A/N: How's it going, everyone? Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY, and I'm gonna level with you all here; I had an absolute BLAST writing this chapter. Don't get me wrong, I do think I had a lot more fun writing the Norse Arc overall, but this chapter was just hilarious to write and I'm pretty sure you're gonna get a kick out of it. Sure, it's basically adapting another Omniverse episode, but honestly, going back, I realized that this is actually one of my favorites from Omniverse… which may or may not have to do with Looma, but we'll get to that. That said, though, there IS a pretty significant change from the original episode here, so let's find out what that is, shall we? Get ready for hilarity at Kevin's expense, because this is…
Chapter 66: Many Happy Returns
…..
To say that Kevin Ethan Levin now found himself between a rock and a hard place was putting it mildly at the moment. The rock? A four-armed Amazonian Alien Princess who was keen on making him her husband. And the hard place? His girlfriend, his best friend, and the rest of their teammates, who were all giving him silent, judgmental glares after finding out about said betrothal. Of course, he had expected that reaction even if he had told them properly… but in THIS situation, it was certainly not helping his rep. The only ones who didn't seem angry about the whole thing were Sun, who was more shocked than anything, Six and Bobo, who were utterly baffled, and finally Rook… who seemed rather cheerful about the whole thing.
"You are a husband? I had not heard!" The Revonnahgander exclaimed.
"N-No, we're just engaged!" Kevin hastily corrected, sending a sheepish smile over to Gwen, who kept her arms crossed with a disapproving gaze. "Hehe… I was meaning to tell you about it soon."
Gwen closed her eyes in disbelief. "Were you now? Go on, then, I'd love to hear all about—"
"Kevin Levin, you are MINE." Looma declared with a finger pointed straight at him. She leapt off of her vehicle and threw Argit away, charging straight for the panicked Osmosian.
He bowed apologetically to his girlfriend before dashing off down a nearby alleyway. "Kinda busy right now!" The group watched as he was chased down by the Tetramand princess, not one of them amused in the slightest.
Ruby, though, was at least a little sympathetic. "…Should we help him?"
"I say we help her beat him up." Yang piped in, feeling no empathy for the Osmosian at all.
"Seconded." Ilia agreed.
Blake raised her hand. "Third."
"And fourthed." Weiss chimed in.
"Alright, alright, let's not get to hasty." Gwen halted the girls before they could even follow Looma in. "Trust me… Kevin's going to get what's coming to him." She set her eyes down the alleyway, seeing her boyfriend get cornered by the Tetramand woman as he absorbed a plank of wood. "He's gonna find out the hard way that messing with a woman's heart isn't a good idea."
With a bright smile on her black-painted lips, Looma SMACKED a fist into the palm of her hand and cooed; "Why have you been hiding from me, Kevin?"
"I-I wasn't hiding, I swear—AH!" Kevin ducked out of the way of Looma's incoming fist, making her smash the wood he absorbed. He waved his hands frantically to try and get her to listen… as he made excuse after excuse. "I was sick! My ship broke down—" *CRACK* He got a hit to the gut for that. "I-I needed a new suit!" *BAM* A clean hit to the jaw, causing his face to splinter. "Th-There was an earthquake—AGH! A flood!" *CLA-CLACK* Two more hits across the jaw, his face now utterly mangled. "VILGAX ATTACKED!"
"Actually, that one's kinda valid." Ben pointed out… but it didn't make a difference.
*SMASH* Kevin was sent straight into the pavement, his wooden exterior going away as Looma stood over him. Slowly, he picked himself up, his face now thoroughly bruised. "…It wasn't my fault…"
"LIAR!" Looma went for another strong punch, Kevin screwing his eyes shut and preparing for impact… but it never came. He peeked an eye open and saw a small mana shield blocking Looma's hit, and he felt a sense of relief as he saw Gwen and Ben behind the Tetramand princess.
Gwen shook her head as Ben went for the Omnitrix, transforming into… "Terraspin! …Ugh, I was going for Overflow, but this works, too." But then, the turtle alien gasped and raised his massive flippers to block an incoming double-kick from Looma, the Tetramand knocking him back several feet. The team had to scatter as he and Looma landed, only for Terraspin to reconfigure himself into his flight mode and take off down the street, with the princess still holding onto his back.
"Ben!" Yang brought out her Ember Celica, kneeling down and slamming her fists into the pavement. "Hang on, I'm coming!" *BANG-BANG* Propelling herself forward with shots from her gauntlets, Yang followed the duo down the street, leaving the others to stare after her.
Six, recognizing this as a dangerous situation, gave the team a nod. "All of you, go! I'll contact the rest of the team and fill them in on what's going on." He faced Rook and ordered; "Take them in your Proto-Truk, Rook. We'll keep an eye on the situation here at base."
"Of course, Six." Rook affirmed, motioning for the others to follow him. "Come, let us get after them…" He trailed off as he heard a pained groan come from the ground. "…Just as soon as someone assists Kevin off the pavement."
A whole slew of people saying; "NOT IT!" followed.
Meanwhile, Terraspin was NOT having a good time flying. Namely because his "passenger" kept trying to punch through his shell. "Gah! Get offa me, lady!" he shouted, only for Looma to grab a hold of his head and yank up hard. "AGH! Oh craaaap!" The result was them pulling up very sharply… and crashing into the side of a building, making both of them fall straight down into the middle of an intersection. A sizeable crater was formed by the impact and Ben transformed back in a daze, shaking his head while Looma stood up behind him. "Ugh… perfect." Looma, her teeth grit and fists tightened, pulled her arm back for another punch… and then…
WHAP-POOM!
The Tetramand's four orange eyes widened as Yang appeared before her seemingly from out of nowhere, just in time to block her punch. "Gah, you know… I honestly should probably just let ya take Kevin. Maybe it'll teach him a lesson on how NOT to go around messing with girl's hearts…" She glared up to Looma, her eyes changing from violet to red. "…But let me tell you something, Princess Looma Red Wind… you raise a hand to my boyfriend? Then we REALLY have a problem."
"My quarrel is not with you OR you mate, girl!" Looma wrenched her fist back, glaring down at the blonde. "I seek Kevin and only Kevin. I don't have time to play games."
"You think this is a GAME?!" Yang shouted.
Looma shook her head. "No… but even if I did, I wouldn't stoop so low as to fight a girl like you."
That did it. Yang's hair was burning hot as her aura flared up. With a mighty battle cry, she let off a flurry of punches and unloaded her ammo on Looma… only for every single Fire Dust bullet to harmlessly bounce off the Tetramand's thick skin. Looma raised a hand to her mouth, yawning into it. "Ah… are we done here?"
"GRRAAAAH!" Yang was far from done. She leapt forward with great intent to beat this dismissive bitch and show her just how strong she was. The Blonde Brawler got a hit on Looma's midsection… before the warrior princess grabbed her by the neck, reached around to grab her arm… and then YANK it hard behind her back. There was a loud POP, followed by the sound of muscles being pulled… as well as Yang's scream of pain. "AAAAAAGGGHH!"
"YANG!" Ben bellowed as he transformed again, this time into Humungousaur. With a baneful roar, he SLAMMED Looma away with his tail and made her let go of Yang, who he caught gently in his hands. "S-Speak to me! Please, Goldie Locks, hang on!"
He couldn't help but stare at Yang's arm… it wasn't in good shape, to say the least. "B…B-Ben… is it bad?"
"D-Don't worry, Gwen's gonna get you fixed up…" Humungousaur trailed off as he saw the Proto-Truck come flying in toward them, lowering to the ground as its back hatch opened.
Gwen poked her head out, with Ruby, Blake and Weiss all staring at their injured teammate as well. "GET IN! Hurry!" Without needing to be told twice, Ben transformed back into his human form and carried Yang into the Proto-Truk, which took off as soon as it closed its hatch. He set her down next to Kevin, who also seemed to be in pretty bad shape. Nevertheless, Gwen had her spell book on hand, and she would make sure that both of them would be better in an instant. …Even if Kevin wasn't on her good side at the moment. "You have a LOT to answer for, Kevin."
Ben, however, was even LESS happy than her. Granted, he wasn't upset with Kevin… more so the Tetramand woman who had purposefully tried to break his girlfriend's arm. He knew one thing was for certain in that moment; "…She has to go."
…..
Rook didn't waste any time in finding them a hiding spot, one that was far away from the Plumber base but still in Bellwood. He had taken them to the sight of the Undertown entrance, where the empty warehouse had been destroyed and was just a short jaunt away from Mr. Baumann's. Thankfully, there was another building under construction in the next lot over, so that's where they made their hideout. With any luck, they would be able to meet up with the rest of the team there once Six informed them of the situation. Kevin was still unconscious from the beating he had taken, but EVERYONE was waiting for him to come to, eager to hear what excuse he had for everything going on.
Ben, meanwhile, was practically fuming. His girlfriend's arm was in a sling, with Gwen having healed it to the best of her abilities. Still, it did nothing to sate his frustration, neither to Kevin OR Princess Looma. He heard his cousin give a sigh as she finished Yang's temporary sling. "Hah, you'll make a full recovery by the end of the day." Gwen's eyes moved up to the brooding blonde, who kept her head low so that her bangs covered her eyes. "You're lucky that she didn't break it, otherwise it would've been a full day's wait."
Yang clenched her teeth, using her one good arm to hit the bench she was sitting on. "DAMMIT! She played me! Played me like a damn fiddle!" She kept her head down in shame. "I haven't learned a goddamned THING from trying to fight Adam!"
"Yang, that's not true." Ben asserted, sitting next to her and immediately pulling her into an embrace. "You've learned a lot, more than I think even you know. But nobody's perfect, not even myself. The moment I saw her do that to you, I considered pummeling her into the ground… but I knew I had to get you to safety first." Slowly, Yang raised her head to look at her boyfriend, her eyes red and puffy from crying tears of pain. "It's all about the situation you find yourself in. Trust me, I'm no stranger to letting my anger get the better of me."
"…I guess you got a point." Yang rested her head on Ben's shoulder, closing her eyes gently. "But… I still wish I could've kicked her ass."
"Heh, you and me both." Ben chuckled, planting a smooch on her forehead. "Don't worry, we'll figure this out…" He narrowed his gaze over to his best friend… who was not on his good list at the moment. "As soon as Kev wakes up, that is."
Across the room, Bobo chuckled as he reclined on top of a box, wearing a devious smile. "Oh-ho, man, can't wait ta hear DIS story. The kid musta got himself into some REAL deep shit ta get saddled with a dame like dat."
On the ground below him, with his back resting against the box, Argit gave a so-so motion with his hand. "Eh… I wouldn't exactly say "saddled" is the best word for it."
Ruby, however, wasn't about to have it. "And why should we trust your opinion? After the way you snuck off and never came back the moment we arrived on Earth?" Seeing the rather squeamish way Argit moved under her gaze, Ruby sighed and shake her head. "You know… I really thought you'd changed, Argit. After everything that happened back in Remnant, I was hoping that you'd have learned the value of being a decent person. …Guess I was wrong."
That got Argit to grumble and stand up, putting on a scowl as he pointed up at Ruby. "Listen here, Rube, being "decent" and "good" only gets you so far in this world. People like you? You can make it work." He jerked a thumb toward his chest. "But scumbags like me? We gotta get our hands dirty just to make a livin'. Ask Kev, he'll tell ya all about it."
"Hmmph…"
"…Which might be sooner than ya think." Argit and everyone else were laser focused on the Osmosian as he finally woke up, his hand moving to his forehead as a throbbing headache overcame him. "Wakey-wakey, Kev, ya got a LOT of 'splainin' to do."
"Ugh… Argit?" Kevin blinked the daze out of his eyes as he sat up. "W-Where are we?"
Rook stepped up and recapped; "We are at a construction site near Undertown's entrance. We can only hope that your fiancé will not come to search here."
Kevin's eyes immediately snapped open as everything came flooding back with that one single word. "Oh, shit, Looma! She's still on Earth?!"
"…Dude, it's only been thirty minutes." Rex deadpanned.
Weiss folded her arms over her chest with an expectant gaze. "And now YOU owe us all an explanation."
"Here I was thinking you just owed someone money." Ben said as he approached Kevin, thrusting a hand out for emphasis. "But engaged? What do you get out of it?"
"Listen, guys, I can handle this." Kevin insisted as he stood up. "Just lemme get Looma off world and—GAH!" All of a sudden, Ben came lunging forward and grabbed hold of Kevin's shirt collar, SLAMMING him right into a wall in a move that no one saw coming. "Agh! Tennyson, dude, what the hell's gotten into—"
"Enough, Kevin!" Ben snapped, silencing the Osmosian as he was met with a pair of angry, green eyes. "My girlfriend's arm is in a SLING because of your damn fiancé!" That made Kevin's eyes dart over to Yang, his gaze widening in shock as he saw the state of the Blonde Brawler's arm. She was also glowering at him out the corner of her eye, which Kevin didn't miss. Ben brought his attention back with a hard yank on his collar. "Yeah, see that? THAT is just not acceptable. So, you're gonna tell us exactly what's going on here. Right. Now."
Gwen wholeheartedly agreed. "He's right. It's time you explained, because the fact that you're engaged to that behemoth of a woman…" She pinched the bridge of her nose while shaking her head. "I-I can't even find the words to express how upset I am at you right now. Please, Kevin… I thought we were through hiding secrets."
Kevin glanced between his girlfriend and his best friend, seeing that they were incredibly serious about this. And one look up to the rest of the team indicated that they weren't too impressed with him either. With a short sigh, Kevin hung his head. "…You're right. I owe you an explanation. I'll tell." Ben loosened his grip on Kevin, freeing him to step away from the wall. "But just so you know; it's a long and complicated story."
"HA! No it's not!" Argit guffawed, pointing at his old pal. "You just—oof!"
The former con man batted the alien rodent in the nose for interrupting. "I'm gettin' to it, okay?! Ugh… alright, just to preface this; this was a LONG time before the Highbreed war. It was during me and Argit's more… questionable days."
Blake raised a brow at that. "I'd argue they're STILL questionable, but go on."
Kevin briefly narrowed his eyes at her before doing so. "Anyways… I needed a piece of tech from the Tetramands. It was… important. They said there was no way. I was an outsider…" He bobbed his head to the side with an uncomfortable wince. "So… I made a deal. I got what I wanted… and a fiancé in the process." He raised his hands in a show of surrender. "Trust me, I'm not proud of it, but it happened."
"That is… very on brand for you given what I heard from Ben." Rex noted.
"Yeah, definitely old Kevin's M.O." Ben concurred. "But more importantly, can you cut it off?"
Unfortunately, Kevin could only shake his head. "It's not that easy. Tetramand engagements are as tight as their grip. There aren't many ways to undo it unless specific circumstances are involved."
Argit, now recovered, made a point of his own. "Well, if ya wanted to undo it, ya shoulda just given the tech back, dude."
"I hate to agree with the porcu-possum, but EXACTLY!" Weiss exclaimed with a wave of her arms. "This whole mess can be solved in an instant if you just give back what you took! I mean, what could possibly be so important that you'd get chased across Bellwood to be forced into an arranged marriage for?"
"Oh yeah, sure, Weiss." Kevin brushed off. "As if I'm gonna give up my car to some four-armed princess…" Not two seconds did those words pass his lips did Kevin realize what he let slip. Shocked expressions turned into ones of disbelief and frustration… and he felt a certain pair of red eyes glaring from behind him. "…Oops."
Yang thrust her good hand forward, spinning Kevin around before wringing his neck as best as she could. "I… almost got my ARM BROKEN… because… of YOUR CAR?!"
Bobo couldn't help but laugh at the situation, watching as Yang's death grip forced Kevin to his knees and his face to turn blue. "BAHAHAHA! Oh man, looks like I was right! Da kid's got himself into some DEEP shit! Hahaha!"
However, Rook put a hand to his chin in thought. "In fairness, Tetramands DO make indestructible engine blocks. The best in the galaxy."
"Babe, please…" Ben rested a gentle hand on Yang's arm and got her to let go, rubbing soothing circles into her back to calm her down. "Deep breaths… deep breaths… we kinda need him alive." Begrudgingly, Yang did as instructed and sat back down, though Ben himself still gave his best friend a questioning eye. "So, THAT'S how your car survived all those beatings over the years?"
"Hak-hak! E-Exactly." Kevin regained his breath, standing back up. "A part like that is irreplaceable. So, if any of you got any better ways to get a Khoros 5 Engine, I'd love to hear it."
But Sun was more focused on something else that was bugging him about the situation. "Uh, dude, the fact that you're prioritizing a freaking CAR PART over not just the feelings of your friends, but of the princess HERSELF?" The monkey boy shook his head. "Yeah, you're not making yourself any more sympathetic here."
"Right?" Gwen shook her head. "That poor princess…"
"EXCUSE ME?!" Yang shouted.
"Yang, believe me, I do NOT approve of what she did to you in the slightest." Gwen insisted with a swipe of her hand. "That is not okay. But still, you gotta imagine that an expectant wife whose future husband doesn't reciprocate her feelings isn't a little tragic."
That made Kevin do a double take. "W-Wait, hold on, so you're not—"
Gwen scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Pfft—ha! What'd you expect? The jealous girlfriend routine? You're the one who jilted some vulnerable alien girl."
Ruby wagged a finger at the Osmosian. "And now it's comin' right back to bite ya in the butt!" Still, she glanced back to Gwen with an unsure face. "Still, Looma hardly seems "vulnerable" to me, Gwen."
"Ha! Yeah, me an' Ruby are on the same page here." Argit balked, causing Ruby to grimace as Kevin strolled away from the conversation. "My ASS is more vulnerable than she is. So, I propose that we protect ALL of our asses by laying low—in here, safe and sound—for the rest of eternity."
"Guys, Looma is an upset bride." Gwen attempted to reason, following her boyfriend as he drew closer to the wall. "Kevin, she's probably out there somewhere crying her eyes out while searching for you, so—"
WHAM! "AUGH!" Kevin yelped as the wall he was next to suddenly caved in and buried him under a large pile of rubble, causing Gwen to gasp and everyone to get on their guard.
Through the hole, Looma stepped through, the light from outside casting an imposing shadow over her fiancé. "I WILL fight for your love, Kevin, even if I must break every bone in your tiny body!" she said, clenching a fist to prove it.
Gwen's response? "Aw! That's so sweet!"
"Not seeing it—GAH!" Kevin was cut off when Looma grabbed him by the back of his shirt and then flung him into the wall… which created another hole. Looma jumped out of hers and followed him outside, leaving the others to contemplate what they should do.
"You know… I'd be down for just letting her beat the crap out of him more." Yang voiced.
"That's your sprained arm talking." Blake furrowed her brow. "Listen, Yang, you may be mad at him now, and honestly, a lot of us are, but we can't let his jerkish behavior right now speak for him. Kevin's still our friend, and it wouldn't be right to just let Looma take him." She saw her partner bite her lip, which told her all she needed to know. "I'm right, aren't I?"
Yang gave a frustrated grumble. "Mmph… yeah, you're right." the blonde lifted her slung arm. "But you guys are gonna have to compensate for me being out of commission."
In a flash of green light, Ben transformed into XLR8, giving his girlfriend a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Goldie Locks, we'll take things from here." He swiveled around and gave a nod to the others. "Alright, team, let's roll out!" Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Ilia, Rook, Rex and Bobo all followed him through the hole, leaving Yang and Gwen by themselves for a moment.
"…Can I ask something?" the former piped up.
"You're wondering why I'm not more upset with Kevin, right?" Gwen saw Yang give a shrug, prompting her to continue. "Well… to be honest, it's because I'm not surprised. This is typical of Kevin—or rather, WAS typical of him before he bettered himself." She smiled softly, resting a hand to her cheek. "He may say this is about his car… but the fact that he doesn't want to get married to Looma assures me that he IS committed to me." Her gaze became sympathetic as she reached out and placed a hand on Yang's arm. "I know you're not happy with him, and I'm not either, but Kevin IS still a good person. That I'm sure of."
Yang let out a sigh, nodding reluctantly. "Yeah, I get ya. …But you still wanna see his karma come back and bite him, right?"
"Oh, maliciously."
"Bitchin', let's go out and watch."
…..
Kevin was sent skidding across the ground, bouncing off the dirt before collapsing in the middle of the destroyed lot next door. Thankfully, all the rubble from the collapse had been cleared and now it house nothing but construction materials for the other building, but it was still a rough landing. Kevin shook off his stupor, but was met with the sight of Looma charging straight at him, a fist reeled back and ready for a hit. But, much to her surprise, she was hit in the side by a rushing XLR8, who immediately shouted; "GO! Hide!" The Osmosian did as he was told, ducking in one of the massive sewage pipes that were stacked on top of one another.
'Not the best hiding spot, but I'm desperate at this point.' he thought to himself.
"Grr, pest!" Looma spun around and performed a double lariat, hitting XLR8 in the neck and gut and sending him flying past Rex and Rook as they came charging in.
"Hang Ten, Ben!" Rook shouted, transforming his Proto-Tool into its blade form.
Rex had to resist the urge to facepalm while his Smack Hands were out. "You mean "hang tight"?"
"Hang tight!" Rook echoed, making Rex groan. Nevertheless, the two charged Looma with weapons at the ready, though the Tetramand princess wasn't about to let her guard down. She reached out with two hands as Rex went to punch her and then caught him by the metal fist, doing a small spin to get out of Rook's way… while also hitting him with Rex's OTHER Smack Hand in the process. "AAAGH!" *BOOM* Rook sailed straight into the building under construction, landing in one of the upper floors.
Looma stopped and Rex called out; "Sorry Rook—AGH-GAH!", only to get elbowed several times in the stomach. And then, with a simple twist, Looma reduced his Smack Hand to pieces, and then STOMPED on the other one for good measure. Thankfully, Rex's real arms weren't caught and he was able to pull out quickly.
"Don't worry, chief, I've got your back!" Bobo jumped up and then springboarded himself off of Rex's shoulders, taking out his blasters as he leapt over Looma's head. "Let's dance, toots!" A barrage of red energy bursts fired from his pistols and bombarded Looma, the warrior wincing in pain as she used her four arms to block the lasers as best as she could.
The princess growled and narrowed her four eyes at the simian. "What a nuisance…" She reached down and grabbed a piece of metal from Rex's build, using it as a shield as she charged toward the falling chimp. Then, with an expert throw, she hurled the piece up at him and it caught him in the gut, the force of the impact making him fly straight back into the building as well.
"BOBO!" Rex grit his teeth and brought forth his Blast Caster, ready to REALLY do some damage. "That's it, lady, no more Mr. Nice Guy!" He whipped his weapon forward and it curled around Looma, wherein he then let loose a MASSIVE burst of energy. Looma cried out in pain… but not for long as she flexed all four arms and loosened the Blast Caster's grip, leaving Rex astonished. "W-What the—AAGH!" Gritting her teeth through the shock, Looma grabbed hold of the large whip and started spinning again, getting enough momentum to hurl Rex right back into the building as well.
Looma dusted herself off and was about to go find Kevin, but was caught off guard when she found herself being circled around and around by XLR8. The Kineceleran's speed began whipping up a mini-tornado, which made Looma crouch low to keep herself from being lifted off the ground. "Nice try, Looma, but ya can't keep that up forev—" *WHAM* With a powerful double punch to the ground, Looma caused a massive shockwave that took XLR8 off-balance and tripped him up, the wind slowing to a halt and allowing Looma to jump on top of him and grab him by the tail. "AGH! Wait, wait, wai—AAAAGH!"
Once again, she sent another flying right into the building, brushing her hands off after the deed. But, once she turned around, she was met with Blake and Sun, who smirked up at her. "Yo, 'sup?" The monkey boy and cat girl dodged as Looma brought her fists down again, the ground quaking as she hit it. "I get the feeling that you're a bit tense." Sun remarked.
"How about we help you relieve that a bit?" Blake dashed forward and began focusing on her Semblance, creating shadow clones of herself every time Looma went for a punch.
"Ugh! GRAH! Why—can't—I—TOUCH—YOU?!" Looma bellowed.
"Your impatience and bullheadedness is working against you." Blake informed before adding a bit of Dust into the mix. "And as a result—" With one more shadow clone, Blake disappeared… and Looma was left punching a clone containing Gravity Dust energy, which blew her back several feet. "—That's happening. Sun!"
Sun closed his eyes and, as Looma landed, several light clones of him came flying out of his body, surrounding her on all sides. "W-What in the—AH!" The princess gasped as one of the clones jumped and latched onto her arm, followed by three more grabbing her other ones. On top of that, two more jumped straight for her legs, making her stumble while Sun smirked victoriously
"Boom time." The Via Sun clones all began glowing intensely and exploded into a massive burst of light and kinetic energy, sending Looma flying across the lot again.
She landed on her stomach and took to her hands and knees, but she couldn't see a think after being blinded. "Agh! What trickery is this?" A small gust of wind flew by her face, and Looma could feel many tiny little… things flying onto her face in the process, taking her aback. "Ah! W-What?!"
"No tricks here." Ruby said as she burst out of her blizzard of petals behind the Tetramand, carrying Ilia with her. "Just good ol' fashioned semblances. Go!" The Hooded Huntress threw Ilia down and she whipped her Lightning Last around Looma's upper right wrist, unloading a potent electric shock and making her scream in pain. Then, with Crescent Rose in hand, Ruby extended the handle and WHACKED Looma upside the head, leaving her in a daze. "Weiss! NOW!"
At her word, Weiss Summoned her Arma Gigas, which charged into Looma and slammed her down on the ground. Beneath the princess, another glyph appeared, which began freezing her over completely from head to toe. And while she was able to kick the Arma Gigas off of her… it was too late to get up. She was frozen to the ground, and before long, she found herself stuck inside a block of solid ice. Weiss, with a graceful wave of Myrtenaster, gave a curt nod to their opponent. "Hm, serves you right for what you did to Rex."
Blake approached the frozen alien as the other girls and Sun gathered up. She was honestly rather surprised. "Huh, you know, I thought that'd be harder." *Cr-Cra-Crack* Her ears perked up and her eyes darted down, seeing fractures begin to form on the outside of Looma's ice prison. "Aaaaand there it is."
BAM!
With a simple flex of her arms, Looma broke free, roaring in rage and doing a kip-up onto her feet. Mustering all the strength she could, she brought all four hands together, clapping so hard that it rippled the air around them and sent the young Hunters barreling back through the air, landing in a heap about fifteen feet away. On the sidelines, Gwen and Yang watched on in awestruck silence at just how strong this alien woman was. There seemed to be no stopping her. "…Any ideas?" Yang asked.
Gwen knit her brows together, knowing that there WAS one option still on the table. As Looma approached the two of them, she stepped up to the Tetramand Princess, bringing her hands up to gently halt her. "Listen, Looma, was it? Let's be grown-ups about this. It's probably all just a big misunderstanding, a cultural-relativism thing, you know?"
"Human insect!" Looma spat before reaching behind her back and pulling out… a double-headed war hammer. She immediately swung it for Gwen's head, but the Anodite brought up a mana shield to block the strike.
"Wait, she HAD that all along?!" Ilia shouted, her head popping out of the friend pile.
"I don't want to fight you." Gwen asserted.
Looma let out an amused laugh at that. "Hahaha! I don't know if you've noticed, whelp, but your blonde friend over there already knows this…" She made sure to smirk over to Yang as she made her point, causing the brawler's eyes to flash red again. "As if a girl would be able to put up ANY fight against me."
…And all at once, Gwen began to realize Yang's point of view. Looma was being a boisterous, self-confident brat who saw herself above everyone else. And that was one thing that she could NOT abide by. "WHAT did you say?!" Gwen's eyes flashed pink and her body shifted into her Anodite form, expelling a powerful mana pulse that once again made Looma go hurdling backward. Her long, energy hair then wrapped around the Tetramand's midsection and she flew straight up into the air, until they were high above the lot. "Kevin, MOVE!"
Down below, Kevin peered out of his hiding place in the sewage pipes, and he could tell immediately what Gwen was going for. "Don't gotta tell me twice!" he called back as he ran out.
Gwen lifted the struggling Looma up until she was level with her face, and the princess recoiled at the white-eyed glare that she was met with. "Let's see how you like THIS!" Reeling the Tetramand up and over herself, Gwen then flung Looma straight into the pyramid of pipes, burying her under all of them. The Anodite lowered herself to the ground… only to then round on Kevin as he approached her. "And as for YOU—"
"Uh, Gwen?" Kevin pointed behind his girlfriend as a plume of dust burst out of the pipes… which was caused by Looma jumping high into the air with one of them in hand. The Tetramand came falling down, ready to strike Gwen upside the head with the makeshift weapon… and Kevin couldn't let that happen. "WATCH OUT!" He pushed Gwen out of the way and took the full brunt of the hit, careening halfway across the lot and landing face down in the dirt.
"Now we end this…" Looma tossed the pipe away, "…beloved."
Picking herself back up, Gwen gasped when she saw Kevin sprawled on the ground, reverting back into her human form and dashing to him without a second thought. She turned him over onto his back, inspecting him for any injuries as Looma approached them both with her war hammer in hand. But, before she could reach them… "HEY!" XLR8 zipped right between her and the couple, followed by Rex, Bobo and Rook, now fully recovered. As if that weren't enough, Ilia, Sun and Team RWBY, Yang included, also came up from behind, surrounding her completely.
"Round Two, lady!" Sun shouted as he went to attack… only for a volley of lasers to come blasting out from the sky and stop him in his tracks. "AH! W-What the?!"
"Oh, of course, sky lasers!" Ruby bemoaned. "It's always freaking SKY LASERS!"
Seeing this, Looma smirked. She knew exactly what this meant, and her thought was only confirmed when the sky began to shimmer, and in an instant, a GIGANTIC black and gold space ship appeared directly above their heads. Everyone's jaws dropped at the scale of it, noting its X-winged construction and the four enormous thrusters on each one. It was also carrying something under its hull, some sort of four-walled structure hoisted by laser tethers.
Kevin weakly opened his eyes and felt his stomach drop to his feet when he saw it. "Oh no… him."
"Him?" Weiss echoed. "Who is "him"?"
"…My father-in-law."
The moment he said that, a large, angular pod came out from the bottom of the ship and lowered down toward the group. Once it touched the earth, it opened up and immediately, out came several Tetramand guards, all donned in gold and white armor and each carrying very sharp-looking spears. They surrounded the team, leveling their weapons all at once. "W-Woah! Hold up!" Rex exclaimed.
"Da hell is all dis?!" Bobo went to aim his pistols at the brutes… and was poked in the butt with a spear for his troubles. "GAH! 'Ey! Watch where yer pointin' dat thing, pal!"
"Guys, don't try anything!" Kevin said as he was hoisted up by a Tetramand guard, his arms pulled around his back to secure him. "Trust me, ya don't wanna provoke—"
"SILENCE!"
Everyone promptly shut up at the deep bellow that came from inside the pod. From the inside stepped out yet another Tetramand… but this one was bigger, bulkier and more muscular than all the rest, leaving the team in awe and fear. His appearance did nothing to hinder that fear either. It was obvious that this Tetramand had seen his fair share of conflict. He had pointed teeth and his lower left arm was missing, the stub covered by a golden clasp. There was a scar on his upper right shoulder, and his lower left eye was covered by an eye patch. What's more, his golden helm—which more so covered his neck than the top of his head—had one horn sliced off on the left side.
In terms of clothing, he wore a pair of black pants with furry hip guards and golden grieves, with matching fingerless gloves that had fur on the cuffs and gold plating strapped to the forearms. On his left shoulder was a layered golden shoulder pad that had a long, furry cape clipped to it by a large badge on his upper pectoral, and all of this was held together by a black and gold harness around his torso. At his midsection, he had the same tape-like wrappings that his daughter had around her own waist.
All of the Tetramand guards bowed their heads in respect as the Tetramand spoke; "You now face Warlord Gar of the House of the Red Wind. Hand Kevin Levin over to Looma… or Earth shall perish."
The team all did their best to huddle up as best they could… though Rook was noticeably the only one who had his arms up in the air. Unexpectedly, one of the guards also had Argit in his grasp, who wasted no time in trying to save his own skin. "I am NOT with them!"
"Traitor!" Ruby pointed an accusing finger at him. "Traitor, traitor, TRAITOR!"
"Uh, hehe… hey, Gar!" Kevin greeted nervously. "H-How's it goin', pops?"
Gar seemed to regard the young Osmosian with disdain. "Kevin…"
But his anger was curbed the moment his daughter spoke up. "Daddy!"
The Tetramand warlord raised his three arms and smiled as Looma ran up to him. "Ah, there's my girl!" Looma went in for a bear hug and, shockingly, lifted her father straight up off the ground. "Oh! Hahaha! You're getting stronger every day!" Gar laughed with pride as Looma set him down, pulling an arm around her as she still hugged him close. "I'm sure that you make your enemies QUAKE!"
"D'oh, haha, stop it!"
Everyone was understandably taken aback by the exchange, especially Yang. She hadn't expected the warrior princess who nearly broke her arm to be a… daddy's girl. In fact, the more she looked at the two of them, she was reminded of herself and her own dad, but she quickly shook that thought away. 'Stop it, Xiao Long! Don't feel empathy for the girl who hurt you!'
Gar, focusing back on the task at hand, set his sights onto the Omni-Hunters seriously. "Warriors of Earth, I am not a violent man… per se. But understand this; I would do anything to protect my daughter's interest."
"That so?" Rex wasn't feeling too intimidated. He had faced worse, after all. "You and what army, Gar?"
That made the warlord grin as he snapped his fingers… and then dozens of Tetramand warships—all of them smaller versions of his own—appeared in the skies of Bellwood. "Er, that would be my personal fleet." Gar explained confidently. "Ready to incinerate the planet with a word."
And just like that, all of Rex's confidence left him, the EVO deflating as Weiss grimaced at him. "You just HAD to ask, didn't you, Robo-dolt?"
"I'm a glutton for punishment."
XLR8, though, wasn't about to back town. He hit the Omnitrix dial and transformed back into Ben, raising his hands and stepping forward to speak his piece. "Warlord Gar, I am Ben Tennyson, Champion of Earth and savior of the universe. Surely there must be a peaceful way that we can settle this, isn't there?"
"Ah, Ben Tennyson." Gar nodded to the Omnitrix wielder, his tone carrying respect. "I have heard of your exploits. But indeed, there IS a peaceful way to settle this. For you see, today is supposed to be a joyous day!" He raised his three arms, and before anyone knew it, the four-walled structure hanging from the warship began lowering down into the empty lot. "Let the wedding commence!"
The second the structure came down over the group, the team realized exactly what it was; an arena. One that was playing… the wedding precession song? On all four sides of the arena, a set of organ pipes came retracting out from the walls, making it evident where the music was coming from. But then, at the very front end of the arena, several tall podiums came rising up, which hoisted the team and everyone else up closer to the main podium, where the wedding itself would take place. There, they saw a very elderly and quite skinny Tetramand priest waiting to initiate the ceremony.
"Woah… they don't waste time, huh?" Sun asked.
"Gotta say, I respect the hustle." Ilia noted.
Hanging his head in defeat, Kevin was brought up to the main podium, where he and Looma were stood opposite of one another. The guards kept their hold on Kevin as Gar stood by his daughter's side in support, all while the elderly Tetramand began his sermon; "Warriors and gentlemen, we are gathered here today in the eyes of Zed, for it is written: "Love is a Battlefield"."
"Killer 80's song." Bobo noted. "Would NOT mind if it played at da reception." All at once, the team frowned at him for his comment, which the EVO chimp merely shrugged at. "What? Da kid's as good as sold off to da amazon. Might as well enjoy da ceremony."
Ben shook his head. "We gotta stop this."
"Part of me wants to let them go through with it, to teach Kevin a lesson." Gwen lowered her head with a sigh. "And the other part of me…"
"Yeah, I saw that part." Ben reached for the Omnitrix and transformed into Crashhopper, bouncing up onto the main podium to confront the princess and her father. "Alright, listen up! I'm objecting to this union RIGHT here, RIGHT now! I don't want to have to fight you, but I'm willing to to stop this!"
Looma's eyes widened in surprise, as did Kevin's. Gar stepped between the two and looked down to his potential future son-in-law. "Kevin Levin, do you allow this?"
With a beaming grin, Kevin was more than ready to say; "YES!"
"Then challenge accepted!" Gar raised his hands, clasping his upper pair together as a prayer to Zed while Looma strode toward her opponent. "What good fortune!"
"W-Wait, wha—ACK!" Crashhopper was cut off when Looma grabbed him by the face and punched him HARD off the podium, sending him straight down into the center of the arena. She followed him in with a mighty leap, making the Omni-Hunters all whirl around to focus on the battle.
Looma came down with both fists pulled back, ready for a double punch, but Crashhopper was too quick, bouncing out of the way just in time. …Unfortunately, Looma was quicker than even he, as she thrust a hand forward and grabbed his leg, swinging him down right into the sand. Even so, Crashhopper reared his legs back and caught her in the gut, forcing her to stumble backward. "Couldn't even give me a LITTLE time?!" the hero snapped.
"We must finish before the priest finishes his sermon." Looma noted, giving him a… sultry grin? "Or else your challenge will be for naught."
Back up on the podium, Gar had come down to join the Omni-Hunters, laughing as he watched his daughter and Earth's Champion go at it down below. "Hahaha! This I will have to keep an eye on! Is Ben Tennyson a trained warrior?"
Yang took the opportunity to show her own strength, bringing her good arm up to flex it. "You bet! I consider myself to be his personal coach, and not to brag, but I think I've helped him hone his skills quite a bit."
"Ah, excellent! Then this, I will have to see!" Gar folded his arms as the fight continued below… where Crashhopper just got punched in the gut and slammed into a wall. "Hmhm, The Champion of Earth against my own dearest champion! If what you say and what I've heard of Tennyson's feats are true, then…"
It was then that Kevin re-entered the picture, shoving Argit out of the way so he could get to the front. "Yeah, yeah, we get it. COME ON, BEN!" He cupped his hands over his mouth to amplify his voice. "Earth's in the balance here! Show 'er what you've got!" However, Crashhopper was barely given a moment to breath as Looma kept after him, only being able to bounce out of the way of her hits… and even then, he got struck a few times anyway. Nonetheless, Kevin clapped his hands together in support. "C'mon, Ben, new alien! Turn into Way Big and step on her!"
"Or go Overflow and do what you did to Bashmouth!" Ruby advised. "That could work here!"
However, Argit was a bit unsure about this. "Hey, uh, doesn't Benny know about—" *KONK* With one blow from Kevin, Argit was unconscious, falling limply to the floor.
Needless to say, Yang's suspicions were raised as she narrowed her gaze at the Osmosian. "Is there a reason you just knocked out Argit?"
"…Maybe."
The interrogation was put on hold, however, when Ilia saw something that made her do a double take. "Wait… why'd Ben change into Clockwork?"
True to form, Ben had transformed into his Chronosapien form, the massive bronze clock-bot struggling to stand as Looma kept her arms secure around him. "Gah… I SVEAR I vas going for Cannonbolt!" Behind him, Looma was able to get her footing, pulling him up and over her head before tossing him straight into the wall again. "WOOAAAAHH—" *CLANG*
"AHAHAHA! Oh-ho-ho!" The Omni-Hunters as well as Looma were stunned to see Gar… crying a little bit as he laughed with aplomb, causing his daughter to approach the podium.
"Father! W-What's wrong?" she asked.
Gar wiped away his tears with a chuckle. "Oh, n-nothing, heh… it's just, this is how your mother and I met."
That short sentence was enough to send a ripple of worry through Yang's entire being. 'Wait… what?' Inside her mind, she was beginning to put the pieces together. Kevin's desperation, the comment from Gar, and the fact that they were acting as if this was a joyous occasion? 'Don't tell me… is this a—'
"GRRRAAAH!" Yang's train of thought was broken when Looma suddenly screamed in pain, and it was quite obvious why. Ben had transformed into Shocksquatch while she wasn't looking and snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and then giving her an electrocuting bear hug.
"Haha, YES! That's the way!" Kevin cheered.
But Kevin's good mood would be short lived as Looma squirmed two of her arms loose and proceeded to pry herself free of Shocksquatch's grasp, using the other two to elbow him in the pecs. The Gimlinopithicus doubled over and backed up as Looma spun around to go for another punch, but he was able to duck just in time… only to get hit on the way back by her other arms. This round of punching, dodging and hitting went on for a while before Shocksquatch was able to get his bearings, and it didn't take long for him to get into a rhythm of blocking, redirecting and even using Looma's own momentum against her.
However, the princess also picked up on him regaining control, so she resolved to change things up herself. Pulling her arms back, she instead went for a roundhouse kick that managed to catch the Omnitrix wielder in the gut, making him slide back on the dirt a few feet. Then, she went for a jumping high kick, only for Shocksquatch to respond with an electric pulse that blew her back. This allowed him to get back in the game by swinging at her with his electrified fists, which while not every strike hit, some DID manage to land.
Then, once her defenses were down, Shocksquatch went for a shoulder check right into Looma's midsection, wrapping his arms around her again. Looma, for her part, was actually a bit winded, but she wouldn't give in yet. "Grr… YIELD, HUMAN!" She went for the same move he did, wrapping all four arms around the hero's back and then yanking him up so that his head was now aimed right toward the ground.
"…Uh oh—AGH!" Shocksquatch's head created a small crater in the dirt as Looma brought him down for an awkward, sit-out piledriver, which everyone winced at. To follow up, Looma swiftly swung her legs around to stand up and then took hold of the hero's legs, using her momentum to spin around in a Giant's Swing maneuver. "AAAAGGH—WOAH!" Then, at the peak of her spin, she let the hero fly straight into one of the pipe organs, burying him in rubble.
The Omni-Hunters watched with mouths wide open, trying to comprehend what they had just saw. Kevin was the most deflated, though, while Gar was left with a proud smile and set a hand on his new son-in-law's shoulder. "Well, that's that. Shall we continue?"
"B-B-But, uh… I-I'm not good with commitments!" Kevin exclaimed.
"Gee, tell us something we don't know." Blake dryly retorted.
As Looma was walking back, though, she stopped when she heard movement from the rubble, and a coughing Ben Tennyson emerged from the cloud of dust. "Hak-hak! This—hak—isn't over, Looma! I can do this all damn day if we gotta!"
An eager smirk came to Looma's lips at that. "Hm, I respect your tenacity, Ben Tennyson. Very well, let's—"
Just then, a new voice rung out through the area, taking everybody off guard. "HEY!" The teens, aliens and EVO monkey all jolted in surprise at the sudden and somewhat familiar voice… when their eyes were drawn upward by something in the distance approaching very fast. Whatever it was, it seemed to have JUMPED up and over the arena walls, and as it grew closer, it didn't take long for them to realize who this was.
Landing on one knee directly between Ben and Looma, kicking up a cloud of dust with his impact alone… was one Manny Armstrong. And he was NOT happy. "Alright, who in the HELL is out here bustin' up my neighbor—" But his angry tirade was cut off as he got and eyeful of the instigators… and the fact that they were all Tetramands. His eyes directly locked onto the first one he saw… and judging from her reaction, she was just as stunned as he was. "Uh… what?"
"MANNY!" Kevin exclaimed. "Oh-ho, man, you are JUST in time!"
Looma, though, was in utter disbelief. "A… male Tetramand? Here?"
Gar seemed just as shocked as his daughter. "We… missed one?"
"In time for what?! An impromptu reunion or some crap?" Manny snapped back at Kevin. "All I heard was that there was trouble and somethin' about a marriage—" But then, once that left his mouth, he started putting two and two together, and his eyes darted back and forth between the Osmosian and the Tetramand girl in front of him. "W-Wait a sec… are you and… her getting…"
Looma held her head high, not about to let this unexpected arrival throw her off. "That's right. But we were right in the middle of a competitor's match, so if you would—"
"BAHAHAHA!" And just like that, Manny was on the ground, laughing his lungs out while clutching desperately at his sides. Up on the podium, Kevin grimaced and facepalmed, mumbling about how he should've known this would happen. But that didn't matter to Manny, who was taking in the sheer hilarity of it all. "AHAHA! DUDE! What the HELL, man?! How'd ya get yourself into THIS mess?!"
"I was young and stupid, OKAY?!" Kevin fired back.
"Pretty sure you're still at least ONE o' those things! AHAHAHA!"
Bobo couldn't help but laugh along with him, and even the likes of Sun, Ruby, Ilia and Rex had to hold back their own giggles. "BAHAHA! See? HE gets it!"
Weiss, though, rolled her eyes at this. "The fact that they see Kevin's situation as a joke only makes it all the more sad, honestly…" However, the former heiress trailed off when she noticed several more figures making their way over the arena wall, and given who was already here, she wasn't surprised when she saw who they were. "Helen!"
Her outburst caused the others to whip their heads up, and indeed, there stood Helen, Alan, Neptune and—unexpectedly of all—Penny all standing on top of the wall, waving to the group down below. "Hey guys!" Helen greeted. "Sorry we're late!"
"Salutations, everyone!" Penny bounced up and down in excitement. "Have we come in time for the ceremony?!"
"Sure did, Pen!" Ruby called back.
"Good, because we did NOT wanna miss this!" Neptune said with a cheeky grin while zeroing in on Kevin. "So, how's your special day goin', Mr. Groom?" Both he and Alan burst out with mad chortles at the rather steamed face Kevin was getting him, his complexion burning as red as his vision was.
Down below, Looma was almost just as furious as her groom-to-be was. "ENOUGH WITH THE LAUGHING! This is MY special day! And you wedding crashers are RUINING IT!"
Her angry bellow was enough to snap Manny out of his uncontrollable laughter, slowly regaining control of himself as he stood up to meet her gaze again. "Hah… alright, lady, here's the deal…" He clapped his hands together, pointing them at her as he explained; "Your "special day" is kinda puttin' a damper on the whole neighborhood."
Gar cleared his throat and spoke up; "Ahem, tell me, lad, do you live here?"
"More than just live, old man, I was born an' raised here." Manny spread his arms out. "This planet's my home."
"…So that's why." Looma realized, wearing a disgusted sneer. "You're a human-Tetramand hybrid."
The four-armed Plumber couldn't help but notice that revolted tone of hers. "…Yeah? An' what of it?"
"Pfft-ha! Surely you must know that half-blooded Tetramands are not as strong as a pure Tetramand." Looma brushed off. "What makes you think you can come in here and demand something of us?"
"Well, as a Plumber, I can't exactly let crap like this go unnoticed. Don't care if you're a full-blood or half-blood Tetramand, ya'll gotta take this crap an' go."
"How DARE you?!" Looma drew closer, making sure to raise her head up further since they were both equal height. "You, a lowly whelp of a half-breed Tetramand, demand to have I, Princess Looma of the House of the Red Wind, leave and call off my wedding?!"
"Look, as hilarious as it would be to see Kevin get hitched to ya, I'm afraid we kinda need him if we're gonna win the war against an evil, psychotic witch."
Looma scrunching her face in confusion. "Alright, now you're just not making any sense."
Manny gave a shrug. "'Kay, how bout I speak OUR language then?" Much to everyone's astonishment, Manny pulled all four arms back as quick as a while and punched Looma away from him… and she flew all the way back until she hit the ceremonial podium, causing a massive crevice to form all the way up to the top. Everyone was left stunned, and Looma in particular was completely flabbergasted. No half-breed she had ever come across in the universe had been able to do THAT to her. Manny, though, was focused on the task at hand. "LISTEN UP! My name is Manny Armstrong of Planet Earth, and I'm challengin' YOU, Princess Looma, to a full-on fight! If I win, ya'll grab your friends, grab yo' shit an' go home! An' if I lose… well, I guess you get to keep Kevin or somethin'."
"WHAT?!" Kevin bellowed.
"Hm… interesting…" Gar pondered on the proposition, as well as noting the surprising strength that Manny exhibited. He wasn't as muscular as most Tetramands, nor as tall as any normal male… but still, the fact that he was able to send HIS Looma hurdling back like that… he showed great promise. He set his sights on Ben, who was watching silently as all this went down. "Ben Tennyson, do you allow… erm, Manny to take your place?"
Ben was still trying to comprehend everything that had happened up to that point… but to be honest, it probably wouldn't hurt. 'After all, I'm pretty sure I've already done some pretty big damage to Looma at this point.' He eyed the Tetramand princess, and sure enough, she seemed to be nearing her limit. At this, Ben gave Gar a nod. "Sure thing! Best of luck, Manny."
Up on the podium, Yang was left relieved, but still apprehensive. 'On the one hand, if this is what I think it is… I dodged a bullet. But then if Manny wins…'
Manny offered the hero a fistbump, which he reciprocated. "Thanks, bro. Don't worry, I've got this covered."
Seeing this sign of sportsmanship, Gar couldn't help but laugh a little. "Ahaha! My word, you humans are certainly quite lax when it comes to matters such as this, but very well!" The warlord raised his hands up and prayed to Zed once again. "Our good fortune continues with this young Tetramand's appearance! Though he may only be a halfling, he certainly still qualifies! So, let the challenge restart!"
As if on cue, Looma screamed and shot herself toward Manny with a powerful jump. However, Manny was more than ready, meeting her and locking their arms up in a grappling session. "Do you have ANY idea what you've just done?!" She narrowed her eyes directly at his… all while trying to ignore how his petulance nature was somewhat turning her on. "Don't think I haven't noticed. You have a prosthetic hand. How can you possibly hope to win with—UGH!"
Manny made sure to punch her straight in the belly with said metal hand right there. "Hm, funny, I think that gives me even more of an advantage, actually." he smirked as Looma continued to scowl at him "And I may not know exactly what I got myself into, lady, but I at least know what I get outta this if I win."
"Y-You just contradicted yourself!" Looma's cheeks flushed a dark red as she pushed back, with Manny's heels digging into the dirt. "You have absolutely NO ide—AH!" An uncharacteristically girlish yelp escaped Looma's lips as Manny went with the flow of things, arching back and then kicking her up and over his head.
"How's THIS for an idea?!" He spun around as she came down on the ground, wasting little time in grabbing hold of her by the shoulders. "GYAAAAH!" Manny tossed his opponent straight into the arena wall, destroying yet another pipe organ.
Kevin, meanwhile, was exceptionally pumped for this match. "Haha! Alright, now we've got a fair fight goin' on!"
"Female Tetramands are traditionally stronger." Rook pointed out. "That and Manny is still not as strong as a normal Tetramand. The princess still has the advantage."
"…Dude, why do you gotta harsh my mellow here?"
With a sudden burst of air blasting past them, the team were taken aback when Helen and Neptune arrived on the podium, the blue-haired boy having hitched a ride on the former's back. "I wouldn't count your chickens before they hatch, Rook." Helen advised as Penny and Alan flew in and landed with them as well.
"I fail to see how poultry fowl have anything to do with this, Helen." The Revonnahgander's comment immediately made everyone groan, as per usual.
"Rook, she means to not judge based on appearance alone." Alan clarified with a knowing grin. "After all, Manny may SEEM weaker, but here's the thing; there's a LOT more than meets the eye with him."
Helen nodded at the Pyronite boy's words. "Yep. See, whenever Manny gets angry in a fight, we're pretty sure his strength increases with it." Her sights went down to the battle below, where Looma had quickly gotten the advantage back and began pummeling Manny into next week. "Not sure how it's possible, but I have a feeling it's because he's a hybrid."
The others weren't too sure what to make of that, but Rex quickly picked up on it. "Oh, so it's like Saiyan-human hybrids from Dragon Ball mixed with the Hulk?" The team gave him equally incredulous expressions, which he could only raise his hands at. "What? It's the first thing I thought of."
But Helen shook her head. "No, no, you're good, Rex, it's just…. I probably wouldn't have made that connection right off the bat. But sure, let's go with that."
"So essentially, the angrier he gets, the stronger he becomes." Penny concluded as she did a thermal scan of Manny and Looma. The latter's heat signatures read as fairly normal… but when it came to Manny, it was plain to see that his temperature was starting to build, and judging by his growing aggravation with Looma getting so many hits in on him, it was easy to deduce why. "Ooh, everyone, pay attention." Penny zoomed her sights in, watching as Manny's arms began to ripple as he slammed them against Looma, the two going back to grappling. The veins and muscle beneath his skin seemed to be expanding ever so slightly, and suddenly Looma faltered unexpectedly, allowing Manny to lift her up and toss her away with ease.
"GRAAAAAAH! Okay, so you wanna play THIS game, huh?!" Manny shouted, his face contorting in rage as he charged at her. "BRING IT!"
Looma's eyes snapped open and she shot to her feet. "GLADLY!" With a mighty roar, Looma brought two arms up and performed a double lariat, blowing Manny back. She closed in fast, but Manny was able to get up and block a punch, only to get elbowed the very next second. Still, he bore through it and swung his leg up for a kick… which not only hit Looma, but sliced off one of the horns on her helmet with his back toe. "GYAH! Why you—UGH!"
The princess was met with a double punch to the gut, but she wasn't about to get taken off her guard that easily. She backtracked and then jumped forward while spinning in the air for a double punch of her own, but Manny managed to dodge… which was exactly what she was hoping for. Looma redirected herself and landed a double elbow to his midsection, and then she spin-kicked him directly into the organ that Ben had destroyed from before.
The Omni-Hunters suspensefully watched as Looma closed in to finish the job… but then the rubble burst out and Manny roared back at her; "I HAVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU!" Looma was effectively taken aback, enough for Manny to get in another kick to give himself enough room. He craned his head up and spotted something quite interesting; a large, gold pillar leaning over his head with a massive, red, ornamental sphere on top of it. …It also happened to be big enough to crush someone. 'Perfect.'
Manny reached up all four arms and, mustering up all of his strength, he swiftly brought the pillar straight down onto Looma before she could properly recover, crushing her beneath the sphere. This caused another cloud of dust to be kicked up, blocking everyone's view as they waited with baited breath to see who one. But, when the victor emerged… everyone immediately burst into triumphant cheers as they saw Manny come out, an unconscious Looma draped over his shoulder.
He set her down to the floor unceremoniously and shouted; "WOOOO, YEAH BOY! THAT is how you take down a BIT—"
"HAHAHA! At last!" Gar exploded with joyous applause. "A TRUE champion fit to marry my daughter!"
And just like that… silence. The celebration was brusquely cut short as everyone processed what the warlord just said. Yang winced as her suspicions were confirmed, and seeing Ben's slack-jawed expression, things were starting to click in his head as well. "Yeah… had a feeling that was coming."
"What in the HELL?!" Helen exclaimed, her hands flying up to her helmet. "What do you mean "marry"?!"
"I see…" Rook muttered, understanding the situation perfectly. "Tetramand females are pledged to the male who defeats them in combat." The Revonnahgander glanced over to Kevin. "You beat Looma and won so you could ask for the Khoros-5 engine block."
"Ah, heh… yeah, she wasn't always THAT big." Kevin explained as he jumped down off the podium.
Blake, however, facepalmed as she and the others went to follow him. "This is ridiculous."
"Utterly so." Ilia agreed.
Manny was undoubtedly the most baffled out of all of them. "Wh-Who to the what now?" At the sound of moaning from below, his eyes darted down to see Looma coming to… and the moment her sights locked on to his, he could see a range of emotions flash across her face all at once. At first, she was just as stunned as he was, but once everything settled in with her, a bright, happy smile graced her features, and she shot up to her feet.
"My… my true beloved!" Using all four hands she grasped Manny's own and brought them together, bowing her head to him. "I must profusely apologize for my behavior! I judged you solely based on your genetics and that was completely wrong of me. Truly, you are just as strong as any Tetramand, and it was an honor to lose to you." She brought her head back up and drew closer to Manny, who was still trying to comprehend it all. "And thusly, it shall be a true honor… to be your bride. Ah, I always knew that Kevin Levin wasn't husband material."
"N-Not that I don't agree with ya on that, b-but I'm still trying to understand what's goin' on!"
That made Looma giggle a little. "Hmhm, see? I told you that you had no idea what you were getting into…" She sent him a double wink. "But you should be ecstatic! After all, this means that you are to be Khoros-5's next king!"
"KING?!" Manny and Ben both exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, KING?!" Rex said as he and the team made it to them… though he seemed a lot more excited at the prospect. "Manny, bro, that's awesome!"
Neptune and Sun also gave dual thumbs up. "Yeah, man, crongrats!"
Manny whipped around in a panic. "Are you kiddin'?! I ain't fit to be no king—OOF!"
"Haha! Don't worry, my son!" Gar had arrived and gave Manny a hardy pat on the back, which subsequently made him get even closer to Looma. "Believe me, I didn't think I would be ready at first either, but given what you've shown me here today, you have incredible potential!"
At this point, Manny was just broken. "I-I-I—I-I…"
Looma wasted no time in pulling all of her arms around his shoulders and neck in an embrace. "What would you like for an engagement gift, beloved? Daddy's loaded, so don't be afraid to ask!"
"Indeed, my boy! You have but to name it."
As that was going on, though, Kevin was immediately confronted by Ben, who was not in a good mood. "So you mean to tell me that you KNEW what I was getting myself into by challenging Looma?! You were HOPING that I'd win and get engaged on YOUR behalf?!"
"H-Hey, to be fair, you were probably the ONLY one here capable of beating Looma at the time." Kevin defended himself.
But then, Yang also stepped in front of the Osmosian, glaring at him. "And you didn't even think of what the consequences might be if it DID happen?"
"O-Okay, maybe I was bein' a bit selfish here, I'll own up to that." Kevin admitted as he backed away from the couple. "B-But hey! At least it didn't happen, s-so there's no need to worry 'bout that, right?"
"Maybe not." Ben said as he and Yang both smirked at the looming shadow that now stood over Kevin. "…But I can think of one person who's not too thrilled about this."
Kevin's eyes widened, feeling a very malevolent presence behind him. He didn't even get a chance to turn around before Manny roared his name. "LEVIN!" The Osmosian screamed and ran for his life with Manny in hot pursuit, chasing him around the arena at breakneck speed. "YOU ARE SO GOD DAMN DEAD!"
It didn't take long for the Tetramand hybrid to get his hands on Kevin, and from there, the beatdown commenced. …And no one did a thing about it. "Now this… this is karma." Weiss noted as Kevin's screams echoed through the arena.
"Yep, I'll heal him up later." Gwen resolved before seeing Looma wearing a rather dreamy smile as she stared at the beatdown in progress. "Wow, you've… really fallen hard for Manny, huh?"
Looma's eyes widened when she realized what she was doing, putting on a more serious expression and crossing all four of her arms. "M-Mind your own business, human." she stammered.
This only made Gwen grin up at her. "Aw, what happened to fawning over him from a little while ago?"
"That was an intimate moment that I'd rather you not comment about." But, as Looma glared at the redhead… she saw that Gwen was giving her a genuine smile, not one of sarcasm or mockery. The princess' own expression softed and she turned away bashfully. "…Although, I must say… I didn't think my true beloved would come to me in such a manner. I fought every male Tetramand in the galaxy to try and replace Kevin, you know… and none of them could stack up." Her gaze traveled back to Manny, and she couldn't help but swoon at the pure rage he was exhibiting. "Who would have guessed that he, a hybrid Tetramand from Earth, would be my salvation?"
"…Well, that's quite the unique way to put it, but I can see what you're saying." Gwen gave her a nod before strolling up to Manny, deeming it to be enough karma for one day. "Anyway, I'd better make sure your new fiancé doesn't kill my boyfriend."
"Yes, you go do that…" Looma had to admit, this wasn't exactly what she'd thought would happen today, not in the slightest. She had come to Earth to be married and yet now here she was, engaged to someone new on the very same day. 'And thankfully so.' the princess thought to herself. 'It would've been a loveless marriage to begin with on both ends.' She bit her lip lustfully as she watched the heroes attempt to pull Manny off of Kevin, the latter now reduced to a quivering mess on the ground. Just the sight of his anger was enough to get her motor running. 'But him? Ooh, I'm feeling ALL sorts of good things about him.'
It took Ben transforming into Armodrillo as well as Penny bringing out her Mechano-Crushers to finally remove their Tetramand friend from the unconscious Osmosian. "CALM DOWN, MAN!" the hero exclaimed. "He's had enough, jeez!"
Manny, though, was far from calm. "This ain't over, Levin, YOU HEAR ME?!"
"Fairly certain he cannot at the moment." Penny noted, wincing at the state Kevin was in.
On that note, Gar raised his hand… which finally got the priest to stop his sermon. "Well, that's it for now. This change of combatants restarts the engagement clock." He approached Manny and set a hand on his shoulder, which finally managed to snap the hybrid out of his rage. "Young man, it was fantastic getting to know you. We'll be back in three of your Earth years, though expect us to drop in from time to time." The warlord balled an eager fist. "Given your heritage, it is only right that I personally tutor you on how to properly grab the reigns as the future king. Of course, I will do my best not to get in the way of your Plumber business, but regardless, your training shall begin soon, so be ready."
"H-Hold on there, pops, I ain't—oof!" Manny was cut off when Looma once again wrapped her arms around him.
"Beloved, do not worry." She said with enthusiastic reassurance. "This time, I'm going to plan a big wedding—no, a MASSIVE wedding! There are so many things that we must do, Manny Armstrong." Looma began counting off on her fingers exactly what she wanted; "Our parents must battle, and then the best man must be chosen through combat. Then we register for plunder, then the customary offerings—"
Manny raised a finger. "Uh, that sounds cool an' all, but uh… my parents are kinda dead, so the first one's gotta be knocked off the list."
And that managed to take the wind out of Looma's sails a little. "O-Oh… I am so sorry."
Gar was also visibly upset by the revelation. "Oh, by Zed, my deepest sympathies, my boy." But he also put on a very resolute expression. "Well don't worry, because if anything, that only strengthens our resolve to check in on you every now and again! We shall make you feel like a genuine part of the Red Wind family if it is the last thing we do!"
"N-Not that I don't appreciate the gesture, but—"
"OH!" Looma gasped, cutting Manny off as she recalled; "When Drolga got married, they bludgeoned their guests with matching His and Hers war hammers!" The Omni-Hunters collectively gawked at her when they heard that. "Could we get those, daddy?"
With a hearty laugh, Gar set a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Hahaha! For you, my darling, anything!" He raised a hand to Manny one last time for a farewell. "Good battle, Manny."
"Good battle, love~." Looma cooed as she waved goodbye.
Manny himself felt a bit of heat rise to his cheeks as he returned the gesture. "G-Good… battle." In very little time, the Tetramands all returned to their entry pod and it floated back up to Gar's warship, with the energy tethers reattaching to the arena so that it could be hoisted up as well. Then, the group watched as the warship left Earth's atmosphere, with Gar's personal fleet blasting off right behind them. Once they were all gone, Manny's shoulders sagged as the sheer weight of everything that just happened finally hit him, all while Helen and Alan gave him some supportive pats.
Bobo, though, climbed up onto the Tetramand's shoulder, nudging him in the neck with his elbow. "Ah, don't worry 'bout it, kid. Honestly, landin' a dame like dat? Pretty sure ANY guy would be jealous of ya…" The EVO chimp gave him a wink. "Just uh… be careful, kay? Don't want 'er breakin' nothin'… "important" on ya, if ya catch my drift. Hehe…"
"…I'm ready to go home now." Manny moaned.
"Yeah, I think we all are." Armodrillo agreed as he picked up the knocked-out Kevin, draping him over his shoulder. "…Now, are we forgetting anything?"
As if to answer him, Ruby came trudging up with a frustrated face… while dragging a sleeping and snoring Argit along the ground by his tail. "Nope, nothing. Let's go." And that, they did… for the Omni-Hunters were absolutely DONE with this day.
…..
A/N: You can practically hear the Omniverse ending music sting with that ending, can't you? But yep! In a surprise twist, it's MANNY who ends up winning the engagement instead of Ben (as Four Arms). Now, this decision could probably be seen as predictable to some, but quite honestly, I think it actually works a lot better than most would think. Because while Manny may have a Tetramand's ferocity, he also has human-levels of compassion to him, which could work in his favor when it comes to "courting" the Tetramand Princess whenever she comes back in the future… as much as he probably doesn't WANT to get married, but we'll see how all of this ends up.
Though, to be honest for a moment and talk about the ACTUAL Omniverse episode itself… in hindsight after watching it again, I think out of all the alien love interests that show introduced, I think I WOULD ship Ben and Looma the most, mainly for how interesting the dynamic would be. Of course, given my love for OmniDragon in THIS story, that was never gonna be the case here, but yeah, just wanted to share my thoughts on that. And besides, if Ben HAD gotten the win here, that would only make Yang even MORE angry with the princess, and I didn't want to complicate the relationship THAT much. Still, you can bet that once Looma comes back, Yang's gonna want a rematch.
…Also, yeah, Kevin got relentlessly bashed in this chapter, but to be fair, he kinda brought it upon himself for NEVER telling anyone about his engagement to Looma. ESPECIALLY Gwen, since at that point, they had built a pretty strong bond of trust. This whole thing is basically serving Kevin one giant piece of humble pie so that he doesn't do anything like that in the future… hopefully.
And in addition, this chapter has basically reminded me how much I love writing Ruby and Argit's dynamic. She's that one friend who keeps trying to change an a-hole acquaintance for the better but he never freaking learns and she just gets more frustrated as time goes on. To me, it's brilliant, and I wouldn't change it for the world. Plus, we got to see tons of characters get in some fight time with Looma, including some like Rook and Bobo, so that was nice. And honestly, I laughed every time Bobo interjected his own opinion on things, it was fantastic.
So, where do we go from here, eh? Well NEXT TIME, we jump forward to Monday where the Omni-Hunters are wrapping up another successful training session… only to be met with something puzzling. A strange ad suddenly appears on TV… on every station at the exact same time. And it's not just ANY ad, but one that is advertising a certain group who've they've been at odds with for a long time now. Somehow, they've hijacked the signal, but the question must be asked… why is a CULT advertising themselves as a self-help organization? Find out next time in… Join Us, Part 1. Just who is… the Exalted One? Thanks for reading everybody and I'll catch you all next time! And of course, stay safe out there!
