A/N: Good Morning once again, everyone, and welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY! We've got another sizeable chapter this week, so like last time, I don't want to spend too much time up here, but I just wanted to give you guys a little detail I sorely neglected when I first introduced Hercules… that being who I think would voice him in this. Well, after going over how I've portrayed him so far, I think I've come up with the best voice for him;
Henceforth, I picture Hercules being voiced by Chris Sabat in his All Might voice. If you're a fan of MHA, you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. So, without any further delay, let's jump into it! This is…
Chapter 52: The Second Labor
…..
The household of Gwen Tennyson had fallen completely silent out of utter shock the moment everyone saw what was on the news. The Tennyson family and Winter were all gathered around the television, staring with mouths agape at the sight of the massive, mutli-headed beast that had just clawed its way out of the earth. Its necks writhed and their maws were all open as the beast hissed at the team, who were standing in front of the monster defiantly. But at the same time, they could tell that there was a sense of dread permeating through the air there, just by their faces alone.
Winter was the first to ask; "W-What… what is that monstrosity?"
"That's the Lernaean Hydra." Kenny said, taking a deep breath before biting down on his fist. "Oh, this isn't good…"
Natalie quirked her head over to her son curiously. "What do you mean, sweetheart? Is it really that powerful?"
"If what the myth about it is true, then yes." Carl affirmed, resting his chin on his hands as he laced them together. "The hydra is probably one of the most dangerous monsters in all of Greek Mythology, namely because of how toxic it is. Its venom is potent enough to kill a person in seconds, and it's breath is acidic to the point of being able to melt stone." He glanced over to his family worriedly. "If the kids aren't careful, any one of them could…"
"Carl, please don't say that!" Sandra pleaded, her voice wavering in uncertainty as she stared at the screen. Specifically, she was honing in on her baby boy. "Th-They'll be alright, I know it. Ben knows a lot about Greek mythology, so I'm sure he knows exactly how to beat it. A-And besides, Hercules is with them too, and he BEAT this thing before."
Frank took a deep breath, nodding at Sandra's words. "R-Right, we just have to keep positive about the whole thing. These Remnant kids fight monsters all the time where they're from, after all." He draped an arm over his wife in reassurance. "They'll be able to handle it, I'm sure."
"I certainly hope so, Frank." Winter's hand covered her mouth, concern for her little sister starting to grow. 'Though I wonder if I should've gone myself to help…' She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when the sound of an engine came up and stopped in front of the house, with Max, Tai and Vernal coming through the front door soon after.
Natalie gasped at the sudden appearance of the three. "Ah! Max, what in the world?!"
"Hah, sorry Natalie." Max apologized, breathing a sigh of relief. "I just wanted to make sure that all of you were safe and sound…" He craned his head toward the television, where he saw his grandchildren and the team all gathered against this… strange threat. "Guess we all had the same reaction when the news came on, huh?"
"Pretty much, grandpa." Kenny affirmed, giving him a smile. "But don't worry, I'm sure Ben, Gwen and the others can handle this beast."
Tai placed his hands on his hips, his eyes focused on all of the villains gathered with the young heroes. "Well, I don't doubt that, kid. But what I'm worried about is if the bad guys will be willing to actually WORK with the team." He extended a hand to the TV as he explained. "After all, I'm sure that every villain there wants to see the kids die in some way, and leaving them at THAT thing's mercy is probably the best way to do that."
Carl gave a shrug at that. "We'll see, Tai. As it stands, though, I'm sure that neither of THEM want to die either, so I'm hedging my bets on at least SOME of them teaming up against the Hydra."
There was a bit of silence before Vernal uttered; "Uh… the what now?"
The parents, Kenny and Winter all spun their heads around to see Max, Tai and Vernal all with confused expressions, wondering just what they were talking about. "…The Hydra." Sandra emphasized, pointing toward the screen. "You know, the one that JUST burrowed its way out of the ground?"
Again, the three seemed absolutely baffled by what she was talking about, staring at the woman as if she had said a bunch of nonsense. "Um… Sandra, I don't know what all of you are seeing on that television…" Max began with a raised brow. "But what we're seeing is—"
"I CANNOT believe what I'm seeing, folks!" The news reporter said as she reappeared, cutting Max off as the camera zoomed in on the Hydra. "But somehow, a MASSIVE military-grade anti-aircraft missile truck suddenly just came OUT from absolutely NOWHERE and is now aiming all of its weapons at the Omni-Hunters and the two villain groups! This is complete insanity!"
"Yeah, what she said." Max concurred. "That missile truck just COULDN'T have fit in that warehouse."
"Maybe it was stored in some secret underground bunker beneath it?" Vernal suggested. "Can't think of many other ways."
Max shook his head, however. "No, the Plumbers would've known about it if that were the case… something's fishy here…"
It was then that the Tennysons and Winter realized… Gwen hadn't cast her spell on those three. They couldn't see through the Haze that was shrouding the Hydra to every other mortal eye. No doubt that people were probably seeing the same thing they were on every other TV in town. "Oh… yeah, that's right." Natalie realized.
"What? Something wrong?" Tai asked.
Winter shook her head. "No, just… you're all in need of a BIG explanation when this is over."
…..
Back at the river, people were shouting in terror and panic after the building collapsed, with civilians running all over the place and shouting about a giant missile truck. Coco, for her part, had no clue what these people were talking about at first, but quickly realized that must've been what they were seeing because of the Haze. 'Man, this Haze stuff picks the most RANDOM shit for people to see instead of monsters.' the fashionista thought to herself. 'Gotta wonder what other people saw thousands of years ago in Greece.' Coco rushed over to the police barricade, going right up to who she presumed was a senior and got his attention. "Sir! Can you get those civilians under control and right to safety?"
The man with the bushy grey mustache furrowed his brow at her, extending a hand over to several officers already doing that. "Miss, believe me, we're way ahead of you, now please stand back. We're going to engage the—"
"NO! Don't do that, please!" Coco pulled her handbag up and pressed the activation button, transforming Gianduja into its gatling gun form. The officer's eyes widened before seeing the rest of Team CFVY and Cooper come up to him, all of them armed to the teeth. "We're a lot better equipped to do that than you and your men, sir, with all due respect."
"It'd probably just be better if all of you sit this one out, honestly." Fox advised as well. "You really don't stand a chance against that monster."
But the officer just scrunched his nose in confusion. "W-What're you talking about? Son, are you blind or—"
"Yes, but that's beside the point."
That shut the officer up real fast, placing a hand over his mouth. "O-Oh god, I'm so sorry. I—"
"You can make it up to him by taking your men and helping get everyone away from here, sir." Yatsu urged, ushering the man to fulfill his request. "Trust me, the Omni-Hunters have this all under control."
The officer cleared his throat, nodding swiftly while trying to recuperate from his earlier snafu. "Er, y-yes, of course. What was I thinking? Come on, men, we need to get everyone out of here." He and another of his sergeants went over to the news reporter and her camera man, leading both of them away. "And that goes for you too, ma'am. Please, come with me."
"B-But wait! The scoop!" The reporter shouted, desperately trying to get back to the scene.
After the officers left, the quintet collectively sighed in frustration. "Ugh, law enforcement can be so stubborn." Coco groaned. "Earth or Remnant, there's really no difference. All of these guys just love to think they're Huntsmen."
"Hm, too true." Velvet agreed before glancing to Cooper. "What about you, Coop? Will you be alright?"
"I will just as soon as VADOS gets here with the armor." Cooper affirmed, craning his head toward the sky. "Hmph, I just hope that's soon. Until then, you guys will have to take this dance… and you might wanna make that quick." The blonde genius' eyes widened at the sight of Bishop, Rojo, Emerald and Neo all with their blades out and readily slicing at the Hydra's necks, all while Cinder, Mercury and Scales worked on disorienting the thing. "Because I've got a bad feeling about this next part."
…..
Rojo couldn't believe it when she first saw it. A Hydra. The Lernaean Hydra, no less. It was real, and it was absolutely terrifying while still being cool as hell. The multi-headed beast had so far done not much of anything other than stare at the collective group of heroes and villains, almost as if it were waiting for the first move. And Rojo could tell just by their creepy yet intent expressions that was exactly what they wanted. Rojo smirked back up to the Hydra and shifted Bloodstrike into sword mode, settling it on her shoulder.
"Alright, people, listen up!" the bounty hunter announced, taking the heroes off guard. "THIS is gonna be a pretty tough fight, but I know EXACTLY how to beat this thing."
Cinder raised her eyebrows at her partner. "You do?"
"YOU DO?!" The Omni-Hunters all echoed.
"Yep!" Rojo threw her sword up, caught it in her other hand and then slammed it down into the ground while pointing up at the Hydra. "As the old saying goes; OFF WITH ITS HEADS!"
Hercules smiled and took up his shield, smacking his sword against it eagerly. "Yes, indeed! And then we must—AH! H-Hey, wait that's not the end of that plan!"
But it was too late. The villains had rushed toward the Hydra all at once, the beast letting out a deafening roar that drowned out Hercules' voice. "Hah, so be it!" Bishop growled, glaring at Emerald out the corner of his eye. "But once this thing's been taken care of, we go back to fighting each other."
"Hah, what?" Emerald asked as she and Mercury dodged a stream of venomous spit headed their way. "Too self-centered to want to team up against the heroes, Mr. Beast-Man?"
Bishop lunged toward the monster's front legs, clinging onto it with his long, sharp claws. "Heh, not a chance. If the Omni-Hunters eliminate you, then there's one less nuisance that WE have to deal with!"
"Yeah, what he said!" Scales agreed before jumping up and smashing two of the Hydra's heads with his hard fists, actually knocking it silly with one hit each. "You bein' out of our way will just make the Exalted One's job a WHOLE lot easier!"
Cinder flew up into the air, her eyes burning with her Maiden powers before summoning a lightning bolt in her hand. She threw it at one of its heads, making it convulse as the other heads all roared in pain as well. "Hah, "The Exalted One". What person would be so egotistical as to call themselves that?" Without missing a beat, she summoned an obsidian sword and, with one slice, cleaved through that neck, severing its head.
Bishop extended his claws as far out as they could go and then sliced through two more of the Hydra's necks, taking out the heads that Scales hit. "Hmph, he calls himself that because of his POWER, girl. Not his ego."
"AGH! Stop! Don't do that!" Gwen's hands flew up to his head in a panic.
But her words fell on deaf ears as Neo took out her own sword from her umbrella, running up the back of one of the Hydra's necks. But another head managed to spot her and it went in for a chomp… only for her to disappear and cause it to bite into the neck itself. Instant regret was had as both heads recoiled, while Neo reappeared right on top of her target's head. She then leapt down and performed a midair spin, using her sword to decapitate yet another head.
"Haha! Nice work there, Neo!" Rojo laughed as she targeted the head that had bit down on its compatriot, using Bloodstrike to cleave through it. "That's makes five!"
"STOP!" Ben shouted, failing to get their attention. "You don't know what you're—"
"Stuff it, Tennyson, we're on a ROLL!" Mercury exclaimed as he shot himself up and delivered a volley of kicks onto another Hydra head, shooting out Dust rounds with every kick. He even got one right between the eyes, throwing it for a loop. "Emerald, let's go for six!"
The green-haired thief leapt up and landed on the Hydra's neck, wrapping the chains of her weapon around it to put it in a stranglehold. "Alright… but I'm doing this for me, just so you know!" With a forceful pull, the blades of Thief's Respite dug into the neck before slicing clean through it entirely, bringing yet another head down for the count.
Mercury bit his lip, though, knowing full well that she was still upset at him. Not as much as she was before, but it was blatantly obvious. '…Damn it, we're going to have to talk this out, aren't we?' he sighed mentally. 'Ugh, I am SO bad at words…'
Meanwhile, the Alien Trio were understandably quite aggravated, as was Hercules. Kevin was practically twitching before he finally yelled at the top of his lungs; "WOULD YOU QUIT IT WITH THE HEAD SLICING THING ALREADY?!"
That managed to get the attention of the villains, all of them glowering at their adversaries. "Ha! Jealous that you're not getting any hits in?" Rojo scoffed, jerking her thumb back toward the five limp, headless necks of the Hydra. "Because one more and we'll have solved your problem for—EEP!"
"Do you have ANY idea what you've done?!" Hercules bellowed as he got right in the bad guys' faces, taking them all aback. "You've potentially DOOMED us all!"
"The hell are you talking about, old man?!" Mercury shot back. "You kill this thing by decapitating it, right? Sounds simple enough."
"It ISN'T, boy!" snarled Hercules, the god baring his teeth at the assassin. "Have any of you NOT heard the old expression ABOUT Hydras?" He held up a single finger to make his point. "If you cut off one head, then… oh no." His eyes widened and shifted upward, with the other heroes also staring in disbelief.
The Ministry and Collective leaders, however, were left perplexed. "Oh, what the hell are you all staring out now—ooohhh…" Bishop quickly found out what that was when he and the others turned around, only to see the Hydra's headless neck stumps start flailing about on their own. The remaining Hydra head seemed to be wearing a smug expression as the stumps suddenly split clean down the middle and started forming two new heads each, all growing at a rapid rate. Before long, there were now TWELVE new heads, making a new total of thirteen for the Hydra.
No body spoke a word as the Hydra seemed to smirk down at them, as if it were actually HOPING that they would do that. The most sound anyone made was Mercury… letting out a fearful squeal. Emerald was practically trembling in terror as Rojo mentally slapped herself. "Oh… goddamn it, I forgot."
"Gee, ya THINK?!" Rex shouted, all while the Hydra reared back its heads. "Oh crap, GET BACK!" As he screamed, the Hydra lurched its heads forward and started billowing out noxious, toxic gas from all twelve of its maws, blasting it straight toward the ground and making it flow toward the mortals and the god. They all hastily ran straight away from the acidic fumes, running into Team CFVY and Cooper along the way.
"Oh… damn." Coco muttered. "RUN!" And just like that, the five of them spun on their heels and followed the others' example, diving behind the police barricade. Thankfully, the gas stopped just short of their position, but this left the whole area covered in the poisonous, green vapors.
Raven snapped her head over to the villains, who were all trying to catch their breath. "Well, obviously THAT didn't work!"
"Rojo, what the hell?!" Emerald shouted. "I thought you said taking their heads off would KILL it!"
The redhead grimaced, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "Uh, yeah… I may have accidently forgot a small, itsy-bitsy… important detail." The rest of her squad glowered at her as she admitted her mistake. "I forgot that you've gotta cauterize the stumps AFTER you decapitate 'em… otherwise, take off one head…"
"Two more grow in its place." Hercules finished, placing his hands on his hips. "And now YOU have made this whole thing substantially harder."
Qrow peeked out over the police cruisers, seeing the beast beginning to move toward the river. "Agh, crap, the thing's headed for the water!" He whirled around, sending a serious gaze to the group. "If it goes in and uses its poison gas on it, it'll pollute the water in seconds!"
Ruby furrowed her brow, bringing out Crescent Rose. "It'll turn Bellwood into a toxic swamp if it does that! We've gotta stop it!" She gave a smile toward her team, nodding assuredly. "But I know that we can do it! After all, if we count the bad guys, there's over thirty of us to take down all twelve heads, so—"
"Ah, gonna have to cut ya off there, kid." Bishop interrupted as he and Scales stood up, the fur coat-wearing man brushing his shoulder off. "We thought that this'd be easy to handle before the whole "cauterizing" thing, but on further reflection…" He craned his head back, peering at Ruby over his shoulder with a sneer. "We've got absolutely no stakes here in this little fantasy."
"Heh, yeah, who cares if the river gets polluted?" Scales balked. "Makes our jobs making YOU look bad a whole lot easier."
Yang pointed accusingly at them. "Ah-HA! So you ARE out to ruin us!"
Bishop shrugged. "Kinda, yeah. So count us out of this." The man scanned the area before seeing the hunchbacked woman hiding behind a bush not too far away. He narrowed his eyes at her and ordered; "Get us out of here. Now!"
It was at that moment where Rex noticed her as well, and he abruptly stood up with a gasp. "Ah! H-Hey, you! I—huh?" Before he could continue, though, Neo suddenly got up, too, surging in front of Rex in concern. She seemed to lock eyes with the hunchback, whose lips parted at the sight of both her and Rex. The hooded woman shrunk back… but that's when Bishop took out his remote, and she shrieked.
"NOW! Or else!" he threatened.
Neo and Rex both whirled around and saw him holding the remote. "STOP IT!" the EVO barked before he and the mute went to rush him. But before they could get to either him or Scales… both of them vanished as a pair of red portals swallowed them up, bringing both hero and villain to a stop. "H-Hey! Wait!"
They both set their sights back on the hunchbacked girl, who bowed her head to them apologetically. She wore a sad frown, unable to meet either of their eyes as another portal appeared behind her. As she backed up into it, however… she heard someone snapping their fingers. Her eyes moved up once again and saw Neo, the girl motioning to herself, her eyes, then to back to her, before giving her a wave and a smile. The hooded girl's eyebrows snapped up when she realized what the message was;
"I'll see you later."
Just as she disappeared into the portal, the woman couldn't help but smile back to Neo… an unexpected new friend. "I'll see you later, too."
"HEY! Don't go!" Rex called after the girl, only for her portal to close, leaving him with far more questions than answers once again. 'Could… could she really be…'
"Rex, what the heck?" Weiss asked, smacking her boyfriend lightly upside the head. "What is with you and that girl?" She narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me… you've got eyes for her of all people?!" The former heiress huffed and spun away from him. "Hmph! I can't believe you!"
"W-What?! No, of course not, Ice Princess!" Rex placed his hands one Weiss' shoulders, making sure she knew that was NOT the case at all. "You know that I've only got eyes for you." He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "I promise, I'd never think of cheating on you. EVER."
Weiss' lips curled into a smile at that. "I know. Just testing you." She raised a single brow up at him, however. "Still, what exactly IS going on with that girl? Do you know her?"
Blake also tilted her head at Neo questioningly. "And how exactly do YOU know her?"
The monochromatic girl answered by simply sticking her tongue out, putting her thumb against her nose, and wiggling her fingers at Blake insultingly. Blake growled at Neo, but Rex simply shook his head, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I honestly have no clue… it's just, she seems so familiar." He glanced off to the side and added in his head; 'A bit TOO familiar. Same powers and everything. But… if it IS her, then how did SHE get with a bunch of cultists?' He eyed Neo with a serious glance. "Do you know who she is, Neo?"
The mute girl shook her head, but placed a hand over her heart, lowering her chin toward the ground. "Hm, I see. You don't know her well, but feel like… she's a kindred spirit?" Pyrrha guessed, which Neo touched her nose at.
"Hey, listen." Ben interrupted, stepping in between everyone. "I'm all for the speculation about the mysterious hunchback girl, but can we PLEASE remember that there's a GIANT serpent creature about to pollute the Delaware River?!"
"Ben's right, we've gotta focus." Jaune concurred, pulling out Crocea Mors. "Hercules, what's the game plan?"
The God of Heroes took a deep breath, focusing on the Hydra. He took note of the sickly fumes still permeating through the area, giving a short sigh. "Well, we'll have to get rid of those toxins in the air to clear a path. From there, we'll be able to get back to the Hydra easily." He gave the heroes and villains a nod. "And then from there, we should be able to PROPERLY dispose of the beast. We'll need fire for that, and lots of it."
Everyone automatically turned to Cinder, the Fall Maiden taken aback by just how immediate it was. "…Oh, so everyone just looks to me when they need fire." she deadpanned with an eye roll. "I can control OTHER elements, too, you know."
"Sorry, Cindy." Rojo smirked, patting her on the back. "You'll just always be our little hot head." That earned the bounty hunter a grumble for her troubles.
"Fire shouldn't be any trouble for me, either." Raven added, unsheathing Omen with a red Dust blade attached to the handle. "And what's better is that I can decapitate AND cauterize at the same time… as I'm sure YOU can, Cinder." Spring smirked over to Fall. "Funny how that didn't enter your mind when you tried to kill it the first time." Once again, Cinder growled, only making Raven's smirk increase.
Yang smashed her fists together. "Give me a little while and I can turn up the heat, too. But I gotta ask…" She pointed over to the toxic gas permeating through the area. "How ARE we gonna get past all that? One step in and we're dead."
Ben chuckled and shook his head. "Yang, babe, you of all people should know by now that there's an alien for EVERY occasion. Case in point…" Ben dialed up the alien he wanted and pushed down on the core, activating the device with a flash of green erupting from it. Once the green light died down, a certain hazmat alien was standing before them. "GUTROT!" The hero turned toward his team, focusing in on a few key members. "Alright, here's the deal; I'm gonna clear the area while our fliers head in an' try ta hold off that big ugly lizard 'til things're all clear. Gwen, Rex, Penny, Raven and… ugh, Cinder, we're countin' on ya."
Cinder and the other Ministry members all soured at the toxic alien, the Fall Maiden holding her chin up at him. "Hmph, remember; this is only a temporary truce until we bring that beast down. Once our common interest is dealt with, this is it. Not happening again." She glared over to Gwen. "And I mean that."
Gwen gave her a shrug, not minding the deal. "Psh, fine. None of us even like you anyway." Her eyes began to glow and, in a flash of pink light, Gwen entered her Anodite form, taking to the skies while Penny and Rex activated their respective flight builds to get airborne. With their Maiden Powers flaring to life, Raven and Cinder followed, while Gwen gave her cousin a nod. "We'll divert its course away from the river. See you in a bit."
"Gotcha." Gutrot gave a thumbs up. "Good luck, cous." With that, the five of them flew off toward the Hydra, which was still stomping and roaring its way toward the river. As he stared after them, though, Gutrot could see something off in the distance approaching at a very high speed. He narrowed his eyes, but it actually wouldn't take him long to realize what it is. "Hah! Coop, I think you're up, pally!"
"Hah, I believe you're right, Ben." Cooper affirmed, seeing the Centurion armor come bursting through the sky and slamming directly into one of the Hydra's necks… ripping it clean off. "…Oh crud. VADOS, quick! Turn back around and seal that wound with a Unibeam!"
The suit stopped in midair, tilting its head. "Whatever for, Mas—TER!" Without warning, the Hydra slammed the Centurion armor with a swipe of its two tails, sending it careening straight into the incoming flying combatants. They were forced to scatter as the Centurion armor attempted to correct itself in midair… only for it to come skidding across the pavement and into one of the police cars. The team stared at the armor in shock before an arm snapped up and gave a thumbs-up. "I am okay!"
"Blasted robot!" Cinder cried out before sending a stream of fire at the Hydra… but it was too late. A new pair of heads had already started growing from the wound, making the new total fourteen. "Oh, son of a BIT—"
"No time for complaints!" Gwen admonished, seeing the Hydra continue on its way. "Divert now, burn later!" The group continued forward as the Anodite began projecting large mana panels from her hands, placing them directly in front of the Hydra's path. From there, Rex and Penny both landed on the Hydra's back with their massive fist builds at the ready, slamming straight down and causing it to buckle. "Raven! Cinder! Block the river off with a wall of ice!"
Cinder's hand started glowing with blue energy, though she was quick to snap back; "Stop telling me what to do, Tennyson!" Begrudgingly, she did it anyway, since that probably WAS the best course of action. It sickened her that she was actually agreeing with her enemy, much more so working with them, but it had to be done.
As Cinder and Raven built up the ice wall, the Hydra snarled and started spitting its venom at the mana field, only for it to go sliding down harmlessly. However, Gwen couldn't help but wince as it did. She could just feel the potency of the malicious poison, almost as if it was infecting her without even entering her system. "Ugh… Rex! Penny!"
On cue, the duo leapt up and each took a hold of a bunch of heads in their massive arms, yanking back with as much force as they could to stagger it back. "Don't worry, Gwen!" Rex called out.
"We are on it!" Penny saluted, punching one of the heads with her large, spike-covered fists. "Get back you living piece of malevolence!"
Rex sighed and hung his head at the threat. "Penny, we SERIOUSLY need to work on your witty banter. Like this;" Using his Smack Hands, Rex propelled himself up over the Hydra's heads and twisted himself around in midair. "Yo, Rancid Breath!" He brought out his Funchucks and brought them down on two of the Hydra's heads, effectively sending them into a daze. "You might wanna quick while you're AHEAD! Eh? Eh?"
There was a bit of silence after that, with the only noise coming from Cooper putting on his armor. Gutrot himself facepalmed. "That joke was so obvious that even a MONKEY could make it." He raised a hand over to Sun. "No offence, bro."
"None taken." Sun jerked his thumb over to the action. "Now mind clearing this gas so WE can get in on the fun?"
Gutrot nodded, climbing over one of the police cars to start wading straight into the poisonous fumes. "Hm, right. This'll be done in a jiffy!"
As the alien went further and further into the gas, however, Yang took a deep breath and clenched a fist. "Alright… now I gotta get myself fired up." Her eyes went straight over to Mercury, who seemed to be within his own thoughts before she broke him out. "Hey!"
"H-Huh? The hell do you want?" Mercury spat back.
'Oh, he's gonna love this.' Yang thought to herself before answering him. "Easy. I want you to hit me as hard as you can…" She pointed over to a nearby brick wall. "And send me right through those bricks."
Just as she suspected, Mercury was left stunned by the request, shaking his head in disbelief. "U-Uh… I… I'm sorry, but could you repeat that?"
"You heard what I said."
"Well, yeah, I did, but I'm having a hard time believing it." Mercury pointed between Yang and the wall. "You want me to hit you through that wall…"
"As HARD as you CAN." Yang repeated, grasping him by the lapels of his jacket. "And I want you to do it fast. Why do you think I waited until Ben wasn't looking?" She placed a hand on her hip as she glared up at him. "I don't want to repeat myself a third time, so are you gonna do it or are you too much of a wussy to actually go through with—" THWACK! "GYAAAAAHHH!" CRASH! Just as she asked, Mercury kicked and shot her point blank in the gut, her aura protecting her from the blast as she was sent careening through the brick building behind them.
Hercules, for his part, was completely baffled by the course of events. "AH! What in the world?! W-Why did she even WANT—"
"Relax, she's fine." Ruby's reassured the hero. "Trust me, when Yang gets hit like that, she takes that pain and turns it into pure strength. And her aura ends up burning brighter, too, so hot you'd probably melt if you stood too close to her." But then, she sent a sour face to Mercury. "Though you COULD have given her a bit of warning before you did that."
Both Mercury and Emerald merely chuckled at what the assassin did, all while he placed his hands behind his head. "Eh, what's the fun in that? Besides, she IS fine, we all know that."
"Yep. Ain't that right, Bimbo?!" Emerald called out, only for the debris surrounding the fallen blonde to suddenly explode in a massive burst. "AH!"
Everyone ducked as the chunks of brick were sent flying over their heads, and it wasn't long before they saw the Blonde Brawler emerging from the pile of rubble. Sure enough, her Semblance was active, and thus her aura was burning brightly as flames danced through her hair. She bashed her fists together as her aura kept flaring up, her red eyes glaring at the Hydra. "Alright… I'm ready now." She glared over to Emerald slightly. "And I swear, if you keep calling me a bimbo, I'm gonna knock your teeth out."
Hercules felt his jaw drop slightly. "…By father's bolts, that was unexpected." He smiled as he added; "But also very neat!"
"Yep, so now we should be good." Blake said before nudging her chin out toward Gutrot. "And just in time. Ben's doing his thing."
Sure enough, Gutrot was rubbing his hands together, preparing himself for what he was about to do. So far, he had only created and expelled chemicals from his body… but now, it was time to see if he could suck them IN as well. "Alright… 'ere goes nothin'." Gutrot sucked in a huge breath and, all at once, all of the ports along his body opened up, sucking in the surrounding gasses. The sickly green fumes all streamed in through the ports before coagulating within his see-through gut, churning within him and mixing with his usual chemicals.
"Oh… oh, god." Gutrot grimaced. "This shit's nasty, an' that's sayin' somethin' wit' THIS guy!" Once he had made sure all the gas was gone, Gutrot hastily went over to a dumpster, holding his gut. "Agh, gah! Nope! Can't hold it! Gotta get rid of it!" The hero lifted up the top and stuck his hand in the receptacle, letting lose all of the toxic gas at once after concentrating it back into a liquid.
The fact that Gutrot seemed to be yelling while he was doing this was cause for concern, though. "Uh, is he going to be alright?" Velvet asked.
"The venom of the Lernean Hydra is one of the most foul, wretched chemicals in both the mortal and immortal realms." Hercules reminded. "Suffice to say that Young Benjamin there has handled it better than most, given he's still alive. But even then, no one can escape its unpleasantness." He then lifted his sword, pointing it toward the Hydra. "But our path's been cleared, so let's do what we came here to do! Slay the Hydra!"
"FINALLY!" Neptune exclaimed as well, lifting Tri-Hard as he and Sun rushed into battle alongside the hero. "For honor and glory!" they all cried out.
Coco threw her head back and laughed; "HA! I'm all for that." She gave her now armored up boyfriend a small nudge. "Whaddya say, hon? Ready to kick some ass?"
"Babe, I was born ready." Cooper said confidently. "VADOS, activate thrusters!" Within seconds, the genius picked up his girlfriend and went airborne, flying straight toward the action with Velvet, Fox and Yatsu in hot pursuit.
The other Omni-Hunters and the rest of the Ministry also followed, with Hercules leading the charge. "HEROS—and villains—TO ARMS! Let's slay this beast for the glory of Olympus AND Bellwood!" The group all cheered at the god's rallying cry and rushed toward the Hydra, all except for Yang, who instead bolted over to the dumpster that Gutrot was still hanging over.
"Babe, you gonna be okay?" The burning brawler asked.
"Gah… y-yeah, I'm fine, Goldie Locks." Gutrot assured, pulling his hand out of the dumpster. "Just… don't look in there." Without wasting another second, the hero slapped the Omnitrix and transformed once again, going straight into Heatblast. His flames started dancing with his girlfriend's as he punched a fiery fist into his palm. "Now, let's go light this sucker up!" He slammed his foot on the ground and the pavement ignited into flame around them, cracking and lifting up into the air.
Yang smirked as she flew into battle with her lover, the duo closing in on their target. "With pleasure, Green Boy."
…..
Much to everyone's surprise, it was actually Jaune who seemed to speed ahead of the group, holding Crocea Mors in its great sword form. The knight seemed very intent on getting to the Hydra, furrowing his brow at the monster. 'Pyrrha did something that seemed impossible this morning.' He thought to himself. 'Maybe I can do that, too!' He loaded two Lightning Dust vials into his sword and pumped the handle on its hilt, making it spark to life.
Double Dust Loaded! ZANDAR!
The blonde knight closed in on one of the Hydra's twin tails and leapt up with a mighty battle cry, bringing his sword straight down and stabbing straight into it. All at once, the lightning in the sword coursed right into the draconic beast, making it howl in an agonizing stereo thirteen times over. "Guys! Go while I've got it here!"
"Excellent work, Jaune!" Pyrrha commended as she and Ren leapt up into the air, the former tossing her shield at one of its heads. The sharp edge of the disk embedded itself directly in the forehead and the duo came falling down with their weapons ready to slice. Their blades passed through the beast's neck swiftly, leaving it to fall straight to the ground.
"GERONIMOOOO!" Nora suddenly piped up as she came swooping down from up behind the monster, riding on her hammer. But as she reached the apex of her leap, Nora shifted Magnhild into its grenade launcher mode, taking aim and blasting several explosives at the neck. They all blew up in a blazing display, successfully cauterizing the open wound. The Pink Dynamo landed and pumped a fist into the air. "WOO! JNPR team attack for the point!"
Ren narrowed his eyes up at the Hydra, rushing off to try and do more damage. "Don't get too ahead of yourself, Nora! This isn't over yet!"
Indeed, it wasn't, as Blake and Sun were quickly finding out. The couple were quick on their feet as they dodged out of the way of several poisonous spits, the pavement melting where the Hydra expectorated. They kept firing at the beast's many heads, and while it was clearly getting hurt, it only seemed to make it angrier. "Agh! We gotta take it off its game again!" Sun advised. "Jaune's lightning only did so much!"
"Right…" Blake trailed off as she searched for ideas, though she quickly got one when it was literally staring right at her. She gave a small grin to her boyfriend, winking knowingly. "Well, maybe blinding it will help, huh?"
Sun smirked back and gave her double finger guns. "Ooh, I'm picking up what you're putting down, Blake. Might need some cover, though."
"Leave that to us!" Ilia exclaimed as she and Neptune entered the scene, the two taking lightning-fueled shots at the Hydra. They seemed to be affecting it better, the monster recoiling at the recent and familiar pain. "Aim for three of its heads, and then we'll handle the rest!"
Sun gave her a thumbs up. "Gotcha, Ilia!" The monkey boy took a meditative stance, bringing his hands together as his hair started glowing bright yellow. From his body, three Via Sun clones emerged and went straight for the Hydra, avoiding powerful snaps from its jaws before latching on to its necks. The trio of light clones climbed straight up and pounced onto the heads, exploding in a flash of light and blinding it severely.
As it once again howled painfully, Blake shouted; "NOW!" before taking Gambol Shroud in its grapple mode and throwing it up, the weapon wrapping around a neck and allowing Blake to easily swing up. Ilia took a more direct approach, jumping onto the beast's back and whipping her Lightning Lash around the base of one of its necks, while Neptune used Tri-Hard to vault up on it.
But, in the end, the results were the same. With a single tug, Ilia pulled her Lightning Lash through the beast's neck, while Neptune stabbed his guandao into his targeted neck and slashed upward, decapitating it. Blake, landing on the back of her target, pulled Gambol Shroud free and shifted it into sword mode, loading a vial of Fire Dust which made it start burning. With a quick slash downward, she both decapitated another head AND sealed the wound up, preventing another head growing back.
"Nice work, guys!" The group of four craned their heads skyward and saw Heatblast and Yang approaching from the air, the latter jumping off the platform. "Now leave the rest to us!" Yang let off several blasts of Dust from her gauntlets, which ignited instantly thanks to her blazing aura. They bombarded the neck that Neptune cut through, cauterizing the wound. Meanwhile, Heatblast brought his hands together and shot a stream of fire at the neck Ilia cut through, sealing that up as well.
"Ha! And that makes four heads down!" Heatblast gave a thumbs up. "Now let's get to the rest of 'em!" At the sound of growling right in his ear, however, the Pyronite gasped and spun around, met with the sight of another Hydra head snapping down straight at him. "AH!" He thrust his hands out and blasted the beasts as it spat its venom at him, igniting it instantly and setting fire to the inside of the Hydra's mouth. "Not happenin', pal!"
"Ben, on your left!" The hero had barely any time to react as another head came down at him from that direction, only for it to crash straight into a wall made of mana.
Heatblast smirked as he saw his cousin come floating down next to him. "Heh, thanks, cous."
Kevin came over as well, his body coated in pavement while his arms had Fire Dust absorbed into them. "Don't thank us yet." The Osmosian smashed his fists together before transforming them into a pair of blades, catching fire in a single second. "How 'bout a team attack, for old times' sake, eh?"
"Count me in!" Heatblast concurred, slapping the Omnitrix to transform into Diamondhead. His own arms became a pair of blades as well, focusing his green-eyed glare up at the two heads. "Let's prep the cutting board! GRAH!" Both boys went surging forward as Gwen took to the air, flying right in front of the Hydra's heads.
The beast snarled at her as she drew their attention, crossing her arms at them. "Yeah, well I'm not the biggest fan of YOU either…" She thrust her arms forward and cast a spell; "Trapium Spherica!" Before any of the heads could spit more venom at her, both heads were encased in large mana bubbles, causing the venom to splash right back at them. The poison didn't affect them… but it affectively blinded the two. "Now boys! We've got 'em!"
With exertive grunts, Kevin and Diamondhead lunged right up the necks of the Hydra and swiped through them with their swords, taking the heads out entirely. Kevin's swords were able to seal up the wound no problem… but Diamondhead's wasn't, so he had to act quickly. "Alright, back to Heatblast—"
"I got this one, Tennyson!" From out of the blue, Rojo suddenly appeared right where the Omnitrix bearer sliced the Hydra and aimed Bloodstrike at the wound, blasting it point blank. The red laser was so hot that it managed to seal it up in no time at all, leading Rojo to shoulder her weapon with a cocky grin. "Heh, and that's that! No need to thank me…" She said with a dramatic bow. "All in a day's work."
The Alien Trio, along with Yang, Blake, Team SN, and Ilia, all narrowed their eyes at the woman. "Hm, right." Diamondhead hummed.
"Hey, I saved ya a few seconds there, bud." Rojo pointed out. "Least you could do is say thanks."
"…Okay, yeah, thank you." The Petrosapien said very quickly, pointing a finger at her after. "But remember; this isn't lasting long."
Rojo waved the alien off. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Now if you'll excuse me…" She shifted Bloodstrike from rifle mode to laser mode, cocking it eagerly. "Imma go get me some more heads! Hahaha!" And like that, she was off, charging in straight for another scuffle happening on the left side of the Hydra.
Gwen sighed and shook her head. "Even if it's just temporary, guess having a villain-hero alliance like this is always going to be a bit shaky."
"Yeah, talk about egos clashing." Yang agreed, giving her boyfriend a strong jab in the shoulder. "And I AM talking about you there, Green Boy."
"Hah, yeah, not arguing there." Diamondhead resigned, smacking the side of his head. 'Get your head in the game, Ben. There's a time and place for that, but now isn't it.' His arm shifted into its projectile firing mode, taking aim up at another head. "Alright, let's go beat the crap outta that one next!" His team joined him in his battle cry as they stormed the beast, with everyone more than willing to keep going.
…..
On the Hydra's right side, however, Ruby, Weiss and Qrow were currently busy trying to keep out of the way of three Hydra heads. They all roared, spat and snapped at them as they bobbed and weaved around them, with Weiss using her glyphs to skate across the ground while Ruby simply used her semblance. Qrow, on the other hand, was actually being a bit more casual about the situation, his body moving and flowing with how the beast was trying to bite him.
That one head was starting to get VERY annoyed with Qrow, so much that it roared right in his face. The man gagged and wafted the noxious fumes away, coughing as he retorted; "Hak-hak! H-Heh, ya think you're scarin' me, pal?" The aging Huntsman smirked up at him. "Well get this; I've fought bigger." Qrow jumped back as the Hydra actually brought up one of its legs and SLAMMED it down, nearly hitting him in the process.
"Uncle Qrow, I don't think taunting it is such a good idea!" Ruby advised.
Weiss slid to a stop and created a rather large glyph, protecting herself from a stray venom spit. "Yeah, maybe it's best if we actually focus on TAKING OUT ITS HEADS?!"
"Ah, relax, girls." Qrow shrugged off, going back to casually dodging any attacks the Hydra sent. "Bein' able to toy with yer enemy an' get in its head is a fundamental part 'bout bein' a Huntsman." He wagged a finger up to the Hydra. "Though our multi-headed friend here might actually be DUMBER than a Grimm, now that I think about it, hehe…"
The Hydra snarled and puffed a bunch of sickly gas from its nose at that, and it was about to go in for another bite. But before it could, a certain assassin came flying in with a big kick to the head, knocking that head down. "Ha! Old man, you really know how to put on a good show." Mercury laughed as Emerald joined him, aiming her guns at the Hydra. "Really made that thing look like an idiot, I'll admit."
Qrow opened a single eye at the silver-haired boy, scoffing at him in response. "And you are pretty impatient, kid." He glanced off to the side, giving Mercury a shrug. "Almost reminds me of myself when I was your age… only a bit less on the emo rage-y side."
Mercury clenched his teeth behind his lips, resisting the urge to snarl in anger. 'Deep breath, Merc, deep breath. Remember your training.' He inhaled deeply and then exhaled, calming himself down before delivering a powerful roundhouse kick toward a Hydra head that was coming his way, blasting it in the snout at the same time. "Pretty sure we're working toward the same goal here, so how 'bout we keep the barbs at a minimum for now, eh?"
Ruby and Weiss both did a double take at what he said. "…Wow, that's probably the calmest response you've given." Ruby noted.
"Yeah, what happened to being angry all the time?" Weiss asked as she summoned her Boarbatusk and Beowolf to distract the Hydra for a moment.
As Emerald kept shooting at another head, she piped up; "Apparently he's been taking anger management classes with KHYBER of all people." Judging by the shocked expressions on the other girls, Emerald could tell they were just as shocked as she was by that. "Yeah, surprised me too. Now can we get on with cutting these heads off?!"
The Hydra heads following the Beowolf and Baorbatusk had finally caught up to them and chomped down on them both, only for the two Grimm to dissipate in its mouth and leave it confused. "Hm, with pleasure." Weiss said before spinning Myrtenaster's barrel, putting it on the Gravity Dust setting. With a wave of her weapon, Weiss created two gravity glyphs around the Hydra necks, giving Ruby and Qrow a single nod. "Alright, go!"
"On it!" Ruby activated her own Semblance once again and rushed toward the now stuck Hydra, dashing around its head and enveloping it in a blizzard of petals. She then rushed back around and burst out from the petal storm with Crescent Rose at the ready bringing it in for a swing. The very second the blade made contact with its neck, she fired a shot from the head of the scythe, giving it a bit of extra "oomph" to cut through the beast's neck.
Meanwhile, Qrow settled for getting more up close and personal, using Harbinger to hurdle himself right up onto his targeted Hydra head. He landed right in its snout before bringing Harbinger straight down through it, making it roar in agony. "Hope that clears your sinuses, because your breath REAKS!" He pulled his sword out and shifted it into shotgun mode, blasting the beast point blank in the eyes which made it throw Qrow off. But, as he fell out of midair, Qrow found himself in the perfect position. He switched Harbinger into scythe mode and fell straight down toward its neck, giving his weapon a spin before cutting down straight through and decapitating it.
Qrow rolled into a landing, shouldering his scythe as he crouched. "Heh, and that's all she wrote."
"Weiss, switch it up!" Ruby called out.
"Yep, on it!" Weiss spun Myrtenaster's barrel again, putting it on the Fire Dust setting before creating another glyph, this one a blazing red that emerged right at the neck wound. The open injury was sealed within moments, with Weiss giving her partner a high five as she landed. "Great work!"
"Thank you very much!" Ruby beamed back cheerily before waving to her uncle. "And you did awesome too, Uncle Qrow!"
Mercury rolled his eyes as he and Emerald stood off against their own Hydra head. "Yeah, it was neat… but I bet we could do it quicker, right Em?" Rather than respond, however, the green-haired girl simply dashed off toward the Hydra, leaving Mercury confused and a bit hurt as well. "O-Oh… okay." He ran after her as she put Thief's Respite into sickle mode, using them to scale the Hydra's neck. Mercury followed her lead as he called out; "Can we at least TALK about this later instead of doing the cold shoulder thing IN A BATTLE?!"
Emerald whipped one of her weapon's chains up the Hydra's neck, wrapping it around a spike before pulling herself up by it. "Mercury, I don't WANT to talk about it right now OR later at the moment." She glared down at him in distaste. "In case I haven't made it clear, I'm still upset with you! So please, just give me some freaking space so I can THINK and MAYBE we can talk when I WANT to talk!"
That rather pointed speech left Mercury feeling utterly deflated, his jaw falling open in stunned silence. On the ground, meanwhile, Weiss and Ruby were both in similar states, feeling very awkward at having heard the very personal exchange. Qrow sucked in a sharp breath, knowing all too well what the younger man was going through. "Ooh… damn, that's messy."
"…A-Alright." Mercury abstained, craning his head down dejectedly. "If that's what you want." He could feel his fingers losing their grip on the Hydra's neck until he simply fell off the beast, landing with a heavy THUD on the ground. He didn't even make an effort to land on his feet, letting himself fall back-first on the pavement.
"H-HEY!" Emerald shouted, stunned that he'd do such a thing. "That doesn't mean I don't want your help, I—WOAH!"
All of a sudden, the Hydra's neck lurched as, of all people, Rojo landed beside her. And she didn't seem all too happy with the green-haired girl. "You've MADE your point, Em!" the redhead snapped up at her with a sharp glare. "Merc ACTUALLY wants to be a team player here and you're pushing him away?! I can't believe you!"
"R-Rojo, I—"
"I get that you're upset, but he's TRYING to better himself for YOU!" Rojo stabbed Bloodstrike down into the Hydra's neck, not breaking eye contact with the girl. "Did you just FORGET the conversation we had the other day?!"
Emerald shook her head vehemently. "N-No, of course I didn't! I just—woah! H-HEY!" The young woman was taken off guard as Rojo suddenly scooped her up and slung her over her shoulder, holding her as tight as she could. "Rojo, what the hell are you—"
"Sit tight and zip it." Rojo ordered, taking hold of Bloodstrike with one hand. "I'll handle this." The pressed the trigger on Bloodstrike's handle and the energy sword began heating up until it was pretty much on fire, the Hydra screaming in agony as its wound burned. Rojo then jumped off the Hydra's neck and then swung down, bringing her sword down through the beast's scaley flesh. Once she was at the bottom, her and Emerald's combined weight caused them to drop to the ground, with Rojo landing on her feet before setting her companion on the ground. "Stay."
But Emerald, in her annoyance, wasn't about to comply. "For god's sake, Rojo!" she stood up abruptly, flinging her arms out at her sides. "Just what is your—mm! MMPH!"
The bounty hunter brought Emerald's lips together with her fingers, shaking her head. "Not here, not now. Stay put." With that simple order, Rojo rounded about on her heel and locked her eyes on Ruby. "Yo, Little Red! I need a boost above that thing!"
"O-Oh, um… sure?" Ruby wasn't about to argue with Rojo at the moment. She was on a roll and Ruby wasn't about to halt that. She focused on her Semblance again and rushed over, scooping Rojo up and then making a sharp beeline for the half-cut off head. The two emerged directly above the neck and Ruby asked; "What now?!"
"Just throw me!"
"Alright, gotcha!" With a bit of a spin, Ruby threw Rojo straight back down, where the bounty hunter proceeded to cut through the other half of the Hydra's neck with her blazing sword. With the wound cauterized instantly, Rojo landed in a crouch right after the head hit the ground, placing her sword on her back. "…Okay, gotta admit, that was cool." Ruby smiled as she too came down.
Rojo took a deep breath, giving a reluctant grin over to the Hooded Huntress. "You weren't so bad yourself, Little Red." She glanced down to Emerald and Mercury irritably. "Sorry for the trouble that THESE two put you through."
Weiss came over and waved it off. "O-Oh, trust me, it's completely understandable…" She eyed the duo, who were making it a point to look away from each other. "I, um… I can sense some clear tension here, for sure."
"Hm." Rojo crossed her arms, pursing her lips at her two comrades. "Yeah, we need to have a little chit-chat about that—"
GYYYAAAAAAOOOOORRR!
Just then, however, another pair of roars came blaring in from out of nowhere, alerting everyone to the arrival of two MORE Hydra heads. The group gasped as the two heads came rushing down at them, their jaws open and ready to munch down. …But they'd ultimately be disappointed. Right as their jaws were about to snap shut, two blazing streaks of red came flying down from the sky and crisscrossed over one another… and both of them cut through each neck once before landing. Ruby, Weiss, Qrow and Rojo all stared at the scene with mouths agape, with Emerald and Mercury watching silently from the ground. "…Man, Maidens get ALL the cool shit." Qrow commented.
As the two Hydra heads erupted in a sudden explosion, Cinder and Raven stood up to inspect their handiwork, the latter placing a hand on her hip. "Hm, was not expecting you to follow my lead like that, Cinder." She smirked toward the Fall Maiden with a raised brow. "Perhaps you have more respect for me than you lead on?"
"Hmph! Keep dreaming, hag." Cinder brushed off, giving Raven a narrow-eyed glare. "I simply saw an opportunity to take out two birds with one stone and… hm?" But she stopped herself short after seeing Emerald and Mercury sitting down, both of them wearing shameful expressions. "…What in the world are you two doing?"
"They just learned that if you disappoint Rojo, you get the mom treatment." Rojo answered, crossing her arms at the duo. "Mercury, not so much, but Em? She needs to calm the heck down and think some things through."
"I'm sorry, okay?!" Emerald exclaimed. "I just don't want to deal with this right now!" She lowered her head, holding her hands up to her temples as she screwed her eyes shut. "Ugh! Why do you have to make things so difficult?!"
The bounty hunter shook her head. "The only one making things hard on yourself is YOU, Emerald. Look at Mercury." The green-haired girl didn't respond, and Mercury himself seemed very uneasy and a little irritated at what was happening. "I said look at him, Em." She heard the girl sigh before steadily moving her head, finally locking her eyes on the young man. "Tell me, is that the face of a guy who has no remorse for what he's done?"
"Well… I guess not." Emerald muttered.
"You guess?" Rojo echoed. "Well, guess what? Merc's wanted nothing but—"
"Rojo, STOP!" Mercury suddenly exclaimed, abruptly standing up with a defiant gaze. Rojo was taken aback as he pointed at her. "I appreciate the help, but I DON'T need you to do this for me. I might be upset at all this, but I'd rather handle this MYSELF." He spun around to Emerald, who was stunned at his sudden snap. "Emerald… I get that you're upset, but all I want to do is clear the air between us. But only when you feel you're ready. And when you do… you know where to find me." And with that, he walked off, leaving all of the women and Qrow in shock.
Raven whistled, impressed by what she saw. "Kid's matured quite a bit. Probably would've flown into a fit if this happened a month ago."
"I know, right?" Ruby concurred with her step-mom. "Weird, right?"
"Quite, but it's not unwelcomed." Cinder noted before eyeing Emerald herself. "I suggest you take him up on that, Emerald… when you're ready to do so, of course."
Emerald swallowed hard, her throat feeling very dry all of a sudden. She was NOT expecting that at all, especially from Mercury. She pulled a shaky hand close to her chest, still trying to take it all in. "…Yeah, r-right."
Rojo sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Man, how's it WE get to have all the drama? …Wonder how Neo's doing?"
…..
Neo was doing horribly at the moment. This Hydra thing was too smart for its own good, namely because it wasn't being fooled by her hallucinations anymore. Whenever she sent one of her illusionary selves against the beast, it instead rounded about to where she TRULY was and attacked her directly, swatting the copy away and shattering it without a second thought. It had learned from its first mistake after biting its own neck, and that was extremely frustrating to her. None of the heads were falling for it anymore. It was making her angry, so much so that she decided to just take the direct approach.
Landing on the beast's back, she pulled out her sword from her umbrella again, making a mad run for one of its necks. With a big leap, she came up and grabbed onto a scale on the back of its neck… only for one of its long, whip-like tails to come snapping back and wrap around her leg. If Neo could scream, she probably would have. Instead, she was pulled away and sent careening off the Hydra, though she actually ended up pulling the scale free from its neck as well. Still, having a scale wouldn't help her land, and right now, her left leg felt like it was on fire. She winced and shut her eyes, bracing for impact with the hard, unforgiving pavement.
…At least, that's what she planned, but then somebody stupid got in her way. "H-HEY! Watch out—OOF!" Neo felt herself slam into the chest of whoever saved her from hitting the ground… only for HIM to break the fall for her. She could tell it was a he given his voice and his rather strong chest… but something felt familiar about this one. And, after shaking the daze from her head and opening her eyes, she quickly found out why.
It was him. The blind boy she fought against at Beacon Academy almost two weeks ago. The one whom she threw off by using her… feminine wiles on. …And now she was directly on top of him. She had to admit, she HAD seen him back behind the police barricade, but she hadn't given him much thought. But somehow, they had found each other once again. Was it fate? Or some weird joke by the universe? Either way… she didn't mind what she was seeing.
His wild, red hair was quite attractive, almost in a primal way. The same went for the multiple scars on his strong arms, which told stories of battles past without needing to say a word. And of course, that wasn't even getting into how ruggedly handsome he was. The more she stared at his features, the more she realized that it was hard to look away from him.
…And that was when her trance was broken. "Uh… y-you okay?"
Neo was about to reply… but then realized how hard that would be. He couldn't see her hand gestures, or ANY of her body language that she usually used to communicate. And obviously, speaking to him was not an option. Out of the five senses, why'd he have to lack sight of all things? She took stock of the rest of his available senses; hearing, smell, taste and… touch. Neo's eyes widened and she smiled, getting an idea straight away.
She reached up and pat him on the shoulder, making his eyebrows move up. "Oh… is that a yes?" Once again, she pat his shoulder as a sign of reassurance. "Hah, g-great! I heard you get thrown off that Hydra so I came as fast as I could…" He craned his head down slightly. "Though, uh… heh, I-I really wasn't expecting it to be you."
Neo's lips curled into a grin. It was apparent that he remembered their little encounter at Beacon. Which was good… because she did, too. She moved her hand up and ruffled his hair a bit, taking him by surprise before she rose up to her feet and offered him his hand. "Ah… thanks." Fox said with a blush, taking the hand and pulling himself up.
It was only then that Neo noticed… he was quite taller than she was. Granted, most people were, but in terms of Fox's height, he was actually in a bit of a sweet spot. That being; tall enough to where he didn't dwarf her. "So… you're Neo, right?" Once again, she pat his shoulder. "Yeah, I kind of figured since you haven't spoken a word." He rubbed his neck sheepishly, which Neo found to be cute. "Name's Fox, by the way. Fox Alistair. Hope that Hydra didn't hurt you too badly."
Neo shook her hand and gave him a gentle pat on the chest. "Hah, yeah, I DID break your fall, so…" All of a sudden, she reached down and squeezed his hand gently, making his eyes widen. "…I'm guessing you're trying to say "thank you"?" Once again, he got a pat on the shoulder. "Oh, well, you're welcome, I—"
"FOX!" The duo whipped their heads around to see the rest of Team CFVY dealing with two Hydra heads of their own, with Yatsu scaling the beast's back while Velvet hopped her way up. Cooper was staying airborne and blasting the beast in its several faces, all while Coco shot at it from ground level with Gianduja. "What the HELL are you doing?!" Coco called out, only to pause her shooting when she saw her partner… and Neo was touching him in several places. "Fox, are… are you LITERALLY flirting with the enemy?!"
The two were taken aback and immediately pulled away, with Neo shrinking back as both their cheeks flushed red. "N-No! I wasn't! I-I just noticed Neo getting flung off the Hydra and went to help her, honest!"
Coco placed her hands on her hips, clearly not believing his story. But at the moment, there were bigger things to be concerned about, so she let it slide… for now. "Uh-huh, sure. Well take a break from the chit-chat or whatever and come help us FIGHT this thing, will ya?!"
"Coming!" Fox called out before spinning around toward Neo. "U-Um, hey… I've gotta go before my partner gets absolutely pissed at me, so—hm?" The blind huntsman suddenly felt a glove hand reach of and caress his cheek, giving it a reassuring pat. He craned his head down toward Neo… and somehow, he could just tell that she was smiling at him. Fox had no idea what she looked like, but a part of him so desperately wanted to know. 'Maybe one day…' He put his own hand over hers and gave her a nod. "Hm… let's meet again sometime?"
Neo moved her hand down and pat him on the shoulder, giving her own little "Okay". "Alright, I'll be seeing you… er, well not literally, but—gah, you get what I mean." Neo couldn't help but mime a little giggle before giving his cheek another pat, seeing him off toward the battle. The heterochromatic girl gave a wistful sigh as she watched him go… only to then realize she was still holding the Hydra scale. She wasn't sure what to do with it… but decided to stow it in her jacket, just in case. Cinder would probably have an idea on what to use it for.
BA-BAM! Neo suddenly flinched and straightened up, whipping her head up just in time to see twin beams of green energy go blasting up high into the sky, followed by a; "Gah! Sorry Penny!" Neo craned her head down and saw one of the Hydra's necks on the ground, with Rex flying over it and a pair of arms, legs and twin cannons sticking out form under it.
Penny pushed the neck off of her and gave a thumbs up. "No need to worry!" However, in a split second, two more Hydra heads emerged from the wound, roaring down angrily at the android. "…Oh, perhaps there IS a need to worry, actually."
Neo facepalmed and shook her head. 'Some of these heroes, I swear…'
…..
Back with Team CFVY, Fox had entered the battle and started firing shots from his weapon, aiming for the Hydra's eyes. "Sorry about that!"
"No problem, dude." Coco shrugged off. "Can't blame ya for the distraction, honestly." She lowered her sunglasses and gave him a wink. "The girl you rescued might be a bad guy… but she's also a real cutie."
"Sh-She is?" Fox asked.
Coco knew it. He'd fallen for Neo hook, line and sinker. 'Ooh, Foxy, you're playing with dynamite here… but there COULD be a chance you'd be able to defuse it…' Coco pushed her sunglasses back up with a small chuckle. "I'll tell you a few of her more notable features later, but right now, let's take this thing out!" She whipped her head up and called for her teammates; "Yatsu! Vel! Tech Head! Time to bring the pain!"
"On it!" Yatsu hollered, having fought tooth and nail to get up on the Hydra's head. He brought Fulcrum up over his head and brought the greatsword straight down on top of its skull, making its eyes bulge out of its head and opening a HUGE wound. The head was also forced right down to the ground, where Fox and Coco were waiting.
Fox extended his blades on Sharp Retribution and went in for the kill. "Here goes! GRAH!" With several slashes at the beast's neck, the blind huntsman successfully separated it from the head, leaving the wound open. "Coco, bring the Hype!"
"Always do." Coco focused on her Semblance and leveled Gianduja at the wound, blasting it point blank with Hyped up Fire Dust rounds. In no time at all, the wound was burned closed, with Coco planting her foot on the snout of the beast. "There's one! Vel?"
"Almost there!" Velvet called back before jumping up high over her targeted head, activating her weapon to summon a hard-light weapon. The weapon she brought out, however… was one that no one expected. In her hand materialized a certain mace, one owned by a redheaded knight from back at Beacon. "GRRRAAAHH!" With a powerful yell, Velvet brought her hard-light copy of Cardin's Executioner down on the Hydra's head, letting lose a powerful energy blast from inside the weapon's head. The force was enough to bring the head down, where Cooper flew in from there and activated his arm-mounted energy blade.
"Vel! Jump!" The bunny girl did as he asked and bounced just as he went in and sliced through its neck, taking its head off with a circular maneuver around it. Once its head was off, Cooper spoke to his on board A.I.; "VADOS, divert Fire Dust power to Unibeam. Prepare for Fire Blast."
"Understood, Cooper!" VADOS obliged, with the crystal in Cooper's chest beginning to glow red. "Fire Dust power diverted directly to Unibeam. You may fire when ready!"
"NOW!" Cooper flexed his chest out and sent the powerful fiery beam at the Hydra's open wound, sealing it within a matter of seconds. With heavy breaths, Cooper lowered down to the ground and went into a crouch, bringing his helmet back so he could breathe easier. "Hah… hah… alright, I think we got it."
Coco came up and gave him a playful slap across the back. "Nice work, Tech Head! You and Vel really brought the double team there. Speaking of…" She raised an eyebrow over to Velvet, wearing a cheeky smirk. "Wow, I did NOT realize that Cardin was getting to be THAT kind of influence on you, Vel. Should I be worried?"
Like clockwork, Velvet broke out into a massive blush, gasping and spinning around while holding her face. "C-Coco! Would you stop?!" The bunny girl shook her head in embarrassment. "Is it so wrong to want to imitate the guy you… like?"
"Ah, so you admit it!"
Velvet sighed and nodded. She had avoided saying it out loud for a while, but she couldn't hold it back any longer. "Yes, I-I… I like Cardin Winchester, okay?"
"Oh yeah, we know." Fox affirmed with his own smirk.
Yatsu placed his hands behind his back. "Took you long to say it, though."
"Oh, sod off, the both of you." Velvet deadpanned.
Coco let out a laugh and pulled Velvet into a side hug. "Haha! Vel, relax. We've been over this; we're you're friends, so no matter who you like, we're ALWAYS gonna support you." She shrugged and locked eyes with her over her sunglasses. "Even if it's with a meathead like Cardin. If you like him, good for you, I have no problem with it."
Slowly but surely, Velvet returned the smile and giggled. "Hehe, thanks guys…" But then, she trailed off as she noticed something. Hercules and Penny were fighting the remaining head… wait, no, there were TWO heads left… somehow. And one of them had Rex in its maw by his Boogie Pack. "W-Wait, weren't there only fourteen heads? Where'd that extra one come from?!"
But before anyone could say anything about it, Rex's build broke and the Hydra flung him toward the ground… directly toward them. "WATCH OUT!" Team CFVY call gasped and leapt out of the way as Rex came hurdling down, slamming back-first into the pavement and cracking it underneath him. "GAH! Ugh…" Rex shook his head, propping himself up on his elbow as he shook off the pain. "Yeah, that might've been my fault. I was the one who cut off that Hydra head… but I didn't see Penny directly under it."
Cooper deadpanned down to him. "I take it that SHE was going to seal the wound?"
"Yeah, but because of MY dumb ass, she ended up shooting her Bash Blasters into the freaking sky." Rex activated his Bad Axes and popped a few muscles in his neck. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've gotta go correct a mistake!" With a mighty leap, he launched himself forward, with Team CFVY in hot pursuit.
However, there was also another warrior making her way toward the two heads; Pyrrha. She had seen the incident as well and decided it would be best to lend a hand, and her team agreed, following her lead on this one. She entered the battle with a mighty kick and smashed into the Hydra's jaw, taking Hercules by surprise. "Haha! Well met, Young Pyrrha!" The god took note of her team, no doubt attracted by the blasts. "I take it you're all ready to finish this?!"
"We are, Hercules." Pyrrha assured, raising her shield. "Let's take care of these last two heads, shall we?"
"Hey! Leave one of those for us, if you'd please!" Penny called out from above, the android flying around as she kept her Floating Array blasters trained on the beast, firing at its face erratically. On its head, Rex had also come in for a landing, scaling down to get in prime chopping position. "We would like to make up for a critical error from earlier! Rex!"
The EVO scowled at the beast and brought both Bad Axes down, severing its neck in two places. "That's for making me crush my friend!
"And THIS is for making me miss!" Penny added, shooting out a continuous blast of green energy at the open wound, sealing it up immediately. She spun around in midair and gave the five down below a salute. "Alright, you may have the finishing blow!"
"Thanks, Pen!" Nora waved back. "You guys did great!" She prepped her hammer and gave Hercules an eager grin. "Shall we?"
Hercules took up his shield, bashing his sword against it once more. "Indeed! To glory, young heroes!" With that, Hercules and Team JNPR charged the beast, with Ren and Pyrrha shooting at its eyes while the other three went in close.
Jaune took up Crocea More and took out the Lightning Dust vials, bringing out a few Fire Dust ones instead. "Alright, let's give THIS a try now!" He loaded the three vials in and closed the chamber, giving the handle a pump to charge it up.
Triple Dust Loaded; ZANDAR MAGMA!
Much to his relief, it worked just as he was hoping it would. His greatsword erupted into flame, ready for a massive attack. "HA! Alright!" He snapped his head toward Hercules and Nora, the duo holding off the Hydra. "Guys! I've got a plan!" He saw their eyes trained on him as they fought, listening to his every word. "Nora, knock that thing for a loop! Herc, you and I will handle the rest from there."
"Sounds good, Fearless Leader!" Nora saluted, widening her stance to take a massive leap. The second she jumped into the fray, she gave a loud whistle, getting the Hyrda's attention. "Yo! Multi-Head of Madness! You're mama's so fat that she had a hard time pushing YOU out!" That the reaction she was hoping for as the Hydra opened its mouth, only for her to take aim with her grenade launcher and fire at will. Several grenades sailed into the Hydra's maw and exploded upon impact, making it wail in agony. "HERC!"
"Say your prayers, foul BEAST!" Hercules roared as he went in for the final blow, slicing the Hydra's neck clean off with a single swipe of his blade. As the neck fell, he spun around and yelled; "Here's your chance, Young Jaune!"
The blonde knight didn't have to be told twice, bringing his sword up and holding it above his shoulder. He widened his stance and took aim at the wound, shouting; "Volcano OVERFLOW!" before swinging his sword at the Hydra's now headless body. He struck the ground and, all at once, the blazing energy in his sword traveled through the pavement, making it crack as explosive pillars of flame traveled all the way to the beast until…
BWWOOOOOMMM!
A massive blaze utterly consumed the front half of the Hydra's body, not only sealing the wound, but burning the corpse severely. Now effectively dead, the legs of the monster gave out from underneath it and it fell right to the ground, its neck stumps strewing all over the place as they scorched and blackened into a husk. The rest of the Omni-Hunters and the Ministry were left with mouths agape as Jaune shouldered Crocea Mors, taking a deep breath as he steadied himself. "Hah… and that's the way the dragon crumbles."
"Technically not a dragon, but WHAT A SHOW, young man! HAHAHA!" Hercules gave a bombastic laugh as he slapped Jaune across the shoulders, sending him straight to the ground. The god wasted no time at all in picking him up, though, setting him back to his feet. "Young Jaune, with a weapon THAT powerful, I doubt you'll have trouble overcoming any obstacle set before you. Well done, son."
Jaune's lips parted in shock, his hand going to his neck sheepishly. "Uh, hehe… i-it wasn't all THAT great, I—GAH!"
"Jaune, what do you MEAN?!" Pyrrha exclaimed as she hugged him tight, all while the other Omni-Hunters grouped up with them. "That was so amazing!"
"Heh, and here I thought you were just gonna use lightning with that sword." Nora folded her arms with a knowing grin. "You really did a number on 'em, Jaune!"
"Yes, you should be very pleased." Ren agreed, giving his leader more praise. "You having the idea for that upgrade's really come in handy as of late."
With a small shrug, Jaune glanced down to his sword. "I mean, yeah, but… I can't take all the credit. Cesar DID make those upgrades, after all."
Rex came up and gave a light jab to Jaune's shoulder. "So we'll thank mi hermano when we get back to base. But he's not the one HOLDING the sword right now, is he?" The EVO smirked when he saw Jaune slowly nod, conceding to his point. "Hehe, yeah, you know what I'm talkin' about, dude…"
From the crowd, Diamondhead and Team RWBY emerged, the four girls all smiling brightly at Jaune as the hero transformed back into his human self. "He's got a point there, Jaune." Ben said with a wink. "First Pyrrha got the hero's celebration today, and now you get the same."
"Let's hear it for P-Money and the Ladykiller, guys!" Yang cheered, eliciting a roar of approval from the rest of the team.
Over all of them, though, Hercules' laughter cut through as he put his arms across Jaune and Pyrrha's shoulders. "AHAHAHA! Indeed so, Young Benjamin!" He beamed down to the couple with pride in his eyes, bringing them both together once more. "Pyrrha Nikos! Lion Slayer! And Jaune Arc! Hydra Slayer! I have a feeling we have a Best Match on our hands!"
"HA! Timely!" Cooper called out.
Jaune and Pyrrha's faces lit up light Christmas Trees, the couple bashfully eyeing one another as Hercules sang their praises. "Hah… thank you, Hercules, that means a lot." Jaune waved up to the larger man, extending his arm to the rest of the team. "But again, can't take all the credit. It was a TEAM effort, after all."
"But of course! I'm not about to forget such heroism from such fine young warriors!" Hercules assured, before setting his sights over to the five Ministry members. "And YOU!" The quintet flinched as Hercules made a leap over to them, casting a shadow over all of them. But, much to their surprise, he bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you for your assistance. I realize that your alignment is not the same as theirs, but it truly means the world that you aided in slaying the Hydra… even if it was a rocky start."
The five villains shrunk back a bit at that last line, knowing full well what he meant. "Er, hehe… y-yeah, sorry again about that, Mr. Hercules." Rojo apologized. "We'll uh… be sure to do our research on myths incase any more monsters crop up."
"As you should." Hercules approved. "…Especially since I must be going soon."
At that, everyone became visibly disheartened, especially Ben, Pyrrha and Jaune. "W-Wait, really?" Pyrrha asked. "You… have to leave already?"
Hercules nodded solemnly. "Yes, unfortunately this was but a day-long excursion. Keeping guard over the Gates of Olympus is a full-time job, you know?" His hand went to the back of his head and he chuckled. "Hehe… Perseus is probably wondering where the Tartarus I am. He's filling in for me today, after all."
"Hm, I see." Ben nodded in understanding, walking up to the large man and extending a hand. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Hercules. And… I really hope we get to meet again one day."
The God of Heroes reached out and grasped Ben's hand, giving it a firm shake. "Should the Fates allow it, I KNOW we will, Young Tennyson." From there, he shook everyone's hand one by one, including the Ministry members, much to everyone's surprise. Once he said his farewells to almost everyone, he finally got to Jaune and Pyrrha. "And you two… I can sense the potential for you both to rise to the same legendary status as many ancient Greek Heroes. May your tales be sung alongside those of Jason, Achilles, Theseus and many others!"
Jaune and Pyrrha took turns shaking his hand, giving him a respectful bow. "Thank you, Hercules." Jaune reciprocated.
"Yes, that means a lot, for sure." Pyrrha concurred.
"I'm glad you think so. I will make sure to put in a good word for you ALL with my father." He sent the team a sly wink. "We'll see about getting you all on Mount Olympus someday, sound good?" The loud cheer from everyone was all the answer he needed. "Haha! Very good! Now, before I go, there's one last thing to take care of. Jaune, Pyrrha, come with me…" The hero led them over to the remains of the Hydra, which were beginning to dissipate into golden dust. He knelt down to a pool of greenish-black liquid that was flowing out of the monster's body, before reaching into his quiver and pulling out some arrows. Without hesitation, he dipped their tips into the liquid, coating them completely before pulling them out.
"Uh… what is that?" Jaune inquired, only for the liquid to soak right into the arrow head, almost as if it wasn't there at all.
"This, Young Jaune, is Hydra blood. Back in the day, I coated my arrows in them so that they would be more potent on my enemies…" He turned around and offered the arrows to Jaune and Pyrrha. "And now, I shall do the same for you. May these enchanted arrows serve you well."
The couple's eyes widened. They certainly weren't expecting THAT. "Um… thank you, Hercules, but neither of us really USE a bow and arrow."
"Maybe not…" Hercules moved his gaze down to Milo on Pyrrha's back. "But, given the different shapes that your weapon can take on, Young Pyrrha, I believe you can fashion it into a bow, correct?"
That got Pyrrha musing on the idea, the redhead wearing a thoughtful expression as a smile slowly formed. "You know… that's actually not a bad idea. I'll bet Cesar would know how to do that… oh! Or maybe even Rook. He said he's customized his Proto-Tool, after all."
"There's the ticket!" Hercules handed the arrows over to Pyrrha, having her secure them in her grasp. "Just make sure to be careful. Hydra blood is EXTREMLEY potent and can kill in seconds. Store these in a secure quiver, and once they know where their home is, they shall return to you even after they've been fired."
"Hah… wow, thank you so much, Hercules." Pyrrha bowed in gratitude, her lion cloak falling over her right side. "I must admit, I didn't expect to suddenly get so many upgrades all at once."
"HAHAHA! That's the way it goes, isn't it?" Hercules laughed before giving her and everyone else a wave goodbye. "I'm sure you will use your new items well, though. Take care, Young Pyrrha, and to everyone else as well!" The god lifted his head to the sky and put his fingers to his lips, letting out a loud whistle. Then, dashing down from the sky… was something that no one was expecting.
It was a winged creature, completely white with a long, flowing tail. Its wingspan had to at least be forty feet from wingtip to wingtip, and the way its legs moved through the air made it seem like it was… galloping through the sky. Fitting, as it wasn't even a bird at all. Rather, landing before the group of heroes and villains was a large, winged horse, one whose splendor instantly left an impression on all of them.
Gwen was the only one who could barely utter the animal's name; "P-P-P-PEGASUS?!"
"Indeed! Not THE Pegasus, though, but one of his many children. They're the only way to get back to Olympus from Earth nowadays." Hercules informed, getting on the animal's back and resting on its saddle. He gave his steed a pat on the neck as he grabbed the reigns. "Come now, Jetstream, we must be going home." The winged equine gave a whinny of acknowledgement before spreading its wings again, ready to take off. "Farewell, young heroes!" Hercules shouted as he and Jetstream took off into the sky. "Until we meet again!"
The Omni-Hunters waved back to Hercules, crying out their own farewells until his and his steed's silhouette disappeared into the great, blue sky. Once they were out of sight, Ben gave a heavy sigh, uncertain when he'd see the world's greatest hero ever again. But, then again, that uncertainty also excited him, because if Greek legends kept knocking at their doorstep, that was alright by him. "Hm, alright guys, let's head back, shall we?"
"Good idea, Ben." Raven concurred as she and the others started making their way toward the police barricade. "After a fight like this, I think ALL of us could use a—wait." She abruptly cut herself off when she noticed the lack of a certain quintet with them. "…Where did the Ministry go?"
"D'oh! Shoot, they must've ducked out." Ruby huffed, folding her arms indignantly. "They didn't even stick around long enough so we could say thanks…"
Blake rolled her eyes at that. "Somehow, Ruby, I doubt they would've appreciated the gratitude."
Weiss sighed and gave a shrug. "Oh well, there's always another day to deal with them. For now, though, we've gotta hurry up and get ready."
"Oh yeah, Max is probably gonna want to leave soon." Yang remembered, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "Wouldn't wanna be late for the big camping trip, right?"
"Exactly… plus we're gonna have quite the story to tell him when we get back home." Ben nodded toward the Spring Maiden. "Raven, I think I speak for everyone when I ask you to please make a portal home." Raven was all too happy to oblige, swiping Omen through the air and opening one of her portals, taking them all back to the Tennyson residence where their families awaited their arrival.
…..
Meanwhile, not too far away, the Ministry themselves had managed to duck into a nearby alleyway, avoiding a slew of fire trucks and police cruisers that were headed toward the scene of the incident. The five villains stopped for a quick breather, with Cinder leaning against a brick wall. "Hah… well, that was… an interesting way to spend the morning."
"No doubt." Rojo agreed, crossing her arms over her chest with a smile. "Though you've gotta admit, it WAS pretty cool to fight off that thing."
"Yeah, but the Collective got away AND those twerps now have ANOTHER godly ally." Emerald reminded. "As far as I'm concerned, we didn't really get that much of a win."
Rojo gave her a narrow-eyed look at her remark. "Yeah, well, maybe if you didn't make a big stink earlier, you'd probably feel better, Em." She nudged her head over to Mercury, who was keeping to himself in a far corner. "Hell knows he would." she whispered.
Emerald sighed through her nostrils, taking the hint. "Okay, okay… I'll talk to him." she said in hushed tones. "Maybe not right away, just so he has time to breathe after… all this, but I'll definitely do it soon."
"Hm, good to know." Rojo said with a slight grin before noticing Neo fiddling with her jacket, reaching into it and feeling around for something. "Hm? Watcha got there, Neo?" The bounty hunter got her answer when Neo suddenly procured a dark green scale from her jacket, making all the other members of her team go slack-jawed. Even Mercury was left stunned. "WOAH! What the heck?!"
"Is… is that a…" Mercury started.
"A Hydra scale?!" Emerald finished. Neo gave her a nod and tossed the scale up, only to catch it singlehandedly with a knowing smirk. "Neo, how the heck did you get THAT?!" Just then, Neo's expression changed… to one with a rather dreamy smile and half-lidded eyes. Almost as if… she was swooning? Weird. But then, she held the scale in both hands and then yanked it with force, which Emerald DID understand. "Ah, so you were holding onto it when the Hydra threw you off, huh? Cool. …So what do we do with it?"
As Cinder stared at the scale, though, an idea formed in her mind. She recalled how Salem was able to create the Grimmongousaur using a sample of Vaxasaurian DNA. 'And if that were the case, then perhaps…' Slowly but surely, Cinder's lips curled into a devious smile, reaching out to place a hand on the scale. "Oh… I think I have a VERY interesting idea…"
…..
A/N: I believe the term of phrase is… "Ruh-roh". Yep, seems Pyrrha isn't the ONLY one getting something out of this string of monster attacks. Now the Ministry have a genuine hydra scale in their possession and a means with which to use it… by having Salem utilize it to create a new Grimm. And given how she likes to make Grimm that are even MORE dangerous than their original counterparts as seen with the Grimmongousaur, that is NOT a good thing. The Omni-Hunters had better watch out in the future…
But yeah, as expected, this chapter was basically one big battle against the Hydra, with the villains initially screwing things up ROYALY by giving the beast even MORE heads to work with. Granted, some mistakes were made later by some of the heroes that gave it more heads as well, but as we can see, the group were quick to amend those by working hard to take all those heads out.
Though of course, that's not ALL that happened in this chapter. We got a little bit of Rex and Neo taking a mutual interest in a certain hunchback before she was forced to teleport herself and the Collective leaders away. Could that be the first thing that leads to some common ground between the two sides? Well, we'll just have to wait and see. But oh, the drama between Mercury and Emerald continues to escalate. It's quite obvious that these two have a LOT to talk about, and when they do, it's gonna be a pretty deep conversation.
But hoo boy, this chapter contains something that I'm sure NO ONE would've ever expected to come back… Fox and Neo. We saw a little tease of that in the last Volume at the final battle for Beacon and Vale, but this time… we're getting a bit more serious with this. Bit of a strange pairing, I'll admit, but once again, we're getting to see Neo's softer side from these interactions. Could she maybe be swayed over to the good side given the right situation? With possible friends and even potentially love, it could be plausible.
That said, Hercules has now taken his leave from the story FOR NOW. I can promise you that we WILL be seeing him again in the future, especially given my plans for the Greek Pantheon that've already been seen in chapter's past. But for now, we look to the future as OCTOBER is finally upon us once again, and NEXT TIME, we're headed on a camping trip… that turns rather spooky real fast when Ruby ends up running into… something out in the woods. It's neither Alien, Grimm, or even mutant… but something else. Thankfully, there just so happens to be a certain family on the way who specializes in the weird and unexplained. All I can say is… Thank GOD it's Saturday. Thanks for reading, everyone, and I'll catch you all next time! And, as always, stay safe out there!
