~~000~~

Tales of the Multiverse Bit 170

First day on a mission good guys! Let's do this!

In a Jurassic-inspired jungle, we the members of the H.I.V.E. Five traversing through the woods and unbeknownst to them, a group of velociraptors are making its' way towards their direction.

~~000~~

The story opens inside an unnamed forest in an unnamed world located somewhere in the multiverse where we see Thomas Camp, alongside the Black Order soldiers, walking around on a straight path between two thick woods.

"Ugh!" Thomas groaned loudly, "So boring!" he exclaimed in annoyance, "We've been in this world for nearly a month but we still can't find those stones for my Goldie." he complained before turning to his men, "What are we doing wrong?" he asked and his men responded by shrugging their shoulders, "You guys are right." he acknowledged, "We really should plan things out before we go out and search for the remaining stones." he stated before chuckling, "Then again..." he uttered, "... we're used on running around in circles until we found what we're looking for." he admitted before snapping his fingers, "Alright!" he called out, "Let's all head back to ship to-" he was trying to say when all of a sudden, he felt a strong and powerful right hook across his left cheek, and the impact of the strike lifts him off the ground and sends him flying towards a nearby tree, "Graagh!" he grunted in pain, "Son of a bitch!" he cursed before getting on a sitting position while rubbing his left cheek, he then looks up with a glare, "Who the fuck punched me on the face?!" he demanded in anger.

"I did, you son of a bitch!" a voice answered.

Thomas' eyes widen in shock when he recognized the voice, "Wait a minute..." he uttered, "Y-You're..." he stuttered nervously.

Stepping out from the shadows of a tree is a young man and he is staring at Thomas in utter hatred.

The young man is pretty tall and had a slim yet fit physique, he had a short black hair and small goatee, and he had dark-colored eyes. He wears a white high-collared hoodie jacket with a white face pin, black tight pants, black laced boots and black fingerless gloves. This is Joseph Granger.

ABSOLUTE HUMAN

Joseph Granger

"I've finally found you, Camp!" Joseph growled.

Thomas chuckled nervously, "Hehe, hiya, Joseph." he greeted, "Haven't seen you for a long time." he stated.

"Long enough after you betrayed me." Joseph reminded in anger.

"Look, look, look..." Thomas beckoned, "I'm sorry for betraying you but that's just the way it is." he reasoned, "You should have expect for something like that to happen." he chastised.

"We we're friends, partners." Joseph reminded, "We promised together that we'll save our kind." he added, "But you betrayed me." he hissed, "In order to do what?" he asked, "Become an overlord of the multiverse?!" he exclaimed.

Thomas thought out about it, "That never crossed my mind..." he admitted, "... but that's a great idea." he said in glee.

Joseph then began to cracked his knuckles, "Now that I've finally found you, I'm gonna make you pay for turning your back on me!" he declared.

Thomas raised his hands up, "Hold up!" he pleaded, "Let's talk about thi-" he was trying to say when Joseph lunges towards and tackling down on the ground, the raven-haired young man then began to punch the bearded maniac numerous times on the face, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" he screamed in pain, "Boys, help me!" he called out.

The Black Order soldiers quickly responded by hounding around Joseph and then pulling him away from their boss while a few helped Thomas up. One soldier charges forward and tried to stab Joseph with his lance but the young man broke free and caught the lance with his bare hands, and with all his strength, Joseph raised the weapon up high alongside it's owner before tossing the soldier towards his comrades, sending them all crashing down the ground.

Joseph then immediately made a beeline towards Thomas with two soldiers trying to defend their bosses but were pushed aside by the young man whom proceeds to tackle Thomas down on the ground and once again started to punch him across the head.

Two more soldiers quickly responded by grabbing Joseph by his legs before pulling him away, the young man struggles to get away while trying to get back to Thomas with the aforementioned maniac crawling away before a few soldiers surrounded their boss to protect him.

Joseph then managed to break free by kicking the two soldiers off, he quickly got up but the soldiers tried to stop him but he responded by slugging them all across the jaw which knocked them out, Joseph then quickly ran towards his targets and made a big jump, crashing down towards everyone and sending them all to the ground.

Joseph then immediately crawled his way towards Thomas and began to punch on the head several times before putting him in a tight necklock, asphyxiating the bearded scoundrel.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Thomas screamed, "I had enough of this!" he exclaimed, "Boys! Operation Pull Out 067!" he commanded.

One soldier quickly responded by pulling out a pepper spray and then spraying all over Joseph's face, "GRAAAAGGH!" he screamed in response while recoiling in pain and upon doing so, he is forced to let go Thomas whom is then pulled away by his minions.

One minion then pulls out a small device in hand and upon pressing the red button, a red-colored portal appears before them and everyone quickly ran inside with Thomas and two more soldiers entering last and when the portal vanished in thin air, the pain on Joseph's face subsided and got his vision back, he got up from the ground before looking around to see that Thomas is gone.

Joseph gritted his teeth in frustration, "This ain't over..." he muttered, "Mark my words, Thomas, I will find you and I will fucking make your life a living hell!" he roared loudly in determination.

Bzzzttt...

Traversing through the vast galaxy, we see a Dreadnought-like, kilometer-long capital starship passing through the stars in extreme light-speed and inside one long hallway, we see Zed Irysh walking around.

Zed had already finished eating and he had done some training with Marth, and is currently checking up on others which is a habit he had whenever he is on a mission with his comrades.

Upon turning a corner, Zed accidentally bumps onto Kennedy "Kenny" MacIntosh.

"Hey! Watch it!" Kenny hissed.

"I'm sorry." Zed apologized.

Kenny scoffed in response, "You'd better be." he growled before rudely shoving Zed aside and then walking past him.

Zed watches Kenny walk away with a raised eyebrow and is wondering what is up with the angry loser, the swordsman sighed before turning to see Patchouli Knowledge standing at one hallway with her eyes fixated on Kenny.

Zed then approaches Patchouli, "Greetings, Miss Knowledge." he greeted.

Patchouli turns to him, "Oh, hello, Mister Irysh." she greeted back.

"You seem down." Zed pointed out, "Is there something wrong?" he asked before turning his head towards Kenny's retreating form, "Does it involved Mister MacIntosh?" he assumed.

Patchouli sighed in response, "You are correct." she confirmed.

"Did something happened between the two of you?" Zed asked, "Did you had an argument?" he assumed.

Patchouli shook her head, "No, we didn't get into an argument." she replied, "It's just..." she uttered, "... I'm just disappointed that my relationship with Kenny turned sour." she shared.

"What do you mean?" Zed asked.

"Kenny and I used to get along back then." Patchouli answered, "Despite his anger issues, Kenny is actually a good person and is pretty considerate with the well-being of others." she stated, "He even invited me for a stargazing." she added, "But all that changed when he lost his body and gained a robotic one." she said with a frown, "Ever since then, Kenny and I haven't spoke to each other." she shared, "He doesn't even look at me anymore as if I never existed or the time we had together never happened to him." she elaborated with a sad look, "And here I thought that I finally had someone I can get along with." she uttered with a sigh.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Zed expressed in sympathy, "But give him some time." he advised, "Like you said, he became like this because he lost his body, so I believe he is yet to come in terms with that." he stated, "Maybe once he finally let go of that, he'll go back to the way he once were." he assumed.

"I'm not keeping my hopes up but I'll wait." Patchouli replied.

"I see." Zed uttered in acknowledgement before rubbing the back of his head, "If you want..." he spoke, "... I can take you to a nice place for stargazing." he offered.

Patchouli then looks at him in surprise, "Really?" she asked.

"Well..." Zed uttered, "... I want to cheer you up a little, so it's least I can do." he stated.

Patchouli smiled in response, "Sure, I don't mind." she accepted.

Unbeknownst to the two, we see Remilia Scarlet and Sakuya Izayoi observing them from corner and overheard their conversation.

"What do you think about this, Lady Remilia?" Sakuya asked.

Remilia crossed her arms, "That guy seems a lot better than Kenny." she commented, "I think Patchy would get along with him well." she stated with a smile.

Bzzzttt...

It was a cold evening in Xyndar located somewhere in Neo-Earth as we head towards the main base of the Grand Empire. Inside the main building, we see Bubbles Utonium walking around the hallways while showing around their newest member, Ace D. Copular.

"And that's the end of this tour." Bubbles concluded, "Once again I welcome you to the Grand Empire." she expressed, "And we really appreciate you for joining us." she added with a smile.

Ace nodded in response, "The feelings the same." he replied.

"That said though..." Bubbles uttered, "... are you really sure about this?" she asked in concern, "The Cuetos are really dangerous people and facing them heads on is considered suicide." she stated.

"I understand the danger." Ace acknowledged, "But I'm not just gonna sit around and do nothing after what those two bastards did to my boys!" he declared in declaration.

"I see..." Bubbles uttered, "... then let's do our best in serving those two some well-deserved justice!" she beckoned.

Ace responded with a thumbs-up, "Gotcha!" he accepted, "I better get going to the sick bay." he said, "I still need to do some medical evaluation." he shared.

Bubbles nodded in response, "Then I'll see you later." she expressed.

After saying goodbye to the Gangreen Gang member, Bubbles made her way towards the cafeteria and upon arriving in the area, she noticed a few people inside.

At one table, she saw Medico, Phantom Thief Chloe, Ringabel and Wayne Holden having their lunch when William "Bill" Overbeck and Zoey joins them and at another table, she saw Jack Cayman, Little Mac and Zeya finishing their lunch before getting up and then walking off towards the counters.

"Bubbles!" a voice called out.

Bubbles turns around to see her team which consists of Drake Mallard, Dib Membrane, Golem Head, Hinomaru Izumo, Johnny Test, Mahoro Andou, Poppy the Popplio, Tadakuni and Zoe Orimoto sitting at one table alongside Ran the Warrior.

Bubbles smiled before flying towards them, "Hiya, everyone!" the pigtailed blonde greeted.

"How was the tour with the newcomer?" Drake asked.

"It was good." Bubbles answered, "Ace is really pumped up and is really excited to get his hands on the Cuetos." she stated.

"While I admire his enthusiasm..." Drake admitted, "... but make sure to remind him to take things slow and keep him from acting recklessly." he advised.

"Yeah." Golem Head uttered in agreement, "Otherwise, he might just end up like Grand." he stated.

"I think he is aware of that." Bubbles replied, "So, what are our plans for the rest of the day?" she asked.

"We're discussing about doing a group mis-"

Dib was trying to say when he and the rest noticed a bright light at their table, they turned to see the small orb in Ran's hand is glowing brightly, much to their surprise.

"Is that the Seeking Orb?" Zoe pointed out.

"Does that mean..." Mahoro trailed.

Ran then turns to them with a smile, "A Peace Crystal is found!" she declared in joy.

A/N: Inspired from someonestupED, damnlastwords, Jamesdean5842, Hope the Victor and Ace Neptune. All OCs and concepts not created by moi were given permission for me to use by it's respected creators.