A/N: Hey guys! New Chapter time! Time to see how the newest arrival reacts to Ben's secret! I've got nothing much else to say, so let's go! This is…

Chapter 35: Afternoon Delights

…..

"So, let me get this straight." Noire was sitting down on the couch in the living room with her hands pressed up together and rested against her chin, her elbows resting upon her knees. Jaune and Pyrrha were sitting on either side of her while Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Cooper stood in front of them, having told the policewoman their whole story. Yang, Ruby and Coco were also in the room, adding details to the story where need be. Noire sat up straight and pointed her hands in Gwen's direction. "You, your family, and your friends are from an alternate dimension."

The Anodite nodded. "That's right."

Noire pointed over to Ben. "And you have the ability to transform into any alien you want?"

Ben raised the Omnitrix. "You got it."

She pointed over to Kevin. "And the rest of you have natural powers because of your alien heritage."

Kevin crossed his arms. "Yep, pretty much."

Cooper raised his hand. "Well, actually, my powers come from a mutation but that's beside the point."

"Uh-huh." Noire focused back to her brother. "And all through this past week, you all've been fighting bad guys who've managed to escape here from their dimension?"

"Yeah, that's basically the full gist of it." Jaune confirmed.

"There's been a lot going on, Noire." Pyrrha said. "After the attack on Beacon, we all thought we would be worse for wear. But with Ben, Gwen and Kevin around, we've had some great positive reinforcement to our lives going forward."

Coco strolled up and put a hand on Cooper's shoulder. "Yeah, and Tech Head helped get Vale's power back online in less than three days! These guys are real heroes, let me tell ya."

"Plus, it's been awesome fighting interdimensional criminals." Ruby added.

"Yep, plus…" Yang wrapped her arms around Ben, the hero more than happy to hug back. "This guy right here has been showing me a great time."

"So, what do you think?" Jaune asked. "Can you keep our secret?"

Noire glanced between all of them before letting out a sigh. "Guys, I'm sorry, but I can't exactly keep a secret if I don't believe it. Because quite honestly, this all sounds like one of those elaborate set ups for a "gotcha!" joke. Or a "just kidding!" sort of thing. Unless I see substantial proof, I just can't—" Just then, a bright green flash of light was all that Noire could see for a couple seconds. Once her vison cleared, she was taken aback by what she could only describe as a tall blue and black cat thing was standing in front of her, staring at her with it's gleaming green eyes as it yelled out;

"Fasttrack!" The Citrakayah smirked down at her as he crossed his arms. "Well, do you believe now?"

"B-b-b-BEN?!" Noire hollered.

"Uh-huh, and check this out!" Fasttrack sped out of the room and a split second later, he came back with a glass full of apple juice. "See? Told you I was the real deal. Also, not a drop spilled."

Gwen made a pink mana plate in her hand and Fasttrack set the juice on it, much to Noire's shock. Gwen levitated it over to her with a polite bow; "Your juice, madame."

"Uh… thanks?" Noire grabbed the juice and Gwen stepped out of the way just in time for the elder Arc to see Kevin absorbing the wood of the coffee table. Her jaw dropped as she let out a breathy laugh. "Ah, heh, okay, I've seen plenty. You've convinced me." She smiled at them. "And don't worry, your guys' secret is safe with me."

In another green flash, Ben changed back to normal. "Thanks, Noire. It means a bunch to us."

"No problem. But, might I ask, why did you feel the need to tell me?"

Ben shrugged. "Well, with you and your family coming here, we knew it'd be hard to keep our secret from you guys. So, we decided to just tell you right off the bat. Jaune trusts you, so that means we do to. I mean, heck, your dad already knows about it."

"He does?!" She frowned a little bit. "Then why didn't he tell us?"

"Probably because he didn't want anyone in your home town to catch wind of it." Kevin explained. "Only a few people know about our secret, and it's better if we kept it that way. If word got out about aliens in Vale there'd be mass panic."

"I suppose your right." Noire took a sip of her apple juice before continuing. "Still, a bit more of a heads up would've been nice. Like, I don't know, maybe a: "hey, Jaune's got some cool new friends, they've got some neat powers!", that sort of thing. You know, tell me without actually telling me?"

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Sis, you and I both know that dad can be kind of a derp. Knowing him, he probably didn't even think of something like that."

Noire was about to retort, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was a distinct possibility. "Yeah, okay, you're probably right."

Jaune smiled at her. "And hey, wasn't seeing it first hand a bit more exiting anyway?"

"Well, to be honest, I was a whole MESS of emotions during that little kerfuffle, but yeah, excitement was definitely one of them."

"What kind of word is kerfuffle?" Ruby wondered to herself out loud.

"But regardless, I'm glad you trust me with your secret." Noire gave a thumbs up. "And I'll be happy to keep it. But good luck with my sisters. Verte and Violette are TOTAL gossips and I have no IDEA how Blanche will react."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Why? Isn't she your twin?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Noire gave her brother a worried glance. "She's also still upset that you went to Beacon, Jaune. And even more upset that you didn't come home with dad. She almost came out here by herself a few days ago just so she could drag you back home herself, but mom, dad and I convinced her otherwise."

Jaune's face fell at that. "Oh, jeez. I-I didn't mean to hurt any of you guys like that. I just… wanted to be here with my friends is all."

Pyrrha lowered her head. "Jaune, please don't blame yourself. If anything, I am the one who was injured after the attack. If I hadn't been…"

"No, Pyr, please." Jaune got up and moved over to her side of the couch, wrapping an arm across her shoulders. "I don't want you to blame yourself either. What's happened can't be changed." He gave her a grin. "Besides, compared to being in my home town, what we've been doing here is a LOT cooler, right?"

Pyrrha looked up at Jaune, a smile of her own coming to her lips. "Heh, well, I suppose so, yes."

Noire playfully narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Hey, are you saying that our home is boring, Jaune?"

"Aw, you know what I meant!" Jaune waved. "Besides, you gotta admit that there's not much to do there."

Noire rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Oh jeez. I hear this enough from Saph, now I gotta here it from you too?"

"Hey, she and I are on the same wave length with this!" Jaune pointed out.

It was at that point that Yang stepped forward. "Alright, you two, we can exchange stories from home later, but right now," She turned to Jaune and Pyrrha. "I believe you guys got some wolf puppy boot camp to go to, right?"

Jaune slapped his forehead. "D'oh! Right! C'mon Pyr, we'd better get on that!"

"You're absolutely right." Pyrrha got up and smiled down at Noire. "Sorry to talk and run, but we have some training to do."

Noire chuckled as she got up. "Hehe, that's okay. In fact, I'll join you. I love watching puppies play."

"Not a bad idea." Gwen commented. "You guys have fun, okay?"

"Are you sure you don't want to join us, Gwen?" Pyrrha asked. "You're always welcome."

But the Anodite shook her head. "Sorry, but I said that I'd show Ruby and Nora the Pokémon anime when we got home, and I'm not about to go back on a promise." She shifted her gaze to her cousin. "Ben, what about you? You want to join us?"

The hero shook his head. "No thanks, you go on ahead, Gwen." He wrapped his arms across Yang's shoulders. "I already promised Yang that we'd go back to bingeing Batman downstairs."

"Yep, and we've got a LONG way to go." Yang said. "But… we might stick around for just one episode, just so I can get a feel for it once Ben and I start bingeing it ourselves."

Ben nodded. "Well alrighty then, we've reached a good compromise!"

But Noire was just plain confused. "Poké-what? Bat-who? Am I missing something here?"

"Oh, they're just a couple of cartoons from our world." Gwen explained. "We brought a bunch of media from our world with us when we were transported here, including five DVD cases full of movies and TV shows."

"Ah, got it." But then Noire realized something. "Aw, crap. When my little sisters get wind of this, they're going to want to see everything you guys have to offer."

Ben winced at that. "Ooh, yeah, didn't think of that. Well… I think we'll be able to handle it. I mean, what's the worst that could happen?" He watched as Jaune and Noire gave him questioning stares that he could tell said; 'Are you seriously asking that?'. Ben gave a nervous laugh. "Uh, hehe, I guess a lot."

Jaune shook his head. "Hey, it's your funeral dude." He turned back to Pyrrha and waved his hand out the door. "Shall we?"

Pyrrha giggled. "Hehe, of course." And with that, they went back out to the kitchen, with Noire trailing behind them.

Kevin sighed as he watched them leave. "Well, that was a lot easier than I expected."

Ben nodded. "Yeah, could've been a lot worse… hopefully her twin sister doesn't pulverize us."

Yang pat him on the shoulder. "It's okay. She won't be hurting anyone on my watch. But hey, at least we know it's because she loves brother."

"True that." Kevin moved his attention to Coco and Cooper. "What about you guys? You goin' home?"

Coco gave a shrug. "Eh, maybe in a little while. We're in no rush, right Tech Head?"

"Exactly." Cooper confirmed. "We've got plenty of daylight left. Why not hang around for a bit? Heck, I'd be up to watch some Pokémon."

"Sure, why not?" Coco paused for a moment. "By the way, what the hell's a Pokémon?"

"I'll explain it ALL to you while Gwen gets the DVDs." Ruby said with excitement lined in her voice. "C'mon! Let's get some snacks! This is gonna ROCK!"

Before the cloaked girl could rush out of the room, Gwen called out to her. "Ruby, hold on a sec!" With the silver eyed girl's attention directly on her, the Anodite gave her a smile. "Could you please go get Nora and anyone else who'd be interested in watching while you guys are out there? It'd save a lot of time."

Ruby gave her own salute. "Aye-aye, captain!" And with that, she zoomed out of the room, leaving a trail of rose petals behind like she always does, with Coco and Cooper hot on her tail.

Ben gave his cousin a smirk. "Oh boy, she's setting her expectations up WAY too high for the anime."

Gwen sighed. "I blame myself. I got her and Nora so hyped on the games, I guess they expect the TV show to be just as good."

Yang quirked an eyebrow. "Why? Is it bad?"

"Well… not exactly." Gwen explained. "It has its great moments, especially in the first thirteen seasons. But the main problem the anime suffers from is its repetitious storytelling."

"And the fact that after season thirteen, it's been VERY inconsistent with it's continuity." Ben added.

"Exactly." Gwen agreed. "Which is why I'm glad we only have the first eight seasons. Original Series through Advanced Battle is a good starting point. Plus, it helps that it's all the original dub and they don't have to go through the whiplash of the main character's voices changing part way through the series."

Yang smirked and crossed her arms. "Jeez, you guys are nerds."

Ben nodded. "You're damn right we are." He and Gwen gave each other a proud fist bump, much to Yang's amusement.

"Hehe, alright, why don't we get downstairs and find those DVDs?" she suggested. "Then we can really get started on our afternoon."

Ben gave her a smirk. "Sounds like a plan to me." He offered her his arm. "Shall we?"

Yang nodded before linking her own arm with his. "We shall."

Kevin began to leave the room as well. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna go work on my car for a bit. I'll see you in a while."

"Alright." Gwen gave him a smooch on the cheek. "Have a good time." And with that, everyone went to work, getting ready for the afternoon ahead of them.

…..

Jaune, Pyrrha and Noire exited the house through the backdoor, out into the brisk Autumn air. Out there waiting for them was Athena, and to their surprise, Blake was also out there with her. The Mistralian Huntress had a bag full of stuff slung over her shoulder, no doubt full of training supplies. She waved over to them, ushering them to come closer. "Ah, great timing you two! Come over and let's get started!"

"Sure, be right there!" Jaune hollered over. Once they got over to where the three were standing, the blonde knight did the first thing that came to mind; addressing Sun and Blake. "Hey guys, didn't know you'd be joining us out here."

"Yeah, neither did we." Sun admitted. "But we'd thought it'd be cool, hanging out at doggy day camp."

Blake shrugged. "Well, there's that, but also…" She reached down and picked Rema up, a small smirk settling upon her face. "This one will not stop following me." She turned the wolf pup around and booped her nose. "You just won't, will you?" Rema gave a small whine in response. "Oh, stop whining, I'm here you silly!" She focused back on the duo. "So here I am, out here so that she won't be sad while training with you guys. I hope you don't mind."

Pyrrha glanced over to her mother, the woman giving her a sympathetic expression. The Invincible Girl smiled and shifted her gaze over to Jaune. They shared a silent nod in understanding and looked back to the cat girl. "Blake…" Pyrrha started, "we've been thinking…"

Blake raised an eyebrow. "About what?"

"Well…" Jaune started. "It's obvious that Rema loves you. A lot."

"And you've bonded with her so quick." Pyrrha continued. "You two are quite the pair from what we've seen. So, we were wondering if you'd like to be Rema's official caregiver and trainer."

From the things he was hearing, Sun's eyes lit up in a heartbeat. "Blake, that's awesome!"

But Blake's eyes widened and her jaw dropped, shock overtaking her in an instant. "Oh, Pyrrha, I couldn't do that to you guys! You found and rescued them, I couldn't take her away from you two!"

"Ah, but you forget, Kevin and Ruby were with us when we found them." Jaune pointed out. "The little guys technically belong to all of us. It just so happens that Rema chose to bond with you."

"Besides, it's not like you're taking her away or anything." Pyrrha reminded her. "We're literally all under one roof."

"W-well… I…" Blake glanced down at Rema in her hands and they locked eyes. At that moment, Blake could feel her heartstrings being pulled, her emotions starting to stir inside her chest as if they were all being smelted together. But one emotion was more powerful than all the rest; love. Blake could feel her attachment to the small, adorable bundle of fur that she was holding, and in that moment, she smiled and shed a few happy tears, bringing in the pup for a gentle embrace. She returned her eyes to Jaune and Pyrrha. "Y-you really mean it? I can have her?"

"Of course." Pyrrha walked over and rest a reassuring hand on Blake's shoulder. "Romulus is ours, and Rema is yours. That's all there is to it."

Blake freed one of her arms and wrapped it around Pyrrha's neck, pulling her into a three-way hug with Rema in the middle. "Thank you, Pyrrha. Thank you so much."

Pyrrha grinned as she returned the embrace. "You're very welcome, Blake."

Sun pumped a fist up into the air in celebration. "Woo! Awesome! I knew that you'd get attached to that puppy, Blake."

The cat girl smirked at him. "Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?"

Noire smiled as she watched from the sidelines, putting a hand over her heart. "Oh my gosh, this is just too sweet!"

"Indeed." Athena concurred. "I had a feeling this would happen. Blake has been opening herself up to many new experiences recently. I can just tell that she is truly happy after what I just witnessed."

Blake saw Jaune walk over, holding Romulus in his arms. She smiled at him as she dried her tears, pulling out of her hug with Pyrrha. "And thank you too, Jaune. It means a lot to me."

"Hey, it's absolutely no problem." The blonde knight ensured. "Besides, we're happy that you've gotten so attached to her."

Blake chuckled as she pet Rema's head. "Heh, yeah, I am too. I don't know why I didn't try and bond with dogs sooner, but here we are." She set Rema on the ground and stood tall. "Alright, so, we ready to get this started, huh?"

…..

Ruby had managed to gather nearly everyone into the room, much to Gwen's surprise. The only exceptions were Winter, Weiss, Ren, Fox and Yatsu, who had opted instead for some extra training out in the front yard. Every now and again, she noticed Nora taking quick glances out the window, her face plastered with a grin every time she saw Ren pull off a successful maneuver against one of his opponents. 'Interesting.' Gwen smirked to herself.

But that's not all she saw, however. As her eyes scanned the room to check if everyone had settled in, she saw Coco approach Cooper, who had sat down on the right end of the couch. The brunette removed her sunglasses and pocketed them before giving Cooper a wink. "The seat next to you taken, Tech Head?"

From what she saw, Gwen could tell that Cooper was quite happy that Coco wanted to sit with him… but his nerves had also amped up a little, causing him to stammer as he wore a smile on his face. "Uh, s-sure, Coco." But then his eyes widened. "Oh! U-um, by which I mean this seat is free. That is IF you want to sit down, I mean I won't blame you if you don't but…"

Coco let out a small laugh before sitting down next to him, getting as close as she possibly could. "There, how's that for an answer?"

Cooper blushed intensely. "It's… uh, okay."

The barrette-wearing girl smiled up at him before patting his shoulder. "Relax, Tech Head, you're absolutely fine."

Gwen chuckled at the sight before clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright everyone, listen up!" The entire room looked at her and she turned on the TV. "Thank you. Okay, so, when we first came to Remnant, Ben and I introduced Ruby and Nora to a little video game called Pokémon. Girls?"

The two girls stood up and walked over and switched on their respective 3DS's, letting the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire intro play in stereo for the entire room to see. Neptune, Coco and Velvet were instantly intrigued, having never seen it before. "Whoa, cool." the blue haired boy commented. "So, what's it about?"

Gwen gestured to the Hooded Huntress. "Ruby, would you like to explain?"

"Sure!" Ruby accessed her game file and went over to the others, showing them her team, consisting of Combusken, Swellow, her shiny Kirlia, Dustox, Mightyena, and her newest member, a Roselia. "Okay, so the basic premise is that you play as a kid who goes around one big region on an adventure to become a Pokémon trainer. You catch and train these Pokémon to battle other trainers and their Pokémon."

Velvet's eyes widened. "Really? That sounds rather…"

Nora raised her hands. "Well, yeah, it sounds bad when you put it like that, but you also make friends with the Pokémon too! See, the Pokémon actually choose to battle alongside humans." The Pink Dynamo showed off her own team as well, consisting of Marshtomp, Breloom, Golbat, Linoone, Beautifly and her latest catch; an Aron.

As Velvet stared at the screen, she was surprised at the revelation. "Wow, so, the Pokémon themselves are sentient beings in that regard?"

From where he and Yang were sitting, Ben nodded. "Exactly. The world belongs to the Pokémon as much as it does to humans."

Ruby continued her explanation. "Along the way, you challenge Pokémon gyms which, when you beat their leader, they give you a badge. Collect all eight in the region and you can face the four best trainers in the region as well as the champion."

"So… does this have anything to do with the show?" Coco asked.

"Well, yes." Gwen answered. "But instead of focusing on multiple protagonists, the show instead focuses on one; a boy named Ash Ketchum, or Satoshi as he is known originally in Japan. Named after the series creator, Satoshi Tajiri, the series focuses on him and his partner Pokémon, Pikachu, as they travel the world in search of new places, people, challenges, and of course, Pokémon."

"Well, that makes things simpler, I guess." Yang commented.

"You'd think." Ben said. "But the Pokémon anime has lasted for about as long as the games have, spanning almost twenty-three years. Now this wouldn't be an issue… if Ash weren't an eternal ten-year-old who never ages."

Coco lowered her sunglasses, giving the hero a questioning gaze. "Seriously?"

Gwen shrugged. "Unfortunately. But still, the anime does have its good moments, especially in the early seasons." She picked up the remote control. "So, with that said, let's kick back, relax, and dive into the world of Pokémon." She pressed play on the remote and the theme song began.

Not a second after the song ended however, Yang said this; "Wow, I will NEVER be able to get that out of my head for as long as I live."

Ben burst out laughing. "Haha! You and every single 90's kid, Goldie Locks, believe me."

…..

Back outside, Jaune was having a bit of difficulty getting Romulus to do… well anything. "C'mon Rommy, please sit?" The wolf puppy simply tilted his head, much to Jaune's disappointment. "You know, like this!" The blonde knight proceeded to act like a dog and sit down on his haunches, his hands touching the ground in front of him. He even went the extra mile and began panting, which only served to further confuse Romulus, and amuse Sun and the ladies. Noire was laughing out loud at her brother's antics while the monkey boy just kept smirking. Pyrrha and Blake were hiding their laughter behind their hands in a vain attempt to be polite.

Athena chuckled as she put a hand down on Jaune's shoulder. "Hehe, um, Jaune, I don't believe it's working."

Jaune peeked out of one eye to see that Romulus was just as confused as when they had started. "Aw man! Why isn't anything working?!"

"'Cause the little guys can't take you seriously when you're acting like them." Sun answered.

After calming down from her giggle-fest, Noire wiped a tear from her eye and stepped forward. "Little bro, as much as I love seeing you do silly stuff, I gotta agree with Sun here. Imitating a sitting dog isn't going to work."

"Well then, what does work?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well," Athena began, "You must be able to show them who the boss is. And that requires being stern with them."

Pyrrha could already feel her heart ache. "Oh… I see. That will be quite the challenge."

"Think of this as recompense." Athena offered. "After giving them nothing but constant praise since you found them, show these pups that it isn't all just fun and games."

Jaune sighed as Romulus began sniffing at his hand. "Man, maybe we shouldn't have been giving them so much attention. Then this would be easier."

"Nonsense." Athena rebuked. "Giving them so much affection has allowed them to imprint on you. This way, they will know that once you give them a command, they will listen to you. You simply need to be assertive about it. Also…" Athena reached into the bag that she kept around her shoulder and pulled out a box of dog treats. "These will certainly help."

Sun raised an eyebrow. "Wait, so why didn't you take those out earlier?"

The woman wore a cheeky grin. "Oh, I just wanted to see how far we could get without them. But enough about that, let's get started." She opened the box, and the moment she did, Romulus and Rema caught a whiff of something that smelled REALLY tasty. "Ah, so you DO smell it, good." Athena handed a treat over to Blake. "Why not try with Rema, Blake? Let's see how connected you two really are."

Blake took the treat. "Well, okay. Doesn't sound too hard." She focused her gaze directly on Rema. "Okay, Rema, I want you too—" But the little dog immediately ran toward Blake and started bouncing up, hoping to get a taste of what that delicious smell was coming from. But Blake wasn't having any of it. "HEY!" With a single raise of her voice, Rema immediately stopped and stood still staring up at her mommy. "NO jumping." Blake set a stern gaze down at the pup. "Now, sit." Rema tilted her head and Blake repeated with a bit more emphasis; "Rema, SIT." The command reached Rema's ears and her rear plopped down on the ground, her tail wagging in anticipation.

Blake broke out in a smile and she delivered the treat to Rema's muzzle. "Good girl!" She pet Rema's head as the little pup gobbled down the treat with gusto. The cat girl looked up at Jaune and Pyrrha with a grin. "See guys? Not that hard."

Jaune and Pyrrha looked at each other and back down to Romulus, who had just watched his sister get a tasty smelling morsel. He was staring up at them as if to say; 'Can I have one too?' Jaune sighed and held out his hand. "Alright, treat me."

"Treat you to what?" Noire asked cheekily.

Jaune narrowed his eyes. "Ha ha." he laughed sarcastically. "You know what I mean, sis." Athena handed him a treat and he stared down at Romulus, who was staring intensively at the biscuit. The pup bounded over and began climbing up Jaune's pant leg, but the knight pulled away. "Oh no, Romulus. If you want this, then you're going to have to do what your sister did okay?" He pointed over to Rema, hoping that Romulus would get the idea. "So… SIT."

At first, Romulus didn't get the idea, but when he saw his sister again do it for Blake again, he finally realized what he should do. He sat his rump down and looked up at Jaune with what the knight could only discern as a happy smile which asked; 'Did I do good, daddy?' Jaune smiled as he lowered the treat down and gave it to Romulus, petting him as the pup ate it up. "Good boy, Rommy! I'm so proud of you!"

Pyrrha jumped at the chance to do it herself. "Oh, now me!" She grabbed a treat and held it up so that Romulus could see it. "Romulus… SIT." The pup sat and Pyrrha gave him his tasty reward. "Oh, good boy! Mommy's so proud, yes she is!"

Athena beamed at how well the training was going. 'This is moving a long much better than I had hoped!' She cleared her throat to gain everyone's attention. "Ahem, alright everyone, it's important to know that you shouldn't over do it on the treats. These are for training use only, understand?" Everyone nodded to her. "Very good! Now," she grabbed the leashes, "let's move on to the "come" command!"

…..

Yang had to admit, she didn't expect just one episode of Pokémon to turn into five, but here she was. Admittedly, Ben too had gotten into it, so she didn't blame him for forgetting about the Bat-a-thon. She had just been so enthralled in the world that the show had set up that she'd forgot what she was doing. It was only when Gwen had reminded them that they excused themselves. Now they were in the kitchen, preparing for their own marathon.

"So, what'd you think of the Pokémon anime so far?" Ben asked. "The first five episodes are basically the opening story arc, so that should give you a good idea of what to look forward to."

"Well, I'll say this;" Yang started, "the voice acting is kinda stilted."

Ben nodded. "Yeah, the dub does kind of have a rocky start to it, but the voice actors improve greatly over the course of the series."

"I figured. Ash is an okay protagonist, even if he's a cocky little kid. Misty's got a firey personality, which I can relate to. And Brock is a pretty chill guy for having so many siblings."

"Yeah, you're telling me." Ben smirked. "Kind of like an inverse of Jaune if you think about it."

"Hehe, yeah." Yang chuckled. "But overall, I liked the start of the show, can't wait to see more! …Oh, and also, that Pokérap can just screw off with how catchy it is! Goddamn it, now I've got TWO songs stuck in my head!"

Ben laughed as he grabbed a plate full of various types of sandwiches. "Heh, preaching to the quire on that one, Goldie Locks. I've had those memorized in my brain since I was eight. They will NOT leave."

Yang sighed as she picked up a bowl full of chips and a dish of dip. "Great, thanks for the heads up." She smirked at him. "Could've warned me before we watched five episodes in a row, you know."

"Haha, hey, how was I supposed to know we'd be up here longer than we planned to?"

The blonde simply shrugged. "Eh, point taken." Just then, the kitchen door opened, with Jaune, Pyrrha, Athena, Noire, Blake and Sun strolling in with Rema and Romulus walking by their sides. Yang smiled at them, setting the dip dish down for a minute to wave at them. "Hey guys, how'd doggy day camp go?"

"It went really well actually." Jaune replied. "Check it out." He focused down on Romulus and began ushering commands. "Rommy, come." The pup scuttled over to Jaune's side. "Rommy, sit." The little wolf sat his rear on the floor, looking up expectedly at the knight. Jaune pointed to the floor. "Rommy, down." With a reluctant whine, Romulus laid down on the floor, only for Jaune to smile before kneeling down and showering the wolf pup with love and affection. "Good boy!"

Ben and Yang's eyes lit up at the sight. "Wow!" The hero exclaimed. "Nice work, guys!"

"Yeah," Yang knelt down and pet Romulus on the head. "They're totally obedient!"

"Well, they aren't fully trained yet." Blake explained. "Watch." She stared down at Rema, lifted a hand and commanded; "Rema, stay." Blake started to walk away, but Rema followed instantly. Blake rolled her eyes, but at the same time she let a small chuckle escape her lips. She lowered herself so that she was staring eye to eye with Rema. "Hah, no, no you silly, I said stay!" The wolf pup only tilted her head. Blake glanced back up to Yang and Ben. "See? Sometimes she gets it, other times, not so much."

"Same with Romulus." Pyrrha confirmed. She pulled out a rope toy that her mother had bought and set it on the ground. "Rommy, leave it." But the moment she moved her hand, Romulus and Rema both attacked the rope, pulling and teething on it like the rambunctious animals they were. Pyrrha sighed and shook her head. "See? We need more work."

"It's like I said." Athena spoke up. "Training these two won't be easy. And it will only get harder and harder the more they grow, because that will be when they learn to hunt and track."

"Yes." Pyrrha put a hand to her cheek. "Still, I never imagined it'd be this hard to get something to listen to you."

Athena chuckled at that. "Hmhm, now you know how I felt when you were a child."

"I beg your pardon?!" Pyrrha blushed.

Noire gave Pyrrha a pat on the shoulder. "Haha, relax, Pyrrha. It's something that all moms say to poke fun. Besides, if she says it, it's probably true."

Pyrrha gave her mother a questioning look, only to be met with a small nod. She gave a relenting sigh. "Alright, very well." She glanced back to Yang and Ben. "Say, is Gwen available yet? I was hoping to get a Zelda session in before days end."

"Oh, hold on, I'll go get her. She's still watching Pokémon with the others, but I'm sure she can squeeze you in." Ben set the plate of sandwiches on the counter and went into the living room, leaving the others to themselves for the moment.

Pyrrha gazed down the hall in slight confusion. "So… what have you guys been up to?"

"Oh, we ended up watching more Pokémon than we expected." Yang answered as she put the chips down next to the dip. "Ben and I kinda lost track of time. Though I won't lie, I thought the show was pretty neat."

Jaune's eyebrows rose. "Huh, maybe we should put that on our "To Watch" list, then."

"Perhaps so." Pyrrha turned back to the hall just in time to see Ben and Gwen come back down the hall way. "Gwen! There you are!"

The Anodite gave a small wave. "Hi Pyrrha, how was wolf training?"

"It was good! We've made a lot of progress. The little ones still need to work on some of the more complex commands, but they have learned much already, nonetheless. So… I was wondering if we could possibly squeeze in a Zelda session before the day ends? I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Oh, no it's fine!" Gwen assured. "I asked Ruby if it was okay for me to leave and she said it was fine with her. Besides, she realized that I've probably seen the Pokemon anime plenty of times over already. She knows how important our playthrough is, so don't worry." A ponderous expression came to her face. "Although, it will be kind of difficult since Ben and Yang got the downstairs while everyone else is in the living room."

Pyrrha put a hand to her chin. "Hmm, that is a problem isn't it?"

At that moment, Sun spoke up from the crowd. "Well, little known fact, but Qrow just happens to have his own personal TV in his room."

Pyrrha broke out into a grin. "Any chance we might be able to use it?"

"Hey, just because Neptune and I are using that room doesn't mean that you need to ask me for permission." Sun insisted. "Just bring up the gaming stuff and we can get started!"

"Excellent!" Pyrrha looked over to the elder Arc sibling. "Noire, care to join us?"

Noire shrugged. "Eh, sure? Why the heck not? Gives me something to do other than stay at my hotel alone, right?"

"Great!" Jaune shouted as he wrapped an arm around his sister. "Glad to have you on board, sis!"

Athena sat down at the table. "Well, then it's settled. You kids have fun, I'll be down here. Perhaps I'll catch up on a bit of reading."

"Okay." Ben said. "Winter and the others will probably be in soon, so I'm sure you'll have some company in a little bit."

"Oh good, thank you for telling me, Ben."

"No problem." The hero looked over to the group and gave them a nod. "Alright guys, I'd say it's show time!"

…..

As Sun and Jaune were bringing up the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube from downstairs, Gwen and Pyrrha brought up complete handfuls of games, many of which they still hadn't gotten the chance to play. Noire and Blake watched over the pups in the meantime. As Gwen climbed the steps, a question popped in her mind. "So, remind me, where did we leave off the other day?" she asked. "So much went down yesterday that I can't remember."

"I believe I finished the Forest Temple." Pyrrha replied. "Why? What's next?"

"Well, that would be the Fire Temple followed by…" Gwen's eyes widened in horror. "I think we'd need to stop after the Fire Temple and move onto a different game."

"What? Why?"

"Because after that is the Water Temple, and trust me, you do NOT want to attempt that place in separate playtimes." Gwen insisted. "It's WAY too convoluted and it's VERY possible to get stuck in there without a guide."

Pyrrha was taken aback as they reached the top of the steps. "Really? It's that hard?"

"YES. I've done it enough times to know what I'm doing, but trust me, it's better to do the entire thing in one sitting. We'll get through it tomorrow and be done with it, okay?"

"Well, alright, I'll take your word on it." Pyrrha made to go into Qrow's room, but she accidentally bumped into Jaune on the way in, spilling a few game boxes. "Oops! Sorry Jaune!"

"Oh! Hey, no problem, Pyr." Jaune bent down to pick the box up. "Here let me get that." He the moment he picked it up though, he was instantly perplexed by what he was even looking at. It appeared to be a humanoid covered in armor of red and gold. It wore a dome shaped helmet with a bright green visor, large spherical shoulder pads, and had a green cannon for a right arm. Jaune had NO idea what to make of it other than the title; 'Metroid Prime'. He glanced up at Gwen and asked; "Uh, Gwen…" he showed her the box. "What kind of game is this?"

Pyrrha squinted to get a better look at whatever it was on the box. "It appears to be some form of robot or something."

A smirk came to Gwen's face. "Not exactly, Pyrrha. That is Samus Aran, and she just so happens to be the protagonist of the Metroid series."

Jaune glanced down at the box and then back to Gwen. "Heh, wow. With all that armor, I wouldn't be able to tell it was a woman OR a man."

"That's the idea." Gwen confirmed as she pointed to the box, "Nobody knew she was a woman when the first ever Metroid game came out, and if you complete the original game in a certain amount of time, that fact would be revealed to you at the end."

"Well that's cool." Jaune flipped the box over to look at the back. "Well, it's got my attention, I'll say that much."

"You might like it. It's a pretty cool first-person action-adventure game that's actually pretty fun. You get to shoot aliens and stuff. But I warn you, it's not easy."

Jaune shrugged. "Hey, sure, why not? I like a good challenge. Soon as Pyr's finished with her Zelda time, I'll give Metroid a whirl."

"Good." Gwen started to head into the room. "Shall we get started, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha began to follow Gwen into the room. "Sure! I'm ready when you are!"

"Hold on a sec." Noire came up from behind and set a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. "Pyrrha, could I talk to you real quick? It'll just take a second."

Pyrrha glanced between her and Jaune, with the blonde knight giving her a smile and a small shrug. The Invincible Girl focused back on Noire and gave her answer. "Um, of course, Noire. No problem." Jaune graciously took the Gamecube games off of her hands and he went into the room with Gwen, leaving Pyrrha and Noire alone to talk. "So, uh, what did you want to talk about?"

Noire smirked, crossing her arms and leaning in Pyrrha's direction. "Alright, sister, I'm gonna level with you and get straight to the point. …You're totally crushing on my brother, aren't you?"

Caught off guard, Pyrrha backed away slightly and let out a nervous laugh. "Uh, hehe, I um, well… it's actually rather complicated you see, I…"

"What's complicated about it?" Noire spread her arms out. "It's so obvious that you like him. And you know what? It's also obvious to me that my brother likes you back. He supports you, comforts you, hell he's even given you a cute nickname! The only thing I'm wondering is why you two aren't together."

Pyrrha lowered her head, the heat in her cheeks intensifying. "Well… that's where it gets complicated."

Noire raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Pyrrha took a deep breath and let it out. "Well… I may have jumped the gun a bit on the night of the attack at Beacon. You see, I was about to go off to face the leader of the attack… and I was certain that it'd be the last fight of my life. So, before I pushed your brother to safety… in the heat of the moment…" She shut her eyes before whispering her answer. "I kissed him"

Noire's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Like… kissed him, kissed him?" Pyrrha gave a fast nod, not risking opening her eyes. Noire took in a deep breath before exhaling sharply. "Whoo boy, NOW I see why it's complicated." She waved her hands frantically. "Okay, okay, it'll all be fine. You guys are obviously still on good terms, so there's gotta be something going on between you two, right?"

"Well, maybe… but we haven't talked about the kiss since it happened. At all."

"WHAT?!" Noire covered her mouth the moment she shouted that before letting out a tiny; "Oh no."

As she suspected, Jaune opened the door and stuck his head out of the room. "What happened?! Everything okay?"

Noire did the first thing that came to her mind, something that she had always done whenever herself and her sister were about to get into trouble; fib. "Yep! Totally fine!" Noire grasped Pyrrah by the shoulder and pulled her into a side embrace. "Pyrrha just told me something REALLY cool that you guys did before I got here!"

"Really? What was it?"

A bead of nervous sweat trickled down Noire's face at her brother's question. She glanced to Pyrrha with pleading eyes, hoping she would catch on. Fortunately, Pyrrha caught sight of it pretty quick and she made something up. "Oh, I was just telling her about our hunt for Dr. Animo and his henchmen a few days ago."

"Yeah! That!" Noire nodded. In reality, she barely had any idea on what the Invincible Girl was talking about, as they hadn't gone into much detail on the bad guys they'd been fighting. But she decided to just roll with it for now.

Jaune pursed his lips with skepticism. "Okay, well, Gwen's hoping to get started soon, so when you guys are ready, come on in and we can get started!" The girls both gave him swift nods as he left, before simultaneously letting out an anxious breath.

"Phew, that was close." Noire remarked. "Okay, I'm going to help you out on this one, Pyrrha."

"You are?" Pyrrha questioned in surprise. "Why?"

Noire offered a simple, kind smile. "Because from what I've seen, it's obvious that you two make each other happy. And if it's one thing I care about as a police officer and a big sister, it's making sure that people are happy." She pulled Pyrrha in and gave her a hug. "I've got your back on this one, trust me."

With her lips turning up into a grin of her own, Pyrrha relaxed and returned the gesture. "Thank you, Noire. Knowing that is a big relief to me. Gwen's been helping me with this all week, but I'm glad that you're willing to help too."

"Hey, no problem." Noire pulled out of the hug. "Now, what say we—" Just then, the ground began to rumble and shake slightly, which sent Noire's instincts into high alert. "Earthquake! Quick, in the door frame!"

But the moment she opened the door, Gwen was already on the otherside, having heard what the elder Arc said. "Hold on! That's no earthquake!"

Just then, the rumbling stopped, catching Noire off guard. "Wait, what?"

"It's Tetrax, he's back from the city. C'mon, let's go!" Gwen, Pyrrha and the others all ran out of the room and hurried down the stairs, with Noire giving chase soon after.

"W-wait, who's Tetrax?! And slow down! You might trip on the stairs!"

…..

Winter watched as Tetrax's ship slowly descended upon the front yard, landing just a few yards away. The group that she was training held back behind her, waiting for the ship to land. She heard the front door to the house open behind her and she moved around to see everyone pouring out of the house, eager to see the Petrosapien. Winter gave them all a single nod. "Excellent, you're all here. I was hoping you would notice."

"Kind of hard NOT to." Ben commented as he, Yang, Ruby, Gwen and Kevin moved up beside her. "If Tetrax is landing here, that means there's probably something important going on. Out of the corner of his eye, Ben saw Max coming out of the Rustbucket, and he quickly made eye contact with his grandfather. "Hey, Grandpa! We got company!"

"I can see." Max remarked. "I didn't expect to see him this soon."

The ship's loading ramp lowered and out stepped Tetrax, his gaze fixated straight on the group. "Ah, good, everyone's here already. That saves me a bit of time."

Noire's jaw dropped as she laid eyes on Tetrax. "Is… Is that…?"

"A real alien? Yes." Ben confirmed as Tetrax made his way over to them. "Noire, meet Tetrax. He's an old friend of mine." The hero looked back at the Petrosapien. "Tetrax, this is one of Jaune's older sisters, Noire. She just arrived on Patch today."

"I see." Tetrax extended a crystalline hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Uh… Likewise?" Noire trepidatiously said before shaking his hand. "Sorry if I'm a bit put off, but I literally just found out about the whole alien thing today and I've never met a real one before in my life. I always thought it'd be a lot more… menacing."

"Completely understandable, Miss Noire." Tetrax assured. "But rest assured that I am an ally, not a menace." He set his sights on Ben once more. "However, I just recently found out that there IS in fact an alien fugitive currently on the loose. News curtesy of Qrow."

Ruby gasped as she rushed to the front. "Uncle Qrow spotted an alien?! Is he with you?"

Tetrax shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. He is currently resting at the military base after his rough encounter. He suffered a sprained arm and a fractured tibia attempting to engage the perpetrator."

Ruby let out another gasp, this one more worried. Yang stepped forward, holding her sister in her arms to comfort her. "Okay, NOW it just got personal. Nobody hurts my family and gets away with it. Who's the asshole that did this?"

Tetrax began to type into his gauntlet. "From Qrow's description, the one who did the deed best resembles this alien criminal. Ben, I know for a fact that you and your team are quite familiar with him." The Petrosapien set the holo-projector on the ground and up came the image of a familiar face.

Ben's eyebrows furrowed as he saw who was causing trouble. "Vulkanus."

Kevin smacked his forehead. "D'oh, great! Now we gotta deal with him?! You think he still remembers that I technically owe him big time?"

"Most likely." Gwen confirmed before looking back up to Tetrax. "So, where is he?"

"From what Qrow reported, he's mining for Dust in the port town of Essen." Tetrax answered. "A place far to the north."

"That is bad." Winter said grimly. "The main export of Essen is Dust. If this "Vulkanus" gets away with all of it, that means that their infrastructure will all but collapse within the year."

Wiess narrowed her eyes. "Allowing our father to swoop in and buy up most of the land for his OWN Dust production. No doubt he will do it while convincing the town that he's just trying to save their livelihood. Watch as he only does it to line his pockets with more money."

"So, what do we do?" Ren asked.

Jaune looked over his shoulder at the green ninja and gave him a thumbs up. "What else? We do what we've been doing and go kick alien butt!"

"Hah, an apt suggestion, Jaune." Pyrrha agreed.

"Yeah, THAT'S what I like to hear!" Nora shouted. "Let's go!"

But Tetrax raised his hand. "Not yet. General Ironwood still needs time to prepare. We leave in the morning, so make sure you all get plenty of rest and eat a good meal before we depart."

Sun nodded. "Sounds good. Once we apprehend him, we might just be back in time for lunch."

"That is, IF we beat him." Neptune pointed out. "We can't always be so lucky."

"Maybe not." Blake shrugged. "But considering our numbers, we might be able to overpower him."

"Perhaps…" Tetrax started as he reached down and changed the hologram to a small imp-like creature wielding a pick axe. "However, Vulkanus also has a battalion of these small alien clones that he uses to assist him in his mining operations. While they are capable of only basic combat and are very fragile, they make up for it in their massive numbers. He's liable to have hundreds of these at once."

At that, Coco smirk and she stepped forward, ushering her team to do the same. "Sounds like you guys need some extra hands. We'd be happy to lend our services."

While not entirely surprised that she'd offered her help, Cooper was still slightly caught off guard. "Heh, wow Coco, always quick to the punch, aren't you?"

The brunette leader lowered her glasses and grinned wickedly. "You got that right, Tech Head. Always up for a good scrap."

Tetrax certainly wasn't one to argue. "Good. And thank you for your offer. I hope to see you all tomorrow."

Ben nodded. "Right, we'll make sure we're ready to go. Thank you, Tetrax."

"Of course. Have a good evening, everyone!" The Petrosapien got into his ship and it lifted off, flying out into the forest to hide until sunrise.

As she watched the ship leave, Coco put her hands on her hips. "Well, I think it's about time me and my crew headed back to our place."

Ruby was quick to protest however. "Aw, you don't wanna stay and have some more fun? There's still some time left in the day!"

"Sorry Rubes, but we've got a lot of stuff in my car that needs to get sorted out." Coco jabbed her thumb toward the trunk of her roadster. "Plus, it'd be best to get plenty of rest before tomorrow."

"Indeed." Velvet concurred. "I'm still a bit tired from just shopping earlier today."

"Well… okay." Ruby relented. "But we're still hanging out at your place for monster movie nights like we planned this morning, alright?"

"Hehe, count on it." Coco gave her a thumbs up.

Just then, a moment of realization dawned on Ben. "Oh, that's right! I almost forgot!" In a split second, he changed into Fasttrack again, zipped right into the house and went down the stairs, only to come back with a small, black, zipped up disk holder. He changed back and handed it right to Coco. "Here, these are all the monster flicks we've watched so far so you can catch up."

"Hey, thanks, Big Green. We'll make work on these puppies soon enough." Coco pocketed the disk holder into her handbag and gave everyone a salute. "Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow!" Everyone exchanged goodbyes as Team CFVY and Cooper piled into Coco's roadster, the vehicle rolling down the drive way soon after.

Ben put his hands on his hips. "Well everyone, we've got a new mission. You know what that means, right?"

With one loud shout, the team cried out; "IT'S HERO TIME!"

…..

Coco opened the door to their apartment before her team came through carrying all of the stuff they had bought, with Cooper closing the door behind him with his foot. Coco set the bags she was carrying down on the counter top and exhaled, sitting on the nearest stool to get her barring. "Man, what a day, huh?"

"I would say so." Yatsu agreed as he set his bags down in the living room. "Jaune's sister arriving was certainly something unexpected."

"Yes, but it was still nice to hang out with Ruby and the others for a day." Velvet commented as she and Fox put their bags on the couch. "And it would appear that we'll be doing more of it soon enough."

"Uh-huh." Coco nodded before looking over to Cooper. "Hey, Tech Head, wanna help me set some of this stuff up in our rooms?" she asked as she pulled her bags of the counter.

The genius' answer was immediate. "Oh, sure! Then we can get started on those monster movies that Ben lent us."

"Sounds like a plan." Coco pulled out the disk holder and passed it to Velvet. "Here Vel, can you get one of these set up for us?"

"Of course." Velvet took the case and unzipped it, taking out the first disk she saw. "'Godzilla'? Hmm, an odd name for a monster, but sure, why not?"

Coco and Cooper proceeded to take multiple bags and bring them to the bed rooms, where they started to put everything in its proper place. Shampoo in the shower, toilet paper and paper towels on the rollers and so on. But about half way through, a sly grin set itself upon Coco's face. She turned around to face Cooper, who was busying himself setting up an alarm clocks on her nightstand. "Hey, Cooper?"

The use of his real name got his attention very quick and he stood up, whirling around to face her. "Uh, what's up Coco?"

Her smile grew as she drew near him, taking of her sunglasses once more. "I believe we have some unfinished business from this morning, remember?"

Cooper's eyes shot wide open as the events came flooding back to him. He couldn't help but blush as she came closer. "U-um, y-yeah, I do."

"Good." At that point, Coco had gotten so close that they were only mere centimeters away from touching. "Because it's time I stop beating around the bush." She set her hands on his shoulders. "Cooper, when we first met, I was intrigued by you. You were willing to go into battle even though you were injured, and that takes guts and a lot of bravery. But all this week, I've learned that you're so much more than just that. Your smarts are out of this world and your determination to help is amazing. And while you can get nervous sometimes… I actually find it rather cute."

Cooper could only stand there with his mouth agape. "R-really? You think I'm… cute?"

"Yep. Now, I think I've made it no secret that I like you. So, my question is…" She winked at him. "Do you like me?"

Cooper was about to let his nerves get the better of him, but his brain screamed; 'NO! This is your chance! Tell her how you feel!' With a hard swallow, Cooper gave his answer. "Yes. Yes, I do like you. I've been trying to find the best way to tell you all week, but I haven't been able to find the right words for it." He sighed. "So much for bravery, huh?"

But much to his surprise, Coco tackled him with a hug, forcing him to sit down on the bed behind him. She looked up to him with a joyous grin. "Cooper, if you ask me, telling me your feelings is probably THE bravest thing anyone could do."

"It… it is?"

"Oh yeah, and tell you what?" She kissed him on the cheek. "It worked."

Cooper was still in a state of shock however. "Hah, okay, I'm awake right? This isn't a dream?"

Coco shook her head. "Nope, you're eyes are wide open. So, you wanna go out after our mission tomorrow? I spotted a little coffee house down the street from here."

The genius let out a breathy laugh. "Hah, yes! Yes, I'd very much like to go out… provided we'll get back from the mission in one piece."

"Aw, we'll be fine, trust me!" She winked at him again. "You got me watching your back, remember?"

"And I'll make sure to return the favor." Cooper assured. "So, Velvet proably has the movie set up by now, wanna go out and get started?"

"Heh, you got it, Tech Head." The two rose to their feet and headed out into the living room. Coco wrapped an arm around Cooper's side, settling herself beneath his right arm. In response, Cooper set his arm across her shoulders, much to her satisfaction. "There, see? Not so hard once you get used to it."

"Heh, well, to tell you the truth, I'm not all that experienced with being in a relationship." Cooper explained. "That's why I had a hard time telling you how I felt."

"Well, you know what they say; the best way to learn is through experience, right?" Coco leaned against his shoulder. "And I'd say this is good experience, wouldn't you?"

Cooper gave her a smile of his own. "Has anyone ever told you that you're amazing?"

"Multiple times." Coco answered. "But coming from you, I'd say that's a whole lot more special."

…..

A/N: Well, there you have it! Noire's in on the secret, Blake is Rema's official caregiver, the pups training is coming along swimmingly, more pop-culture and… I think I'll let that ending speak for itself, huh? But a little funny story before I go, this chapter was originally going to be a two-parter with the last one. But I said to myself; "Nah, that'd make a lame two-parter. I'll just make another name for this chapter". So, I named it after a famous song from the 1970's… you know, as you do. So yeah, no two-parter this time …but to compensate, the NEXT chapter is going to be a two-parter! Join us Next Time as our heroes get ready to head out on a new mission; apprehend Vulkanus. But, once they get to Essen, they find something that they didn't expect to be there. Stay tuned and thanks for reading! See ya!