Welcome to 2020. We hope to really torture all of you with these next few chapters.
It was a warm, pleasant day, perfect for running around in the park or for a picnic. Ben would normally be hanging out with his team at the auto show, or at the mall, or anywhere else they wanted to that day.
He could easily imagine team RWBY joining them; Ceres and Yang and Kevin would get into an arm wrestling match, Kylie and Weiss would quietly flirt with each other, Blake would sit with Rook and judge them all, and Ruby and Ben would hang out like they always did (and Ben would try not to get lost in her eyes).
Ben couldn't feel much of anything anymore. His world was tinged with gray, everything around him dull and lifeless. He wanted everything to just stop, because how could the world go on without Max Tennyson in it?
Ben replayed everything in his mind: Every moment spent with him. All the times he could've spent with him. All the times they laughed. All the times they had little disagreements. All the times they bonded...
Ben barely registered anything anymore. The funeral was yesterday, and he could only remember bits and pieces. Mainly Verdona tearing up at the memoriam, and his friends standing close by him when they buried the empty casket.
After that, he went home, took off his suit, and fell into bed.
But ever since Max's death, Ben had been having weird dreams. Granted all dreams were weird, but these were lucid dreams that you (unfortunately) remembered for the rest of your life.
The latest example: Ben was floating in a dark space, no light for miles around him. The air was cold and thick and wet, settling heavily in his lungs. He could hardly breathe or see with anything going on, and he could feel tendrils of fear grasp at him from all sides.
"Where am I?" he whispered, but the words echoed around him anyway.
"BEN!"
He turned to see Max surrounded by a horrifying mass of black tendrils. His left arm had been torn off, leaving only a bloody stump. "Grandpa!"
"HELP ME!" Max screamed as the tentacles began to pull him into the ground. Ben tried to run over, but what felt like roots twined around his ankles, and it took all his concentration to get them off. When he could finally reach his grandfather, it was too late- Max was gone, leaving only a bloody pool where he once was.
Ben pounded on the ground, the metallic stench of blood hitting his nose. "GIVE HIM BACK!"
"No."
Ben paused before he looked around the void. "Who said that?"
"The answer does not matter," a low, ominous voice hissed. Ben shivered involuntarily. "What matters is that you let me go."
Ben didn't know what was going on, and decided to put on a brave face. "Who are you? What do you want?" Ben yelled out into the void...which responded by having a giant pink pupil slowly open up above him, radiating a dangerous pink light. He could hear loud, horrible screams all around him, and just when he thought it couldn't get any worse, the eye shifted into a carnivorous maw with lamprey-like teeth growing from the inside. Ben wanted to scream, or wake up, but why on Earth couldn't he?
"BEN TENNYSON." The voice sounded like Hell itself. "LET ME OUT. I DO NOT BELONG WITH YOU."
"What does that mean?!" Ben yelled, snapping out of his fearful state. "Who are you?"
"I WANT OUT!" The mouth seemed to inch closer, and the light shone brighter.
"Out of what?" Ben yelled, before feeling his watch activate. He looked over and reeled back in disgust and horror; the Omnitrix had dug itself into his flesh and was starting to mix with it, what the fuuuuck...and even worse, the symbol was turned into a nightmarish depiction of a ghost.
"I WANT FREEDOM FROM THIS PRISON, I WANT OUT!" The mouth suddenly rushed forward and swallowed Ben whole. He plummeted down the throat of a thousand teeth, speeding towards the light; he didn't know what awaited him at the end, and even with all the fear coursing through him, he could barely scream-
Ben shot out of bed, breathing heavily. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and collected his thoughts. Sun shone through windows, giving Ben a sense of familiarity and peace.
But still, the thought still lingered; what the hell was that?
Ben really didn't want to get out of bed today, but he still found himself walking around Plumber Base. Everything passed by Ben like a blur, and the whole planet just seemed so lifeless with Max no longer around.
Ben's perception of the life around him was muddled since last week.
Since the search revealed there was no body to be found.
Since he had to see Gwen and Ruby cry together.
Since he had to tell his parents the news.
Since he had to see his dad nearly break down crying as they buried an empty casket.
Since Max vanished off the face of the Earth.
Ben was trapped in a numb daze for about a week and a half, and it showed. He felt nothing. Not sadness, anger, and especially not happiness. Just...nothing. Foods, events, or people that once made Ben happy only produced bittersweet memories of Max. He saw him everywhere, like a ghost lingering in the air.
And it hurt.
A lot.
He wasn't eating, wasn't talking, wasn't...Ben. And his friends and family were worried sick.
"He's still adjusting, huh?" Kevin said from afar.
"I don't blame him," Kylie sighed as she continued to type away on her laptop. "Grief is always hard."
"Shouldn't there be 'stages of grief'?"
"Nah. The idea of the 'five stages of grief' is total bullshit. I remember reading that the person who came up with the model didn't mean for the stages to be in chronological order; they can occur at any time. You'll go through acceptance over and over, then revert back to almost any of the others often. Rather than stages, maybe they should be called the five characteristics of grief."
Kevin raised an eyebrow.
"...I pay a lot of attention in psych," Kylie admitted, a bit embarrassed.
"What stage would you say he's in right now?" Kevin asked curiously.
"That's the thing," Kylie said, concerned. "I don't think he's even started it."
"...Jesus."
"I want to help him," Kylie sighed. "I really do, but I don't know how, you know? It's hard to approach someone when they're grieving. I just don't feel like I'm the right person for the job."
"Then maybe we are."
Kevin and Kylie turned to see Ruby and Yang, looking worried. Yang looked fine, but Ruby's eyes were still puffy from crying. Other than that, she looked like her usual self.
"You sure, Red?" Kevin asked. "The guy's barely registering anything."
"I'm sure." Ruby nodded. "I'm his best friend. I know him like the back of my hand. And don't forget, I've been through this before."
"We've been through this before." Yang gently reminded her.
Ruby and Yang slowly approached Ben, who was sitting alone in the diner. No one had come in for a while; business was closed until they found a replacement chef for Max, which would probably be impossible. There was a unique feel to Max's cooking, some run of the mill chef couldn't possibly replace it.
Ruby sat to the left of Ben, Yang on the right, and just studied his appearance for a brief second: he looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. His eyes were red from crying and his hoodie sleeves were soaked with the tears he'd wiped away.
Ruby took a deep breath. "I...don't know what to say," she admitted. "But I can listen."
"We want you to know that we're here for you, Ben. No matter what," Yang comforted him.
Ben looked up at the two of them, and laid his head back down. "...fine."
"How do you feel?" Ruby asked.
"I feel...weird."
"How so?" Yang asked.
"The best parts of the day are the in-between moments. Kinda like when a game is loading from one area to the next. Some things feel surreal and look bright and colorful, even at night," Ben explained.
"Alright..."
"But," Ben continued, "it just seems fake. Just leaving for the base and having that numb moment of transit seems like the best. It's like there's a choice. If somehow I take a right instead of a left, maybe I won't think about it, or maybe something will happen, or...maybe just nothing."
Ruby realized that she wasn't the best equipped for dealing with this right now, but decided to keep on talking. "I'm just really sorry you've had to go through this. I really don't know what to say..."
"Words are this weird made up thing we all agreed to use to address day to day things. But, in the case of real sorrow they are never enough." Yang sighed. "The best thing you can do is just be there for somebody that doesn't want to be left alone."
Ben looked up at Yang. "Is...this how you felt when she...?"
"...more or less, yes," Yang admitted. "Grief is never something you ever really get over. You don't wake up one morning and say, 'I've conquered that; now I'm moving on.' It's something that walks beside you every day. It's...like a ghost that haunts you everyday."
Ben shuddered a bit with that last line.
"Although," Yang added softly, "if you keep your heart open through everything, your pain can become your greatest ally in your life's search for love and wisdom."
Ben wiped his eyes. "Hey, Ruby...do you think...they're happy to see each other?"
"Yeah," Ruby nodded sadly. "I think they are."
Ben softly cried as Ruby held him, trying not to tear up herself. Yang merely rubbed Ben's back as he let it all out.
Roman walked through the sea of people at the train station. Normally he wouldn't dare to venture down there, but this was more of a 'fun little excursion.' He weaved through the crowd, pickpocketing civilians here and there, his cigar in his lips.
"Life is good," he said to himself, as he sat down on the least stickiest part of the train. "Or...probably not."
The true purpose of today's outing was to meet with a client the 'lady in charge' had told him about. Apparently, said client was of high importance due to being, well, incredibly intelligent. His name was Elias- Roman never got a last name.
A big man in a nice suit (not as nice as Roman's, though) came in and sat down right next him. "Mr. Torchwick, I presume."
"You must be Elias." He smiled as he stuck out his hand. Elias did not return the favor, and Roman awkwardly retracted his hand. "Anyway," he drawled, trying to play off his embarrassment. "I heard you have a job for me."
"Someone has a job for you," Elias corrected him. "I am but a messenger to my higher up. We're a week behind schedule, all thanks to Tennyson."
"Oh, boy," Roman scoffed. "I could go on about that brat: awful hair, overpowered...oh, and a terrible comedian."
Elias chose to ignore him, and palmed him a sheet of paper. "You have to go to these coordinates. Make sure you get the attention of the Plumbers."
Roman grinned. "But of course. I suspect I'll be paid handsomely?"
"You'll get paid if you do the task properly," Elias told him as the subway train passed through a tunnel. "Good day."
And just like that, Elias disappeared with a quick flash of pink lightning. Roman wasn't exactly too thrilled that his messenger disappeared and he wasn't told a price, but honestly, he didn't care at the moment. He pulled out his burner phone and dialed a number.
"Hello, boys. We got work to do."
Ceres didn't expect to see Ben in the debriefing room. Or in general, to be honest. The kid had been through a lot. While she came to terms with it more easily, Ben was still having trouble. It wasn't healthy to bottle up these kind of emotions. Out of everyone in the room, she knew this best. It was why she had offered Ben a free visit to her therapist; she could only hope he would take up on it soon, or at least talk to someone else.
"What's happened? Break in? Theft?" Yang asked, snapping Ceres out of her reverie.
"The latter," Ceres said, pulling up security footage. "Torchwick and his henchmen were spotted down by a warehouse in the metro area of Bellwood."
"What's so special about the warehouse?" Weiss asked, looking at the screen. "Another Plumber storage thing?"
"Surprisingly not," Ceres revealed. "Just normal stuff in there. It's a bit out of nowhere, considering his recent string of crimes."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Ben spoke up. "Let's go."
"Ben," Ceres said, deathly serious. "Are you sure you want to come along?"
"Yes." He nodded. "I'm one hundred percent sure. I've been out of action for too long."
Ceres took a deep breath. "Alright, fair enough. Go suit up, everyone. We leave in twenty. Oh, Ruby, can you stay behind real quick? Leader to leader talk."
The group dispersed; Ceres's eyes followed Ben as he left the room, examining him as quickly as possible.
"What's up?" Ruby asked, breaking Ceres's focus on Ben.
"How would you say Ben's doing right now?" Ceres asked bluntly.
Ruby paused to think. "Well, he finally let himself cry. I think that's a sign he's doing better. I don't think he should be on the field just yet, but...your team and stuff."
"I agree with you, truth be told. I've seen how people with a gun react with grief. In my experience, you don't really do anything special or different to cope, you just keep going. It's cliche, but you just keep living and putting one foot in front of the other. Everyone says time heals, but it really doesn't. It just makes you forget. Life can be good again, just in a different way."
Ruby nodded somberly. "I know the feeling."
"...you too, huh?"
Ben rested his eyes on the ride towards the mission. He was still exhausted from lack of sleep, and he wanted to be awake as possible for later.
"We just need to capture Roman," Ceres instructed. "He got away last time because of Fistrick's giant robot."
"Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask," Ruby piped up. "What did you do with the parts?"
"Oh, there's bits and pieces of that stuff in more of my recent inventions," Ceres told her. "Including..." She glared at the silver glob that rested on Kevin's wrist. "I wasted a perfectly good battery on you."
"I know," the thing teased. Despite the lack of certain facial features, it really looked smug, like a cat despite having a knife pointed at him.
"Guys," Ben groaned, slowly opening his eyes. "Can you keep it-" He nearly jumped out of his seat. The ProtoTruk was empty but still moving. "Guys?" Ben called out hesitantly. He got up to move around-
But was suddenly slammed against the wall by a ghastly hand...coming from the Omnitrix.
"You don't listen, do you?!" the voice rasped. "I want OUT!" The hand was replaced by a terrible ghostly form, but Ben couldn't properly see it with half of his face pressed against the wall.
"The great revolution in the history of any living being, past, present and future, is the revolution of those determined to be free," the voice said. "In my history, you are my wall. The shackles I must free myself with. The man I must destroy to have my way."
Ben struggled in the hand's iron grip, hopelessly trying to free himself.
"This is all a bad dream, Tennyson," the voice said, oddly soothing. "But I hope you recognize-" Claws pierced Ben's neck, and the life quickly left his body. "This is a wake up call."
Ben nearly catapulted himself awake, smashing heads with Kylie.
"OW!" she yelled, rubbing her head. "What the fuck, Ben?!"
"I'm sorry!" Ben cried out, before noticing something was off-
"...were you guys seriously gonna try the warm water trick?" Ben glared at them as he shook off his wet hand.
The group coughed and diverted eye contact.
"It was her idea," Ruby snitched, pointing over at Yang.
"How could you?" Ben said, pretending to be appalled. "We just shared emotions!"
Yang shrugged. "How could I not?"
Roman watched as his henchmen walked around the room, dissatisfied with the lack of urgency.
"Alright boys, get these crates loaded, we're already behind," Roman ordered. He then lit himself a cigar and popped it into his mouth. "And as we all know, I'm the only one allowed to be blamed here..." he grumbled under his breath.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll all be blamed properly."
Roman turned around to see Team RWBY and Zeta Squad standing right behind him.
"Oh, if it isn't Little Red and her ragtag bunch of misfits and freaks!" Roman grinned as he stared down the group. "Come to crash my little party?"
"I'm surprised you're still around," Blake shot back. "Wasn't that deal with Fistrick enough of a sign to pack up and retreat to whatever hole you came out of?"
"It should've been," Roman replied easily. "But I got commissioned by someone else. Besides, it's fun to mess with you kids. Isn't that right?" A few of his men nodded and whispered in agreement. "They know I'm right."
Ben didn't have the patience with these idiots right now. "Let's see how you like to mess around with..." Ben popped up the faceplate of the Omnitrix and tried scrolling towards Diamondhead's icon...but all that came up was Ghostfreak's icon.
Ben hesitated for a moment, and then shook his head. "...you know what? I don't need to transform to fight." And then he ran up and straight up decked a dude in the face. The others began to shoot at him, but Ben quickly dodged the bullet fire and climbed up an iron beam.
Ruby clenched her weapon a little bit tighter. That was cool. She quickly jumped into the fray; she sliced her way through the crowd, occasionally turning into bursts of rose petals to confuse her opponents. Rook, Weiss, and Kylie began firing their respective weapons to provide some support, and Yang and Blake tangled up some other henchmen.
Ceres and Kevin (as Bashmouth) bulldozed their way through Roman's men like paper. "Hey, Cer, wanna do that one combo we've been talking about?"
Ceres grinned as her palm lit up with flames. "Of course." Kevin coated his fist in metal, and Ceres quickly heated it up. Kevin ran forward and punched one of the men so hard, he practically branded him with a fist shaped mark on his chest.
"Not bad, not bad," Kevin crowed, shaking his fist. "I think we could do more, though."
"We could. We honestly could," Ceres agreed as she backhanded one of the henchmen.
Ben carefully ran across the steel beam, avoiding occasional enemy fire. He was doing pretty well for himself, staying out of the conflict and not dying. Especially when he didn't have an aura protecting him.
That thought was enough to jinx him. Roman grinned as he aimed the end of his cane right at Ben. "Gotcha~" he taunted as he pulled the trigger-
And was promptly kicked in the face by Ruby. Roman's single bullet went off track but still hit the beam; Ben was sent back in the explosion, crashing into a stack of boxes.
"BEN!" Ruby shouted.
Ben groaned as he weakly reached for the Omnitrix. "Well, that was a pain in the ass."
Ben activated the watch again, hoping to dial up someone like Rath to really give it to Torchwick, but instead he was greeted with the Ghostfreak icon. Ben rolled his eyes. "Alright Omnitrix, you win. You want Ghostfreak? You get him!"
He slapped it down, and the world went pitch black. Ben looked around anxiously. The void was too quiet, like the calm before the storm.
And then, he looked down. A massive pink eye was glaring back at him, and seconds later, black hands shot out of the pupil Ben was standing on and grabbed him, pulling him underneath the black sea-
The others stared at the alien incredulously. Ruby had always felt like there was something off about Ghostfreak, but now that feeling was worse. He was quiet, mouth set in firm line. Ben would've had a fun little quip to say...
Roman laughed uproariously. "Nice trick, kid!" He snapped his fingers, and his goons riddled the ceiling with bullets, causing it to crash down on Ghostfreak.
"But we ain't scared of no ghosts!" he quipped, laughing madly. The other henchmen joined him.
"You should be," a voice behind him whispered. And suddenly, Roman felt something flow into his head, into his brain-
SHHHK.
And Roman folded to the ground like a house of cards. His henchmen stopped laughing. With a catastrophic banshee shriek all hell broke loose. Boxes and crates flew around the warehouse like a tornado, hitting friends or foe without distinction. Zeta and RWBY had to duck behind a large concrete barrier for safety.
In the midst of the industrial maelstrom, Ghostfreak around, possessing one person before moving to the next. Whatever had possessed Ben was cruel to his opponents: phasing wooden pieces of crate into their limbs, overloading their senses and making them hallucinate nightmares, using them as puppets to fight against their allies... This wasn't Ben. Something was wrong.
Ceres had to yell over the carnage to be heard. "Why is he doing this?!"
"He's probably still mad about Max's death!" Kylie rationalized. "Ben's taking out his failure to save Max on these nameless goons!"
"So, what stage is this, unusual cruelty?" Weiss snapped.
"Actually, it's less of a consecutive cycle and-"
"GUYS! FOCUS!" Ruby knew she had to do something, even if she was way out of her depth. She stood up, a determined look in her silver eyes. "Ben! Calm down! Don't take your anger out on them!"
The room came to a halt, crates and henchmen alike falling to the ground. Ghostfreak floated in the middle of the room, motionless.
"B-Ben?"
Ghostfreak vanished before her eyes. Ruby looked around wildly, trying to find him-
"Ben's not here," a voice behind her whispered.
Ruby turned and swung her scythe, but the spectre cackled as he phased right through the blade. She growled before noticing what was wrong with him.
It was his eye; the sclera was pink as opposed to Ben's usual green. Actually, that pink shade looked familiar...kinda like...
The color of the cult they had fought just a week ago.
"IT'S NOT BEN, RUN!" Ruby shouted before using her semblance to gain some distance from the alien.
The group scattered around the warehouse, and Ghostfreak paused in place. His head made a full 360 revolution around his neck, causing everyone to cringe. He chuckled, before it devolved into full on maniacal laughing. Ruby felt her hair stand up on end; it was one of the worst things Ruby had ever heard, and she'd heard the sound of bones snapping from Grimm attacks.
"You are all afraid of me?" the apparition chuckled. "In this form?"
"This form?" Rook said quietly from Ruby's left.
"You haven't seen anything yet!" Claws shot out of Ghostfreak's skin, catching everyone off guard. He began ripping off his skin, but there was no blood pouring out of him...
Torn skin fluttered to the ground as Ghostfreak revealed his true form; his true body was a mix between gray and purple and gave him the look of the famous Grim Reaper. His claws were black and matched the lines on his chest. His spine was sticking out of his back, his tail was white with black stripes, and he had bony spikes on his elbows. His teeth looked more like human incisors than fang. And finally, his gray head was upside down, with a single pink eye glaring balefully at them.
"I...LIVE!" he rasped.
"Who the hell are you?!" Rook shouted at him. "Where is Ben?!"
"He's down there," the spectre laughed. The group looked down to see something beneath Ghostfreak, quickly forming into a familiar human form.
"Who are you?" Ceres demanded to know.
"I am Zs'Skayr," the monster rasped. "The high Ecto Lord of the Anur System."
"That...this is impossible," Ben rasped as he crawled away from the monster. "You're me!"
Zs'Skayr cackled wildy. "Your Ectonurite transformation served a good cause, Tennyson. You see, I merged with your Ectonurite form when it was sampled and like a flea sucking the blood of a hound, I fed on your watch. It caused me to grow stronger, to evolve..." Zs'Skayr's claws sharpened. "And it's done wonders for me."
"I'm getting flashbacks to Vilgax," Kevin said flatly.
"And yet," the wraith continued, "that watch was hell for me. At first I played along, but I found myself trapped and subjected to horrors unlike any other. I've been here all along, trapped in that accursed device! Forced to watch as another used my body when I wasn't prodded! Do you even have any idea what it was like to be in that device? Every waking moment was torture!"
Zs'Skayr cleared his throat and composed himself. "I was only able to regain some form of control not too long ago. That portal I had my associate build helped give me that 'push' to free myself."
"So, what do you want?" Yang asked. "You got your strength back, what more do you want?"
"The Omnitrix."
"Of course you do," Ceres sighed.
"I require it for my own personal gain," Zs'Skayr sneered. "And for her needs, but mostly to teach you a lesson. Let's see how you like being controlled! Once I'm through with you, I'll force you to experience all five years of torture like I did. And once all hope is gone, you'll have my permission to DIE!"
Zs'Skayr flew towards Ben, and everyone's heroic instincts kicked in; projectiles and bullets flew at the monster, but he phased through them while laughing maniacally. Ben fell back into the sunlight and braced himself as Zs'Skayr reached for him-
And he heard loud screams and the sound of something burning. Ben opened his eyes to see Zs'Skayr recoiling from the light. His hand was bubbling, burning like flesh would in a wildfire. He screamed as he retreated back into the shadows, dragging Roman with him.
The group slowly put down their weapons, looking at each other with fear and confusion.
Zs'Skayr huffed as he hid in the shadows of a nearby alleyway. In his hubris, he'd forgotten about his weakness to the sun. His skin was still giving off smoke, and his hand felt numb. It was embarrassing to retreat, especially after having those brats at his mercy.
"Um, excuse me."
Zs'Skayr turned to see Roman standing to the side. He tapped his foot impatiently.
"Can I help you?" Zs'Skayr hissed.
"You're the leader of that Elias guy, right?" Roman scoffed. "I was promised a big reward for meeting with you."
Zs'Skayr smiled. "But of course. You want riches, yes? I'll give you riches..." The spectre snatched Roman up and phased them both through the ground. Roman tried to scream but couldn't, claustrophobia settling in-
Zs'Skayr peeked his head up, and phased them out of the ground and into the back of a bank vault. "Your wealth await," the spectre announced, grinning.
Roman smirked. "Now we're talking." He walked over to examine the loot, admiring the shine of the gold bars before going back to business. "Alright, now help me grab some money before-" Roman turned to see he was alone. "Oh."
Silence filled the room, and Roman sighed, annoyed. "Okay, fuck that guy."
Zs'Skayr retreated back to the shadows of the alleyway. He hated having to play the waiting game, especially when Tennyson was vulnerable at a time like this...
"Waiting for something?" Zs'Skayr looked up to see Tyrian carefully eyeing him from the top of a building.
"You must be the agent sent by her grace," Zs'Skayr rasped. "Pleasure to meet you."
"My honor to serve you," Tyrian said, before jumping down and bowing before the spectre. "But I must ask, what is an all powerful monster such as yourself doing in the shadows? Should you not be on your way to meet her?~"
"I should." Zs'Skayr frowned heavily. "But in my arrogance...and subtle accommodation of being shielded underneath Tennyson's 'first layer'..."
"Ohohoho!" Tyrian chuckled. "This is hilarious!"
"Do you find amusement in my pain?" Zs'Skayr hissed, clenching his fists.
"What I find amusing is the fact you didn't off the Omni Brat," Tyrian replied smoothly. "Her grace will understand your tardiness if you choose to go back and rightfully claim what is yours...and I can finally come face to face for why I'm here."
Zs'skayr grinned. "Your offer intrigues me. Once the sun goes down, then the fun will really begin."
