We're back. So, schedule change- I'll be splitting these up into 'chunks' you guys can read in like one sitting, released multiple times throughout the week. Worked for Carry On.
Also- I wanted to talk about a weird cosmic coincidence. Someone on my Discord brought to my attention a Ben 10 x RWBY fanfic called RWBBYverse, and I read it- it sucks, purely because Ben hogs the spotlight and it turns RWBY into 'cheerleaders'- but I wanted to talk about the author real quick. Apparently, we're both Filipino. So, in terms of 'Filipinos writing Ben 10 x RWBY crossover fics', I'm…kinda doing better.
I don't mean that as a diss, but…god it is a PAINFUL read.
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
Cammie had been recognized by Ironwood a few weeks before—while she had been training her body and exercising out, she hadn't precisely attended to the appropriate training. It wouldn't put her on the field right away, but it would help her improve some of her talents.
Why hadn't she done it earlier?
Simple.
She was anxious as hell. Cammie felt she needed some support, so she went to her new group of friends to maybe give her a hand...
Ben, Kevin, Blake, Ruby and Oscar were all hanging out in the dorm area, looking at Ben and Ruby's new outfits.
"So, what do you guys think?" Ben asked, showing off his new clothes. Ben wore a jacket that resembled his signature hoodie, but with shorter sleeves. He wore an undershirt that had an Omnitrix-esque pattern on the sleeves and matching gloves. His undershirt was also reminiscent of a shirt he wore from his childhood, only this one was color inverted. He wore his usual brown pants, but with two extra belts for some odd reason.
"We kinda match." Ruby grinned, showing off her new jacket. It started at black, and then faded to red then to white. Her new cloak was black, but the inside was red and had rose like patterns on it. She retained her previous outfit's skirt, stockings and boots. She also wore an undershirt similar to Ben's own. It was adorable how much they matched.
"I figured with the new Omnitrix looking more…fashionable, I could use a new fit." Ben explained. It was oddly cute how Ben and Ruby paralleled each other with complementary colors. Ben with green and white, Ruby with red and black…a match made in heaven.
Kevin hummed. "Drastic improvement for Ben."
"Now you guys actually look ready to handle Solitas' cold environment." Oscar said.
"I kinda like how Ben has more of a hunter aesthetic now. I wonder who's to blame for that." Blake joked, looking at Ruby.
"I'm curious about the black cape, though." Kevin said. "Why the change?"
"Eh. Red kinda sticks out when you're…" Ruby threw the hood over her head, and put on a french (?) accent. "Undercover~"
Cammie completely forgot about her anxiety for a moment, needing to process what she just heard. How the hell did this conversation start? Of course, she didn't go unnoticed. As much as she wanted to give him one, Nugget lacked a stealth system. Or maybe he did this on purpose, hard to tell with him sometimes. Either way, the little mechanical cat strode on into the, each movement letting out a slight whirring sound as his motors worked.
Blake's ears twitched a little when she heard the sound and turned to see the little robot walk right up to her.
"Oh, hey." Blake said, watching Nugget walk over. "Cammie's here."
Cammie walked out. "Hey guys- sorry for the 'long time no see' thing." She said, awkwardly waving.
"Ah, don't worry about it." Kevin said. "We've been all over the place recently."
"Yeah, from that hell dimension, to Haven Academy, to another few dimensions, to...here." Ben said.
"You live a very eventful life, don't ya?" Camie smirked, "But...anyways, I've been working on my weapon, fine tuning it a bit, all that. And while I've been practicing on my off time...officially..."
"Oh my god, Ironwood's sending you to boot camp," Ben correctly guessed.
"Yeah, basically," Cammie confirmed, "And I am...nervous as fuck."
"Boot camp, huh?" Kevin said. "Pretty rough. Short, intensive and rigorous sessions followed by unpleasant experiences."
"Well, it's only a month." Cammie said.
"Only a month?" Blake repeated. That didn't sit right with her.
"I know, I know, boot camps should probably last longer, but...that's kind of why I'm nervous. It's not...the usual training. That lasts a lot longer..."
"We've really never done a boot camp. We've usually had lessons or stuff." Ruby said. "More spaced out and...not brutal."
"Well, why don't we attend a week of her camp?" Oscar said.
"Wait, really?" Cammie asked.
"I mean...it can't be that bad, right? Rough yeah, but, you're training for actually going out on missions."
"Wouldn't hurt, right? We've been through worse," Kevin said.
"Yeah. Any idea what boot camp is like?" Ben asked.
"The course is meant for high level Atlesian forces- a bunch of the Ace Ops took it." Cammie said. "And...one of them is teaching it."
Ruby flinched. "Think I know who it is."
"...oh please don't tell me," Blake sighed.
"...ohhhhh fuck," Kevin muttered, coming to the same realization as the rest of them. The boot camp's instructor was...
"Of course you'd be here." Harriet huffed, as she glared at the kids.
"Yep. We're your problem for a week." Ben joked, as he carried his bags.
"Lucky it's only a week...doubt you'd even survive the full course."
"...why did you make that sound like a challenge?" Ruby asked.
"What? No, why would I word it like that?" Harriet asked...even though it sounded like she was feigning ignorance.
"We don't expect you to go easy." Oscar said. "Just because we stopped a terrorist attack and because they stopped a cosmic threat doesn't mean we're any different from a rookie."
Harriet smirked at that. "What, the guy in your head tell you to say that?"
"...we're not on speaking terms right now." Oscar frowned. It was true- Haven was the last time Oscar spoke with Ozpin. He'd been dead quiet ever since.
"How are you not on...no, forget I asked. That's gonna spiral, I can tell," Harriet pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.
"All of...that aside, we're sticking with this, in case you thought you could convince us to quit," Blake added.
"Oh, I figured. Buuuut we'll see if you feel the same after the course."
"...can we just maybe have a bootcamp WITHOUT tension?" Cammie asked, notably pale. "I'm already pretty nervous about this."
"Nothing relieves anxiety like action." Harriet said. "Works for me."
...I question your coping mechanisms. Kevin thought.
Ruby and Ben shared a look, both wondering just what Harriet had in mind for this.
Spoiler alert: It was hellish.
"Alright, listen up, maggots." Harriet said, walking in front of the large group of kids. Ben made a face at 'maggots'- didn't fit Harriet's speech. It felt like she was copying someone else, maybe a drill sergeant from a show. "For the next month, I am going to mold you into perfect Atlesian shape. All hours of the day will be spent training. This isn't some pansy 'safe space' for the lot of you- I do not discriminate. If my own mother was in basic training, I would be as harsh on her as I am on you!"
Ben made another face.
"Did I say something FUNNY, Private Tennyson?" Harriet yeled.
"No, ma'am!" Ben saluted immediately.
"That's what I thought," Harriet scoffed, "Now then, we're not starting this off with the normal shit. No obstacle courses, no exercises. We're going right into this. Levin, Belladonna!"
Kevin and Blake stepped forward.
"The two of you are going to fight." Harriet said.
"...seems kind of unfair." Kevin said, holding up the AntiTrix. Doppler waved at Harriet, which made her wince.
"Fuck, I forgot about that-" Harriet shook her head. "You won't be using your usual weapons. The first thing you kids need to do is learn how to fight with more than one weapon."
Harriet pulled out a knife- it looked pretty high tech. "This was my original weapon. I learned how to use Fast Knuckles in a boot camp like this. And for you two...well, you'll see."
"Oh...shit, uh, ok," Kevin said, actually surprised by that. And the logic for the lesson actually made sense. Missions rarely go according to plan, so it helps to have at least a basic understanding of other weapons in case your main weapon is destroyed or otherwise lost. Harriet nodded for them both to step down into an arena, kind of like the one from Beacon where the main arena was surrounded by Atlesian white stands. But it did seem less like it was combined with a class room and more purely meant for sparring.
In the middle of the arena, several racks of weapons rose out of the grounds for Blake and Kevin to choose from. It was honestly kind of impressive how many there were. Kevin went over to one of the racks and looked over the options. Various polearms, a few swords, some axes... That'd fit actually. He grabbed a large greataxe off the rack and hefted it in his hands. He looked it over just in case there was anything special about it and found that the blade actually had a faint pale white color to it. Some kind of Dust in the blade...which meant Kevin was actually at a disadvantage with this one. But that was fine, the disadvantages just made the win better. Blake, meanwhile, chose something...rather unorthodox, not just for her, but in general. On both of her hands was an Atlesian-white colored metal gauntlet.
"Gauntlets? Really?" Kevin smirked.
"She said a different weapon, but I still wanted to use something light," Blake admitted, "Works with how I fight."
"Out in the field you might not get that luxury," Harriet called down into the arena, "Yeah, you'll want something that works with your fighting style, but sometimes, that's just not an option. All the Ace-Ops know that first hand."
"So, what, you know how to use all of these weapons?" Kevin asked.
"Most of them, yeah. And hopefully YOU'LL be able to do so by the end of this week. I'm gonna cram EVERYTHING for your lot." Harriet said. "Now, come on. We don't have all day."
"Damn, alri-" Kevin said, turning back to Blake, only to pause when he saw that she was gone. Blake had used the little distraction to flank Kevin and strike at him with the claws. He managed to catch sight of her at the last minute from the corner of his eye and brought up the shaft of the greataxe to block the attack. Blake wanted to end it in one go, as both gauntlets clanged against Kevin's temporary weapon.
She tried to push the weapon, but Kevin's strength overpowered her own. He shoved her back, making her stagger back. Axe at the ready, Kevin took a few, heavy, arcing swings at Blake, each one either missing or being blocked by the Faunus' gauntlets. In a way, it was like she was mirroring Yang.
Harriet did take notice that Kevin hadn't activated the Dust in the axe. That was right, the kid didn't have Aura, yet he still chose a Dust weapon. The speedster of the Ace-Ops may have had her problems with Kevin, but she had to respect him for that. Willingly putting himself at a disadvantage and still going at it, ignoring the handicap entirely.
Blake's gauntlets activated their hidden weapons- claws. Blake advanced at her opponent and rapidly slashed with her claws.
"Woah." Ben said.
"Yang's been giving her boxing lessons. Just in case." Ruby grinned.
Blake did two somersaults towards her opponent, finishing with a backflip slash. Kevin could barely react, and got slashed in the back by claws. Harriet expected to see some blood from the new wound, but instead, all she saw was something...glimmering underneath his clothes.
Harriet squinted- because he didn't have aura, he was supplementing it with some sort of crystalline armor made from one of the AntiTrix aliens. A passive way to protect yourself...Harriet nodded. It was also discreet enough for sneak attacks.
Kevin then pivoted on one foot and swung around to slam the axe blade into Blake. The Faunus brought up both gauntlets to block the strike, but with the sheer momentum behind the swing, it knocked her off her feet and sent her tumbling. Kevin actually winced a little at that, went too hard on the swing. But, even so, Blake was quick to get back up and dust herself off.
Kevin grunted. Unlike Gambol Shroud, Blake had no mobility with those gauntlets. She couldn't easily strike back with a wave of energy, or maneuver around with ribbons. Blake had to get up close and personal. Then again, he was at a serious fault here. The axe he was using...could only be used as axe.
...maybe he should invest in an aura.
Blake struck a pose, as she revealed something unexpected. Two ribbon-like pieces of fabric shot out of her gauntlet, and wrapped around Kevin's axe handle. "Aw, what!?" Kevin said.
"Don't tell me you thought the claws didn't have something else to them?" Harriet asked.
"I thought the claws were the special part!" Kevin said, using his own strength to keep the axe in his grip and now have it flung across the arena. Blake was giving it her all trying to disarm him, putting the two in a stalemate for the time being. Both of them were trying to think of a way they could out maneuver the other, and Kevin managed to get that solution first. It was simple, sure, but it'd be effective. When Blake gave one last good pull with the ribbons...Kevin just let the axe go. With all the momentum that both were putting into the struggle...yeah, that was gonna hurt.
Blake was temporarily in shock and was about to dodge out of the way...only to realize that these claws didn't have a detach function for the ribbons, just a retraction feature.
Blake was thankfully able to make a shadow clone at last second to take the blow for her- she only caught a glimpse of the axe hitting the clone dead in the chest.
Blake shivered. "Close one."
"I'll say." Kevin said, before activating Doppler. His hand became more claw-like, as he summoned the axe back to himself, like a certain norse God recalling his hammer.
"All right!" Harriet called from the stands, "Stand down, both of you. Actually, I was a little surprised at how that went. One of you couldn't use the weapon to the fullest, so you adapted and used your talents to make up for that. The other went for something more familiar and threw your opponent for a loop. You're not the type I would've thought of as a brawler, Belladonna."
"I've been practicing." She said, "Drew a bit from your style, Yang's style-"
"I didn't ask HOW you became a good hand to hand fighter." Harriet shut her down. Her attention turned to Levin. "As for you...this week will be devoted to honing MORE of those talents."
"Can only hold them for a few minutes at a time," Kevin explained.
"Then you'll be working on extending that time, or making it to where you can change seamlessly between them. Hell, maybe even work on wielding two of them at once, ignore the need for swapping out every time."
"Dear God, I thought she was bad before," Doppler muttered.
"Alright, get back up here," Harriet called out, before turning to Cammie, "You're next."
"Wait, already?" Cammie blurted out.
"Yes, already. You're not gonna have much of a choice out in the field! Rose, you too."
"Eh!?" Ruby said, looking at Cammie. "Uh...alright." The two girls walked towards the center, giving each other a look.
"Have you ever fought anybody else?" Ruby asked.
"Noooope." Camie said, popping the p. "...go easy on me?"
"I'll try." Ruby said.
The two racks of weapons emerged from the arena once again. Cammie sighed and nervously looked through the options. Unlike Ruby, general combat experience was on her side. Nothing on the racks really matched the tech specialist's style, so she decided to go for a pair of twin daggers. In the hilts of the weapons were Dust cartridges, one light blue and the other red. Ice and fire...she could make that work.
Ruby's eyes were immediately drawn to something else. She walked over to what looked like a board...it was hypnotizing. "H-Harriet. What is this?"
Harriet gave Ruby a weird look. "Hell if I know. No one ever picked it."
"Then I'll indulge in the mystery." Ruby said, taking the board.
"Alright...whatever you say," Harriet rolled her eyes, but she did have to admit, she was curious about it too.
Cammie readied the dual blades, the light blue and red Dust cartridges coming to life with a slight glow. Harriet could tell the techie was inexperienced with the weapons, just by the way she was holding them.
Ruby, meanwhile, looked over the board, mainly searching for some kind of activator or trigger. She eventually did find one and pressed it. The board whirred to life and expanded, pieces of it shifting and moving outward. Now, it almost resembled a skateboard, the middle mostly a silver color, but with circuit lines that glowed a very distinct purple.
"Oh, there's no way," Ruby said, her eyes widening as she realized what this was. She had flashbacks to the Vital Festival, during the team fight against ABRN from Mistral. She remembered one of them had something like this too, but green in color and it could split into two high-powered pistols.
Ruby grinned, as she stepped on it. Ben rubbed his chin, as Kevin and Blake rejoined him.
"Hoverboard, huh?" Kevin said. "Kinda fitting, but a bit redundant. Ruby has some incredibly agility- don't see what difference a hoverboard could make."
"Well, we don't know if this thing can turn into another weapon." Blake said. "Ruby might have to rely on something else here. Can she even ride a hoverboard?"
"She knows how to skateboard." Ben said. "Something we did when we were kids...but, uh..."
[FLAAAAAAAAAAAAAASHBAAAAAAAACK]
"I'm gonna do it!" A young Ruby yelled from the top of the hill. "WATCH ME!"
"YOU GOT THIS, RUBY!" The younger Yang yelled, as a nervous but enthusiastic Ben made a ramp with Diamondhead's powers.
"You, uh, sure about this?" Ben asked. "Maybe we should rethink-"
"Stop being a Gwen! I got this!" Ruby yelled, as she made her way down the hill-
[End Flashback]
"Ruby broke her arm that day." Ben said. "I'll never forget the snapping sound, or the way her-"
"Ooookay, stop that right now-" Blake said, covering both sets of ears.
"You'd think I wouldn't be surprised by stories like that anymore," Oscar began, "but every time you somehow manage it. Every time."
"Welcome to the lives of Zeta Squad and Team RWBY, Oscar. Chaos, pure and simple," Kevin smirked.
Ruby fiddled around with the board for a few more moments, until it quickly turned into a circular shield. "Oh...not really familiar with how to use this thing."
"Then learn on your feet. Get to it." Harriet said, clapping her hand.
"Ok...ok...I can do this," Cammie muttered, trying to hype herself up. She exhaled before rushing at Ruby. Once she was close, she started slashing at Ruby. Metal sparked against metal as the blades struck the shield. Despite her lack of experience with shield fighting, Ruby was pretty good at blocking each of Cammie's strikes. On the last one, Ruby shoved back, forcing Cammie to stagger.
With the opening, Ruby had the shield retract and she hopped back onto the hoverboard. She smirked and began to circle around Cammie. The techie slashed a few times at Ruby, before trying to track the reaper's movement's and predict where she would be. Cold mist began to encompass one of the dagger blades, before Cammie pointed it and the mist blew in Ruby's direction. It blinded her for a moment and actually made her crash. Fortunately, she didn't break her arm or anything, but she did roll across the floor from the momentum she was going. Cammie, Ben, and the others all winced in pain at the sight.
"Shit, I'm so sorry, Ruby!" Cammie called out.
"Don't apologize. Take advantage!" Harriet yelled. Cammie shook her head- Harriet was right. No need for apologies. Cammie rushed forward, brandishing her daggers. She slammed the ice dagger into the ground, causing spikes of ice to burst out of the ground. Ruby rolled out of the way, but Cammie quickly spun around and unleashed a heat-shockwave. Ruby narrowly avoided it by ducking under it.
Cammie took the opportunity and, with the blade still glowing red hot, she took a few slashes at the air. Each swing sent forth an arc of fire towards Ruby, but the reaper managed to avoid the waves with quick bursts of her Semblance. She managed to speed her way over to the hoverboard and grabbed it again. Before she could hop on again, Cammie went through with her original plan. She stabbed the ice dagger into the ground first, freezing a good portion of the arena's floor, followed up by the fire dagger. The heat surged through the ice at such a high temperature, the frozen layer on the floor immediately turned to steam; a good cover strategy.
Ruby hovered above the steam, looking around. "If I had Crescent Rose, I could easily snipe the ground..." Ruby huffed. "I'm out of my element for sure."
Ruby paused. "...but...I still have my speed."
Down from within the steam cloud, a few fireballs launched out of the steam towards Ruby. She quickly dodged and wove through the barrage, looking down to see where they were coming from. Cammie was smart though, seemingly moving around in the cloud. No more than one shot was fired from the same space and there didn't seem to be a pattern to it, either, preventing Ruby from predicting where Cammie would be.
Ruby crouched down, as she began to move around with her hoverboard and her semblance. Ruby's speed had reached a new height- it was like she was warping from place to place. Ben watched with delight.
"...there we go." Ben said. "Hopefully you're getting the hang of things..."
On her latest warp, she actually slammed into Cammie and knocked her to the ground. Considering all the speed she was building with each warp, it wasn't hard to see that happening. The hit actually made the tech expert lose her grip on the twin daggers, sending the weapons sliding across the arena floor.
Cammie groaned, as Ruby jumped down to the ground and morphed her board back into the shield. Ruby flashed a grin, as Cammie shook her head off in confusion.
"Ow..." She said.
"Alright, enough!" Harriet called from the stands, "Rose...gotta hand it you...that was...different. No one's ever used that, but even then, you made it work. Some obvious flaws in the weapon itself but over all, speed's on your side. Maybe we should try to make it less of a crutch... As for you, McCloud, using the Dust to your advantage was a good strategy, but it's clear you're not used to daggers. Held onto them too tightly during the slashes, then too lightly when you started using range."
"Yeah, I noticed." Cammie said, shaking her head. Ruby helped her up.
"...can I keep this?" Ruby asked eagerly.
"No," Harriet said sternly.
"I'll build one for you later," Cammie whispered to Ruby.
"Thank you..." Ruby said, as she and Cammie walked off.
Ben hummed. It must be his turn next and he'd likely be paired with Oscar.
Sure enough, Harriet called out Tennyson and...Chiffon? Who the hell was Chiffon? Ben looked around for someone else who stood up and when he found them, he had the immediate impression they were standard upper-class Atlas. That is to say, he gave off the vibe of an asshole.
He was relatively average in height and build, clad in a very Atlesian outfit, complete with a white armored chest piece, complete with a somewhat raised collar that gave way to what seemed like a stitch-pattern shirt underneath, dark orange pants and white and armored Atlesian military boots. He also sported armor pads on his shoulders, elbows, and interestingly, seemed to have two winged-like additions on the sides of his head. Each one seemed to have lights on closer to the end of the wings themselves.
"Right...this won't take long then," Chiffon said as he made his way down to the arena.
"Kick his ass," Kevin said, no hesitation in his words.
"Oh, I will." Ben said, walking forward. He had to choose a good weapon- he was technically going in blind with this guy. From a glance, he could tell this man dripped with the arrogance and ignorance that Cardin Winchester had. The way he looked down on him was honestly kind of funny, considering Ben punched a God in the face last week.
Ben went over to the weapon's display, and reached for a staff. "Well, I always wanted to use one of these..."
A distinctive click reached Ben's ears, making him look over to see Chiffon, wielding a futuristic looking flintlock pistol. It was made up of that same standard Atlesian white metal, yellow glowing circuits ran the length of the weapon and down to the handle.
"Really? Staff against a gun? I get it, field missions aren't gonna be fair but..." Ben said.
"Under normal circumstances, you would not catch me dead with a gun. While I can admire the craftsmanship...they're just so far too mundane. No elegance, no finesse. A rank and file tool of combat. In other words, it's far too simple for my liking," Chiffon said. Those last words had the tone one has when they have to explain something painfully obvious, which is to say very annoyed and condescending.
"Okay then." Ben said, as he got into a battle pose. Ben had very little experience with weapons, but given how impressive his fighting skills were, he could inch something out. His new Nanomech form, and that Woodworker guy...they gave him some opportunity to show that off.
"Alright, start!" Harriet yelled.
Ben spun his staff around, and pointed it at Chiffon. Chiffon looked unimpressed, as Ben jabbed towards him.
The Atlesian trainee simply sidestepped the jab, quickly maneuvering to the side and slamming Ben in the side of the head with the stock of the gun. Ben staggered a little bit from that and swung to the side with the staff. The strike missed, with Chiffon ducking under it and retaliating again with another pistol strike.
Ben blocked the attack and jabbed him in the chest. Chiffon clashes with Ben, with his staff blocking every one of the pistol whacks. Ben spun the staff around and hit Chiffon in the head. Chiffon stumbled backward, as Ben advanced.
Chiffon spun his gun around and fired a bullet at Ben. The bullet, despite being a blank, somehow managed to hit Ben's staff and break it in half before it hit him in the chest. It hurt, more so than a blank normally would without the right protection. The impact actually knocked Ben back a few steps, an outcome that Chiffon smirked at.
"Wait, I thought these were training weapons? No live rounds," Oscar said.
"They are," Harriet pulled out her Scroll just to confirm something. She scrolled through the files of the course's students and found Chiffon's. She quickly found his Semblance, Force Amplification. He could channel some of his own Aura into a hit and double the force behind it, making a punch from him feel like a hit from Elm.
"Semblance extends to bullets apparently...interesting," The speedster of the Ace-Ops said. Would certainly make the fight more even, given what she knew of Ben's abilities already.
"A blank that hits at six fold the strength...not to brag, but, I'm kind of an ace at this stuff." Chiffon smiled, blowing smoke from his gun.
"Not really..." Ben said, holding the two halves of the staff. "Now I have two weapons." Ben rushed forward, slicing the jagged edge of one of the staff at Chiffon.
The Atlesian managed to dodge the strike, the edge barely missing his cheek. Apparently, even the idea of being scarred angered Chiffon. He lashed out and struck with another pistol strike at Ben, only to be met by one of the staff's halves. Ben then used the other half to slam into Chiffon's gut, staggering him a bit before going on the attack. Chiffon was forced to dodge and weave through Ben's own flurry of attacks, the pistol blocking a few of the strikes.
Ben's eyes glinted a brief blue color, as he boosted himself with his semblance. It was brief, but the charge of energy was enough to help him overpower one of Chiffon's strikes. Ben jumped up, kneeing Chiffon in the chest.
Harriet raised a brow at that. So the kid did have a Semblance afterall. Here she was thinking all he had was some hand-to-hand training and that fancy watch. The Atlesian agent staggered back from the back, taking another, brash swing at Ben with his pistol. There was another brief burst of energy and Ben not only dodged it, but he swept Chiffon's legs out from under him, knocking him to the ground.
"How did you-?!" Chiffon began.
"I'm not all 'alien powers' and stuff." Ben grinned, jumping around a bit. I don't have a good handle on my semblance, but I know I can use it to boost around stuff. Maybe if I try and 'charge' myself up, I can take this guy out in one hit...
Chiffon narrowed his eyes at Ben and got back to his feet, opening fire on his opponent. This guy had a temper, and Ben triggered it perfectly. Every time Ben dodged out of the way of a shot, the impact crater looked like a cannonball hit the wall. Every single shot now had a bit of Aura infused into it.
Harriet facepalmed in the stands. Chiffon just made the worst mistake someone can make out in the field, give in to one's emotions.
Ben was narrowly avoiding the attacks. This guy's semblance made bullets look like cannonballs. If he trained his body enough, he could probably make a normal human punch feel like a Tetramand's punch. Ben couldn't build up energy, either- he had to spend some bursts of energy to avoid the attacks.
"I can't keep dodging forever..." Ben said. "Think! You're creative on your feet...what can human Ben Tennyson do?!"
And then the simplest solution came to mind. The gun itself was modelled after a flintlock...so it probably couldn't hold that many shots. He didn't need to dodge forever.
Ben just needed to keep up his movements. He dashed backward and began to circle Chiffon opposite of the stands. Those shots were strong, and he didn't want anyone getting hurt.
Chiffon kept up his barrage, firing at Ben, hoping that at least one shot would land. He just needed that one, solid, shot then this whole fight would be over.
"Come on...come on," Chiffon growled to himself. He lined up the sights and smirked; this shot would be the one.
Click.
His smirk fell. He forgot to count his shots.
Ben rushed over, dropped the two staff, and launched a boosted strike to Chiffon's gut. Chiffon dropped the gun, as he keeled over. Ben kicked the gun away from him and sighed.
"That was a workout," Ben admitted.
Chiffon was seething, but he didn't say anything. When Harriet called it, Ben offered his hand to the Atlesian to help him up. For his trouble, Ben got his hand smacked away by the Atlesian. He must've taken a bigger wound to his pride than Ben thought.
"Good display, Tennyson. Never realized you had a Semblance." Harriet admitted.
Ben rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that's because I use it more passively than anything." Ben held up the Omnitrix. "I realized that after I unlocked my semblance, my recharge times became a bit shorter. So, I guess I've been directing all my energy to the Omnitrix subconsciously."
"Have you ever used it offensively?" Harriet asked.
Ben felt a weird pain in his chest.
"...once, yeah."
"Hm...maybe we can hone that then. As brief as it is, something like that could save your ass in the field. As for Chiffon, you were too...reserved. You made your stance on guns abundantly clear, but that doesn't mean you can't swallow your pride. And before you point out about your little barrage against Tennyson, that was too aggressive. You let your anger get the better of you and you just shot wildly," Harriet explained.
Chiffon didn't say anything, but he did not seem to take the words well.
"Kid, don't have a tantrum on me right now. It's unprofessional," Harriet huffed.
"...fine." Chiffon seethed, throwing himself back up. Ben had a feeling that he needed to stay away from him.
"Right. Well with...that done...Pine!" Harriet called out, making Oscar go rigid, "You're up. Soleil, you too."
Oscar began to make his way down to the arena, seeing the girl he would be fighting make her way as well. She was a dark skinned girl with, oddly enough, short, dark teal hair and blue eyes. A blue beret was situated on her head and her outfit consisted of a plain off white golden button-down shirt, a blue combat skirt, fingerless, elbow-length black gloves with a wristwatch on her left hand and black shoes along with white, golden buttoned boot chaps. Oscar also noticed a rather prominent mark in the middle of her forehead, maybe some kind of tattoo? It was a gold oval shape surrounded by four smaller circles.
"Soleil..." Ruby repeated with an inquisitive tone to her voice.
"What's up?" Kevin asked.
"Nothing. The name just...sounds kinda familiar." Ruby said as Oscar and Soleil walked over to the armory.
"I look forward to battling with you," Ciel said, with a rather dull but polite tone.
"Same to you," Oscar replied with a small smile, as he scanned for something to use. Oscar didn't have a clue on what to use. He tried to think back- when he had that impossible dream to become a hunter, what weapon did he always see himself using? Oscar's eyes landed on it- a katana. Oscar grabbed it- The sword had an orange notched blade, with something that looked like a vent on the non-sharp side. The guard was shaped like a butterfly, with wings inlaid with crimson and ivory material. The grip resembled a scroll.
"Now that's a katana." Oscar grinned.
"How does he know that line? Did he read one of your books, Blake?" Ruby whispered.
"...how do you know it came from one of my books?" Blake fired back with a smirk.
"...I just want you to know, those books are filth. Filth," Ruby humphed. Blake knew she won that little conversation though.
Oscar turned to face Ciel, katana at the ready. The girl had chosen a mace, the head of the weapon surrounded a large yellow Dust core with various circuit lines that lined the flanges of the weapon. The core began to glow and the farmboy saw arcs of lightning spark between the flanges.
That is so not the weapon I expected her to take. Oscar thought to himself, a worried expression slowly spreading. Oscar looked down at his katana and unsheathed it. "Okay...let's hope working with a katana is like working with a cane," Oscar said, readying his stance.
"Begin!"
With that, Ciel started things off. She raced towards Oscar, mace reared back and ready for a strike. Oscar quickly brought the katana up to block the strike, a small shock hitting his body. Even when blocking he'd be taking damage. Small amounts sure, but it'd be whittling away at his own Aura. The farmboy pushed back against Ciel, the katana's blade now glowing with an orange light.
"Hm...interesting," Ciel muttered to herself before she closed her eyes for a brief moment. She opened them again and, unseen by many, her eyes were now glowing teal.
Oscar didn't have time to wonder what was up with her eyes. Oscar swung his katana at Ciel again, but she ducked under it. Oscar gasped, as Ciel spun around and smashed into his blade with her giant mace. Oscar skid back, as he dug the katana into the ground to stop his movement.
"She hits harder than I thought, too..." Oscar said. Need to stop underestimating her.
"Race to the left to attempt a flank and attack, should that fail, put the opponent on the defensive, constant barrage," Ciel muttered to herself. Oscar pulled the katana free from the ground and rushed at Ciel, trying to flank her from the left. He slashed at her when he was in range, but the composed Atlesian ducked under the attack and struck Oscar in the back with the mace. The hit shocked Oscar more severely than when he blocked it with the blade. He turned to try and put her on the defensive, but the tables were quickly turned. Ciel was the one who went on the offensive with a barrage of well-placed strikes, each shock whittling away at the farmboy's Aura.
Oscar was struggling to even get a hit in. Oscar activated his semblance and knocked Ciel back with the dome. Ciel hummed, as her eyes slowly returned to normal. "Hm...should have looked into the future a bit further."
Ruby's eyes flashed. "That's where I first saw her..."
"What? Something wrong?" Ben inquired.
Ruby frowned. "We never met formally, but...I watched her battle at the Vytal Festival..."
"What?"
"She's Penny's teammate."
Please leave a review!
