A/N: How's it goin' everyone? Good to see you again on this fine Friday. It's time for another chapter and once again, we've got a bit of a doozy here… probably gonna be the case for the rest of this arc, but we'll see. But let's not dawdle and get on with it shall we? Because…
(Update, 10/11/2020: Hey everyone, Omni here. Well, once again, it seems I've run into a bit of a writing hiccup, this time concerning the Omnitrix and how it handles DNA collection. In this chapter, I address why the Faunus were never scanned by the Omnitrix throughout this whole story… and the reasoning was kind of dubious considering Upchuck has two subspecies in the Omnitrix. Thus, I have changed the explanation so that it actually makes a bit more sense in terms of both Ben 10 AND RWBY lore. So, without futher ado…)
Out of the darkness, you stumble into the light…
Fighting for the things you know are right!
Chapter 111: Dare!
…..
Salem should have been ecstatic. Elated even. Through her Seer, she had just witnessed her lovely Grimmungousaur annihilate nearly the entirety of those meddling teenaged heroes, leaving them as nothing more than a black mark in the scorched earth where they had once stood. This should have been a moment she would remembered forever… so why did she feel nothing? Her eyes narrowed as she considered why that was so. For one, Tyrian had foolishly not tried to cut off Tennyson's hand before the Grimmungousaur unleashed its final attack, which meant that, if they had truly been destroyed, then the Omnitrix would have been destroyed as well.
But then that lead to the OTHER problem she had with this; the possibility of Ben and the others having survived was still lingering in the back of her mind. Yes, she had watched as the heroes were engulfed in her monster's energy ray… but it all seemed too easy. They didn't even attempt to move an inch. And what about that odd man who seemed to appear the moment she had blinked? These were the questions that still prodded her brain, even as her associates conversed on either side of her.
"Hmph, well, THAT was certainly quite the show." Watts chuckled. "It would seem that Ben Tennyson is not as undefeatable as we thought, eh?"
"Hm, it would seem." Hazel nodded hesitantly. "Coming back from that seems nigh impossible."
"…You would be very surprised." Viktor spoke up, taking the two men by surprise. "As much as I hate to admit it, Ben Tennyson has survived much worse in the past. And while seeing him and his allies be overwhelmed by the Grimmungousaur was certainly quite entertaining, the fact that they were all consumed by the beast's energy beam seemed very…"
"Effortless." Salem finished, leading the three to look at her. "Almost as if they let it happen on purpose. And did any of you notice that other man that was with them? How he seemed to appear from out of nowhere?"
Watts and Hazel glanced to each other before the former answered her. "Erm… well, I suppose so. My lady… what are you implying?"
Salem stood up, making the duo step back while Viktor stood resolute. "I am implying that perhaps Tennyson and the others aren't as dead as we think." She faced them with her hands behind her back. "I suspect that man is some sort of ally of theirs, one who can appear and disappear in an instant in some form or fashion."
Hazel furrowed his brows. "And you believe he used this ability to rescue Tennyson and the others?"
"Exactly my thinking." Salem nodded. "And no doubt they are working on a way to counteract our attack while recuperating, allowing them to get their second wind."
Viktor lowered his head and bowed to his mistress. "My lady, perhaps it would be wise to move the plan into phase three? Yes, it is still quite early for it, but given the potential circumstances…"
"Yes, I agree, Viktor." Salem nodded. "If Tennyson and the others truly ARE alive, then it is within our best interests to move the plan along." She waved her hand over to her personal Seer, and in an instant, the Seer back in Vale began to move, flying up toward the Mistralian Airship that was being piloted by a certain pale-green skinned man. The Seer quickly caught sight of Doctor Animo, the mad scientist currently piloting the ship with his back turned to it. However, the moment the Seer poked him on the shoulder, he bolted up and spun toward it. "Doctor Animo, if I may have a word…"
"A-Ah! Lady Salem!" Animo set the ship to autopilot before wringing his hands together nervously. "I take it that you saw what happened?"
Salem furrowed her brows a bit. "I did… and I am finding it a bit hard to believe."
Animo was quick to concur. "As am I, Lady Salem. I have known Tennyson for many years, and if there is one thing he's good at, it's escaping death at the very last second." He bowed his head to her. "That said, what should we do from here?"
Salem pursed her lips and pointed at him. "Very simple, we are preemptively moving into phase three. I want you to take Rojo, Cinder and the rest of their squad up to Beacon. The Relic of Choice MUST be recovered from the vault there." She waved her hand toward the doctor. "Leave the mutants and Subdora down in Vale to keep causing destruction with the Grimm. We need to keep Ironwood and the others preoccupied, after all."
"A very wise decision, my lady." Animo agreed. "However, there is still one problem; the Grimm are beginning to look a bit… scarce. It would seem that many of them have already been killed off by the heroes prior to their… supposed demise. I mean, the Grimmungousaur may be more than enough, but…"
"You can never be too careful." Salem finished. "I understand your concerns, doctor, and I will send more Grimm to Vale as soon as I can. You simply focus on making sure Cinder gets up to Beacon"
Once again, Animo bowed to Salem. "I understand, Lady Salem. I will do as you please."
"Excellent. Now get on it." With another wave of her hand, Salem made the Seeker fly out of the air ship and back down to the streets below, all while more Seers began to gather together to bring forth more Grimm.
Hazel placed a hand over his chest. "Lady Salem… if Tennyson and the others truly HAVE survived… then how will be dispose of them?"
A small grin came to Salem's face. "Oh, worry not, Hazel. For remember; I still have my contingency plan swimming toward Vale even as we speak." She turned back to her Seer, continuing to watch the battle unfold. "Even if they ARE able to recuperate after all of that, there is still no fathomable way they will be able to defeat this beast from deep beneath the sea…"
…..
This day was proving to be quite taxing for General Ironwood. First, it was the reveal that one of his closest friends was keeping a very important secret from him even after all these years. Sure, he had mostly gotten over that, but once the Negative Ten attack happened during the White Fang press conference, things just kept getting piled on and on until it all just seemed hopeless. It especially felt that way after he saw that beast of a Grimm shoot out an energy beam that collapsed three or four buildings all in a row… and he had no doubt that there were people who were either severely injured or dead because of it.
But still, he kept fighting, because even after seeing what that beast of a Grimm could do, he knew there must be SOME way to beat it. If there was one thing that meeting Ben, Gwen and Kevin had taught him, it was that victory in the face of overwhelming odds COULD be achieved. He just had to trust the people he was with… and that was no more apparent than the woman fighting right next to him.
Glynda Goodwitch dodged another lightning bolt from Cinder before sending another huge slab of rubble at the Fall Maiden, allowing her enough time to turn and smile at her fellow headmaster. "So… how are you holding up, James?"
Ironwood swung his energy axe, countering Rojo's blood red energy blade and making her stumble back. He smiled over to Glynda and nodded. "Oh, you know, well enough to try and not get killed." Their two groups had met up after Gwen had come to take Team RWBY, JNPR and SN back to City Hall, hoping to back Ben up in his fight with the Grimmungousaur. However, after a recent visit from a certain time traveling professor, they had learned that said fight hadn't gone as well as they had hoped. "I just hope that Ben and the others get back here soon. We could use a new strategy here."
"I'm sure they will be." Glynda said before creating a shield of Gravity Dust, stopping Cinder's scorching hot fire. "But for now, we have other things to worry about."
A pair of loud roars suddenly took them off guard, the pair's heads snapping up to see Ghira and Leonidas struggling against one another. The two big cats had their claws out and teeth bared as they glared at each other, their hands locked as they grappled with each other with their foreheads just inches apart. "GRAH! Grr, I don't know WHO you think you are, but if your creator boasts you as a king, then you MIGHT want to start proving it!" Ghira roared before shoving Leonidas back, allowing him to tackle the mutant to the ground.
As that was going on, Vernal, Sienna, and Kali were engaged with Subdora, Emerald and Mercury, giving the three villains the go around while rushing around them in a circle. Kali was taking shots at the three, Vernal was throwing her Ver Laminae, and Sienna was cracking her Cerberus Whip at them, though the villains were able to keep pace with their attacks.
"Gah!" Mercury exclaimed as he kicked away another whip crack from Sienna. "Seriously? Are you ladies just gonna keep this up?"
"Indeed, this seems very unorthodox." Subdora said as she weaved out from another of Kali's shots… only to get struck in the back by Vernal instead.
"Heh, how's THAT for "unorthodox"?" Vernal teased as she caught her weapon on the rebound.
Meanwhile, Ilia, and Penny were still in the midst of their battle with Hog and Skull. Fortunately, however, the two had managed to slink their way past their opponents and switch back to the ones they were initially going to fight. This, understandably, didn't go over well with the two mutants. "HEY! Get back here!" Skull shouted as he took his minigun off of his back.
"Yeah, we ain't finished with you yet!" Hog said as he began spinning his mace around in the air once more. Once he generated enough electricity, he swung his mace forward, the lighting arcing out… only for it to strike directly onto Penny. The Android stopped on a dime the moment she was hit, though when the electricity stopped, she seemed to be fight. This made Hog do a double take. "W-Wait, WHAT?!"
Penny wore a sweet, yet determined grin. "Surprise! My systems are quite resilient to short circuiting!" She then switched up her Block Busters for her Mechano-Crushers, the giant fists slamming together before lifting her off of the ground. "Now… where were we?"
"Oh no you don't, robo-girl!" Exo-Skull shouted before unloading his weapon at her. But, much to his surprise, Ilia began running head-first at Exo-Skull, even getting in the way of his weapon's fire. Rather than taking the bullets, however, Ilia used her whip to deflect all of the Dust Rounds, the Lightning Lash moving much faster than Skull could comprehend. "What the—OOF!" He was taken off-guard when Ilia suddenly leapt up and kicked him in the face, all while she whipped at his hand and made him let go of his weapon.
Ilia landed and rolled her shoulders, popping a few muscles before going into a combat stance. "Just try that again, Exo-Skull, and see where that gets you!"
Not too far away, Cooper was doing his best to try and hit Neo, but the multi-colored girl simply kept bobbing and weaving out of his way. Well, that and she kept using her illusions on him, her form breaking into glass whenever he thought he'd get a solid hit on her. "Gah, damn! VADOS, can you see if you can try and find the REAL Neo?"
"My apologies, Mr. Daniels, but the only way I am able to see is through your HUD." VADOS explained. "What I see is what you see, so I'm afraid you'll have to—ON YOUR LEFT!"
Cooper whirled around and raised his arm, just in time to block a strike from Hush. He pushed Neo back and the girl did a backflip, landing perfectly while opening her umbrella with a sly grin. A smile came to Cooper's face as he realized something. "Wait… you may not be able to tell if her illusions are real or not… but you can still give me a heads up whenever she attacks."
"Ah, sensational!" VADOS exclaimed as Cooper activated his jet thrusters, flying his way toward Neo at accelerating speeds. "Let's do that, then!"
As the fight with the Negative Ten was happening, though, Team CFVY found themselves back to back, dealing with the excess Grimm that were still hanging around. Coco mowed them down with Gianduja while Fox punched away the ones that came in close with his Sharp Retribution. Yatsuhashi cleaved in the head of a Creep while Velvet managed to bring forth her own hard-light copy of Rex's Slam Cannon, using it to shoot down the Nevermore that were divebombing them. The bunny girl glanced over her shoulder and called out to her leader; "How many of them do you think are left, Coco?!"
"Not sure! But we're probably gettin' close!" the fashionista called back before noticing something odd; the Mistralian Airship was beginning to descend. The fighting didn't stop, but the others quickly noticed it as well. "Oh, that can't be good."
The ship lowered down to the street directly next to the battles between Rojo and Ironwood and Cinder and Goodwitch, causing the two partners to respectfully push the general away and disengage from the headmistress to see what was up. The hull of the ship opened up, revealing Doctor Animo on the other side. "Doc?!" Rojo shouted over the large propellers. "What the heck are you doing here?!"
"I did not call for you, doctor!" Cinder added. "What's the meaning of this?!"
Animo cupped a hand next to his mouth and answered; "I just got word from Salem! She wishes to move to phase three earlier than expected!"
"What?! But we're not done here!" Rojo argued.
"The mutants and Subdora can handle the rest!" Animo assured. "And as you can see…" He gestured up to the sky… where Cinder and Rojo saw that there was another portal opening up. From above, a fresh wave of Grimm began descending upon the city; even more flying Beringels and a slew of Griffons to be exact. The team of do-gooders could only stare up at the incoming horde in exasperation while Animo finished; "They will have plenty of back up, including the Grimmungousaur. Now come! We have work to do!"
Rojo gave a shrug. "Eh, no skin off my bones!" She converted Bloodstrike into its laser rifle mode and blasted toward the trio of Vernal, Kali and Sienna and then to Cooper, getting the respective do-gooders away from their group. "Merc! Em! Neo! Get your asses on the airship and let's take care of business!" The trio wasted no time in following her order as they all made their way onto the airship, though not without a hail of firepower following after them courtesy of the team. Unfortunately, thanks to a protective fire wall that Cinder brought up between them and the team, the villains were still able to take off.
"DAMN!" Ironwood shouted. "They're getting away!"
After disposing of the Grimm she was taking care of, Coco quickly aimed Gianduja up at the retreating ship. "Don't worry, I'll blast 'em out of the sky!"
"Coco, wait!" Cooper said, putting a hand on the rotary cannon to stop her. "If you shoot them down now, you'll crash the airship right in the middle of the city." He focused his gaze down at her, and while Coco couldn't see his face, she knew he must have been wearing a saddened expression under that helmet. "We probably already have enough casualties as is after that giant blast from the Grimmungousaur. The last thing we need is more people dying."
A sigh escaped Coco's lips as she lowered her weapon. "Yeah, you're right. So what do we do now—"
GYAAAOOOOON! Everyone's heads whipped up to see the Grimmungousaur, the beast lumbering its way through the streets as it slowly approached them, with Silyrian running a head of it to join up with his comrades. Cooper narrowed his eyes at the two approaching obstacles, knowing that something had to be done about them. "First… we need to slow THAT thing down." He craned his neck up to see the approaching flying Grimm. "While also taking care of THOSE as well."
"But Ben isn't here!" Ilia reminded. "Who could possibly be strong enough to hold off THAT?!"
However, much to their surprise, a certain someone spoke up, volunteering themselves for the task. "Do not worry, Ilia." Everyone slowly turned to Penny, the redheaded android glaring at the Grimmungousaur as her green eyes glowed intensely. "Now more than ever…" The android then activated her Air Heart jetpack and her Floating Array arm blades, preparing herself for battle. "I am Combat Ready."
…..
"Wait, so… THAT'S Azmuth?" Ruby asked, still in utter disbelief at what was going on. The creator of the Omnitrix was standing right before them… and he was a tiny grey frog man in an admittedly adorable little tunic. Needless to say, they were all pretty shocked. "But… he's so… little."
Yang raised an eyebrow down at Azmuth, unsure of what to make of him. "Yeah, he's honestly FAR from what I was expecting."
"And he's ADORABLE!" Nora exclaimed, only to receive a rather grouchy face from the Galvan for her comment. "Uh… ya know… in a wise, old and respectable sort of way! Hehe… yeah, that's it."
With a slight roll of his eyes, the Great Thinker nodded up to Yang as he approached her. "Well, to address your point, most people ARE surprised by my appearance if they do not know what species I am a part of." He then pointed over toward the sickly Ben. "Now, I believe you have yet to answer my question, Ben Tennyson."
The hero sighed and lowered his head. "Yes… yes, I've gotten into a pretty big mess again, Azmuth. But just so you know, this time, it wasn't my fault."
"Oh really? So are you implying that you didn't just run the charge out of the Omnitrix after performing several different transformations again?"
His statement made Ben deadpan a bit. "…Okay, I was referring to how we ended up in this dimension, but yeah, that part IS true."
Azmuth sighed and shook his head. "I figured as much. It's been made quite obvious that you have gotten in over your head yet again."
"Hey, back off a bit, will ya?" Yang said with a slight glare. "He feels bad enough already with what just happened. The last thing he needs is to be reprimanded even MORE."
Azmuth eyeridges furrowed up to the blonde at that. "I see… and I take it that you are Yang Xiao Long, I presume? You are his new romantic partner, are you not?"
The Blonde Brawler blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah… how'd you know?"
"I took the liberty of keeping him up to date on current events over the course of your stay here." Paradox answered with a sly grin, his sights trained onto Azmuth's back. "Of course, he pretends not to listen, but I know otherwise." The statement made Azmuth abruptly cough into his hand.
A satisfied smirk came to Ben's face. "Ah, I see. So, it REALLY took you almost five hours to convince him to come here, eh professor?"
"Give or take." Paradox answered. "He IS a busy Galvan after all."
"Ahem." Azmuth cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "In ANY case…" The Galvan looked back up to Yang. "Professor Paradox HAS indeed told me much about you, Miss Xiao Long." He gestured around to everyone else. "As well as the rest of you. And I must say, while it is impressive that mere humans like yourselves are able to combat the forces of dangerous alien criminals, it was also rather foolhardy of you all to do so in the first place."
"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Yang exclaimed.
Blake stepped forward as well. "What do you mean "foolhardy"? We knew exactly what we were getting into." She pointed up to her ears and to Sun's tail. "Also, just so you know, we're Faunus, not humans."
Azmuth turned to them in intrigue. "Ah, yes, Paradox told me about you as well. The human subspecies that somehow evolved with certain animalistic traits." He gave a single nod. "Very interesting..."
The two Faunus both blinked at his words. "W-Wait, human subspecies?" Sun asked.
"Exactly… though one thing DOES puzzle me…" Azmuth eyed the Omnitrix suspiciously. "As closely related as Faunus and Human DNA must be… the Omnitrix still should have scanned it." He faced the Omnitrix and, oddly enough, called out to it. "Omnitrix, begin DNA scanning sequence."
All of a sudden, the Omnitrix's faceplate began glowing bright yellow and it retracted, allowing the core to pop out. From its inner workings, a long, vertical beam of yellow light suddenly began scanning over Sun and Blake, much to their surprise. However, before it could even reach up to their knees, the light stopped and began flashing red, disappearing soon after. "Error, Error." the device spoke in Ben's voice. "Unable to perform DNA scan." The Omnitrix denied, much to its creator's and its bearer's surprise. "Unknown species is protected by an unseen energy field. DNA scanners incapable of penetrating this field."
Azmuth's eyes blinked at that. "Wait, what?!"
But then, Ruby snapped her fingers as a look of realization came to her face. "Oooh! It means our protective Auras!" She saw that Azmuth was giving her an questioning look, so she explained. "Oh, well, our Auras are the manifestations of our souls, and they give us a whole bunch of abilities, including protection against certain things…" She gestured toward the Omnitrix. "And I guess the Omnitrix's scanners just happen to be one of those."
Azmuth stroked his "beard" ponderously. "Hmm… very fascinating. This is somewhat similar to how the Omnitrix cannot scan the Anodite species. Perhaps there is more to this dimension's human race that I initially thought…"
Ben's eyebrows rose up in surprise. "Huh, the more you know, I guess." He shifted his gaze back down to the Omnitrix's creator. "But back to the topic from before, they're right, Azmuth. I explained exactly what they were in for before any of them agreed to help me round up the criminals. And besides, the humans from this dimension are a LOT more resilient than the ones from ours."
"Indeed, it would seem so." Azmuth said while once again stroking his "beard". "But at the same time, you managed to rope these people into your conflict… while also getting yourself, your friends, and your family roped into theirs."
However, to everyone's surprise, it was Max who spoke out against the small alien. "With all due respect, Azmuth, you know as well as I do that Ben's not about let any problem go without doing something about it. That's what's made him a great hero."
"That may be true, Max, but—"
"And besides, we were always gonna get roped into it." Kevin added. "I mean, we were literally dropped into this world during one of Salem's attacks."
Azmuth sighed and pinched the bridge of his face. "Yes, I suppose those are also good points. But still, the fact remains that this "Salem" is a force of evil that not even I thought would have existed in ANY dimension. And I thought Salazar's villains being lose on your world was bad enough. Speaking of which…" He sent a small glare over to Rex, who stepped back in slight shock. Azmuth sighed and greeted; "Hello, problem child. Hopefully you haven't caused TOO much trouble since your arrival here."
Rex chuckled nervously and waved. "Hehe… hey Azmuth! How's uh… how's things going?"
"Much better now that you haven't been tampering with delicate Galvan equipment." Azmuth stressed as he shifted his gaze over to Holiday. "You've been able to keep him grounded, correct, doctor?"
Holiday rolled her eyes, visibly irritated a bit. "Yes, Azmuth, as much as I can." But then, a sly grin came to her face as she pointed over to Weiss. "But… if you wanna talk keeping Rex's head on straight, you should talk to Weiss over there." The doctor couldn't help but giggle when both Weiss and Rex blushed at the same time, desperately moving their eyes away from each other.
Azmuth pursed his lips at this. "Really? Well then, she must have the patience of an Earthly saint if that's true."
Weiss quirked a brow at that. "I'm not sure if I should be flattered for offended."
"I meant it as a compliment." Azmuth said before his eyeridges furrowed and he pointed up at Ben. "But the point still stands. If what I've heard is true… then you have likely made enemies with the wrong woman, Ben Tennyson. The fact that Salem was able to damage the Vaxasaurian DNA by taking part of it and using it to create her own… it is quite disconcerting."
"The Grimmungousaur, yeah." Jaune nodded. "We've just experienced it firsthand."
Azmuth put a hand to his chin in thought. "Hmph, is THAT was she calls it? Not what I would have gone with, but nevertheless, you are all in this quite deep now, and judging by what just happened, you will need some assistance."
Pyrrha leaned forward in intrigue. "Does that mean you're going to repair Humungousaur's DNA for Ben?"
"Given the situation, that would be the most appropriate solution, yes." Azmuth answered.
A smile came to Ben's face as he perked up a little. "Great! Then let's—uuuuugh!" Before the hero knew what hit him, another wave of nausea over took him, making him slump against his grandfather's shoulder in pain.
"Now let's not get too hasty there, sport." Max consoled before leading Ben over toward the house. "Let's have Gwen get you back to feeling one-hundred percent before we start doing anything, huh? Then Azmuth will fix the watch."
Yang came up and helped Max bring her boyfriend into the house. "Yeah, and we'll start making a new plan of attack while we're at it."
As the group made their way to the house, with Paradox picking Azmuth up to get him there faster, Winter and Weiss couldn't help but keep in step with Rex and Holiday, the two sisters quirking their brows that them all the while. "I must ask… what did Azmuth mean by "tampering with Galvan equipment?"." Winter asked.
"Yeah, Robo-dolt, what did you do?" Weiss asked accusingly.
Rex raised his hands in defense. "Okay, so before I say anything, I just have to point out; none of this was really my fault…" This made the Schnee Sisters and even Holiday give him displeased frowns, to which he relented and hung his head. "Okay, so I may have tried to help get the Dimensional Doorway up and running a bit faster by using my nanites to give the Galvan tech a bit of a boost. Let's just say… it didn't go very well."
"He almost opened a dimensional rift in the Plumber base." Holiday clarified, which made Weiss smack Rex upside the head.
"OW! Hey, we got it under control!" Rex said while rubbing the back of his head.
But Weiss was still quite frustrated at him. "But the point still stands that you used your Nanites on something that you don't understand! Are you TRYING to get yourself killed?!"
"Yeah, not a very smart move, Rex." Gwen had to agree as she kept skimming through her spell book. "Take it from someone who's dealt with dangerous rifts before; one little instability could mean life or death."
Rex sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you've got a point. Sorry."
However, Azmuth piped up again as everyone entered the living room, with Max and Yang setting Ben down on the couch while Gwen continued her spell search. "Well, "sorry" doesn't make up for all of the Galvan equipment you damaged." He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes, the eyelids of which were vertical instead of horizontal. "You're very lucky that your brother is willing to work to pay off the damages when he returns to Earth, Rex."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Rex waved off. "My brother IS your new favorite pupil after all."
"Hmph, anyone who can figure out interdimensional travel at such an early age is one to be commended." Azmuth stated. "Then again, it's obvious which side of the family got the brains and who got the brawn in THAT respect."
This made Rex hang his head in shame… and Weiss furrow her brow at the Galvan. "Hey, there's no need to be so rude about it! He's already learned his lesson!"
"Perhaps, but I believe it necessary to drive the point home, as it were." Azmuth said as he jumped off of Paradox's shoulder and onto the back of the couch. "If one doesn't learn from an experience, they are doomed to repeat it, after all." A brief scowl flashed across his features. "I already deal with enough mistakes from two Galvan in particular to know THAT much."
Next to the couch, Raven and Tai focused back down to Ben, the Spring Maiden asking him; "So… is he always like this?"
"Only on his good days." The ailing hero chortled. "He can actually be WAY worse when he wants to." This earned him another pointed glare from Azmuth, making the hero laugh nervously again. "Hehe… so… I'm guessing what you said means that Blukic and Driba messed up again?"
The Great Thinker let out a small groan before facepalming. "Indeed, and this time I've decided to take some action. They've been relocated back to Galvan Prime to be reeducated." He sent a glance over to Max. "And before you ask, do not worry, I have sent for a replacement Galvan scientist for the Earth Plumber Base effective immediately. I believe you will like her FAR more than them."
Max sighed in relief. "Thank you, Azmuth. No offense to those two, but there were only so many screw-ups we could take down there."
"Indeed. While they are brilliant scientists… by Earth standards, they are remarkably unintelligent as Galvans." Azmuth said with a shake of his head. "I can only hope this second go around allows them to reevaluate themselves and actually allows them to focus on their craft."
A small chuckle escaped Tai's mouth. "Heh, good luck with that." He got up and headed back toward the hallway. "I'll be right back. We should take this moment of reprieve to let you guys at least get some drinks in ya."
"Very good idea." Athena concurred as she entered the room with Team JNPR behind her. "I'm sure the children would all appreciate some water." As Tai left the room, Athena laced her fingers together, a serious expression coming to her face. "Now, let us get down to brass tacks here; this Grimmungousaur… it has to be one of the worst Grimms to ever shame the face of Remnant."
"No doubt about it." Ren nodded as he and his team all wore solemn faces. "And… it has no doubt already taken a whole slew of lives in one fell swoop with that energy blast."
Blake, who was standing nearby with Sun holding her close, added in her two cents; "Yes… and now or allies are stuck in Vale with it AND the Negative Ten… including my parents." She sent a slightly irritated face over to Ben. "Still kind of annoyed about that by the way."
Ben closed his eyes and nodded. "I know, Blake. And again, I'm really sorry."
"As am I." Paradox jumped in, giving the cat girl a small grin. "But worry not, Blake. I have a strong feeling that your parents are doing quite well." He gestured toward the television. "In fact, if you wish to check up on how they're doing, I suggest you turn on the television. I believe the news should be back on by now."
Blake's eyes widened at that. "Wait, what?!" She quickly found the remote to switch the TV on.
As the professor had said, the news was indeed on, being broadcast live from a helicopter no less! And in the passenger seat was a familiar face, one that made Ben's eyes nearly bulge out of his head. "This is Lisa Lavender once again coming to you live on the scene of this devastating event!" the white-haired reporter said as she gazed directly into the camera. Behind her, the helicopter's side door was open, allowing a good view of the ground below… where the teens could see their allies and half of the Negative Ten continue to fight. "As you can see, the group below us is continuing to fight against this evil force, lead apparently by a woman named "Salem"."
Stepping up next to Professor Paradox, Oscar winced at that. "Oof, ya know, a part of me is actually kind of glad that Ozpin locked himself inside my head. Otherwise, you guys probably wouldn't have heard the end of it."
On the television, the group could clearly see Ghira tussling with Leonidas while Ilia and Sienna held off Hog and Skull respectively. Kali and Vernal on the other hand were both going toe to toe with Subdora, matching the Merlinisapaien's combative skills with their own. As that was happening, Cooper was facing down Silyrian, the genius' armor able to withstand the strikes that the scorpion mutant made with his pincers and stinger. All while that was going on, Team CFVY were holding the line against the incoming Grimm, with Coco being the main one to mow most of them down with her weapon.
But, as relieving of a sight as it was to see their allies holding off Salem's forces, Ben still took issue with the simple fact that Lisa was still on the scene… and in a freaking HELICOPTER no less! He shot up in shock and exclaimed; "What the HELL is she still DOING there?! AUGH!" He immediately regretted doing that, flopping back onto the couch like a helpless fish on land, complete with a near-dead-eyed stare. "Uuuuugh, Reeex, I thought you told them to get evacuaaaate." he slurred out.
"I-I did!" The EVO assured. "I set them down at a safe distance and told them to get away!" Rex crossed his arms while indignantly glaring at the holographic TV screen. "But I guess they just chose not to listen."
"Unsurprising, considering you aren't much of a commanding presence." Azmuth commented off-handedly, making Rex faulter once again. "But of course, humans are always prone to rash or reckless decisions such as these. I've known Ben long enough to know that." The Omnitrix bearer also faltered at that.
Neptune couldn't help but deadpan at that. "Sheesh, what is this, the roasting of Ben Tennyson and Rex Salazar?"
"Shush!" Ruby raised her hand to the blue-haired boy, keeping her concentration on the television. "Something's happening…"
The camera panned back over to Lisa, a worried expression on her face. "However, there are still many worrying factors. For one, a small group of these villains have retreated back to their airship they arrived in…" The camera panned around toward the Mistralian Airship… and the place it was flying toward made everyone in the room grow pale. "And it's heading right for Beacon Academy."
"NO!" Nearly everyone in the room exclaimed, with Jaune picking it up from there. "Dammit! Now we've got ANOTHER problem!" He whipped his head toward Gwen and continued; "Gwen, don't mean to rush you, but—"
"Got it!" Gwen said with a smile, finally finding the spell she needed. "Utio Beneto Moxia!" She extended her hand and, all at once, a soft, pink glow enveloped her cousin, a sudden rush of energy filling his veins.
Ben's head shot up and his eyes widened. "Woah! Okay, starting to feel a bit better now!"
But Lisa still wasn't done on the television. "But what's worrying me the most is that there were several more young hunters and heroes who were fending off this attack as well. But now they just seem to have… disappeared into thin air! I-I don't know if they've been killed or—" GYAAAAOOON! The reporter perked her head up as she saw something out the front window, pointing at it while yelling at her cameraman; "GREG! Get a shot of that monstrosity! The robot girl is fighting it by herself!"
"WHAT?!" Ruby shouted, along with most of the others. The camera panned around to get a good shot of none other than their redheaded friend flying around the Grummungousaur's head like a pesky little fly, annoying it with constant blasts from her Floating Array blades. The giant creature swatted at her with its massive arms, but she was always able to get out of its reach, using shifting her blades into their saw mode to slice through most of the bone armor on its head and arms as she did. Needless to say, everybody was floored at what was happening. "PENNY?!" Ruby put her hands to her face as she began pacing back and forth. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, this is BAD! Penny can't hold that thing off by herself for long! W-We need to help her! We need to—"
"RUBY!" Raven shot up and put her hands to Ruby's shoulders, stopping the now hyper-ventilating girl from running herself ragged. "Don't worry, everything will be fine, okay?" The woman sent her a soft smile. "Penny's a strong girl. I have a feeling she'll be able to hold that monster off for a good while yet."
The Hooded Huntress let out an exhausted breath before going in to give Raven a hug, much to the woman's surprise. "This has been a VERY stressful day." Ruby croaked out, her voice muffled against Raven's arm.
"…I know, Ruby, I know." Raven said as she began stroking her hand through the girl's hair, with Yang coming over to help comfort her sister.
However, as that was happening, Azmuth couldn't help but be somewhat astonished by what he was seeing. So much so that he leapt off of the couch and over to the coffee table for a closer look. The oversized jet thrusters on the girl's back… they had a VERY familiar green and black color scheme. One that was characteristic of the living metal which comprised Galvanic Mechamorphs. It was only further proved when the girl suddenly changed her legs into a pair of large, spiked boots, ones that were also black and green. She drove the bright green spikes into the Grimmungousaur's shoulder, making it roar in pain while staggering back a bit.
Now that he thought about it more, the jet pack and those giant boots were vaguely similar to REX'S builds… and there was only ONE way that a Galvanic Mechamorph could have appeared in this dimension. He turned back toward the two heroes and demanded; "Explain… NOW."
Rex and Ben both glanced to each other, chuckling nervously at the question. "Uh, hehe, funny story, really." Rex started. "Ya see, first off, that's Penny. She's a living robot who has a human soul powering her. But a few weeks back, she was pretty much destroyed."
"But her remains were recovered." Ben picked up from there. "And we were asked if there was any way we could repair her." The Omnitrix bearer gestured between himself and Rex. "So, Rex and I combined his and Upgrade's abilities to fix her body. And well…" He gestured toward the television. "That was the result. She's now part Galvanic Mechamorph and she has Nanites flowing through her. Also, she's pretty much indestructible."
"Fascinating…" Azmuth said as he turned back to the TV, continuing his observation of Penny's battle. "I should have a meeting with this anomaly of a young woman when this is all over…"
Pyrrha couldn't help but blink at that. "Wait, so he's quite to chastise Ben and Rex… but after seeing Penny, he's suddenly interested?"
"Galvans are a lot more invested in machines and scientific data than humans, Pyrrha." Kevin explained. "Especially Azmuth, since he's the smartest being in three—"
"Arguably Five." Azmuth added in.
"…Galaxies." Kevin finished.
All of a sudden, a loud roar came from the television, causing everyone to snap their heads back to it. They watched with baited breath as the helicopter lurched over in the air, making Lisa and Gregory scream as a whole horde of Griffons flew past the aircraft and down toward the ground. The helicopter began moving away from the battle, but not before the camera caught a few seconds of Coco lifting her weapon up and shooting down most of the flying beasts… the key word being "most". One of the surviving ones managed to slip past her and divebomb the group… and it had managed to pick up one person in particular.
Blake's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she screamed; "ILIA!"
…..
It had all happened so fast, Coco barely had time to register what had happened. It was bad enough that their strongest asset was currently battling the bad guys' strongest asset, OR the fact that her boyfriend was battling a poisonous megalomaniac mutant, there was also the little problem of a news helicopter stupidly flying right over them right as a huge swarm of Griffons began flying down towards them. It was all she could do to keep from screaming in frustration as she hefted Gianduja skyward, making sure the copter was clear before unloading her firepower upon the beasts, making sure to activate her Semblance for good measure.
"COME AND GET SOME!" Coco hollered skyward. "You're ALL gonna DIE!" Her bullets cut through the beasts like paper, killing them instantly as their body parts fell to the ground. However, there were still many Griffons who were able to avoid her hail of fire, rolling around in midair before descending down toward the group. "What did I JUST—"
"AAAAAH!" Coco was cut off when a loud scream pierced through the battlefield, shocking everyone. As it happened, the Griffon had managed to descend low enough to pick someone up before taking to the skies again… and that person was Ilia. The chameleon girl had been jerked up so suddenly that she lost her grip on her Lightning Lash, the weapon falling to the pavement below. "HELP!" Ilia managed to cry out while flailing her limbs against the beast's grip. "Somebody, get me down from here!"
"ILIA!" Kali exclaimed in a panic… which only allowed Subdora to finally get in a kick to her. Fortunately, Vernal was able to get the Merlinisapien away from her immediately after.
From his struggle with Leonidas, Ghira's eyes widened and his teeth clenched in anger. "NOOO!" He punched Leonidas in the face, only to be met with a strike in retaliation, the lion mutant making sure that the panther man didn't break away from their fight.
Cooper immediately saw this and made to activate his jets. "Hold on, Ilia! I'm com—AGH!" Just as he was about to fly off, however, Silyrian wrapped his long tail around Cooper's leg and sent him slamming into the ground, before flipping over and slamming him with the same appendage a split second later.
Silyrian landed on the genius' back and slashed into the jets on his back with his Queen's Servants, cutting off his jets from further use. His signature clicking cackle rang throughout the area as he said; "You're not going anywhere, tin can! GAHAHAH!"
Coco bared her teeth, quickly growing frustrated that one Griffon had made it past her. She was about to turn around and shoot it down, but quickly realized that it would be the same situation as it was with the airship earlier. "DAMMIT! I can't risk hitting Ilia if I shoot the damn thing down!"
"BAHAHAHAH!" Hog and Skull were practically yucking it up as they saw one of their two opponents being carried away by the massive beast, high-fiving each other in the process. "Well, I guess that's ONE way to beat somebody, right?!" Hog asked.
"Haha, yeah!" Skull guffawed before pausing. "…But aren't we forgettin' somethin'?" His eyes moved back over to Sienna, the tiger woman gazing up at the Griffon as it took Ilia away. "Aw, yeah! We forgot the tiger gal!" Skull smashed his fist into his palm as Hog prepared his Shock Gauntlets. "Let's give this dame a little… payback?" All confidence left Skull's voice the very second that Sienna whirled around, a fire in the White Fang leader's eyes as she lashed her Cerberus Whip at the two. At the very end of the weapon, one of the Dust-infused tips launched out at Hog first, stabbing into his shoulder and catching fire upon contact.
"GAAAAH!" Hog cried as he pulled the sharpened tip out and started flailing about… only to then start rolling around on the ground. "Stop, drop, roll! STOP, DROP, ROLL!"
Skull grumbled and called to his partner; "HOG! Pull yourself together! This is—GaAaAaAhH!" Without a moment to breath, Sienna launched the second sharpened tip at Exo-Skull, successfully electrocuting him on the spot. The rhino mutant fell to his knees and then to his stomach as he spasmed in the street, allowing Sienna to break away. "Ch-Ch-Cheap… Sh-Shot!"
"ILIA!" Sienna quickly picked up Ilia's Lightning Lash before leaping up and swinging her whip toward a nearby flagpole sticking out the side of a building, allowing her to swing herself up and onto the building's roof. She ran alongside the retreating Griffon, all while pulling her whip back to her. She trained her eyes onto the beast and began to lash her weapon once more. 'C'mon, make this count!' With that thought, Sienna let out a ferocious battle cry and launched the remaining tip out at the Griffon, successfully striking it in the thigh. All at once, its entire leg was encased in ice, and the moment it tried to flex it, the limb broke off, causing the beast to roar in agony. However, much to Sienna's dismay, the beast just kept flying away, taking Ilia with it.
"SIENNA!" Ilia cried as she reached back to her former leader.
The tiger woman reached the end of the building… but it was too late. The Griffon had out flown her and the next building over wasn't for another block, leaving Sienna trapped and unable to help the girl. "NO!" She shouted, reaching out in a vain attempt. Her mind then briefly thought of doing something rash; jumping and lashing her whip out in hopes of catching the Griffon by the leg. 'It'd be a long shot, but—'
FWOOSH! Before she could put this idea into motion, a huge gust of wish blew past her, along with an undiscernible red and black streak. "W-What!? What in the world was that?!" Sienna was left stunned at what just happened… so much so that she almost missed what happened next.
…..
Little did anyone know, that as everyone was fighting down in the streets of Vale, a certain quintet of people were watching within a rather large ship at Beacon Academy… and they were absolutely dreading what was happening. Tetrax, Gluto, Cesar, Argit and Swift all watched with baited breath as they saw their friends and allies battle it out in the city, having tuned back into the live feed from the news helicopter to keep a sharp eye out. Some kept their composure more than others, with Tetrax, Gluto and Cesar being the prime examples. However, Argit and Swift were a bit more… verbal in their worry.
"We're all gonna die, we're all gonna die, WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Argit shouted as he kept pacing back and forth, only for Tetrax to bonk him on the head to get him to stop.
"Shut up, Argit!" The Petrosapien ordered, training his eyes back onto the screen. "We have enough problems already without you losing your mind over them."
Swift moved her gaze over to the ship's captain, her own face filled with worry. "Tetrax, I'm sorry, but… is there really nothing we can do?"
Cesar shook his head. "Not yet, Swift." He nudged his head up toward the ship's pilot as the tentacled being continued to work at the control panel. "I may have finished installing the Dimensional Doorway, but there are still a few things Gluto has to be sure of before we can get the Resolute airborne."
Gluto piped up at that. "Correct, I just need about fifteen or so minutes more and we'll be good to—"
"AAAAAH!" Everyone's heads snapped back to the screen at the sound of a certain scream… only for their eyes to widen in horror. Swift was especially alarmed at what she was seeing, her heart sinking at the sight. There, on the screen, Ilia had just been picked up by a huge Griffon, the beast taking her away from the battle. "HELP! Somebody get me down from here!"
"Holy CRAP!" Argit exclaimed, his hands smacking his cheeks. "The chameleon girl! She's been taken!"
"Ilia…" Tetrax started, only for the sound of the automatic doors behind him to garner his attention. His mind feared that there was only one thing that could have happened, and once he spun around, he saw that it was true. Just as the automatic doors were closing, he saw Swift's retreating form sprinting for the elevator, no doubt intent on rescuing her friend. "SWIFT!" Tetrax barked, going after her immediately. He managed to catch up to her just as she was about to reach the elevator, grabbing hold of her arm as she began to flail in his grasp. "Swift! What are you DOING?!"
Swift growled as she continued to fight to get out of his grip, but to no avail. "GAH! Let me GO! I have to SAVE her!"
"Calm down." Tetrax urged. "You're being highly irrational! I'm sure that one of the others can—"
The Aerophibian hybrid rounded on him and snapped; "They're all taking care of the others, Tetrax! Who down there could possibly get her other than Penny, who, might I remind you, is dealing with that ABOMINATION?!"
He raised his other hand up to her. "Relax, Swift. Cooper is probably already on—"
"Tetrax! The scorpion just grounded Cooper!" Cesar shouted, making the Petrosapien deadpan.
Swift was giving him a similar face, making Tetrax sigh. "Alright, I stand corrected. But in case you've forgotten, this goes against our deal." He pointed down to the anklet that Swift was wearing, immediately reminding her of what she promised. "You're under house arrest. Even if you were able to go outside, you wouldn't be able to use your powers with that anklet on."
A mixed look of sadness and frustration took over Swift's features as she screwed her eyes shut, hanging her head low while balling her fists at her sides. Never before had she felt so… useless. Yes, there were times in the past where she had felt that way, especially when she was on the run or in juvie. But now… the fact that she couldn't help the one who she found a kindred spirit in… the one person she cared about most… it was destroying her from the inside. A stream of tears managed to work their way out of her eyes, her arms shaking from the emotion building up in her.
"Tetrax… p-please." The Petrosapien was surprised when she whipped her head up, her tears flowing freely as she pleaded with him and pounded her fists against his chest. "I HAVE to help her! I have to help EVERYONE down there! If they don't get any backup soon, then things are only going to get worse!" She began choking up as she went on, her forehead pressed up against him. "A-And… if I lose her… I just don't know what I'd do… please, you have to let me go!"
There was a momentary silence between the two… that is until Tetrax pulled out the remote for her anklet. Swift's eyes widened, worried that he might do something to get her under control… but then he pressed a button and the anklet opened up, falling harmlessly to the floor. Her lips parted as she could feel her powers returning to her, but before she could do anything else, Tetrax took her by the shoulder and led her to his armory. "Come, if you're going to fight, then you might as well be prepared for it."
Swift couldn't help but blink in shock. "W-Wait, so you're letting me go?!"
"I am. But not without proper battle gear." Tetrax led the two into the Resolute's armory and he immediately pressed his hand against a palm reader, which then made a compartment on the wall open up.
Swift's eyeridge rose in curiosity as a rather slim suit of armor was revealed to her, one that was mainly a dark grey but had several black areas strewn about it, such as the chest, the shoulders, forearms, etcetera. These black parts were also outlined with thick, dark grey edges, with the toes and heels of the boots sharing the same color as well. There were also several small compartments around the waist and hip area as well. "Alright, I give, what IS that?"
"This is a special type of armor known as Proto-Tech." Tetrax explained, taking the armor off out of the compartment before handing it off to Swift. "It is designed to adapt to any being's physiology, and it is strong enough to protect its wearer from a high-intensity shockwave." He gestured to Swift's clothing. "If you're going to go out into battle, you may as well dress for the occasion, right?"
Swift smiled with determination before hugging Tetrax, much to his shock. "Right! I can't thank you enough for this, Tetrax. I owe you BIG TIME for this."
"Ahem, I'll keep that in mind." Tetrax said before nudging his head toward the exit. "Now go, you're needed down there."
The Aerophibian pumped a fist. "Right!" In the blink of an eye, she was out the door, leaving Tetrax… and her regular clothes behind.
Tetrax put his hand to his forehead in utter disbelief. "What HAVE I unleashed onto Vale?"
It didn't take long for Swift to change into the Proto-Tech armor, and the fact that it fit onto her like a glove also helped a lot. It had even accommodated for her retractable wings and her tail as well! And the moment that the pant legs wrapped around her feet, she discarded the boots, leaving her two-toed feet freely exposed. 'Man, it's like this armor KNEW me the moment I put it on!' The Resolute's back hatch opened up and she immediately flew out of it, managing to spook nearly half of all the students that were gathered out in the courtyard. 'Alright, Swift, focus up! It's time to save—'
"HEY!" Swift's eyeridges rose up and her head snapped down to see Cardin Winchester and his team, along with a whole bunch of other students all gathered together. It seemed like he had rallied them all for some reason, most likely to defend the school from the incoming threat. He was pointing his mace up at her while calling out; "You're the alien girl who blasted me in the shoulder!"
"Oh… yeah, right." Swift waved down to him with a guilty face. "Sorry about that! Listen, I'd be happy to give you a full-blown apology, but right now, I have a friend down in the city that I need to save, so—"
"Wait!" Cardin interrupted. "You're going to the city? If that's the case, then… could ya make sure that Velvet's alright?"
Once more, Swift was taken by surprise. "Wait, what?"
Cardin rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah… she told me about you and how you regret what you've done. And honestly, I'm kinda in the same boat. So… from one former bad egg to another, please make sure she's alright."
A smile came to Swift's face and she gave a thumbs up. "No problem. And you'd all best get ready… because things up here are probably gonna get pretty crazy soon." With that, Swift rocketed off toward Vale, so fast that she created a sonic boom in her wake. She didn't care how fast she had to fly, she just knew she HAD to get down there. In no time, she could see buildings fast approaching her, so she slowed down just a bit to keep from accidentally smacking into them. She could see the battle ahead of her, and she slowed down a bit more, though not enough to consider her actually GOING slow. Finally, her sights managed to find her best friend, still in the clutches of that damned beast. After rushing past who she could only assume to be Sienna Khan on a nearby rooftop, Swift screamed her friend's name out to her; "ILIA!"
This made Ilia's head snap up in shock, though she could only make out a crimson and black streak ramming its way into the Griffon at that moment. The beast roared in pain as it was sent tumbling down toward the ground… only to then immediately be sliced in half by a pair of red beams. This caused the Griffon's grip to loosen and Ilia was finally free… but the height she was at was yet another factor. "AAAAAH!" The chameleon girl belted out a scream as she continued to fall quite fast toward the pavement… only to then suddenly be scooped out of the air by a pair of arms.
"Gotcha!"
"Ack!" Ilia grunted at the sudden catch, only for her eyes to widen at the familiar voice. That, plus the combination of feeling like she was flying, made her come to only one conclusion. She glanced to the side and her lips parted in astonishment. "SWIFT?!"
The Aerophibian flew to a halt in midair, floating high above the ground while holding Ilia bridal style. "That's right! Surprised?"
"To say the freaking LEAST!" Ilia retorted. "What are you DOING here?! In fact, HOW are you even here?! You're supposed to be under house arrest and…" Her eyes suddenly widened when she saw the city skyline, now realizing how high up they were. Ilia slowly moved her gaze down, only to immediately regret it when the ground began spinning. "AH!" She wrapped her arms around Swift's neck, inadvertently bringing their faces closer as she shut her eyes. "Don't let me fall!"
Initially, Swift was a bit flustered, a light shade of pink coming to her cheeks when their faces touched. However, she quickly shrugged it off and chuckled, making sure that her grip on Ilia was as secure as it could be. "Don't worry. I won't let go." she spoke softly. 'She is such a cutie.'
"Good." Ilia squeaked out, peeking one eye open to see her friend's face. '…Dear god, why is she so pretty?' It was then that Ilia noticed what Swift was wearing, piquing her interest. "Uh… Swift? Where'd you get the armor?"
"Oh, Tetrax gave it to me before I left." Swift explained. "It's called "Proto-Tech" Armor. Apperantly it's really advanced or something."
Ilia blinked before scanning her eyes over Swift again, a light shade of pink coming to her spots. "Oh… well, it looks very good on you. I've heard black is quite slimming."
Swift's blush came back in full force, the Aerophibian laughing anxiously. "Uh, hehe, yeah… it certainly fits pretty well."
"Ilia!" The sudden cry of her name made Ilia whirl her head around toward a nearby building, where Sienna Khan was waving the two down. "Over here!" Ilia directed Swift over to the building and she nodded, flying down and onto the roof where Sienna immediately greeted her with a hug. "Oh, thank goodness you're alright!" the tiger woman sighed in relief. "I thought you were almost lost to us!"
Ilia smiled and returned the hug. "Hehe, it's okay, Sienna. I had some great backup."
"I can see that." Sienna pulled out of the embrace and faced Swift, bowing her head in gratitude. "Thank you for saving her, miss…"
"Swift." The hybrid answered with a quick salute. "Call me Swift. And no need to thank me. I would've done it again in a heartbeat." Swift sent a wink toward Ilia, making the chameleon girl's spots turn pink. "She's probably the best friend I've ever had, after all."
Sienna shifted her eyes between the two and a Cheshire grin slowly came to her face. "…I see. Well, that's certainly good to know." She went back to Ilia and handed her back her Lightning Lash. "And I believe you dropped this, my dear." As she gave it back, though, Sienna pulled Ilia closer and whispered; "By the way, she is quite the pretty face, eh? How long have you two known each other?
Ilia gave a small pout… but answered nonetheless. "…Since the Menagerie mission." Sienna winked at her and Ilia cleared her throat, hoping to move on, hoping that Swift didn't hear that. "Ahem, thank you, Sienna. Now that we're all on the same page, I'm thinking we should—"
"AAAAAAAAAH!" SLAM! Without warning, something made impact with the building they were standing on, making it shake beneath their feet. The three ladies nearly lost their footing, but after a few moments, it stopped. Still left baffled as to what happened, the trio went toward the building's edge and peered down, only to see none other than Penny. The android's eyes were spinning, dazed after getting smacked into the wall. But she did notice the ladies above her, though. "Hi Ilia, hi Sienna." she spoke in a dazed tone. "Glad you could make it." Once her vision cleared, though, she noticed Swift as well, her eyebrows snapping up. "Wait, SWIFT?! What are you doing here?!"
Swift waved down to her. "Long story, Penny. Right now, we've gotta—LOOK OUT!"
Penny got the warning just in time to avoid the Grimmungousaur's massive tail, the club slamming right into where she once was. Penny activated her Air Heart jet pack once again and flew up to the roof, grabbing Sienna without a second thought. "Come on! It isn't safe up here!"
"I can agree to that!" Ilia agreed as she let Swift pick her up as well. The four of them flew away from the building as it began to collapse, the Grimmungousaur engulfing it in its energy beam for good measure. Once they were all at a safe distance, they landed, with Ilia asking the big question first. "Okay, so where do we go from here?"
In an instant, Penny shifted her Air Heart for her Mechano-Crushers again, along with her Block Busters for good measure. "Well, I know I still have to hold that thing off."
"Are you sure?" Sienna asked with a serious face. "Because the Grimm on ground level are beginning to dwindle a bit. We can always send Cooper and Team CFVY to back you up."
"I appreciate the thought, but there are still many Grimm in the sky." Penny said as she glanced up to see all of the Griffons and flying Beringels still in the air. "You will need as much help as you can to take them all down."
Swift furrowed her eyeridges up toward the airborne Grimm still flying around. "Well, I think I'd be pretty useful back in the skies. I'll see if I can lend a hand in that department, maybe get at least a couple of them away from the battle and here to help you, Penny." She faced Ilia and gently grasped her hand. "I'll give you and Sienna cover while you two get back to the others, okay? Just follow my lead."
Ilia smiled back at her, tightening her grip ever so slightly. "Right. We'll be right behind you." With that, Swift spread her wings and flew up into the air, leaving Ilia to face Sienna… who was wearing her Cheshire grin again. Ilia's face soured in annoyance and she pointed toward the woman. "Not… one… word."
Sienna merely shrugged. "What do you mean? I didn't say anything." Ilia gave an irritated mutter before both women followed Swift back to the battle, leaving Penny to smile to herself.
'Those two!' the redhead thought giddily before lunging back toward the Grimmungousaur.
…..
Back at the Xiao Long residence, the group there let out a collective sigh of relief after seeing their friend get rescued on live television, the news helicopter having managed to catch everything. …And many of the girls were cooing as a result of just HOW she was saved. "That was such an amazing moment!" Nora gushed as she bounced up and down in excitement. "Did you see how Swift just FWOOOSHED right in there and showed that Griffon who was the boss?! That was freaking AMAZING!"
Pyrrha let out a sigh, wistfully gazing back at the television. "And did you see just how they looked at each other after the fact? Oh, SO romantic!"
Ben crossed his arms and smiled at the television, now feeling back to one-hundred percent. "It might be a parole violation…" He glanced to his grandfather. "But I think we can let it slide, right?"
"Hehe, I suppose so." Max chuckled. "Besides, we could use all the help we can get in this battle."
As for Blake, she was crying tears of joy, not just because her friend was safe and sound… but because it was her friend's crush who came to save her. She felt a light nudge to her side and moved around, just in time for Sun to pull her into a hug. "Hey, you doin' alright, Blake?"
A small sniffled escaped the cat girl as she wiped the tears away. "Y-Yeah… it's just… those two were practically MADE for each other."
"I couldn't agree more." Sun said as he gave a kiss to his girlfriend's cheek. "I think you should set 'em up on a date the moment we get Swift's legal stuff out of the way."
Blake couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "They have to confess their feelings to each other first, Sun."
"Oh, I know…" He shifted his eyes toward Gwen, tilting his head. "Hey, Gwen, any ideas?"
"Pfft, I'm not a miracle worker, Sun." Gwen grinned, only to receive a whole slew of deadpan faces from many of the couples in the room... and her own boyfriend. "…Okay, okay, you've made your point." The Anodite put a hand to her cheek in defeat. "I'll think of something."
"Ahem." Azmuth cleared his throat again, garnering everyone's attention. "If we're done expressing effusive emotions and playing match-maker, I believe it's time we get on to business." The Great Thinker hopped off of the coffee table and began walking out of the room, turning to Ben before ushering him to follow. "If I may have a word with the bearer of my Omnitrix…" Ben sighed and stood up, with Yang following him. "In private."
Yang wore an indignant expression at those words. "What?! You mean I can't even go with my own boyfriend for a meeting?!"
Ben sent a sympathetic expression toward his girlfriend and held her hands in his, making her focus onto his eyes. "Yang… it's okay. Trust me, if Azmuth wants to speak to me alone, then most of the time, he has a very good reason to." The Blonde Brawler was about to protest, but Ben put a hand on her cheek. "I know, this frustrates me as much as you. But don't worry. Once this is over, I'll fill you in, okay?" CRASH! The sound of shattering glass followed by a muffed groan from upstairs put everyone on alert… but the sound of the voice itself sounded VERY familiar. "…Besides, I think your uncle needs some consoling."
Ruby sighed and walked up to her sister, putting a hand to her shoulder. "He's right, Yang. C'mon, we gotta go pull Uncle Qrow out of this slump so that he can actually help us."
Raven stood up as well and began heading to the stairs. "Knowing Qrow, we're probably going to have a LOT of bad luck in trying that."
"Well…" Yang's eyes darted between her family and her Green Boy, pursing her lips as she made her final choice. She pecked Ben on the lips and said; "Fill me in as soon as you can, okay?"
"Will do." Ben smiled, giving her hand a squeeze before letting it go. As Yang, Raven and Ruby ascended the stairs, Ben went back to Azmuth, offering his hand to pick him up. "Alright, c'mon, I know someplace private." With that, Azmuth stepped onto Ben's hand and the hero took him down into the basement, making sure the door was closed for guaranteed privacy.
The moment he set Azmuth down, however, the Galvan began criticizing the state of the room. "Is this place a monument to what you children have been doing since you came here? Video games, movies, and other such recreations?"
"Psh, no!" Ben denied. He shifted his eyes under Azmuth's judging gaze before finally relenting. "Well, okay, at first that's a majority of what we did, but over the course of our stay, we've seen more and more action."
Azmuth gave a bemused chuckle. "Hmph, I see." His hands went behind his back and he began pacing back and forth in front of the Omnitrix bearer. "Ben, I am honestly quite astonished that you and your team always end up finding new ways to surprise me with how you all end up in these types of situations."
"Honestly, so am I." Ben shrugged. "I honestly don't think ANY of us were expecting to be blown to another dimension. Heck, it's happened to me TWICE now."
"Indeed." Azmuth nodded, stopping in his place as he gazed up at Ben. "It is my belief that our separate dimensions are changing as a result of this, Ben Tennyson. In ways that not even science can fathom."
Ben crossed his arms in thought. "Yeah, Professor Paradox said something along those same lines. And honestly, I'm inclined to believe him."
Azmuth took a pause before going on. "…It's not just that." He turned around so that his back was facing Ben. "Professor Paradox has informed me that your world, Earth, is beginning to change once again."
The hero blinked at that. "Change? How so?"
"Ancient forces that haven't been seen in hundreds, if not thousands of years are beginning to stir on your planet… ones that not even I believed to be real." Azmuth began gesturing with his hand as he described what was going on further. "And should these forces be allowed to run amok… well it could spell disaster for your world."
"Oh yeah, Paradox mentioned something like that a couple days ago." Ben recalled. "He also said something about us being in for an adventure or something…"
Azmuth couldn't help but scoff at that. "Hmph, well, that's ONE way of putting it." He did an about face and focused back to Ben. "But the point is that once your and your new team arrive back on Earth… you all need to make sure you are prepared for anything."
"Don't worry, Azmuth." Ben waved. "We will. We've been training with these guys for weeks and I like to think we've all made some pretty marked improvements."
"Hm, quite the claim. But I was not referring to JUST your combat capabilities." He pointed up to his creation. "The Omnitrix. It needs to be whole again."
"O-Oh, right, Humungousaur." Ben put his hand to the faceplate and selected Humungousaur's icon, making the plate retract and the core pop up once again. The hero knelt down in front of Azmuth and presented the watch to him. "Alright, here ya go. By the way, I wanna thank you for restoring Feedback."
"It was my pleasure." Azmuth said with a single nod before going right to work, detaching the Omnitrx core to get into its inner workings. "I figured you would want the transformation back after so many years… especially considering how you lost it in the first place." He took out a small microchip from one of the pockets in his tunic and inserted it into the core and began inputting more commands into the device, the Omnitrix making a high-pitched beeping before its signature activation noise sounded off, making Ben smile. Azmuth reattached the core and gave another nod. "Hm, alright, the Vaxasaurian DNA has now been fully repaired."
"Great, thanks Azmuth…" Ben trailed off when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, but, uh… one more thing; Rath needs clothes, please."
"Ah, yes, I was wondering when you would finally notice."
Ben's eye bugged out of his head at that. "Wait… YOU KNEW THAT RATH WAS NAKED THE WHOLE TIME?!"
A very rare smile came to Azmuth's face. "Why yes. I was going to tell you sooner, but then, I decided to let it play out. Consider it a bit of… what's the human term… schadenfreude for the many times you have misused the Omnitrix." The creator gave a shrug. "But I suppose a humorous witticism can only go so far." He saw that Ben's eye was twitching, and he did NOT seem happy. "Oh, come now, you know I could have done FAR worse."
"I'm just surprised that you even HAVE a sense of humor… but fair point, old man."
"Very good." Azmuth began rotating the Omnitrix core, the device beeping as he did so. "Now, what type of garments to you want this transformation to be in?"
This made Ben's eyebrows raise up. "Wait… you mean I can have him in ANYTHING I want?" Once again, Azmuth gave him a silent nod… and a sly grin came to Ben's face. There WAS something he had in mind for Rath, and if Azmuth could program those types of clothes in, then THAT would be the best way to get back at the elderly Galvan. Ben told him what he wanted… and Azmuth was utterly dumbfounded.
"…Are you serious?"
"As serious as I can be!" Ben smirked. "Think of it as… schadenfreude right back at you. So, is it possible?"
Azmuth sent Ben an irritated face before sighing and shaking his head. "Yes, yes, it's possible. I suppose I DO deserve that." After making a few calibrations, Azmuth pressed a button on the side of the Omnitrix core, which made it change from green to blue briefly. The moment it changed back to green, Azmuth gave the okay. "Alright… your ridiculous outfit is ready. But don't come complaining to me if you want to change it."
"Oh, don't worry, I don't plan to." Ben assured as he began to stand up. "But thanks for all of this Azmuth, I—"
"Ah-ah! Get back down here." Azmuth insisted. "I am not yet finished."
This took Ben by surprise. "W-What? What do ya mean "you're not finished"? Humungousaur's fixed, Rath has clothes, what more do you need to do?"
Azmuth shook his head and groaned. "Such impatience. If you're willing to sit down for another few minutes, you'll see that I have actually brought an additional gift for you, Ben Tennyson." From his tunic, Azmuth pulled out another microchip, this one much bigger than the last. So much so that Azmuth had to hold it with two hands.
Ben blinked at the sight of it, but couldn't help but smile excitedly. "Wait, so… is it another alien unlock? Because if so, we COULD really use it!"
"You could say that…" Azmuth placed the microchip into the core and gave Ben a knowing grin. "But at the same time, not so." This cryptic talk only made Ben even more confused. "Trust me, Ben, I think you'll find that what I'm giving you will allow you to have quite the edge over that beast in the city… if you're willing to deal with the stipulation that comes with it…"
…..
"So… we're all in agreement that this won't be easy, right?" Ruby asked as she, her sister and her… step-mother worked their way up the stairs. 'I mean, I guess she's TECHNICALLY my step-mother now.' Ruby mused to herself with a small grin. 'We've shared a few hugs already, so that's a good sign, right?'
Raven signed and rubbed her temple. "No, no it isn't, Ruby. And I'm not even certain if I can be of much help here." She placed a hand over her chest. "Remember, I haven't been around Qrow in years, so I haven't really gotten used to his… drunken behavior." She sent a sympathetic gaze to the two girls beside her. "I'm… I'm sorry for whatever you girls had to experience with him over the years."
"It's okay, mom." Yang pulled her mother into a small side-embrace for reassurance. "It wasn't really bad. Qrow's really more of a sad or happy drunk than an angry one, so no one was really hurt. Usually it would just end with him being passed out on the couch and one of us would just have to take him to bed."
Raven shook her head. "Still, for little girls to have to see their uncle in that state… it just makes me feel ill."
Yang sent her a smirk. "Heh, and this coming from the lady who used to believe that strength was everything."
"Oh, come on." Raven said with an eye roll and a smirk of her own. "You know how much I've changed."
"Yeah, I'm just joshin' ya." Yang chuckled while leaning her head to her mother's shoulder briefly. "Love ya, mom."
"Love you too, you brat." Raven replied while ruffling her daughter's hair.
It was then that Ruby cleared her throat, gaining the duo's attention. "Ahem, while I have to admit the mother-daughter bonding is insanely cute…" She gestured toward Qrow's room, to which they heard they drunken huntsman groaning from inside. "…We're here."
Yang furrowed her brows, remembering the sound of broken glass from earlier… as well as the fact that there were two pieces of expensive gaming equipment in the same room. "He had better not have damaged Ben's PS3, or else I'm REALLY gonna give him an earful. Same goes for Gwen's Switch."
Raven sighed and reached for the door knob. "Well, let's get this over with." She twisted the knob and let herself in, the girls right on her heels. Much to their relief, none of the gaming consoles they had left in the room were damaged. However, what WAS damaged was the mirror on the nearby closet door, shocking all three of them. Qrow himself had draped himself over his bed, lying so that his body was facing toward them with his head facing the other direction. In his hand was a large bottle of booze, one that appeared to be nearly empty… and across the room, there was yet ANOTHER bottle, lying just a few feet away from the broken mirror. "…Oh god." Raven whispered, her face contorting in horror.
"Ugh, jeez, it's a bad one, alright." Yang said with a grimace, earning her a shocked look from her mother. "…What? I said we were used to it."
"Yes, but I didn't imagine it would be THIS bad!" Raven asserted.
However, that one shout was enough to rouse Qrow from his languished stupor, groggily lifting his head with seemingly a lot of effort. "H-huh?! Wh-Who's there?" His vision was blurred a bit, so he squinted, finally making out his nieces and sister in the doorway. "Ah, ladies! Good to see ya back. How'd the big ol' press conference go?"
The trio glanced at one another before going back to Qrow, with Ruby being the one to deliver the bad news. "Actually, Uncle Qrow, not so well."
Next to her, Yang's eyebrows rose up in surprise, seeing the determined expression on her sister's face. 'Wow, she's usually a lot gentler when Qrow gets like this. She's either still on a roll from being in the battle… or she must be REALLY pissed at him.'
Qrow threw his head back and groaned. "Lemme guess, a bunch o' bigoted assholes came and tried to ruin the whole thing, huh? Not surprising, people are assholes." He smirked as a chuckle escaped his lips, gesturing the whiskey bottle at his sister. "Heya Rae, didja manage to drive 'em all off? I know one look from you would send anybody runnin' for the hills! Haha!" He immediately took notice of the annoyed expression on Raven's face the moment he said that. "Yeah, see? Kinda like that!"
"That's it." Raven slammed her fist into the palm of her hand. "I'm gonna beat some sense into him."
"Wait." Ruby raised her arm up, blocking Raven from unbridling her wrath. "Let me do this…" She sent a pleading gaze to Raven, urging her to calm down. "…Please." Raven locked eyes with the Hooded Huntress and sighed reluctantly, allowing the girl to proceed. Ruby flashed a brief smile before going back to her uncle, her brows furrowing at him. "Actually, Uncle Qrow, if you had paid attention to the news, you would know what's going on." She stepped over to the bedside table and picked up the TV remote, turning the television on. "While you've been in here drinking your troubles away… we've been dealing with a whole lot MORE trouble." She switched it to the news and Qrow's eyes immediately widened at what was on there.
He saw Jim, Glynda, the Belladonnas and everyone else all fighting in the city streets, either holding off the Grimm or fending off Salem's mutants. And, if that weren't enough, he also saw Penny battling against some giant, unfamiliar Grimm that resembled Humungousaur, shocking him even more. It was a chaotic battle, without a doubt, and he could feel the blood drain from his face the moment he realized what was going on. "…No."
"Yes." Ruby confirmed, making Qrow's head hang low. "Salem's forces have made their move. And this time, they're being relentless. We were forced to retreat after Tyrian poisoned Ben."
Qrow's eyebrows rose up groggily. "Woah, woah, is the kid okay?"
"He is." Raven answered. "The Omnitrix expelled the poison from his system and his cousin handled the sickness after-effect."
"Oh, okay, good." Qrow slumped back across his bed and groaned again. "But ugh, seriously?! Of all things to happen today, it had to be fucking THIS?! Didn't they learn their lesson yesterday back at Haven?"
"Apparently not." Yang stepped over to the other side of the bed and crossed her arms, making sure that her Uncle could see her. "But, if ALL of us pitch in and start helping out in this situation, maybe we'd be able to beat them all back." She leaned forward a bit and moved her brows up and down as she said; "Hint. Hint."
Qrow sighed and sat back up again, shaking his head. "Firecracker, believe me, the LAST person you want out there is me. I'd just mess things up for everyone."
Yang moved back so that she was standing in front of him, shooting him an annoyed glare. "Oh, I'm not talking about back in Vale. I was mostly referring to helping out the others HERE. Because guess what? The house came under attack the moment that Salem brought in her forces, all so she could get her hands on the lamp!"
"Wait… we were under attack?" Qrow asked, to which the three women could only give blank stares back at him. "Huh, so THAT was what all that damn noise outside was." The drunken man gave a shrug. "Guess I was so out of it that I didn't notice."
"Qrow, what the FUCK?!" Raven cursed, gripping her hair in disbelief. "You heard all of that noise outside and didn't even bother to check what was HAPPENING?!"
Qrow grimaced back at her and waved her off. "Hey, it's been a pretty shitty day for me, alright? An' you of all people know the reason why." He pointed a finger at Raven, using that hand that just so happened to be holding onto the whiskey bottle. "How would YOU feel if the whole reason you worked with one of yer best friends was actually all for nothin', huh? An' on top of THAT, he kept the whole thing hidden from us from day fuckin' ONE. In fact, you made it REAL clear that you're still pissed at Oz, so maybe I should be askin' what the deal is with YOU!"
Raven had to admit, as drunk as her brother was… he had a point. She was still mad at Oz for keeping such an important secret from them for so many years. In fact, it was one of the big reasons why she left the former headmaster in the first place; because she knew that he was hiding more than what he was telling them. But still, for as mad as she was at Ozpin still, she wasn't at the point where her anger was boiling over… and she had a good feeling she knew why.
The Spring Maiden reached her hands out and set them on Yang and Ruby's shoulders. "Do you want to know WHY I'm not where you are right now? Well, for one, I don't drink, but that's a given." She gave the girl's shoulders a light shake. "But the main reason is because I have these two to help me keep from going over the boiling point. Plus, there's Ben and the others as well. These kids have helped me keep my head on straight… and if you'll let them, they can help you as well, little brother."
A small chuckle escaped Qrow's throat, a smirk appearing on his face. "Well, I'm glad to hear that yer starting to appreciate family, Rae." He shook his head and gripped the whiskey bottle's neck a bit harder. "But to be honest, I'm too far down this damn hole to be helped. An' let's be honest; no one wants me out on the battle field with 'em. My Semblance is too much of a liability. Every choice I've ever made has led me to this point, an' the last think I want is to drag all of ya down with me." He began to bring the bottle up to his lips. "I could probably waist away to nothin' and you'd still be better off—HUH?!" Qrow's eyes widened when the whiskey bottle was suddenly yanked out of his hands… by Ruby.
"GRAAAAAAH!" With a yell of frustration, anger, and a strong hint of sadness, Ruby chucked the bottle of booze at the nearest window, throwing it outside… but in the heat of the moment, she forgot that the window was closed. CRASH! The sound of the glass shattering made the whole room go silent, with Ruby keeping her teeth clenched as she seethed with rage, her eyes darting back to Qrow.
"Sh-Shortstack!? What the hell was—GAH!" In the blink of an eye, Ruby used her Semblance to quickly slam into Qrow and take him by the cuff on his shirt, pinning him on the opposite wall with a glare that screamed "righteous fury". This took Qrow aback instantly, as well as stunning Yang and Raven into utter silence. They had NEVER seen Ruby like this before. Qrow raised his hands defensively and began pleading with his niece. "Woah, woah, Ruby, listen, I—"
"NO!" Ruby screamed, with tears beginning to well up in her eyes. "YOU listen to ME Uncle Qrow! I don't EVER want to hear you talk about yourself like that! We wouldn't be better off if you waisted away to nothing! And you want to know why?! Because we're FAMILY! And you can be DAMNED sure that you'd be missed! Raven would miss you! Yang and dad would miss you! And… I-I would miss you!" That was all it took for Ruby to start breaking down, her tears flowing freely as she began to cry into her uncle's chest. Her uncontrollable weeping was the only thing heard in that room, the other three still left astonished by what she said. However, through her sobbing, Ruby continued; "And please… please don't say that you're too far down that damned hole, because you're not." She lifted her head up and locked eyes with her uncle again. "We want to help you, Uncle Qrow, but help is also a two-way street. The question now is… do you want to help yourself? Because if you do, then we're more than ready to help you. Just please… don't talk about drinking yourself away." Ruby buried her face back into Qrow's shirt. "Because… I still want my uncle alive!"
An air of tension was left in the room after that, the only sound being Ruby's choking sobs. It remained that way for a good few minutes, with Raven and Yang shedding a few tears of their own in the meantime. However, that all changed when Qrow put his arms around Ruby, giving his niece a consoling embrace. "I… I almost don't know what to say." Ruby lifted her head up to see… her uncle smiling proudly down at her. "When did my niece get to be so grown up?"
Ruby glanced away sadly. "I-I'm sorry if I went off the rails, I just—"
"No! Don't apologize." Qrow assured, feeling a lot more sober than he had just a few minutes ago. "Because quite honestly, I needed that." He ruffled his hand on Ruby's head, tousling her hair a bit. "Thanks, Ruby. I really DID need that wake-up call."
"So… you're not going to drink yourself to death?"
"After all that? Nah, don't think so." Qrow pulled them both away from the wall and held Ruby's shoulders at arm's length. "Besides, I just had the fear of god put into me by my own niece. You reminded me that things aren't as shitty as I made 'em out to be. And I can't thank ya enough, Shortstack." He felt a warmth in his hear when he saw Ruby's smile come back, the girl wiping away her tears as Yang and Raven smiled as well. "But just remember, you're stuck with me AND my crappy Semblance. I hope you realize that."
Ruby chuckled and pulled her uncle into another hug. "I do. But remember; we're all in this together, and we're going to do the best we can… even if we have to deal with a little bad luck. But all the same…" She gave a wink and a thumbs up. "We still would like Qrow Branwen on our side."
Qrow smirked and nodded in response. "Heh, well then, I guess it's official. From here on, I'm in."
All of a sudden, Yang ran up and joined in on the hug. "And we wouldn't want it any other way, Uncle Qrow." She opened a single eye and followed up with; "But you DO know that you're going to be taking a BIG break from drinking to start out with this helping process, right?"
The drunken huntsman sighed and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I do. It'll probably be hard, but if I can improve from it, then I'll find a way to manage."
"Good to hear." Raven smiled as she set a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Because quite honestly, I was kind of getting tired of hearing how my brother is known as a drunkard around these parts. Just HOW many DWI charges do you have?"
"Heh… more than I'm proud of now." Qrow rubbed the back of his head. "But don't worry, I'm gonna clean up my act."
"Great, because it started when Ruby threw the bottle out the window." Yang quipped, which made everyone in the room laugh. "Speaking of which…" Yang suddenly rounded on her sister and pulled her into a hug, squeeing all the while. "EEEEEEE! My sister just said her first curse word!"
Ruby's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "W-Wait, what?"
Raven gave her a nod. "Oh yes, you said "damn" at least twice in your tirade. Not as impressive as the more colorful four-letter words, but still, it counts."
With a look of disbelief on her face, Ruby fell to her knees, raised her arms up to the sky and shouted; "NOOOO!" She then put her hands on the ground, her head lowered in shame. "My perfect no-swear record as been besmirched! BESMIRCHED!"
The trio standing above her all deadpanned at her overdramatic reaction. …That is until a new voice entered the room. "Ahem." Everyone's heads whipped up to see Tai in the doorway, the blond man smiling down at his daughter. "Ruby, as proud as I am that you managed to last this long… you're sixteen now. You're gonna swear." The father came over and picked his daughter up off the ground, giving her a pat on the shoulder. "Trust me, honey, it's just a fact of life. People swear when they're upset. No harm done."
"…Yeah, I guess so." Ruby sighed. "Still, I AM pretty impressed that I—wait a second!" Her silver eyes widened in realization. "Dad, how long have you been out there?!"
Tai paused more a moment and sighed himself. "…Long enough." He directed his gaze to Qrow with a raised brow. "When I saw the bottle of booze fly out of the window, I thought something bad had happened and ran up as fast as I could. I was just in time to catch Ruby's words to you."
"So… you heard all that, huh?" Qrow asked.
"Yep, and I gotta say… I'm proud of you, Qrow." Tai smiled. "Maybe now we can get a bit of the old Qrow back."
Qrow rolled his eyes and put a hand to his hip. "Heh, don't push yer luck, Tai."
"I'll try not to." Tai smirked before going back to Raven and his daughters. "By the way, Ben and the others are ready to head back to Vale if you girls are ready." The father pursed his lips before bringing them all into another hug. "I just hope I am."
"Hmhm, we'll be fine, Tai." Raven assured as she, Yang and Ruby returned the embrace. The quartet pulled away from each other as Raven ushered them out into the hallway. "Now c'mon, let's go." With that, they, along with Qrow, went back downstairs and out the front door, with everyone having gathered out in the front yard again. Max, Athena, Professor Paradox, Azmuth, and Oscar stood off to the side while Winter had joined the main team. When she spotted Ben, Raven wave to him. "Ben! So, how did things go with your little…" It was then that she took notice of the wide grin on Ben's face, which seemed a bit brighter than usual. "…Private chat? Alright, what's the smile for?"
"He won't tell us." Kevin muttered in annoyance. "He's had that stupid grin on his face since he got out of his conversation with Azmuth. And quite honestly, it's buggin' the shit outta me." However, Kevin's eyebrows rose up at the sight of Qrow behind them, a snarky smirk coming to his face. "Hey-Hey! The drunken asshole has risen from his cave! I take it you're feelin' better, old man?"
Qrow sent a narrowed gaze at the Osmosian, but the snark that Kevin was dishing out couldn't help but make him chuckle. "Heh, more than you know, kid. Ruby gave me some… pretty choice words, and well, let's just say I've been scared straight."
Weiss let out a little laugh at that. "Hah, Ruby scared you straight?" She glanced over to her best friend. "No offence, but I don't think that you could scare anyone straight."
"Oh trust me, Weiss-Cream, she DID." Yang assured. "She even swore at Uncle Qrow to get her point across."
Now THAT got the group to gasp, many of them recoiling in shock. "Wait, Ruby swore?!" Jaune exclaimed.
"And I wasn't around to hear it?!" Kevin added.
"That is very surprising." Gwen commented. "What did she say?"
Tai held up two fingers. "Hehe, she said "damn" twice."
Nora put a finger to her chin, giving a ponderous expression toward the Hooded Huntress. "Hmm… pretty impressive for a first-timer." She zipped up to Ruby and gave her a hearty smack on the back. "Congratulations, Ruby! "Damn" is a good strong start! Now all you've gotta do is start staying the more colorful four-letter words!"
"Hehe, yeah, thanks for the advice, Nora." Ruby winced at the smack. "But I'm not looking to develop a potty mouth, thank you."
As all of this was going on, Yang had stridden up to Ben, her arms crossed and with a confident smile on her face. "So… how'd your little meeting with Azmuth go?" she asked. "You never DID answer my mom on that one."
"It went great, actually." Ben grinned back, holding up the Omnitrix for her to see. "Humungousaur is back where he belongs, and best of all… Rath actually has clothes now!" He gave her a wink. "And trust me, I can't WAIT to show you what he's got on."
Yang gave him another peck on the lips, tracing her finger across his chest. "Hey, that's great, babe. …But judging by that smile, I think you're hiding something ELSE that happened in that meeting." She leaned forward so that her chest was pressed right up against his, a rather seductive grin on her face. "Care to share, Green Boy?"
"Hehe, sorry, Yang." Ben chuckled, though on the inside, he was desperately trying to keep himself from blushing madly. 'Dear god, her methods are effective.' He shook his head to get a hold of himself and pressed forward. "But I'm keeping it a surprise. Trust me, though, once you see it… you're gonna be blown away when you see it, I guarantee."
The Blonde Brawler gave him a pout flicking him on the nose for good measure. "Aw, boo! You're not even gonna tell your own girlfriend?"
"Like I said, I don't wanna spoil the surprise for anyone." Ben winked before pecking her on the nose. "Least of all, you, because I KNOW you'll love this."
"…You're lucky you're cute, Green Boy." Yang gave him a pat on the cheek before pulling away, placing her hands on her hips. "So, are we ready to go?"
Winter stepped up to answer that. "Indeed we are, and Gwendolyn and I have come up with a plan that is structurally sound… provided that nothing goes wrong." The military specialist's eyes widened as she noticed that Qrow wasn't moving away from the group, a fearful feeling settling in her gut. "Oh no… please don't tell me—"
"Hey, kid." Qrow piped up, nudging his head to Ben. "Got any more room on this squad of yours?"
Ben gave him a thumbs up. "Sure! The more the merrier!"
Winter deadpanned and hung her head low, reaching over to set her hand on Gwen's shoulder. "Gwendolyn, scrap the plan. In fact, scrap the whole operation. So long as he's around, we will never win."
Gwen rolled her eyes at that. "Oh come on, Winter, don't be so overdramatic. If anything goes wrong, we'll be quick to fix it."
Blake raised a single brow skeptically, leaning over to Gwen to whisper; "Listen, Gwen, I'm usually quick to agree with you, but are you sure that letting Qrow come along is a good idea? I mean, his Semblance is—"
"Workable." Ben finished, having overheard Blake's whispering. "Trust me, if anything goes wrong, we'll push through and think of something to correct the plan." The hero took a deep breath and scanned his eyes out over the crowd, seeing all of his friends and allies' eyes trained on him. "Guys, before we go into this, I just wanna say something… throughout our time here, we've hit some highs and some lows, and while this is probably the lowest point that we've been in so far… I think I can safely say that it won't be the last, or worst that we'll ever experience. Going forward in this fight with Salem, there will definitely be hardships, but they're hardships that we can overcome if we stick together and work as a team." Ben stuck his hand out, giving his teammates a smile. "So, are we all in agreement on that?"
One by one, Teams RWBY, JNPR, SN, Gwen, Kevin and Rex all put their hands in with his, a resounding; "YEAH!" echoing through the front yard.
The adults and Oscar all gave the group supportive smiles, the latter stepping forward with the Long Memory firmly in his grasp. "Ben, you can count on all of us to protect the relic while you're gone."
"Thanks, Oscar." Ben saluted back. "Much appreciated."
Athena stepped forward and pulled both Jaune and Pyrrha into a goodbye hug. "You two just make sure to be safe out there, alright? And come back safe and sound."
"We will, mother." Pyrrha nodded. "We'll be sure to."
Jaune wore a nervous smile. "Yeah… a-and if my parents call asking about me—"
"I'll tell them that you WILL be back." Athena assured. "Because if you don't, I'll storm right out there, get you, bring you back to life… and then let your sisters kill you themselves."
The expression on Jaune's face could only be described as "priceless", and it made both Pyrrha and Nora break out into hysterics. "I… wow, that was VERY detailed. I'm really impressed."
"Haha! No kidding!" Nora guffawed before taking both of her friends and moving back over to the group. "Now c'mon guys, let's go!"
Once everyone was all gathered up, Gwen's hands and eyes began to glow, ready to cast the teleportation spell that would take all of them back to Vale. "Alright, is everyone ready?"
"As ready as we'll ever be." Ben affirmed before finding Azmuth again, the elderly Galvan gazing at him with a neutral expression. However, Ben just smiled back and raised his arm up, flashing the Omnitrix to its creator. "Thanks, Azmuth. I owe you one for this."
"I believe you owe me for many other things as well, Ben Tennyson." Azmuth clarified before waving his hand at the group. "Now get out of here and go do what you do best." That got a laugh out of the hero before giving a nod to his cousin, giving her the go ahead to teleport them all back to the city. One pink flash later, and the team, along with Winter, Qrow and Raven were all gone, a sigh of frustration escaping the Great Thinker. "That young human will never change, will he?"
"You never know, Azmuth." Max said with a shrug. "A lot can happen to change a person over time. I've got a feeling that Ben will mellow out in twenty years or so—"
"Max, your grandson is courting an exuberant young blonde human woman." Azmuth deadpanned. "And in terms of human standards, she is obviously very captivating to him. It probably will not be long until they begin copulating."
"…Alright, let's make it forty years, then."
…..
Back in Vale, General Ironwood was thanking whatever deity he could that this flying red girl had come in to help them. He wasn't overly familiar with Swift, but he knew OF her, and to say that he was grateful that Tetrax allowed her to come and help was an understatement. The Aerophibian's eye lasers proved to be a great help, the beams being able to cut through a Grimm's body parts with ease as long as it wasn't covered in bone armor. And with the angles that Swift was able to fly at, she got in quite a few good shots at many a Griffon's underbelly. But still, that didn't immediately exempt the others from having to fight. "How's everyone holding up?!" Ironwood called out as he cleaved his axe through a Beringel's arm before shooting it in the head.
Glynda used her telekinesis to shove another incoming Beringel into two others, driving them all into the pavement. "For the most part, I think we're doing alright." she answered. "But we NEED to get up to Beacon. If the Grimm manage to make their way up there when Cinder and her squad arrive as well, then the students and teachers will need all the backup they can get!"
"I know… I just hope that Ben and the others can get her so that we CAN get there."
Nearby, Ilia and Sienna had reengaged with Hog and Skull while Kali and Vernal were still fighting with Subdora, the Merlinisapien luring the duo over to the former fight. Nearby, Leonidas and Ghira were also getting closer, the two big cats still grappling with each other. However, Leonidas had managed to get a bit of leverage over Ghira and brought out his claws, slashing the panther man across his arm. "GRAH!" Before Ghira knew what hit him, he was then thrown over to the four women, who were now all standing back to back as their respective opponents began surrounding them.
"Ghira!" Kali exclaimed, rushing over to her husband to inspect his wound. There were four long gashes across his shoulder, and they were bleeding quite profusely. "Sweetheart, are you—"
"I'm alright, Kali." Ghira winced as he stood up, keeping a hold of his wife's hand as they backed away from the surrounding villains. "Be ready, everyone! We need to stand our ground if we hope to hold them off!"
"HA! Now THAT'S a hoot!" Skull guffawed as he readied his laser horn. "Sorry to disappoint ya, papa cat, but you're pretty much surrounded on all sides!"
Hog began to do the same with his visor. "Hehe, you got that right, Skull! An' we're through playin' games here, ya dig? It's time to put away our toys."
Subdora pulled out her Queen's Ransom, shifting it into its pistol mode while Leonidas readied Stalwart. "Indeed so! Now, say your goodbyes, my lovelies! Hahaha!"
Vernal sent a sharp glare right at the Merlinisapien. "Yeah, how about, no." She gripped her weapons and shouted; "DUCK!" before spinning around, her allies immediately taking the hint. She pulled the triggers and her weapon's signature yellow lasers began firing out of the barrels, the beams whipping around her as she spun. As a result, the beams hit all four of the animal-like villains, blowing them all back except for Exo-Skull, who remained firmly in place.
"Nice try, girly!" Skull said as he fired his laser. "BUT YOU'RE ALL GOIN' DOWN!"
But just before his laser made contact, Cooper jumped in the way and took the blast head on, brining his arms up to block it. He was pushed back a few feet, but appeared to be relatively okay, aside from a few scorch marks on his armor plating. "Hah… hah… not today, Skull! I—GAH!" The genius was suddenly interrupted by Silyrian, who had leapt in and whapped his tail right at Cooper, all while laughing maniacally. Cooper managed to avoid it, though he was still a bit frustrated. "VADOS, how go those internal repairs?!"
"Still working on it, Mr. Daniels." VADOS answered. "The main thrusters took a bad hit, unfortunately."
"Damn!" Cooper brought up his laser cannon and blasted at Silyrian, the scorpion mutant jumping out of the way and retaliating with his own firepower from the weapons in his pincers. "Ugh, this isn't working."
"Tech Head!" Cooper perked his head up to see Coco, Foc, Yatsu and Velvet all making their way over to him, the quartet standing on either side of him. "You doin' okay?" the fashionista asked in concern as she and the others readied their weapons. "You know we've always got your back!"
In his helmet, Cooper smiled down at her. "Thanks for the backup, babe, but I think I have an idea…" He directed his focus back to Silyrian. "VADOS, transfer all power from jet thrusters to Unibeam. Put it on full blast!"
"Are you certain that is wise, sir?" VADOS questioned. "Doing so could drain the suit's energy substantially."
"I'm aware, but—huh?" Cooper cut himself off when, without warning, a massive pink flash suddenly shined throughout the area, making many of the Grimm fall back while also halting the fights between both the villains and the do-gooders. Once the pink flash subsided, it was revealed to be none other than the team, making all of the others smile in relief. "GUYS! Haha, you're back!"
"HA! About freaking time!" Coco cheered, with her teammates brightening up as well.
In contrast, the villains were not so happy about it. "WHAT?!" Skull exclaimed before whirling around and grabbing Silyrian by the throat. "You said that the Grimmungousaur VAPORIZED all of them!" he growled in the scorpion's face.
Silyrian blinked at the returning group of heroes who he assumed to be dead for about an hour's time. "Huh… I must say, I was not expecting that…" Only to then shrug his shoulders. "But on the other hand, I was expecting not to expect something, so it doesn't count! BAHAHAHA—" CRACK! Skull promptly slammed Silyrian's head into the pavement for his trouble.
Ben and the team stepped forward, the hero spreading his arms out toward the villains. "That's right everyone, we're back and ready to kick some ass!"
Almost immediately, Blake and Sun shot out and ran towards the Belladonnas, Sienna, and Ilia, the cat girl noticing that her father was injured. "DAD!" she cried out before putting a hand to his arm. "You're hurt!"
Ghira chuckled and put a hand to his daughter's shoulder. "It's alright, Blake, I'm fine. I'm just glad that you're all safe…" He raised a brow toward a certain monkey boy, who was waving at him with a cheeky smile. "Yes… even you, boy." the panther man sighed.
"Oh, Ghira, be nice." Kali said before pulling both her daughter and Sun into a hug. "Glad to see you're all back, dear."
"Indeed." Sienna spoke up, with Ilia stepped over next to her. "We had quite the scare while you were gone, actually."
"Oh yeah, we saw that." Sun nodded.
This took Ilia by surprise. "W-Wait, you DID?! B-But how did you—" She saw Blake suddenly point up toward the sky… where a news helicopter was flying overhead. Ilia's eyes widened and she uttered; "Oh… okay then…" But then she realized something. "Wait! Then did you see—"
"Yep!" Blake said with a thumbs up. "Every minute of it." She craned her head upward and immediately saw Swift, giving her a greeting smile. "Hey Swift! Glad you join in the fight!"
Swift lowered herself down closer to ground level and greeted her back. "Same here, Blake. Happy to be here…" However, she peered over the cat girl's shoulder and quirked an eyeridge at something. "Wait… what the heck is Tennyson doing?"
The six Faunus craned their heads back over to the team… and were immediately greeted with the sight of Ben messing with his cell phone for some reason. What that reason was, nobody knew, but one thing was made certain; the villains didn't appreciate what the hero was doing. "Hey!" Hog shouted out. "What the hell is goin' on over there?!"
Qrow was also starting to get a little irritated. "Yeah, what's the hold up, kid? Are we gonna fight or what—"
"Sh-sh-shhh!" Ben raised a finger up to Qrow as he continued to fiddle with his phone. "We'll get to that in a minute. But first… ah-ha!" Ben walked over to Cooper and handed him the phone. "Coop, do you have sound amplifiers in that armor of yours?"
"Uh… yeah, actually." Cooper confirmed. "I just installed them yesterday. Why, what do you—" But then, he saw what was on Ben's phone, and it took him aback a little. "Uh… okay, why do you want me to play this?"
Yang stepped over and peered over her boyfriend's shoulder, equally confused. "Yeah… what the heck is this all about, Green Boy?"
Ben gave them both a wink. "Trust me, guys, this is gonna be awesome. And don't worry about me giving a signal, Coop, you'll know when to play it." With that, Ben and Yang began walking back over to where he was standing before, passing Gwen along the way. "So, you know what to do once I transform, right?" Ben whispered to her.
"Take General Ironwood and Goodwitch up to Beacon, along with any others who're willing to come with." Gwen confirmed with a nod.
"Great, then let's get started." Ben smirked as he faced the villains once more, his team already bringing out their weapons. "I gotta say, guys, you all made one REALLY big mess for us today. But now, I think it's time for you guys to put this whole thing to rest while you still can." He crossed his arms at the bad guys. "Because trust me, after a day like today, we're tired, we're angry, and we're fed up with all of this."
"Ha! We could say the same for you, Tennyson!" Subdora said as she pointed her pistol at the hero, with Leonidas doing the same next to her with Stalwart. "But our signora would be awfully cross if we just turned tail."
Exo-Skull put his hands to the ground, bracing himself for the huge energy beam he was about to fire from his horn. On either side of him, Hog and Silyrian were prepared to fire at Tennyson as well. "Exactly! You think we're just gonna let you twerps come back here without givin' ya a fight?! Well you've got another thing comin'!"
Ben smiled and rolled his shoulders. "I really wouldn't expect anything less. But before we begin, I just have to say this…" He craned his head over to Sienna Khan, giving her an apologetic face. "Sienna… I'm sorry, but this has to be done. I apologize for anything I might say when I do this, and you can hate me for doing so later."
Sienna could only blink in bafflement. "W-Wait, what—"
"Alright, BRING IT ON!" Ben suddenly shouted before sprinting full-on at the villains, much to everyone's astonishment.
"Ben?!" Weiss questioned. "What the heck are you doing?!"
Rex facepalmed and lowered his head. "He's finally cracked. That poison must've affected his brain."
The only one who didn't seem at all phased by this were Yang, Gwen and Kevin, the three knowing that Ben didn't make stupid decisions like this without some sort of reasoning. 'He must have SOME sorta plan…' Yang thought to herself.
Across the battlefield, the villains were just as confused as the heroes at this sudden action. "Uh… so, what the hell is this?" Hog asked.
"Who cares?!" Silyrian countered. "He's just signed his death warrant! OPEN FIRE!" With that, the scorpion began firing his guns while Subdora pulled the trigger on her laser pistol, with Hog and Skull letting both of their lasers fire off as well. Finally, Leonidas created an electrified boulder with Stalwart and launched it at Ben, the five attacks all colliding with the hero at the same time and kicking up a large cloud of dust.
"BEN!" the heroes and hunters all hollered out, still shocked by their friend's action. However, much to their relief, a bright green light suddenly flashed within the cloud of dust… followed by a loud, bellowing roar.
Cooper furrowed his brows and thought to himself; 'That must be it.' before plugging Ben's cellphone into his systems, allowing the amplifiers to play the song that the hero had selected. All at once, everyone's ears were bombarded by the sound of a rather rocking tune, an electric guitar blaring through the city streets. And then as the dust began to settle, there stood a familiar Appoplexian… but he was now in a rather interesting outfit…
When it comes crashing down and it hurts inside…
Rath was now donned head to toe in what could only be described as a green and black explosion of wrestling gear. His head was donned in a black do-rag that had his name printed on it in jagged green font, and he was also wearing a pair of green sunglasses as well. Across his shoulders were a pair of feathery boas, one black and one green, which fluttered around as he made multiple poses with his arms and moved his body to the music.
You gotta take a stand, it don't hurt to hide…
His torso was donned in a green muscle shirt that had the word "Rathamania" along the front in the same font as his do-rag, only in black. He wore a pair of black pants that had green wave-like patterns all across it. He had a pair of green wristbands and on his waist, there was now a large, black and green belt that had the Omnitrix symbol right in its center. He also had a pair of black boots on his feet, the straps of which were green while the toes, soles and heels where white. The toes of the boots in particular were patterned to look like his actual toes. Rath continued to pose and jump around as the music played, his friends watching him in either astonishment, amusement… or annoyance in Sienna and Qrow's case.
If you hurt my friends, then you hurt my pride!
I gotta be a man, I can't let it slide!
I am a Real American!
Fight for the rights of every man!
I am a Real American!
Fight for what's right, fight for your life!
Once he was done posing, jumping, and hyping everyone up, Rath spun back around and pointed right at the villains, tossing his feathery boas and sunglasses away as he did. "WELL LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN', BROTHER! RATHAMANIA IS ABOUT TO RUN WILD AGAIN!" He flexed his arms as nearly everyone behind him began getting hyped up. "SO WHATCHA GONNA DO WHEN RATH RUNS WILD ON YOU?!"
…..
A/N: And thus, the champion now has clothes! But not the luchador outfit from Omniverse, oh no. I decided to got a bit more… on the nose for this attire. I mean, the luchador outfit didn't exactly make much sense for Rath in the first place, and I figured that this would just be more fitting. The most I kept were the boots and the belt, because those I thought were fine. …Plus, I wanted Rath to do something funny. But hey, that's not all that Azmuth did for the Omnitrix, for he did indeed put Humungousaur back into it… the results of which we'll be seeing very soon. But what of this other feature that Ben's keeping a surprise? Well, you'll just have to wait to find that out.
And that's FAR from all that happened in this chapter. We got Swift convincing Tetrax to let her go into the battle and (very heroically) saving Ilia! And indeed, we have the debut of Proto-Tech armor for this series! Because as much as I dislike the Rooters, I DO still like their choice in uniform, especially for Swift (red and black rarely fails as a color combo). And of course, Ruby, along with Yang and Raven, have brought Qrow out of his slump with a rather sobering moment for him. Now the question is… can things go better for him from here even with his Semblance? Well, we'll just have to wait and see.
Alright, now… NEXT TIME! Nothin's standing in the way of our heroes as they get back into the battling swing of things! As the fighting goes on in the city, Gwen brings Ironwood, Goodwitch, and a few others up to Beacon to engage with Cinder's group… and Tetrax is finally able to get his ship up in the air to join the fight. Mission statement; protect the Relic of Choice. Thanks for reading everybody and I'll see you all next time! Stay safe out there!
