Heya. Doings are a transpirin'!
Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5
"She's Penny's teammate."
"...now that you mention it...you're right. She fought members of team BRNZ from Vacuo. Roy and Nolan, I think their names were," Blake said.
"From the way you said that...I take it she kinda wiped the floor with the two?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, Penny got more focus, but I don't even think she got underneath 80% Aura," Ruby said.
"Damn," Kevin said, whistling. "Penny had a great teammate, then...how come you never met her?"
Ruby frowned. "I...think Penny was more like 'work friends' with her team."
"So kind of like some...other people we know?" Ben asked, nodding towards Harriet, just in case she heard them.
"Yeah..."
Down in the arena, Ciel closed her eyes again and opened them after a bit longer this time. From her perspective, she saw an image of the barrier drop and Oscar would rush in for more slashes. Right, left, hilt strike, right, left. Easy enough to counter.
Oscar surely repeated that same action. Barrier drop. Rush. Slice. Slice. Slice. Ciel found these attacks all too boring. But with the last slice, Ciel noticed something interesting- the vent on Oscar's katana started to spew out a weird smoke from it. Ciel raised a brow- that wasn't supposed to happen in her vision.
Oscar moved the sword around, before obscuring Ciel's vision with the smoke.
That definitely threw Ciel off, but it wasn't anything she couldn't adapt too. She closed her eyes to activate her Semblance once more. Oscar, however, was about to give her the chance. Oscar didn't know how she was dodging so perfectly, but he managed to time his swings perfectly here. Ciel's eyes were still closed and he managed to catch her before she opened them. Three hits landed before Ciel opened her eyes, bringing up her mace to block at the last minute. Her Aura had definitely taken some damage from that and she actually looked a bit panicked now.
Oscar quickly swung his katana at Ciel, but she quickly blocked it with her mace's chain. Oscar pushed the blade's flat side down with his hand, trying to overpower her.
"Oscar's doing pretty good without Ozpin's help," Kevin noted.
Ben shook his head. "Yeah...he's been training hard. Been pretty determined ever since the incident at Haven."
"Can't blame the kid," Camie whistled. "He's so unassumingly powerful..."
"Yeah, Ozpin was...one hell of a mentor," Ruby said, trying to keep the secret. Cammie still wasn't in the know about the Ozpin and Oscar situation.
"Didn't realize he had a student like that."
Ciel struggled against the blade before she eased up on the struggle. The sudden shift made Oscar stagger a bit, giving Ciel the opening to shove back. She quickly began a new assault against the farmboy. Metal against metal rang out in the arena, each shock ticking away at Oscar's Aura. Before the last swing, Ciel supercharged the weapon, lightning surrounding the head of the mace as the flanges expanded outward, almost opening up like vents. Ciel swung the weapon at Oscar and, even with the katana blocking the hit, the shock hurt like hell.
Oscar felt his Aura flicker. "Ugh..."
"And, that's it for now," Harriet said, holding up her hand. "Battle's over."
"He got half his aura knocked out in one blow..." Ruby said. "Ciel did something similar in the festival, I think."
As soon as Harriet called it, Ciel backed off and shut down the mace. The flanges moved back into their normal positions, smoke rising off of them.
"Good match," Ciel said, giving a slight bow to Oscar.
"Yeah...you too..." Oscar winced, his Aura flickering a few times.
"Soleil, you did good. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you actually trained with a mace. But, you relied on your foresight too much. You saw it; Pine exploited the opening," Harriet began, "And Pine, we are definitely teaching you how to use a weapon that isn't a cane."
"A cane? He fights with a cane? Chiffon scoffed from the stands, "That is one of the most ridiculous weapon choices I've ever heard of, third only to 'glowstick nunchucks' and a trumpet."
"Dude, shut up." Ben hushed. "She's gonna make you run laps-"
"Tennyson. Chiffon. Ten laps for babbling." Harriet snapped, jabbing her thumb to a nearby track. "Get to it!"
Ben sighed in defeat at that and started to head down to get the laps over with.
"Honestly, can't believe these 'specialists,'" Chiffon muttered as he went down to get them finished as well. Hopefully Harriet didn't hear that one.
"...that guy has a death wish," Blake said, picking up Chiffon's complaint.
Ruby watched Ciel rejoin the group, and they briefly locked eyes. Ciel looked away first, and she looked unnerved. "Looks like she's gonna be awkward to talk to," Blake muttered.
"But it doesn't give me an excuse to ignore her," Ruby said. She'd just reach out to her later.
"Now for the rest of yo-" Harriet began, before she was interrupted with a buzz from her Scroll. She sighed and pulled the device out, checking the notification.
"...oh you've gotta be kidding me," the speedster Ace-Op pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
"What's up?" Kevin asked.
"Nothing, nothing." Harriet said. "Let's just do a few more matches, and then go back to your barracks. Just...ugh."
A few hours later, Ben stumbled back to the barracks, exhausted and out of breath.
"She said ten... that's not that bad...which is why Mr. 'Guns are the weapons of savages' should've kept his mouth shut..." Ben groaned.
Ben felt like slumping over and crying, but he knew that would hurt his pride. Ben instead settled for leaning against a wall and coughing and gagging like crazy. "I...need...water." He huffed.
"Need a hand?"
Ben weakly turned around to see Marrow, approaching with a glass of water. "A-are you an angel that looks like my friend Marrow? Or are you the real deal..."
"Real deal, dude." Marrow said, handing him the water. Ben immediately downed the cup of water. "Harriet have you run laps?"
"10 of them." Ben joked.
"...dude, how are you still alive?"
"Never mind that," Ben said, wiping some water from his lips. "What are you doing here?"
"Easy. Harriet's no longer your only instructor," the wolf Faunus smirked.
"...oh thank god. You gotta be better than her."
"I mean I'm still gonna push you guys, buuuut I'm not gonna kill ya. Trust me, I know how it feels."
"That's right...you went through this too," Ben said, as he and Marrow began to walk and talk.
"Yeah. I did it back when the Ace Op lineup was still ever-changing." Marrow joked. "Didn't really hit me how dangerous my job was until I got a taste of training."
"Ever-changing?" Ben repeated.
"Yeah...let's just say we've avoided tragedy for a few years now." Marrow said.
"Oh...damn. You mean…someone specific though, don't you?"
Marrow looked around, making sure Harriet wasn't in earshot, "Luckily, Hare's not around to hear this. It's...it's a very touchy subject. For...all of us, really. Harriet's...never exactly gotten over it."
"I can tell." Ben gloomed. He'd known loss plenty of times, and while he was able to have some sort of support...Harriet wasn't so lucky.
"I'm talking about my… predecessor. She was the person to decide I joined the Ace Ops. Split the vote." Marrow said. "She said that she saw something in me. I was looking forward to working with her, but..." Marrow shook his head. "Never mind all that."
"Yeah...sorry for opening old wounds," Ben said, before taking a drink of water from the glass Marrow had given him.
"No worries. Just...something to keep in mind around her is all."
Ben reached his bunk area and huffed. "Welp, better lay down for a bit. I am feeling wheezed."
"Alright- see you later, then." Marrow said, as he and Ben went their separate ways.
Ruby, Oscar and the others were waiting for Ben, even now. Blake was reading a book (it was Ninjas of Love: The Blade of Lightning, she had just put a blank cover over it to hide it), while Cammie was looking over the blueprints for her weapons. The ice and fire daggers got her inspired; maybe she could upgrade the frames...
"You made it!" Ruby exclaimed as she dashed over to Ben.
"Yeah, just barely. Chiffon is still running laps..." Ben coughed. "I'm...still standing somehow."
"Poor bastard. Not that he doesn't deserve it." Kevin retorted.
"Hoping we don't have to share bunks with him. He seemed pissed that Ben managed to overpower him." Blake added.
"Is it wrong to say that he's the embodiment of the Atlesian stereotype? Or am I right about that?" Oscar asked.
"100% in the right," Cammie noted, "Chiffon's a name connected to a lotta businesses in Atlas and Mantle. Not as big as, say, the SDC, but still a 'respectable' amount."
"Let's hope he stays in the background for the rest of our time here. He's...a handful." Ruby smirked.
"Handful nothing. That kid creeped me out with his temper tantrum." Cammie shivered.
Ruby nodded. "Yeah! All huntresses gotta be focused and attentive and-"
"Hey, Ruby! I think I got some roughs on the blueprints for your hoverboard." Cammie said.
"OH! LEMME SEE!" Ruby rushed over.
"'Focused and attentive,' huh?" Blake smirked, turning the page of her book, "Never change, Ruby, never change."
Ben and the others shared a laugh. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad- Harriet wasn't drunk with power, Marrow was here, and they were all bunkmates. Nothing can spoil a good mood like this.
At least, until Ciel walked in.
"Huh? O-oh! Heyyyy Ciel," Ruby greeted awkwardly.
"Uh...hello. I'm...assuming you have some free time?" Ciel said back, sounding just as awkward.
"We should probably introduce one and other," Ben said, walking forward. "Since we're bunkmates and everything. I'm Ben Tennyson, and this is-"
Ciel's eyes lit up. "Kevin Levin. Blake Belladonna. Oscar Pine. Cammie McCloud," Her eyes stopped glowing, as she turned to Ruby. "Ruby Rose."
"...I didn't even say all the names. How did you-?" Ben asked.
"The future is ever-changing, and I just wanted to expedite the process." Ciel smiled slightly. "It's nice to meet all of you."
"Nice to...meet you too," Cammie said, not really sure what she meant by that first part.
"That's your Semblance, isn't it?" Oscar asked.
"Yes. With a bit of expended Aura, I can see ahead in time. Not...incredibly far, mind you, but far enough to where the difference can be life-saving," Ciel explained.
"I've never heard of a Semblance like that," Ben said. "Pretty unique."
"Indeed." Ciel smiled. "I look forward to working with all of you for our short time together."
"...I've been spending too much time with Yang. My mind immediately went to 'that was a pun wasn't it?'" Kevin sighed.
"Ah, you know someone like that as well..."
"...Ciel. You were...Penny's leader, right?" Ruby asked.
Ciel didn't react at first, before answering quietly, "...yes. Penny was my partner. I had...no idea of who she was."
"They kept it that secret, huh?"
"Yes. In truth, I always considered Penny simply...overly energetic and lacking certain social graces, which is not a bad thing. But..."
"You were just as shocked as all of the crowd," Ben speculated.
"On the contrary…" Ciel whispered.
"What?" Ben asked.
"Nothing, nothing. Ruby...can I speak to you?" Ciel asked. Ruby tensed up, but nodded.
"In private, please," Ciel said before turning and heading out the room.
"O...kay," Ruby said, following Ciel out. She had a pretty good guess as to what this was about.
Ruby and Ciel walked out of the room, leaving the rest with a sense of unease. Ben wanted to follow, but...maybe it's best he let the two be alone.
The two leaders wandered around for a bit, trying to find a quiet place to properly chat. Ruby noticed how unnaturally calm Ciel was- it admittedly freaked her out. Ruby compared their meeting to 'meeting someone at a funeral wake'. You had a connection to the deceased...and so did they.
"Tell me," Ciel began when they found an open balcony overlooking the rest of the academy grounds and the city, "...did you know? Before...before the match?"
"Kind of. It was an accident. Penny saved us from getting hit by some careless driver, and...some of her skin ripped." Ruby said, looking down at her hands. "She was always so eager and weird..."
"The answer is still yes. I see..." Ciel sighed, "Then...if...I may ask something...personal. Have you ever felt...powerless? Like you can only watch something from the sidelines, despite how much you want to interfere? No, not how much you want to, how much you need to?"
"Plenty of times," Ruby remembered a few, when Cinder shot that arrow, when the Watch Collector terrorized her friends, and when Ozpin revealed that awful truth...powerless wasn't an emotion she liked.
"Then you know what it was like...when I saw what would happen..."
Ruby's eyes widened. "...wait, you..."
"I...saw it happen," Ciel tensed up, "I wanted to take a little peek into Penny's future, to see if she would win...when I saw everything."
"Oh my god..."
"I wanted to speed things up...and I saw her die. I wanted to try and shout out, tell them to stop. By the time I had seen it all...it already happened."
Ruby looked horrified. "...I'm...I'm so sorry."
"The rest of the night was a blur. I'm surprised...I even made it," Ciel continued, her voice shaky, "...the others weren't so lucky."
The realization hit Ruby like a truck. Despite Ironwood's less than conventional means of running Atlas Academy, student teams were still made up of four people. And only Ciel survived that night.
"Ciel...I..." Ruby began, not really sure what to say next. How would she react if Ciel and her swapped places? If only one out of an entire team walked away from Beacon?
"It's fine, it's fine." Ciel sighed. "I've mourned them, and I carry on their wills to fight. It's why I'm here. I prefer to look forward, and never back. It's...less painful for me that way."
"You've...probably heard this before, at least I hope you have, but...don't just bottle that up, ok? Trust me, I've seen what that can be like," Ruby said, hoping her advice would work.
"...I'll try," Ciel nodded, "The past for me is something I wish not to go into."
"But...I'm willing to listen to it." Ruby reassured, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, "And I'm sure a lot of other people are as well."
"...such as?" Ciel asked, honestly hoping for at least one suggestion.
"I know several specialists who have previously dealt with your stress, and, well, you do have me, Ben, Blake, Kevin. We were all in that battle, too, you know," Ruby answered, "We...knew how it felt. You don't have to be alone with this."
"I...would need to know your mission schedules though. Just to get everything coordinated," Ciel said.
"...our schedules? Ok...wasn't expecting that," Ruby admitted.
"Apologies. I've been told I have...an obsession with punctuality and time."
"...I can see where Penny got her punctuality from, then." Ruby joked.
"I...did impart that to her, I suppose. She was actually often late before the Vytal Tournament..."
"She never missed a chance to hang out, even if it was for something small." Ruby reminisced.
"She spoke about you a lot, and...I never reached out to you until now. Maybe I buried myself in work to avoid the confrontation," Ciel admitted, "And...I'm sorry about that."
"I get it. Like I said, I've seen it happen," Ruby said. She felt like explaining about Max would help...but that wasn't exactly her story to tell.
"...thank you." Ciel smiled. "I always wondered how this interaction would go."
"Let's just do our best out there, okay? I'm sure...it's what Penny would have wanted." Ruby said. "For all of us to get along."
Ciel nodded. "I couldn't agree more."
The next day started...maybe in the worst way possible for them all. Sure, they went to sleep at a decent hour...but it didn't help that Harriet walked into their barracks at five in the morning with an empty, metal trash can in hand. She didn't even turn on the lights before she threw the trash can into the room. It clattered, waking everyone up.
"Alright, wake the HELL UP! All of you!" Harriet called out. Everyone scrambled out of their beds, Blake practically jumping to the ceiling because of the scare.
Ben shot up, and dropped to the floor. He saluted Harriet, as she began to walk around.
"Yesterday was an EASY day for you, today begins your training in earnest." Harriet yelled. "And because I can't baby sit ALL of you, we have some OTHERS coming in to help. Don't waste their time."
Cammie and Oscar shared a confused look. Extra instructors?
"Rose and Pine! You two are gonna be training with Holiday. Levin, Ciel, Belladonna, you're going with Marrow. Tennyson and McCloud, you two are with me...and our Plumber rep," Harriet explained.
"Plumber Rep?" Ben repeated. "Who'd you get in for that?"
"From the nearby Atlas base." Harriet said.
"...you've MET the Plumbers from there, right?" Ben asked.
"You're gonna start questioning your superior officer, Tennyson? Asking for a repeat of yesterday this early?" Harriet threatened.
"No, sir!" Ben quickly said, hoping to quell some of Harriet's wrath.
"...that's what I thought..." Harriet walked past him, "Now, already sent you where you're training today; check your Scrolls. Oh, and the sessions start at 0630...on Marrow's suggestion. If it was entirely up to me, it'd be 0530."
Harriet walked out of the room, as Ben gave a sigh of relief. Ciel immediately got to preparing herself, as did Oscar.
"Makes sense those two are early birds..." Kevin yawned. "Alright. Time to slog through this shit..."
"To be fair, I think we got off lucky," Blake admitted.
"Eh...fair. Marrow's gonna kick our asses, just not as bad as Harriet would've."
"I would suggest you two start getting ready," Ciel advised, moving past them very quickly.
"She's right," Ben said, making a beeline for the sinks. "Come on! Let's hope the breakfast here is good!"
"Alright," Harriet said, pacing back and forth as she spoke, "Tennyson says he knows your squad. McCloud's not as familiar with the Plumbers so, you first."
The person Harriet was talking to was...possibly human? It was hard to tell as they were entirely clad in black and gold Plumber armor, very different from the usual mostly white suits. But then again, he was from the Atlesian base, where every soldier had an oddly colored armor suit. He had a helmet that reminded Ben of one worn by another of the Magisters that had called in. Arnux? Yeah, Arnux.
"My name is Magister Washington. I'm head of the Plumber's own Special Operations Recovery Unit, and an occasional agent of Atlas." The man's voice sounded like a more casual Ozpin.
"Nice to meet you, sir. Thank you for taking time out of your schedule to work with us." Cammie said. There was an air of professionalism that Ben appreciated, especially compared to those Grif and Simmons characters.
"Gotta admit...surprised that you're here Tennyson," Washington said, "Heard you covered for Griff and Simmons..."
"Magister...if I may ask...how?" Ben asked, "How are they so..."
"Unprofessional? Idiotic? Still in the Plumbers?"
"...yeah."
"Don't have an answer for the last question, but I'm not actually in charge of them. It's...complicated."
"Enough chitchat." Harriet rolled her eyes. "Washington- show MacCloud the ropes. Teach her how to throw a punch."
"Got it," Washington said.
"And as for you, Tennyson...we're gonna mix training both your human form and some of your aliens." Harriet said.
"Oh, sweet. I can try out my combat playlist..." Ben said, activating the watch.
"Combat playlist?" Harriet asked.
"Ever since the Omnitrix got recalibrated, I've been discovering some of the new features of it," Ben explained. "I can arrange my aliens into these playlists- like, deep-sea aliens, Halloween-based aliens, Melee, long-range, flight...and I got my Battle Ready playlist."
"So, who's on it?" Cammie asked.
"Some classics- Heatblast, Diamondhead, Fourarms, Humongousaur...Goop..." Ben said.
"Hold on, that pile of ooze?" Harriet scoffed.
"He throws everyone for a loop." Ben admitted.
"Four Arms then. Straightforward enough for what we're going for," the speedster said, putting on some martial arts gloves, "After that...we'll see how you do."
"Alright, McCloud. Let's see what you can do. Won't even throw a punch back. Need to see what I'm working with," Washington said. He still got into a combat stance, but it was more defensive, more guarded.
"Wish me luck," Cammie said, letting out a breath as she walked over to the Magister.
"Same..." Ben said, dialing up Four Arms on the Omnitrix. This part wouldn't be that bad, but the part after...well...
Ben's form beefed up and gained an extra set of arms. His skin turned red and rough, as Ben cracked his knuckles.
"Alright, Harriet- don't expect me to go easy on you. I can throw a nasty left hook in this form." Ben warned her.
"I'm counting on that," Harriet said, as she got in a runner's start.
Ben got into a combat ready stance himself and, before he knew it, Harriet raced towards him. He threw his right fists forward, hoping to catch Harriet with them, but the Ace-Op used her momentum and simply leaped off of them, landing a spin-kick right to Ben's jaw. He was far more durable in this form, so Harriet could afford to hit a little harder.
Cammie began her training with Washington as well, throwing out a series of jabs. True to his word, the Magister didn't even throw a hit back, dodging or deflecting each and every hit. Behind his helmet, he was taking note of every move Cammie made, seeing what mistakes she was making, what she had right, all of it.
"You must constantly be attentive when battling!" Washington instructed. "Maintain this condition at all times. This involves keeping your gaze fixed on the road ahead. Use all of your senses; taking a few deep breaths to assist you smell the surroundings also helps you concentrate."
Washington unleashed a punch that came dangerously close to hitting Camie in the face. She dived behind it and fell backwards.
"Do you know what the terms 'process and resource' mean?" Washington inquired.
Cammie said, "N-no."
"Two opposite extremes of the combat spectrum," Washington explained. "A resource predator attempts to extort something from you. His acts of violence are only a means to an end, to get something from you. He will first threaten violence, then use it if intimidation fails. The mindset of a process predator is to be aggressive. You're not allowed to offer him anything."
Cammie quickly got herself up and took up a stance again. Process and resource, with those words in mind, she decided to be a bit more aggressive. She renewed her assault, going in with back to back to strikes.
Ben, meanwhile, was having about as much luck with Harriet. He got close to landing a hit on her, but she always managed to dodge out of the way at just the right time.
"Why do I get the feeling that this was all a setup so you can get some clean punches in on me?!" Ben yelled.
"Stop whining- you're supposed to be good at fighting, aren't you?" Harriet asked.
Ben rolled his eyes. He could see the smirk Harriet wore; she was getting some satisfaction from this, just a bit. She raced around the Tetramand, landing a few hits here and there as she did small hit-and-run strikes on him. Whenever he moved to get a strike in, she was already gone. He simply struck at her out of the pattern, going for where she was aiming next. A Tetramand fist slammed into Harriet's chest and sent her flying back.
"Ok...like getting hit by a Beringel. Good to know," Harriet muttered to herself.
"And you know what? Maybe I won't stay with Fourarms." Ben said, slapping down the Omnitrix symbol. His muscles melted off of him, as did his skin, bones, just about everything dissolved into green goop. Harriet watched as a small UFO came around and hovered above it. The UFO managed to create a somewhat humanoid form for Ben.
"...I don't see how this could be used in combat." Harriet gagged.
"Then lemme show you." Ben jumped at Harriet- he swung a fist at her, which she narrowly avoided.
Harriet raised a brow at that before going back on the attack. She tried to land a hit on Goop, but he wove between each hit she sent his way.
"Ok...good for dodging," Harriet admitted between hits, "But he can't take a hit, can he?"
"Find out for yourself, won't you?" Ben taunted, as he lunged at Harriet once more.
Cammie and Washington continued to fight. Some strikes were becoming more difficult for Washington to repel, which was an indication of Cammie's progress.
"Back-of-the-neck elbow blows are a terrific method to take down adversaries," Washington stated. "Any elbow blow has the potential to cause injury. There's a low-to-high attack that hits an adversary beneath the chin, a horizontal strike that slams into a vulnerable region on the body or face, and an elbow strike that hits an enemy in the base of the skull."
"...you're incredibly adept at this battle stuff," Camie smirked.
"Surprisingly, I was the worst among my friends." Washington remarked.
"The worst?!" a remark that threw Cammie off her rhythm. Washington exploited the opening and grabbed Cammie by the arm, before throwing her over his shoulder.
"Distracted you. Sorry about that. But it's true. Plenty of Magisters who can outdo me," Washington explained, before offering a hand to Cammie to help her back up.
"But…you've been schooling me! How…how are you the worst one?" Cammie said.
"One thing I've learned is that I'm not the best at everything. That's why you have teammates to do the stuff you can't." Washington explained.
He was right, of course. It's just that, due to Cammie's own background and occupation in Atlas, she'd never really had proper teammates. Sure, some of the other white hats helped her, but that was more of a work-friend relationship.
"What we need to find out is what you're good at right now, so then we can find out what your teammates have to patch up." Washington said. "Fighting may not be your game right now but you've shown initiative to improve. That's a good step forward."
"Thank you. And...yeah, tech's more my speed, but gonna need to fight eventually right?" Cammie asked sheepishly, taking the compliment in stride.
Speaking of fighting, Harriet, after several tries, finally managed to land a hit on Goop. Which...didn't go as she had planned. At all.
Goop was an unexpected extraterrestrial menace. Harriet had been struck by several arms that had appeared from Ben's back, long flexible legs that blew up in size to increase their damage output, and even a geyser-like attack that sent her flying into a wall.
"O-okay." Harriet huffed. "You're...giving me a lot more trouble than I thought." Harriet landed a blow in Goop's body and her fist became trapped inside of it. Ben gave her a look.
"...so, remember what I said about Goop?" Ben's voice gargled.
"What? That he always throws people for a loop?" Harriet asked, just to make sure.
"Yeah...this is kind of what I meant," Ben smirked.
"...I know you're smirking..."
"What? Me? Right now? Nooooo." Just a little payback for the beatdown she gave him as Four Arms.
Harriet huffed. "You're not gonna try one of your new guys? Thought you unlocked a million of them."
"Temporarily. I only kept just a few random aliens and some of the guys I had previously used against the Watch Collector,"Ben stated. "Besides, I don't want to waste my advantage." Ben flung both arms in the air, combining them into a gigantic 'club.' Ben slammed the club into the ground, but Harriet just managed to escape it. The goopy club blew apart, scattering goo all over the place.
"...Gross," Washington said, as he shook some goop off of his armor.
"Maybe we should focus on your Semblance for now." Harriet huffed.
"Are-...wait...no, not saying that," Ben began, but caught himself.
"...oh no, please. Continue," Harriet crossed her arms.
"No, no. It's a disaster waiting to happen," Ben pressed down on the Omnitrix and in a flash of green, reverted to his usual self, "So, Semblance training?"
"Yesterday, you mentioned something about how your Semblance had an effect on your recharge time." Harriet said. "So, I have a bit of a theory on that."
"Alright, let's hear it." Ben said.
"Those bursts of energy COME from the Omnitrix." Harriet theorized. "The watch acts like an accumulator or battery- it stores the energy inside of it, and then you draw from it to create those attacks. It's like...an alternating current."
Ben looked down. "I guess it'd make sense?"
"You said you used it offensively once before, right? Was it on purpose?"
Ben winced at the question. He couldn't blame her on this one, it was just her trying to be direct.
"...sort of. It was...out of desperation. It was one of those times where...even though you're not that far away from someone who needs your help, something makes it feel like...miles. Cause something's in your way or you're too wounded to stand..."
"...right..." Harriet sighed. She knew that feeling all too well...
"It came out like a bolt of electricity. From my fingertips," Ben said. "I...did some nasty damage with it. I just needed to let the energy flow through my body."
"And in doing so, you allowed yourself for faster movements and stronger blows." Harriet said. "Do you know if you can store other forms of energy?"
"Probably not. The Omnitrix would automatically turn me into Chromastone, Feedback or Frankenstrike-"
"...seriously?"
"What, you got a better name?"
Harriet paused. "...Deadbolt."
"...damn it, that IS better."
"...dunno, I kinda like Frankenstrike more," Washington called over, "If you have a werewolf and a ghost, keep the classic themed names going."
"Starting to sound like Marrow," Harriet scoffed.
"Taking that as a compliment!" Washington said, before focusing back on Cammie, "Now then. Know what I'm working with here now. Got a good foundation, just need to build on it."
Cammie nodded. "My strengths are tech and agility...think we can work off that?"
"It's a good start. I suppose we can try some endurance with your agility..." Washington said. "Each of the components of fitness contributes to the body's capacity to withstand physical stress. The higher the degree of fitness, the more efficient your body is."
"Isn't that irrelevant to you? Since you're in a suit..." Cammie said.
"...then let me make this fair."
Washington removed his helmet, revealing his face. He had a fair complexion and a blonde undercut, and he was older. His pupils were yellow, and he appeared exhausted like he'd seen a lot. With that pleasant voice, Cammie would never have imagined. The man stepped out of his armor.
"Let's start with some jogging. Great way to get the body active." Washington smiled. "Gotta build that good foundation, somehow."
"A good foundation..." Ben repeated, looking at his hands.
"Your Semblance is similar to mine," the speedster Ace-Op explained, "I have to hold a position for a few seconds before I can really maneuver myself around the field."
"That's how it works?" Ben asked. "Huh. Always figured it was like Ruby's."
"I don't have that luxury," Harriet said.
"Huh...ok. So...you're thinking I need to do something similar? Let it charge up first?"
"Let's try something. Imagine you're 'transforming' or something. Like the Omnitrix energy is...engulfing you and changing your body." Harriet shrugged, "I don't know."
"That's..." Ben began, not really sure how to compare it.
"I don't know, just try it! I'm not an expert with the damn thing," Harriet shot back.
Well, it was better than nothing. It was honestly hard to imagine the change whenever Ben activated the Omnitrix, each transformation was different and only that initial spark was the same. Depending on the alien he was turning into, Ben could be feeling his entire biology changing to accommodate gills and scales to becoming the embodiment of magnetism. He tried his best though, focusing on some of the more electrically- or energy related forms. Chromastone, Frankenstrike, Feedback and Shockrock. The last was probably the best one for this, as Shockrock's entire body was nothing but energy contained in rocky armor.
Ben felt a surge of energy enter his body, even if it was just for a little while. Ben struggled to contain the energy, but it swiftly disappeared. Ben knelt down on his knees and began to take short, deep breaths.
"It...it felt like I had a hypnic jerk..." Ben said, shaking his head. "I don't think this is something I can build up, Harriet."
"So it's more something that has to be fired when it's used, no charging or else it backfires. That's actually a bit trickier to deal with. Hate to admit, but Marrow might need to help with this...or Vine. He's the resident Aura expert."
"I'll take either..." Ben said, still feeling a bit dizzy. "Ugh...can I sit down for a few? Feels like my brain just bounced around inside my skull..."
"...take five. Gonna call up Vine to see if he's available. Marrow's still dealing with his group I think."
"Now, I may not look it...but I am a total weapon's expert." Marrow said, with a small grin.
Kevin, Blake and Ciel looked at him blankly. With that giant boomerang, you could have fooled me. Kevin thought.
"And I heard that Harriet already had you run through the different weapon course, so now we'll be dealing with the more standard hardware," Marrow continued, ignoring the blank looks the trio gave him. He pulled up a few briefcases and set them on some metal tables that had been set up. He unlocked them with a click and opened them, showing three grenades gently placed within them.
"...you're giving us grenades?" Blake questioned.
"Yes and no. They're not explosives, just stun grenades. Used for mass arrests and stunning packs of Grimm."
"I've read about these," Ciel said. "Filled with finely ground Dust. The output of the device is determined by a few other key components."
"Correct." Marrow nodded. "These nodes on the side are used to indicate that. So, if I just...press this button on the top...and hold it down..."
There was a small spark around the middle of the grenade that all three noticed. Marrow didn't seem concerned as the device counted down to detonation. At the right time, Marrow threw the grenade at one group among a myriad of targets set up for this part of the boot camp. The grenade clattered to a halt at just the right position under one before going off, releasing a wide shock that caught at least five other targets in its radius.
"See?" Marrow smirked.
"I like what I'm seeing, Marrow," Kevin nodded. "Lemme try that."
"Go ahead!" Marrow said, offering Kevin the case. Kevin picked one up and charged it for a few seconds. He threw the device over to the targets.
There was a bit of a longer delay before the device detonated, catching another six targets in the blast.
"Timing was a bit off there, but good throw," Marrow said.
"You were off by 40 seconds," Ciel chimed in.
Blake threw her bomb next. The timing was a bit better, but her throw was perfect. It ensnared 10 targets.
"How'd you get so good at throwing?" Kevin asked.
"Playing catch with my dad. We'd have this thing where we'd toss the ball as hard as we can at something, and try to hit it in a certain spot." Blake grinned.
""Huh...explains how you're so good with Shroud. Took the first skill and worked on it a bit," Marrow said with a nod, "Alright then. Ciel, your go."
Ciel nodded and grabbed her own grenade. She activated it and started mentally counting how many seconds she had. But right when she started she heard something. Everyone did, actually; it was a series of fast electric beeps that was getting faster and faster.
"You guys hear that too, right?" Kevin asked.
"The bomb- it might be defective!" Blake yelled. Ciel's eyes lit up, and she gasped.
"G-get away! Everyone! Get away!" Ciel yelled at the top of her lungs. "It's gonna blow!"
"Throw it!" Marrow yelled, getting his Semblance ready. If he could freeze it midair, the damage might not be as bad!
Ciel tried to chuck it, but it became trapped in her hand. "It's rigged!"
As he hurried over to Ciel and attempted to rip it off, Marrow's eyes widened. "Shit, shit, shit!" Marrow screamed, desperately attempting to rip it off. Marrow was ready for it to explode-
As he hurried over to Ciel and attempted to rip it off, Marrow's eyes widened. "Shit, shit, shit!" Marrow screamed, desperately attempting to rip it off. Marrow was ready for it to explode-
A flash of red suddenly caught his attention before both he and Ciel felt something grab hold of them by their shoulders.
"Hold on!" Kevin said, his voice a lot higher pitched and a lot faster. Now in the form of Rush, his visor closed over his face and he raced towards Marrow and Ciel as a blur of dark green and red. Ciel closed her eyes and waited for it to go off, before she suddenly felt herself get grabbed.
Blake leapt back as the explosion went off, shaking the room and setting off a few alarms. She raced into the smoke cloud the blast left behind to find the trio and saw no one. She heard the sound of Kevin racing back around the training, before he came to a stop and let Marrow and Ciel go. The both of them were thankfully unscathed by the explosion, even if it did leave Ciel a little rattled.
"What the hell was that?!" Harriet yelled, making her way over. "Marrow-"
"It wasn't my fault!" Marrow insisted. "One of the bombs was a dud, okay?"
As soon as the alarms sounded, Washington and Harriet raced over towards the source, along with a few other soldiers who happened to be nearby.
"Marrow, a dud is one that doesn't go off! How the hell did a stun grenade go off like THIS?!" Harriet gestured to the massive scorch mark in the room.
"I don't know, maybe because it wasn't a stun! It was live!"
"Did you seriously pack a live-"
"Are you actually trying to pin this on me? You think I'd be that stupid?!"
"...maybe it was sabotage," Blake said.
"What are you saying!?" Harriet said.
"Consider your position in Atlas," Blake began. "You're military higher-ups, right? Considering how you're at the top of the 'food chain', there's a lot of people who'd want to take you down."
"But if there's anyone that would be a target for assassination, it would be someone like the general, Dr. Weller, or even Winter," Harriet countered, "We are the best of the best, but losing one of us doesn't cripple any major operations. Taking out the general would open two gaping wounds in the government, Weller's loss would be a huge blow to the R&D division and Winter's..." Harriet paused for a moment.
"Winter's...what?" Kevin asked.
"The general's second in command. It'd be a blow to the command structure," the speedster quickly covered.
"Still, you can't deny the situation- someone is trying to sabotage you people specifically.," Blake said pointedly. "Have you made any enemies?"
"...not many." Harriet said, looking around.
"Well...not many that aren't behind bars already. And who're still behind bars," Marrow began, "I'm still the 'new guy' when it comes to things like that, but the team did help take down the White Fang branch that worked over here."
"The whole branch?" Blake asked, a bit surprised.
"Yeah. Arrested the main guy and without him, the cells fell apart. Some disbanded and others moved to places like Mistral or Vacuo."
"...the main guy, huh?" Blake shivered at that. Kevin took note of that.
"I do agree that it was a bit suspicious that the incident only happened over here..." Washington said. "Feels...targeted."
"Now that you mention it, yeah. It...kind of does." Marrow said. "You guys don't think this was...some sort of hate crime, right?"
"I doubt it," Harriet said, almost absent mindedly, all the while looking over her shoulder. Part of her had to wonder...
"...actually...how common is it for a Faunus to join up?" Kevin asked, "Aside from Blake, I only know about you and Neon."
"Not...very, actually. Neon and myself are...kind of rare exceptions," Marrow admitted.
"...you know something, don't you?" Ciel asked, head turning to Harriet. Harriet responded with a look that shot daggers.
"Mind your damn business." Harriet said coldly, as she walked off.
Ciel didn't ask after her, but now she had her suspicions.
