Camylon, Spectrum Castle
Since arriving at the Core Castle, Sofia and Belle have lost hope in everything—the destruction of their world, Vekk-Torr, and being separated from their friends. That was until Sofia's punch led them to the secret lab. Surprised, they were amazed by its wares. Belle immediately focused on a book on the main desk, and Sofia then noticed what she was doing.
"What are you looking at?" questioned Sofia.
"This," Belle responded as she pointed to the dusty book.
Sofia dusted the book off once she picked it up and was surprised by its title.
"Project Metamorphosis Files?" Sofia said.
"Read it. I wonder what's inside." Belle begged.
Sofia opened the book, revealing it as a foldable tablet that powered on and displayed a hologram of the angelic Knight of the Core.
"Greetings, Wonderer. I am Fyuz-Elot, Knight of the Core and master gene splicer."
"Wonderers?" Belle questioned.
"I think he's talking to us," Sofia noted.
"If you have stumbled upon this book, discovered this when I was away, or found this when scavenging through my lab, you are accessing these files that were once confidential to me and me alone. If this fell into the wrong hands, it would spell doom for every reality in the omniverse." Fyuz-Elot introduced.
"Wow. That guy must know everything." Belle praised.
"If you are good of heart, what are the seven principles of heroism?" He asked before it powered off.
"Belle, you know taekwondo. You know this." Sofia nodded.
Belle took the book-like tablet and raised it to her face.
"Courtesy, integrity, indomitable spirit, perseverance, self-control, honor, and glory," Belle said.
Then, the tablet emitted a green light, signaling that those were the principles. Belle threw the tablet on the desk, and the hologram of Fyuz-Elot reappeared.
"Correct." He said.
Belle and Sofia then high-fived each other, signaling their success.
"Welcome to Project Metamorphosis." He informed.
Then, the lab expanded, revealing more scientific equipment and blueprints of Distortions, past and present. Belle and Sofia were amazed by this expansion.
"Holy shit." Belle gasped.
"Amazing!" Sofia chimed in.
"Hey! Who's there?" A voice came from outside the lab.
Belle and Sofia gasped as they turned to the door. Sofia ran toward the bench press and weight set and hid under the former.
"Oh crap." Belle gulped.
Suddenly, as they feared the worst, Fyuz-Elot entered the lab. The MD-5 members and the Knight of the Core paused momentarily to notice each other.
"Wait," Belle exclaimed. "You are the one from-"
"The journal of this top-secret project? Yes, yes, I am," interrupted Fyuz-Elot. "I am Fyuz-Elot. You must be Belle Fontiere."
"Uhh, yeah," answered Belle. "How do you know about me?"
"We, the Camylonians, know everything." responded the Knight.
"Prove it!" Sofia yelled as she crawled out of the bench press and sat on it.
Fyuz-Elot walked over to Sofia and approached her.
"As you asked, I'll prove it to you, Sofia." He replied. "You are one-eighth Samoan, have an older sister in Lucinia, the technician and hacker of MD-5, and your favorite hockey team is the Colorado Avalanche."
"Wow, you are good." She complimented.
"So, why are you two here?" Fyuz-Elot asked.
"Well, it was Lin-Noir who sent us here. One of his portals sent us here when Vekk-Torr destroyed our world." Belle explained.
"Ah, Lin. Noble, protective, and graceful. Good friend." He smiled. "Glad he made you his top priority."
"So we happened upon your lab by accident and were soon intrigued by this 'Project Metamorphosis' thing," Sofia explained. "Care to explain it?"
"Sure. I will tell you everything I know about this." replied the Knight.
Fyuz-Elot, Sofia, and Belle then walked over to the blueprints of the eight Huntsmen of Remnant. Amazed by this, the girls analyzed each one.
"It seems you like what you see." complimented Fyuz-Elot.
"These look like character design concepts for a video game. What are you, anyway?" asked Sofia.
"A Knight of the Core, as well as a gene amalgam fanatic and master chef," Fyuz-Elot answered. "And these are the blueprints for my enhancements to these eight hunters."
"All to defeat Vekk-Torr, I guess," noted Belle.
"You are correct!" Fyuz-Elot responded. "His generals are, what you humans say, 'like a box of chocolates, and you'll never know what you get.' So I improvised on each one until I found the right combination."
"Did you manage to find the right combinations?" Belle inquired.
"I did, and it was against the right individuals at the right time," affirmed Fyuz-Elot. "To take down Braane-Strom, I chose a pair of siblings to best this brainiac of doom."
"You speak of Ruby and Yang. Right?" Belle interrupted.
"Correct," replied Fyuz-Elot.
Then, the blueprints began to circle the trio like a carousel.
"For Ruby, she will obtain a new arm with a built-in electromagnet so powerful it can use anything as a projectile. And to capitalize on his smarts, she will have enhanced reflexes and can predict her opponent's movements." He explained as the blueprints of Ruby and Yang's new forms floated behind him. "Yang will receive a healing factor and a new fighting style, making her unthinkable in combat against the hordes of VekkTroopers."
"Professional wrestling?" Belle guessed.
"Correct, my red-haired friend," responded Fyuz-Elot as six more blueprints circled them.
"Rock-Skar's noisy attitude masks his sinister weapon-smithing, so I chose Blake Belladonna and Jaune Arc to take him on. " He continued: "Jaune will be outfitted with the ability to synchronize his attacks to the rhythm of Rock-Skar's music-powered corruption. Crocea Mors gets an upgrade, making it an eclectic guitar that frees individuals from brainwashing. On the other hand, Blake will become an emotional Swiss army knife, with any strong emotion giving her an ability."
The MD-5 members looked at the remaining blueprints and were in awe.
"Ram-Busch is a tough cookie, so I tested two of the most skilled Huntresses against him. Weiss will receive a twin cannon jetpack and flexible, highly-plated armor to nullify him from a distance. But when it gets close, he could meet an icy cold fate by her touch." Fyuz-Elot continued. "As for Pyrrha, when she comes in close with an object, it will make a duplicate, perfect for confusing that nimrod ram."
"You know your strategies on stopping these guys." Belle praised.
"Agreed." retorted Sofia. "Who else is on the list besides Vekk-Torr himself?"
"He has hired one last general for this takeover—Shrapp-Null," answered Fyuz-Elot. "Trust me, she is the most dangerous of them all."
Sofia pondered, "And these two will be up for the task. Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren, right?"
"Good eye." Fyuz-Elot regonized. "Nora will become a walking electromagnet and—."
"Gains parkour skills." interrupted Belle.
"Yes. That," said Fyuz-Elot
Sofia analyzed, "And I'll like what you did to Ren here. You will make him a sentient computer virus that can hack any device."
As the blueprints returned to their original positions, the MD-5 members were amazed by the plans of the Knight of the Core. As the lab returned to normal, the three walked over to the vats of Grimm liquid. However, Sofia wandered off as she noticed a wristband-like object digging on another desk.
"Now, we are back to square one," Belle noted.
"Yes." Fyuz-Elot acknowledged. "These vats of Grimm liquid are supercharged with predetermined powers of my choosing."
"Dibs on the left one," Belle shouted.
"That would give you the powers of the phoenix dragon… except flight," Fyuz-Elot explained. "The other one will allow the user to use nanomachines as a weapon."
As Sofia rejoined the group, Fyuz-Elot noticed she had put the object on her left arm.
"I haven't tested that yet, but it can store up to four gear loadouts." He informed.
Suddenly, a group of Camylonians marched towards the doors to the lab.
"Shit! We must wrap this up before the Council of Balance and Order barge into my lab!" Fyuz-Elot warned. "To your stations!"
The two humans ran toward their respective vats and were lifted to the top by an elevator platform.
"See you on the other side, Fyuz," Belle said before she and Sofia jumped into their respective vats.
As they plunged into the vats, Fyuz-Elot closed the tablet, and the lab reverted to normal. The platform then covered the vats like a lid, and the Knight ran for the doors and held them closed. Inside her vat, Belle saw a spark of fire swim around her, and she tried to grasp it as it faced her. She tried to catch it with her hands as she swam in the Grimm liquid. Sofia, however, tried to swim to the top of her vat. Fyuz-Elot then pushed an iron bookshelf to barricade the doors so he could continue his work.
"Don't panic, ladies. This process will not take long, " he said as he ran for the lever.
As he grabbed it, he prepared to pull it and activate the process to turn Belle and Sofia into Distortions.
"Let's start the show." He said as he pulled the lever.
Then, electricity struck the two vats and boiled the Grimm liquid inside. In their vats, the spark entered Belle's body through the solar plexus, and then her body started to emit flames from her fingertips. Then, her crystal cocoon began to form, covering her feet. When the growing crystals reached her ankles, she saw the group about to enter was beginning to barge the doors. In Sofia's vat, she saw the nanomachines swirl around her like dust particles in a vacuum. Then, they started covering her body, similar to the crystal cocoon covering Belle. As they were doing so, a cartridge for Mutant Football League began to slip out of her butt pocket and merge with the nanomachines. By doing so, the crystal cocoon began to form and encase her.
"Looks like my new powers are up to the task." She thought.
As the crystal cocoons rapidly formed around the two guests, the platform uncovered them, and they immediately began to grow out of the vats in a stalactite shape. Fyuz-Elot then headed to the control panel and activated the arms to load the cannon. As the crystal cocoons began to reach full size by absorbing the Grimm liquid from the vats, he entered the coordinates to Remnant. But then, the group outside the lab started to barge the doors with all the force they could muster.
"The process is almost complete," Fyuz-Elot said as he prepared to load Belle's cocoon into the cannon.
As the lid to the cannon closed, he prepared to fire it at Remnant.
"Project Metamorphosis Test Subject Code Name: Inferno. Launch!" he declared before firing the cannon, sending Belle to Remnant.
The group's recent hit slightly moved the bookshelf, notifying Fyuz-Elot they were on the verge of entering. But he continued to work on sending his guests to Remnant as he loaded Sofia's cocoon into the cannon.
"Project Metamorphosis Test Subject Code Name: Amrada. Launch!" He declared.
Just as the cannon fired, sending Sofia to Remnant, the group immediately entered the laboratory. They swarmed it and tackled Fyuz-Elot to the ground. Just then, the group's leader walked into the lab. He was a Camylonian with magenta optics, wearing a black hooded trenchcoat with a tattered cape, a cassock, surplice, and a goldenrod-yellow chasuble underneath.
"High Counselor Star-Tera! It's not what it looks like!" Fyuz-Elot pleaded.
"Silence, cretin, your allegiance is still under question." Star-Tera retorted
As the Council of Balance and Order then put Fyuz-Elot in handcuffs and escorted him out of his lab, he turned his head to the cannon, hoping that Sofia and Belle would arrive safely on Remnant.
"Good luck in Remnant, you two." He whispered.
Remnant, Beacon Academy
15 days since The Onslaught
On Remnant, everything was quiet in Vale. Ruby and Weiss were walking on Beacon's main avenue and discussing how to get to Mistral.
"As for how I got here, Winter and I investigated a disturbance in Vale, so we took her ship to go there," Weiss explained how she arrived in Vale.
"Well, that's one way of putting it," Ruby responded. "Maybe we can hitch a ride with her."
"Well, you know what they say, 'Any enemy of my enemy is my friend.' So I'll give Winter the heads-up tomorrow," Weiss replied with a wink.
Mistral
In Mistral, Rock-Skar was working on blueprints for a weapon that would destroy anything in its path.
"Almost done. Soon, Lord Vekk-Torr will award me as his right-hand man when he becomes emperor of the omniverse!" he giggled.