A/N (Please Read): Captain's Log, Star Date; 10/31/2022. Happy Halloween once again, everyone! I hope your ready for today's chapter, because let me tell ya, this one was a doozy to work on. Let's not waste too much time up here, though, because we've got a LOT to go through with this one. Though before we start, I SHOULD let you know that the next chapter will be a TINY bit late as well, as it's going to drop on Saturday before we get right back on schedule on the following Friday. Hope you all enjoy! This is…
Chapter 57: The Moth Man Prophesies
…..
At this point, Ben Tennyson shouldn't have been surprised. In fact, part of him really wasn't. There he stood, as Diamondhead, right across from the Ministry, all of them itching for a fight. None of the Omni-Hunters were really expecting the villains to be here, but at the same time, they were definitely prepared for that possibility. Still… that didn't stop the Omnitrix bearer from being annoyed by the events. "You guys just can't leave us alone for ONE DAY, can you?!" Diamondhead exclaimed, sneering at the villains. "Don't you guys ever get tired of chasing us around the freaking map?!"
"Well, at least you're CLOSER to Bellwood this time." Mercury pointed out. "Last time we had to chase you all the way to Mexico for this."
Emerald folded her arms over her chest. "And to answer your question; no, we don't get tired of doing this. Especially if there's something in it for US."
Cinder nodded, her smirk unrelenting. "Indeed, Emerald. Once we saw the report on TV about the strange crystal that transforms beings into monsters landing here, we just couldn't resist coming." Just then, Neo nudged her arm, causing Cinder to cough into her hand and add; "Ahem, also, it's a boring weekend and we need SOME form of entertainment. Fighting all of you is the easiest way to accomplish that."
There was a long pause after that, the teens unsure what to make of that. "…I don't know if I should be flattered or weirded out." Sun admitted.
"You guys are seriously THAT bored?" Blake deadpanned.
"Well, we DID have an interesting lunch, at least." Rojo said, raising Bloodstrike above her head. "Now we're hopped up on Chinese food and ready to kick your asses!"
All of a sudden, Ruby's eyes lit up and she gasped. "AH! You guys had Chinese?! Oh my gosh, WE just had Chinese the other night!"
That gave both teams a bit of a surprise. "Huh, no kidding?" asked Emerald.
"Oh yeah, SUPER good." Yang said with a thumbs up. "Best Earth food I've had yet!"
"Huh, weird." Mercury raised a brow. "We actually agree on something…"
Before things could get too off track, however, Exo-Skull stomped his foot to the ground, shaking the earth beneath all of them to get their attention. "Uh, hey, as much as I like Chinese, too, could we get back to what's ACTUALLY important here?" The rhino mutant snorted at the heroes and lowered himself onto all fours, ready to charge again. "We're here for one thing and one thing only; to get the corrodium an' get gone."
Diamondhead stepped up, his arms becoming blades as he prepped himself to intercept him. "You'll have to go through ME first, Exo-Skull."
Thunderhog balked at the idea. "HA! You'd like to think so, don't ya, Tennyson?" He picked up his mace and popped a few muscles in his neck. "Well, I'd like to see you try… but if you spend all this time focused on us…" He nudged his head to where the purple glow was coming from. "You'll just be lettin' Doctor Viktor get to the corrodium. An' last I checked, YOU'RE the only one who can handle BOTH those things, am I right?"
Diamondhead grit his crystalline teeth. They were right. He couldn't waste his time here… but at the same time, if they were deliberately letting him go to Vitkor, he could only assume the Transylian had a plan to deal with him. Still, he couldn't just LET Viktor get away with the corrodium. 'Grrr… what should I do?!' Just then, however, he felt a gentle hand place itself on his arm. He looked over, expecting to see Yang… but instead, it was Drew.
"Go, do what you have to do." Drew insisted with a serious gaze as Zak, Fiskteron and Smokey all stepped up with her. Francis was also with them, though he stuck more toward the back, sending Diamondhead an irritated glance. "We'll handle things from here, okay?"
"What? But Drew, you can't—"
"You'd be surprised what a Saturday can handle, bro." Zak said with a wink. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. You just go do your hero thing."
Diamondhead let their words sink in, astounded by their confidence. 'They're determined, that's for sure.' The hero took a deep breath and gave them a nod. "Okay, I trust you…" He craned his head over to Team RWBY, Sun and Rex. "Guys, I'm counting on you and the Saturdays. And whatever you do…" He pointed toward the purple glow past the ridge. "Do NOT follow me down there, understood?" The Petrosapien gave Yang an especially serious gaze. "And that includes you, Goldie Locks. I'll be fine."
Yang wore a sad smile as she reached up to touch his face. "I know you will." She gave Diamondhead a peck on the cheek before sending him off. "Good luck, Green Boy." With that, Diamondhead dashed off as fast as he could, with Yang noticing that not one of the villains was following him. "…What? Not even gonna try to stop him?"
Cinder simply shook her head. "Oh no, the good doctor has a very SPECIAL way of dealing with him." The Fall Maiden eyed the Saturday family curiously. "But more importantly… who in the world are you people?"
"And you seriously expect us to believe that YOU can take US on?" Subdora said before laughing haughtily. "Ahaha! What a joke! Come everyone, laugh with me!" At her behest, several Ministry members joined in… only to be met with a very strong blast of fire that made them all yelp and leap away. Subdora wasn't so fortunate, though, the fire blast catching her barrette on fire. "AAAH! Dios mio, NO!" She threw her hat to the ground and stomped out the fire, leaving it a charred remnant of its former self. "How… how DARE you?!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, were you saying something?" Drew asked, her Tibetan Fire Sword practically covered in dancing flames. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of your hat burning."
Cinder's eyebrows rose up in intrigue. "Hm, an interesting weapon, miss… who ARE you?"
Rojo pointed over to Fiskerton with trepidation. "And where in the blue blazes did ya get a Wookie?!"
All at once, as if in the blink of an eye, things started going down. A loud, furious roar was heard and the teens felt something rush past them. It was Fisk, and he was roaring in righteous fury. "GYYAAAYAAAIIIYOOOO!" The sheer volume of his battle screech was enough to shock even the villains to their core, leaving them all stunned and unmoving as he closed in on them.
The Saturdays were also shaken, though they at least knew what was going on. "Oh no, FISK! STOP!" Zak thrust his Claw forward and launched the hand at his brother, catching him around the ankle and making him trip before he could reach the Ministry. Still though, that didn't stop him from trying to claw his way at them with barred teeth and angry red eyes. With all his strength, Zak started pulling Fisk back in, with some help from Yang and Sun, who were snapped out of their shock. "Ugh, you just HAD to pull out the Chewbacca comparison, he HATES that!" Zak exclaimed.
"W-Well how was I supposed to know that?!" Rojo countered, glaring at the boy. "Just who the hell ARE you people?!"
Drew stepped forward, taking a deep, calming breath before glaring at the group. "We are the Saturdays. We specialize in the study of cryptozoology…" She raised her sword for another blast of flame. "And you've just made a VERY bad mistake for messing with my boys!" FWOOSH! All at once, a stream of blue fire came piercing out of the blade's tip, headed straight toward the Ministry.
…Unfortunately, however, Cinder was able to intercept it. Her Maiden Powers flaring to life, she reached out and caught the blue flames right in her hand, which proceeded to dance up her arms under her complete control. Drew gasped and stopped immediately, taken aback as the flames became orange before then solidifying into shards of hot obsidian, which Cinder levitated above her head. "Hm, disappointing." The Fall Maiden mused.
"H-How did you—"
"They didn't tell you EVERYTHING about us, did they?" Cinder smirked, glancing over to Team RWBY. "I must say, I'm quite surprised you didn't warn them ahead of time."
"We DID, Cinder." Ruby insisted, glowering at the raven-haired girl.
Drew's lips parted, only now recognizing the name. "Cinder… oh god, she's the most powerful one of the group, right?"
Blake nodded regrettably. "Yep… and now she's got plenty of projectiles to use."
"Hmhm, indeed." Cinder snapped her fingers and all of the obsidian shards pointed toward the heroes. "But enough about me, let's KILL you!" With a swipe of her hand, Cinder launched all of the shards at once toward Drew, Zak and Fisk, knowing full well that they were the most vulnerable.
"NO!" But then, Ruby and the team dashed out in front of them, weapons at the ready. "Guys, you stay—"
Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-THUNK!
But before anything could be done, the heroes found themselves under the protection of Rex, the EVO having launched himself in between them and the shards. Using his Block Party, Rex created a large forcefield, the shards bouncing and breaking off of it in quick succession. "Heh, don't worry, guys, I've got this one—OOF!"
"And I'VE got YOU, shrimp!" Exo-Skull shouted as he charged into Rex, taking him for an unwanted ride through the trees… quite literally. Rex hollered in pain as he and Skull crashed through several trees, his back taking more and more punishment, much to the rhino's amusement. "Hahaha! Yes, cry some more!"
"REX!" Weiss wasted no time in summoning a time dilation glyph below her feet, ready to get after them. "Exo-Skull, get back here with him!"
"Weiss, wait!" Ruby jumped in front of her partner, waving her hands frantically. "We need you here! We—huh?" Just then, Weiss waved Myrtenaster and created two summoning glyphs, bringing forth her Arma Gigas and her Queen Lancer. "…Woah, you're getting good at multiple glyphs at once."
The Schnee gave her a brief smile. "Thanks, they're yours to command. These should be enough to help you out with those jokers." Her expression became serious again. "Right now, though, I need to help my boyfriend. So please, Ruby…" The Hooded Huntress offered a smile of her own and stepped aside, allowing Weiss to dash off through the forest. "Thank you!"
Ruby waved her off. "You're welcome!" Within seconds, she pulled out Crescent Rose again and focused on the enemy. "Now, where were we?"
Emerald's eyes flashed green for a brief moment, so fast that no one could see it. "Oh, I think we were about to fight…" She smirked over to Neo, who tipped her hat to her with an acknowledging smirk. "But oh, would you look at that? We have a visitor…" Emerald pointed up toward the sky just as the wind began to blow around everyone, and the second the team craned their heads up, they knew why.
There, slowly descending toward them from the sky… was the Moth Man. Its wing flaps caused incredible gusts of wind to blow all around them as it let out an ear-splitting screech, forcing everyone to cover their ears. "Oh for crying out loud!" Zak bemoaned. "NOW? Of all times?!"
"Is… i-is that really the Moth Man?!" Sun asked.
"He's MUCH bigger than I imagined." Yang admitted, glancing over to her friends to see what they thought. Sure enough, everyone was stunned to see the beast… except for one in particular. Francis was glaring up to the Moth Man skeptically, his arms crossed. "Hey! What's goin' on over there, Celery Stick? Too cool for the Moth Man?"
"Hmph, please." Francis rolled his eyes. "I'm not ignorant to the beast's magnificence. But something is… very off about it."
Ruby hummed, though she wasn't about to take any changes. She waved to the two summoned Grimm and ordered; "Arma Gigas, Queen, prepare to defend!"
The two Grimm were about to do as she asked, but a loud roar stopped them before they could. From the back of the group, Smokey came barreling out and leapt right into the middle of things, raising his head up to howl at the Moth Man. In no time, he barred his teeth and started growling… at Emerald, not the creature. "AAH!" the green-haired girl exclaimed, backing away as it approached. "W-What the hell is that?!"
Thunderhog narrowed his eyes at the beast. "Some sorta… giant, smoking wolf?"
"S-Stay back!" Emerald raised her hand, creating an illusion resembling a massive mountain lion. But rather than attack it, the wolf bristled its back and sent a puff of noxious smoke through the air, causing everyone to cough and their eyes to start watering. "HAK-HAK! Y-You mangey mutt, what was—"
"H-Hey!" Blake raised her head, seeing the Moth Man was now no where to be found. "Where'd the Moth Man… wait." She wiped the tears from her eyes, her vision having cleared thanks to the noxious smoke. "Smokey just broke through Emerald's illusion!"
Zak and Drew were left astonished. "You mean that wasn't the Moth Man?!"
"Grr, shoot." Emerald grumbled, taking out her Thief's Respite and aiming them at the wolf. "Damn dog!" She started shooting at the beast, but it was very swift on its feet, dodging bullets effortlessly as it had done several times in the past. But, much to her surprise, it wasn't going toward her… but rather running to Zak's position. "Huh?! Where are you… wait." Her eyes widened in realization… it knew where SHE was, too?!
Zak was about to move out of Smokey's way… only for Neo to suddenly come bursting out from the smoke with her umbrella ready to strike. "Ah!" Zak whipped up the Claw to counter the hit… right as the Smoke Wolf lunged off to his opposite side, tackling something to the ground. Before Zak could even hit Neo, she disappeared, shattering into millions of pieces. "What the—ah!" The boy doubled back as he saw the Smoke Wolf… with the REAL Neo pinned right under him. "I… am very confused."
Neo stared into the wolf's eyes, completely petrified. How… how did it know where she was going to strike?! "Hm, interesting." Francis came forward, his gaze focused down onto Neo as the wolf growled at her. "It would seem that the Smoke Wolf has the ability to see through deceptive illusions."
"You've gotta be kidding me." Emerald's eye twitched.
Mercury stormed over and confronted the young man in green. "And just who the heck are YOU, String Bean?"
Francis merely turned up his nose to him, in an attempt at showing his superiority. "That is classified to you."
"Alright. Hi "Classified", I'm Mercury." At that, he leapt forward to deliver a flying kick straight to the green-haired teen. "And THIS is my foot—WOAH!" But, in a split-second reaction, Francis actually sidestepped Mercury's kick right before it made contact, his arm snapping up to grab hold of his leg. Using the assassin's momentum against him, Francis spun around and sent him hurdling back from whence he came, leaving him dumbfounded. "W-What the hell?!" Mercury stood up abruptly as Francis brushed himself off. "How did you—"
"I've trained with the best of the best. You have no hope in defeating me in close quarters combat." Francis pushed his sunglasses up, with Mercury's snarling grimace reflected in them.
"Grr… well, if that's the case, guess I'll go ranged!" Mercury dropped to the forest floor and started breakdancing, his swinging kicks letting off several shots toward his opponent.
Zak reached out and called to his friend; "Francis, get out of the—huh?" But as he shouted, Francis pulled out something quite unexpected. He lifted his briefcase and went to open it, or so everyone thought. As it happened, there was another set of hinges on the side of the briefcase, where the group noticed a diagonal break in its design. Francis reached for that part and pulled it open… revealing the suitcase to actually be a hidden blade that extended as it unlocked. "Woah…" the group uttered.
The team watched as Francis used his weapon to deflect, ricochet and even slice through the Dust bullets that Mercury fired at him, sending them either into trees or nearby rocks. All the same, everyone had to duck as he did this, which made Emerald call to her partner. "Mercury, wait! Stop!"
"Huh? OOF!" Just as Mercury stopped and jumped back to his feet… Francis to rushed up and socked him in the gut with the butt end of his blade. The silver-haired boy doubled back, holding his stomach as he glowered at the agent. "What… ARE you?"
"I am a special agent." Francis adjusted his tie, attempting to keep himself looking distinguished. "I'll admit, you're very good, but you will never be as good as me, I'm afraid." Behind his sunglasses, his eyes narrowed. "Also, your voice reminds me of Tennyson, and I'm a bit annoyed by that."
Mercury groaned, lowering his head while taking a deep breath. "Well, guess that's ONE thing we can agree on…"
"Very impressive." Cinder clapped before bringing forth an obsidian sword. "But I think it's time we get serious." Rojo, Emerald, Subdora and Thunderhog all followed her lead, ready to rock and roll. "Let's get this started, shall we?"
Ruby narrowed her eyes at the Fall Maiden as Yang, Blake, Sun, Zak, Fisk, Drew and Francis all flanked her as well. It was obvious that they were ready for action as well. "Yeah, let's do this." She glanced toward her sister and Faunus friend. "Let's keep things tight. We outnumber them, but we've got no clue what they could be planning." The duo nodded toward her and focused back on their adversaries, with Ruby pointing Crescent Rose at them. "ATTACK!"
With a collective battle cry, the Omni-Hunters charged in, which Cinder was more than happy to reciprocate. "CHARGE!" And in one fell swoop, the two sides collided in the middle. The battle had officially begun.
…..
"PLEASE tell me I'm not the only one getting the creeps here?"
Nora's question rang true as their squad trekked through the dark and dank forest. Even though it was daytime, there was just something that seemed to darken the whole environment. Of course, the fact that the weather was overcast didn't help, but the forest canopy itself was incredibly dense, leading to the whole environment feeling oppressive. And of course, there was the humidity, as well as the mixture of a swampy atmosphere as well. Overall, it was a place that wouldn't be too out of place in a horror movie, and that's what was unsettling to the group.
"Yeah…" Ilia agreed. "Feels almost like anything could just jump out and grab any one of us at any point…"
Penny tilted her head, her being the only one not getting that sensation. "Really? Like what?"
"I-I don't know!" Nora jittered around, whipping her head from side to side as they passed by the swampy area. "Th-This just looks like the kind of place where psychopaths WOULD like, you know? Like big, burly people wearing creepy animal masks… oh, and one of them would have to be holding a lantern. They'd be all like; GRAAUGH! What're ya doin' in our SWAMP?!"
"AAAH!" Neptune screeched, leaping up into Penny's arms. "Okay, PLEASE do not joke about stuff like that… oh, hi Penny."
"Hello, Neptune." Penny smiled. "Are we playing a game now?"
Jaune deadpanned up in front. "Not unless we're playing "Chicken". And even then, he's doing it wrong. Penny, put him down."
"Okey-dokey!" Penny abruptly dropped Neptune, who yelped as he landed right in the mud. "That was a fun game."
Neptune shakily brought up a finger, making a point; "Not… for all of us…"
Pyrrha peered over her shoulder, concerned Nora's thought. "Nora, that is both very unsettling and oddly specific." She waved to the redhead to join her and Ren up in front with their leader. "If you're that worried, please come join us. Besides, I doubt we'll have to worry with THIS one on point." She pointed down to Komodo, who grumbled in response.
Doc came to a stop, grinning assuredly to Nora. "She's right, you know. Komodo's an extremely good guard lizard."
"Hmm… well—AAH!" Nora gasped and hid behind Neptune after seeing a bush rustle, only for Neptune to then hide behind her. The redhead grimaced, elbowed Neptune in the gut, and then zipped behind him again, holding him in place. "B-B-Bush!" she shouted, pointing to the foliage.
The team faced the shaking bush, with Kevin putting up his guard. "Could it be Moth Man?" the Osmosian wondered.
Doc furrowed his brow at it, though. "No, we'd be able to see him if it was." He nodded down to the lizard at his side. "Komodo, you've got this one, right?" The dragon let out a growl of approval before going forward to investigate, sticking his head in to see what was going on. Before long, though, a high-pitched squeal was heard before Komodo brought his head back out… holding a dead rat.
"AH! EW!" Ilia gasped, her skin becoming sickly green in disgust for a second. "Good god, Komodo, did we really need to see that?!"
"Oh, he's just presenting his success for us." Doc leaned down and gave Komodo a pat on the head. "Good boy, now you can have your treat." Komodo gave a happy snarl before throwing the rat up into the air and catching it in his maw, which made the teenagers grimace.
Gwen, however, was smiling toward Nora as she gestured to the bush. "See, Nora? Nothing to be afraid of."
The Pink Dynamo gave a sigh, conceding to her friend's point. "Alright, I get it. Not EVERYTHING is out to get us in these woods." She scanned her sights around, searching for a pair of large, red eyes. "But if I DO see that Moth Man, be warned; I might scream."
Ren tilted his head up to Doc, however. "Which leads me to ask… why IS Moth Man so infamous around here? Were there REALLY that many sightings fifty years ago?"
"Oh, you bet." Doc confirmed, the team moving along at that point. "Moth Man was seen EVERYWHERE back in the mid to late 1960's. Couldn't go anywhere without encountering him, at least according to MY dad."
"Ah, so researching Cryptids runs in the family, huh?" Jaune piped up. "That's pretty cool."
Doc chuckled and gave a nod. "Yep, it is. Goes back to when my great-grandfather first encountered the Lock Ness Monster before he came to America. Ever since then, the Saturdays have always been involved with Cryptid research, and it's only gotten easier with every generation." He wore a sad smile as he craned his head down. "Unfortunately, My father and grandfather weren't able to ever see the Moth Man up close. Their only encounter was a brief one…" Doc's expression became much more serious. "…And it was the same day as the Silver Bridge collapse."
Gwen's interest was immediately piqued. "Wait, really? They… weren't on the bridge itself, were they?"
"No, fortunately not." Doc said with a knowing grin. "But who do you think took that infamous photo of Moth Man on top of the bridge right before the event happened?"
And just like that, Gwen's jaw fell open. "No. Way."
"Yes way." Doc winked. "Pop was always good at taking the right shot… though he was livid when it somehow leaked onto the internet." The man let out a soft sigh. "But, unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that the Moth Man was the one responsible for the Silver Bridge's collapse, when that really wasn't the case." He clenched a determined fist and continued; "…Both my father and grandfather have since passed, but it was their goal to try and disprove that this Cryptid could be the one responsible, so it's up to me to try and find Moth Man for them." He placed a closed fist over his chest. "I made it my solemn duty to one day see the creature with my own… eye."
Jaune coughed into his hand, feeling somewhat awkward. "Ahem, um yeah, about that. I-I hope this isn't too personal, but… how DID you lose sight in your eye?"
Doc sent the young man a reassuring wave. "Oh, don't worry Jaune, I get asked that LOTS of times. But long story short… I got into a fight with Tsul'Kalu himself when we first took his hand. It… wasn't pleasant, but we did what we had to so Zak could learn to control his powers." He placed his hands in his pockets. "Nowadays, things between Tsul'Kalu and the Saturdays are much better, but we certainly made a nasty first impression."
Nora suddenly popped up between the three, taking them off guard. "Well, I personally think it looks bad ass!" She closed one of her eyes and covered it with her hand. "All you'd have to do is add an eye patch and—"
"N-No eyepatches." Doc shook his head, wagging a finger at the redhead in denial. "It leads to SO many Nick Fury jokes from my son and I'd rather not deal with that until Halloween."
"Uh… who's Nick Fury?" Nora asked, with her and the rest of the Remnant natives all seemingly confused.
Doc was honestly a bit surprised at that, his sights moving over to Gwen and Kevin. "…Have you seriously not shown them—"
"We haven't shown them a LOT of things yet." Kevin said dryly.
"We've got a bucket list." Gwen added. "One that Ben keeps constantly adding onto."
The Secret Scientist hummed before something caught his ear; Fwoosh… fwoosh… Doc's eyes widened as he realized what it was. 'Wing flaps… and it sounds like something BIG is using them to fly.' He snapped his head up and asked; "Anyone else hear that?"
"I do." Ilia affirmed.
Penny craned her head up, her eyes glowing as she started scanning the area. "As do I. Wing beats, clocking in at one flap per two seconds. Whatever it is must be close to at least three hundred and fifty pounds and have a wingspan of thirty feet. And it is coming from…" The team heard a brief beeping noise as Penny's eyes flashed, the android rotating her head toward her left side and pointed. "That direction!" Without hesitation, the redhead shot off… and plowed straight through a massive log along the way, leaving a Penny-shaped hole in her wake. "Come, let's follow it!"
The team peered through the new hole that went straight through the wood, leaving Doc and Komodo taken aback. But the Omni-Hunters themselves merely smiled and shook their heads. "Classic Penny." Gwen muttered, stepping through the hole. "Come on, she's gonna get away if we don't follow her."
Doc was still trying to process all of this, but followed nonetheless. 'Being told she's a robot is one thing, but seeing her in action is a WHOLE other story.' With that thought in mind, he and Komodo started picking up the pace as Penny and the others raced through the forest, on the trail of whatever thing was flying through the trees. It wasn't long before they saw whatever it was, and it was BIG. They couldn't exactly make out a ton of detail with the poor lighting, but they could see its dark shape against the green treetops, and it was on the move.
"C-Could that really be…" Neptune started.
"Only one way to find out!" Ren suddenly leapt right onto a tree and then leapt to another, scaling the branches until he was much higher up. From there, he started lunging through the upper branches masterfully, quickly dashing from limb to limb while pursuing the flying figure.
"Huh, not a bad idea." Ilia brought out her Lightning Lash and whipped it up, swinging through the branches with Ren high above. The swift duo continued their chase, though they saw the flying creature crane their head back to them both. It had noticed, and before long, it had quickened the pace of its wing flaps. "Ah! It's speeding up! Gwen!"
The Anodite closed her eyes and brought her hand up, ready to cast a spell. "I'm on it!" She skid to a stop and thrust her hands out, her eyes snapping open as both glowed with mana. "Terras Murusas!" After chanting her spell, a large wall of earth and rock appeared directly in front of the flying creature, which it promptly slammed directly into.
"Gotcha!" Ilia grabbed a branch and whipped her lash up, ensnaring the beast by its ankle. "Ren, bring 'im down!"
"Hm." Ren hummed, jumping onto the creature's back and bringing it down to the ground. Ilia followed suit and placed her foot on its leg, intent on keeping it there.
With the creature faceplanted against the earth, its limbs became more visible; its arms and legs were long and lanky, yet also very strong with claws at the ends of its appendages. It also seemed to have a hunch, with its head almost tucked into its torso. Its feathery wings draped over its back as it laid there in front of everyone, leaving them astonished as they came to a halt. "Woah… that thing has to be at LEAST an eight-feet tall." Nora pointed out.
"Yes… and it's humanoid." Doc noted as well, stepping closer than all the other teens. He placed his hands on Ren and Ilia's shoulders, gently ushering them away. "Please, let's not get too hostile here. We don't want to make enemies here…" At his words, the two moved off of the creature's back, allowing Doc to gently move him onto his back. Sure enough, he let out a gasp. It WAS him. The large, circular glowing red eyes, the small antenna on top of its head, and of course the imposing wings and stature. There was no denying it, it HAD to be him. "Good god…"
"M-M-Moth Man!" Neptune jumped back frightfully, keeping Tri-Hard up and at the ready. "O-Okay, the second it moves, we—"
"Don't do anything." Doc insisted, keeping his hand raised as the Moth Man groaned. Its eyes were wide open, but even then, it didn't seem like it was all there. "It's in a daze, so causing further harm is the LAST thing we want to do."
Penny stepped forward and knelt down next to the Cryptid. "Please, allow me." Doc stepped away, allowing Penny to inspect the Moth Man closer. She activated her retinal scanners and did a once over of its head, searching for any signs of trauma after its impact. "Hm… no open wounds… no signs of concussion either. Roughly estimated, the Moth Man should regain its constitution in—WOAH!" Without warning, the Moth Man suddenly spurred right to its legs and grabbed Penny, lifting her over its head with impressive strength.
"GYAAAAAARRRGGH!" the beast screeched.
Pyrrha gasped and raised her javelin in preparation. "Ah! Penny!"
"Wait! Do not engage in bat—AAAAAHH!" Just then, the Moth Man threw Penny straight through at least eight trees, sending them all toppling over one by one. The team couldn't help but wince as every tree came slamming down on Penny… though much to their relief, they saw her arm stick up from the wreckage. "I am okay!"
"BUT WE'RE NOT!" Neptune screamed, keeping his guandao leveled with the Moth Man's chest as it approached them all. The teens, Doc and Komodo all felt small as the creature loomed over them, raising to its full height to swipe at them with its claws. But then… something unexpected happened.
"GYA—Arch!" Moth Man let out a cry of pain as it suddenly buckled at one of its knees, falling back down while clutching the same leg.
Of course, the team were understandably confused. "W-What's going on?" Jaune shifted his eyes over to the chameleon girl. "Ilia, did your lash do that?"
"No, that's not the same leg." Ilia denied. "And my lash was around its ankle, not its knee."
Gwen came forward, getting as close as she could to the Moth Man as it writhed in pain. She had to bend her head down at an awkward angle, but sure enough, she saw something on the back of the creature's knee. Three slash marks… an open wound. "Oh my gosh, it's been hurt!" Gwen ushered everyone to step away. "Everyone, make some room, I'm going to try and heal him."
"W-What?!" Neptune exclaimed. "Gwen, are you out of your mind?!"
Kevin also decided to make a point. "I probably would've worded that better, but yeah, Neptune's got the right idea, Gwen." He gestured over to the hurt cryptid. "That thing's dangerous, and if we heal it here, who's to say it won't attack us like it did Penny?"
"Still okay!"
Gwen sighed, shaking her head at her boyfriend. "Kevin, I understand your concern, but if we don't treat this wound now, it'll get infected with who knows WHAT is in these woods. Besides…" She faced the Moth Man again, her hands beginning to glow. "Maybe if I do this, it could trust us enough to NOT attack us…" With that, Gwen closed her eyes and chanted her healing spell; "Soneas Botosus." Within a matter of moments, her mana began trailing out from her hands and toward the Moth Man's leg. And while the tall creature was initially on the offence, trying to swipe the mana away… something occurred to it.
This energy was… soft, and… warm. Bringing with it a comforting feeling. As it poured into his open wound, the Moth Man could feel that wamth begin flowing through him, and before long, his leg wasn't in pain any more. Slowly, the slashes started to close up, the blood soaking his fur and feathers dissipating in moments. The Moth Man craned his head up, his massive eyes landing on Gwen… and that's when he saw it. This child's true form; a being made of mana.
Much to Gwen's surprise, the Moth Man brought its antenna forward and touched them to her temples. She gasped, but was even more shocked when she heard; "You are… an Anodite."
"Ah!" Gwen's hand covered her mouth, seeing the antenna glow in her peripheral vision. "You… y-you just spoke to me… through my mind?"
"Uh, what now?" Doc muttered, his eyes widening.
Moth Man gave an affirming nod. "Indeed, child. I do not speak your language, but I can communicate my thoughts to you in it. Thank you for healing my wounds…" He stood to his feet, feeling very refreshed. "Ah… though I could have done without the unneeded takedown."
Gwen sheepishly twiddled her fingers, laughing nervously. "Ah… hahaha… yes, of course. Sorry about that." She glanced over to Ren and Ilia and nudged her head toward the creature. "You two should probably apologize for the rough landing."
"Um, sure." Ilia rubbed the back of her head as she and Ren both bowed apologetically. "W-We're sorry for trying to stop you like that. W-We didn't have many other options…"
Right then, Moth Man took his antennae off of Gwen and placed one each on Ren and Ilia's heads. "Oh, it's quite alright, young lady." The two were stunned at the voice, jumping in place. "The same goes for you as well, young man. I realize that it isn't so easy to catch me, hmhm… Though I certainly am not without guilt on my part. Where is the young girl who is surprisingly heavy? I wish to apologize to her as well."
Ren stood up straight and nodded up to him. "Oh, right. Penny!"
"Present!" Penny appeared, saluting in her usual manner.
"The, uh… Moth Man wants to apologize to you."
Penny was left intrigued as the Moth Man moved his head down once more, using his telepathy trick on her. "Ooooh…"
"Young lady, my deepest apologies for tossing you through those trees." Moth Man placed a hand over his chest, closing his eyes regrettably. "I thought that you all were attempting to hurt me, you see."
But Penny simply smiled and waved him off. "Oh, it is alright. Everyone makes mistakes, both human and… Moth Man." She tilted her head up to him. "Though I must say, I am quite surprised that you are able to speak with me through my mind. It's almost as If I can sense you through my aura…"
"Indeed, that is how my telepathy works, after all." The Moth Man placed his hand upon his chest proudly. "You see, my kind—"
"O-Oh, wait a moment, sir!" Penny stopped him for just a moment. "Perhaps its best if everyone hears this. Gwen, could you perhaps help him?"
Gwen hummed at the suggestion, pondering it for a moment before giving a shrug. "Well, I could certainly try…" She reached into her pack and pulled out her spell book, flipping through the pages before coming across something that could work for their situation. "Ah-ha, let's see if this works… Mentis Projectura!" With a wave of her hand, Gwen cast a small pink burst of energy at the Moth Man's antenna, which made them start constantly glowing bright gold. The redhead sighed and gave the creature a smile. "There you go. That should last for about five to ten minutes."
"Hm, you are quite proficient in magic, young lady…" Moth Man began, earning stunned gasps from everyone else as they heard him in their minds. "I sense that you cast an energy field around my antenna in order to boost the signal I'm sending to your minds. Very resourceful!"
The young Anodite scratched her chin sheepishly. "Aw, thanks. So, you were telling us about YOUR powers?"
"Ah, yes, you see, my people have the ability to speak to beings by projecting mental energy through their auras and back into their own minds." Moth Man sat down on a nearby rock as he continued to explain. "It allows us to translate OUR language into the native tongue of those who we choose to speak to."
Doc was just taking this all in at that point. It was one thing for the Moth Man to be intelligent, but telepathic? Most normal Cryptids weren't capable of that. He had to know what exactly the being before him was. "Good lord, this… all of this is simply amazing!" He stepped toward the Moth Man, placing a hand over his chest. "E-Erm, sir, my name is Doctor Solomon Saturday. My family and I research creatures such as yourself, and I would be humbled to learn more, if possible."
Moth Man chortled a little, nodding his head. "Hmhm, I'm sure you do, doctor. What sort of questions do you have?"
"Well, for one, why didn't you use this ability to communicate with people in the past?" Doc started. "After all, I imagine that things would've been easier for you back then had you spoken to someone."
Neptune, who was trembling behind Ilia, added onto that; "Y-Yeah, then maybe people wouldn't see ya as a bringer of bad luck—oof!" He was elbowed by the chameleon girl for his troubles.
"Dude, not cool." Ilia muttered.
"Bad luck?" Moth Man tilted his head. "Whatever do you—oh, wait! Hah, yes, now I understand." He gestured toward himself. "I believe you have the wrong idea of who I am. You see, the "Moth Man" who terrorized this town in the past… was in reality, my father."
A round of gasps echoed through the team before Nora shouted; "Say WHAAAAA?!"
"Indeed, it's true. The Moth Man who terrorized this town in the far past WAS my father." The creature extended a long finger to make a point. "Although, before I go any further, I should probably start at the beginning." He reached around to his back and pulled out a small pouch from his fur, opening it up to reveal a crystal ball. The team peered closer as Moth Man began waving his hand over it, conjuring a scene of MULTIPLE Moth Men all socializing with one another in an otherworldly place. "You see, while you call us "Moth Men", we call ourselves the "Lepid-Prohetae". And we hail from the World of Ledger."
Immediately, Gwen's jaw dropped a second time that day. "AH! You're from LEDGERDOMAIN?! …You know what, that actually makes a bit of sense."
"Haha, of course, child!" Moth Man exclaimed. "Many of the strange creatures that inhabit your world come from the Ledgerdomain. I take it that you've been there?"
Kevin gave a shrug. "A couple times, yeah. Hell, we were the ones who helped free it from Adwatia, along with—"
It was the Moth Man's turn to be surprised that time. "Hah! So… that means you're consorts of Empress Charmcaster! Haha, splendid!"
"Eh, I'd say we're more "loose associates" but—oof!"
"Yes, we know Charmcaster quite well." Gwen cut her boyfriend off.
Ilia placed her hands on her hips, eyeing Gwen suspiciously. "Maybe a bit TOO well for our own good." she whispered.
"Hah, well, any friend of the Empress is a friend of mine." Moth Man extended a hand, shaking Gwen's readily. "She's the whole reason that Ledger is once again free for creatures like myself to roam freely without risk of having our mystical powers stolen."
Once more, Doc was letting all of this sink in for himself. "A magical world filled with mystical creatures… Drew's going to flip out when she hears about this." He cleared his throat and continued. "Ahem, so that leads me to my next question, actually; do you have any OTHER mystical powers?"
Moth Man gave a small laugh and answered; "Oh-ho, yes, several even. However, our primary ability is our skill in precognition." His hands waved over his eyes to emphasize his point. "You see, the Lepid-Prophetae have the ability to see brief glimpses of the future through our special eyes, which can see thousands of different possibilities at once."
"Oh my…" Pyrrha marveled at the impressive skill. "How do you know which future will be the real one, though?"
"That is… much more difficult to predict." The creature explained with a sigh. "Unfortunately, seeing so many possibilities often causes us to lose focus. Though in most cases, if there is one vision that we see the most of, we take that into consideration for when we tell the future, as that vision is likely the strongest to happen." Moth Man closed his eyes, nestling his hand to his chest. "And because of this, we have taken a solemn oath as protectors. Ones who act as Omens for those who are about to befall a bad fate. For if the future is only a possibility, there IS a possibility that it could be changed for the better."
Jaune had to admit, that made a lot of sense. "Hm, yeah, I can see what you're saying… but wait." The blonde knight's eyes widened at what that could've meant. "But then… if it's your guys' job prevent bad things from happening, then does that mean your dad was trying to do that HERE in Point Pleasant?"
Moth Man let out a hefty breath, bringing his head down. "Indeed, though… not by choice. In truth, my father became stranded here after an incident involving a magical artifact reacting to the Door to Anywhere." He clenched his fist in regret. "As a result, he was blown to your world… and that door was blown to smithereens. He ended up here in Point Pleasant after that, with no way back home."
"So all of those sightings… that was your father trying to prevent bad things from happening to people?" Doc guessed. "To ward them off?"
"Yes, and through that, the legend of the Moth Man of Point Pleasant was born."
Nora tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hm, yes, yes, I see. So quick question; if your name isn't REALLY "Moth Man", then what is it?"
The Lepid-Propheta chortled at that with a wave of his hand. "Oh-hoho, our real names are unpronounceable in your tongue, young lady. But to answer, my name is—" From there, he suddenly let out a bunch of screeches and clicks from his mouth. Needless to say, the teens were taken aback before he went on; "For simplicity's sake, however, you may keep calling me "Moth Man". After all, I am trying to keep my father's legacy alive here."
Ren nodded with a hum, rubbing his pained ear with his pinkie. "Hm, I see. Did your father ever make it back to Ledgerdomain, though?"
"Unfortunately, no…" Moth Man raised his arm toward the forest around them. "This was once his home in this world… and now, it acts as his final resting place." He shook his head solemnly. "His extended absence from Ledgerdomain took its tole on him through the years, his mystical power slowly ebbing away. His prophecy about the Silver Bridge collapse was the last one he tried to warn the people about, but… unfortunately, it went unheard."
Gwen furrowed her brow, upset at that fact. "What's worse… the townspeople actually BLAMED him for the collapse. Ugh, I wish people weren't so ignorant."
"You needn't be angry at them, Miss Gwen." Moth Man placed a hand on the girl's shoulder in reassurance. "Human beings are known to fear what they do not understand."
Ilia pursed her lips, craning her head down. "Yeah… tell me about it."
"But magical creatures such as us have come to realize that. Once news spread of that event, however, several of our kind ventured here to find him, including myself…" Moth Man trailed off, remembering the exact moment the search party found his father's body. "But we were too late. From then on, our kind vowed to never come here again… but I am the sole exception."
"You keep your father's legacy alive." Pyrrha smiled fondly. "Trying to keep the townsfolk safe no matter what they think of you. That's very nice and considerate to hear."
With another bow, Moth Man thanked the young warrior. "Your kind words ring true, miss, thank you. I—haaah!" With a sharp intake of hair, the Lepid-Propheta's head snapped up as his eyes began to glow, his arms whipping up at the sudden surge of power through his body.
The teens, Doc and Komodo all took a step back in shock. "W-What's happening?!" Neptune asked.
"A PROPHESY, child!" Moth Man exclaimed, his hands shaking. "A prophesy comes to me!"
"Woah, here, NOW?" Jaune said in disbelief. "W-What could've triggered it?"
"Prophesies arrive when they see fit, child, now please be silent!" the creature extended his hand to the group, shushing them as he stared off into the distance. His massive red eyes began lighting up, with different segments flashing several times at once. "I must concentrate…"
Slowly, Moth Man's visions began to grow clearer, and within them… he saw things that completely horrified him. Visions of young men and women being transformed into hideous beings, ones similar to the bear beast he fought the other night. A blonde girl, a girl in a red hood, a cat-eared young lady, and a lass with white hair were all victims of this curse, along with two other boys and another white-haired woman. The only ones who weren't affected… were two young men; one in green, one in red. They were both utterly inconsolable at the sight of their companions transforming into the monstrous beasts… especially their loved ones. To make things worse, some rather unscrupulous characters were there, along with several beasts of darkness. And after the group were mutated, they easily slaughtered all of them.
"NOOOO!"
Moth Man gasped as the boys' heartbroken cries snapped him out of his prophetic gaze, staggering on his feet a bit as he held his head. "Oh… by the gods."
"Sir, what did you see?" Doc asked in concern.
"You… have companions elsewhere in this area, do you not?" Moth Man reached out, grasping Gwen by the shoulders. "Four young ladies, a woman with white hair, a monkey-tailed boy, and a young man with two-toned hair?"
Gwen's eyes widened in horror. "Y-Yes, that's the other team. They're on the other side of—"
"They are in GRAVE danger, Miss Gwen." the creature said gravely. "The crystal that transformed the bear from last night, it risks transforming THEM as well."
The teens were all worried the second they heard that, though no one was more so than Doc himself. "No… Zak! DREW!" He clenched his fist, his Power Glove activating instantly. "Where are they?! Please, tell me!"
Moth Man extended a hand to the man. "They are near the location of the crash site, just past the ridge. But you must be careful! I saw a group of rather villainous people there with them, along with creatures of pure darkness. According to my prophesy, they are able to easily destroy them if they mutate into those beasts."
Everyone's expressions darkened. "How much you wanna bet that's the Ministry?" Kevin sneered.
"Don't have to bet." Gwen's eyes lit up as she scanned the entire TNT Area for life forces, and sure enough, she caught onto nine particularly rancid ones. "Ugh, of course… Cinder. And she's brought Viktor here as well." The Anodite slapped her forehead. "She must've heard about the corrodium and brought HIM along to collect it for Salem. And to think we were going to THANK her for helping us with the Hydra yesterday."
"What do you expect?" Pyrrha scowled. "Cinder helps only to further her own gains, after all."
Jaune pulled out his sword, ready for action. "In any case, we've gotta get over there and FAST."
Moth Man placed a hand to his chest. "I could fly some of you over…"
"And I could be of assistance as well!" Penny saluted.
Gwen smiled, but waved away the offers. "Thank you both, but I've got a much quicker way…" Once more, Gwen's eyes lit up pink and she started focusing on the life forces of their teammates, who were all very lively at the moment. They must've already engaged in combat, but… wait a moment. "Hold on, something's up… there's an extra person there with them."
"Hm? What do you mean an extra person?" Doc asked.
"I-I'm not sure… but I can't really get a good read on him." Gwen sent a questioning gaze up to Moth Man. "Did you see any others in your vision, Moth Man, sir?"
The Lepid-Propheta thought it over a moment before realizing; "Ah, yes! It was much fainter than the others, but I also recall seeing a young, green-haired boy wearing sunglasses." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Though he didn't get mutated from what I could see…"
"Green hair… sunglasses…" Doc muttered, quickly realizing who it was. "FRANCIS?! Oh lord, Epsilon must know what's happening here then…"
Ren raised a brow as Gwen continued working on her teleportation spell, encasing the whole group in a bubble. "Is that considered a bad thing, Doc?"
"All depends, Ren. We never know with Epsilon these days, honestly." Doc admitted as he eyed Gwen, the young sorceress meditating in the air. "Gwen, how soon can you get us to them?"
"Sooner than you think." Gwen smiled, opening her eyes as she prepared to activate the spell. "You might want to hold onto something." The redhead lifted her hands, moving them in a circular motion as she chanted; "Nos Transferre!" With that, the bubble instantaneously vanished, whisking the team off to help their friends.
…..
As that was happening, Diamondhead had just arrived at his destination, hearing the sounds of battle far behind him. As worried as he was for his team, he couldn't stop now. The Petrosapien slid down the ridge and hid behind a large rock, checking all sides to make sure that no one was there. He could see the impact site clear as day, the purple glow all too familiar to him. However, Viktor was nowhere to be found, and he didn't like that one bit. This just REAKED of a trap, and he knew that the Transylian had to be hiding somewhere.
But then… he noticed something odd. All of a sudden, the light from the meteor began flashing erratically, almost as it if was being switched on and off. This immediately set off alarm bells in Diamondhead's brain. Trap or not, he knew something was amiss. He dashed forward from behind his hiding place and jumped into the crater… only to be met with an upsetting sight.
"…No." Diamondhead felt his gut sink when the purple glow was actually coming from a small yet powerful LED light, powered by a Dust crystal. No corrodium in sight. "NO!" The hero punched the space rock in frustration and shouted; "VIKTOR! Where are you?!"
"I'm very glad you asked, Tennyson." In an instant, Diamondhead snapped around and fired off shot after shot, knowing the owner of the deep voice was directly behind him. He shot point-blank, but even then, his target was still standing. By the end of his onslaught, Diamondhead had shot at least thirty shards into Viktor, all of them sticking out of his body in an unsightly manner.
"…That did nothing." Diamondhead concluded.
Viktor reached up and pulled a shard out of his head, brushing all the rest out of his torso with his arm. "What was your first clue?" CRACK! "AUGH!" Taking the scientist off guard, Diamondhead socked Viktor right in the head, which he proceeded to repeat again, and again, and again. He even reached up and took Viktor's head in his hands before kneeing him right in the skull, sending him staggering.
Diamondhead charged shoulder first into Viktor, crashing him into the side of the ride while slamming his fist into him over and over. "Give—back—THAT CORRODIUM!" he shouted with every punch.
The last one, though, Viktor caught, and he effortlessly crushed the Petrosapien's hand with his own. "Hmhm… no." He balled up his other hand and swung it at Diamondhead, delivering an emphatic electric punch. It was powerful enough to not only send the hero flying through several trees, but also severely crack his whole body. Viktor smirked as Diamondhead made a massive trench before stopping, chuckling as he approached. "Tennyson, I admire your tenacity, but this struggle will be fruitless. I—what?!"
But as Viktor got to the end of the trench, the hero was nowhere to be found. It was as if he just vanished! The Transylian began searching the area, whipping his head around in case of some sort of ambush. But as he was about to take another step… "AUGH!" WHAM! He landed head-first into the dirt, his legs tangled up in vines sprouting from the ground.
Within seconds, something big and green burst out from the earth beneath Viktor, sending him tumbling back into a large boulder. The alien was about to move, but then another vine grabbed him, trapping him securely against the rock. "Ya know, I was having a REAL nice weekend." A large carnivorous plant emerged from the ground next… only for its jaws to open to reveal Wildvine glaring at him. "But of course, you and your goons just had to ruin it for my friends and I."
"Grr… do you think we CARE about whether you unscrupulous teenagers have fun or not?!" Viktor let loose a powerful electric shock… only for it to do nothing to the Florauna. "What—"
"Ever been in science class, Dr. V?" Wildvine smirked as he pointed down to one of his long fingers sticking into the ground, directing all of Viktor's electricity into it. "Because I sure have."
Viktor narrowed his eyes at the youth. "Hm, seems you're smarter than you appear, Tennyson. Very well, I'll take the old-fashioned approach." Viktor ignited his hands with powerful bolts again, only to then SLAM them against the boulder he was strapped to. Astonishingly, the boulder actually shattered in one hit, much to Wildvine's shock. Viktor wasted no time in grabbing Wildvine by the arm and flinging him away… only for him to transform into Fasttrack the second he landed.
The hero waved to Viktor and yelled; "See ya!" before blasting off down the trail, much to the villain's irritation.
"You cannot run from ME, Tennyson!"
FWOOSH! "Wasn't trying, smart guy!" Fasttrack shouted as he came bursting back, spinning around Viktor as fast as he could to whip up a massive tornado.
Even for as heavy a creature as himself, Viktor could feel himself being lifted up into the air, which only served to annoy him further. "Hmph! Perhaps I misjudged you, Tennyson!" He smirked as his generators began sparking, ready to let loose a powerful blast. "You really ARE an ignoramus!" With that, he let loose several bolts of purple lightning went everywhere, and as he thought, he eventually heard a pained scream from below.
Just like that, the tornado stopped and Viktor landed feet-first, searching for his adversary. "Very good, Tennyson, but not good enou—" But Tennyson wasn't there. 'Th-That… that's impossible! I'm sure I heard him—AH!' Viktor whirled around when he felt something touching him from behind… only to find nothing. "AH!" Again, there it was, that odd feeling of being crawled on, but no one was there AGAIN! "TENNYSON! Come out and fight like a—ugh!"
Without warning, something landed on Viktor's head, pushing him back down to the muck. In a shimmer of light, ChamAlien appeared, wearing his sharp-toothed smile. "If you insist, Viktor…" He reached up and slapped the Omnitrix again, transforming into Spider Monkey. "Ooh-ooh-ooh-AH! But you might not like what I've got planned…" He lifted his tail and began sticking Viktor's limbs and body with web before he could get up, jumping off his back before pointing at him. "Now stay here and don't move… ah, who am I kidding? You probably will anyway. AH-AAH!"
"Grr, I swear, when I get my hands on you, I'll—" ZOOOM! Viktor gasped as Ben transformed into XLR8 and rushed off again, leaving a blue and black blur behind. Of course, the webs were no match for Viktor's strength, so he stood up no problem, just in time to see the Kineceleran coming right back. "I don't know what your endgame is…" Viktor put a lot of charge into this next punch, rearing his fist back. "But this game ends here!"
"Not quite!" XLR8 sidestepped the blow just as Viktor swung his arm, and before the Transylian could react, the hero whipped around and launched himself at his opponent, reaching up to the Omnitrix one more time…
FLASH! "RAAAAAAATHH!" The Appoplexian smashed his fist into Viktor's gut, sending him barreling down the trail and into a small ravine nearby. He was about to get up, but Rath landed right on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. "LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN' DOCTOR VIKTOR! RATH DOESN'T APPRECIATE YOU COMIN' IN AND TRYIN' YOUR OLD SPOOKY TRICKS!" Rath reached down and grabbed Viktor by the collar of his jacket, pulling him up to his face. "YOU WANNA TRICK SOMEONE?! WAIT FOR HALLOWEEN AN' T-P SOMEONE'S HOUSE! OR GET SOME EGGS AN' THROW 'EM, RATH DOESN'T CARE! BUT RATH'S NOT GONNA LET YOU TURN EVERYONE ON EARTH INTO SPOOKY FREAKS AGAIN, YA HEAR THAT?!"
Viktor choked out a laugh, finding all of this rather amusing. "Hak-ahaha! Oh, you poor, naïve fool, Tennyson." Rath grimaced at him all while he kept smirking. "Who ever said we wanted to do that to just Earth?" All at once, he could see the Appoplexian begin to connect the dots, which Viktor nodded at. "Yes, yes, do the math, Tennyson. After all, how ELSE are the Grimm going to reign havoc on BOTH worlds?! Hahaha—AGH!"
"SHUT IT!" Rath slapped his hand over Viktor's mouth, picking him up by his head. "I'M TIRED OF YOU PEOPLE DOIN' CREEPY STUFF!" He slammed Viktor's head into the nearby ravine wall several times before kicking him right in the hindquarters. "SIRIUS BUTT-KICKING!"
"AAAGH!" Viktor's body made a small trench as he landed, his rage only growing as his body began to spark and jolt in anger. He bolted up to his feet, slamming his foot as he declared; "THAT'S IT!" Viktor thrust his hands out and sent a powerful bolt of lightning right at Rath… and it hit him dead on.
"GRRAAAAAAUUUGHH!" The Appoplexian roared in agony as his entire nervous system went into overdrive, spasming and jolting as the electricity crackled through his body. It didn't last long, but the aftermath was NOT pretty. Rath's fur was severely singed, even burned off or STILL burning in some places. He was forced to fall to his knee, pain rocking his every movement. "…God… dammit."
The Transylian threw his head back and laughed. "Ahaha! Oh, Tennyson, once again your homosapian brain gets the better of you." He slammed his fists together, generating more purple lightning as he approached the fallen hero. "Though I must commend you, you DID fight quite intelligently for a while… but eventually, you stumbled into old habit." He stepped onto Rath's chest, eliciting a roar from him. "But such is life. Not everyone can have my level of intelligence, after all…"
"Hmhm… hehehe…"
Viktor snarled at the sudden turn of events. Rath was… laughing? Why?! "What's so funny?!"
"Hahaha… Doctor Viktor, you're right. I'm not as smart as ya." Rath smirked as he worked to bring his arm up. "But you just gave me a GREAT idea!" He swiftly whipped his arm up and slapped the Omnitrix symbol, transforming once again. This time, however, the transformation took Viktor aback. It was one that he had fought before, yes… but it was also his own species. The hero reached up and pushed Viktor's foot off of him, jumping to his feet as he slammed his fists together, making green lightning bolts charge up in his fists. "FRANKENSTRIKE!"
"Hmm… interesting." Viktor brought his own hand up, generating more lightning. "So, you wish to even the playing field, then?"
The younger Transylian grinned back in anticipation. "Might as well beat you at your own game."
Viktor glowered at him. "You will DIE trying! GRAH!" He thrust his arms forward and sent twin bolts of electricity at Frankenstrike, only for him to sidestep one of them while catching the other in his hand. Viktor grumbled and rushed forward as fast as he could before his adversary could fire… but he was too late.
Using all of his stored-up energy, Frankenstrike brought his hands together and sent one MASSIVE energy bolt at Viktor, blowing him back several feet. Within seconds, Frankenstrike was right on top of his enemy, using his bolts to pick Viktor up with little to no effort. "Gotta love electro-magnetism!" With that, he flung Viktor straight back up out of the ravine, following after him with a mighty leap. "Keep it coming, Viktor! I could do this ALL day until I get that corrodium back!"
"Hmph… it's as I said, your struggle is fruitless, Tennyson." Viktor stood up, confronting his counterpart firmly. "For you see… I already sent it back to the Land of Darkness."
Frankenstrike's expression fell when he heard that. "…What?"
"Indeed, it's quite handy having an ally that can create portals between dimensions at will." Viktor's lips curled into an insidious smirk. "Speaking of which…" The Transylian reached out toward a nearby tree, beckoning a Seer Grimm to emerge from its hiding place.
The Omnitrix bearer let out a horrified gasp. That could only mean one thing… and it frightened the hero to even think about what was about to happen. "NO!" Frankenstrike charged up another bolt of lightning, in hopes of blasting the Seer before—
"Eon, NOW!" Before Frankenstrike's lightning could destroy the Seer, Viktor had given the word, leading to a massive portal opening up above both their heads. Frankenstrike wore a horrified expression as he saw four gigantic feet come lowering down from the portal, followed by a massive truck and a pair of gleaming white tusks. Once the creature fully emerged, it was revealed to be none other than a Goliath, the Elephant-like Grimm lifting its trunk to let forth a mighty trumpet.
WAAAAAAOOOOOONN!
…..
Meanwhile, Rex was still being run down by Exo-Skull, the rhino man barreling toward him at high speeds while firing his horn laser at him. Thankfully, the EVO had managed to get off of the mutant and built up his Rex Ride to get far away from him, but those thrusters on Skull's back were proving useful in keeping up with him. 'Ugh, at this point, the only way I'm gonna outrun him is if I wait out those thrusters. They gotta run outta juice at some point… right?'
As he was weighing his options, however, a certain voice piped up to his right. "REX!" The young man snapped his head around, seeing Weiss on the move. She was running so fast that he immediately assumed she was under the power of one of her time dilation glyphs, which was all but confirmed when she actually leapt into the air and landed right on the back of his ride.
"Woah! Weiss, where did you—"
"Save the small talk for later!" the former heiress advised, wrapping her arms around his midsection. "Right now, we have five tons of rhino on our butts and we need to shake him!"
"Working on that." Rex affirmed. "Or at least trying to. Any ideas?"
Weiss pursed her lips in thought. In truth, she didn't have any ideas. She was so focused on getting to Rex that she hadn't thought the next step through. Still, there HAD to be a way to stop Exo-Skull in his tracks. And, as she glanced down to Rex's arms as well as her own weapon… an idea sparked in her mind. "Rex, turn this thing around."
Beneath his goggles, Rex's eyes widened, peering over his shoulder to her. "L-Lo siento, but did you just say—"
Weiss twirled her finger around. "Yes, spin us around so we're facing Exo-Skull. I've got an idea."
"Please tell me it's a good one."
A small smirk adorned Weiss' face. "Oh trust me, Robo-dolt, it is." She gave him a wink and a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, this'll be fun. Promise."
"Hm, fun, huh?" Rex reciprocated with a smirk of his own. "If it involves you, Ice Princess, then I'm all for it!" With a twist of the controls, Rex brought his ride into a skid before spinning it around completely, now directly lined up with the incoming Exo-Skull.
"HAHAHA! You kids must REALLY have a death wish!" Skull bellowed, not even pausing in his charge. "Because THIS is the end of the line for you!"
Weiss lifted Myrtenaster and told her boyfriend; "Rex, quick, lift your arms and BUILD!"
"O-Okay…" Rex lifted his arms and started building up his Smack Hands… right as Weiss suddenly summoned two black glyphs on each appendage. "W-What the—"
"It's okay." Weiss used her other hand to give his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Blake and Sun have their own combo moves… how about we start testing our own, huh?"
Despite himself, Rex couldn't help putting on a massive grin. This would be interesting… and possibly even life-threatening, but he was always up for a challenge. "Heh, okay. Let's give it our best shot!" The glyphs on Rex's arms shifted to a bright white as he kept building his Smack Hands, which burst out per usual. However, as they did, they became coated in a thick layer of ice, which sprouted several spikes as they froze over. The moment Rex saw this, he was expecting it to get REALLY cold… but at most, it was only mildly chilly. Whatever Weiss had done… it worked. "HA! Holy crap, Weiss, you did it!"
Weiss gave him a quick wink. "Correction; WE did it. Now I suggest you PUNCH!"
As she pointed over his shoulder, Rex snapped his head back just in time to see Exo-Skull about ten feet away from them and closing in fast. Reacting as quick as possible, the EVO threw one of his arms forward and SMASHED it right in Skull's face, sending the mutant straight down to the ground. The impact was enough to leave a crater where his head rammed in, and the second Rex punched him, his Smack Hand broke. "GRAH! S-So c-c-cold!" Skull stammered, struggling to stand. "W-What the hell was THAT?!"
"Kinda wondering that myself, dude." Rex smirked as he lifted his other Smack Hand above his head. "But I like it." WHAP! He brought the other hand down straight onto Skull's head, the mutant's eyes and tongue bulging out as he was sent into the dirt again. "Oh-ho, Weiss… I'm liking this a LOT!"
"I'm glad you are." Weiss rubbed her neck sheepishly. "To be honest, I've been thinking of using this combo move for a long time… I-I just wasn't sure it'd work."
With his arms now freed, Rex leaned down and pulled her into a side hug, giving her a peck on the cheek. "Well, they definitely do, Ice Princess. Have I ever told you that you're a freaking GENIUS?"
"…Keep talking." Weiss leaned in as well, nuzzling her cheek with his.
"GRAAAUUGH!" Just then, Skull burst up from the ground, covered in muck as his horn began to power up. "That DOES it! I'm through playin' games!"
The couple gasped and Rex exchanged his ride for his Punk Busters, jumping up high just as Skull sent out his blast. As he and Weiss rose up into the air, though, Rex got an idea of his own. "Say… think that trick would work with OTHER types of Dust?"
Weiss picked up on that quickly and in no time, pulled up some glyphs over his legs. "Let's find out, shall we?" The glyphs shifted to a fiery red and, before Rex knew it, his Punk Busters were on FIRE, quite literally.
Just like before, what should've been a burning sensation only felt like a little warm. He wasn't sure HOW that was possible, but he wasn't about to question it now of all times. "Woohoo! Hot Tamales! Time for a little payback!" With Weiss securing herself around his neck, Rex came crashing straight back down onto Skull, causing a burst of fire to envelope the rhino man and make him yowl in pain.
"Big Fat Sword, EARTH!" Weiss announced, leading her boyfriend to give her the Build she wanted. Right as he summoned his blade, she spun the barrel of her weapon to the Earth dust setting, creating a glyph that enveloped the weapon in a coating of stone and dirt.
Exo-Skull could only scream; "MAMAAA!" before the sword was brought crashing down on his head, knocking him out under a heap of stones.
"WOO! Hahaha, nice work, mi hermosa!" Rex lifted Weiss off his back as they dropped to the forest floor, picking her up in his arms to spin her around in victory. "Your idea was SUPER cool! I had no idea that Glyphs could be used with my Builds like that."
"Oh, it was nothing, really." Weiss blushed, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "I just thought that if Blake and Sun's powers could work so well together… maybe ours could, too."
Rex rested his hands on Weiss' shoulders, giving her a wink. "Well, we' definitely gotta try out more combos next time we train." Just then, he pulled her into a hug, making her yelp in surprise. "Man, here I thought you couldn't get more awesome."
Despite herself, Weiss couldn't help the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. She had just successfully thought up something unique for her and her boyfriend, and it worked. Combine that with Rex's unfettered affection and she was in the BEST mood right now. 'Nothing could ruin this moment…'
WAAAAAAOOOOOONN!
'…Except for that.' Weiss and Rex both snapped their heads up at the sudden trumpeting noise, the former heiress hopeful that it was only their friend. "Please tell me that was Ben going Dynatusk."
"No… that sounds WAY bigger than Dynatusk." Rex said regrettably, his gaze becoming serious as he stepped away and activated his Ride again. "C'mon, something's goin' on."
"Right, but…" Weiss pointed down to the unconscious Exo-Skull. "What about him?" She saw her boyfriend ponder that question for a moment… before putting on a cheeky smirk. "…Rex, what are you thinking?"
…..
Back at the battle, things had been fairly even on both sides, despite the numbers advantage that the heroes held over their enemies. Granted, Hog was confronted with TWO of them instead of just one, but that was pretty much the norm when it came to him. He was a bruiser, so he knew that two of these shrimps would likely gang up on him. …He just wasn't expecting it to be the salt-and-pepper haired kid and the Chewbacca wannabe. Thunderhog swung his mace at Fiskerton, the Cryptid jumping out of the way quite nimbly.
"Man, just what the hell ARE you supposed to be, anyway?" Hog pulled his weapon back before charging in for some close quarters combat. "Ya move like an ape, but got the face of a freakin' CAT! WHAT—ARE—YOU?!" With every punch he sent, Fiskerton would either dodge or redirect the blow somewhere else… that is until Hog lifted his leg and kneed him right in the gut.
"AH! FISK!" Zak launched his Claw and wrapped it around Hog's arm, pulling it back from delivering another blow to Fisk's head. "Get away from my brother!"
Hog did a double take at that. "Say WHAT now? That thing's you're bother?!" He glanced between Zak, Fiskerton and Drew, the latter dueling against Rojo with her sword. "Damn, I'd hate to see what yo mama's baby daddy looks like."
Zak's face contorted in anger and he pulled with all his might, bringing Thunderhog to the ground. "You big fat jerk—GAH!"
However, Hog was quick to roll onto his knees and take hold of the Claw's tether, yanking on it to bring Zak closer to him. "Oh-ho, buddy, you have no idea how proud I am of that." He pulled Zak in close and his visor began lighting up, ready to deal a point-blank blast. "Now, let's see if we can't clear up that skin of yours—" CRACK! "EUGH!" Just then, Fiskerton came back in and delivered a hard chop to the back of Hog's neck, snapping his head up and making the blast go up into the sky instead.
"Hah… phew! Thanks, Fisk!" Zak kicked Hog away and did a backflip, with Fiskerton rushing to his side, ready to throw down again.
"Agabahjeebah! Pbbbbt!" Fiskerton blew a raspberry at Hog, causing Zak… and a certain someone else to laugh.
Ruby could be heard giggling at the Phantom's antics as she wacked Subdora over to them with the dull end of her scythe, the Merlinisapien landing right on top of Hog's stomach. "Hahaha! Fiskerton, you crack me up!" The Cryptid blushed at the compliment as Ruby's sights went over to Zak. "You okay? I saw what happened."
"Yeah, all good here." Zak gave her a thumbs up. "Now how about we finish these jerks off?" But, before either of them could follow through on that…
WAAAAAAOOOOOONN!
A chill went through Zak and Fiskerton, the latter's hair sticking up on end. Across the battlefield, the others heard it as well, going so far as to spook Smokey. The wolf yelped and jumped, giving Neo the opportunity to quickly escape via her Semblance. But still, there were more pressing concerns. "What in the world was THAT?" Francis asked.
Drew couldn't help but freeze up at the sound herself. "Was… was that an elephant?"
Rojo smirked before kicking her opponent away, jumping back to regroup with her team. "THAT was the signal! Oh-ho, you jerks are about to get it, lemme tell ya." Just as she said that, a large portal opened up behind the Ministry, one that was very familiar to the Omni-Hunters.
"Oh god, don't tell me…" Blake muttered. Sure enough, on the other side of the portal, Eon came walking into view, though the Chronosapien made no move in crossing the threshold, instead just standing there with his hands behind his back.
"Hello, children." the time traveler narrowed his eyes at them. "Having fun?"
Yang snarled and reloaded her gauntlets, a sinking feeling beginning to churn in her gut. "EON! Ugh, do we SERIOUSLY have to deal with YOU today, too?!"
Eon chuckled and shook his head. "Oh no, young lady, I'm afraid that I'm stuck here, per usual." He tightened his fist in fury. "All thanks to that loathsome boyfriend of yours, I cannot enter this dimension… however, if I am not mistaken, it's quite a cloudy day where you're at." Eon directed his eyes up as far as he could to affirm his thoughts. "Ah, yes… overcast, how lovely."
"Meaning… NO direct sunlight." Cinder clarified with a knowing smile, raising her hand. "Giving US free reign to do… THIS!" She snapped her fingers and instantly, a stampede of dark creatures came charging out from the portal, flanking the Ministry with teeth barred and their gleaming red eyes focused straight onto the heroes.
If Zak, Drew, and Fiskerton had been spooked before, then they were utterly paralyzed now. And Smokey himself was taking a defensive position in front of them as well, growling back at the wolf-like ones. These creatures… were unnatural, they could just tell by looking at them. For as red as their eyes were, they were also soulless, nothing there but pure animal instinct. Zak was hesitant, but he eventually tried using his powers on them… only for them to not work at all. These weren't Cryptids… so he could only assume one thing. "These… are Grimm, aren't they?" he asked Ruby.
"Yep." Ruby stepped in front of the Saturdays along with Yang, Blake and Sun. "You guys should stay back. We'll deal with things from here."
"Ruby, I—" Drew started, only to be cut off by Blake.
"Drew, I know you want to help, but we've been specially trained to kill these beasts." the cat girl emphasized, glancing toward Drew's Tibetan Fire Sword. "I know you have a powerful weapon, but I can guarantee that these things are stronger and more agile than any Cryptid you've handled."
However, Drew simply wouldn't take no for an answer. "Blake, I appreciate the concern, but right now, I'm not about to back down. Not my babies are in danger." She pointed her sword at one of the Grimm; an Ursa that was growling at her. "I'm going to fight with you, like it or not. Zak, take Fisk and Francis and go."
Zak couldn't believe what he was hearing. "W-What?! Mom, come on, we can totally take these things!"
"Indeed, we MUST stay and fight." Francis said, lifting his briefcase sword. "I will not retreat until the mission is complete."
Sun eyed both of them skeptically. "Uh, guys, no offense, but I don't think your weapons could do much against—" Before Sun could finish, though, Zak lifted up the Claw and, much to everyone's surprise, he launched a bolt of energy from the hand, striking one of the Beowolves straight through the head. Francis, meanwhile, took out a cartridge from his coat and inserted it into the briefcase, causing the blade to suddenly start heating up. From there, he swiped his sword through the air and a powerful heated slash cut right through one of the Creeps, reducing it to dust.
"You were sayin'?" Zak and Francis echoed.
"Uh… heh, I kinda AM Saiyan! Haha… ha…" Sun deflated as no one laughed at his joke.
Drew sighed and raised her hand. "Okay, you can stay…" Her eyes trailed across the massive hoarde of Grimm, realizing that there had to be at least thirty of them left. "Hmph, but we're still MASSIVELY outnumbered."
"Well, sucks to be you then." Cinder thrust her arm forward and ordered the Grimm; "Now ATTACK!" All at once, the Grimm roared at the team and started to charge… but then suddenly stopped and started backing up as a gust started blowing throughout the area. "W-What?! Why did you all stop—AGH!" Suddenly, a blinding pink light flashed through the area, causing the Grimm to double further back… all while something appeared between them and the heroes.
Standing there was none other than Doc, Gwen, Kevin, Team JNPR, Ilia, Penny and Neptune, the latter raising Tri-Hard as he announced; "The calvary has arrived! No thanks are necessary!"
The other team were left astonished, yet pleasantly surprised by their arrival. "HAHA! No way!" Zak ran up next to his dad and Komodo, quickly joined by the rest of their family. "Dad, guys! Where did you come from?!"
"Heh, you can thank Gwen for getting us here." Doc jerked a thumb over to the Anodite, who was taking a quick breather. "I'm just glad that we got here before you all got into any REAL danger."
"B-But how'd you know we WERE in trouble, hon?" Drew followed up.
Gwen gave a small chuckle and pointed over to her right. "You… can thank him for that."
Drew, Zak and Fiskerton were confused for a moment… until they saw a massive, winged, humanoid form begin to slowly rise up to its full eight-foot height. Just by appearances alone, they already knew exactly who this was, and judging by the stunned expressions of the Ministry, it was clear that THEY knew as well. "MOTH MAN?!" everyone shouted.
"Yep, and get this; he's a good guy." Kevin added.
"He had a prophesy that said you guys were in deep trouble." Jaune narrowed his eyes at the Grimm, pulling up Crocea Mors without hesitation. "Seems like he was right."
"…Okay, I have TONS of questions, but it's obvious that they'll have to wait." Drew and the Saturdays all grouped up, getting their weapons ready. "Right now, let's kill these things before they wreck everything."
Emerald, however, eyed Cinder in concern. "Uh, Cinder, they've got Moth Man on their side. What do we do?"
The Fall Maiden narrowed her eyes at said Cryptid, who simply stared back with his huge, red eyes. "Hmph, an additional creature makes no difference." Her lips curled into a small smile. 'Either way, we ARE winning this one.' Once more, she thrust her arm forward, ordering the Grimm to… "ATTACK!" This time, the creatures of darkness showed no reluctance in their charge, barreling toward the heroes with their fangs and claws prepared.
Ruby took point and retaliated with; "Alright guys, let's do this!" And with that, the Omni-Hunters, the Saturdays, and Francis went straight into the Grimm horde, ready to take them all down.
As expected, the young group of Huntsman had no difficulties whatsoever when it came to dealing with the Grimm, none of them so much as even hesitating to jump right into the thick of it. Team JNPR in particular were the most effective in taking down a large chunk of the beasts, their teamwork on show as they plowed through… though of course, Nora was blasting a majority of them to bits, so that helped too. Yang, Blake, Sun and Neptune grouped up as well, the four of them also taking on a considerably good portion of Grimm themselves, and the results were surprisingly even MORE explosive than Nora's handiwork. Namely because Blake and Sun had decided to pull off their signature combo, which was only furthered by Yang's fiery abilities and Neptune shooting Lightning Dust at anything that moved.
Ruby and Ilia had also formed their own group, with the addition of Zak, Fiskerton, and Komodo joining them. "Sorry if we're crowding things up, ladies!" Zak said as he swiped his Claw across a Grimm's chest, the weapon glowing as it tore through its hide. "Fisk, Komodo, go for that wound!" The two Cryptids followed Zak's order to the letter, tearing right into the Beowolf with ferocious abandon. Ruby and Ilia were stunned as they bit and clawed their way into it, with Fisk even reaching in and pulling out a bunch of black mass which instantly killed it.
"…Uh, I don't think we have a problem with that." Ilia smiled as she whipped her Lightning Lash at an Ursa, decapitating it without an issue. "You guys are surprisingly effective."
"Yeah, nice work, boys!" Ruby complimented as she rushed forward with her Semblance, slicing through two more Creeps with Crescent Rose before shooting Zak a wink. "But do you think you can keep up with us?"
Zak could feel his cheeks heat up, but he knew he needed to focus. Sure, Ruby was cool, surprisingly strong and really cute—'WOAH! Focus Zak! Deal with those thoughts LATER!' As he got himself back on track, Zak returned the smile with one of his own, pumping his fist in determination. "Sounds like a challenge. I'm in!"
Kevin, Gwen, Doc and Drew also headed off in their own group, the four of them standing back-to-back as Grimm circled around them. Kevin's body was mostly covered in strong stone at the moment, though it wasn't long before he reached into his Dust pouches and pulled out a Lightning Dust shard. "Alright, let's bash some brains." He absorbed the material into his arms, creating a mace and a hammer and smashing them together, generating electricity. It wasn't long before the Osmosian had charged right at the Ursai surrounding them, slamming his weapons into them with great force, blasting them with lightning.
"Hah, wow." Drew commented as she thrust her Fire Sword at an incoming Beowolf, stabbing it straight through the head and burning it to a crisp. "Gwen, your boyfriend sure is straight forward."
"Hm, yeah…" Gwen sliced through several Grimm with her mana projectiles before pointing out; "I could say the same about your husband, though." She nudged her head toward Doc as he charged straight to an Ursa… and began to grapple with it.
"AH! Doc, what in the world are you—" But Drew cut herself off when she saw his Power Glove glowing blue, and in no time, ice began spreading rapidly across the Ursa's body, freezing it almost instantly. Within seconds, the glow shifted from blue to green and Doc punched the frozen Grimm, reducing it to pieces without any fuss. "Hah… of course." Drew grinned to her husband. "Only you would come up with a plan like that."
Doc turned toward his wife and, without even looking, raised his fist as a Creep charged up from behind him, punching it right in the head. "You make it sound like I always come up with crazy plans."
"Not always." Drew corrected, swiping her sword through the air as a Beowolf came at her, cutting it straight through its midsection. "But whenever you do, it's always a treat."
AWWRROOOOO!
The couple were taken off guard when all of a sudden, a much LARGER Beowolf came lunging toward them from their blind side, one with much larger spikes and teeth. They gasped in unison and were about to dodge… when a blast of smoke abruptly burst through the area, taking the Alpha off guard and making it fall short in its pounce. Doc and Drew coughed and hacked from the foul haze, but stayed near one another, knowing exactly what this was. The Alpha Beowolf's primary senses had been effectively incapacitated by the smoke, its eyes blurry and its nose now smelling nothing but a horrendous odor. The only thing left was its hearing… and even that failed to catch the predator that had zeroed in on it.
From behind, the Smoke Wolf pounced on its target, not making a single noise before doing so and going straight for its neck. The Beowolf yowled at the sudden pain, feeling the equally large predator sink its incisors into its neck and ripping out anything it could bite down on, all while ripping and clawing through its exposed fur. Within seconds, Smokey brought his target down to the ground, eventually snapping its neck with one good final twist.
Needless to say, Doc and Drew were pleasantly surprised… and a bit taken aback as the wolf sat down, staring at both of them expectantly as he wagged his tail. The couple eyed one another, Drew giving a shrug before Doc cleared his throat. "Er, um… good boy." He reached up and, much to his surprise, Smokey let him pet his head. "Very good boy."
…..
Across the way, meanwhile, Francis had resolved to stick to himself, taking on a relatively small group of Grimm. He had never been much of a team player, even with Zak, whom he considered a friend. Ultimately, he was taught that others would simply get in the way… though of course, he didn't one-hundred percent believe that. All the same, it was the best course of action, and would give him an easy out if—WHAM!
"AAUGH!" All of a sudden, Francis felt an incredibly sharp pain go surging through his back, sending him toppling to the forest floor. His briefcase weapon was knocked out of his hand from the force of the impact, sending it flying before landing blade-first into the dirt. Francis grit his teeth as he struggled to move, just barely getting onto his rear to see what had hit him.
Much to his shock, it turned out to be a MASSIVE boar Grimm, its tusks gleaming as it glared at him. Francis tried to get to his feet, but couldn't, the pain still surging throughout his whole back. "N-No… stay back!" He reached for his sword, plucking it out of the ground and pointing it at the Boarbatusk. "Stay back, you infernal beast!" But he could only watch as the Boarbatusk curled up into a ball and started spinning rapidly toward him, his eyes snapping shut as he awaited the inevitable impact.
CLANG!
…But it never came. Instead, he heard something shake the ground, followed by the sound of metal hitting something. He peaked one eye open before both widened at what he saw. Someone had gotten in between him and the Boarbatusk just in time, and they had stopped it… with their bare hands. This person, a young woman by the looks of it, had the beast in her grasp by the neck,
'What in the… she's only a normal girl, how could she—' But before he knew it, he saw her lift her arm and it transformed, revealing her mechanized internal workings as well as a rather long, sword. She thrust the blade through the Grimm's stomach, killing it instantly. '…Alright, she is FAR from normal, apparently.'
"Salu—" Her speaking caught him off guard, even moreso when she spun around to give him a happy salute. "—tations!"
…Something was wrong. Francis could tell that something was very, VERY wrong. The moment he saw the redhead, meeting her bright green eyes, something happened, and he wasn't sure what. Without any warning, his body completely froze up, the pain from before not even occurring to him as his vision became hazy, focusing on nothing but her. Why she suddenly had an ethereal glow around her, he didn't know, but it was there. And for some reason, his chest was beginning to tighten up, and he could feel heat and blood rushing to his head. His hand snapped up to his chest in alarm, all as his mind went into overdrive trying to figure out what was wrong.
'A-Am I having a heart attack? N-No, this heartbeat is normal, even if accelerated.' Francis reasoned in his head. 'Did the blow to my back cause this? C-Can't rule that out either. Perhaps I-I'm just having a panic attack from the trauma—yes! That HAS to be—'
"Are you alright?"
"AAH!" The most un-masculine scream came out of Francis' mouth at that moment, making him fall flat on his back… and immediately, the pain returned. "Gah! Dammit…"
"Oh no!" the redhead gasped, reaching out to help him. "I'm so sorry! I didn't think that would scare you!"
But Francis waved a hand up to her, bearing through the pain as he sat back up. "No, no, the fault is mine. I-I wasn't paying attention." The green-haired boy managed to compose himself, only then realizing that whatever had plagued him from before was now gone. 'Strange… what WAS that all about?' He shook his head, getting back on track. "More to the point, what you did just now… are you a robot?"
The girl smiled and tilted her head. "Well… technically I am, though I am also a Galvanic Mechamorph-Nanite hybrid." She activated her Mechano-Crushers to demonstrate, leaving Francis gobsmacked as she bashed two Grimm into the ground with them. "Impressive, right? Oh!" She smacked herself in the forehead. "How rude of me, I completely forgot to introduce myself!" Once again, she extended a hand down to him. "My name is Penny Polendina. And following deductive reasoning, you must be Francis, correct?"
"Um, y-yes." Francis reached out and shook her hand, confused at how she knew that. "How did you…"
"Doc informed us of you when Gwen sensed your unfamiliar energy."
"Ah, of course, Tennyson's Anodite cousin." Francis slowly stood up, brushing the dust off his jacket. "I suppose she WOULD sense me." He cleared his throat, feeling somewhat awkward… even though he had no clue why. "Ahem, well, thank you for saving me, nonetheless. I am in your debt."
But Penny simply shook her head. "Oh, it's no trouble at all! Anyone would have done the same, I'm sure."
"Hey, Francis!" The duo perked their heads up when they saw Zak, Ruby, Ilia and the Cryptids all coming toward them, the former moving up to his friend. "Dude, you okay? I saw you get hit by that boar thing, but I had this giant bear to deal with."
The young agent adjusted his glasses, nodding over to Penny. "You needn't worry, Zak. Miss… Penny came to my aid before it could finish me."
Ruby let out a cheer at that. "Woo! Way to go, Penny!"
"Oh, it was nothing, really. I—oh dear, INCOMING!" Penny grabbed her friends and bolted, with Zak doing the same with Francis before an incredibly large Creep pounced down at them. The huge, reptilian-like creature snarled and chomped its massive teeth, searching for something… or someone to chew on.
"Alright, where do these things keep COMING from?!" Ilia exclaimed.
Before anyone could answer her, however, something unexpected happened. From high above, a loud screech was heard as the Moth Man himself came flying down onto the Creep, slamming talon-first onto its head. After stomping it into the ground, the Moth Man immediately leaped off and slashed its claws across its boney face, cutting right down to the flesh and making it wail in agony. Moth Man glared at the beast before snapping its claws into its throat, killing it before ripping its insides out.
Once the Grimm was gone, though, Moth Man whirled around to Ilia, his antenna glowing brightly as he relayed a message to her. The chameleon girl gasped and shouted out; "EVERYONE!" Once she was sure she had the whole team's attention, she continued; "Cover your ears, NOW! Moth Man's going to try something!" Thankfully, no one questioned her demand and instead abided by it, the group all covering their ears before Moth Man opened his mouth.
After inhaling deeply, the Cryptid sent out a MASSIVE sonic screech, targeting the rest of the Grimm. Within seconds, the beasts' eardrums ruptured and one by one, their heads began exploding from the sheer volume of the attack alone. The Ministry were taken off guard, but immediately brought their hands over their ears as well, otherwise they'd succumb to the same fate. …Though it still REALLY hurt. "GYAAAAAHH! DEAR GOD, what the HELL is this?!" Mercury shouted.
"WHAT?!" Emerald belted back. "CAN'T HEAR YOU! TOO LOUD!"
Fortunately, the noise didn't last much longer as the last of the Grimm were soundly defeated, their bodies falling before puffing up into black smoke. The Moth Man closed its mouth, taking slow breaths to regain his bearings. "…Woah, that was one crazy attack." Ren noted.
"And SUPER awesome!" Nora cheered.
"So THIS is the power of the Moth Man…" Pyrrha pondered. "Incredible."
Cinder, however, wasn't in the best of moods after that. "Grrr… because of COURSE they'd have a trick like that up their sleeves—"
WAAAAAAOOOOOONN!
…And just like that, Cinder's mood took a complete one-eighty, her sinister grin returning. "Oh-ho, that's right! I think you all can tell from that sound alone that this is FAR from over, heroes." As she said that, the ground beneath everyone began to tremor periodically, almost as if two sets of huge feet were coming toward them. "And here it comes…"
The Omni-Hunters and Saturdays all snapped their heads toward where the tremors were coming from… and were left astonished by what they saw. The Saturday family especially were left speechless as a five-story-tall elephant Grimm came smashing its way through the trees, trumpeting loudly as it came. The beast didn't stop as it moved over their heads, forcing everyone to duck out of the way of its massive feet. But, upon closer inspection… it was holding a person in its trunk… one whom they recognized all too well. "BEN!" Indeed, the hero, still in the form of Frankenstrike, was being held tightly in the Goliath's trunk, and he seemed to be in a daze.
"Let go of my boyfriend, you big lumbering freak!" Yang blasted herself forward with her Ember Celica to keep up with the beast, letting lose several Dust rounds at it to try and loosen its grip on him. Unfortunately, any bullets she shot simply bounced off the elephant Grimm's hide, the massive beast not hindered in the least. "BEN! Wake up, please!"
"Yang, wait!" Ruby zipped over to her sister, getting in her way and forcing her to a stop. "You're not doing anything to it!"
The Blonde Brawler gave her sister a frustrated look. "Ruby, we can't just let it TAKE him! We have to stop it!"
"You won't be able to stop a Goliath like that, Yang." Blake said as she also stepped up to her partner, placing a hand on her shoulder. "And you KNOW it. We need to come up with a plan."
But just as Ruby made that argument, a certain voice piped up, shouting out over the sound of a mighty engine. "Already got that covered!" The three teammates whipped their heads around, just in time to see Rex and Weiss rushing toward the Goliath on the former's ride. Also with them was an unconscious Exo-Skull… who was strapped to the hood of Rex's ride like fresh roadkill via a gravity glyph. Rex gave the three a salute as he and his girlfriend dashed past them. "We'll get Ben outta this, don't worry! You ready, Ice Princess?"
"Indeed!" Weiss swiped Myrtenaster, dispelling the gravity glyph. "Now!" In the blink of an eye, Rex's ride shifted into his Punk Busters and Smack Hands, the EVO picking up Exo-Skull's limp body before leaping high into the air, straight over the Goliath while holding the mutant like a basketball. "HEY!" Weiss' scream caught the Goliath's attention, and its eyes widened when it saw the duo coming down. "Here's a real SLAM DUNK for ya!"
With all his might, Rex threw Exo-Skull straight down onto the Goliath's head, making it bellow in pain as the armored rhino man actually made its skull crack. The Goliath lost its balance and finally loosened the grip in its trunk, with Frankenstrike dropping right to the ground. Yang, Blake and Ruby all smiled brightly and went straight over to him, where Rex and Weiss landed as well. "Hah! Ben!" Yang slid next to her boyfriend, taking his head in her hands. "Are you okay?! Wake up, Green Boy!"
"Mmph… gah, that was not pleasant…" Frankenstrike reached up and rubbed his forehead, his eyes opening to see Team RWBY and Rex gathered around him. Of course, the first thing he did was smile up to his girlfriend. "Heh, hey Goldie Locks. When'd you get here?" But then, his eyes widened in realization. "W-Wait, where IS here?"
"That Goliath carried you pretty far, amigo." Rex revealed, pointing over to the beast as it staggered about. Eventually, the rest of the team arrived as well, crowding around the hero in concern. "But hey, Exo-Skull was actually USEFUL for once." He gave a high-five to Weiss, the couple smiling toward one another. "And the plan was a total success, mi hermosa."
"Hm, of course it was, Robo-dolt." Weiss winked back. "But now, we've got to take care of that Goliath permanently before it rampages all the way into town."
Francis came up through the crowd, his sights focused squarely onto Frankenstrike. "While I do agree with that sentiment, I must also remind everyone that the corrodium is also a priority." His brows furrowed at the Transylian. "So… where IS it, Tennyson?"
Frankenstrike growled and stood up to his feet, turning his back to Francis. "…It's gone." He paused, allowing that to sink in for everyone. "Viktor already had it transported to the Land of Darkness before we even GOT here."
"WHAT?!" the crowd of heroes echoed before Pyrrha whirled around to the Ministry, who were all gathered around Exo-Skull. "You planned this from the very start, didn't you?!"
"Very observant, Pyrrha dear." Cinder waved her hand just as a portal opened up behind the villains. "Think of this as a receipt for crashing Khyber's ship. He sends his regards, by the way, and he anticipates continuing the hunt."
As Subdora and Thunderhog karted Skull through the portal, Rojo kept her laser rifle aimed at the heroes, all while she backed in with the rest of her team. "And if you're smart, you'll let us go. Besides, you've got bigger fish to fry…" Once she, Cinder, Emerald and Mercury were through, Neo appeared from out of nowhere, the girl tipping her hat to the team… before pulling her eyelid down and sticking her tongue out at them.
"You LITTLE—" But before Yang could even fire a single shot, Neo jumped through the vortex and it disappeared entirely. "GAAAH! I HATE them so much!"
"Same, but we can't get distracted." Ren reminded as he pointed toward the Goliath, which was beginning to regain its footing. "They may have gotten the corrodium, but now our priority is taking the Goliath down."
Frankenstrike nodded in agreement. "Right, so long as we don't have any objections." He narrowed his eyes at Francis, who simply huffed and turned his head away. "Good, now Rex, Penny, form up with me. I'm gonna need you to—huh?" Before he could explain his plan, he felt a hand rest on his arm, leading the hero to move his head… and meet eyes with the Moth Man. "G-GAH! What in the—"
"Ben, relax." Gwen reassured calmly, extending a hand to the Cryptid. "Moth Man here is on our side."
Shock became confusion as Frankenstrike let his cousin's words sink in. "Wait, seriously?"
Moth Man trilled as he extended his antenna toward the Transylian, touching them to his forehead. "Indeed, young one. And I believe I could be of some assistance to your plan." He pointed over to the Goliath, which was beginning to lumber away. "I will garner that beast's attention and bring it right back to you, and from there, I'm sure you will be able to handle the rest."
Frankenstrike glanced back and forth between the Goliath and the Moth Man, debating the idea until he ultimately decided it was sound. "Hm, well, I wasn't really expecting this, but you make a good point." He bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you for your help."
"With pleasure. Now, prepare yourselves." Moth Man spread his wings out to their full length, leaving the group in awe of how vast his wingspan really was. "I will return shortly." With a single flap, the Moth Man became airborne and flew directly over everyone's heads toward the Goliath. He soared directly over the creature's back and landed right on its head, spooking it by staring into its eyes. But it didn't have long to think before the Lepid-Propheta pushed himself off and let out a sonic wail, one that was much less powerful than its last, but still quite potent.
The Goliath bellowed and quickly stomped back around, moving directly toward the heroes once again. There, Frankenstrike, Rex and Penny all took point, ready to take down the massive beast. "Alright, we all clear on the plan?" asked the Omnitrix bearer.
"Yep!"
"Indeed!"
"Good… then let's make this quick." Frankenstrike reached up to the Omnitrix on his chest… and twisted it. "Not sure how much juice I'll have after I do this." At that, Rex and Penny surged forth to intercept the Goliath, and Ben pressed the Omnitrix down, anchoring it to his chest.
The device let lose a green flash of light that slowly enveloped the Transylian's body, evolving him into his Ultimate form. The most immediate change was the hero's height, increasing from eight feet to twelve feet. As he towered over everyone else, his skin color changed from pale green to an eerie purple, and if possible, his flesh became even more stitched together, across his face, arms and upper torso. His tattered green jacket disappeared completely, leaving him with only a shredded pair of pants.
However, the amount of exposed flesh became less as well, instead revealing several new mechanical parts that were grafted into the rotten skin. His shoulders, abdomen, and his lower legs were all metal, with several screws visible all throughout his build. A pair of metal boots also adorned his feet, with rivets in the ankles and rows of spikes on the toes. Of course, his neck and head also were now grafted in metal, his hair completely disappearing in favor of a metal cap. He also had what seemed to be a targeting reticle over his right eye, and his jaw was now a metal piece as well, with triangular points made to resemble teeth for his massive underbite.
What's more, his tesla coil towers were no longer on his back, instead replaced by a huge, cylindrical dynamo like the one that Rex had with his Blast caster. Two reinforced tubes went from the dynamo and plugged into his forearms, which were now completely metal. In fact, his left arm was now where his tesla coils were, having been arranged to form a railgun-type weapon while his right arm was a three-fingered spinning claw.
The entire team, including the Saturdays, were completely gob smacked by the absolute horror show in front of them as green lightning began sparking all around him, generated by the dynamo on his back. With a metallic edge to his voice, he roared to the sky above;
"ULTIMATE FRANKENSTRIKE!"
No one spoke for a good while before Nora pretty much spoke their thoughts; "…Eeyup, scariest Ultimate I've seen yet."
The evolved Transylian inspected his new, cybernetic form, surprised at how loaded out with weapons he was. "…Not exactly what I was expecting, but I'll roll with it." He raised his claw hand, pointing away from the battlefield. "Now everyone, get back! This is gonna get ugly." The team followed his order without hesitation and rushed off, leaving him to focus on the task at hand. He tried to run… but quickly found that his legs were now VERY heavy. He could barely get to walking speed, which was very frustrating. "Oh, great. I'm a walking tank. …Wait, I'm a walking tank! Rex, Penny, bring it in!"
"On it, Ben!" Rex called back, activating his Bad Axes in midflight before going into free fall. Penny was right behind him as well, deactivating her jetpack in favor of her Floating Array blades. "Hey, big guy! Hope you don't like your tusks!" Rex brought his axe straight down, cutting off one tusk.
"Or your ears!" Penny declared as her swords went into their saw configuration, slicing off one of the Goliath's large ears. The sliced off body parts all dissolved into black mist before they even hit the ground, though the Goliath itself was no less feeling incredible pain as it bellowed in anguish. It was also beginning to feel incredibly disoriented, with one side of it now completely uneven.
"Excellent." UltimateFrankenstrike activated the targeting reticle, locking onto the remaining tusk. "Almost…" beep-beep! "Got it!" He raised his claw hand and it spun around before launching right off his wrist, revealing it to be attached to a grappling cable. The claw reached its target and grabbed a hold of it tightly, which the evolved Transylian smirked at. "Goliath, come on down!" With a strong tug, the hero brought the Goliath straight down to the dirt, a pained trumpet electing from the Grimm's trunk. But still, Ultimate Frankenstrike wasn't done. The dynamo on his back began generating green lightning that coursed into his right arm and through the grapple, resulting in the elephant Grimm being blasted with several thousand volts of electricity.
On the sidelines, the Omni-Hunters and the Saturdays were cheering at the display, with Yang undoubtedly being the loudest. "WOOHOO! Get 'em, Green Boy! You've got this!"
"Yeah! Woo! Go Ben!" Zak cheered from the sidelines… though he definitely wished he could be of some help. "Man, he's so lucky. Wish I could have awesome powers like that so I could take on a giant elephant monster."
Ruby offered him a smile and a pat on the shoulder. "It's okay, Zak. Honestly, I think your powers are still pretty cool and unique."
Once again, Zak found himself flushed in embarrassment, his hand flying to his head sheepishly. "A-Ah, hehe… thanks… oh, hey! I think Ben's about to finish it!"
Everyone watched on as Ultimate Frankenstrike yanked his claw away, pulling the remaining tusk out of the Goliath and crushing it into black dust. "Alright, time to wrap this up." The hero lifted his tesla coil railgun arm and started pumping energy into it, the coils themselves sparking with lightning within seconds. It wasn't long until the green lightning gathered up in between the coils, and with his target locked, he aimed it straight for the Grimm's head. "And… you're done."
BWWWAAAAAAAAAMMMM!
The entire area was cast in a vibrant green glow as the blast blew straight through the Grimm, making it explode within seconds. Of course, the shot of electric energy also blasted through several trees, eradicating them in seconds, but thankfully no one else was in the way of that. Once the light dissipated, everyone stared with mouths agape at the scene. The earth was scorched, what remained of the trees were left burning, and of course, the Goliath was completely gone.
Even Penny and Rex had been affected, their clothes and hair having been blown back from the sheer force of the blast. The Moth Man himself also had his feathers ruffled, though aside from that, all three of them seemed to be fine. "…Aye, what the HELL was that?!" Rex asked as he fixed his hair.
"That was several gigawatts of electricity in a concentrated blast." Penny deduced, fixing her own hair as well. "Not even my cannons are capable of that level of power output." Her eyes drifted over to Ultimate Frankenstrike, completely unaffected by the blast. "This one has to be one of the most powerful Ultimate transformations we've seen yet."
As if on cue, though, the Omnitrix started beeping and flashing red, and within the blink of an eye, Ultimate Frankenstrike was back to being normal Ben Tennyson once again. The hero could feel his legs shaking underneath him and he almost fell, though thankfully Yang was there to catch him just in time. "W-Woah! Hah… thanks Goldie Locks."
"No problem." Yang smooched her boyfriend's cheek with a happy smile. "But man, you seriously let that Goliath have it… along with half of the woods."
Ben grimaced at that reminder. "Yeah… hopefully no one comes by here anytime soon." But just then, the Moth Man came flying over to the couple, landing directly in front of them. The duo met his eyes and Ben offered a smile of his own, extending a hand toward the creature. "That said, I think we have quite a lot to talk about…"
…..
Once Gwen had recast her mental projection spell again, the Moth Man went on to recap everything to Ben, Zak, Team RWBY and the others. It took about twenty minutes, but to say that Drew and Zak were utterly floored was an understatement. "Wait, so you're telling us that there's an entire REALM made up of magic?!" Zak uttered, staring wide-eyed at the Moth Man. "And that you COME from there?!"
"Indeed, young one." Moth Man nodded, placing a hand over his chest. "My kind thrive in Ledgerdomain, you see. It is quite the beautiful place, I can assure you."
Drew's hand was placed over her mouth in astonishment. "And the original Moth Man from the 1960's that used to live here… that was your father." She received an affirming hum from the Lepid-Propheta, urging her to continue. "And he acted as a harbinger… someone who protected the people of Point Pleasants from awful fates."
"Correct, my good lady." Moth Man sent his gaze across the vastness of the TNT Area, reflecting on everything that had just happened. "And through that, I feel a very strong connection to this place. It's where my father lived… where he died. Where he became infamous… and famous at the same time." His clawed hand balled up into a determined fist. "And I wish to continue to keep his legacy alive. So long as the people believe in the Moth Man of Point Pleasant, I shall continue to do what my father did."
Sun gave him a thumbs up. "Well I think that's pretty cool, Moth-dude."
Blake wore a bit of a more concerned expression, however. "Just, uh… don't try to scare the people around here TOO much. You don't want an angry mob coming after you, I'm sure."
"Hm, you are correct. As unfortunate as it is, humanity still has much to learn about other species." Moth Man craned his head up toward the sky, seeing that things were clearing up. However, he also saw that the sun was past its zenith, and he gave a small gasp. "Ah! Oh goodness, I really must be leaving, though. I have to return to my family in Ledgerdomain for the time being."
Gwen's eyebrows rose up in intrigue. "Wait, but is there even a Door to Anywhere around here? I thought you said your father was stranded because it got destroyed."
Moth Man chuckled a little, sending the Anodite a wave. "Indeed, I did. However, since Empress Charmcaster came into power, she's made it a point to have any and all damaged Doors rebuilt." He placed a finger to his chin. "I believe it has something to do with the journey she's been on recently. Doors to Anywhere can serve as much more than gates to the World of Ledger, after all."
Ben narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Hm, yeah… funny that. Well, I hope you have a safe journey back home… but before you go, can I ask you something?"
"Why of course, young Benjamin. Anything."
"Just stand there for one second, I wanna try something…" Ben pulled back his sleeve, revealing the Omnitrix having fully recharged. "Omnitrix, scan for any uncatalogued DNA."
The Omnitrix responded immediately as its core popped up, now flashing yellow as a scanning beam began searching the area for DNA. "Scanning… scanning… two compatible DNA samples found and added."
"Cool, I—wait, what?" Ben blinked in surprise at the holo-ring as it popped up, showing him two silhouettes. As he suspected, one was of the Moth Man, which he knew would be compatible with the device. "Okay, there's that, but what's the other—HUH?!" Once he and the others, particularly the Saturdays, saw what other "alien" the Omnitrix had scanned, none of them could believe it.
It was Fiskerton. There was no denying it, the icon definitely had his likeness, though it seemed much more… fearsome. Everyone slowly turned their heads toward the Cryptid, having a hard time processing what had just happened. "…I don't believe it." Doc muttered.
"Huh, Fiskerton's intelligent enough to make it into the Omnitrix." Ben mused. "Congrats, big guy."
"Ajajabeebah?" Fiskerton scratched his head in confusion as Zak placed a hand on his arm.
"Don't worry, bud… I can't believe it either." Zak took a deep breath as he looked up to the Moth Man once more. "Well, revelations aside, I hope you make it home safe, Moth Man. And thanks for helping us out."
Doc and Drew bowed their heads politely to him. "And for sharing your story with us. We'll be sure to catalogue this into our Cryptid database."
Moth Man bowed back to them all graciously. "It was my pleasure. I too wish you safe travels, everyone. For now, though, this is farewell." With that, the Moth Man spread his wings and took off into the sky, leaving the team to get to his Door home.
Ruby, however, let out a frustrated sigh. "Ugh, well, this mission was only HALF successful, I guess." She kicked a rock in disappointment. "The bad guys got away with the corrodium, so now what?"
"Hah, well… knowing what Viktor wants to do with it, he's going to need a LOT more parts, which I'm willing to bet that Remnant doesn't have EVERYTHING he needs." Ben rationalized, placing his hands on his hips. "So he's going to need to come back to our dimension to get all of that if he's going to replicate the experiment he did with Zs'Skayr."
"Well then, I guess it'll be our job to make sure he DOESN'T get what he needs." Yang added.
Weiss shivered at the prospect of a word where creatures like those mutant werewolves from earlier would run rampant. "Ugh… or else we'll all be turned into those… freaky things."
Zak went over to Ben, offering his fist to him. "Well, if you guys need any help at all, just know that we've got your back."
"That's right." Doc affirmed, placing his arm across Drew's shoulders. "Consider the Saturday family at your service, Ben Tennyson."
"We'll be around to help as much as we can in this fight." Drew gave the team a thumbs up. "Consider that a promise."
Ben laughed and returned Zak's fistbump wholeheartedly. "Haha, thanks everyone. We appreciate that a lot. But for now…" A sudden yawn escaped Ben's throat, the hero stretching his arm up high. "Oooh god, I'm exhausted. So, how about we all get back to our camping trip, huh?!" The Omni-Hunters all cheered, approving of their leader's statement.
As they made their way out of the forest, however, Penny took notice of something. "Um, guys… did anyone see where Francis went?" It was only then that everyone else realized that the young agent was gone, absolutely nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, don't worry, he does that." Zak explained, seemingly not too worried. "Francis isn't exactly the kind of guy to worry about goodbyes or stuff like that." He set his gaze up toward the sky… where he saw a small craft go shooting by at high speeds way up in the air. "I'm pretty sure he'll be alright."
Penny pursed her lips, a feeling of concern bubbling up inside of her. He had been injured in the battle, and yet he still left without receiving any help. "…I hope you're right, Zak."
…..
Inside of that craft, however, Francis winced as he let the heated seat work on his aching back. He knew it wasn't exactly a good idea to leave while in this state, but he had a schedule to keep and he wasn't about to waste time. …Especially if it raised the suspicions of his People. Presently, however, he had just finished debriefing his mission to one of his superiors… that being his own "father". "So, the mission was a failure." Agent Epsilon said over the communicator, showing absolutely no emotion at all on the screen in front of his "son".
"Gah… unfortunately." Francis grit his teeth, trying to relax. "Once again, Tennyson ends up ruining everything."
"Hm, the Plumbers HAVE become much less dependable recently." Epsilon pondered. "Perhaps it would be prudent to be more observant of them going forward."
Francis sighed, finally slumping in his seat. "I agree… though there is some unfortunate news." On screen, Epsilon raised his eyebrow, signaling for Francis to continue. "You were right in that the Saturdays DID show up… though unfortunately, they seemed to have allied themselves with the Omni-Hunters. And by proxy, that means the Plumbers as well."
Epsilon hummed an acknowledgment. "I see… that does complicate things." He shook his head, brushing the subject aside. "But we will cross the bridge when we come to it. Now, is there anything else that happened?"
The young man pursed his lips, knowing that there WAS something. A rather stunning person had saved his life, who also happened to be an extremely powerful android. A part of him knew that he needed to report something like that… but at the same time, he was in her debt, and if his People knew about her true abilities, they'd no doubt want to capture and study her for their own needs. Also, she made him… FEEL something that he never had before, and he had to figure out exactly what that was.
"No, father." Francis denied. "Nothing else."
"…I see." Epsilon accepted. "Well, for now, return to base. We need you well-rested for the next upcoming mission. Epsilon out."
"Of course. Francis out." The screen shut off and Francis let out a sigh, his chair reclining so he could rest easier on his automated flight back to headquarters. Still, as he took off his glasses and closed his eyes… he couldn't help but see that wonderous young woman in his mind, remembering every detail of her. Of course, he was trained to remember faces… but there was something VERY different about her, and he didn't know what. But that was something he could worry about another time. 'Farewell for now… Penny.'
…..
Back in the Land of Darkness, Viktor strolled through the hollowed halls of Evernight Castle, holding the fruits of his labor tightly in his hand. The moment he had found the crystal, he had incased it inside of a lead-lined container, which was sealed up tight so it wouldn't radiate any of its dangerous energy through the castle. After all, the last thing he wanted was for any of his fellow Ministry members… and especially not Salem to succumb to its mutagenic properties. Eventually, he found himself at the doors of the Ministry's meeting room, which opened for him welcomingly. There, waiting on the other side, was Salem herself, smiling proudly as he came up and bowed before her.
"Miss Salem…" Viktor presented his prize, "the corrodium is ours."
"Excellent work, dear Viktor." Salem congratulated, reaching out to run her fingers delicately through his hair. "I'm quite sure that this crystal will be quite useful for our future endeavors…"
…..
A/N (Please Read): Phew! And here we are, at the end. Like I said, this one was another doozy, and I'm glad that I took the time needed to finish this one up. A big battle, some pretty significant developments, and of course, ULTIMATE FRANKENSTRIKE! Lots of things happening in this chapter for sure… though in the end, Viktor succeeded in getting the corrodium he wanted so badly. Where WILL his and Salem's plans go from here, though…
But yeah, Ultimate Frankenstrike! Like before with my version of Ultimate Four Arms, I was a little bit inspired by the Ink Tank's latest video where they gave all the Anur Aliens Ultimate Forms. But ONLY in terms of how big he is and what color I decided to make him. Otherwise, a lot of this Ultimate is largely inspired by my own thinking. Honestly, I have a feeling that rather than relying purely on natural evolution, Transylians would "artificially" evolve themselves through the use of body modification, which I'm certain they're capable of doing. As a result, they essentially become walking weapons, powered by the massive dynamos on their backs. Of course, the draw back to this is that, now that they're so massive and heavy, they can only move in a slow walk, to the point of almost being stationary in battle. But, thanks to these upgrades, their natural intelligence has also been enhanced, so they don't HAVE to move in order to fight. Hope you like my take on Ultimate Frankenstrike, which I like to call "The Moving Tank!"
Aside form that, however, there's still plenty of other stuff that happened in this chapter as well. Of course, in terms of the battle, we can't ignore the big fight between Ben and Viktor itself, along with Weiss and Rex combining their abilities to take out Exo-Skull. Those were definitely highlights for me in writing this chapter. Oh, and of course, the Smoke Wolf proving useful once again by seeing through Emerald and Neo's illusionary trickery, along with being able to fight off GRIMM of all things. …Might be useful to keep Smokey around, hmm?
But, much to the team's surprise, the Moth Man himself actually proved to be quite the reliable ally! Indeed, this creature does hail from the Ledgerdomain, and he is actually the second-generation Moth Man, taking up the legacy his father left. I thought it'd be interesting to make the Moth Man legend fit within the world of Ben 10, so I decided to make them a race of mystic creatures with prophetic abilities… oh, and a sonic scream for good measure. Gotta have SOME form of self-defense. And hey, the species is even compatible with the Omnitrix… as is Fiskerton. Didn't expect HIM to be scanned into the Omnitrix, did ya?
Still, the fact that Francis' people seem keen on keeping an eye on the Omni-Hunters doesn't exactly bode too well. That might be something to worry about in the future, but for now… Francis has got to figure out just what the heck is wrong with him. He should NOT be freezing up at the sight of someone… so what makes Penny so different?
Well, I think that pretty much covers it, so NEXT TIME, we're going to be seeing how the rest of the team's camping trip went before returning to Plumber HQ. When they arrive, though, they're met with a certain someone being transferred out of their cell… a man who Sun and Neptune had once put their complete trust in. How will the boys react to seeing him once again… only for a certain Cerebrocrustacean to crash the party? Like I said, this chapter will be popping up on Saturday, so I'll see you then, everyone! Thanks for reading, I hope you all have a Happy Halloween, and as always, stay safe out there!
