A/N: How's it going, everybody? We're back on Fridays with Ben 10 RWBY and we're officially headed straight into a new story beat! Of course, we've still got one or two things to wrap up in Paris first, but lemme tell ya, our heroes are NOT gonna be getting a break this time, no sir. Think they've been run ragged in the past? Well, a certain short is gonna make sure that their Sunday is anything BUT peaceful after all that they've been through on BOTH sides of the pond. So, with that said, let's jump right into it, shall we? This is…
Chapter 79: Trials Big and Small
…..
It had been a little over an hour since the incident in the Catacombs, and the Omni-Hunters were still trying to process everything that had happened. Between the Forever Knights' ambush, Jaqc's betrayal, the Tarasque's attack, AND the Monkey King's arrival, it was safe to say that they had been through a LOT. And of course, Juliette being mortally wounded and saved via Quetzalcoatl feather had thrown the woman for a loop, so she resolved to get a little bit of rest when they returned to her lab before anything else. She was eager to crack open that box to see what was in it, but her exhaustion from these events was able to overwhelm that desire by just a little bit.
In that time, however, Raven had seen it fit to take Jaqc into custody and bring him back to the Plumber Base… after making a quick call to Qrow to make sure he was there. Once she had dropped him off, though, she came right back to the team, ready to deliver some good news. As she walked through the portal into Juliette's study, though, she was met with… the teens all loafing around on the furniture, all seemingly exhausted out of their minds. "…Well, it appears that I haven't missed much." she commented.
Ben, who was on the couch with Yang lounging against his shoulder, raising his hand lazily. "Yeah, don't worry, we're just taking a breather. None of us are knocked out or anything."
"HHHAAAAWWWNN…" Rex let out a mighty yawn, however, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes while Weiss was curled up and resting her head on his lap. "Beg to differ, dude. That fight with the Black Knight dude left me BEAT."
"Pretty sure we've all been run a bit ragged after all that." Ilia muttered, her own head firmly situated in the crook of Swift's neck. "I feel like I could sleep for a whole day."
The only one in the room who had any semblance of being awake was Blake, the cat girl reading the Game of Thrones book she had been gifted. "Not surprising, honestly." she said as she shut the book, bringing her eyes up to her friends. "After all we've been through today, it's gonna be pretty easy to get some sleep."
"And you're all going to need it." Raven affirmed. "Especially with all the clean-up work that there is to do back home."
Her mother's words piqued Yang's curiosity, lifting her head up from her resting place. "Hm? What do you mean, mom?"
"Well, I have good news and bad news." The Spring Maiden went on, moving over to sit on the couch herself. "The good news is that the team back home have successfully fended off the Stymphalian Birds. …The bad news is that their corpses are littering the streets of Bellwood and it could take days to clean them AND all of their poisonous droppings." That drew a collective and drawn out "Ew!" from the team, which Raven agreed with. "Yes, yes, quite disgusting, but it needs to be done."
Ben groaned and facepalmed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Ugh, fantastic. Just how I wanted to spend my week." He shook his head in bafflement. "I still don't get it, though. The Stymphalian Birds weren't Hercules' third labor, they were his sixth. We should've found a fancy deer, captured a rampant boar and cleaned out a bunch of crappy stables before getting to them, so what gives?!"
Just then, from up above, another voice piped into the conversation. "Ya know, I was just thinkin' about that." Everyone craned their heads up, with Raven in particular doing a double take at the sight of Sun Wukong and… Sun Wu Kong, both hanging upside down from the chandelier by their tales. The Monkey King and Monkey Boy were scratching their chins ponderously, the former continuing; "Redoing past tasks that were done before by someone else ain't out of the ordinary, but it's kinda weird that you guys are redoing 'em out of order." Wu Kong raised a brow to his Remnant counterpart, taking a banana from his pocket and handing it to Sun. "Whaddya think, kid?"
"I think… that something smells fishy." Sun answered while both of them slowly unpeeled their bananas with narrowed eyes. "Very fishy."
Raven abruptly shot up from her seat, glaring up at the pair of simians. "Wh-Wha—What are you two DOING up there?! Get down this instant! That is NOT your jungle gym!"
Wu Kong and Sun both grimaced back down to her, disappointed at their fun being ruined. "Psh, man, she's a party pooper, ain't she, Pilgrim?"
"Might wanna get used to it, Monkey King." Sun resigned, unfurling his tail and falling to the ground with an expert landing. "She's not much for fun."
"Why I—boy, you have NO idea who you're talking to." Raven's eyes flared up, her Maiden Powers burning as she squinted at him. "You have absolutely no clue the amount of mischief I got into while I was at Beacon. Granted, not as much as my brother, but still, I'm MORE than capable of having fun when I want."
"That so?" Wu Kong dropped to the ground, his Ryui Jingu Bang slung over his shoulders nonchalantly. "Heh, would love to see that. How's about when we get back to Bellwood, we have a little fun and I put those fancy powers a' yours to the test, huh?"
Spinning around, Raven lifted her chin to the Great Sage. "Happily! Perhaps I could teach you some manners in the process."
At this, Wu Kong threw his head back with a mighty guffaw. "HA! Lady, I learned my manners several times over. HUNDREDS of years back, in fact." Standing at his full height, the Monkey King placed the end of his cudgel on the floor, smirking down to the Spring Maiden. "And even then, this'd just be a spar. There's no way you'd be able to beat me in a fight, just putting that out there right now."
Her teeth clenched, Raven's anger only continued to spike. "It's a CHALLENGE, then! Well, if that's the case, then I—"
"Uh, n-no, Raven, you don't understand." Ben intervened, managing to wedge himself between the two before point to Wu Kong. "What he's saying is very literal. You can't beat him." Behind him, the Monkey King simply nodded his head, his eyes closed with a peaceful smile.
"I… what?" Raven furrowed her brow to her daughter's boyfriend. "Ben, are you taking his side over mine?"
"No! I'm just stating facts!" Ben assured, thrusting his arms to the deity. "Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey King, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven who made the pilgrimage to the western heaven to help deliver Buddhist scriptures to the land of the east, is quite literally, THE most overpowered deity ever known to mankind." He poked Wu Kong's shoulder for emphasis. "He is literally an instant win button."
The Monkey King gave a laugh, bobbing his head to the side. "Oh-ho, I dunno about that. I mean, I had my fair share of struggles during that whole journey! And lemme tell ya, they were NOT easy to overcome."
But Sun peeked past his shoulder with a knowing smirk. "But you've been training in the centuries since then… right?"
"Yeah, I mean, surely the Monkey King who rampaged through heaven and hell to gain immortality several times over hasn't lost a step since then… has he?" Yang furthered with her hands on her hips.
"HA! C'mon, you kids saw for yourself!" Wu Kong spun his staff around expertly in a dazzling display of martial arts, before he planted it on the ground and leapt on top of it perfectly balanced. "I'm still just as powerful as I was back then, and THEN some…" But then, his confidence gave way to a more sheepish grin. "Though, uh… a couple naps in between centuries never hurt anyone…"
Blake hummed at that. "Ah, so like the other gods, you've been getting some shut-eye, too."
Wu Kong gave a so-so gesture. "Eh, here and there. I haven't been totally zonked out like they've been, though." Once again, his prideful expression returned and he jerked a thumb to his chest. "Because, not sure if you've noticed, but the book about me and my friends' exploits is STILL popular to this day! Even inspired MULTIPLE adaptations and other things inspired by it." He began counting on his fingers. "TV shows, movies, manga and anime, even OTHER books! You name it, our legacy probably inspired it."
"That's honestly SO cool." Swift said admiringly. "I watched Dragon Ball Z ALL the time as a kid."
The Monkey King's smile widened and she pointed to her. "THAT one is my personal favorite. Dragon Ball and the 80's Journey to the West live action series is what REALLY kickstarted the modern boom of people taking an interest in the story again." He rubbed his neck and laughed. "Hah, and it's also what woke me up in the modern day. Been going around for the past 30 years or so kicking ass and taking names."
Ben did a double take at that. "Woah, seriously? …How've we not heard of what you've been doing then?"
Rex shrugged to Wu Kong. "Yeah, no offense, Monkey King, but you're not exactly… subtle."
"Hey, I can be when I want to, kid." Wu Kong wagged a finger at the EVO. "It's just most of the time, I'm not."
Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes, though she also tilted her head curiously. "Well, okay, but… what're you actually doing here, then?" She gestured out toward the rest of the team. "Why follow us around for the past month and all that?"
"You know, I was kinda wonderin' the same thing." Sun agreed, asking the Great Sage; "Why HAVE you been watching us, Monkey King?" But before Wu Kong could answer, Sun suddenly took a deep gasp of air. "AH! Wait, don't tell me, there's some sort of awesome quest that we've gotta go on and you've been making sure that we're strong enough to do it, right?!" The monkey boy got down on his knees, lacing his hands together begging for it to be true. "Please say yes, please say yes!"
The Monkey King gave a short chuckle at that before pulling Sun up to his feet. "Hahaha! Pilgrim, I like your enthusiasm, really, I do. But no, there's no mystical quest to do… at least not yet." He shook his head as he turned away from the group. "No, the reason I've been tailing you… is because I wanted to see if you were worthy."
The group was left both intrigued and stunned, especially Sun, who was hanging onto every word. "Worthy? …Of what?"
In a flash, Wu Kong spun back around and folded his arms over his chest, proclaiming; "To be… MY SUCCESSOR!" And just like that, everyone's jaws simultaneously dropped, the teens and Raven left absolutely stunned at what they just heard. Sun himself was just as galled as everyone else, the blood draining from his cheeks and feeling numb just from hearing it. But, just as the blonde was about to break the silence… Wu Kong threw his head back and let out an uproarious laugh, clutching his hand to his gut as he fell to the floor. "BAHAHAHAA! Oh-Oh Buddhist priest, you should've seen the look on your faces! Ah man, that was PRICELESS!"
"…W-Wait, that was a joke?" Sun muttered.
"Hah! Of course, it was, kid!" Pumping his legs, Wu Kong did a kip-up and rubbed Sun's hair with a smirk. "I'm not ready to retire yet. And besides, you've got your whole life ahead of ya! I wouldn't just dump that responsibility on ya right outta the blue."
"Ah-hah… y-yeah, right. Of course…" Sun held a hand up to his forehead as Blake came over to him, putting a hand on his chest to make sure he stayed upright. "I totally wasn't about to faint just now, by the way."
The Monkey King reached out, giving Sun's shoulder a reassuring pat. "Hehe, sure ya weren't. Relax, Pilgrim. My joke there might've been in good fun, but there IS a very important reason as to why I'm here." He gave a wink to the younger monkey. "You might not be in the running to be my successor… but I do wanna train you."
This managed to perk Sun back up again, his and Blake's eyes widening. "…R-Really? You wanna train me?"
"'Course I do! In fact, I wanna help train ALL of you!" He raised his hand out to the rest of the Omni-Hunters. "Listen up, kids, while my main focus is on Pilgrim Sun here, I think ALL of you have immense potential from what I've seen so far. But, with everything that's been happening recently, you kids have GOT to be better."
Ben pursed his lips at that, slightly frustrated that what the Monkey King said was true. "Yeah… we have been on a bit of a losing streak lately. Thankfully we just broke that, and trust me, we DON'T plan on losing again after this. Hopefully not for a LONG time."
"Yeah, you're right, things haven't really gone your way for a while." Wu Kong's expression changed to a slight grimace, which garnered everyone's full attention. It was the first time they had seen the Great Sage with any hint of seriousness to his visage. "But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm referring to all of the crazy "mythological" stuff that's been going on lately."
"Oh, I see." Weiss understood. "You're talking about things like the Trials of Hercules going on a rampage, and the Jotuns almost freezing all of Bellwood to try and bring about Ragnarök for Loki."
Wu Kong pointed to her. "Exactly. Things in the realms are getting more and more chaotic by the day. It's very little-by-little right now, but knowing how gods work, it's gonna explode into something IMMENSE soon. …Especially if some of MY old enemies start making their way outta the woodwork." He swung his staff up, pointing toward the heroes. "And we need to get you kids ready for it. So, I've decided to make a big decision." He SLAMMED his cudgel down, though thankfully not with enough force to break the floor boards. "Starting today, the Monkey King is gonna be one of your coaches. Congratulations, kids!"
The young heroes all gazed upon the Great Sage in awe and excitement… before a certain voice piped up from the hallway. "Hahaha! No way!" Bursting through the entry in a flurry of red petals, Ruby Rose appeared before Wu Kong, leading him to look down at her as she bounced around. "The MONKEY KING himself is gonna be TRAINING US?! This is the MOST AWESOME thing I've ever heard!"
Raven, however, was much less enthused. "Oh… joy. This shouldn't be a total disaster."
"Haha!" Wu Kong placed his hand on top of Ruby's head, ruffling her hair up a bit. "Little Rose! Were you listening in on us?"
Ruby wobbled back and forth, putting on an innocent look. "Well… we were coming down the hall when I just so happened to overhear. Isn't that right, Zak?"
Through the doorway, the Saturday family and Hope weren't far behind the Hooded Huntress, with Zak affirming what she said. "Oh yeah, with how loud you guys were being, it was kinda hard to miss…" He had an envious gaze upon him as he set his sights on Wu Kong. "But man, getting to be trained by THE Monkey King?! I'm so freaking jealous!"
"Ah, c'mon kid, don't be down!" Wu Kong insisted, twirling his staff around to point it at Zak. "You can join in too, if ya want! I mean, heck, you're already practically part of this whole group anyway, right?"
However, Zak was still crestfallen, even at the invitation. Drew reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's very generous of you to offer, Monkey King, sir, but… our boy is going to have to take it easy for a while."
"Right. After that last incident down in the cavern, we'd rather not risk him exacerbating… whatever it is that's going on with him." Doc affirmed.
The teens and Wu Kong were all visibly concerned as Hope came forward, the sorceress wearing an uncertain expression. "Unfortunately, after performing a thorough mystical checkup on him, I'm afraid that it's for the best." She gestured to Zak, who kept his head down so that no one could see his eyes past his hair. "My spell seems to have repressed whatever's inside his mind doing this to him, but it's safe to say that my initial assessment of him using his powers more often to try and balance the problem was ill-conceived."
Ben walked over, his eyes shifting between his two allies. "So you're saying that it only made things worse… that's really unfortunate, man."
"Yeah, well, I'm not exactly all too happy about this either." Zak huffed, folding his arms over his chest. "Here I was all psyched to get to help Ruby out with HER training and now I can't because I CAN'T use my powers!"
"H-Hey, hey, you can still help, Zak!" Ruby insisted, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "You don't need your powers to help me meditate—o-or for combat practice!"
Zak scratched his head in frustration. "Gah, I know, but it just sucks that whatever this… THING that's going on with me is just making my life miserable!" He sucked his lips in, biting down nervously as he recalled something. "And… after this latest round, I'm pretty sure that it's NOT my own thoughts turning against me." This piqued everybody's interest as he continued. "At first, I thought it was, but then… it said "I wasn't done yet"."
"…It referred to itself in the first person." Blake concluded, feeling a brief chill. "Oh, that's not a good sign."
Wu Kong furrowed his brow at the situation. "Yer damn right, it's not. Kid, what other symptoms have you been having whenever this "voice" pops up in your head?"
"Well, it comes with a really bad headache." Zak explained, reaching up to his temple. "I only used to get them whenever I use my powers…"
"I used to think that it was only happening because Zak's body had to reacclimate to his powers again, and that it'd take a while before that happened." Drew went on, clutching a hand over her chest as Doc held her shoulders for support. "But now… even I don't know what's going on with our boy."
Wu Kong scratched his chin, letting the information stew in his mind. "Hm, I see. Well, I think I'll look into this myself. I've got LOTS of mystical connections, so if I come across something that sounds like what your son's going through, I'll let you know."
Doc and Drew both wore relieved smiles hearing this. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Monkey King. We'd appreciate it." The Saturday Patriarch let out a short breath, putting his hand to his head. "I have to admit, though… never in my LIFE did I ever think I'd be meeting THE Monkey King, let alone ANY sort of deity."
"Well count yourself lucky, because THIS deity is sticking around for a good long while." Wu Kong assured, shooting Raven a cheeky smirk. "Whether anyone likes it or not."
The Spring Maiden simply rolled her eyes at the remark. "Oh yes, why not just start egging EVERYONE on, oh "Great Sage Equal to Heaven". Let's see where it gets you…" Raven ignored Wu Kong sticking his tongue out at her as she approached the Saturday Family, offering them a sympathetic grin. "On that note, it's good to finally meet you formerly, Doc and Drew Saturday." She extended her hand to the couple. "I am Raven Branwen, Yang's mother, Ruby's step-mother, and the one who MAINLY trains the Omni-Hunters."
"Oh, it's so nice to meet you, too!" Drew shook Raven's hand first. "I'm sorry we didn't introduce ourselves back in town, but between everything that happened above and below the surface…"
"Yes, it was quite the chaotic time, I will agree." Raven nodded.
Doc smiled as she moved to shake his hand next. "In any case, I'm glad you were able to help the kids get out of a sticky situation, especially our own son."
"It's no problem at all. You've raised a fine boy, by the way." Glancing over to Zak, Raven raised a brow. "Granted, when I first heard that he was the reincarnation of a Hell Dragon God, I initially had my suspicions…" The Saturday couple eyed one another with matching winces, but Raven quickly added; "But after he spent the night, it's safe to say that he's a very polite and well-taught young man. You've raised him exceptionally well."
Within moments, the Saturdays' apprehension disappeared, Doc letting out a sigh of relief. "Hah, phew. Thank you, Raven. You, uh, almost had us worrying for a second."
The Spring Maiden raised a confused brow. "…Why would you be worried?"
"Believe it or not, we were actually hunted down when it was discovered that Zak was the reincarnation of Kur." Drew explained with a saddened face. "…And what's worse was that it was by our own colleagues."
"It's still baffling to me that your fellow Secret Scientists tried hunting you all down like a bunch of animals" Weiss shook her head in disapproval. "Talk about overreacting."
Zak rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah, it sucked. But thankfully a lot of 'em have apologized and most of our relationships have been repaired." He waved the situation off, much to everyone's surprise. "Besides, it's been three years. At this point, it's pretty much all in the past. …At least for most."
"Dr. Beeman STILL won't return my calls…" Doc muttered with a bit of irritation, only to shake his head. "But that's beside the point. What matters now is that we need to find out what's going on with Zak currently."
"Well, you can count on us to help out with that." Rex said with a thumbs up to Zak. "We've got your back on this one, dude."
Ben walked up and pat the younger boy on the back. "For sure, man. Like Wu Kong said, you're practically part of the squad at this point." He sent him a salute and a wink. "We'll help ya out in any way we can."
Slowly but surely, Zak's smile came back, and he raised a fist to the Omnitrix bearer. "Thanks, man. That means a lot." Ben reciprocated the fist bump before Zak let out a breath. "Hah, so, my problems aside, anyone seen Dr. Garnier? Or is she still asleep?"
As if on cue, however, the group heard a slow shuffling come from down the hall, bringing their attention back to the open doors. Within moments, Juliette, now in a robe instead of her lab coat, along with a pair of fuzzy slippers, came trudging into her study. Her eyes were half-lidded and baggy, still quite tired even though she was technically awake. "Umph… bonjour, mes amis…" She acknowledged everyone as she passed them by. "Saturdays… children… Monkey King…" It only took her two seconds to realize what she just said, her eyes snapping open before she whipped her head around to make sure she was still seeing things correctly.
Sure enough, Wu Kong stood there, leaning casually on his staff. He raised his hand, pointed at her, and gave her a wink as he clocked his tongue at her. "Ck-ck, 'sup, madame?"
"…I need to go back to bed." Juliette held a hand to her forehead as she proceeded back to the door, only for Hope to get in her way.
"Woah, woah, hold on, Juliette. I promise you, this IS real." Hope took the Secret Scientist by her shoulders and moved her back around, facing the Monkey King once more. "That IS the real Sun Wu Kong, I can assure you."
"Can't blame ya for bein' shocked, though." Wu Kong said as he whirled around and flopped down on the couch, crossing one leg over the other. "That's how most people react when they meet me, honestly. And heck, when most demons hear my name, they send themselves RUNNING before I can even get five feet next to 'em."
Juliette let out a shaky breath, letting it all sink in. "I see… so then that must mean the encounter with the Tarasque happened as well." She received a round of confirming nods from the group, leading her to crane her head down in disappointment. "…And by proxy, that means that Jaqc betrayed me to the Forever Knights as well."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Weiss apologized. "…I knew that there was something fishy about him when I first met him, but I didn't expect him to be THAT much of a total ass."
Rex gave a reviling scoff. "Pfft, yeah. Allying himself with a buncha xenophobes? SO not cool."
The Omnitrix bearer tightened his lips. "That's putting it mildly." All the same, Ben shook his head. "But we shouldn't be focusing on that right now. The Plumbers are handling him, so he won't be able to bother you any more, Dr. Garnier."
"Thank you, Ben Tennyson." Juliette bowed graciously. "I owe you and your friends much after what happened today."
Yang waved that notion off immediately. "Ah, no ya don't! We're heroes! It's what we do."
"Exactly." Ilia concurred without a second thought. "You should feel no obligation to owe us anything. We're just happy to help you make progress on your research. With that being said…" Reaching to the coffee table, the chameleon girl picked up the box they had found in the cavern, presenting it right to Juliette. "Shall we take a look at what we've discovered?"
If Juliette hadn't been awake before, she certainly was now, firing on all cylinders as she rushed across the room. "AH! Mon Dieu! How could I have forgotten about THAT?!" Faster than anyone could've expected, the woman started digging through drawers and cabinets all over the room, searching for a specific item. "Oh, I know I left my lockpicking kit around here some—AH-HA! Eureka!" In her hand, the researcher held a very small box, which she opened up to reveal certain tools that would help her crack the mysterious container open. "Bring it, here, if you would please, Ilia!"
The group all gathered around as they watched Juliette work, tinkering with the lock until they all heard a; *ker-chunk* and the lid popped right open. Everyone gasped with anticipation… but when Juliette grabbed the side of the lid… she hesitated. "Dr. Garnier?" Zak asked. "You okay?"
"Oh, I am… I'm fine, Zak." Juliette took a shaky breath. "Simply trying to process all of this. After all, this could be a significant breakthrough in my research." Her gaze locked onto the box, her hands trembling on its lid. "We could finally have some possible proof that alchemy IS indeed real. This is so exciting… yet terrifying."
"Juliette, don't worry about it." Hope reassured, placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "You're on the cusp of discovering something great, so chin up, take a deep breath…" The sorceress raised a determined fist. "…and then take the plunge."
Following her advise, Juliette steadied herself and closed her eyes, only to look back down at the box with a smile. "Right! Let's see what we've got…" She cracked open the lid… and her eyebrows rose in surprise. "W-What?"
Peeking over her shoulder, the others were left similarly baffled. Inside the box, sitting upon a purple, velvety cushion, were six small, silver disks, all of which had a unique pattern molded into them. "Woah, what are they?" Swift asked.
"I'm… not sure." Ilia tilted her head. "Though they seem to be some sort of coin, I think."
"You're not too far off, Ilia." Doc affirmed. "Given their size, I would say they're more along the lines of medals rather than just coins."
"Ah, I see." Ilia nodded. "That makes sense."
But Zak was still perplexed about the etchings in the medals themselves. "Okay, so… any idea what the animals are all about, dad?" he asked.
Juliette reached down and picked one of the medals up. On each of them, there was an engraved image of an animal, which were all subsequently different colors. The first medal in the box had a top-down view of a large bird of prey, colored red. The one next to it was etched with the side profile of a pouncing tiger, one with massive paws and colored bright yellow. The medal that Juliette was holding had a bouncing grasshopper colored in a vibrant green, then the next row below began with a medal that appeared to have a breaching blue orca whale on it. The medal next to that depicted the top-down profile of an orange crocodilian, and then the final one portrayed the entire head of a black elephant, its tusks, trunk and ears unmistakable.
"That… I'm much LESS sure of." Doc admitted.
Scratching her chin, Juliette was at a loss as well. "Very curious indeed… though what is stranger is that the colors on these medals don't seem to have been painted in." She stood back up, seeing the children all utterly intrigued. "Rather, the animals seem to have been molded in after the medals themselves were made, all in separate colors. …Or, wait, no… that's not it." Squinting her eyes, Juliette had to make sure what she was seeing was right. "Could this really be…"
"What's wrong, doc?" Ben asked. "Something wrong?"
If anything, though, Juliette was as happy as she could be, beaming from ear to ear. "Oh, no, no, no, Ben Tennyson! If anything, this couldn't be more thrilling!" She lifted the medal so that everyone could see it clearly. "It would appear that the colored parts of these silver medals were neither molded into or painted on them. Rather, I think it's safe to say that the colored animals were fused into the medals upon their creation!" Seeing that the team were still confused, Juliette brought the medal closer to her. "I would have to do some tests, but I think that what we have here is two distinct metals fused together… and they have created a completely new element in the process."
"But, they look like they're all one piece." Raven said, picking up the medal that had the yellow tiger on it to inspect it on her own. "How would you get such a seamless fusion like this?"
Pointing to the Spring Maiden, Juliette answered; "Alchemy! The practice of fusing the properties of certain elements to create something new! This HAS to be it!"
But Sun couldn't help but scratch his head. "Wait, I'm confused… THIS is the result of alchemy?" He reached down and procured the red bird medal from the box, which upon closer inspection, resembled a hawk. "I dunno, it feels like a normal medal to me…"
"Perhaps not under a normal eye or hand, Sun." Juliette said, lifting the box off the ground and placing the grasshopper medal back inside. "But if I were to take these to a microscope, then I'm sure that we will find something incredible…" She continued to peer into the box, searching for anything else that might've been missed. "Perhaps there could be something else… ah! Yes, yes, yes! Perfect!"
"Sound something else, doc?" Rex piped up.
With a light giggle, Juliette procured a folded-up parchment from underneath the purple cushion, waving it around in her hand gently. It was quite old, having browned and slightly ripped along the edges since it was placed in there, but overall, it seemed to be fairly well intact. "Indeed, I did! I have a feeling that THIS will shed quite a bit of light on a few things."
"Oh, a letter!" Weiss said as she and the others were all set their full attention on the Secret Scientist. "Well go on, open it up and read! This could be what you've been waiting for!"
"Oh-ho, I know! I'm so nervous…" Juliette unfolded the paper as gently as possible, revealing it to be several pages long. The message itself was written in olde French, the cursive penmanship masterful and with little flaw. "Ahem, forgive me if I slip up at all, my Olde French is a bit rusty…" With one last steadying breath, Juliette proceeded to read aloud to everyone, translating into English as best she could;
"To those who find this letter, I am truly sorry for what I've done."
Yang couldn't help but quip; "Well, THAT'S a good start—oof!" She was promptly elbowed in the side by Blake, the cat girl shushing her partner as Juliette continued.
"The date is 1734. My name is Nicolas Flamel, and no doubt if you've found this container, then you know the true nature of myself. For a long time, I have lived my life as a manuscript writer, but that is only the part of myself I show to the public. In truth, I am a practitioner of alchemy, an ancient art thought only capable of gods and other deities of similar power. However, in my very long lifespan, I and many others have discovered how to use alchemy in the mortal realm."
That took everyone aback, though the Monkey King was the only one who took it in stride. "Huh, so mortals DID end up figuring alchemy out! Not bad…"
Juliette did a doubletake at that. "W-Wait, Mousier Monkey King… you knew alchemy was real?"
"Psh, well, yeah, of course I did." Wu Kong replied, reclining back on the couch. "But I didn't wanna spoil the moment, so I decided to keep my mouth shut until it was confirmed for ya." He placed a hand upon his chest. "Of course, I myself have alchemy to thank for one of MY many forms of immortality. You guys ever heard about Lao Tzu?"
"…The ancient Chinese philosopher?" Doc answered.
Wu Kong pointed over to him. "Exactly! Though when he passed on and went to heaven, he became the Jade Emperor's top alchemist. And one of the things he made was actually a whole BUNCH of immortality pills, created with a special elixir."
"Which you ended up eating." Ben said matter-of-factually. "AFTER getting drunk off your ass with immortality-granting alcohol, might I add."
The Monkey King could only offer a shrug. "What can I say? I was one heck of a rebel back in the day. Ah, they should've never left me in charge of those peaches…" He wagged his finger at the letter in Juliette's hand. "But I gotta hand it to Flamel, the fact that he managed to actually pull alchemy off is impressive for a mortal… or should I say "ex-mortal"?"
A gasp escaped Juliette's throat as she realized; "Ah! You're right! Nicolas Flamel was said to have died in the mid-14th century… but if this letter is from the 18th century as it is dated then… that means—"
"He MADE the Philosopher's Stone?!" several voices echoed through the room all at once, with Ruby going further; "Wow, he must be REALLY old by this point. So, any idea where he could be if he's still alive?"
Juliette's gaze went back to the letter, now more determined than ever to continue reading. "Maybe if we keep reading, we will find out…"
"Through alchemy, we were eventually able to create a Philosopher's Stone, a powerful artifact capable of granting immortality to those who wield it. …However, the process was unstable, resulting in an imperfect stone. So, as the centuries past, the its powers have become less and less potent. Every century, myself, my colleagues, and even my beloved all continue to age further. It is gradual, but eventually, we know that we will eventually fade away. We could make another, better stone, and perhaps travel to the new world where I heard there lies a Fountain of Youth… but the past five-hundred years have allowed us to reflect, and in the end, we have all come to terms with our eventual passing to the next life."
This left the room silent in shock, a silence which Drew broke. "Oh my… so the Philosopher's Stone they ended up making wasn't perfect."
"Apparently not." Juliette shook her head. "Though I suppose that shouldn't be surprising. After all, technology from eight centuries ago pales in comparison to what we have today." Her sights went back to the parchment, moving on to the next paragraph;
"Before we do pass on, however, we made it our mission to create one last great achievement through alchemy, something with which future generations will hopefully use to bring about peace throughout the world. Of course, I recognize that, if in the wrong hands, something as powerful as that could be catastrophic, which is why we wanted something that could not be compromised by evil. Though what that could ever be escaped me for the longest time. However, just when I was about to give up on ideas, a man appeared before me one day. He claimed to be a professor, though he never said what he was a practitioner of. He simply told me that he dabbled in the strange and auspicious, and said that he could aid me in my conundrum. He told me to look to all of God's creations for inspiration, and it was not long before I realized what I had to do."
"Ooh, sounds mysterious." Swift chuckled, rubbing her hands together. "Also sounds like the set up to something REALLY screwy happening because of it."
Ben winced and gave a nod. "Yeah, hate to say it, but Swift's got a point. Getting advice like that from a random stranger and then following through with it doesn't usually end well." He gestured for Juliette to continue.
"Following the professor's advice, me and my colleagues scoured the globe, searching for not only the most incredibly durables metals known to mankind, but also observing and collecting as many samples from a different array of beasts. …Some of which we newly discovered, though I'm afraid their existence is better off being kept a secret for the time being. Besides, who would believe us, eh? Once our journey was complete, we returned to Italy to follow through with our plan; create a new metal to house the power of the elements and beasts that were put on this planet with us. And finally, after much trial and error… we found the victorious combination. Through blending platinum with antimony, we have created what we refer to as "Bestiavitallium", meaning "beast energy metal".
Rex interjected once again. "Yeah, both of those are WAY too long and boring, so I'm just gonna call it "Beast Metal" instead. Sounds more badass."
Weiss deadpanned to her boyfriend. "Not sure if that was exactly the POINT, but fair enough, I suppose. Now shh! It's getting good."
"At first, our creation worked like a charm. We categorized each set of three medals with a corresponding element and species; The Red Avian Medals, with the power over wind. The Yellow Feline Medals, which controlled fire at will. The Green Insect Medals, able to manipulate electricity with the might of Zeus. The Blue Aquatic Medals, which gives power over water and to breath it in like air. The Silver Heavyweight Medals, granting great strength and the ability to control gravity. And the Orange Reptilian Medals, which could move the very earth itself."
"…Why does this sound oddly familiar?" Zak wondered to himself, only to get shushed by Ruby.
"Much to our astonishment, the medals not only worked, but they were incredibly potent. To the point where, if one of us wielded three of these medals… our bodies would transform in ways none of us could have imagined. We took on aspects of these beasts, and were capable of manipulating the elements to our very will. …But at a great cost."
Ben raised his hands up high. "See? What'd I say? Always a catch to this sort of thing."
"Our bodies would react negatively the more we transformed, especially when it was with three medals that matched one another. We would be consumed by incredible greed, lusting for more and more power. Thankfully, I and several others recognized these symptoms and stopped using the medals immediately… others, though, weren't so lucky. We unfortunately had to… terminate some of our own allies as they lost their minds."
The group collectively winced at that, feeling sympathetic for Flamel's situation. "That is… rather unfortunate, I will say." Raven admitted with a guilt-ridden expression. "I am… no stranger when it comes to having to perform a mercy kill of that sort. …Though the fact that I killed many people isn't something I'm exactly proud of anymore."
Drew did a doubletake on her. "Wait, you KILLED people?" She shot the woman an accusing glare. "And you were worried about OUR son?"
"…Fair point." Raven conceded.
"Ladies, please." Doc intervened, getting between the two women. "We can discuss THAT later. We're close to the end here."
"Unfortunately, some of us were far too gone. One of my colleagues, who had managed to absorb several medals at once, wanted to test the same procedure on a living animal. This process is what transformed a common house cat into the living reincarnation of the ancient beast known as the Tarasque. Thankfully, we were able to subdue the beast and create a cavern beneath Paris in order to contain it. I can only hope that Saint Mary will absolve us of our sins when we arrive in the afterlife… though I believe we are all bound for hell."
It was at that point that Wu Kong's attention snapped back to what was going on, astonished by what he'd heard. "Woah, woah, wait a sec, hold on! Did he just admit to his people CREATING Tarry out of a freaking CAT?!" There was a momentary pause before the Monkey King flopped down to the floor, cross-legged, with a disappointed face. "Man, and here I thought it was the genuine article that Saint Mary took care of! Hmph… guess I should've figured given it didn't put up much of a challenge."
The rest of the team all gave him a deadpan stare. "…An alchemist just admitted to creating a monster and THAT'S what you take away from it?" Raven asked.
"Hey, I'm just saying, if I'd known that used to be a house cat, I wouldn't have beaten the tar outta it."
Raven rolled her eyes and went back to Juliette. "Please, continue."
"In the end, while the Bestiavitallium has provided incredibly potent results… I fear that they may not be the results that the kindly professor intended with the idea. …But that does not mean all hope is lost. For you who have found this have a chance to finish the work that we could not perfect. In the box you will find six of these medals, a key, and a map to where the rest are hidden away in Italy. If you hold interest in alchemy at all, I implore you to try and perfect what we could not. Because I firmly believe that these medals can change the course of human history itself. Purge the greed, the lust for power, and I'm certain that will happen.
Good luck… and Godspeed—Nicolas Flamel"
Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding back, Juliette concluded the letter and threw her head back, staring straight up at the ceiling. "That was… hah, that was incredible." She brought her sights back down to the teenagers and her colleagues with a bring smile upon her lips. "Do you all know what this means?!"
There was a short pause before Doc gave his own answer. "…That these alchemists really had no idea what they were getting into?"
"People shouldn't tamper with the natural order?" Ilia suggested.
"That this mysterious professor is setting off alarm bells in my head?" Ben said with a suspicious squint.
Juliette denied all of that immediately. "Non, non!" She reached into the box once again and pulled out an old key, before then revealing the map behind the letter she just read. "It means that I need to start packing for Italy IMMEDIATELY!"
"H-Hold on there, Juliette." Hope asserted, placing her hands on the younger woman's shoulders. "Let's not fly off the handle here. There's still a LOT we don't know about these medals." The sorceress furrowed her brow, the gravity behind her voice quite clear. "They could pose a danger to the world if not handled correctly."
Sun raised his hand, which still held the hawk medal. "Yeah, I mean, we don't even know if that letter's legit or not. Call me a skeptic, but I still kinda doubt that THESE little things can hold any amount of power at all." He clenched his hand around it and went to thrust it forward. "I mean, it's not like I can just summon a gale force wind just by punching the air with this—"
*FWOOOOOMMM*
"AAAAAHH!" Everyone cried out in shock and surprise as, from Sun's own hand, a burst of wind came shooting out across the room, blowing through the doorway and forcing the doors to slam shut, blowing several papers and smaller bits of furniture around in the process. Now trapped inside, the group all fell to their knees as the wind kept going, all while a strange, red energy seemed to whip through the room in the process… which also came from Sun's hand. It was only when the Monkey King extended his staff and knocked the medal out of Sun's grasp did the wind stop blowing, and everyone was left quite shaken after being forced to the floor.
Blake was staring up at her boyfriend, both worried and horrified at what had just happened. "S-Sun… what did you do?"
"I-I don't know!" Sun insisted. "I-I didn't think—"
"Precisely." Raven stood up, marching over to the blonde teenager with a scowl. "You didn't think. Sun, I cannot express enough how you should take things like this seriously by now! If something is said to have this amount of power, you SHOULD believe it!"
The young man stammered for an answer, but Wu Kong came to his defense quickly. "Hey, hey, let's not admonish Pilgrim Sun for his mistake. Accidents happen, and I think it's safe to say that this counts." He craned his head back and gave Sun a smile. "Besides, if anything he helped prove a point."
Sun blinked, taking the Monkey King's words in. "I-I did?"
"Sure! You proved what the letter said, right? These medals hold a LOT of power in 'em, so they really shouldn't be taken lightly." Wu Kong moved over to where the hawk medal landed and picked it up, gingerly placing it back in the box with the others, prompting Raven to do the same with the tiger medal. "And that means the rest of that letter is ALSO accurate, meaning we've gotta find the rest of those medals that they stashed away and keep 'em from falling into the wrong hands."
"And perhaps even perfecting the process in which they were created!" Juliette suggested, her eagerness still present as she stared at the letter and the box. "Monsieur Flamel wanted these medals to help the human race… and that's exactly what should be done."
Drew gave Juliette a sympathetic smile, stepping forward to place a hand on the box. "I appreciate your forward thinking, Juliette, but maybe it's best that you plan this out a little more before heading out onto a big adventure. Why don't we help you sort that out and then—"
*WHAM* Without any warning, the double doors came swinging open once again, revealing a panting Rook on the other side, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. "Hah… hah… Ben! …Hah, e-everyone, we… have a situation!"
Not wasting a moment, Ben marched up to the Revonnahgander, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Woah, slow down, Rook. Slowly, tell me what's going on."
"Hah… f-forgive me, but the call was quite urgent." Rook apologized with a grim countenance. "But… Bellwood is under attack again."
A collective; "HUH?!" rang through the room as Ben did a doubletake. "Again? Are you serious?!"
"But they JUST got done with those Stymphalian Birds earlier!" Weiss exclaimed, staring at Rook in utter bafflement. "Don't tell me there's more of those little pests coming back for another attack."
But Rook shook his head adamantly. "No, no, these are not the Stymphalian Birds… they are MUCH worse. More robots are coming through from Dimension 12 and attacking the city."
"Those Computron bots that we scrapped when we first arrived on Earth, you mean?" Ruby asked, her demeanor changing drastically when she heard that. "Oh, well then that won't be a problem! We beat 'em all once, we can do it again." she said with confidence, which strengthened everyone else's resolve as well.
All the same, however, Ben was still suspicious about the odd occurrence. "Yeah… but it's weird. Usually attacks from Dimension 12 are more spaced out than this. But it's only been a month since that last one." His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Something fishy's going on here… Rook, is there anybody at the scene right now?"
"Gwen, Kevin and Qrow have informed me that they are on their way." Rook relayed. "However, the others are still far too exhausted from fending off the birds to join the battle straight away. They need back-up, and the Plumbers can only do so much right now."
"Hah, well, I guess that means we're gonna have to cut our trip a bit short." Ben craned his head back to Doc, Drew and Zak, the family of three all just as concerned as they were. "And unfortunately, we don't have time to grab our stuff… or our vehicles. And even then, I doubt those would fit through one of Raven's portals."
Doc raised a hand to them in understanding. "We get it, Ben. Don't worry, we'll bring everything on the airship home safe and sound. Just leave your keys with us and we'll get everything situated."
"Best of luck to all of you." Drew said with a pumped fist. "And go kick some robot cans for ALL of us, huh?"
Zak did the same, sending a smile to Ruby. "Yeah, and Ruby! Don't forget to get some practice in with your Fang, okay? Once we get back tomorrow, the training's REALLY gonna start!"
Ruby gave a giggle and saluted her friend. "Yessir! I'll do just that!"
Hope went over to Juliette, bowing her head respectfully to her. "And please, Juliette, make sure to keep us all informed about the progress with your research." The sorceress requested.
"Hey, yeah! When you find what you're searching for in Italy, make sure to get into contact with us." Ilia added, her eyes drifting back toward the box. "We'd love to see what sort of discoveries you'll make after you follow that map."
"Oh, of course, my dears!" Juliette bowed back graciously. "I cannot thank you all enough for what you have done. I promise, once I find the rest of the medals, you all will be the first ones I contact, for sure!" She proceeded to wave the team off. "Now go on! Your town needs you more than Paris does now."
Before they could, though, Sun nudged his head over to Wu Kong, giving the Grate Sage a knowing smirk. "Whaddya say, Monkey King? You ready to head back to Bellwood and start kicking some robo-butt?"
"Oh-ho, you know it! …But not quite yet." Wu Kong wave his counterpart a wink. "I'd love to join ya as soon as I can, but before I get to Bellwood, I've gotta take a little detour back to my home in Flower Fruit Mountain. I've got a little surprise for you guys as a sorta "welcome gift"." He pointed at the group, keeping his wink up. "Just make sure not to do anything interesting while I'm not there, okay? I'll meet back up with you kids in a few minutes."
"Understood, Monkey King, sir." Ben affirmed, giving Raven a nod. "Let's roll. It's Hero Time."
Raven didn't have to be told twice as she sliced open a portal for the group. "This should take us straight to Qrow. Be ready, kids. You might've dealt with these Dimension 12 robots before, but there's no telling what they could be up to this time."
But, as they all went through the vortex, Rex gave a nonchalant shrug. "Ah, I dunno. I mean, compared to being crapped on by metal birds, this is probably only the SECOND worst attack Bellwood's gonna see today."
"…Oddly, I can't fault his logic." Swift commented before the portal closed behind them all.
…..
~Bellwood, 3:30 P.M.~
Kevin Levin had had it up to HERE with all the crap that the day had thrown at him. Both figuratively… *SPLAT* …and very literally. "GAH! God freaking DAMMIT!" That had been the fifth time he had run over a bird carcass, causing the dead animal to shoot out what remained inside its bowels all over his windshield. He had thought REGULAR bird droppings on his car was bad, but the toxic feces of Stymphalian Birds was extraordinarily worse. "For the love of—this shit's gonna take WEEKS to clean up!"
"I know." Gwen grimaced in the passenger side, watching as the windshield wipers tried to get the gunk off, but to no avail. "Bellwood's practically caked in the stuff and now we've got ANOTHER problem to deal with on top of all this."
"Bellwood?! What about my car?!" Kevin's remark immediately brought Gwen's grimace in his direction. "…You're right, less important." Reaching for his Plumber Badge, the Osmosian made a quick call. "Yo, old man, you there?"
From the other end, the sound of laser fire could be heard, along with exerting grunts from the "old man" in question. "Gah! Ugh! Oh, I'm here, kid, and this place couldn't be anymore chaotic if it tried!" Qrow replied. "We've got THREE of the big ones to deal with this time! I only hope the gang in France got your call."
"We got through to Rook, thankfully." Gwen affirmed. "With any luck, they'll be here shortly since they've pretty much wrapped things up over there."
"Huh, so they found the tablet?"
"Yes, thankfully. Though they did run into some difficulties with the Forever Knights." Gwen shook her head. "I didn't ask for ALL the details, but they did manage to fight them off."
The couple could hear multiple shotgun blasts go off on the other end of the call before Qrow responded. "Well, guess that's SOME good news today. After the town literally getting shit on and now THIS, we need it. Now get here on the double, I can't be the ONLY one holding these tin cans off, ya know."
Kevin rolled his eyes at the comment. "We're on our way, old man. Just hang tight!" With that, the call ended and Kevin increased speed, plowing over the bird bodies in the road while trying to avoid all the droppings he could. It didn't take them long to reach their destination, following the explosions and the lasers that shot up into the sky… but they were immediately met with a sight that was very disconcerting.
As Qrow said, there were now THREE of the giant Computron robots rolling around the town, their massive arms swinging about and destroying everything with ease. All while their low, monotone voices recited; "DESTROY ALL FLESH AND THE WORKS OF FLESH!"
Gwen and Kevin got out of the car, seeing Qrow shooting at the bots from a nearby rooftop. "Qrow!" the Anodite called out. "Down here!"
Seeing the couple, Qrow got one last shot off in one of the robots' eyes and leapt down, just in time to avoid getting smashed by one of the many arms flailing about. He landed with ease and hefted Harbinger over his shoulder. "Hah, glad you got here quick. We've got a lot on our hands with these things."
"No doubt." Kevin agreed, just as one of the Computron bots brought its single-optic down in their direction. "…And I think it's got it out for us."
"DESTROY ALL FLESH AND THE WORKS OF FLESH!" Raising its arm, the robot went to slam it into the trio, but Gwen managed to raise a mana shield just in time. However, the force of the impact was so strong that it cracked immediately.
The Anodite sneered in frustration. "These things are powerful! I think I can only take three hits from those tops."
Kevin knelt down and absorbed the asphalt under his feet, before then taking out a Fire Dust crystal from his pouch and absorbing that into his arms. "Well then, we're just gonna have to take 'em down hard and fast!" He SMASHED his fists together, igniting his arms before shifting them into a mace and sword. "Let's get goin'!"
"Hold on, kid." Qrow warned. "We should at least wait for—" *FWOOSH* "…Hah, sis always did have great timing."
The three turned their heads around and saw the familiar red and black spiraling portal, where Raven, Ben and the others all emerged one by one. The only ones who weren't there were the Saturdays, though Gwen had a feeling that they wouldn't come back immediately. The redhead smiled and gave a sigh of relief. "Hi. Thanks for coming back on such short notice."
"No problem, cous." Ben assured, his eyes shifting up toward the robots. "I take it we didn't miss much?"
Kevin pursed his lips with a disgusted scowl. "Oh trust me, you missed A LOT this morning, dude." he said, pointing down at the road for emphasis. There, the returning team were greeted by the sight of several dead bird husks and globs of a white, unpleasant-looking substance, which they quickly deduced what it was.
Weiss let out a scream and quickly leapt up onto Rex's shoulders, not wanting to touch the ground at all. "AAAAAAHH! Gross, gross, GROSS! Get me away from it, get me away from it!"
"Augh! ACH! Ice Princess! OOF! We have—ah—MORE IMPORTANT stuff to deal with!" Rex shouted, trying not to lose his balance.
Many others, however, were quick to agree with Weiss' sentiment, if in a less overactive way. "Yeah, can't say I'm a big fan of THAT either." Yang stuck her tongue out. "But Rex is right, too. We've gotta take these things out." She slammed her fists together, her aura beginning to burn brightly. "So, what's the plan of attack here, Green Boy?"
"That's easy." Ben reached for the Omnitrix and transformed into… "HUMONGOUSAUR!" Now towering over the shield that Gwen made, the Vaxasaurian grew until he was at eye-level with the Dimension 12 robots, glaring directly at them as he slammed his fist into his palm. "We hit 'em hard, we hit 'em fast, we leave 'em for scrap."
"So pretty much the idea I had." Kevin smirked, ready to get rolling. "I'm right behind ya, Tennyson! Let's roll!"
But, while Team RWBY, Rook, Ilia, Sun and Rex all readied themselves for combat as well, a certain voice at the back of the group cleared her throat. "Ah, 'scuse me…" They all peered back to see Swift, standing awkwardly behind them still in her Proto-Tech armor. "Hi, sorry, but uh… technically the day's not over yet, so… think I can get in on this action?"
The request took them all by surprise, but when Humungousaur glanced down to Rook, the Revonnahgander simply shrugged. "She raises a valid point. We now have quite a few hours left in the day, so I do not see the trouble in letting her do so."
"Hm, then it's settled." The Omnitrix bearer gave her a thumbs up. "You're on board, Swift, now let's—GYAH!" Before he could finish, Humungousaur was swept right in the stomach by one of the robots, sending him tumbling down a nearby street.
"BEN!" Yang bellowed as she, Ruby, Blake and Weiss all jumped into action against the robot, the four girls managing to reach its head in no time. Rex, Rook, Kevin and Sun, meanwhile, rushed toward another bot, while Ilia and Swift partnered up to take one of their own.
Gwen was about to join the latter two, but was held back for a moment longer when Hope ran up to her. "Gwen!"
"Hope!" the redhead brought her shield down and greeted her friend with a hug, just as the Branwen siblings came over to them as well. "So, I heard the mission was success?"
The silver-haired girl wore a confident smile and reached into her rucksack, pulling out the tablet fragment. "Hmhm, you tell me."
"Woah, so that's what one a' those looks like, huh?" Qrow titled his head, squinting at the ancient piece. "I was expectin' somethin' more… impressive, honestly. Considerin' it belonged to a goddess an' all that."
"Well, much like you, it's very old." Raven jabbed with a smirk.
But Qrow retorted quickly with; "Uh, ya know you just called YOURSELF old by sayin' tha—UGH!" He then got a literal jab in the stomach for that. "…I retract my statement."
Gwen rolled her eyes, but was no less happy with Hope's results. "That's amazing, Hope. I knew that sending you on that mission was a good idea." She placed her hand upon the tablet and pushed it back toward her friend. "Now, I want you to take that and the Quetzalcoatl tail back to base. Once you get there, ask to see Jinn, and the agents will bring you to her to store these for safe keeping."
"O-Oh, um… okay?" Hope muttered warily. "Who's Jinn again?"
"The genie in the lamp. You'll need to say her name to get her to come out, though." Gwen's eyes widened when she remembered; "Oh! A-And make sure to not ask her ANY questions. Just tell her I sent you to return the artifacts and she'll do it for you."
The mage swallowed nervously. "Not gonna lie, Gwen, feels like you're throwing me into the lion's den."
"She's nice, I promise. But if you ask her a question, she might go away forever." The Anodite gave her friend a reassuring hug. "Don't worry, I trust you'll handle it. Now go, we'll take it from here."
Despite the pressure she was feeling, the fact that Gwen trusted her so much made Hope exhale with relief. "Hah… okay, I understand. Thanks, Gwen. I won't let you down." With that, Hope cast a spell that made her take to the sky, flying high above the city skyline before shooting straight toward Plumber HQ.
"Well, now that the package is secure…" Qrow leveled Harbinger toward the robots. "How's about we even the odds a bit?"
Raven nodded, ushering Gwen to follow her. "My thoughts exactly. Come, Gwen, we'll back up Ilia and Swift. Qrow, you're with the boys. Let's stop these things before they wreck the town even more." With that, the three spread out toward their respective groups, ready to bring the robots down.
…..
A couple blocks away, meanwhile, Team RWBY had ridden their own Computron robot away from the main problem area, hacking, slashing and punching away at it as the mechanical menace tried everything to get them off. It spun around, waved its arms, even tried bumping itself into several buildings, only for the four girls to keep hanging on and doing damage. However, it had one last trick to pull out; the fingers at the tips of its tendril-like appendages transformed to become much thinner, spinning rapidly to become circular saws. Seeing this, Ruby's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "Uh… did they have those before?"
"I… think?" Blake replied, only to yelp and leap up to avoid an incoming blade. "It's been a while since we've fought these, so I don't remember!"
"Close combat's becoming dangerous!" Weiss exclaimed, gracefully dodging one of the saws herself. "Let's put some distance between this thing and go for a bit of ranged fire!"
Yang cocked her Ember Celica, shooting herself off of the robot's saucer-shaped body. "Hear ya loud and clear, Weiss Cream! I've actually got an idea!" She grabbed hold of a flagpole, flipping around and balancing atop the horizontal beam. "Green Boy! Let's give this thing the ol' Fast Ball Special!"
From around the corner, Humongousaur came barreling through, carrying a manhole cover in his hand as Yang jumped from the flagpole and onto his shoulder. "Way ahead of ya, Goldie Locks!" Reaching his other hand up, the Vaxasaurian allowed Yang to hop into his palm, before reeling the manhole cover back. "Heads up, Flat Head!" The disk went flying straight into the robot's eye, shattering it and taking it off balance, and from there, Humungousaur tossed Yang straight at it, the Blonde Brawler lighting up like a roman candle and SMASHING straight through its eye, taking it offline completely.
Yang tuck-and-rolled into a landing, springing up to her feet with a cheer. "Woo-hoo! Alright, that was TOO easy!"
"Heh, yeah! …Maybe a bit too easy." The celebration didn't last long as, from a different corner, another robot came rolling onto the scene, swinging its arms at Humungousaur as Team RWBY regrouped. However, the alien grabbed the tendril, braced it against his shoulder, and then twisted his body around so that he flung it straight over his head, sending it hurdling right into the road.
Humungousaur was about to finish the job… but then someone slid their way into his path, taking him and the girls by surprise. This person was… a small child, probably no older than eleven years old. He had a lithe body compared to his abnormally large head, which sported a head of black hair cut to resemble a pair of horns. He had tanned skin, a gap in his teeth, and wore fancy maroon clothing with a gold backpack. The kid also wore a sly, almost malicious smirk, his beady eyes glaring up to Humungousaur as he snidely remarked;
"Mmm, I think you forgot to say "It's Hero Time!"."
Needless to say, the five of them were not amused. "Did that before we got here, kid." Humungousaur retorted as he stepped over the child. "Sorry, but no time for autographs!" But just as he approached the downed robot…
"BEN! Watch out!" From almost out of nowhere, the robot that Kevin's group had been fighting came crashing straight into the Vaxasaurian, all while the three boys and Qrow were still riding on it. The collision send all of them hurdling off, with the exception of Rex and Rook who managed to stay clung onto the robot's head. The robot that had been slammed into the road, meanwhile, managed to stand back up, its head swiveling around to shoot a laser at the team.
"AAH! Tactical retreat!" Sun hollered as he, Kevin and Qrow ran from the laser, all while Team RWBY rushed off in a different direction.
The other robot was about to fire right at Humungousaur, but Rex jumped off and brought out his Block Party, deflecting it and slicing straight through the other robot. It promptly exploded into bits, but the EVO wasn't about to take it easy. "Ben, we need the heavy artillery here!"
Picking himself up, Humungousaur reached for the Omnitrix on his chest. "Gah, getting there! Just hold—"
"Ben Tennyson!" The duo's attention was brought behind them as the kid reappeared, having climbed on top of a nearby car with a single finger raised. "I demand that you—" *CLANG* "AAH!"
Cutting him off with her landing on the car's hood, Yang locked a harsh glare onto the boy. "Kid! We don't have time for fans right now, we're in the middle of a fight here! Go find your parents and leave the pros to their work!" She whipped herself around and shot forward with her gauntlets, joining the rest of Team RWBY in their charge against the robot. Weiss had summoned her Sphynx and had it fly straight into the machine, taking it off balance and clawing into it while Ruby, Blake and Yang shot at it.
"You heard the lady, kid." Humungousaur encouraged as Rex joined in, bringing out his BFS to slice the robot's arms off. "The heroes need to… oh boy." From almost every street, a Computron robot came rolling in, immediately surrounding the group on all sides.
…Although one of these robots was accompanied by Gwen, Swift, Ilia and Raven all bombarding it with attacks, the former two managing to dismember it quite handily with energy attacks while Ilia stabbed directly through its head with her Lightning Lash. From there, Raven cleaved straight through the robot with Omen, taking it off its stabilizing wheel and making it explode as it hit the ground. The three younger girls regrouped and gave each other high fives. "Woo! Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!" Swift cheered.
"No doubt about it!" Ilia beamed. "We rule!"
"Haha, that we do…" Gwen agreed… only to notice all of the other robots starting to surround them. "Oh… that's not good." Before long, the four women were backed up toward Team RWBY, Rex and Humongousaur, completely closed in on several sides with a line of buildings blocking their escape.
"So… any plans?" Blake piped up.
Weiss gestured toward her summoned beast. "Uh, hit hard and fast, I thought we established this."
"Not exactly an option when there's enough robots to devastate an entire city block." Humungousaur clarified. "I thought there were only three, but now—"
Just then, a certain voice rang out; "Halt!" At the command, all of the robots stopped in place, their eyes dimming and their bodies going completely still. The team were left confused for a moment, that is until the young boy from before came forward, holding a pocket-watch control device with a smug grin. "Ready to listen to me now?"
The team stared down at him in astonishment. "Uh, Ben? I don't think that's a fanboy." Ruby deduced.
"Ha! Furthest thing from it, in fact." the boy laughed off. "I just wanted you to acknowledge me as your archnemesis and destroyer… Ben Tennyson." His words took the hero off guard, but he didn't have much time to process them as the boy lifted his pocket watch again. "And now that that's out of the way, Humungo-BORE… Attack."
The eyes of Dimension 12 robots lit back up in a second, making the team all go on the offensive again. For his part, Humungousaur clenched his teeth and swiftly scooped up the little brat that was causing them trouble. "I don't know how you're controlling these things," he said while holding the kid up to his face, "but tell them to BACK. OFF."
However, the boy simply pressed a button on his backpack strap, causing it to transform into a jetpack that freed him from the Vaxasaurian's grasp. "Uh-uh!" he wagged his finger down at them. "We're not done playing yet!"
"Ben," Ilia spoke up, "that kid might be more of a threat than we—"
"DOWN!" Diving at her friends, Blake brought Ilia and Swift's heads down just as the other robots started swinging their saw blades around again. They thankfully all missed the team… but sliced through several buildings in the process, causing them to collapse onto the street.
"Run! RUN!" Raven cried, urging everyone to follow her to safety as the buildings fell onto the robots themselves. Everyone managed to escape the wreckage, but it didn't even phase the machines, who simply demolished their way through and left nothing but debris in their wake.
Humungousaur, his anger growing more and more with each passing second, had just about had enough. "GRAAAAHH! That's it! No more fooling around!" He turned the Omnitrix and smacked it, anchoring the device down and initiating his Ultimate transformation. "RAAAUGHH! ULTIMATE HUMUNGOUSAUR!" The Evolved Vaxasaurian scowled at the two robots left pursuing them and charged in, their saw blades bouncing harmlessly off of his thick hide. He grabbed one by its head, pulled it straight off, and then SMASHED it straight back into the open neck cavity. With that robot disabled, he grabbed one of its arms and then swung it into the other robot, crashing them into one another. "Time to finish this. NOW!" Transforming his hands, Ultimate Humungousaur took aim and launched an entire salvo of rockets at the robots at pointblank range, blowing them to smithereens.
…And one of those pieces just so happened to flying straight at the boy, knocking him out of midair and to the ground. "AGH! Oof!" Landing in a heap, the boy rubbed his sore head and was about to stand… when a large, rocky foot stomped directly next to him. "AIIEEE!"
"Yeah, you're not goin' anywhere." Kevin said as he, Sun, Qrow and Rook loomed over him.
Clenching his teeth, the kid was about to chew the four of them out, but found himself swiftly silenced as the shadow of Ultimate Humungousaur was cast over him. He slowly brought his eyes up to the Evolved Vaxasaurian, only for the hero to change back to his normal state and then back to human form in two brief flashes. From there, Team RWBY, Gwen, Rex, Ilia, Swift and Raven joined him in glowering down at the boy. "Start talking, kid." Ben demanded. "Now. Who are you?"
At first, the boy seemed quite shaken… but then he seemed to brighten up, regaining his confident sneer as he stood and brushed himself off. "Hmph, of course. You don't remember me, do you?" He spread his arms out as he frowned at the older boy. "Hello? I'm Billy Billions. We were in middle school together, I sat behind you in Mrs. Rheault's class…" He began counting on his fingers; "I was richer than you, I was smarter than you… I should've been running that school, but it always seemed like YOU were everyone's little ray of sunshine. Ring any bells now?"
"Uh… not really?" Ben shook his head. "It's been seven years since middle school, so…"
Billy tightened his lips, fuming to the point where he seemed like he was going to pass out. "…Then maybe you'll remember THIS! Seven years ago, I discovered that you weren't special, you were just LUCKY." He pointed at the Omnitrix. "I found out that YOU were all of those aliens who were going playing hero around the country the summer before, so I was gonna take out some sweet revenge on you. And, on that fateful night, I finished constructing a portal device that would send you to an alternate dimension! One that you'd NEVER get out of!"
"Ah… I see where this is going." Ruby nodded.
"A MOUSE could see where this is going, chicky." Billy snapped back, making Ruby stick her tongue out at him. "As I was saying, I fired the portal device off… but since YOU were Diamond-butt at the time, it reflected offof you and right back at ME. Stranding me there instead!"
Ben raised a brow down at the kid. "So… you mean to tell me that you got yourself stuck in Dimension 12?" A nervous sweat appeared on Billy's forehead as he moved his head down from the group… who all immediately erupted into uproarious laughter. Even Gwen, Rook and Raven had trouble holding their own laughter back. "BAHAHAHA!"
"…Not funny." Billy muttered.
Regaining control for a little bit, Yang said; "Oh come on, dude, you've gotta admit, it's a little funny."
"I don't have to admit ANYTHING, lady! I said it's not funny!" Clenching his fists at his sides, Billy continued on. "I was stranded in a dimension where time stood still, where all organic life had been hunted into extinction. And you wanna know the worst part?"
Rex slid his head in next to Billy and guessed; "…That seven years of isolation drove ya insane?"
Billy gave a solemn nod. "That seven years of isolation drove me—WHAT?! NO!" The team couldn't help but snicker at how thrown off Billy was at that, but the boy stomped his foot in retort. "Stop laughing! The worst part about ALL of this is that because of Dimension 12's weirdo time effect, I'm stuck like this!" He placed his small hands on his chest. "I'm an eighteen-year-old trapped in the body of an eleven-year-old!"
"I mean, it could be worse for ya, dude." Sun pointed out. "The robots could've killed ya, after all. …Also, how did you not starve to death, by the way?"
"Ugh, well, as part of the whole "time displacement" thing, apparently my hunger went with it." Billy pointed up at Sun. "Thankfully, it came back the moment I set foot in this dimension again, but I'm still stuck like this." His smirk came back with a vengeance. "And as for the robots? They weren't hard to deal with. After all, while my body stopped growing, my mind didn't. I'm a genius, by the way. Born from geniuses." He raised his chin up as he bragged. "My parents basically invented modern robotics."
Qrow nodded in understanding. "Ah, so THAT'S why you've got a huge head." Yet another round of snickers followed, while Billy's glare directed straight to the huntsman.
"MMMPH! You'd better learn to RESPECT me! That goes for ALL of you!" Billy held up the control device. "I now control the Computron hive mind, and have the ability to open portals to and from Dimension 12. And I'm going to use these assets to—"
"Take revenge on me, right?" Ben guessed, folding his arms with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, trust me, heard it all before man."
Billy whipped around and shouted; "Don't you mock me, you—er, wait, what do you mean you've "heard it all before"?"
Ben gave a shrug. "When you're a world-famous superhero, you tend to get these sorta threats a lot."
And just like that, Billy was back to gritting his teeth. "…World-famous?"
"Hehe, yep!" Yang confirmed, resting an arm across her boyfriend's shoulders. "Green Boy here has saved the universe dozens of times over." She jabbed a finger down at him. "So eat THAT, Shorty!"
"…Of COURSE you became world-famous!" Billy threw his hands up in the air, absolutely done with everything at this point. "Why wouldn't you be? But that'll all change…" Reaching into his pocket, Billy pulled out a pair of dark sunglasses and set them over his eyes, making sure they were secure. "…Right now. Mazuma!"
*CRACK*
The group went on alert again as, not too far away from them, someone else came crashing onto the scene. She appeared to be a young woman with long, blonde hair tied back into a pony tail, wearing what appeared to be a black turtleneck sweater with elbow-length sleeves and a gold Billions logo on the front. She also wore a maroon skirt with matching socks, black and white shoes, and a set of black earrings to bring the outfit together. However, what stood out to them were two things; the fact that she cracked the asphalt when she landed… and her glowing red eyes. "…What is your command, Master Billy?" she said in a soothing, British monotone.
"It would seem we have another robot on our hands." Rook pointed out, aiming his Proto-Tool directly at Mazuma. "I suggest that we—"
"FLASHBANG!" The very second the word came from Billy's mouth, Ben whirled back around… and saw the boy producing some sort of ray gun from his shirt.
"GET DOWN!" Unfortunately, Ben's warning came far too late, and before they knew it, the robot woman's face exploded into a blinding flash of light… and Ben let out a scream as a powerful blast hit him in the back.
…..
Everything was dark, and Ben could feel his head pounding as he opened his eyes. He was lying on his back, facing toward the sky as the sun shined in the corner of his vision. "Ugh… what happened?" he muttered… only to notice something weird about his voice. It sounded like he had a frog in his throat… and was a few octaves higher.
Not far away, he could hear everybody talking amongst themselves, no doubt also coming too after the fact. "Is everyone okay?" he heard Rex call out.
"Yeah, I think so." Ilia responded. "But that's the SECOND time we got flashbanged today, and I'm really NOT enjoying it."
Sun let out a frustrated grunt. "Gah! But Billy and his robo-babysitter are gone! Great, now we don't know where they are!"
"Well, I think everybody's okay at least." Swift said, shouting over to Ben next. "Yo, Tennyson, are you—AAH!"
At her sudden shout, Ben's eyes snapped open, while Raven could be heard gasping as well. "Ah! O-Oh my word! Ben!" Within seconds, the Spring Maiden was standing over him, though her eyes were darting around the area in a confused panic. "G-Gwen, Kevin and Rook! They've all… by the gods…"
"What the hell did they do to 'em?" Qrow wondered as he and the rest of the team approached, focusing directly on Ben. "Kids, you… okay?"
Letting out another groan, Ben sat up, rubbing his head. "Mph… I think so." But there it was again; the weird thing going on with his voice. And that wasn't the only think he noticed. 'Did my clothes suddenly get a lot… baggier?' With his vision clearing, it was then that he finally noticed something VERY odd… the Omnitrix was dangling from his wrist… which was now MUCH smaller than he remembered it. "W-What… what's going on?"
"Ben… don't panic." Ilia reached into her pocket and pulled out a small compact mirror, opening it near him. "But I think… Billy might've done something to you."
The Omnitrix bearer peered into the mirror… and his eyes immediately widened as everything connected in his brain. His voice, his baggy clothes, the dangling Omnitrix… it could only mean one thing. He had been… de-aged. Staring back at him was the familiar visage of his eleven-year-old self, with every move he made confirming that it WAS, in fact, him. "…Aw, man! This is NOT good…"
"Mph, what's not good?" the young, high-pitched voice brought everyone's attention over to Gwen… who, along with Kevin, were sitting up themselves. Ben went slack-jawed seeing them both just as de-aged as he was—eleven and twelve respectively—though they were still oblivious to that themselves. "What happened?"
"And where's that stinkin' brat?!" Kevin shouted, his own voice much higher and a little raspier than before. "I owe him an ass beatin'!"
Gwen's eyes snapped open after hearing her boyfriend's voice, as well as feeling her hair tie fall from her head. …Not to mention the fact that various parts of her body felt MUCH lighter and thinner than usual. "W-What the—KEVIN?!"
The Osmosian spun around… and his mouth went agape, the couple both left flabbergasted at their de-aged states. "G-GWEN?! AGH!" He covered his eyes and spun around. "Y-Your clothes!"
"AAAAAAH!" Gwen's scream echoed through the street as she went back down and hid in her own shirt, hoping that no one had seen anything. "W-What happened to us?!"
"I believe it has something to do with Billy Billions and the ray gun that he had." Everyone rounded about to see Rook… who was now a similar height to the Alien Trio. He was quite scrawny, yet had a very chubby head shape… and he was also sporting a very fluffy tail. "It would seem that he has returned us to being pre-teen age. A very unfortunate predicament." As if to emphasize his point, his own tail seemed to start wagging out of control, hitting him in the face repeatedly. "Hmph, I did not miss this."
It was only then that Raven realized something. "Wait… where are Team RWBY? Yang?! Ruby!"
Everyone began to scan the area for the girls, calling out their names hoping for a reply. However, it wasn't long before Sun discovered their whereabouts… and was astonished by what he saw. "Uh… guys? I found them, but… look." He pointed down past a pile of rubble… and there they were. Four piles of clothes with sleeping girls inside of them.
Ben and Kevin, who were able to still stand even in their baggy clothes, were completely stunned. "…Oh no. Not them, too." Ben lamented.
The most dumbfounded out of the group, however, were undoubtedly Raven and Qrow, the former falling to his knees when he saw his nieces. "Oh… good lord." he whispered, seeing their innocent, sleeping faces. "…Tai's gonna freak out."
"Tai's still HERE?" Ben fell to his hands and knees. "…I'm so dead."
"Don't worry, Ben, none of this is your fault." Raven assured as she knelt down near the girls. "…But we must inform everyone about this, at once." Carefully, the Spring Maiden lifted her daughter and stepdaughter into her arms, bundling them up in their clothes. "And we need to get all of you into clothes that actually fit. Come, we'll head back to Ben's place and—"
*CHOOOOM*
Before anyone could follow through on Raven's plan, however, a golden beam of light came blasting down from the heavens, delivering something upon the street before dissipating all at once. There, standing tall with a small, gift-wrapped box in hand, was none other than Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey King beaming from ear to ear as he laughed; "Haha! See? I told you guys I wouldn't take lo—" But he cut himself off mid-sentence when he noticed the state of things; an entire city block covered with destroyed robots, a team left reeling and clearly disturbed by something… and the fact that eight of them seemed to have been changed into children. Gwen, Kevin and Qrow were all staring at him slack-jawed on top of that as well, not expecting his arrival at all.
Pursing his lips, Wu Kong sighed and placed a hand on his hip, peering down at Ben. "Okay, come on, what'd I say about doing interesting stuff without me, huh?"
…..
A/N: Man, of all the things for the Monkey King to miss out on, it just HAD to be that, didn't it? Yep, Billy Billions is FINALLY here! …Only took him, what, 77 chapters to show up after his first cameo? Sheesh, I really like to do teasers that take YEARS to follow up on, don't I? Well, point is that he's here now and ready to take out his revenge on Ben… by de-aging him and his allies so that they may feel the agony that HE suffered while trapped in Dimension 12. Which, might I remind you all, was because of HIS stupid mistake in the first place. Talk about complete and utter pettiness.
So yeah, now Ben, Gwen, Kevin, Rook AND Team RWBY are now all pre-teens… except for Ruby who is now 8-9 years old. …She'll probably take this the hardest out of anyone, really, considering that the JUST turned sixteen about a month or so ago in their time. Though let's face it, NONE of the Team RWBY girls are going to be all too happy about this. They're gonna want to get themselves fixed PRONTO, and then give Billy a piece of their mind. Oh, and with the Saturdays still in Paris, the gang won't have any easy way of getting around without their vehicles. Doesn't help that Kevin's feet can't touch the pedals of HIS car anymore either, and he'll be damned if he lets someone else drive it. This is gonna be tough, I reckon.
But let's back up a bit from the Billy situation and move over to how things wrapped up in France for a minute, shall we? For one, yes, it would seem that the Trials of Hercules are somehow happening out of order (which granted, was initially a mistake on my part, thank all of you who pointed it out), so there's that for our heroes to deal with. Between the situation they're in now and having to clean up all of the Stymphalian Bird droppings, this is turning out to be a really CRAPPY Sunday for the team, huh? DA-DA-DA-DA-DA BAD JOKE!
However, even more importantly, we've found out what's in the box… along with a LOT of new lore dumped onto us courtesy of the letter from Nicolas Flamel himself! Indeed, it seems that he DID manage to create a Philosopher's Stone, but one that wasn't ALL powerful, its energy depleting over the centuries until Nicolas and his colleagues were no longer immortal. Kind of disappointing… but in place of a Philosopher's Stone, Flamel had left something… far more intriguing behind.
Medals made out of a newly rediscovered metallic substance that harnesses elemental and animal power, which supposedly allows humans to transform and gain great strength… at the cost of turning them into power-hungry monsters. And apparently this idea was given to him by… a mysterious professor. Hmm… oh, and these medals are also responsible for giving rise to the second known Tarasque ever from a common house cat, so there's that, too. Seems these alchemists created something they weren't entirely able to perfect in the past… though maybe the present day will allow for some better results. We'll see this plot point come back around, don't you worry.
But that'll have to wait for another day. Because NEXT TIME, we're catching up with the others back at Ben's house, allowing Team RWBY time to breath before they head out to stop Billy Billions. Also, when Grandpa Max arrives, he says that there's "an old friend" on the way to see them, so they have to get this done fast. Unfortunately for Billy, things turn belly-up when he suddenly loses control of the Computron hive mind. Will the team be able to save the day despite their diminutive status? And who's this "old friend" Max is mentioning? Find out next time with "Arrested Development". Thanks for reading guys, and I'll catch you all next time! And, as always, stay safe out there!
