*bursts out of the giant robot, having hardened my skin to endure tank the blow* I'M ALIIIIIIIVE!
Disclaimer: We do not condone underage drinking, but we know it happens, and the characters are doing it safely.
Ben took in the sharp scent of cold snow and freezing wind. His nose was partially frozen, his eyes were teary from the wind, but hey, it was marginally better than being in the semi-high 80 degree weather that was currently sweeping through Washington.
It was Kylie's idea to come up here, she'd been insisting for months on end they do some sort of team retreat. It was discussed here and there, but nothing really came to fruition. Enter the subordinate chaotic force of Ruby, who was eager to bond with all of Ben's team. Her insistence was backed the superior chaotic force of Yang, and well...
Somehow they ended up here.
"Strange," Rook noted, scooping up some snow. "I was under the belief snow only fell in the winter."
"It's Michigan, Rook," Ben sighed. "These guys don't get sun until July."
"That is...depressing."
"It is."
"Well, to make light of the situation..." Rook pelted the side of Ben's head with a snowball. He spun around, eyes glowing a menacing color. Rook cackled as Ben chased him.
"I'LL MAKE YOU EAT YELLOW SNOW, ROOK!" he yelled, hands reaching for the Omnitrix.
From afar, hooded figures watched the chase. They had dark purple robes that hid any and all distinct features, with a single pink eye emblazoned on their chests. Their faces were obscured behind 'alien' skull-like masks.
"So," one of them spoke. "These are the people to be offered to the master."
"It would seem so," another one added.
"But what makes them so special? Why does the Dark Lord truly want them?" a third questioned, only to be violently whacked in the head by a fourth person. He had a more distinct appearance from the rest, with golden stitches running throughout his cloak.
"We do not question the will of the Lord," he hissed viciously. He leaned forward, revealing a gray mask with an upside-down face and one eye. "We cannot truly comprehend the web He has weaved for us. This is all fate at work, and we must play our part."
"O-of course," The third stammered. "Apologies, Lord Haslett."
"There will be more joining them in the evening," Lord Haslett told them. "And then, at midnight, we shall launch our attack. For the glory of Him."
"For the glory of Him," the others repeated. And with that, they walked back into the dark forest.
Ben found Michigan to be a weird place. Sure the food was nice, there were plenty of beautiful parks and forests, and part of the state was shaped like a mitten (that was just downright cute). But it was officially spring, and from the look of the nearly black clouds rolling through and the snow flying through the air, the little cabin they were staying in was about to be stuck in a blizzard.
"Well this just looks like the setting of every horror movie cliche ever," Kevin grumbled nearby. The cabin was well-insulated from the cold and had a fully-functioning generator and septic system. It was stocked to the brim with food and blankets and other necessary amenities, so Ben and his friends could wait out the storm safely. Didn't mean he was happy about it.
"I mean, it could be worse," Kylie said hesitantly. She was wearing comfortable gray jeans and a cute green sweater, pink slippers on her feet. "Mom and Amma were once hold up here during a Snow-pacalypse. They couldn't leave for a week. This storm should blow over by tomorrow."
"How often does Michigan get these Snow-pacalypses and Snow-maggeddons, exactly?" Rook asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Every couple of years?" Kylie wondered. "I don't know meteorology."
"So, when is Red and her team coming by?" Kevin asked. He took off his leather jacket to reveal a simple black long-sleeved shirt, pairing well with his stone-washed jeans. A silver necklace hung from his neck, the pendant an ornate angel wing. "I'm pretty sure the roads are closed for the time being, and I don't want them getting stuck with nowhere to go."
Kylie grinned brightly. "Weiss just called, team RWBY will be here in about ten minutes. They got snowmobiles and everything."
"That is good to hear," Rook said, brushing imaginary dust off his armor. "I would hate for all our preparations to go to waste."
"Aren't we just watching movies and playing party games?" Ben asked. "Ceres didn't mention anything besides that." Well, he hoped it would be that simple. If the Archimedeans were involved, no doubt alcohol was soon to follow. That tended to have mixed results, and Ben didn't want to get rid of any clothes because of how badly they were stained. His outfit was mostly new; ripped up jeans, a green bomber jacket with a gray hood, and a practically pristine X-Files "I Want to Believe" shirt he'd gotten from the thrift store. Ben was dressed to impress and he didn't want any alcohol related mishaps to ruin that.
"Well, Weiss mentioned the same thing," Kylie pointed out. "Movies and party games and good food. It's just supposed to be a low-key weekend."
"Have you met Yang?" Ben asked incredulously.
"...I mean, she can't be any worse than Lev and Ari combined, right?" Kylie asked hopefully.
The four of them thought about it, and then shuddered violently. Those two were in a league of their own, there was no way for Yang to catch up.
It was in that moment that the door opened, and two Archimedeans walked through the opening, arms laden with alcohol. The colors were all bright and neon, the glass bottles shaped delicately. They were downright pretty to look at.
Rook glared at the two grinning hooligans who brought them in. "And here I thought we were going to have good, clean fun."
"Honey, we're teenagers," Ari said with a shit-eating grin. "'Good, clean fun' doesn't belong in our vocabulary."
"Besides, I wouldn't worry too much," Lev said dismissively. "None of our usual shenanigans is going to be leaving this cabin, and we all more or less trust each other. We're safer here than at some random house party."
Rook thought about it, and conceded the point. Honestly, Ben agreed; he'd been to a few wild teen parties and had almost immediately regretted ever going to them. Getting drunk in a cabin among friends sounded safer and more fun.
Lev put down his bottles on the coffee table and sat back on the couch, rolling up the hem of his dark washed denims and revealing his high tech carbon fiber prosthetics; they looked just like real legs, but they were even more durable than the ones used for the Paralympics. He wore a black v-neck t-shirt that showed off lean muscle and a rich indigo button up with extra pockets, metal buttons, and the sleeves rolled up to reveal wood brown forearms. A purple phoenix pendant that matched Ceres's hung from his neck and stylish thick framed glasses were perched on his nose. His eyes had the same slitted pupil that all Archimedeans had, but his eye color was the common gold found throughout the Empire. His hair was a thick black with a golden sheen, cut into a textured undercut. He and Ceres shared the same high cheekbones, diamond-shaped face, and thick eyebrows- they weren't blood related, but it was common for people to mistake them for twins.
Ari, on the other hand, didn't look like either at all. She was petite- compared to their five-ten, she was at best a five-five. Her skin was copper brown, her muscles toned from the gymnastics she added to her fighting style. Her mid-length red hair shone violet in the light and was in stylishly tousled waves. She had noticeable cheekbones in her heart-shaped face, and her violet lipstick matched her eye color perfectly. She wore a thin gray short-sleeved shirt with a plunging v-neckline with a black bralette-style top underneath. Her black leggings were strategically ripped, and a red, white, and gray plaid button up was tied at her waist. A simple silver chain necklace hung from her neck, matching her silver-painted toes.
Both of them looked calm and innocent, but Ben narrowed his eyes at them anyway. There was a reason why so Plumbers called them the Terror Twins, and Ben had plenty of experience when it came to their particular brand of chaos.
(Then again, he was friends with Ceres and Kevin. The four of them were descended from Loki, he swore.)
Kevin took a look at the- admittedly- impressive array of alcohol on the coffee table. "Should we really be drinking when team RWBY gets here? Like, I know we went through first impressions already, but this still might look bad."
Kylie, who had brought over blankets, said, "Dude, I have it on good authority that Yang is bringing her own liquor here. Besides, these people already know how we operate on and off missions. We're fine."
Ben stood up and helped arrange the growing pile of blankets (pillow fort here we come). Rook commented, "It always surprises me that we can easily get away with underage drinking. Pretty sure it is illegal in this country."
"And yet kids do it anyway," Lev said as he passed by. "Live a little. Drink a little. Do donuts in a stolen police car. You know, normal Archimedean things."
"You did WHAT?!" Rook exclaimed.
"In my defense, I did it for money," Lev told him. "I won, like, five hundred marks."
"I got a video of it if anyone wants!" Ari chirped, holding up her phone. Kevin was about to ask for it when Ceres walked into the room, a bottle of Blue Sapphire in her hands. She was wearing ripped-up jeans and a cropped heather gray crop top, a dark gray cardigan over her shoulders.
"Team RWBY just got here," Ceres said soberly. Her eyes had a haunted look to them.
"...why the sad face?" Lev asked, concerned. "Are they okay?"
"They brought booze and Monopoly."
It took a good four seconds for that to sink in.
And then everyone started screaming-
Honestly they hadn't waited past the introductions. Hell, not even Ruby did once she realized what Yang brought. She yanked the offensive board game from her sister's grasp and threw it at Kevin, making sure it was out of the blonde's grasp.
"Hey!" Yang yelled out indignantly.
"Okay, why is everyone freaking out about the Monopoly game?" Weiss demanded to know. Over Ben and Kylie's loud weeping (and over Ari and Lev running around screaming), only Rook and Ceres would answer.
"We are all competitive teenagers who would gladly cheat and destroy our opponents if it meant winning," Rook told her flatly.
"And let's face it, Monopoly can easily break up families," Ceres pointed out. "You wanna have a bunch of drunk teenage dumbasses near it?"
"I certainly do not," Blake agreed. "Should we shelve it then?"
"Hey, hold on, I literally just bought that," Yang protested hotly. "I want to argue my point."
"What point? You bought that at a thrift store for a buck-fifty," Blake said flatly.
The room went silent. Kevin took a better look at the offending game.
"This is in surprisingly good condition," he commented, raising an eyebrow.
"So we'll play it?" Yang asked hopefully.
Everyone glared at her. "NO!"
Lev grabbed the game from Kevin's hands and declared, "There's only one thing we can do to save us from this monstrosity."
"...it's a board game," Weiss reminded him.
"A board game that destroys families, were you not listening?" Ari huffed as she handed Lev the cheapest vodka they had.
"Brothers and sisters, I thank you all for coming here tonight!" Lev declared, his arms spread wide. In one hand was the vodka, the other the Monopoly game.
"What is he doing?" Blake asked, already exhausted.
"A speech, obviously," Ceres told her.
"We gather here in front of the sacred fire for one purpose: to stop evil from spreading!"
Everyone except Yang, Blake, and Weiss started cheering rapturously. "It's a fucking board game!" Yang shouted over the din.
"This game has plagued family game nights for decades, ripping children from their mothers' arms and shattering full and happy marriages!"
"YEAH!"
"Did we start drinking?" Weiss asked no one in particular. "Am I imagining this?"
"Today, we spare ourselves the horrors of fake money and bankruptcy! Today, we take back our game nights!"
"YEAH!"
"Ruby, why are you cheering?!" Yang shouted.
Lev threw the board game into the fireplace, the game settling nicely on top of the stacked logs. He uncorked his bottle of cheap vodka and cried out, "Today, we take back our freedom!"
And then he dumped the whole bottle on the game.
Blake covered her ears when the room thundered, "YEAH!" Yang grabbed a random bottle and started chugging. Weiss looked dead inside.
Lev sent a spark of golden fire onto the soaked board game and it all instantly started blazing. Blake winced again when the volume of the people inside the room, already so very high, became ear-splitting.
Blake grabbed Yang's bottle and took a long pull.
After that fiasco, everyone moved on. Well, except Weiss, Blake, and Yang. But Yang was starting to get tipsy, Bake wasn't too far behind, and Weiss tried to hide in the pillow fort to get away from everyone. Sadly, Kylie pulled her out by her legs, forcing Weiss to stand up and brush off her jeans and pale blue sweater in a way that reminded them all of a toddler.
"I can't believe you."
"You'll get used to it."
"So, horror movies, Disney movies, or Candy Land?" Kevin called out. Most everyone else was snacking and drinking, sprawled out on the couches.
"We got Clue and Cards Against Humanity too!" Ben added.
"I wanna play Clue!" Ruby cheered.
"Same!" Ceres joined her.
But Ari shook her head. "We can't while drunk, remember? Last time we did that Rook was falsely accused of being the murderer and Lev started a fire inside a trash can."
"In my defense, I was burning generic boy band posters," Lev told them all. "The s'mores we made over it were of excellent quality."
"I could go for s'mores," Ruby muttered.
"We will once we burn off the alcohol," Rook reassured her. "The fire should be ready for cooking soon."
"Yay!"
They ended up playing Candy Land and Cards Against Humanity for hours on end- everyone had to drink water in between plastic cups of booze to help with the next day's hangover. Or they would get hangovers, if team RWBY didn't have aura and if Ari didn't supply everyone else with special alien medicine that prevented hangovers in the first place.
(Granted the medicine wasn't much, Ari would admit, but it was safe for human consumption and still worked well, so everyone thanked her anyway.)
They had to stop playing Cards Against Humanity because Kevin laughed too hard and accidentally spilled his drink into the fireplace, nearly setting the room on fire. At that point they all went into the enormous pillow fort and started watching terrible horror movies.
Ruby sighed and tried to straighten the wrinkles on her shirt- it was a red wrap top with black roses on it, a hand-me-down of Yang's. She had paired it with one of Blake's old black skirts, a cute short thing that flattered her legs. All in all she thought she looked cute, but it seemed like she had overdressed. Yang and Blake had worn jeans and flannel in their favorite colors, and even Weiss had gone for comfort instead of glamour (even though her outfit still looked pretty). At least Ben had dressed up a bit more like she had, so Ruby wasn't alone. (And they both looked really good together, but she wasn't sure why she had that thought in the first place.)
Ben himself stumbled into the kitchen, his shirt rumpled and his face pink. A half-empty water bottle was in his hand, and he blinked blearily as he gave her a wave and started rummaging through the pantry.
"Whatcha looking for?" Ruby asked hesitantly.
"Magic alien hangover cure," Ben muttered as he pulled out a tin. Opening it revealed dried pink berries with dark blue spots on them, and Ben popped three into his mouth and chewed.
"Uh…"
He swallowed and answered. "Aldebaran berries. They're mostly well-known for their liquors and wines, but they also cultivate fruit that really help with anxiety. And with stopping hangovers. Want one?"
Ruby shook her head. "Me and the rest of my team have our auras. We'd have to try really hard to get a bad hangover. What about your team? Did they take any berries?"
Ben nodded. "They all took a small handful, they'll be fine." They heard screams in the living room, and both teens gave a tired sigh and walked over. And they watched in fascinated horror as Ari and Lev chugged huge bottles of tequila. Yang, Blake, Weiss, and Kylie were the ones cheering. Ceres was holding Kevin and Rook on the couch, the two boys clutching to her for dear life as they watched Lev and Ari in horror. Ceres, for her part, just kissed them both on the head and looked at her fellow Archimedeans in annoyance.
Ben gave Ruby a dead-eyed look. "This party was a mistake."
"...yeah. Yeah, I think you're right."
Later that night
Weiss sighed as she threw herself onto the bed. "Well, that was.. a thing," she said, stretching her arms a bit.
Kylie flopped face first on their bed. "Eh, could be worse. We only set fire to one thing and nearly burned down the house once. I call that a win."
"And I thought Yang was chaotic," Weiss grumbled. "How do you survive?"
"With far too much patience and practice." Kylie got a curious glint in her eyes. "You ever hear Ben snore before?"
"No? When would that even happen, I barely know him."
"Okay, okay, true," Kylie laughed. "But Kevin's not gonna get much sleep tonight. We might not either."
"If you say so," Weiss said, unpacking her bag. "I swear, your brother's just a nerd with muscles. Who the hell names their car?"
"Yeah, 'Highway Star' is a lame name...and kinda loses its luster when driving on anything but a highway," Kylie chuckled.
"How are you even older than him? He's like one and a half heads taller than everyone else." Weiss wondered.
She sat up a bit. "I don't even know. I blame my birth parents."
"That sounds fair," Weiss said, shrugging. She pointed to the bed. "This is my side, by the way."
"That's fine," Kylie said. "Just know I'm a heavy sleeper."
"Kylie. I spent two summers sharing a bunk room with you," she scoffed. "I know how heavy a sleeper you can be, miss 'I slept through an entire Lancer swarm'."
Kylie laughed. "To be fair, I was having a really nice dream."
Weiss smiled. "I suppose, but still. Dangerous."
"I was fiiiiine!" Kylie beamed. "They didn't even notice me."
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes before looking nervous. "Oh, um, by the way, if it isn't rude of me to ask, but...why did you leave the Huntress field?"
Kylie paused. Weiss wasn't sure if she hit a nerve, because her friend was utterly silent for a good five seconds. "You really wanna know?" she asked, dead serious.
Weiss mentally prepared herself. "I do."
Kylie frowned. "I switched because space is fucking awesome."
Weiss shoved her off the bed.
Kylie's eyes fluttered open, with a single thought on her mind; 'I'm thirsty.' She quietly hopped out of bed and slowly opened the door, making sure she didn't accidentally wake Weiss up. Kylie tiptoed down the hallway and into the cabin kitchen. The light from the fridge nearly blinded her, but her eyes adjusted soon enough.
"Let's see," Kylie muttered, eyes scanning the fridge. "Water, coffee creamer, CapriSun- oh, here's my brand." She pulled out some apple juice and popped open the cap, taking a long drink. "Ah, sustenance." She closed the fridge door, walked back down the hallway to her room...and turned her attention to the window behind her.
Kylie walked over to the window and rubbed away some frost to peer outside; the storm had taken its time to arrive, even with the threatening storm clouds, and by the time it affected the cabin, everyone inside hadn't bothered to check what the weather would be like. The snow fell heavily, blinding her view of the woods surrounding the cabin. Kylie wasn't exactly paranoid, but...it felt like something was watching her...
Kylie narrowed her eyes as she stared outside, something catching her eye.
"...oh, fuck no," she muttered, pulling out her pistol. She snatched her silencer from out of her bag and stormed outside, right into the cold.
...and then she immediately started shivering, because in her haste she forgot her coat. She felt like a fool with a gun. But hey, a gun!
Kylie looked around, trying to find what she saw from the window. She could've sworn she saw a person in a robe...
There was a chattering sound surrounding her, like dozens of teeth clicking together. "Well that sounds like something out of a thirteen year old's creepypasta," Kylie muttered as she cocked her gun.
And then… she felt a presence behind her.
"Any reason why you're out here in this weather?" Ceres asked, groggy.
"Thought I heard something," Kylie told her. "And why are you out here? You hibernate when a cool breeze hits you."
"I'm wearing my coat," Ceres said, and Kylie turned to see her team leader wearing… something.
"What am I looking at?"
"A high tech thermal coat that literally keeps me toasty warm even as it drops far below zero," Ceres said proudly. "And it looks like a stylish trench coat. I'm working on converting it into regular clothing 'cause that would have better mobility, but the trench coat works for now."
"Huh. Neat. Can you fight in that thing?" Kylie asked curiously.
"Yeah, why?"
Suddenly, a knife flew past the two of them and wedged itself into the side of the house. "Uh, probably 'cause of that."
"BITCH, WE HAVE TO PAY FOR DAMAGES!" Ceres shouted. She sent waves of blue fire where the knife was thrown, lighting up the pitch black sky.
Robed men started rushing out of nowhere, as if hidden inside the darkness. Kylie easily shot them down with her concussive bullets, heavily damaging them but leaving most alive. Multiple men were roasted alive, burning to ashes in an instant.
"What the hell is up with these guys?" Kylie hissed as she reloaded her gun.
"I wanna say satanists because movies portray them as dramatic, whiny bitches, but-" Ceres punched a guy in the throat, and as the bones broke her eyebrows shot up. "Wait, I can ask! HEY ASSHOLES, DID SATAN SEND YOU?! OR GOD?! I KNOW CULTS LIKE TO USE GOD TO JUSTIFY HATRED AND BIGOTRY!"
The men did not answer her, and Kylie struggled to reload her bullets; in hindsight, she really should have grabbed a coat. One guy swung a knife at her, but she dodged and released a heavy smog of oxide to rust the metal within seconds and shatter it. Kylie shot the man a deadly look-
Before the guy was frozen solid.
"Close the door before you do this stuff, Kylie," Weiss snapped, putting on her coat and lowering her weapon.
"Did you send reinforcements?" Ceres called out as another five men burned to death. "Cause I don't wanna do this all day."
Weiss smiled. "Well, with everyone tuckered out from earlier, I was only able to get two people up-"
"THIS IS FOR ROBBING ME OF MY SLEEP!" Ben yelled as he jumped off the roof and transformed into a 'lego gorilla'. His fists increased massively in size, and he swung down on multiple robed assailants, shattering bones with ease.
"FOR EVERY SECOND I'M NOT IN BED, I'M GOING TO BREAK THAT MANY BONES!" Ruby screamed, mowing through the crowd with her scythe.
Ceres blinked. "Well, damn. Remind me never to wake them up so early in the morning." As they continued screaming and committing bloody murder, she wondered, "You know, if I wasn't committed to Ari, I would totally be attracted to them both."
"I mean, you flirt with all of Zeta Squad because you find us attractive," Kylie pointed out. "We totally reciprocate, and it's all playful- hell, Ari even encourages it- so what's stopping you now?"
Ceres shrugged. "I feel like if I flirted with Ruby, Ben would get angry. I mean, Ruby got annoyed by me and Ben flirting a while back, so…"
"Ah, so you noticed that too."
"Yeah, they're not as subtle as they think."
A few more men ran at Weiss, but she quickly dispatched them with a few quick stabs with her rapier. The men crumbled to the ground like tissue paper.
"They don't seem to have aura," Weiss declared, shaking some blood off her weapon. "Obviously not related to Hunters."
"Well, duh," Ben agreed, as Bloxx shifted his arm into a 'Lego Blaster' (as Kylie best put it). "I feel like if they had aura, they would've been able to block flying plastic." He fired a few quick shots of colorful bricks that exploded upon contact. Many of the robed cultists exploded with them.
Ruby ran around, her scythe whirling around in an arc of pure destruction. She fired a bullet at one guy and in the same motion bisected another enemy at his torso.
"Where are these guys even coming from?" Kylie yelled as she sniped some of the cultists that were appearing from out of the sky. Another cultist tried getting close to her, but she shot them straight in the head, bullet piercing their skull. "I feel like we're just slaughtering cattle."
"True," Weiss acknowledged as she created a black glyph under the feet of a few cultists. The group started to float in the air, and were quickly incinerated by Ceres' brilliant flames.
"Well, for the most part, they're making this easy!" Ben grinned as he surrounded his right fist in blocks, increasing its size to that of an elephant. Ben carefully launched it at a large group of cultists, fist exploding upon contact; bits of plastic flew everywhere, managing to dig itself into other bad guys' skins and causing some serious damage.
"Ok, what even is that alien?!" Weiss exclaimed.
"I really don't know," Kylie admitted sheepishly as she scanned the area. Ben's last move must have scared them off, because none of the other assailants were popping out of the shadows. Actually, now that the action died down, Kylie noticed something-
"Where'd all the bodies go?" Ruby asked.
Back inside the cabin
"So, it's like...2 AM… you guys up for hunting down cultists?" Kylie asked hopefully. "In this weather?"
Ceres checked her storage of ammo and her gauntlets, nodding to herself. "I may hate the current weather, but I can't sleep knowing the people who attacked us are still out there. I'm game."
She then walked up to the nearest room and opened it, seeing her girlfriend trying to fall asleep. "Hey babe, I'm gonna go kill some cultists. Want in?"
"Fuck off," came the grumbled reply.
"Love you too." Ceres closed the door, but not before a bleary, "Love you," echoed back.
Kylie rolled her eyes fondly. She threw on her coat, grabbed some more ammo, and put on her boots. "Alright, let's roll out!"
As they walked through the blizzard, Ceres declared, "I take it back, fuck the mission."
"No, you're stuck suffering with the rest of us," Ruby told her.
"Yeah, team leader," Ben jeered. "Be an example."
Ceres glared heatedly. "Bitch please, I do what I want." The two of them started mocking each other, forcing Ruby to speed up so she didn't have to hear them.
Weiss shot Kylie a concerned look. "Is she always like this?"
Kylie sighed tiredly. "Unfortunately. I'm still surprised the higher ups haven't caught her like this."
"I built all their shit, they can't touch me."
"Ceres, this doesn't concern you."
"You're talking about me, so it does."
"She scares me," Weiss said, deadly serious.
"Seriously, though," Ruby interjected. "Should we be concerned about the cultists?"
"Well, they're cultists, so, yeah," Ben deadpanned.
"Fuck you," Ruby said, palming his face with snow.
"You can do that later, I think I see something," Ceres announced, pointing up ahead.
"Eh?" Kylie looked to where Ceres was pointing. There was a man, just standing there...menacingly.
"So," he said in his low timber. "You're the ones taking out my men."
"Well, they invaded our home and tried to kill us, so it's fair turnabout, really," Ceres pointed out casually.
"True, true." The man applauded them.
"..i-is that sarcasm?" Ruby asked, confused. "Is that sarcastic clapping? Stop that. I feel validated and I don't need it from you."
"Can we just get to the part where we all fight?" Weiss demanded. "This weather is terrible and I hate it."
"Of course, of course," the man agreed. "My name is Lord Haslett, and welcome to my court." Suddenly, the cultists started flooding out from the shadows, swarming the group.
"Thanks for having us." Ben smiled as he activated the watch. "Allow us to add some 'shock and awe' to the field." He slapped down the Omnitrix; purple-green lightning struck his chest as his left arm transformed into pure green and purple energy; the energy ran up his arm and covered his body, as rocks covered him from head to toe. The rocks slowly formed into fitted armor around his chest, legs and head, and energy swarmed to fill in any gaps.
"Ugh, did you really have to make a pun?" Ceres sighed.
"Yes. The government forces me to make a shock pun every time I turn into Shock Rock." Ben frowned as he walked forward. He held up his arm and focused; his hand extended and thinned out, and the rocks on his wrist extended to create-
"AN ELECTRIC CHAINSAW?!" Ruby gasped, practically drooling.
"Yep!" Ben grinned, as he cut through some cultists. "Pretty cool, right!"
"HELL YEAH IT IS!" Ruby agreed as she rushed forward. She swung her scythe in the air before slamming it down onto the ground, impaling a cultist. Ceres produced bright blue flames from her fists, burning some cultists into gray ash. Weiss did a pirouette and created some glyphs in front of her. Kylie fired her bullets through the glyphs; the bullets flew through the air and immediately froze the cultists upon impact.
Lord Haslett watched in morbid delight as his men fell to the ground, not even bothered by their deaths. No one could see, but behind his mask, he wore a wide grin.
"Impressive," he declared before walking off.
"Hey! Get back here!" Ceres yelled. More and more men walked out of thin air, and Ceres hurled more fireballs at the bastards. She shoved her way through the crowd, grabbed ahold of Lord Haslett-
And collapsed to the ground, screaming.
Her friends watched, horrified, as Ceres writhed on the ground, crying out in fear and pain.
"You bastard!" Ben snarled. "What did you do to her?!"
Weiss grimaced as she formed a few glyphs on the ground. She stepped on them and launched herself at the cult leader. Haslett blocked it with a sword from his sleeve, and easily kept Weiss at bay. She ducked down as Ben jumped at him, electric chainsaw still very active-
And then Ben fell to the ground, screaming and convulsing in pain. They all watched as he reverted back to human form, his screams going from alien to painfully human.
"What the hell did he do?!" Ruby snapped, tightly gripping her weapon.
Kylie didn't answer; she was too focused on the guy's mask. There was something off about it. A cult leader would typically relish the attention and would absolutely show his face to an audience he intended on killing...so, why the mask?
"Hey, Ruby." Kylie reloaded her weapon. "How good of a shot are you?"
"Pretty good," Ruby said, cocking her gun. "What do you want me to shoot?"
"The mask," Kylie told her as Weiss continued to clash blades with the bastard.
Somehow she was avoiding the tear gas, but it was only a matter of time. Ruby aimed carefully, her finger on the trigger...
And as the wind howled around her, Ruby saw her shot and fired.
The mask shattered the second the bullet hit; the pieces fell to the snow, and the remaining girls looked upon his face in horror. Purple flesh, mixed with open holes that offered a glimpse into the man's muscular system, produced a terrifying image. Kylie nearly vomited at the sight.
Haslett laughed. "Ah. So you've seen the result of my lord's work."
"Your lord cannibalized your face, dude!" Ruby shrieked. "Why the fuck are you still working for him?!"
"He made me perfect in his own image," Haslett laughed. "He said the blood of a demon runs through me. Breathing in the air around said demon causes one to relive their worst fears!" He stepped to the side and disappeared into thin air.
"Where did-" Ruby asked, before Haslett appeared behind her and grabbed her mouth. She fell to the ground, screaming loudly.
"Stop!" Weiss shrieked, bringing up a glyph. She shot Dust arrows at Haslett, and he flew away from Ruby, the arrows erupting into multicolored explosions upon contact.
Lord Haslett disappeared again, this time appearing in front of Weiss, grabbing her by the neck. "Insolent little brat," he growled, tightening his grip.
Haslett never got the chance; Kylie riddled his arm with bullets, and he dropped Weiss to the ground. Along with quite a bit of blood.
"YOU BITCH!"
"Yes, I am," Kylie said as she prepared to fire again. Haslett disappeared and quickly reappeared in front of her. He ripped off her mask and gave her an extra potent dose of his fear gas-
And what Kylie saw in her vision...horrified her.
There was fire and screaming- an endless loop of men, women, and children screaming-
She could hear someone laughing as their weapon tightened around someone, sapping the life out of their victim-
She watched her parents, horrible as they were, die screaming in agony-
She watched her little brother, normally so apathetic, scream and cry as he saw his parents die, right before the monster got him-
Her little sister, spoiled rotten and terrible as she was, lay there motionless, the life already snuffed from her eyes. She provided little resistance once the monster turned towards her-
And Kylie SCREAMED as she unloaded her weapon directly into the bastard's skull.
"What...?" Weiss trailed off as Kylie kept firing into the corpse, long after Haslett died.
She breathed heavily, still stuck in that horrible illusion. Kylie kept pulling the trigger long after the pistol had been emptied...And then she collapsed, whimpering as tears rolled down her face.
Weiss took a deep breath and walked over to Kylie, wrapping her arms around her. "Hey, I'm here, I'm here..."
And Kylie just sobbed.
It took a while for everyone else to recover. Ceres was the first to shake off the fear gas, thanks to years of therapy. She easily carried Ben and Ruby through the woods before they woke up halfway through the journey.
Kylie, however, required some work as she was still inconsolable. Ceres stayed up with her to comfort her while the rest of the group went back to bed. (Kylie and Ceres went back to sleep an hour later.)
After the events of last night, Weiss honestly expected Kylie to stay in bed all day and recover, not be cooking breakfast with Yang and Kevin.
"Morning!" Kylie beamed as Weiss stared at her incredulously.
"Heard you guys had a fun time last night," Yang teased. "Should've invited us."
"They should've invited you," Kevin frowned, still a bit groggy. "I should have taken more of those alien berries. Or drank less. I hate hangovers."
"Sucks that you don't have an aura, doesn't it?~" Yang teased as she elbowed Kevin's side.
"Yeah," Weiss said as she sat down, still focused on Kylie. She looked so...alive, compared to last night. Weiss couldn't shake the image of Kylie looking so scared, firing blanks into the distance...
"How'd you sleep?" Kylie asked, snapping Weiss out of her thoughts.
"Oh! I slept well," Weiss said. "Fell asleep almost as soon as we got back." That was a lie; Weiss fell back to sleep around 5 AM. That horrible illusion took a while to get over. She sat up for some time, rationalizing that the visions she saw weren't true.
'Why am I scared of what might happen? How likely will this situation come up again?' Weiss asked herself the night before.
'This is going to hurt. But then it's going to stop hurting. Hurry up and get to the second part,' her mind answered back, comforting her. It was enough to lull her to sleep.
So, seeing Kylie, wearing this possible stepford smile...
It made Weiss worry.
