(A/N: Oh, my God. This is chapter thirteen. I've never made it this far before. Heck, I've only gone past nine chapters once so far that's with this story. It won't be for very long, of course, but still, can you imagine how exciting this is for me? I feel like jumping around like a little child.)
X-U-X-U-X
Ben tilted his head to the side slightly and asked him, "What were you thinking about?"
"Nothing," XL replied, rather quickly, much like what he did earlier. "I- I was just reminded of- of an old friend."
He glanced in the direction where the distant sound he heard came from. He wanted to stay in that area to see if his suspicion was right, but they - fortunately or unfortunately - had a job to do.
Slade could see that his 'son' wanted to stay there for some reason. Based on the look on his face and how he was staring off into space, it was likely someone or something he was familiar with. Although he doubted that it was a family member.
"We need to get the battery," Slade spoke.
"Let's get going then," Ben replied.
He looked over at XL, who was looking in the direction he was looking in before. His face was somewhat blank, although it looked like he was looking or waiting for someone.
Slade placed a hand on XL's shoulder, which snapped him out of his state, "We're leaving." He nodded.
While they started to swim away, he glanced back in the distance one last time. 'I know that was you, old friend. Come find us.'
His team gestured for him to join them, they were already quite far away from him. He started to swim towards them so that they could find the battery they needed and get out of any incoming danger.
He tried to put the call he heard in the back of his mind, but he couldn't. If he was right about who he thought the call was made by, there was a chance they could be reunited after years of separation; if a very slim one.
"Well, I'm gonna take a look around," Kevin announced to no one in particular.
"Maybe we can find something that'll help us get outta here," Cyborg uttered as they started to walk down a hallway that ran alongside the wall with the pictures.
While they did their search, the girls decided to stay in the living area and take a closer look at the pictures they found. For some reason, Raven thought there was another reason why XL wanted them. Although she was doubtful that it was for any sort of malign purpose.
One of the pictures Starfire was looking at was of a group of children, all the same approximate age, playing a game in the water. The smallest of the children sat at the edge of a platform, he looked very sad that the others were playing while he was not.
She couldn't help but to feel sorry for the child in the picture, although she wondered why he could not be with them. She wasn't sure if it was because he didn't yet know how to swim or if his parents or other family members wouldn't let him.
"How sad," she muttered softly to herself.
Meanwhile, Gwen was looking at a picture of a woman facing a transparent panel while a child not so different from the lone boy in the picture Starfire had was paying close attention to her. He looked very intrigued by what she was teaching him, his eyes were glazed over and resembled smooth and shiny rubies. And she was intrigued by it as well.
On the panel was something vividly familiar to her, it looked like something out of her magic book. It was a series of geometric and symmetric lines that created a cluster of shapes all overlapping each other.
"Hey," she uttered, getting their attention, "come take a look at this."
Both of them went over to her to see what she was referring to. When they saw it, both thought it was quite interesting, but only had a slight idea of what it could be.
"It is very interesting and artistic," Starfire commented.
"It looks like it's either part of the Nazca lines in Peru or something out of Hindu mythology," Raven estimated.
"I'll have to double check when we get back to the Rust Bucket, but it almost looks like a magic circle in my spellbook," she claimed, holding her chin.
"Magic circle?" the dark Titan questioned. She then went into thought about that and remembered something, "I think there might be something like this in my spellbook, too. If my memory is right, I believe it has to do with a person's dreams."
Gwen internally flinched when she heard that, "That's a very dangerous topic. I have a few spells that involve the mind, but I never use them because I'm afraid that it could end causing brain damage."
"A truly frightening thought," Starfire uttered.
She nodded, "You can say that again."
"You girls might want to check this out," Cyborg told them as he came back into the room.
They set the pictures down and followed him down the hall. He led them to a room that looked like the room of a young child, perhaps no older than ten.
Kevin sat on top of what looked like a desk and was looking through a flat square device with a light blue dome at the center. It looked like some type of computer, one only Gwen had seen before, albeit briefly.
"What's that?" Raven asked.
"It's a computer," he replied, "and whoever this used to belong to must be a member of Mensa or something."
"Why do you say that?" Starfire inquired curiously.
"Take a look," he held up the computer.
On the holographic pages he showed them were various topics, ranging from basic mathematics to religion. Most of it was written in a language they didn't recognize, some of it, however, were written in languages spoken on Earth.
"This one is in Spanish," Gwen pointed out on one of the pages they looked at. It then switched to another page and she recognized the language on that one as well, "And this one is in French."
"Bons yeux," Kevin complimented his girlfriend, surprising her.
"How do you-" she was about to ask, but he just smiled.
"I listen to you when you study," he mentioned.
She looked very impressed, placing a hand on her hip, "Merci pour l'écoute."
He grinned, "Je vous en prie."
"Okay, lovebirds, let's not forget why we're here in the first place," Cyborg spoke before it could go too far. "We have to find a way to get out of here and contact the other team so we can get out of here."
"Maybe something on this computer can help us," Raven suggested, taking the computer from Kevin and looking through it herself.
"Good luck, there's probably dozens of things on it and even if you do find something, you won't be able to read it," Kevin pointed out.
"I have a few decoding spells that could help with that," Gwen crossed her arms.
She continued to look through the computer to see if the former owner ever learned about or even studied the pathogenic mist. She recognized a few of the topics she scrolled past, others she did not.
She then stopped when she found a page with a rectangular image of the same green pathogenic mist. "I think I found something, come see."
They gathered around and saw the image, but couldn't make heads or tails about what it said. It just looked like a bunch of scribbles.
Kevin looked at his girlfriend, "Gwen?"
"I'm on it," she responded, raising a hand. "Tuum Manifestis Occulta."
The alien language was then translated into English so that they could all read it. It read:
"When our race first came to this planet, we were exposed to a pathogen produced by the natives whenever they feel threatened or when angered. When we inhaled it, many fell victim to the illness their bodies produced as the result of contact. This illness is commonly known as 'Soron Sickness' and once the pathogen is in your body, there is no known way to stop it."
That was a little too much to take in. Just knowing that an illness they can't stop just needs to be inhaled is truly scary.
Still, they couldn't help to wonder about the first words of the page. It said that XL's species was not native to this planet, could that mean that the primitive people they encountered were the original people? It seems possible.
"According to this, the pathogen is only airborne for an hour, then falls into the ocean where it can't survive more than a minute," Raven explained.
"In other words, we're stuck here for an hour," Kevin groaned.
"Looks that way," his girlfriend uttered softly.
"How much further do you think we'll have to go?" Ben asked nobody in particular.
XL shrugged, "Beats me."
"What do you mean? Have you never gone this far down before?" Robin inquired.
"Yes and no. I have gone to far depths on Earth, but not here," he replied.
"How far down are we anyway?" Ben asked again.
Robin looked at the meter on the arm of his Plumber suit again. He sighed in frustration, "We're so far down not even the meter knows."
XL shivered and rubbed his arms, "We must be, I'm starting to get cold."
"Rub your chest, your arms will take care of themselves," Slade told him.
He did as he was told and started to rub his chest, when he did, however, he discovered something startling. He could feel his own skin, he could not feel the mucus he should be feeling.
He was perplexed by this, 'Why am I feeling skin? I shouldn't be able to, unless…' His eyes widened in realization, 'Shit!'
He was very tempted to tell them about his little 'problem', but thought about it for a second. They really didn't need to know that his mucus froze off his body. He would eventually be able to generate another coating of it after all, although it would take some time before he could.
Losing his protection wasn't the end of the world, although it did make him vulnerable to anything large enough to swallow him. Now, he was praying that they don't come across a rock whale, all five of them will be dead meat if they do.
He cupped his ear as if listening to a distant sound even though he heard nothing. "We have to leave."
He started to swim away and gestured for them to follow. Ben, Robin, and Beast Boy readily followed him, but Slade had his suspicions. His 'son' wasn't the only one with enhanced senses. Although his weren't as strong as his, he knew that there was nothing coming their way. He went along with it, however, and said nothing.
They continued to descend for a while, before XL suddenly held his arms out in a wide gesture. They were about to ask what was going on, when he gave them the gesture to be quiet and pointed downward.
They looked down and saw another nest of three eggs. Except, this time, the mother was there with her unhatched offspring.
When Ben saw the expecting mother it felt like he was hit with a brick wall. He recognized her as a Krakken, a creature he saw as a kid and helped retrieve her eggs from a band of poachers.
"A Krakken?!" he exclaimed. XL, who was next to him, reacted by punching him in the shoulder.
"Are you trying to get us killed?!" he hissed quietly through gritted teeth.
He rubbed his sore shoulder and talked in a much quieter voice, "Sorry, I recognize that creature as a Krakken, we have them in certain places on Earth."
He furrowed his non-existent brows together in confusion, "Krakken? Is that what you call rock whales?"
"Get down!" Slade silently commanded when he noticed the mother looking in their direction.
All five of them hid behind a rock and held their breaths. They could breathe easily when she looked away to look back at her eggs.
"What now?" Ben asked, his voice still quiet.
He, Robin, and Beast Boy all looked at XL, his eyes widened. He didn't have to be a mind-reader to know what they wanted him to do.
He groaned, "Fine. Nothing you see down here leaves from here, got it?" The three of them nodded hastily, while Slade was very much enjoying seeing them so scared. "Good." He started to stealthily make his way towards her.
He took a position behind some coral, he clung to the rocky wall behind him like a ninja. She heard his movements and looked in his direction, but then looked away, shrugging it off as nothing.
He held his breath, his heart was beating at startling speeds. If he messes up, they were as good as dead, all six of them.
"Are you alright?" Angelos mentally asked him.
'So now you want to talk?' he snapped.
"Apologies, blood-sucker," was the retort he got.
'Oh, you're one to talk,' he scoffed.
It was completely silent in his mind and he thought that meant that Angelos was done, only to find out the hard way that it was not the case. "Well, then."
He knew exactly what that meant and tried to convince Angelos otherwise, 'No, don't!'
He felt a wave of nausea come crashing down onto him. He was nearly overpowered by this intense nauseous feeling and struggled to keep his position.
He tried to stay focused on the rock whale, but his head started to feel cold and he was also lightheaded. He held the side of his head in his hand and gritted his teeth.
Slade wasn't sure if it was his "criminal's intuition" - as XL called it - or his fatherly instincts. All he knew was that he had a feeling that his 'son' was in distress and that was enough for him to go into full-on parent mode.
He left their position and left in the direction his 'son' left in. The mother rock whale didn't seem to notice him, she was still preoccupied with her offspring.
"What's he doing?!" Ben tried not to yell.
"I knew we couldn't trust him!" Robin spat.
XL tried to hold on for as long as he could, it was too much for him to handle. He fell from the rocky wall he held onto and fell onto the coral he hid behind, destroying it in the process. He held onto a root that stuck out of the wall as he went, pulling it out along with some rocks.
The sounds caught the attention of the rock whale. She let out a roar that sounded like a screech at the sight of the intruder in her territory.
Before she could make her move to rid herself and her eggs of the intruder, she stopped when a member of a species she had never seen before came to the aid of the Tyro Yagon. As a mother, she knew that this was a case of parental instincts taking over to come to the aid of a child, even if they may not be theirs.
She decided not to attack them because of that and gave them a pass. She settled back into her nest to tend to her eggs.
Robin, Ben, and Beast Boy were utterly perplexed by her actions. They thought for sure they would have to engage in a battle with the colossal creature.
Warily, they started to make their way to Slade and XL. Which wouldn't be as easy as it may sound.
She could smell the scent of a new creature invading her nesting ground. That scent was from Beast Boy, who had long since turned into a toothfish.
She looked in the direction where the scent came from and saw Ben and Robin. She let out another screeching roar and went in for an attack.
She rammed them into the rocky wall and pinned them with her head. Ben tried to use the electric gauntlets Kevin customized into their Plumber suits, but it did nothing.
XL eventually came out of his dazed state and saw that he was in Slade's arms. He turned his head and saw Ben and Robin pinned against the wall by the head of the rock whale. He might have still been nauseated, but he knew what he had to do and fix his nausea in the process.
"Let go of me," he told his 'father' without facing him.
"Why? What's your plan?" he questioned.
He faced him, he looked serious, "Just let go."
He complied with his wishes and let him out of his grasp, albeit somewhat reluctantly. He swam towards the rock whale, hoping he would be able to stop her while she was still in place and before the next nauseous wave hit him.
Ben and Robin struggled against the head of the rock whale, but it was difficult to move. Movement was minimal due to the fact that they were trapped between a rock and a hard place, literally.
Ben knew there was only one way to stop her, the only way he knows. He activated the Ultimatrix and started to look through his playlist of transformations. He knew that it was very risky since he could turn into something that can't breathe underwater and he didn't know how close or far they were from where XL was taking them to, but what choice did he have?
"C'mon, give me someone who can breathe down here!" he begged the device.
Before he could, however, she was forced to release them when something rammed into her. As it turns out, their savior was another rock whale! This one was much smaller and thinner than her, however, anyone could tell this newcomer meant business.
The force from the sudden attack caused him to be sent back towards Slade at rocket fast speeds. He slammed into his chest and he instinctively wrapped his arms around him.
The impact caused his spinning stomach to feel like it was full of bricks. Not a pleasant feeling, and he's had to deal with it for the past ten years of his life.
"Are you alright?" Slade asked.
"Yes," he lied. He actually felt like he was close to vomiting his stomach out.
He left his arms again and swam towards the fighting rock whales. He could feel the coolness and lightheadedness taking over again and wrapped an arm over his stomach.
He felt a sudden painful rush of what could have fooled him to be acid come up his throat and fall back down. He knew that it was actually gas not acid and what he was experiencing was heartburn, which he was all too familiar with.
He felt a slight pounding on the side of his head that made him dizzy, but it was gone almost as soon as it happened. He was relieved that this was something that disappears as soon as it happens.
Seemingly sensing his ailments, the smaller rock whale swims away from the outraged larger female to his aid. He held out a tentacle and let him lean on it, he gently nudged him with his snout and let out a sad whimper.
Ben, Robin, and Beast Boy were absolutely perplexed by this. Slade, however, was not, he knew exactly what was going on.
The outraged mother wasn't yet finished with the smaller rock whale. She charged him like a bull for another attack.
In reaction to this, Ben activated the Ultimatrix again. He carelessly hit the face without even checking to see if the transformation could breathe in water.
He transformed into a fish-like humanoid with features like that of an anglerfish. He had light gray skin, a black loincloth with thin, wide 'V' shaped stripes, green fins, and a green esca. He had a large mouth with large sharp teeth and sharp claws on each hand.
He let a roar and looked down at himself, "Ripjaws? Sweet. I haven't used him in forever." His voice was quite deep and monstrous, enough to cause a slight shiver to go up Slade's spine even though he was some distance away.
His legs and loincloth fused together to form a tail with a green fin. He took off like a torpedo to intercept the angry mother.
He got in between them and bit down hard on one of her tentacles. She let out a sheer cry and flung him away with the tentacle he bit into. He grabbed onto a part of her body with his sharply clawed hand in order to prevent himself from flying into something or someone.
When he gripped it harder to pull himself up, something very unexpected happened. A white substance came out of her and filled the water around them.
He opened his mouth slightly and some of the substance got into his mouth. He was surprised to discover that it actually tasted quite good. It tasted like condensed milk that had been thinned to be almost as thin as the water itself and it had a slight briny flavor too, but it wasn't overpowering.
Miraculously, the female rock whale was now much calmer than she was before. She was no longer hostile and aggressive, in fact she was very tame. It seemed as if releasing the fluid had relaxed her.
XL had recovered enough from the wave to notice the white fluid floating in the water. He lifted himself off the tentacle and made his way over to the milky cloud. The younger rock whale watched with concern as he swam over.
Once he was there, he opened his mouth and took in some of the milk. His nausea and head problems soon went away as soon as he filled his empty stomach. Although he would be lying if he said that he didn't feel a little sickly.
He patted the expecting mother on the side, "Thank you and I'm sorry we invaded your territory."
She let out a mellow vocalization that sounded like something a blue whale would make. She went back to her nest and curled up around her eggs.
This was something so bizarre in the eyes of the three heroes. To see a creature so aggressive and so hostile become as tame and passive as a domesticated cat or dog was simply peculiar.
What was even more perplexing was the younger rock whale that had come to their rescue. They were grateful that he did, but how and why he did so was a complete mystery.
If Beast Boy could talk he would be shouting, "What the hell is going on here?!"
Since he couldn't do it, Ripjaws decided to do it for him, "Can someone tell us what the hell is going on?!"
With his deep voice it almost sounded like a gruff demand and it caused a surge of anger to boil in the blood of the smaller rock whale. He whipped his body around and swam the short distance towards Ripjaws like a torpedo.
He stopped himself just as he was about to hit him. He was so close to him that his snout was practically touching him. He let out a menacing growl from his throat as a warning and it caused his entire body to go completely cold with fear.
XL gets in between them and places a gentle hand on his snout. "Easy, easy," he crooned in a soothing voice.
He closed his eyes and brought his face to his muzzle. This seemed to make him as calm and tamed as the mother with her eggs.
This was very interesting to watch, it was like a scene out of a fantasy movie. It was as if he was taming the dragon that had been previously causing chaos.
He backed away from him to address the rest of his team. He still kept a hand on him to keep him calm, even though he knew it was unlikely he would suddenly turn on them.
"It's okay, he's tame," he told them.
"Yeah, but taming him was easy, too easy," Robin replied, wary and suspicious.
"What do you mean?" Ripjaws asked.
"I mean that don't you think it's a little odd that he would just calm down spontaneously?" he inquired.
He seemed to understand where he was going with what he was saying, "Yeah, I think I see your point."
Then, XL dropped a bombshell, "If you must know, it's because he's the old friend I was telling you about."
X-U-X-U-X
(A/N: Well, what do you think? Do you think this chapter is interesting? I certainly hope so.
I've wanted to have Ripjaws in this from pretty much the day I started writing it. He's just so underrated and I feel like people just need to be reminded of what caused him to be so iconic in the original series, which is his debut episode, one of my personal favorites. Hence why I decided to add the rock whales to this and have them be revealed to be the same species as the Krakkens on Earth.
Translations:
1. Bons yeux. - Good eyes.
2. Merci pour l'écoute. - Thanks for listening.
3. Je vous en prie. - You're welcome.
I recently completed "No More Chains" and when I say that, I mean I actually finished the story. So if you want to read the full story, be my guest.
Updating might be a little slow for a while because I have a new story I plan to publish (hopefully) by next week. I also have an idea for another story that I've been thinking about a lot lately, but I don't think I'll be able to work on it for quite a while.)