Ben's reactions in this chapter echo me reacting to some bullshit
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Yaz grunted as her eyes fluttered open. The train car decoupling had knocked her unconscious with a sharp jolt. She tried to sit up, but her head was throbbing and her body ached all over. Despite this, she got up.
As Yaz sat up, she took in her surroundings. The train car was empty and tilted at an odd angle, the sound of wind and snow echoing outside. She reached for her Scroll to check for any messages or signals, but it was cracked and unresponsive.
"Great," she muttered under her breath, tossing the device aside.
She brought a hand to her head, just to check for any blood or injury suffered from the crash. Thank whatever gods there are that the pilot was so shit at aiming. The explosions decoupled the car, sure, but they hadn't actually done too much damage to the inside. Yaz stumbled her way to the door of the car, hoping to get it open and at least check to see if the rest of the train was close by. If she was lucky, she could search the wreckage, find some poor traitor's Scroll and use it to send a signal for help.
"Come on...Madrani," Yaz huffed, "You've been in...situations more FUBAR than this."
With a deep breath, Yaz pushed against the door of the train car. It wouldn't budge. She tried again, putting all her weight into it, but it still wouldn't move. Yaz cursed under her breath and looked around for another way out.
That was when she noticed a small window near the ceiling of the car. It was covered with a metal grate, but it looked like she might be able to squeeze through if she could remove it. Yaz scanned the car for something to use as a tool and spotted a metal bar lying on the floor. She picked it up and used it to pry at the grate until it finally gave way.
One of the bolts burst free from its position, giving Yaz the leeway she needed. She pried the rest of the grate off and tossed it aside, letting it clang on the ground. Before she left, she did one last scan of the train car. A taser was good for incapacitating, but out here, she'd need to do more than stun. If a Grimm found her, a little shock wouldn't even deter it. She managed to find a standard issue Atlesian pistol, along with two clips of ammo. Not much, but at least she could put down a Beowolf with it. She grabbed the weapon and squeezed through the window. When she was free, she noticed just how far back the car had rolled.
"Of course..." Yaz sighed.
Yaz hopped out of the car, and huffed. "This is annoying. I'm gonna be a sitting duck out here if I stay on the tracks."
She took a moment to survey her surroundings. The area was dense with trees, making it difficult to see far ahead. She could hear the distant sound of Grimm howling, which meant that she needed to find shelter quickly.
Yaz started to walk, making sure to keep her guard up. She didn't know what sort of creatures might be lurking in the woods, and she didn't want to be caught off guard. She kept her eyes peeled for any signs of the rest of the train, or the kids.
Weiss was leading the others further into the canyon in hopes of finding a more accessible exit. When Ceres and Rex took a look at the sheer cliff-face the train had fell over, they deemed it too smooth to be any good for climbing. The wreckage was going to be the first place any scouting parties sent by their targets would check, so they trudged onwards through the cold.
She occasionally looked at the rock formations as they went, seeing more of the red-inked art at the base of the pillars. It was like they were walking through some unknown historical site. The paintings were clearly Hunter in origin as it depicted certain creatures that were unmistakably Grimm. The viking-like warriors depicted in these ancient paintings, with their spears at the ready, were holding the line as massive centipedes and worm-mantis hybrids charged them. Centinels and Cenitaurs, Weiss realized.
But then she noticed something, a figure overlooking the line of warriors from the sky. Or rather, just a mask, a mask with a set of branching antlers reaching out. She had a pretty good idea who that was meant to represent.
"...we need to get out of here." Weiss said. "As fast as we can."
"Why?" Ben asked. "What's up?"
Weiss pointed to the drawing on the ruins. Ben looked at it, and felt a chill run down his spine.
"Point taken." He shuddered.
"You don't think..." Blake asked.
"I do. Hence, why we need to find a way out," Weiss said, eyes scanning the horizon just as much as she was looking at the murals. She was looking for anything they could use, a cliff-face with more handholds to climb out on, a naturally occurring ramp or trail, anything like that. Ruby looked to the murals, too. They were actually pretty interesting and there were a few people back in Atlas who would love to see this kind of thing. She took out her Scroll to take a few snapshots of the paintings, in case they couldn't find this place again. The warriors facing down the Centinels, a man Ruby could only assume was a chieftain of these ancient peoples cutting down scores of Beowolves, and even a depiction of what seemed to be that same chieftain, or perhaps a relative, making a deal with a woman in a flowing dress were recorded.
But her little historical photoshoot stopped dead in its tracks when she noticed one mural in particular. Was it a great warrior or battle that caught her attention? No. It was a small child, protecting who might have been his father. He didn't have a weapon or a shield or even any armor.
Instead, Ruby saw a series of lines emanating from his eyes. It was a primitive method of showing light, and that light was blinding a nightmare made manifest. It had the appearance of a rider astride his horse, but Ruby quickly realized that the rider was merged with the horse and both were Grimm. The horse she recognized from one of Port's old hunting stories back at Beacon and the trip through time that Paradox took her and Ben on.
It was a Nightmare. The creature that served as the "rider" was one she didn't recognize, a thin, spindly, and almost skeletal humanoid form with elongated limbs and a pair of horns curving back behind its head as they jut out from its forehead.
"...that kid," Ruby realized, her eyes fixated on the mural.
Ben took notice, and stared at the mural with her. His eyes widened as he slowly put together what he was looking at.
"That kid has..." Ben muttered.
"Silver eyes." Ruby completed.
"Hey Blake? Be right back," Yang said, tapping her girlfriend on the shoulder. She'd noticed that Ben and Ruby had fallen behind and wanted to go check up on them. Blake nodded and let the rest of the group to slow down a bit. The blonde made her way back to the two and noticed they didn't see her coming.
Perfect opportunity. The blonde scooped up some snow from the ground, about two handfuls worth, and snuck up behind the two. With a mischievous grin, she dropped the snow on both of their heads.
"Ah! Cold cold cold cold!" Ruby yelped, shaking the snow out of her hair.
"Who did-?" Ben spun around to see Yang with her hands behind her back.
"Helloooooo!" Yang smirked, "What're you two looking at back here? Or are you still warming each other up?"
"Well now you've just given us an excuse to do just that, so," Ben countered.
"You're welcome."
"But in all seriousness. Look at the painting. Notice something?"
Yang looked up to the painting the two were so mesmerized by and, at first, she didn't quite get it. Then it hit her like a truck.
"Oh."
"Yep," Ruby said.
"Woah." Yang shuddered. "That looks...intense."
"Intense is a little bit of a light word in this situation." Ben said, eyes darting over to the horseman. "I dunno what that thing is, but...it kinda scares me."
Ruby's eyes narrowed. "You're right to be scared- even if it is a cave drawing. Uncle Qrow told me about that type of Grimm. That's a Nuckelavee."
"Knuckle-avee?" Ben mispronounced.
"Close enough." Ruby shrugged. "Uncle Qrow described it as two individual Grimm - an Imp and a Horse Grimm - merging together to form some unholy creature. Like a rider of the Wild Hunt."
"But...they're just...myths," Yang said before she realized how stupid she sounded, "Just like the Apathy. And like you said...if one's real..."
"They all might be," Ruby finished.
"I'm starting to get why Atlas has a military out here- all the scariest shit comes from here." Ben looked around. It felt like at any second, something was gonna come out and attack them. His danger sense was going crazy...
"Pfft, no, the real scary shit comes from the ocean," Yang said, almost matter-of-factly.
"...do I even wanna know?" Ben asked.
"One word. Leviathan."
"...that wasn't an invitation to say it," Ben deadpanned.
"Yeah, but, wanted to anyway. C'mon, we're falling behind." With that, Yang motioned for the two to follow her back to the rest of the group. Ruby, at first, couldn't take her eyes off the mural after Yang had dumped snow on her. She made sure to take a picture of it for those interested, but...also partly for herself. Outside of Maria and Summer, information on silver eyed warriors was...practically non-existent. Anything that was out there was relegated to fairy tales and legends. Maybe that's what this was too, just another culture's legend of a child who'd grow up to be a great hero and defender of his tribe.
But if Ozpin's last words taught her anything, it's that legends often have more than some basis in fact, no matter how outlandish. With one last deep breath, Ruby turned and walked with Ben to leave the mural behind them.
But they didn't see two things as they left. The first was the other side of the mural, where that same child was dragged into a cave by a collection of two-fingered hands on elongated arms. The child's eyes still had those light lines as the painting showed him trying to crawl away.
The second was the top of Ruda's head peeking up out of the ground to watch them as they walked off. Once they started moving again, the redhead of Team BRIR used her Semblance and dove back beneath the snow and rock, "swimming" after them through the ground.
Ben felt like something was behind him. He turned around and saw nothing, but that didn't do anything to ease him.
"...I think it's time I stopped my paranoia." Ben activated the watch, and morphed into Wildmutt. Ruby gave him a look.
"Good thinking using Wildmutt, actually!" Ruby said. "That way we can track Yaz faster."
Ben huffed once as if he was saying "huh" before he nodded in agreement. Yes, that was exactly why he turned into this form. Yep. No ulterior motives whatsoever here.
"Well then, go to the front! Go help out the new fearless commander," Ruby said with a smirk. The fearless commander did have an air of teasing around it, considering how badly Weiss wanted to be a team leader back during the Beacon initiation. God, that felt like forever ago now.
Wildmutt nudged for Ruby to get on his back, and she gladly hopped on. The two made their way to the front of the group. Weiss made a face when she saw the alien.
"Shouldn't you use Blitzwolfer or something? Don't tell me you don't have him." Weiss gagged- god this alien smelt like wet dog.
"Huh. Thought you were more of a Big Chill fan," Ruby quipped.
"Oh? Just because my nickname is 'Ice Queen' I have to like every ice powered alien?"
"Prove me wrong. Who's your favorite?"
"I...never said you were wrong. Big Chill's cool."
"It's the cloak, isn't it?" Kylie smirked.
"The cloak does help," Weiss confirmed with a smirk.
Wildmutt sniffed the ground, and suddenly paused. For some reason, he was detecting something moving underneath them. He bared his teeth and began growling.
"Ben?" Ruby asked.
"Well...that's not a good sign," Weiss said, drawing her rapier immediately. The rest of the Outcasts drew their weapons as well and began scanning their surroundings. Nothing so far. Ben huffed to get the group's attention before he dug at the ground, scraping his claws against the snow covered rock.
"Must be something underground," Blake frowned. "Is it a Grimm?"
"Or maybe someone with their semblance." Yang thought aloud.
"Do we know someone like that?" Rex asked.
"No, not really. But...there is-" Ruby began, but she was caught off by the very person she was about to mention. Ruda burst from the ground with her weapons outstretched, aimed right at Ruby.
The red-hooded reaper quickly brought Crescent Rose around to block. Ruda's arm drills, Wear and Tear, clashed with the scythe's blade. Before she could even think of a move to break through, Yang launched herself towards the assailant and landed a powerful right jab to Ruda's side. The redhead was launched away, rolling to a stop in the snow.
"You?!" Ruby gasped.
"Owwww, god you pack more of a punch than I thought," Ruda groaned as she got back up, "Oh, that's right. You never even got our names last time huh? The name's Ruda. And she's Roane."
Before the group could respond to that, fireballs began raining down on them from above. The sunglass-wearing pyro of the rouge huntresses smirked as she continued her barrage, launching projectile after projectile like she was a mortar. The first few managed to hit and the resulting explosions knocked the group off balance. Blake loaded a fresh clip of fire Dust bullets into Gambol Shroud and began firing at the fireballs. The two explosive projectiles would collide on each shot before the feline Faunus would need to reload, causing harmless explosions in the air.
Yang quickly got back up, ignoring the burning sensation on her arms from the previous attack. She charged towards the pyro, dodging the incoming fireballs as she closed the distance. Once she was close enough, she launched herself into the air, aiming a powerful punch at the rogue huntress. However, the pyro was quick to react and jumped away, evading the attack.
"Come on, you're gonna have to do better than that!" Roane taunted, launching another barrage of fireballs at the group.
Weiss quickly conjured up a glyph in front of her, using it to deflect the incoming fireballs. "We need to take her out fast!" she shouted.
"I'll handle her," Blake said, jumping onto the nearest rock formation and using it as a launching pad to get higher up. She then wrapped her ribbon around Roane's waist, and pulled herself towards the rogue huntress. Once she was close enough, she unsheathed her blade and swung it towards the pyro.
Before Gambol's blade could connect, a portal opened up behind Blake. A familiar vine-like whip emerged from the green tear in the air and pulled Blake through, much to the ninja's surprise. She soon found herself getting hit by a roundhouse kick that knocked her into one of the rock formations that dotted the canyon. The whip unraveled from Blake's middle, followed by a loud crack! as the whip snapped in the air.
"Ah ah, kitty," Ivy smirked, "Roane wants to see which fire's hotter, her's or your blonde doll's. I'm here to make sure you don't interfere."
"Don't you dare call her a doll," Blake's ears flattened atop her head, her eyes narrowing in anger. Oh Ivy just set her off, but the rogue Huntress simply chuckled at Blake's reaction.
"Looks like I hit a nerve. But it doesn't change the fact that I have a job to do." Ivy cracked her whip once more, ready to attack.
Blake quickly got back up, her semblance activating as she dashed towards Ivy with incredible speed. She used her agility and quick reflexes to dodge the incoming strikes from the whip, her movements almost too fast for the eye to follow. She then leaped into the air, launching a flurry of slashes at Ivy.
Ivy was taken aback by Blake's sudden speed and agility, struggling to keep up with the ninja's movements. She attempted to defend herself with her whip, but Blake's attacks were too fast and precise.
Ivy's Aura flickered as her opponent landed hit after hit on her, overwhelming her defense with sheer ferocity. In a desperate act to get out of this corner, Ivy opened a portal beneath her and she fell through. The green rift quickly closed up before Blake could fall in too, causing her last swing to miss.
The feline Faunus's eyes darted around, scanning for any sign of Ivy. Several green rifts appeared in the air around Blake, at every angle that they could feasibly be created at. The thorny whip that was Pins and Needles lashed out and wrapped around Blake's ankle, tripping her up. As quickly as it struck, it unwound and retreated into the rift. The whip struck again before the Outcasts' ninja could get up, this time striking from a rift above her. Blake rolled out of the way so that the strike hit the snow instead.
With two fights ongoing, Ruda smirked and looked at the other members of the Outcasts. Weiss, Kylie, Ceres, and Rex. She rolled her shoulders as she revved up her drills. An orange outline appeared around her body before she took a running start and dove into the ground.
Before Kylie could mount a proper defense, the redhead leapt up from the earth again and launched a series of thrusting jabs at the musician and writer of the Outcasts. She brought up True Rebel to block or parry as many of the strikes as she could, but the minute she took a swing of her own, Ruda just dove back beneath the rock.
As Ben and Ruby turned to lend a hand in the other fights, a green portal opened up behind the duo and the leader of the rogue huntress' leader stepped through.
"You know...I have to admit," Bianca said, "For being the ones in charge...I'm not that impressed."
Ben snarled at Bianca's comment, the 'quills' on his back standing up. Ruby scratched his head to calm him down.
Bianca scoffed. "Oh, don't get me wrong. Your little group is certainly a force to be reckoned with. But I've seen better." She pulled out her own two blades, Cause and Effect (baller names btw).
Ruby stepped forward, her eyes narrowed. "If you think we're just going to let you waltz in here and insult us, you've got another thing coming!"
Bianca grinned. "I like your spirit, little red. But let's see if you can back it up." She lunged forward, her swords flashing in the sunlight. The two clashed in a flurry of metal and fur, with Ben's claws and fangs meeting Bianca's swords. Ruby quickly drew Crescent Rose, her trusty weapon gleaming as she cut in between Bianca's strikes. Bianca was quick and agile, her movements fluid and graceful as she danced around Ruby's attacks.
Suddenly, Bianca disengaged and leapt into the air, aiming a powerful kick at Ben's side. The alien hound managed to dodge, but the attack still grazed his fur, causing him to yelp in pain.
Ruby saw the opening and lunged forward with Crescent Rose, aiming for Bianca's exposed back. But the huntress was too quick, flipping backwards and landing a few feet away. She spun around, her swords at the ready.
"You two are good," she said, "But you're not good enough to beat me."
Ben grunted, as he hit the Omnitrix. He morphed into Nanomech, and made a cannon arm with his nanotech. "We'll see about that." He blasted her with his cannon arm, firing off a powerful energy blast that sent her flying back.
The shot impacted against her prism daggers, sending her skidding through the snow. When she came to a stop, the duo saw one of the rogue huntress' daggers flash with an image of Ruda. An orange outline surrounded Bianca and, after giving a salute, she sank into the earth the same as her teammate.
"The hell?" Ben asked.
"I think she has a copying Semblance!" Ruby said.
"That seems likely," Ceres chimed in as she dodged a strike from Ruda's drills. "Hopefully we aren't affected by it...lord knows she'd be unstoppable with your semblances."
Ben aimed his cannon at the ground. Where's she gonna pop up? Suddenly, a green portal opened up behind Ben, and he quickly turned around to face it. To his surprise, it was Bianca.
"Hey there, little bug," Bianca said with a smirk.
Ben's eyes went wide behind his helmet and he immediately brought up his shields. His timing couldn't be better, as Bianca started a brand new assault of slashes. Each strike from her prism daggers sparked against the barriers, forcing Ben back step by step. Bianca flourished her daggers and prepared for another crossing downwards slash, only for Ruby to intervene.
To give Ben a bit of breathing room, Ruby shifted Crescent Rose into its turret form and began firing away at Bianca. The rogue Huntress heard the weapons power up before the bullets started flying and she stopped her attack. A green rift appeared before her and she dove in, just in time to avoid the first barrage of blasts. She reappeared behind Ruby, leaping out from a second rift and landing a strong kick to the side of the girl's head.
"Held back on that kick...and didn't go for a swing for a reason," Bianca said, twirling one of her daggers in her fingers. "How'd you get in?"
Ruby rubbed her head, a bit dazed from the kick. "What do you mean, 'get in'?"
Bianca smirked. "I mean, how did you manage to infiltrate the base?"
"What, Fiefstone's? We just found a back door!"
"Wrong base, kid. Try again."
"Well outside of that, I don't know which base you're talking about!" Ruby countered.
Bianca's smirk turned into a scowl. "Don't lie to me, little red. I know your kind. You huntresses always think you're so righteous, but you're just as bad as Armancio's men."
"That's not true!" Ruby protested.
"Really? Because from where I'm standing, I see a bunch of self-righteous brats setting up a crisis so that they can play hero. Sure, Salem's real, but she hasn't made a move lately. And who else was there whenever she actually attacked? You guys." Bianca said.
"You...cannot be serious right now," Ben groaned. "You think we're responsible for Haven? For Vale?!"
"Seems pretty convenient, but even if you're not responsible for those...you are responsible for this. Where are the rest of the orbs?!"
"We don't know," Ceres spoke up. "We've been trying to find them, but we've had no luck so far."
Bianca snorted. "Of course you don't. You're probably waiting for someone else to do the dirty work for you."
"We're not like that!" Ruby insisted.
Bianca rolled her eyes. "Save it. I've heard it all before. You people are all the same. But you know what? I don't care about your ideals or your mission. All I care about is finding those orbs."
"And so are we!" Ben yelled. "The people of Mantle are in danger because of these stupid bombs!"
"Yeah! Bombs you stole!" Roane yelled. Yang threw another punch to try and keep the rogue pyro on the backfoot. The nozzle of Roane's flamethrower retracted into the body of the flamethrower.
She grabbed hold of the fuel line with her other hand and pulled on it. A portion of Drop and Roll's body, noted by a ring of spikes, detached from the rest of it and spun around Roane to slam into Yang's face. The blonde fell back into the snow from the hit, her eyes flashing red for a moment.
"We didn't steal anything! We found the first one of those damn things!" Yang countered. Roane spun the flail in her hand, the red Dust energy flowing up the line and into the brass spikes, giving her a bit more firepower.
"Out in the mountains south of Mantle, right?" Roane countered, "Of course you 'found it' there. You were testing it away from the city, see how many Grimm you could lure in!"
"Have you all lost your minds?!" Weiss yelled, blocking another lunging and diving drill-strike from Ruda.
"Could ask you the same question!" Ruda asked, her upper body peeking out of the ground as if she were swimming in a pool, "But then again, apple probably didn't fall too far from the dead tree, am I right Ms. 'Midnight Revamp?'"
Weiss gritted her teeth, her face twisting in anger. "How dare you compare me to HIM-!"
"Oh, did I touch a nerve?" Ruda taunted, pulling herself out of the ground and twirling her drills. "Well, it's not like anyone here knows the real reason why Beacon fell, now do they?"
"That's enough!" Ceres shouted, sending a wave of flames towards Ruda. The rogue Huntress dodged the attack easily, but it gave Weiss and Yang a moment to regroup.
"These people aren't listening to reason." Weiss huffed.
"That's rich coming from a band of thieves like you," Ivy grinned, her words echoing through her rifts and reaching Blake as a surround-sound echo. "If you'd been reasonable, you wouldn't have even considered stealing experimental tech."
"Where are you even getting this idea that we stole it?!" Blake asked, firing off a few rounds into the rifts. Ivy dodged them from her central location and lashed out, having Pins and Needles appear from multiple rifts to try and strike the feline Faunus. Blake dodged just as many whip strikes as she failed too. The thorns of the whip dug into her back, her arm, her leg, each strike cutting away at her Aura.
"Cameras were taken down pretty early on in the heist from what we could tell. And what do we find on what little footage there is? A trail of little rose petals before the feed cut."
"Ruby?!" Blake asked, "She'd never-!"
"She already did,' the snarky rogue cut her off, "We failed to stop you then, you got past us. It's our duty to make sure that doesn't happen again!" Ivy opened a new rift on the ground in front of her and lashed her weapon into it. Four whips exited and wrapped around Blake's arms and legs.
"Gotcha," Ivy smirked.
"Let me go!" Blake yelled, her eyes flashing angrily.
"Not so fast," Ivy said, stepping out of her rifts and approaching Blake. "We need to have a little chat about your little group's activities."
"We're not the ones you should be worried about," Blake retorted. "The real criminal mastermind behind all this is out there, planning who knows what! We're trying to stop them!
"And you think stealing experimental technology is the way to do it?" Ivy scoffed. "You're no better than the people you claim to fight against."
"We didn't steal anything!" Blake insisted. "We were framed. Someone made it look like we stole the tech to make us look bad."
"Convenient excuse," Ivy said, tightening her grip. Ben rushed in to save her- he morphed into Wildvine, and decided to give Ivy a taste of her own medicine. Wildvine's body rapidly transformed into a mass of vines, wrapping around Ivy and restraining her from moving. Ivy struggled against the vines, but she couldn't break free. She dropped her weapon, which freed Blake from her bindings.
"You know, Ivy, you're really living up to your name right now. All wrapped up and thorny," Ben quipped, a small grin on his face.
Ivy shot him a death glare. "Let...go!"
"Look, we're not your enemy," Ben continued, keeping a safe distance from Ivy's thrashing form. "We didn't set up those bombs- hell, they're interfering with my Omnitrix because of the power source!"
Ivy continued to struggle against the vines, her eyes narrowing in anger. "I don't believe you," she spat.
"Yeah! No shit you don't!" Ben yelled.
"So...red," Bianca said, circling Ruby as the red hooded reaper did the same, "You must have proof, right? If you really are innocent then, surely there's something in that hood of yours that we can't deny."
Ruby narrowed her eyes, keeping her guard up as she watched Bianca circle her. "I don't have any concrete evidence," she admitted, "But we didn't set up those bombs."
Bianca scoffed. "Words are wind, Red. Without proof, they mean nothing."
Ben knew he needed to step in. These stubborn huntresses were trying his patience.
"Wait!" Ben called out. "When was the security footage taken?"
"Three or four weeks ago." Bianca frowned.
Three or four weeks ago? Let's see...that was...
"...was it on a Friday?" Ben asked.
"Yes."
Ben's eyes widened.
"Ruby couldn't have been there!" Ben countered. "WE WERE ON VACATION!"
"...vacation?" Ruda called out, popping out of the ground again, "You're gonna pull that card? Really? I thought you were smarter! Now I'm wondering who's actually the brains of the group. The cat or little red. Ice Queen was up there, buuut…" The redhead smirked as she dodged a broadsword swing from the giant glowing knight that the heiress had summoned in a rage.
"Stand still!" Weiss hissed.
"No! Seriously!" Ben yelled. "WE WERE! I HAVE PICTURES!"
"You think pictures will save you!?" Bianca laughed.
"YES YOU STUPID, ANNOYING, BUNCH OF HORRIBLE LISTENERS!" Ben screamed at the top of his lungs.
Ivy stared at him. "...dude."
"YOU GUYS ARE TESTING MY PATIENCE! AND I AM SORRY!" Ben yelled, pulling out his phone. He showed her his phone screen. "Spent on the beach retreat offered by Atlas military. Weller was there. Elm was there. Marrow was there. Ironwood signed off on it. A bunch of people got Omnitrices! IT WAS WEIRD!"
Ben swiped and showed some photos of the others as aliens. "YOU THINK I CAN JUST MAKE THIS SHIT UP!?"
"Is...that Weiss? As XLR8?" Blake asked.
"...how the fuck did that even happen?" Ivy asked.
"Long story short, alien arms dealer got pissed at us for breaking one of his robots." Ruby explained.
"AND WE HAVE HIS ASS IN JAIL!" Ben yelled. "WANT ME TO CALL HIM UP!?"
"Babe, calm down." Ruby deadpanned.
"...well...this is uh...awkward," Ruda chuckled sheepishly, "Um...nooooothing personal, Ice Queen?"
"WHAT!? You guys actually believe this garbage!?" Roane yelled.
"Ro, I'm gonna be honest." Ruda said, putting her hands together. "...These guys live crazy lives, and I one hundred percent believe this happened to them. I mean, the guy's an alien!"
"Yeah, listen to Drillbit!" Ben yelled.
"Hey! Only Ivy gets to call me Drillbit!"
"Bianca, c'mon! Tell me you're with me on this one!" Roane yelled.
"...I believe them," Bianca said, sheathing her blades.
"What?!"
"I already had my doubts. Something about Felix just never...sat well with me," Bianca admitted.
"You guys believed Felix?" Ben asked, setting Ivy down. "He literally tried to kill us earlier by crashing a plane. Then he got away in...some...portal."
Rex's eyes locked onto Ivy as the pieces all connected.
"You," the nanite-user growled.
Ivy took one step back and then one step to the side, putting Ben between herself and Rex's fury.
"I was in the middle of something when you took that bastard away!" Rex yelled. "WHY?"
"I...think we can all agree that mistakes were made here. On...both sides of this," Ivy said.
Ben looked over his shoulder with his one eye and the expression on his face just screamed "Really?"
"...ok, maybe more on our side than yours."
Rex wanted to throw Ivy into the ground...but she'd been used. He grit his teeth, and took a deep breath.
"...yeah. Maybe," Rex relented.
"Ok, so with that out of the way...first time we'd ever seen any of you guys was during the fight in Essen. Why don't you tell us who you really are?" Ruby asked.
"Team BRIR," Bianca said, "or, if you'd prefer, the Guardians of Arrowfell."
"The Guardians?" Blake asked.
"You know most of the history, right? The experiments that went on there?" Ruda inquired.
"And how Ironwood's predecessor shut it down, yeah," Ceres confirmed.
"Well, as an extra layer of security, the older general put us in charge of keeping things secure," Bianaca said.
"Well, we can call up Ironwood and ask him about that," Weiss said, "Confirm everything."
"Yeah that's not gonna work," Ivy chimed in, "Our identities were a 'take it to the grave' sort of secret. Not even the Council knows about us."
"And you thought we were unbelievable about being on vacation?" Yang scoffed.
"Hey, it's a massive military-focused government. There's bound to be secrets," Roane answered.
"Like a secret guard unit," Rex said.
"Now, for the most part, our job's pretty dull. Just make sure that no one gets too close, and if they do, spook 'em so they leave," Ruda said, "Until three or four weeks ago when someone broke in. Just a bunch of rose petals on the camera and…well."
"Someone pointed you to us. So who did it?" Ruby asked.
"The same one who yelled at us to get lost," Bianca said. "Thought he was trying to get close to you guys, be a double agent."
"But then-" Blake wondered, before the group all heard the sound of a gun clicking ready.
"NOBODY MO...ve..." Yaz said from a cliff, looking down on the group.
"Yaz! You're ok!" Weiss called up to her.
"Yeah! Saw someone firing off a bunch Dust rounds into the sky like fireworks, came as fast as I could. And I see you...have everything under control?"
"Sort of...but we need to get a call to Ironwood. Now," Ben said, bringing up his Scroll.
Back in Atlas, Lev and Cammie were going over the data that the Outcasts had gathered for them. The two of them had been assigned by Ironwood himself to try and find the location of the mastermind behind this strange conspiracy. Glass was a middle-man, so he was a dead-end. Fiefstone's death threw a wrench in the work, as he was the one who no doubt had the most direct contact with the mastermind. But then, they got a fix to that problem. Locus and Felix.
"How are we coming on scanning their logs?" Lev asked.
"They weren't exactly being subtle about what comms they didn't want to be heard again," Cammie smirked, "But I didn't take either of them for the tech types. The encryption on these logs...it's good."
"Too good for you?" Lev raised a brow at that.
"Hey, I never said that," Cammie smirked and got to work. There was a series of clacking keystrokes before Cammie managed to unlock the recorded comm logs. She pressed play on one of them, the most recent communication, hoping to get a clue about who they were talking to.
"Fiefstone is about to be captured. He claims he would never break under questioning, given his background, but there's always the possibility he will," a distorted voice said over the recording.
"Want us to take care of it?" Felix asked.
"As discreetly as you can. If it seems like he'll be captured...cut his strings."
Cammie cringed a bit at that, because she knew what the outcome of that was. Though, an idea did spark in her head. She sent the details over to Lev for a bit of help. If they could backtrack on those signals, see if there was a common point in the feed, because if there was then they had their mastermind.
"Cammie?" Lev asked.
"I know. It's exactly what we needed," the hacker smirked before she clicked play on another log. It was farther back in the timeline, before the Outcasts ever found the first orb in that mountain range.
"Have the rest of your battalion fallen in line?" the disguised voice asked, but this one sounded different, higher pitched almost.
"Yes. Any stragglers have been dealt with and replaced with those loyal to us, not Ironwood," the cold voice of Locus answered.
"Good. Then we'll have plenty of allies. In addition to the gangsters under Glass and the workers under Fiefstone."
"I strongly advise against Glass. Fiefstone I trust, even respect. But Glass' type is as common here as it is in Mistral. At the smallest hint of trouble, he'll either run or break."
"Glass is a necessary evil. His connections allow us access to more areas of Atlas proper than if it were just your men. Besides, military patrols in Atlas would be far too out of place. Your men will handle the placements out in the wilderness and in that rusting relic people call a town," Locus's benefactor explained.
"...understood." Locus relented.
"Was it just me...or did that voice-?" Cammie began.
"Sound different? Yeah. It did. We're not dealing with just one guy in charge here," Lev finished. With two of the calls listened to, he was tracing their signal back. The CCT system in Atlas was definitely a bit more secure than the ones in Vale or Mistral, but that was kind of expected. He'd be more shocked if the opposite was true.
All good data sets are done in threes, though, so Cammie played one last recording, the earliest in the timeline.
"Locus. Felix. I want to talk," the deeper voice from the first log said.
"Yeah, well, not really a fan of the whole 'mystery man' act. So, why don't you drop it and meet us face to face? Give us a time and place," Felix countered.
"I can't. I don't know who may be listening. You may call me paranoid, no matter how correct I am here, but I am also observant. Locus, the elite of this kingdom are nothing by glorified sycophants. Your definition of a perfect soldier is…complex, to say the least, but it's safe to say that not even the Ace-Ops fit the bill. Felix, you practically choked under Ironwood's bureaucracy. Your 'reckless' behavior gets results, after all. Doesn't it?"
"You've done your research," Locus confessed, "but it'll take more than our psyche profiles to have us turn on Ironwood."
"Money's a good motivator. His paychecks are feeling lighter and lighter every time, I swear," Felix quipped.
"Money is no object to me. But what if I told you that, when all is said and done, I would give you the position that Winter Schnee currently occupies? Adjutant and second in command of all Atlesian armed forces. Even the Ace-Ops would be forced to listen to you," the disguised voice offered.
"...we'll think about it. If we say yes," Felix said, "Where do you want us to meet?"
"Where Atlas' first protector was knighted."
"...ok...and without the cryptic spy shit?"
"I'll have a ship come and pick you up. Bring you there. Agreed?"
"Understood," Locus nodded.
"Good. Then I'll see you there once you've decided. Have a good rest of your evening, gentlemen," the voice parted and the recording ended.
"First protector? Does he mean first Hunter?" Lev asked, adding in the last signal from this recording so he could triangulate the origin.
"Sounds like that, but here's the thing. Hunters weren't 'knighted' in the old days. At least, not in Atlas. When Atlas was still called Alsius Academy and Mantle was the capital, new Hunters were essentially 'sworn in,' like a military officer. That practice died out with the old academy name," Cammie explained.
"Ok...so then where-?"
"Think about it. What're all the robots named after around here?" the future Ace-Op asked.
"...knights."
"And one of the last new projects for military tech was the Paladin. And if I'm right about that, then I know where our little turncoats have gone," Cammie explained. She had a different task right now though. It was a quick thing, too. She ran the voices of both disguised benefactors through a program to remove the filters.
She and Lev finished their respective tasks at the same time.
"That...that can't be right," Lev said, "The calls...came from Atlas. But they were bounced off another receiver out in the mountains...the mountains where no one lives."
"Back up that location real quick. We can send the coordinates over to Ironwood," Cammie said, "I'm about to pull the masks off the people behind this whole thing."
With a smug grin, Cammie pressed play on a recording of the first disguised voice. She and Lev's eyes went wide when they heard it. The door to the lab they were using hissed open, two figures entering.
"I liked you two, I really did," Bram said, spinning a fire Dust crystal in his hands like it was a coin.
"Thornmane...but you-!" Cammie tried to rationalize it.
"It's a shame you won't be able to learn the full story, Miss MacCloud," Thornmane said. He cracked the large crystal in his hand and tossed it towards the two. Cammie and Lev took cover while Bram and his compatriot fled the scene. The door of the lab closed behind them before a loud explosion rang out, setting off the base's alarms.
"Lieutenant, I think we've worn out James' hospitality," the traitor said, adjusting his coat.
"Agreed, sir," Harper nodded, "You know they'll be coming for us now."
"When word gets out, I expect so...but they'll have to reach us first," Bram reached into his coat pocket and produced a keycard with a unique version of the Atlesian crest on it, the staff in the middle encased by thorny vines.
Cammie and Lev were no strangers to danger. The explosion that rocked the lab didn't scare them as much as it should have. They quickly regained their composure and began to assess the damage to the room. "You okay?" Cammie said.
"Yeah. I'm good." Lev said. "My legs are fine."
Cammie rolled her eyes. "Good," She said, her voice tense as she looked around at the destruction, "We need to get that information to Ironwood. Do you have the coordinates?"
Lev nodded, his face grim. "Yeah, I got 'em. But we need to move fast. Thornmane and his goons won't be far behind...we need to get this info to Ben and the others. Pronto."
Of course, by the time Ironwood would learn of their betrayal, Thornmane and Harper were already boarding a Manta. The latter had dispatched the pilots and thrown their unconscious bodies on the floor of the hangar.
"Set course for Fort Arrowfell," Thornmane ordered.
