babe'll understand that your heart was in the right place, okay?" she noted, causing her to let off a small grin before frowning again.
"I am curious as to why Wildfire apparently has not learned the English language yet," their extraterrestrial companion chimed in, making them glance over at him in confusion, "It just seems rather odd since he was missing for about six years," he mentioned, putting his hand up to his chin.
"Doesn't it take a long time to learn a new language though?" the red and yellow haired girl questioned as she arched an eyebrow.
"Not if you're a Tamaranean," Rainbow retorted, making her blink in confusion, "They can learn anyone's languages by… kissing them," she pointed out, blushing a little.
"Is that how Starfire and Blackfire learned their English?" Sunset guessed with her eyebrow still raised, getting a nod in reply, "By kissing Ben?" she inquired on.
"Huh…" the athlete sighed deeply, "Star didn't kiss him," she told her friend, slouching a little.
"But… Blackfire did?" the former pony guessed, only to receive a sharp glare in response from her teammate, "Sorry, sorry…" she apologized repeatedly, holding up her arms in a placating manner.
"Rook, do you copy?" Max's voice echoed over the Revonnahgander's Plumber badge.
"Yes, Magister Tennyson," he responded, looking ahead at the city, "Wildfire is heading for Bellwood," he continued, "but I do not know what he plans to do," he confessed, narrowing his eyes.
"Just keep an eye on him until we can get a recovery team together," the old officer replied through the alien's device, "We don't want anyone getting hurt out there," he added.
"Agreed," the extraterrestrial responded before the communication was shut off, "We need to steer Wildfire away from the city and try to avoid any form of conflict," he explained to the girls.
"Easier said than done," the athlete noted as she ponied up, gaining her light cerulean skin with a long ponytail, pony ears, and wings, "That guy might be the prince and all, but I don't think he's looking to talk it out…" she mentioned as she walked forward.
"We should at least try to keep any collateral damage to a minimum," the Plumber stated while still looking out at the city.
"And keep anyone else out of the crossfire," Sunset added, trotting up to stand beside her teammates.
"My babe's probably there already," Rainbow mentioned as she flapped her wings and flew up, "I'll help him keep Wildfire away from anyone, and you guys can bring the big guns!" she shouted down to them as advice, dashing off afterwards.
"That is, if we need to…" the former pony pointed out, sounding nervous.
"In Rainbow's defense," her boyfriend began, "I believe she has a point," he concurred as she perked up, "Tamaraneans have little weaknesses and only few can combat against one," he explained to her surprise as her eyes widened, "They can even be more dangerous than Kryptonians…" he added, sweating a little.
"Then we gotta do what we can," Sunset stated, causing him to blink in surprise before smiling at her. He then pressed a button upon the left arm of his Proto-Tech Armor, followed by his Proto-TRUK driving out from the tunnel in its camouflaged form as a delivery truck. As the couple got into it, their fast friend continued to soar overhead towards the city.
EPISODE I PART III
"This place…" Wildfire uttered as he flew over Bellwood, apparently much calmer than before as the glow had disappeared from his eyes, "This must be the planet Earth that Father spoke of…" he realized, floating over towards a glass building to see his reflection, "How long was I in there?" he asked himself while placing his right hand against his cheek, noticing the red in his irises, "I should save these questions for when I find Father," he concluded, soaring down toward the city streets before landing in the middle of an intersection. Cars that were moving screeched to a halt, almost crashing as their drivers rolled down their windows, shouting angrily.
"Hey, skins! Move it!" one man demanded angrily, causing him to perk up.
"Get out of the way!" a woman yelled, honking her vehicle's horn. The multiple sounds in the air were making the Tamaranean growl as his eyes shined a bright red once more.
"ENOUGH!" he ordered, preparing a starbolt upon his left hand and aiming towards a minivan that had a pregnant woman at the wheel with two children in the backseat, as they all gasped and braced themselves for the oncoming impact. The prince hesitated for a moment, but clenched his teeth while reeling his arm back.
"No!" a familiar voice shouted, catching his attention too late as Rainbow dove down and punched him in the face, sending him hurdling away until he crashed through the glass windows of another. Having seen the attack, many people began screaming in fear, running away as they got out of their vehicles, with the woman and her children hurrying off quickly. The athlete flew over towards the shattered window to see if the shirtless alien was all right from her initial strike. To her surprise, he saw him arise rather instantly, shooting starbolt lasers from his eyes that hit and flung her against the window on the building of the opposite side of the street. "Ooh…" she groaned as she came down, stretching out her wings, "Okay Rainbow…" she began to herself, "you've taken a Tamaranean down before…" she said, trying to build up her confidence. However, that vanished as she heard more yells in the street, seeing the royal indiscriminately firing off starbolts everywhere around him, almost hitting the bystanders. "Only this is a little more complicated…" she admitted. She flew out again, attempting to punch the extraterrestrial for a second time. However, he saw her coming, grasping her by the neck with his right hand before slamming her down onto the hood of a sports car, rupturing it. "Ow…" she muttered in agony, while he just growled at her as energy enveloped his left extremity. Suddenly though, several projectiles struck him in the chest, sending him careening back as he had let go of the Omni Force member. She sat up and looked to see the Proto-TRUK in its spaceship form as its wings were firing off ammo as an auto turret onto Wildfire, enveloping him in a cloud of dust. As the firing ceased, the vehicle floated over the street, allowing for both Sunset and Rook to disembark from it and go over to their comrade.
"You okay, Rainbow?" the former pony asked as she helped her stand back up on the pavement.
"I'd be better if my babe was here," she responded in a somewhat snarky tone.
"I believe the three of us will be just as effective in taking care of Wildfire," the Revonnahgander stated confidently as he readied his Proto-Tool. As the dust settled, they all widened their eyes to see the prince down on all four of his limbs, growling and gnashing his teeth like an animal.
"Uh, Blonko…?" the red and yellow haired girl uttered, arching an eyebrow, "Is that normal?" she asked with her look becoming somewhat frightened.
"Not that I recall…" her boyfriend replied, seeing the ominous glow in his red eyes. He then unleashed starbolt lasers from them, which his alien foe quickly dove out of the way to dodge as they struck another window, shattering it as glass bits fell to the ground. Letting his weapon buzz, the alien Plumber aimed the barrel forwards, launching two small projectiles from it. They both broke apart into orange energy nets; both of which failed to capture their target as he flew upwards. Sunset quickly ran forward, enveloping both of her hands in a sparkling reddish-amber light as she began levitating pieces of debris from the ground within that same energy. She then sent them hurdling at him, causing him to immediately react as he incinerated them instantly with another starbolt from his right hand. However, it distracted him long enough for the athlete to fly up over his head, flipping over and kicking him on the back of the head with her right foot, causing him to tumble for a moment.
"Now!" she shouted down to her friends. Gritting her teeth, the amber skinned girl lit up her hands once more, enveloping her opponent within it. Before he could even react, he was slammed down against the pavement as she had swung her arms downwards.
"You filth…!" he grunted out, snarling in rage. Rook took immediate notice of this behavior, blinking in surprise. He disregarded it though as he re-aimed his blaster, launching several different arrowhead-shaped projectiles that split into glowing ropes, pinning the royal to the ground as the sharp ends plunged into the earth.
"That won't hold him for long…" Rainbow realized as she landed down beside her teammates, seeing him continue to growl as he slowly started to push himself back up.
"Long enough…!" the former pony said as she ran forward to their surprise, lighting up her right fist in a golden amber luminosity. Just as Wildfire broke apart his bindings, she punched him in the face, sending him hurdling through the air and then tumbling across the pavement.
"Whoa," the Revonnahgander uttered afterwards, evidently surprised as was the rainbow haired girl beside him.
"Nice one!" she complimented, going up to her and giving her a tap on the right shoulder with her left fist, causing her to crack a grin.
"You…" their foe's voice growled angrily, catching their attentions as they saw rise up with his eyes still glowing, letting out a powerful roar. Everyone in the vicinity covered their ears at the sound, which even went so far as to crack a few more windows of nearby cars and buildings.
"Okay, Starfury's never done that before… right?" Rainbow inquired back towards their Plumber companion, not noticing the royal about to hurl a starbolt at her from his right hand.
"Watch out!" Sunset exclaimed, grasping her friend's arm and looking beyond their adversary as they both vanished in a flash of golden amber light, avoiding the attack as it struck the earth they once stood upon. They then reappeared right behind the Tamaranean, much to his surprise as he turned to see them there. Noticing that he was distracted, Rook steadied his Proto-Tool, firing a few shots from it that struck him in the back. He turned around menacingly, glaring at him as his eyes shined a bright red.
"Uh oh," the Revonnahgander uttered in realization, seeing him fire laser beams instantly.
"Blonko!" his girlfriend screamed in fright. Just then, a black and blue blur rushed by her and her classmate, grasping the alien Plumber in the nick of time and zooming away before the rays could hit him, blowing up the ground he stood upon instead in a smoky explosion. As it began to clear, the girls widened their eyes to see that he had been saved by Fasttrack.
"Ben…!" his partner breathed out, wiping some sweat off of his forehead, "Am I ever so glad to see you," he admitted, smiling.
"No problem," the Citrakayah replied, turning back towards their opponent, who snarled angrily at the newcomer to the battlefield.
"DIIIIEEE!" he bellowed, firing off a flurry of starbolts from his hands at him.
"This calls for action from the one and only Skurd!" the Slimebiote suddenly exclaimed, oozing slime out onto his host's arms, much to his surprise.
"Hey!" he yelped angrily, "I told you not to-! WHOA!" he shrieked, crossing his arms to try and shield himself. However, he was confused to hear nothing as opposed to being enveloping within an explosion, looking at his appendages to see that they had changed. His arms were a dark purple and silicon-based with magenta crystals sticking out from his forearms and had crystalline fingers. An ultraviolet energy surged through them to his astonishment, realizing what the parasite had done.
"Ooh, a Crystalsapien!" he noted rather excitedly, "Most effective in handling any form of energy beams, wouldn't you say?" he inquired smugly to the humanoid creature with a wink. Realizing what he was now capable of, the latter unleashed an ultraviolet beam of light from his palms, striking the prince in an instant as he stumbled back, breathing heavily.
"Way to go, babe!" Rainbow complimented with a fist pump, followed by Sunset taking hold of her arm again, teleporting with her in a flash of amber light to be right beside their comrades.
"That's not gonna slow him down, is it?" the former pony guessed while arching an eyebrow.
"Not likely…" Fasttrack concurred as he closed his hands into fists.
"Though we may be in luck," Rook chimed in, catching their attentions, "With Skurd's abilities to give your alien forms added features," he started to explain to the Citrakayah beside him, "you are capable of taking Wildfire's attacks," he noted.
"But of course!" the Slimebiote agreed as he bowed, "I am at your service always," he added politely.
"Who asked you?" his new partner muttered in questioned rhetorically, causing him perk up in surprise before developing an enraged tick mark upon his head.
"Even with that, I don't think Wildfire's gonna calm down easily…" the red and yellow haired girl pointed out seriously.
"Yeah," Rainbow concurred with a nod, "He's been acting really aggressive this whole fight!" she mentioned as she gestured towards him, while he was regaining his composure.
"Aggressive?" her transformed boyfriend uttered in confusion, tilting his head to the side, "How so?" he questioned as he put his hands at his hips.
"MOVE!" the Revonnahgander yelled loudly, catching their attentions as they quickly dove away from an oncoming barrage of starbolts from their foe, who continued to throw them as they indiscriminately struck more windows, cars, and various objects that lined the sidewalks.
"Okay…" Sunset breathed out afterwards as she and the humanoid, leopard-like alien sat beside each other behind a vehicle out of their enemy's sight, "any ideas on how to handle this now?" she asked, hoping for a good suggestion.
"VERMIN!" the prince bellowed, causing them to all perk up as they heard him, "Do you know who I am?!" he roared in question as his eyes were still shining a bright red.
"He's… speaking Tamaranean?" Fasttrack uttered, somewhat surprised.
"I would have thought over the six years he was gone, he would have learned at least another language," the alien Plumber chimed in, squatting across the street next to Rainbow behind another car.
"Maybe he never found the right girl…" the athlete suggested with a shrug. Having heard her comment, the former pony narrowed her eyes in thought, glancing back at the shirtless royal as he was stepping towards them, sniffing around like an animal.
"I've got an idea," she whispered to the Citrakayah beside her, catching his attention, "Think you can give me some cover?" she inquired.
"Darling, we'd be more than happy to- GAH!" Skurd yelped, interjecting his own sentence as his host squished in his left hand.
"I'm all over it," he responded to his amber skinned friend, dashing out from behind the car. Wildfire took immediate notice, shooting off starbolt lasers from his eyes again to try and strike him. However, he threw out his hands to absorb the beams, letting ultraviolet light surge through his arms before firing off his own rays to blow back his foe.
"Guess that's our cue," Rainbow realized upon seeing what happened, flying out from her hiding place, while Rook stood up and ran after her. Fasttrack zoomed in and landed a few punches on his enemy, but it did not appear to hinder him as he grasped his neck with his left hand, hoisting him up and then slamming him against the pavement.
"Ben!" his extraterrestrial partner cried out, readying his Proto-Tool to fire. Unfortunately, the prince saw what he was about to do, taking a tighter hold of his feline-like foe and hurling him at the Plumber, knocking them both down upon impact. The rainbow haired girl dove down from above afterwards, landing a swift kick with her right leg before attempting to punch him in the face by using her left fist. Suddenly though, he took hold of her extremity, causing her to yelp as she was yanked over instantly to come face-to-face with him.
"YOU DARE TO ATTACK THE FUTURE EMPEROR OF TAMARAN?!" he bellowed angrily as Sunset ran out from her position, while her male companions slowly sat up, "FOR SUCH AN ACT, I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" he declared loudly in his tongue as a starbolt radiated upon his left hand, buzzing as he moved it closer to his adversary's face.
"Rainbow!" the former pony cried out, catching his attention as he saw her coming. He re-aimed his hand and shot several blasts her way, but she easily avoided them by teleporting in bright flashes of amber light. She then reappeared right in front of him, punching him in the torso in order to make him let go of her classmate as he stumbled back.
"I WILL-!" Wildfire's roar was interrupted as he was kissed on the lips by the red and yellow haired girl, who cupped his cheeks to have a firm hold on him. A loud gasp emanated from her boyfriend as his jaw dropped, while the Citrakayah beside him blinked in surprise as did the Slimebiote.
"Well, we did not see that coming…" he noted bluntly while morphing his host's arms back to their original state. The red glow from the Tamaranean's eyes vanished as he was released by the Equestrian magic user, who pulled her hands away.
"You can understand us now… right?" she inquired, getting into a ready stance just in case.
"I…" he uttered in English, placing his hand onto his head in agony, "I can… speak your language…" he slowly realized, glancing around to see the destruction about the area.
"Listen," Sunset chimed in, getting his attention, "I get the feeling you were just mad about being woken up and all…" she noted as she sheepishly fidgeted with her fingers, "so I'm sorry about that…" she apologized.
"We didn't mean to start a fight with you either," Rainbow mentioned, "It's just… you kinda almost killed some people…" she pointed out, gesturing towards the battle-torn city streets.
"I… I…" the prince stammered, falling down onto his rear end as he grimaced. The Omnitrix symbol upon Fasttrack's belt started to beep, timing out in a green flash of light to transform him back into Ben, who ran over to the royal with Rook and the girls.
"You're gonna be okay, Wildfire," he promised, trotting closer to him as he reached his right hand out.
"Phew…" his girlfriend breathed out, relieved that the conflict had ended. However, not everyone was feeling as good.
"Was it wise to kiss Wildfire?" the Revonnahgander asked the former pony in a whisper, catching her attention, "I mean, he could have still rampaged after you had done that…" he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as she blushed madly.
"It was the only thing I could think of since we weren't able to understand each other!" she claimed while deactivating her magic in a bright flash of light, losing her amber skin, pony ears, and ponytail, "At least now we can speak with him without having to do charades or whatever," she pointed out seriously.
"Of course…" her boyfriend grumbled sarcastically in agreement, causing her to puff out her cheeks in frustration with him.
"Uh, babe?" the athlete uttered to the alien device bearer as he took the Tamaranean's hand and pulled him up.
"What's up now, Rainbow?" he asked with an arched eyebrow, seeing her gesture back towards the arguing couple, "Oh," he said before letting out a sigh. In the meantime, extraterrestrial he had helped saw the contraption upon his wrist.
"The Omnitrix…" he uttered, causing him to perk up, "You must be Ben Tennyson!" he realized, starting to smile.
"You… remember me?" the brunette haired teen questioned, evidently shocked as were the others.
"Of course!" he replied excitedly, "Father told all about how you saved my sister, Koriand'r from the Gordanian threat six years ago!" he explained, taking his hand into both of his, "I am truly grateful to you for what you have done for the royal Tamaranean family…" he confessed.
"Wait, father?" the athlete uttered in confusion, raising her own eyebrow, "But… isn't your dad… dead?" she inquired, grimacing a little.
"Oh, not my biological father…" the prince replied, holding his right hand out in a placating manner, "I mean the one who cared for me since I departed from Tamaran," he explained to them, "Khyber," he finished, causing everyone to widen their eyes in shock. The revelation startled Ben enough to pull his extremity away from him quickly.
"Uh… we should try to talk more about this at Plumber Headquarters," he advised as he rubbed his left hand, "assuming they're not still mad about you trouncing them earlier," he noted jokingly.
"I do apologize," Wildfire said with a light bow, "It appears my newfound power is difficult to control," he admitted while closing his hand into a fist, "but it is fortunate that the experiment was a success…" he concluded, smiling a little.
"Okay…" Sunset uttered, somewhat freaked out, "We really need to have a talk," she declared, making her friends all nod in agreement. Just then, they felt a rush of wind blow by, glancing upwards to see the T-Ship hovering above them.
"Who may that be?" the royal asked, arching an eyebrow.
"For one, your sister and her friends," the Omnitrix bearer responded with a grin as he trotted up to his side, surprising him as his eyes widened.
"Brother!" a feminine voice cried out delightedly as a figure disembarked from the floating vessel and zoomed down towards him. It turned out to be Starfire, who embraced her younger sibling happily as tears were forming in her eyes.
"S-Sister…?" he stuttered in disbelief, crying himself as he hugged her back. Everyone else watched on with smiles, glad that the fighting had ended.
"Family reunions are a wonderful thing, are they not?" Skurd implied to his host, getting his attention for a moment as he glanced back at the two royals.
"Yeah, I guess so…" he semi-agreed, still concerned about what he had heard from the prince moments before the Titans had arrived.
END
Well, this was probably shorter than many of you expected, but hear me out. I'd either have this chapter done this weekend, or you'd likely have to wait at least two more weeks before I could properly finish it thanks to tests and such. Also, I've got Thanksgiving break on the horizon, so it's not like writing for me will be moot for the rest of the semester. But do note that likely after I get started on the first chapter of "Traitor", I will not be publishing anything else solely due to the fact that I will need to study for a lot of finals.
Anyways, here's your happy family reunion for now! How will the Titans react to what's happened with Wildfire? What will become of Rook and Sunset's relationship? Will Ben get over his anxiety and fear? All these questions will be answered in the next episode! See ya later!
QUOTE
Oh, you are not dragging me into your love mess…
Sunset Shimmer to Rainbow Dash in "The Secret of Dos Santos"
