SZ: Hey, minna. It's Seanzilla115 and…
GammaTron: *walks in* ...I am GammaTron!
SZ: Today...we're bringing ya pt 1 of the finale for this arc. As you all remember last time...well...GT?
GT: Kevin, Gwen, and Ben talk and end up getting ambushed by Arakune but scare him off with Echo-Echo. They than meet Litchi in her fighting outfit and get Makoto and Tsubaki to her clinic where she tells Kevin and Gwen to be careful since she's unsure of whether one of them was the magician that healed Makoto's tail. Tsubaki waves up and Ben assures her he'll save Noel and introduces Tsubaki to Kevin and Gwen before she goes back to sleep. They go to the main building and meet A and then run into a man that reminded Ben of Carl who has a puppet that freaked Gwen out and he somehow knew that Gwen was made of Mana and is trying to beat up both her and Kevin for research using her puppet Ignis. Ben joins in the fight against Hazama, teaming up with Ragna and showing off Feedback's power to trump Hazama until he activates his BlazBlue and Noel awakens as a Murakumo Unit. BEARS!
SZ: Yeah...that pretty much sums it up...BEARS!
GT: BEARS! *drags in Disclaimer, Ragna on it*
Disclaimers: Neither authors own anything in this, nor do they own the ben 10 or Blazblue franchises. They do happen to own any OCs and OC Aliens that'll appear in this while Benfire...well, again belongs to the Ben 10 fan-base.
GT: Okay, let's get going! BIG THE CAT!
Ragna: Ugh…Just my luck that he's been on a The Completionist binge since Big Bad Bosses debut album fully came out on YouTube...*pulls down the screen, starting the chapter*
Out of all the things Ben had gotten himself into...well...he had no words to say. To think a few days ago, Paradox had sent him to this world on a mission of sorts. Find whoever was messing with this world's timeline, fix any mistakes, and...well, that's pretty much it. During his time in this world, Ben met quite a few characters, some of which he became friends with, while others were just downright insane, completely evil, or both in Hazama/Terumi's case.
"That...That can't be Noel...can it?" Clockwork pondered.
"I hope not…" Ragna whispered, looking up at Noel as she floated in the air, "Noel, is that you? Noel answer m-!"
Before anything else could be said, Ragna quickly blocked a strike from one of Terumi's chains.
"Oh just shut up already, you filthy mutt!" Terumi shouted as the chain returned to him, "That's enough barking out of you!" he then fired the chain at Clockwork, "That goes double for you, Tinker toy!"
Clockwork held up a hand and fired a laser, freezing the chain in time, "Vhat did you do to her?"
"I helped woke her up to her true self, dumbass," Terumi stated, his twisted smile returning, "Mu-12, AKA Kusanagi, the Sword of the god slayer!"
"You son of a bitch…!" Ragna growled as he glared at him.
"Aww, what's wrong Rags? Gonna cry?" Terumi grinned in a mocking tone, "C'mon hate me! Hate me more! Hate me lots lots more, you adorable puppy man, you!"
'Now I really wish I had the Ultimate Feature from the Ultimatrix in this thing…' Ben thought as Clockwork lightly brushed his emblem.
"...Well, this is starting to get boring," Terumi deadpanned as he looked up at Noel...or rather, Mu-12, "Oi, Kusanagi. Get over here."
"Acknowledged…" Mu-12 responded in a cold, emotionless voice as she floated down next to him.
"Good girl," Terumi grinned as he petted her a bit, "Who's my good little sword? It's you! Yes, you are! Yes, you are!"
"Are you feeling nauseous about zis as well?" Clockwork questioned Ragna.
"Greatly…" Ragna growled as he glared at Terumi.
"Oh, now don't be jealous, Rags," Terumi frowned a bit as he threw his arm over Mu-12's shoulders, "This sword here...she's all mine from now on, okay? Besides…" He paused as his snake like grin reappeared on his face, "Isn't she nice, though? It wasn't cheap, but I thought 'Hell, Hazama, you deserve it! Spoil yourself rotten! Spring for the 'Ragna's little sister' model!'"
"Grr...I'm gonna rip your goddamn head off!" Ragna roared as he charged forward.
"Ragna, vait!" Clockwork shouted before freezing three more Ouroboros trying to strike him.
"...Okay, you're starting to get annoying," Terumi frowned as he easily dodged Ragna's rage-filled strikes, "Oi, Haruka. Come play with the tinker toy here!"
"Haruka?" Clockwork repeated in confusion.
"Hai, Terumi," a voice spoke from behind Clockwork, causing him to yelp a bit as he jumped back a bit to see a cloaked girl with pale blonde hair, some of it shading over her eyes.
Ragna quickly took noticed of the new comer before his eyes slightly widened, "Wha...Saya?! Wh-"
"Shut it…" the girl whispered as she looked up, showing her cold, slitted galaxy colored eyes, "Do not call me that name...Bloodedge."
"Wh-gah!" Ragna cried out in pain when Terumi kicked him hard in the side, sending him tumbling against the floor.
"Ragna!" Clockwork gasped before the girl was suddenly before him, a strange looking dark purple/blue crossbow in her hand and aimed at his face "?!"
"Eheh...man you can be an idiot, Rags," Terumi chuckled as Ragna got up, holding the side Terumi kicked him in, "That girl there ain't your precious little sister Saya...she's Haruka...or as you know her as...Gamma-03."
"What?! Another one that I destroyed is back?!" Ragna growled.
"That's right!" Terumi grinned, "But as for how they came back...I ain't telling ya! But I will say this...when Alpha, Beta, and Gamma came back...they became something more than Murakumos...you want to know what else they became, Rags?"
"Grr…"
"Buzz! Time's up! They became…" Terumi paused as he grinned darkly, "Dragons…"
'Dragons?' Ben pondered, recalling the only dragon he had ever met.
"In fact...Gamma? Why not show them a demonstration?"
"Hai," Haruka nodded, "...Limiters released...engaging systems…" she whispered as energy began to form around her, "Murakumo unit...activate."
With that, a bright flash of galaxy colored energy engulfed Haruka, the resulting shockwave sending Clockwork skidding back. The shockwave also knocked Ben out of being a Chronosapien. When the dust cloud died down, it revealed Haruka, but now she was wearing something Ragna was all too familiar with...but at the same time...wasn't. She wore a bodysuit with a bright galaxy pattern to it. Her lower legs were covered in bulky armor that seemed to resemble swords with the ends split apart to resemble three-clawed feet. Over her hands were dark-blue/purple claws with a strange blue energy coursing through the lines all over her bodysuit. Her chest was covered in more of the strange-colored armor. Framing her face and covering her head was a dragon-shaped helmet, revealing her eyes to now seem to look more like the color of a galaxy.
"What...the…?" Ben whispered.
"Heh...what do you think, Raggie ol' boy?" Terumi smirked, "How do you like Gamma-03, version 2.0? Quite an improvement over the old one if I may say so myself."
"What the hell?" Ragna's eyes widened at seeing Gamma-03.
"But enough about me, let's kill you," Terumi smirked as his venom green aura returned, "Gamma, go play with that annoying little gnat there while I deal with Ragna myself."
Ben quickly slapped the Omnitrix, turning into, "NRG!"
"...Identifying threat level…" Gamma-03 whispered as she scanned NRG, "...Threat level 5.0. Initiating attack measures."
Before NRG could react, Gamma was instantly before him before she delivered a forward kick to his chest, sending him skidding back quite a few feet. When he finally stopped, he noted a dent in his armor in the shape of Gamma's leg armor.
"What th...how…?!"
"Response: my claws are that of a dragon, which are known for tearing even the strongest metal," Gamma responded.
'Taedenite...Somehow, those claws are as strong as Taedenite,' NRG thought, '...This...is gonna be one rough fight.'
Back with Kevin and Gwen, they were having a bit of trouble as well as the robot-like puppet the man summoned kept them from getting close to him. All the while, the man was busy 'examining' the two as they struggled with his puppet.
"This thing is getting on my nerves," Kevin growled, putting a hand on the floor and covering his body with a layer of it, "Hey Gwen, any ideas?"
Gwen said nothing as she brought up another barrier to block the puppet's incoming attack, said barrier shattering like glass after the puppet punched it.
'...Something's not right. Gwen's been silent ever since we started fighting this guy and his robot...puppet thing,' Kevin thought, jumping back from another stab by Ignis, 'In fact...she looked pretty miffed after she looked into that thing...but why?'
"Tempus Maximus!" Gwen shouted, swinging her arms and releasing a spiraling horizontal tornado at the man.
"Ignis," the masked man whispered as Ignis appeared in front of him and blocked the tornado.
"Terram Corrueret!" Gwen declared as the ground began to break apart straight at the man once more.
The Masked man said nothing as he side stepped to the right to dodge the attack.
"...Hmm...such interesting, yet powerful, magic," the man noted, looking at the destroyed ground where he once stood, "What did you say? Terram Corrueret? Latin for 'Ground Collapse.' A very fitting name for such an attack."
"That woman...How could you do something like this to her?" Gwen demanded.
"Excuse me?" Kevin asked, looking at Gwen with a raised brow.
"Why whatever do you mean?" the masked man asked, "Ignis is one of the results of my research."
"She's in constant agony!" Gwen argued.
"Gwen, uh...A little explanation for those of us that can't see what your mana stuff can?" Kevin asked.
"That doll we've been fighting, Ignis...she's a human turned into a doll."
"...uh, I don't think I heard ya right, Gwen, but did you say that...thing...was a human?"
"It is true," the maksed man spoke up, "As I stated, she is one of the results of my research...my research into the soul."
"The soul?" Kevin repeated.
"Yes...the soul is a rather...interesting thing really," the masked man explained, holding his hand up a bit, "Each one is more different than the last...strong, weak, good, evil, so many interesting, yet mysterious things surround the soul."
"...So what's your point?"
"Think about it, Kevin; if he turned Ignis into that as a result of his research, what do you think happened to all the other souls that came before?" Gwen scowled.
"...Hold up. You're not saying…?" Kevin began in realization, earning a nod from Gwen, "..." he turned to glare at the man, "Not cool, dude. That's even worse then what Animo keeps trying to do to people and what he's done to all kinds of animals."
"Agreed," Gwen nodded as she glared at the masked man.
"...I do not know who this Animo is...but I assure you, my research is nothing like that," the masked man stated.
"Gwen, can you take her out?" Kevin asked.
"No. I swore that I'd never use magic on a literal soul," Gwen replied, "It's one of the biggest taboos in magic."
"...I see...well then… Kevin began as he cracked his knuckles, still glaring at the masked man, "What say we knock this masked freak out before he tries anymore of that research of his?"
"Gladly," Gwen agreed.
'...If this is your intent...it is a shame," the masked man admitted as Ignis stayed close to him, "I would've liked to examine you both more while you were conscious...Ignis, Val Lanto."
Ignis disappeared for a brief second before reappearing behind Kevin and Gwen, the tassels of her 'hat' surrounding her as serrated blades came out, giving them the appearance of a large saw as Ignis charged towards the two from behind. Kevin turned around and the material covering his body quickly went all to his hands, shaping into a thick shield that collided with the saw.
"Bel Lafino." the masked man said as Ignis disappeared once more.
"Huh? Where…?" Kevin began before he looked up, seeing Ignis hovering above him, her legs changed into drills, "...Aw crap."
Ignis shot down like a rocket at him before Kevin barely rolled out of the way, causing Ignis to miss as she destroyed the ground where he once stood. She floated out of the hole and moved away from a mana blast from Gwen.
"Geara Act."
One of Ignis' hand soon became a saw-blade as she tossed it at Gwen, the blades on it being engulfed in a bright pink energy. Gwen ducked under the attack with wide eyes.
"That...That was mana just now," Gwen whispered, "How…?"
"Gwen, look out!" Kevin shouted as the saw blade came back towards her, almost like a boomerang or a yo-yo.
Gwen jumped out of the way before hissing as the saw managed to nick her in the side. Said saw returned to Ignis and reattached to her, shifting back into her clawed hand. Gwen tumbled a bit before stopping near Kevin.
"Gwen!" Kevin exclaimed, "You okay?"
"That attack...it...it was using mana," Gwen noted, holding her hands over the wound on her side, "How….how is that possible?"
"Think about it later," Kevin replied as he covered himself once more with the material of the ground.
"Right," Gwen nodded as she managed to stand up.
"Hmm…" the masked man mummered as he looked at the two.
"...Okay to be honest, this guy is starting to annoy, and creep me out," Kevin whispered to Gwen, "So I'm open to any suggestions here."
"Whenever I try to hit him, he summons Ignis to protect him," Gwen explained, "If I can create a distraction for Ignis, do you think you can hit him?"
"Oh yeah," Kevin nodded, "Just say the word, and I'll be ready to knock his block off."
Gwen nodded, "Time to pull off the big attacks." she turned to Ignis, "Meteoron Ictum!"
All around Ignis, debris from all over collected into a multitude of ignited spheres that rocketed at her like meteors. Ignis' hands shifted into scythe like blades before it began to spin quickly in place, blocking the 'meteors' heading towards her.
"Hmm...another interesting spell," the masked man noted, "What was it called? Meteoron i-"
"Now!"
"Yaaaaaaaaaah!" Kevin roared as he charged at the man, swinging his left arm, the fist now a mallet.
However, the man didn't seemed fazed by this as Kevin came charging towards him.
"Interesting tactic...but flawed," the masked man stated as a gate of sorts appeared next to him on the ground, "Id Lauger."
"Wh-" Kevin began before a large, green mechanical hand bursted out of the gate on the ground and punched him hard in the face, sending him flying back as he crashed into a pillar, "Gah!"
"Kevin!" Gwen gasped before backing up from a slash by Ignis.
"...Okay…" Kevin grunted as he stood up, spitting a bit of blood out of his mouth, "Looks like that masked freak has some tricks of his own." he took out a bag, "Then again, so do I." he reached into the bag and his body was covered in a crystal-like material, "Gotta thank Gwen for making a bag I could put the Taedenite Car in." he faced the man one more, "I'm more than ready now. Bring it on, you masked bastard!"
"...Interesting," the masked man noted, a bit intrigued by the substance that covered Kevin's body as the ravenette came charging toward him once more, his lower arms/hands sharpening into points.
"See if you find this interesting!" Kevin shouted as he aimed at the masked man.
"Led Lay."
Just as Kevin was about to hit him, the masked man spun in a bit, almost like that of a matador as the attack to bypass him completely. Kevin skidded to a halt and swung an arm at the man, shifting it into a mace. The man dodged once more and Kevin's mace shattered the pillar behind the man.
"Id Lauger."
"Not this time," Kevin frowned a bit as he held his arms up defensively just as the mechanical fist appeared once more and hit him, sending him skidding back a few inches, "Heh."
"Hmm...It seems that this crystalline material is much more durable," the man noted.
"What can I say?" Kevin smirked, "The stuff's not only the richest thing in the universe, it's also capable of cutting through things nothing else can, like that mask once I'm through with you."
"...I see…" the masked man noted, "...then if it's no trouble, I'd like a sample then. Ignis." Ignis appeared at his side, letting Gwen regroup with Kevin.
"Heh...your little puppet doesn't scare me anymore," Kevin smirked, "I…"
"Kevin, hold on," Gwen spoke up, her eyes flashing for a moment, "...There's someone else here."
"Seriously?" Kevin groaned, "Who is it now? Another of this guy's freaky…?"
"Not sure, but I can tell you one thing…" Gwen noted as Carl approached with Nirvana from the shadows, the former's eyes being shaded by his hat, "Whatever's with them had the same thing that happened to Ignis."
"Hmm?" the Masked man raised a slight brow before he spotted Carl, "...Ahh, Carl. What…?"
Before he could finish, Nirvana shot right at him, her arm held out as she got ready to punch him, only for Ignis to counter with her own punch.
"...You…" Carl spoke up, "...I've finally found you, Relius Clover...no. I've finally found you…" he paused as he looked up, showing the hate and rage in his eyes, "Father."
"Aw great...Now we gotta fight the freak and his kid?" Kevin groaned before realizing what he said, "Wait. He had a kid? Guess someone liked the freaky."
Carl ignored him as he glared at the masked man before his eyes widened a bit upon seeing Ignis.
"That…" the young boy whispered before glaring back at Relius, "You…!"
Gwen looked back and forth between them before looking at Ignis and Nirvana fighting nearby, "...He...He used his own wife!"
"...Okay, can I call dibs on cutting his nuts off?" Kevin asked, glaring at Relius.
"You...I've waited all this time…" Carl growled, clenching his fist as he glared at Relius, "I've waited all this time...so I can finally find you...and kill you, father."
Relius didn't seemed fazed by the threat Carl gave him as he just looked at him.
"And now...I'll pay you back...for not only what you did to mother…" Carl paused as he gave Relius a death glare, "But what you did to my sister as well! Ada!" Nirvana moved over to beside Carl and Ignis teleported to beside Relius.
"His daughter, too?" Kevin's eye twitched, "Damn, this bastard just has no morals."
Gwen looked at Carl, her eyes flashing mana briefly, 'There's something in his systems...did he take some sort of drug? And he's injured...'
"..."
"Huh?" Carl looked at Nirvana, "Sis, what is it?"
"..."
Carl looked at Gwen and Kevin, "What do you mean work with them? And...And is that some sort of crystal golem?"
"I ain't no golem, kid," Kevin stated as he shifted his hands into a copy of Nirvana's claws and readied himself for a fight with Relius and Ignis, "Hope you're ready for a fight, kid."
"..."
"...I understand, sis," Carl nodded as he stood ready, "I'll work with them for now."
"How amusing," Relius observed, looking at the four ready to fight, "I am a bti curious on how you've changed, Carl...Very well. I'll humor you for the time being. Ignis."
"Ada!"
With that, the two robot-like puppets charged, their arms stretched out as their fists collided with each other, resulting in a powerful shockwave. Gwen fired a few spheres at Relius and Kevin charged in with his claws, intent on slashing Relius.
Meanwhile, back over with Ben and Ragna, the two were struggling with their own fights as Terumi was overpowering the latter while Gamma-03 made it hard for the former to get a blow in as NRG, a few more dents evident on his armor. A grunt from NRG came from another blow by Gamma.
'This is not good. While those claws haven't cut into it yet, they sure have been making my armor uncomfortable to wear,' Ben thought, 'And I'm not sure if Ragna could handle this guy's real form under the armor.'
It was then Gamma slammed a fist right into the Omnitrix emblem, knocking NRG back with a flash of green light. When it faded, a black thing slammed into the monolith and pooled into a puddle. It twitched before quickly forming a humanoid-like form that had a white underbelly, the Omnitrix symbol on the chest, and green circuit designs all over the black part of the body, making a power-on symbol the face.
=Ugh= the alien groaned, shaking his head =Huh?= he looked at himself =She must have hit something on the Omnitrix by accident= if he had a mouth, he'd be smirking =Still, I can work with this. Time to give Gamma a little...Upgrade=
"...Reevaluating threat level…" Gamma said as she scanned him, "Threat level 8.5...response; elimination."
With that, Gamma became a blur as she aimed one of her claws at Upgrade's head, intent in terminating him. She swung and Upgrade made his body split down the middle, avoiding the claws. He then reformed himself..keeping her hand connected to him.
=Haven't done this in a while with a technorganic= Upgrade noted before his body began to meld with Gamma's armor.
Gamma tensed up a bit at this as she tried to shake the weird slime creature off. Upgrade managed to stay on, attaching himself to her other claws when she tried to rip him off. Terumi, having moved back from Ragna, glanced to see that everything that this new form was covering on Gamma was getting more streamline and advanced...far more advanced than what they could currently do. He jumped over another swing from Ragna's blade as he went back to playing with the silver-haired man.
"Grr...damn it! Hold still!" Ragna growled as he tried slashing him again.
"Mmm….no," Terumi responded as he leapt back from the attack, "Instead, how about I give you this? Infernal coils!"
With that, three venom green energy rings surrounded Ragna, holding him in place before Terumi used one of his chains to pull the silver-haired man towards him. He then proceeded to deliver a series of fast slashes on Ragna before pausing for a moment, three venom green energy snakes appearing behind the snake-eyed man before he delivered another strike, the energy snakes colliding with Ragna as he was sent flying back. Terumi smirked before a fist slammed into his face, sending him crashing into the monolith.
"What the…?" Terumi looked at Gamma, seeing all her armor was now covered in black and highly-upgraded with her face covered in a visor with the Omnitrix on her chest and Upgrade's 'face' on the mask.
=Ugh…= Upgrade groaned =Not sure how long I can keep this under control= he had Gamma point at Terumi =but I'll use what time I do have before she can get me off to kick your ass, Terumi!=
"...Fine," Terumi smirked a bit, "While Rags is resting, I'll play with you for a bit, Benny-boy! Or…" he paused as he snickered a bit, "Should I call you Benny-chan since you're like this?"
=How about we just settle for me kicking your ass= Upgrade-Gamma replied as she rushed at Terumi, swinging her glowing green claws at him.
"Very well. Let's dance, bitch!" Terumi grinned, summoning Ouroboros as he sent the chains at Upgrade-Gamma.
'These things...They're moving so slow to me now,' Ben thought, seeing the snakes move at a snail's pace to him before Upgrade-Gamma caught all the chain in one hand and tore through them with the claws of the other, '...Just how powerful are these Murakumos?'
"Serpent's Infernal Rapture!"
Upgrade-Gamma tensed a bit as she backed up from Terumi's rising kick attack before quickly blocking a strike from the snake-eyed man's daggers. Her 'face' glowed before a wide-spread beam erupted out of it at Terumi. Terumi quickly brought up his arms to block it as the beam impacted with him, sending him skidding back a few feet. When the dust settled, Terumi was glaring straight at Upgrade-Gamma.
"Infernal Coils!"
The same three energy rings appeared around Upgrade-Gamma as another of Terumi's snake chains headed straight towards her. For a brief moment, Upgrade-Gamma struggled before swinging her claws, breaking the chains.
=HAH! Gotta try h…= Upgrade-Gamma began before she started to spasm and grabbing her face, 'Aw crud! Can't. hold. her. back!'
Gamma let out a roar as she tore Upgrade off her, her armor back to normal, and threw him at Ragna, hitting the guy and knocking him flat on his back.
"Watch it!" Ragna snapped as the two got up.
=You watch it…= Upgrade groaned.
"Hey, you were the one who crashed into me!" Ragna argued.
=Well I wasn't the one who got thrown like a ragdoll!= Upgrade argued.
"Why you…= both growled.
"Terumi…" Gamma spoke up, her voice not so monotone as she glared at the two arguing, "May I kill these two now?"
"No, no, no...allow me," Terumi answered as he began walking up to Upgrade and Ragna, "Hey. If you two are done arguing, what say we end this little fight of ours?"
'This is bad. I only have enough charge to go into one more transformation. Ugh! I need that Master Control un...Lightbulb,' Ben thought as Upgrade looked at Ragna =I have an idea, but I need you to keep them distracted= before Ragna could say anything, Upgrade slapped his Omnitrix symbol, releasing a flash of light that faded to reveal nothing there, 'Okay…' a tiny frog-like alien that Ben became thought, hiding in Ragna's pocket, 'Time to see if this works or not…'
"...I dunno what you got planned, kid…" Ragna began as he gripped the hilt of his blade, "But you better hurry it up."
"Oh? Think you can take both of us on now, Rags?" Terumi smirked, twirling one of his daggers like a pro before stopping, "Very well then, as some of the young people would say...come at me, bro!"
"Gladly...Hell's Fang!" Ragna roared as he swung a fist at Terumi.
Terumi just smirked as he sidestepped the attack. He continued to dodge the flurry of attacks Ragna sent his way before he backed up into the monolith.
"Got you!" Ragna shouted as he got ready to punch Terumi, only for Terumi to dodge as he moved out of the way, causing Ragna's fist to hit the monolith, "Damn it!"
"Heh….gotcha."
"Huh?" Ragna blinked before he cried out in pain as the monolith shocked him before he was sent flying back, "Grr...bastard…" Ragna growled as he got up, gripping his blade, "Carnage…!" he began before tensing up, the silver-haired man having trouble pulling his blade out, "...what the…?"
"Heh...what's wrong Rags? Can't use that Grimoire of yours?" Terumi smirked, "Well...that's what you get for punching that monolith...then again, you were so intent on trying to hit me, you didn't even notice I was setting you up for it."
"The monolith?" Ragna repeated.
"Yup. You see a 'friend' of mine set a special defense system incase anyone tried to attack the Monolith or Cauldron," Terumi explained, "Gamma, care to explain?"
"Of course. Anything mechanical or powered by Siethr is shut down the moment they try to hit the monolith," Gamma explained, "In short, your Grimoire became useless the moment you hit the monolith, Bloodedge."
"Grr…!"
"Oh? Are you upset, Rags?" Terumi asked with a smirk, "I mean, you gotta know you can't beat me. I mean, I was tossing you around like a ragdoll while Gamma was busy with that brat. Though..." he paused as he tapped his chin a bit, "Maybe I did play a little too hard. Just be thankful I didn't use my Astral Heat on you."
"You bastard…" Ragna growled.
"But I think I'm getting off track here," Terumi admitted, "Oi, Kusanagi."
Mu-12 didn't say anything as she appeared right next to him.
"How about you head on over to the Cauldron and…" Terumi paused as he gave a dark grin, "...kill the shit out of Amateratsu?!"
"...Acknowledged," Mu responded as she disappeared.
"Wait, Noel! Don't…!" Ragna began before Gamma harshly kicked him in the stomach, sending him crashing into the ground.
"Woah there, Rags ol' buddy ol' pal, you're being a little pushy," Terumi 'scolded' him, "Also, she's got a name, you know! Kusanagi! Not Noel. Noel's just a puppet." He then smirked as he pointed at Ragna, "Just like you, Rags. She's just somebody else's puppet."
"...Kid, you better be done," Ragna whispered as he stood up, gripping the spot Gamma kicked him in, "I'm about ready to lose it any second now."
"Hold on. Almost there aaaaaaand…" Greymatter replied before a beep went off.
=MASTER CONTROL UNLOCKED. 1,000,912 SELECTABLE ALIEN SPECIES NOW AVAILABLE=
"Say what?" Terumi raised a brow, everyone hearing that.
"Bingo," Greymatter grinned as he jumped out of Ragna's pocket, changing into Ben, "Just in time, too. I was timing out just before it unlocked."
"...So that's where you were hiding," Terumi noted, "Heh...thought you turned tail and ran."
"Nah. Just needed some time to even the playing field," Ben replied, turning into Upgrade without touching the Omnitrix =And trust me…= he shifted into Feedback, "I've been dying to try out some of the forms I haven't unlocked." he looked at Ragna, "You think you can still keep going, Ragna?"
"Yeah...just a bit," Ragna nodded as he glared at Terumi, "I'm not gonna rest until I kick that bastard's ass."
"Good," Feedback nodded, "Dibs on the dragon girl than."
"Reevaluating…" Gamma examined Feedback as he shifted into XLR8 and rushed at her, turning into NRG at the last second to deliver a radiation-engulfed lariat, hitting her hard in the face as she staggered back a bit, "...Threat Level...unknown. Response...immediate termination."
"I think not," NRG replied, shifting into Fasttrack and zipping back to dodge the claws that had tried to impale him, "I just love Master Control."
"Well...this is new," Terumi noted before he jumped back from a slash from Ragna, "...Seriously? You're gonna fight me in that condition, Rags?"
"I'm gonna rip your goddamn head off!" Ragna growled.
"...Heh, fine," Terumi smirked as Ouroboros appeared around him, "Have it your way."
Back at the fight with Relius, Kevin was getting annoyed. Every time he cut through one of those dang giant puppet limbs, another would take its place to hit him. He had to admit that the kid was doing good at avoiding the attacks even if all his smaller puppets were having issues of trying to hit Relius. As for Gwen...
"Interitum Spiralem!" Gwen called out, sending a sphere at Ignis, the sphere spiraling into a massive drill as it got inches away from her, earning a drill made from Ignis's claws in return to block it before Ignis made a backflip to avoid a swipe from Nirvana.
"Ignis…" Relius spoke up, dodging another strike from Kevin, "Geara Act."
Ignis's claws became saw blades as she fired them at Gwen. Gwen performed a cartwheel to dodge the blades. They curved back at her, but Nirvana rushed to blocked the blades with her claws, sparks flying from the blades colliding.
"Val Lanto," Relius commanded as he side-stepped another swing of Kevin's claws before making a hop back to avoid the little knight and its large lance from Carl.
The tassels on Ignis's 'hat' surrounded her once more as she charged forward, the saw blades already out as the robot-like puppet charged at Gwen.
"Ada!"
Nirvana moved between Gwen and Ignis, readying her own claws as she grabbed the spinning saws, causing more sparks to appear as Nirvana held Ignis back.
"Hmm….interesting," Relius noted, side stepping another strike from Kevin, "You've improved Nirvana quite a bit since I last saw you, Carl."
Carl just gave an enraged growl at him as he sent another knight-themed puppet at Relius, only for Relius to summon another of the large, mechanical hands as it punched the knight puppet back. Carl barely avoided the returned puppet, the knight shattering when it struck a pillar.
"However, you may need to improve your other creations," Relius added, dodging yet another one of Kevin's strikes and knocking him back with a large mechanical fist.
"Yeesh, this guy's tough," Kevin scowled as he regrouped with Gwen and Carl, "Any ideas you two can offer?"
"We need to try to disable Ignis. If we can do that, all four of us can attack Relius at four different directions," Gwen suggested.
"I have an idea on how to do that," Kevin replied before putting his hands on Nirvana's claws and giving them a coating of taedenite, "There we go."
"What did you do to her?!" Carl growled at Kevin.
"Relax, kid, her claws are coated in a material that can cut through nearly anything," Kevin replied as Nirvana lightly scratched a thick piece of debris beside them, cutting through it like a blazing-hot knife through warm butter, "That should give her an edge over the puppet lady over there."
"...I see," Carl noted as he looked at Nirvana, "Sis, are you okay with this?"
"..."
"Okay, Sis," Carl nodded.
"Good. Now…" Kevin paused as he looked over at Gwen, "What do we do about those robot arms he keeps summoning?"
"He can't have an infinite amount of them. Just keep destroying them, Kevin, and I think he'll run out soon enough," Gwen assured.
"Hope you're right," Kevin said as he turned back towards Relius, "Because this guy is seriously asking for it."
Relius seemed to just stand there as Ignis stayed near him, ready to attack at any moment. Silence befell the room as the two groups stood ready. Kevin cracked his knuckles as Gwen covered her hands in sphere of mana. Carl adjusted his hat while glaring at Relius and Nirvana stood at the ready. A few seconds past until a piece of stone fell off one of the pillars as it hit the ground.
"Ada!/Ignis."
The two robot like puppets immediately charged at each other as they clashed, their arms almost completely blurs as they traded blow after blow. Nirvana managed to swing and strike Ignis's left claws, slicing right through it with ease. Ignis seemed to wince as she moved back from Nirvana, gripping the limb that was just cut.
"Ignis, G-" Relius began before jumping back from a sphere of mana, the masked man summoning two mechanical arms to block the incoming barrage.
Kevin roared as he cut through the two arms. Relius was about to dodge before Kevin managed to grab him by the shoulder.
"I don't think so!" Kevin shouted, reeling back his free arm as he clenched his fist, "Now eat this, ya masked freak!"
Relius was silent as Kevin's fist impacted with his face, sending the masked man flying towards a pillar before Ignis caught him with her good arm.
"Now that felt a bit better after all that annoyance with your puppet stuff," Kevin smirked.
"Hey…" Carl frowned.
"No offense, kid," Kevin rolled his eyes.
"...interesting…" Relius spoke up, his mask cracked on the side as he wiped a bit of blood from his mouth, "Had my mask not taken most of the blow, I would have been heavily injured."
"Well guess what: there's more where that came from," Kevin smirked, shifting his hand into a mace, "And this time, with spikes."
"Hmmm...It appears that I will need to relocate for the time being," Relius noted before snapping his fingers, "Ignis."
Ignis nodded as she flew up into the air, avoiding a strike from Kevin and Nirvana.
"I apologize for ending this battle so soon," Relius stated as he looked down at the group, "But I am done examining for the time being. Plus...I am needed else."
"What?! No...I won't…!" Carl began as Ignis flew off into the shadows, "Ada, don't...don't…" he panted as he fell to his knees, the young boy now panting heavily.
"Easy now," Gwen advised as she caught Carl before he could fully collapse, her eyes glowing briefly, "Carl, listen to me. Did you put something into your system to help you get here and fight?"
"...Y…yes…" Carl panted, "I...I heard he was…here and...I…" he paused as he tried to stand up, "I...I can't...let him...get away now….not...not when I….I…" he couldn't finish as he slowly began to lose consciousness.
"Just rest for now, Carl," Gwen assured as she gently picked him up, "Kevin, we need to get Carl to Ms. Litchi." she looked over at Nirvana, standing and just staring at them, "Can you follow us or do you want Kevin to carry you."
"What?" Kevin asked.
"..."
"S...sis says...she'll...follow...you…" was all Carl said as he finally lost consciousness.
"Let's get going," Gwen ordered.
"What about Ben?" Kevin asked, pointing a thumb over his shoulder to the stairs.
"Knowing him, Ben's probably done something so crazy that it worked," Gwen replied, "Now come on! Whatever Carl put into himself is damaging his body internally right now."
"Got it," Kevin nodded as the group made their way out of the wrecked hall, looking back at the area Relius once stood, '...Next time I see that guy, he's good as dead.'
Back with Ben and Ragna, the two were having different results in their fights. For Ben, with the Master Control unlocked, he was managing to stay even with Gamma, often switching between NRG and Swampfire to block or regenerate before fighting back with a heavy-hitter or lightning-fast alien. As for Ragna, he was currently sporting tears in his clothes, exposing cuts of different depths as blood dripped from the opened wounds. Terumi had a twisted grin on his face as he enjoyed the looks of pain he gave Ragna each time he cut into him, or delivered a hard kick to his head, side, or one of the spots he cut him in.
Gamma, in the meantime, was paying close attention as Ben changed into one of his more faster aliens. When she caught track of him, she quickly thrusted one of her arms forward, sending forth a small barrage of galaxy colored energy arrows at her target. A flash of light later and Swampfire grunted as he was torn through by the arrows, the burning holes left behind sealing up.
"Man...That still stings, you know," Swampfire noted.
"Awwwww...Poor little old Rags! Doesn't he just look pitiful?" Terumi taunted, "That little grimoire you're so damn proud of won't do shit against me! Totally worthless! Hahahaha!"
"God...damn...it…" Ragna grunted.
"Huh? Are...are you upset? You aren't upset are you, Rags? I mean...you've gotta know you can't beat me, right?" Terumi smirked, "Hm...Maybe I did play a little too hard."
"You...bastard…" Ragna growled before one of the snake chains hit him hard in the chest, "Gaah!"
"But hey. Look it at this way…" Terumi began with a twisted grin, "At least that self-righteous bitch of yours is off napping in the dark somewhere..."
"...! What did you do to Rachel?" Ragna growled out before he was delivered more strikes, "Gah! GUAAAAAH!" XLR8 caught Ragna before turning into NRG to block claws that tried to impale him from Gamma, "You twisted...son of a bitch…!"
"Darn...well this is frustrating," Terumi frowned a bit, "...Oh, not fighting you. That's...I mean, it's not even a challenge really. But that's kinda the problem, you know? Whatever you do, I know you can't win. So this is just...kinda boring. And Takamagahara..." he paused before scoffing a bit, "Man, do they get my shorts in a knot."
"Screw that...I...I can still fight," Ragna argued, "I swore to myself...that I'd...never give up...I...I'm going...to fight...as a human...until the very end!" his Azure Grimoire tried to activate again, "Until the very end!" he weakly smirked, "So Terumi, it's time to 'play.' Bring it on…"
"...Ouroboros!" Terumi shouted, the snake chains heading straight for Ragna as they slashed him in an x-shaped pattern.
"Gah!"
"Picked a great time to grow a pair, Didn't ya?!" Terumi frowned, delivering more hits, "So you're gonna play with me, huh? I don't think you understand how this shit works!"
"GAAAH!"
"DIE DIE DIE!" Terumi roared as he continued to strike Ragna over and over again.
"Ragna!" FourArms exclaimed before turning into a short, stubby, plump, dirty-yellow alien that bounced the arrows sent at him off, "Even if I'm indestructible as The Worst at the moment, that still hurts, ya know!"
Gamma ignored that as she appeared before him and kicked him hard into the monolith.
"Yeah, that's it! Go ahead and Beg for mercy!" Terumi grinned in a twisted manner, relishing in Ragna's screams of pain, "Fat lot it's gonna do ya, but I do so love to hear you scream!"
"Just...shut the hell...up…" Ragna grunted before he was stabbed in the hip, "GAAAH! ...You bastard!"
"Ragna…" The Worst grunted as he tried to get up, only for Gamma to pin him to the ground.
"Well Ragna ol' boy...it's time to say goodbye…" Terumi whispered as he moved his arm forward, sending another of his snake chains at the weakened Ragna, "Now die!"
It nearly reached him before something moved in its path, surprising them. The thing that blocked the path was a Murakumo Unit that wore a tight-fitting gunmetal-grey bodysuit and silver patches of armor with yellow gems in spots on her. A mask covered her eyes while her long blond hair was done in a braided ponytail.
"...Rag...na…" the Murakuro gasped out, blood splurting from the injury on her back.
"Another one?" The Worst groaned as he turned into Big Chill and phased through Gamma's arm and moved away from her, shifting to NRG.
"...Lambda-11?" Gamma whispered as she scanned the injured Murakumo unit, "...No...Nu-13?"
"Nu...what?"
"Damn it. You godforsaken puppet!" Terumi snapped, sending another attack just at her, making more blood spill, "Just get the hell out of my way! Go ahead and die together!"
"Ah!" the girl gasped as her visor shattered, revealing a face that NRG recognized as a red-eyed version of Noel's.
'What is with these units and look like Noel?!' Ben snapped mentally.
"Hey, Nu!" Ragna, specks of her blood on him, gasped.
"Ragna..." Nu whispered, blood trickling from her mouth as she gave a weak smile, "Ahh...Ragna. It's been a long time…" Ragna caught the falling Murakumo, holding her close, "For...for so long, Nu was all by herself...out in the Boundary...I kept...I kept dreaming about...you…" she looked up at him weakly, "That's why...Nu wasn't lonely…"
"I'm so sorry…" Ragna apologized as Nu began to glow softly and fade away, "Nu…"
"Nu will...forever be...by your side...Ragna…" Nu whispered as she faded away completely, leaving Ragna holding empty air.
"Who vas zat?" NRG pondered as Ragna began to glow softly.
"Gu...Uuu…" Ragna choked back a sob, "This is bullshit! Why the hell did you die for me?!"
"...tch, pitiful…" Gamma scoffed a bit, "Dying over something so weak." She then looked over at NRG, "That 'thing' you saw was Lambda-11...but strangely...she was Nu-13. In a sense...they were my sisters...my weak sisters."
"Wha-?! Kokonoe, how did you get into my head?!" Ragna snapped at the air, "...Idea Engine? Hey, Kokonoe!"
"Veak?" NRG repeated as he looked at Gamma.
"Yes...they were weak because of one thing…" Gamma stated, "They let their emotions get the best of them. Emotions like love...kindness...all those things are unnecessary."
"Hey, uh, guys? It really kind of hurts when you just forget about me like that," Terumi noted with a frown, "I mean, I know you've got your own stuff going on, and I'll be honest, that little soap opera and what you two are chatting about was a real hoot to watch, but I…" his eyes widened as he looked at Ragna, who was trembling, "Whoa...what this feeling?"
"...Terumi...Terumi…" Ragna growled as he pointed at him, "I will never forgive you!"
"You won't forgive me? Like I give a damn! Shut up and die already!" Terumi snapped.
"You zink zat emotions are for ze weak?" NRG growled at Gamma, "You are wrong! Emotions are vat makes us strong! And I vill prove it to you, little kinder!"
Ragna clutched his pointing hand into a fist, the red orb on the back opening up to let out an azure light, "Restriction 666 released."
"We went through this! Are you stupid or what?" Terumi snorted as a purple aura began to ebb off Ragna.
"Dimensional interference field deployed!" Ragna continued.
"How will you prove it then?" Gamma asked NRG as this was going on.
NRG slapped his Omnitrix and a flash of light occurred. Standing in his place was an alien as big as Humongusaur, possibly even bigger. He had a green and white body with large cylinders on his arms, specifically near his wrists, that were full of a green energy with dark green bubble-like spheres that moved constantly. He had the same energy on his Omnitrix-shaped chest. His head was a pointed, armored helmet with green solid eyes in it.
"ATOMIX!" the alien declared.
"Now engaging the Idea Engine!" Ragna went on.
"...What?" Terumi questioned.
"It's time I showed you the TRUE power of the Azure!" Ragna declared, "BlazBlue ACTIVATE!" the aura around him intensified, turning blood red and acting more like a constantly tattering and repair aura now, "Time to die, you degenerate son of a bitch!"
SZ: And thus ends part 1 of the final chapter of this arc.
GT: Oh-hoh-hoh~! Gamma Vs the unbeatable Atomix and Ragna vs Terumi! This is gonna be epic!
SZ: Indeed. But don't forget, our two heroes have one more obstacle to deal with after dealing with those two...Noel, AKA...Mu-12.
GT: Hoo boy...That's gonna be a pain in the tush, even with Master Control and Ben not wanting to use Alien X.
SZ: Indeed. Will Ben and Ragna be able to snap Noel out of it, or is she too far gone? That minna...you'll have to wait for until part 2.
GT: Aye! See you all then, minnya! *waves*
SZ: Yup. Enjoy, fave, and hopefully leave a review. Until next time, I'm Seanzilla115, and he's GammaTron, bidding you all a good day.