A/N: Hey there, guys! Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY: Ultimate Omniverse, and this time… I actually decided to do something a bit different with the opening of this chapter. It's not really a "conventional" opener, per se, but I thought it'd be a clever way to transition into what our heroes are up to at the moment. But, aside from that, we're adapting Omniverse episodes again… and in a much different way than before! Taking two episodes and combining them. So with that said, let's get started, shall we? This is…
Chapter 72: Gone Fishin'
…..
On the island of Mata Nui, along the frozen tundra of its highest mountain, a lone, robotic warrior strode up toward its peak. He was a tall being with blue eyes, wielding a sword and shield and wearing a mask over his metal head. The mask itself was very rounded and had a massive apparatus in place of right eye, one with three large lenses which were able to zoom in and out. His name was Kopaka, the Toa of Ice, and he was currently on a mission to seek out the ancient Kanohi, Masks of Power that were said to be the key to defeating a great evil. After arriving in Ko-koro, the village elder, Turaga Nuju, had advised him to start his search in a "Place of Far-Seeing", so he resolved to head to the highest point on Mata Nui. That seemed like a place where you could see far.
However, as he proceeded further, the sky became much darker. If he could feel the cold, Kopaka surely would've felt the wind chill him to his core. And while he didn't sense any storms, he could hear the rumble of thunder.
*CRASH* *CRUMBLE* *ROAR*
…He would soon learn that this wasn't thunder. "WATCH OUT!" Whipping his head up, Kopaka saw a massive rockslide come careening down at him, atop it riding another being who was much like himself. However, that was all he managed to see before he was buried in the massive stones, leaving only his head visible.
"Sorry about that!" the rock surfer apologized, zipping right over to Kopaka. He was a very stout being with a prominent hunch, colored dark brown and sandy tan to reflect his element. His eyes were bright orange and his mask was very curved, with the exception of its bulky jawline. He had two fingers on each hand and his feet were very large, though the front parts of them seemed to be added on. "I was practicing. Are you alright?"
"I would be…" Kopaka spoke, more miffed than angry at the Stone being. "If you weren't standing on me."
Extending his hand, the brown one offered to help. "Here, let me get you outta there."
"Thank you. But I don't need help."
Despite Kopaka's words, the other being began moving rocks anyway. "Let me do it. It'll be faster!"
But then, Kopaka used his elemental powers to freeze the rocks on top of him. And with one swing of his sword, he broke free in no time. "I said… I can do it myself."
"…Yeah, well…" Rearing his leg back, the Stone being let loose a MASSIVE kick, sending a gigantic boulder hurdling halfway across the island. "You MISSED one!" Brushing his chest away of any tiny stones, the warrior extended his hand again. "So, I take it that you're a Toa as well? I'm Pohatu, Toa of Stone."
Kopaka spared a glance at Pohatu's hand before curtly introducing himself. "Kopaka, Toa of Ice." He continued up the rocky slope, intent on continuing his journey. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I have a mask to find."
Taken aback, Pohatu waved after the Ice Toa. "W-Wait! I have a feeling we're both here for the same purpose. Why not team up? It might make things easier."
"I work alone."
Pohatu raised a skeptical eyeridge at that. "By choice? Or just 'cause no one can stand you?"
That comment gave Kopaka pause. Not because he was offended, but because he respected the mettle it took to respond to him like that. "…Alright, come along. After all, I might need a mountain moved. …Or the island lifted." A short time later, after facing only a few obstacles in their way, they made it to the top of the mountain, and Kopaka was quite surprised to see Pohatu's resolve in following him. But, when the reached the peak, they both saw a lone stone sticking out of the snow. And there, placed upon it, was the treasure they were seeking. It was a very curved white mask with three slashes in the cheeks, as well as a deep divot in its center. "…The Mask of Shielding."
Putting his hand over his eyes, Pohatu gazed out over the entire island, basking in its varied ecosystem. A lush jungle, a craggy volcanic mountain, and the arid dessert that he called his new home. "Sure seems like a "Place of Far-Seeing", alright." The Toa of Stone agreed. "You can see the whole island from up here!"
Kopaka wasn't enjoying the view, though. He was putting on the mask that he had found, its power coursing through him when it touched his face. "I can feel the power of this mask protecting me…" Just then, the mask shifted back to his normal one, allowing him to see far and wide. "Yet the powers of the Mask of Vision are still mine to wield." But then, something caught Kopaka's eye down at the mountain's base, prompting him to usher Pohatu along. "We have to go. Now."
"Hm? What's the matter?"
"No questions. Just follow me."
In no time, the two had made it down the mountain, entering the heavily forested area of Le-Wani. Still, Pohatu was left confused. "What did you see?"
"Strangers. Beings of great power." Kopaka answered as they arrived at their destination. Down below, in a small clearing, they saw yet even more beings like them. One was bright red and orange, holding a blazing sword and wearing a red Mask of Shielding of his own. Next to him was a blue one, the only female among them, wielding a pair of hooks and wearing a clear blue mask with a visor which her yellow eyes shone through. A shorter, pitch-black warrior with grey limbs and massive claws wasn't too far away, his mask having visible vents in his cheeks and forehead. Finally, was a tall and lanky green being, his mask very aerodynamic as he held a battle axe in his hand.
Kopaka's eyes narrowed at all of them as they took notice of their presence. "But the question is; are they allies… or enemies?"
…..
"Well of course, we're allies, silly!" Ruby exclaimed as she held Tahu up, raising his large hand at the Ice Toa… whom was being held by Jaune. Across the floor, Yang, Ilia, Sun and Ren all sat with them, each of them holding Pohatu, Gali, Lewa and Onua respectively. Things had gotten quite productive in the Tennyson household in the past couple of hours, with everyone having constructed the Toa heroes, the Turaga elders, and even the Matoran villagers in no time flat. All the while, Ben had decided to read some excerpts from the book that Zak's uncle had included with the package; "Bionicle Chronicles #1: Tale of the Toa."
And, as the Omnitrix bearer read from the little book, the others had been inspired to do a little roleplay game with their constructed figures while everyone else listened and worked on the Rahi beasts. …And already, Jaune was getting a bit frustrated. "Ugh, Ruby, come on, stay in character, please!" he pleaded, using Kopaka's gear system to make him swing his sword at the Fire Toa. "Tahu's supposed to be the hotheaded one who butts heads with Kopaka, not the friendly one!"
"Yeah, I'm the friendly jokey one, sis." Yang insisted, holding up Pohatu while making his leg kick with the gears… which were in a bit of an unfortunate spot. "…Though I don't know how I feel playing a character with a bunch of gears sticking out of his ass."
"The curse of having an upside-down torso piece." Ben lamented with a sad head shake, putting a pause on his reading for the time being. "It's a real shame." He took a moment to inspect the book in his hand, the "Scholastic" logo making him grin. "Gotta say, though, this takes me back. I remember these kinds of books ALL over the book fares that came to school. Gotta hand it to your uncle, Zak, he made sure to make the experience feel complete."
The young Secret Scientist could only shrug. "Eh, he probably bought it second-hand online or something like that. These books are REALLY cheap compared to the toys, so no skin off his bones." Reaching his hand over to the coffee table, Zak took up one of the small Matoran figures. "Honestly, I'm more surprised that the guy he took these from actually DID have ALL of the figures, including the Matoran! I heard that these were kid's meal toys back in the day, so they've gotta be hard to find now, right?"
Ilia nodded in agreement. "I don't doubt that. But, um…" She paused to hold Gali up a little more. "Not that I don't appreciate being cast as the most noble and level-headed Toa, but… aren't we a little old to be playing on the floor like this?"
Jaune sent her a reassuring look, waving a hand to her. "Ah, don't think too much about it, Ilia. We built these guys, so it's only fair to actually do what they're intended to do, right?" Once again, he twisted the gear in Kopaka's back. "Ya know? Being played with?"
"Not that I don't agree, Jaune…" Ren said as he too twisted Onua's back gear, making the Earth Toa wave his arms and swing his claws. "But it's not exactly too exciting when all of our adversaries are still being built."
"WE'RE WORKING ON IT, DANG IT!" Nora shouted from behind the couch. "These giant crabs are a pain in the ass!" There was a short silence afterwards before the Pink Dynamo popped her head up with a scowl. "Do not take that out of context."
Just then, Sun came in with Lewa in hand, making his voice lighter and more jovial as he spoke for the Air Toa. "Brothers, Sister! Please, now is not the time for argue-bickering! Now is the time for merry-making! For now all six Toa-Heroes are in one place!" Sun made Lewa raise his axe up high. "Now, our journey-search for the Masks of Power can begin properly!"
The group stared at the monkey boy in stunned silence for a while before Jaune glanced over to Ruby. "See? Sun knows how to stay in-character." The Hooded Huntress grumbled and rolled her eyes. "See? More like that for Tahu, please." Jaune received a chop to the shoulder for that remark.
"Ugh, what's the point if we don't have anything to fight?!" Ruby cried out.
But it didn't take long before her prayers were answered… "Ask and you shall receive!" From around the corner, Pyrrha, Neptune, Blake and Penny all came forth with four Rahi beasts; two blue and purple ones that resembled scorpions and two orange and green ones that resembled giant insects. Pulling back on their triggers, the four girls made the insect's wings flutter and the scorpion's tails lash forward with surprising force. "Beware!" Pyrrha announced. "The Rahi have come for your masks!"
"Get ready to feel the mighty sting of the Nui-Jaga!" Penny proclaimed.
"And the speedy force of the Nui-Rama!" Neptune added.
Blake was the only one who wasn't too enthusiastic, though that's not to say she wasn't amused. "Not gonna lie… this is probably the strangest thing I've ever done. In the context of something that's considered "normal" that is."
All the same, Ruby's eyes lit up, a gasp passing her lips as she made Tahu raise his sword. "Haha! Yes! Exactly what we've been waiting for! Toa Heroes! To arms!"
Ilia, however, was concerned. "Sh-Shouldn't we come up with a plan!?" she spoke for Gali.
"Indeed." Ren concurred, deepening his voice for Onua. "Let's take stock of the situation and—"
But Sun was already flying Lewa in toward the Nui-Rama. "Can't hear you, too busy fly-fighting! Yahoo!"
Both Ilia and Ren groaned, but Yang came in to have Pohatu reassure them. "Now, now, don't worry, guys. We're gonna… ROCK them! HAHAHA!" With that, Yang made the Stone Toa kick his Kholi ball at the beasts… only for it to be struck down by the Nui-Jaga's stinger tails. "…Not off to a good start, though."
"Uuuugh." Jaune cringed, making Kopaka facepalm with his shield. "The island is doomed."
"Hehe, don't worry, Jaune." Ben chuckled, giving him a pat on the back. "Everything will work out… eventually." *ring-ring* *ring-ring* The hero raised his eyebrows and reached into his pocket, taking out his cellphone and seeing that his grandfather was calling him. "Ooh, sorry guys, gotta take this. Be right back!" With the group giving Ben the okay, he went straight into the kitchen, where his mother was busy cooking… whatever green, lumpy goo was in the pan. "Er… hey mom."
"Ah, Ben! You're just in time!" Sandra picked up the pan and presented it to her son. "How about you try my spinach and green bean casserole? It's fresh out of the oven!"
Ben had to keep himself from gagging while pointing at his phone. "Urk—uh, s-stick a pin in that, would you please? I-I've gotta take this call from grandpa."
Sandra nodded in understanding. "Oh, of course, dear. Something important, no doubt."
With that, Ben went over toward the back door, far away from the wretched odor to speak without hinderance. "H-Hey, Grandpa Max, how's things going? …Heh, yeah, we had quite a hectic day today. But things are settling down. Zak's uncle sent us a box load of Lego sets, so we're having fun with those." There was a pause as Ben was relayed something important over the phone, and at that moment, the back door opened. "Oh… oh really now?"
"Ah, what a day." Vernal said as she stretched out her back, hearing her muscles pop as she walked in. "I think we covered about half the city."
"A bit more than that, I'd say." Raven clarified as Kenny and Winter followed in after her, the young couple leading Romulus, Rema and Zwei on leashes. It was only then that Raven saw Ben standing close by, the hero brightening up and giving them a wave. "Ah, hello Ben. I heard through the grapevine that you had quite the day."
Ben nodded to her before speaking back to his grandfather. "Yeah… yeah, she just walked in. Okay, we'll switch then." Pulling the phone away from his ear, Ben handed it to Raven, much to her surprise. "Raven, there's someone at Plumber HQ who wants to speak with you."
"With me?" The news surprised Raven, to be sure, but never the less, she took the phone and held it up to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hello… gorgeous."
It was then that Raven felt her lips curl into a grin, the sound of her lover's voice exciting her greatly. "Oh, hello to you too. And what exactly are you doing here?"
"Came to make an important delivery." Tai responded. "But more importantly, would you happen to be free tonight? There's something I wanna talk to you about regarding a special surprise for the girls." He then made sure to put a bit of huskiness to his voice as he added; "And then maybe later, we could rent a motel and do a little more than just "talk"."
Raven felt a tingle go up her spine, biting her lower lip to contain her anticipation. "Oh, you know I'm free. One moment, please." She covered the speaker end of the phone and turned back to the others. "I'm going to be taking this conversation in a different room. I'll be right back." She received a salute from Ben, giving her the okay to move. Putting the phone back to her ear, her smile became a wily smirk. "So, what sort of surprise did you have in mind, dear?"
As she left, Winter couldn't help but stare deadpan after the older woman. "Good lord, she is NOT subtle, is she?"
"Not in the least." Vernal concurred. "Wonder what she's talking about with Tai, though?"
Kenny eyed his younger cousin expectantly. "Care to enlighten us a bit on that one, Ben?"
But the hero just wagged his finger to the redhead. "Ah-ah, can't go risking the surprise being spoiled, now can I?" Ben then knelt down and reached out to the pups and Zwei, who all started licking his hands. "But thanks for watching the little guys today. I'm sure the girls will appreciate it a lot."
"Hm, we picked a good day to do it, as well." Winter continued with a quirked brow. "Apparently everyone was caught up in a whirlwind today, correct?"
"Ugh, you wouldn't know the half of it." Ben groaned, standing back up. "I'm half way across the galaxy in a courtroom while my houseguest's parents get kidnapped by a low-tier villain, and at the same time, my ex-girlfriend and current girlfriend meet up without me even knowing about it." The Omnitrix bearer threw up his hands. "And on top of that, it was my ex who ended up saving the day. Which, while I do appreciate, still feels a little ironic."
"Oh, Julie's back?" Kenny said, surprised at the news. "I thought she went overseas for college?"
Ben gave a shrug. "Yeah, well, apparently her parents are moving to the next town over, so she's come back to help out with that. Hah, well, all the same, I should be grateful to her for helping out. She was here when me, Kevin, Gwen and Rex were all indisposed, so I owe her big time."
That made Winter chuckle, clearly amused. "Haha, yes, I got a text from Weiss earlier about that. I wouldn't be surprised if he slept until tomorrow." It was only then, though, that Winter realized… there was quite the commotion going on in the living room. "By the way… is she in there with them? What is going on?"
"Hah, yeah!" Ben replied with a laugh. "So get this; Zak's uncle actually sent over a bunch of Lego sets and we've been having an absolute blast building them. Everyone's all in there having tons of fun right now."
Vernal raised a brow at that, tilting her head. "Uh… "Lego"? The heck is that?"
"Oh, they're these really cool building brick toys that you can make TONS of stuff out of!" Kenny said with new-found exhilaration, his mind racing with the possibilities of what could've been sent. "So Ben, what're we talking? Ninjago? Monkie Kidd? Star Wars? Batman?"
With a shake of his head, Ben pointed back toward the living room. "The only way of ever finding out… is to go there, and see for yourself."
"…Cryptic, I like it." Kenny reached for Winter's hand, ushering her to follow him. "Come on, let's go join the fun."
"O-Oh, wait—Kenny! The dogs!" Winter cried out, struggling to keep a hold of the canines as they also followed him at a much quicker pace.
Placing her hands on her hips, Vernal shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Hahaha… man, I do not pity her. It's like dating a giant kid." Her gaze went back to Ben, nudging her chin at him. "So, Tennyson, got any more big plans tomorrow?"
The hero was about to answer, but Raven walked back in at that second. "Hmhm, yep. I'll see you then. …Hmhm, yes, I love you too. Bye." With that, she hung up and handed the phone back to Ben. "Oh, I'm certain that there'll be some BIG plans tomorrow. Everything's been set up, Ben."
"Excellent!" Ben gave her a thumbs up. "I'm glad to hear it, Raven. Now, there's just one last piece of the puzzle we're missing…" Searching his contacts, Ben found the person he was searching for and dialed them up immediately, where they picked up on the first ring. "Hello, Helen? It's Ben…" His smile shifted into a devious smirk. "How would you like to help break Neptune in on his first step to facing his fears tomorrow?"
Before he could get a reply, though… "AAAAHH! OH MY GOD, BIONICLE?! NO WAY!"
"…No, Helen, that was my cousin." Ben said dryly. "…W-What? No, I'm not holding out Bionicles on you guys, you can come over whenever and—we're getting off topic!" Raven and Vernal couldn't help but giggle behind the hero's back at that.
…..
~Undertown, The Next Day~
"Green Boy, I've gotta say, if I had a nickel for every time you've had me blindfolded in your car while you take me to a surprise place, I'd have two nickels. …Which isn't much, but it's weird that it happened twice."
As proud as Ben was that his girlfriend was both familiarizing herself with Earth currency and internet memes, her statement was incredibly poorly timed. And why was that? Because her mother was sitting in the passenger seat of his car while both Ruby and Yang herself were in his backseat. To say that Raven was eyeing Ben with suspicion was an understatement. "Ben…" she spoke with the "disappointed mother" voice. "…should I be concerned about what you're doing with my daughter?"
Ben hit his forehead on the steering wheel, wanting to hide from all of his problems. "Goldie Locks, please provide more context when your mom is in the car with us!"
Yang only gave a cheeky smile. "Hehe, no."
"Why not?!"
"Because as much as I love you, baby, it's kinda fun seeing you get flustered like this."
Ruby raised a single finger and announced; "Yang is a masochist confirmed!"
The hero whipped his head around, staring at the Hooded Huntress wide-eyed. "Ruby, you are NOT helping!"
"Eyes on the road!" Raven barked.
"Sorry, ma'am!" Ben squeaked out an apology.
With a sigh and a shake of her head, the former tribe leader resolved to just shoo the topic away. "Never mind, we'll discuss this later. We're almost there."
Yang crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest, her cheery demeanor growing more curious. "Yeah, I was about to say, we've been driving for a while now. Where are we even going today?"
Raven reached back and placed a hand on Yang's knee. "You'll see soon, my dear. Trust me, I think you'll be quite surprised at what we have in store." It didn't take long for the car to come to a halt, and from there, both Raven and Ben stepped out to help Ruby and Yang out respectively. "Alright, here we are. You may remove your blindfolds."
The Xiao Long-Rose sisters undid their blindfolds and were greeted with… Undertown. Once they took in their surroundings, though, they noticed where exactly they were in the underground city. Before them was a long and wide river that ran straight through one part of town, the water a rather unpleasant green color. Granted, it didn't smell awful, but the mixture of alien scents still made their noses crinkle. "Uh… ew." Yang winced.
"That's… Earth water, right?" Ruby said hesitantly. "Not alien water?"
"Oh yeah, it's Earth water." Ben confirmed, moving closer to the shore to scoop some up in his hand. "Completely harmless. It's just green because… well, there's no sky to make it blue down here."
Yang then caught sight of something else nearby, however; a large speedboat that seemed like it could fit about ten or so people. "Woah! Okay, that's gotta be part of the surprise!" She jogged up to the boat, the others not far behind. "Ben, if you wanted to take us out on the water today, we probably could've done it up top with everybody else, ya know?"
But her boyfriend shook his head. "Ah, not in this case, Yang. This boating trip is a special one." He knocked on the side of the boat, calling out to those aboard; "Grandpa Max! Magister Patelliday! We're here!"
"Ahoy, Ben!" Everyone craned their heads up to see the two elderly Plumbers come closer to the edge, waving down as Max greeted them.
"And ahoy to you ladies as well!" Patelliday furthered. "Glad ya'll could make it!"
"Wouldn't miss it." Raven reciprocated, placing her hands on the girls' shoulders. "I'm certain this will be on fishing trip that we won't soon forget."
Both Yang and Ruby were taken aback… and their reactions were mixed. "FISHING?!" both exclaimed before Ruby shot up and pumped her fists into the air. "Woo-hoo! Sounds like a blast!"
"You've gotta be kidding me…" Yang put a hand to her forehead, glancing at her boyfriend in disbelief. "Ben, I dunno if you knew this, but I'm not exactly the fishing type, ya know?"
"Oh, but Yang, you've never been on a fishing trip with Grandpa and me." Ben countered with a knowing wink. "Trust me, something interesting is bound to happen. And besides, it's not just ANY fish we're going after, it's alien fish, so there's gonna be quite a bit of challenge here."
The Blonde Brawler had to admit, she did like a good challenge, so that made it sound more appealing. "Well… okay, I'll give it a shot." Yang gave her boyfriend a smile while jabbing him in the shoulder. "Besides, spending the day with you guys doesn't sound bad by any means."
"Haha, awesome!" Ben gave her a hug, which she was more than happy to return. "…Oh, and by the way, we've got a pretty special guest coming with us."
Before Yang could even ask who it was… her answer announced his arrival. "Hiya, girls!" With those two words, the sisters froze up and slowly craned their heads around. There, they saw their father, carrying four fishing poles, a tackle box, and wearing a white bucket hat with fish hooks stuck through it. …And he was wearing crocks. "Good to see you made it!"
"DAD?!" Yang was astonished while Ruby was clearly ecstatic, rushing over and giving her father a hug. And just like that, Yang grimaced at her boyfriend, who was continuing to smile despite it. "…You planned this."
"Actually, it was kind of a happy accident." Max clarified, coming down to the shore briefly. "Your father was running an errand over here and he just so happened to have the day off, so I asked if he wanted to join us and make this a family thing for the day!" He clapped his hands together eagerly. "Now doesn't that sound like fun?"
Yang stared at the old man in utter disbelief. "More like completely filled with embarrassment and mortification—oof!"
Without warning, Tai came up and put his arm around her shoulder, with Ruby still under his other arm while Raven touched his shoulder. "Ah, relax, pumpkin! Trust me, this is gonna be a family outing that you won't ever forget! And besides, this gives ME an excuse to put in a bit of a friendly competition with your boyfriend." He eyed said hero with a challenging gaze. "How's about it, Ben? The one who catches the most fish by the end of the day wins?"
"Hah, you're on!" Ben grinned eagerly. "I'm gonna smoke ya!"
"Now, now, boys, let's not get too ahead of ourselves." Patelliday called out, pointing between himself and the elder Tennsyon. "After all, you've still got me an' Max to contend with! We're fishin' vets!"
Max himself sent the two a knowing smirk. "For sure. There's gonna be some stiff competition. though the real obstacle…" He gestured his hand out toward the nearest street. "…is gonna be getting him onboard. So make sure all of you are ready."
The group—aside from Ben and Raven—were a bit confused. At least, until they saw Helen leading a blindfolded Neptune toward the docks and, subsequently, the water. "Alright, we're almost there, Neptune!" the Kineceleran girl said cheerily.
"Hehe, come on, Helen, I've been wearing this thing for like thirty minutes now!" Neptune reached up to the edge of the piece of cloth. "Can't I just—"
"NOPE! No peaking until I say so." As she passed by the group, Helen lifted a finger to her lips, silently telling them to keep quiet as she led the blue-haired boy over to the sea vessel. "Okay, I want you to hold on tight, because this final leg is gonna need some speed." Though Neptune was confused, he obliged, securely taking hold of Helen's shoulders. "Got a good grip?" Giving a single nod, Neptune gave her the go-ahead. "Awesome. Here… we… GO!" *ZOOM* And just like that, Helen rushed straight up the side of the boat, setting Neptune down next to Patelliday. "Alright, we're here!"
"W-Woah… hah, I-I'm not sure why, but the floor seems a little…" But then, Neptune heard it; the sound of sloshing liquid down below. That combined with the swaying floor beneath his feat, he quickly put the pieces together. "Wait…" Quickly taking off his blindfold, he saw Helen, Patelliday… and was now aware of what he was on. "A-A BOAT?! Helen, you brought me on a BOAT?!"
Helen gave him a simple smile and raised her hands, yelling; "Surprise!" …Before then shoving Neptune into the nearest seat, where wrist clamps and a larger torso clamp held him in place. "Magister, start he boat!" The Pisccssis Volann wasted no time as Neptune began screaming at the top of his lungs, only for Helen to firmly put her hand over his mouth. "Neptune, you've been avoiding it for weeks, but now, it's time to start the process of getting over your hydrophobia." His muffled pleas were met with a firm shake of her head. "I'm sorry, but you wanted me to help, so now I'm keeping my promise. Guys!"
Just like that, Ben, the Xiao Long family and Max all clamored onto the ship, with Ruby zipping up in front of Neptune with a beaming smile. "Don't worry, Neptune, you're gonna love fishing, I guarantee it!" But then, her demeanor became more serious as she shouted to the magister; "NOW PUNCH IT, PATELLIDAY! Go! Go! GO!"
Neptune could only scream as his friends/captors sailed away from dry land, and any hope he had of making any kind of escape.
…..
Meanwhile, back topside in Bellwood, Kenny was driving his mother's mini-van toward the fairgrounds, with Winter in the passenger seat. In the back, Team JNPR, Ilia and Sun were all seated, all of them quite excited about where they were going today. As it happened, they had been invited as guests to peruse the Annual Bellwood Festival, where the promise of food, games and fun rides were more than enough to attract their interest. Of course, the others had been given invitations as well, but their fishing trip had already been committed to by the time they had gotten the tickets that morning.
However, Weiss, Blake and Rex were still available, and Ben, Yang and Ruby had been generous enough to give their tickets to Kenny, Winter and Rook so they all decided to make a day out of it. Zak, however, would be preoccupied with helping his parents' research on the Ishtar Tablet, so he couldn't come. All the same, everyone was anticipating the little daytrip.
"Guys, you all are gonna get a kick out of this, I promise." Kenny assured. "The Bellwood Festival is a hit every single year, and I'm sure this year will be no different."
"I'm quite excited to see what goes on here, Kenny." Winter concurred, reaching over to touch his arm with a smile. "And I'm very glad that we could go together."
"Hmhm, so am I." Kenny smiled to her fondly. "What about you guys? Feeling the hype?"
Nora pumped a fist and shouted; "You know it! I'm always down for some thrill rides! And if they're the carny kind that aren't up to safety standards, that's even better!"
All at once, everyone stared at the hyper redhead in silent horror. "…Nora, are you alright?" Kenny asked.
"Probably not!" she replied without missing a beat.
Jaune peered up to Kenny from the back. "You're just figuring this out? Dude, we've been friends with her for almost a year and we've known that in the first week of knowing her."
Nora threw two thumbs up, kicking her legs up with them. "And I'm okay with that!"
"…I live in a madhouse." Kenny concluded solemnly as he pulled into the fairground's parking lot. "Hah, anyway, we're here. So let's get out there and—she's gone already, isn't she?"
Sure enough, the back door was wide open and a vacant seat was there as well, right where Nora used to be. "Kenny, as someone who's known Nora for basically my whole life, my best advice is this;" Ren reached up and placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder. "…You've gotta learn to keep up."
"That sounds like an impossible task."
"In a way, yes, but it's at least somewhat doable." Ren unbuckled his seatbelt and quickly started getting out with the others. "Now come on, we've gotta go stop her before she drowns the entire place in cotton candy." Thankfully, when they got to the main entrance, Weiss, Blake and Rex were already there, the three of them holding Nora back as she desperately tried to run through in vain, her feet kicking up dust while running in place.
Weiss forced Nora to spin around with a small glyph, making her run right back to them. "I believe she belongs to you."
Kenny caught Nora and took her by the shoulders firmly, though that didn't stop her from rattling around in his grasp. "Hah, thanks guys."
"No problem." Blake assured. "We figured she'd be like this from the get-go, so we came prepared." The cat girl put on a smile as Sun came over, meeting him halfway for a short kiss. "Mmm, good morning."
"Morning to you." the monkey boy winked. "So, you ready for a day of fun?"
"Oh, I'm ready for something, alright." Blake craned her head back toward the fair, watching as rollercoasters rolled along the tracks and the Ferris wheel spun. "Though I will say, places like this aren't exactly my scene."
Sun, wearing a knowing smirk, pulled out a pamphlet and unfurled it all the way. "Well, it's a good thing Evelyn just so happened to have a brochure for the fair on her. And, after studying a little bit…" He flipped it around and showed his girlfriend a certain eatery on the map. "I found a seafood place that's a regular vendor here. And apparently, Evelyn says they're pretty good."
The very thought of fresh fish was enough to make Blake's mouth water, her kitty ears falling back as a blissful expression took hold of her. "Ooooh… okay, now you've got my attention."
"Hm, thought so." Sun said knowingly, only to shift his attention to Rex and Weiss as they approached him. "Oh, hey, would ya look at who's up an' at 'em!" He extended a hand and Rex took it in a firm shake. "How're you doin', man?"
"Oh, better." Rex shrugged. "Not entirely over the whole Pack thing, but I'm at least fully rested and ready to take on the world." He reached around Weiss' shoulder, who immediately leaned her head against his chest. "And maybe a nice day at the festival will help clear my head a bit more, too."
Weiss nodded wholeheartedly. "I agree! …But, um, did you guys see Rook or Penny on your way here?"
Pyrrha shook her head. "No, not at all. I thought they would've been the first to get here."
Ilia furrowed her brow in concern. "That's weird. I hope it's not something serious…" However, her ears perked up when the familiar sound of hyperdrive engines came from overhead, causing everyone to look up and see the Proto-Truk and the redheaded android coming in for a landing. "Oh, well, never mind!" The team stood back as the Proto-Truk settled down and transformed into it's truck mode, allowing Rook to disembark.
"Salutations, everybody!" Penny waved as she came in for a landing as well. "I hope we aren't too awfully late. Gwen, Kevin and Charmcaster send their regards."
"Hm, I suppose they're off doing that special "community service", then?" Jaune guessed.
"Indeed, though what they are doing specifically, I am not certain." Rook added as he made his way around his vehicle. "But in addition, there was a slight change in plans. Helen had a surprise for Neptune as well today, so he was not able to make it either."
Sun furrowed his brow, recalling how the Kineceleran had called Kevin's place that morning. "Oh, so THAT'S what that call was about? Huh, wonder where they went?"
Rook shook his head. "That, I do not know. But what I DO know is that Neptune was kind enough to share his ticket with someone else in return. And thus…" He opened the passenger door to his vehicle, allowing whoever was inside to step out. "We have someone else joining us today."
The very second they saw a pair of red, clawed feet hit the grass, everyone knew exactly who Rook was talking about. Ilia had to hold back a happy gasp as Swift shut the door, revealing herself in her ripped jeans, frayed white shirt, and black leather jacket, sporting an excited smirk upon her. "What's up, my peeps?!" she shouted, putting up devil horns with her hand. "The queen of fun is HERE!"
"S-Swift!" Ilia jogged up to her best friend, still astonished that she was here at all. "How in the world did you get another day off?"
"Hehe, I have my ways…" Swift scratched her cheek with a proud tone in her voice. "I managed to convince Baumann to let me off the hook just this once." She pointed directly at Ilia's nose. "So you guys had better make good use of my time here, okay? I ain't about to come to a fair only to be bored outta my skull."
The way the Aerophibian girl worded that made Ilia kick into high gear, putting on a determined grin. "Oh, I see how it is. That's supposed to be a challenge, is it? Well, I accept!" Without hesitation, Ilia took Swift by the wrist and led her into the festival grounds, which took the alien hybrid off guard. "I'm gonna show you the time of your life today!"
Swift was NOT prepared for that kind of response. And, what's more, her cheeks were visibly much redder than they usually were, seeing Ilia's take-charge attitude on rare display. "Oh… o-okay. I guess I'll follow you, then."
Before the others could follow the two in, though, a somewhat familiar voice stopped them from going any further. "Kenny Tennyson! Oh my gosh, is that you?" The party all turned to see a woman in a blue three-piece suit coming straight for them, her dark brown eyes focused right on the redheaded young man. She seemed to be middle-aged, but her hair was a vibrant blonde and her skin quite tanned, almost as if she had just returned from vacation. She went so far as to open her arms and hug Kenny when she got up to him, who didn't resist in the least. "Oh my goodness, it's been quite a while! You're looking great!"
"Ah, hah…" Seeing Winter's confused and rather irritated gaze out the corner of his eye, Kenny felt the need to add context quickly. "H-Hey there, Mayor Strong. It's good to see you again."
"Oh, for Pete's sake, Kenny, no need to be so formal." The mayor pulled her arms away and instead put one hand next to her knee. "I've known you since you were this high and I've known your father even longer. You don't have to stop calling me "Aunt Tanya" just because you're grown up now."
"R-Right…" Kenny trailed off and cleared his throat, intent on introducing the others. "Guys, this is Tanya Strong, mayor of Bellwood and a high school classmate of my dad's. She's also the mom of one of my best friends."
Realizing now that she had nothing to fear, Winter put on a smile and greeted the mayor with a bow. "Oh, well it's so nice to meet you, Mayor Strong. I'm Winter Schnee, and these are…"
"Oh, sweetie I know all of you already." Tanya raised a hand in assurance. "Remember, I was there at the press conference a couple weeks back where Harangue and those villains interrupted." She set the Omni-Hunters an apologetic gaze. "Sorry again about all of that, by the way."
But Pyrrha was quick to dismiss her worries. "It's quite alright, Ms. Mayor. We've long since gotten over that."
"Hm, well, I'm glad to hear that." Tanya raised her hands up to the group. "And I'm also happy to see that you all could make it! Though I do see that there's a few that couldn't… including Ben?"
Jaune rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah… Ben, Yang, Ruby and Neptune all had prior commitments. B-But they wanted us to thank you for the tickets anyway."
Mayor Strong nodded in understanding. "It's alright, these things happen. After all, I'm pretty much queen when it comes to prior commitments, haha! I'm just happy to see all here. I know it might not be much, but I wanted to thank you for all you've done to protect Bellwood." With a bow of her head, Tanya continued. "You have no idea what it means to both me and the citizens of this city."
"We're happy to help, Mayor Strong." Blake and the other bowed back respectfully. "Anything to help keep Bellwood safe. So, is there anything you'd recommend at this festival for us to start out with?"
Clapping her hands together, Tanya beamed happily and started leading them over to the entrance gate. "Oh, do I ever! Come on, we'll meet with my assistant and we'll give you the 4-1-1 on everything!"
"Sensational!" Penny cheered. "I haven't been to an event like this since the Vytal Festival! I—oh." The android sealed her lips when she saw Pyrrha's anxious expression, the two redheads staring at one another awkwardly. "Um… well, I-I'm certain that things will go MUCH better this time around."
"Haha, y-yes, indeed." Pyrrha concurred. "Come, let's go."
As the young heroes were led into the festival grounds, however, they failed to notice a certain quartet of troublemaking women hiding in the woods not too far away. Once the team was gone, Dominique peeked her head out from behind a tree, unclipping a walkie-talkie from her belt and speaking into it with a hushed whisper; "This is Shark #1 callin' the Huntsman. We just saw the twerps movin' into the festival."
"Is Tennyson with them?" the unmistakable voice of Khyber replied.
"That's a negatory." The mohawked woman shook her head. "But the skinny blue alien guy's 'ere, an' he brought his lorry, just like ya figured."
A disappointed scoff came from the other end. "Hmph, very well. At the very least, Agent M has the means to acquire the information he needs."
"Should we get on their asses now?" Dominque asked.
Khyber was quick to refute that. "No, give them some time. Once they've let their guard down, we will strike, and that will give M all the time he needs to download the information from that truck. Remain on standby until I give the signal."
Dominique sighed, but nodded nonetheless. "Alright, you're the boss on this one, mate. Over an' out." With that, she hung up, and set her sights down to Roxy, Calisto and Jetta. "Ladies, we're waitin' til further notice. You got your stuff ready?" The three all raised their weapons in response, along with their Gene Slammers which were full of fresh mutagen. Dominique smiled in approval. "Excellent. Pretty soon, this whole shindig will be nothin' but shark bait, hehehe…"
…..
"…You know, I hope you guys realize that essentially kidnapping and forcing me into this isn't exactly the most ethical or heroic thing to do."
It had been almost an hour since Neptune had been involuntary roped into his new personal hellhole that his so-called "friends" had called a "fishing trip". Granted, they DID allow him to be free of the restraining chair… once they were a good distance away from dry land. He had no way off this freight and no way to call for help, so he was stuck with nothing else to do… but fish. And as much as he didn't want to, he resolved that it was better than doing nothing. …And no one had caught anything yet, so he was also bored out of his skull.
With a short sigh, Helen craned her head back toward him with a sigh. "Neptune, I know I've said it at least five times already, but I am sorry. But you literally left us no other choice! I promised you that I would help you conquer your hydrophobia, but you've been dodging and dodging it for weeks now." The blue-haired boy huffed and turned his nose up and away from her, causing Helen's frown to deepen sadly.
"Dude, come on, it's for your own good." Ben piped up, peering over to the defiant Neptune. "Think of this as not only helping to benefit yourself, but to help benefit the rest of the team as well. What'd happen if we suddenly had a mission that involves going underwater, huh? Would you really be too chicken to help?"
Neptune opened a single eye at him. "…Maybe. Though you'd be insane to think that I'd go anywhere beneath the ocean even if I wasn't afraid of water."
Ben was about to argue his point… but found that it was actually somewhat logical. "…Okay, I guess being afraid of the ocean is more understandable." But then, he shook his head, getting back to the topic at hand. "Th-The point is, though, that we've gotta be prepared for any sort of situation, even ones we're not totally comfortable with. Besides, you're not actually IN the water, are you?"
Pursing his lips, Neptune lowered his head shamefacedly. "…No."
"Then you've got nothing to worry about!" Yang said with a cheery, toothy grin, only to put on a more serious grimace the next second. "Now stop complaining and fish."
"Ugh, but nothing's biting!" Neptune whined, pulling his line back in. "Nothing's BEEN biting for the last forty-five minutes!"
Max, wearing a relaxed grin, decided to give the boy some advice. "Patience is key when it comes to fishing, Neptune. Trust me, you never know what you'll haul in down here." He turned his head slightly to his fellow Magister. "Why, last time, Patelliday and I caught some Nocturnal Pus Oozers, Sticky Nine-Eyed Eels, and Bursting Gelatinous Tile Fish."
The Piscciss Volann chuckled at the memory. "Hehe, now THAT was some good eatin'!"
"Oh yeah…" Max agreed whistfully, unaware that Yang, Ruby and Neptune were all gawking in disgust at them.
"Urp… I think I'm good with catch and release." Yang held back a gag.
Ruby could feel her stomach churn at the descriptions alone. "Ditto."
Neptune nodded grimly. "Yeah, too bad we actually have to CATCH something, first."
Tai, who was sitting with Raven in their own corner, side-eyed Neptune with a raised brow. "It's as Max said, Neptune, you gotta have patience. You can't just expect a fish to come to you in five seconds."
'Well, sorry, but I'd rather not be out here longer than I have to.' Neptune thought bitterly with an eyeroll. Reaching behind him, Neptune put his hand in the bait bucket they brought with them, producing a small, squishy, three-eyed worm-thing. Staring at the alien bait, he sighed and passed it off to Raven. "I'm not having luck with this kinda bait. Raven, you wanna give it a try?"
"Hm, very well." Raven obliged, hooking the squishy creature to her pole and casting it out into the far water. …Five seconds later; *ZZZZZIIIP* The Spring Maiden's eyes widened and everyone's focus went directly to her as she stood up, reeling in her catch with gusto. With a final yank, she caught an orange, eel-like creature with long eyestalks and sharp teeth in her hand, wearing a victorious smile.
"Oh! Nice catch, Raven!" Max complimented.
Yang and Ruby each gave a thumbs up as well. "Haha! Way to go, mom!"
"Thank you, all." Raven reciprocated, bowing her head toward Neptune. "Especially you, Neptune. You have quite the knack for choosing bait, it seems."
This left Neptune slightly perturbed, but took this as a potential sign. "Hmph, okay, lemme try again…" He went for the bait bucket once more… but felt nothing except the bottom. Surprised, he looked in and saw absolutely zero bait where there had been dozens just a moment before. "H-Huh?! What the—" But then, the sound of chewing and slurping brought his eyes up… where he saw a certain fishman licking his fingers contently. "M-Magister Patelliday!"
"Hah? Oh, heh, sorry there, Neptune!" Patelliday apologized. "Couldn't help m'self. But don't you fret!" Reaching down below, Patelliday brought out yet another bait container. "We've brought plenty!"
Helen couldn't help but smile in amusement. "Hmhm, it's a good thing we're not fishing for you, Magister. I hear a Piscciss Volann will eat ANYTHING."
"Oh, we ain't picky—that's a fact. Jaws that can slice through steel!" Patelliday boasted as he stood up and flexed his arms. "And everybody, you are looking at a peak physical specimen!"
Despite himself, Ben couldn't help but smirk, glancing over to his girlfriend knowingly. Yang quickly caught on to what her boyfriend was about to do and reclined in her seat, watching as he stood up, activated the Omnitrix, and transformed into Ripjaws right in the middle of the boat. Everyone was caught off guard, Patelliday most of all, as Ripjaws gave a bellowing; "GRAAAAUUGHH!" and dove right into the river. Not ten seconds later, Ripjaws came up with a MASSIVE red fish in his mouth that had two tails that were shaped like a propeller.
"…Okay, NOW everyone's just showing off!" Neptune complained.
Spitting his catch out into his hands, Ripjaws did a little boasting himself. "Hm, you were saying, Magister?"
Patelliday curled his fishy lips at the whipper-snapper, no doubt wanting to call his bluff. "Eh, not bad… for an amateur."
"Oh, thank you can do better, eh?"
"Kid, I KNOW I can do better." the elder Piscciss Volann wore a confident grin. "Now you wanna make a competition outta this or what?"
Ripjaws narrowed his eyes, eager to get the contest started. "You're on! First to bring up the most fish all at once wins!" Doing a backflip off the edge, Ripjaws went back under, followed closely by Patelliday who dove in a much less showy way.
Raven put her fingers to her temple and shook her head. "I swear, Ben can find a way to make a competition out of anything." All the same, her focus zeroed in back to Neptune. "Now, let's get YOU a fish, Neptune."
"Heh, good luck with that." Neptune slumped his shoulder. "I'm just starting to think I've got bad luck when it comes to ANYTHING water-related."
Standing up from his seat, Tai went over and put a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Neptune, let me give you some advice; the key is making the fish come to you." He reached inside the bait bucket for a few alien suckers. "Here, let me show you a trick I learned online."
"Oh boy, THIS oughta be good." Yang said sarcastically.
"Shh! I wanna see what it is!" Ruby hushed.
Taking his hand out of the bucket, Tai now had several of the little alien suckers stuck to his hand, leaving everyone taken aback. "I present… "noodling"!" The two sisters had to stifle a laugh at their father's expense while Raven simply smiled in amusement, watching her love walked over to the edge and stick his hand straight down into the water. Closing his eyes, Tai concentrated, waiting until he felt something slide over his forearm. Standing up quickly, Tai pulled out a MASSIVE blue fish with three eyes, leaving Neptune and the others slack-jawed. "Gotcha!"
"Ha! Well, I'll be!" Max clapped at the achievement. "In all my years of fishing, I never would've thought to do that."
"YEAH! Way to bring 'em in, dad!" Ruby cheered, watching as her father pulled the fish off his arm and toss it into the cooler with Ben's catch.
Reaching into the bait bucket, Helen went over to Neptune and presented him with some more of the little suckers. "Hand, please!"
"…You're kidding."
"Nope, if Tai can get a catch like that with noodling, then so can you."
There were a few seconds of hesitation from the blue-haired boy, only for him to sight and reach into his pocket. "Alright, hang on a second…" He pulled out a long, black glove and took off his red jacket, before then pulling the glove all the way up to his elbow. He offered his hand to Helen, whom was staring flabbergasted at it with the others. "Alright, ready!"
Her brows furrowed, Helen gave him a questioning gaze. "Neptune… do you keep that glove on you ALL the time?"
Neptune gave a single nod. "Yep! Just in case I HAVE to touch water." To say that Helen wasn't too impressed was an understatement, something that her expression gave away. "Helen, I said I'd be taking baby steps, didn't I? Could you at least let me have this, please?"
"Hah… fine." Helen relented, sticking the suckers to the vinyl glove. "Now, put your hand in the water and wait."
Doing as he was told, Neptune went to the edge, taking in a deep breath to steel his nerves. Screwing his eyes shut, he plunged his hand down into the water, wincing as the cold sensations went up his arm. Still, he concentrated, waiting until something would come up and nibble on his hand. …But the more he felt the water lap at him, the more impatient he became, a sneer forming on his lips before he abruptly stood up. "Gah, this could take all day—AAUGH!"
Everyone stepped back as, from out of nowhere, a large, eel-like creature with massive lips and long whiskers lunged up and latched onto Neptune's hand… with enough force to bring it up to his face, meaning it latched on to THAT as well. Neptune fell to the deck, screaming and writhing as the fish sucked away. "HHHMPH! GET THIS THING OFF ME!" he managed to muffle out.
"H-Hang on, Neptune!" Helen grabbed the fish's tail and yanked as hard as she could, with Yang and Ruby joining in to help her. Thankfully, it didn't take long to remove the fish… but by then, Neptune was red as a beet with an even deeper red outline where the eel's lips had caught him.
As Neptune caught his breath, Max could only come to one conclusion; "…No substitute for patience."
…..
Beneath the gentle waves, Ripjaws and Patelliday were both swimming in the same direction, the former keeping ahead of the magister by a good margin as they searched for the best fish they could sink their teeth into. "I'll bring up more fish than that boat can handle!" the hero stated with self-assurance. "And if I don't, I'm at least gonna prove I'm a better fisherman than Neptune."
"Ah, I can't exactly argue that." Patelliday admitted. "That boy does not have his sea legs…" However, in his peripheral vision, the elderly Plumber suddenly spotted something; a large mass of something that was practically covered in those three-eyed suckers he loved oh so much! Licking his lips and rubbing his hands together, Patelliday did what came naturally to his Piscciss Volann brain; he opened his maw as wide as he could and BIT down.
…Big mistake. The very second he chomped into it, the mass suddenly pulled him straight up, revealing itself to be the massive pincer of a very stout yet bulky robot. In fact, there were TWO robots, both of the same build, each with one bulky claw arm and a skinnier arm with sharpened fingers. They had very crustacean-esque features with beady red eyes. Its body was encased in heavy black and grey armor, with long, pink tubes that flowed from the sides of its head toward its back, almost like a breathing apparatus.
The one that had reeled him in said; "GOT HIM." before both of them swam off via jet propulsion packs.
But Ripjaws heard it speak, making him jerk back and whirl around. "Magister Patelliday?!"
"Guh… robots in the drink!" Patelliday called out, now secure under his captor's massive arm.
"Hold on!" Swimming as fast as he tail could let him, Ripjaws dashed after the robotic duo. Taking notice, one of the bots shot its claw out at the hero, allowing its comrade to make off with Patelliday. But Ripjaws was ready, grabbing the thick cable that the claw was attached to and giving a hard yank, pulling the robot into a hard headbutt.
The bot landed on the river floor and used its skinny arm to grab a big boulder, throwing it at Ripjaws with surprising strength. All the same, the water was the alien's domain, and he easily swam around the projectile before swinging the robot around by its cable, slamming IT into the very boulder it had weaponized. The rock was crushed and left to bury the bot in rubble, all while its optics flickered off.
With that dealt with, Ripjaws continued his pursuit of Patelliday and the other robot… but then… *beep-beep-beep-beeeep* In a red flash, Ben was suddenly back to normal, forced to hold his breath as he watched the bot get away. "Aw, man!" Realizing his error, Ben clamped his hand over his mouth and began desperately kicking back up, breaching the surface and taking in a deep breath, only to then cough and sputter out access water.
"BEN!" Much to his relief, he heard the worried call of Yang not long after, and in time, the boat came around to pick him up. She and Tai briskly pulled him into the boat, where the others were all concerned as well. "Green Boy, what happened down there?" Yang asked as she put a towel over his shoulders
"Hak-hak! Robot… pirate… crab… things nabbed Patelliday!"
Max blinked at that. "Robot… pirates?"
"I know, right?" Ben made a claw shape with his hand. "They hooked them with their massive claw hands and swam off!"
Ruby gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "AH! …They noodled him!"
"…What?"
But Ben's confusion was the least of their worries, as Raven would assert. "No time for explanations. Ben, did you see where they took him?" Standing up, Ben pointed straight toward a nearby cavern, which the river flowed directly into. They could hear the sounds of a struggle happening further in, which made Raven nod. "Very well. Then that's where we'll go. Max?"
"On it." the elder Tennyson went straight to the boat controls and put the vessel into gear, taking them straight into the cavern.
"Well… on the bright side, at least I'm not the ONLY one being taken against my will today." Neptune pointed out, only to receive a slew of unimpressed glares. "Oh come on, you know I'm right—wait. Anybody else hear that?"
Sure enough, the group could hear some sort of loud, crashing sound, which only increased in volume as they went further in. Max, though, was the first one to really notice it. "Look!" Everyone set their sights to where Max was pointing… and they REALLY didn't like what they saw. The waterway they were taking took an abrupt plunge downward… into a massive waterfall. "…Nuts."
"Damn it." Tai whispered.
"Crap baskets." Ruby muttered.
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Neptune shrieked, running all around the deck of the boat in a frantic panic… until Helen stopped him and slapped him across the face.
Taking him by the shoulders, Helen stared daggers into Neptune and shouted; "Get a hold of yourself, Neptune! We'll make it out of this alive, I promise! I'll run you over to the nearest dock and—"
But Ben stood up, tossing the towel off of him and readying the Omnitrix. "No time for that! We need to get this straightened out now before Patelliday is lost."
Yang wasn't too sure about her boyfriend's actions, though, reaching up and taking hold of his wrist. "Ben, wait, does the Omnitrix even have enough charge to get us out of this? I mean, it timed out while you were underwater!"
"It's going to have to have enough, Yang." the hero asserted, gently taking his arm back and bringing up the watch's holo-ring to make his selection. Once he had found his choice, Wildvine, he made a silent plea as the core popped up; "Okay, Omnitrix… please don't give me Rath. I repeat; do NOT give me Rath!" With that, he pressed the core down… and successfully transformed into Wildvine. "…Haha! Yes! Thank you, watch!" Hopping toward the stern of the boat, the plant alien wrapped his six vine legs around it and shouted; "Everyone, hold on to something! We're goin' down!"
As everyone took their seats, though, Neptune was in disbelief from what he just heard. "W-Wait, what?! Isn't the point NOT to go over the waterfall?!"
"There's nowhere else TO go, Neptune!" Wildvine stretched his neck out until he was a mere centimeter away from Neptune's nose, glaring at him with his single eye. "Now quit whining and SIT DOWN."
"…Yes sir." Neptune complied, sitting next to Helen and slipping a seatbelt on… before taking the fetal position and trembling like a leaf.
Helen saw this and offered him her hand, all while keeping a soothing smile. "It's okay. We'll make it, I promise." Within seconds, she could see the blue-haired boy stop shaking as he peered down at her hand. Slowly, he reached down and took a secure hold of it, which Helen could tell helped him calm down a bit more.
With that dealt with, Wildvine focused back on the upcoming drop, and thankfully, he spotted two very good rocky crags on either side. Stretching his arms out, he wrapped his long fingers around both and then stabbed their tips in to secure himself, taking a deep breath as the edge drew closer. Tensing his arms up, he stopped the boat just as its nose peaked out over the edge, taking a deep breath to brace himself. "Okay… we're goin' down gently now…"
The group could only watch as the hero slowly relaxed his arms, which stretched down as the boat became vertical with the waterfall. As she saw the bottom approaching, Ruby felt something she hadn't expected; anxiety. "Uh… hehe… o-okay, from THIS perspective, I can kinda see why you were freaking out so much, Neptune."
"THANK YOU!"
"I will admit, it's kinda nerve-wracking." Helen conceded, absent mindedly leaning a bit closer to Neptune and failing to notice his incoming blush.
"It's okay, I've got you all!" Wildvine assured, making it to the half-way point. "Just a little further and…" *beep-beep-beep* "…Ga,h nuts. Change of plans guys, we're speeding things up a bit!" Before anyone could even ask, Wildvine suddenly stretched out his midsection, lowering the boat all the way to the bottom of the falls within seconds. And then… *FLASH* "GYAAAAHH!" Ben was back to normal and falling straight down the rest of the way, closing his eyes and preparing for what would be a very hard impact.
However, Raven wouldn't let that happen. With her eyes blazing to life, she her Maiden Powers and whipped up a powerful wind with one sweep of her hand, which collected into a mini-tornado directly under Ben. "Hold still! I'm bringing you back!" With masterful control, Raven willed the twister right back to the boat, where Ben landed on his back none the worse for wear. With a cheer erupting across the vessel, and Yang rushing to Ben's side to give him a kiss, Raven knelt down in front of him with a strict look. "Perhaps it'd be best to give the Omnitrix a break for a little bit, wouldn't you say?"
"Hah… I won't argue with you there." Ben approved with a grateful bow of his head. "Thanks, Raven. Now, let's get after the goons who kidnapped Patelliday."
…..
Back at the festival, the team had spent the past hour and a half having an absolute blast. There was a haunted house, a maze of mirrors (which wasn't frustrating for Ilia this time), a suitably rickety roller coaster that Nora was pleased with, and the couples had all taken the time to ride the Ferris Wheel. And of course, there was the commemorative centerpiece of the Bellwood festival; the world's largest wooden sleighbell carved out of solid walnut. In other words; a BELL made of WOOD. Weiss and Blake knew immediately that Yang would be cursing herself after missing out on that pun. Overall, it was a fairly enjoyable experience for all… aside from the guy that Rex and Sun dunked into the water tank about fifteen times… each.
"Sun, I understand that the money is all going to charity, but you didn't have to torture the poor guy." Blake beseeched as she and their group, along with Winter and Kenny, walked back toward the center of the festival.
Weiss nodded, giving her boyfriend a pointed look. "Yeah, he's just doing his job."
"I know, but there's just some sorta satisfaction when it comes to dunking a dude, ya know?" Rex appealed.
Sun snickered in agreement. "Haha, yeah, especially when the stuff IN the tank keeps changing! I didn't even know someone could even MAKE that much rice pudding!" The two boys laughed while the ladies rolled their eyes… before they came across something curious. A rather large crowd that was gathered near the commemorative bell. In the very center, they seemed to be clamoring around a single man, whose back was toward them so they couldn't see his face. "Huh. Wonder who's getting all the attention?"
Kenny could only shrug. "Dunno, but whoever is, he must be pretty popular."
"Should we wait and find out?" Winter suggested.
"Mmm, I don't know, sis." Placing her hands on her hips, Weiss was intent on not waiting in such a large crowd. "Maybe it's best if we move on for now and—"
"Woah! The Omni-Hunters!" Much to their surprise, someone in the crowd had noticed their approach, leading to everyone else also turning toward them. Freezing up, the team were taken aback when several of the park guests began gravitating toward them. "Woah! I had no idea THEY'D be here!" "Think they're up for autographs, too?!" "Who's the rando with them?"
Deadpanning at that last part, Kenny quickly started to move away. "You know what? Maybe it's best if we DON'T stick arou—uh… ah… AH! AAAH!"
The young man's sudden screaming took the others off guard, with Kenny left in a stunned stare. But then, the person he was staring at came through the crowd; the man who the people were cluttering around in the first place. He was a tall, middle-aged man who was fairly fit, his swept back black hair greying along the sides and center of his head. His eyes were blue and he had a prominent chin, giving him an authoritative appearance. However, his stylish brown jacket, black pants and matching shoes served to make him look pretty high profile as well. "Haha, now, now, let's all settle down, everybody. I'm sure that they're here to enjoy the festival as much as you are."
The Schnees, Blake and Sun were perplexed as the guests all stopped, but Rex quickly took on the same starstruck state as Kenny with a loud gasp. "AH! Y-You're… you're…"
"ABEL NORTH!" both he and Kenny cried out.
"…Abel who?" Weiss questioned.
"Uh, Abel NORTH!" Rex reiterated. "The man, the myth, the LEGEND who played none other than Kangaroo Kommando!" He whipped his head back and bowed in respect to the man. "Mr. North, sir, I binged your whole show when I first found out about it! You're freaking awesome!"
Kenny followed suit. "Sir, you helped shaped mine and my cousin's childhood, it's a true honor."
Giving a hearty laugh, Abel North reached his hands out and pat the boys on their shoulders. "Haha, boys, boys, I thank you for the compliments, but don't get too ahead of yourselves, okay? Though I will say that I'm flattered that you love my show so much." He pointed his finger over to Kenny, though. "But you, young man… you wouldn't happen to be related to the Tennyson family?"
"O-Oh, uh, yes sir!" Kenny confirmed. "I'm Ken Tennyson."
Smiling, Abel was glad that his hunch was correct. "Ah-ha I thought so! And I'm assuming that means that Ben Tennyson is your cousin, right? You and he share quite the family resemblance." The actor started scanning the area, hoping to see the young hero somewhere. "He wouldn't happen to be here, would he?"
"Uh, he was originally supposed to be, but he had prior commitments."
"Ah, shame. I was hoping I'd get to see him." Abel explained, placing a hand on his hip. "I've been meaning to thank him again for what he did all those years ago." Seeing several intrigued faces, the actor explained; "You see, back in the day, my twin brother sought to ruin my career by posing as my Kangaroo Kommando character, and he committed several crimes at the studio amusement park we worked at. Ben was the one who stopped him, and since that day, I made a promise to myself to get back in shape and turn my career around. And now…" Abel raised his hand over to his own personal booth across the way, which had a banner that read; "Kangaroo Kommando and the Outback Warriors". "My show is officially set on getting a sequel!"
The crowd let out an uproarious cheer while the Omni-Hunters were all astonished at the story. "WHAT?!" Rex exclaimed. "No freaking way!"
Weiss gave a nod of a approval herself. "Congratulations, Mr. North! I'm sure that Ben would be very ecstatic if he heard that."
"With any luck, once he and the others return from their fishing trip, perhaps we could arrange a meeting between you and him." Winter suggested.
Abel brightened up hearing that. "Hah, that'd be wonderful! I—"
"AAAAAIIIIIEEEEE!" Everyone was silenced when a bloodcurdling scream broke through the cheerful atmosphere of the festival, with several people from the other end of the fairgrounds sprinting in fear from something. It wasn't long before the group found out what when, of all things, the Buglizard came leaping up and landed on top of the wooden bell, hissing a guttural roar at the heroes.
With a gasp, Abel took a step back, raising an arm in front of him while the rest of the crowd fled. "E-Everyone, get back! What is that thing?!"
Sun, Blake, Weiss, Rex and Winter quickly went on the defensive as well, taking out their respective weapons. "Ah, man! Khyber's pet?! I thought we sent this puppy to the pound!" the monkey boy bemoaned.
"If IT survived, then that likely means the huntsman did as well." Winter added with narrowed eyes, glancing over to her boyfriend seriously. "Kenny, take Mr. North and go find somewhere to hide, now!"
"R-Right, on it." Kenny stepped in front of the actor, ushering him to follow. "Come on, Mr. North, we've gotta get you somewhere safe." Before he could run off in a random direction, though, Abel grabbed him by the shoulder, halting him.
"Hold on there, kid." Abel gestured over to his Kangaroo Kommando booth. "If there's one place in this park that's the safest you can be right now, it's over there. Come on!" With that, the two dashed off toward the booth, leaving the others to oppose the Buglizard… which leapt off the bell and caused it to topple down from its podium. From there, it started rolling along through the fairgrounds, which only made people even more frightened for their lives.
After staring at the carnage happening live in front of them, the Remnant natives all shifted their eyes to Rex, the EVO doing a double take. "…Oh, I get it." Rex activated his Smack Hands with little to no fanfare. "Be back in a jiff!" Slamming his arms against the ground, Rex propelled himself through the air, following after the rolling hazard.
The Buglizard was starting to close in on the others, though, which brought their attention back to it. "Alright, now all we've gotta do is deal with this thing." Blake concluded. "If we can lead it to the others, we could probably even overwhelm it! No big deal—"
"GUYS!" The sudden shout brought everyone's focus away from the predator and toward Team JNPR, who were closing in fast from behind them. The four slid to a halt, with Nora breathing the hardest thanks to all of the snacks, prizes and souvenirs she was carrying. "Hah… hah… we've got even MORE trouble!"
"BIG trouble." Jaune pointed toward the merry-go-round, which was quickly demolished and left as a pile of indistinct wreckage. It didn't take long to find out what the cause was either, as a quartet of fins that were swimming through the pavement came barreling toward them. Which could only mean one thing…
The Omni-Hunters were left shaken as Thrasher, Lunge, Stripes and Crunch all came bursting out from the street, brandishing their weapons with their massive, snaggle-toothed grins and bombastic laughter. "BAHAHAH! G'day, bitches!" Thrasher greeted, slamming the head of her axe into the ground. "The Street Sharks are BACK! Didja miss us?!"
"…Like a thorn in our sides." Weiss muttered as the shark women and Buglizard surrounded them, as if they were prey stuck in the open ocean. "And here I thought this day was going to be fun."
Pyrrha, bringing out her bow, prepared herself for battle alongside her team. "Well, to be fair… this is still better than the Vytal Festival."
…..
Back down below ground, the fishing crew had continued on their way through the tunnels, following the river as best they could. However, they had recently come to a fork, which lead off in two directions; one path mostly clear and the other with more obstacles to be worked around. Of course, Neptune immediately gravitated toward the clear path when Max asked which way to go. "We can make it through here a lot faster." he reasoned.
Helen tilted her head. "Is faster always better?"
"Well, we gotta stay on their trail or we lose Patelliday, right? …Also, you realize how ironic that is coming from you, right?"
"…Typecasting aside, I do see your point." Helen rolled her eyes. "Alright, let's go, then." As they progressed further in, though, the Kineceleran girl tried something, pulling out her badge to try and get a lock on the Magister. But when she tried, nothing came up. "Huh… I can't get a pin on the Magister's badge."
"Probably interference." Ben explained. "We get that a lot down here sometimes."
Max, however, wasn't too concerned. "Don't worry about Patelliday. He can handle himself…" As he looked ahead, he couldn't help but get a sense of foreboding in his gut, especially since the waterway was littered with offline robot husks. "Ben, are these the pirates you saw?"
The hero eyed the unmoving robots suspiciously. "Yeah… something doesn't feel right, though."
As it happened, the two Tennysons' reservations would be proved correct, as without warning, a trio of the pirate bots sprung to life, looming directly in front of their boat before three more popped up from behind. "It's a trap!" Max hollered.
"Yeah… but we're not stuck down here with them." Yang said as she, Ruby, Neptune, Helen and Raven all stepped up. "They're stuck down here with us!" With a pump of her arms, Yang cocked Ember Celica and then blasted forward, letting lose a loud battle cry before punching the lead robot right in the head.
Taking Crescent Rose from her back, Ruby confronted a robot of her own, using her Semblance to dash around it at it launched its claw at her. Stopping on a craggy outcropping, Ruby aimed her sniper rifle directly at the back of its head and took the shot, the Dust bullet flying clean through and making it fall back into the water. "One down…"
"Ruby!"
"Huh?" Hearing her name, Ruby snapped her head around, only to see a massive pincer launching at her from the side. She managed to duck, but was quickly met with its owner's other hand, grabbing her by the cloak. "Gah! Hey, let go of—" *shink* "WAH!" Using her Semblance before she hit the water, Ruby dashed back to the boat, where she saw that it was Raven who had freed her by slicing the bot's arm off. "Hah, thanks, Raven!"
"Of course!" the Spring Maiden winked back. "Though I can tell we'll have to work on your reaction time." Without missing a beat, Raven brought Omen up and cleaved through the pirate bot straight from head to groin, its two halves falling cleanly into the water. From there, Yang came in and threw her own robot down on top of it, now a pile of scrap metal.
The Blonde Brawler pumped a fist. "And that makes three!" The trio heard a mechanical whirring approaching them, where they saw one more pirate bot approaching. Smirking eagerly, Yang slammed her fists together, glancing to her sister and mother. "Wanna triple takedown this next one?!"
"Gladly."
"Aw, heck yeah!"
Popping her neck, Yang prepped herself for another burst forward, with Raven and Ruby at the ready. "Alright, GO!" *BAM* With one last shot, Yang flew at the robot's head, while Ruby and Raven went for its sides with their blades. Unloading a fiery punch into its head, Yang sent it flying right as her family cleaved through it in an X pattern, causing its arms, legs and neck area to fall straight into the water.
Ruby was beaming from ear to ear at the perfect execution. "Haha! And THAT is why you don't mess with the Xiao Long-Rose family!"
"I will say, that was excellently performed." Raven commended, placing her hands in her girls' shoulders. "Wonderful job, girls."
Meanwhile, Helen and Neptune were dealing with two robots at once, the former speeding along the water's surface while the latter shot at them from the boat. Thankfully, his shots were enough to paralyze the bots, though Helen didn't seem to be doing much damage on her own. The most she could do was leave some dents in their armor with a few quick kicks. "Gah, this is getting us nowhere! Neptune! We gotta change something up!"
Hearing that, Neptune gave a salute and shifted Tri-Hard into its guandao mode, pulling his arm back to launch it. "I hear ya loud and clear, Helen! Heads up!" With an impressive throw, the blue-haired boy managed to hit the robot straight in its head, making it power down immediately. From there, Helen sped up, took Tri-Hard out of its head, and then swung it down AGAIN into the other robot, slicing its claw and head clean off. "Haha! Quite literally!"
Rushing back onto the boat with the others, Helen handed Tri-Hard back to Neptune, giving him a playful nudge to the arm. "Nice one! We make a pretty effective team, all things considered."
"Hah, yeah, we do…" Neptune rubbed his neck sheepishly. "That way you picked up on that move was amazing."
"Aw, shucks…" Helen scratched her cheek. "I was just doing what came naturally, is all."
As the boat proceeded forward, Ben, who had watched everything go down, applauded his friend on their handiwork. "That was some nice work there, guys!"
Tai went over to Raven and his daughters, reaching his arms around all three of them. "Hell yeah! Really awesome teamwork, ladies! Guess this family bonding day really IS working… not in the intended way, of course, but still!"
However, Max was being more cautious about the situation, especially as they drew closer toward a large hatch at the end of the tunnel. "If they had that many sentries up front, you know it won't be the end of it. Stay sharp, now."
"Don't worry, Max!" Ruby saluted. "Nothing we can't handle! We're always ready to—WOAH!" Just then, the water suddenly began to rise up from beneath the boat, only for something MASSIVE to break through the surface. As the boat settled back down, they crew couldn't help but gawk at the creature before them; an aquatic beast with large, blue eyes and long, thick tendrils with claws at their ends sticking out the sides of its head. Its mouth was filled with rows of sharp teeth, and it had large limbs with webbed hands and flippers. The beast let out a loud roar right at them, making Neptune curl into the fetal position on the deck once more.
Ruby, after gawking at the beast, craned her head back to the others and jerked her thumb up to it. "…We're gonna need a bigger boat."
…..
A/N: To be continued… also, sorry, couldn't resist the reference. Had to make it. But that aside, I think this chapter can be easily retitled to: "Neptune's Worst Day Ever", so there's that. The pains of having to try and get over your fears, am I right? But hey, he brought it upon himself for avoiding it for so long, so that's on him. At the very least, he managed to get in an awesome robot takedown with Helen, so that's a plus. Also, yes, those observant will know what that monster that appeared at the end is. If you remember OG Ben 10 Season 1, it'll be a familiar creature, indeed.
But, that aside, it seems this chapter held quite a few other things as well. Because while the fishing trip isn't going exactly as planned, Raven, Tai, Yang and Ruby are still getting in some quality family bonding time, so there's that. And of course, as mentioned, more bonding between Helen and Neptune as well. But what could those robots want with Magister Patelliday? Hm…
Back up top, though, even though we spent more time in Undertown we've got a LOT going on at the festival, it seems. Khyber and his pet are back, along with the Street Sharks, and they're ready to ruin the Omni-Hunter's day of fun. Though their main target seems to be Rook's Proto-Truk, with a certain "Agent M" being deployed to download some information off of it. This can't be good…
But of course, we also got some fun cameos! I introduced Mayor Strong WAY back in Chapter 16 with the massive press conference where the villains made their reappearance, but here, we get to see a little bit more of her as she was the one who invited the team in the first place. …Also, yes, her name is "Tanya Strong". Guess who SHE'S a reference to! On the other hand, I also brought back someone from WAY back in the Original Series; Abel North, the GOOD Kangaroo Kommando. In the original Omniverse episode, they mentioned that they had originally wanted to get North to appear at the festival, but changed things when they got Ben instead. Here, though, North DOES make an appearance… and he might help out in an unexpected way in the next chapter…
Also, I hope you guys got a kick out of that Bionicle themed opening where the gang are actually playing out the events of the story with the figures themselves. I just thought it'd be a neat little thing to do, but don't expect something like that to happen often.
For now, though, NEXT TIME! Will Ben and the others find Patelliday and uncover what's going on in Undertown? Will the Omni-Hunters up top be able to save the Bellwood Festival?! And what exactly IS this attack all about in the first place? Tune in to the next chapter to find out, but as always, thanks for reading, everybody. I'll catch you all next time, and as always, stay safe out there!
