A/N: Well… this is the last time I'm gonna be saying it for THIS story, so I'd better make it a good one. Captain's Log, star date; 10/31/2020. Happy Halloween everyone! Once again, it's my favorite holiday of the year and that means it's time for the annual Halloween update! And what a chapter to have it been on, huh? The technical conclusion to the Negative Ten Arc! I say technical because there'll be an aftermath chapter after this, but hey, semantics. So, without any further ado…
You're at your best when the going gets rough!
You've been put to the test, but it's never enough!
You got—
Chapter 114: The Touch
…..
Nobody could really describe what had just happened in that moment. One minute, everyone was scrambling, either to help Qrow as quickly as they could, get Lisa and Greg away from the erupting battle, or to engage in said battle. Tons of emotions were running high for everyone all at once, the primary one being anger at Silyrian for what he had just done, as well as toward the rest of the villains for their underhanded move. For others, though, anguish was all that they could feel at that moment, especially for one blonde in particular.
The moment she had seen her uncle get stabbed through the gut and fall to the cold, unforgiving ground, Yang could swear that a part of her had broken on the inside. And it didn't get any better when she got closer. The gaping wound was practically pouring out blood, and the blank expression on her uncle's face only made the sight more unbearable to her. Yang let out a agonizing wail and buried her face in her hands, weeping as she was immediately brought close to someone's chest. She didn't even need to look up to know who it was.
"NO! No, this can't be happening! PLEASE don't let it be happening!" She sobbed uncontrollably into her boyfriend's shirt as his arms wrapped around her, bringing her close in an attempt to try and comfort her.
However, much to his dismay, Ben found himself tearing up as well. He wasn't exactly close to Qrow as he was to the rest of the Xiao Long family, but he knew how much his girlfriend loved her uncle. And seeing her in utter torment at the sight of him wounded this badly, possibly even mortally, it was enough to get him to start crying a little as well. "I-It's okay, Yang, it'll all be okay." He whipped his head up to Jaune and Gwen in desperation. "Can't you guys do something?!"
"I'm already on it…" Jaune said as he activated his Semblance and began feeding his Aura into Qrow. However, much to his dismay, it didn't seem to be working. "W-What?! What's going on?! Why isn't his Aura being amplified?!"
Pyrrha gasped in realization. "Wait… whatever Tyrian did when he stabbed Qrow… his Aura broke at the same time!" She whirled her head toward her boyfriend worriedly. "Your Semblance IS probably working, but it's currently just trying to restore Qrow's Aura… and that could take a while."
"We don't HAVE a while, Pyrrha!" Kevin stressed before turning to his own girlfriend. "Gwen, can't you speed up this process or something? Mana can help replenish Aura, right?"
"It… it can, but…" Gwen brought up her hand and tried to bring forth her power, but the pinkish-purple glow around her hand flickered and snuffed out the moment she tried. The Anodite winced and let out a sigh. "I-I can't… I'm still exhausted from all of the spells I used earlier." She ran a hand through her hair as she set her sights on Qrow's wound, the blood beginning to pool on the pavement next to him. "I… I'm afraid I can't—"
"UNCLE QROW!" Everyone's heads whipped up at the sound of a shrill cry of sorrow, their guts simultaneously dropping the moment they realized who it had belonged to… Ruby. Their eyes focused onto the Hooded Huntress just in time to see her head snap back… and then something entirely unexpected happened. Ruby screamed as loud as she could as her arms thrust out to her sides… and a pair of brilliant white ethereal lights began pouring right out of her eyes, causing her to levitate just slightly off of the ground.
"Oh my god!" Ben exclaimed as he covered his and Yang's eyes. "Everyone, look away!"
The whole group, including those that were either fighting the villains or leading the reporters away, did what the hero had asked. Even the villains did so once they noticed what was happening… even if a certain Fall Maiden was a bit slow on the draw. "WHAT?!" Cinder spun around… and her eyes widened as she was suddenly met with the incoming streams of light.
She would've been hit by them… if she hadn't been tackled to the ground. "CINDY!" Rojo thrust herself forward and pulled Cinder into her arms, taking them both down to the pavement at the same time. The blinding light passed over them, and then everything went white… right before another bloodcurdling scream rang through the area. Once everyone's vision had cleared, Rojo glanced down to see that Cinder was in one piece, a wave of relief washing over her. "Hah… oh thank goodness. Cindy?"
Cinder groaned as she locked eyes with Rojo, her hand going up to her aching head. "Ugh, it's okay, Rojo. I'm fine."
Rojo smiled and sighed once again. "Good, I'm glad."
"Thanks… but, um…" A slight tinge of red came to Cinder's cheeks. "Could I perhaps get up now?"
"O-Oh! Right!" Rojo said as she too flushed a little, getting up while helping Cinder all the while. "Sorry about that."
"No problem, I—AAAH!" Cinder let out a yell as her eyes caught sight of something… and it wasn't exactly all that pleasant.
Rojo raised a brow and followed Cinder's line of sight. "W-What, what're you—GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY!" Everyone else, both hero and villain, followed the duo's eyes to see that… something quite bad had happened.
Raven and Vernal's own eyes also opened as well… only to be met with the same thing, but they were MUCH closer to it. There, lying right on the ground in a twitching heap, was Silyrian… and he was not in once piece. The right side of his face had been completely engulfed by the light, leaving a VERY nasty wound over his right eye, which was now burned to a crisp. His right arm had also been engulfed, now nothing more than a useless limb. The moment he tried to move it, it fell off completely, much to everyone's shock and horror. "GYAAAAAH!" Silyrian screamed, making Raven do the same as she stumbled away from him. "The LIGHT! It BUUUURRNS!"
Vernal recoiled at the sight. "HOLY FUCK! What the hell what that?!"
"Oh dear god!" Exo-Skull exclaimed as he and Thunderhog both disengaged with their enemies and charged over to Silyrian, getting up close to the screaming mutant as Raven continued to back away. Skull's hand went to his head, still un utter disbelief over how bad these injuries were. "Man, oh, man! Callows needs a doctor!"
As the other villains rushed over to the fallen mutant's location, the heroes couldn't help but gawk at what just occurred. "Did… did everybody else see that?" Nora managed to squeak out as she stepped closer to Ren, instinctively pulling him into a hug.
"I saw it… but I'm still having a hard time believing it." Ren muttered as he returned Nora's gesture with a reassuring embrace.
From where she was standing between Tetrax and Lionheart, Lisa Lavender could hear the wails of pain, and it only made her more scared than she was when she saw the scorpion man stab Qrow. She dared to peak over Winter's shoulder and ask; "W-What just happened?"
"…The maniac got his just desserts." Winter answered before seeing Ruby begin to fall to the ground, eliciting a gasp from her. "Swift!"
"I'm on it!" The Aerophibian hybrid shot forward and flew right up to Ruby, catching the now unconscious girl in her arms. Swift set her sights down onto the girl's face, seeing that her features were still in complete anguish and sorrow. Pursing her lips, Swift whipped her head up and shouted; "Anyone wanna explain to me what the HELL just happened?!"
Ilia ran up to her half-alien friend, her concern growing for the Hooded Huntress. "I… I think that was her Silver Eyes activating…" Her attention then went back to Silyrian, who was still writhing on the ground. "And I'd say that they're pretty effective, all things considered."
"RUBY!" The duo whipped their heads up to see Ben and Yang practically sprinting toward them, the blonde nearly tripping over herself as she desperately reached out for her little sister. The moment Yang saw her face, more tears began to fall from her eyes. "No, no, no! Please, not you too!"
"Oh no!" Penny exclaimed as she practically flew over as well, landing beside the two as she set her eyes upon her best friend. The redheaded android scanned her eyes over Ruby, analyzing her vitals before giving out a sigh. "Her vital signs are normal. She is merely unconscious." She sent a small smile to the couple. "She will be alright."
Ben sighed in relief. "Y-Yang, you heard that, right? Ruby's going to be okay." The hero placed a reassuring hand on his girlfriend's shoulder. "She's still alive."
Yang sniffed and brought a hand over her eyes, silently thanking whatever deity existed that her sister was still okay. "…Dear god, why is all of this SHIT happening at once?!"
Swift furrowed her eyeridge up at Ben, the two locking their gazes with each other. "That's what I'd like to know." She nudged her head back to Qrow. "Tennyson, can't you DO something about this?!"
"The Omnitrix is still recharging." Ben said with a forlorn shake of his head. "And even if I could, I don't think Swampfire would be enough to heal a wound like that before—"
"DON'T SAY IT!" Yang snapped, spinning around to face Ben with her teeth clenched and a dangerous glare. Needless to say, Ben was shocked into silence pretty quickly. The moment that Yang realized what she had done, though, her expression softened and she immediately pulled Ben into a hug, hear tears soaking into his shirt as she apologized. "I-I'm sorry, Ben. It's just… I don't know what to—"
"I know." Ben wrapped his arms around her to comfort her more. "I know, Yang. I… I don't know what to do either."
As the couple hugged one another, the other heroes had gathered back together and began rushing toward Qrow, with Raven right in front of the others. "QROW!" the Spring Maiden screamed as she slid to a stop next to her brother, nearly breaking down at the blank expression on his face. Her head whipped right to Jaune, seeing that the blond knight was already using his Semblance… but nothing seemed to be happening. "Jaune! What's—"
"His Aura's been completely broken." Jaune answered. "It has to be replenished at least a little more before the healing can—"
"Like I said, man, we don't have that kinda time!" Kevin stressed further. "If Gwen was able to help you out, then maybe, but the way it's looking… it's not good."
Blake swallowed hard as she set her eyes upon Qrow, recognizing the state he was in all too well. "He's right. I… I've seen others get stabbed like this before…" The cat girl trailed off as she watched the blood pour from the gaping wound, remembering all the times she saw a certain blood red sword drip with blood countless times. She then felt Sun's arms pulling her into a comforting embrace, giving her the fortitude to get the words out. "And… it's definitely fatal. We may already be—"
"NO, there has to be something we can do!" Raven exclaimed, taking everyone by surprise. "We only JUST got him to stop drinking his life away and I am NOT about to lose him to some maniac instead!" She leaned in and touched her brother's face, his breathing erratic as he was somehow still holding on by a thread. "Goddamn it, Qrow, PLEASE don't leave us!"
As Raven began to choke back her sobs, Vernal ran both of her hands through her hair, flinging her head back with a frustrated groan. "Dear god, as if things weren't insane enough today. Now THIS happens and Ruby's eyes explode?! What could be ne—"
"Do NOT jinx this, Vernal." Weiss scolded, taking Vernal aback. The heiress let out a sigh of her own afterward, though. "But you're right, this IS really bad." She set her eyes onto Rex, hoping that he would have an answer. "Rex, it might be a long shot, but do you think your nanites could heal him?"
But all Rex could do was shake his head sadly. "No, I'm afraid that's not possible, at least not unless HE had nanites in his system, too." He set his eyes onto Qrow worriedly. "I mean, I COULD fly him to a hospital, but—"
"You'd be way too late." Neptune finished with a dower expression. "I… I don't know guys. I wish we could help Qrow, too, but—"
"WAIT!" Gwen shouted, her eyes focusing directly onto Neptune. "…Say that again."
"Uh… I said I wish we could help—"
Gwen snapped her arm up and pointed at Neptune, shouting; "THAT'S IT!" This made the blue haired boy stumble back in surprise as Gwen stood up, her hands gripping at her hair. "I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner!" The redhead craned her head down and placed a gentle hand on Raven's shoulder, garnering the woman's attention. "Raven… you're probably not gonna like this idea, but I need you to portal me to Tai, now."
Raven sent her a confused look at first. "W-What? What are you—" But then, after seeing the serious expression she was giving her, Raven soon realized what Gwen was asking, to which she immediately stood up. "No, no there has to—"
"There IS no other way, Raven." Gwen stressed as she pointed to herself. "My energy maybe drained, but SHE still owes me a favor. It's our only chance to get Qrow back from the brink of death." She jerked her thumb toward where the other villains were. "And if you're worried about them getting it, then we'll get it done really quickly. I promise."
Raven pursed her lips at the girl before setting her eyes down onto her brother gain, her concern growing the more blood she saw. Raven closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then pulled Omen right out of its sheath, slashing it to open a portal that went right to Tai. "Go. And make it quick."
Gwen gave her a nod. "Will do." And with that, the Anodite leapt into the portal, with Raven keeping it open for as long as she could.
…..
Back on Patch, the whole living room was in a furor over what had just happened on the television… or at least most of it was. Professor Paradox and Azmuth were both standing calmly while everyone in the room were visibly panicked or still reeling from what they had just saw. The image of Qrow getting stabbed through the stomach had been broadcast on live television for the whole world to see. Tai had broken down into a nervous wreck, the man screaming into his hands while Athena and Holiday tried to console him, though both women were also still coming to grips with what had happened as well.
"How is this happening?!" Tai's muffled voice yelled. "HOW IS THIS HAPPENING?!"
"I… I really do not know, Tai." Athena admitted as she and Holiday continued to rub soothing circles into Ironwood's back. In truth, Athena was trying to keep it together for the man's sake as well as her own. She initially had no problem with Pyrrha and the others heading back into battle, especially with their track record. But with this… mad man still in the city, her own anxiety was beginning to show itself once more. She had to force herself not to think about what that mutant could do to her daughter or her friends, and that proved to be incredibly hard. Still, she forced herself to remain calm as she repeated; "I honestly don't. But we cannot afford to lose ourselves to this."
"I have to agree with Athena." Holiday concurred. "If we lose our cool, we'll risk bringing the Grimm here again. And that's something that we can't afford with the relic here."
Tai pulled his hands away from his face and sent Holiday an intense look, his eyes bloodshot red from all the crying he had been doing. "Doc, I don't know if you've noticed, but my FAMILY is trapped in Vale with a mad man who just STABBED my brother-in-law! Sorry, but it's kinda hard NOT to lose my cool!"
Max approached from the side and set a firm yet supportive hand on Tai's shoulder, giving him a serious face. "Son, listen, I know how you're feeling right now. Believe me, I do. My family is over there with that same mad man right now." He pointed over between Athena and Holiday. "And so is hers and hers. But for as worried as I am about them, we still have to keep our wits about us, or else we'll bring more punishment our way."
After an intense stare-off between the two men, Tai sighed and placed his face in his hands once again. "…I'm sorry, Max, everyone. I just… I don't want my best friend to die on me. Or my daughters, OR Raven."
"None of us do, Tai." Oscar piped up, hugging his arms to try and comfort himself a bit. "And believe me, this whole situation is nerve-wracking to all of us…" He raised a brow over to Azmuth and Paradox… who were both surprisingly still very calm. "Well, most of us, I guess. Why don't you guys seem worried?"
Azmuth offered a shrug. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I am concerned about the situation. However, knowing how the Tennyson family works, they will likely come up with an unorthodox solution to the problem."
"Indeed!" Paradox smiled as he raised a single finger. "In fact, we should be seeing said unorthodox solution in three… two…" He pointed a finger toward the television… just in time for one of Raven's portals to pop into existence in front of it.
A collective gasp rang out throughout the living room as Gwen jumped through, the redhead searching around for something. "GWEN?!" Tai exclaimed. "W-What the hell is going—"
"Ah-HA! There you are!" Gwen reached forward and grabbed the Relic of Knowledge off the coffee table, a bright smile coming to her face. "No time to talk, gotta save Qrow, bye!" And with that, the Anodite jumped back through the portal, which closed up the moment she left.
Everyone could only stare at where Gwen once stood in astonishment before Oscar vocalized their thoughts; "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?!"
…..
Back in Vale, Cinder cast her eyes skyward as she saw the familiar Mistralian Airship coming in hot, reaching up to her earpiece to talk with the doctor on board. "Animo, this is Cinder. We have a situation." Her eyes glanced down to Silyrian as the mutant's body continued to twitch, holding his arm in utter agony as his screams became whimpers. "Callows has been critically wounded. His right arm and eye are both mangled."
"WHAT?!" Animo's voice rang through the communicator. "How in the world is that possible?! And what about Leonidas?! I lost the signal on his mind-control device a little over twenty minutes ago!"
"I… I will inform you on Tyrian once we have the time." Cinder answered. "And as for Leonidas, Tennyson apparently destroyed the mind-control crown." She glared over toward the group as she eyed Qrow's limp body on the ground. "Fortunately, it would seem that Tyrian wasn't COMPLETELY without fail here. He actually managed to wound the drunkard quite well."
Animo sighed on the other end as the Mistralian airship came in for a landing next to their group, the city street just barely able to accommodate the giant aircraft. The hull doors opened up and Animo beckoned them in. "Very well. Hurry up and load Silyrian into the ship so we can get going! Tetrax's spacecraft is on it's way here and we need to go."
"Not yet, at least not my group." Cinder rebuked as she faced Exo-Skull and Thunderhog, the duo carrying Silyrian with Subdora standing next to them. "You three take Callows and get onto the ship. Take to the skies if you must, but we're going to stay back for a little longer."
Subdora raised her hand in concern. "Are you certain about that, mia cara? You do know that they are liable to attack you again at a moment's notice?"
"Indeed." Cinder answered as her nefarious smirk returned. "However, Lady Salem told me beforehand that she plans on having another… BIG surprise for our heroic friends, and I would like to stay and watch how they handle that."
Rojo mimicked the smirk and jabbed her thumb toward the heroes. "Heh, yeah, wait till they get a load of… whatever it is."
Emerald titled her head toward Cinder in curiosity. "Hey yeah, what IS this surprise that Salem told you about, Cinder?"
"That, dear Emerald, is for me to know…" She gave her comrade a wink. "And for you all to find out."
Mercury glowered in the heroes' direction, crossing his arms as Raven opened a portal and Gwen jumped through it. "Well don't look now, because something's going on."
Cinder's eyebrows shot up at that. "What?" She spun her head back around, just in time to see Gwen come leaping back out of the portal… with a very familiar bauble in her hands. Cinder's jaw dropped along with the rest of her comrades, the Fall Maiden in disbelief at what she was seeing. "The RELIC!" Immediately, she bolted forward with surprising speed, beckoning her teammates to follow her. "Come on, this is our chance!"
"Right behind ya, Cindy!" Rojo shouted as she and Neo sprinted right after her, with Emerald and Mercury bringing up the rear.
However, Emerald narrowed her eyes at Gwen as she held the relic in her hands. 'Wait… why bring it here in the first place? What're they playing at here?'
Over with the heroes, Cinder and Rojo's yelling had successfully garnered their attention, causing Raven to grit her teeth. She furrowed her brows at the approaching quintet as the Mistralian Airship took to the skies behind them, the five villains clearly focused on the relic. "Gwen, you had better hurry up with that request!"
"Right!" Gwen nodded before holding the lamp aloft, calling out to its occupant. "JINN!" With that, everything stopped. The air grew still as Gwen lowered her arms to her sides, breathing in and out as she waited for the genie to appear. However, there was one other thing she noticed; she was the only one who was still moving. Before, everyone was able to move and speak freely, but now, it was only her. She turned around and was taken aback when she saw that Cinder was mere inches away from her, glaring daggers while reaching out with her right for the relic.
However, said relic then began to glow and float itself out of Cinder's reach, hovering in place beside Gwen for a little while before Jinn appeared from out of it, the large, blue woman giving Gwen a friendly smile in greeting. "Ah, Gwen Tennyson! So soon?"
"Y-Yes, I—you're naked again." Gwen deadpanned.
Indeed, the chained brasier and undergarments that Jinn had made earlier were gone, leaving her exposed once again. "Indeed, we ARE alone now, are we not?"
"Technically, no." Gwen said as she gestured to all of the eyes that surrounded them. "It baffles me how you're about to have all of these eyes on you with out being bothered by them staring your… ahem, au naturale state."
"Gwen, I am a being who was created by a god and has been alive for countless millennia." Jinn said with a shrug. "The last thing I am worried about is a sense of shame." She put a finger to her chin in contemplation. "But I have a feeling that my lack of clothing isn't the main thing you wanted to talk about. Have you pondered over my offer? Or do you wish to use the final question?"
"The former." Gwen answered as she gazed sadly down toward Qrow. Jinn followed her gaze and her eyebrows rose slightly at the visage of the wounded man, seeing that his blood was practically caking his shirt. "Things… aren't looking good for my friend."
Jinn shook her head. "No they are not." She directed her eyes up to Gwen. "I take it things are quite disparate as well considering… the Fall Maiden is trying to kill you as well."
Gwen set her gaze back over to Cinder. "Yeah, I'll deal with her in a minute. But what we need to do now is focus on Qrow." She lowered her head toward Jinn in a plea for help. "Jinn… I need you to heal him. I have no better way of saying it without putting it into the form of a question, so—"
"Say, "I wish"." The Anodite's head went back up and she locked eyes with Jinn in surprise, tilting her head a bit. Jinn gave a wry smile and folded her arms. "You heard me, Gwen. Speak your request again, but this time, say it in the form of a wish."
"U-Um… okay." Gwen took a deep breath and spoke her favor once more. "Jinn… I wish that you would heal Qrow Branwen and save his life."
Jinn smiled and began waving her hand in a circular motion, a blue, sparkling power beginning to emanate from it. "It shall be done." She stopped waving her hand and brought it down to Qrow's stomach, the ethereal blue energy beginning to pour itself into the wound. Much to Gwen's amazement… and slight disgust, the wound began to close, almost in a slow, zipper-like motion. Needless to say, she moved her eyes away to keep from getting sick. After a few more seconds, Jinn gave Gwen the okay. "Alright, you can look now." Gwen turned around just in time to see Jinn snap her fingers, the color returning to Qrow's face as the foggy-ness over his eyes cleared up as well.
As far as she was concerned, the man appeared perfectly healthy. "Ha… you did it! Jinn, I—"
"You have two left, by the way." Jinn added, leaving Gwen utterly confused. Seeing her perplexed expression, Jinn sent her a wink as she explained. "I work in threes, my dear Gwen. You have used your first wish, and now you have two left. But keep in mind, I am limited in what I can do." She raised her fingers as she explained the rules. "I am incapable of killing, I cannot make people fall in love, I cannot bring back people from the dead… and I cannot defeat Salem for you. I apologize."
"That's… that's alright, Jinn." Gwen assured with a smile. "I'm just glad that you're being so generous. You really don't have to do this."
Jinn leaned forward, bringing her head face to face with Gwen. "I know, but I want to. You are a truly nice girl, Gwen, one who saved my life without a second thought. As far as I'm concerned, I owe you." She stood straight and folded her arms over her chest. "You are my mistress now, Gwen Tennyson, so be sure to use your last two wishes wisely."
Gwen smiled up and Jinn and bowed her head. "Thank you, Jinn. I appreciate it." But then, a small smirk came to Gwen's lips as she glanced back toward Cinder, an idea coming to her mind in that instant. "But… before you resume everything, I have a little idea that I want to do…"
"If you're about to try and turn the Fall Maiden around so that she tackles her compatriot instead, then you might be disappointed." Jinn said with a sympathetic grin. "Trust me, I've had others who try to do the same thing when I stop time. Doesn't work like that, I'm afraid."
"…Drat." Gwen pouted.
Jinn chuckled as she brought a hand down to cup Gwen's face. "I admire your intentions, though, Gwen, even if it's a little dastardly. Now, before I go…" The genie then moved around so that she was facing Ben, Yang, Ilia and Swift, the Aerophibian still carrying Ruby in her arms. Jinn floated over and put her hand to Ruby's head, a brief glow emanating from it before disappearing all together. "You are going to have quite the future, little Silver-Eyed Warrior. That, I can assure you of." She went back over and stood next to her lap, giving Gwen a final nod. "Alright, I'll be off. Oh, and if I were you, I'd step a few paces right."
Gwen did as she was told with a little laugh, seeing that Cinder would hit nothing but pavement in a few seconds. "Heh, thanks. By for now, Jinn." With that, the genie went back into her lamp, which floated back over into Gwen's grasp before time resumed.
SMACK! "GAH!" Cinder exclaimed as she suddenly hit the ground. Though she was initially in pain, she pushed it to the side to whip her head around, searching for where her target had gone. "W-What?! Where did she—"
"Ahem!" The Fall Maiden rolled onto her rear and faced Gwen with a spiteful glare, the Anodite holding the Relic of Knowledge in a mocking fashion. "Looking for this?" Without wasting a moment, Gwen threw the lamp back through Raven's portal like a basketball, surprising everyone including the Spring Maiden herself.
"NOOO!" Cinder hollered with her teeth clenched, summoning an obsidian blade in her hand. "Gwen Tennyson, you will PAY for—URK!" Without warning, Pyrrha suddenly stood up and performed a flying thrust kick right at Cinder's abdomen, sending her sailing back directly into Rojo.
Pyrrha rolled her neck and popped a few muscles, a satisfied expression on her face. "I have been waiting WEEKS to do that."
"G-Gwen!" Raven said in a panic. "Why did you do that?! You didn't even summon—"
"I did." Gwen assured before pointing down to Qrow. "Take a look."
Raven's eyes widened before hearing her brother let out a groan. She gasped and her gaze darted down to Qrow, just in time to see him sit up, much to everyone's surprise. "Ugh, damn, what the hell?" Qrow rubbed his forehead as he collected himself, his other hand going to his stomach. "Damn, that was NOT pleasant. If I didn't quick drinkin' earlier, I probably would've asked for one at this point."
Raven could feel more tears burning at the corners of her eyes as they fell freely, the Spring Maiden surging forward to envelope her brother in a hug. "QROW!" The former drunken huntsman was taken aback by this, to say the least, keeping his arms raised up as he was unsure what to do in this situation. "Do you have ANY idea how STUPID of an idea that was?! By the gods, you nearly scared me to death!"
"I, uh…" Qrow truly was at a loss. His sister wasn't usually one for hugs, but now she was nearly crushing his ribs in one that could break bones. He was pretty sure he could already feel his spine popping in a few places. After a few moments of pondering, he finally decided to slowly settle his hands onto her back, comforting her as best he could. "I honestly didn't think you'd react like this, Rae."
"I blame you, you big jerk." Raven smiled as she pulled away, holding her brother's shoulders at arm's length. "If it hadn't been for you saying I should try and reconnect, I probably wouldn't be feeling this way right now… so thank you."
"Heh, damn, another thing I never thought I'd get outta ya." Qrow grinned back before noticing something on Raven's combat dress. "Oh, uh… sorry."
The Spring Maiden glanced down to see that a bit of her brother's blood had soaked onto her, to which she rolled her eyes. "Oh please, it's not like I've had blood on me before." She pulled Qrow in for another hug. "I'm just happy that you're alive, little brother." Her eyes went back toward where the Mistralian Airship was flying. "Oh, and don't worry. Tyrian got payed back in full for what he did."
Qrow's eyebrow's rose up. "Woah, ya killed him?"
"Well… I wish. No, Ruby pretty much scarred the right side of his face and destoyed his right arm." This news caused Qrow's jaw to drop in disbelief. "I know, but she did it unintentionally… because when she saw you go down…" She pointed over to where Yang, Ben, Penny, Swift and Ilia were standing. "They activated."
The former drunkard craned his head in that direction and saw Ruby in Swift's arms, his eyes widening in realization. "Oh… oh damn."
Back over with said group, the Blonde Brawler was beginning to cry her eyes out once again, but this time in utter happiness. "He's… he's alive." Yang placed a relieved hand over her chest as Ben rubbed her shoulders supportively. "Thank god." Ben was about to agree with her before the sound of a small groan stopped him, followed by a gasp from Swift.
"Guys! She's waking up!" the half-Aerophibian said before Ilia and the couple crowded around her, just in time to see Ruby's eyes flutter open. "Heya, Powerhouse." Swift greeted first. "Glad to see you up and at 'em after that little show you pulled off."
"Mph, I… wha—AH!" Ruby mumbled before suddenly being pulled into a hug by Yang.
"RUBY!" Yang pulled her sister into her arms in relief, with Ben coming in to join the hug as well. "HAHA! You're alright too!"
Penny practically jumped both girls with a hug of her own. "Oh, I am SO happy to see you are okay, Ruby!"
This only made Ruby's confusion even worse. "I… am?" Without warning, a harsh pain began bombarding Ruby's head, causing her to wince hard. "Ugh! Why do I have such a headache?!" She pinched her eyes shut as she rubbed them. "And why do my eyes feel like they're on fire?"
The whole group, including everyone near Qrow, stared at her for a good long while before Ilia decided to speak up. "Uh, Ruby… do you really not remember what happened?"
"Y-Yeah, it was… kind of a big deal." Ben added.
Ruby furrowed her brow as she tried to recall the events, putting a hand to her chin in thought. "W-Well, I… I remember that we were about to fight Cinder again and… and then Tyrian… wait." Her faced drained of color as her features twisted in horror. "WHERE'S UNCLE QROW—"
"Shortstack!" The Hooded Huntress gasped and she directed her attention right to her uncle… who was alive and well, albiet with an entirely blood-soaked shirt with a gaping hole in it. He was alive. Qrow waved to her with a smile as Raven did the same, beckoning her over. "Hey, don't worry, yer not gettin' rid o' me that easily."
Words couldn't describe just how relieved Ruby was… but that didn't stop her from crying from just how many other emotions she was feeling. "Let me go, LET ME GO!" she demanded as she rushed out of her friends' embrace to immediately tackle her uncle in a hug of her own. "UNCLE QROW! You're alive!" she bawled into her uncle's shoulder, soaking it with her tears.
"Heh, jeez, am I becoming everyone's tissue?" Qrow quipped.
"Don't you DARE joke right now!" Ruby said with a glare. "Do you have any idea how—"
"I know, Shortstack, I know." Qrow assured, jerking his thumb over to Raven. "Trust me, Rae was the same way. But honestly, out of all of ya, I think yer sister had the most worry stacked on top o' her, 'specially after what happened to ya."
Ruby blinked at that. "Wait… what happened to me?"
Raven chuckled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ruby, your mother's gift has finally made its way to the surface. When you saw what happened to Qrow, your Silver Eyes finally activated." Ruby's jaw dropped at that. "Oh yes, and what's more, you actually did quite a number on Tyrian with them. Melted the right half of his face AND his right arm in its entirety." She jerked her thumb over to the mangled limb in question. "Don't believe me? There's proof!"
The Silver Eyed girl saw the mangled and melted limb in question and gawked at it for a good twenty seconds, a part of her horrified that she could've done such a thing. "I… I did that?"
Jaune put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Y-Yeah, it's kinda scary, I know."
"But also REALLY cool!" Nora exclaimed as she put her hands to her eyes. "Your eyes went all like; FWOOSH!" She then thrust her arms outward. "And then it was all like; BAM!" The Pink Dynamo reeled back and put her hands to her face. "And then Tyrian was all like; "AAAAAAAAH"!" Nora finished her performance with two big thumbs up to Ruby. "It was REALLY awesome, Rubes!"
Vernal smirked and jerked her thumb toward Nora. "What Sugar Rush over there said. No idea you could explode your eyes like that. Pretty cool."
Ren rolled his eyes, though he couldn't help but smile at Nora's enthusiasm. "What Nora means is that your new power is quite the sight, Ruby... even though it blinded us for a while."
"No kidding." Weiss affirmed as she too put a supportive hand onto her partner's back, bringing her gaze toward her. "But Ruby, are you okay? I know that this is all a lot to take in at once, but…"
"I… I'll be fine, Weiss." Ruby smiled back, though the heiress could tell that there was a bit of uncertainty in her voice. "I just have to get used to being able to blast things with my eyes now, hehe."
Rex tilted his head a bit. "Depending on whether you can do it on command. You remember how you did it the first time?"
Ruby rubbed the back of her head, the lingering pain still shooting through her skull. "Well… not really. I guess the sight of Uncle Qrow…" she swallowed hard and forced the words out. "…being stabbed was enough to trigger my power."
Neptune put a hand to her chin as Ben, Yang and Penny made their way over. "Hmm, well, that's not exactly the BEST way to trigger a new power. It'd have to suck to think of your uncle getting stabbed all the—OW!" Sun took the liberty of smacking his partner upside the head, much to Neptune's chagrin. "Dude, what the hell?!"
"NOT cool, bro." Sun shook his head before smiling down to Ruby. "What he meant to say was that we'll figure this out, Ruby."
"Sun's right." Blake agreed as she and the others helped Ruby to her feet. "It might take a while, but we'll all figure it out together, alright?"
Ruby took a deep breath before giving a nervous smile to all of her friends. "Right… we will. I guess it'll just take some time."
"That's the spirit, Shortstack." Qrow said as he began to stand up as well, only to stumble a bit as his legs wabbled beneath him. However, Raven managed to catch him before he hit the ground again, along with Kevin's help.
"Your land legs giving out on ya, old man?" Kevin quipped as he and Raven got Qrow steadied onto his feet. "Keep this up and we'll think you're drunk again."
Qrow couldn't help but let out a chuckle at that. "Heh, nice one, wise guy. But thanks for the help."
"Hmph, how touching." Everyone's eyes widened as they were directed over to Cinder, the Fall Maiden standing with her hands on her hips as Rojo, Emerald, Mercury and Neo stood side-by-side with her, the five villains all glowering at the group of heroes. "But, Silver Eyes or no, we're still not done here." Cinder couldn't help but smirk as everyone glared back at her, all of them entering combat stances. "Hmhm, still ready to fight even after all that? Truly impressive."
Ben stepped forward and crossed his arms, matching Cinder's gaze. "We'll ALWAYS be ready to fight you, Cinder. Any time, any place."
Mercury strode up as well, a wicked grin on his face as he pointed at Ben. "Heh, oh yeah? Well last I checked, your Omnitrix is out of juice, Tennyson!" All of a sudden, he rocketed himself forward with two shots from his boots, getting ready for a mid-air kick. "Which means I can do—HUH?!" Much to his surprise, Ben side-stepped the incoming kick, grabbed Mercury by the leg, and then, with all his might, threw the silver-haired young man right over his shoulder, slamming him face first into the ground.
This caught nearly everyone off-guard. "What the WHAT?!" Ruby exclaimed.
But Yang shot her fist up into the air at the sight. "Haha, YEAH! Kick his ass, Green Boy!"
"Alright, Ben!" Rex shouted as well. "Show that emo who's boss!"
Mercury snarled at the EVO for that. "Who are YOU calling Em—OOO!" In the very next second, Ben grabbed Mercury by the collar before punching him right in the face, making him stagger back before a strong roundhouse kick was placed directly into his gut, knocking the wind out of him. Mercury stumbled away and landed right on the ground near Emerald, who was quick to help her partner.
"Merc!" The green haired girl grit her teeth and whipped her head up to Tennyson, with Neo joining her as they both brandished their weapons. "Oh, that is IT! I'm through with this—"
"Stand DOWN, Em." Rojo said as she extended her arm, blocking the two other girls from approaching the heroes. "As much as I hate to admit it, we're out numbered at the moment. It's probably best if we take Merc and wait for the Boss Lady's final surprise."
This was quick to grab everyone's attention, with Ben narrowing his eyes at the woman. "Surprise? What surprise? The Grimmungousaur is finished, your other Grimm are gone, the Negative Ten is down by two men, so what else could there be?!"
Penny's eyes shinned brightly as her Bash Blasters appeared on her shoulders again. "Perhaps they have not realized that they have lost?"
"Oh, we haven't yet, android." Cinder smirked as a large bolt of lightning was suddenly created in her hands. "And if you wish to see the final surprise that Salem has in store for you… come to the docks in a little while. You'll know when you hear it." Suddenly, Cinder struck the lightning bolt onto the ground, creating a blinding flash that obscured everyone's vision for a few seconds. But once everyone was able to see again, the quintet were gone, much to their confusion.
There was a long, silent pause among everyone there, all of them glancing between one another in bewilderment. "The docks?" Pyrrha asked. "What in the world would be at the docks?"
Jaune gave his girlfriend a shrug. "No clue. I mean, it's not like they… wait." Jaune's eyes widened in realization. "…What if this big surprise isn't at the docks themselves… but instead, it's coming by sea?"
Ben furrowed his brow at the knight, the hero seeing that his blond friend had become noticeably a bit paler. "Jaune… what're you implying?"
"Oh god." Yang put her hand on Ben's arm, prompting him to bring his gaze to her. "Ben, some of the world's largest known Grimm LIVE in Remnant's oceans. You remember when Jessie mentioned she was friends Blackblade the pirate?" Ben gave her a nod. "Well, Blackblade is the kind of Hunter that deals with THOSE kinds of Grimm, and if one of them is coming HERE… then it will be FAR from good."
Yet another silence over took the group before Rex let out a sigh. "Well, I guess it doesn't make a difference whether we're on Earth or Remnant; there's still one thing that remains the same." He threw up his hands and began marching away. "The ocean is FUCKING terrifying!"
"Uh-huh." Kevin nodded with his arms crossed. "The deeper you go, the more nightmares there are."
Neptune threw his hands up in victory. "FINALLY, somebody gets it!"
"Sad to say, but they're all right." Gwen affirmed. "So, what do we do in the case of these oceanic Grimm?"
"We'll just have to wait and see what it is, I'm afraid." Weiss shrugged. "I guess we should—"
"Everyone!" The whole group whirled around at the sound of Tetrax's voice calling out to them, shocking them out of their conversation. The Petrosapien was waving over to them, with Winter, Ilia and Swift huddled around a certain duo while Lionheart remained off to the side. "We need you over here! It's important!"
The team all hurried over to their location… to see the three aforementioned women attempting to console a still very visibly shaken Lisa and Greg. The former had her arms wrapped around herself while Greg had his hands clasped over his knees as he crouched down, almost as if he was going to be sick. "Oh god." Ben whispered as he sat down next to Lisa on a big pile of rubble. "Miss Lavender, are you okay?"
This managed to snap Lisa out of it, her eyes locking with Ben in surprise. "Huh?! O-Oh! Ben, it's just you." She placed a hand to her forehead in shock. "B-But, yes, I think I'll be… okay. I just… I feel like I need a hug after seeing all that."
"Heh, I can understand that feeling." Ben with a grin. "Trust me, I've been there." Then, much to everyone's surprise, Ben gave Lisa what she had been needing; a reassuring hug. "There, feel better?"
"I… yes, actually. A little bit." Lisa said as she returned the embrace, now unsure exactly what to feel at this point. "…You know, this is a bit odd. Here I am, a woman in her thirties being comforted by a teenager of all people. You're what, eighteen?"
"Almost. I've got about another month before that happens." Ben answered as the hug ended.
Yang smirked to herself at that. 'I'll be sure to keep THAT in mind.'
Ben continued on from there. "But I've had to grow up fast. Comes with the territory of being a hero. And another part of a hero's job is to make sure that everyone's alright, and it was pretty obvious that you aren't." The hero's words were cut off when a yacking sound was heard just a few feet away, causing everyone to cringe. "…And neither is your camera man." The hero finished as Gwen and Kevin went over to help Greg as well. "But regardless, I'm at least glad that you two have stayed alright throughout this whole thing."
Lisa placed a hand on her chest. "Honestly, so am I. It's been a pretty big rush, but that last moment was just a bit too—WAIT!" Lisa's eyes widened when she saw Qrow standing up on his feet, none the worse for wear except for the excessive amount of blood on his shirt. "Y-You—I—WHAT?! I saw you get STABBED!"
"Sure did." Qrow smirked as he continued to be supported by his sister. "But I think it's pretty obvious I got better."
"B-B-But… HOW?!"
The whole team glanced between one another, unsure how to explain how it was a genie that healed him. However, Gwen cleared her throat and began to explain. "Actually, that was on my part." She began projecting a little bit of pink energy from her fingertip. "You see, while I'm able to control energy, I'm also capable of casting magic spells. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm a pretty good sorceress."
Lisa's eyes nearly bugged out at that. "You can use MAGIC?! B-But how?! I thought magic was just made up! Part of ancient fairy tales and all that!"
Ben winced and shifted his eyes off to the side. "Yeah… see, here's the other part I haven't mentioned yet. Not only do we have all these crazy powers… but we're also from an alternate dimension, one where aliens and magic are both known to exist."
The reporter was silent for a long time after that, taking in a deep breath as she craned her head skyward. "You know… if it hadn't been for all of the crazy shit I've seen today, I probably never would've believed you, Ben Tennyson." She then faced him with a small grin. "But I get the feeling that you're not one for lying, so I'll believe you on this."
"Heh, trust me, you'd know if I was lying." Ben pointed to his left eye. "My eye twitches when I lie. But thanks for believing me, Miss Lavender."
"Please, call me Lisa." The white-haired woman insisted. "And thank you again for helping me calm down."
The Blonde Brawler stepped over and sat next to Lisa, giving her a grin of her own. "Heh, that's my Green Boy for ya. He's pretty level-headed when ya get right down to it."
Lisa's eyes widened as she faced Yang as well. "Oh! So you two are an item, eh?" Yang nodded at that, to which Lisa gave her a devilish grin and leaned forward to whisper; "Then you're pretty lucky, girl. If he were a few years older, I'd probably scoop him up for myself."
"Psh, like I'd let ya." Yang whispered back with a smirk. "I don't plan on losing him anytime soon… he's pretty special."
"Ooh, how special are we talkin'?" Lisa quirked a brow.
Yang stole a glance over to Ben, who had since been pulled into a conversation with Tetrax. "To be honest… after spending all of these weeks together… I'm pretty sure I lo—"
GGGYYAAAAAAAUUUUUAAAGH! Everyone suddenly froze as the sound of a blood curdling roar suddenly echoed out through the entire city, bringing everyone to a complete silence. "W-What was that?" Vernal muttered.
"I… I don't know." Tetrax answered. "But whatever it was, it sounded VERY big."
"…Dear god." Lionheart suddenly spoke up, bringing everyone's attention to him. "It… it came from the harbor… and it's coming this way."
Everyone's eyes trained onto him, with Ben being the one to ask the obvious question. "Professor… do you know what it is?"
Lionheart closed his eyes in remorse. "Yes… and it spells our doom."
…..
After a few minutes of running, the group had finally arrived at the edge of the city with the docks coming into view near the end of the vacated street. The buildings around them obscured their view of the ocean, though, so while they could still hear the massive bellows of… whatever it was that was approaching, they couldn't see it. Lisa was trailing behind the group, microphone firmly in hand as she looked at her camera man. "Okay, I think I'm good to go. Are we live yet?"
"I'm about to switch back." Greg answered as he kept his hand on the 'on' switch. "I'm ready whenever you are, Lisa."
"Good… bring us back on." At her word, Greg switched the camera back on and they got a red light, indicating that they were back on the air. "Hello, viewers at home. Hopefully you're still watching because this is Lisa Lavender reporting still live on the scene in Vale. Before we cut our live feed, we saw a Huntsman get… brutally assaulted by one of those dangerous mutants. Fortunately, the others were able to fend them off and someone with a healing Semblance was nearby and patched the Huntsman up as quick as possible." She had Greg direct the camera right to Qrow as they continued walking. "As you can see, he's up and walking again. However, we might be seeing another assault on the city only mere minutes after Ben Tennyson heroically destroyed the vile Grimmungousaur. Will he be able to do it again? We'll just have to wait and see."
Gwen's eyebrows rose up at the reporter's comment. "Hey, she's got a point…" She quirked a brow at Ben in curiosity. "Has the Omnitrix recharged yet?"
Ben smiled and showed her the watch, its faceplate showing its usual green color. "Yep, five minutes have passed, so we're pretty much good to go." He furrowed his brow as they approached the end of the street, his mind going to whatever new challenge was ahead of them. "But still, I probably won't risk going Ultimate again so soon after doing it once today. Just in case I need to transform a few times."
"Good idea." Kevin agreed. "Besides, whatever this thing is, it sounds REALLY big. And if what Lionheart says is true, then you might be in for a pretty big fight, Tennyson."
Finally, the team made it to the very end of the street and stopped at the city's edge, the large group staring out over the ocean. What they saw… was something that a few of them needed to do a double take on. "What… the FUCK is that thing?!" Swift shouted, voicing her comrade's thoughts.
Not too far out into the Valian harbor, an absolutely GIGANTIC creature was approaching the city, belting out a powerful roar as it lumbered forward through the water. It had to be at least the height of FOUR Grimmungousaurs, placing it at about two-hundred and eighty or so feet. Its arms were very humanoid with webbed hands and long claws on its fingertips. Though they couldn't see it, its feet were also webbed, and had large claws, with long, splayed out toes. It had a long tail with a fish-like fin at its tip, which no doubt enhanced its swimming capabilities.
Like many Grimm, its ribcage was exposed. It also had razor-sharp teeth protruding from its upper and lower jaws, which were elongated and partially resembled that of a dolphin's snout. There were four red gills running down the length of its neck on each side, and it also had three glowing yellow eyes on either side of its head. Finally, it had a set of long, pointed dorsal plates protruding from its back, with the same red webbing on its hands, feet and tail, completing its monstrous appearance.
If his face weren't covered in fur, the teens would've seen Lionheart grow immensely pale. "It's as I feared… a Leviathan." He set his hands on the railing near the water's edge and hung his head. "We're doomed."
The teens all stared out at the approaching monolithic Grimm in utter shock and awe, with many of them moving to their respective others for comfort. This included Rex and Ren, who let Weiss and Nora move closer respectively without hesitation. "…God damn it." Qrow grumbled as he hit the railing. "How the hell're we gonna fight back against somethin' like THAT?!"
"I… I don't know, Qrow." Raven admitted with her shoulders slumping. "I don't even know if Vale has the defenses necessary to hold a Grimm like that off. And if they did, then they were likely destroyed after the FIRST attack on Vale."
"Not even Humungousaur can that big!" Nora said as shrunk back a bit. "If we could barely do anything to the Grimmungousaur before, what can we do against that?!"
Pyrrha swallowed hard before speaking up. "…I think I can safely say that this calls for the term—"
"Pyrrha, wait." Ruby held up her hand. Everyone's eyes were on her for a good few moments before giving Pyrrha a sympathetic face. "…Could I say it?" Pyrrha blinked for a moment and nodded to the Hooded Huntress. "Thanks, I appreciate it." Ruby faced the sea once more and screamed as loud as she could; "CRAAAAP BASKEEEEETS!" The whole group stared at Ruby in surprise, with Kevin pumping his fist in pride before Ruby turned back to her friends with a smile. "Great! Now let's work on a plan to stop that thing!"
"What?!" Nearly the whole group exclaimed before Weiss picked it up from there. "Ruby, I don't know if you've noticed, but that thing is as tall as a medium-sized SKYSCRAPER! How could we possibly hope to beat it?!"
"You may want to listen to your partner, Little Red!" The whole group spun around to see Rojo, Cinder and the others approaching them from the side, their faces all etched with smug grins. "Better to just go home and let the Leviathan level the city to the ground!" The bounty hunter jerked a thumb out toward it. "Besides… you'd probably just make it hungry! AHAHA!"
As the group of villains began to yuck it up, Sun and Neptune stepped forward, the boys going for their weapons. "Ben, you wanna finish these guys off before we deal with the Leviathan?" Sun asked as he glowered at the quintet.
"Yeah, we can take 'em, no problem." Neptune assured.
Ben smiled as she walked up between the two, setting his hands on their shoulders briefly. "Thanks boys, but that won't be necessary. I'll take it from here." He strode forward a little more before folding his arms at the villainous group. "Guys, I have to admit, you've been really persistent through this whole thing. Honestly, most people would've retreated at this point."
Emerald scoffed and nudged her chin at Ben. "Well, we're not exactly most people, now are we?" Next to her, Neo took off her hat and gave a theatrical bow toward the group as Emerald went on. "Now you'll get a taste of what it feels like to be over-powered by something bigger than you!"
Blake raised an eyebrow at that. "…Didn't we already kinda experience that earlier? Y'know, with the whole "Grimmungousaur" thing?"
"Psh, maybe." Mercury scoffed before gesturing out toward the approaching Leviathan. "But if you seriously think you have any hope of beating that thing, then you're probably stupider than I thought!"
Vernal grit her teeth and grabbed her Ver Laminae, striding forward with her eyes concentrated on the silver-haired assassin. "Now listen here, you emo asshole, I'm not about to just stand here and be insulted!" She took a combat stance and made a 'come at me' gesture with her hand. "You wanna go? Then let's fucking go! I'll beat the ever-loving shit out of you and THEN we'll see who ends up surrendering!"
Cinder placed a finger on her cheek. "My, my, such crass language. Are you certain that's anything befitting of a Spring Maiden?" Cinder let out a small chuckle when her insult hit its mark, prompting Vernal's face to become beat red in anger. "Oh, that's right, you're not."
"Oh, you made the wrong mistake—huh?" Vernal suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to spin around. She expected it to be Raven, but instead, to her surprise, it was Yang. "Blondie, listen, if you're tryin' to stop me."
"I am, V." Yang said firmly with an intense stare that caught Vernal off guard. At that moment, Yang looked VERY much like her mother, and it was a bit off-putting. "Because honestly? They're just trying to goad us at this point. It's not worth it."
"She's right." Ben nodded. "Besides…" he set his sights out over the ocean. "I already have a plan to beat that thing."
Cinder blinked at the hero's words. "You do?"
"You do?!" Many of his teammates echoed before Ilia moved up to meet his eyes. "Ben, I know a lot of your aliens are pretty powerful, but not even OUR most powerful weapons have found a way to kill a Leviathan in one blow! I seriously doubt that you can—"
Ben shook his head. "Oh, I probably can't kill it in one hit. In fact, it'll probably take many hits. But still, I'm pretty sure I can beat it."
Another scoff came, this time from Rojo. "Pfft, now THAT'S a laugh. What do ya have planned this time, Tennyson? Going Ultimate again?"
"C'mon, Rojo, think hard." Ben tapped the side of his head knowingly. "You've known me for almost eight years now. You've seen pretty much all of the aliens I can transform into…" He smirked and quirked a brow at her. "Isn't there a certain transformation you're forgetting?"
Rojo thought for a moment before a look of realization came to her face. "…Oh god."
"W-What?" Cinder asked as she, Emerald, Mercury and Neo were all visibly confused. "Rojo, what does he mean?"
Kevin snapped his fingers as he, Gwen, Swift and Tetrax all smiled simultaneously. "Oh yeah, that's right! You've got that guy! You use him so rarely that he kinda slipped my mind!"
However, the Remnant natives were all still quite lost in the dark, with Yang curiously gazing at her boyfriend. "Okay, Green Boy, I give. What the heck are they talking about?"
Ben gave her a shrug. "Well… let's just say that I have a couple of what I like to call "Last Resort" transformations. And right now, I think it's time to bring one of them out." He saw that Yang had become visibly worried when he said 'last resort', prompting him to cup his hand to her cheek. "Heh, I know. It's kinda scary to think about." He reached out and grasped her hand in his, bringing his face close to hers with a soft and tender kiss. "…But I'll come back to you, okay? I promise."
Yang smiled back at him before putting her hand around his neck and bringing him in for another kiss, this one much more passionate than the last. "You've got a good track record on promises so far, Green Boy. I trust you on this one."
"I'm glad you do, and I'll make sure to keep it." Ben chuckled before taking a brief pause. His mind was screaming at him in that moment to; 'Tell her NOW you idiot!' This prompted him to take a steady breath, pressing forward to the best of his ability. "Y-Yang, before I go, there's something I need to say… just in case I don't—"
"You will."
"But I—"
"Ben." Yang put her finger to his lips to silence him, giving him her trademark smile. "Like you promised; you WILL be back. And when you do get back… tell me then." She pulled herself in for a hug. "Because I have something I need to tell you, too."
The hero's heart leapt into his throat for a brief moment before letting out a nervous laugh. "Heh, now that's a promise I can keep." The couple broke their hug and Ben smirked over to Rojo and the other villains, giving them a salute. "Well, Rojo, sorry I have to break TWO of your toys today, but…"
The bounty hunter pulled out Bloodstrike and aimed it right at Ben, its barrel glowing red. "Tennyson, I swear if you—"
Ben quickly made his selection and the Omnitrix's faceplate retracted. "Too late!" He slammed the core down and a familiar green light suddenly enveloped Ben as he transformed into XLR8, the Kineceleran's own faceplate covering his face. "See ya!" With that, XLR8 took off over the water, leaving Rojo to start blasting at him as he ran away.
"DAMN IT!" Rojo shouted as she approached the railing to stay within range, only for the Kineceleran to out-speed the energy blasts. "Gah! No! We can't let him get out there!"
Cinder stepped forward and pulled on Rojo's shoulder, the two women locking eyes. "Rojo, what is going on here?! Tennyson can't hope to match the Leviathan's power!"
"Heh, yeah, pretty sure not even Humungousaur can grow that big." Emerald snickered.
Rojo winced as her eyes darted back out over the water, her anxiety growing as XLR8 drew closer to the Leviatathan. "Yeah, about that… there might've been a teensy-weensy, itty-bitty, little detail that might've slipped my mind." Her teammates sent her perplexed stared as she let the cat out of the bag. "Tennyson kinda has an alien that's bigger than Humungousaur."
There was a long pause before both heroes and villains exclaimed; "WHAT?!"
The only ones who weren't surprised in the least were Gwen, Kevin, Swift and Tetrax, the three smiling as they watched their friend get closer and closer to the Leviathan. Raven took notice of this and decided to ask Gwen directly about it. "Gwen… is this true? Is there REALLY an alien that's bigger than Humungousaur?"
"Oh, you bet there is." Gwen confirmed. At this point, the colossal creature had noticed XLR8's approached, to which it responded by opening its maw and sending forth a huge stream of fire from its throat. However, XLR8 proved too fast, and was able to dodge the incoming attack easily, resulting in a huge cloud of steam. From there, XLR8 had finally made it to the Leviathan itself and began scaling the gigantic creature's legs, speeding his way around its torso and making his way to its head. "And it's actually MUCH bigger than Humungousaur…" Gwen added right as XLR8 made it to the creature's chin.
What happened next… was something that EVERYONE there would remember. XLR8 slammed the Omnitrix on his chest, transformed into another alien… and then the Leviathan was knocked right down onto its back, a massive fist having crashed into its lower jaw. As the Leviathan tumbled back, the new transformation landed in the water with a massive THOOM, his feet creating a bunch of large waves in the process. Everyone's jaws practically hit the pavement as they laid eyes on the alien before them, one that towered over all of Ben's previous transformations.
"Oh. My. God." Weiss uttered in disbelief.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Neptune put in his own two cents. "He's… he's—"
"GINORMOUS!" Nora screamed, her arms raised up high in complete hype.
Indeed, her description couldn't be any more appropriate. From his feet to the top of his head, this alien seemed to be about 85 meters in height, equaling the size of the Leviathan easily. His shoulders were fairly bulky and his pectorals were somewhat pronounced as well, giving him a muscular physique. His skin was predominantly blank white, though there were a few black spots like his neck, a couple of black stripes on his arms, and the bottoms of his boot-shaped feet. He also wore black fingerless gloves on his hands, which had large, red cuffs on his wrists.
There were also other various red parts to him, such as his feet, where the read reached up to a point on his shins. The same could be said about the area around his neck, which had a high collar that led down to a circular area where the Omnitrix was in the center before ending in a point right in the center of his stomach. There were also two large, red blade-like protrusions sticking out of his shoulders and hips, along with another pair of even LONGER ones emerging from his arms, though both sets were equally sharp. Finally, there was a large, red and black fin sticking out of his head, making him seem taller than he already was.
His head itself was also quite big, mostly white with his cheeks being red as well. His primary green eyes were big and almond-shaped while a second set of eyes protruded from his cheeks, the smaller set being protected by a metallic armor around them.
Back on land, Cinder's eye was practically twitching as her teammates stared on, baffled that there could even be an alien that big standing before them. "No… no this… this is—"
"Impossible?" Gwen finished. The Anodite crossed her arms as the group all continued to gawk at the alien, the redhead satisfied at their reactions. "I think you should know by now that "impossible" is kind of my cousin's thing." She glanced back to the giant alien as the Leviathan glowered at its new opponent. "I TOLD you he was big. In fact, I think you could say he's…"
"WAY BIG!"
…..
Everything had gone wrong. That was the only conclusion that Salem could come to after witnessing what she had just seen. First, her Grimmungousaur had been defeated. Though that wasn't too big of a deal, since she could always create more. 'MANY more if I wish to overwhelm that ultimate alien.' But then… the girl's Silver Eyes had activated. Salem couldn't help but give a painful wince as she saw the scene unfold before the nearby Seer in Vale was turned to stone in the blinding light. Even if she wasn't there, she could still feel the raw power emanating from her location. And the moment she had another Seer on the scene, the strength of that power was confirmed the moment she saw Silyrian's mangled body.
"Hmph, I'll start working on the bio-tech he'll need." Watts remarked after seeing the scorpion mutant's broken form, placing a finger on his chin. "…Perhaps a rocket-launching pincer and a targeting array in his new eye…"
Salem had sighed when he said that, but simply waved her hand in approval. "Yes, very good, doctor." The witch rubbed her head as she felt a headache coming on. 'Well, at least the Leviathan is still a viable option, so there's that.'
From there, however, things only got worse. Somehow, young Gwen Tennyson had been able to restore Qrow Branwen with the Relic of Knowledge… which she promptly threw back into Raven's portal. Salem had to be alone in the room for a while after that. Once she allowed the others to rejoin her, they sat in silence as the Leviathan arrived in the city. It was then that Salem saw what she could only describe as utter foolishness; Ben Tennyson was running at high speeds toward the titanic Grimm.
"What in the world is he doing?!" Hazel exclaimed when he saw the Kineceleran dashing across the water.
A small smile came to Salem's face at that. "Hm, he seems to be speeding toward his own—" FLASH! BOOM! "…WHAT?!"
In an instant, Tennyson had transformed into a creature so large that it rivaled the Leviathan in height, having punched the creature down into the water for good measure. As the hero stood tall in defiance of the creature, he proclaimed his name so loud that it rang through the Seer; "WAY BIG!"
Salem's eyes widened and her lips parted, baffled by just what she was seeing. "W-W-What is…"
"A To'kustar." Viktor growled as he clenched his fists, a sneer forming on his face. "Damn it, I had forgotten that Tennyson had that transformation!"
"Viktor… you know what that thing is?" Watts inquired as he stared at the titan in horror.
"Indeed." Viktor nodded. "To'kustars are gigantic aliens that are born inside of cosmic storms. They are considered non-violent beings, but they also live on the edge of the galaxy, guarding it from unknown threats." He glared at the Seer as the two gigantic opponents faced off against one another, the Leviathan giving a roar of challenge. "And if experience has taught me anything… it's that a To'kustar usually wins."
After a long silence pause, Salem spoke up, though she didn't sound happy. "Viktor… how could you have forgotten that Tennyson had a transformation like this?"
Viktor lowered his head in shame. "I-I apologize, Miss Salem. My consciousness was dormant for so long that it slipped my mind. I can offer no better reasoning."
"…I will accept it." Salem said as she laced her fingers together and rested her chin upon them, concentrating on the fight about to happen. "But you are VERY lucky that you are devilishly handsome, dear Viktor."
Viktor could feel all his internal organs do a flip at that, though Watts and Hazel seemed to be somewhat off put behind him. "I… thank you, Miss Salem."
…..
GGGYYAAAAAAAUUUUUAAAGH! The Leviathan belted out a deathly roar as it squared off with the equally titanic being in front of it. The beast knew that this creature was prey, but still, it didn't know exactly WHAT to think of it at first. Up until now, no other creature could rival it in size other than the rest of its own kind, not even the planet's largest whale. But now, it stood eye to eye with another giant like itself, and that could only mean one thing; it had to fight it.
Way Big smiled and balled his fists, entering a combat stance. "Yeah, this must be pretty different seeing someone of my stature around." the To'kustar quipped. "Bet you're gonna tell ALL your friends about me… oh no, wait, I'm gonna kill you before you even do that." With a battle cry of his own, Way Big threw the first punch, landing a direct hit across the Leviathan's jaw. The beast's massive head was knocked away, but once it gathered itself, it swiped its hand to claw at Way Big's face… only for the titanic alien to grab its wrist.
With a strong twist, Way Big wrenched the Leviathan down into the water and began stomping on the beast, careful to keep his foot away from any boney spikes. Then, with a strong kick, Way Big sent the Leviathan tumbling away further out into the ocean, though the beast opted to instead roll with what it was given and dive down into the ocean instead.
Way Big narrowed his eyes as he searched for the Grimm, no doubt using its environment to its advantage. 'Come out, come out, where ever you—' SPLASH! 'Crap!' Way Big spun around just tin time to see the Leviathan tackle him into the water, the Grimm quick to grab his neck to try and choke him out under the waves. However, thanks to the armored collar around his neck, the Leviathan couldn't get a good hold on Way Big, which allowed the To'kustar to breach his head out from the water. He thrust his entire body up and slammed his fists into the Grimm's torso, allowing him to turn the tables and pin the beast himself.
Way Big immediately began punching the giant Grimm in the face, knocking it from side to side. "You. Need. To. Stay. DOWN!" With that final word, Way Big balled his fists together and brought them both down onto the Leviathan's head… though the creature seemed unfazed. Instead, it opened its maw and another stream of blazing fire shot out and hit Way Big in the face, forcing him to stagger off of the creature and allow it to escape beneath the waves once again. "Ugh, you're making this WAY more difficult than it has to be!"
The To'kustar began searching once again, but this time was more successful when it caught sight of the monster's six glowing eyes, a smirk coming to his face. 'There you are…' It was then that the Leviathan breached the surface again and jumped up into the air, intending to crush Way Big under its body weight again. However, Way Big's form allowed him to move faster, tucking and rolling himself beneath the Grimm's incoming attack. The Leviathan landed and Way Big went to grab for the creature's tail, only for it to swing the appendage away and slam it into Way Big's side.
But the To'kustar clenched his teeth and bore through the pain as he wrapped his arm around the tail, a smirk coming to his face. "Going up!" Using all of his strength, Way Big yanked hard on the tail, managing to swing the Leviathan up into the air and throw it across the harbor, the creature landing quite a fair distance away. Way Big rolled his shoulders and popped a few muscles in his neck. 'Well, needed a bit more strength than I expected, but it got the job done.'
Back on land, as they watched the Leviathan begin to get back up and shoot fire at Way Big once again, the large group of teens and adults still couldn't believe what they were seeing. Out of all the things that Ben had up his sleeve, THIS was something that none of them could have expected. Yet still, the young heroes couldn't help but cheer for their friend as he continued to make leeway with the Leviathan, the hero dodging the fire breath and delivering another punch to the Leviathan's gut.
"WOO! Alright, Ben!" Jaune pumped his fist up as he and the other boys gave their support.
"Sock it to him, dude!" Sun belted out as well while delivering punches to the air.
Kevin shouted out as well; "Show that Leviathan who's top dog, Tennyson!"
"I probably shouldn't be enjoying this as much as I am…" Neptune admitted with an ear to ear grin. "But man, there's just nothing like a giant monster battle!"
"FUCK YES!" Nora shouted while jumping all over the place. "It's like a kaiju movie come to life and I am ALL for it!"
Blake sent a smirk over to her blonde partner, who was obviously cheering the hardest for Ben. "So, what's it like knowing that your boyfriend can become a titanic alien?"
"Whaddya think?!" Yang shot back with an ear to ear grin. "This has to be THE coolest thing I've ever seen in my life! And I thought him killing the GOLIATH was amazing!" She turned back to the battle just in time to see Way Big slice his arm blades across the Leviathan's chest, making it roar in pain. "Woo-hoo! Go get 'em, Green Boy!"
Not far from her, Lisa had the same type of smile on her face, her eyes wide in awe as Greg attempted to keep the camera focused on the battle. "I… I am almost SPEECHLESS right now! Hahaha!" The reporter laughed into her microphone with glee as she watched Way Big go back to pummeling the Leviathan again. "People at home, I hope you're seeing this because this is HISTORY in the making! For the first time, a Leviathan his met its match and his name is… WAY BIG! HAHAHA!"
Behind her, Lionheart had but one of his paw-like hands to his head in utter bafflement. "I… I think it's safe to say I've seen everything now."
"Same here, Leo." Qrow nodded. "Watch Boy's certainly got a knack for surprises."
"Indeed, he does." Raven agreed with a smile. "I know he'll make a great son-in-law someday."
Qrow narrowed his eyes at his sister. "Uh, let's not get TOO hasty here, Rae."
"Psh, speak for yourself, Uncle Qrow." Ruby said. "Being part of the Tennyson family sounds pretty good right about now." She then went back to cheering on Way Big some more, who had at that moment drove his knee into the Leviathan's stomach. "GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT, BEN!"
However, the villains were all less than pleased. "This cannot be!" Cinder exclaimed as she clawed at her hair, seeing the Leviathan fall to water while clutching its stomach. "How in the world does he have THIS powerful of a transformation?!"
Rojo could only offer a shrug and a supportive pat on the shoulder. "Beats me, Cindy. For some reason, it's always Tennyson who gets the shiniest toys."
"This is COMPLETELY unfair!" Emerald shouted as she smacked her fists against the railing. "For god's sake, GET UP you stupid Grimm!"
Right when she said that, Way Big jumped up and over the Leviathan, landing behind it with another THOOM before spinning around for another hard punch from behind. However, before the fist could make contact, the Leviathan opened its mouth and caught Way Big's wrist, biting down on it with as much force as it could. "GAAAAUGH!" Way Big grit his teeth as he slammed his other hand up into the Leviathan's snout, forcing it to open its jaws and release his hand. "Oh, you did NOT just—OOF!" Once again, the Leviathan had spun around and socked Way Big's stomach with his tail, forcing the To'kustar to stumble back a bit. He managed to retain his footing, though, and after shaking off the mild pain in his hand, he was right back at it, grappling with the Leviathan as their hands locked up.
After another couple knees to the stomach, Way Big forced the creature down and trapped it underneath him, grabbing hold of its snout as he pulled its head back. He then forced the maw of the beast to open and began pulling them back harder and harder, hoping to snap the jaws before doing the same with its neck. However, just as he did that, the beast's fire breath began to ignite again, making the To'kustar's eyes widen. 'Damn! Should've thought this through more!' With that thought, Way Big abandoned the idea and instead jumped back, avoiding the blazing breath effectively.
However, instead of retreating into the water like he thought it would, the Leviathan actually jumped up to tackle Way Big again, this time willingly opening its mouth to clamp down on the titanic alien's head fin. It was successful and began pulling Way Big down, but the To'kustar wouldn't be having any of it. He reached up and forced the beast's maw open bit by bit until he was able to free his head fin… before getting hit directly in the face with the beast's fire breath. With a shout of surprise, Way Big pushed the Leviathan back before putting his hands to his eyes, the burning heat having gotten into them.
Back on shore, the group let out a series of audible gasps while three out of the five villains began cheering instead, much to their annoyance. "Haha! About time that monster started fighting back!" Mercury laughed, with Neo giving a smile and thumbs up at the action.
"I dunno…" Rojo narrowed her eyes at the fight as the Leviathan took the opportunity to lunge at Way Big again, the two opponents going back to wrestling through the water. "The Leviathan might be strong, but Tennyson hasn't brought out the big guns yet either…"
"WHAT?!" The trio shouted. "Rojo, what are you—"
Cinder's question was cut off when Way Big once again managed to escape the Leviathan, rubbing the last big of burning sensation from his eyes before seeing the Grimm open its mouth to blast out more fire at him. 'Okay, so that's how you wanna play, huh?' Way Big furrowed his eyeridges and crossed his arms over his chest, forming an X-shape with his hands close to his face. Suddenly, a powerful green energy began to collect in between his hands, and once the Leviathan let loose its powerful flamethrower, Way Big unleashed his attack as well. A powerful cosmic ray erupted from his hands, colliding with the flames and tearing through them like paper. The Leviathan was taken aback by this and immediately closed its mouth to turn away, only to get hit directly in the shoulder by the cosmic ray, sending it falling down into the water once again. Way Big nodded in satisfaction. "Hmph, THAT'LL teach ya."
As a thick, black mist could be seen wafting from the beast's shoulder, the group on land could only stare in awe of what they had just seen. "What… the HECK was that?!" Ilia exclaimed.
"That would be a cosmic ray." Swift answered. "To'kustars are born in cosmic storms, so they're able to generate and manipulate that energy into powerful beams like that."
"…Damn." Vernal smirked as the group began cheering some more. "Tennyson's transformations only get cooler and cooler."
"No doubt about that!" Rex concurred as he crossed his arms and shook his head. "But man, it's crazy how he gets to have all the fun, ya know? I'd be out there in a heartbeat to join in on that action."
Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "Well, you WOULD say that, wouldn't you, Robo-dolt? But I think Ben's got this handled." She quirked a brow at him and placed a hand on her hip. "Besides, it's not like YOU can become a giant or anything." But the moment she said that, Rex's eyes widened and a smile came to his face, which were the tell-tale signs that he had an idea. "…Rex, what are you thinking?" Weiss deadpanned.
Rex pointed a finger at her, wagging it a bit as he started to head over to the railing. "I'm thinking that you just gave me a GREAT idea!" The made it to the edge and activated his Boogie Pack, much to everyone's surprise. "And trust me, you'll think it's pretty sweet!"
"W-What?!" Weiss exclaimed before rushing forward and rushed in front of Rex, grabbing him by the shoulders to stop him. "Rex, what are you THINKING?! You can't just go OUT into the middle of all that!"
"She's right." Winter concurred as she also came over, giving Rex a stern glare. "It's far too risky. You could get killed if you get caught between those two!"
Rex raised his hands defensively, smiling at the Schnee sisters to reassure them. "Ladies, ladies, no te preocupes! I've got a solid plan, trust me!" He locked his eyes onto Weiss, who was giving him her own stern look while crossing her arms. "Listen, I know this sounds crazy, but you guys forget that I've taken on things that're just as big, if not bigger than that."
Winter sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "We know, Rex, but we do not need to take unnecessary risks at a time like this. Ben can handle this himself."
"And he probably can." Rex smirked. "But here's the thing; I've got a way to go toe to toe with that monster that's pretty sweet."
Weiss raised her brow again. "…Really?"
"Yeah! …I mean, it's a trick I've only pulled off once so far, but—"
"WHAT?!" Weiss interrupted.
"B-B-But I think I can pull it off again!" Rex hastily added as he placed his hands on to Weiss' shoulders. "Trust me, I've got some pretty good control over my nanites to pull this off." He saw that Weiss' expression was now very unsure, so he gave her a small smile. "Weiss… do you trust me?"
The heiress rolled her eyes at that. "Well, yeah, but… you're taking a REALLY big chance with this one, Rex. Placing faith in something that you've only gotten to work once?"
"I know, it sounds risky, and I promise that I'll come back…" Rex assured, "but right now, I need you to trust me on this one, okay? …Please?" Much to his shock, though, Weiss pouted in annoyance and pulled herself away, crossing her arms while craning her head down toward the ground. Rex pursed his lips before giving her a reassuring hug from behind, whispering; "I'll be back. That's a promise." He ended the brief embrace and stepped back over to the railing to take off.
But what Rex didn't see during his hug was the ongoing turmoil etched onto the heiress' face. She knew that the EVO could very well handle himself out there, but the thought of him going up against that… demonic ocean Grimm still unsettled her. And the worst part was that she knew why that was. The emotions she was subsiding were starting to bubble up, and she knew she couldn't hold them back for much longer. 'Goddamn it, why do you do this to me you gigantic, thick-skulled, Robo-dolt?!'
Just as he was about to take off, Rex heard the familiar clicking of heels grab his attention, spinning his head back to Weiss as she ran up to him. "W-Weiss, what's—huh?!" He was cut off when the heiress grabbed a hold of his jacket collar and looked him dead in the eye, her features dead serious.
"…You'd better hold true to that promise, Rex." Weiss stated plain and simple.
Rex smiled in relief and chuckled a bit. "Of course, Weiss. You ain't getting rid of me that eas—huh?!" All of a sudden, without any warning whatsoever, Weiss gave a firm tug on Rex's shirt and brought him down to her level.
A small blush came to Weiss' face. "…Good." Just then, she leaned in and gave him a small peck on the cheek, eliciting a small collective gasp from their friends. "See that you don't."
"I…I-I…" Rex was left speechless by what had just happened. It took a couple seconds for his brain to process it, but he finally managed to utter; "W-What was that?"
"…Are you serious?" Weiss said incredulously. "What do you THINK it was?!"
"W-Well, I KNOW what it was, but… I-I didn't know that—"
"That I liked you?!" Wiess finished as her blush began to grow even redder at the exchange.
Rex raised his hands again. "W-Well, I-I mean, I-I wasn't a hundred percent sure, but—"
Wiess pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ugh, you really ARE hopeless." She let go of his collar before pulling him into a hug, burying her face into his chest. "Just… please keep your promise… about coming back. …Please."
To say that nobody was expecting that was an understatement, including Rex himself. He could tell that she sounded very worried about him, though, and after a few moments, Rex felt his confidence spike enough to return the hug. He then lowered his head down and planted a kiss of his own on top of her head, catching her attention. She looked up to see him smiling down at her, his hand going to her face to caress it. "Trust me, that's a promise that I know I'll keep." he said with a wink. "And just for the record, I like you that way too."
Those words earned a loud cheer from their crowd of friends. The show of support made the two blush, though the stand-out had to be Gwen yelling; "Freaking FINALLY!", the Anodite falling to her knees and raising her fists up to the sky.
Winter smirked and crossed her arms as she observed the duo as well. "What she said."
"Yeah, yeah, go on and celebrate you bunch of shippers." Weiss waved off before going back to Rex. "In all serious, though, I'm happy we just let everything out. I can't TELL you how much stress this has caused me."
"Same here." Rex nodded, squeezing her shoulder a bit in reassurance. "It's times like these where I need some sense knocked into me."
The heiress rolled her eyes at that. "When DON'T you?" The new couple shared a laugh before Weiss gave him one last peck on the cheek, nudging her head toward Way Big and the Leviathan as the titanic duo continued their clash. "Now go kick some sea monster ass."
"With pleasure." Rex affirmed before activating his Boogie Pack, taking off into the skies with a small salute. "So… I'm guessing we'll talk first date when I get back?"
Weiss smirked and folded her arms at him. "Oh, definitely."
"Then I look forward to it. Wish me luck."
"…Buena suerte." Weiss smiled before seeing Rex jet off toward the Leviathan… leaving her with all of her smirking friends standing behind her. The heiress narrowed her eyes at Gwen, Ruby, Yang, Blake, Pyrrha, Nora, Ilia and Penny, all eight of the girls grinning from ear to ear in excitement. Swift and Vernal stayed off to the side, though their smirks were still visible. Weiss rolled her eyes and threw her hands up. "I suppose you're all happy now?"
Ruby zipped up and hugged her best friend instantly. "Yes, very."
Pyrrha raised a hand up toward her friends. "I believe the highest of congratulations are in order!"
Nora practically slid in next to Weiss and muttered into her ear; "He IS quite the catch, Weiss. I think ya did pretty good with this one, hehe."
"Yeah, congrats, Weiss-cream." Yang said as she and Blake joined their teammates in the hug as well. "Now we BOTH have super-hero boyfriends!"
Blake peeked open one eye and glanced toward Ruby. "Now all we need is to set Ruby up and ALL of us will have boyfriends."
Ruby blushed and waved her off. "Later! Right now, this is Weiss' moment!"
As the girls all congratulated the heiress, Rex found himself feeling higher than he had ever felt in his life. To think that he'd be so lucky to even FIND a girl like her. He was so sure after Circe left that he'd never like someone as much as her… but now he was firmly certain that he liked Weiss just as much if not MORE than Circe. And it was this certainty that allowed him to focus on doing what needed to be done. He flew right past Way Big's head, earning a surprised shout from the To'kustar. But Rex just kept flying toward the Leviathan, closing his eyes to dig deep within him and access the power of the Omega Nanite, pulling it all out from within himself. 'This one's for you, Weiss.'
With that, blue lines started appearing all over his body and his eyes shined a bright blue as well… all while his hair erupted into blue flames. All of a sudden, a blue light began shining from his chest and enveloped his entire body. Once the light stopped, everyone was able to get a clear view of what happened… only to be surprised when another large object suddenly slammed into the Leviathan, knocking it to the ground. Everyone's jaws collectively dropped at what now stood side-by-side with Way Big… including the To'kustar himself.
It was a gigantic blue, grey and silver robot, one with a dynamic figure that stood face to face easily with Way Big. Its legs were smooth and mostly blue with grey parts at the knees, ankles, and upper thighs. Its hip and groin area were also made of the same grey plating while the abdomen was a silvery metal, one which also comprised the robot's hands and biceps. Its forearms were blue and cylindrical while its shoulders were also blue and more rounded, with a big glowing cyan light in each one.
The robot's upper chest was the same metallic blue, but had a huge, circular, glowing energy core at its center, complete with cyan connectors that lead to two large cylinders on its back, which no doubt held even MORE power within them. The robot's head was also burning with an intense blue fire, while a set of "goggles" adorned its forehead. And the robot's face… well, there was only one way to describe it from Way Big's perspective.
"REX?!" The To'kustar moved his eyes up and down the massive robot's form before landing on his face, his eyes widening in disbelief. "…Since WHEN can you transform into a giant Optimus Prime?!"
The faceplated giant robot that was Rex craned his head over to Ben, his eyes narrowing a bit. "I'll explain later, man." The transformed EVO assured, his faceplate moving up and down as he spoke. Behind him, he could practically hear everyone freaking out back on the docks, but that was something to focus on later. "For now, just know that THIS is what the Omega Nanite can REALLY do. Call me… Omega Rex."
Way Big smiled eagerly and offered a fist. "Well then, Omega Rex, wanna take this thing down?!"
Omega Rex returned the fist-bump with gusto. "With pleasure!" With that, the two heroes lunged forward, tackling the Leviathan to the ground once again. The duo of giants began pummeling the Grimm before it lurched beneath them and began rolling, making them both jump up to their feet. "Oh-ho! So you wanna go THAT route, eh, Fish Face?!" At that moment, Omega Rex's hand retracted into his arm and in its place, a large Blast Caster whip came out, the weapon glowing with powerful energy. "Then let's go!" However, little did the two giants know that as they faught on, a certain space ship was making its approach from Beacon, and the occupants inside were utterly baffled by what they were seeing.
…..
General Ironwood knew that the moment he met Ben Tennyson and his friends, his life would be altered in ways that he could never have imagined. However, not once did he think that he would see something like this. From the bridge of the Resolute, he saw a Leviathan Grimm battling against a titanic white and red being and a huge blue and grey robot. Yet again, he couldn't help but be thrown for a loop. "W-What IS going on around here anymore?" James muttered.
Glynda set a hand to his arm in support. "James… I honestly couldn't tell you anymore."
"What the HELL is even ARE those things?!" Coco exclaimed in complete bafflement.
"HAHA!" Cooper laughed as he raised his hands up. "It's WAY BIG! Ben's gone Way Big!"
Cesar pointed hastily to the battle as well. "And that's mi hermano! Haha! He tapped into his Omega EVO form again!"
Sienna couldn't help but blink at the revelation. "Wait, that's SERIOUSLY Ben and Rex?!"
"I can't imagine them being anyone else." Ghira stated, running his hands through his hair as he watched the showdown take place. "But to be fair, I'm starting to wonder just what the extent is of these boys' powers…"
"So am I." Kali admitted. "If you ask me, these boys have enough power to level an entire city if they wanted."
Velvet let out a sigh, her head sagging a bit. "Well, I suppose it's a good thing they're on our side, then." She noticed that her blind teammate was wearing a frustrated expression, prompting her to ask; "Fox? Are you alright?"
"Hmph… yeah… it's just the one time I actually WISH I could see something happening." Fox grumbled out. "And before you ask, no, ADA describing it to me isn't the same."
Yatsu gave his friend a supportive pat on the shoulder. "Well, I can certainly say one thing, it's definitely as crazy as you're probably hearing it." He only got another small grumble from Fox in response.
Coco sighed and planted her eyes on the screen, just in time to see Way Big fire off another cosmic ray at the Leviathan while Omega Rex charged in with his whip. "Well, I guess there's nothin' much else to do other than enjoy the show." She pumped her fist up and gave a cheer. "Show 'em what ya got, Watch Boy! You too, Gear Head!"
…..
Back on the ground, Weiss was still staring out at the battle with her mouth agape at what just happened. The others were as well, but she definitely had her mouth open the widest. From out of absolutely nowhere, Rex had transformed himself into a giant robot and joined in with Way Big on the Leviathan beat down, the mechanical giant having lashed his whip around the Leviathan. After sending a surge of energy through the large whip, Omega Rex gave a huge yank, swinging the beast around and slamming it down onto its head, smashing it into the water. Omega Rex then retracted his whip into his arm and went to grab the Leviathan, only for the creature to disappear under the waves again to recoup itself.
"I… I don't…" Weiss was at a loss for words over the whole situation, to the point where she almost didn't notice Yang coming over to set a hand on her shoulder.
"Well Weiss, looks like you're in the "My Boyfriend can become Giant Club" with me!" Yang declared, her grin unflinching even when Weiss whipped her head around to give her a glare. All the Blonde Brawler did was wag her finger at the heiress. "Ah-ah, you were the one who chose to kiss him right here and now. You have NO excuse to get out of this."
Weiss pouted again and folded her arms, directing her attention back to the battle. "…Okay, yeah, I guess I can't work my way out of this. But still, it's not like I—REX, WATCH OUT!" Her warning came just as the Leviathan sprang out of the water again and tackled Omega Rex down, only for Way Big to grab a hold of the beast and pry it off his friend.
The grappling duo began scrambling through the water again, each trying to gain superiority over the other. However, a lucky slash across Way Big's eyes managed to get the To'kustar to loosen his grip long enough for the Leviathan to worm its way out of his grip. With another massive tail whip, the Leviathan sent Way Big's head underwater for just long enough to open its maw and take aim at Omega Rex, sending out another powerful stream of fire at the massive EVO.
Fortunately, Omega Rex had been able to collective himself, propping himself on one hand as he closed his other fist and aimed it at the Leviathan. "ROCKET PUNCH!" With those two words, Omega Rex's whole left forearm came off and rocketed straight through the flamethrower, colliding with the Leviathan's open mouth and knocking it straight back down.
Weiss deadpanned at this. 'Wow, really?'
Way Big had different thoughts, though, having seen the attack as he rose his head out of the water. 'That is SO cool!' With a big grin, Way Big picked himself up and took the metal fist out of the Leviathan's mouth… only to then hit it over the creature's head multiple times before kneeing it in the lower jaw. Way Big tossed the appendage back to Omega Rex, who reattached it immediately. "You wanna end this now?"
"Yeah, seems like a good time." Omega Rex concurred before wrapping his arms under the Leviathan's own, hoisting the dazed creature up and holding it in place. "But before we do… how about we go for a classic double team maneuver?"
Way Big gave his EVO friend a thumbs up before running a fair distance back into the city, about two-hundred yards away through an abandoned street. Then, with little hesitation, Way Big then rushed back toward the water, getting within striking range before falling to his back and landing on his hands, thrusting his arms so that he launched himself feet-first at the Leviathan. Omega Rex had gotten out of the way just in time as Way Big struck the Leviathan directly in the stomach, sending it sent careening out toward the open ocean.
But they weren't through yet. Omega Rex got back on his feet and rushed out toward the Leviathan, his hand retracting as his forearm converted into a giant Bad Axe. He grabbed the Leviathan's tail as it came crashing down and immediately cleaved his axe through it, eliciting a roar of pain from the giant beast as it fell into the water. Omega Rex tossed away the already dissolving tail and grabbed one of the Leviathan's arms as it scrambled out of the water, cutting IT off as well.
As the Leviathan roared in agony while rising out of the water, it suddenly caught a glimpse of red and white in the corner of its eye… but it was too late. The moment it turned to face its first opponent, it was met with Way Big thrusting one of his forearm blades through its torso, cutting off its roar effectively. Way Big pulled his blade out and caught the beast with Omega Rex's help, the two nodding to each other before using their combined strength to toss the Grimm up into the air.
Way Big crossed his arms and took aim while Omega Rex converted his arm into a rather large energy cannon, pointing it up at the beast as well. With their attacks both charged up, the two giants sent out two massive blasts of energy, the beams uniting in their coarse for the Leviathan before hitting it directly in its stomach, effectively blowing the creature up in mid-fall. The two titans cheered at their victory and shook hands, laughing all the while.
"HAHA! We did it!" Way Big said with a thumbs up. "Nice job, man."
"You weren't too bad yourself, amigo." Rex nodded back as he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Great teamwork out there!"
"Thanks…" At the sound of cheering voices, both titans directed their eyes out back to the docks, where all of their friends and teammates were cheering for them as well. The duo waved back to them briefly before Way Big's eyes found the rather deflated group of villains as well. Cinder and Mercury were glaring hard at them while Rojo, Emerald and Neo seemed very frustrated yet also slightly worried. Much to his surprise, he also saw the Resolute hovering up high in the air, all while the Mistralian began to descend toward the villains themselves. "…Now, there's just one more thing that needs to be done."
…..
As angry as Cinder was that their plan was now up in smoke, she couldn't help but feel a new wave of anxiety wash over her as she saw Way Big and Omega Rex approach, her glare becoming gradually softer with every thunderous step they took. It was one thing watching them from a distance, but by the time they were about ten yards away from them… it was the first instance in a VERY long time that Cinder felt small again. It was the feeling of being looked down upon by others, powerless to do nothing. She knew whatever she threw at these titans, they'd be able to shrug it off easily, so all she could do was glare at them, hoping that they couldn't see the trepidation in her eyes.
"C-Cinder?" Emerald spoke up. "What do we do?"
Cinder glanced between the giants, the Resolute, the team of heroes approaching them, the Mistralian Airship, and finally to her own teammates. She assessed the situation thoroughly and sighed in defeat, knowing that there was no possibly way they could go on in their present condition and with the numbers stacked against them. "…We retreat for now. Everyone, get to the airship." Cinder pursed her lips before glaring back up at Way Big and Omega Rex as they approached, her teammates already on the move. "…This isn't over, Tennyson. Not by a long shot." With that, Cinder dashed toward their airship and boarded it, the craft taking off in an instant.
Rojo put her hands to her hips as the airship ascended into the sky, flying away from Vale at the highest speed it could. "Boss Lady's not gonna like this at all…" She saw that Neo was clenching her umbrella worriedly, so she offered a supportive had to her shoulder.
"No, she will not." Cinder concurred. "But since she was observing all of this… she will no doubt know why we could not continue."
"Well, I guess that's all we can hope for." Mercury concluded as he saw Way Big and Omega Rex looking up after them.
The giant robot set his eyes onto his comrade, raising an eyeridge before nudging his head toward the retreating ship. "So, should we just bring 'em down, or… what?"
Way Big raised his arm, halting Rex on that thought. "No, let them leave. Honesty, I think we've driven the point across already. If they wanna try again, then that's their problem. Besides, I think we've ALL had enough crap for one day." The duo stepped onto the shore and transformed back into their human forms, doing so just as the Resolute came in for a landing not too far away from them.
Just as they saw the ship's exit ramp start to open up, the sound of Yang's voice caught Ben's attention. "BEN!" The hero brightened up and spun around, smiling the moment he saw his girlfriend and the others come rushing toward them. The Blonde Brawler pulled her boyfriend into a hug and laughed in excitement. "That. Was. AMAZING! HAHAHA!" She wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled him in for a congratulatory kiss before asking; "So just WHEN were you gonna tell us that you had a transformation like THAT in your tank?!"
"Yeah, Ben, what the heck?" Ruby asked as she crossed placed her hands on her hips. "Were you holding that one out on us or something?"
Ben gave her a shrug. "Heh, what can I say? The best surprises are the ones you don't expect." However, out of the corner of his eye, the hero couldn't help but notice something quite interesting going on…
"Haha! See? I told ya it would be sweet!" Rex said as he ran up and scooped up Weiss in an embrace.
"…Okay, I'll admit, that WAS pretty cool." Weiss conceded as she wrapped her arms around Rex's neck and gave him another peck on the cheek. "Great job, Robo-dolt."
Rex couldn't help but smile when she did that. "Hmhm, thanks. You know, I'm glad we were able to just get everything out in the open." The EVO gave her a smirk as he pressed his forehead against hers. "Means we can be sweet on each other more often."
"Don't push your luck, Robo-dolt." Weiss smirked back. "I'm not gonna go easy on you just because we're a thing now."
A chuckle escaped Rex's throat as he let Weiss down, her head settling against his chest. "Heh, I probably shouldn't expect anything less from you… but then I wouldn't have it any other way."
Ben's jaw went slack as he made his way over, catching the new couple's attention. "Um, I'm sorry, but when did all of THIS happen?!" The hero smiled as Rex and Weiss set their eyes on him. "Guys! Congrats on FINALLY getting together!"
"I know, right?" Gwen agreed. "How do you think I feel having to endure over a week of romantic tension between these two?"
Rex and Weiss' eyes widened at that before turning to each other in surprise. "Man, can you believe it's only been over a week since we met?" Rex asked incredulously.
"Yeah, feels like it's been a lot longer, though." Weiss blushed. "What with well… everything that's gone on between us AND everything else."
Ben sighed and placed his hands behind his head, reflecting on everything that had happen in not only in the past week, but the past few weeks they had been there. "I think it's safe to say that we've ALL had a pretty hectic few weeks. But now, I think it's time we… uh…" The hero paused when he saw his friends all suddenly wearing rather nervous faces, their eyes trained toward him for some reason. "…Guys? What's the matter?" The whole group pointed up, indicating that there was something behind him. Curiosity taking over, Ben turned around… only to be met with a rather angry Sienna Khan marching up to him. Initially confused, the revelation hit Ben like a truck in a split second and he raised his hands defensively. "W-W-Wait, Sienna, I can explain—" CRACK! In one swift motion, Sienna sent a clean punch right into Ben's cheek, laying the hero flat to the ground. The team recoiled in shock as Sienna took in a calming breath, not once taking her eyes off Ben for the whole ordeal.
"…THAT was for transforming into Rath."
…..
A/N: And… cue the sad trombone sound effect. Hehe, poor Ben, even when he comes out on top, he can never catch a break. But hey, what a way to end the Negative Ten Arc, huh? Quite a bit happened in this chapter, but I think the BIGGEST thing (pun intended) was Way Big FINALLY making his appearance! You guys have been asking for him, so I hope I was able to deliver! And yes, I used his Omniverse design since I think it marries both the OG and UAF designs pretty well. But, in a surprise twist, I also brought in Rex's Omega EVO form as well! And he and Way Big made quite the tag team, wouldn't you say? Gave that Leviathan a good thrashing and everything!
But on the topic of Rex, it seems that he and Weiss are finally together! And all it took was a little confidence on Weiss' part! I think those two will be a LOT happier now that their feelings are out in the open (and worry not, their relationship might only be starting now, but it will truly get to flourish in the second volume). Not only that, but indeed, the Silver Eyes have taken one of the villain's eyes and limbs… just probably not the one you were expecting. As far as I'm concerned, with what he's done both in canon AND this story… Tyrian kinda deserves it, even if he IS going to be getting some upgrades from Watts. And indeed, Jinn was the one to heal Qrow… meaning that Gwen has now used up one third of her favor. Yeah, I wanted a reason to keep Jinn around for a while longer without using the last question, so I thought; "well, she IS still a magical being, so she could still probably grant wishes". Plus, genies were said to grant wishes to those who helped them out of gratitude, and since Gwen saved Jinn's life, that works perfectly here! And finally, it seems that Lisa got to see the rather dangerous side of a hero's work. Fortunately, Ben's an understanding sort, so he was there to reassure her. And just in time, too, because otherwise, she may not have had the confidence to get that entire Leviathan/Way Big/Omega Rex fight on camera!
Alright, so, NEXT TIME! With the battle over and the day won, our heroes head on home for a much-needed rest… but not before Lionheart meets back up with Ironwood and Glynda in his present state. But when everyone DOES get home, they are bombarded by questions from everyone there… including a rather intrigued Galvan who's eager to meet Penny. What happens from here on out? Well, stay tuned to see the answer! Thanks for reading everyone, and I'll see you all next time! Have a Happy Halloween and stay safe out there!
P.S. The last five chapter's titles have been brought to you by The Transformers: The Movie soundtrack! I would've put "Dare to be Stupid" in here somewhere, but it didn't exactly fit the arc. …Maybe in the next volume.
