Disclaimer: Brotherhoof12 does not own Spider-Man or RWBY.
(Chapter 26: Failure to launch, but success in opportunity)
It happened so fast in the eyes of Spider-Man. The fighting, the hails of gunfire, explosions, and even the roar of engines barreling out of the huge man-made tunnel A.I.M made.
Yet, for all the noise that occurred to the hero, it was odd for him to no longer hear anymore loud noises. If he was honest, all Spider-Man could hear was the calming sound of nature minding its own business. Hearing the nice wind blow, leaves rustle, and the occasional cricket noise made it a nice step up from all the wild stunts he pulled with another hero he just met.
"Spider-Man…" Speaking about another hero, it was as if he could hear Iron Man right this moment.
The wind started to breeze over him, causing the young spider to shift his body due to shivering.
"Come on, Spider-Man." He could hear the same voice speaking a bit louder this time. "Now's not the time… grr… for rest!"
Not only the wind, but soon other noises, not even remotely sounding like it was part of nature, started to make the webhead toss and turn in his sleep.
"UGGHHH!" This time, what Spider-Man was hearing was no longer peaceful, what he was hearing was someone in pain. "I swear I feel like this thing is getting heavier by the second!"
Mind finally waking up, Spider-Man's body soon went into overdrive and immediately propped himself up to take care of whatever danger he's facing.
"Don't move!"
That one command instantly caused Spider-Man's body to stay deathly still as his mind finally started to process on what's happening.
Eyes adjusting to the new surroundings, Spider-Man can see that he was now outside of the pit but where he's currently in made him wish that he could go back. The large hunk of metal looked to be damaged from the blast, possibly the undercarriage of A.I.M flying base, only now it was right on top of the heroes with any moment of collapsing.
However, the one thing that's stopping it was Iron Man doing his best to keep the large object from ending them.
"Glad you're finally awake." Iron Man spoke, his usual cool demeanor now replaced with a more frustrated and tired tone. "As you can see, we're not out of the woods yet."
"Iron Man?" The arachnid hero moved his head to see that not only were they outside, but was outside with a large part of fallen debris right ontop of them. "Hold on, let me-"
"Don't." Iron Man's optics flared bright to show his aggression, causing Spider-Man to stop. "If you try to help me, then we'll be crushed."
"How can you say that?!" Spider-Man shouted. "You look like you can't handle the weight!"
'Wait a minute.' Seeing something odd about how Iron Man was holding the A.I.M debris. 'Is he… he can't be!'
"I-Iron Man..." The black suited hero lifted his hand and pointed at what he was seeing. "Your left arm... is it..."
"Oh, you mean this?" Iron Man did his best to move his left shoulder to wiggle his arm but it seem to not respond as he tried his best to play it off. "Yeah, must have landed pretty badly on my left side. That, or the blast must have knocked out my left servo."
"Is that why you're kneeling on your left knee?" Looking a bit closer, Spider-Man could see Iron Man was trying his best to put all the weight on his right side. "That can't be good! How long were you holding this thing!? Actually, how long have I been out!?"
Staying quiet at Spider-Man's question only made the webhead feel more and more dread build up inside him as Iron Man stayed silent for more than a minute.
"Shoot." Seemingly out of place to laugh at a time like this, Iron Man told Spider-Man what happened while he was out cold. "I built this suit to do all sorts of things, but the one design flaw that's biting me in the ass is that I didn't add a clock to this thing. Anyway, if I had to guess, I would say you've been out for a little over ten minutes."
"PFFFFF!" Was Spider-Man's reply to Iron Man's nonchalant way of saying that he was holding a large chunk of space craft for over ten minutes. "I was out for that long!? How are you able to lift that for so long!?"
"Oh, pff! You think I wear this thing just to look cool while also kicking ass?" Iron Man boasted about his armor, almost forgetting that he's the only one keeping them alive. "I carry heavy stuff back in Atlas on a daily basis. I can lift cars, busses, and even one time I stopped a falling train! If my armor wasn't half damaged right now, I could probably lift this up no problem."
As if fate was proving him wrong, the sound of the large metal bearing down on him started to shudder, causing Iron Man to grunt out in pain.
"Looks like your ego just made it a bit too heavy to carry now." The masked spider hero said with a dry tone.
"Ok," Iron Man let out a huge sigh of relief when it stopped moving. "I'll admit that right now is not a good time to gloat. But don't worry, everything is going to be fine. I'm routing the remaining amount of power into my left side, it should only take a couple of more minutes."
"Are you sure that you can still hold on for that long?" Spider-Man asked, his worry showing in his voice. "I know it's been ten minutes, but that's still a pretty long time to hold this thing up."
"It's fine, Spider-Man. My armor has an armor lock so I'm not really holding it per se, my joints in the armor are locked in place, so it should be able to hold just long enough for my suit to reboot."
Hearing that last part of his sentence made Spider-Man do a double take.
"I'm sorry, are you saying that you're technically stuck in that position until your armor resets itself?"
"Well..." Iron Man paused at Spider-Man's simplified statement. "When you put it like that…"
"Ugh..." Laying flat on the ground, the hero turned his head to see the forest and all its beauty. "Can you estimate how much longer?"
"I can guesstimate."
"Is that even a word?"
"Yes, and even if it wasn't, I just did."The armored hero said. "In all seriousness though, that explosion caused some minor problems to my suit. Just give it another ten minutes and I should be able to lift this thing."
Looking around his cramped area, Spider-Man can see that not only was there a giant scrap metal ontop of them, but also several other large chunks of metal scattered around too.
'Could Iron Man be holding more the just the undercarriage? I see a broken thruster, maybe he might be holding more and is just lying to me so I won't have to worry.'
Not long after, Spider-Man's worries over others started to make him move uncomfortably, his anxiety of not being able to help made it all known to Iron Man.
"You know," Keeping his mind focused, Iron Man explained more on what happened after they made it out of the tunnel. "After we escaped from that explosion, you still held on, even when you were lugging around my dead weight. And trust me, this armor by itself is over 200 pounds."
The conversation was able to ease Spider-Man to move less and made him start to talk in his usual carefree voice.
"200?" The web head said in surprise. "You weighed like a sack of rocks when I lifted you and trust me when I say this, but it's a compliment. I lifted stuff way heavier than you!"
"Really?" Iron Man asked, his interest piqued at hearing what Spider-Man was implying. "You? Able to lift heavy object? I'm sorry, but I find that kind of hard to believe since you'd need something like Aura to perform some of those crazy moves you pulled back there."
"No, I'm serious." Spider-Man lifted his head to look at Iron Man. "I never heard of Aura until I got here, and even then, I'm stronger than most Huntsmen I met."
In his head, Jaune could remember what Ruby told him about her team and their traits. Weiss with her dust and glyphs, Blake's clones, and her older sister's semblance about rage giving her more strength.
'Even their weapons play to their style as well. Though Ruby seemed the happiest when she was talking about weapons.'
Thinking back on his time as Spider-Man, he could remember all the fights he's been in, some more threatening than the last. Yet, after all the beatings he got from all of them, he still couldn't put his all into them.
After all, he's been holding back from the beginning.
"Not too sound arrogant or self-centered, but I try not to put my all in every fight I encounter. I don't deal with insane nerds with a bee interest or other bad guys straight out of some sci-fi movie."
"Hey, I don't fight people like that. Mostly, anyways." Iron Man responded to Spider-Man's statement.
"In Vale, I deal with some low crime stuff like thieves, mugging, and your occasional lost tourist."
"What about Huntsmen? There has to be some of those people deciding to get what they want than help others, am I right?"
"Well, yeah." A certain pair of Huntsmen came to mind. One who loves to smoke cigars and the other who loves violence the most. "Though, I do get a wakeup call about the danger of holding my punches against those types of people, I still try to make sure I don't hurt them too badly. A wise man once told me: With great power, comes great responsibility."
"That's… he sounds like a good man."Iron Man said, his voice only barely a whisper.
"He was, and is the reason why I'm here in the first place." He didn't know why, but it was easy for Spider-Man to confess his secrets to another person. Perhaps due to them sharing the same profession? "I never asked to be what I am, truth be told I wanted to be something else when I got here, but reality doesn't work like that. I was in a bad place back then, but thanks to that man who helped me pick myself up, I dedicate my life to follow his teachings."
"I'm glad to hear that, Spider-Man."
"Yeah," Jaune smiled under his mask as he remembered the good times he shared with the Parkers. "Which is why, even though I fight, I make sure that with each punch or kick I make, I makes sure I hold back just the right amount to make sure it doesn't cause something life threatening."
"Even when dealing with Aura?" He asked the spider themed hero.
"Especially with Aura." Another thought came to Spider-Man's head when he remembered his last tussle with Roman dealing with a broken wrist when he tried his luck on punching an enraged Spider-Man. "I tell myself that I don't have to hold back when I fight Huntsmen and to let my full strength out. But I've been fighting with normal people for quite some time that my mind instinctively holds back the last moment I connect."
'Though, even when I hold back, I can still give a Huntsmen a bit of a hard time.' Remembering some of the Huntsmen he faced, he's almost glad they have Aura or else they'd be dead if they didn't.
"However, there are times when I deal with robbery and some other unsavory stuff that I wish people didn't have to resort to."
"Like the White Fang and their decision of radical terrorism?" Iron Man said out of nowhere, making the black masked hero pause.
Whatever train of thought Spider-Man was about to make soon changed to mild irritation when hearing Iron Man say such a thing about them.
"Some didn't have a choice." Spider-Man said, trying not to sound agitated at the least.
"I'm sure some didn't." He agreed with Spider-Man. "Still, it doesn't mean that all of them are good either. One bad apple spoils the bunch, so it's only logical to take the bad ones out. However, sometimes, just because they look like a good apple doesn't mean they're not rotten to the core."
'What is he talking about?' Spider-Man wondered. 'That doesn't make sense. If you take out the bad apple, then the good ones will be fine.'
Even if Iron Man couldn't see Spider-Man's face through his mask, he still decided to explain more on his reasoning.
"If you ever decide to check out Atlas, either by costume or out of costume, then you should be careful of who you meet. Just because we're the most 'advanced' kingdom doesn't mean we've advanced our morality."
"Are you saying that some bad people can act the part to fool other people?"
"That's part of it, but there's more to that than just two-faced liars. No, I believe that there's more to it than just Faunus being treated as unequal to humans. Another way is due to the environment."
"Environment?"
"Yup, like how some plants and animals adapt to a different landscape. I've seen some Faunus live along humans and none whatsoever showed any distaste towards the other. However, those are rare since it occurs in villages that are outside the protective walls of major cities in our kingdoms. If you go deeper and deeper into more populated areas, then you'll see the difference."
'Now that I think about it, Ansel was never a heavily populated place so I never saw any problems between discrimination. Yet, when I came to Vale, I saw a huge gap between the two.'
"Honestly, we might try to bring coexistence to Faunus and humans, but sometimes, the place they live can affect them much more than words. A teacher teaches students education for the future, a drill instructor teaches recruits combat, and parents teaches their kids morals. Morals that can be changed to whatever the parents want to tell their impressionable kids."
'Things like racism toward another race that isn't like you.' Was what Spider-Man concluded from Iron Man's theory on the White Fang. 'Even if I take care of the White Fang's bad influence, that doesn't mean their teaching will go away either. God, I must be an idiot if I thought things could be easy if I just stopped them from doing crime.'
"I don't see it much since I started becoming more popular," He told the iron hero. "I want to at least think that I have improved Vale in some aspects, but I know it's going to take more than just me to clean it up."
"Amen to that." Iron Man agreed to Spider-Man's answer. "Atlas has so many crimes underneath its so called 'order' that I feel like it'd just be easier if I just help the outer villages with their problems. I mean, they have at least got their act together in knowing that hating one another is a waste of time."
"You mean, cause of the Grimm?" He guessed.
"Most of the time, yeah. The Grimm is a threat to Remnant, it's the reason why we built the kingdoms to keep the Grimm at bay. Though, I rather take on hordes of Grimm than fighting actual people. With Grimm, their main objective is killing us while people have a complex mind that gives different routes that lead to danger. That's why I like to think that people who live in villages don't waste their time on race since they're scared of Grimm and the occasional Huntsmen turned rogue."
"That's a very complex way of thinking that, Iron Man."
"Well, it's really simple when you think about it. If you live in a large place that's well protected compared to villages, people will overpopulate it and soon will cause many problems for the next generation. Villages don't need to worry about that since there are fewer people and the threat of attack coming from everywhere. I know I'm rambling, but it makes sense to see that people who live behind the large walls in the kingdoms will take it for granted, eventually."
"Let me guess, you've seen it firsthand in Atlas?" Spider-Man raised his eyebrow under his mask.
"Experienced some of it, too." His chattering slowed down when he answered Spider-Man. "I think the White Fang is a lost cause, the group I mean, not the people who got suckered in. The group lost all credibility when they had to have someone like Adam Taurus as some role model for others to join. Really, they mostly get successful due to preying on people who live in the city, teens mostly, since highschool is just the perfect place to ruin your childhood."
"You're not wrong, Iron Man. I had some friends who were effected by bullying that caused them to join some bad groups."
'I wonder how Mr. Pesto and his family is holding up. I remember that someone helped pay for the funeral, but I never got a name on who was generous enough to do it.'
"Ah, that must be during the time when you gave that speech, right?"
"Yeah, at the do-wait, what was that? Something about me doing a speech?"
"When you were talking to Roman and the White Fang who had you surrounded. I'm sure you haven't seen it due to so many people posting new things on the internet, but after you stopped them from stealing Dust from the docks, there was an amateur recording of you making a very good speech about the Faunus not having to resort to joining the White Fang."
'How come I didn't know that?! Wait, how long was it known? Did Aunt May watch it!?'
"May I ask, how long since that video was on the internet?"
"Not long really, probably within a day or two, someone was able to take it off due to Vale's government trying to track whoever posted it. Not sure who was the culprit, but whoever it was must be a very good hacker if they were able to elude the police for so long."
'Too good.' Spider-Man thought. 'I guess since I was so focused on stopping the people from doing bad crimes, I never once thought that some people who hang around the docks might catch sight of everything. Was it a worker? A hobo? Maybe just some random citizen caught in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or maybe one of the White Fang members just decided to record what I was saying before it went to heck? Man, tonight is just full of new things I'm discovering, I wonder what else I'm about to learn?'
"The video is still hard to find, even if the person who uploaded it found some way to take it down, there are bound to be other people who saved it. Either way, that wasn't just the speech, but your actions throughout the kingdom really made people start taking you seriously. In fact, there are people posting stories about how you hel-"
Hearing from Iron Man about how other kingdoms think of him for helping people in Vale was a good feeling for him to have. It was never about personal gain, not after what happened that fateful night, so listening about how his efforts was making headway really made his day.
'Reminds me about that Qrow guy,' Just remembering that man gave Spider-Man the shivers. 'God, I still remember the smell that still lingers on my old suit. Still, I need to try and find that guy again, I feel like there's more to whatever he was trying to sell me. Maybe whoever is behind controlling Roman and the Fang might also be working with Iron Man's enemies?'
About to ask a question to his fellow masked hero, Spider-Man's skull soon started to hurt making the spider to quickly focus on the new threat that was closing in on them.
"Heads up, Iron Man." Spider-Man warned his new friend, his night vision seeing some movement within the foliage. "I'm seeing movement coming from the trees in front of us, you think some of A.I.M lost a few of their agents?"
"Unlikely," Iron Man said while his eyes tracked the meter shown inside of his helmet of how much energy that's still rebooting. "All the scrap that landed is from the last floor of their base, the undercarriage, to be more specific. When we were still falling, I didn't see any other person besides us so the only thing besides us are-"
(GRRRRRR...) Out of the dark woods was a feral growl that was soon followed by a pair of deep, bright crimson eyes coming from the woods. What followed next was a pitch-black snout sniffing the area that was wafting smoke and metal, that soon make the beast's head emerge from the shadows to show the full scale of its monstrosity.
"Grimm." This time, Spider-Man anxiety started to rise back up due to how he is still unable to do anything other than cause more problems for Iron Man. "Though, it looks different than the one I found in a cage."
"You must have saw a regular Beowulf."Iron Man told him. "Like the animal kingdom, there is always an alpha within a pack orientated mindset. The Grimm makes it even more literal with having the alpha be much more distinct and far dangerous than the rest of its kind."
"Oh, great. If a regular Beowulf was bad, then let's make it worse by having a hierarchy of far scarier versions of it!" Spider-Man said sarcastically. He then sighed loudly. "Ok, let's do this."
"I'm sorry?" Iron Man said in surprise, even more so when he saw the hero shimming his way out of the tight space."What are you doing?!"
"Simple," Now in open space, Spider-Man faced the alpha Grimm and raised his fists. "I'm giving you time."
'This is insane! I never fought a Grimm before!'
Spotting the hero, the Grimm's curious demeanor was soon replaced with a more murderous visage. Showing its canines as it raised his body even higher to show the difference of height and build being obvious between the two enemies.
'But, like Iron Man said: 'You gotta run before you learn how to walk.' Did I say it correctly? I can't remember right now since I'm about to fight an actual monster.'
Not even giving it time to roar, Spider-Man made the first move by shooting an organic web glob right in its mouth, making it hard for the Grimm to open its mouth.
Stunned for the moment, it gave Spider-Man a window to deliver a wicked uppercut strong enough to off balance the massive creature.
Not done with the combo, Spider-Man grabbed the beast's head and rammed both of his feet in its chest. The force and the imbalance the Grimm had made an easy follow through for the creature to be rocketed back into the depths of the woods.
Landing gracefully on the ground, Spider-Man lowered his body in his usual stance as his skull told him that danger was still imminent.
"It feels so different," Spider-Man muttered. "I felt like I was punching an actual creature, fur and all, but at the same time, it felt like it wasn't natural. So this is what it's like to fight Grimm... my family never really told me about this."
Spider sense flaring up made the hero instantly jump a couple of feet away as the Alpha charged out of the woods and attempted to swipe at Spider-Man with its sharp bone claws.
"My, what sharp claws you have!" Came the usual witty banter Spider-Man was known for.
Completely oblivious to what the masked meat bag was saying, the Alpha continued its primal rampage as it clawed only thin air as Spider-Man effortlessly dodged its attacks.
"No, no, no." Spider-man spoke as he jumped over the creature and kicked its back, making the Beowulf stumble forward. "You're supposed to say something that goes with your sharp claws! Get it right! Ugh! This is why I fight against professional trash talkers, at least they can talk the talk while I beat the snot out of them."
Showing its frustration, the Alpha Beowulf went on all fours and began charging at Spider-Man.
"Oh crap!" Not liking the odds of trying to outrun it, Spider-Man shot a webline at one of the fallen shrapnel from the A.I.M base and flung towards the crazy monster.
Dodging the projectile, the Grimm was close enough now to leap in the air and dived straight at Spider-Man.
"Man, I know when I was young I always asked for a dog!" Staring at the incoming death from above, Spider-Man next move was to web his right hand into a make shift web boxing glove. "So here's my chance to play!"
Right when the Grimm was close enough to slam Spider-Man into the ground. Spider-Man shot his webbed fist like a pistol, aiming right at the Beowulf's snout.
Since Spider-Man's spider sense helps me see everything that is dangerous that's aimed at him, his perspective of what was happening was much slower in his view.
It was like seeing a speeding object collide with a window. With how the Grimm having a bone mask for a face, seeing his reinforced fist slowly shattering it was disturbing to the young spider.
The power behind the punch not only destroyed most of the mouth, the force was strong enough to send the monster a yard away from him.
"Ha!" Shouted Spider-Man. "You like that!? I just made that move on the fly!"
'Was that enough to bring it down? I remember what my family told me about how they disintegrate after enough damage, so surely a somewhat shattered face mask will be enough.'
Apparently not, with how the Beowulf squirmed and writhed from what he can only assume was pain. Seeming to not care if it was in pain or not, the Alpha writhed as it got back on its hind legs as it stared at the hero with its face almost being completely gone leaving only its eyes and a gaping hole that could only be its throat.
"Gross," Spider-man muttered. "Hey, Iron Man! Just how much longer till you're back in shape!?"
"Give or take another minute or so!"Iron Man shouted underneath the large metal sheet. "Why? I thought you were winning!"
"Kind of...?" Was his reply as he eyed the Grimm wearily as it stood in place. "Its just staring at me, it's kind of creepy."
"Well, that's not good." Was Iron Man's answer to what Spider-man was seeing.
"What isn't good?" The arachnid asked, now seeing the Beowulf starting to hyperventilate.
"If my memory is correct, and it's always correct, theories of Grimm can mostly be connected to how animals react whenever it knows it's about to be killed. It usually makes a loud noise signaling for other animals nearby to come for it."
(Gragh! Gragh!) Sounds of what Spider-man hears can only be compared to a person who smokes too much, the broken Alpha continued its efforts to make its howl, until it finally pushed itself to its limits to make its desperation known thought the Emerald forest.
(GGRRAWWWOOOOOO!)
"..."
"..."
"..."
(AWOOOO!)
(AWOOOO!)
(AWOOOO!)
"I know I can't see anything from down here, but I can hear enough to know that we're totally F*#!ed!"
With its last ounce of strength gone, the Alpha's body soon went limp and soon started disintegrate in front of Spider-Man.
"Welp, if there's one thing that Grimm and all the other crooks I fight have in common." Out of the corner of his eye, Spider-man can see several crimson eyes staring back at him. "Is that they're sore losers!"
With prey in sight, the Grimm emerged out of the forest and came charging at the only human in sight.
"And this is the cue for me to RUN!" Pushing all the blood into his legs, Spider-Man sprinted back to where Iron Man was and kneeled to see the armored hero still in the same place. "Any longer!?"
"I am just 2 minutes in, I just need more time!" Iron Man shouted, panic rising from the flying man.
"Ugh! Why does time feel so slow when in dire situations like these!?" Looking back at the small group of Grimm heading straight at him, Spider-Man looked at his only web shooter and thought of a plan.
"Hey, Iron Man," Spider-Man grabbed his fellow hero's attention again. "If I can lift this thing, will it be easier for your systems to mainly focus on rebooting than maintaining the energy to lift this thing!?"
"Well, yes, it'll make it go faster, but this is too heavy, you can't lift it-"
"RAAH!" Ignoring what he said, Spider-Man grabbed the bottom of the metal scrap and lifted. "You were saying!?"
"...Right." No longer wanting to argue, Iron Man was now looking behind Spider-Man and saw the Grimm. "What about them? I can't use my repulsor blasts!"
"That's where my next plan comes in to play." Taking a deep breath and exhaling out, Spider-Man slightly bent his legs and jumped. As the metal was in the air, Spider-Man faced the Grimm, moved the arm housing the web shooter, and fired.
(FWIP! FWIP!)
Shooting his dust made webbing in front of him, the dust then reacted to the outside climate, and soon a barrier of fire erupted cutting off the Grimm.
"Gah!" Gravity coming back down, Spider-Man used one arm to hold the obstruction over him and the other trained at the Grimm in case he must shoot another fire web to keep them at bay. "You know, this really does seem hard to do with just one arm!"
"Just wait! I only got 1 minute!" Iron Man looked at the meter slowly reaching to the end of its rebooting.
"God," Spider-Man grunted from the pressure and started to fire some more dust webbing to keep the fire going. "I swear, I feel like this situation will always happen if I ever meet another costumed hero teammate!"
Spider sense flaring, Spider-Man snapped his attention back to the fire as some of the more armored Grimm started to become brave.
"Back! Back, I say!" To show he means business, he fired a Dust web at one of the Grimm that stuck its head into the receding fire only to reel in pain as the fire web stuck to its face. "WOW! I never thought I would say something like that! I feel like a ring leader taming a lion!"
"Well, I hope you enjoyed that moment," Spider-Man could hear the now familiar sound of Iron Man's rocket boots firing up. "Cause we're leaving!"
(FWWOOBOOOM!)
Placing both armored gloves on the large obstruction, Iron Man blasted the metal away, launched himself at the masked spider, grabbed him under his armpits, and flew into the night sky.
"Waaah!" Flailing his legs that were shaking due to no longer being on the ground, Spider-Man looked down to see the Grimm still trying to chase them. "Are you going to fly any higher?! Also-BLUPR!"
Shutting his mouth shut, Spider-Man was able to keep his stomach from exiting out his mouth and soon swallowed it back inside.
"Don't worry, I'm about to put more power in the thrusters, just hang on!"
Doing as he was told, Spider-Man latched his two hands on Iron Man's wrist and braced for the ride.
"Dodge!" Out of nowhere, Spider-Man shifted his weight to make Iron Man fly off course, just in the nick of time as a long-barbed bone spike narrowly missed them.
"Thanks for heads up." Iron Man said, still focusing on flying.
"No problem! But, did you know these things can do that?!" Spider-Man asked, his head turned as he see some Grimm start shooting bone projectiles at them.
"Some of them." He told Spider-Man. "Either way, they're not exactly a good shot."
To proof his point, the bone spears started to get less and less accurate, giving both heroes some breathing room.
"Wait," Spider-Man suddenly realized something. "If A.I.M was the reason some of the Grimm were not part of this forest, then doesn't that mean the Grimm will come back now that they're gone?"
"Of course," Said the iron hero. "We saw them all on the forest floor. It really surprises me how fast these things can show up, I wonder how the-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's all cool and stuff, but," Spider-Man was afraid if he might say what he thinks could come true. "Won't that mean that all types of Grimm will start showing up?"
Not sure if he liked what he was hearing, Iron Man was about to calm Spider-Man's paranoia only to be stopped when a large shadow loomed over them.
(SQWWWWAAAAAAA!) What was over them was a large Nevermore, bellowing out a deep and demonic bird sound.
"Most likely."
"I hate this place, Iron Man." Spider-Man said with no humor in his voice.
Not wanting to be bird food, Iron Man increased his thrusters to get ahead of the flying Grimm, but with the sheer power behind the Nevermore's wings was still able to keep up.
"Looks like the night won't end any time soon!"
Stomach starting to twist and turn thanks to his motion sickness, Spider-Man decided the best time to let it all out would be now.
"Iron Man, you think we can make it back to Vale?"
"You think that this flying rat can catch me? Please, I flew past fighter jets way faster than this!"
"No," He lifted his mask to show his mouth. "Just… go fast, please."
Obliging to the handing spider, Iron Man's boots started to produce more power causing him to go the same high speed as last time around.
Seeing its prey about to escape, the Grimm flapped its wings harder, opened its beak as he was now just close enough to eat them whole.
(BLAUGH!)
Only to soon recoil in surprise as Spider-Man let out chunks of his food into the air, causing it to fall inside the Nevermore's gullet. Not expecting its prey to do such a thing, the Nevermore lost its rhythm and soon started to slow down, giving Iron Man enough time to lose it.
All the while, as both heroes flew back to Vale, Spider-Man felt no shame as he continued to vomit into the night sky, leaving a trail as the two headed off to their respective homes.
With what happened to A.I.M escaping, Spider-Man would have thought that it was a huge failure to let them go. However, it seemed that since Iron Man destroyed whatever they were trying to get no longer available, Iron Man believed that last night wasn't a total waste.
So, after dropping him off at a route somewhat close to home, Spider-Man did his goodbyes and booked it to his house for a well-earned rest.
It didn't take long to finally reach Aunt May's home, but what was truly taxing to Spider-Man was going back to his room to only get little less then thee hours of sleep. He thought that he didn't stay too long last night, but after experiencing such new things such as Iron Man and A.I.M, might have just been him more focused on now rather than the later.
"Jaune!" Aunt May said his name, the familiar rhythm of her hand pounding at his door. "You need to come down stairs, I made wheat cakes~!"
"Mmm… a few more minutes, please." Jaune grumbled as he pulled his bed sheets over his head.
Not giving up so easily, Aunt May started to knock on the door much harder to wake up her only tenant.
"Jaune, you might want to come down soon~!" She said, far more cheerfully then the other times she's waken him up. "Someone is here for you and I think you know who~!"
'Dammit, Blake.' Jaune grudgingly got out of his bed and walked to his bathroom. "I'll be down there in five minutes, Aunt May!"
Satisfied that he's now out of bed, Jaune could hear her footsteps going down the stairs and went back to cater their guest.
"Already bad enough that I didn't get a good rest," Jaune spoke to himself as he washed his face to wake himself up. "But Blake visiting as a time like this seriously puts a damper on my peaceful morning. At least it's the start of the weekend, so I guess that's fine."
Checking himself in the mirror, Jaune then ended his check up by cleaning his teeth before heading downstairs.
'Ok, I wonder what other request Blake has for me.' He thought to himself as his feet landed on the main floor. 'I hope she didn't sneak away from her team, it would have been better if she brought her whole team.'
"Morning, Aunt May!" Seeing the first person was his Aunt who greeted him with a warm smile.
"Morning, Bl-who are you?" The second person he saw, was not the same stone-faced girl he was used to. Rather, it was the same boy that resembled Ruby's partner, Weiss, sitting at Jaune's seat with a plate of freshly made wheat cakes.
"Jaune," His Aunt Huffed. "Don't be rude! I'm so sorry for how he behaves, sir."
'Sir? He looks like he's the same age as Ruby.'
"Oh, not at all, Mrs. Parker." The guest placed his utensils neatly down next to the plate and got out of his seat. "It's really my fault for his confusion. We only met each other through other people, so this is our first time meeting each other face to face."
Standing in front of Jaune, the younger gentleman extended his has out as a sign of a good faith.
"My name is Whitley Schnee," Jaune reached out his hand and gave Whitley's hand a shake. "I'm here to tell you of how fortunate we have Jaune on board with our little project at Beacon."
'I know his name now, but I never knew he would know where I live to tell my Aunt? Wait, Schnee? This guy is Weiss' brother?'
"Oh, yes! Of course, sir." Spoke Aunt May, her face filled with joy and youth that Jaune only saw once in a blue moon. "But if you excuse us, sir."
"Woah!" Jaune was caught off guard as Aunt May gently pushed him to the living room.
"I just need to talk to my nephew for just a moment, can you please wait here in the kitchen?"
"Take your time, ma'am," Whitley went back to his seat and picked up his fork. "I'll just get back to your great wheat cakes."
Giving the rich Schnee a smile, Jaune's Aunt moved them to the living room, her smile not leaving, and then wrapped her arms around Jaune in a big hug.
"I'm so proud of you~!" She said as she continued to hold Jaune in her arms. "I can't believe what I learned when Mr. Schnee came here."
'Yeah, Aunt May,' Jaune didn't want to speak put and just wrapped his arms around the kind woman who helped him when he got to Vale. 'Me too.'
"It was such a surprise to me when I saw someone as important as a Schnee knock on our door. But when he told that your role was to go to Beacon, I was a bit hesitant at first."
"Thanks for your concern." Jaune's hold was a bit tighter now that Aunt May's worry was showing. "Though, I'm sure he told you why, correct?"
"Oh, yes, helping Blake and her team write a paper for the Bugle due to the backlash at what happened with a... what was it called again? A paladin? I don't like on how the public are starting to hate the Huntsmen, even more when it's aimed at kids leaning to become one, so it's really nice to see how you're helping them, Jaune."
Letting go of the blonde teen, the elder Parker walked over to where a certain photograph that had a certain man on it.
"To tell you the truth," She let out a mirthful chuckle. "Oh, it's so silly now that I know what you've really been up to."
He coughed and rubbed the back of his neck, remembering that he eavesdropped on her conversation with one of her friends a while back.
"Now it all makes sense, Mr. Schnee told me why."
"Eh?" He said, confused at why he was hearing.
"After he told me that you'll be at Beacon to help write a story, you're also getting a scholarship! From the Schnee's no less! Told me that you've been taken night classes, leaving you completely drained due to how hard they were."
'I'm missing something here,' At this point, Jaune was feeling more and more suspicious at who this white-haired guy really was if he lied to his Aunt with that much exposition. 'Got to go talk to him about this. Need to know what's his goal and why go out of his way to meet me here.'
"Mmm... hmm!" Speaking about said someone, Whitley Schnee walked out of the dining room, an empty plate in his hand, and casually wiped away any crumbs left on his lips with a napkin. "You know, I never tried home cooked meals like this, but then again, I never even hear people say wheat cakes either."
"Mr. Schnee, do you want some more?" Aunt May asked.
"Oh, no thank you. I'm actually just about to leave I just want to talk to Jaune, face to face before I go."
"Of course..." She smiled at Jaune and headed back to the kitchen to make the rest of Breakfast. "I'll take that plate from you, sir. Thank you."
"No. Thank you for your hospitality." Whitely sailed. "If it's ok, Is it alright if Jaune and I can go upstairs? For privacy reasons, of course. Some real hush hush things that the Bugle needs to keep secret until Jaune here makes his first article."
"Be my guest," Aunt May said from the kitchen. "Jaune, take Mr. Schnee upstairs! I'll make sure to have everything ready when you both are done."
"Thanks, Aunt May." Jaune said, leading his guest to his room. "This way, sir."
Leading him to his room, Jaune opened the door for Whitley and as both were now in his personal area with no other person within earshot to listen in on their talk.
"Don't really have to call me that since I'm pretty sure you're older than me." The white-haired teen said as he looked around Jaune room.
"Right, it's just…. I'm pretty sure I didn't apply scholarship. Whatever lies you fed to my Aunt-"
"No, no, no." Whitley cut Jaune off. "Pretty sure it isn't a full lie when I told her you are technically helping my sister's team at Beacon."
Reaching inside of his coat pocket, Whitley threw something at Jaune and continued to speak.
"After all, it seems that my lying helped to make her paranoia of you go away, Spider-Man."
Too stunned to even deny it, Jaune looked at what he caught to see his camera now in his possession.
"Doubled back on where we met, saw this thing on the sidewalk, broken, but had your name etched on the side of it."
'Shoot, I knew I forgot something.' The blonde eyed his camera and saw the lens cracked. 'Web must have dissolved, looks like I need to find a better camera.'
Still looking around in Jaune's rooms, Whitley stopped when he was right next to his bed.
"Also, before you go and try to deny my claims," Deciding it was worth a shot, the rich teen looked under the bed to see his second proof of evidence. "I think this speaks for itself on what I'm saying is true."
Taking out the case underneath, the younger teen in the room scoffed at how low security it was and begun to fiddle with it.
"Hey, you know breaking into other people's stuff is illegal." Jaune tried his best to make Whitley stop from revealing his secret.
Not even listening besides the sound of something unlocked, the baron opened the case and pulled out Jaune's original suit.
"Pretty sure vigilantism is also illegal." Toss the costume to Jaune, he saw the blue eyed young man stare back at the large reflective lens of his old costume. "So now that we're all showing the cards in our hand, let me do the same."
Removing his vest, Whitley started to unbutton his shirt to show Jaune what was underneath to be a pitch-black undershirt. Not sure what to make of this, Jaune soon started to see the center of Whitley's chest start to light up into the same shape and color of a certain armored hero he met not too long ago.
"Well, now..." Dropping his old suit on the floor, Jaune went over to his desk and leaned on it to get ready for what happens next. "Looks like both of us has some explaining to do."
"Well," Buttoning up his shirt to hide his reactor core, the young Schnee just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't plan to tell you my entire life, just what's really important. A request, if you will."
"Ok, and what request is that?"
"To accept Obadiah's proposition of course." He told Jaune. "I can tell that you're still on the fence about it."
"I guess this would happen, just didn't think that the one to urge me to take it would be the same guy who helped me fight A.I.M"
"We helped each other," Whitley corrected him. "None of us wouldn't have made it alone, so don't think you owe me. This is your choice whether you want the job or not but let me tell you why I need your help."
"Let me make take a shot in the dark and it's to assume you want to help your sister?"
"No, it's so she doesn't get our father's inheritance and I get to keep all of it."
'That's a fast answer!' Jaune's eyes widened at how even his posture showed no signs of hesitation.
"I know it sounds like I'm the bad guy here.."
'Greedy is the word I was think about, actually.'
"But my sister Weiss, the next to inherit the SDC, won't last long if she's in charge."
"Kind of seems unfair," Jaune tried to defend Ruby's partner. "I mean, even if she's the oldest, I'm sure she can handle taking care of the SDC. She seems like she has her head on straight to do so."
"Yes, that is true that it does seem unfair," Whitley agreed to that part of Jaune's statement. "However, I think that Weiss can't have one thing and do the other. I mean, if she is the one to inherit the SDC, shouldn't she be at Atlas getting ready rather than be here?"
Thinking hard on it, the blonde stayed silent. Whitley continue to speak.
"Being a Huntress takes full dedication to become, same as running a large empire. She was more hellbent on leaving than staying home, yet, she thinks that when she comes back as a Huntress, she can make things change."
"You don't believe she can do it?"
"Oh, no. In fact, I support her decision." He said truthfully. "However, she doesn't grasp on what is real and what's in her head. The SDC is too large for her to change it, even if she tries to turn our family into a better light so everyone won't hate us. She's just trying to use one thing in hopes it can fix another, but she can't do both and expect it to fix everything."
"And you believe you can fix whatever the problem is?"
"Wow, the way you said it makes me look like I have a huge ego! Though, I do have a big ego."
'At least he's not denying it.' Jaune thought to himself, mind still processing that this younger teen before him was the cool flying hero he fought alongside with last night. "And how do I help in any of this?"
"Haven't you paid attention? J.J needs someone to understand what students in Beacon do, you're young, you write the paper, and you make people understand the tough life the students had to deal with. Doing so will make my sister's stay more bearable, making my father not be able to get Weiss back to Atlas."
"This still feels a little bit sneaky."
"Jaune," Whitley gave him a flat look. "We both hide behind costumes and fight people, pretty sure that seems to be much worse compared to what I'm saying about my family."
"True enough. But why go through all this?"
"Again, Weiss is a great young woman, but she won't make it work. She's a Huntress first and a business woman second, and the SDC is too big for her to run off now and then to fight Grimm while I, the only one who wants to run the SDC, can make sure it stays-if not, better-when I'm in charge."
Letting out a sigh, the young Schnee looked down at the floor.
"My sisters are hard headed, just like my father. Once they decide on something they won't stop which is why it's better for me to inherit the right, so they can be free of this role and live their life."
"Whitley..." Jaune looked at the young baron, seeing that he really does care for his older siblings' wellbeing rather than just Lien.
"So!" Suddenly shifting the conversation to the original topic, Whitley walked to Jaune and stuck his hand out. "Now you know a bit of why I want to do this. So please, Jaune. Please help my sister's dream come true while at the same time, ruin it."
Looking down at the hand in front of him, Jaune weighed the options of what might happen but still grabbed Whitley's hand and shook it.
"For the record, I'm not saying that I understand what you're going through, but I do know what it feels like to put family first. Alright, I'm on board with this, but I'm not sure I'll like what will happen if Ruby or your sister founds out I kept this from them."
"You tell them the truth that I was the one who planned this, so don't worry. I rather have Weiss hate me than have her broken by all the weight that comes with overseeing a multibillion Lien company and a Huntress who fights monsters."
"Yeah, I think that a good reason for doing this." Now that both heroes agreed, Jaune walked past the rich teen to put back his old costume. "So, aside from all of this, it's really cool that we both know that we're superheroes. I would love to hear about your adventures."
"Maybe next time." Whitley reached in his pocket to get his scroll out. "I told Stane that I would be at Beacon Library, but that was 46 minutes ago, and I don't want to take any chances. You have his scroll number right?"
"I have my boss' number."
"Great, I think that will be much better if you talk to Mr. Jameson than Stane. I don't want them to assume that I made you want to do this, I want this to be as organic as possible that you were the ones to tell them and not me."
"Ok, I'll call him tomorrow to let him know." Putting the case that holds his spider suit under his bead, Jaune walked to his door and opened it. "I'll tell Aunt May that you're leaving, maybe she can give you a ride. Or did you use a limo?"
"No, I used the taxi." Whitley answered, then soon stopped Jaune from opening the door any further. "Only there's one more thing that I need to tell you. One that, in time, will cause a serious fight between kingdoms."
Closing the door, Jaune focused on what else Whitley needs to tell him.
"I care about Weiss being a Huntress, and I also need her to not inherit the SDC. Not just because it will cause more pain for her, but because I need to own the company to solve the major issue Remnant will face if we don't think up of a solution soon."
"And what issue is that, Whitley?" In his mind, Jaune was thinking that it was A.I.M, The White Fang, or Roman's boss that could cause a serious problem to Remnant. But what came out of Whitley's mouth just made those problems small.
"Remnant is running out of Dust."
Hope you guys liked this chapter! Finally, Spider-Man and Iron Man meet both as heroes and as people, I hope you guys liked how they interact. But, most of all, I hope you guys liked how I introduced the Grimm and the fight between Spider-Man.
I thought that Whitley being Iron Man would be a good choice since he is exactly like Iron Man, just how Jaune is like Peter. Only this time, since he has somewhat of the same origin as Tony, he is more sensible and explains why he needs to be in charge of their dad's company. Not just because he's a like a mini version of their dad, but because he's the only choice that can make it possible. Weiss in a Huntress, she will be on missions, and there is even a chance she might die too. It's better for Whitley to take charge since he wants to and even learns to be a good cooperate boss.
As for the dust, that was actually a main problem back in volume 1. When Weiss told Ruby that dust is hard to come by, I thought that they would stick to it. Well, almost everyone uses dust, regular people use dust, even kingdoms uses massive amounts of dust, yet no one takes the matter seriously if one day dust might run out. Which is why I bring it up and why Whitley wants to be in charge of the SDC, he's going to find a way to solve the crisis, it will take time to do so, but since here's more driven in the one job at being the boss of SDC he'll stay focused.
Speaking about Iron Man, good news, there will be a separate story of Iron Man in RWBY! YAY! And guess what? I won't be making it! Instead it will be made by an author: Nacoma23 that messaged me into brainstorming about it. He will make the story about Whitley as Iron Man crusading around Atlas, while I handle Spider-Man in vale, so check his out after December ends!
Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter and I hope you guys will enjoy the last month of 2018! Thank you all, for enjoying this story, like, fav, and commenting about my story. I also like to thank my Beta reader for the help making this chapter and all my other chapters great to read. So, thank you, all of you for making this story what it is today!
(Omake: Christmas Special!)
It was that certain time of the year where everyone celebrates by being with loved ones like family, lovers, or friends.
Not for the Amazing Spider-Man, who was currently doing his daily rounds at night on Christmas eve. Said night patrol was spotting a man trying to enter into some kids room in the middle of the night.
"Please, sir." Begged the man who was webbed up on the wall of some random rooftop. "There must be some kind of mistake."
"Sorry, Mr." Spider-Man said as he clung to the wall that was used to hold the man in place. "But breaking and entering is a huge offense, so just wait here until the proper authorities arrive."
"No!" The man wearing red said. "I'm on a deadline! I can't wait until they show up."
"Look, sir." Spider-Man spoke to the man dressed up as a fictional character. "I know you're trying to play the part of giving toys to nice boys and girls, but I think you're playing it a bit too much."
Shooting a webline to another building, Spider-Man jumped into the air and swung to finish the rest of his patrol. "Merry Christmas!"
Taking care of that crazy guy, Spider-Man went off to do his watch over the sleeping city as he watched for anyone deciding to be naughty. Other then that, there is another thing he wanted to do as well, one that was ontop of Spider-Man's list for some time.
"There it is." Landing on top of a building that sells cloths, the wallcrawler looked across the street to see his prize still in stock. "The jewelry store that Aunt May had a certain set of earrings she wanted. I know we're strapped for cash, but maybe this could cheer her up, she's always done so much for others, I think it's time I repay her back."
'I saved just enough to afford it, and since it's on sale for the holidays, I'm sure the price is even less than before.'
Just when he was about to go back to where he left his bag to change over, his spider sense warned him that trouble was nearby.
Looking back down to the streets, Spider-Man could see someone making a break for it from the jewelry store, giving Spider-Man a clear sign that a robbery happened.
"Always at a time like this." Shaking his head, the wallcrawler springed into action and chased after the jewelry thief. "HO! HO! HO!"
Looking over his head, the thief saw the hero making a jovial laugh as he shot a web glob right at the distraught vagabond.
(TWIP!)
Spider-Man's aim was true and the web latched itself onto the man's legs, causing him to fall face first as he lost all movement from his feet.
"Guess the only gift you'll receive won't be just coal," The webhead told the thief as he picked up the small bag of jewels the thief stole from the shop. "But also a few months in jail time."
To make sure that the man would stay and not crawl away from the police, Spider-Man picked him up and webbed him to the light post to make it easier for everyone to see. Just as he was done making a web bow as a sign for the police as a gift from Spider-Man, a man wearing a pristine suit who was drenched in sweat arrived.
"Thank you, Spider-Man." The man that the arachnid hero can only assume was the owner said. "We didn't know that we would get robbed this late, but thanks to you we don't have to worry anymore!"
"No problem," He tossed bag to the owner. "Just wondering, but you guys didn't happen to have a certain set of earring that are on sale, do you?"
Understanding what Spider-Man was asking, the man reached into the bag of trinkets and pulled out a small black box.
"You're lucky," He opened the box to show a pair of diamond encrusted earrings. "A man made several payments to purchase this, but since you just saved my business from losing all of these, I can give you this one and just say that it was never found."
'Of course this would be your last one.' Looking at it now, Spider-Man could already see that this gift could really make Aunt May happy.
"Don't worry," Spider-Man kindly rejects the offer. "Give it to the true owner and tell him that Spider-Man sends his regards!"
With everything tied up, the wallcrawler left the scene and continued the rest of the patrol with much less enthusiasm.
"Merry Christmas, Jaune!" Aunt May said with holiday cheer as she handed Juane present that had Santa themed gift wrap.
It was already Christmas morning and both Mrs. Parker and Jaune Arc were enjoying each others' company as both exchanged gifts.
"Thanks, Aunt May." Ripping the present open, Jaune pulled out his gift. "OH, Aunt May! I love it!"
"I'm glad, Jaune, you've always worn something like this all the time, so I thought this would be great for your wardrobe!"
"Yup!" Jaune smiled at the sight of Pumpkin Pete on a bright blue sleeveless shirt. "Hold on I'll get you yours under the tree."
Reaching under their decorated Christmas tree that was displayed at the corner of the living room, Jaune reached under to get his gift for his Aunt.
'I got her the next best thing and got her two tickets to a Christmas play that will start in the afternoon, so hopefully these will be ok.'
Passing over his gift, Jaune soon pulled it out under the tree to give to Aunt May, only it had something attached along with it. "What's this? I only had the one gift for Aunt May."
"Jaune, is something wrong?" She asked him.
"Nothing, um..." Jaune turned around and handed Aunt May her presents. "Here, Aunt Mat. I hope you like these."
Opening them both, the woman of the house gasped at what he gave her.
"Oh, Jaune." She said in awe at the sight of the pristine earrings and tickets to her favorite opera theater. "There wonderful, my boy, you're so sweet!"
Reaching over to give him a hug, Jaune did the same and enjoyed his second gave his Aunt just gave him.
Her happiness.
"These tickets says they'll start in just a few hours, I need to get ready!" Going upstairs to change into something fancy, Jaune chuckled as he saw his Aunt disappear as she left to go to her room. "I'll call some of my friends to see if one of the wants to go too!"
"You do that, Aunt May!" He said while he picked up the trashed wrapping paper.
But, as he did so, the corner of his eye spotted something sticking out of the tree. "There's another gift under the tree?"
Taking the gift from under the tree, Jaune could see that it was a somewhat large box with Spider-Man themed gift wrap.
"Is this from Aunt May?" Jaune checked to see if their was a name of who this was from, but the only name it had was his own. "If this is for me, I wonder what's inside?"
Feeling curious, Jaune unwrapped the wrapping paper and lifted the top off to see what was for him.
(FWOOSH!)
"Woah!" Out of nowhere, Jaune's vision was blocked when more wrapping paper came out of the box and wrapped itself all over the secret hero. "Oompf!"
Landing on his back, Jaune's partially covered eyes could see that he was completely wrapped from head to toe in Christmas gist wrap and decorations.
"Ow!" Another added insult to injury was when a small black object landed on Jaune's head, causing him to wince at the small migraine.
Opening his eyes again, he could see that whatever hit him has now landed on his chest giving him a clear site of what the object was.
"Coal?" Jaune said in confusion. Moving his head slightly to see the box that contained all this, Jaune could see the inside of the box given to him with a written message in it.
"Now you know what if feels like." Jaune read the message out loud. "Santa."
Once he was done reading it, Jaune simply broke free from his entrapment, got up, and looked at the mess he now has to clean up. Deciding the first thing to do was use the box that held all of this extra holiday stuff, he picked up the empty cardboard box and stopped when he eyes saw something still left inside.
"A sleigh bell?" Reaching into the box, Jaune placed the bell to his ear, shook it, and heard the most amazing sound coming from it. Sure, other sleigh bells produce the same noise, but Jaune felt that this one was more enchanting, like it was far more special than it seemed.
"Uh..." Putting the bell away in his pocket, Janue's ears was still hearing the same ringing coming from outside. Looking the window from the front side of the living room, the young spider looked up to see snow falling down on Vale, but when squinting he could've sworn he saw something else in the sky. "Well, that was something."
Turning away from the window, his sights soon looked at where a line of photographs were placed on a bookshelf, one photo having someone that holds a special place in both Jaune and Aunt May's house.
Having an idea, the young teen pulled out the bell from his pocket, walked to where the photograph that had a man who was once here in this house, and placed the bell right next to it.
"Merry Christmas," A lone tear trailed down from the young Arc's face. "Uncle Ben."