A/N: Hey there, everybody! Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY where we've got a bit of a training chapter going on this time! Not exactly much else to say here, but I DID actually forget to mention something in the previous chapter's NEXT TIME segment; we'll actually be getting THREE debuts here. One is for the new brainy character that I mentioned while the other two are actually more familiar faces who were in the last volume but will be re-debuting here. So, hope you're excited to see some cool face-offs, because this is…
Chapter 20: Training Begins AGAIN!
…..
Ben was beginning to regret his life choices. It was one thing to go walking into the forest alone all those years ago and get an alien transformation device stuck on his wrist. It was another to try to HACK into said device multiple times over the course of seven years. Heck, even trying to kill his best friend was… okay, no, that was STILL a stupid decision that he couldn't believe he had almost resorted to. 'What sort of headspace was I in back then?' he questioned himself. 'Man, I was a jerk two years ago. I gotta remember to apologize to Gwen and Kevin again—'
SCREEEEEEECH! "AUGH!" SMACK! Ben's head hit against the dashboard of his car, throwing him for a loop as he pulled his head back up and clung to his seat. "Oh yeah, I'm in danger right now!"
"Oh don't worry, Green Boy!" Yang said with a smirk… and her hands on the steering wheel. "I've got it all under control! …Oh wait, there's our turn!" VRROOOOM! "Ahahaha!" Yang laughed and Ben screamed as she made a sharp turn down the street to Plumber Headquarters.
"Ugh! Y-You know, babe, when I agreed to let you take my car for a spin, th-this isn't exactly what I had in mind." Ben stammered.
Yang briefly glanced toward her boyfriend before setting her eyes back on the road. "Ben, seriously, you don't have to worry about a thing. I know how much this baby means to you, so believe me when I say I would NEVER wreck her." She gave him a wink and pointed to him. "Remember, your girlfriend is one of the best motorcyclists in Vale, so don't worry."
"…Hah, well, I guess I have to admit that this IS really exciting." Ben smiled sheepishly. "And yes, I do trust you to drive my car, Yang." That got the Blonde Brawler to smile as they pulled to a stop outside of the hardware store façade of the Plumber Headquarters. "But, uh… maybe next time we could possibly take her for a bit of a more… relaxed outing next time?"
"Yeah, sounds like a plan, Green Boy." Yang put the DX Mark-10 in park and leaned over to kiss its owner, making him smile as her lips met his. "Now, how about we get outta here and start doin' some training, huh?"
Ben offered a fistbump, which Yang was more than happy to reciprocate. "Hell yeah, let's do it!" He craned his head around to the back seat and announced; "Alright gals, we're here—huh?"
Yang moved her head around and her eyes widened at the sight of Ruby, Blake and Wiess… all having passed out in the backseat. All three girls had spirals in their eyes and were groaning in exasperation as their heads spun, making Yang and Ben sweatdrop with nervous smiles. "Uh… hehe… whoops."
"Again, next time; a more relaxing drive." Ben smirked.
At that, Weiss snapped up, recovering in an instant. "SEE?! We TOLD you that would be a bad idea!" She whipped her head over to Yang, who put her hands behind her head nonchalantly. "And just WHAT did you think you were doing, Yang?! Not only did you nearly give ALL of us heart attacks, but that had to be some of the most WRECKLESS driving I've ever seen! How is it that YOU have a driver's license again?!"
Yang shrugged and eyed Weiss teasingly. "Because I'm just badass like that?"
"You are INCORRIGABLE!" Weiss shouted before pushing the door open and storming out… only to be met by someone's chest.
The former heiress sneered and moved her head up to give whoever it was a piece of her mind… but then she saw that it was none other than Rex. The EVO smiled down at her and rubbed his neck. "Haha! Wow, you guys sure know how to make an entrance." He leaned down and gave Weiss a peck on the cheek. "Buenos días, Ice Princess."
"Er—oh! Good morning to you too, Rex." Weiss shook her head, her anger having been nearly dissolved into nothing but slight irritation as she blushed. She pursed her lips and gave a heavy sigh as her gaze lowered. "I probably should've called YOU for a ride this morning."
"Hmhm, I see…" Rex chuckled as his sights went over to Yang and Ben, who were helping Blake and Ruby out of the car respectively. "I'm guessing that Yang gave you guys a run for your money on the road, huh?"
Ruby wobbled on her legs as she struggled to get the daze out of her head. "UuUuUuhg… That's an understatement."
Blake leaned over the trunk of her car before narrowing her eyes at her partner, pointing at her with a stern finger. "Never… again."
"Aw, don't be like that, Blake!" Yang grinned. "At least you weren't on my bike for that ride."
"…Touché." Blake groaned before her forehead smacked against the trunk.
Ben scanned around and saw both Kevin's car, Coco's car and the Rustbucket parked right near them, which made him face Rex. "So, I'm guessing that the others are all already here, huh?"
"Sure are." Rex confirmed. "Gwen's group and Kevin's group all pretty much got here at the same time about half an hour ago." He wore a toothy smirk and raised a brow at the quintet. "Kinda ironic that you guys were speeding and yet still got here last."
"WE SLEPT IN, OKAY?!" Ruby exclaimed, taking the EVO off guard. "Forgive us, but yesterday was exhausting and we wanted to actually get some extra rest!" Ruby pouted and crossed her arms. "Bad enough that our training time has increased to FOUR hours a day instead of just two."
"Ah, don't worry, Ruby." Ben assured. "Two o'clock isn't a bad time to get out of training, really."
Yang crossed her arms and gave her sister an inquisitive look. "Yeah, and besides, shouldn't you be happy about more training time? In the past, you used to be BORED when you weren't training with Crescent Rose." Her hands went to her hips as she bent forward with a playful grin. "Who are you and what've you done with my sister?"
Ruby rolled her silver eyes and waved her off. "Oh, stop kidding around. I DO still like training, of course, but… well, we've been here for six days and we haven't really gotten a good chance to walk around town or anything else." She shrugged and wore a small pout. "I just thought we'd have more time to do stuff, ya know? Instead, we've just been bombarded by missions and random attacks."
"She has a point." Blake agreed. "Thing's have just been non-stop for the most part."
Ben sighed and flung his head back. "Welcome to my world, ladies."
"That pun was intentional and you know it." Weiss glared.
Ben wore a wry grin at that. "Oh yeah, it definitely was—WOAH!" Without warning, a certain red and black spiraling portal opened up between Ben and Yang, and it wasn't too long before they saw the Spring Maiden coming out of it. "Gah, jeez, Raven. Give a guy a heart attack why don't… ya?" Ben trailed off when she saw the rather miffed expression that Raven was wearing, making him shrink back a bit. "Uh… please tell me I didn't do something wrong."
"No, Ben, you didn't." Raven shook her head before her gaze went straight to her daughter, who immediately grew nervous. "Well… it seems that you all got here FAR earlier than I had expected, hmm?"
"Uh, hehe, y-yeah… imagine that." Yang sheepishly rubbed her neck as Raven's eyes narrowed further, leading her to sigh and slump forward. "Okay, so I might've gone over the speed limit a little—"
"A little?!" Raven exclaimed, making everyone jump. "Yang, Ben's house is on the other side of town! This drive should've taken you at LEAST fifteen minutes, and instead it took you ten." Raven grumbled and pinched the bridge of her nose, attempting to regain her composure. "Hmph, young lady, while I'm new at this whole "mother" thing, I'm not above dealing out a substantial punishment if need be. As such, in today's training session; no sparring with Ben."
Yang's mouth hung open at that. "W-What?! But you KNOW that Ben and I always get a spar in!"
Raven shook her head. "Not this time. Think of this as a little incentive to get you to slow the hell down on town roads. High speed should ONLY be reserved for emergencies, especially around here." She pointed at Yang and scolded; "Just be glad that no police cars followed you here, otherwise things would've been FAR worse in terms of your punishment. Do I make myself clear?"
There was a long pause before Yang huffed and lowered her head. "…Yes mom."
"Good." Raven nodded before moving behind her daughter and putting her hands on her shoulders. "I do this because I love you, you know that, right?"
This made Yang's eyes widen… and she felt a little pang in her heart. '…Damn it, it feels great having a mom again.' She sighed and smiled back at her mother. "Yeah, I know. I promise I'll go slower on town roads from now on, especially with Ben's car."
Raven put her arms around her daughter briefly in a hug. "That's my girl. Now come, we have some training to do."
As the Spring Maiden led them in, Ben put his arm around Yang's shoulder while Blake strolled up to her partner. "You know, that was REALLY sweet."
"No kidding." Rex agreed. "You're lucky to have a mom that cares about ya so much."
Yang scratched her the back of her neck as her cheeks flushed a bit. "Ah, don't get sappy on me now, guys. C'mon, I wanna start hitting stuff."
…..
The moment the group entered the Plumber base, two things went through their minds. One; …Max SERIOUSLY needed to reconsider where the hidden entrance was. "Seriously, if I have to stand here EVERY time I have to go into the base, I WILL throw up at some point." Weiss said, her complexion pale as she looked away from the toilet. The other thing they were thinking, however, was that the base was definitely quite busy… but with no signs of the team anywhere. But thankfully, it didn't take long for a Plumber agent to notice them.
"Ah, Ben, there you are." the agent jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "The rest of your team's waiting for you in the main lab."
And with that, the hero led Rex and the ladies to the primary laboratory, which, as expected, housed all of their comrades. Even Team CFVY was there, the group standing near Cooper as he continued to tinker with Cesar on what they assumed to be a suit of armor. They all seemed prepared for battle, and were getting in one last chat before they went in for it. From the sounds of it, they were all going over combat strategies right as they walked in.
"Hey, would ya look who finally showed up!" Neptune waved, causing everyone else to halt their conversation.
Weiss furrowed her brow and scoffed. "Hmph, well, at least we're not late…" She eyed Yang judgingly. "Yang made sure of that."
"Hey, I apologized, okay?" Yang groaned. "And besides, mom's already giving me a punishment, so please ease off, Weiss-cream?"
Gwen couldn't help but blink at that. "Hm? What happened?"
"Oh, I… might've let Yang have permission to drive my car." Ben answered. "It was… a pretty wild ride."
Kevin's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "WHAT?! Ben, you let a motorcycle girl drive your CAR?! Are you MAD?!" He heard a low growl come from his side and he turned to see Yang… and her bright red eyes. "Woah, woah, I didn't mean any offence to that Yang, honestly. But… well, ya gotta admit that bikes and cars are two totally different beasts, right? …Plus, I put a lot of time and money into that freaking car, so forgive me for bein' a bit cautious with it."
"Are you questioning my driving skills, Kevin Levin?" Yang put dangerously. "Because I'm a pretty damn good driver."
In the blink of an eye, Jaune slid right up between the two and raised his hands up to both of them, chuckling with apprehension. "He-He-Hey! C'mon guys, there's really no reason to get into an argument over this, really. What's done is done, so why don't we try and focus on the actual training, huh?"
"Jaune makes a good point." Winter concurred, though she did give Yang a sidelong glance. "As much as I feel like I should reprimand you for your actions…" Her gaze then went to Raven, who kept a neutral expression. "I sense you were already called out for it."
"Indeed, she was." Raven confirmed. "Now, what say we move past this and get to it, shall we? So, how do we get to the training room?"
It was then that Coco piped up. "Six said that he'd send someone to come bring us to the Hazard Chamber once they were all ready to go, so we're waitin' on them. We've been talking shop and workin' on strategies in the meantime, though."
Velvet nudged her head over to Cooper and Cesar. "That and those two have been hard at work on the new Centurion armor, as always."
It was then that Ruby's eyes lit up and she let out a gasp. "AH! Oh my gosh! Cooper, is THIS your new armor?!" She rushed right up to the still incomplete mechanical marvel, which appeared to already be just as, if not MUCH more streamlined than the previous model. "Wow! It's so cool!"
The blonde genius chuckled a little bit and rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, thanks Ruby, but it's not even done yet." Cooper gave a thumbs up revealing that his right hand was donned in the white gauntlet that belonged to the previous Centurion model. "Wait until you see the finished product… THEN you can be impressed.
"No doubt about it!" Cesar exclaimed as he pulled his head out of the armor's back, revealing his grime-covered cheeks. "We should be done with this baby in a few days' time. Then, once we test all of the systems and get VADOS loaded up into it, she should be good to go."
"Oh! That's right! Just where IS my sister, anyway?" Penny asked as she began scanning her eyes around the room, searching for the AI in question.
"Hehe, I'm right here, silly!" The group's eyes all widened as Cooper's gauntlet began speaking, to which he raised it up and revealed a small, green screen inside of it. On the screen, a small power symbol appeared that was very similar to Penny's own symbol, and the screen flashed as the voice exclaimed; "Salutations, everybody!"
Penny's eyes lit up almost instantly. "Ah! Little sister, there you are!" She moved up and stood in front of the screen, smiling widely. "I was wondering what you've been doing all this time since we arrived on Earth. How have you been doing?"
"Oh, I've been doing well." VADOS answered, though she sounded a bit bored. "Though, admittedly, it IS rather dull sometimes since I cannot move on my own. But, if there is one net positive that I can say I've experienced, it was when Cooper jacked me into the internet!"
The redheaded android clapped her hands together excitedly. "Oh, how thrilling! What was it like?"
"Well, the first few minutes were quite sensational. It was like I was traveling around the world without ever leaving the confines of this glove…" the AI trailed off as her tone took a dark turn. "…But then I went to deep, Penny. I went FAR too deep." Cooper's arm involuntarily jerked forward so that VADOS was closer to Penny's face, making the blonde genius cry out suddenly. "I warn you now; do NOT go further down than you have to! It is NOT for the faint of heart, dear sister, I'm telling you RIGHT NOW… in fact, allow me to spare you some of the pain so that you do not have to experience it for yourself!"
Cooper's brow furrowed at that. "W-Wait, VADOS, what're you—ACK!" Without warning, VADOS made the gauntlet's index finger extend and a small plug emerged from its tip, which then jacked right into Penny's forehead.
"Downloading internet information databanks…" The finger began to glow with a green light that poured right into Penny's head, making the android's eyes light up similarly. After about a minute or so, the process was finished and VADOS pulled away from Penny's forehead, which reformed from where she had plugged in. "Well, Penny? How do you feel?"
No response came from Penny for a few moments, but when it did, she was her bright and smiley self as always. "That was AMAZING! Oh my goodness, I feel like I know SO much now!"
The team couldn't help but stare at the scene in stunned silence before Ben piped up. "Wait, so… does that mean she knows EVERYTHING about Earth now?"
"Oh no, not everything." VADOS clarified. "I realize that you all still have many travels to experience, so I only downloaded partial information from my databanks." A small chuckle escaped the AI. "Heehee, for example, my sister is now capable of speaking every Earth language known to mankind!"
Just then, Penny stood as straight as an arrow as her eyes glazed over briefly, her movements stiff and… well, more robotic than usual. "¡Estas usando este software de traduccion de forma incorrecta! Por favor, consulta el manual." And just as suddenly, she snapped back to normal, her grin even bigger than before as both Rex and Weiss stared at her. "Ah-ha! I can speak Spanish!"
Weiss' eye twitched a bit. "…And I've only been learning for a couple of weeks."
Rex crossed his arms and pursed his lips irritably. "Hmph, cheater."
Pyrrha cleared her throat, hoping to settle things down a little. "Ahem, well, I must admit that this has been rather… interesting. But I do thing we should get back to focusing on our training." She craned her head over to Ben, Gwen and Kevin and tilted her head to the side. "So, do you guys think you could tell us just a bit more about this Hazard Chamber?"
The Alien Trio eyed one another with knowing smiles and Kevin let out a chortle of his own. "Oh-ho-ho, I think you guys are gonna LOVE this thing, I'm tellin' ya. Think of it as a combination of the Danger Room from X-Men and the Holo Deck from Star Trek Next Gen." A silent pause went throughout the room as the Osmosian received blank stares from the team, which was then he realized; "…Oh, wait, you guys haven't seen EITHER of those, have ya?"
"Nope, not ringing any bells." Nora denied.
"Though I DO remember that we watched a couple of the original Star Trek series." Ren added.
Ben sent them a reassuring wave. "Ah, don't worry about it. Once we get in there, you guys will see what we mean."
Ilia put her hands to her hips with an inquisitive stare. "Couldn't you guys at least give us SOME idea of what we could be in for?"
"Ah, where's the surprise in that?" Gwen questioned with a wink. "We can't just spoil EVERYTHING for you guys. Otherwise, this wouldn't be a fun experience."
Just then, the lab doors opened again and a new voice entered the room. "Gwen's got a point there, hon." The team set their sights on the new arrival to see none other than Molly Gunther standing in the doorway, the young Plumber greeting them with a wave. "Mornin', ya'll! How's it goin'?"
Winter brightened up at the young woman's presense. "Oh, Molly! Good to see you again." She stepped over and offered a handshake, which Molly was more than happy to return. "I take it that you'll be escorting us to the Hazard Chamber again?"
"You betcha, Winter." Molly nodded. "An' it's good to see ya, too, Winter. Six an' Holiday are ready for ya now, so if'n everyone's ready…"
"We are, Molly, thank you." Ben nodded back before facing his team, raising his fist up into the air. "Alright gang, first day of training starts NOW!" He received a rallying cheer from the others before they all followed Molly out of the room, all except Cooper and Cesar who stayed behind to work on the armor.
"Good luck, guys!" Copper called to them.
Cesar grabbed his welding mask and put it on, adding to himself; "Considering they're training with Six… they're gonna need it."
…..
The walk to the Hazard Chamber wasn't all that talkative, with the team simply choosing to walk in silence to brace themselves for what they were about to do. They had no clue what awaited them on the other side of those doors, which were just coming into view now. But from what Kevin and the others had insinuated, it probably had to be pretty intense. However, right when they were about to approach said doors, Molly took an immediate left turn, confusing everyone.
"Um… Molly?" Winter piped up. "Where are you going?"
"Hm?" Molly craned her head around before realizing what she was doing, making her slap her forehead. "D'oh! Hah, that's right, silly me. I forgot to tell ya'll that Six an' Holiday wanna see ya up in the Control Room for the Hazard Chamber first before ya'll get started." She bowed her head apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that."
Raven waved her hand. "It's not an issue, Molly. I expected that we'd be having a quick meeting with Six before things got started. So, where do we go?" With that, Molly led the group over to a rather sizeable elevator, one that was big enough to hold all of them… even if it was a tight fit.
"Make sure to stay as close to your significant other or best friends as much as possible so things don't get awkward, please!" Yang stated loud and clear as she clung to Ben.
Once the group made it all the way to the top, the elevator opened up to a pipe-shaped corridor, which they filed into one-by-one. The hall was narrow, so they walked down it in a straight line toward the pair of automatic doors at the very end. Right when Ben stopped in front of them, they opened up into a large, circular room that was primarily black with glowing green lines all over the floor and walls, crisscrossing in a checkerboard pattern. There were also several large glass windows that overlooked the Hazard Chamber below. In the middle of the room was a large command console with a holographic display in the middle, with several other computers surrounding it. The teens couldn't help but be in awe at the sight.
"Woah… now THIS is pretty cool." Ilia muttered.
"No kidding." Coco concurred. "It's like we're on the deck of a spaceship."
"A fairly accurate assumption, Coco." The group's heads all snapped up at the sound of a rather deep and familiar voice… one that they weren't expecting to hear at all. At the far end of the room, a chair at one of the large computers swiveled around… to reveal a certain Petrosapien who stood up to greet them. "This actually once WAS part of the main bridge of a Plumber ship, but has since been repurposed for use in the Hazard Room."
The team all smiled at the familiar alien before them. "TETRAX!" they all exclaimed before Ruby went up to him. "Oh my gosh, it's good to see you! …Say, where've you been?"
Ben placed his hands to his hips and raised a brow to his old friend. "Hey, yeah, where HAVE you been? We've been here for four days in change and we haven't seen you since we GOT here. What's been going on?"
Tetrax chortled a bit and his hand went to the back of his head. "Heh… well, in truth, I've been helping the Plumbers improve their security systems and their prison in general. Would rather not have another break out on the level of what Vilgax did." The Petrosapien glanced down to his suit with a knowing smile. "In fact, if you hadn't noticed… the past four days have been quite eventful for me as well."
"Hm? What do you—" Ben cut himself off and his eyes widened in stunned silence. Rather than seeing the black and green armored suit that the Petrosapien usually wore… Tetrax was now donned in a similarly heavy-armored Plumber suit, complete with the red Plumber symbol on his chest and belt buckle. All at once, Ben broke out in the widest smile possible. "NO FREAKING WAY!"
"Tetrax, you've JOINED the Plumbers?!" Gwen exclaimed as well.
"Hehe, surprised?" Tetrax chuckled. "I was hoping you would be."
"That's an understatement!" Jaune laughed. "W-When did THIS happen, anyway?"
Tetrax put his hands to his hips and pondered over the question. "Well… to be honest, I asked the moment we finished putting the criminals away. After the experience we all had in Remnant, I felt that my skills would be better suited here than just going back out into space to hunt bounties." He gave the group a thumbs up. "So, consider me on board, and ready to see this battle with Salem through to the end.
Ben stepped up and offered Tetrax his hand, which he shook without hesitation. "Awesome! Glad to have you on board, Tetrax."
"The feeling is mutual, Ben." Tetrax grinned. "Now, for today, I'm going to be serving as one of your several coaches…" At that moment, the doors to the control room opened up again, leading everyone to turn around. "Ah, and here comes your other one now."
Through the doors, Agent Six and Doctor Holiday both came in, the latter smiling while the former remained neutral as always. "Morning, everybody!" Holiday greeted. "Good to see all of you could make it."
"An' right on time, too!" The group were taken aback when Bobo trailed in behind the two as well, the EVO chimp hopping up into one of the nearby chairs with a bowl of popcorn in his hand. "Been lookin' forward ta some good entertainment."
Rex furrowed his brow at him, the young EVO shaking his head. "Dude, Bobo, c'mon, could ya cut the gang some slack here? …Also, you had BETTER share some of that popcorn."
Bobo quickly climbed up onto one of the big computers, all while shifting himself away from his best friend. "Hey, hey, get yer own popcorn, Chief. I ain't sharin' with nobody." He proceeded to take a single piece of popcorn and put it in his mouth, munching away while glaring at his friend.
"In any case…" Six spoke up, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "I see you've all seen the little surprise that was left for you."
"You mean Tetrax?" Velvet piped up. "Yes, we did! It was quite the surprise to be sure, but a welcome one."
"Good, because that was to get your serotonin levels raised up." Six explained as he stepped up to the center console. "Holiday told me that some positive reinforcement would likely be necessary, because after today's training session…" He reached over and pressed a button, activating a large, holographic display. "…You aren't going to like me."
The Omni-Hunters and Team CFVY all gave Six an incredulous look before glancing toward Rex, who merely gave a shrug. "Eh, he's probably right. In fact, he's USUALLY right." However, at that moment, the holographic display began to flicker wildly before shutting down all together, leaving the whole room confused. "…Except maybe this one time. Six, what'd you do?"
"HEY!" Suddenly, a small voice rang out through the whole room, enhanced by what sounded like an echo chamber of some sort. It effectively startled the whole team as well. "What the HECK was that all about?!" The group began searching around before finding the source; the base of the center console itself, which was missing a panel and exposing the internal workings. "I was still WORKING in here, ya know!"
Most of the Remnant natives blinked in shock before Penny asked; "Um… does anyone know who THAT was?"
Holiday wore a small, sheepish grin. "Oops! Heh, that actually sounds like my new assistant." She lowered herself down and called into the computer; "Sorry about that! Six tried to turn things on. We didn't know you were still working!"
A sigh came from the console before it answered back; "It's fine, Doctor Holiday, just a simple malfunction. I was pretty close to finishing it anyway so give me another minute…" A few moments later, the console sprang back to life, lighting up the room as whoever was under it came walking out… and everyone's eyes widened at the sight.
They recognized it as a Galvan, one who appeared to be MUCH younger than Azmuth. However, rather than the dull grey that the elder Galvan was, this one had a more seafoam green hue to their skin… and from the slenderer body and fuller lips, they recognized this Galvan as female right off the bat. She was also donned in a Plumber's uniform that had a skirt, as well as a matching helmet that was complete with goggles. The Galvan wore a satisfied smile as she walked out and dusted off her hands.
"Ah, and that takes care of…" she trailed off when she craned her head up, seeing several sets of eyes staring down at her dumbfoundedly. She sent a questioning gaze up to them as she waved her hand. "Uh, think you guys could quit crowding? You're kinda invading my personal space."
Ben's eyebrows rose up and he quickly stepped away. "O-Oh, sorry about that, we were—"
"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!" All of a sudden, several loud, shrill cries rang out through the whole room, courtesy of Ruby, Weiss, Velvet, Nora, and Penny, leading the others to cover their ears. Ruby, as quick as a flash, picked up the small Galvan, who did not take too kindly to that.
"Wha—HEY!" the small alien grumbled. "What did I JUST say about personal space."
Ruby gently held the Galvan in the palm of her hand, smiling widely as she stared at her. "I'm so sorry, it's just…. EEEEE! You're so tiny!"
"And CUTE!" Nora clapped excitedly. "MUCH cuter than Azmuth."
"You're simply adorable!" Velvet clasped her hands together.
"That, we can agree upon." Weiss nodded.
Penny gasped and she brought her face quite close to the Galvan as well. "Ah! I bet she is INCREDIBLY smart as well! Am I correct in that assumption?"
The Galvan, still unsure of what was going on, crossed her arms and tilted her head. "Uh… well, I'll definitely take THAT compliment, but someone mind explaining to me just what the heck is going on?"
Gwen quickly came in and bowed her head to the Galvan. "I-I am SO sorry, miss. My friends here are VERY new to seeing aliens like you and they can be easily excited." She gave Ruby a stern look and pointed to the center console. "And Ruby, that was quite rude of you to man handle her like that. Please put her down."
Ruby's lips moved down into a frown and she lowered her head in shame. "Oh… right." She moved her hand to the console and the Galvan stepped off, leading Ruby to bow her head as well. "I'm sorry… I just… well, I got a bit too excited."
"…And our apologies for invading your personal space like that." Weiss added, leading to Nora, Velvet and Penny bringing their eyes down shamefully.
The Galvan, after seeing that all four girls were sincere in their apology, quickly smiled and waved it off. "Ah, don't worry, it's alright. To be honest, it's actually kind of a nice change of pace. Back on Galvan Prime, I've rarely experienced this kind of excitement. Usually, it's all business and nothing else." A slight tinge of red came to her cheeks. "Also… thank you for the compliments, really."
"Oh, it's no problem at all!" Penny assured.
Just then, Coco lowered herself down and met the Galvan's eyes, lowering her glasses to get a better look at her. "So just who ARE you, little miss? My friends got so excited that we didn't get your name."
"Ah, yes, you're absolutely right." The female Galvan placed a hand over her chest. "I'm Luhley of Galvan Prime. And I assume that YOU all must be the Omni-Hunters. I've heard a lot about you guys, so it's a pleasure to make your acquaintances."
Ben stepped up and extended his pinkie finger. "The feeling is mutual, Luhley."
"Oh-ho, and here's Ben Tennyson himself." Luhley said with a slight smirk. "Azmuth's told me PLENTY about you."
An apprehensive expression took over Ben's face. "…Hopefully those include some good things."
"Eh, most of the time, not so much." Luhley made a so-so motion with her hand, making Ben's head fall dejectedly. "Sometimes he's in a good enough mood to actually PRAISE you… but even then, that doesn't last."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Ben deadpanned before getting back on track. "So, what brings you to Earth, Luhley? I don't think I've ever seen you around Plumber base before."
Luhley rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Ugh, well, if you MUST know, I'm here to serve as the replacement for those SWAMP brains, Blukic and Driba." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "Let's just say that those guys messed up one too many times here and they were shipped back to Galvan Prime for some reeducation."
Kevin raised his hands to the sky and cried; "THANK YOU, GOD!" All eyes were on him as he wore a big grin. "Trust me, you guys have NO idea how much those two screwed stuff up. They nearly blew up the whole base THREE separate times before Vilgax blew it up for real."
"That's VERY accurate, unfortunately." Gwen murmured.
"Indeed, so they replaced them with ME." Luhley placed her hands on her hips proudly. "And starting today, I'm Doctor Holiday's partner." She placed her hand near her mouth and whispered; "Also, not to brag, but I think that you'll find me to be FAR more helpful around here than those two bozos."
Ben gave her a small nod of approval. "Well, I'm glad to hear that, Luhley. Welcome to Earth."
Just then, Agent Six cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention back to him. "Well, now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, I think we can get to the ACTUAL training now."
"Yes, just what I was thinking." Raven spoke up as she and Winter stepped over to him as well, with Tetrax joining them to address the team. "Alright everyone, listen up! Today, we'll be starting off with some basic combat practice. Nothing too fancy, just what you've been doing for the past three weeks to settle you into this new routine."
"As always, we'll be asking you to pair up and have a good, clean spar with one another." Winter went on. "The first to completely drain the other's Aura is the victor…" She glanced over to Ben, Rex, Gwen and Kevin. "Or, in the case of those four over there, whoever can drain their aura or bring their opponent down to their knees first is the victor."
"Damn, Winter!" Rex ran a hand through his hair in shock. "What happened to the ring-out rule when it came to us?"
Six furrowed his brow at his pupil. "Do you see a ring down there, Rex?" The EVO glanced down through one of the large windows and shook his head. "Exactly. Things are going to be made harder for you all starting now. In order to improve your skills, these spars will be far more realistic than any that you've participated in prior."
Pyrrha crossed her arms. "Alright, well then how do you plan on measuring our Auras from up here?"
It was then that both Holiday and Luhley brightened up. "Ah, funny you should mention that…" Luhley went over to the console and pressed a few buttons, bringing up a large screen that had Pyrrha's face on it, along with a long, rectangular meter next to it. "You see, Miss Winter over there was kind enough to lend the Plumbers her scroll in order for us to replicate its technology into the Hazard Chamber control systems so that we could have your Aura meters displayed up here."
The team all looked at the display with surprised faces as Holiday picked it up from there. "This way, we'll be able to monitor your progress quite easily without having to stare at such tiny screens throughout the whole spar."
"And of course, once your Aura is all used up, that will mark the end of the spar." Winter concluded. "No ring-outs, no pausing, just an all-out fight. And we expect no one to hold back."
The Omni-Hunters all widened their eyes at that before staring at one another for a good few seconds… only for Ben to raise his hand. "Uh, yeah, I probably have to abstain from that last rule. If I went all-out, I'd probably kill everyone."
"WHAT?!" Everyone except for Gwen and Kevin shouted.
"Yeah, me too." Rex raised his own hand as well, turning to his mentor. "Six, you know well enough that I could probably kill these guys SUPER easy if I didn't hold back at least a little."
"Robo-dolt what ARE you talking about?!" Weiss went up to her boyfriend and grabbed onto his jacket, pulling him down to her eye level. "Have you SERIOUSLY been holding your powers back this entire time?!"
Yang also gave her own boyfriend a side-long glance. "Et tu, Green Boy?"
Both young men shared an apprehensive look before the Omnitrix bearer gave a shrug. "Well… kinda. I mean, I'm gonna be honest, the only reason that I don't go all-out with my powers is because if I did, I would genuinely kill someone."
"Yeah, same, really." Rex admitted. "And as you all know, we're not a fan of that stuff." Both him and Ben received a pair of rather scary glares from their girlfriends, along with the other Remnant natives as well. Rex raised his hands and stammered; "B-But that's really not what's important here. What IS important is that we have a WHOLE new place to train now, and we should be psyched to get into it, right?!"
The other Omni-Hunters didn't let up on their glare for a few more seconds before Sun finally put an end to it. "Eh, fair point, I guess. So, who goes up first?" He smiled down to his own girlfriend. "Blake, you wanna go a couple rounds?"
Blake was about to respond when Six cut in again. "Ah, hold on just a second. To make things interesting, rather than going with the training partners you're all used to, we'll be partnering you all up randomly." Almost immediately, there were several protests to the decision, but Six wasn't having any of it. "Enough. Think about it; there WILL be several situations in the future where you won't have your usual partners there to help you in a battle. So it's important that you know one another's moves so that you can get a feel for ALL of your teammate's abilities out in the field. You may not like it, but it's the most realistic choice to make."
"Damn, now THAT'S a gut punch." Coco commented as Fox and Yatsu both grumbled behind her. "Sorry boys, no roughhousing between you two today."
Yang's head snapped toward her mother. "Wait, so you punished me by not permitting Ben and I to team up while KNOWING that Six wouldn't team us up in the first place?! What the heck, mom?!"
Raven sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "Yang, I have to be honest, I literally only found this out RIGHT now…" She eyed Six skeptically, which he returned almost instantly. "And while I don't exactly approve of Six springing this rule right out of the blue… I will admit that he makes a fair point."
"Indeed." Winter nodded. "Take yesterday for example. You were all forced to pair up randomly as well. And while I have no doubt that many of you ended up with your usual battle partners, I'd wager that some of you ended up with someone different, correct?"
"You are right in your assumption, Winter." Penny affirmed as she set her eyes over to Nora. "And surprisingly enough, Nora and I made quite the capable team."
Nora beamed to her fellow redhead at that. "Aw, yeah, we did, didn't we? We showed Exo-Skull what for really good."
Ren eyed Yang with a knowing glance. "And the same could be said for us when we faced Mercury as well… even if that ride DID give us some problems."
Yang let out a chuckle and scratched her cheek. "Hehe, yeah, you're right. But it all worked out in the end and Merc ended up on the short end of the stick again."
"And that's exactly why I suggested the random pairings." Six spoke up again. "To help prepare you all in case it ever happens again. If you wish to truly know just what your team is capable of, you need to learn about their combat techniques inside and out." He furrowed his brow and his sunglasses gleamed in the light. "And in order to do so, I see no better way than to pit you all in one-on-one fights until we've gone through every combination possible."
"And with that said, I think we should get started." Tetrax moved up and pressed a button on the console, bringing up two small elevators up from the floor below. "Alright, the first two combatants shall be lowered into the chamber below and the battlefield will form around them. Once we give you the word, the match will begin."
"W-Wait, what was that last part?" Ilia asked with a raised brow. "Something about… the battlefield forming around them?"
Luhley clapped her hands together eagerly. "Indeed! You see, the Hazard Chamber isn't JUST a big room with different combat exercises programmed into it." The Galvan now had all eyes on her as she explained. "You see, thanks to some special tech from Galvan Prime, this chamber can also act as a holographic deck, one that can create any sort of environment you wish!"
The Remnant natives all stared at the little alien, flabbergasted by what they were hearing. "Woah, REALLY?!" Neptune exclaimed. "That's so cool!"
"Hehe, that's not even the coolest part, kid." Luhley wagged her finger. "You see, these aren't just ANY type of hologram, but a special hard light hologram that can replicate the exact texture, scent and appearance of anything as well, meaning that if you get blown through a rock down there… it's gonna feel like it, one-hundred percent."
"Oh dear…" Velvet fidgeted in place, her hands clasped together. "Then this will be FAR different from any sort of training that we're used to. An open arena where we're susceptible to the elements?"
"Definitely doesn't sound like we're in the standard training arena anymore." Blake huffed. "Even back at Tai's place, we had those."
Jaune took in a deep breath and grabbed the handle of his sword. "Well, if this kinda training is what's gonna help us get better, then I say we go for it." He set his sights over to Six inquisitively. "So, Agent Six, who goes first, huh?"
But before Six could respond, Ben stepped up, raising his hand voluntarily. "I will. I've been wanting to put the Hazard Chamber through its paces since we first got here, and I'm ready to go." He gave Six a curt nod. "Also, if it's alright, Agent Six, I know you said that you'd be pairing us up randomly, but I already have an idea of who I'd like to face first."
"Do you?" Six asked.
"Wait, you do?" Yang followed up. "Who, Green Boy?"
"Well…" Ben smirked eagerly and did a one-eighty turn, focusing on the opponent that he had chosen. "I think I'd like to fight YOU, if you don't mind." Everyone followed the hero's line of sight… and were stunned to see that he had zeroed in on Pyrrha.
The Invincible Girl saw everyone staring at her and she pointed to herself. "Wait, Ben, you wish to face me in combat?"
Ben folded his arms confidently. "That's right, I do. Because if memory serves, I don't think we've ever gone one-on-one before. I've done plenty of sword sparring with Jaune using Diamondhead, but…" The hero reached down and activated the Omnitrix, transforming within an instant. In a flash of light, Four Arms now stood before the redheaded warrior. "I think it's time that WE had a little match ourselves." He slammed two fists into his two open palms. "I've been wondering what would happen if WE went head-to-head for a while now, so I think now's the perfect opportunity. Whaddya say, Pyrrha?"
The room fell into silence as they awaited Pyrrha's answer… which came in the form of a wry grin of her own. "Ben… you're on." The room began to clamor at the acceptance of the challenge, only for Pyrrha to hold up her hand. "BUT… I want you to do me a favor."
"Sure, what's that?"
"I would like you to stop holding back… if only a little." The Invincible Girl's words made everyone fall completely silent… all except one.
"Pyr, are you CRAZY?!" Jaune ran up and put his hand on her shoulder. "Ben just TOLD us that if he doesn't hold back, he could KILL someone!"
Pyrrha sent a reassuring smile to her boyfriend. "Jaune, don't worry. I only want him to stop holding back a little. The last thing I want is to be killed, believe me." She craned her head back to Ben, setting a trusting gaze upon him. "But if we truly want to get better, we must be sure that we're facing stronger opponents. That way WE can become stronger ourselves. You understand, right?"
The group all stared at her for a short time before Jaune let out a sigh, his smile returning. "Y-Yeah, I get you. But uh, before you DO go out there…" In a flash, Jaune zipped right up to Four Arms and jumped up, clutching onto the Tetramand's collar as he glared right into one set of his eyes. "You listen to me, Ben Tennyson. Break ANY of her bones, even if it's an accident, and I WILL break one of yours. Understand?"
Four Arms blinked, surprised that the blonde knight was so forward with his ultimatum. However, after a few seconds, he grinned back to him. "Hmhm, crystal clear, Jaune. And I'll hold you to that if things DO get that bad. But I can say right now that they won't." Jaune chuckled and let himself down, allowing Four Arms to focus back on Pyrrha. He waved one of his hands toward the elevators and asked; "Shall we?"
"Yes, we shall." Pyrrha armed herself with Milo and Akouo before both combatants stepped into the pod-shaped lifts, which closed up and went right back through the floor right after.
"Oh-ho-ho, now THIS oughta be good." Bobo laughed, the EVO chimp making his way toward the large windows. The entire team followed his lead to get a better view of the action that was to come, all while Six gave Luhley and Holiday a nod.
"Activate the chamber. Setting; Mountain."
…..
The moment the pods landed at the bottom of the chamber, they opened up once again and let Four Arms and Pyrrha out, the two standing about ten feet apart from one another. However, it was then that Pyrrha noticed that when the pods went up, there was no shaft of any sort for them to travel upward… and yet they still did so anyway. "W-Wait, what in the world?" she murmured. "How are they doing that?"
"Magnets." Four Arms answered knowingly. "Something tells me you know PLENTY about those, right?"
Pyrrha sent him a deadpan expression before Six's voice came over the intercom. "Alright, here's the deal; we'll be keeping an eye on your vital signs from here. Once one of you can't go on, we'll be pulling the plug. …Also, you may want to prepare yourselves for a change of scenery."
Just then, the metal walls of the chamber surrounding the two began to warp and change, taking them both by surprise. Both Four Arms and Pyrrha closed their eyes at the distortion effect that was created, giving their eyes a moment of respite before opening them once again. And when they did, the redheaded warrior gasped. No longer were they in a metal room, but instead… they were outside in a bright sunny morning, with a rather breathtaking mountainous backdrop. The duo were actually on TOP of a mountain themselves as well, which they only realized when they gazed out over the horizon and realized how high up they were.
"Oh… my word." Pyrrha muttered.
Four Arms put a hand over his eyes to shield them from the sun as he stared at the mountain ranges, giving an impressed whistle. "Damn, I heard that this place was impressive… but this is WAY more awesome than I thought it'd be…" He shook his head before raising all four of his fists in a combat pose. "But enough talk! It's time for action!"
Pyrrha's eyebrows shot up and she shook her head as well, getting herself back on track. "Indeed, let's get to it." the redhead leveled Milo at Four Arms and narrowed her eyes slightly. "Now remember what we agreed upon."
"Yep, gonna let the lid off just a little bit." Four Arms popped some muscles in his neck and rolled his shoulders to get ready. "This should be fun…"
The moment the two of them heard Six say; "Begin!" they charged right for one another, both letting out battle cries that rang out throughout the mountainous area. All at once, they collided with one another with a great amount of force, a powerful blow which Pyrrha immediately blocked using her shield. Unfortunately, Four Arms had three other fists that he could attack with, so he did, swinging his lower right in order to connect with her midsection.
However, Pyrrha anticipated that, so she kicked up and gave a hard shove against Four Arms, activating her Semblance to put a little more "oomph" into it. The result was the Tetramand being pushed back on his heels, leaving a pair of sizeable ruts in the ground where his feet still stood firm. "Heh, had a feeling you'd be able to push me back." Four Arms immediately began charging for her again, all of his fists raised. "Hope you've got a good—" BANG! "Gah!" BANG-BANG! "Augh! Hey!"
Pyrrha had not wasted any motion. Without batting an eye, she transformed Akouo into its rifle mode and began shooting at Four Arms, all while running at her top speed. The gravel of the mountain trail crunched beneath her metal boots as she sprinted, practically strafing around Four Arms as she continued to pelt him with Dust Rounds.
In reality, though… the tiny bullets were nothing but mere annoyances. They definitely DID sting, but at the same time, they practically bounced off Four Arm's skin, leaving nothing but a small, yet painful sensation. "Ouch! Gah! Alright, I'm ending this!" Using all four fists, Four Arms slammed the earth below, causing a huge wave of dirt and rock to come flying up into the air around him. The wave of debris collided directly with Pyrrha, sending her flying backward. "Ha! How d'ya like that?!"
"Clever!" Pyrrha called back before doing a backflip so that she landed on the trunk of a nearby tree. "But I'm not out of this yet!" She thrust her legs back up and sent herself sailing back toward her opponent, raising her shield to make a greater impact on the Tetramand. But right as she was about to crash into him, Four Arms grabbed the metal disk and instead used Pyrrha's own momentum against her, swinging her around before tossing her straight into a large boulder in the side of the mountain.
Four Arms belted out a battle cry as he charged straight for her, intending to ram straight through the boulder and end the fight. However, Pyrrha managed to convert Milo into its javelin form before letting off a shot from its handle, which propelled her upward at the very last second. Of course, this meant Four Arms ended up smashing into the boulder face-first, which he was NOT happy about.
"Ugh… of course." The Tetramand spun around and craned his head up… only to see Milo come hurdling down toward him very fast. "AGH!" Four Arms moved his neck, getting his head out of the way so that the javelin instead impaled itself into the boulder. "H-Hey! Careful of the face! I kinda NEED that!"
But, just then, Pyrrha actually landed on Milo's handle, using her Semblance to keep her feet magnetized. "Oh, my apologies. You mean…" CRACK! "THIS face?!" In one swift movement, Pyrrha kicked Four Arms straight across the jaw, making the massive alien stagger back and fall onto his rear.
Four Arms rubbed his jaw, which clicked a bit as he moved it. "Ugh, gonna be feeling THAT for a while…" He trailed off as he saw Pyrrha pull Milo out of the boulder, getting into a battle ready stance once again. "I see you've been working on your banter, Pyrrha. Nice."
"I usually don't like to chat while I fight." Pyrrha wore a wry grin. "But I had a feeling you would appreciate it. For now, though, it's time to get serious."
"Oh, I couldn't agree more."
…..
Meanwhile, up in the control room, Jaune, Nora and Ren were all showing their support for their teammate, the former two being the most vocal about it. "WOO! Alright Pyrrha!" Nora cheered, making several of the other Omni-Hunters have to cover their ears. "Show Ben just how awesome you really are!"
"Haha! Man, this is awesome!" Jaune laughed before giving Yang a knowing smirk. "Seems like my girl's got your boy on the ropes there, Yang!"
The Blonde Brawler simply rolled her eyes at that. "Yeah, yeah, it might seem like that now, Vomit Boy. But remember; Ben promised that he'd stop holding back a little, so you never know…" Her focus went back down to the battle, furrowing her brows at the two combatants. 'P-Money, I know we're friends, but I think you'll understand when I say this…' She raised her voice as loud as she could and exclaimed; "KICK HER ASS, GREEN BOY!"
Off to the side, the adults were observing the action intently as well. "Hm, very good." Raven nodded. "Just as I expected from these two."
"Between Ben's power and Pyrrha's skill, I definitely would hope so." Winter concurred before setting her sights over to Six. "Well, Agent Six? What do you think?"
"It's gone well so far." Six answered before his eyes went up to Pyrrha's Aura meter, seeing that it was only down by about an eighth. "But there's still plenty to come…"
…..
Back in the Hazard Chamber, Pyrrha and Four Arms both charged at one another again, the latter sending two right hooks at the redhead. Pyrrha ducked out of the way and rolled right underneath Four Arm's legs, though, and in a split second, she slashed Milo right across the back of the Tetramand's calf. "GAH!" The alien nearly buckled, but instead he went to round about on Pyrrha, bringing is two fists up to finally land a double punch on her.
"AGH!" Pyrrha was sent careening back and landed on her back, only to bounce off the ground and flip in midair, landing on her stomach instead. She wasn't about to give in, though, so she collected herself and ran back toward Four Arms again. The Tetramand prepared another series of punches, but was taken off guard when Pyrrha threw her shield at him, which clocked him right in the head. Pyrrha used this opportunity to kick Four Arms right in the knee, which was actually powerful enough to make him fall over.
The hero grumbled in frustration, clenching his teeth through the pain in his leg before sweeping his arm out to try and sweep Pyrrha's own legs. Unfortunately, she jumped straight up and avoided the attack, though she came back down in order to bash her shield into Four Arms' head. "ACK! WHY the face?!" He snapped his arms up and finally managed to grab hold of what felt like Pyrrha's shoulder, shoving her away from him to finally give him time to recoup.
But that didn't last for long as Pyrrha threw Milo at him once again, though Four Arms actually managed to sidestep the weapon and grab it out of the air. "HA! Nice try, Pyrrha, but—huh?" Much to his surprise, though, Pyrrha actually jumped up, grabbed the handle with both hands… and began to swing around on it like a gymnast, leaving him confused. The hero quickly shook that off and went to grab her… but then Pyrrha came up and bashed both of her knees into his chin. Four Arms let out a roar and let go of the weapon, his hands going to his eyes and allowing Pyrrha to land with ease. "Again, WHY the face?!"
"Because THIS!" With surprising speed, Pyrrha closed in right onto Four Arms' chest and began slashing Milo all across it, leaving several long gashes across it. Four Arms let out a small yell as he began bleeding, but he quickly put a stop to the onslaught by grabbing Pyrrha's arm with a spare hand. He swung his body, and by proxy, Pyrrha herself around and tossed her away, the Invincible Girl slamming back first into a tree… which broke right in half. "GAH!"
Four Arms growled and began sprinting toward Pyrrha, gritting his teeth. "Alright, NOW it's on!" He brought his hands up and clapped all four of them together, sending out a massive wave of wind out directly at the Invincible Girl as she got up to her feet. The redhead was unable to do anything as the powerful shockwave sent her flying back once again, and Four Arms took the opportunity to jump up high into the air so that he was directly over Pyrrha. With all four of his powerful fists, he slammed into Pyrrha with full force, the impact creating a huge crater in the ground.
The Tetramand wasted no time in picking Pyrrha up and tossing her away… only for her to flip in midair and toss her shield onto the ground. She landed on her shield and, with a determined gaze that even took Four Arms aback a little, Pyrrha focused all that she had into her Semblance. Thanks to a little magnetic propulsion from her shield, the jump that Pyrrha made was almost blinding, and the redheaded warrior raised her sword to deliver what would hopefully be the final blow.
'So that's what she wants? …Okay then.' With that thought in his mind, Four Arms put everything he had into one more big leap, the alien sending himself into a collision course with Pyrrha. He reeled two fists back and shouted; "KHOROS…"
"This ends here!" Pyrrha cried back, making to swing her blade at him.
"SMMAAAAASHH!"Unfortunately for the Invincible Girl, Four Arms used his extra pair of arms to push her weapon away, and send a massive double gut punch right into Pyrrha's midsection. Nearly all of the air was driven out of Pyrrha's body and she was sent flying back into the same boulder from before… at which point her Aura broke and her body slumped to the ground.
"Pyrrha is unable to continue!"Tetrax's voice came over the intercom. "The winner of this bout is BEN!"
Four Arms let out a sigh and transformed right back into Ben, who immediately dashed right over to Pyrrha. He slid to a stop next to the redhead and helped her onto her back, all while she took in deep breaths. "Are you okay?" the hero asked in concern.
"Hah… hah… yes, I… I-I believe so." Pyrrha affirmed before smiling up to him. "I must say… this is the first time I've been bested in a spar like this. Congratulations on felling the champion of Sanctum, Ben."
"Ah, please, you REALLY gave me a run for my money there." Ben shook his head. "Honestly, I didn't really expect some of those attacks." He sent a wink down to her. "So thanks for giving it your all, and for the great fight."
Pyrrha sent him a thumbs up right back. "You're very welcome." At that moment, though, Pyrrha saw two objects begin to descend from the sky, and as they came lower, she recognized them as the two elevators up to the control room. The pod-shaped lifts landed on the ground and from them, Yang and Jaune emerged, leading the Pyrrha to wave them over. "Hello again, you two!"
"Pyr!" Jaune sprinted to his girlfriend and slid to a halt, gently reaching down to hold her in his arms. "A-Are you hurt? No broken bones or anything, right?"
"Hmhm, no, not that I can feel." Pyrrha assured. "I'm fairly certain that everything's intact."
Ben sent a sarcastic grin to the blonde knight. "Heh, see? Told you I wouldn't break anything."
Jaune rolled his eyes with the same smirk. "Yeah, sure, all ya did was send her through a tree and a boulder TWICE."
The Omnitrix bearer stood up and placed his hands behind his head. "Hey, Pyrrha wanted me to give it my all… within reason… so I did." He craned his head over to Yang as she came up and gave him a smooch on the cheek, his smile increasing. "Hehe, so, I suppose that was a congratulatory kiss?"
"You bet." Yang nodded. "But you might wanna clear out now…" Just as she said that, the whole mountainous area began to change once again, warping and shifting around them. The moment the group blinked, they were now in a heavily forested area with tall grass and tall trees of several different types. The brawler nudged her chin to her fellow blonde. "Because we're up next."
"Huh, what a coincidence." Pyrrha said before reaching up to cup her own boyfriend's cheek, seeing that he was visibly worried. "Hey, don't be discouraged, Jaune." She pulled herself up and kissed him full on the lips, making him perk up immediately. Pyrrha separated from him and sent him a wink. "You've got this, I know you do."
Jaune couldn't help but smile at her praise, and while it did tons to boost his self-confidence, on the inside, he was still very unsure. Back at Beacon, he may have been Cardin's former resident punching bag in the sparring arena, but when it came to facing off against Team RWBY, Yang was the one who gave him the worst time out of all of them. The blonde bombshell WAS probably the second-best fighter in their class, right behind Pyrrha, of course. Still, Jaune knew that he HAD vastly improved in his time training with Pyrrha, so… perhaps this could be his shot. He took a deep breath and gently caressed Pyrrha's cheek. "Okay, you've got it, Pyr. I won't let you down."
"Hey, now THAT'S what I wanna hear!" Yang pumped an eager fist as Ember Celica activated, preparing herself for battle. "C'mon, Lady Killer, let's go a few rounds!"
Ben extended his hand down to the couple. "Pyrrha, do you need help getting back up there?"
"No, I think I'm alright now." Pyrrha slowly and steadily got up to her feet, though she WAS a bit wobbly. Still, she was able to find her balance soon enough and she and Ben made their way to the pods. "Alright Jaune, good luck!"
"Thanks Pyr." Jaune smiled. 'I think I'll need it.' He mentally added as he watched the two elevators go back up, with Ben and Pyrrha aboard them. He sighed and faced his opponent, already seeing the fire burning in her eyes. It was a look that he had recognized all too well, and always served to kick his nerves into high gear. '…No, not this time.' Jaune furrowed his brow and brought up Crocea Mors, the blade's sheath transforming into its greatsword mode. 'This one's for you, Pyrrha.'
Yang's toothy grin grew at the sight of her fellow blonde and his determined expression, sensing that he was indeed ready. "Hehe… alright, little knight." She punched her fist into her palm and called out; "Think you can finally SLAY this DRAGON?!"
"I can only promise to try." Jaune's eyes narrowed. "Now BRING it!"
A moment later, they heard Six's voice ring out; "BEGIN!" and the two charged at one another, ready to collide. Yang swung a fist which Jaune quickly dodged, swinging Crocea Mors at her midsection in a split second. However, Yang was able to catch the blade and give it a twist, sending the knight up and over before he crashed into the ground. But still, Jaune was able to land in a crouch and pull his sword away, which Yang had to let go of to prevent her hands from being sliced open.
The Blonde Brawler jumped away and sent two shots from her gauntlets at him, which made him duck behind a nearby tree to avoid the blasts. One of the bullets actually grazed the tree, though, and Jaune let out a yelp in surprise. He grumbled to himself and pulled off Crocea Mors' sheath, transforming it into its shield mode and putting it on his arm. "Alright, if that's the game we're playing…"
"Peek-a-boo!"
"AGH!" Jaune yelped again and jumped in surprise, Yang having spooked him by popping out of the underbrush. The knight fell back and raised his shield as more shots came his way, all while Yang chased after him.
"Ya can't run and hide forever, Jaune!"
"Don't have to!" Jaune retorted before finding a perfectly-sized tree. With a flick of his wrist, Jaune brought out the gun barrel in the tip of his shield and fired a single shot behind him, which not only blasted toward Yang, but also helped propel him forward considerably. Using his knew momentum, he drew his blade and then sliced through the trunk of the tree. And, with a well-placed kick, he sent it toppling over. "TIMBER!"
Yang managed to jump over the shot, but then she heard Jaune say that word and was left confused. "Wait, wha—" Yang cut herself off as, the peak of her jump, she was met with the sight of a falling pine tree that was falling right toward her. She went to fire from her gauntlet again to maneuver herself away from it… but it was too late. The needly branches came tumbling onto her at full force and she shouted; "SON OF A BI—" CRASH!
….
Blake winced at her partner's predicament back up in the control room. "Ooh! That had to hurt."
"Yeah, but Jaune probably made a critical mistake there." Ruby reminded her. "Remember; Yang's Semblance isn't one to be taken lightly."
Weiss crossed her arms and her brow furrowed. "Well yeah, but since Jaune's Semblance is unlocked now… who's to say he can't take what Yang dishes out?" The whole team set their eyes onto her as they recalled what Jaune's Semblance could do. "I mean, with his amped up Aura, Jaune can basically heal himself crazy fast, so I'm thinking this fight might be more even than we think…"
"Exactly." Pyrrha nodded, her eyes glancing up to the monitor to see that Yang's Aura had taken a considerably notch out of it… while Jaune's wasn't even below one-sixteenth yet. "With Jaune's Semblance, I think he can stay in this fight MUCH longer than we're all anticipating."
Coco couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Heh, well sounds like we may have a pretty awesome match on our hands then… and it seems like Yangarang's getting herself up right now."
…..
Back in the forest, the fallen pine suddenly exploded into several tiny pieces, the branches and needles blasting out everywhere and making Jaune shield his eyes. Once things died down, however, he was met with the sight of Yang, the Blonde Brawler pretty much unscathed as her Aura began to flare up around her. With her eyes burning red and her grin unrelenting, she made a "come at me" gesture with her hand toward the knight. "Ooh, pretty brave today, huh, Jaune? Surely you remembered what my Semblance can do, right?"
"Oh yeah, I did." Jaune affirmed as he got into a battle-ready position. "And don't call me Shirley."
"HA! Nice one!" Yang complimented the pun. "Come up with that yourself?"
"As much as I wish it was, it's from a comedy movie that Gwen showed us the other night." Jaune admitted. "You'd probably get a kick out of it."
"Heh, remind me to ask her about it..." Yang pumped her arms toward the ground and prepared herself for take-off. "But later on! Right now, let's fight!" BANG! With a powerful blast and a shrill battle cry, Yang sent herself flying forward, rearing a fist back as she closed in on her opponent.
"Woah!" Jaune raised his shield just in time to block the hit, but was still blown back when Yang let off a shot from her gauntlet upon impact. The blonde knight dug in his heels to bring himself to a halt and shoved Yang away from him, raising his shield soon after to blast her back. Still, Yang arched her back and ducked underneath the shot, sprinting back into the fray before finally landing a hit on her target.
The powerful punch sent Jaune careening through several trees, culminating in him smashing back first into a thick oak tree. His face was covered in scars and he could feel his muscles crying out in agony as Yang approached fast… but then, he suddenly felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. It was then that he realized; 'Oh yeah… my Semblance!'
Yang slid to a stop and her eyes widened at the sight of all of Jaune's injuries disappearing, the knight standing up as he pointed his sword at her again. "…Oh yeah, you've got that fancy Aura Amp now." She placed her fists to her hips irritably. "Man, now it's gonna be really freaking hard to take you down."
Jaune raised a brow to her. "Uh… isn't that the point?"
"Well… okay, yeah, you got a point there."
"I thought so. On a related note; PSYCHE!" Jaune sent a blast of Fire Dust from his shield and Yang took the full brunt of the hit, eliciting a shout from her as she fell back. Jaune then charged at Yang with his shield raised and bashed himself right into her, ramming the both of them straight into another tree. He went to swing his sword, but his wrist was caught by Yang's hand before he could bring it down, leading her to raise her legs up and kick back on his shield. With more room to work again, Yang let lose a barrage of Dust rounds on Jaune which he blocked with his shield… that is accept for one which hit him in the side. Still, his defensive Aura kicked in and absorbed the brunt of the attack.
Jaune smiled confidently before rushing Yang again, this time giving his sword a full swing. He brought his blade down, but Yang blocked the hit with one of her gauntlets, slamming her other fist into Jaune's shield to push against him. The knight pulled his sword back and went for a stab, but Yang simply jumped to avoid it, flipping up and over the boy before kicking him in the head with her heel.
With her opponent stumbling forward, Yang finally decided she'd had enough. "Alright, it's time to end this!" She sprinted up a tree and jumped onto a low-hanging branch, grabbing onto another one just above it for support. "Let's see how you like THIS! LEO LIONSAULT!" Using the branch as a springboard, Yang performed another backflip and came down onto Jaune, her whole body slamming into him at full force.
"Gah! Oh, you've gotta be—YOWCH!" Yang suddenly grabbed Jaune by the hair and pulled him up to his feet.
"CANIS CODEBREAKER!" With his head firmly in her hands, Yang brought up her knees and then fell down to her back, bringing Jaune's face down to bash it with her knees. Jaune's nose was effectively busted open at this point and he was in a veritable daze as he struggled to stand back up, all while Yang sprung up to her feet. She waited until Jaune was up with his back turned to spin herself around as fast as she could, all while bringing her elbow up to smash it upside his head. BAM! "CETUS EFFECT!"
With that one last hit, Jaune was knocked down for the count, the blonde knight seeing stars as he fell right into the dirt. "Jaune has been knocked out!" Tetrax spoke over the intercom. "The winner of this contest is YANG!"
Yang let out a sigh as her eyes went back to their usual violet color, lowering herself down to Jaune to help him stand up. His nose appeared a bit crooked at first, but once his semblance kicked in, the bleeding stopped and his nose actually realigned itself, his wounds healing up in an instant. Jaune's eyes fluttered open and he was met with Yang smiling down at him… and she seemed quite proud. "Hm, well would you look at that, Vomit Boy. You actually put up a pretty awesome fight against me."
"Yeah, but…" Jaune's eyes shifted down in disappointment. "…I didn't beat you."
"Well, no, but you're getting REALLY close." Yang assured before hoisting Jaune up to his feet, helping him stand steadily. "Jaune, you've been getting better and better in these past three weeks, I've seen it." She gave him a pat on the chest. "Pyrrha and the others have been workin' you hard, so I know that one day, you're gonna have me and plenty of others dead to rights in the ring. Hell, I bet you could actually BEAT a couple of people on the team already."
Jaune's eyebrows rose up. "Y-You think so?"
"Of course. I bet if you spar against Sun, Neptune, or hell, maybe even Weiss next time, I think you'd be able to take 'em down…" Yang put her hand close to her mouth and whispered; "Just don't tell Weiss-cream that I told you that, okay?"
"Heh, it'll be our secret." Jaune chuckled before seeing the elevators come down, bringing with them none other than Fox and Ren. "Hey guys! Guess you two are up next, huh?"
"Indeed, and well done with your battle, Jaune." Ren said before shaking hands with his leader. "Everyone was very impressed. I'm sure you'll be met by a hug from Pyrrha and Nora when you get up there."
Jaune blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe… yeah, I guess so." He faced Yang and gave her a nod. "Well, shall we?"
"Yes, let's." Yang smiled back before she and Jaune entered their pods, bringing them back up to the control room. After getting a congratulatory kiss of her own from Ben and watching Jaune get bombarded by hugs from his teammates, Yang stepped over to the window once more, ready to see how the rest of these match-ups would turn out as the environment down there began to change once again. 'Oh yeah, I think I'm gonna like training here.'
…..
A/N: And there you have it! The debut of the Hazard Chamber and what it can do! As expected, it's VERY much like the Danger Room from the X-Men where it can replicate various environments for our heroes to train and fight in, and don't worry, we're gonna be seeing PLENTY of action in there in the future as well. And of course, we got to see Ben and Pyrrha in a spar down there as well, along with Yang and Jaune too. There's much more to come, though, I can assure you.
But, along with that, we got the Ultimate Omniverse debut of TETRAX! Who we actually haven't really seen since the end of the last Volume, but it's pretty evident that he's been quite busy in that time frame. Joined the Plumbers and everything after that little excursion to Remnant, it seems! We'll be seeing a bit more of him as things go on, I can tell you that. And then of course, we've got VADOS, the AI that was created by Professor Polendina for Cooper's armor, which technically makes her Penny's sister! She's currently only in a single gauntlet right now, but since we last saw her, it seems she got plugged into the internet… and might've seen just a bit too much. Let's just hope Penny doesn't decide to get that curious…
But now we get to the big one; LUHLEY! Yep, the female Galvan from the latter half of Omniverse is here, folks, serving as the definitive replacement for Blukic and Driba. Why? …Well, to be perfectly honest, I couldn't STAND how dumb those two were in Omniverse in general, so I've decided to replace them with someone who actually takes her job seriously. I think I can wholeheartedly say that Luhley will be a good addition to the Plumber ranks on Earth, especially when it comes to future events.
Also, I would be remiss to say that Ben's trusting Yang to handle his car. Bit of a… shaky first outing, but hey, who WOULDN'T wanna go fast in a car like that?
So, with all that being said, NEXT TIME! With their day of training complete, the team decide to head out and do some activities for the rest of the day. Namely, Gwen, Kevin and Team JNPR head out on patrol with Rook while Ben and Yang head out on their date… with Weiss and Rex doing the same as well. We'll be focusing on the latter two couples for this one, so be ready for some romance, folks! (Also, don't worry, we WILL also be checking in on that patrol as well in the near future.) So with all that said, thanks for reading everyone, and as always, I'll see you next time! Stay safe out there!
