Ben felt weird standing with Cass' teammate. There was an air of superiority to the guy, and Ben felt a little skeeved out by him. Like, he could've gotten into the car, but the driver wasn't there and he felt weird getting into a stranger's vehicle without said driver being inside it.
"So, uh," Ben said awkwardly. "...you play any sports?"
The other boy shot him a look. The kind of look Kevin gave him when he said something stupid.
"Not really," Mercury said.
"You know, we...kinda sound alike." Ben chuckled weakly.
"I don't hear it." Mercury shrugged. Ben averted his eyes, and the boy went back to his scroll.
Ben was in for a rough weekend.
Some backstory; Ceres, Ruby, and Cass were all selected for a special 'weekend retreat / mission' kind of thing. They were all to choose one member to accompany them. Team RWBY drew straws, Cass's team voted on it...and Ceres just chose Ben without second thought.
What was the mission? Ben wasn't sure. All he knew was that he would be getting on a plane and heading out to a place called the Forever Fall.
"You guys ready to go?" Ruby asked, setting down her bags. Cass and Ceres followed behind her, holding their own luggage.
"I guess," Mercury scoffed, not looking up from his phone.
"I know I am." Ben grinned. "What are we doing again?"
"Easy. Gathering nectar," Cass said, smiling slightly.
"We're what?" Ben asked, disappointed.
"We're gathering nectar for Professor Peach," Cass restated. "Didn't you listen?"
"Hey, I just got roped into this," Ben scoffed. "Blame her." He pointed his thumb towards Ceres.
"I could break that thumb if I wanted to," Ceres snapped. "I'm not too happy about this, either. Why send a bunch of second years on a simple task?"
The room went quiet, everyone looking at the two like they were crazy.
"You guys seriously don't know about the 'Death Hornets' of the Forever Fall?" Ruby grilled them.
Ben's eyebrows shot up. "The what now?"
Ceres leaned in. "Go on."
"Oh geez, you really don't know?" Cass laughed. "I guess they don't have them in Sanus."
"Yeah, I guess not," Ben said, avoiding eye contact. "So, what are they?"
"The Death Hornets are tiny Grimm. No bigger than a penny, really," Mercury explained. "But don't let that fool you: they strike like a bullet and leave nasty wounds that can fester if not treated properly."
"They can go through metal like nothing," Cass said, snapping her fingers. "It's dangerous for anyone not protected by aura to go out there. And even then, if your aura gets broken, it's game over."
"They travel in large swarms, typically controlled by a queen. They're usually the most dangerous of the group," Weiss explained further. "Slaying one is a hard task. They're strictly an A-class threat. And since we all happen to be in the A-class..."
"...we have tiers?" Ben asked, flabbergasted.
Ruby snickered. "You REALLY need to listen, dude."
Taiyang smiled as he breathed in the crisp morning fall air. The Forever Fall's majesty couldn't compare to the other forests and gorges in Vale. He couldn't help but recall something he read in a poem as a student...how did it go again? 'Nature's first green was red'...ah, he wasn't good with memorization.
Taiyang hummed as he walked over to the meeting point, listening to the rustling of leaves under his feet. Taiyang was only there for one reason; to watch the woods for Grimm… but they probably wouldn't come. This was their "dormant" season, after all. It would take something big to wake them up, but one could never be sure, especially in times like these.
Taiyang heard the whirring of a plane, and a breeze picked up between the trees. He smiled; the group was here. He walked on over-
And was tackled into a massive hug.
"Daaaaad!" Ruby beamed as she hugged her father as tightly as she could.
Taiyang laughed as his little girl released him from her iron grip. "Who dares attack me?"
Ruby smiled innocently. "Just your daughter!"
"My daughter?!" Taiyang gasped dramatically, checking his watch for comedic effect. "I haven't seen you in 2 months, 5 hours, and 23 minutes!"
Ruby gasped as well. "We have to fix this immediately!"
"Of course!" Taiyang grinned, wrapping his daughter in a massive bearhug.
Weiss rolled her eyes as she hopped off the plane. "They do this every time they're reunited."
"Why is that?" Cass asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, that's Ruby's dad," Ben said, smiling.
"...wait, really?" Cass blinked, playing dumb. "I mean, I can tell he and Yang are related, but Ruby?"
"Well, yeah. They're stepsisters," Ceres told her pointedly. Cass had always given her a bad feeling, and something about Cass' innocent remarks made the hair on Ceres' neck stand on end.
"...huh," Cass said, bemused. "Alright." Maybe she was playing too dumb, but Cinder had always taught her that people were much more well liked if they innocently and honestly asked questions about things, even if the subject was something one studied meticulously beforehand.
Ben casually walked over as Taiyang freed Ruby from his embrace. "Hey, Mr. Xiao Long."
"Ben! Long time no see!" Taiyang shot out his hand. "How've you been?"
Ben braced himself for Taiyang's iron grip as they shook hands. "I've been good, I guess."
"Well, I'm just glad to see you on your feet." Taiyang smiled as he went over to greet Weiss and the others. Ben's grin faintly dropped; he knew what Taiyang was talking about, and while the older man seemed sincere, it still hurt. He took a deep breath and joined the others.
"How are we all doing today?" Taiyang asked casually. Everyone stared at him silently. The older man awkwardly clapped his hands together. "Alright, that's good. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Taiyang Xiao Long. I'll be your guide for this mission."
"Cool," Cass said, crossing her arms.
"As Huntsmen, there are two rules you must adhere to," Taiyang declared. "To protect and to serve. The people in the nearby village are counting on us to secure the nectar for their own personal usage... mainly because the Grimm here have been a real issue."
"How bad are we talking?" Ceres asked.
"Last month, the village population was around 800 people. They had their usual 'nectar' festival- that's when the nectar here is sweetest, and the Grimm are conveniently hibernating. Around 43% of the town came out to these woods...and only about 30% of those people came back."
That put everyone on edge. Yes, they joked around a lot, but when you really thought about it, not everyone had Aura.
"What caused them to wake up?" Ruby asked worriedly.
"No idea," Taiyang shrugged. "Beacon recommended your teams due to your experience on the field."
"Naturally." Cass smiled, flipping her hair.
"So, what's the plan then?" Mercury asked boredly.
"Groups of two, with one group of three," Taiyang explained. "Beacon wanted me to test your compatibility with others. With that in mind, Ceres, you'll be working with Mercury. Ruby, you'll be working with me and Ben. Cass, you'll be working with Weiss. We'll meet back in town around 6:00, and then we'll head to the inn for the night."
Ben felt his blood run cold: oh god oh fuck Taiyang is asking me to stay with him is he gonna threaten me? Is he gonna be that dad that knows I have a crush on his daughter and will give me a terrifying shovel talk? Is this where he's gonna-
"Hey! Ben!" Ruby exclaimed, waving her hands in front of his face.
Ben snapped out his downward spiral. "Wha?"
"Dude, we're splitting up," Ruby said, taking his hand. "Come on!" Ben went red in the face as he quickly tried to pull his hand away but wow, Ruby really inherited her father's grip.
Taiyang laughed, swatting Ben on the back. "Come on, kid! What were you thinking about-" He cut himself off, looking at Ben closely. He then turned away, walking ahead.
Ben knew what the look meant and wanted to die.
Ben made sure to keep his distance. Taiyang was a good guy, but when he got angry, he was scary. And it wouldn't be apparent, either, it would literally be on a dime. And it wasn't like Yang's explosive anger, it was the quiet kind of anger, aka the worst kind.
"Everything ok, dude?" Ruby asked as she carried a bucket of sap.
"Uh...yeah," Ben stuttered, scratching his head. "It's just that...your dad is acting kinda weird around me."
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah, I'm getting 'overprotective dad' vibes. Since we're, you know, older."
Ruby rolled her eyes. "Ugh, he does this everytime me or Yang bring a boy around. Like, one time, Yang brought a study partner home? And he just...shot him."
Ben's eyes widened.
"Hold on, I said that wrong," she sighed. "He shot him, point blank, with a nerf gun. No warning. We were having dinner. All he said was 'Try anything funny, and this will be the least of your problems.'"
"...huh. Thought that was gonna end poorly," Ben admitted.
"Dude, he's a rational adult. You have nothing to fear," Ruby giggled.
"Hey, sweetie," Taiyang called out, "how about you go fill up another bucket real quick? I wanna talk with Ben for a minute."
"Uh, sure!" Ruby said, darting off.
"So..." Taiyang's smile waned as he turned to Ben. "Let's get down to business."
Ben flinched and backed away. "Look, sir, I know what you're thinking, and no, I DON'T have feelings for Ruby," he lied.
Taiyang looked confused. "What?"
"T-that's why you gave me that look earlier, right?" Ben asked.
He put his hand to his temple. "Kid, I don't care about all that. I'm just wondering if you're doing alright. Listen, my daughter's personal life is nothing I should snoop around with. But with sad teenagers? I'm like Batman," Taiyang continued. "I...I know how hard the death of a loved one can be."
Ben's eyes widened. He knew what this was about. "I have an idea," he said quietly.
"Getting through the loss of a loved one takes time and everyone's journey to healing is different. I just want to make sure you're in the 'healing' part," Taiyang explained. "If you put a lid on a boiling pot, the contents will eventually rise to the top and create a giant mess. Human emotions aren't that different."
"Well, thankfully, I had my friends to help me through this," Ben clarified. "I recently attended an 'open group therapy' thing. I think that helped me vent a little. Plus, Ruby and Yang helped me start grieving...does that count?"
"And your school work? You aren't too overwhelmed, right?" Taiyang asked, concerned. "I know the crunch around tournament time can be rough. Even more so if you're a transfer student."
"I'm doing fine, maintaining a good...high B average..." Ben lied, not wanting to talk about that embarrassing Physics grade he had. But, to be fair, the teacher was a bitch.
"Alright, I'm just checking in." Taiyang smiled. "...oh, and for the record, about Ruby..."
Ben instantly froze up.
"...you don't need to ask for my permission to date her, seriously." Taiyang laughed, slapping Ben on the back. "I'm not that kind of asshole dad who threatens you with an actual gun to the head or anything like that."
"I can see that," Ben groaned, rubbing his back.
"I'm more the kind of asshole dad that makes jokes at your expense. And puns." Taiyang smiled. "Lots and lots of puns."
Ben blinked. "So THAT'S where Yang gets it from."
It eventually became 6 PM, and the group met up at the designated meeting spot- a small tavern in town. They handed what they had collected over to the town relief group and went inside to eat. Ruby chose to spend time with her father, so Ben, Ceres, and Weiss ate at a different table, with Cass and Mercury sitting somewhere else.
"Soooo," Ben drawled out, "What was it like to be with the others?"
"I'm pretty sure Cass passively aggressed me," Weiss mumbled, mashing her potatoes with her fork.
"Huh?" Ben said, confused. "Whatcha mean?"
"Well, I said something along the lines of 'hopefully this nectar can help the townsfolk', but Cass said 'Donate some money. I respect your drive to be a Huntress, but frankly you could do a lot more good just by throwing money at the problem'," Weiss explained. "I mean, she was right, but it was still passive aggressive."
"Well, at least YOU talked with your partner," Ceres complained. " Mercury was so quiet, it was weird. I could've killed him with the silence."
"What about you? Taiyang scare you a bit?" Weiss teased.
"Actually, no. He just asked if I was doing ok after Grandpa Max," Ben told them. "That was pretty much it."
"Damn," Ceres said. "You got lucky."
"I expected MUCH worse," Ben revealed, taking a sip of water. He looked over at Taiyang and Ruby- the two seemed to be having a good time catching up with one another. Ben chuckled, before mentally reminding himself to call his parents sometime this week.
"So, how goes school for you, kiddo?" Taiyang asked.
The question perked Ruby up as she glanced toward Tai, her eyes darting a bit as she could only assume this would either lead into a question of grades, or something that she had no idea about that could possibly lead to her imminent and immediate demise.
"Uhhhh...it's going good, dad!" Ruby answered, chuckling a little to try and hide her confusion and worry.
Taiyang let out a soft laugh as he patted Ruby on the head, showing off that trademark smile, something that he often showed to assure his daughters that everything was fine. It was infectious- Ruby felt her lips instinctively curl into a small smile of her own.
"Relax kiddo, I just wanna know how you're doing, being a team leader and all! My big girl's growing up and doing such amazing things, I gotta know what my little rose is blooming into!" he exclaimed, making Ruby sigh and pout. She loved her dad's theatrics, but she decided to remind him that she wasn't the only member of this family doing her best.
"Dad, it's not just me you should be congratulating! Yang's doing her part too and to be honest, she's kinda being the team mom right now, making sure we're all doing OK." Ruby rubbed her head as Tai nodded, taking it all in before speaking up.
"That's just like her... You sure you want her to keep doing this?" he asked.
"It's fine, I've always liked her being a big momma bear to me, Weiss, and Blake." She chuckled, remembering how Yang's overprotectiveness could be a blessing and a curse… but in either case, it had always been this way.
"Anyways, I'm getting prepared for the festival and Ben's getting used to working alongside my team! To be honest I didn't think he'd get it but he seemed to catch on like a natural." Ruby smiled, happy and proud that her best friend was getting along with her own friends and teammates. Taiyang slowly leaned in, observing his daughters face before smirking.
"Seems like someone has feelings for someone," he teased, making Ruby yelp and glow a bright red hue.
"DAD!" she whined. Her father just laughed.
"I'm kidding, Ruby. You know I'm gonna support you no matter what. And if things get tough, you and Yang can always come and spend a weekend back home." The blond smiled softly and Ruby felt a little more at ease; her dad always had this way of making her very confused and very relaxed all at once and it was something she thought she'd never get used to. But here we are...
Suddenly, there was shouting and what sounded like thumping outside the tavern.
"Huh?" Tai got up, looking outside the window closest to the kitchen; two stragglers that were brawling in the alley right next door. He wasn't sure what they were doing but from what he could tell, both fighters were smartly dressed.
"I'm gonna go check what's happening outside, keep an ear out, will ya?" he said before opening the backdoor and heading outside, tugging at the purple bandanna on his arm before calling out:
"Hey! Hey! What's the problem here? You can't just go fighting one another in a public place!" he yelled out, putting his hands on his hips and looking stern.
The two gentlemen- both wearing oddly similar suits and sunglasses, as well as having very similar hairstyles and beards- looked over towards Tai, looked back to one another, and then quickly apologizing in perfect sync.
"We're sorry for messing around, sir!" they said in unison, which made Taiyang's eyebrows rise slightly. But as weird as he found that, he didn't care to look further into it.
"Listen, I gotta take care of my kid; if you guys are gonna be pissing around out here then I'll have half a mind to kick your butts myself. Now go on, get yourselves outta here. Wouldn't want to mess up those suits, right?"
Tai turned and waved the two off before heading towards the door. He felt something bite his shoulder- he slapped down on it, hard, and looked at his palm for the insect-
And the world tilted.
"What did you do-!" Tai slurred before he was kicked in the gut by one of the cronies. He stumbled right into the arms of the second suit, who was quick to place a bag over his head. The man quickly handcuffed his victim, snickering all the while.
"This is our guy?! For a teacher, he ain't too smart!"
"C'mon! We gotta get movin', the boss is probably waiting for us. We gotta go!" his partner called out, opening the door to a nearby car.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
The two henchmen looked over to see Ruby, utterly furious, with her friends nearby.
"Aw, shit," The henchman drawled. "Looks like we've been caught in the act. GET HER!"
Suddenly, Ruby and the others were grabbed by some rather burly bar members, dressed in similar suits. The two original henchmen loaded Taiyang into the car, peeling off into the night.
"Damnit!" Ruby snarled, squirming to get out of their grasp.
"Sorry, kid." One of the gang members smirked. "Daddy needs to meet with the big guy."
"Big guy!?" Ben growled. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Why would we tell you?!" The guy laughed. "You'd have to beat it out of u-AHHHHHHHHH!" The man's laughter turned to screams of pain as Ceres' hands burned a bright blue.
Ruby's eyes glinted as she burst into a flurry of rose petals, freeing herself from the henchman's arms. She reappeared behind his back and kicked his head into the ground. A glyph appeared under Weiss' feet, and energy shocked the henchmen. He dropped Weiss, who was thankfully unscathed.
Ben, however, had some trouble. Mainly because he couldn't reach the damn watch.
"Jeez, kid. I thought you were good at this," a voice taunted as he delivered the biggest axe kick to the back of the crony's head. He fell over, knocked out in a second...with Ben squashed beneath his weight.
He squirmed to get free, and a hand offered some help. Ben looked up to see Cass, smiling. "Need some help?" He breathed a sigh of relief as Cass pulled him from under the henchman.
"What happened?" Mercury asked, lightly kicking the fallen opponent in the ribs. "Where's Taiyang?"
"Long story," Ruby said. "We'll explain it on the way. Come on!"
The gang members' warehouse was especially busy today. Their boss had generously given them a bunch of new supplies for fighting, including new weapons, a good food supply and actual fucking respect! That last bit was probably the most shocking thing to come out of the day.
One of the newbies- let's call him Jimmy- sat down for a quick rest. He was tired from moving all those heavy boxes. There were just too many, you know?
Then, a knock got his attention.
Jimmy looked around- did someone need help opening a door? He noticed something out of the corner of his eye- a moving crate. Jimmy's eyes narrowed as he picked up the crowbar he just set down. He slowly walked over to the box as it moved once again.
Jimmy quickly pried the thing open to see nobody inside. Poor, confused Jimmy scratched his head.
And then a ghost poked his head through the box. "Did I scare ya?" Ghostfreak quipped, and Jimmy SCREAMED. He tried to bash the ghost's skull in, but the crowbar passed right through its head.
Ben's tentacles shot out through his chest, picking up Jimmy and flinging him into a pile of crates. All of the other gang members paused as Ben popped up.
"Hey fellas!" He grinned. Immediately, every single pistol in the room was aimed at him. Ben didn't even flinch. "Aww, cute! You think I'M the threat!"
Ceres burst through a wall, instantly putting one of the men in a choke hold. She grabbed his gun and started firing at the other gang members, using her victim's body as a human shield. The guy had poor aura control, but hey, at least the bullets weren't hitting her.
Ben phased through the ground and suddenly burst out of it as Wildvine, an alien he'd seriously neglected as of late. He wrapped his plant tendrils around some of the henchmen and started thrashing them around the place, knocking them unconscious. Ben dropped them all on the floor with a smirk.
"Too easy." With that, he took off to fight some more.
Yeah, Ceres thought to herself. Wayyyyy too easy...I hope the others are having as good a time as we are.
Ruby smashed her scythe into another gang member, the blade slashing through his aura like a hot knife through butter. That's how the saying went, right? She smirked as he fell over.
Ruby spun her scythe around, quickly defending herself from some gunshots behind her back. She turned around and disappeared in a flash of red- before zooming past them, a massive gale of wind sucking them up and tossing them against a wall.
As Weiss kicked away another gang member, a much larger one approached her. He wore a custom Grimm Mask that covered his whole face, with thin red streaks streaming to the bottom of the mask.
"Finally," he rasped, his red eyes glinting hatefully. "I get to kill a Schnee."
Weiss held up Myrtenaster en garde. The masked man ran towards her as she raised her weapon defensively. Weiss drew a pale blue circle in the air, forming a force-field. Cyan shockwaves radiated from the center of the force-field as the masked man tried to saw through it. Weiss then knocked him back with a slash from her weapon. The man attempted another overhead swipe, but Weiss pointed her weapon downward and let the chainsaw simply run down the side of it, creating sparks but missing her completely. She then spun and slashed him again, knocking him back. She gracefully flipped over him, slashing at his head and landing on the other side of him.
The masked man shot up and spun around, viciously swiping sideways towards her. Weiss ducked underneath the chainsaw, dodging the blow and backflipping out of range. She then attacked him in a series of slashes and stabs that threw him into the air and back onto the ground. The man slashed at her, but she ducked out of the way again. After attempting another overhead slash, he managed to briefly knock her back after their two weapons clashed.
However, his subsequent kick towards her met only a pile of boxes, as she leapt up and spiraled downwards with her weapon outstretched. He easily sidestepped out of the way. She landed, holding Myrtenaster in front of her to create a quick glyph beneath her feet. Utilizing her speed powerup, Weiss bolted forward and created a series of glyphs that surrounded and overwhelmed the masked man. She leapt up and started ricocheting off each glyph, slashing at him each time she passed him, knocking him to the ground.
However-
"PREDICTABLE!" the man laughed, stepping out of the way. Weiss landed on the ground and rolled a few times.
Weiss groaned as the masked man stood over her, holding the chainsaw menacingly. "This shouldn't hurt TOO much!" he yelled as he swung downwards-
And was suddenly blown back by...something. Weiss couldn't tell what just happened, but, it looked like, just for an instant, a giant set of armor protecting her.
Weiss quickly shook her head and shot back up. "Let's just end this already," she snapped, plunging her blade into the ground. Three glyphs popped up around the masked man- and in a bright white flash, he was encased in ice.
Ruby blinked as she walked over to her partner. "What the heck was that?"
Weiss shook her head. "I wouldn't know," she said hesitantly. "Find anything?"
"Not yet. I think he might be in a different warehouse," Ruby said. "You wanna keep going?"
Weiss nodded, smiling softly. "Anything for my partner."
Taiyang had been kidnapped a few times in his life- once when he was a kid at Beacon, once for his bachelor party, and a few times by his own kids for a 'surprise tea party'.
Those were always fun.
But this one...this one was different. This was more sinister than what Qrow had planned for him at the bachelor party. He was blindfolded, disoriented, and altogether annoyed. He didn't appreciate being separated from his daughter during what could've been quality family time.
But back to the situation- as he said before, this whole operation seemed sinister. Taiyang wasn't exactly anything special- he didn't really consider himself a member of Ozpin's circle, and even if he was, he was a relatively minor member. He contributed small status updates and whereabouts about...her.
...Is that what they wanted?
Taiyang cursed under his breath. It's always shit with the exes.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
He could hear what sounded like a suit of armor approaching him.
"Taiyang Xiao Long," the voice spoke. "The father of the silver eyed girl..."
Taiyang's danger senses suddenly turned up to eleven. "And who the fuck is asking?!"
The rag over his eyes was suddenly removed, and Taiyang could see his kidnapper- a knight in full armor. "I am," the man growled.
He grit his teeth. "Are you with her?"
"Indeed," the knight affirmed. "But I'm only here overseeing the 'little guy'-"
"HEY! TIN MAN!"
Taiyang looked over to see a man with bright orange hair and a tacky suit stomp out. "I thought I told YOU to make sure there weren't any intruders!"
The knight growled. "I see...so they've arrived?"
"They've been knocking through my goons!" Roman snapped. "I had just formed some meaningful relationships with them, damn it! I was the cool boss!"
"Is...the boy with them?" the knight asked.
"Huh? The watch kid?" Roman scowled. "What was his name, Preston Change-o? It was a stupid name, anyway."
The knight drew his blade. "Is. He. With them."
"Jeez, yeah. What'd he ever do to you?" Roman scoffed. He knew it best to just give the overdramatic bastard a straightforward answer. It was better not to start a fight when it could be avoided.
"Nothing- at least in this world," the Forever Knight said cryptically, resheathing his weapon. "I just wish to...toy with him."
Roman lit up a cigar. "So, typical psychological warfare. Go for it. Just make sure all goes to plan."
"Hm." The Knight walked off, leaving Taiyang and Roman alone. The crime boss leaned against Taiyang.
"Jeez, can't find any good business partners these days," he huffed, taking a long drag of his cig. "...do you want a smoke?"
"I, uh, I don't do that," Taiyang stuttered.
Roman shrugged. "Fair enough."
"So, what was buckethead's plan, exactly?" Mercury asked as he and Cass walked towards their warehouse. "They got the geezer, and now they want us to rescue him? What exactly is that supposed to do?"
Cass rolled her eyes. "Do you ever listen, Mercury?"
"Do you expect me to say yes?" he spat back.
"The Knight wanted us to eliminate some loose ends. These guys were some of them and this whole scenario was the best way to disguise it."
"So, we're just eliminating our resources? Doesn't that seem counter-"
Cass suddenly froze, looking around. "Hold on, be quiet."
Mercury raised an eyebrow. "Why, what's up? You hear something?"
"No, I just wanted you to shut up," Cass hissed.
"DON'T MOVE!"
Cass and Mercury looked over- it was a gang member, who was probably alerted of the action, holding up a grenade. Cass eyed the weapon apathetically, waltzing over.
"Hey! Stay the fuck back!" the guy yelled, waving the grenade wildly. "These things can take out a top hunter's aura within seconds!" Cass kept walking, and he put his finger to the ring-
And Cass pulled it for him. She snagged the grenade out of his hand and eyed it carefully. "Oh, a M68, interesting choice of mode-" But Cass didn't finish her sentence. The thing exploded in her hand, and the gang member fruitlessly ducked for cover-
"Hey, what's the deal? Why so scared?"
The terrorist slowly raised his head to see Cass, unharmed, though her aura was shimmering with a dangerous red glow. Her aura didn't look depleted at all- in fact, it almost seemed like it was powering up.
"So, these things can take out a person's aura in one blow, right?" Cass parroted back. "That's interesting. Wanna see what an explosion that powerful can do with MY semblance?"
Cass lightly tapped the ground underneath her with her foot. Not a stomp, but the kind of nudge you'd give a classmate when you wanted to ask them what the teacher just said...
And the ground exploded. The terrorist was blown back into a wall, shattering his spine. He screamed in pain as he crumbled to the ground. Cass just walked over, smiling down at his pathetic form.
"C'est La Vie," she said with a smile. "Such is life." Cass tapped the brick wall the man had just been thrown against, and it exploded as well, revealing a warehouse full of gang members. They paused what they were doing, drew their weapons, and immediately took aim. Cass grinned like the Cheshire Cat.
"Well? Fire." She smiled like the killer queen she was.
And so, they did. Cass did not have her weapon handy, so she was obviously vulnerable, right?
...right?
Cass' aura shimmered, and her form started to 'morph' and 'split'. From their perspective, it looked like Cass was trying to duplicate herself but the gunfire was holding her back, so they just kept bombarding her, showering her with fuel-
Cass slowly raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
And in the blink of an eye, the room erupted in a big, fiery explosion. Some gang members were disintegrated from the sheer force of the blast, and the ones who survived were the unlucky ones, believe it or not.
Cass still had some energy saved up, and she did not want it to go waste. She cracked her knuckles and grabbed one of the downed terrorists by the collar.
"W-who are you?! What are you!?" he demanded to know.
"I'm your judge," Cass declared with wicked glee. "And right now, I say you're..." She gripped his collar a little bit tighter, and his head exploded in a mess of red vapor-
"Guilty."
Of course, there were some survivors. From out of the dust, an unmasked member of the gang walked out. His skin was covered in tattoos and burns, including half of his face being burned off. His left eye was a black glass eye due to said burns.
He said nothing, but his eyes told them everything. Hate. Murder. Revenge. The man flashed a shark tooth grin as he whipped out his weapon- a massive flamethrower.
Mercury and Cass shared a brief exchange.
"...what's with this guy?" Mercury asked, genuinely baffled.
The gang member fired his flamethrower and the two hunters dove for cover.
"Can't you just absorb this guy's fire and kick his ass?" Mercury yelled.
"I absorb kinetic energy, not thermal, you fucking dumbass!" Cass shot back as she pulled out her weapon. "Well?! Don't just stand there, get his ass!"
"Right!" Mercury grinned. He quickly dodged the stream of flames by performing a backflip. In that same smooth motion, he fired two shots from his own greaves.
However, the blasts missed his target...and instead hit Cass.
"Whoopsie," he snarked. "Friendly fire."
The Faunus hissed, and Cass rushed at him. The man's stream of flames quickly died down, instead bringing up a hard light hologram of a shield. Cass' fist collided with the barrier, and the man was left unscathed for the moment.
In the next few seconds, however, Cass leapt over her opponent and slashed him from behind with her sickle. Mercury started bicycle kicking and sending shots over to Cass, empowering her Semblance even more.
The man hissed, dropping his shield and returned to use the flamethrower. Cass jumped off of him as Mercury ducked for cover. "This shit again? Seriously?"
Cass huffed as she got in front of Mercury and repeatedly spun her sickle around. "I'll make it quick this time. Gimme some fuel!"
Mercury fired a few quick shots into Cass' back, and her Semblance steadily turned into a furious shade of red. When she was at a good enough power level, she closed her eyes and threw her sickle at the terrorist-
It cut through the flames-
Through his weapon-
Through his armor-
THROUGH HIS CHEST-
And he exploded. Just like that.
Cass sighed as she retrieved her weapon. "I hoped that would've been a little messier..."
"What, was that not cool enough for you?" Mercury snarked.
"I like a good explosion, fuck you," Cass snapped.
Ben and Ceres quickly regrouped with Ruby and Weiss, meeting at one of the only remaining warehouses left.
"...we really should've led with this one," Ben said, as it was the most devoid of activity. Ruby opened up the door, and sure enough, no one was in there.
"Alright, so let's find Taiyang and get out of here," Ceres said, walking in. "He's gotta be in here somewhere, right?"
"He is, obviously," a mysterious voice said. The team froze, and Ben reached for the Omnitrix. From out of the shadows, the Forever Knight appeared. His eyes were locked onto Ben, studying him. "Ben Tennyson..."
"Yeah? And who's asking?" Ceres spat back, loading her weapons.
"Who are you? Where's my dad?" Ruby demanded, drawing her weapon.
"You must be the Rose girl I've heard so much about," The Forever Knight said, not breaking his focus from Ben. "I believe you disfigured one of my colleagues."
"Wait, crazy scorpion dude? So you're working with Zs'skayr..." Ben grimaced. "So, what, you're here to get even?"
"I could care less about Callows," the man scoffed, offended. "I'm much more interested in terrorizing you." The man propelled himself at Ben with his rocket boots. Ben quickly hit the Omnitrix faceplate-
And thankfully, Shock Rock caught the man's foot before it could smash into his face.
"Nice try, fucker." Ben grinned cockily...until the man's rocket boot blew flames into his face. Ben yelled as he let go, his palms going to his face.
Ruby yelled as her blade swung down on the knight's arm. The knight barely reacted, lifting up his hand. His armor created a baton that quickly lit up with a hardlight structure of a morningstar. His weapon clashed with the Crescent Rose a few times, before Ruby disappeared in a flash of red. Weiss tried to strike his back with her rapier, but he caught the blade with his hand, halting her attack.
"What a cute outfit," he mocked. Weiss grinned as her blade started to glow a blue color. Frost slowly ate up his armored hand, but again, he didn't react. He released Weiss' weapon, plunging her sword into the ground and forming a glyph underneath Ceres's feet. There was something strange about this one: it didn't have her standard pattern, but instead the pattern of a clock. Ceres was surrounded by yellow aura, and her grin showed off her fanged teeth.
"Ah, yes, someone told me to watch out for you," the Forever Knight said.
"Really?" Ceres raised an eyebrow. "How thoughtful of them."
In the blink of an eye, Ceres appeared in front of the man's face. Before the Knight could react, Ceres punched in the chest, blue fire hitting the metal of his armor. The man stumbled back, and Ben grabbed him from behind. "CERES! QUICK! GET YOUR FREE SHOTS IN!"
"And this is why I decided to bring you along!" Ceres beamed as the time dilation glyph formed underneath her. "You really get me!" She propelled herself at the villain again, but he quickly released himself from Ben's grasp and flipped over him. Ceres bashed Ben in the chest instead.
"...ow," Ben said flatly, not really hurt thanks to his rocky armor.
"You're fine," Ceres scoffed, and the two turned in the direction of the Knight. He looked around to see he was surrounded on two sides.
"It seems I've underestimated the lot of you," The Forever Knight declared. "I apologize for my arrogance. I'm still breaking in the new suit...but I promise I won't hold back any more." The man whipped his morningstar around, and it quickly extended and whipped around the field. The others ducked, but Ben simply let the thing whip around his arm. He grinned as he sent a discharge of energy through the weapon, but the Forever Knight simply deactivated his device before it could reach him.
"...cheater," Ben grumbled.
Weiss used her glyphs to catapult Ruby at the Knight, but he easily caught her blade. He studied the weapon in interest. "Hm...I suppose I can make this fair..." He reactivated his weapon, but this time instead of a morningstar, it was a scythe. The man gripped his weapon and clashed blades with Ruby a few times. There was an obvious difference between the two; Ruby's style was much more controlled, having trained with Maria all this time. But the Forever Knight was pure hyper offense, and he was great at singling people out and working on chipping their damage down.
And thanks to his incredibly durable armor, he could shrug off attacks just like that. Sure, stamina was an issue, he was still a tough opponent. The Knight unleashed a heavy overhead swing with the scythe, and Ruby dashed right in front of her opponent. The heavy blade would have cut the high schooler in two...if Ruby hadn't used her Semblance to go around the blade and behind his back. Ruby quickly changed her weapon to its sniper form and fired bullets into his back.
The Knight turned around to strike her again, but he was whipped in the chest by...Weiss' blade? Impossible. She was a good few feet away from him. The Knight spun around to see Weiss wielding her weapon. It had a shiny black coating on it, with green lines running up the blade. A head poked its way out of the black coating-
"Oh, sorry, did that hurt?" Upgrade's voice taunted.
"If you can cheat with your tech, fine. So can we," Weiss declared.
The Knight rushed forward with his rocket boots and scythe, hoping to knock Weiss out in a single blow. Weiss dashed forward with inhuman speed and jumped over the assault, much to the Knight's annoyance. Her speed was much faster than what he had seen before, and the Knight was met with a flurry of attacks, backed up by her glyphs and Ben's form. In one strike, she launched herself into the air after an upward slash, one of her glyphs appeared at her feet, giving her aerial footing. She quickly jumped forward at the Knight for another attack-
And Weiss' blade hit a hardlight shield. The Knight tried to bash her with it, but Ben had a genius counter: lasers. Weiss' blade split open like a flower and released a quick blast of energy from the tip. The Knight tried to tank the blast, but he was suddenly struck with a strong uppercut, courtesy of Ceres'.
"Ren faire's over, asshole. Where's Taiyang?" she demanded to know.
The Knight hissed as everyone started to close in on him. "It seems I'm not dealing with a bunch of kids...you have my respect. But for now..."
The Knight raised his hand, and a red portal suddenly swallowed him up. The group stood there, confused.
"...did that dude just get eaten by a portal?" Ben asked, his head poking out of the blade.
"I wouldn't know. Now, please get out of my weapon," Weiss snapped.
"Sorry, sorry," Ben said, melting off it. Someone began clapping, and Roman walked out from the darkness, forcing Taiyang onto the ground.
"Bravo!" Roman taunted. "I never saw the appeal in those fake Renaissance conventions, but that DOES make me wanna go to one!"
"There's the asshole," Ben said, his eye lighting up.
"Let him go, Roman!" Ruby yelled, pulling out her weapon.
"Give it up, Little Red, or else blondie becomes the gang's target practice," Roman laughed.
That made everyone pause. "Wait, so...you don't know who that is?" Ruby had to ask.
"I figured he was like some teacher from Beacon." Roman shrugged. "Why?"
"...that's my dad."
Roman nearly choked on his cigar. "Well...shit."
"This is that Clockwork Orange asshole you were talking about?" Taiyang said, eying Roman's appearance. "Alright, I was gonna let you guys rescue me, but fuck it."
Taiyang instantly broke out of his restraints. "No one makes me look like a fucking twit in front of my daughter!" He jumped towards the red haired criminal and threw a haymaker so strong it launched Roman into the wall.
He momentarily froze up in his hole, before shaking his head. "Well, this is interesting...didn't mention THIS in the debriefing..." Roman twirled his cane around.
Taiyang's hair started to glow, just like Yang's, and he charged forward to shoulder-tackle Roman. He tried firing dust bullets at him a few times, but the father was practically invincible. Taiyang reared back and performed a lunging backhanded punch that hit Roman right in the gut, sending him through the garage door and onto the ground outside. Mercury and Cass stood over him, smiling.
"This our culprit?" Mercury smirked, pinning him down with his foot.
Roman scowled. "I hate the both of you."
Later that night
"You guys are assholes, by the way," Roman snapped as Cass and Mercury walked him towards the Atlas Bullhead. "You didn't tell me he was Red's dad."
"Oh, we didn't? Our bad," Cass teased.
"Where would the fun in that be?" Mercury snickered.
"Whatever. This stupid plan better work," Roman grumbled as he was shoved into the Bullhead.
"It will." Cass smirked, flipping her hair and sauntering off.
"Enjoy prison, douchebag," Mercury jeered as the Bullhead's door shut.
Roman glared at the door. "Fuck those guys."
