A/N (IMPORTANT, Please Read): Good morning everyone! Welcome back to the story and the conclusion of this little opening story arc! That said, we're in for a more casual time today, as the gang are about to meet Helen officially.
But that said, I should probably address something VERY important here. For the first month or so, updates on this story will be a little sporadic. Incase you didn't know, I'm actually working on another story at the same time as this one called; "Transformers MHA, Arc 1: Bumblebee", and well… I'm actually pretty close to the end on that one, so I really want to get it finished. I've got about five chapters to go and as such, I'm going to be alternating between that story and this one a few times until I reach that story's conclusion. Once I do, expect Ben 10 RWBY Volume 2 to return to a weekly format going forward, though even then, I may take occasional breaks from it to work on other projects I have lined up just so I can prevent burnout.
With all of that said and done, let's dive into today's chapter, shall we? This is…
Chapter 4: Introduction to a Speedster
…..
The first thing that Helen felt when she woke up was a throbbing pain in her head, followed up by her limbs feeling like they were on fire. Not pleasant, but at least it couldn't get any—"BLEAGH!" Helen was quickly proven wrong when she rolled onto her side and the contents of her stomach were ejected, though thankfully there was a bucket for her all ready to go. Immediately, she knew; she had overexerted herself with that three-hundred-and-forty-mile run. If she were a FULL Kineceleran, she would've handled that run no problem, but since she was half human, she often had to remind herself to be careful about how fast she went and for how long. Unfortunately, the situation she was in was too dire for her to really consider that, and now she was paying for it.
'Goddamn it, how could this get any worse?' Helen thought to herself as she braced her hands against the bucket, attempting to compose herself. 'Oh yeah, right, my teammates have all been kidnapped. Never mind.'
Once she managed to gain her bearings, she moved a hand over to stabilize herself on something, immediately finding a soft cushion under her palm. Helen looked over to see that she had rolled right off of a couch… and that a certain hero was holding the bucket for her. He winced and kept his eyes closed as he went to move the bucket away from her. "You good?"
"Hah… hah… y-yeah, I think so." Helen replied. "Th-Thanks, Ben."
"No problem, been there before." Ben assured before spinning to the front door and putting the bucket outside immediately.
It was then that Helen noticed that there was a hand on her back, one that was rubbing soothing circles on it as she went through that whole ordeal. Helen craned her head over and saw Gwen giving her a small, if sympathetic smile. "Hi, Helen. Not exactly how I imagined we'd be seeing each other again, but—"
"Gwen!" Helen immediately went for a hug, which the Anodite was quick to reciprocate. "You have NO idea how happy I am to see you guys."
"Heh… well, I think you made that pretty obvious." Gwen smiled as she gave Helen a pat on the back. "I'm just glad that you're okay. You gave all of us quite the scare when you fainted."
Helen let out a groan as her hand went to her head, which was still slightly throbbing. "Ugh, I know. Sorry. But with what happened… I needed to get to Bellwood as fast as I could, and there was no other way."
"Well, look on the bright side…" Helen craned her head up to see Kevin approaching her, his left hand holding a bottle of mouth wash while his right had a cup of water in it. "At least you're not dead." He handed the two items to Helen, which she gladly took. "Here, I know I wouldn't wanna have puke breath."
Helen smirked and rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks, Kev. Glad to know YOU haven't changed." After washing her mouth out at least twice, with Gwen having helped her to the nearby bathroom, Helen and the redhead came back and sat down on the couch… and was immediately met by Rex, Holiday and Six sitting across from her, along with Bobo sitting in a chair off to the side. The former two with concerned faces while Six was unreadable as always. "Hi guys." Helen smiled, though they could see the sadness written all across her face.
"Helen, sweetie, are you okay?" Holiday asked. "You seemed really out of sorts when you made your… VERY sudden entrance."
"You mentioned that something had happened on your mission." Six added. "That Manny, Alan and Rook had been captured. Is this true?"
Helen let out a sigh as Ben, Gwen and Kevin all sat down with her on the couch. "Y-Yeah… that's right. I'm sorry, Six, but there was nothing I could do. The Collective somehow KNEW we were there, a-and one of them knocked out Alan and put a knife to his throat before I could even GET to him." Helen screwed her eyes shut. "The guy had me pegged. If I moved, Alan was dead on the spot."
Rex leaned forward. "What about Manny? How the heck did HE get caught?"
"Believe it or not, one of the cult members was actually AS strong as Manny, and managed to overpower disarm him surprisingly effectively." Helen answered. "And the weirdest part about that was… he seemed like a normal human, but he definitely wasn't. After that, they put both Manny and Alan into a cage made out of solid Infinitum."
"Infini-what now?" Bobo asked from his chair, the EVO chimp munching on a bag of chips.
Kevin crossed his arms and explained. "Infinitum. It's a strong as hell metal alloy that can pretty much tank anything thrown at it. I should know, my car's engine block is made out of the stuff. If you make a cage out of it, it's pretty much guaranteed to have unbendable bars. Manny couldn't break out of 'em if he tried." He glanced over to Rex, Six and Holiday. "That and it's also heat proof, so Alan wouldn't be able to melt it either."
"And the cage is also electrified." Helen jumped in again. "On both the inside AND outside. If one wanted to open the locks, they'd have to turn off the shock field first… and the bastard who locked them in destroyed the control remote."
"Oy, un problema grande." Rex shook his head. "Sounds like we're gonna have to mount a rescue mission here soon."
However, Six wasn't done. "Wait, what about Rook? He's a highly trained Plumber Agent, he should've—"
"He was the first one of us to be captured." Helen said sadly. "There was this… weird hunchbacked woman with teleportation powers who managed to take him away somehow, and I don't know WHERE. She used these same powers on me to prevent me from getting to Alan in time."
"Huh, that's strange." Ben mused. "A woman who can teleport things and a guy who's apparently super strong…"
Gwen shifted her eyes to her cousin. "Do you think… they could be aliens in disguise?"
Kevin gave a shrug. "Wouldn't surprise me. This whole thing with the Collective has sounded really fishy to me ever since we first heard about it a week back." The Osmosian reclined in his seat. "The fact that they're able to just take people away from out of thin air without leaving a trace always sounded off to me. Sure, good criminals are able to do that, but nothing this cleanly."
"He's right." Six agreed. "Normal criminals are always liable to slip up, but the Collective didn't make a single one until we actually caught them in the act." The agent furrowed his brows as he went on. "Whoever this "Collective" is, it's pretty evident that they aren't a normal cult."
"Well, whoever they are, we can figure that out later." Ben said as he stood up and balled a fist. "Right now, they've got our friends, so our priority right now should be to go save them." He placed a hand to his hip. "But first, we'll need to make a plan. If these guys are as cunning as Helen says they are, then they'll likely have a plan of attack waiting if we try to rush in."
Helen nodded at that. "Right, good idea. Let's get started…" Helen went to stand up… only for her legs to start wobbling immediately. "Woah—WOAH!" Before she could fall over, Gwen and Ben caught her by her arms, the Kineceleran hybrid letting out a sigh of relief. "Hah… thanks guys."
"Yeah, you need to take a rest, Helen." Gwen said before Kevin moved up from the couch, with the redhead carefully placing Helen back down onto it. "You've been through a lot today as is. You need to get your strength back before even thinking of going back to Niagara Falls."
Helen nodded as her head rested against a small pillow on the armrest, doing her best to relax her body. "Once again, you're right, Gwen." Once again, her head throbbed and she winced a little. "Ugh, I feel like I hit a bus."
"Heh, well, you didn't hit a bus, but you did take a pretty big crash." Ben chuckled. "Well get some pain killers in you once your stomach settles."
"Good, I—" But then, Helen cut herself off after hearing Ben mention the crash, a gasp eliciting from her lips. "W-Wait! The guy that I crashed into! I-Is he okay? I didn't hurt him, did I?"
Just then, Bobo piped up from the chair he was in. "Nah, the blueberry's fine. You ruffled him up a little, but he'll live." He let out a chuckle and sent Helen a wink. "An' hell, HE was the one who caught ya when your lights when out, Roller-skates, so you should probably thank the kid for that."
Helen blinked in surprise. "Oh wow, he did? Huh…" The Kineceleran hybrid lowered her head slightly with a sheepish expression. "Even so, I feel like such an utter klutz. I was in such a rush to get back to Bellwood that I ran into him even while I was trying to slow down." She put a clawed hand to her helmet. "I just hope he doesn't hold that against me."
"Nah, Neptune's a pretty chill guy." Kevin assured. "I mean… he's kinda hopeless when it comes to a lot of stuff, but—oof!" He doubled over as Gwen elbowed him in the stomach. "Ah, c'mon! I was just bein' honest!"
"Honesty sometimes isn't the best policy, dear." Gwen said before smiling over to Helen. "But Kevin IS right about one thing; Neptune probably won't hold it against you." She raised a finger and gave Helen a wink. "But before we get to him and the rest of our friends, there's someone who's been wanting to talk to you."
Helen saw Gwen pointing off to the side and she craned her head around, only to let out a small gasp at who she saw. "Max!"
Indeed, the old Plumber was standing in the nearby doorway, beaming over to his pupil as he began making his way over to her. "Hey, Helen. Glad to see that you're finally up." Helen sat up on the couch as Max sat down, the two meeting in a short embrace.
"It's so good to see you back, Max." Helen murmured. And that was a fact. In the time that she and Manny had shared in the Null Void with the old man, as well as when they were training under him with Alan and her brother Pierce, Max had grown to be a father figure to all of them. "You have NO idea how worried we were after what happened."
Max nodded and pulled away from the hug. "I can imagine. But don't worry, we're back now, and we're going to rescue Manny and Alan, you can count on that."
Helen sighed and slumped her shoulders a bit. "I hope so. I mean, after you, Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Cooper disappeared, we almost weren't sure what we would… wait…" Helen's eyes widened and her eyes darted around the room. "H-Hold on, i-is Cooper with you—"
"Helen!" The girl whipped her head around and let out a sigh, seeing the familiar blonde entering the room as well. Cooper waved to her as he too came over to the couch, giving her a hug as well. "Hehe, don't worry, we ALL made it back home safe and sound."
"Hah, you have NO idea how relieved I am to hear that." Helen smiled before noticing the attire that Cooper was wearing, making her eyes widen. "Woah… Cooper, you are looking very sharp, if I may say so."
Cooper rubbed the back of his neck, a chuckle escaping his lip. "Hehe, thanks, Helen. Honestly, I've had the privilege of meeting someone who REALLY knows what they're doing when it comes to clothing."
A knowing smile came to Helen's lips. "I see… so are you still trying to impress Gwen, or is this all for someone else?"
She got her desired reaction; Cooper wincing while Gwen smacked her forehead, with Kevin, Ben and Rex laughing up a storm. However, oddly enough, Cooper wasn't blushing like he normally did. "Uh, hehe… n-no, really." Cooper answered. "You see… my new fashion designer ALSO happens to be my girlfriend."
Once more, Helen's eyes widened in shock. "…Okay, now you've REALLY lost me. …But congratulations, Coop."
"Heh, th-thanks…" Cooper nodded before setting his eyes on Ben and the others. "So, uh… you think it's time to bring 'em in?"
Ben grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "Now's probably as good a time as any." He craned his head around to his grandpa, Six, Holiday and Bobo. "Not to be rude or anything, guys, but…"
"It's about to get crowded in here." Max finished with a nod. "I understand, Ben. Besides, it's high time we get back to Plumber HQ anyways. There's a LOT of work for me to get done there, after all.
"Right." Six nodded as he and Holiday stood up, with Bobo lazily getting to his feet. "And that goes for all of us. Probably best to get introductions out of the way quicker anyway."
"We're going to have to make some preparations for when we head out on this rescue operation, anyways." Holiday added. "We'll see you guys then."
Bobo let out a yawn and stretched his arms. "Yeah, an' the main man needs some shut-eye if he's gonna be comin' with ya." He strolled up to Rex and offered a fist bump, which the EVO gracsiously reciprocated. "Hey, I'll see ya tomorrow mornin' chief. You AN' that crazy white-haired dame o' yours."
Rex facepalmed while Helen's lips parted in surprise. "Hold on, now REX has a girlfriend, too?" She raised her arms up and gazed through the whole room. "Is there anyone ELSE in here in a new relationship I should know about?!" Slowly but surely, she saw Ben raise his hand with a small, sheepish grin, leading Helen to deadpan at him. "I was being sarcastic, but SURE, add YOUR name to the pile, Ben."
With a shake of his head, Rex let out a groan as Bobo went to walk out the door. "Ugh, I'm never going to hear the end of it from him about Weiss, am I?"
"Knowing Bobo, probably not." Six replied, cracking a slight smile. "But now that the subject's been brought up, I must admit, I didn't take you one for the prim and proper type, Rex. Maybe you're finally growing up."
Bobo poked his head back in. "Heh, or maybe he's just into chicks who outclass him!" he snarked, leading to Rex giving him a narrow-eyed gaze. "Hey, hey, kidding, kidding! Sheesh, chief, she's a nice lady. Can't wait to get to know her betta', I can tell ya that!"
Rex deadpanned and let out a sigh. "Yeah, I'm sure. Just… promise you won't try to embarrass me in front of her? I mean, we haven't even gone out on an official date yet…"
"Oh, don't worry. I won't… much." Bobo laughed and darted out of the house before Rex could reach him, the young Latino teen letting out a frustrated breath.
"I can never WIN with him." he bemoaned.
"Hehe, don't worry too much about it, Rex." Max chortled as Six and Holiday began making their way out. "I'm sure he just missed ya. In any case, I'll see you all later, okay?" The old man received a unanimous agreement from the entire room before saying his goodbyes, following Six and Holiday out the door.
Helen let out a chuckle before turning back to Rex. "Hehe, guess Bobo's getting back into the groove with you back, eh, Rex?"
"Not even at home for a full DAY and he's already yanking my chain." Rex muttered irritably before waving goodbye to Six and Holiday, the duo reciprocating as they went out the door. Rex took a deep breath and faced back to the group. "Okay… so can we FINALLY do the introductions?"
"Yeah, we're kinda tired of waiting back here!" called a girl's voice from the other room, causing many other voices to laugh in there. "We wanna meet your friend!"
Ben smiled and gave a small chuckle, nodding his head affirmatively. "Hehe, alright, Ruby. C'mon in and we'll get things started." He glanced back over to Helen with a knowing grin. "Warning you now, Helen; these guys are quite the group. You may need to mentally brace yourself for this one."
However, Helen just rolled her eyes. "Oh, Ben, relax. I can handle meeting a… few… people." Helen's eyes widened and her jaw dropped at what she saw next. Coming in through the entryway was a group of… at least SIXTEEN people. First, she saw four girls come in; one in a red hood, a white-haired one in a dress, a black-haired girl with… cat ears? And finally, a rather tough-looking blonde. Next came a blond boy in knight's armor, a redhead in a pink skirt, another redhead in more Greco-Roman styled armor, and a boy with long, black hair and a green ensemble. Then came in two brunettes; one with a barrett and sunglasses while the other one… had bunny ears. Then came a scarred, blind guy came with a rather tall boy in green armor right behind him, the two keeping in pace with the girls. Next came yet another red head, a rather perky one with curly hair with a pink bow and bright green eyes. She was followed in by another brunette with a curly ponytail and spots all over her body, who appeared to be a little shy. Finally, the last two came in; a blond boy… with a monkey tail, and the blue-haired boy whom Helen had crashed into. Out of all of them, she only knew the name of one.
Neptune gave her a smile and waved to her. "Hey! Good to see you up, Helen. How're you feeling?" He only got silence as Helen continued to process what she was seeing, which served to make Neptune give her a concerned gaze. "…So I'm guessing you're still a bit shaky?"
Helen snapped out of her stupor and shook her head, finally responding. "O-Oh, what? N-No, I'm not. I'm sorry, it's just…" She waved her hand across the entire group of people. "WOW, you are a pretty big group."
"See? I told ya." Ben said with a smirk. "And believe it or not, we actually came back with even MORE people, but you can meet them later."
The Kineceleran hybrid put a hand to her head again. "Gee, thanks. As if I didn't feel claustrophobic enough."
Ruby gave a small shrug. "Yeah, we're gonna be dealing with that soon." She gave Helen a small wave and a greeting smile. "But why don't we start with the introductions? My name's Ruby Rose!" She stepped up and offered Helen a handshake. "It's really nice to meet you, Helen! Ben's told us a lot about you and your friends!"
Helen blinked a little before smiling back and taking the hand, shaking it happily. "I-It's a pleasure, Ruby, thank you." Her eyes then went to Ben with a side-long gaze. "But, uh… just what HAS Ben told you about me and my friends?"
"Mostly that you're a bunch of nice guys." Yang said as she and the other ladies in their group stepped over to her. "…Even if Manny can be a bit of a hothead." She jabbed her thumb toward her chest. "Name's Yang, by the way. Ruby's big sister." Yang then moved her thumb over to her white and black-haired friends. "And these are our teammates, Wiess and Blake."
"Hello, Helen." Blake said with a bow of her head.
"A pleasure to meet you." Weiss mimicked the gesture.
Helen bowed her head back. "Likewise. And heh, yeah, you're kinda on the nose about Manny. He might be my best friend, but he's not exactly the most level-headed of guys, I will admit." She then raised an eyeridge. "So… you said you guys are teammates?"
"Yep! And we're the best of friends, too!" Ruby said as she pumped a fist. "And together, we're Team RWBY!"
This only made Helen even more confused, however. "…You named your team after yourself?"
Gwen gave a small laugh before explaining. "Well, kind of, but not really. It's actually an acronym for the first letter of each of their names; R, W, B, and Y."
"It just so happened to sound like Ruby's name when it was made." Blake elaborated further, placing a hand to her chin. "Always made me wonder what would've happened if the letters had been arranged differently."
"Ha! Yeah, for all we know, we could've been Team BRWY." Yang quipped, pronouncing the word as "brewery".
"EW! No! That's gross!" Weiss said with a scrunched-up face. "I would NOT want to be associated with alcohol, thank you."
Blake cringed a little bit. "Yeah… and that would also imply that I would probably be the leader, which I would be terrible at."
Helen glanced between the four girls in confusion. "So… just what exactly is this "team" all about? Are you guys just really good friends and just decided that you wanted to fight evil together or something?"
Ruby let out a laugh, with the others in the room chortling a little as well. "Haha! No, no, that's DEFINITELY not how our team was formed." Ruby waved her hand around the room, gesturing to all of her friends from her world. "See, we're from a world called Remnant… and it isn't exactly the best of places."
"Our world is infested with dark creatures known as "Grimm"." Weiss continued, seeing Helen's expression become one of intrigue. "They're beasts that are capable of truly destructive acts. They're capable of leveling a small town in only a few hours… and if they're able to do so, they can take down nearly a whole city in a day."
"That's where people like us come in." Yang picked up, jabbing a thumb to herself. "We're what you might call "Huntresses" and "Huntsmen"… or at least, ones in training. We all went to a school called Beacon Academy, where people learn from HOW to become Huntsmen in order to defend Remnant from the Grimm."
Helen's lips were in an "o" shape after hearing all of this, stunned by the revelation. "Hah… wow, that certainly sounds like some world you live in. It must be a pretty dour place."
"Well, not exactly." Blake spoke up. "I mean, there are some pretty terrible things about it, don't get me wrong, I've been on the receiving end of a lot of them. But to say that it's a completely dark world would be just untrue. Our technology is highly advanced and there are a lot of people who want to make Remnant a better place, to be sure." The cat girl pursed her lips a bit before glancing down to her lap. "…But with all the bad stuff going on in Remnant, especially now, it IS somewhat hard to see that, I suppose."
The Kineceleran girl tilted her head a bit. "I see…" She glanced up toward Blake's head, immediately taking not of the girl's cat ears. "Um… I hope you don't mind me asking—"
"You wanna know about the ears, don't you?" Blake said with a small smile.
Helen wore a sheepish expression. "Kind of, yeah. Because they're honestly really cool but also kind of confusing." Her sights then went to the brunette with the bunny ears. "I mean… do you two just have four pairs of ears or does only one of them work?" Her eyes then went over to the monkey-tailed blond. "A-And him! He's got a monkey's tail, too! I mean, I'm not one to judge since I've got a tail, too, but—"
Blake shook her head and set a hand on Helen's shoulder. "Helen, don't worry, I understand. Trust me, I'd be confused if I were in your position, too." Blake gestured over to the bunny girl, monkey boy, and even the girl with the curly ponytail, as well. "You see, myself, Velvet, Sun and Ilia, we're all what's known as "Faunus"."
Sun gave Helen a salute. "We're essentially pretty much like humans only with animal parts on us. Plus, some of us have crazy enhanced senses, too." He gave Helen a thumbs up. "Also, nice to meet ya! Name's Sun Wukong."
This caused Helen's eyes to widen. "…Like the Monkey King?"
"Exactly!" Sun nodded. "Though to be honest, I had no idea of that other guy until a couple days ago."
Blake rolled her eyes a bit before adding; "He's also my dork of a boyfriend, so there's that."
Sun narrowed his eyes with a playful smirk, leaning forward so that his and Blake's faced her closer. "You say that like it's a footnote or something."
"What? Never!" Blake said with a shake over her head, giving Sun a pat on the cheek. "You're definitely worthy of having your own section of the page."
"D'aw, thanks." Sun gave Blake a peck on her cheek while the rest of their friends rolled their eyes at the rather cheesy flirting. The monkey boy moved his eyes back to Helen and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder at Neptune. "By the way, you really threw my buddy, Neptune, over there for a loop. I'm surprised he was still able to stand when he caught ya."
Helen's eyes widened and she spotted Neptune, the blue-haired boy rubbing the back of his head with a nervous smile. The Kineceleran girl smiled over to him. "Yeah, that's right… I never got the chance to thank you for that." Helen bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you for doing that, Neptune. I really wasn't prepared to pass out then and there."
"Hehe… y-yeah, no problem." Neptune stammered as he bowed his head back to her, mostly to hide the blush on his face. "I-I honestly wasn't prepared for it either, but I'm glad that you're okay."
Helen gave him a nod. "Hehe, yeah, same here." She directed her gaze back out to everyone in the living room, seeing the others still before her. "So, I've officially met six of you so far. Who wants to come up next?"
"OOH! OOH! MEEE!" The alien hybrid was in for a shock when a pair of aquamarine eyes were suddenly in her field of vision, with someone's face mere inches away from hers. Helen let out a yelp and pulled her head back a bit, seeing one of the many redheads having practically jolted up to her with a massive grin on her face. "Hiya, Helen!" she waved enthusiastically. "I'm Nora! It's really nice to meet you, especially after everything that Ben and the others have told us about you!"
Helen wore a shocked expression as the girl spoke, attempting to speak up herself. "O-Oh, w-well it's really nice to meet—"
"AH!" Nora gasped, the girl snapping her head down toward Helen's clawed feet. "What're THOSE on your feet?!"
"Uh… my wheels?" Helen answered. "All Kinecelerans have them."
"Ooooh, yeah!" Nora pounded a fist into the palm of her hand as she remembered; "Ben also had those wheels when HE transformed into XLR8. I guess I just figured that since you're a human hybrid, you wouldn't have them or something."
Helen gave her a shrug. "W-Well, I guess that's sound logic, but—" ZOOM! Quicker than Helen could even blink, Nora zipped around the couch in a pink blur. Now leaning over the couch behind her. "AH! H-How did you—"
Nora wore a curious face as she poked at the tip of Helen's helmet. "So I'm all Kinecelerans have helmets too? Can you even take it off?" The Pink Dynamo then leaned over the side of the couch and pointed to Helen's tail. "And what about your tail? Does it keep you balanced while running? Is it a pain to sleep with? How do you put PANTS on with it?"
"Nora!" The hyperactive redhead snapped her head up to Ren, the green ninja wearing a face of trepidation. "I think you may want to stop with all the questions…" He glanced over to Helen with a wince. "You're making Helen quite a bit uncomfortable."
At that, Nora's head spun toward Helen, the Kineceleran girl shrinking back a tad. "Oh… damn it, I did it again!" Nora knocked herself in the head before lowering her head to Helen apologetically. "I'm sorry, Helen. I-I didn't mean to make you feel like that. I-I was just curious, that's all, really."
"It's… it's okay." Helen assured. "I'm sure that you have all of your own questions like I have mine." She gave Nora a sympathetic smile. "It's okay to be curious, Nora, but I think it'd be good to ask one question at a time."
Nora nodded back to her, a relieved smile on her face. "Right, okay. And again, sorry for getting in your face about it."
The blond knight and redheaded warrior girl stepped over to Helen as well, along with the green-clad ninja. "Nora can get a little out of hand sometimes, but she means well and we love her for it." the blond said before waving to Helen. "Hi, I'm Jaune Arc, and this is my team. You've already met Nora, obviously."
"Hehe, yes, I think that's safe to say." Helen chuckled with a knowing smile over to Nora. She then went back to the other two. "And what about you guys? What're your names?"
The girl clad in armor put a hand over her chest, a kind grin on her face. "Well, my name is Pyrrha Nikos, the second-in-command of this team and Jaune's girlfriend. I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Helen."
"So am I." the green-clad boy said next. "I'm Lie Ren, but most people just call me "Ren"."
"I see." Helen said before tilting her head again. "And what's YOUR team called?"
Nora bounced up and over the couch, reaching an arm out to her team as she saluted with the other one. "We're Team JNPR, at your service!" Then, just as quick, she zipped right over to Jaune and put an arm around him. "And Jaune here is our fearless leader!"
Jaune grinned nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hehe… w-well, I don't know about fearless, but I've been told I'm a good strategist."
Helen let out a giggle at that. "Hehe, well, I'm glad that you're very modest. It's nice to meet you guys." She then shifted her focus over to the last group of four that were standing with one another, tilting her head as she raised an eyeridge. Helen pointed to Coco and spoke to her. "Okay, between your shades and barrette…" she then began pointing toward the other members of her team, "the bunny-eared girl, the REALLY tall guy and the dude with the scars, something tells me you guys are pretty cool, too."
Coco let out a laugh at that. "Haha! Well, well, I guess you could say that." She jerked a thumb over to Teams RWBY and JNPR. "I mean, they seem to think so."
"Yeah, but you're our upperclassmen!" Ruby rationalized. "That makes you automatically cool."
"Heh, fair point." Coco said before strolling forward and offering a hand to Helen. "Hi, name's Coco Adel. Pleasure to meet ya, Helen." After the handshake, Coco then moved her hand over toward her team. "And this is my team; Team CFVY. You've already know Velvet's name."
The brunette rabbit Faunus brightened up and gave a polite bow. "So nice to meet you!"
Helen's eyes widened a little bit. "Woah… wasn't expecting the British accent."
Velvet raised an eyebrow at that. "What's… "British"?"
"Oh, right, alternate world." Helen said with a smack to her forehead. "You probably don't even know what "Britain" even is." She waved her hand toward Velvet and shook her head. "F-Forget I said anything, sorry for the confusion. But it IS nice to meet you, Velvet."
"Ah, yes, you too." Velvet smiled assuredly. "And don't worry about the confusion. Trust me, Ben and the others might have explained a lot about this world to us, but they hasn't explained EVERYTHING." She glanced over to the aforementioned hero with a knowing grin. "Isn't that right?"
Ben, however, simply gave a shrug. "Hey, what better way to learn about a place than to experience it first hand? Remember, I plan on taking you guys ALL around the world… at least, hopefully."
"Huh, sounds like you guys have some big plans this summer then." Helen commented before going back to the two remaining boys who she didn't know the names of. "So, you two are on Coco's team, right?"
"O-Oh, yes, we are." Yatsu affirmed as he placed a hand on his chest. "I am Yatsuhashi Daichi. But most people call me Yatsu. It's a pleasure to meet you, Helen." He then put his hand on Fox's shoulder. "And this is Fox Alistair. He's a man of few words."
Fox pursed his lips narrowed his eyes at his friend. "Hey, I've got plenty to say… I just don't really say it out loud too often." He then went back to Helen and nodded to her. "But yeah, good to meet ya, Helen."
"Likewise…" Helen said with a perplexed expression. "Um… quick question, a-and I don't mean to be rude when I say this, but… are you…"
"Blind? Yes." Fox answered. "I am. But trust me, I'm pretty aware of my surroundings right now."
Coco pointed to her ear. "Fox has a little device in his ear called an Accessibility Dialogue Assistant, or "ADA" for short. It helps him get around by sending out sonar waves that come back as artificial sight. It even helps him in battle, too."
Helen's mouth hung open in amazement. "Holy cow, that's INCREDIBLE! We need some of THOSE things in our world!"
"That's what I'VE been saying!" Cooper said as he stepped over to Team CFVY and nudged his head to them. "Ever since I started handing around these guys, plus a few certain others, I've been saying that Remnant needs to share its technological advances with Earth… at least whenever we can get a PROPER alliance going, which I have no doubt will probably happen in the future. But, speaking of technology…" Cooper shifted his gaze over to a certain redheaded android. "You wanna introduce yourself next?"
"Oh, absolutely!" Penny said cheerily before skipping right up to Helen and giving her a bright smile. "Salutations, Helen Wheels!" she said with a salute. "I am Penny Polendina. It's truly a pleasure to meet you!" Helen was about to reply when Penny, without skipping a beat, continued; "I feel it is only right to inform you that I am a highly advanced battle robot created by my father, Pietro Polendina to defend the Kingdom of Atlas. My systems have been improved by Ben and Rex when they rebuilt me using their Upgrade and Nanite powers combined, resulting in me becoming part Galvanic Mechamorph." She paused briefly before adding one more thing. "Oh! And Gwen was kind enough to revive me by placing my soul back into my body." She beamed to Helen and tilted her head, waiting for her response.
Once again, Helen's jaw hung open, almost reaching the floor after Penny was done with her explanation. Her eyes trailed over to Ben, Gwen and Rex, the three of them all wearing sheepish smile as Helen blurted out; "WHAT?!"
Gwen rubbed the back of her head. "…Yeah, the way Penny was brought back from the dead is… pretty complicated."
"Honestly, there was probably even an easier way to do it if we brought her back to Atlas." Rex admitted.
"Yeah, but then Pietro would have to use up some of his Aura to do it." Ben added on with a shake of his head. "And I don't think that's really such a good idea."
Penny bowed to Helen politely. "I apologize, Helen. I know that it's a lot to take in, believe me." She smiled nervously and began fiddling with her skirt a bit. "But I hope that this doesn't deter you in any way from me. You seem very nice and… I-I would be very happy to be your friend."
Helen blinked in shock. Sure, Penny came off as a bit… stiff at first, but at that very moment, she could see a variety of emotions in Penny's eyes. She could tell that this girl was FAR more than a robot. She was able to feel. Helen smiled and steadily stood up, with many of the others looking on in concern as her legs wobbled slightly. She reached out and grasped Penny's hands, letting out a small laugh. "Hehe, don't worry about a thing, Penny. I'm sorry if it seemed I was put off, it was just… a bit much to take in all at once. I would be VERY happy to be your friend."
A gasp escaped Penny's throat and she through her arms up high into the air. "HAHA! Sensational! I am VERY happy to hear that, Helen. Thank you!"
The speedster gave her new friend a wink and a thumbs up. "No problem, and I'll be sure to introduce you to MY friends… as soon as we rescue them."
"Oh yes, we actually already heard everything about that." Penny nodded. "But don't worry, we'll do everything we can to help you help THEM." But then, she raised a single finger. "However, before we do that, we have one more person to introduce you to! Last, but certainly NOT least…" Penny spun around on her heel and rushed over to Ilia, getting behind the chameleon girl before pushing her by the shoulders.
"GAH! P-Penny! What gives?!" Ilia shouted.
"I know how you are with introducing yourself, Ilia." Penny replied, her smile not budging an inch. "Think of this as a friendly push… quite literally."
Ilia deadpanned at that as she was brought to a halt in front of Helen. "Gee, thanks." Her eyes met those of the Kineceleran girl's and a nervous grin came to her face, her hand raising slowly to wave to her. "Uh, hehe… hi. M-My name's Ilia. It's good to meet you, Helen."
Helen smirked and crossed her arms. "Same here, Ilia… I take it you're not exactly in your comfort zone right now?"
"Not particularly, no." Ilia confirmed. "Let's just say that… experience has made me a bit apprehensive to introduce myself to new people."
"And why's that?"
Ilia rubbed her arm as she answered; "I just… I'm afraid of what they'll think of me. Let's just say that a lot of humans in Remnant aren't exactly fond of Faunus…"
"Huh… why's that?" Helen asked, making Ilia's eyes widen. "I mean, you guys are part animal. That has to be the coolest thing EVER."
"…Maybe to Earthlings." Ilia murmured, her gaze lowering to the ground. "But tell me, if you had no prior knowledge of me being a Faunus, would you say that I appear to be pretty human?" Helen nodded her head silently. "Okay… now imagine that I just did this in front of a massive crowd one day." All of a sudden, Helen watched as Ilia's skin and hair turned completely blue, a shade that actually matched Helen's blue skin to a T. "What would be your reaction?"
Helen blinked a bit before regaining herself, clearing her throat before answering. "Um… well, I would certainly be surprised, but I wouldn't exactly HATE you for it. Also, what kind of Faunus ARE you, exactly?"
"I'm a chameleon Faunus. Pretty fitting considering I can blend in with other humans." Ilia said as her skin shifted from blue to red to green before becoming normal again. "But that's the thing; I went to school in a place that where the majority of the population hated Faunus… and when I revealed myself by accident… I was immediately shunned by the people who I thought were my friends." There was a long pause, with everyone remaining silent before Ilia rubbed the back of her neck. "Heh… s-sorry, I-I didn't mean to go on that rant there. Those days are… mostly behind me, but I just wanted to explain why I—"
"It's alright." Helen said. "I… I kinda get it now, actually." The Kineceleran pursed her lips and lowered her head. "I honestly feel really bad not being able to see if from that perspective sooner… especially since I get the same kind of looks from most people." Her gaze moved from Ilia to Blake, to Sun, and to Velvet, her expression sympathetic. "If I had known about this… prejudice that you guys face, I wouldn't have assumed anything. Especially since it's the same kind that I often see when it involves humans and aliens."
Blake came up and placed a hand to Helen's shoulder. "It's okay, Helen. Trust me, you haven't offended us in the least. Things are getting… slowly better for Faunus in our world, so I'm confident that the same can happen with alien-human relations in this one."
"Yeah!" Sun cheered. "One day, I'm sure that everything between ALL of our races will be awesome… thought Remnant will probably have to get used to aliens, too."
"Heh, more than likely." Helen agreed before going back to Ilia. "But the main point is… I see where you're coming from now, Ilia, and I'm sorry for not seeing it from the point of view that I should have."
Ilia smiled back and shrugged. "Oh, it's alright. Like I said, those days are… mostly in the past. I still have a long way to go before fully moving on, but I'm getting there." She extended a hand toward the Kineceleran hopefully. "So, I'm gonna ask what Penny did; you wanna be friends?"
Helen was quick to return the handshake. "Of course, I'd be more than happy to."
"Great!" Ilia beamed as she reached over and put a hand to Penny's shoulder. "So, now that we're all friends here, how about we start making up a plan for how we're gonna rescue your friends tomorrow?"
"Yeah, that sounds—wait, tomorrow?" Helen asked, her eyes shifting back around toward Ben and Gwen. "I think it'd actually be a better idea if we go right now. I mean, we have no clue what they plan on doing with them, after all."
Gwen was the one to answer her. "A couple reasons, actually." She pointed to Helen. "For one, you're the only one who knows where their base is, and you're in no shape to go anywhere."
Helen made to step forward in challenge. "Wanna be—AAH!" Unfortunately, her legs began to feel wobbly again and she ended up falling back onto the couch, with Jaune and Pyrrha catching her before she could tumble off and onto the ground. Helen looked up to Gwen, who was giving her a raised brow. "…Okay, point taken."
"Hm, and for the second point; we need time to come up with a good plan of attack." Ben explained further. "Plus, the rest of the team is gonna need some time to recharge their batteries after the… rather chaotic day we just had." The hero crossed his arms as his gaze went out to his group of friends. "Between the hecticness of this morning and the attack we just dealt with this afternoon, we're gonna need all the time we need to recharge and plan out how we're gonna rescue Manny, Alan and… Rook, I think his name was?"
"Yeah, that's him." Helen nodded before letting out a sigh, resting her arms on her legs. "I really wish HE were here right now. He'd come up with a plan in absolutely no time."
Ruby leaned over so that she could see Helen's face. "Well, I guess we'll just have to do our best to come up with a good plan of our own, right?" She reached down and placed her hand over Helen's own. "It's like we said, we'll find a way to rescue them, no doubt about it."
Helen smiled and nodded back to her. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks Ruby, I—" RRRRR! Helen's eyes widened and she snapped her head down to her stomach, which was beginning to gurgle QUITE loudly. She glanced around to see everyone giving her wide-eyed stares, which caused her face to flush a deep blue. "Uh… hehe… well, I can at least say that I'm not feeling queasy anymore."
The whole room broke out into laughter, with Kevin adding in; "Hehe, well, you HAVE been out for about three hours, so I guess it only makes sense that you'd be a bit hungry."
This made Helen's eyes snap open. "Wait, THREE HOURS!?"
"Yeah, it's like, eight o'clock at night." Rex furthered, which caused Helen's jaw to drop again. "…Oh, we probably should have led with that, shouldn't we?"
Weiss rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's statement. "Gee, ya think, Robo-dolt?"
Helen sighed and facepalmed in disbelief. "Well, I guess at this point, a little rest and some food doesn't sound too bad."
"There, see? What'd I tell ya?" Gwen smiled as she gave Helen a pat on the shoulder. "Now, you stay here while I go get you a little something that won't upset your stomach."
"Thanks, Gwen." Helen nodded before glancing back out toward the large crowd of teens. "So, did any other MAJOR things happen in Remnant that I should know about?"
"Oh yeah, plenty." Ben answered. "But those will probably have to wait for a different time. Our top priority should be making a plan to help the guys up north. Once they're rescued, THEN we'll tell you all about what happened in Remnant. …But I think there IS one other thing that you should know about right now."
The hero craned his head over to Yang and gave a wink, the blonde understanding immediately. "Ah, yeah, there is…" She stepped over to her boyfriend and put an arm around him, pulling herself close to his chest, which took Helen by surprise. "See, me and this guy right here are actually a bit of an item. Not to brag or anything."
Helen's eyeridges rose up at this revelation, before she remembered that Ben HAD already told her about that. "Oh yeah! Ben told me that he was in a new relationship." Her eyes shifted to the hero in question. "I gotta say, Ben, I didn't think you'd move on so soon after—" She cut herself off when she realized what she was about to say. "O-Oh, wait, you probably don't wanna be reminded of that, do you?"
Ben shook his head. "It's okay, Helen, don't worry. Honestly, I got over Julie and I breaking up quite a bit ago…" He sent his sighs onto his Blonde Brawler girlfriend, sending her a loving smile. "It helps that I had someone as special as her around to get me over that hump."
"C'mon, Green Boy, don't give me TOO much credit on that one." Yang nudged her boyfriend in the side a little. "After all, it WAS all you."
"Yeah… but you're a great motivator, Goldie Locks." Ben leaned in and gave Yang a kiss, the blonde giggling into it.
The duo separated before Yang raised a brow. "Am I a motivator or motivation?"
Ben blushed at that. "Er, w-well, I—"
"Kidding, hon." Yang kissed his cheek before giving it a pat. "Just messing with you, you know that, right?"
"Hehe, okay, okay, I should've known." Ben said as he pressed his forehead against hers. "Love you, Goldie Locks."
"Same here, Green Boy."
From the couch, a chorus of "Aw's" came from the girls, with Helen clasping her hands together. "Oh, aren't YOU two just a cute couple?" the speedster cooed before setting her eyes back out to the crowd. "Okay, so any other couples here that I should know about? Pretty sure I'm counting four so far including Gwen and Kevin."
Rex cleared his throat and put an arm around Weiss. "Ahem, er, well… I'm pretty sure that list should include us." He eyed his white-haired girlfriend with a grin. "Ain't that right, Ice Princess? I'd say we make a good couple for our second day, right?"
Weiss rolled her eyes and laid her head on Rex's shoulder. "As cheesy as you make that sound, Robo-dolt, I'm very inclined to agree with you."
Helen couldn't help but smirk at the scene. "Heh, okay, NOW I can see what Bobo was teasing you about, Rex." The couple sent her similarly confused faces, which instantly made her explain herself. "N-Not that I don't think you two are incredibly sweet, which you are, it's just… I never imagined you'd go for a more… high-class type."
"Ah, I see where you're coming from." Weiss nodded. "I am—er, was the heiress of a pretty large company back in Remnant before my father cut me off from my inheritance recently, so I can see why you'd get that idea."
A surprised expression came to Helen's face. "Er… actually, I kinda just assumed because your dress costs a lot. But now that you brought it up, YOU WERE AN HEIRESS?!"
Weiss sighed and raised her hand in admittance. "Yes, yes I was. But like I said, I've been cut off from the inheritance and now both my older sister and I are without our father's money." She nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders. "And you know what? That's fine! I don't care that I'm not rich anymore. So long as I'm away from that total ass of a man I hesitate to call my father, I'm fine." She then smiled back up to Rex. "And it definitely helps that I have my friends AND my new boyfriend here with me."
"D'aw, you're sweet, Ice Princess." Rex said before pecking her cheek with a kiss.
"Okay, now THAT's adorable." Helen pointed out. "So… anyone else left?"
"Ahem." The Kineceleran girl did an about face… and was surprised to see that Cooper and Coco had stepped up, the blond genius with his arms settled around the girl's shoulders. "Yes, actually." Cooper answered. "Remember that fashion designer I told you about? Well, you're looking at her."
"…EEEEEE!" Helen squeed happily and let out a laugh, making her way over to Cooper to give him, and inadvertently, Coco, a hug. Over the course of their training with Max, Helen and the others often saw Cooper as a little brother figure… or in Alan's case, an OLDER brother, oddly enough. So knowing that he finally had a girlfriend just made Helen feel elated. "Haha! Cooper, I know I already said this once, but congratulations to the both of you!"
"Heh, thanks, Helen." Cooper said as he reciprocated the hug. "Glad that you approve."
"APPROVE?! Cooper, you two have my FULL blessing!" Helen exclaimed. "You have NO idea how happy I am that you're in a committed relationship… and that you're over your crush on Gwen."
All at once, Cooper, Coco and Gwen all slightly faltered at that, the three of them giving out awkward laughs. "Hehe… yeah, I heard that Tech Head had it BAD for Red over there." Coco commented. "But yeah, we've been goin' pretty strong for the past couple of weeks."
Helen clapped her hands eagerly. "Ooh, that's good to hear! So, how'd you two meet? And what was it like getting into your relationship?"
Cooper rubbed the back of his head. "Well… we pretty much met the moment Max and I ended up in Remnant." He set his eyes onto Coco with a loving smile. "We arrived in the middle of a big battle and I tried helping out… while my leg wasn't one-hundred percent. I almost got eaten alive by a Grimm… but then she saved me. And, for me at least, it was love at first sight."
Coco twirled her bang around in her finger. "And I wasn't too far behind. See, I like both guys AND gals, and I've been known to be a bit of a heartbreaker in the past. But once Tech Head and I got to talking… something just clicked." She leaned in and pecked Cooper's lips, the genius returning the kiss instantly. "About a week later, I came forward and told him exactly what I wanted… and it's all history from there."
"Oh… wow, that is VERY sweet!" Helen gushed. "Well, I'm VERY glad that you guys are happy together—" RRRRR! Helen was cut off by the sound of her own stomach rumbling, causing her to blush slightly again. "…Okay, GWEN! What the heck are you doing in there?! My stomach is starting to talk in a foreign language!" The entire living room erupted into laughter, with Helen doing the same soon after.
…..
About an hour later, Helen found herself outside on the back porch, standing by herself as she took in the warm, summer night air. It had been about an hour since she had woken up, and in that time, she had felt well enough to walk without her legs feeling wobbly. Running was still off the table for now, but she was certain that a good night's sleep would help her out with that. And then tomorrow… she would be off to rescue the team she was forced to leave behind. She clenched her hands around her arms, pursing her lips in frustration. 'I won't fail them again, that's a promise.'
Also, in the hour that had passed, she had gotten well acquainted with the numerous new faces that Ben had brought back with him from Remnant, aside from Team CFVY who had left with Cooper a while ago. "Sorry, Helen." Cooper had apologized to her. "As much as we'd like to stay, there's DEFINITELY no room in Ben's house for all of us… plus, I've been wanting to introduce Coco to my parents."
Helen smiled as she recalled his words, completely understanding his reasons for wanting to leave. 'Besides, with the amount of people in there, I doubt we'd even have room in the kitchen.' Aside from Teams RWBY, JNPR, SN, Penny and Ilia, Helen had gotten to meet a few others over dinner as well. Over dinner, she had the chance to speak with Yang's mom, Raven, her and Ruby's dad, Taiyang, their Uncle Qrow, and Wiess' sister, Winter. She had to admit, the Xiao Long-Rose-Branwen family dynamic was a bit… odd, and Winter seemed to be a little stern, but all in all, they were still good people.
Overall, she was happy to meet them all… but she could definitely see why they were going to be going to separate houses after that night. That group was just TOO big to be kept together in one small house. 'Makes me wonder how they handled it at Yang's place to begin with…'
Out of everyone there, she found herself talking with Ilia, Penny and Ruby, finding them to be some of the easiest to get along with. Heck, she had even found out that Ruby was a fellow speedster like herself, which lead to a rather interesting conversation…
…..
"Hey, I got an idea!" Ruby piped up, taking the three girls by surprise. "Helen, after we rescue your team, why don't we have a race?"
Helen blinked in surprise. "W-Wait, a race? Like between you and me?"
"Yeah, it'll be fun!" Ruby balled a determined fist with a grin. "I've been wanting to get in some more Semblance training, and as someone who ran a seven-hour trip in only about three, you definitely fit the bill as someone who can help me do that!"
Penny nodded in agreement. "Indeed! I think it would be a rather fun competition!"
Ilia was quick to concur as well. "Yeah, I'd definitely like to see that race!"
"OOH! So would I!" Nora exclaimed, all while making sure not to get up in Helen's face. "C'mon, Helen, whaddya say?"
Helen glanced around the room to see that the entire team was now eyeing her, wondering just what her answer was going to be. After deliberating it a little in her mind, the Kineceleran girl faced Ruby again and asked; "This is all just gonna be a friendly competition, right?"
"Eeyup!" Ruby said with a cheerful grin. "No rivalries here, I just want to test my Semblance against ya is all!"
There was that word again… "Semblance". Over the course of dinner, she had learned what that word had meant, at least in terms of it being an ability that all Remenantians had, each one unique to every person. Ruby's was apparently called "Petal Burst", which allowed her to move at speeds that were nearly unseen while taking the form of a blizzard of petals. It would certainly make for an interesting match up with her own Kineceleran speed, Helen knew that much. With a few more seconds of thinking it over, Helen smiled and nodded in approval, extending her hand toward Ruby. "Alright, Ruby, you're on!"
The entire living room erupted into a chorus of light cheering as Ruby shook Helen's hand in gratitude. "Thank you, Helen. I promise to give it my all!"
"So do I." Helen said before a determined expression came to her face, the girl pulling Ruby so that they were now eye to eye. "But don't let my queasiness from before fool you, I'm no slouch when it comes to speed. I may have my limitations, but you'll see just how fast I can really be."
Ruby returned the gesture with her own smirk. "Oh, it. Is. ON!"
…..
Helen had to admit, she WAS anticipating that race. It had been a while since she had something fast to go up against, after all. But for now, she had to focus on just how they were going to get her team out of that sticky situation they were in. She set her sights up at the moon to contemplate… only to get an eyeful of its full state. '…Well, I'm not sleeping tonight. Goddamn it.'
"Uh… hey." Helen perked up and turned her head, seeing Neptune emerge from the house behind her. "Sorry to barge in unannounced, heh… b-but Ben just wanted me to tell you that they were starting to talk strategy for the rescue mission tomorrow, and they wanted to know if you wanted in."
"Oh! Neptune, hey." The speedster greeted as the blue-haired boy stepped up next to her. "Yeah, I definitely want in on that. I was just… out here thinking, you know?"
Neptune nodded at that. "Yeah, I get ya. Sometimes we ALL need a break from the crazy stuff." He glanced back toward the sliding plexiglass door and saw Ben, Yang, Sun and the others all gathering in the living room, the whole group already discussing the plan for tomorrow. "Especially with a group like them. They're my friends, sure, but they CAN sometimes be a bit much. Kinda makes me glad we'll all have a bit of space to ourselves, if I'm being honest."
"Hm, I see." Helen grinned. "I couldn't help but notice that everyone stayed in their own little groups at the dinner table."
"Heh, yeah, we've got our own little cliques, for sure." Neptune agreed. "Mine's pretty much with Sun and Blake. Out of all of these guys, I know those two the best, after all."
The speedster smiled toward him. "I understand completely. But I'm sure you gel pretty well with everyone else, right?"
Neptune gave a small shrug. "Well… I like to think so… maybe." He rubbed the back of his neck with a contemplative face. "…Though honestly, I'm not ENTIRELY sure, either. I mean, I joined up with this big team a while ago, and… honestly it doesn't really feel like I've contributed much. I mean, I've definitely helped out in major battles, of course, but—"
"You don't feel like you're doing enough." Helen finished, leading Neptune to nod in affirmation. The Kineceleran gave a chuckle and stepped over to Neptune, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Neptune, I know exactly how you're feeling. I've dealt with those feelings plenty of times myself, and I've actually helped someone else with that, too."
The blue-haired boy raised a brow. "Really? Who?"
"Cooper, believe it or not."
In a split second, Neptune's eyes widened in shock. "W-Wait, COOPER?! The dude who built a suit of armor on a battlefield with a pile of SCRAPS used to feel the way I am?!"
"Yep." Helen confirmed. "You see, Cooper wasn't always the guy you see before you today." She put her hand down and held it just above her waistline. "See, before his growth spurt, he was about this tall, and he was VERY pudgy. As a result, when he started training with us, he had a LOT of self-esteem issues, and it didn't help that he thought his powers were inferior to ours." Helen tilted her head a bit. "But then… he came to me one day and told me about how he was feeling, and I helped him out a little, giving him a bit of advice and some words of encouragement."
Neptune raised an eyebrow. "Did that help?"
"Not at first." Helen shook her head. "But as his training continued, he found himself wanting to get better. And you know what? He did! He applied himself to the Plumber Academy and by the time he came out, he grew two and a half feet, got a ton of muscle and learned to use his powers in pretty effective situations." A wry smirk came to her face. "And now he has a hot-ass girlfriend. So yeah, he's improved quite a bit."
A blush came to Neptune's face at that last part. "So… I'm guessing the moral is to keep going and at some point, you'll get what you're looking for?"
"Something along those lines." Helen answered. "I'd say it's a bit closer to… apply yourself to what your good at and you'll really shine. Like maybe…" Her eyeridges rose up and a smile came to her face. "Oh! How about your Semblance? Maybe the answer lies with it?"
Neptune visibly winced at that, leaving Helen confused. "Er… no. No, I-I don't think so. I'm glad that you want to help, Helen, really. But my Semblance… that's pretty much off the table."
"…And why is that?" Helen saw Neptune give out a sigh before reassuring him. "If you don't want to talk about it, we don't have to, Neptune. I'm not about to pry."
"Well… let's just say that there was a bit of an incident when I was a kid and leave it at that for now." Neptune answered. "It's not exactly a memory that I like to relive. Maybe someday, but not today." He gave a small smile to Helen again. "But thanks again for talking, Helen. I appreciate it."
"No problem. And hey, if you ever need someone to vent to, I'm always willing to lend an ear." Helen said before taking in a deep breath, taking in the nice summer air. "But hey, for all that's going on at the moment, at least we got a pretty good night, right?"
Neptune put his hands behind his head and set his sights upward. "Oh yeah, totally. The skies are clear, the stars are all out, and the moon is nice and fu—" The boy's eyes shot open wide, to the point where Helen thought they would come springing out of his head. "F-F-F-F-Fu..."
A concerned face came to Helen's features, unnerved at Neptune's rather astonished expression. "Uh… Neptune? Are you alright—"
"GUYS!" Neptune suddenly spun around and opened the plexiglass door, shouting into the kitchen and through the living room; "GUYS! Winter, Tai, Raven, Qrow, EVERYBODY! Get out here NOW! You've GOTTA see this!"
From inside, a response came immediately; "Neptune!?" Winter said as she came rushing around the corner, with the other adults on her heels. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
"Are we under attack?!" Raven asked as the rest of the team all began pouring into the kitchen as well.
"N-No! We're not!" Neptune denied before pointing up to the sky. "J-Just… come look at this!"
With a slew of confused faces, the group complied, with Qrow giving a sigh as he stepped out first. "Ugh, kid, I swear, if this is some sorta nonsense, then I'm gonna—" Qrow cut himself off when his eyes went skyward, as did everyone else when they saw what he was seeing. It was Earth's moon… a FULL moon, to be more precise. Everyone was nearly at a loss for words as their gazes were all glued to the enormous white sphere up in the sky, though that didn't mean they weren't trying to find them. "I-I… I don't… WHAT?!"
"It's… it's the moon." Ruby murmured. "EARTH'S moon."
"And… it's completely full." Weiss added, her arms slinking around Rex's. "I… I don't know what to say."
Pyrrha cupped her hands together, snuggling up to Jaune as they basked in the moonlight. "Oh my goodness, it's so beautiful!"
"It really is." Jaune agreed. "Breathtaking, really."
"And quite bright as well." Ren added
All of a sudden, Nora ran into the back lawn and jumped up as high as she could, spreading her arms out as she stared at the moon. "And it's so HUGE!"
Tai and Raven were also quite flabbergasted. "…Wow, I literally have NOTHING." Tai uttered. "I mean, I usually have SOMETHING to say, but—" He cut himself off when he felt a certain someone's head nestle into his chest, his eyes moving down to see Raven smiling up toward the moon. And in its light… she was just as breathtaking as the moon itself. "Uh… Rae, I—"
"Ssh, let's not ruin the moment, shall we?" Raven whispered. "Why don't we just take in the sight?"
The blond man pursed his lips and gave a shrug. "Eh, I'm okay with that." He then put his arm around Raven's shoulders, pulling her in closer. "Sometimes, the best thing to do is just not to say anything, I guess."
"Indeed." Winter piped up. "This is just… utterly gorgeous."
Helen blinked and glanced around to everyone, the Remnant natives all completely slack-jawed. "…Uh, am I missing something here? What's the big deal?" She jerked her thumb up to the natural satellite. "It's literally JUST the moon."
It was then that Gwen stepped up, pulling her phone out all the while. "Maybe to you and me, Helen. But for these guys, it's a pretty big deal. You see, back in their world, their moon looks like this." Gwen pulled up a picture of the moon on her phone and showed it to Helen… and the sight of Remnant's moon baffled her.
"I-I… huh?!" Sure enough, she was seeing a mostly shattered moon, its bits and pieces all floating around its massive cavity. "I… how the HELL did that happen?!"
"Oh, a dark god blasted through it eons ago." Kevin answered. "No big deal."
Helen stood there, dumbfounded by what she had heard. She faced Neptune and said; "I have SEVERAL questions."
"Heh, I'm sure." Neptune chuckled. "And trust me, you'll get them soon enough. Right now, I think we should just let everyone enjoy this moment."
"Yeah, what Neptune said." Ben affirmed before placing an arm around Yang's shoulders. "I honestly can't believe that we almost forgot to SHOW you our moon."
Yang leaned her head onto Ben's shoulder in comfort. "Ah, no biggie. We would've seen it at SOME point, I'm sure. Kinda hard to miss the big floating ball up in the sky, ya know?"
"Man, this is SO cool." Sun commented before noticing that Blake's ears were twitching, her eyes zeroed in directly on the full moon… and her pupils had shifted into cat-like slits. "…Uh, Blake? Hon? Are you okay?"
"I… I have a strange need to start prowling around for some reason." Blake answered, her attention not even going to her boyfriend. "And I have no idea why."
Ilia raised an eyebrow to her friend. "Uh… Blake?" Ilia snapped her fingers in front of Blake's eyes, the cat girl blinking before shaking the odd feeling out of her head. "Phew, okay… you feeling better?"
"Ugh, yeah, sorry about that." Blake bowed her head. "I have NO idea what came over me there…"
Yang gave out a laugh and nudged Blake in the arm. "Hehe, sounds like you let your instincts take over there for a bit, partner." She gave Blake a wink, to which she grumbled back. "Ah, don't give me that face. Besides, you're just lucky you're a cat and not a—"
"AAAWWRROOOOOOO!" Everyone's concentration was taken off the moon immediately as they heard… a couple of tiny howls. Their heads snapped down to see Romulous, Rema, and even Zwei all sitting down at their feet… and they were howling at the moon. "AAAWWRROOOOOOO!"
Penny, Nora, Ruby and Weiss all let out squees of adoration. "EEEEE! Oh my goodness, that is SO cute!" the redheaded android exclaimed. "I believe that this is their first howl!"
Both Pyrrha and Blake knelt down to their respective pups, giving them proud pets on the head. "Oh, Rommy! Such a big step for you!" Pyrrha cooed affectionately. "Such a good boy, yes you are!"
"And you're a VERY good girl too, Rema!" Blake praised. "You're gonna have a VERY good howl when you're older, yes you are!"
Jaune and Sun couldn't help but smirk, the duo eyeing each other knowingly. "It's cute when they get like this, isn't it?" Jaune pointed out.
"Oh yeah, totally." Sun gave a thumbs up.
"Uh, ahem!" Everyone perked up and their attention was drawn to the sliding door, where Sandra and Carl were standing. Sandra sent Blake and Pyrrha an apologetic smile. "Girls, as cute as Rommy and Rema's howls are, I'm afraid you'll have to bring them inside. We have neighbors, after all, and we'd rather not be responsible for waking up the whole neighborhood."
Blake and Pyrrha quickly realized that indeed, there were other houses around. They were no longer out in the middle of the woods like they had once been during their stay at Tai's house, so they could easily disturb the peace. "O-Oh, right! Sorry!" Blake apologized before she and Pyrrha picked up their respective pup and began heading inside, with Sun and Jaune on their heels. "C'mon babies, let's get you to bed… hopefully."
"Yeah, we should probably get back inside, anyway—gah!" Rex slapped his neck, finding that a mosquito had tried to bite him. "Besides, the bugs are all startin' to come out."
"AH! Ew! Yes, let's get inside, quick!" Weiss agreed, with everyone heading inside before they became bug food.
The only ones to linger behind were Ben, Yang, Gwen and Ruby, the four of them all continuing to stare up at the moon for a few more moments. "So…" Ben began, sending a smile to both his girlfriend and the Hooded Huntress. "On a scale of one to ten, how was your guys' first day on Earth?"
Ruby quirked a brow toward him and smirked. "It HAS to be one to TEN, doesn't it?" She received an eyeroll from Ben in response, making her giggle a bit. "Hehe! In all seriousness, I'd give it a solid nine."
"Yeah!" Yang agreed. "I mean, we got to meet your family, had an awesome lunch, we got to fight an army of robots, we met Helen, AND we got to see the full moon." The Blonde Brawler gave a thumbs up. "All in all, that's a big win in my book!"
"Heh, well, I'm glad you enjoyed all of it." Gwen chuckled. "Because tomorrow is when things REALLY start to get interesting."
"No kidding." Ben said with a sigh. "Which reminds me, we've gotta get back to planning." He placed a hand to Yang's back and the couple began making their way toward the house, with Gwen and Ruby not too far behind. "And let's hope we'll all be able to get some decent sleep after staring at the moon for so long."
"Wishful thinking, Ben." Gwen deadpanned. "You know we're probably ALL gonna stay up tonight, right?"
"…Damn it." The girls got a good laugh at Ben's expense as they went inside, the hero knowing full well that this impromptu sleepover was going to be exhausting.
…..
A/N: And there you have it! Helen has met the gang and the team now have their next mission lined up for them; save Manny, Rook and Alan from the Collective! Of course, the meeting went rather well… aside from the fact that Helen was a bit unsteady at first from her extremely long run. But hey, at least she's made fast friends with quite a few members of the team… pun FULLY intended, hehe… And also, it seems like she and Neptune have hit it off rather well, too… hmmm…
But of course, we ALSO get the Remnant native's first reaction to Earth's FULL MOON! And, as expected, they're all plenty astonished by the sight of it. I mean, after looking up at a Shattered Moon for most of their lives, why WOULDN'T they be? That said, they'll be paying the price for staring at it too long… in more ways than one. Sleep deprivation AND howling wolf pups? Kind of a bad combo right there.
Okay, so as I said before, updates for this story will be a bit sporadic for the time being. As such, I won't have an update for you THIS Friday, but I WILL have one on the following Friday; April 23. I'll try to give you guys specific dates on when to expect new chapters going forward until my MHA/Transformers crossover fic comes to a conclusion, which as I said, SHOULD be soon, like within the next month or so.
So, with that being said… NEXT TIME! After a rather exhausting night of planning and trying to get at least SOME sleep, the gang all head out to Niagara Falls in the Rustbucket III to make a daring rescue. However, once they arrive, they are greeted with a VERY surprising sight; that being a certain Revonnahgander LITERALLY digging his way out of his prison. But just HOW did he escape? Well, we'll just have to find out next time! Thanks for reading everyone, and I'll see you all later! And as always, stay safe out there!
