Ben continued following the road up the mountain, each wrap around the mountain brought its own energy of uncertainty, Ben didn't know what was coming but he was ready. Ben suddenly ran into a massive wall of smooth, solid rock "woah, now how am I supposed to get around this?" Ben looked around but saw no other path or any kind of tunnel. Ben's attention wss caught by a bleat coming from the top of the wall, Ben looked up to see a group of goat at the top of the wall "oh, hi, I'm guessing you guys can talk like the rat" the goats just stared at him and then ran toward the edge, the goats hopped off which mortified Ben. Ben looked at the side of the mountain expecting to see plummeting goats but what he saw amazed him, the goats were standing on small crags barely protruding from the side of the mountain, he looked down to see a sea of clouds "oh...I see what I need to do" Ben breathed through his nose and out of his mouth, he hopped about psyching him out "okay, okay, totally not gonna plummet to my death" Ben approached the side and saw some small gapss, Ben grabbed onto the crag and lifted himself onto it while placing his foot on one of the lower crimps "okay, hard part's done" Ben began to work his way across the wall.
Ben watched the other goats making their way across "they make this look easy" suddenly one of the goats slipped and fell off, Ben and the other goats watched as the goat fell, Ben watched as a massive reptilian head broke through the clouds below, its azure colored scales cut through the air and it's jaw opened up and it exhaled, its breath caused Ben's shirt to nearly lift off of his body. The goat fell right into the monster's mouth and it closed it before submerging back into the sea of clouds "WHAT?!" Ben blurted out before calming himself "okay, so that's a little worse than falling" Ben began to work his way across to the other side "oh man, this is harder than I thought" Ben inched along the wall as slowly as he could making sure he has a solid grip on each chip. Ben got about halfway through when he heard an ungodly loud roar coming from below him, Ben looked down and the monster erupted from the clouds and flew right up to Ben. Ben closed his eyes, too afraid to look but he could feel the hot breath of the monster on his back, it felt like a stream of air straight from the earth's core, Ben found it in himself to look back to see the monster's eye meeting his. The shock almost caused Ben to fall but he kept his grip and looked at the monster "y-you're a dragon!" The Dragon didn't respond in any way, it turned its head and opened its mouth and a funnel of fire erupted from its mouth and hit the starting area of the climb. The Dragon looked at Ben and seemed to smirk before diving back into the clouds.
Ben saw the fire beginning to crawl towards him, it was green and purple and seemed to claw its way across the wall "that must be my time limit" Ben began to pick up the pace and foregoing closer footholds in favor of farther ones. Ben kept going, he was nearly there but when his foot hit one of the gaps he misjudged the distance and his foot went straight down, Ben kept his grip but now he was trying to lift himself as the wall of flame approached. Ben lifted and the chip under his other foot broke and he only had his arms holding him up, Ben lifted with all his strength and managed to get up. Ben put his foot on one of the chips and secured himself, Ben suddenly felt an overwhelming warmth followed by a burning sensation on his left hand. Ben rushed and got to the other side swinging himself and landing on the other side tumbling and sprawling on the floor, Ben looked at his hand to see a large burn mark on his hand. Ben got up and held his hand while continuing on, he felt his anger begin to rise as he muttered his frustrations to himself, Prowwl and Sturnn emerged out of his jacket pocket "Ben, are you hurt?" Prowwl asked, Ben glared at the Kwami and snapped at him while showing him his hand "what does it look like?!" Prowwl backed off and Sturnn flew over confronting Ben "hey! What's gotten into you?" Ben bucked at Sturnn "I'm on this stupid ass journey that's supposed to teach me something when in reality, it's gotten me pelted with rocks, almost having my soul sucked out by river demons, and having ass barbequed! I've learned nothing so far, other than that the traditions of the past were meant to kill dumb people like me who fall for this crap!" Ben picked up a rock and threw it off the mountain as far as he could, the rock flew so far it nearly cleared the treeline.
Ben breathed in heavily and calmed down a bit "I'm not going back the way I came, so I guess I might aswell see it through to the end" Ben continued up the mountain, no longer driven by the desire to fix his problem, but to get it over with. Ben arrived at a cave "what fresh hell awaits me here" Ben walked in and was greeted by a room completely lit up with crystals "let me guess...lasers" a voice from his side responded "nope, rest stop" Ben snapped his head to his side to see a ladybug on his shoulder "oh, weird how the goats didn't talk but you did" the ladybug responded "yeah, they're assholes, anyway, enjoy the Crystal Cave" Ben walked through the cave "so, how is this a rest stop?" Ben asked with the ladybug responded "they're supposed to have healing properties, they're just pretty though" Ben made a "hmm" sound and kept walking "this does kind of feel therapeudic, makes wanna just let it all out" the ladybug listened "I have no idea why I'm here, I thought I knew but nothing leading up to this has helped me figure it out, I feel like no matter how much I dig I can't seem to find answers or anything that could lead me to an answer" the ladybug responded "well, you have to find the answer, it isn't going to be given to you" Ben sighed "being a Miraculous Wielder will never make sense" the ladybug agreed "yup, the next person who comes through here will have a wolf as a guide" Ben sighed again "yup, that about sums it up".
Ben and the ladybug made it to the other side of the cave, Ben put his finger to his shoulder and the ladybug climbed onto it, Ben brought the little bug up to his face "thanks for listening little dude" the ladybug stood on its back legs and bowed Ben laughed and his eyes drifted to his left and he saw someone in the reflection of a crystal, he locked eyes with the person, it was a young girl around his age with black hair tied in pigtails with red hair ties "who's that?" Ben asked with the ladybug responding "that is the Miraculous Holder that came here before you" Ben responded "she's beautiful" the ladybug caught his attention "hey, Loverboy, pay attention" Ben looked at the ladybug who was pointing to his right, Ben looked and saw someone in the crystal there, it was a young boy with brown hair that draped over one side of his face, Ben smiled at him and stepped out of the cave. The ladybug hopped off his finger "I bid you adieu, I hope you find what you're looking for" Ben nodded "I hope so too".
Ben saw the ladybug fly away and kept on up the mountain, Ben noticed how close he was to the top, he could see where the path plateaued, he was so close to the top, Ben arrived at the peak where he saw a massive hole atleast a football field in length "whoa, now how am I supposed to get past this?" a voice from the other side of the hole spoke to Ben, a large figure was at the other end and they spoke to Ben...Ben couldn't hear them "WHAT?" Ben shouted with the person speaking again, only louder...Ben still couldn't make out what they were saying "WHAT?!" Ben shouted again. The figure sighed and jumped high into the air landing right infront of Ben causing the whole mountain to shake. Ben saw clearly that the person was a giant panda and a very giant one at that, the Panda spoke "your last trial is me...beat me in combat and you can pass" Ben nodded in determination...after shaking off his fear ofcourse. The Panda lept back to the other side, the Panda then struck the ground with its fist and giant stalks of bamboo erupted from the hole "okay, I see now" Ben slowly stepped onto the stalks barely keeping his balance and nearly slipping to his doom on occassion. Ben made it to about halfway when the Panda stepped onto one of the stalks "oh no" Ben whispered as the panda suddenly rushed toward Ben as if it were gliding across the stalks, Ben barely got out of the way of a claw swipe and landed clumsily on a stalk.
The Panda grabbed a stalk and pulled it out of the pit and put the middle in its mouth, with one quick snap the bamboo snapped in half, the Panda tossed Ben one side of the stalk with Ben barely able to catch it. Ben put 2 and 2 together and readied himself, the Panda twirled the staff around in its paws and beckoned Ben to attack. Ben took one step and swung at the Panda, the Panda parried it easily and jabbed Ben in the chest causing Ben to fall. Ben caught himself with his hand on one of the stalks and lifted himself back up, Ben steadied himself again and stood ready for anything. The Panda smirked and threw a swift strike which Ben deflected and countered with a jab to the head, Panda leaned back a bit and dodged it, Ben attempted to swing the momentum in his favor and continued the assault with a barrage of strikes, Panda blocked them all while stepping back, Panda swung low and Ben managed to jump over the strike and smacked the Panda in the cheek. Panda stepped back and felt its face. Panda growled at Ben and marched over, Ben felt a wave of fear wash over him as he tried to keep balance, Panda began to strike at Ben who was barely strong enough to keep himself upright while blocking. Panda threw an overhead strike which Ben blocked but his staff snapped in half, Ben nearly fell backwards and Panda took advantage of that and sweepkicked Ben taking him off his feet and shoulder checked the airborne teen.
Ben flew backwards breaking stalks as he flew, Ben grabbed a stalk and stopped his momentum while doing a number on his shoulder. Ben lifted himself back up and rotated his shoulder, he looked at his staff which was in two pieces now "oh well, was never a fan of Donatello anyway" Ben walked along the bamboo and met the Panda face to face. Ben twirled the sticks and goaded Panda into attacking with a waving fingers back, the Panda gritted its teeth and barraged at Ben who matched it in speed deflecting every strike and redirecting the stiff rigid strikes with fluid motion. Ben began to strike back at Panda, Ben kept Panda's staff down and struck Panda in the side of the head with the other. Panda roared and unleashed a large strike which Ben ducked under but Panda was too quick and it quickly recovered forcing his staff onto Ben's sticks and pushed down, Ben didn't hesitate and leaned back onto a single stalk carrying Panda's momentum and flipping the beast causing it to fall and break multiple stalks on the way down into the pit. Ben lifted himself up and caught his breath, Ben got to the other side and stepped back onto solid ground "okay...now what?" Ben walked forward and came across a giant fire bowl. Ben walked over to the bowl and looked into it, it was surprisingly clean as if it was never touched by fire before. Ben noticed something emerge from the clouds, it's azure blue scales Ben immediately recognized. The dragon landed on the side of the mountain and on the other side of the fire bowl, the Dragon inhaled and blew fire into the bowl before retreating back into the clouds.
Ben looked at the deep blue fire and had a thought, a stupid thought, but a thought nonetheless. Ben stuck his right hand into the fire, the fire didn't hurt at all "where was this when I was scaling the wall of death?" Ben noticed his Miraculous begin to glow with the heat until it was a bright and blinding blue, Ben stared into the light, the brilliance of the light kept Ben's attention, the light enveloped Ben's vision and when it cleared, Ben was in a grassy field. Ben looked around, the grass was swaying wildly in the wind and the trees around the field were dancing with it, Ben saw figures in the trees, they approached Ben and from what he could see, there were ten of them. They cleared the treeline, Ben saw that they were people from multiple different times and cultures and they all had the Wolf Miraculous on their wrist. A Native American man stepped forward approaching Ben and stopping right infront of him "Welcome, Wolf Cub". The man was tall and his head was adorned with a War Bonnet and his face was rugged yet his expression was gentle, the man put his hands on Ben's shoulders "it is good to finally meet you, we've been waiting for a long time" Ben looked behind him to see the other ones approaching "if you may not have guessed, we are all your predecessors, I am Tivaci, Hero to my people the Chemehuevi, I guided them through the harshest times in the desert" a man in Mongolian armor stepped forward, Tivaci hung his head a bit "this is Genghis Khan, he also held the Wolf Miraculous" Genghis approached "yes, I held the Miraculous, I used it to unite the tribes of Asia and form one of the largest empires in history" Tivaci responded "which you used to launch invasions along Asia" Genghis crossed his arms in spite. Another one stepped forward, this one was a well dressed man "Moriarty, archnemesis of Sherlock Holmes". A man in a suit of armor stepped up "Melion, Knight of the Round Table". The previous Miraculous Holders stepped infront of Ben. Tivaci spoke "you are our legacy, we all live in you, and one day, you will join us" Ben felt even more confused "b-but, this doesn't answer my question, why am I having these sudden outbursts of anger?" Tivaci sighed "there is much conflict in you Benjamin, while we all live within the Miraculous, we do not live in peace, some of us vie for control, but you have the ability to unite us, you must seek balance" Ben felt as if his journey had been wasted and his anger began to surface, the sky began to agitate and the winds became more fierce, what was once a strong breeze became a maelstrom of wind and debris, the sky became a red tint and the clouds darkened, the previous holders began to wonder what was going on and Tivaci reassured Ben "Ben, you must not lose control, remember your dream" Ben stopped, he remembered what happened in the dream "you already know what will happen if you go down this path" Ben calmed down "I don't know what to do" Ben said weakly "that dream scared me, like nothing ever has" Ben grabbed his forearms and fell to his knees "I don't know what to do" Tivaci and the others surrounded Ben, they put their hands out, the hand that has the Miraculous "then let us teach you" Ben remembered those words "okay...teach me balance" Ben put his right hand forward and all of them were sucked into the Miraculous.
Ben returned to reality, his Miraculous' glow faded and he looked around, he noticed that the pit was gone and the dragon stood there, it lowered its head and Ben walked over, mounting the Dragon's head and it took off taking him back to the village. Ben dismounted the Dragon and was met by the shocked faces of the villagers, Ben took out the Horse Miraculous and teleported home, Ben crashed onto his bed looking to his side at his Miraculous "you're just full of surprises".
