Hey. Crunchyroll. Greenlight Volume 10.
Anyways, with that out of the way-
Top 5 Episodes I'd Like To Do
So many different ways to tell a story, but that's what makes them so interesting. You can never predict how they're going to turn out.
I dunno who said that but they sound cool.
1. Universe vs Tennyson
Sort of some fallout for Alien X-Tinction. It'd be treated like the Trial of Jean Grey. I've watched Better Call Saul, I swear.
2. Ragnarok
Kevin focus! YAYYYYYYYYYYYY. Most of these are like a struggle to figure out where to place them, and Kevin's is by far the hardest. I'm in the camp of "Revenge and digging two graves", but I wouldn't say the Outcasts would try to disuade Kevin either.
3. Con of Rath
A fun little flashback episode that'd show the Outcasts in their earlier days...and Rath going HAM.
4. Ultimate Sacrifice
This is probably gonna be a really Albedo heavy episode- and the most important one for him. I have no idea where I'll place it, though.
5. Forge of Creation
ANYTHING to write young Ben and Ruby again, I swear. They'd be the silliest, goofiest children going up against the nightmarish of threats.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
"Data scan."
The voice was robotic, emotionless. It needed no food or water for survival- just the knowledge that its projects were running smoothly.
"Subject status, Model Y-XX-88." A screen popped up- the model was still in use, causing havoc on a far off world.
"Subject status, Model 7-E8-NH." Another screen popped up, showing the model being used as intended- a tool to achieve someone else's agenda, nothing more than a means to an end.
"Subject status, Model 10-10-AF."
The screen appeared before the figure but it did not show the results the voice was looking for. The "OUT OF COMMISSION" sign was most displeasing.
"Track coordinates of Model 10-10-AF." The voice said, as his computer pulled up a map of the known galaxy. It began zooming in on the Milky Way, and further and further and further in on...
Planet Earth.
"...most interesting. A low level planet, capable of putting a weapon such as a Techadon out of order..." The voice bemused. His mind was made up.
It was time for Techadon Inspector 13 to pay a visit to Earth.
On that low level planet, somewhere in a forest outside of Mistral, gunshots rang out through the trees before, suddenly, Ruby was thrown out from the tree line into a clearing. She groaned as she got back up, only to see Ben come flying out and landing next to her as Diamondhead.
"So even the lesser ones are pains in the ass," Ben muttered as he got back up.
"Yep. At least this one isn't as big," Ruby said, checking her ammo and swapping in a new clip.
Shortly after, Weiss and Kylie emerged from the tree line as well, the latter taking shots back into the trees. Something was lumbering through the forest, pushing aside trees as it went. Soon, the massive form of a Petra Gigas slammed out in the clearing. Its singular eye locked onto Kylie and Weiss and brought back its giant stone fist. The two dodged out of the way as the stone came crashing down, cratering the ground. Weiss took the chance to try and immobilize it, using the Ice Dust in Myrtenaster to freeze the arm in place. The Grimm was strong enough to break through, but she only needed a few seconds for this.
"Kylie! Cover me! I'm gonna try something!" Weiss called out. She held Myrtenaster in a ready position as a glyph appeared under her. She'd managed to get this next part down at least. The full thing was still being worked on, but this would be good enough.
Kylie fired a few more shots, the bullets sparking against the rock body of the gigas as it lumbered after her. A sniper shot clanged against its head as Ben rushed in. Since their last fight with one of these, the team had managed to figure out a good way to deal with any Gigas form a Geist could throw at them.
"Okay, so, bullets!" Kylie said, reloading. "These things don't work...JOT THAT DOWN! LIKE ALWAYS, MY BULLETS DO JACK SHIT!"
"Why not switch to a laser blaster?" Weiss asked.
"They take too long to recharge." Kylie frowned.
"Go for a higher caliber?" Ruby suggested before taking another shot at the Gigas. Sparks erupted off of the head as it turned towards the sniper. It hissed like the ghost it was, giving her a clear shot at the head. But Ruby knew if she shot now, the possessed golem would just block it. And that's where Ben came in. He raced over to the Gigas' legs, morphing his hand into a large crystalline blade. As he did, Weiss managed to get her technique finished as well. The blade and left arm of her knight glowed and seemed to appear over her own like holographic armor.
"Let's hope this works," Weiss muttered. She hadn't entirely gotten the hang of the large blade yet, but all she had to do was smash the leg joint of the Gigas. Nothing too special.
Ben frowned. "And in case that doesn't work..." Ben twisted the dial, as Diamondhead was suddenly encased in his usual Omni Drive armor. "Call me your Plan B."
"As in a general sense or because your name is Ben?" Ruby asked.
"...both." Ben said.
Weiss sighed as she got ready. The blade was still heavier than what she was used to, but she could handle this. Probably. Right on cue, the Gigas stomped into range and Weiss leapt up to slice its leg. The blade cut through the stone, making the giant stagger and almost trip.
Weiss grinned, as she slashed again and again. The Gigas' form was starting to crack and crumble- it needed to find a new one, a stronger one...what could it take over!?
The Gigas made a ballsy move, darting from its body into...
"...it's heading for the ship!" Kylie gasped.
"Oh like hell it is!" Ruby shouted as she took aim. The shadowy form of the Geist was floating through the air, weaving about so it would be harder to hit. Ruby took a deep breath and steadied her aim. She pulled the trigger and let a single bullet fly. The Geist made the mistake of turning its head back to see what was happening, before the bullet found its mark in the middle of the Grimm's eye. It screeched out and its body turned to smoke before it even hit the ground or touched the ship. But Ruby did cut it close; the Grimm was only a few feet away from the ship.
"That was a close one..." Ruby huffed. "Thank God for my aim."
"Yeah, pretty sure if I used my crystals, the ship would've exploded...along with the giest." Ben said.
Weiss watched the arm fade away, as she sighed. "Don't you worry you might be a bit TOO overpowered with these forms? I get some of them, but...the power boost is a bit ludicrous."
"A little. More worried if it turns out the nuclear option has one." Even Ben had to shiver at that thought.
"Besides, they're pretty useful. I mean, Grey Matter gets the brawn to match his brain, Jury Rigg gets to use his scrapping skills to make something new," he listed off.
"Yeah, but...I really don't think Heatblast needs a jetpack. Fourarms, sure. He needs range but, Heatblast? He's already one of your strongest." Weiss said.
"Goku didn't stop at Super Sayian." Ruby defended.
"Who?" Weiss asked.
"Oh, hey- did you guys forget? We have that retreat thingy!" Kylie remembered, "The little vacation Ironwood's giving us to visit that...weird Not-Atlas Academy place near Vacuo. What was it again, Weiss?"
"It's basically a vacation spot / training area. For when you wanna get out of the cold." Weiss explained.
"Oh, that! What was it called? Tropical Winter or something?" Ruby asked.
"We would never call it something so stupid." Weiss scoffed. "The name for it is simply Atlas Rests."
"Kinda boring. I like Tropical Winter better." Ben agreed with his girlfriend, reverting back to human.
Weiss sighed and sheathed Myrtenaster, walking back to the ship. Aside from that, the mission went well. Not to mention her field trial of her technique worked. She'd have to practice with the sword more, of course, but that wasn't anything too difficult.
"We weren't the only ones he offered that to, right?" Ben asked.
"Nope. Dunno who else accepted the offer, but, still. Should be relaxing," Kylie said.
"It should be a nice, relaxing weekend...what's the worst that could happen?" Ruby asked.
The Inspector typed furiously, but his face didn't show his anger. He was typing a fast message off to his superiors about his most recent discovery about model 10-10-AF.
His first thought was how could this even happen? The unit's self-repair function should have made it the perfect weapon. He wanted to attribute this to user failure, but that was before he discovered the footage. It was easy enough to access this primitive world's computer network when he first arrived in system. A quick search for any visual of the unit turned up a result in a few minutes. At first, he saw a Pturbosaurian fighting the unit...though it seemed to be in critical repair mode, using some native as a host. Seeing one of the reptilians of Terradino here was surprising to say the least. And then he saw it change. Into a Murrian. That caught his attention. He scanned the footage of the fight again and saw it, plastered on the chest of the Murrian.
That green hourglass insignia.
The Galvans.
They were on this backwater of a world? It would be just LIKE them to find a world where a Techadon masterpiece could truly shine and then show it up with their own weapon. No, not just any weapon. The Omnitrix.
"An intriguing interruption in the invalid insurrection of my Techadons. Perhaps...I should be the first of my associates to properly study this device, so we know how to circumvent any future incidents," the weapon master said to himself.
He turned to a console next to him and typed in a few commands. He would track the energy signature of the device, find its wearer and retrieve it. It should be an informative procedure to say the least. With that, his ship's AI plotted a proper course for low Earth orbit.
"Log 7U-YY-899. Heading to Earth to inspect failure of Unit 10-10-AF. Cause of failure: use of Galvan technology. Objective: observe the Omnitrix in action, followed by dismantling and analysis. Will be also examining the host, physically and mentally..." the emotionless inspector droned.
The ship's engines silently came to life as it flew towards the Earth.
"Preliminary evidence seems to indicate a striking familiarity with the device. Necessary precautions will need to be taken in case of resistance. Be it from the wielder or the natives." The alien weapon designer typed in some more commands on the security console nearest to him and reconfigured the systems. They were always modular, but he needed to be absolutely sure on this. Seeing someone shift between species as easily as one swaps guns was a perfect reason to be concerned. But, it shouldn't pose too much of a problem. If it was Galvan, that meant it could be exploited.
"The user of the Omnitrix will be as crafty and cunning as they come. I expect a true fight of the ages..." The inspector finished off his report.
Ben hummed for a minute. "No, gonna have to disagree with you there. I think I could take Superman."
"You mean IF the Omnitrix could scan Kryptonians, right?" Ruby asked.
"Could take him without that. You wanna talk about overpowered forms though, that's the best example of one. Heat vision, flight, invulnerable except to like...two things? Kryptonite and magic."
"So, you're saying Min and Gwen could take down Superman?" Weiss asked. "That's a bit scary."
"I mean, if they were evil or Superman was under mind control," Ben said, "But, Min's happy with just being chaotic and Supes has a villain like that already."
"Okay, but could Atomix take Superman?" Kylie said, writing this down.
"...why so interested?"
"I might do a dumb thing where we all meet these Remnant versions of the Justice League." Kylie said.
"Sounds kinda dumb, honestly." Ben admitted. "And cluttered. Use the Teen Titans."
"Your mom's cluttered, Ben." Kylie shot back.
"...that doesn't even make sense."
"I mean, I could see Superman living on Patch, as weird as that sounds," Ruby defended.
"Right? That was part of the idea!" Kylie said, "And Aquaman was gonna be a Faunus. Makes sense right?"
"...I think I'd scream if I ever had to take on Darkseid." Ben admitted.
"Because he'd kick your ass?"
"No, because I've been DREAMING of kicking his ass ever since he used Superman as his puppet." Ben said.
"I feel like not even Vilgax would last that long against Darksied," Ruby said, "Wasn't there some weird bit where the Darkseid we see was just a puppet body or some shit?"
"Yeah, if Darkseid was the main villain for this, he'd be a more bearable villain," Kylie admitted.
"How can you make him more bearable? The dude's unstoppable." Ben said.
"...first draft, Ben. I'm just writing lore and don't even have an ending yet. I'll probably write some padding in between the important stuff. That'll give me more time to think on an ending." Kylie said.
"Well, if you are doing that, maybe start with a villain a little...lower on the big bad scale? Like...Starro or something," Ruby suggested.
"As fitting as it would be, Starro's kinda...one note. Just a hive-mind who wants to grow," Kylie said.
(Note: Written before James Gunn's The Suicide Squad)
"...I don't have any idea what any of you are talking about." Weiss said. "I am so lost."
"Short version is that Starro's a weird...giant, space starfish that wants to conquer galaxies."
"...I...maybe it's better if I stay lost on this one. It sounds like it'd take hours to fully explain..."
"Yeah, comics do that to you." Ben said, as the ship landed. "Oh, shit, we're here already?"
"We were talking about you fighting Superman for that long? Damn," Ruby said. The engines' went from a roar to a low whir before going completely quiet.
"Ladies and gentleman...welcome to Atlas Rests." Weiss said, as the doors opened. A gust of warm air filled the ship, as the group gave a sigh of relief- man, that felt good.
The view they saw upon leaving the ship was breathtaking. To call Atlas Rests an oasis wouldn't be an understatement. It was a large resort, with multiple different buildings for guests to take up residence in, each one done in a blend of Atlesian and Vacuan architecture. The main hotel building had to be...what? 18 stories tall? It was hard to gauge just by looking. Among the many amenities the resort boasted were pools, sport courts ranging from volleyball to basketball, and more.
Ruby had to whistle at how impressive it all was. "Really going for five stars here, aren't they?"
"It's Atlas. It has to be five stars or else this place is getting shut down." Kylie joked.
"Ha ha." Weiss said. "Like I said, this is a place where Atlas Academy students usually go on breaks. All the basics are paid for by the academy, such as the room you stay in and some meals...and of course, there's plenty of opportunities to just relax a bit."
As the group disembarked and walked out to the main building to get their rooms, Kylie noticed some familiar faces on the volleyball court. One of them was, of course, getting absolutely wrecked by the other. The score was somewhere around 18-2.
"Come on! At least give me the basics first!" Marrow whined loudly.
"It's much better this way- teaches you to be alert and hit the ball back." Elm grinned, as she served another shot.
"Wait, Elm?" Kylie asked as she walked over to the court. That drew the attention of the others. Sure enough, Marrow and Elm were here with them.
"Oh, hey Kylie!" Elm waved over to her, giving Marrow an opening to get a cheap score shot in, "...really?"
"What? All's fair," Marrow chuckled.
"Didn't know you were at the resort- whatcha doing here?" Kylie asked.
"Well, since Harriet is still being...Harriet, we thought we needed a quick break. Get out of the cold and everything." Elm said. Kylie took note of her outfit- so casual, especially for Elm. A low cut t-shirt that revealed her abs and a tied skirt around her waist...not to mention, she was wearing sandals. Kylie had never seen Elm in any sort of footwear before.
"She also thought to teach me volleyball...by throwing me into the fire," Marrow said.
"Hey, trial by fire works sometimes," Elm smirked.
"Yeah, sometimes. Not when you're opponent was aspiring to go pro."
Ben took a look at Marrow's getup- very casual and more befitting of a beach. Bright neon swim trunks, shades, an open hawaiian shirt (that made Ben a bit sad) that revealed his semi-toned body...the guy looked like he wanted to stay here forever.
"Ok, we don't need to worry specifics right now," Elm argued.
"Uh-huh, sure. let's just ignore the scoreboard."
Honestly, it was nice to see them not be in soldier mode and be like actual people. Now, if Kylie managed to convince Hariet, THAT would be an achievement.
"How long you guys gonna be here?" Kylie asked. "We could do something together."
"We got a few days here. Got something in mind?" Elm asked, picking up the volleyball and calling the match there.
"I dunno...dinner, maybe?" Kylie shrugged. "Honestly, anything sounds cool."
Elm was about to say something before Marrow cut her off.
"No, we are not putting them through that hell," Marrow said.
"Oh come on, it'd be fun!" Elm defended.
"What, volleyball? I played with Elm once. It was..." Kylie paused. "...nightmarish."
"YEAH!" Marrow yelled.
"When did you..." Ruby was about to ask.
"Awhile ago, and no, I'm not going into detail," Kylie shivered.
"I'd go easy on them," Elm huffed.
"...forgive me if I don't believe you," Marrow rolled his eyes.
"We should probably get to our rooms now, honestly. Fought a Giest. Exhausting battle." Weiss said.
"Oh, yep. That'll do it to you." Elm said.
"We should probably head back, too," Marrow said. Suffice to say, he was exhausted after the match.
"We'll see you guys later, then!" Kylie waved, as the group departed.
"Are you sure we should meet with them? I still feel kinda bad for kinda unintentionally driving a wedge between her and Harriet." Ben said.
"If anyone drove the wedge in it was me," Kylie sighed, "but...I feel like there's more to it. Do you remember what she said when the gauntlet took over?"
"Uh, something about...another teammate before Marrow, right?" Ruby said. "Has she ever talked about her?"
"No. This was the first time I heard from ANYONE about a former teammate. I mean, yeah, there were bound to be past Ace-Ops but this seemed...recent," Kylie said.
"...how recent are we talking?" Ben asked.
"Like, a few years ago. I did some digging." Kylie said. "Basically, before Marrow, there was another lady on the team named Marian- and she died on a huge mission."
"And...she and Harriet were close?" Ruby guessed.
"Didn't say. It was the usual stuff, born in Atlas, graduated from Atlas Academy, worked her way up the ranks when she became a specialist. Clover and Ironwood apparently handpicked her to join the team."
"Wait, seriously? Damn. She must've been that good..." Ben said. "I get why Harriet would be upset, but...I dunno, there's something missing."
"I tried to get some more details on the mission but...well..." Kylie hummed.
"It was wrapped up in more red tape than some of the Plumbers' most top secret files?" Ben guessed.
"Yep..."
"Jeez...just how deep does Atlas' secrets go?" Ben asked.
"It is a floating island filled with a bunch of rich people so disconnected from the world they can't even fathom the price of bread." Ruby said. "...dumbasses."
"The only thing I managed to get was that it was on Atlesian soil. Outside of that, no idea what the mission was, where in Atlas it actually happened, nothing," Kylie said.
"...should...we ask El-" Ben was about to say.
"As much as I want to, I don't think it's a good idea. It still...seems like a touchy subject..."
"Sadly, Ace Ops...do know what they're getting into. The Atlas Military deploys the best of the best in any sort of situation...even the most dangerous." Weiss said. "They're not gifted with the sort of abilities Plumbers have, like the Omnitrix, magic or whatever mutant powers they might have...they're basically normal humans with limited powers via aura."
"Yeah...plus...if the wound from that's still fresh with Harriet..." Kylie began. She didn't need to continue, though. If it was that fresh with Harriet, then Elm might feel the same, though she might be a little calmer in her reaction.
The group approached an elevator. Weiss stepped forward, and presented her scroll. "As the stepdaughter of Ironwood, I get a personal penthouse. On the top." Weiss smiled.
"Oh...this I GOTTA see," Ruby smirked. The elevator dinged after a few minutes, the doors sliding open to let them all inside.
Weiss stepped inside, as the others followed. The elevator doors closed, as the elevator started to travel up.
"So, what are we gonna do tonight?" Ben asked. "Have dinner and chill?"
"Ooh, before dinner, can we take a dive in the pool?" Ruby asked.
"Oh, hell yeah. Love a good pool party." Ben grinned. "Maybe we can just bring the food up here and chill!"
"Well the room service here IS top notch," Weiss said, crossing her arms proudly.
"Well, that settles it!" Kylie said. "A pool party at the top of the tower!" Sounded like good fun.
Kylie didn't wanna get in the pool. "...Weiss, what is that?" Kylie asked, pointing to the strange pool- it started off normal, but at the edge, it became glass and then hung over the side of the building.
"That is an infinity pool." Weiss smiled.
"...why do I not like the sound of that?" Ruby asked. She was also hesitant to get in the pool. It was like one of those pictures that people used in those harmless "try not to get anxiety" challenges. Ruby and Kylie...were failing miserably the longer they looked at this infinity pool.
"Come on. It's one hundred percent safe." Weiss smiled. "I've swam in this pool a few times. Nothing bad ever happened to me..."
"Well...yeah, but you're used to it. This is the first time we've SEEN something like this."
As if to prove a point, Ben decided to one up his girlfriend. He dove into the pool without hesitation, moving back to take a running start before cannonballing into the pool. The following splash soaked all three of the girls at the edge of the pool.
"So, you're scared, huh?" Ben teased.
Ruby's eyes narrowed. "Peacocks."
"Don't do that." Ben said quietly.
"Well...if it'll help," Weiss hummed before copying Ben, diving in and splashing Kylie and Ruby, "Water's perfect, guys!"
Ruby and Kylie shared a look.
"Does our love for our partners conquer this stupid pool?" Kylie asked.
Ruby took a deep breath, as she opened her eyes. "...it does." She said. "...that...and you MOTHERFUCKER! DIEEEEE!" Ruby jumped in the water, before she began jetting through the water to splash Ben back.
Kylie blinked. "...when in Rome..." She finally shrugged, as she got in the water.
The anxiety was still there, seeing the pool look like it poured over the side of the roof like that, but, aside from that, it was relaxing. Well, for Kylie and Weiss. Ben and Ruby were currently in a water fight, both getting splashed in retaliation by the other.
"Should think about what battles you wanna fight, Ruby!" Ben taunted.
"Oh, OH don't you start!" Ruby shot back, splashing him in the face.
"Those two are crazy." Kylie said, as she stood in the water a bit. "I mean, they're a good kind of crazy that blends well, but..."
"Kylie, can I ask you something?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah, sure, what's up?"
"...if you had the Omnitrix, what would you do?" Weiss asked. Kylie paused- the thought had crossed her mind a few times, mainly in weird dreams and maladaptive daydreams.
"Probably be the same as me, just 10x more anxiety ridden."
"I know the question came out of nowhere, but...for curiosity's sake," Weiss said, "I shudder to think of what would happen if my brother got it."
"God, why does that kid hang around with your dad? Not a good way to spend your childhood." Kylie said.
"I don't know. When the divorce happened, it wasn't exactly a custody thing. He willingly chose it."
"Willingly?" Kylie said. "That's weird. What advantages does your dad have over your mom?"
"He's...well he's a 'good businessman' by Atlesian standards. Despite not having the wealth of the SDC, he does still have some corporate connections."
"...okay, I get that, but where's the emotional benefits?" Kylie asked. "Your dad's a busy guy. Probably more so with his campaign-"
Weiss cringed at that.
"Sorry. But...I cannot see what benefits Whitley would get." Kylie said. "Being raised by maids?"
"That I never understood. I want to ask him about it."
Kylie sighed. "Let's not focus on your shitty dad right now. We came here to relax a bit." Kylie said. "I didn't get dressed in this one piece just to talk about shit dads."
"It is a nice one piece," Weiss blushed.
Kylie snickered. "Isn't there a hot tub here? Let's let Ben and Ruby have their splash fight."
"U-us? In a hot tub?" Weiss' blush just got brighter. That sounded REALLY nice actually.
"Yeah! It'll be like in my fanfic!" Kylie said, as she took Weiss' hand and pulled her out of the water.
"Wait which o-" Weiss started to ask before being pulled out by Kylie. The two made their way over to the very fancy and very comfortable hot tub. When Weiss sat down in that water, she just felt all the stress of the previous battle melt away.
Kylie moaned. "Oooooh, yeah~ That feels sooooooo good."
Weiss moved just a little bit closer to Kylie and sank just a bit deeper into the hot tub, sighing contently as she just leaned back, closed her eyes, and relaxed.
Before they shot back open again.
"I still need to order room service. Anything special you want?"
"I just wanna relax." Kylie said, sinking even deeper into the tub. Weiss rolled her eyes. She'd just get her some grilled chicken.
"What about you two?" Weiss asked. Ben and Ruby were still in the middle of their water fight, but Ben did manage to hear her. Before Ruby got another splash on him, anyway.
"Get me something fancy! Something that'll make me fall RIGHT to sleep after I eat it!" Ben yelled.
"I'M GONNA STEAL YOUR FRIES IF THEY GIVE YOU SOME!" Ruby yelled.
"NEVER!" Ben yelled.
Weiss thought it over. Do they have actually something fancy with fries here? Didn't matter, she knew exactly what to get for them. And considering they were on leave with permission from Ironwood, it was all expenses paid.
Weiss sighed, as she got out of the water to order their meals. Hopefully this would be a nice, relaxing few days with no strange events occurring.
"I...am gonna fucking die out here," Ben panted. Somehow, by some insane intervention, Ben had been roped into playing a volleyball match with Ruby... against Elm and Marrow the very next day.
"You know, think I'm starting to get the hang of this," Marrow smirked.
"Oh, shut up!" Ben yelled, wiping sweat from his brow. He wasn't in his usual outfit- this time, he was in a green sweatshirt and black shorts that showed off his toned legs nicely. Ruby was thanking the heavens for this.
"Don't worry! I believe in you guys!" Kylie cheered from the stands.
"Do you actually?" asked Dr. Weller. Yes, even Rufus Weller had taken some time off from Atlas to come here. He was still doing some work, but nothing so intense. He actually had a sketch and notepad with him right now. He was clad in a very simple white collared shirt and jeans.
"No, I don't." Kylie admitted. "Ben and Ruby are gonna get destroyed. Elm is literally a monster."
"Yes, yes she is..." Weller bemused. "I jokingly asked her to pass me the ball yesterday, and her spike nearly broke my wrists!"
"Hey, I said I was sorry for that!" Elm said, just before she was ready to spike the ball again.
"And I forgave you, I just need my wrists intact for this little getaway. Very important work to be done!"
"What are you working on?" Kylie said. "More power suits for us?"
"Yes, actually! Doing some sketches for the initial design. Figure out what to incorporate, what to leave. Like yours for example, we'd need to run tests to make sure the suit converts to gas with you. I'm still not entirely sure how that works..."
"I don't even know. My clothes are always fine when I change density..." Kylie said.
"Hmm. Might get Ceres to assist. One of the other ideas I had was to give you a way to extend True Rebel's reach. Think of it like an extension cord for when you want to use it for targets further out."
"Oooooh, yes yes YES!" Kylie grinned, as Weiss rolled her eyes. She was much more focused on the Elm slaughterfest.
It certainly was a slaughter. Ben and Ruby had a bit more luck against Marrow, but his inexperience was covered up well by Elm. It had only been about 15 minutes and already, Elm and Marrow were in the lead.
"Ben." Ruby said, as she laid in the sand. "We need an advantage."
"I've never been more on the same page with you than now." Ben said, activating the watch.
In a flash of green, Ben's form was replaced with Ditto's. Sure, he was short, giving Elm the height advantage, but this is Ditto. Height meant jack shit when you could be overwhelmed with numbers.
"Haven't seen this guy before." Weiss said, looking back at Kylie. "Who is he?"
"Oh, that's Ditto. He's a riot." Kylie grinned.
"Annnnd cute!" Ruby said, hugging the alien.
Ben chuckled. "Ok, ok. You get free hugs AFTER we beat them. Deal?"
"Deal!" Ruby grinned, setting the alien down. Ditto grinned, as he suddenly split into three copies of himself.
Weller blinked. "Another duplicating alien?" He asked, adjusting his glasses.
"Yep. No sound powers like Echo Echo, and he can't turn back unless all the duplicates are close by," Kylie explained.
"Now then, let's win this thing," Ben smirked.
"That's gotta be cheating, right?" Marrow asked.
"Eh, I'll allow it. It'll be a nice challenge," Elm smirked.
Elm jumped up, and spiked the ball. One of the Dittos prepared to smack it back-
"Oh, and..." Kylie added, as the ball smashed into the Ditto's chest. Suddenly, all three were writhing around in pain, as if they'd all been hit in the chest. "That. They're linked together."
"Ohhhh. So VERY significant differences," Weller mused.
"It's like I just got hit by a cannonball!" one of the Ditto duplicates groaned.
"Yeah, Ben more uses him for other stuff." Kylie said.
"Ah, God, my LUNGS!" One of the Dittos said.
"MY LUNGS HURT EVEN MORE, DIPSHIT! I FEEL LIKE MY RIBS JUST CRACKED!" Another yelled.
"Oookay, maybe I need to hold back a bit," Elm said sheepishly.
"As someone you played against you yesterday, you're only realizing that NOW?" Marrow deadpanned.
"Well, I feel kinda bad hurting these guys!" Elm said. "They're too cute to hurt."
"See, Ditto's cuteness is common ground for a lot of people!" Ruby shouted, before she helped the clones up.
"Owwww...ok...ok...we can do this. Just need to AVOID canon-spikes like that."
"Allllright, boys! We got one hell of a match ahead of us!" One of the Dittos said. "She may be able to spike one through our chests, but she won't break our spirits!"
"I mean, have you seen her? She'll break one of our spirits." Another said.
"She won't be able to break 2/3rds of our spirit!"
"Let's kick some Ace-Ops ass!" Ruby cheered.
"Hey, I only said I'd hold back with the spikes," Elm smirked.
"Yeah...and if that's the case!" Ditto grinned- suddenly, he split into more copies. "Looks like WE'LL just have to hit back even harder!"
Elm rolled her eyes as she got ready to get this game going again. She could brag about this later if she won. Beating what's basically a whole army at volleyball? It'd make a good story, if nothing else.
The Dittos, however, had something better than fancy skills. A hive mind that was thinking up every way to counter her moves. By the time that Elm was ready to spike the ball again, the Dittos had thought up at least three different plans to counter her. Soon, Elm sent the ball right at them. She didn't hit it with too much force, less than what she put in originally, but it was still racing at them fast.
Ruby threw one of the Dittos up- it quickly spun around and hit the ball back to the ground, where another Ditto bopped it back up...and a third smashed it into the ground where Marrow and Elm stood.
"Holy shit," Marrow muttered.
"Now that's some teamwork." Elm grinned. "Alright, I'm dropping the spiking rule! Let's REALLY have some fun!"
Elm threw the ball up-
And it was suddenly destroyed by a laser blast.
"Son of a-!" Elm cursed, before a barrage of blasts rained down on the court from above. The shots scorched the ground and sent everyone scrambling for cover.
"HIT THE DIRT!" Ben yelled, as he quickly shifted into Diamondhead. He formed a crystal dome around the court, blocking the blasts from hitting them.
The blasts reflected off the dome, but they still kept coming. The only time they stopped was a short time before the ground shook beneath everyone. Like something just landed.
"The hell was THAT?!" Weller yelled.
"Trouble." Ben said, sharpening his hand into a blade.
The dome fell and the group was ready to fight whoever or whatever, and they were met with an odd sight. Even by their standards. It was a large, dull-grey colored cube-shaped ship. It looked featureless.
"Oh...so we're being invaded by the Borg now," Weller said, "Wonderful."
A piece of the cube's surface sunk back before sliding open, opening up the door. They all watched as an average-sized, green skinned humanoid alien walked out, clad in a white, fully-body mechanic's jumpsuit, complete with a utility belt. A dark red circuit-like panel was situated in the center of the jumpsuit and two red lenses covered his eyes. He didn't have a nose, only nasal cavities where the nose should be, like a snake or reptile.
"Signature tracked to source," The Weapon Master said, his eyes locking onto Ben, "Omnitrix located."
Ben smirked. "Been a loooong while since some space case spent the gas money to come kick my ass. So, gimme your deets! Who are you?"
"'Deets?' That is...unfamiliar phrasing. Define."
"This guy's gonna be fun, isn't he?" Ruby said sarcastically.
"Just tell me your name and why you've come to take the stupid watch..." Ben huffed.
"I am Inspector 13, of the Techadon Weapon Masters. I have come to retrieve the Omnitrix for...dissection," the Weapon Master said.
"Not gonna happen." Ben immediately threw a barrage of crystals at the Techadon Master. A crimson dome shield appeared around the Weapon Master, the shards shattering against the dome.
"Petrosapien crystalline projectiles. An expected sample to be present within the device."
"...wait a minute...he said Techadon? As in...the guys who almost turned me into a killer robot?" Elm said, venom practically dripping off the words.
"The very same..." Weller frowned. "And he's probably got enough tech to counter everything Ben can throw at him."
"...I knew it was a good idea to bring Timber with me," Elm said, "Now I can get some payback."
"Ok, but do you have it HERE with you?" Marrow asked.
"Dang it."
"Interesting. You humans assume you can stand up to my power." The Inspector chuckled to himself, as he pulled out another weapon, and aimed it square at the Omnitrix. "Cute."
The Inspector fired the weapon, and in seconds, Ben was suddenly human again. "Huh?! What the hell did you-"
"Disabled the device. I don't have much time, however." The Inspector said, as strange bandages shot out of his back and began ensnaring Ben.
Weiss didn't hesitate to act. A blue glyph appeared behind her, a large, glowing gauntlet rising up from within. Soon, her knight had pulled its way up from the glyph and raced out. It tried to swing its blade down on the strange metallic bandages that wrapped around Ben, only for the cube-ship behind the Weapon Master to fire another beam, straight through the summon's shoulder.
Weiss gasped, as the others ducked for cover.
"The others are being of great annoyance. I will have to be quick with my operation." The Inspector said, as a crimson dome suddenly formed around him and Ben. A tiny table-hover thingy floated over to the Techadon's Weapon Master. Ben could see the table- dangerous, sharp tools were neatly organized on it.
"It would be a really good idea to let me go right now! Don't wanna get blood on that all white suit, am I right?" Ben quipped, as the master began taking a memo.
"Subject: One Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, Terran, Human. Active Plumber agent. Planetary and galactic protector." The weapon master said, as a small disc flew towards him. It suddenly gained some more circular saw-like features, as it followed the weapon master around. "New data suggest the Omnimatrix has been modified. Directive- Galvan technology must be acquired and exploited."
The circular saw began to spin...
"Organic material is superfluous."
The saw inched closer and closer to Ben's wrist, the blades whirring as it got ready to cut.
"I wouldn't do that," Ben said, his voice almost drowned out by the blades, "You cut it off me and 'boom.'"
"Boom? Please define boom." The Techadon Master asked, as the saw stopped.
"Yeah. I explode. And probably take you with it." Ben said. "Why do you even want this thing so badly? What, you gonna sell it?"
The Techadon Master stared at him blankly. "You are implicated in my ongoing investigation of a failed Techadon unit."
"No one's even seen one of you guys before, from what Ceres said." Ben grimaced.
"Correction to that statement. No one has ever seen us and lived." The Weapon Master stated.
"Well, we're not gonna survive if you cut the Omnitrix off willy nilly." Ben snarked.
"I am not 'Willy Nilly'. I am Techadon Inspector 13." The man repeated. "And you raise a fair point." The Weapon Master thought it over for a moment before the goggles over his eyes flashed red.
"Deploy code spool. Access Galvan security and breach." A panel of the small hover-table slid opened, releasing a mechanical tendril, capped off with a single red sensor. Two smaller cables extended from the sides of the sensor and attached to the Omnitrix, trying to hack its way in.
Ben scoffed. "Please. Good luck hacking the Omnitrix. You'll never-"
"FIREWALL ONE BREACHED. FIREWALL TWO BREACHED." The Omnitrix blared. "FIREWALL THREE BREACHED."
Ben stared at the Omnitrix in shocked silence. "...okay, yeah. Color me impressed. No way you'll get master control access. The ONLY thing Ceres hasn't been able to-"
"MASTER CONTROL ACCESS GRANTED." The Omnitrix announced, as it started to glow. The spool retracted, as Ben's shocked face looked back at the Inspector.
"You were saying?" The Inspector said, as he approached the boy with a strange alien knife…
Ben gulped- never had someone been so close to actually taking the watch. Ben closed his eyes, as he prepared for pain...
When someone knocked on the dome.
"Hellooooo!" Weller said, waving at the Techadon Master. "Doctor Weller, Atlas official head of science- I have a few questions."
"No. I am very busy at the moment," The Weapon Master said.
"Well, I get that, but, it's just I want to set some things straight. Heard nasty rumors about you lot. Heard that you were less intelligent than the Galvan. But all this tech? Able to hold up against alien attacks like that? Hack PAST Galvan security? Someone's been slandering the Weapon Masters, clearly!"
The weapon master lowered his knife. "We pride ourselves on the best technology for our job. All must be accounted for. We even built our workers long before Azmuth colonized his moon." The Techadon Master continued.
"...workers?"
"You better know them as Sonorosians." The Techadon Master said.
"Wait, Echo Echo? You guys made them?"
"Disposable. And effective."
"Fascinating. How did you even DO that?"
"Silicon. It was our planet's most abundant resource before all resources ran dry."
"Ecological disaster...shame," Weller sighed.
"It was no disaster. We were the ones who drained the resources. Predictions showed it would not happen for at least ten more years," Inspector 13 stated coldly.
"Still, a shame. Could've milled a lot more out of it." Weller looked up and down at the forcefield. "For a race so advanced, this forcefield looks rather simple."
"We haven't needed to improve our defenses in quite a while. Not many can pierce through a shield like this...and, if they did. We would have our robots take care of them." The Inspector said.
"Ahhh, I get it...so, say I had one of...these..." Weller pulled a small charge like thing out of his pocket. "Would THAT disable it?"
Weller suddenly threw the thing at the forcefield, and it quickly deactivated. "NOW!"
Ruby sped past the doctor in a blur of red and petals, landing a double kick right into the chest of the Weapon Master. He was sent flying back, slamming into the hull of his ship.
Weiss and Elm immediately tried freeing Ben from his bindings, but they were too tight. "God!" Elm huffed. "It's like a massive zip tie around this kid." The Inspector quickly recovered, getting back to his feet and holding out his arm.
"Deploy Cortical Dislocator," he said. Two pincer-like extensions shifted out from the cuff of his sleeve, coming to an just in front of his hand. Crimson energy charged at the tips of the extensions before a beam fired out. Ruby rolled out of the way of the first shot, dodging each following shot with small bursts of speed.
"STAY!" Marrow called out. Right before the Weapon Master fired his next shot, he froze in place. Ruby took the chance and raced back in, decking the alien with a mean, speed-enhanced right hook.
Elm took a deep breath, as she began to focus. Her semblance planted her feet on the ground, as she began to pull apart the bandages with all her might...
And Ben was suddenly free. Elm had miraculously torn them all asunder.
Marrow dropped his Semblance, rushing in and landing a good uppercut on the alien himself. Inspector 13 groaned as he quickly grabbed something off his belt, pressing a button.
"Deploy plasma cage," he said. He threw a grenade-sized orb into the air and, instead of falling, the orb stopped mid-air and split open at the center. Beams of clear energy shot out, aimed at those who posed the biggest immediate threat.
Ben, Ruby, Kylie, Weiss, Marrow and Elm were all met with a nasty shock. Weller also got shocked, but...nothing happened to him.
"Made a good decision in insulating my coat, it seems!" He grinned.
Once the shock had subsided, Ben didn't waste any time. He adjusted the dial on the watch and slammed it down, but something different happened this time. Green energy built up around his wrist before that energy lashed out like tendrils. Ruby, Weiss, Kylie, Elm, and Marrow were each hit in turn by the raging energy.
"Ohhhh, that's not good," Weller said, his grin fading when he saw the energy charging.
"Uh...Ben?!" Ruby yelled, as the five of them were suddenly engulfed in green energy. Ben gasped, as he covered his eyes- what the hell just happened!? And...why did it feel really, really hot all of a sudden?
...Ruby blinked. She felt way too hot right now.
"Ohhhh, that's REALLY not good," Weller said.
"Ruby?" A raspy voice asked. Ruby turned and saw...Big Chill? But he sounded...different.
"Weiss?" Ruby asked, in an equally raspy voice. A rather thick Chromastone moaned, as it stood up.
"Why do I feel weird?" Kylie asked.
"You feel weird? I still feel like I'm being shocked," Elm asked. Only now her voice had a slight European-sounding accent to it. She got up and found that her back felt heavier...on account of the massive Tesla Coils that were now jutting out.
"And...why do I feel lighter?" Marrow asked. Only, much like Elm, his voice was different too, more high-pitched.
Ben blinked. "Uh...guys? Look in a mirror recently?"
"Oh no...what happened to us?" Elm asked.
"Um...well...who's secretly always wanted to be an alien?" Weller chuckled nervously.
Ruby looked down at her hands. "I'm on fire..." She whispered a bit amazed. When Ben described transformations, he said it was like going numb to something you shouldn't. Ruby couldn't even feel the flames scorching all over her body.
"Weird." Ruby said.
"Ok...so Ruby's Heatblast, I'm," Kylie looked down at her hands, "Chromastone. Huh, nice. Weiss is Big Chill, Elm's...Frankenstrike, I think you called it, and Marrow's," Kylie froze.
"I'm who?" Marrow asked. After hearing all the others, Marrow was expecting something that sounded non-threatening but actually had some overpowered ability.
"Marrow, you're, uh...Pesky Dust." Ben said, looking away.
"...is he cool?" The Ace Op asked.
"...no."
"Do I at least look cool?"
"You're a space fairy."
"I'm a WHAT?!"