A/N: Greetings one and all and welcome back to the story! And as you can see, we're starting out with our adaptation of some Omniverse events here! Now, as I said last chapter, this is gonna be a MULTI-parter. For those of you who recall, back in Volume 1, I had a perpensity for two-part stories. Here, however, things will probably be a bit different. Because as I was watching the first two episodes of Omniverse and taking notes, I was like; "…Crap, this is probably gonna be a three-parter, isn't it?" So, here we are, with our first THREE-part story arc! Now, I think we all remember just how the first arc of Omniverse went, so you'll be seeing a lot of familiar events being played out here, but they're gonna be going in a bit of a different way now that the RWBY gang are involve. So, with that said, let's get to it, shall we? This is…
Chapter 12: The More Things Change, Part 1
…..
The DX Mark 10 and Rustbucket were both rolling down the streets of Bellwood as fast as they possibly could without going too far over the speed limit, with both vehicles making a beeline straight for where the plume of dust and smoke was coming from. They could see it right ahead of them, and with each passing moment, their apprehension grew more and more as several questions entered their minds. Where had this happened? What had happened? Were there people caught up in it and if so… were there any that didn't make it? That last one sent a chill through them most of all.
Inside the Rustbucket, though, Max had resolved to get some answers as he drove his RV to the site of the incident, pulling up a holographic map of the town from his dashboard. He let out a sigh as he divided his attention between that and the road, activating his commlink to the base. "Kevin, please tell me that you heard that."
"Heh, HEARD it?" Kevin answered back. "Max, the whole base is blaring with alarms. If I hadn't stayed behind to help Coop with his armor, I would've joined ya."
"It's no problem, we'll handle it." Max assured. "Just tell me where this happened and if we need to worry about casualties."
"Alright, let's see…" Kevin paused on the other end for a few seconds before coming up with something. "Seems like the epicenter of that disaster is right around… here!" Max's holographic map began zooming into a certain street corner in Bellwood, with a large red circle highlighting it. "And lucky for you, I know what that place is. It's an abandoned warehouse that hasn't been in use for ages. Locked up pretty tight and nobody lives near it."
In the passenger seat, Rook gave a single nod. "Good, that means that there is a good chance that no one was hurt."
"Doesn't mean we can instantly rule that out, Rook." Max reminded. "Whatever happened to that building, we need to check it out, ASAP."
At the table seats, Ilia and Swift were sitting together, the two visibly quite worried at what was going on. "Okay, so we know that the place has been abandoned." Ilia noted. "So the big question is… what caused it? And what exactly happened?"
"Good question." Max nodded. "Kevin, anything else?"
"Well, we DID detect a small tremor there, so… earthquake?"
"Sounded more like an explosion, really." Swift reminded. "But how big could one explosion be to cause an earthquake like that?"
Rook pursed his lips in thought. "…Perhaps it did not. Rather, it could have been an explosion powerful enough to cause a collapse, which in turn, caused the tremor." He shifted his eyes toward Max. "If that is the case, then we definitely should investigate, quickly."
Max gave an affirming hum at that. "You're right, Rook. Kevin, thanks for your help. Max out."
Within a few minutes time, the two vehicles had arrived at their destination… and what they saw made their jaws drop. There, on display for them all to see, was a building that was half destroyed. The half of it that was nearer to the street had sunken down into a massive crater, one that was so deep that it looked like an asteroid had hit the Earth's surface. Everyone exited their rides and approached the crater's edge, with the main team taking point while Max, Rook and Swift all stood back.
"Woah… bye-bye, building." Nora commented.
"What could've done this?" Ren asked in horror.
Ben shook his head. "I don't know…" He glanced over to the side to see a handful of onlookers, where were all now staring at them instead of the wreckage. "Hey! You all! What happened here?"
"W-We don't know!" One man answered. "Everyone was just going about their business and then… BAM! A flash of red light and that building was down for the count!"
Ruby asked the next question. "Was there anyone caught up in the blast?"
"Not that we could see." Another woman replied. "I'm sure we would've heard at least a few screams by now if there had been."
Yang set her eyes back down to the crater, punching her fist into her hand. "Well, I guess the best we can do is investigate and try to find out exactly what happened. Let's go, guys!"
With that, the team all began to move into the massive hole, with Ilia setting a hand on Swift's shoulder. "You stay here with Max and Rook, okay? Wouldn't want to violate your parole on the very first day, right?"
Swift smirked and waved Ilia off. "Yeah, yeah, go do your hero thing, girl."
Ilia couldn't help but giggle at that as she began to slide down the side of the crater, the slide ending with her jumping right off of a pipe and doing a mid-air somersault before landing on her feet. She began searching around, keeping a sharp eye out for any movement whatsoever. "So… anyone see anything?"
"That's a negatory!" Nora said as she searched through every nook and cranny of rubble. The Pink Dynamo pulled her head up… only to take notice of Penny, her fellow redhead having seemingly spaced out. "Uh… Pen? You alright?"
"Oh, I am quite fine." Penny assured. "I am simply searching for any signs of human life forms…" The android began craning her head around, her eyes scanning the entire crater and what remained of the building for anyone that might've got caught in it. "Hm… there doesn't seem to be any… wait."
Ruby raised a brow to her friend. "What, Penny? Did you find somebody?"
"…Well, I think." Penny furrowed her brow a bit. "But there is something… off about these life signatures. They don't appear to be human at all."
"How many are there?"
"Three in total." Penny pointed over her shoulder. "One is over there…" She then pointed up to one of the floors of the building. "And there are two up there."
The team began to move to where Penny was pointing, with Ren and Nora finding… nothing. The only thing they really saw was a weird-looking toilet. "I don't really see any one here." Ren said.
"They are in the toilet." Penny replied, keeping her eyes trained on the building.
Nora blinked in confusion. "W-Wait, what—"
All of a sudden, Penny let out a gasp as she saw one of the life signatures in the building begin to move. "Wait! Something's coming!" Just as she said that, though, the life signature began to… change. There was a massive output of energy coming from it before whatever this life form was started growing at an accelerated rate… and it was coming out right to them. Penny whipped her head around to the others and shouted; "BRACE FOR IMPACT!"
"ROOOOAAAAAARR!" Right then and there, from out of one of the higher floors of the building, a massive beast emerged. Everyone couldn't help but recoil at the very sight of it. Whatever this thing was, it looked almost as if a crab and a rhinoceros had conceived some sort of unholy spawn, its red eyes gleaming at them as it came barreling down the side of the crater toward them on its six large legs. Oddly enough, it also appeared to be wearing a red, spiked collar around its neck, too. Its rather huge horn was lowered to them, and it was charging directly at Ben.
The hero recognized the danger immediately and shouted; "SCATTER!" The team did as he instructed and dodged the beast, which charged past them and up the other side of the slope, allowing the citizens above to get a good view of it. Naturally, a chorus of screams followed soon after, to which Ben called out; "Grandpa! Rook! Get the people away from here!"
"You got it, Ben!" Max affirmed as he and Rook went to do just that, with Swift staying near the edge of the crater with a worried face.
"Guys! Let me help!" the Aerophibian hybrid insisted. "I can blast a few notches in this thing, I'm sure!"
However, Ilia shook her head. "Swift, don't worry, we're good! You stay up there and keep any stray people away from the edge! We'll be fine, promise!"
The beast turned back around and growled at the team, barring its fangs as it got ready to attack again. "Heh, three guesses as to what the heck trashed this place." Yang remarked as she readied Ember Celica while the others also got their weapons out. "Gotta admit, it did a pretty thorough job." She eyed her boyfriend with a smirk. "So, what's the plan, Green Boy?"
Ben activated the Omnitrix and began scrolling through his options. "Oh, don't worry, Goldie Locks, I've got a pretty good idea of who I want to use here." He set his sights onto the giant rhino crab and grinned as well. "Alright, big, mean and ugly, let's see how you hold up to…" Ben pressed the Omnitrix core down and began transforming, though the alien that he got was NOT the one he had selected.
All at once, Ben's body became covered in thick, blue fur, his skin becoming a much darker shade of blue as well. He grew a long, slender tail that had two dark blue rings near the end of it, and his legs became a lot shorter as well with only three toes on them. His two arms split into four, with each one only having three fingers, and his face became much more like that of a primate's… except for one detail. His two eyes had become four, each of them perfectly spherical and with a rather large black pupil in comparison to his green irises. The Omnitrix symbol situated itself on his chest, completing his transformation.
"OOH-OOH-AH-HAH!" The monkey-like alien chittered before suddenly stopping in confusion, his four eyes glancing down in shock. "W-Wait, SPIDERMONKEY?!" One of his hands slapped his face and he groaned. "Ah, man! I could've SWORN I dialed in Diamondhead!"
Ruby's eyebrows rose up in surprise. "Huh, it's one of those things that Simian is… it's an…"
"An Arachnichimp, I think." Ilia commented.
Yang sent her boyfriend a skeptical face. "You didn't slam the core down again, did you?"
"Ooh-ooh, NO! And I made SURE not to!" Spidermonkey insisted before throwing all four of his hands up into the air. "Curse you, watch! AH-HAH-HAH!"
"ROOOAAAARR!" Before anyone knew it, the massive beast was barreling back toward them, charging for Spidermonkey once again. Having taken the team by surprise, it successfully rammed into the Arachnichimp and slammed him right up against the other side of the crater, trapping him between the ground and its horn. It let out a low growl as it glared right at him.
"Ah-ah! If I were Diamondhead, you would be SO shish-kebabbed right now!" Spidermonkey said before taking aim at the beast's mouth with his tail, spraying it with thick, gooey web. But that proved to be ineffective as the monster merely had to open its maw to rip the webbing, leaving the hero in a spot of bother. "Huh… well, alright then!" He craned his head up and saw an overhanging piece of the building directly above him, a smirk coming to his face as he got an idea. "Ooh-ooh! Got it!" He redirected his tail toward the overhanging piece and shot a line of web directly at it, grabbing onto the web line with both hands before giving it a strong yank. "Okay, ya butt-ugly brute, let's see how you like—" SNAP! Spidermonkey's eyes snapped open when he heard his web line snap, followed by it falling from the flooring… along with several pieces of debris as well. "…Crap—AGH!"
All at once, the piece of flooring slammed directly into the beast's head, allowing Spidermonkey to get free… but the hero was also buried beneath plenty of debris as a result. "BEN!" Yang shouted before propelling herself forward with her gauntlets. She let out a mighty battle cry as she slammed her fist directly into the rhino crab's face, making it stumble back a few feet. Yang landed on the ground and called out to her teammates; "Guys! Keep that Crabdozer busy while I get Ben out of there!"
"You got it, sis!" Ruby said with a thumbs up. "We'll… wait, Crabdozer?"
Ilia pulled out her Lightning Lash and began to move in. "No time for questions, Ruby! C'mon guys, let's do this!"
"HAHA! Now you're talkin'!" Nora cackled as she and Ren ran into battle. The latter began peppering the beast with Stormflower, drawing its attention away from Ben and onto him while Nora circled around to the other side. Once she was in position, she gave out a sharp whistle and cried; "HEY! CRABDOZER!" The monster went to circle around to her, but Nora was already on the move, taking aim with Magnhild before shooting at its face. The Crabdozer roared as one of Nora's grenades exploded near its eyes, forcing them shut as it shook away the pain. "Haha! Gotcha!"
"Nice one, Nora!" Ruby said as she circled around the Crabdozer using her Semblance and stopped directly above it. She pulled out Crescent Rose and fell toward the beast's back. "Now let's see what it thinks of this!" Ruby slashed her scythe down on two of the many spikes that littered the Crabdozer's back, slicing them both clean off and making it howl in pain again.
Meanwhile, Ilia had gotten around toward the front as well, using her Lightning Lash to whip the beast and send electric shocks into it. And while the electricity didn't seem to do much, she WAS taking chunks of its hide off with every lash she gave it, and it was then that she discovered something interesting. "Huh? Hey, guys! I think this thing's made of rock!"
"I see." Ren said as he eyed his weapons. "So I don't think I would be much help here. Nora, hammer time?"
"HAMMER TIME, baby!" Nora grinned wildly as she transformed Magnhild into its hammer form, launching herself up into the air with it before careening back down toward it at high speed. "Take this!" With as much strength as she could muster, she slammed Magnhild down onto the Crabdozer's head, forcing it down onto the ground as she stood atop its head. She chuckled a little when it seemed like that did the trick… but she was quickly silenced when the Crabdozer opened its eyes. "…Uh-oh—" BAM! "AAAAAAGGH!" With a single ram of its horn, the Crabdozer sent Nora careening directly into the side of the crater, her body imprinting into the dirt she landed in.
"NORA!" Ren ran over as she dropped out of the imprint and toward the bottom of the hole, jumping up to catch her. "Are you alright?"
Nora dazedly opened her eyes and grinned up at him, letting out a small giggle. "Hehe… oh, I am now." The comment made Ren's eyes widen, his face flushing red as Nora put a hand to his arm. "Thanks for catching me, Renny."
"Y-You're welcome." Ren returned.
"WOAH!" The duo were brought out of their small trance by the sound of Ruby's shout, their heads whipping up in time to see the Hooded Huntress being bucked around on the Crabdozer's back like a cowboy on a bull. "GAH! Somebody get me off this wild ride!" Using her Semblance, she dashed off the Crabdozer and it came to a halt, moving around to glare after her as she came to a landing next to Ilia. "Hey! What's the big idea?!"
"Ruby, let's give this thing something to chew on!" Ilia said as she retracted her Lightning Lash and took aim at the beast, an electric spark beginning to form at the end of her weapon.
Ruby shifted Crescent Rose into its sniper rifle mode and took aim at the Crabdozer's face. "Good idea! Eat this, creep!" Within seconds, she was shooting off multiple Fire Dust rounds at it, with Ilia blasting a single powerful spark of electricity at it as well. However, the Crabdozer simply opened its mouth and ate the bullets, along with the spark, much to their shock. "…Uh, okay, didn't expect that."
Ilia was a bit more miffed, though. "Just what the heck IS this thing, anyway?!"
"ROOOAAAAARRR!"
All at once, the Crabdozer came barreling toward Ruby again, the girl letting out a yelp before pulling Ilia close and getting her out of the way with her Semblance. However, as the petal blizzard cleared, the Crabdozer found itself suddenly halted, a great force pushing against its face. Once the petals cleared, though, it was revealed to be none other than Penny, the android having activated her Mechano-Crusher arms to stop it.
"Hey! Stop picking on my friends!" With all of her strength, Penny lifted the Crabdozer and tossed it right across the crater, with it landing on its back against one of the slopes.
Ruby came to a stop again and set Ilia down, giving Penny a grateful smile. "Hah, thanks Penny!"
The android gave her a salute. "You are quite welcome, Ruby! However, we are not done here, yet." She furrowed her brow at the beast as it struggled to get up, her sights focusing on its collar. "I have done a thorough scan of that beast, and I have concluded that there is some strange energy being emitted from that collar."
Ilia raised a brow. "Energy? What kind?"
"I am unsure… but it is quite similar to the Omnitrix." Penny saw both of her friends gasp at the revelation. "Indeed, which is why we need some help against this thing." Her head whipped around toward Yang, who was just getting Spidermonkey out of the rubble. "Yang! How's Ben?!"
Yang helped the Arachnichimp get up to his feet slowly, the blonde darting her eyes toward Penny. "He's doing good! A bit shaken up, but he doesn't look hurt!"
"Good, because we could use all the help we can—"
"PENNY, watch out!" Ruby cried out.
But it was too late. BAM! "GYAH!" Penny let out a yell as the Crabdozer slammed right into her once again, making her heels dig into the ground as she was pushed back with excessive force. Penny reached up and grabbed onto the monster's head with her Mechano-Crushers, pushing back with all her might. "RAH! Any time would do, guys!"
Spidermonkey shook the daze out of his head and focused himself, glowering at the beast with clenched teeth. "Okay, ooh-ooh-ah-ah! I've had it!"
"Yeah, so have I." Yang agreed. "Think you can change into Diamondhead and we can get this back on track?"
The hero kept his focus on the monster for a little while longer before a smirk came to his lips. "…Actually, I think I have a better idea. Time to put on a bit of muscle!" Spidermonkey reached for the Omnitrix core on his chest, turned it, and then slammed it down, anchoring it into place. Then, from the core itself, Spidermonkey began to change even further. What was once a small, blue monkey was now a giant gorilla with purple skin and black fur, its four eyes gleaming as yet another pair emerged on his forehead. In addition, rather than a tail, he now had two large pairs of spider legs emerging from his back, elevating him off the ground considerably. His jaw split in half as he opened it, a loud whooping call escaping he throat as he beat his cheat. "AAH! AAH! ULTIMATE SPIDERMONKEY! GRAAAAHH!"
Yang's face was priceless. Her eyes had nearly bugged out of her head and her jaw was practically on the ground… but that slowly morphed into a wicked smile as excitement quickly took over. "OOOH-HOO-HOO! I LOVE IT!" She thrust her arms to her boyfriend with extreme enthusiasm. "Ben, you are a GIANT GORILLA!"
"Yeah, pretty awesome, ain't it?" The evolved Arachnichimp smirked as she jabbed a thumb to his back. "Now hop on, we've got a Crabdozer to deal with!"
"You read my mind, babe!" Yang hopped onto her boyfriend's hairy back and held onto his shoulders, pointing toward the Crabdozer. "Let's take it down!"
With that, Ultimate Spidermonkey let out a loud cry and beat his chest again before making a run for it, using his gorilla arms and legs to propel him forward at considerable speed. This loud, booming call was enough to grab everyone's attention, including the Crabdozer, who disengaged from Penny to face the approaching duo. That proved to be a mistake as Penny slammed one of her Mechano-Crushers into its face, causing it to stagger back a bit. "Hm! Shouldn't take your eye off your opponent!"
"GRAAAH!" Spidermonkey let out another belting scream as he used his spider legs to jump up high, his body careening down and slamming right into the side of the incapacitated Crabdozer. With that, he began pounding away at the side of the beast, with Yang jumping off to do the same… only to its face.
"RAH! UGH! That's what you GET!" Yang shouted as she continued to pummel the beast's muzzle, unloading Fire Dust rounds with every punch. However, to her surprise… the bullets weren't leaving any dents at all. In fact, the fire just seemed to bounce off it's hide. "What the—Ben! I'm not making any headway! AGH!" All at once, the Crabdozer began moving again, tossing Ultimate Spidermonkey off while Yang was forced to get back.
"Me either!" Spidermonkey admitted as he used his spider legs to jump back. "Might be time to change tactics!" The evolved Arachnichimp split his jaw open and shot out a massive web rope at the Crabdozer, hitting it in the side before he then leapt straight over it. Spidermonkey swiftly then went back under the Crabdozer, all while keeping his web rope going, and he repeated this process again before he was sure he hand the beast entangled.
…However, the Crabdozer was still able to move all of its limbs despite what Ultimate Spidermonkey just did. "Uh, hate to ask a stupid question, but what was the point of that?!" Nora asked.
"THIS!" Spidermonkey pulled the web out of his mouth and, with every ounce of strength he had, he managed to lift the Crabdozer off the ground and, with a surprising amount of momentum, he began spinning it around in the air. The entire team were transfixed on the Crabdozer as the evolved Arachnichimp continued to spin it several times over before finally, he let go of the web. As a result, the beast was sent flying right up onto the edge of the crater, slamming head first into it as a bunch more rumble came down on it. Once it was thoroughly buried, Ultimate Spidermonkey placed his hands on his hips and laughed. "HA! And THAT is how you bury something, GORILLA STYLE!"
But before anyone could begin celebrating, the rubble began to rumble and, all at once, it exploded out in all directions, the Crabdozer roaring in retaliation. "Oh, come ON!" Yang grit her teeth. "Is there ANYTHING that can stop this thing?!" The beast moved back around and was about to set upon them again… but then stopped, its head perking up a bit before spinning right back around and crawling back up to the floor that it came out of. "Uh… okay, that was a rhetorical question!"
"Get back here! GRAAH!" Ultimate Spidermonkey shot a web out of his mouth up to the destroyed building and began climbing up to it, with Penny activating her Air Heart jetpack to follow. By the time they had made it up to the floor, however… there was nothing there, stunning both of them. "Wha… how… WHERE?!"
"All very good questions." Penny concurred. "I could have sworn that the Crabdozer AND another life form were up here as well. But now… they have both vanished."
"…That's not good. Come on." Ultimate Spidermonkey jumped down from the building and landed right in front of the group, with Penny descending right next to him. The hero slapped the Omnitrix, changing back into regular Spidermonkey before changing again back into his human form. Ben waited until everyone was gathered up before letting out a sigh. "Whatever it was… it just disappeared, along with the other life sign that Penny detected up there."
Everyone was shocked to say the least. "Oh, come ON!" Ruby threw her head back, her arms raised to the sky. "Just how many disappearing things are we going to have to deal with this week?!"
Yang shook her head, visibly frustrated at that. "No clue, little sis. So… I think we can all agree that was SUPER weird, right?"
Ren placed a hand to his chin in thought. "It is, and it doesn't sit well with me. Just what WAS that thing?"
"No clue." Nora shrugged, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder. "But I think your grandpa might know."
The group all turned to see Max, Rook and Swift coming down the side of the crater, the former being helped down slowly and steadily by the other two. Once they came to the bottom, they ran over to the team. "Kids, are you all okay?" Max asked. "None of you are hurt, right?"
"No, grandpa, we're fine." Ben answered. "Just really confused."
Swift couldn't help but chuckle dryly at that. "Well, you're not the only one, Tennyson." She strolled over to Ilia and set a hand on her shoulder. "You okay? That thing got REALLY close to eating you."
Ilia smiled and placed a reassuring hand over Swift's own. "Yeah, I'm good. But man, that thing was tough as heck." She directed her gaze over to Max with a raised brow. "Max, do you know what that thing was?"
Max placed his hands on his hips. "I do. That was a Cleoptceros, an alien predator that's native to Pyros."
"Eh, not as cool of a name as "Crabdozer", but I'll take it." Yang shrugged.
However, Ben's eyebrows shot up at his grandfather's words. "Pyros… Heatblast's home planet?"
"Exactly. So whatever you do, don't transform INTO Heatblast while around it. Its saliva is made specifically to douse a Pyronite's flames for easy consumption."
A shiver went up Ben's spine as everyone else visibly cringed. "Ugh, okay, so what's it doing on Earth?"
"Not sure." Max admitted. "There's no easy way for a Cleoptceros to GET to Earth, so if I had to guess, it was brought here. Did you see where it went?"
"Negative." Penny replied. "It vanished when it went back into the building, along with another life form that I had detected in there."
Rook hummed when he heard that, throwing in a suggestion of his own. "Well, if I were to hazard a guess, I would assume that since the Cleoptceros disappeared WITH that other life form, perhaps that would be our missing link."
Penny pursed her lips in thought. "Perhaps… but there was something strange about the whole thing." There was a brief pause, with everyone focusing on the redhead as she explained. "You see, before the Crabdozer came out of the building, its life signature was much different. It was quite a bit smaller, but then, I sensed a massive output of energy from the collar that it had around its neck and it grew INTO that massive beast. And what's more…" She glanced over to Ben, eyeing the Omnitrix. "The energy was very similar to Ben's watch."
Max's face became shocked as he set his sights on Ben, who gave him a serious look. "So, think we've got some more Omnitrix copycats going around?"
"Maybe, but… who in their right might would use alien predators?" Max wondered. "This makes absolutely no sense—"
POP! "IS IT GONE?!"
"GAH!" The entire group let out a collective yell as they all spun around, surprised to see a small alien having emerged from… a toilet, just like Penny had said. The alien's skin was a bright green color and its eyes were big, bright yellow and on the sides of its head rather than front and center. Instead, its face was covered in warts, and it wore a set of black and silver armor on its small body. Ilia was the one who voiced the question on everyone's mind; "Who're you?!"
The alien responded in its high-pitched voice, showing its sharp teeth. "Pakmar. This is my place… or rather, WAS my place." Pakmar jumped out of the toilet and proclaimed; "Pakmar's Place!"
"I see." Ruby said as she smiled brightly and lowered herself to Pakmar's eye level. "Well, you're safe now, little guy!"
However, Pakmar simply walked away with a dismissive wave. "My heroes." he mumbled sarcastically before taking up a broom. As he started sweeping up the pieces of a broken toilet, Ruby couldn't help but be stunned by his behavior.
"Did… did he just give me the brush off?"
"Apparently, he did." Yang affirmed, her sister's lower lip quivering at the revelation. She stepped up to Pakmar and crossed her arms. "Okay, despite you being completely rude to my little sister, I'm still gonna offer you some help here—"
"NO! Go away!" Pakmar snapped, making Yang recoil. "I don't want any more trouble."
And that was enough to get Yang quite peeved. "Why you little—"
But before anything could start, Max set a hand to her shoulder. "It's okay, Yang. Let me try." Yang huffed and reluctantly stepped aside, allowing the older man to try his hand. "Ahem, Mister… Pakmar, was it? It seems like it's a little too late to avoid trouble. Tell me, do you know where the Cleoptceros that did this came from?"
"Psh, beats me." Pakmar shrugged. "But what I DO know is that giant thing had nothing to do with this!" The team were taken aback by the revelation as Pakmar gave a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping. "All I wanted to do was run my toilet emporium in peace. Now… it's in pieces."
"Okay, I give, how are these things toilets?" Ren asked as he picked up a rather odd contraption that was supposedly a toilet. He pulled down a lever and, all at once, things began moving, spinning and a strange pink liquid began spraying everywhere… specifically, it blasted Ren right in the face, much to his chagrin.
Nora couldn't hold back the laughter as she got a load of Ren's expression, the green ninja appearing to be absolutely done with everything. "BAH-HAHAHA! Oh, oh that was funny as HELL! AHAHA!"
However, Pakmar just shrugged. "Eh, different aliens have different needs."
Ben placed a hand on his hip, sending Pakmar a curious gaze. "Okay, so if that Crabdozer didn't do this… then what did?"
"Haven't ya heard, kid?" Pakmar retorted. "Some off-world low lives have been shaking down us law-abiding business men for weeks now." He pointed his dustpan at the hero. "We give them taydenite, they protect us. But when we DON'T pay them, they're the ones we need protecting from."
"It's a shakedown racket." Ilia noted immediately. "The White Fang were no stranger to those back when we were set in our old ways."
Penny tilted her head down at Pakmar. "Have they threatened anyone else?"
"Only every alien shop in Bellwood!" Pakmar said as he resumed his sweeping. "Sheesh kids, where've ya been?"
The team all glanced to one another warily, knowing full well where EXACTLY they've been for the past several weeks. "…In an alternate dimension battling an alien witch." Ben answered.
"Ha! That is good joke. You make Pakmar laugh."
"That wasn't a joke." Ben deadpanned as he set his sights onto the team. "Well, now that we know just what's going on here, I think we should do a little investigating of our own. Shouldn't be too hard to track these aliens down."
"What makes ya say that, Ben?" Ruby asked. "It's not like we can just walk into an alien store and ask them to—oh wait!"
Ben grinned and pointed to her. "Bingo! It's time for us to pay our visit over to Mr. Baumann and see if he knows anything about this little racket going on."
…..
Within about ten minutes, the gang had made it to the store belonging to Mr. Baumann, with Ben and Max parking their vehicles where no one would see them. And needless to say… it wasn't exactly what most of the teens were expecting it to be. In fact, it didn't even appear to be a store, more like a large warehouse with a large garage door on the front. The parking lot was full of delivery trucks as well, only adding to the aesthetic. The Remnant teens all gazed at the storefront in confusion as Ben and Max opened the large gate, allowing themselves entry. "Uh, guys? You sure this is the right place?" Ilia piped up.
"Yeah, it… doesn't really LOOK like a store at all." Penny added.
"Ah, but that is exactly what Mr. Baumann wishes you to think." Rook said as he and Swift began to walk into the parking lot, following Ben and Max as they went in as well. "You see, with aliens and humans still having a rather uneasy relationship, most alien shops in plain view of the human populace need to have a façade, so that no human would ever suspect there being anything remotely alien related there."
Ren nodded in understanding. "That makes a lot of sense, actually. But that said… how do the aliens even GET in here?"
"Most of them are able to disguise themselves well enough to get in." Ben explained further. "Some even have ID masks to help them."
"Ah, yeah, that makes sense." Yang said as they finally made it to the front of the store. But rather than head for the giant garage door, Max made his way over to a pair of smaller double doors just off to the side of it, pushing them open at the same time. As they went in, the group too in everything about the store, from its sizable interior to the rows upon rows of shelves covered in both strange alien food and normal Earth food, which made them do a double take when they saw a bunch of tentacles near the ears of corn. "Ugh, so… I'm guessing THIS is what Mr. Baumann meant when he said he was expanding his business?"
"Yep, and I gotta say, he's got some pretty nice-looking produce in!" Max said before taking one of the tentacles and giving it a big old whiff, much to many of the teens chagrin. "Ah, fresh Cleptopus tentacles from Pissciss. Rook, come over here and take a gander at this."
Rook did so and took up the tentacle in his hand, squeezing it slightly to get a feel for its tenderness before taking a sniff himself. "Mm, indeed, you can tell that the appendage was cut cleanly after the Cleptopus was harvested. Whoever Mr. Baumann's distributor for these is definitely knows that they are doing."
"Oh believe me, they do." Everyone's heads turned to the end of the isle to see a man in his mid-sixties emerge from the other side, greeting the group with a smile. He was about as tall as Max and had a similar build to him as well, though he was mostly bald with the exception of a line of grey hair near the back of his head. He wore a teal shirt and a pair of khaki pants with black shoes, and he had a white apron laced up over his front. He set his sights on Max and gave out a chuckle. "Hehe, Max Tennyson. I thought I heard you checking out my produce."
"Ha! Iggy!" Max stepped up and shook "Iggy's" hand. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"No kidding. I heard through the grapevine that you and your family got caught up in quite the pickle."
Max sighed and shook his head. "That's an understatement. We were essentially trapped in a different dimension for three weeks. Thankfully it wasn't like the Null Void or anything."
"Well, it's just good to see you back." "Iggy" shifted his gaze toward Ben, giving him a grin and a nod. "And you as well, Ben. …Though I will admit, it's been a bit relieving not having to worry about alien attacks, especially with the new store."
Ben rolled his eyes and let out a fake laugh. "Har-har. I break through ONE wall and you're on my case about it for weeks." He came forth and shook the store owner's hand as well. "But it IS good to see you, Mr. Baumann." The hero then gestured toward the team. "And hey, we didn't come back from that alternate dimension alone. Let me introduce you to my new team…"
Mr. Baumann nodded at that. "Ah, yes, I had heard that you made some new allies." He set his hands on his hips as he smiled at the group. "And I also heard that they managed to fight off some invading Computron droids from Dimension 12 as well. Very impressive. I'm Ignacius Baumann, by the way. It's a pleasure."
Ruby grinned back to him and bowed her head. "Oh, thank you! It's a pleasure to meet you as well! I'm Ruby Rose. And this is…" And with that, Ruby began introducing every one on the team, with each teammate saying their hellos to Mr. Baumann before the Hooded Huntress got to her own sister. "And this is my big sis, Yang!"
"Nice to meet ya, Mr. B." Yang saluted before slinging an arm over Ben's shoulder. "And you won't have to worry about THIS one breaking through walls anymore, not while I'm around, at least."
Mr. Baumann couldn't help but be confused at that. "Hm, what's that suppose to—oh…" He took note of how Ben was blushing slightly, all while Yang had settled her head on the hero's shoulder. Baumann wore a sly smirk as he crossed his arms. "Ah, haha, Benjamin, you sly dog. I take it that she's your new girlfriend."
Ben cleared his throat before nodding slightly. "Heh, right on the money, Mr. Baumann. She and I've been together for a few weeks now, and—"
"Say no more! I have just the thing." Baumann went over to an isle that wasn't too far away and produced a star-shaped fruit from one of the stands, one that was a bright yellow color. He handed it to Ben and Yang, who were both quite perplexed. "Here, a Star Fruit from the Destino planet system. Tradition from these planets says that eating one of these together will ensure that your relationship is a long and healthy one. It's on the house!"
Yang gasped and happily took the fruit. "Oh, thank you! It looks delicious!" She faced Ben and held the star up to him. "Ben, what do you say? Wanna try?"
Ben glanced over to the other members of the team, who were all quite clearly urging him to do it. Especially Ruby, who was nodding at half a mile a minute. The green clad hero sighed and shrugged. "Heh, I don't see why not. If it's a tradition, then there must be something to it."
"Okay, on three." Yang held the fruit aloft so that their mouths were positioned in front of each of the star's arms as she started the count. "One… two…"
Mr. Bauman went to interject. "Er, I wouldn't—"
"Three!" Munch! All at once, Yang and Ben each ate a tip of the Star Fruit… only for their faces to contort in disgust. They forcibly swallowed their bites before falling to their knees. "OH! OH GOD! That was DISGUSTING!"
"EUGH!" Ben fell to his hands as he tried to spit the taste out of his mouth. "I can't believe love can taste so… so…"
"BITTER!" Yang shouted as she spat as well. "So fucking bitter!"
Everyone was taken by surprise, except for Mr. Baumann shaking his head as he gave a chuckle. "I tried to warn you two. The Star Fruit has to be cooked into a dish before consumption, otherwise it tastes awful." He pressed his fingers together and waved his hand a little bit. "You've gotta cook the sweetness out of it, quite literally."
"Ugh, NOW you tell us!" Ben exclaimed, now laid out on the ground with his girlfriend.
Yang glanced wearily over to the Star Fruit in her hand. "After that experience, I don't know if I'll be ABLE to eat any dish with this thing in it."
Max chuckled and shook his head. "Ah, kids, so young and so naïve." He set his sights back onto Baumann and decided to change subjects. "Speaking of young, though, Iggy, I have someone here who would like to meet you. I mentioned her to you on the phone yesterday, actually…" He glanced over to Swift and ushered her over, to which she complied immediately. "Ignacius, this is Swift. She's searching for a job and I think she'd be a good help to you here."
Baumann's eyebrows rose up as a grin returned to his face. "Ah, the young parolee, yes. I've heard much about you, Swift. I'm assuming your hearing went smoothly?"
Swift returned the grin and nodded. "Yep, just got done with it about an hour ago. I'll admit, I'm not SUPER stoked about having to work, but if it keeps me out of jail and gets me a steady income, then I'm willing to do it."
"Hey, that's the spirit!" Baumann approved. "Nothing like a good motivator to keep you going. Well, I'll say that you definitely came at the right time. My old place used to be much smaller…" He spread his arms out to the store around him. "But ever since I've started expanding, I've needed more and more new employees to help me run the place, especially given my age. I'll get you an application sheet and we can get started!"
"Thank you, Mr. Baumann, that means a lot." Swift said with a bow. "But, uh… I think there's something that the team wanted to discuss with you first."
Baumann's face became one of surprise, a brow raising in curiosity. "Really? And what would that be?"
Before anyone could answer, though, Nora bounced up and did it for them. "Oh, we met this really funny alien toilet salesman who said that there was a group of aliens shaking him down for taydenite!" the Pink Dynamo said with a cheeky smile. "And he also said that they were doing the same thing to EVERY alien shop in Bellwood. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would ya, Mr. Baumann?"
Everyone was taken off guard by Nora's forwardness, though none more so than Baumann himself. The store owner became quite visibly nervous at the question, a bit of sweat trickling down his forehead as his eyes shifted from left to right. "Oh, u-uh… I-I have no idea, actually. I-I haven't been visited by any aliens of the sort, especially no extortionists."
Max narrowed his eyes at his friend, though, crossing his arms at his shifty behavior. "Really now? Then perhaps you won't mind us sticking around for a couple hours then? Just to make sure."
"U-Uh, aherm, w-while I would like to, Max, I-I just remembered that I have to be home soon." Baumann said before ushering for the group to move toward the front door. "So, why don't you folks just wait outside? I'll get that application for Swift and then I'll lock up shop."
The team all eyed one another, not believing anything that the shopkeeper was saying for a minute. The group set their sights onto Mr. Baumann again and Ren asked; "They're on their way right now, aren't they?"
Seeing their judging gazes all directed toward him, Baumann hesitated for a few moments more before letting out a relenting sigh. "I suppose there's no getting one past you lot." Still, he sent a pleading face to his old friend. "But Max, I assure you, it's only a simple transaction. I pay them Taydenite, they leave, and I make sure that my store isn't completely ruined. It's nothing to make a big deal about."
But Max shook his head, giving his friend a serious look. "Not so, Ignacius. Listen, it might seem like a simple transaction now, but what happens when they start hiking up their prices and you can't afford it anymore? What then?" Baumann was left without words to counter that, leaving Max to nod his head. "Exactly. Iggy, let us help you. If we can catch these criminals right here and now, then we can make sure that no alien businesses have to suffer from this extortion ever again."
"Hah… Max, I'll be honest with you, I WOULD like that…" Baumann raised his hands up, gesturing to the store surrounding them once more. "But I don't want to take the chance of my store being destroyed. If they don't do it… then I'm certain that the fight you're bound to have WITH them will."
"Mr. Baumann." Ben started. "With all due respect, if we don't stop these criminals now, you might not have a shop at all one day thanks to them. Do you really want to risk that?" Mr. Baumann glanced off to the side, quickly seeing Ben's point. The hero smiled and raised the Omnitrix up. "But don't worry, I'll make sure that any damages that are caused will be instantly reversed by Clockwork. I'm getting better at rewinding time, so just so long as it's not too much, I'll be able to undo anything that gets wrecked."
Mr. Baumann rubbed the back of his head, still slightly unsure of what to do. "Well… I don't know—"
"Mr. Baumann?" Ignacius' eyes widened and he glanced down to see Ruby and Penny both standing before him, the two girls having laced their hands together in a pleading gesture as they gave their best puppy dog eyes and pouts to him. "Please let us help." Ruby implored.
"We promise we will keep damages to a minimum." Penny added.
Baumann glanced between the duo of beseeching girls before letting out one final sigh, a smile slowly working toward his face. "Well, with an argument like that, how can I refuse?"
"YAY!" Penny and Ruby cheered. "Thank you, Mr. Baumann!"
Rook blinked in surprise. "Wait, how did that work?"
Yang smirked and elbowed Rook's side. "The power of adorableness, my friend. My sister's REALLY good at utilizing that as a secret weapon." She placed her hands on her hips and faced Ben with a curious gaze. "So, how do we go about this, Green Boy? Any plans for this stake out?"
"Um… excuse me?" Everyone set their eyes over to Swift, the Aerophibian having raised her hand. "If I may make a suggestion?"
…..
Not long afterward, the entire team had found themselves sufficient hiding spots, the nine of them, including Max and Rook, all laying low behind several store shelves out of sight from the store's epicenter. Directly in the middle of the store, however, Mr. Baumann and Swift were both at the deli counter, the former standing behind it while Swift had taken a seat. The Aerophibian girl was filling out her application and chatting with the shopkeeper as everyone continued to lay low, waiting for the moment where these extortionists would enter the building.
"So, you really think this'll work?" Nora asked no one in particular.
"Beats me." Ren admitted. "Swift's plan SOUNDS like it'll work, but…"
Ilia raised a brow to the green ninja. "Hey, have a little faith in her. Honestly, this plan actually seems like a winner."
Nora sent a sarcastic smirk to the chameleon girl. "Says the girl with absolutely NO personal bias toward the Aerophibian in question." That got a pout from Ilia, her freckles becoming a pinkish red from embarrassment. "Kidding, kidding!"
"SHH!" Ben shushed, peeking his head slightly from behind the shelves. Right as he did that, the group heard the front door close and the bell ring, making them all focus up. "Looks like we've got company."
Everyone set their sights out to the front of the store… and they were quite surprised by what they saw. Three completely different types of aliens were all strolling up to the counter, and they all appeared to be both pretty strange and quite tough. The one in the front middle appeared to be some sort of worm-like alien in a robotic, black and purple life support suit that gave him arms and legs. But the most notable thing about him was the bubble-shaped helmet that surrounded his true body, which had a blue liquid in it that allowed him to breathe.
Next to him was another large alien with a pink, feminine face inside a dome-shaped head. However, her body was quite massive in comparison to her small head. In fact, it appeared to be wholly robotic with black and orange armor. And finally, flanking the bubble-headed alien on its other side… was a giant chicken with claws for hands and blades on its forearms. All in all, these aliens appeared to be quite odd… and the big red machine that they were carrying with them was even stranger.
"Okay, so I'm guessing we found our people." Yang noted. "Ben, these guys familiar to you?"
"Nope, not a clue." Ben admitted. "Grandpa?"
"I recognize the one in the middle." Max stated as he took out his Plumber's Badge and activated it. After a few moments, he brought up a small, holographic image of the same alien, along with a doc sheet of his crimes. "His name is Bubble Plexisteel Helmet. He's wanted in several sectors of the galaxy."
Penny tilted her head at that. "Wait, so his name is literally "Bubble Helmet"? Seems a bit strange." She began analyzing the device that Bubble Helmet's accomplices were holding, only for her eyes to widen as she sensed its energy core. "Oh my… and whatever that thing is, it's certainly putting out a lot of power from its core."
Yang whispered back to Max; "So, what's Bubblehead wanted for exactly?"
"Shoplifting." Max replied. "Even did time in the Null Void for it."
Ruby, however, was even MORE confused. "Hold on a sec, he got sent to the Null Void for just shoplifting? Seems a bit much."
"Not when the item he shoplifted was worth thirty million taydens." Max explained. The group, especially Ben and Rook, were all stunned to hear that. "Yes, so needless to say, he's pretty dangerous. Not sure about the other two, though—"
"Pay up, Baumann!" Bubble Helmet suddenly belted out, bringing everyone's attention to the deli. The three aliens were standing directly in front of Swift and Baumann, the former not paying attention while the store owner's eyes were wide as can be.
"BAWK! You heard about Pakmar, right?" the chicken alien squawked out.
There was a short silence before a smirk came to Swift's face. "I heard he's got great deals on toilets!"
"Er, I heard it was an accident." Baumann followed up, sending the aliens a skeptical look.
"Accidents happen..." Bubble Helmet said before moving aside, revealing the big red machine that the female alien and chicken alien were carrying. "Even to you. Wouldn't want Miss Fistina and Liam here to set this down, now would ya?"
Baumann swallowed hard and waved his hands. "E-Easy now, I don't want any trouble." With that, Mr. Baumann ducked behind the counter and began searching for his taydenite… all while the chicken alien, Liam, started pecking at a large mound of birdseed that was on display next to him. After a few seconds, Baumann emerged with the box of taydenite. "H-Here you are. Your payment for this month."
Bubble Helmet retracted one of his hands and a claw extended from his arm, reaching out to grab the box before pulling it back. He opened it up and inspected the precious crystals before nodding. "It's all here. Pleasure doin' business with ya, Baumann. Same time next month."
The trio of aliens went to walk away, but at that moment, Swift abruptly stood up, slamming her hands on the table before flying right over the three's heads, blocking their exit. "Hold it right there!" The three stopped in their tracks as Swift stood defiantly, crossing her arms and glaring at them. "I think you have something that doesn't belong to you." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the team begin to move silently, her outburst being their cue.
"Aw, how cute!" Fistina cooed, her voice accompanied by a thick Russian accent. "Little girl wants to get involved?"
Bubble Helmet found it less endearing, however. "I suggest you buzz off, Aerophibian girl. This doesn't concern you."
Swift just crossed her arms. "Oh, really? Well, considering that you just stole from my new boss, I think it does." She had to resist the urge to smile as she saw Ilia sneakily swipe the box of taydenite out of Bubble Helmet's hand, quickly replacing it with a box of cookies she had grabbed off the shelf. "So, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."
"HA! That's what we should be sayin' to you." Bubble Helmet retorted. "If you're smart, you'll back down now. Like I said, this is none of your business."
"Maybe not…" Swift smirked as she pointed behind the three. "But it's most certainly theirs."
"Huh?!" The aliens all spun around, with Fistina and Liam dropping the big red machine in the process. There, now standing right in front of the deli counter, were a bunch of teenagers… and a certain trio of people who they didn't want to see.
Ben grinned as he readied the Omnitrix, all while Rook and Max aimed their weapons at them. "Hello, lady and gentlemen. I think it's time you three come with us."
Bubble Helmet's eyes narrowed to slits. "THE PLUMBERS?!" He spotted Mr. Baumann and pointed to him. "You ratted us out!"
Baumann crossed his arms with a scowl. "Afraid not. You did that to yourselves when you destroyed Pakmar's place. Now, I think it's time you paid the price…" Right then and there, Ilia did a flip over the counter and handed Mr. Baumann the box. "And I'll be taking my taydenite back, thank you very much!"
Bubble Helmet's jaw fell open as he lifted his hand… only to see the box of cookies. He let out a growl which became a roar, his hand clamping down through the cookie box in frustration. "DESTROY THEM! Destroy them all!" With that, Bubble Helmet rounded back onto the team and his hands retracted, only for them to pop back out holding a pair of energy batons. He began spinning them at high speeds, blasting red lasers rapidly at the group.
"Not today, Bubblebrain!" Yang proclaimed. The Blonde Brawler jumped into the fray and raised one of her gauntlets, blocking one of the laser blasts while also rebounding it right back to Bubble Helmet. The blast hit him square in the chest before Yang used Ember Celica to propel herself forward, rearing her fist back for a big punch. "GYAAAAAH!" BOOM! In one explosive punch, Yang sent Bubble Helmet flying several feet back before pursuing him on foot. "Let's go, guys! Hero Time!"
"RIGHT!" Nora said before jumping into the fray as well, heading right for Fistina. "Hey! You look tough! Let's fight!"
Fistina snarled and returned; "Challenge accepted!" Fistina sent a powerful punch to Nora while the redhead swung her hammer, the two colliding in a blow that was pretty much even. The duo struggled against one another before Nora kickflipped away, shifting Magnhild into its grenade launcher form
"BANZAI!" With the pull of a trigger, Nora sent a grenade toward Fistina's feet. The explosion sent the massive alien woman flying back… right into a bunch of shelves. "…Oops."
"Gah! My store!" Baumann's hands went to his head in panic, all while Ruby and Penny joined the fray as well.
But Ben was quick to reassure. "Don't worry, Mr. B, I'll get—WOAH!" At that moment, Ben felt himself be pulled out of the way as Liam suddenly set upon him, the chicken alien swinging his blades right at him. Ben let out a breath as he turned to see Ren, the green ninja nodding to him. "Hah, thanks for the save, Ren."
"Don't mention it." Ren pulled out Stormflower and furrowed his brows at Liam. "Now, let's get into some action!" With that, Ren set forth and began to match Liam blow for blow, the two fighters clashing their blades. Sparks were made with evert clash as the two continued to fight, though Ren did have to be wary of Liam's powerful legs kicking at him. "Ben, this is your chance! Go alien!"
"Right!" Ben went for the Omnitrix and activated it, bringing up the holo-ring before making his selection. "Okay, pretty sure THIS guy can handle this!" The hero pressed the core down and transformed into… "CANNONBOLT!" The Arburian Pelarota widened his stance as he prepared himself for a fight. "Okay, let's… huh?" Just then, he spotted that the birdseed display had been wrecked… and an idea entered his head. "Wait, Ren! Pull back, I've got an idea!"
"It had better be good!" Ren said before doing what Cannonbolt asked.
The moment he did so, Liam gave chase… but then stopped when Cannonbolt slid in front of him, his hand filled with birdseed. Nothing was said as Liam straightened up and bent his elbows, putting his hands on his sides as he did a chicken walk up to Cannonbolt before eating out of his hand. '…I can't believe that worked.' the hero thought to himself before immediately curling up into his ball form, pulling in Liam with him as he started to roll all around the store.
Ren, Rook and Max blinked dumbfoundedly at the display. "That… that worked?" Ren asked before slapping his forehead. "How is it that I'm STILL surprised by everything?"
"You get used to it, son." Max said with a pat on the back.
…..
Back over with Yang, she was making a mad sprint toward Bubble Helmet, with Ruby now right on her tail. The sisters were closing in on the bug-like alien fast, the duo bobbing and weaving around the energy blasts from his batons. "Yang!" Ruby zipped up right next to her sister. "Let's set him up for Yellow Rose!"
"Sounds good to me, sis!" With that, Yang jumped over to her sister and, in an instant, the Hooded Huntress began using her Semblance, the duo dashing upwards in blurs of red and yellow.
"Huh?! What the?!" Bubble Helmet redirected his laser blasts up toward the two blurs, but quickly found that the lasers were being easily avoided, with them hitting nothing but a flurry of flower petals. "Just what is this?!"
He quickly got his answer when the two blurs circled around behind him, with Yang emerging from the petal blizzard first. "THIS is what it is!" With a mighty punch, Yang hit Bubble Helmet right in his… well, bubble helmet, causing him to go flying back toward the deli area. The force was enough to crack the plexisteel dome just slightly, but that alone was enough to stun Bubble Helmet as he landed on his feet.
"WHAT?! This stuff's supposed to be stronger than steel! GAH!"
Bubble Helmet was quickly taken aback when he saw Ruby emerge in front of him next, the girl smirking up at him. "Sorry, Bubblebrain, but your days of intimidating people are over!" With a clean slice, Ruby slammed Crescent Rose down and cut off Bubble Helmet's arm… to which he began screaming and writhing on the floor. Immediately, the color had drained from Ruby's face in horror. "W-What?! NO! I-I… I thought it was a robot arm!"
At that moment, Bubble Helmet stopped screaming and smirked. "It is." He then pulled in his remaining hand and turned it into a grappling hook, aiming for the big red machine that they had brought. In a single second, Bubble Helmet shot the grappling hook out and pulled himself to the device, much to Ruby's shock.
"He… HE TRICKED ME!" Ruby grit her teeth in frustration as she and Yang pursued him. "I am SO not going easy on him anymore!"
As that was happening, Fistina was just starting to get up from the downed shelves, shaking her head a bit before seeing Nora coming straight for her. The redhead shifted Magnhild into its hammer form once again and jumped up above her, intending to bring the hammer down on her head. "Sorry, lady, but there ain't nothing you can do to—" BAM! "ARGH!" In a split second, Nora felt something hit her hard and fast, making her fly backward at high speeds. She landed on the roof of the deli and plopped back down to the floor, wincing in slight pain as her Aura flashed slightly. Her sights went upward and saw that what hit her… was a flying fist, one that returned to Fistina before reattaching to her arm. "Huh… so THAT'S why they call you "Fistina"."
"Indeed, little girl!" Fistina declared as she aimed her other fist at her. "Now, let us see how YOU like being thrown around like rag doll!"
Fistina shot her other fist at Nora, the redhead closing her eyes as it was about to collide with her… but was put to a stop pretty quickly. Nora's eyes snapped open to see a familiar pair of big green and black arms having slammed down on the fist, pinning it to the ground. "AH! Penny!"
"At your service!" Penny smiled before furrowing her brow at Fistina. "You know, I do not appreciate you attempting to hurt my friends."
Fistina snarled back. "Well, I do not appreciate you keeping fist pinned! Give it back!"
A wry smirk came to Penny's face. "You want it back? Very well." She placed her hand on it and, all of a sudden, multiple sets of green lines began spreading out over the fist from her hand, the familiar sound of Nanites supercharging a machine accompanying it. All of a sudden, the rockets turned back on and Penny lifted the fist back up, pointing it at Fistina. "Here you go!" With that, she let go of the fist and it flew right back to Fistina, who was hit directly in the face, much to her shock.
"Woah!" Nora shot up and zipped right over to Penny, beaming with joy. "Penny, where'd you learn to do THAT?!"
"Rex showed me." Penny explained. "It's actually a pretty simple trick, all things considered." She glanced over to Fistina with a satisfied grin. "But it is also quite satisfying to do." But then, her eyes trailed over to see Bubble Helmet at the big red machine, the now one-armed alien typing in a code. "Hey! Stop him!" Nora quickly saw what she was talking about and the two redheads began sprinting toward Bubble Helmet, meeting up with Ruby and Yang along the way.
"Alright guys, let's make like a tree and craterize this place!" Bubble Helmet said as he finished putting in the code.
"That doesn't even MAKE SENSE!" Ruby shouted as she shifted Crescent Rose into sniper rifle mode and took aim, blasting multiple shots at Bubble Helmet… only for them to rebound off of a large energy field that was now being emitted from the device. "W-What the heck?!" Ruby shifted Crescent Rose back into scythe mode and began swinging at the device… but that proved to be ineffective. "What IS this thing?!"
Yang then rushed forward and began punching the energy field with everything she had, unloading round after round into it as she did. But unfortunately, that did nothing as well. "I don't know, but—huh?" It was then that she noticed that there was a small, red ring lit up on the side of the device, and it was divided into several segments. And, as the seconds went by, the segments began to slowly disappear. "Oh shit. IT'S A BOMB!"
At that horrifying revelation, the team immediately went at it, taking their weapons to do whatever damage they could in hopes of bringing the shield down. Ren shot and sliced at it with Stormflower, Nora and Penny began pounding it with their hammer and giant fists respectively, and Ilia even jumped over the counter to whip at it with her Lightning Lash. But alas, the bomb didn't budge an inch. "You're KIDDING me!" Nora exclaimed. "How're we doing nothing to it?!"
"I don't know!" Ilia exclaimed before seeing Cannonbolt come rolling back around from the other side of the store, throwing Liam into Fistina and Bubble Helmet as they were retreating. "BEN! We need you over here! NOW!"
Cannonbolt snapped himself around and saw the bomb, his eyes widening before curling back up into his ball form. "I'm on it!" With great speed, the Arburian Pelarota rolled toward the bomb before bouncing up and slamming himself into the energy field, only to rebound right back off of it. He repeated this process a few more times… but as he was coming back around to do it again, he heard a familiar beeping. "No, no, NO! Not now!" FLASH! "GAAAAAH!" BAM! Within several seconds, Ben was back in his human form… and he had careened right into the force field face-first.
"Ben!" Yang rushed over and caught her boyfriend as he slid off the barrier, holding his head up as she made sure that he was alright. "Are you okay?!"
"Ugh… I think so." Ben grunted before furrowing his brow at the Omnitrix. "Gah, going Ultimate earlier must've really drained the battery more than I thought. And that wasn't even for five minutes! Now we'll have to wait for the watch to recharge."
Nora turned back around, her face contorting in panic as she pointed to the entrance. "I don't think we have that kinda time, Ben!" Everyone looked to see Bubble Helmet, Fistina and Liam all running to the door, sprinting as fast as they could.
At that moment, Swift piped up from behind the counter, eyeing Ben in particular. "Isn't this the part where the others come in and save the day? …Maybe?"
Somehow, Rook had taken that as his cue to jump into action. In the blink of an eye, the Revonnahgander leapt over the group with a skillful jump and pulled out his Proto-Tool, transforming it into its bow form before firing two energy arrows at the retreating aliens. Both arrows hit Bubble Helmet in the back, making him faceplant instantly. The group continued to watch as Rook shifted the Proto-Tool into a different mode, shooting out a tether from its barrel and tripping up Liam with it. He then put the tool away before running up to deliver a strong kick to Fistina's back, sending her to the ground as well. Before anyone knew it, all three aliens were on the floor, with Rook facing the team with a nod.
"I take it that counts as "saving the day"?" he asked as he set his Proto-Tool on his shoulder.
The group were silent for a while before Ren muttered; "Well… yes." However, in his head, he berated himself; 'Come to think of it, I could've done that, too. Gotta think quicker next time.' Just then, however, Ren noticed Liam get up and start sneaking up on Rook. He was about to warn the young Plumber… but then Rook just kickflipped and smacked Liam upside the head with his foot without any trouble.
"WOO! Nice one, Rook!" Nora cheered. "You really showed 'em!"
'…Okay, mental note; train with Rook.' Ren added.
Ben smiled at Rook as he got up, with a little help from Yang. "Heh, nice work! Could've jumped in a bit sooner, but otherwise, that was awesome!"
Rook placed a hand on his chest and bowed his head. "My apologies, I did not wish to impose on your team dynamic."
But Yang shook her head. "Ah, don't worry about it. Any help is good help…" Just then, she noticed that Liam and Fistina had gotten up again, both of them making a break for it. "And I think you shouldn't stop now!"
"Ah, of course." Wordlessly, Rook made the barrel of his Proto-Tool move around and aim behind him. Within a few seconds, an orange energy net shot out from the tool, trapping the two fleeing aliens, as well as Bubble Helmet, inside of it.
Ruby grinned from ear to ear as her eyes lit up in admiration. "Okay, I HAVE to get one of those Proto-Tools! It's so AWESOME!"
"I wish you luck in obtaining one." Rook said as he stepped closer to the group. "Mine is the only one in the galaxy, after all. Plus, it requires a considerable amount of training to wield one as well."
"Hey, if it means getting to wield something like THAT, I'm all for it!"
Just then, the Omnitrix beeped, its face changing from red to green. "Ha! Perfect timing!" Ben pressed down on the watch's face and made the holo-ring pop up, the hero beginning his search for one alien in particular. "Okay, so if this is an energy bomb we're dealing with, then I know just who to dial up!" He finally found the icon he wanted and the Omnitrix's core popped up, ready for transformation. "It's Feedback time, baby!" With that, Ben pressed down on the core… with just the teensiest bit more force than he had intended.
In a flash of green light, Ben's body began to change, bulking up considerably. His arms grew to at least twice their length while his legs actually got shorter, his torso extending downward a bit so that he took a more primate-like stance. Speaking of, his features were also a lot more ape-like, with a large brow, flared nostrils, and a large chin that jutted out. However, in a rather notable turn… his body also started to become a lot more angular, his skin shifting from flesh… to several different minerals.
His body was segmented into several pieces, each one colored differently. There was grey stone, white cement, and red brick in many different places, all of them connecting where his joints would usually be. There were also several protrusions along his body, namely his forearms, his biceps, the top of his head, and his spine, all of which were circular in shape. In the end, Ben had essentially changed into a rock gorilla of some sort, his fists slamming on the ground as he finished his transformation.
The others all stared at him with their mouths agape, processing the fact that Ben had just transformed into an alien that none of them have ever seen before. "Uh… Green Boy?" Yang piped up. "You're not Feedback."
"Huh?" the new alien said in a suitably gravelly voice before seeing his brick-like hands. "WOAH! Who's this guy?!"
"A Segmentisapien!" Max exclaimed. "That… actually might be a good alien for this situation. Their bodies are made up of several different types of minerals, so they're pretty tough."
"I don't care WHAT it is!" Mr. Baumann exclaimed from behind the counter. "So long as he can get that bomb out of the store, he's fine by me!"
The Segmentisapien's eyes widened and nodded his head. "O-Oh, yeah! Right, sorry, Mr. Baumann! I'm on it!" The new alien went right up to the device, his body making creaking and rumbling sounds as he walked. He raised his fists and began punching the bomb's barrier… but quickly found that the force of his punches were causing his own hands to break apart. "…Wow, really? Already not impressing me, huh?"
At that moment, Liam's claw managed to break free of the energy net, allowing himself and his compatriots to start wriggling free. Max immediately took notice of this and warned his grandson. "Ben, I'm afraid we've still got problems!"
The hero's head snapped around to see the criminals starting to break free, a low grunt escaping his throat as he thought of what to do. However, an idea entered his head and he set his sights over to Rook. "Rook! Tag out!" He received a confused gaze in response. "It means switch places! You disable the energy bomb, I'll handle those guys!" Rook nodded to him and went right over to the bomb, shifting his Proto-Tool into its scanner mode to analyze it. The Segmentisapien then went to his grandfather again. "Grandpa, any thing else this guy can do?"
"Well… Segmentisapiens can manipulate and build up their bodies into several different shapes." Max explained. "You're only limited by what your mind can make up."
"…So, I'm essentially a bunch of building blocks?"
"Exactly."
A smirk came to the hero's face. "Sweet." With that, he extended his arms right over to the three villains, who were still working on getting themselves out of the net. He pulled the rest of his body right over to them and landed on his feet, giving the villains a scowl. "Alright, let's see what you're made of!" All at once, the Segmentisapien began building up his body into a new shape, with new blocks of brick, cement and stone being produced from his body with heavy thunks. In no time at all, he had surrounded the villains in a large dome made from his own body, the only part of him still visible being his head. "Haha! Awesome! It worked!"
Yang, Nora and Ren quickly made their way over to the hero, with Yang giving a victorious laugh. "Haha! Nice job, Ben!" She came up and knocked him on the head lightly with her fist. "Now that's using your… dome!" The couple burst out laughing from the blonde's pun… before a laser blast shot right out of the dome… and it destroyed the Segmentisapien's head. Ren and Nora gasped while Yang screamed in horror. "BEN! NO!"
…But then, the alien's head instantly reformed, his eyes as wide as can be. "I'm okay! I'm okay!" The team let out a sigh as more laser blasts continued to fire out from all sides of the dome, which were quickly rebuilt as soon as they came out. "Man, grandpa wasn't kidding, this guy's resilient!"
"Got that right." Yang pat her boyfriend's head, relieved that he was alright. "Still, we need something to call you. Any suggestions?"
The hero was about to make one, but before he could, Nora chimed in. "Ooh! Ooh! Can I name this one?! Can I please? I've been wanting to name an alien so badly!"
The couple glanced toward one another before Yang gave her a smile. "I don't see why not."
"Yeah, have at it, Nora." the new alien approved. "What've you got?"
Nora squeed in delight before raising her hands up to the duo. "Okay, so hear me out of this one… Bloxx."
Once again, the couple eyed each other, both of them surprised by the girl's suggestion. Ren gave them a simple shrug before Yang asked; "Just… Blocks?"
"With TWO X's!" Nora held up a peace sign with a cheeky grin. "Because I hear poor literacy is kewl these days!"
There was a short silence that followed, the couple unable to tell if she was being serious or not. But, in the end, the Segmentisapien shrugged his head to the right. "Eh, you know what? I actually kinda like it. It's short, sweet and to the point. Not really a punny name, but it gets the job done."
"Alright, Bloxx it is!" Yang approved.
"Ah-ha! Thank you, guys!" Nora clapped her hands happily. "You just made my day!"
Back over with Rook, both he and Penny were analyzing the explosive device as Ruby and Ilia waited nervously off to the side. Ruby approached the duo slightly and pipped up; "So, uh… having any luck, guys?"
"So far, we've had none." Penny answered. "This thing is coded in an algorithm that I am unfamiliar with."
"A B-Kerix algorithm, to be precise." Rook explained as he deactivated his scanner and began transforming his Proto-Tool once again. "Unfortunately, while I do know how to decode it, there is not enough time before the bomb goes off."
Ilia added her two cents. "And there's nothing in that tool of yours that can handle this?"
"Well… technically yes, but not in the way that you think." Rook had transformed his Proto-Tool into its pod launcher form, his sights moving to the store owner briefly. "My apologies in advance, Mr. Baumann."
"W-Wait, what're you—NO!" Before Baumann could even think of jumping the counter to stop Rook, the Revonnahgander had already taken aim at the far left wall and fired at it, the pod blowing a massive hole into it that lead right outside.
The newly named Bloxx didn't appreciate that. "HEY! I've gotta clean all that up later, remember?!"
Rook faced Bloxx with an apologetic face. "Sorry, but this requires quick action. I cannot break the code in time, so we must detonate the energy bomb away from the general populace."
"So move it outside, got it." Ren affirmed. "…How do we do that?"
Bloxx smirked as an idea formed in his head. "I've got an idea, but to do it, I need to let these guys out." His eyes shifted between Yang, Ren and Nora. "Think you guys can take these three out while I do the heavy lifting?"
"Of course." Yang gave a thumbs up. "We've got it, Green Boy."
"Alright… GO!" At his word, Bloxx shifted himself back into his normal form, releasing Bubble Helmet, Liam and Fistina… only for them to be set upon by Yang, Ren and Nora respectively, the trio practically ramming themselves full force into the aliens in order to take them down. The three hunters in training grabbed their respective targets and swung them into each other headfirst, knocking all of them out before they could even do a thing.
In a flash, Bloxx was right back over to the device, picking it up in his arms like it was nothing as the energy field shifted into a perfect sphere. He then went outside, with the team, Mr. Baumann, Swift and Max following after him. There was an abandoned building directly across from Mr. Baumann's place, so Bloxx immediately focused onto that. But before he could throw the energy bomb, Rook sped out right in front of him and brought up his scanner again, moving it across the area slowly.
"Take your time." Bloxx deadpanned, only to realize that Rook may take that literally. "I'm joking by the way, hurry up!"
"Have to scan for signs of sentient life." Rook said before pulling his scanner back. "We're all clear."
"Good… because I've got something awesome in mind." Bloxx's body began to transform once again, with his arms encircling the bomb and fusing into one large arm while the rest of his body transformed into a sturdy base. Within a few seconds, he had become a stone catapult. The arm pulled back aiming directly for the abandoned building before Bloxx shouted; "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" The arm snapped forward and sent the bomb flying directly into one of the windows, and Bloxx reshaped himself into a stone wall. "Now get behind me!"
The group did so and, within a few seconds… BOOOOM! A huge, red explosion flashed throughout the area, rocking the very foundation of the store and making the earth shake beneath everyone's feet. Thankfully, the store had not collapsed, and everyone appeared to be alright. Bloxx reformed back into his normal self and pressed the Omnitrix symbol, transforming himself back into Ben. The hero fell to his rear and wiped his forehead. "Phew… that was WAY too close for comfort!"
"I'll say." Yang agreed as she lowered herself down and set a hand onto Ben's shoulder. "But hey, ya did great, babe. Made the most out of a mistransformation!"
Ben smirked and raised the Omnitrix up. "Heh, yeah, I think I'm gonna get some great use out of Bloxx." He set his sights up to Mr. Baumann, giving him a nod. "Well, Mr. Baumann, I told ya your store would be okay, and look at that! Still standing!"
Baumann sighed and shook his head. "Well, I can't fault you there, Ben. You and your team did a fantastic job… even if you did bang things up a little."
"And like I said, I'll fix it." Ben said as he stood up. "Just give me a bit of time to dial in Clockwork and—" PEW! "WOAH!" Ben snapped himself to the side as a laser just narrowly flew by his head, taking everyone off guard. In an instant, many more laser blasts followed, making everyone duck off to the side… but not before…
BLAM! "GAH!" Everyone froze when they heard the scream, their heads whipping around to see Swift kneeling on the ground, clutching her shoulder in pain with her teeth clenched. "Son of a BITCH!"
Ilia gasped in horror and rushed straight over. "Ah! Swift!" She knelt down and placed a hand on the shoulder that wasn't hurt, concern written all over her face. "Are you alright?!"
"NOW! GO!" With a successful distraction caused, a recovered Bubble Helmet, Liam and Fistina all charged out of the store and toward the crater that was now next door, the building having left a massive hole in the ground that led to the sewer system.
"HEY!" Ruby shouted. "Get back here!" She was about to head after them with Nora and Ren, but stopped to head over to Ilia and Swift. "Swift, are you okay?"
"Ugh, I think so…" Swift's lips curled up into an uncomfortable sneer as she pulled her hand away, revealing that the blast had only just grazed her arm, having torn her leather jacket while leaving a small yet sever burn mark. "Gah, shit, and this was my favorite jacket!"
"Hey, just be glad it didn't hit you any closer." Ben remarked. "You may be missing more than just a piece of your jacket…"
Max and Mr. Baumann quickly came over as well, the duo moving to help Swift. "Ben, girls, we'll get Swift patched up." Max reassured before pointing over to the others, who were all following the trio of alien criminals. "Right now, you all need to focus on bringing those criminals in. I'll call Rex and Weiss and see if they can provide some backup if necessary."
Ilia went to object. "B-But, I could—"
"Freckles, Magister Tennyson's right." Swift interjected, placing a hand over Ilia's own and giving it a soft squeeze. "I'll be okay. Right now, you and Ruby need to do what you do best and take down those low lives. And hey…" She gave the chameleon girl a wink. "Kick Bubblebrain's ass for me, would ya?"
Ilia was still somewhat hesitant, but the words of encouragement from Swift were helpful in bolstering her confidence. She gave her friend a nod and pulled her in for a brief hug. "Okay, I will."
"We both will!" Ruby said before taking up Crescent Rose and following the others. "Now come on, let's go!" At her word, the three went after the team, catching up with them as they went down the hole and slid right down into the sewers. The moment they did, however, Ruby instantly regretted it. "UGH! Yuck! Why does it ALWAYS have to be the sewers?"
Yang shook her head as she approached. "Eugh, search me. Is Swift okay?"
"She's got a small burn, but she'll be alright." Ben answered. "Grandpa and Mr. Baumann are taking care of her." The hero scanned his eyes around and took a head count, only to realize that someone notable was missing. "Hey, so… where'd Rook go?"
The answer quickly came when Rook called out from behind; "Over here!" The hero did an about face, seeing the Revonnahgander waving the whole team toward him. "The perpetrators went down this tunnel! Thankfully, I know where this path leads. Follow me!" Taking no time to think twice, Ben, Yang, Ruby, Ilia, Nora and Ren all followed after the young Plumber, keeping up with him as he ran through the tunnel. However, once they had emerged on the other side of it… they were stunned by what they saw, stopping in their tracks.
"Uh… you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Nora uttered.
Ren gave a single nod. "I see it… but I'm not sure if I believe it."
Before them was a huge cavern that held the last thing that any of them would expect; a huge, underground city. Its buildings weren't the prettiest to look at, and it seemed rather run down, but it WAS a town. But the most interesting thing about this town was… that it appeared to be inhabited solely by aliens. A few seconds of silenced passed before Yang piped up, noticing that even Ben was stunned by all of this.
"Uh… Green Boy? Did you know this was here?"
…..
Back on the surface, however, a tall figure was standing in the shadows of an alleyway, not too far from Mr. Baumann's store and the large crater that had just been blown into the earth. The figure in question was a very imposing and strong alien wearing a black and red body suit that covered up most of his body, including the top of his head, steel gauntlets with sharp claws, and matching steel-toed boots that had spikes on the tips. But there were two VERY notable things about him, the first being his face, which was rather unsightly. He had a large chin with several holes in his lower jaw and large, protruding teeth, and his red eyes were in a constant glare. And the second thing was that he was wearing the bones of a large animal as armor, with a large, horned skull on his right shoulder being the most noticeable.
Next to him was a rather large canine-like beast that, rather than fur, was covered in dark blueish black scales with a line of fine grey hair going down its back. And, on its neck, there was a large, red spiked collar that had some sort of device equipped on it, one that appeared similar to the Omnitrix, but with a red and silver design on it that resembled a set of sharp teeth.
The alien narrowed his eyes at the hole that the heroes had went down. After testing his new advantage at the ruined building, he was finally sure of one thing; Ben Tennyson WAS worthy prey, and not even a group of young heroes were going to get in his way of hunting the Omnitrix bearer. He set his sights onto his animal and growled out; "Show no mercy." With that, he released the canine-like creature into the hole after the group, the animal barking ferociously as it bared its fangs for its next hunt.
…..
A/N: And there you have it! The first part of this multiparter is officially done! And what a first part it was! We had the debut of Mr. Baumann (who again, is based more off his Ultimate Alien counterpart, but still has some aspects of his Omniverse self), Pakmar, the trio of Bubble Helmet, Liam and Fistina, the Anubian Baskurr who wields the Nemetrix (and who will eventually be named Zed), and of course, Khyber, all in one chapter! Yeah, pretty action heavy I'd say, but hey, given the nature of this series, that's pretty much expected. Oh, and there was also Ultimate Spidermonkey as well, so there's another Ultimate for ya!
But oh, of course, we DID have yet another debut here, didn't we? Yep, it's time for another reinvention, and this time, it's with Bloxx! Now, let me say this right now; Canon Bloxx… is probably my least favorite alien in the whole Omnitrix. I mean, I definitely like the concept behind him… but the fact that he's literally made out of colorful Legos is pretty much my biggest gripe with him. And thus, I decided to change him up for this story! What was once red, blue, and yellow Legos are now red brick, grey stone, and white cement, and he STILL has the ability to shapeshift into any form he wishes. Only difference? He's much sturdier than his Canon counterpart. And honestly, any improvement to Bloxx can only be a good one. Heck, just look at Five Years Later and what THEY did to him. Certainly MUCH different than what I did, but hey, it's still better.
And with that said, I think we can jump right into NEXT TIME! With the gang now in the underground city, they start a big chase with their alien perps, hoping to find out just WHO is behind the protection racket. However, just as that's happening, a new alien predator emerges to attack Ben, and it's there where the chaos REALLY begins. Thanks for reading everybody and I'll see you all next time! And of course, as always, stay safe out there!
