Update: Secrets, Part 2 will be the last chapter for a while, somethings came up and I have to tend to them. Special thanks to the Gemstones team for everything.
Being caught in traffic was annoying, but the source for the traffic was terrifying. Plowing through the traffic was a shiny steampunk giraffe, operated by some punk named Steam Smythe. Steam Smythe was a redhead who wore a steampunk outfit with gears all over him. His head was well set on his shoulders, and his black eyes looked around with cold assurance. He was tall, had a large forehead, straight nose, and well tempered hands. The man was a force to be reckoned with.
Too bad he was essentially the baby boomer's baby boomer.
"The world of technology confounds me! I remember when STEAM was all the rage!" He complained loudly. "I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE GOOD OL' DAYS!"
"That's what every old geezer says whenever they want to complain about youth today," Ben muttered under his breath. He twisted the Omnitrix dial, trying to find Astrodactyl's icon. He passed Diamondhead, Ghostfreak, Water Hazard, some alien he'd never been, XL-
Ben paused for a second. Wait, what?
He twisted the dial back, and looked curiously at the new icon. "What's this?"
Ruby peered over his shoulder. "Haven't seen him before."
Ben shrugged. "I dunno, but he looks cool! Maybe he can stop the robot!"
"Hold up. You don't know what this alien can do, but you want to use him anyway?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't seem very smart."
"Hey, I adapt quickly! Besides, don't you want to see what he can do too?"
Ruby thought for a second. "...Okay, kinda." She smirked. "Go for it."
Ben slapped down the faceplate: his body began to stretch and grow, his child-like stature becoming more and more hulking, becoming a broad-shouldered alien covered in natural, yellow armor plating on his back, shoulders, and the backs of his arms. He was mostly white, with black on his upper half. He had four claws on both of his hands. The Omnitrix appeared on his forehead.
Ruby was suddenly squished in the RV thanks to Ben's new form. "Can't...breathe!"
"Sorry!" Ben apologized as he awkwardly waddled out of RV and into the open. His voice was deep and baritone. Ignoring the screams of innocent civilians, he cracked his fingers and took a deep breath. "Let's see what this alien can do. It's hero time!"
And then Ben stared at the steam-powered giraffe. Menacingly.
"What are you doing?!" Ruby yelled from the RV.
"Heat vision!" Ben yelled back. "Maybe this guy has it!" Ben stared for a few more seconds before sighing. "Well, that was a strain on my eyes. Let's try freezing breath!" The robot leg stomped near him, and he just sharply inhaled...and let loose nothing. Ben smiled sheepishly as the giraffe knocked him across the road and right into a ditch.
Ruby tugged on Max's shirt. "Should I?"
Max sighed. "Just this once. Don't let him see you." Ruby grinned as she rushed off to grab her weapon.
In the ditch, Ben struggled to even get up. The robot stomped closer and closer to him.
"Such a pity that the age of steel has once again failed the present day," Smythe reflected, as he shoveled some more coal into the robot's furnace. "But then again, another reason for more manifes-what the hell are you doing?"
Ben was making circular motions with his hands. "Seeing if have magnetism. Why?"
"...Okay, I'm done here." Steam Smythe's giraffe suddenly thrusted it's head downwards, and Ben curled up in the fetal position. The metal head clanged painfully as it collided with the hard shell of Ben's new alien.
"Alright! I can do something!" Ben cheered from his shell, his voice muffled. "Now, how do I get out of this?"
"Heroic indeed," a familiar voice deadpanned from afar.
Smythe grinned as he ordered his giraffe to smash into Ben once more as something began shooting at the machine, putting slight dents into the metal. Smythe's head swung around, noting nothing of suspicion. He resumed his attack, but again, bullets. They came from a different side that time. Smythe grit his teeth and did another quick study. He noticed something red in the distance; lingering red confetti? The mechanical demon stepped away from the curled up ball.
"What trickery is this?" He said out loud, as he walked on over. "More new-fangled technology?" Suddenly something sped between the legs of his giraffe, causing it to shake a bit.
"What on Earth was-" Steam Smythe never finished his sentence. Something pierced his machine's neck - a curved blade, a strong one too. The head fell off with ease. Smythe gasped as he cradled the decapitated head of his giraffe. And then the legs went, falling to the ground like cut timber. And the other half of his machine's torso, separated into pieces. All that carnage within seconds. He found himself on the ground, surrounded by the pieces of his beloved machine.
Smythe scowled as he stood up, glaring around the place. "WHO DID THIS?"
Smythe was greeted with a flash of red and then pain, searing his body. Blunt metal had hit his torso, and he was suddenly thankful that it wasn't the silvery curved blade that he had seen take apart his robot.
Ben reverted back to human not long after. He struggled to climb his way out of the ditch, and saw the remains of the steam powered giraffe. He blinked before turning his head to see the knocked out Smythe, his clothing cut to shreds and the beginnings of a horrid bruise on his chest.
"Well, that's what he gets for using ancient tech, I guess," Ben said, already dismissing the villain. He walked back to the RV and eased into the soft leather of its built-in seats. Ruby sat innocently in her usual seat, her nose buried in one of the books she had brought for the summer.
"I think we're gonna need some practice with that guy." Ruby yawned, eyes on her newest page.
Ben sighed as he relaxed in the RV, his shoulders slumping with exhaustion. "Didn't know I could go more than 10 aliens. Too bad that new guy was useless."
"And with one more, who knows how many more aliens there could be in that thing?" Max commented. "I thought that species was extinct…" he trailed off quietly, eyes narrowing.
"What did you say?" Ben perked up, a little confused. "Thought I heard you say something else."
"What? No." Max then returned his gaze to the road and focused on his thoughts.
Ben was carefully focused on the news on screen. Normally, any kid Ben's age would not care what the reporter had to say, but today? Something weird was going on.
"Reports say a 'giant raven' has been flying around the Keystone area. All residents should keep a close eye on the skies," the reporter said over the sounds of the RV's engine running.
"Woah, you guys hear that?" Ben asked the other two passengers. Ruby fidgeted a little in her seat as the newscaster continued to speculate about the so-called 'giant raven'.
"Uh, yeah," she said with a slight quaver, "Interesting, but probably a hoax or something!"
"Really? A hoax?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, you know! It could just be a prank!" Ruby brushed off the idea.
"You don't sound very convincing, Scully," he teased, but he let the subject drop anyway, and returned his eyes to the TV. Ruby nervously looked back at Max. He seemed tense, unreasonably so.
The other sides of Mount Rushmore were impressive to look at, but that wasn't what people truly wanted to see. The southeastern face of Mount Rushmore, however, had four gigantic carved sculptures depicting the faces of great U.S. Presidents; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Of course, no one really knows what Jefferson and Roosevelt did (I mean, when you end a war and stop slavery, you're kinda overlooked), but it was impressive to look at.
Ben stared curiously at the sculpture before slowly reaching for the Omnitrix. Ruby grabbed his shirt collar and gave Ben a grave look. "Whatever you do, do not anger President Rushmore."
Ben nodded solemnly, the expression utterly foreign on his face.
Max just looked at the two of them and sighed heavily. "You stay here. I'm going to go look at-" Max scrambled for what to say. "The gift shop! Yes, the gift shop." And then he speedily walked away.
"Okay. We'll be admiring the presidents." Ben raised an eyebrow in serious suspicion. Grandpa Max was being weird again, but he couldn't comment as the older man disappeared from view. "Seriously, he's hiding something from us."
Ruby shrugged boredly. "We all have secrets, Ben. Sometimes we don't like to talk about them. I mean, would you tell everyone about your watch?"
"Okay, you have a point. But still! Grandpa's doing a terrible job of hiding the fact that he has secrets, and honestly? I wanna know what's up. You game?"
Ruby shook her head, which surprised Ben. "Sorry dude. I'm just gonna admire Rushmore for a little longer. Maybe check out Yellowstone? I dunno."
"You're acting weird today, Ruby." Ben noted.
"I'm just really not in the mood to cause trouble, I guess."
"What, afraid that weird bird is gonna snatch you up if you're bad?" Ben joked.
Ruby huffed, and grit her teeth. "Please, do not joke about that." Ben started, utterly confused. He'd never encountered an upset Ruby before, especially when all the vitriol was aimed at him.
Ben frowned. "Well, your loss. If it's something cool, you're gonna miss out on it." Ben then went behind a sign and transformed into Ghostfreak. He phased his ghostly head through the sign and asked Ruby once more, "You sure you don't want to come?"
"I'm good, dude," she said. "Besides, Ghostfreak's voice sounds like pure nightmares."
"Yeah, kinda. But I can change that!" Ben cleared his haunting throat. "Come with me, and you'll see-"
"GET OUT OF HERE!" Ruby sounded even more frustrated that before.
"Ok, going, going!" Ben turned invisible before flying after Grandpa. His mind was so focused on Grandpa right now, he felt he could be missing something. It was obvious, but he didn't care to acknowledge it.
Like that Ruby was also hiding something as well.
She pulled out a walkie talkie and activated it. "Uh, Mr. Tennyson? Ben's following you now."
Max sighed through the other line. "Well, he was going to find out anyways. Follow him, ok? And keep him out of trouble."
Ruby huffed, as she silently followed Ben into the forest.
Ruby didn't mean to cause trouble. Honest. She saw that someone was getting mugged, and so she acted.
By throwing the mugger through the goddamn window.
Really, that was the only logical solution.
It wasn't that big a deal, she thought, watching the man get handled by authorities. She was only doing the right thing.
Ruby blinked as she processed the words. "Wait, you're sending me away for the summer?"
Tiayang nervously scratched his neck. "Kind of. It's a complicated situation. With your sister having some issues with her semblance…" He motioned to a giant gaping hole in the wall, caused by Ruby's victory in Wii Sports. "I think I might have to devote a lot of time towards her this summer. Plus, I don't want you feeling left out of the camp activities, especially since you're too young to attend. Not to mention, your little stunt at the store downtown…" Her father side-eyed her at that.
Ruby blushed and coughed.
"Ah, don't worry kiddo," Tiayang joked as he ruffled Ruby's hair. "I did worse when I was your age."
"So you're gonna leave me with Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked eagerly.
"NO."
"Aw."
"You're gonna be traveling with an older buddy of mine. I think his grandson is going along too," Tiayang explained as he did a quick measurement of the hole. "He's a nice guy. He and I worked on some missions together."
Ruby paused for a moment. "Did Mom know him?" Ruby questioned.
Tiayang went quiet. Ruby quietly drew her answer from there.
"All summer?" Yang frowned, watching her sister pack her bag. "You know if you're not within my vision for 24 or more hours, I'll just shrivel up and die!"
"It's not that bad, Yang! I promise I'll text you everyday, and I'll get some souvenirs for you." Ruby smiled. "Seriously, I don't need you to baby me. I don't want to be the bee's knees, okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."
"What's with you? Aren't you excited?" Yang questioned. "You're gonna be traveling across the country! That's a pretty big deal!"
"It's with some stranger! I feel like I really shouldn't be there." Ruby admitted, "It's kinda like being a stranger in a house? And you don't understand the shower area?"
"Just look at it this way," Yang said, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder, "it's like going on an adventure with a random group of people. Like Lord of the Rings!"
"I guess…"
"Hey, don't worry," Yang smiled. "I'm sure you won't even have to use your powers for anything too drastic. It'll just be a nice, normal summer for you."
Ruby kept repeating that last line in her head a few times. Normal wasn't the first thing she would've thought of, to be honest.
As Ben quietly snuck through the forest, he watched Max creep through a series of trees. "Where is he going?" Ben said to himself quietly. The mystery kept deepening with every moment, and Ben was even more curious for the answer now. He snaked his way through the trees, carefully hiding in the shadows.
Suddenly something flew above him. Both Max and Ghostfreak looked up (in Ghostfreak's case, his eye traveled the tract to atop his head), confused. While Max continued on his way, Ben felt alarmed and stayed behind. Even in this form, which killed a person (was Zombozo dead? He was pretty sure), he was chilled down to his ectoplasmic core.
Something swooped down from the sky and landed heavily on the ground. It was an avian creature, and it was mutated beyond words. Not in an Animo way, his work was sloppy; this mutation looked sleek and natural. The avian had a mask-like white bony structure over-laying the upper front of its head, four glowing red eyes, two on each side of its head and a headpiece that resembled a dorsal spine or fin, reminiscent of that on the heads of condors and some prehistoric pterosaurs.
In its talons, it held a body. An actual, honest to God corpse of a human. It looked to be an older gentleman, around Grandpa's age.
Ben didn't understand why- he had faced down slime freaks, killer clowns, and just recently, a robot giraffe. But something about this- this monster made fear claw inside him, and it was all he could do to force down a scream. He was scared.
Ben suddenly heard the Omnitrix begin to time out, and he freaked out. He swooped low into the trees and hid in behind the trunk of a big oak. He breathed heavily while the beast loudly snacked on the corpse. Ben could hear bones crunching and the squishy sound of flesh being torn apart. What the fuck is that thing?!
Ben nearly screamed when someone grabbed his arm. Ruby was suddenly at his side, and she looked braver than usual. There was no fear in her odd silver eyes.
"Where'd you come from?!" Ben angrily whispered.
"Shhh! Do you want that killer birdy to find us?" Ruby frowned, covering Ben's mouth. Ruby looked up, noticing the the bird was looking at the trees. She sighed, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a pen.
"What are you gonna do, draw on them?" Ben quipped. Ruby just gave him a huge smirk and clicked the pen a few times, finally getting it to beep. She threw it up and a bright, blinding light shined above them. Ruby picked up Ben with minimal difficulty, and in a flash of rose petals, the two were rushing through the forest.
"W-what the fuck?" Ben's mind was pretty much just exploding at this point.
"You're not the only one with powers!" Ruby smiled, quickly navigating through the trees.
"I got that, but why didn't you tell me?!" Ben cried out, more than a little betrayed.
"Well, my life is super complicated, it's more-!" Ruby was cut off by a tree collapsing right in front of her. Ruby veered a sharp right before skidding to a stop right by a glen, and was suddenly met with Grandpa Max, holding a futuristic weapon that was far beyond Earth's technology.
"Alright, I got Ben," Ruby announced. "And really, I think that weapon is still not enough."
"Grandpa?" Ben asked, staring at Max's weapon. "What's going on?"
Max was holding a giant blaster, and two ammunition belts tied around his waist. He looked angry and determined, Ruby noted. There was even a different, more assured aura to him.
"Guess I have some explaining to do after this," Max chuckled as he revved up his weapon. "Just get ready! They're coming." He looked over, expecting to see Ben gearing up for battle.
Ben was just glaring at his grandfather. And the result was an absolutely chilling stare that even had Grandpa Max fearing his grandson, just a little bit. Ben was hurt from betrayal and the burning behind his eyes only added to his feelings of indignation, especially when he saw Ruby and Max exchange knowing looks.
"I want an explanation," Ben demanded. "No more secrets, no more running, just give it to me straight."
Max sighed, before taking deep breath. "As you know, I was a plumber back in the day. I just didn't specify what kind of plumber."
Ben blinked, what a great start. "You lost me."
"He means that there's more than one kind of plumber," Ruby said, her eyes drooping. She suddenly looked exhausted and somehow even smaller than usual. "There's the extraterrestrial kind too."
Ben gave his grandfather the most incredulous look. "You fix space toilets?! Of all things!" Ruby groaned and just stared at Max until he took over.
"The Plumbers are an organization that dates back to the 1700s; essentially, we took down alien criminals and fought in galaxy wide wars. I joined sometime before your father was born."
"So, are you a plumber too?" Ben asked Ruby.
"I didn't really know about Max being a Plumber still," Ruby admitted, her voice tiny. "I knew he and my dad were old friends, but as far as I knew he was retired. And honestly? I didn't even know about the whole aliens-being-real thing until this summer started. I thought Max was like my dad, to be honest."
Ben arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"My dad… isn't a Plumber. He's a Huntsman. And I don't mean he hunts animals, he hunts the Creatures of Grimm," Ruby said quickly.
Ben looked like he'd been hit twice in the head with a sledgehammer. "Creatures of… what?"
"Grimm," Ruby said. "I'm not surprised you've never heard of them, no one's supposed to."
"What do you mean? What are they?" Ben asked, curious despite himself.
"They're… they're monsters, Ben." Ruby swallowed, and her hand trembled slightly as she pushed away some hair from her face. "They're a ravenous, destructive force and mankind's greatest enemy. No one knows where they came from, but we do know that they will stop at nothing to kill all of humanity and its creations. They don't feed on animals- the Grimm only kill them for territory- but for some reason they always target humans. They're attracted to negative emotions like fear, anger, despair, panic. It's why the majority of Earth's population doesn't know about them, if they did it'd cause mass chaos."
Silence filled the air as Ben took all that in.
"... And that's not even the worst bit," Ruby said with a bitter smile. "The Grimm aren't obligated to eat humans for sustenance. They just kill us for sport. That's why the Huntsmen were created; they're basically superpowered humans capable of fighting these monsters. And we have to keep it a secret because there's no guarantee we can survive- if just one or two people panic, it can lead more Grimm to us. It's been pounded into our heads to keep all this a secret because secrecy means safety."
And Ben felt his hair stand on all ends. "...I can see why you guys hid this from me." The deadly screech of the Nevermore suddenly broke the silence. "And we need to get somewhere safe now."
Max beamed. "Luckily, I was just somewhere safe. Rushmore's actually a secret base for Plumbers."
"... Okay, as cool as that is, how do we get in?"
Max nodded, his smile dimming. "I know a way." Max pressed a button on the RV key fob, and suddenly it came speeding at them from wherever it was previously parked.
"No more shocking reveals today, please," Ben sighed, as he got into the RV.
"No promises." Max smirked, as he revved up the engine.
After stealthily using the RV and driving down an underground passage, they parked the machine inside one of Rushmore's secret parking spots.
"While we appreciate the groundwork Gutzon Borglum did, we had to make some modifications to the place," Max commented. Suddenly the ground below them began to descend further and further into the earth, until they were in some kind of loading bay. Wide eyed and intrigued, Ben studied the room; it looked like something out of Men in Black, or some other sleek, futuristic sci-fi film. Aliens and humans, working together! They all wore these strange uniforms that looked like astronauts, minus the helmet. There were alien spaceships, too! (And none of those cheesy, UFO-looking things either.)
As soon as Max's dinky little Rustbucket descended, the room went quiet. Max ever so casually parked it right next to the biggest ship and got out. People began lining up and saluting him, giving the kids the impression that Max was a lot more important than he made himself out to be.
Ben and Ruby shot each other a confused glance as they followed him to some control room. It had a very Star Trek feel to it, all shiny and classically futuristic. There were some people and aliens working at computers, talking frequently about the Nevermore.
"What is this place?" Ruby asked in wonderment.
"This is Mt. Rushmore's defensive base," Max explained as he looked over at someone's screen. "I've made great strides to keep this thing up on the best tech in the galaxy."
"Wait, Grandpa, are...are you, like, the leader of Mt. Rushmore?" Ben stuttered out in shock.
"The proper term is Magister, actually," Max smiled, "But yes."
"Did you know about the Nevermore attack?" Ruby asked as Max typed something into a computer system. "Or was it just a big coincidence?"
"Half and half," Max confessed. "I felt I could investigate it by myself and then report back to someone. Didn't really expect you kids to get involved." He reached for a microphone to his side. "Attention all operatives: prepare for combat, code Grimm."
Max pressed a button, and suddenly, some electric humming was heard throughout the base. "There. That should keep it contained for a good hour."
Someone cleared their voice. "Um, about that?" Ben looked around, before his eyes drifted over to a small grey frog on a desk. Or, at least it looked like a frog. He was fat and large and wore a Plumber Suit. He had large green eyes and grey skin and what looked like a sheepish expression on his face. "There was an issue…"
"What do you mean, Driba?" Max questioned. The look on his face said that this was a common enough occurrence, and he was already dreading the answer.
"Welllll, we had a power balancing issue when we were charging the weaponry, so we had to sacrifice some shield power. Shields only gonna last for about twenty minutes." The thing explained. "Thirty at best."
"I felt like I should've heard about this," Max said, crossing his arms. "After all, Tech Support is supposed to have reported to me on a normal, weekly basis. I haven't gotten a single report."
"Okay, so it maybe a me problem, but, we'll b-" The frog stopped as his eyes finally drifted over to Ben's wrist. His jaw dropped and began babbling incomprehensibly. "T-that's...that! Oh my Azmuth, what?!"
Ben raised an eyebrow. "What's his deal?"
"Galvans see the Omnitrix as a testament of all technology," Max explained. "Truth be told, they aren't even sure if it was made by their own hands or someone else's."
"Wait, you mean this janky old watch is the end-all be-all for science everywhere?" Ben scoffed, holding up his wrist and gesturing to the device strapped on it. "This thing gives me the wrong alien half the time! And it's so bulky and inefficient!"
"Blasphemy! Slander!" Driba shouted, waving his little arms. "How dare you speak ill of one of Azmuth's greatest creations?!"
"With ease and experience!" Ben shouted back angrily.
Driba looked like he was going to have an apoplectic fit, but Ruby intervened just in time. "So, is Azmuth like your God?"
Driba calmed down, giving the girl a little smile. "He might as well be!" he crowed, puffing out his chest. "He's the smartest of all Galvans and every life form in three galaxies, arguably five, there's no confirmation; but just about everyone thinks he created the Omnitrix!"
"Why can't you confirm it?"
"Well, no one's seen him in years," Driba admitted. "He's always been a recluse, like all geniuses are, but for the past decade or so no one seen or heard from him."
"So how do you know he's still alive?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Galvans are long-lived," Driba said dismissively, "And if he had died, we would have known about it."
"Sure you would have," Ben muttered under his breath. "Now, enough about this old frog, what about this 'Nevermore' thing circling a beloved national monument?"
"Well, we do have a Huntress present." Ruby hesitantly raises her hand, only to meekly return it to her side under the Magister's glare.
"No. Boarbatusks definitely, and maybe the occasional Ursa or Beowolf, but nothing as dangerous as a Nevermore," Max told her sternly.
Ben nodded, pretending like he understood what those were. "Alright, so, is a Nevermore essentially a birdy Godzilla?"
"Well, we have actual Godzillas, but yeah, we could consider a Nevermore one of those." Ruby shrugged.
"We'll take care of the monster. You two stay out of trouble." Max ordered as he got up. "Driba, I expect you to watch over these two."
"Fine, fine, use me as your babysitter," Driba muttered under his breath. The second he was out of the room, Driba jumped on Ben's shoulder. "May I see it?"
"Um, sure?" Ben shrugged. He awkwardly put his hand on the table, and Driba began examining it like an exuberant fan boy, fawning over the design and taking selfies with it. "I am so sending that to Blukic!"
Ben rolled his eyes and turned back to Ruby. "So, I've been meaning to ask. What was up with that super speed?"
"Oh," Ruby beamed, "that was my semblance!"
"Semblance?"
"A semblance is the manifestation of one's innate and personal power. It's an ability unique to each individual, with the effects varying greatly from user to user. So, it's kinda like superpowers. It's fueled by Aura."
Ben felt like his brain was being overloaded. "Aura?"
"Aura is an ability that all those with a soul can use, at least with enough practice. The weapons and armor Hunters and Huntresses use can act as a conduit for Aura, allowing for an even wider range of offensive and defensive capabilities. I think that's why your grandpa doesn't want me going out there, cause, well, I'm still young, and I honestly don't think I could hold my own against the thing."
"So, wait," Ben paused, "Is there a chance I could use a semblance?"
"Absolutely." Ruby shrugged, "Though, I can't give you one."
"Aw."
"If you two are done," Driba interrupted, repeatedly tapping Ben on the arm, "do you think you could show me a quick transformation?"
"...seriously?" Ben rolled his eyes, "Fine, go for it. Heck, you can choose, buddy." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. Driba cracked his fingers and started to twist the dial like crazy, stopping at the new guy Ben had just unlocked.
"An Arburian Pelarota? I've never seen one in person," Driba said to himself.
"Ugh, this guy? Tried using him earlier. That was embarrassing." Ben frowned at the memory.
"He literally went into the fetal position!" Ruby added teasingly. "I had to step in to take care of- what was his name again? Steamboat Willy or something?"
"wait, what?"
"Hush! Let me have my moment!" Driba smiled as he slapped down the faceplate. Ben's body, however, did not turn into a bulky behemoth; rather, it was set on fire, and rocks formed around his body. Driba's elation turned to disappointment. "Oh."
"Yeah. See? Wrong alien." Ben sighed, folding his arms.
"Well, maybe if I just…" Driba carefully eyed the Omnitrix faceplate and jumped on it. He slapped it down ever so carefully, shifting Ben into Echo Echo.
"What did you do?" Ben asked, staring at his hands in amazement.
"Just tried something out, that's all." He slapped down the the faceplate again, turning Ben into Eatle.
Ruby blinked. "Wait, so you're saying he could do this the entire time?"
Blukic slapped it again, turning Ben into Water Hazard. "What, you never knew? Your human intelligence is holding you back then, kid."
"Wait, how badly does this kill the battery?" Ben asked, alarmed. Driba was about to answer when the Omnitrix rapidly flashed red. Ben was suddenly human again, and glaring at Driba. "You know, for the tech support guy, you break more stuff more than you actually fix."
"I'm never gonna let this guy anywhere near my weapon." Ruby added, a hint of spite in her tone.
"N-no, no! I can fix this! I have something that could speed up the recharge time!" Driba suddenly ran off. "You two! Stay there! I'll be right back!"
Ben groaned as he disappeared from view. "I can't stand that dude! How does he still have his job?"
"I'm sorry," Ruby suddenly blurted out.
Ben started. "Huh?"
Ruby turned her watery eyes to him. "I really am sorry for keeping this huntress from you, I just… it never occured to me that I could let someone in. And I really didn't know about the alien thing until the beginning of this summer. I knew the Huntsmen worked with Plumbers to get rid of supernatural threats, but I thought it was more Grimm, not aliens. It wasn't until I saw Heatblast for the first time that I put two and two together."
"But, everything else. Everything else about you is…"
"It's all true, Ben. I don't usually lie about personal stuff."
Ben had to smile at that. Ruby had always worn her heart on her sleeve, and while it was hard to wrap his mind about all this Grimm stuff, he could at least be sure that what Ruby said about her life was true. He gently knocked his shoulder into hers and gave her a gentle smile.
"I think I get it," he told her softly. "You'll have to explain more about this later, but… I believe you."
For a second Ruby looked like she was about to cry, but then she broke out into a beatific smile and Ben had to stop himself from smiling too wide.
And then they heard the telltale cry of the Nevermore, the sound echoing from the outside.
"...so, are we gonna do something about that?"
"Probably."
"Think you can handle that thing?"
"Considering the fact that, this summer alone, I've stopped an alien invasion, dumped a witch's caldron her stupid face and survived a meeting with Gwen, I think I can handle myself." Ruby grinned.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Ben smiled, as the two ran out of the control room.
