A/N (Important, Please Read): Hey there everybody, and welcome back to the story! Now, I just wanna put this out there; this is one of the chapters I've been most looking forward to since the start of this story. I've made it no secret that I LOVE writing the villains of this story, and the fact that we're returning to the Ministry quintet of Cinder, Rojo, Emerald, Mercury and Neo makes me VERY excited.
But before we get started, a couple things; first and most importantly, the next chapter MAY be delayed by a couple days, only because I know that's probably gonna be a longer one that's gonna involve a lot of fighting. So don't be surprised if the chapter after this one gets posted on either next Saturday or Sunday instead of Friday. And secondly, I would like to thank "Door to Nowhere" in the comments for suggesting all of those themes for the soundtrack idea that I've had. It's still an ongoing process, so for anyone else who has ideas for songs or music pieces to be put in, please, feel free to suggest them either in the reviews or the PMs. With that said, let's get on with the show! This is…
Chapter 16: How Villains Settle In
…..
(Bellwood, Three Days Ago)
"…Oh, shit." Rojo's eyes widened as she stopped in her tracks, a revelation hitting her like a hammer on a nail. "We might be in trouble."
"Oh no." Emerald faced the redheaded bounty hunter in an instant, visibly worried as Cinder, Mercury and Neo did the same. They hadn't been on Earth for half an hour and already things seemed to be going south if what Rojo said was any indication. And to make matters worse, the topic they had been discussing was their living situation, which Rojo had SAID she had covered. But now, that had been put into doubt. "Please tell me we still have a place to live!"
Rojo let out a sigh and shook her head. "Oh no, we do. But I just realized…" She reached into her pants and pulled out a wallet, holding it open to reveal that she didn't have any money. "We're flat broke." The redhead watched as all of her teammates faltered and fell to the sidewalk in disbelief, her words having left them all stunned. "…Yeah, this might be a pretty rough start." She put her wallet away and instead pulled out her phone, thankful to see that she had service again. "Welp, better start searchin' up some bounties." She strolled forward past her team and called back to them. "C'mon guys, let's go."
However, a certain Fall Maiden shot right back up, her face having contorted in frustration as her hands clawed at her hair. "Are you KIDDING me?! That cheapskate Eon couldn't even give us ANY Earth currency before sending us over to this place?!"
Mercury got up as well and stomped the ground, leaving a crack in the sidewalk with his metal foot. "Yeah, this is BS! He's a goddamn universe-hopping time traveler and he can't even spare a cent? What a rip-off!"
Neo got up and nodded vehemently with an upset pout, her arms crossed over her chest. Emerald followed soon after and let out a sigh. "Well, isn't this just fantastic? Just got to a whole new world and already we're having money troubles. This MUST be a good omen."
"Hey, hey, hold up there, guys." Rojo did an about face and raised her hand up to the group. "I know this seems bad, but trust me, we're gonna be in the money soon, I guarantee it." She pointed to her phone. "After all, I got all the best alien bounty hunting sites on Earth on my phone. Just give me a little bit and I'll come up with something that'll land us a great score."
The four Remnant natives eyed one another before Cinder gave a sigh, her shoulders sagging a bit. "Well… I suppose no one said that living in a new world would be easy." She gave a nod toward her partner. "But I trust you, Rojo. I know enough that you're a woman of your word and you wouldn't steer us wrong."
"Aw, Cindy!" Rojo went up and slung an arm around the Fall Maiden, making her yelp in surprise. "That's real awesome of you to say! Now c'mon, follow me. I'll take you guys back to my place and we can get settled in."
"Ah… ahem… very well." Cinder accepted, her cheeks having flushed a bit as she moved out from under Rojo's arm. She still had no idea what in the world was going on with herself lately, though. Ever since her and Rojo's little excursion in Mistral after the failed attack on Haven Academy, things had been… different between them. Not in a bad way, for certain. In fact, there had been quite a few positive changes for her after that mission. But… things still felt a bit strange to her. 'Just what in the world is happening to me?' she wondered before shaking her head, getting refocused on the task at hand. "Please, lead the way."
Rojo was more than happy to oblige and the quintet made their way down several city streets, making their way through Bellwood at a leisurely pace. Along the way, the group had taken in the several different sights throughout the large town, taking note of several restaurant locations, grocery stores, jewelry stores, banks, anyplace that was ripe for the picking and ready to steal from.
"Haha, man, something tells me we're gonna have a fun time in this town." Mercury laughed with a smirk. "I'm already seein' a ton of places that're prime robbing territory."
"Hold up there, Jethro," Emerald placed a hand on her partner's shoulder, "let's not get ahead of ourselves. Last thing we need in this place right now is attention… at least not yet." She had her own smile as a sinister idea came to her mind. "We should at least wait for the perfect opportunity to surprise those heroes and take them completely off guard, right, Neo?"
The mute villainess nodded and grinned evilly as well, swiping her suitcase in a way that mimicked Ruby Rose's scythe swing. "Ah, yeah, you still want payback, don't ya, Neo?" Rojo guessed, which Neo smiled widely at. "Well don't worry, you'll get it soon enough. But hey, we're almost there, so get ready. It may not be much, but I think you guys are gonna like it."
"So long as it has a comfortable bed and electricity, I don't care WHAT your abode looks like, Rojo." Cinder noted.
"Good to know, Cindy." Rojo pointed down an alleyway, stopping directly in front of it. "Because it's right down this way."
The four Remnant natives all peered down the alley as Rojo walked right into it. Thankfully, it wasn't an alleyway that had grimy dumpsters and garbage cans all along it with rats going every which way… but that didn't stop the group from being leery about it. "…You're ABSOLUTLEY sure this is where you live, Rojo?" Mercury asked.
"Seems a bit… narrow." Emerald added.
"Yep, but that's the point!" Rojo proclaimed as she made her way up to a door at the very end of the alleyway. "This is my little corner of the city that's outta sight from everybody. No one would even suspect that I'm here." She reached down to the pavement and pulled up a small circular piece that had been cut out of it, revealing a hidden key directly under it. "Ah, good, still here." Rojo put the key into the knob and unlocked her apartment, swinging the door in as she extended her arm inside. "Welcome to the new place, guys! Make yourselves at home!"
Cinder, Emerald, Mercury and Neo all stepped into the place, feeling the concrete beneath their feet being replaced by carpeting immediately before Rojo switched on the lights. What they saw next was… not what they had expected. The place appeared to be your average, everyday apartment with blue walls, grey carpeting, and matching dark blue furniture around the main living area. These were two sofas and one reclining chair that were placed around a large, round coffee table and sat opposite a… rather large flatscreen TV.
The other side of the main area was the kitchen, and it was only then that the group of young adults realized how big of a space Rojo really had. The floors weren't too fancy, being made of linoleum, and the lights in the ceiling were rectangular and had long tubes in them that flickered slightly. The kitchen equipment seemed to be a bit older as well, with a microwave that had a handle on it and a sink with a separate sprayer. The refrigerator was especially much older, appearing to be a model that had been out of fashion by about twenty years.
All in all, it was a pretty old, yet surprisingly intact apartment… well, aside from all the grime and cobwebs that had accumulated in Rojo's absence. "Gah, great, gonna have to start cleaning, I guess." Rojo shrugged before noticing the flickering kitchen light. "D'oh, c'mon! Gone for a year and ALREADY that lightbulb is crapping out? I haven't even BEEN here!"
"…You know, I have to be honest, Rojo." Cinder piped up as she took her finger and ran it across a nearby hutch, wiping off a layer of dust from it. "I had expected this place to be a lot worse."
"Yeah, I mean, you wouldn't think a place in an alleyway could be this… decent." Emerald added as she sat on the couch, only for her to wince when she realized the cushions had springs in them. "…Emphasis on decent. Because this couch is NOT doing me any favors."
Rojo sighed and made her way over to the couch. "Yeah, I've been meaning to get better furniture… and kitchen stuff… and bathroom stuff."
Mercury visibly cringed at that. "Ooh, jeez, I don't even WANT to think of what the bathroom is like." Next to him, Neo wore a similar expression and nodded in approval. He then eyed the kitchen in curiosity. "By the way, does the stuff in the kitchen actually WORK? I mean, it looks old as hell."
"Oh yeah, it's all good." Rojo said with a thumbs up. "Nothing's crapped out on me yet!" But then, her smile disappeared when her sights went to the refridgerator… and she noticed a blue substance leaking out of its seams. "…'Course, I could be wrong." She shot up out of her seat and went to the fridge, grabbing hold of its handle and raising a hand up to her team. "Stay back!" With a wide swing, she opened up the fridge… and regretted it in a single second. What she found could only be described as blue mold growing on the inside of the fridge, covering every single item of food inside it. What's more, it was also giving off the absolute WORST stench that Rojo could've possibly smelled. How bad was it? Well, given the fact that a blue waft of gas emerged the moment she opened the fridge, she would have to rank it above anything that a Lepidopterran could produce. And what's worse… she swore she saw a piece of the mold moving.
"GAH, SHIT!" Rojo slammed the fridge shut and went over to the sink, washing her hands vigorously before pointing to it. "Do NOT open that. I promise you will NOT like what you see."
Cinder's nose turned up in disgust and her lips curled into a frown, having smelled the stench from where she stood. "Ugh, alright, first order of business when he have money; buy a new refrigerator."
TOIOIOING! "EEYOWCH!" Everyone spun around and saw Emerald jump up, rubbing her sore behind after a spring had burst out of the cushions and snapped her in the rear. "And maybe some furniture, too." she grumbled under her breath.
"Ah, okay, okay." Rojo waved. "We'll do some jobs tomorrow and then we'll go shopping for some new stuff. But we're gonna have to do a pretty high-paying job if we want a quality fridge and furniture…" The redhead trailed off as she pulled her phone back out and began searching for a bounty. "Hm, let's see… no… nah… pfft, no way, José." But then, something caught her eye, and a CHA-CHING went off in her mind. "Ooh… hello…"
Mercury and the girls perked up at that and went over to her. "Hm? Whaddya find, Rojo?"
"Hehe… okay, you guys are gonna LOVE this one." Rojo showed the group what she was looking at, and revealed the image of a rather strange creature. It was round and plump in shape and had shaggy brown hair with long quills sticking out of its back. It had a soft underbelly, two stubby legs and equally stubby arms, and its eyes were large and on the sides of its head. Its mouth was also quite wide, and appeared to have a permanent, toothy grin. "Merc, ladies, meet the Screegit!"
The four stared at the picture as Cinder raised a brow. "The… what?"
"The Screegit! One of the most endangered species of alien creatures in the universe." Rojo explained as she tapped the picture, bringing up several more in the process. "These little guys are almost extinct, with only fifteen left in the known universe."
As she scrolled through the pictures, Emerald couldn't help but smile a little. "Aw… it's actually kinda cute… in an odd, goofy way."
"Heh, well, it may seem cute in THIS form." Rojo went on. "Only thing is, they absolutely CANNOT live in nitrogen-rich atmospheres, otherwise they transform into giant monsters that spit acid." She eyed the picture of the Screegit wearily. "And if this post is right… then it's saying that one of them is here on Earth. That ain't good."
"You sure?" Mercury asked. "I mean, we breath oxygen, so there's really not much to worry about, right?"
The women all deadpanned at him before Neo mimicked a couple breaths, breathing out of her mouth harshly. "Neo's right." Rojo affirmed. "We may breathe IN oxygen, but we exhale nitrogen. And even then, our atmosphere has a TON of nitrogen in it already. If this Screegit breaths in a lick of nitrogen, it could transform and run amok anywhere in the world."
Cinder wore a sinister smile at that. "Ah, I see! So, our mission is to find the Screegit, free it so it can transform, and then we start wreaking havoc on Bellwood, correct?"
"Nope!" Rojo said proudly as she hit the "Accept" button on the website she was on. "We're gonna find the guy who's holding the Screegit, beat him up, get the Screegit, and then turn them BOTH in for the reward money."
Cinder deflated so fast, it was almost comical. "What?! B-But… that's not villainous in the least! You make it sound like we're doing something…" A shudder went through her as she swallowed and muttered; "…G-Good."
"Maybe, Cindy, but look at it this way;" Rojo set a hand on her partner's shoulder and brought her other one up, presenting her idea to Cinder. "See, if WE can stop this baddy from using the Screegit, then it'll benefit us money-wise while also doing away with any evil competition." She smirked and gave Cinder a wink. "You see what I'm getting at here?"
"…Oh, I see." Cinder's evil smirk returned. "If we can stop whoever poached this Screegit for their own gain, then that opens up more room for US to take over the market on villainy! Haha! I love it!"
"Glad to hear!" Rojo nodded. "Because the bounty itself is eight hundred taydens. Four for Hokestar's arrest, another four for returning the Screegit alive. And when converted to Earth cash… yeah, that's a crap-ton of money. So, first thing tomorrow morning, we're gonna go searching out this… erm…" She went to her phone again and read off the name of the suspect; "…Blarney T. Hokestar… and we're gonna whup his ass and get that Screegit."
Emerald crossed her arms and raised a single brow. "Okay… but how're we gonna even FIND this Hokestar guy, anyway? We don't even know where to start searching."
Rojo's smirk increased as she wagged a finger at Emerald. "Oh, my dear Emerald, you won't have to worry about that." She winked to her compatriots and said; "I know EXACTLY where to go. Come on, let's get moving and get that money ASAP…" Rojo grabbed the suitcase containing her armor and went toward the door, opening it up again… only to be met with a jaw dropping sight. There, right in front of her door, a large portal had opened up, and out rolled a HUGE saucer-shaped red robot on one wheel with three tendril-like arms, its single red optic gleaning harshly as several similar yet smaller blue robots all came filing out after it.
After staring at it for a few seconds, Rojo slowly closed the door and faced her comrades. "Okay, new plan; we wait until tomorrow and THEN we head out. Also, we may wanna hunker down in the bedrooms."
…..
Before the team of villains knew it, the next day came… and they had NOT gotten a good sleep. For one, the giant robot attack had put them ALL on edge, and it didn't help that later on the evening news, it was revealed that Ben and his team of heroes had managed to beat them all back. "Because OF COURSE." Cinder had commented. "They MUST have all the heroic, epic entrances, shouldn't they?"
But, as it happened, the beds in Rojo's place weren't exactly all that comfortable either, which gave them even further resolve to do the job even more. They needed better beds FAST, and that lead them to searching for even MORE bounties to hunt down. Or, at least ONE of them was trying to do that. "Okay, Rojo, how the hell am I supposed to know which job is a good one and which one's bad?" Emerald asked as she continued to swipe through the bounty site on Rojo's phone. "These descriptions aren't really making much sense to me."
"Don't worry, Em, it's honestly not that hard once ya get used to it." Rojo assured. "Just see how many taydens the job offers and WHERE the actual bounty is. Anything off-world is a no go, but if it's here on Earth, then we go for it." She pointed to Emerald and added; "And be sure the jobs actually pay well. We ain't working for chump change, ya know."
"Oh trust me, I know." Emerald smirked as she continued searching.
"So… just where exactly ARE we going, Rojo?" Mercury asked.
Cinder crossed her arms and raised a brow to the redhead. "Yes, yesterday you said you knew exactly where to find this "Hokestar". Yet you've been rather vague as to where this place is."
Rojo gave the two a wink and wagged her finger at them. "Ah, that's because it's a surprise. Trust me, where we're going, you guys are gonna feel right at home… ah-ha! Here we are!" Rojo banked left down a small alleyway, leading the other four to follow her down it. When they got to the end, however, they saw Rojo staring down at a manhole cover with a grin. The team all stared at the cover incredulously as Neo gave Rojo a questioning gaze, pointing down at the cover in confusion. "Yep, right here."
"…The sewer?" Cinder questioned. "Seriously?"
"Ah, but it's not just ANY sewer, Cindy." Rojo raised her foot up and stomped down on the cover, her metal boot making a CLANG sound before the cover came flying upward, spinning rapidly and landing a few feet away. "This sewer leads to somewhere pretty spectacular. Come on, I'll show ya…"
Rojo climbed down into the sewer, leaving the four Remnant natives to eye one another warily. "…Should we follow her?" Mercury asked.
"Like we have a choice?" Emerald retorted. "If this gets us money, I'll follow her anywhere."
"Same." Cinder concurred before both she and Emerald dropped down, with Neo following soon after. Mercury sighed and plugged his nose before falling in as well, the team following after Rojo immediately. After a few minutes, Rojo banked down a secluded tunnel, one that seemed to be a bit different from the rest of the sewer. Then, much to their surprise, the tunnel grew wider and wider before they stepped out on the other side… and came across a rather large town in a humungous cavern.
The place wasn't too fancy, but given that the whole town was underground, that was kind of expected. Still, there were several different inhabitants of this town all of them with unique appearances… namely because they were aliens. Indeed, several different species of aliens could be seen out and about in the town, either walking down the streets or at the marketplace selling their wares. It wasn't like anything Cinder or the others had ever seen before, and it left them gob-smacked. "What… what in the world is this place?" The Fall Maiden asked.
Rojo spread her arms out and said; "Guys, welcome to Undertown!"
Neo rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing things correctly while Emerald uttered; "R-Rojo… you mean to tell me there's an ENTIRE TOWN beneath Bellwood?! How the hell is that even POSSIBLE?!"
"Psh, well, when you're the hometown of the "Universe's Greatest Hero", you're bound to have a few secrets." Rojo answered. "Besides, given that Bellwood's also where the Plumber's Earth HQ is AND it's pretty much the epicenter of all alien activity, it really shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone that something like this is here."
"Hm, neat." Mercury remarked. "But given that it's underground, something tells me that means there must be a ton of low-lives down here."
Rojo smirked at that. "Oh, you know it, Merc. And when you're a low-life, you'll probably wanna head to one place…" She ushered the four to follow her. "Now c'mon, we're burning daylight." With that, the group continued on their way, the bounty hunter taking the lead through the seedy streets of Undertown.
Along the way, though, Emerald piped up again. "Ooh, hey! I think I found another good bounty on the site!"
Rojo came to a halt and spun around toward her, leading the others to do the same. "Really? Well, lemme see, Em!" Emerald showed her the phone and… Rojo was relatively surprised by what she saw. It was a Florauna, but one that appeared to be a lot… bulkier than usual. He was also wearing what could only be described as hippie clothes, as well as a pair of 3D glasses… even though he only had one eye. She saw the name of the individual and raised a brow. "Hmm… "Pax", huh? Doesn't really LOOK all that threatening."
"Maybe not, but his description makes him sound like a pretty dangerous guy." Emerald elaborated. "He calls himself a freedom fighter and an "alien rights activist", but his actions come off more like eco-terrorism, doing whatever it takes to make sure that whatever alien creature on his radar is freed. Whether it be from zoos, wildlife preserves, you name it. He keeps saying that "every living creature should be free, man!"."
"Ugh, I hate hippies." Cinder snarled in disgust.
"Cinder, I think we can safely say that you hate most things." Mercury said, to which Neo nodded with a smile.
The Maiden, however, took offense to that. "Ah! That is NOT true. I… I like all of you." She received a series of deadpan expression from the group and she let out a sigh. "Alright, I'm learning to like all of you, but still, you can't say that I hate everything!" She shook her head and gave an annoyed groan. "Never mind that now. Emerald, is this "Pax" on Earth?"
"Yep, and he's fetching a pretty penny on the site." Emerald pointed to the price on his head. "Three hundred taydens sounds pretty good, right? Could pay for groceries."
"Pfft, FAR more than just groceries, Em." Rojo corrected. "If we're lucky enough to get both Pax AND Hokestar, we can probably pay off all the stuff we need for the apartment."
Mercury's eyes widened in realization before smirking. "How much you wanna bet that he's on Earth because of the Screegit being captured?"
"Could be, which means if we run into him, we knock him on his ass and take him in." Rojo concluded as she continued walking. "Now c'mon, we're almost there."
Cinder furrowed her brow as she caught up to her partner. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask… how ARE you paying for that apartment? I find it odd that it's in an alley yet still has electricity."
Rojo smiled proudly at that. "Heh, well, if you wanna know, that apartment is actually an older one that was abandoned by the complex it's connected to. Its wiring was cut off back in the day, but I managed to get it all back up and running after a bit of finagling." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "I've been leeching off that complex for about two years now and they've been none the wiser since they THINK they've been cut off from my place entirely for YEARS now."
"…Rojo, I have no idea how you manage to keep earning my respect like this." Cinder nefariously grinned. "You truly ARE evil."
"It's how I roll, Cindy. …Ah, here we are."
The group of Ministry members stopped directly in front of a two-story building that was deep in the seediest part of Undertown, with nothing but suspicious characters, street urchins and all-out thieves moving through the streets. The aliens walking around all eyed the quintet of humans with trepidation as they stood in front of the establishment, a pair of saloon-like double doors greeting them. Up above their heads, there was a purple neon sign that had a swirling dark void graphic on it, as well as alien writing all the way around it. "Guys, welcome to the Black Hole." Rojo introduced.
Neo quirked a brow at the name while Emerald rolled her eyes. "Wow, what a charming name for a sleezy bar."
"Oh, this ain't just any bar, sweetie." Rojo assured. "This place is one of the scummiest underbellies in all of Undertown. Criminals, smuglers, and even bounty hunters are all known to come here, and—WATCH OUT!"
All of a sudden, a large purple alien with four gleaming yellow eyes came storming out of the door, holding two small, pudgy aliens in his giant hands. The five teammates darted out of the way as the larger alien dropkicked both of them out of the establishment and hollered; "And STAY out!" before going back behind the double doors. The small aliens, both of them clearly drunk and out of their minds, screamed back some unintelligible obscenities before both of them waddled away on their stubby legs.
"…Yeah, ya don't wanna piss off the staff." Rojo continued. "Especially the bar's owner. Which is actually who we're gonna go see. If anyone knows anything about where all the criminals hang, it's him."
"Okay, so what do WE do?" Mercury shrugged.
"Just stick with me and follow my lead. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?" Rojo got a nod from all of them, which was all she needed to proceed. "Alright… let's get in there." With that, the group filed into the bar, and the Remnant natives were taken aback instantly.
Before them, they saw alien species of all shapes and sizes, big, small, plump, skinny, scaley, slimy, you name it, they saw it. Almost immediately, they drew the attention of all the patrons, with many gazes now focused directly onto them. But then… one of the aliens shouted in surprise; "Woah, guys! Rojo's back!" Almost immediately, the aliens began clamoring around the group, with many of their drinks raised as they cheered for the redhead and began asking her questions. "Haha, no way!" "Rojo, where the hell've you been?!" "Do you know HOW dull thing've been since you've been gone?!" "And hey, who're these other fleshies with ya?"
Rojo let out a laugh as she raised her arms up to the crowd. "Haha, yeah, yeah, it's good to be back, guys. Believe me, I've missed this place." She jerked her thumb back toward her team. "But as much as I wanna catch up, me and my new crew here are on business. Anyone know where Willard is?"
"Oh yeah, he's in the back." One of the purple bar bouncers answered, pointing around the bar itself. "Go on ahead and pay him a visit. Somethin' tells me he'll be glad to see ya."
"Great, thanks!" Rojo said with a thumbs up before whispering to her team; "Okay, just keep cool and follow me…"
As the group strolled forward, Cinder, Mercury, Emerald and Neo couldn't help but glance around, however, their interests piqued at all the different kinds of aliens. "Man… can you imagine…" Emerald started. "Tennyson has ALL of these kinds of aliens in his Omnitrix."
The others all felt their eyebrows raise up at the revelation. "That… puts a LOT into perspective." Mercury commented.
Cinder shook her head. "Let's not think about that right now. We have a job to do, remember." Finally, the group made it to a brown door at the end of the hallway, to which Cinder set her sights on Rojo. "So, do we just knock or should I break the door down?"
"No, no, we LIKE Willard." Rojo emphasized. "Don't worry, I've got this..." She reached up and knocked on the door, and it didn't take long to get a response.
"Yes, who is it?"
"Yo, tendril-breath!" Rojo exclaimed, making the others recoil in shock. "It's me, now open up or I'm gonna break in there myself!"
A few moments of tense waiting followed for the group, still in disbelief over what Rojo just said. But, surprisingly enough, the door opened without hesitation and on the other side, the sight of a grey-skinned alien graced their presence. The alien appeared to be mostly humanoid, but his legs were all tentacles and he had four human-like arms. He stood on the four tentacles like a man, keeping them paired up like a set of two legs in his yellow pinstripe pants. He also wore a matching yellow pinstripe jacket, and underneath that, he had a purple dress shirt. His eyes were also a vibrant purple, as was the bolo tie around his neck. And finally, and most interestingly enough, he had a head of swept back black hair.
The alien gave a laugh before stepping out of his office completely, his arms spread out wide as he greeted his guest. "Haha! Rojo! I KNEW I recognized that forceful voice anywhere!"
"Heh, good to see ya, Willard." Rojo chuckled as she shook his hand. "Surprised you still remember me after I've been away for about a year."
"Are you joking? How in the world could I forget my favorite customer?" Willard emphasized before his large eyes took notice of the group behind her. "Oh, and what do we have here? Accomplices?"
"Well, you could say that. They're my new squad." Rojo extended a hand toward the four Remnantians. "Willard, this is Cinder, Emerald, Mercury and Neopolitan. I met them a couple weeks ago, and trust me, they're good people." She faced her team as she shifted her hand over to Willard himself. "And guys, this is Willard Swoggle. He's got ties pretty much everywhere in the Bellwood alien underground."
"An absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Willard said as his arms extended out of his sleeves and shook everyone's hands, much to their shock. "Any friend of Rojo's is a friend of mine!" He pulled his arms back in and smiled to Rojo. "So, what brings you around here, Rojo? Last I heard, you got put in the hoosegow by Ben Tennyson."
Rojos lips curled up in disgust. "Yeah, THAT wasn't pleasant, but hey, I got out." She glanced over to her team and smirked. "And a little while after I did, I met these guys. But that's a story for another time. What we need is a little information."
Willard clapped all of his hands together and rubbed them eagerly. "Absolutely! Anything for my most recurring customer." He held out a hand and rubbed his fingers together. "Of course, there IS the small fee that comes with me relinquishing whatever it is you wish to know…"
"Oh… yeah, right." Rojo winced as she pulled out a small sack from a storage unit inside her thigh armor, handing it over to Willard with a sigh. "Here you are, Will, it's honestly all we have to our names right now."
Willard's eyes widened and he peeked into the back, his lips parting in shock when he only saw a few taydens in it. "Oh… oh my." He sent a sympathetic look to Rojo. "Rojo, my dear, it seems like you've fallen on pretty hard times…"
"Yeah, that's kinda why I NEED this info." The bounty hunter pointed to her group. "I wanna get some fresh furniture, food and appliances so that my crew has a decent place to live. I'm willing to pay any price, so… I hope that's enough."
The tentacled alien shifted his gaze between Rojo and the small bag in his hands before smiling up to her. "You know what? Rojo, you've done right by me so many times in the past..." He tossed the taydens back to her, the redhead catching it in surprise. "It's about time I return the favor. This info is on the house."
"W-What—wait, are you sure?!"
"Of course." Willard pointed to Cinder, Mercury, Emerald and Neo behind her. "You have LOTS of mouths to feed and those taydens should be enough for at least a few groceries if things don't go as planned." He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Of course, knowing you, they probably WILL, but better safe than sorry."
"Haha! Will, you will NOT regret this." Rojo shook his hand excitedly. "Next time, you're getting paid guaranteed, I promise."
"Hmhm, I'll hold you to that. So, what is it that you need to know?"
Emerald held up Rojo's cellphone to show Hokestar's face to Willard as she explained. "We're searching for this guy, Mr. Swoggle. One Blarney T. Hokestar, wanted for stealing a Screegit off the nature preserve planet of… uh…" She brought the phone back to her and read; "…Terras…ploondahn?"
"Ah, Terrasplundan, you mean." Willard corrected… only for his eyes to widen in shock. "Wait… Hokestar has a SCREEGIT on Earth?!"
Cinder raised an eyebrow at him. "So I take it that you know him?"
"Well, we WERE once business partners. Hokey and I used to con every planet we could from Petropia to Khoros… but we had a bit of a falling out years back." Willard explained. "I had heard he was in town, but I've been doing everything in my power to avoid him."
Mercury placed his hands on his hips. "Well, do you know where he is? We're trying to find him so we can cash in on that payday with the Screegit."
"Hah, well, I definitely do know where Hokey's set up shop, so I can definitely give you some direc…tions…" Willard trailed off when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a missile out the nearby window… and it was flying right toward them. "…Oh scrud. GET DOWN!"
BOOOOOOM! The group of villains and the businessman all let out loud yells of terror as they were sent flying into the opposite wall, with wood and glass landing on the ground in front of them. Dust and smoke billowed in the new hole in the wall as they all struggled to pick themselves up, hearing a loud engine coming from inside the cloud itself. "HAK-HAK! W-What the fuck?!" Rojo shouted.
"We're under attack!" Cinder shouted as she created a pair of obsidian swords, with Emerald and Neo taking out their own weapons as well. Mercury took a combat stance as the four glared at the hole. "Be ready for any—" CHINK! "…thing." From out of the smoke, a large whip with an energy axe on the end of it came flying out and embedded itself in the floor, taking everyone by surprise.
Both Rojo and Willard recognized the weapon instantly. "…Crap." the redhead grit her teeth and glared to the culprit, who was flying in slowly on a metal glider of some sort. "You."
On top of the glider was another grey-skinned alien, though he was completely humanoid aside from his face, which had a V-shaped slit where his nose should've been. He was quite muscular and wore a red and black tunic, along with black pants, and matching red boots and gloves. He also wore a black headpiece that kept his long white hair pushed back, allowing everyone to see his glowing red eyes.
"S-S-Sunder!" Willard stammered. "W-What a surprise! W-W-What brings you around these parts? Hehehe…"
"Willard, I believe you have some information that I want." Sunder answered as he pulled his axe-headed whip out from the floor. "Problem is… I don't want to pay your exuberant and ridiculous prices. So, guess what I'm going to do?"
"W-Why do I feel like I don't want to answer that question?"
Just then, Rojo stepped in front of the businessman and glared at Sunder with everything she had. "Hey, Sunder! Don't ya know it's not proper etiquette to ram into a man's bar?!"
Sunder, however, appeared unimpressed. "Hmph, Rojo. Been a while. Seems you haven't changed in the slightest."
"Ha! That's where you're wrong, ya big grey idiot." Rojo jerked her thumb over to Cinder and the others, stating proudly; "If you hadn't noticed, I'm rolling with my own crew now, so if you know what's good for you, you'll clear out before we maul ya."
Cinder glanced over to her partner warily. "Rojo, just who IS this nuisance?"
Rojo simply rolled her eyes. "Psh, right… guys, meet Sunder. He's a fellow bounty hunter who doesn't exactly like to play fair."
"All depends on how much money is involved." Sunder shot back as he leveled his axe at Rojo's eyes. "Fair play isn't exactly required when it comes to getting a pay day. You of all people should know about that, Rojo."
"…Eh, fair point." Rojo admitted before pointing back at him. "But you're still dead meat after what you did to Willard's place!" She pounded her fist into the palm of her hand and popped a few muscles in her neck, preparing herself for combat. "Now I hope YOU'RE ready for an ass-whuppin', Sunder."
Sunder turned his head up to her as he hopped off his glider. "Hmph, I have no time for this. I came here for information and I'm going to get it." He reached into his tunic pocket and pulled out a Wanted poster… one that just so happened to have Blarney T. Hokestar on it. Sunder glared at Willard, who was still quivering with fear, and shoved the poster in his face. "Now… just where can I find your old business partner, Willard?"
Immediately, Rojo and the rest of her squad's eyes widened… before all of them changed into full-on glares. "Oh, HELL no! I ain't letting you get in the way of OUR bounty." Rojo pushed Sunder away from Willard and scowled directly up at him. "I accepted that job, Sunder, so my team and I are gonna be handling it."
"HA! You can't just call dibs on a bounty." Sunder scoffed. "I went to the clients personally and they were more than happy to hire me for their services. That shows dedication."
"Hmph, alright then… how about we fight for it, then?" Rojo suggested with a malicious grin. "Winner gets the job. Besides, I've been wanting to get in a good scrap."
Emerald shifted her Thief's Respite into their sickle modes in anticipation. "We're right behind you, Rojo! This guy won't know what hit him!"
Willard raised a shaky hand with a single finger raised. "U-Uh… c-could we maybe please not have the fight in my bar, please?!"
A smirk of Sunder's own formed on his lips. "Hm… very well. But I will warn you now that you won't win. After all, these clients don't need a bunch of novices and a has-been who was imprisoned by Tennyson."
Mercury snarled as Sunder insulted them. "Novices?! Okay, that's it!" All of a sudden, the silver-haired young man shot up into the air via twin shots from his boots, doing a kickflip before dropkicking Sunder right in the chest. Mercury let loose a couple more shots from his boots, causing Sunder to be kicked straight out of the bar and sent sailing right outside. Mercury landed and darted straight for the hole. "Come on guys, let's kick his ass!"
"M-Mercury, wait!" Emerald shouted as she and Neo followed after him.
Cinder sighed and facepalmed at that. "And there goes Mercury, flying off the handle as usual."
"Yeah… but would we want him any other way?" Rojo quipped. "Now c'mon, my ring's outside and Sunder's gotten himself right in the middle of it."
…..
Sunder landed in a heap in the middle of the street, attracting the attention of several passersby almost immediately. A huge crowd of aliens came to a sudden stop as Mercury came sprinting out of the Black Hole and began kicking Sunder while he was down… only for the bounty hunter to grab onto Mercury's foot and swing him back around. He sent the assassin sailing right into a nearby wall, only for Mercury to do a flip and land on it. "Nice try!" BANG! With another powerful shot, Mercury propelled himself back to Sunder and went to deliver another kick… only for Sunder to sidestep him and catch him by the collar.
"Nice try yourself, kid." Sunder proceeded to slam Mercury headfirst into the ground, much to the crowd's delight.
"HEY!" The bounty hunter snapped his head up and saw Emerald come barreling toward him, her sickle's blades having extended down on their chains as she began spinning them rapidly. "Let him go!" Emerald snapped both of her weapons forward and sent the blades toward Sunder, only for him to raise his arm up so the chains wrapped around it.
"Child's play." Sunder grabbed the chains with his other hand and pulled as hard as he could, bringing Emerald straight to him. …What he hadn't counted on, however, was for Emerald to let go of Thief's Respite and flip directly over his head. He spun right around… and then he saw something that took him aback. A giant insect monster had just appeared out of nowhere and roared at him, making him step away and let out a yelp.
Emerald couldn't help but grin to herself. Having a Semblance like hers definitely had its perks. She saw her weapons fall away from his arm and she somersaulted toward them to pick them up, leading her to slice at his legs with them as she came back up.
"GRAH!" Sunder buckled to one knee and glared at Emerald, who stood proud at her accomplishment. However, Sunder quickly rounded about and grabbed her by the throat, cutting off her circulation as he lifted her up off the ground. "I don't know what you're so proud of, girl. Because now, I will NOT spare you from my wrath!"
"Uh, you might want to rethink that." Sunder's eyes widened and he snapped his head around… seeing that Emerald was standing right next to him with her hands on her hips.
"W-What?!" Sunder went back to the Emerald that was in his hand… only for her to shatter like glass and fade away from reality. "What trickery is this—" SMACK! "GRAH!" In the span of a second, Sunder was hit in the head quite hard by a certain pink umbrella, before it was followed up by a strong kick across the chin.
Neo landed with a backflip before a long blade extended out of Hush's tip, which she quickly sliced across Sunder's chest as she staggered back. The alien cried out and clutched his chest, which quickly began bleeding from the new gash in it. Emerald strolled up next to Neo and said; "That would be a distraction, big man." The green-haired thief offered a fist bump, which Neo gladly reciprocated. "Nice work, Neo."
With a tip of her bowler hat, Neo thanked her teammate… before her pink and brown eyes widened at the sight of a huge energy axe come swinging down toward them. Neo quickly put her hand on Emerald's shoulder, using her Semblance to create an illusion of them that shattered upon the axe making its strike, allowing them to run for cover. "Hah, thanks Neo!" Emerald breathed out.
"Enough tricks!" Sunder shouted as he pulled his axe whip back. "Does ANYONE have the spine it takes to actually fight me?!" BAM! "GRAH!" Without warning, Mercury came back around and kicked Sunder right in the face, letting off a Dust round on contact. Sunder stumbled to the ground and propped himself up on his hands and knees, glaring up at Mercury with a snarl. "So, back for more, boy?"
"Not really…" BLAM! Mercury watched as Sunder was suddenly blasted away by a powerful red laser, sending him careening straight into a nearby building. "…But they definitely do."
Sunder climbed out of the wreckage with a grunt of anger and was immediately met by Rojo and Cinder, both of them glaring right at him. "Yeah…" Rojo cocked her weapon, Bloodstrike, and aimed it right at Sunder. "I think WE wanna piece of ya."
Sunder gave a malicious grin as he jumped out of the rubble and back onto his glider. "Very well, your funeral." With that, Sunder sent his axe whip out again, swinging it straight toward the duo.
"Split off!" Cinder shouted, the two partners separating into different direction. Just as Cinder thought, Sunder had to choose which one to go after, and as suspected, he went for Rojo. He flew forward and pulled his whip so that the axe head followed after her, leading Cinder to summon an obsidian bow and arrow. "Rojo, bring him here!"
"Whatever you say, Cindy!" Rojo transformed Bloodstrike into its sword mode and jumped up just as the axe came crashing onto her position, leaping toward Sunder with her blade raised above her head. Sunder, however, avoided the strike and leapt off his glider, which then rocketed forward and slammed Rojo right in the gut.
With the wind knocked out of her, Rojo landed flat on her back and winced in pain, struggling to get up as Sunder landed with his foot on top of her. "You could've just walked away, Rojo!" he shouted as he put more pressure on her chest and made her cry out in pain. "This bounty was mine, but then you had to stick your nose into my business! And now… I'm going to return the favor—AGH!"
Just then, Sunder felt something pierce his back, his hand going up to his shoulder to pull out a long, black arrow. He spun around and saw Cinder… who was wearing a rather furious expression. "Get your FOOT off of my partner!" She summoned more arrows and sent them flying toward Sunder, only for him to swipe them away with his axe. Sunder growled and began to step toward Cinder… only for his leg to get swept out from underneath him.
Rojo shot up and shifted Bloodstrike back into gun mode. "How's THIS for returning the favor?!" Rojo began blasting at Sunder, but the other bounty hunter was too quick, rolling away to jump back up onto his glider. Sunder whipped his axe forward and, much to Rojo's surprise, he snared her arm up with it and he began circling around her, trapping her in his whip. "W-Wha… HEY!"
Sunder chuckled as he brought Rojo up into the air, higher than any of her teammates could reach. "Last chance for you to keep your head, Rojo. Just walk away and this can all be over."
Rojo glanced around in concern… but then saw a certain someone approaching from the ground, leading her to smirk back up at Sunder. "Heh, as far as I'm concerned, this is the last chance for YOU to quit while you're ahead!"
"What?!"
"See, Sunder, I'm not just a bounty hunter, I'm a villain. And you know what villains do, right?" Rojo nudged her head to the side and Sunder craned his head around… only to see Cinder Fall flying right behind him thanks to her manipulating the wind, her eyes now flared up with her Maiden powers. "Villains don't play fair!"
Cinder's hands lit up and she sent an icy blast right at Sunder's feet, freezing him to his glider before shooting a bolt of electricity at him. The bolt both electrocuted Sunder AND made his glider fly out of control, forcing him to let go of Rojo as he roared in agony. "GRAAAAAGH!" As the glider flew off to another part of town, Cinder summoned another gust of wind to lower Rojo down to the ground gently, all while Sunder belted out; "THIS ISN'T OVER, ROJO!"
Rojo landed on her feet and cupped her hands over her mouth. "LOOKS TO ME LIKE IT IS!" She smiled and laughed victoriously as her partner landed, the redhead taking Cinder by the shoulders. "HAHA! Cindy, that was AWESOME! You really showed Sunder why he should NOT mess with you."
"Hmph, oh, it was nothing, really." Cinder eyed her nails proudly. "Scum like him really should learn their place. Still, this certainly was a good team effort." She set her sights onto Emerald, Mercury and Neo as they approached. "And I DO mean that, by the way."
Mercury spat out some dirt and wiped his face. "Well, you guys might've done some good damage, but I didn't really get to do much of anything…"
"Hey, NOT true." Emerald asserted, with Neo nodded in approval. "You got in some good hits yourself." She elbowed him in the side and gave him a wink. "Plus, the way that you blindsided him to let Rojo get in that surprise attack was great."
The assassin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh… thanks, Em."
Just then, the crowd began to applaud and cheer for the group as they saw Willard make his way toward them, beaming with relief. "Haha! Rojo, you and your team were spectacular!" He stepped up and shook Rojo's hand, doing the same again with Cinder and the others. "I cannot even BEGIN to express my gratitude."
"Ah, no problem, Willard." Rojo shrugged off. "I wasn't about to let Sunder rough up my favorite informant."
"And I can't be more grateful for that. Now, I think I owe you all a little favor…" Willard pulled out a picture from his pocket and handed it to Rojo, leading everyone else to peek at it. The picture was of some sort of large metal… thing of some sort, almost like a giant pod. The quintet weren't exactly sure WHAT it was, but it appeared to be pretty technical.
"Uh, okay… what IS that, exactly?" Emerald asked.
Willard pointed to the picture. "That, my dear, is Hokey's mobile lab. It shouldn't be far from here, more than likely somewhere close to the market place. Once you find it, you'll find Hokestar."
Mercury raised a brow to Willard. "You know, I gotta say… kinda odd that you're selling out an old business partner without any hesitation."
"Oh, pfft, trust me lad, I'll have no love lost once Hokey's behind bars." Willard tugged on his lapels with a proud face. "The less competition I have in Undertown when it comes to swindling people, the better."
"Makes sense to me." Cinder concluded. "We appreciate your help, Mr. Swoggle."
"Oh please, call me Willy."
"No."
Willard shrugged. "Suit yourself. And best of luck with bringing Hokey in." He turned to leave before stopping to point a finger at them. "Oh, and before I forget, you may want to prepare yourself for Hokey's hired help. His name's Solid Plugg, and I heard that he's pretty good at taking and dishing out punishment."
Rojo gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks Willard, we'll keep that in mind. C'mon guys, let's go get this done…"
…..
Not too long after, the group of villains had managed to find their way to Hokestar's mobile lab, the large metallic vehicle looming over them like some sort of massive tin can. The five eyed the massive vehicle warily before Emerald took a step forward. "Well, this seems to be the place. So… how do we tell if anyone's home?"
Surprisingly, it was Neo who stepped up and raised her hand, offering to take point. She ran up to the metal vehicle as light on her feet as possible, barely making a sound as she searched for any signs of entry or a point which she could see into the vehicle itself. Finally, she found one just above the back entrance and leapt up to the roof, taking a peek inside to see if Hokestar was there or not. She didn't see anyone, but what she DID see was a lever right next to the door. Couple that with the fact that the hole was big enough for her umbrella to go down, and she was utterly delighted. Neo lowered Hush down carefully through the hole, going in handle-first so that the hook would catch on the lever. She got it hooked and gave a good tug, pulling the lever up and immediately opening the back entrance.
"…Ha! Nice work, Neo!" Rojo commended as the heterochromatic girl leapt down and gave a cheery smile to her. "Man, am I glad we brought you."
Cinder lit her hand up with flames and cast a light into the darkened lab, allowing them to see. "Hm, well, it doesn't seem like he's here, so that's a good sign."
The others filed in after her and Mercury noticed a small switch on the wall as he came in. "…Well, here's hoping I just found the lights." The silver-haired boy flicked the switch and the lights came on, along with every other device inside the lab as well. "Hah, okay, we're in business. Now, where's that Screegit?"
"Good question…" Rojo made her way over to a series of rather oddly-shaped controls that the others couldn't make heads or tails of. Fortunately, the bounty hunter had dealt with alien control schemes like these many times before, so she was able to understand at a glance. "Hm, okay, I think it's… this one." Rojo reached for a strangely shaped lever and pulled it down, causing a small hole to open up in the middle of the room… which almost made Emerald trip into it.
"GAH!" Emerald jumped away as something began to rise out of the hole; that being a metal stand that had a yellow energy orb placed on top of it… and there was something inside.
The team made their way over to the orb and Rojo extended a hand. "Alright, guys, meet the Screegit."
At the sound of its name, the Screegit uncurled from its balled-up position, letting out a big yawn as its large eyes set upon the group. Mercury and Cinder were a bit unsettled by its walleyed gaze, but the same could not be said for Emerald and Neo. "Ah! Oh my gosh, it's even CUTER in person!" Emerald gushed as Neo clasped her hands together. "Who's a cute wittle guy? You are! Yes you are!"
"Could we please stop with the baby talk?" Cinder requested. "We're on a mission, remember." She tilted her head to Rojo. "So, Rojo, what exactly is Hokestar using this thing for?"
Rojo went over to the controls again and set her hand on a large, circular screen, giving it a twist. "This." she put simply before a bunch of tubes began to descend upon the Screegit, plugging into the orb around it. Then, the screen that Rojo was touching switched to a bar-shaped display, which Rojo then touched and ran her finger up to increase the power. The tubes then began sucking air in through the orb and, as a result, all of the Screegit's quills were pulled into them… and then they began to milk the Screegit. The fluid was then pumped up into a pasteurizing unit on the ceiling before going down to drip slowly down into a small bottle on the other side of the room, much to the team's disgust. "Apparently, Hokestar's using the Screegit's milk for some sort of tonic of his."
"…Okay, that's just gross." Mercury bluntly put.
"And kinda amoral." Emerald added as she pulled the tubes off the orb. "I can't believe that Hokestar stole this little guy to literally milk it dry for all its worth… come to think of it, that sounds like something WE would do."
Rojo stepped up and turned the Screegit's orb, unlocking it from the stand so she could take it off. "And that's exactly why WE'RE gonna be taking this little guy back to where he belongs and GET what he's worth in taydens. But first, we gotta take care of—"
"FREEZE!" The villains all let out a gasp and snapped their heads toward the entrance, only to see a rather plump alien pointing a blunderbuss at them. He had green skin, four very thin arms and two legs, a large, trunk-like nose, and an orange mustache with thinning orange hair on top of his head. He also wore a deep crimson suit with yellow detailing, along with a matching top hat, giving him an overall steampunk vibe. The group immediately recognized him as Blarney T. Hokestar himself. "Go no further you miserable miscreants! Move a muscle and I will blast you where you sta—AH!"
Unfortunately for Hokestar, he ended up tripping on one of his own vials of elixir as he stepped into his lab, causing him to trip and fall. Rojo immediately passed the Screegit over to Emerald and took action, running up to deliver a strong uppercut to the conman. Hokestar was immediately knocked back so far that he flew out of his lab and landed on the hard ground, knocked out flat with a bleeding nose.
Needless to say, the bounty hunter was pleasantly surprised. "…Huh, that was a lot easier than I thought it'd be."
Mercury furrowed his brow. "Yeah, you'd expect this to be at least a BIT of a challenge—"
"BOSS!" Just then, a deep, gravelly voice suddenly shouted from outside, leading the team to see a small alien come running up to Hokestar with a bunch of groceries in his hand. He somewhat resembled a gargoyle or a demon without wings, and appeared to have rocky skin. His only article of clothing was a red and yellow vest that matched Hokestar's. "W-What happened?! D-Did the Red Spots get ya?!"
Emerald eyed Rojo in confusion. "Red Spots?"
"A nickname for Plumbers down here." Rojo elaborated before calling out to the short alien. "Hey! You Solid Plugg?"
Solid Plugg snapped his head toward her and raised his fists, glaring right at her. "Who wants ta know?!"
"A group of bounty hunters wanting to make a payday, THAT'S who!"
"So YER da one's responsible fa dis!" Plugg pointed at the group and roared; "Plugg's takin' all of ya's down fa dis, ya hear me?!"
"Bring it, shortstack!" Mercury taunted. "We can take ya!"
Before anything could get started, though, Rojo spun around and tossed two pairs of handcuffs to Neo, who caught them instantly. "Neo, take these and the Screegit and get past Plugg so you can cuff Hokestar. We'll deal with the rest."
Neo gave a salute and Emerald handed her the Screegit, giving them both a nod as well. With the greatest of ease, Noe flipped right over the team, running toward Plugg as he came charging. Just as Plugg delivered a punch, Neo suddenly shattered into a million pieces, much to his confusion.
"W-Wha?!" Plugg looked down to his fists. "Huh, Plugg must be stronga dan he t'ought." CRACK! "GYAH!" BAM! While he wasn't paying attention, Mercury rushed at Plugg and kicked him right into a nearby wall, causing all of the vials of elixir to come crashing down to the floor.
"Might wanna pay attention, dummy!" Mercury insulted with a smirk. "It may just cost you your life…"
But before anyone knew it, Plugg just jumped right out of the rubble and grabbed Mercury by the throat, squeezing his rocky hands around it and cutting off his windpipe. "If yer askin's me, it's YOU'S who should be worried about dyin'!" With all his strength, Plugg pulled Mercury down and slammed him into the floor, leaving everyone stunned.
"Wha—HEY!" Emerald pulled out one of her guns and took aim. "Get off him!" She sent out multiple shots at Plugg… but all they did was bounce off his hide. "Oh… not good."
"Hehe… if you's insists…" With a strong toss, Plugg threw Mercury right at the three women, causing Cinder to leap up and Emerald to duck while Rojo caught him.
Cinder landed in a crouch and glared at the small annoyance, her eyes blazing with her Maiden powers once again. "Oh, you are SO going to regret that." Her hands lit up with electricity and she took aim, blasting a bolt of lightning right at Plugg. But while the bolt DID hit… Plugg didn't seem to be all that affected. In fact… he was laughing.
"Bah-hahaha! Dat tickles… hehe…"
The Fall Maiden growled and put even more power into her hands. "Alright, let's see how you deal with this!" Cinder leapt right over Plugg's head and then placed her hands on his shoulders, directly injecting him with a boatload of electricity.
…Unfortunately, this only made Plugg laugh even harder. "HAHAHA! …My toin." With a strong armdrag, Plugg tossed Cinder over his shoulder and sent her directly into the lab controls, the raven-haired beauty slumping on the floor. Solid Plugg jumped right up onto the Screegit's stand and gave a laugh. "BHAH! Face it, toots, dere ain't not'ing you's can do ta stop Solid Plugg!"
Cinder snarled as she shot back at him; "Alright, one; your grammar is atrocious. Two; you're even worse with double negatives than Exo-Skull. And three…" Cinder searched for a third point to make, only to realize that Plugg was directly under the tubes used to milk the Screegit… and she was right next to the controls. A nefarious smile came to her face instantly. "…You've just proved that double negative true."
Quick as a flash, Cinder jumped up and set the milking tubes to their highest setting, having seen Rojo do it earlier. All at once, the tubes began sucking at an incredibly high rate… all while they lowered down to Solid Plugg. "H-Huh?! What da—GRAAAH!" Before anyone new it, Plugg's back spikes were being sucked up by the tubes, effectively trapping him in their grasp. "GRAH! NO! Dis can't be happenin'!"
"Oh, but it is, you miserable cretin." Cinder proclaimed proudly before eyeing her team. "So, how do we bring HIM in?"
Rojo gave a laugh and stood up, helping Mercury to his feet as well. "Like this, Cindy." The bounty hunter stepped over to Solid Plugg and pulled out something from her armor, what appeared to be some sort of triangular-shaped chip with a blue light in its center. She pressed the light and then tossed it onto Plugg, the chip sticking onto his chest.
"H-Hey, what's da big idea—" BOMF! "AUGHRAHG!" In a split second, the chip suddenly exploded with a ton of expanding foam, which surrounded Plugg's entire body almost instantly. The rocky alien struggled to get out of the foam, but quickly found that the more he struggled, the more the foam constricted his movement. "GRAH! What da heck did ya do?!"
"It's entrapment foam, smart guy." Rojo said matter-of-factually. "The only way you can get out of there is by having someone cut you out with an energy blade. And lemme tell ya right now; that ain't gonna happen until you get turned in." She pulled Solid Plugg down, the tubes snapping right off without issue. Rojo slung him under her arm and gave him a pat on the head. "Now c'mon, you're gonna be gone for a loooong time."
Plugg resumed struggling after hearing that, though all of his attempts were in vain. "W-What?! No! Plugg can't go back to da hoosgow!"
Emerald smirked as she shouldered her gun. "Sorry, pal, but that might be where you're goin'." She glanced toward her team with an approving smile. "You know what? I think we did a pretty good job for our first bounty."
"Hell yeah, ya did." Rojo nodded. "Now it's time to reap our reward. C'mon, let's go meet with the clients." The four walked out and were immediately met with the sight of Neo sitting on Hokestar's back, his arms all cuffed as he continued to lay there unconscious. "Heh, good job, Neo. You ready to go?"
Neo gave her a thumbs up before a new voice entered the conversation; "Woah! Far out, man!" The villains all whipped their heads toward the voice… and were immediately met by the sight of a rather husky Florauna in hippie garb, a heavy fur coat, and 3-D glasses. "Dude! You took down Hokestar and got the Screegit! All before I could even GET here! You cats are like, WAY cool man."
The quintet all eyed one another in surprise before Mercury piped up. "Uh, 'scuse me, but you wouldn't happen to be Pax, would you?"
Pax smiled proudly and straightened out his coat. "The very same! Alien rights activist extraordinaire!"
"Good, that's all we needed to know." Cinder flicked her wrist and created a very hot obsidian spear and threw it directly through Pax's chest. The Florauna barely had time to let out a "huh?" before the spear exploded in a brilliant, fiery display, leaving nothing but his lower half behind as chunks of his vegetative body were sent flying all around them. The team all gawked at what had happened before going back to Cinder, who simply shrugged and asked; "What?"
"Cinder!" Emerald shouted. "What the hell was THAT?!"
"Oh, nothing, I just had to let off some steam after dealing with that urchin." Cinder answered as she pointed to Plugg.
Mercury facepalmed at that. "Cinder, we needed Pax ALIVE to collect the bounty! You can't just… huh?" The assassin trailed off as he saw the bits and pieces of Pax's green body all begin to move on their own, collecting themselves back onto Pax's legs before reforming his entire upper half all together, clothes and all.
However, the whole thing did leave Pax a bit disoriented, leaving him on wobbly legs. "Woa-OAH! Man, what the heck was that—" BOMF! BOMF! Before Pax knew it, Rojo had thrown two more of those chips at him, constricting his hands and legs in the same foam she had trapped Plugg in. Pax ended up tripping over and falling right to the ground, glaring up at the villains all the while. "Woah! Hey, NOT cool, man!"
"Sorry "man", but you've got a bounty on your head for your acts of eco-terrorism." Rojo said as she hoisted Pax up. "You're coming with us."
"Go ahead! Lock me away!" Pax insisted. "That way I'll be able to experience what my caged brethren and sisteren feel!"
Rojo rolled her eyes before hitting Pax right in the face, knocking him out before giving a nod to Cinder. "Heh, nice work, Cindy. You must've known that he'd reform after seeing Swampfire do it so many times."
"…Uh, sure, let's go with that." Cinder quickly confirmed. "So, shall we collect the bounty?"
…..
Over the course of the next twenty-four hours, the rewards of the bounties had been reaped and then some. As it turned out, Solid Plug had his own bounty on his head, leading the total bounty to come in at a whopping twelve hundred taydens. Needless to say, the team were set and then some, and they went shopping immediately after they had met with the clientele and turned their perps in. They started by getting new furniture for the living room; a pair of couches and a recliner that were dark blue and quite plush and comfy.
And then, of course, there was the matter of groceries and new kitchen appliances, which they went all in on. A state-of-the-art smart refrigerator, a new dishwasher and oven, and even a new sink! Plus, they also bought replacement lights for the kitchen as well, which finally brought the incessant flickering to an end.
However, the one thing that they hadn't gotten was a toilet, and that's mostly because they had forgotten about it. Rojo had elected to head out to get a toilet the following day, though. "Trust me, guys, the toilet I get is gonna be premium." she had insisted. "Pakmar's place sells some of the best bowls this side of the solar system, I'm sure he'll have one."
And that's where the team of villains found themselves now; waiting for Rojo to return so that they could finally replace the toilet. Emerald, Mercury and Neo were sitting on the new furniture and happily watching television while Cinder was in the kitchen, preparing a salad for her lunch. However, just as she finished, she glanced up to the clock and noticed that Rojo had been gone for much longer than she said she would.
"Hm… Rojo's been gone for nearly an hour and a half now." Cinder noted.
Emerald craned her head up and saw the time as well, her eyebrows raising up in surprise. "Huh, you're right. Wonder where she is?" Neo could only give a shrug at that.
"Maybe this place sells toilets that're so good that there's a line out the door?" Mercury suggested, which made the girls deadpan at him. "…Yeah, you're right, that's unrealistic."
However, their question was quickly answered when the door was suddenly kicked open, making them all jump up only to see that it was Rojo holding a toilet in her arms. "HAHA! Guys, you will NOT believe what I just saw!"
"Rojo!" Cinder scolded. "Do you have ANY idea how much you frightened us just now? And what in the world are you on about?!"
"Oh-ho, Cindy…" Rojo set the toilet down and immediately pulled out her phone. "You might be miffed now, but you'll be stoked when you see this. Okay, so get this; right when I left Pakmar's, I saw a trio of aliens enter the store. They weren't any that I really recognized, so I didn't think much of 'em. But apparently I should've, because right when I had gotten down the block, Pakmar's blew the FUCK up!"
Emerald's eyes widened at that. "Wait, was THAT the tremor we felt?"
"Huh, here we thought it was a mini-earthquake." Mercury figured.
"Nope, those three blew the place sky high." Rojo affirmed. "And wouldn't ya know it… look who showed up." Rojo showed the group her phone and they bore witness to a recording she had taken… one that showed Ben Tennyson and the other heroes arriving on the scene.
Cinder's lips turned up into a snarl. "Tennyson. I should've figured he'd be on the case." Neo also visibly scowled when she saw that Ruby was with them as well.
"But who's the tall blue guy with him?" Emerald quirked a brow at the alien that had stood off to the side with Max and Swift.
Rojo shook her head. "Dunno, never seen him before. My guess is he's a new recruit. But that's not the BEST part about this… check it." She resumed the video and, from out of the ruined building, a rather large beast appeared, one that appeared as if a rhinoceros and a beetle had crossbred and it was somehow given a rocky hide. It also had a spiked collar around its neck, which was interesting to them. The beast started attacking the heroes and Rojo paused the video again to point at it. "See that thing?"
"Yeah… what the hell is it?" Mercury asked.
"It's called a "Cleoptceros". It's a predator that's native to the star planet of Pyros. But that's not the important part…" Rojo directed her finger right to the beast's collar. "See that collar? I recognize it anywhere."
Cinder tilted her head. "What's so important about it?"
"That collar belongs to my mentor's hunting dog." Rojo grinned. "That can only mean one thing… Khyber's on Earth."
Emerald's eyes widened at that. "Wait, isn't he the guy you said was one of the galaxy's greatest hunters? …And THAT'S his dog?!"
"Well… I'd assume so." Rojo shrugged. "I mean, the collar I recognized, but I also saw something pretty interesting on it…" Rojo fast-forwarded through the video until she got a good view of the red and silver device on the beast's collar, which she showed to the others. "See that? Seems pretty Omnitrix-shaped, doesn't it?"
Cinder's lips parted in realization. "Wait… so you're suggesting that your mentor could have some sort of… alien predator Omnitrix that he's using on his dog?"
"That's the theory, anyway. Don't know how he even GOT a thing like that, but that's my best guess as to why that thing appeared right when Tennyson and his team of heroes showed up." Rojo's smirk increased and she folded her arms. "Guys, I'm thinking that my old mentor might be tryin' to hunt down Ben Tennyson. And I think that we can ALL benefit from that. If we can find Khyber and convince him to let us help him, I think we could get HIM to help the Ministry in return."
"Hm, not a bad idea. Lady Salem can always use more recruits, and having a hunter on her side could prove quite useful." The Fall Maiden furrowed her brow. "Now, the only question is… how do we find him? I'm sure that he must've left that location by now."
Rojo clicked her tongue and placed a hand to her hip. "Tsk, good point. He could be anywhere right now. And knowing him, he'll probably only show up when there's an opportunity to get at Tennyson…" She trailed off before an idea popped into her mind. "Hm… and you know what? I think we can MAKE that opportunity happen. All we gotta do is make enough noise so that Tennyson comes to us, and then, maybe Khyber will send his dog out to try and take Ben down again."
"Could work." Mercury pouded his fist to his palm eagerly. "Besides, I've been wanting to get my hands on those idiots for a while now." He nudged his head toward the window. "But we gotta find the right moment to strike. Something that'll definitely get their attention."
Off to the side, Neo put a finger to her lips, thinking over their options before an idea of her own came to her. She beamed brightly before grabbing the remote, switching the television over to the local news. "Our top story for the evening; Ben 10 will be making a public appearance at a press conference tomorrow with his new team!" The news headline caught the group's attention immediately, leading them to all set their eyes on the screen. "After three whole weeks of being M.I.A., local hero Ben Tennyson will be addressing the public for the first time since his return, and he's going to be officially introducing his new team to the public as well. There, the group will be explaining what has been going on since Ben's disappearance, as well as what we can expect from them in the future…"
As the reporter went on, however, the group of villains all felt their smiles grow wider and wider, their evil plan already forming in their minds. Cinder glanced over to Neo and commended her. "Neo… you're a genius."
…..
BOOOOOOM!
Maniacal laughter rang through the streets of Bellwood as fire, smoke and explosions rocked one of the city's main streets, with people fleeing in terror as more cars on the road blew up. Cinder couldn't be happier as she impaled the vehicles with her obsidian spears, making them explode in fiery displays that effectively turned the entire street orange with their brilliant light. "AHAHAHA! Oh, I've never felt more alive!"
Mercury kicked off the top of a fire hydrant and placed his foot down on it, the water spraying out toward everyone who was trying to get away. The high-pressure water spout was enough to knock people onto the ground, or even worse, actually injure them pretty severely. "What?! You should be thanking me for putting you all out! AHAHA!"
Emerald smirked with delight as she and Neo continued to chase people down, instilling fear into them with her illusions. Neo meanwhile was making her way to nearby storefronts, peering through their glass windows to check out just what they could steal. "See anything interesting, Neo?" Emerald asked, to which Neo gave a shrug. "Ah, thought not. This doesn't seem like a high-end part of town anyway."
BLAM! Rojo used Bloodstrike to blast a huge trench along the road, melting the pavement while also kicking dirt and rubble up into the air. The blast sent even more civilians running for their lives, leading the bounty hunter to shoulder her rifle in pride. "Ah, man… if this were Remnant, this town would be overrun by Grimm by now."
"I know, I miss it already." Cinder remarked. "But that's not the main reason why we're here, now is it?"
"This is Channel 9 News reporter Willis O'Grady reporting to you live from downtown Bellwood, where a scene of utter chaos has just erupted!"
Cinder let out a "hm?" before craning her head toward a nearby news van, where and older man and his cameraman were standing. Her smirk widened and she brought up another one of her spears, throwing it toward the two and creating another explosion upon impact.
The blast was big enough to send the old man stumbling into his van, but nonetheless, he continued his broadcast. "Ugh! I-It's unbelievable! These… these people just came out of nowhere and started attacking everything in sight!"He peered directly into the camera with a desperate look… all while Cinder summoned an obsidian bow. "Ben Tennyson, if you're watching this, I implore you, please come and—" THUNK! "GYAAAAUUGH!"
O'Grady fell to the ground as a black arrow struck him in the shoulder, which made Cinder chuckle. "Hmhm, perfect. Come everyone, this is exactly what we need to get our message out…" The trio approached the camera man, who began to whimper and beg for his life.
"N-No! P-Please don't hurt me!"
"Oh, we won't hurt you… much."Cinder assured. "Just so long as you do what we say, you won't suffer like he is."
Rojo aimed Bloostrike directly at O'Grady. "Yeah, so put the damn camera on us! Do it or the old man gets it."
The camera man complied without hesitation, putting the camera right onto them. Cinder nodded in approval and got in the first word. "Greetings, heroes. Have you missed us?"
"Because we sure as hell didn't miss you." Emerald added.
Rojo peered right into the camera with a toothy grin. "Now, you twerps might be askin' yourselves; "what the hell are THEY doing here?". Well, I would give you your answer… but right now, I think there's some more important shit to deal with right now, at least for you guys." She gestured to all of the screaming people around her. "Like the wellbeing of these people for instance. Don't you care that they're gettin' their sorry asses chased down by us? If you did, you'd probably already be here by now. But you're not, and why is that? Oh yeah, because you're at a conference instead of doin' your jobs!"
Neo nodded with a cheery grin before noticing O'Grady start to get up and run away, to which she tapped Mercury on the shoulder with her umbrella. Mercury perked up and saw Neo nudge her head behind her, making him turn in time to see O'Grady booking it. "Oh no, old man, you're not gettin' away THAT easy!" Mercury pumped his boots and shot forward, stopping right in front of O'Grady to deliver a sharp thrust kick right to the man's jaw, sending him sprawling to the floor and making him cry out in pain.
"Ha! Nice one, Merc!" Emerald laughed
The others all got a hearty laugh out of that as well, all while Mercury went right up to the camera and nudged his chin at it. "Oh, hell yeah! You KNOW that's what's up! You wanna save the old man, don't ya, losers?!"
Cinder stepped into view again and peered into the camera once more. "If you do, and I'm sure that's the case, then you'd best get here before anymore harm befalls him or anyone else. So come now, little heroes, join in on the fun…" She spread her arms out and used her Maiden powers to enhance the flames, casting a brilliant light across the five of them as they stared into the camera. "So says… the Ministry of Darkness."
…..
A/N: And there you have it! A little look at what Rojo, Cinder and the others have been doing over the past few days. Betcha didn't think I'd adapt a little bit of the Omniverse episode "Have I Got a Deal for You!" did ya? But that being said, with that adaptation comes a big change; namely the fact that Hokestar and Pax got turned in, the bounties on their heads having been cashed in by the crew of villains. Now for Pax, that's not really a big deal, but as you know, Hokestar's the whole reason why Dimension 23 was visited… and I'll be honest, the story with the Alternate Bens doesn't really fit with the kind of story that I want to tell, so I ultimately decided to cut it. Besides, I think it would just serve to needlessly clutter this story with more stuff than I want, so it's honestly for the best. But trust me, in its place, I have a LOT of plans that might prove to be interesting…
With that said, we also got to see more of Undertown, namely the Black Hole. And, in complete and total honesty, I came up with the idea of Willard Swoggle on a whim. I just thought having a sleazy conman in charge of a rough and tumble bar would be amusing, so I ran with it. If you couldn't tell, he's pretty much a huge tribute to Fred Willard, an actor who had the BEST sleazy conman voice you could imagine. Also, he's a bit of a reference to Transformers Animated Swindle in that regard as well, seeing as he and Willard Swoggle share the same yellow and purple color scheme, along with the fact that Fred Willard voiced HIM as well. With that said, RIP Mr. Willard. What a legend.
Also, it appears that Rojo took notice of the big attack at Pakmar's place as well… and she definitely recognized the collar of her old mentor's pet. Will Rojo's plan work out and attract Khyber's attention? Well, we'll just have to find out… NEXT TIME! The heroes mobilize as fast as they can to stop the villains from doing any more harm to the city, all while trying to ignore Harangue's berating. And when they arrive, you can pretty much guess what happens next. Yep, a big fight! But that said… we also must remember that Cinder and Rojo's group aren't the ONLY members of the Ministry who're on Earth. We'd better be ready… for a stampede.
Thanks for reading everybody and I'll see you all next time! Remember, the next chapter MAY be posted on next Saturday or Sunday instead of Friday, so keep that in mind. Until then, stay safe out there!
