CW: Animal death, mercy kills. This chapter ventures into some dark territory.
To be honest, farm life was a lot more straightforward than Rex thought it would be. Waking up at six AM was already a thing Holiday had him do for training. (Rex could never figure out how she always looked so well put together after a late night with only, like, a few hours of sleep.)
His schedule for the last few days was: wake up; wake up Ben and Ruby by throwing water on them and running away as they shrieked; eat a hearty breakfast of fresh food and milk; and finally, doing chores with Ben and Ruby.
The chores were easier than expected… mainly because the trio of misfits used their powers for everything. It would go like this- Oscar would give them a quick demo of what to do, and they'd follow the instructions exactly until he left to do other things… and then the three of them went all out. Here was just a short list of things they used their powers to cheat on:
Rex used the Slam Cannon to dig holes for fence posts, and Ben used Diamondhead to put them in there.
Ruby used her speed to wash animals and pick up eggs like nobody's business.
Ben used Echo Echo to milk all the cows (although Rex and Ruby had to take care of the buckets because those guys were just too damn small).
Ben attempted to use Water Hazard to clean off a side of the barn. Instead he nearly fucking demolished the thing. They prayed the Pines wouldn't notice.
Wildvine provided some excellent food pig feed to the pigs...all 30 pens of them...
The Rex Ride was able to help out in creating a few random paths in the dirt. They weren't really sure what that was for, not even a rural kid like Ruby.
"They should really be thanking us," Rex commented, walking back to the garage. "We just saved them, like, weeks of work."
"And only SOME minor property damage!" Ruby pointed out.
"Step up from some major property damage," Ben quipped.
That day, Oscar decided to take them into town, mainly to treat them to a job well done, but to also get more stuff for the tractor.
"It's amazing how fast things have been going since you guys showed up," he laughed. "You guys really deserved the break."
"Well, you know, hard life on the battlefield. Felt nice to get away from all the crazy Atlas tech, you know?" Rex laughed.
"Yeah, some of us literally have it bonded to us," Ben joked.
"...is this some kind of inside joke?" Oscar whispered to Ruby. "Am I missing something?"
"You're missing the fact that they're idiots," Ruby said, shaking her head.
Digby Dairy was a very special ice cream place in town, seeing as it was the only ice cream place in town. Oscar loved it, mainly for the care and passion put into the product. And for the fact that maybe, just maybe, his hard work was paying off for SOMETHING. Digby Dairy commonly bought milk from people around the area, and there was a chance he was tasting his hard work right now.
Ben happily slurped up his milkshake. "I dunno what it is, but this thing tastes AMAZING."
"I'm surprised to hear that from you of all people," Ruby teased, licking her strawberry ice cream. "Mr. Smoothie Man."
Rex didn't say anything because he got brain freeze from his own milkshake. You know, like a dumbass.
"Pretty good, right?" Oscar asked, smiling slightly.
"Better than anything produced in Atlas, that's for sure," Ben joked. "THIS is why we really came here. Simple stuff."
"Speaking of which," he interjected. "When do you guys think you're going back?"
"Honestly? When we feel recharged." Ruby shrugged. "The field's kinda draining, you know?"
Oscar raised an eyebrow. "Really? Seems pretty cool to face all those Grimm."
Ben looked at him, amused. "Do you think you could take one?"
"I've tipped a cow before," Oscar lied, trying to impress them. "Does that count for something?"
Ruby giggled. "I guess. We'll let you know if we face any Battlecattle."
Ben gave her an incredulous look. "That's a thing?"
"Yeah, pretty hardcore Grimm," Ruby explained. "They're notorious for slaughtering farms in times of famine. Rookies and mediocre Hunters don't really touch them; that'd be a job for uncle Qrow or the Ace Ops."
Rex paused, but carried on with his milkshake.
...only to get a brain freeze again.
"Do you guys mind if I make a quick pit stop?" Oscar asked.
"Need to pick up something for the farm?" Ben asked, going back to his milkshake.
"Not quite," Oscar said sheepishly. "I just need to step inside the grocery store. You know, for the house."
"We don't mind," Rex said, getting over his ice cream headache. "I still need to recover."
"Now, what did we learn, Rex?" Ruby teased.
"...I shouldn't drink my milkshake too fast."
"Because?"
"Despite how GOOD it is, it's a colder mistress than a fairy tale stepmother," Rex groaned.
"...good analogy. Mind if I steal that?" Ruby asked.
Oscar shook his head as the group stopped at the store. "I shouldn't be long. Just chill out here, got it?"
"Poor choice of words," Rex grumbled. "But you got it." The three watched Oscar walk into the store before sitting themselves down on a bench.
"This has been a nice week," Ben commented, resting his head against the brick wall. "We should do this more often."
"Kinda reminds me of that summer road trip, just with staying in inns instead of the Rustbucket," Ruby remarked listlessly. She suddenly felt like she needed a nap. Probably from all the hard work. "Rex is just our dumb kid."
Said kid pouted. "I'm not duuuumb..."
"What did we just learn?"
"...shut up."
Ben chuckled, in a good mood. Nothing could ruin this moment-
"Ahem."
Ben looked up to see the town's sheriff. He had a fair complexion, brown hair, glasses, and a dark mustache. He wore a brown cowboy hat with a black band, and a police uniform which consisted of a tan shirt with various badges, a black tie, brown pants, black shoes and a belt with multiple greyish-blue pockets.
"Can we help you, pi-ack!" Rex began, but Ruby elbowed him. "Augh. Sorry, can we help you, officer?"
"Ain't seen you folk around here before. Safe to assume you three are Hunters, right?" the sheriff asked.
"Uh, yeah." Rex nodded. "Why do you ask?"
"Hm...I wanted to talk to the three of you about something I saw last night. In the woods." The sheriff's voice sounded serious.
"What's the problem?" Ruby piped up.
"Last night, I was walking my dog, Buck- he and I do an evening walk every other day- mainly to get the boy some energy," the sheriff began. "When Buck and I were walking near a certain property, round Farmer Brown's house, we saw...something in the darkness of the woods." The sheriff began to mimic its movements; it had a very predatorial like walk, if what the sheriff was doing was at all accurate. "Air smelled like formaldehyde. The thing's steps were all shambly. And worst of all, I think it was dragging something."
"So, you want us to check out the situation," Ben stated.
"Absolutely."
"And why can't you check it out by yourself, p-" Ruby elbowed Rex again.
"Because there's something off about the whole situation. I'm only built for arresting rowdy cow tippers or solving disputes between farms. Brown hasn't been seen at all today. He's always punctual to town meetings. " The sheriff grimaced. "So, I'd recommend you start the investigation 'round his property."
"Alright sir." Ruby nodded. "We'll do that."
"Thank you." The sheriff tipped his hat and walked off, just as Oscar rejoined the group.
"What was that about?" he asked, as Ben handed him back his water bottle.
"Ah, he just wants us to check on some dude in his house," Rex said dismissively. "Nothing too exciting, I'm sure."
"Need my help? I know where everything is in town," Oscar said, eager to prove his skills to the three. Ben shrugged, as Rex made an 'alright' sound.
"Alright kid, guess you're the leader," Ruby chuckled, patting him on the back. "Show us the way."
The four teens stood in front of the farm- it looked pretty new, but it looked so empty. There weren't any signs of life in the house itself, and no one could hear the sounds of cows and pigs and chickens rummaging around in the barn. It was as if Farmer Brown and his animals had disappeared off the face of the Earth.
"Are farms supposed to be this empty?" Rex asked quietly. The air around them was too still, and the overall atmosphere reminded him of an old school slasher flick. And Rex had seen enough of those to get a general gist of the rules.
"No, it's not," Oscar said slowly, his voice a little above a whisper. "I just helped this guy set up a few weeks ago, I would have known if he was planning a vacation." He started walking towards the barn.
Ruby could feel an eerie chill in the air, despite how warm the day had been. This place was really starting to give off horror movie vibes.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted footprints. Not muddy ones, though. Purple glowing ones that did not look human whatsoever.
"Hey, guys," Ruby whispered, motioning over to the path. "Check it out."
Everyone gathered around the glowing tracks, looking at them curiously. Ben hovered his hand above one the footprints, feeling a slight heat radiating from them. "That's weird," Ben said, scratching his chin.
"What is it?" Oscar asked. "Grimm footprints?"
"Oscar, we're gonna be honest," Rex sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We don't know."
"That's reassuring," Ruby scoffed. Her eyes followed the footprints as they led to a path in the woods. She was about to go follow them when-
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!" Ben yelled, shattering the silence completely. Ruby whipped her head around, frantically looking where her boyfriend was pointing.
Something shambled out of the empty barn. It was human-like, almost, with charcoal skin and a weirdly purple outline. It had a malformed face with an open maw, uneven eyes, and spear-like appendages. It groaned as it made direct eye contact with the four of them.
"The hell is that thing?" Oscar asked, his voice trembling
"Oscar, again, we don't know," Rex said as he stared at the creature.
To make matters worse, the shambling monster was joined by what looked like two cattle. They had the same charcoal-like skin and purple outline; one cattle had more bullish features, and the other one straight up looked like some weird cow.
"Uh, I know I'm a city kid, but cows aren't supposed to look like that, right?" Ben asked, unnerved.
"Are you seriously asking that right now?" Ruby snapped.
The beasts roared as they charged.
"SPLIT UP!" Ruby yelled, grabbing Oscar and bolting away with her Semblance. Ben and Rex went the other way, the cattle following them.
"Of course we get the heavy duty work," Rex huffed, pulling down his goggles.
"Hey, it's about time we got a challenge," Ben said, activating the Omnitrix. He slapped down the dial and transformed into XLR8. "Try to keep up!" he yelled as he rode away.
"You'd be a shitty friend in a horror movie!" Rex snapped as he spun around. He summoned his Slam Cannon, loaded it up with pieces of the ground, and started firing at the mutants. The shots were accurate, but not effective- they barely seemed to slow them down.
"Alright, well that failed, Rex grumbled. "Maybe I need to bring out the big guns." He replaced the Slam Cannon with a navy-colored backpack dynamo and a long, black tentacle-like whip that extended from his right arm. He whipped the 'Blast Caster' around, striking both of the mutants with enough force to send them flying.
Ben rejoined his side, arms full of barbed wire. "That's a bit overkill, don't you think?"
"Says the guy with, like, seventy aliens," Rex shot back, annoyed.
Ben flipped his visor down and sped on over to the cattle, running circles around them until they were completely wrapped in barbed wire. "That should hold them," he said, brushing his claws together. His attention turned to the purple trail of footprints. "You go help Ruby if needed. I'll follow the path."
"Got it," Rex said, giving a thumbs up. Ben turned around and rushed away at top speed.
Ruby stopped by a tree as the mutated humanoid shambled towards them. "Alright Oscar," she said, setting him down. "I want you to climb up the tree and stay there."
"Don't need to tell me twice!" Oscar shrieked, scaling it within seconds. Ruby whipped out her scythe and narrowed her eyes. She charged at the mutant, swinging her blade, but the bastard blocked it with his spear-like arms. He roared, causing spit and drool to fly into Ruby's face.
"Ew," she gagged as she boosted herself backwards to gain some distance. The mutant ran towards her on all fours, so Ruby decided to take advantage of his stance. Her steel blade was replaced by an energy one; she plunged her weapon into the ground, and the earth promptly exploded in a fiery explosion. The mutant was sent flying back into the barn, slumping over where it crashed.
"Well, that was easy," Ruby stated, putting her weapon away. "I think it's safe to climb down now, Oscar."
"You sure?" he asked, poking his head out of the foliage.
"Yeah, mutant guy was knocked out, nothing to-" She motioned over to the mutant guy, but he was gone. "...on second thought, stay in the tree."
"Noted," Oscar said, already disappearing from view.
Rex ran over, his fists now in 'Smack Hand' mode. "So, where's the farmer?"
Ruby winced. "You don't want me to answer that."
"How do you lose sight of a fucking mutated farmer?" Rex spat.
"You get distracted, obviously!"
He groaned. "Greaaaaaat. Now we gotta keep our eye on some weird, gross, mutated dude that..." Rex's voice drifted off as he came to a horrific realization.
"...that what?" Ruby asked hesitantly.
"...Ruby. Do you think those things are...contagious?" Rex whispered.
She blinked. "...I...I don't think so, no."
"Do you know what would happen if that thing got into town?"
"I don't, actually."
Rex swallowed. "Cases could rise EXPONENTIALLY. It's one case now, but soon it'll be 2. Then 7. Then 20. 54. 148. 403. It'll keep going and going and going, until pretty much the entire town is infected. Those don't sound like big numbers right now, but they could reach into the ten thousands in mere days if left unchecked. Atlas would have to quarantine it and see if there's a cure, but..." Rex looked back at the slowly dying mutated cow. "I don't know if there'd be a cure for whatever space shit this is."
"Why would this be space shit?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow. "And when were you a math genius?!"
"Okay, first, I'm the foster kid of a scientist. I gotta know stuff. All my moves? Basic physics." Rex grinned. "Second, it's space shit because...I dunno, it just HAS to be!"
"I can't argue with him," Oscar yelled from the tree.
"Shut up, you're scared and helpless, don't sass."
"I'm not THAT scared and he-" Oscar suddenly noticed something shambling on the roof, and he nearly screamed. That THING was climbing up the roof of the house, its limbs moving unnaturally. Rex and Ruby immediately took notice, and Ruby shifted her weapon to its newer turret form- similar to the gun mode, but with one key difference:
This form didn't use bullets, she could conserve them all she wanted. Weak energized shots flew out of her weapon, striking the roof and chasing the freak around. The monster jumped off the roof and charged at Rex and Ruby-
Hm...I think you could help out, honestly, a voice in the back of Oscar's head said. Here, let me give you a push.
"Wait, WHAT?" he yelled, but it was too late. His body flipped through the air almost perfectly. Rex and Ruby watched in total shock as Oscar landed on top of the bastard's head, smashing it into the ground, before safely landing. He grabbed a spare hoe off the ground and swung it around, perfectly mimicking a martial artist.
Ruby blinked. "The fuck."
The mutant snarled as it charged at Oscar. Showing no fear, the boy quickly struck the bastard with expert precision- at the throat, the solar plex, the knees. The mutant broke down, and Oscar ended it with a powerful swing aimed at the mutant's head. He swung hard enough for the metal to break, and for the mutant to fall over.
Oscar dropped the hoe and blinked, looking down.
"AHHHH!" he shrieked, running away. "IT'S RIGHT BY MY FEET! IT'S RIGHT BY MY FEET!"
Ruby and Rex shared a glance before looking back at Oscar, who was trying to climb through the window of Farmer Brown's truck.
What was this kid?
The footprints stopped at a nearby silo. Ben slid to a stop and lifted his visor up. Okay, that's not reassuring, he thought as he rolled around the area. His ears perked up- someone, or something, was digging. Ben followed the sound, and it led him to what appeared to be...a mummy.
Like, a straight up mummy. Ben could tell by a strange pink glow coming from the hole, illuminating the bandages wrapped around the mummy.
And because Ben was a smartass, he decided to ignore the inherent danger of the situation. "'Scuse me, you got a permit to be digging here?"
The mummy spun around- they were a thin, humanoid-shaped alien with slight ape-like features on their limbs. They also wore Wadjet headpieces on their forehead, but not the nose and mouth. Their clothing resembled that of the ancient Egyptians, consisting of dhoti -like garments on their waist, collars, and two bandages dangling from their upper back. They wore golden cuffs on their feet and wrists.
"It appears I don't," the mummy spoke- they had a feminine voice, so perhaps they were a girl? Alien gender was a weird discussion. "But I can assure you, this is for a good purpose."
"Uh huh," Ben said, not buying it. "Who exactly are you?"
"I am the purple-lidded daughter of Dusk. I am the naked brilliance in the eyes of he," the mummy said, putting her hands together as if praying. "You may call me Imhonet."
"Alright, Imhonet," Ben repeated, narrowing his eyes behind his mask. "Care explaining the farmer and his cows?"
"They were cleansed," Imhonet explained. "Purified. Made beautiful in his eyes."
"Beauty? Looked pretty ugly to me." Ben smirked.
"But of course- human standards are quite different. He, however, prefers the company of darkness, specifically those born from the pools of hell and gifted with the touch of death," Imhonet went on.
"This guy of yours sounds pretty fucking insane," Ben said bluntly. "So, I'm gonna go on a limb and say it's Zs'Skayr."
The once composed Imhonet became wildly unruly. "DO NOT USE HIS NAME!" Her fingers shot out like daggers, and Ben narrowly avoided them as they dug into the ground. Ben appeared behind her and she whipped her arm around, lengthening it and increasing her striking range. He stepped to the side, the arm narrowly missing him and instead demolishing the front of a nearby barn.
Ben sped inside the barn and began throwing whatever he could find- rocks, spare gardening tools, even a wheelbarrow. But Imhonet simply unraveled her body and dodged all the projectiles. She reformed and redirected her attention towards Ben, only to be greeted by a flurry of kicks to the face, courtesy of XLR8.
"I need not panic," Imhonet spoke to herself. "I know the way." She trapped Ben with her bandages and threw him against the silo, hard enough to leave a dent. She then stabbed her opponent with her back tendrils, doing some decent damage to Ben's form. But he got his second wind and sped up to the roof to get away from the crazy priestess.
Ben perched himself at the end of the roof, only to see the mummy gone-
A strong blow to the back of the head sent him flying off the roof and face down on the dirt.
"This doesn't hurt," Ben lied, like a liar.
"Well then." Imhonet landed on the ground. "I suppose you want another round."
Ben was about to retort with something witty, when the Omnitrix beeped and promptly reverted him back to human. Imhonet paused as she studied Ben's human form.
"So you're the conduit that reincarnated my lord," she mused, as her bandages slowly drew closer to him. "What a strange boy you are...do you know how to pray?"
"Uh, yeah?" Ben stuttered nervously.
"Excellent. Pray to your God." Her tendrils wrapped around the support beams of the silo, pulling them away with ease. Ben turned around to see the metal beast collapsing down on him. He threw his arms up to protect himself-
Only for Ruby to burst in and save him at the last minute, grabbing and pushing him aside. The entire silo collapsed, but thankfully neither of them was injured.
"You good?" Ruby asked, helping Ben up.
"A little sore," he groaned. "I'm gonna need extra cuddles tonight."
Ruby rolled her eyes, but still looked fond. "What even happened here?"
"Zs'Skayr's minion," Ben answered, looking around. She had already vanished into thin air. He walked over to the crater and looked into its empty depths. "She took something that was glowing. Don't know what it was, though."
Ruby frowned. "And that's what really worries me."
Ben and Ruby regrouped with Oscar and Rex- scratch that, Rex and a very sick Oscar.
"What's his deal?" Ben asked, looking the kid over.
"Uh, that's his deal." Rex pointed to a mangled, naked body of an older gentleman. He was hairless and looked slightly deformed because of his mutation. "Yeah..."
"That the farmer?" Ruby asked, cautiously walking over.
"To be honest? I'm not even sure," Rex said, handing her his goggles.
"What do you want me to do with this?" Ruby asked, confused.
"Put them on. Goggles have some 'upgrades'. Allows me to pull up info on people and also scan them. Clover's always paranoid that I'll pick up the wrong person," he explained. "Dental records, fingerprints- DNA is kind of a no go right now, takes too long. I'm sure Ceres and Rufus will be able to figure out a way to shorten that in the future."
Ruby put on the goggles and was greeted with two seperate profiles- one was of everything they could find on this 'Farmer Brown' character. The second showed the same exact things... but no exact matches. Ruby shivered.
"What the hell caused this?" Ben asked, still staring at the corpse.
"Mutation probably messed with his genetic structure," Rex hypothesized. "So, this could really be Farmer Brown, or the guy who killed Farmer Brown."
"Jesus Christ," Ruby muttered, handing Rex back his goggles.
Rex looked down at the mangled body once more. "So...how are we gonna explain this?"
"...we could just feed it to the pigs," she suggested. "Get it over with."
"...Ruby?"
"Yeah?"
"What the fuck?"
(Google it. It's messed up.)
Oscar.
Oscar prayed that maybe this voice was a doctor waking him up from a crazy nightmare. Maybe he clonked on the head on something, and Ben, Rex, and Ruby were all crazy characters his brain made up. Oscar opened his eyes and... nope. He was still in his cluttered room, and yes, everything that happened in the past few hours was real.
Oscar was in a weird funk, reminiscent of how one felt after getting some seriously bad news. That weird, hazy, and downplayed version of the stages of grief that you went through in a few brief hours. Maybe this new voice in his head was just his subconscious. That was rational, right? Totally, totally rational. Not crazy at all.
Oscar, the voice repeated.
"I've decided you're not real, so you might as well give up," Oscar said, sitting back in bed.
I understand how you're feeling. I went through the same panic and confusion, the voice explained. Oscar turned over in bed, trying his hardest to ignore the voice.
"It's not real. It's not real. It's not real..." he kept repeating.
I can assure you, you are perfectly sane, the voice sighed.
"You are a voice. In my head. I just saw a guy turn into a monster, and a dude create weapons out of nowhere." Oscar sighed. "I am not sane."
Well, the voice scoffed. I didn't say you were normal. I said you were sane. There's a significant difference between the tw-
Oscar growled as he clamped his eyes shut. "Shut. Up."
...Have you ever been to Haven?
"I'm trying to ignore you."
Do you think you could describe the headmaster's office? the voice asked, ignoring him.
Oscar huffed loudly. "No. Why would I know that? I've never seen-"
Try. Right now.
Oscar sighed. "It's probably... It's..." His eyes shot open, and his face slackened in shock. "It's autumn-colored... with a large mahogany desk. There's a small table with chairs in a corner for guests, with a tea set that... I... I gave him." Oscar stopped when he referred to himself in the first person. "Why did I say that? Why did I know that? Why did I say that?"
Because I know that, the voice said calmly. What are the names of Ruby's teammates?
Oscar paused to think. "Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long...Okay, hold on, how do YOU know this?"
I assigned her the team, obviously, the voice laughed. However, I have a grave responsibility to uphold. And I'm sad to say...we both do.
"What are you?"
My name is Ozma. And I'm sad to say our aura, our very souls are combined.
Oscar looked up at the ceiling, eyes unfocused but his mouth twisted in disgust. "I'm fucking crazy."
Again, you aren't, Ozma sighed. But you do have something.
"What's that?"
An opportunity.
"For what?"
Greatness, hopefully, Ozma answered solemnly. Greatness in knowing that, when the world needed help, you were the one to reach out your hand. It won't come without hardship, without sacrifice, but I know you don't want to live the rest of your life working as a farmhand in Mistral.
"...so you decided to read MY thoughts?" Oscar shot back.
Well, they're OUR thoughts now, Ozma joked.
"...I'm stressed. I'm gonna find that track list with the ocean sounds," Oscar declared. "That helps me relax sometimes."
Again, your choice, Ozma said. Now...good night.
Oscar was glad he listened to ocean sounds instead of counting sheep. Whatever skewered them and hung them from the trees horrified him.
Ben whistled. "Someone's fucked up."
"Eh, it's not all that bad," Ruby said dismissively. "Now, if they had no skin? That'd stick with me a bit longer."
"Skinned, schmimmed," Rex scoffed. "If those guys were missing heads and we found all of 'em in a really fucked up location, that'd horrify me."
"...what if they were people?" Ben had to ask.
"Oh, I would call the cops IMMEDIATELY," Rex said despite his dislike for law enforcement.
"Is this what you guys deal with everyday?" Oscar asked, frightened at how calm the three of them were.
"Kinda." Ben shrugged before turning to Ruby. "I always forget how weirdly apathetic to horrifying things we are. Do you think it affects our souls and the relationships we build with others?"
"Oh, for sure," Ruby agreed. "That's why we have therapy."
"I've just gone numb to it," Rex piped up.
"...you guys scare me," Oscar stuttered.
Was it bad to lie about helping Farmer Brown out? Yes. Probably. The guy's dead body MIGHT have been eaten by pigs, or been slaughtered in the house. The gang's investigation just led to a lot more questions.
Let's start with the inside. It looked like there was a struggle, or the man had gone feral. Dried blood splattered the inside of the kitchen, broken glass littered the floor, and whatever smelt in the bathroom, the guys didn't want to see it.
(Ruby did, however. It was just the scattered body parts of a dead cow.)
The field was worse now that it was the day before, and they could see what reeked from last night. The remains of farm animals littered the ground or hung high from tree branches. Both options were gruesome.
"This is just fucking creepy," Ruby murmured.
"You can say that again," Oscar said, averting his eyes.
"Oh, yeah, I have been meaning to ask." Ruby turned to the kid. "Why'd you tag along?"
"...I'm more scared than I've ever been in my life, than I ever thought was possible," Oscar admitted. "I always knew that I wanted to be more than a farmhand, but this? I can't sit easy knowing that there's this crazy voice in the back of my head demanding I do something about this. How are ANY of you okay after seeing stuff like THAT?" He pointed to a sheep split clean down the middle.
"You're right. None of us asked for this either." Ruby sighed. "And that's why we all decided to become Huntsmen. Because we wanted to help people. I'm scared shitless just being here, but not just for me. What happened at Beacon shows that whatever we're up against...doesn't care who you are. It will destroy you. It took the life of my friend, Penny Polendina. It tried to take Ben's life too. But...had I died, I know they would have done the same thing that I chose to do - to keep moving forward."
Oscar gave her a shy smile. "You're really good at speeches."
"Oh, stop," Ruby gushed. "I failed public speaking. But, for real, the fact that you're even trying to be involved says a lot about you. You're braver than you think."
Oscar felt a little braver after hearing that. Ruby smiled before she turned to regroup with the others.
She really is remarkable, isn't she? Oscar nearly jumped as he heard that voice in his head. Again.
Ben turned around. "Everything good?"
"Uh, yeah!" Oscar exclaimed. "Almost, uh, stepped in some guts."
"That's why you gotta go heavy duty, dude," Rex said, pointing down to his feet. They were equipped with smaller versions of his Punk Busters.
Oscar had been wondering why the older teen had been so nonchalant about stepping in animal guts.
"So, about this mummy you saw yesterday," Rex asked Ben. "Why do you think it was digging?"
"Beats me." He shrugged, hands in his pocket. "I'm not a professional."
"You didn't even get a quick look at it?" Ruby asked.
Ben hesitated. "Well, there was one thing I thought I saw."
"And you didn't care to mention it until now?" Rex asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Like I said, THOUGHT I saw it," he explained. "It looked like Dust."
"No Dust can cause a burst of energy on par with the Omnitrix," Ruby pointed out.
Oscar tilted his head. "Omni-what?"
"Oh, uh, that's the name of my watch," Ben explained, looking sheepish. "We still have like, a million things to explain, don't we?"
Oscar nodded. "Yeah, kinda." What was even weirder was that he somehow knew about all the intricate details of the Omnitrix. That voice in the back of his mind knew something about it- Level 20 Tech. Alters DNA at the genetic level. Noah's Ark. Carries over 1,000,000 samples.
The voice had obviously discussed this with someone, maybe not the creator. That part was still foggy.
What was weirder- knowing everything you needed to know, or having no idea HOW you knew that?
"But, yeah. It looked like Dust. Glowing purple Dust-" Ben explained before he was cut off. The Omnitrix started to beep loudly, like a car alarm was going off. Rex and Ruby covered their ears as Oscar flinched.
That's new, the voice in the back of his head noted.
Ben shook his wrist. "What's up with you?! Didn't Azmuth give you an upgrade? Thought you weren't supposed to bug out." He twisted the red faceplate a few times before a voice spoke from the watch.
"Foreign substance to Earth detected," the Omnitrix blared. "Foreign substance to Earth detected."
"What the..." Ben blinked before looking around. The alarm had finally stopped. "That's different."
"Foreign substance?" Oscar asked. "What's that mean?"
"Well, take a look around this place," Ruby told him. "What do you notice?"
Oscar paused. "Uh, trees, grass, some wildlife, a few streams of water..."
"Pretty normal, right?" she said. "The Omnitrix is saying there's something unnatural that doesn't belong here."
Ben twisted the dial. "Warns us about some weird shit, then doesn't tell us where the weird shit is. Typical." He examined the watch once more, before noticing something odd: the faceplate was loose. Ben moved his wrist closer to his chest, eyes focused on the dial.
"Did you break it?" Ruby asked worriedly.
"Dunno." Ben said. The usually horizontal hourglass symbol was veered to the far left, and it kept on motioning back in that direction no matter which way he moved it.
Oscar's eyes narrowed. "It's a compass."
"Huh?" Ben asked, looking at him. "What's up?"
"The Omnitrix, it's acting as a compass," Oscar explained. "It might be honing in on the source of that foreign substance, like a magnetic pole on a natural compass."
"...he might be right, dude," Rex realized. "The way it's moving does remind me of a compass."
Ben twisted it a few times to confirm Oscar's hypothesis- each time, it moved back to the far left position. "Think you're right, kid. Good eye."
Oscar beamed. "Thanks."
"Now, can you, uh, read a compass?" Ben asked sheepishly. Ruby rolled her eyes.
"I'll handle that," she said, taking his hand. (Also an excuse to discreetly hold hands, SHUT UP.)
Looking at it, Ruby could see that the dial-turned-compass needle was pointing east. "Alright, east it is. Oscar, there aren't any other farms or cabins out that way, are there?"
The farm boy thought about it. "I don't think so. Should just be forest."
"Still need to see what this is. After all, this could link back to….did they ever say their name? Zs'Skayr's new friend?"
"She said she was called Imhonet and given the way she talked about her boss, 'friend' is putting it lightly," Ben answered.
"So, she's a 10 on the crazy scale then?" Rex chimed in.
"Try 11 and replace crazy with 'zealot.'"
"We always get the fun bad guys don't we?" Rex noted before the four of them headed deeper into the forest, the dial pointing dead ahead once they were facing the right way. The trek there, for the most part, was uneventful. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise though.
It took them about two hours until the Omnitrix started to beep loudly again. "Proximity Alert: Foreign Substance detected within 3 feet."
Closing in, the group had found what looked to be a large concentration of the same purple crystals Ben had seen Imhonet try to collect. It was a jagged group of the mineral, jutting out in various directions.
Oscar's eyes widened in awe when he saw it, and it was at that time that the voice in his head decided to pipe up again.
Interesting…, Ozma muttered. Miss Rose was right- there is no way that material could be Dust.
Wait what? How can you tell? Oscar thought back.
I have seen plenty of Dust crystals in my time, and while I may not be an expert appraiser, I can tell you that whatever it is, it's not Dust. Gravity Dust exists and it can be identified by its purple color. But Dust is more akin to quartz, nothing so jagged as this.
"Ok, so, there's the 'foreign substance.' Now where's the monster movie extra? Think we beat her here?" Rex chimed in.
"Surprisingly enough," a new voice spoke up from behind them. All four turned around to find it's source, weapons at the ready (save Oscar). "You did indeed beat us here." Standing before them, a crimson portal open behind him, was none other than Viktor. Shortly after, the mummy that Ben had faced off with exited the portal behind Zs'Skayr's favored brute.
"And I believe you've already met my new acquaintance, Imhonet." The mummy gave a mock bow at her introduction. As she did so, the red portal closed behind them.
"First mutant zombies, then a mummy, and now Frankenstein's MONSTER. Do you guys have a vampire that hates you that I don't know about?!" Oscar shouted.
"No vampire, but we do have a ghost," Ruby said airily.
She's right. He was partly responsible for my death as well, Ozma commented.
That's not helping! Oscar mentally panicked.
Without any hesitation, the two monsters rushed at them. Oscar tried his best to find cover while Ruby and Ben charged Viktor and Rex took on Imhonet. Given enough time, Ben was able to slam down on the dial of the Omnitrix just in time to transform. In a flash of green, Ben was replaced by Bloxx.
"Going for Lego Man, huh?" Ruby quipped.
Ben smirked. "Not my original plan, but I can make it work."
Viktor ran in like the lumbering tank he was, bringing his fist down. Ruby and Ben managed to avoid getting hit, instead seeing the crater the brute left in the ground from the impact. Ruby landed the first few hits by firing a volley at Viktor, impacting against his thick skin. The shots did little damage to him though, as shown by when he charged at her, lightning wrapping around the tesla coils on his back. Before Ruby could dodge the incoming punch, he vanished- only to reappear behind her and back hand her away.
As soon as Viktor warped back, Ben used his plastic, Lego-like body to launch his arms at Viktor, grabbing him by the shoulders and pushing him through several smaller trees, breaking them in half. The cultist wasn't going to let this lie and dug his heels into the dirt, making grooves as he soon came to a halt. Using his new grounded position, he pulled on the segmented arms and wound up a fist. Ben could only brace himself as the hit landed and broke his body apart. Thankfully, he was quickly able to reform.
Just in time too, as Viktor went in for some lightning-boosted punches. The lightning didn't really do as much extra damage as he had hoped, given what Ben's body was now made of, but they still gave him an edge. Ruby then literally launched herself back into the fight, propelling herself forward with shots from Crescent Rose, now in its war scythe mode. Ben heard the shots and easily slipped out of Viktor's reach and became a block wall. With Ben gone, Ruby slammed both of her feet into Viktor's face.
If Viktor was a normal man, something would be broken from a sniper-rifle backed kick to the face. Instead, it just sent him staggering….right into a block wall. Said wall turned into its normal Bloxx form, the hands formed into cannons, both now leveled at Viktor's head.
"You must be joking," the brute muttered before he was blasted with a continuous barrage of disorienting, giant, multi-colored bricks. And then came the slashes from Ruby. She darted about, striking at his back, moving behind him as Ben's barrage moved the Frankenstein back.
Occasionally, Ruby's blade clanged against the coils, sparks flying from the metal on metal impact. In a bout of frustration, Viktor warped out and back in, blasting both of his opponents with lightning. Ruby was a problem with her speed, but Tennyson was a wild card. He had to focus on him for the moment. The girl would be easy enough to take out, he reasoned to himself.
Imhonet had rushed into battle, her bandages surging out like tentacles. In response, Rex built up the B.F.S, or Big Fat Sword, and began slicing through the bandages. Imhonet kept up the attack, not caring about how much was cut, with good reason. No matter how much Rex's blade sliced through, the attacks didn't seem to lose range, like the bandages were regenerating. Soon, the Ace-Operative felt something tightly wrap around his ankle. He looked down, realizing too late that Imhonet had managed to get a hold of him. With little effort, she swung Rex as easily as he swung the B.F.S, tossing him aside.
He dug the blade into the ground to stop himself from going too far after tumbling. Right when he stopped, Rex saw Imhonet leaping towards him. With a quick build-change, he brought out the Smack Hands and blocked the mummy-like alien's attack.
"How strange," Imhonet commented as she launched herself back, adding more bandages to her own arms to make them match in size and power as the Smack Hands, "You call such beautiful creatures as us 'monsters' and yet, you are neither truly flesh or steel. You are a mix of both."
"Oh yeah, play that card when your friend is a walking Tesla coil back there!" Rex shot back.
"He is different. He accepts what he is, that he is a perfect mixture of the two. You? You only pretend. It's sad, really."
"And now you're trying to play mind games, great," Rex grumbled before charging in. Imhonet was probably grinning under her bandages as she rushed in, fist drawn back and ready. Metal and bandage met and surprisingly, bandage held strong. Rex tried again, going for a right hook, only for Imhonet to raise her own fist and block the hit. She did wince a bit, but it didn't stop her from getting in a jab at Rex's side. And she gave a few more punches in the same spot, before Rex was able to grab her arm and toss her away, slamming her into a tree.
The mummy shook off the hit and dodged out of the way of another one of Rex's attacks. She glared daggers before getting some distance from the Ace-Operative. Seeing that, Rex swapped out the Smack Hands for the Slam Cannon, which quickly gathered and fired ammo at Zs'Skayr's priestess. Imhonet dodged and wove between the shots before one of them caught her, slamming into her stomach. The hit actually flung her back, closer to the purple crystalline growth in the ground.
That's when she noticed something- a small blur right behind a tree. And that's when Imhonet remembered: there was another person here. One who wasn't a fighter like his new friends, one who could give just the leverage she needed. Instead of rushing back towards Rex, she went off to the side, moving past the crystals and going for the trees. Rex formed more ammo in the Slam Cannon and fired, but Imhonet was too fast now, easily dodging all of the shots.
"Stand still, damn it!" Rex cursed as he tried to aim, only to see her dive behind a tree. "Tree's not even a good cover, you know!"
Imhonet didn't respond immediately. Instead, there was the sound of muffled grunting and struggling before she stepped back into sight. "You're right. Very flimsy, especially when you fire at such high speeds. But…" It was then that Imhonet pulled out Oscar, wrapped in her bandages and dangling in front of her. "I think HE is a much better shield. Even more frail than a tree, I would say. I wonder what would happen if you hit HIM first?"
Oscar could only struggle and muffle out a response. Rex actually loaded up the Slam Cannon and took aim, leaping to the side to try and get a better vantage point, but no matter where he stood, Imhonet used the kid as a living shield.
"Go ahead, fire. Hurt him, wound him, maybe even fatally! Let him die without knowing my lord's purity of body and purpose! Then look me in the eye and tell me that I am the monster!"
That one quick glimpse of hesitation was all she needed. Bandages wrapped around Rex's legs and the Slam Cannon. With enough pressure, Imhonet was able to completely BREAK the weapon apart, making the teen scream in pain. With a few quick but brutal swings, the priestess broke Rex's Aura and rendered him unconscious. "And now, for your friends."
Back with Ruby and Ben, Viktor had closed the distance with another of his warps and slammed his fists into Ben, lightning focused in his fists. He was hoping the damage would eventually force him to change back. Of course, the beatdown was interrupted when Ruby got back up and used Crescent Rose to hook the cultist around the waist. With another pull of the trigger and her own momentum, Ruby tossed Viktor back, giving Ben some space to breathe.
Ok, maybe the girl would need to be dealt with first, Viktor thought to himself. That's when a bandage wrapped around Ruby's scythe and pulled taught.
"And now, things are just a bit more even!" Imhonet exclaimed.
"You didn't beat Rex, there's no way you did." Ruby fired off another round, spinning her scythe around to cut the bandage gripping the weapon.
"You're right, I didn't. Not without help." The mummy brought Oscar in front of her again, followed by a restrained Rex. "You shouldn't have brought the farm boy."
As Ben and Ruby had their attention on Imhonet and her hostages, Viktor finally took the opening. He charged up and fired a bolt of energy at Ruby, faster than she could react. Her screaming made a good enough distraction; Imhonet used her bandages to wrap up Ben and swing him around, slamming him into anything nearby. In a flash of green, Bloxx had vanished and Ben had taken his place.
"Ow…." Ben muttered before a large boot pressed down on his chest. Viktor looked down at him, lightning still sparking off the coils on his back.
"How pathetic," Viktor said, crushing Ben under his heel. "A good effort, I grant you that….but wasted."
Imhonet took the chance and used her bandages to wrap up Ruby, leaving Viktor the honor of defeating Ben. The priestess of Zs'Skayr lightly smacked Rex's cheek to wake him up.
"Awaken. I wish for you to bear witness to this." She 'smirked' as the Ace-Op stirred. The mummy had actually moved closer to the purple substance. Viktor quickly picked up Ben by the wrist and brought him to the cluster as well.
"What the hell is that stuff?" Rex yelled, eying the glowing purple rock.
"Of course a simpleton like you wouldn't know," Imhonet laughed.
"DID YOU JUST CALL ME A SIMP?!" Rex yelled, offended.
"Corrodium is a mineral of great potential energy," Viktor explained, eying the gems carefully. "It is similar to coal or uranium on a larger scale, and for a time was mined throughout the galaxy as an efficient power supply."
"Of course, with power comes consequence," Imhonet continued. "Like uranium on Earth, Corrodium has severe side effects and is very unstable. But we see it as a blessing. Our people were once like yours, until overexposure to the energy had made us oh so beautiful in the eyes of our Lord. And I am so honored to be chosen as the vessel of his power..."
Imhonet wrapped her bandages around the Corrodium and stashed it inside her chest. "I feel closer to my Lord," she said reverently. "His command is my destiny."
"Perhaps a demonstration is needed to show the true dangers of this mineral." Viktor smiled as he turned towards Oscar. He struggled to get out of bindings as Imhonet drew him closer-
BANG.
There was a massive hole in Imhonet's head. She dropped the captives from her bindings and spun around to see a sheriff, riding on a horse. His rifle was still smoking.
"Now, I may not know the whole damn story here," the sheriff growled, reloading his weapon. "But I know one thing: this ain't right."
"No! Stay back!" Ben screamed, but it was too late. Imhonet flew at the sheriff in rage, tangling both him and the horse in her bandages. Her chest opened up to reveal the corrodium, and what Oscar saw next? It would haunt him for the rest of his life.
It was like layers of skin being peeled back, for both the rider and his horse. They screamed in absolute horror as they were consumed by the rot. But as quickly as it began, both human and animal stopped screaming. They were covered in a black coating of crystals, fusing them together into an abomination. It was like something out of Oscar's worst nightmares-
The mutated monster screeched as it ran at him. Oscar braced for impact before Rex jumped in front of him, smashing the ground with his Smack Hands to blow the monster back. The quake also made Viktor lose his balance and fall over, leaving Ben free to make a move.
He slapped down the Omnitrix faceplate, and crystals encased his entire body. Diamondhead stood back up and turned to face Viktor.
Ben chuckled, cracking his knuckles. "You're in trouble~ I've had a lot of practice with this one."
Viktor beckoned for him to attack. "Try me," the doctor snarked. Ben ran towards him-
Imhonet turned to capture Ruby, only to see her gone. She looked around before something stabbed her through the chest- Ruby's weapon, fully extended into its war scythe mode.
Imhonet didn't flinch- she simply wrapped her bandages around Ruby's arm and flung her across the way. Ruby avoided serious aura damage by scattering into rose petals before she hit a tree. She fired an ice bullet at the ground, and ice crystals popped up from underneath the earth to skewer her again. But Imhonet used the tree branches around them to avoid serious damage.
Imhonet landed back on the ground with a thud, before throwing long ranged punches at her opponent. Ruby easily avoided them and slashed at the priestess, but the mummy brought her bandages up in time to block.
For a brief moment, they were at a stalemate, both equally matched in power.
Ruby pulled the trigger and her blade turned a menacing red color. It started to burn right through the priestess, and Ruby used her Semblance for an extra push-
And Imhonet was split into two clean halves. Ruby burst through the attack, feeling triumphant. But she knew the battle wasn't over yet. Imhonet was still reforming...
Rex, meanwhile, dealt with the Corrodium rider. The thing was tough, using it's dagger-like arms to clash with Rex's massive Smack Hands. Rex was hesitant to fight back- he still had to look after Oscar, and God knows what would happen to him if the Ace-Operative took his eyes off the boy.
"Oscar!" Rex barked, turning to look at him. "Unless you got a death wish, I suggest you r-"
"Don't need to tell me twice!" Oscar yelled as he booked it.
"...huh. Alright!" Rex delivered a heavy metal bash to the beast, sending it flying through the air, but it somehow managed to land on all fours.
The beast charged at Rex, with the horse half threatening to crunch down on his arm. Rex quickly activated his Block Party builds, and the horse only managed to slam its face into the shield. The rider mercilessly clawed at the shield, but to no effect.
The rider continued its attack, with the horse attempting to bite at the metal. Eventually the rider tired himself out, and Rex took advantage of that moment. A backpack slid out of his back, with a tendril forming around his arm. He reeled the Blast Caster back and whipped the rider- the sheer force behind the attack was enough to break through graphene like it was paper, so imagine what it did to a frail, mutated freakshow.
Annihilated it, that's what it did. The crumpled mess that was the rider flew back, and Rex grinned. He felt like the thing really was down for the count.
...until he heard the sound of bones cracking and snapping back into place, as the beast improperly regenerated. I say 'improperly' regenerated because now the horse head and the human head were switched around.
Rex shivered. "That's just unnatural."
Diamondhead ran at Viktor, ready to bash his face in with a spiked knuckle. Before it could make contact, however, Imhonet wrapped her bandages around his fist, mere inches away from Viktor's jaw. The doctor smiled as his metal hand grabbed Ben and electrocuted him, quickly throwing him aside.
"BEN!" Ruby yelled as she raced towards the monster. Imhonet tried to ensnare her too, but Ruby's movements were too quick for the priestess. She switched her Crescent Rose into its energy form and sliced the air three times- three disc shaped energy blasts shot out of her blade and collided with Viktor, exploding upon contact and causing a massive dust cloud to cover the area.
Ruby coughed and narrowed her eyes, trying to locate her target. Suddenly, Viktor warped right in front of her face and crunched her torso between two iron fists. Ruby stumbled back as Imhonet wrapped her in bandages and began to wail her around like a ragdoll.
Viktor grinned as he turned to walk away...and yet, his legs couldn't move. He looked down to see his feet encased in diamonds. Ben dropped down from out of nowhere, knocking the doctor to the ground. His crystalline arm extended into a massive blade and he stabbed Viktor's back repeatedly, hoping to put him out of the fight somehow. Instead the wounds healed almost instantly, and Viktor caused a burst of lightning to knock Ben back.
Ben skidded back, forming crystals under his heels to stop his descent and plant him firmly on the ground. His hands launched a torrent of crystals, which Viktor avoided by annoyingly warping around the place, before disappearing out of sight.
Ben kept his guard up- Viktor was a tricky asshole. No one knew what he was thinking, and his status as one of Zs'Skayr's powerhouses made him take the matter seriously.
Viktor suddenly warped behind Ben, ready to crush his rocky skull into dust, but Ben was prepared. A massive crystalline spike shot out of his back and straight through Viktor's chest, extending itself through a few trees at full speed. Viktor slumped over as the spike shot back into Ben's body.
Viktor grunted as he got back up. His hand moved to the wound just so he could feel the damage. Lighting gathered around the pylons stuck in Viktor's back. He warped away once enough energy had built up and reappeared behind Ben. Both fists were raised, lighting arcing into them from the pylons. Zs'Skayr's favorite lackey then brought both fists down onto Ben.
He fell to the ground as Viktor grabbed his arm, twisting it. "You're durable...but how about we put you to the test?"
Viktor slowly twisted his arm further. Ben grunted as it began to crack-
Ruby, hearing that sick sound, sliced through more of Imhonet's bandages as they rushed at her. She quickly turned Crescent Rose back into its gun form and loaded up a new Dust clip. She took aim and fired, shards of rock impaling Viktor through the shoulder, one of them even went through the same wound Ben caused, making it worse.
Viktor didn't even flinch- he was determined to make sure Tennyson suffered. "For interfering with the master's plans so frequently...I will reward your foolishness." He flashed an evil grin as the arm cracked even more.
Ben struggled to think. What the hell could he do?
...Was...now the time to...
Try out the new gear?
The cracking sound just got worse, Viktor twisting his arm even further. New gear might be his only choice to get out of this with all his limbs still attached.
Ben grimaced as his other arm began to reach for the Omnitrix-
Viktor was ready for history to repeat itself. A Tennyson was about to lose his arm to Frankenstein's monster once again. But he was too focused on how fitting this all was, so he didn't notice Ben finally managing to reach the Omnitrix.
Ben slapped down the symbol-
Boom.
A MASSIVE burst of energy sent Viktor flying backwards.
Ruby looked over, confused- what just happened?! There was a crater in the ground.
What the hell did Ben do?!
He stepped out of the crater, still Diamondhead...but he had something on him. He donned a form fitting grey helmet with a green visor. His neck was protected with plating sharing the same pale green color as his crystalline body. His shoulders were reinforced with triple plated armor, the top one being pale green and the lower two being black. His upper arms had grey segmented armor, while his forearms wore large white gauntlets, with yellow plating for his elbows. He wore a large chest piece, with the upper half colored white and the lower half yellow. The two halves were separated by two lines, the top glowing green and the bottom one being a thinner black line. His left hand free, but the right hand was replaced by a small arm cannon.
"What the hell?" Rex said, offended. "Are you stealing my gimmick?!"
Ben pointed the cannon at Viktor and started the charge. "I don't know what this is gonna do!" Ben yelled as the inside of the cannon started to light up. "Good luck!"
BOOM. A small but powerful crystal shot out of the cannon at lightning speed, hitting Viktor dead in the chest-
AND HE EXPLODED. Pieces of Viktor went flying everywhere, and Ben just stood there and stared in shock.
"...holy shit," Ruby whispered, genuinely turned on.
Imhonet tried to wrap herself around Ben like a serpent, but he quickly cut her off by forming a bunch of crystalline spikes around his body. She threw a few long ranged punches, but Ruby quickly sliced her thin arms in two.
Rex loaded up the Slam Cannon with a piece of the earth and fired it at Imhonet's chest, knocking her back into a tree and making her slump over.
The priestess slowly got up, dazed from the hit. She focused back on the group just in time to see Ruby deal the final blow, a sniper-round propelled kick to the face.
The priestess slumped over, knocked out for presumably a long while.
"And that's the end of that story," The armored Diamondhead declared.
"Well, uh, we still gotta deal with that," Rex said, pointing his thumb at the mutated centaur monster.
"There's no way he's coming back from this, is there?" Ruby asked sadly, preparing another round. They only just found out about this 'Corrodium', so maybe the effects were reversible.
"...I don't think so, Ruby," Ben said quietly. "And I'm sorry for what we have to do to him. Really, I am. But I honestly don't know if this can be reversed."
"Then...let's at least make it quick." Ruby looked at what was once the sheriff and his horse. The creature, fueled by rage, screeched out as it got ready to charge.
"Yeah." Ben's arm grew into an energy fueled blade. "He's suffered enough."
Ruby nodded and shifted Crescent Rose into it's war scythe mode and Rex shifted his builds to the Blast Caster. The centaur gave one last screech and charged. Once it was in range, Rex swung out the Caster and immobilized the mutant, wrapping the whip around its legs.
Ruby slid underneath it before quickly slicing its legs off in one motion. "Ben! It's up to you."
Though the helmet didn't convey it, Ben's expression was filled with remorse.
He rushed in, blade at the ready. As the mutant screeched in pain, Ben gave one last swing, the energy whirring with the motion. The monster's cries fell silent and its body fell to the side, landing with a dull thud.
Ben and the others went quiet as the creature twitched and moved. It was still alive, somehow.
"That's...that's just not right," Ruby said with a grimace. "One...one more shot maybe?"
"...yeah." Ben sharpened the blade a bit more. "Might wanna turn away."
Ruby nodded and did so, already trying to block out what was to come. Rex did the same, going so far as to cover his ears. Ben brought the energy blade back, and then swung it down.
There was...a sound Ben didn't want to ever hear again. This may have been a mercy kill, but...it didn't feel right. It never would. Ben shut off the energy blade and stepped back, turning back to human form.
Ben shook his head, face pale. "I don't want to do that again."
Once everything had gone quiet, Ruby went over to Ben, hoping she could comfort him. He certainly needed it after that.
"Hey, guys?" Rex piped up. "Where's-"
"Your friend?"
The trio turned around to see Oscar literally in Viktor's hands. Oscar struggled to escape, but his iron grip was unbreakable.
"Oscar!" Ben was about to transform only for Viktor to tighten his grip, threatening to crush the kid.
"One more move, and he dies," he snarled. "You have made a grave error-"
And then, Oscar...fainted. The group all automatically assumed the worst-
And then he shot back awake.
(Where had Ben seen that glare before?)
"I believe you've made an error as well."
Viktor looked at the boy, genuinely confused. "What did you just-"
Oscar quickly created a sphere-like barrier of aura around him, freeing him from Viktor's grasp.
The monster stumbled back as he was forced to let go of the hostage. This must have been Oscar's Semblance, but something about it felt off. It didn't feel like a natural ability. The kid was completely out of his depths a second ago, so what just happened?
Oscar landed on the ground, his eyes lighting up. He needed a weapon, something to attack the monster with-
Oscar glanced over to a walking stick, left abandoned some time ago. "It'll have to do," he muttered, grabbing it.
Viktor raised an eyebrow at that. "And what are you going to do with THAT?"
"This." Oscar rushed forward at lighting speed, stabbing at Viktor with the staff. For such a blunt weapon, it was highly effective.
Viktor's eyes went wide in surprise. Hell, everyone was shocked. Only moments ago Oscar was hiding from the fight, and even earlier he was freaking out when they discovered the first mutants. Now he was actually going to take on one of Zs'Skayr's heavy hitters, if not the top enforcer.
Ruby saw how Oscar was attacking and was struck by how familiar it was. "What the hell?"
Oscar pulled the cane back and struck again. The monster was still shocked from the initial jab, so he wasn't prepared for a full flurry of shorter strikes.
"Where did THIS come from?!" Rex cried out.
Oscar's eyes lit up again, and he saw even more weak points. The pylons! They had to be neutralized. But how, exactly?
Breaking them would take more strength than he could muster at the moment...Though, there was someone that had a convenient, seemingly endless supply of bandages to bind them up with.
And there she was, still slumped over. Oscar quickly made a mad dash over to her and unraveled her body. He then ran at the still VERY confused Viktor and wrapped the bandages around his pylons.
With more and more bandages wrapped around them, the better grip there was. Once the pylons had been wrapped several times over, Oscar pulled hard and tugged Viktor back. He didn't fall but he was put off balance.
"Mr. Salazar," Oscar announced, in a voice that sounded far too mature for his age. "If you could?"
Despite his shock, Rex had enough training to form the Smack Hands on command. With a final charge Rex rushed in, pulled back a fist, and hit Viktor with a metal-hard right hook, sending the mad doctor toppling.
Viktor hit the ground, finally down for the count. The trio turned back to Oscar, who stood there, oddly pleased.
"Body is a bit spry, but I will adapt," he chuckled to himself.
"Spry? Body!?" Ruby sputtered, walking over. "Oscar, what are you talking about?"
"I hope you realize," Ben said slowly, sounding unnerved, "you sound a lot like a certain evil ghost we know when you say things like that."
"Come now Mr. Tennyson, it took me a long way around to find you. It's been so long," Oscar mused.
"We-we met you like a few days ago!" Ben stuttered. "Who are you?!"
Oscar cocked his head to the side. "The voice isn't helping, is it? Well, how about this? I met you and the Zeta Squadron almost a year ago now. You and Miss Rose confirmed some Plumber reports with me and the general about Servantis' failed coup."
Ben stared in disbelief.
"And Miss Rose, I believe the first thing I said to you was 'you have silver eyes'."
Ruby's jaw dropped. "Professor Ozpin?!"
"In the...well...'in the flesh' would be in poor taste wouldn't it?" Ozpin mused. "But yes, it is me."
"That's right...your...your reincarnation thingy," Ben said faintly. "I forgot..."
"Yes, this is my 'reincarnation thingy'," Ozpin said, somewhat amused. "But I will admit, this is...new."
"What is?" Ruby asked.
"Coming back this soon."
"...that's not good," Ben realized.
"I'm not actually sure what to think of it. Usually, this part of my reincarnation doesn't start until the individual is at least in their early twenties. Sometimes late twenties if it's a bit delayed."
"You've...never been this young before?" Rex asked. He was taking all this 'reincarnation' stuff a lot better than the others.
"Not really. Usually I...emerge when the individual's older. Think of it like this: when my new self is younger, I am present, but it's more akin to watching a real-time film. Does that make sense?"
"I guess," Ben said, rubbing the back of his head.
"It is rather complicated, I know. It took me at least two prior lives to even start to understand the 'rules' of this."
"We can...discuss all of this later," Ruby said, rubbing her forehead. "Right now we need to get you to Atlas."
"...we still need to tell the boy's aunt..."
"Shit, he's right," Rex muttered.
"We also need to deal with that." Ozpin turned around and pointed towards the Corrodium deposit with the old walking stick.
"No idea how to contain it, though," Ben said.
"I would say we could call James and have him set something up. Perhaps he could send out a team to retrieve it. But, I'm also assuming that Beacon tower is still in ruins."
"That means I'll have to cover it up, somehow," Ben sighed. "For the time being, anyway."
"And we also need to consider this: if this Corrodium is as powerful and as corrupting as we've seen, what's their plan for it?" Ozpin jabbed the walking stick over towards Imhonet and Viktor.
"Oh no," Rex said, realizing just how bad this could get. Zs'Skayr and Salem could take just this chunk of the mineral and move it into a more heavily populated area...
"Another thing to discuss with the general," Ozpin said grimly.
The dinner table that night was awkward. Oscar was really trying to avoid having a certain conversation with his aunt. So, the other three had to fill in the gaps.
"...this Mac and Cheese is great," Ben said eventually. "Nice touch with the chives."
Aunt Dorothy smiled. "Thank you. Always gotta keep it a little healthy."
Silence again.
"So, what time is the airship going to pick the three of you up?" Dorothy asked, smiling delicately.
"Uh, four of us, actually," Rex said, absentmindedly.
Aunt Dorothy dropped her fork. Ben and Ruby cursed under their breath. Oscar turned pale as his aunt gave him a nasty look.
"What do you mean the four of you?" Aunt Dorthy asked Rex, despite her focus on her nephew.
"W-well…" Oscar stuttered out. "It's a long story, but...there's this voice in the back of my head saying I need to see the general about...something."
"Is that so?" Dorothy said slowly.
"Y-yes, ma'am," he squeaked.
"Now hold on a second." Aunt Dorothy stood up, making the boy even more nervous. "You think you can leave..."
Ben felt genuinely scared for a moment there.
...for a moment.
"...wearing those rags? These kids are from Atlas, sweetie!" Dorothy huffed. "You have to be presentable! You said you're meeting the general, right? Can't walk in looking like that."
Ruby blinked. "Not the direction I expected this to go."
Same, the voice in Oscar's head said.
"I thought you'd honestly be angrier," Oscar admitted. "Like you'd put your foot down and tell me I have a life here. Like...all those aunts in the stories..." His voice trailed off.
"...caught yourself sounding stupid?" Ben asked knowingly.
Oscar sighed. "Caught myself sounding stupid."
"Listen, sweetie, when I was your age I also wanted to have a life beyond this farm. But then some more pressing matters came up, and...well, I couldn't attend to them in this lifetime," Dorothy explained as she walked to a nearby closet. "And I'm certainly not going to stop you anytime soon." She handed Oscar a set of clothes. "I expected this would happen one day, so...I got you this."
Oscar looked down at the clothes. "...I'll be right back, guys. I need to change." He raced upstairs as Dorthy smiled.
"Now, you three." She turned to the Huntsmen. "Keep that boy out of trouble. He's certainly a hell of a handful, but he's a good kid overall. And also, keep him away from those places in Solitas! I've heard they're dangerous."
"Yeah, yeah," Rex said with a smile. "We'll keep watch over the kid. You can trust us."
"He's already got a hell of a fighting spirit," Ruby beamed. "We'll return him to you in one piece." She was (probably) lying, but she didn't want the aunt to panic.
But Aunt Dorothy saw right through her. "You can't promise me my boy can return in one piece with everything's on the brink of war," she said blunty.. "What's really going on?"
Ben and Ruby shared an uncertain look- neither knew what to say in response. How the hell were they gonna explain that an immortal man was in the body of a fifteen year old?
"I know you kids know something I don't," Aunt Dorthy said. "Ever since that speech the general gave, there's been this weird unease that's been hanging over our heads. I never thought my Oscar would get involved."
"...Oscar displayed incredible abilities earlier today," Ben lied. "This isn't a 'chosen one' prophecy. This is just an opportunity for him to live out his dreams for a bit."
"You're just letting him in because he did something cool?" Aunt Dorothy asked skeptically.
"...has Oscar ever been a fighter?" Rex wondered.
She shook her head. "Can't say he has, no."
"Has he ever done a backflip?"
"...no."
"Hit precise pressure points on a wild animal?"
"Never."
"Yeah, that's weird." Ruby rubbed her chin. "All the more reason to find out what's up with that."
Oscar chose that moment to step back downstairs. He now wore an olive coat with dark red shoulder pads and a matching belt. Underneath it, he wore a white collared shirt and bandages wrapped around the neck. His gloves were a slightly open U-shape with black X-pattern wrist straps. He also wore black trousers and red boots colored orange at the toe.
"So? How do I look?" Oscar asked with a shy smile.
Ben grinned. "I admit, you look the part. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought you a professional Huntsmen."
Oscar's beam nearly lit up the whole room.
"Don't be a stranger, alright?" Aunt Dorothy wrapped Oscar in a tight hug. "Now go. Go...save the world or something. I'm not sure if these kids are being serious."
Oscar wiped tears from his eyes. "I love you."
Aunt Dorthy smiled back. "Love you too."
Oscar turned away and walked towards the others, bags in hand.
Once you go down this path, you will never be the same, Oscar. Do you dare brave it? Ozpin asked.
He adjusted his jacket and stepped forward.
"...I do," Oscar quietly declared.
Hey there, you made it to the end.
I realize in post how fucked up this chapter is, and...yeah, we might need some more content warnings down the line. I hope you all enjoyed the Bloxx fight, that was done by one very talented man named Captain Zeus, he and I write a lot together nowadays, so...ye :p
i dunno what else to say
uhh, take your normal pills? idk that memes dead.
also stan Lumity