Omniverse Underground
Gammatron: Hey guys. I own no one in this story nor the series of Sonic Underground, Ben 10 Series, or the BlazBlue series. I do own Roll Cyber Sakurai though. Also, say congrats to me and SZ here on finally doing this!
Seanzilla115: Greetings once again minna. I dont' own no one in this story, nor the Sonic the Hedgehog series, Ben 10 series, or the Blazblue series. I do though own Haseo Yukimaru Sakurai. Also, say congrats to me and GT for finally doing this! We, or rather I've been waiting to do this crossover for so long! And we're finally doing it!*calms down*sorry about that. Anyway...let's begin, shall we?
Rebel 22: One Truth Prevails
Rook grunted as he was starting to be choked by Ragna, easily lifting the alien by his neck with just one hand. His Azure Grimoire was twitching, ready to pull out BloodScythe and just hack the guy down.
"What did you just say? I thought you said that you were here to arrest Benjamin Kirby Tennyson," Ragna's eye twitched.
"Y-You know…him?!" Rook gasped out before Ragna dropped him due to a large gold mechanical fist striking him on the head.
"…" Ragna glanced at Alpha, standing beside him, "…Really?"
"Yes, really," Alpha replied as Ragna collapsed, a large bump on his noggin, "Now who's this Ben guy?"
"A brother of sorts," Ragna replied with a shrug, recovering quickly from the hit.
"B-Brother?!" Noel exclaimed.
"I was unaware of Benjamin Tennyson having a sibling," Rook scowled, "Cousins? Yes. But never a sibling."
"It's more like brothers in spirit," Ragna smirked before chuckling, "So what idiot commissioned his arrest?"
"A woman known as 'The Imperator' requested him to be put on bounty," Rook replied as he held up his badge as it displayed an image of Humongousaur attacking men in a familiar uniform to Noel and Ragna.
"The NOL," both whispered before Noel and Haseo squeaked in fear as they saw Humongousaur rip one of the men in two before turning into Big Chill and freezing others.
Rook put the badge away, "He is wanted to the senseless murder of five hierarchical cities' police districts on that planet which are essential to the survival of the races that live on mountains due to the surface being covered in a toxic unknown substance."
"Now that's a bit of a lie," Ragna snorted.
"Come again?" Rook asked.
"Show that image of the dinosaur alien and look at the eyes," Ragna pointed out, "Last time I saw Ben, his alien forms all had green eyes, or eye when it came to Wildvine and Feedback. What I saw was a shapeshifter that had red eyes."
"…" Rook pulled it out once more and Noel and Haseo were instant in hiding their sight from it, "…How are you able to deduce this? It could be that the last time you saw Benjamin Tennyson was quite some time ago."
"Roughly five years," Ragna shrugged.
"So when he was 16?"
"Six…? No way, I spent a month with the kid, that magic brat, and Gramps on a shitty-looking, yet kinda awesome, RV with Master Jubei when he was eleven," Ragna replied before blinking twice, "…What year is it on Ben's world?"
"April 2, 2014," Rook replied.
Ragna's eye twitched, "…Noel, I think whatever happened to us to get us here also flung us five years ahead."
"F-Five years?" Noel squeaked.
Sleet hummed as he walked into the hospital. Since he didn't want Dingo to be kicked out of the place, he had put him under a pseudonym. Sleet was also in disguise, replacing his normal attire with a formal grey suit with a black vest over his white button shirt while his hair was slicked back. Contacts hid the yellow of his eyes.
"Morning, Janice," Sleet greeted the nurse at the deck.
"It's good to see you, Mister Delaware," the Mobian Monitor Lizard greeted.
"…Has there been anything…new with my brother?" Sleet asked, taking his bowler hat off and over his heart area.
"…Unfortunately, we're not sure if he's better or worse or even just the same," she admitted, "But you can still see h…" a piercing scream erupted down the hall, "Oh no…"
Sleet was off like a rocket. Within seconds, he was at the room Dingo was in and swung it open. Chills ran up and down his spine at the sight he witnessed. Dingo was screaming in pure agony as his body, completely aqua-blue in color, was melting.
"Oh no! No, no, no, no, no!" Sleet screamed as he ran over, "Come on, now, stay with me!"
Dingo let out a final scream before his entire body completed its liquidation, leaving just the brain. Sleet collapsed to his knees with his eyes starting to water. A few nurses and a doctor pulled him out of the room without any arguments from him. As the last doctor prepared to clean up the liquid mess, he never noticed the brain starting to faintly glow. By the time the doctor turned to the brain, he couldn't breathe. That was mainly because of the claw-like limb impaling his neck and lungs. The liquid limb slowly removed itself and the doctor collapsed, dead.
"C…os…" a voice incomplete in sentence structure spoke, "…w…t…ha…s…"
"Ready, Ben?" Tsubaki asked as she readied her moon-themed shield and sun-themed spear.
"Hold on," Ben replied before turning his Omnitrix on and quickly pushed it down.
In a flash of light, Ben was replaced with one of his new aliens. He stood tall, possibly a bit taller than Rath. His body was bulky and in the color of freshly-dug up sediment with skin that was actually rock. His mouth was quite large while his feet were tan with three toes each. His hands sported three fingers and a thumb with rock formations on the backs of them. He wore a simple pair of black shorts with green stripes, held up by a green belt with a white, incomplete band going around the middle of the belt, the center of his torso sporting the Omnitrix Symbol.
"Gravattack is ready!" the alien informed.
"Then let's start sparring!" Makoto declared.
Tsubaki charged in with a thrust. Gravattack rolled out of the way before he felt something on his left leg. Looking down, he noticed a gold rope around it. Tsubaki pulled and Gravattack crashed onto his face. He got up and his hands began to glow a soft green color. Tsubaki yelped as she ended up pulled upside-down. The red head yelped as she tried to keep her skirt from rising…or falling…or whatever it was in her predicament. Gravattack walked up to her with a big grin on his face before he lightly squeezed her nose.
"Honk!" Gravattack grinned before letting her nose go.
Makoto expelled her held breath in a way akin to the raspberry before she started to hold her stomach in laughter. Tsubaki's face was a brilliant shade of red as she glared at the Galilean before she was lowered down and Gravattack changed back into Ben.
"Okay, you are not allowed to use Gravattack in our spars," the red head frowned at him.
"Sorry. It was the best move I could think of," Ben sheepishly replied.
Tsubaki sighed. Sonia had taken her off to shop for some new clothes since she couldn't just wear a dress-like pajama all the time. Tsubaki was currently wearing a white skirt that went past her knees, a pair of cream-colored short-shorts beneath, a white top, and white silk slipper-like shoes, likely Chinese in origin. On her head was a hat that resembled her former hat, but the eye was removed and replaced with a symbol of sixteen different moons in a circle.
"Not bad, dude," Manic noted as he used his drumsticks to play on a log.
"Ben, don't use Gravattack for training, okay?" Sonia asked.
"Right, right, right," Ben nodded, "But at least we know Gravattack manipulates gravity."
"Plus, we can totally use it for training in zero-g places," Manic pointed out.
"That's true," Tsubaki nodded.
"Lunch is ready, everyone~!" two voices called from the bus.
"Oh, sweet!" Manic grinned as he ran for the bus…when he fell onto his face, ending up being left behind by the others unintentionally, "Ow."
He began to get up after that. He looked down at his foot to see something sticking out of it. Digging it out, his eyes widened as he heard a cash register ring in his head. In his hand was a large fine-cut sky-blue emerald. He hid it in his vest before following the others into the van.
"Huh? A medieval armor moved on its own?" Ben pondered as he paused in taking a spoonful of his soup.
"Two guards said they saw it," Makoto replied as she showed him the article in the day's newspaper from the nearby town, "It's a pretty famous rumor around the city we're near."
"It sounds like fun, ne Sonikku?" Roll asked.
"A little," Sonic replied, 'Museums are about as fun as stepping on a nail barefoot.'
"So why don't we go out and check this little rumor?" Tsubaki suggested.
"Seconded," Sonia agreed.
"Hai!" Roll beamed as her tail wagged a bit with Yacker clapping his tentacles in glee.
"…Who keeps an eye on Manic?" Sonic joked.
"Dude~!" Manic groaned.
"Sorry, man, but you know how you are around valuables," Sonic reminded, "…And pancakes."
"I don't know," Ben noted, "It's probably just a story made up by the art gallery to get more customers."
"Aw," Makoto frowned before a sparrow flew in.
"Delivery for the Royal Triplets," the sparrow informed as the tiny bird pulled an envelope out of its satchel for them.
"Thanks, dude," Manic nodded as he gave the bird a bag of seeds.
"Much obliged," the sparrow tipped his hat before flying off.
"Who's it from?" Ben asked as Sonic looked at the address.
"It's from Mom!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Aleena-sama?" Roll pondered as Sonic opened the envelope…before seven tickets fell out of it.
"…Oh, don't tell me…" Manic paled.
"'I thought you might like to take some time off, so I managed to get these tickets for you all to enjoy a day off. Love, mom. PS: Roll, if you said 'Aleena-sama,' please don't. You can call me 'Mom' if you want,'" Sonia read the letter inside.
"K-Kaa-chan?" Roll blushed as Manic hit his head on the table.
"Whyyyyyyy?" Manic whined to the heavens.
"One little problem; the museum's Mobians-Only," Ben noted as he looked at a ticket.
"…I have a little way to go around that," Manic pointed out, 'If I have to go to one, you're going too, dude.'
"Sugoi~!" Roll awed as she looked at a statue of a wolf, sitting in a thinking position on a rock, "There's a lot of beautiful artwork!"
Ben-currently a Mobian dog in his clothes-, Sonic, and Manic tilted their heads as they looked at an abstract portrait. Nearby, Tsubaki-a Mobian dove-looked at a portrait of a glass, two lemons, and an empty bowl while Makoto-a Mobian squirrel-looked at a sculpture of a squirrel Mobian in knight armor holding an acorn.
"Aren't you all glad we came?" Tsubaki asked before she beamed at a picture, "Oh! This one is so beautiful! The colors compliment not only each other, but the design they were put into."
"Y-Yeah…" Ben nodded, 'Man…Talk about luck that Manic, Rook, and Tails were making these ID Masks.'
Nearby, Sonic and Roll had moved on to another artwork. It was a large painting done in pointillism. It depicted a young couple sitting on a beach as they looked upon the setting sun. Roll's smile softened as she gazed upon it. Beside her, Sonic raised a brow at the portrait, not sure what to think.
"You like that one, young couple?" the two turned to see an elderly Hedgehog with gray quills and a long beard-mustache combo, going to the middle of his torso, "This is one of my favorite ones. It's said that the two hedgehogs in this mural are that of Queen Aleena and King Azure upon their finals days of honeymoon."
'Mom and Dad?' Sonic thought.
"Not just that," the hedgehog continued with a small smile, "I love all the paintings here as if they were my own children."
"Uh, and you are?" Sonic asked as the others approached.
"Oh! Sorry," the hedgehog apologized, "I am the director here. My name is Mr. Ochiai O'Donnell."
"Oh, the director. No wonder," Roll awed.
"Well, please take your time and enjoy," Mr. O'Donnell smiled at them before he noticed a Mobian wolf in a black gentleman's outfit starting to remove a portrait, "Kowalski! What are you doing?! I told you to always wear gloves when you touch the paintings!"
"Ahh! I-I'm sorry!" the wolf bowed in apology as Mr. O'Donnell approached.
"You've done enough," he informed before turning to another worker, a brown-haired human, "Uh, Isaac-kun, take care of this."
"Hai," the man nodded.
"A…A human?" Tsubaki pondered.
"It's been slow work, but I've been trying to let humans and Mobians be together here," Mr. O'Donnell informed.
"That's a noble effort, sir," Sonia noted.
"Thank you," Mr. O'Donnell smiled fatherly at her before two Mobians in business uniforms began to approach.
"Hmph. It sure is a lonesome place."
"Oh! Owner Manaka…" Mr. O'Donnell turned to the Mobian turtle of the two.
"This place will be shut down in like ten days," the turtle examined, "Until then, take care of it. …This junk that has mold growing on it." He turned to the Mobian scorpion, "Ok. Let's go look at the blueprints."
"Yes, sir," the scorpion nodded before they left.
"This art gallery is going to close?" Makoto asked in concern.
"Yes. The previous owner's company went bankrupt so he sold this place to Manaka," Mr. O'Donnell informed.
"The previous owner sold him this place with an agreement stating that Manaka will continue to run this place," Isaac added before discreetly glaring at the turtle, "But the second he bought it, he said that he was going to turn this place into a hotel."
"What?! He can't do that!" Tsubaki growled before they heard something hitting the floor, making them turn to see Kowalski freaking as he picked up a fallen knight's helmet.
'That guy's treating the art work violently again,' Makoto thought as the turtle looked at him.
"You're name is Kubota, right? I've heard about you. You better go manage your money early!" Manaka sneered before he walked off with a laugh.
"Damn!" the wolf growled as he tossed the helmet on the covered pile.
'Ah! Again,' Makoto thought.
"Well then everybody, please enjoy," Mr. O'Donnell spoke as he and Isaac walked off.
'He got so mad the last time,' Makoto thought.
"You noticed it too?" Tsubaki whispered.
"Yeah," Ben agreed, "Guess the guy has a problem with armor."
"You both saw that?" Makoto asked.
"Ne, ne, Minna, let's go see the other exhibits!" Roll beamed.
"It's been awhile since I last went to a museum and didn't have to fight someone," Ben noted as he looked at a portrait of a wolf running across a dessert.
"…You fight at museums?" Makoto asked.
"Don't blame me. Blame the bad guys I always had to fight because there was some sort of ancient artifact there," Ben informed, "Like this guy, Hex. First Museum I go to on the summer vacation I got the Omnitrix and what happens? That guy destroys some stuff just to get an item called the Charm of Bazel. Next place? Megawatts."
"Megawatts?" Sonia repeated.
"Little aliens that look like black and yellow batteries. Drain them of the electricity in them and they go to sleep pretty quick," Ben explained, "But if you try to cut through them, they multiply!"
"You don't have a lot of luck with museums, huh?" Makoto asked.
"Not in the least," Ben shrugged, "For once, I'm glad that things are like this." It was then they heard Roll's scream, "…And there it goes." He quickly turned on the Omnitrix and changed into… "Brainstorm! …Really, Omnitrix? Why must you confound me so by performing this stunt more often than not?"
"Let's just get going!" Tsubaki advised.
Minutes earlier, Roll walked out of the Water Room-a room dedicated to water-themed artwork-with Sonic, the blue hedgehog shuddering a bit. Roll had spooked him-though he'd never admit it to anyone-when she poked her head into an interactive exhibit of a shark.
"Roll, if anyone asks, let's not say what happened in there, okay?" Sonic asked.
"Hai!" Roll giggled before she noticed something, "Ara-ara? The 'No Trespassin' sign is gone."
"Hm? Oh, yeah," Sonic noticed, "Guess they're done with that part."
"Ne! Now that we're here, let's just check out that last room," Roll giggled.
"Yeah," Sonic nodded, "I'm kinda interested in it as well." As they entered the hallway to the exhibit, Sonic looked up, "Apparently, it's called the 'Hell Room.'"
"Mou…Sounds scary," Roll noted.
"Not much scarier than Ro-Butt-Nik," Sonic shrugged as Yacker shivered from his spot on Roll's head.
The two entered the exhibit. The first thing to notice was that the room was somewhat dark, making it hard to see much. Roll gulped as Sonic felt her hugging his arm, making him blush a bit as his arm was pressed against her bosom. The two stopped before a painting. It depicted a hedgehog in gold armor, walking away from a large stone where a demon was impaled by a sword through its neck.
"S-Sugoi…" Roll whispered, "Ne, ne, Sonikku, that armor looks like the one you wore when you went into Astral Heat."
"Really?" Sonic pondered as he looked at the armor, 'Then again, I didn't see it since I was wearing it.'
"It's big, too," Roll noted.
"This truly is Hell's painting," Sonic noted as Yacker hugged his opposite arm as he looked at the demon in it, "Something up, Yacker?"
"Z-Zeti…!" Yacker whimpered.
"Zeti?" Sonic repeated.
"Oh! Obaa-chan once told me about Yacker-chan's species since I needed to learn how to work with him," Roll recalled, "She said…ano…'Never let a Zeti spot a Wisp. They're considered a delicacy to the Zeti race and all Wisps are prone to fleeing on sight when they see one.'"
"Interesting," Sonic noted, "You never did tell me how you got Yacker in the first place."
"Oh! Yacker-chan is really, really old," Roll informed as she gently took Yacker into a hug, "At least, to Mobians. In his race, he's still a child. It's been said he's been around ever since the first Sakurai was born."
"Ah…" Sonic nodded, noting how cute Roll was comforting Yacker, 'Ack! Cut it out, Sonic! You are still mad at the laws…'
"Let's see…This is called 'Divine Punishment. It was painted by King Man-Ike of the Royal Hedgehog Family in the early 1400s in honor of his son, Prince Arthur, slaying a ferocious beast that had been attacking various villages in the kingdom. The Prince was said to have said that he 'tamed the devil,''" Roll read, "Sugoi! Sonikku, this must be one of your ancestors!"
"Y-Yeah," Sonic nodded before the two heard something drip, "Did you hear that?"
"H-Hai…" Roll squeaked out as her eyes widened with her pupils shrinking to dots.
Another drip went off after that. Slowly, the three turned behind them. Impaled on a stone pillar behind them was Manaka. Blood dripped from the wounds on his body along with the neck area, where a sword was impaled through it.
"S-Sonikku…" Roll got out.
"Y-Yeah?"
"Th…That's Owner Manaka, ne?"
"Y-Yeah."
"O-O-Okay…" Roll nodded slowly.
She began to slowly intake a deep breath before she screamed.
Sirens went off as the police cars were outside the museum. Police were blocking off the area while keeping everyone that was in the museum together in the same room. A Mobian bulldog in a detective's uniform was standing before where the body was.
"Makoto Manaya, former member of my home's military and police, the NOL. These are my partners, Tsubaki Yayoi and Brainstorm, both the same occupation I had before we retired, yet in different wings; Zero Squadron and Undercover Squadron AKA the Plumbers, respectively," Makoto saluted, "We are currently traveling with the three Hedgehog Triplets of Royalty."
"We have made sure to prevent anyone from coming into contact with the deceased's body," Brainstorm informed.
"Thank you," the inspector nodded before turning to the museum workers, "So? Has anybody seen the criminal?"
"I confirmed with everybody and nobody has seen the criminal," Mr. O'Donnell informed.
"O-Oh yeah, the criminal might've been caught on that camera," Isaac pointed out to a hidden camera nearby.
Nearby, Roll was hiding behind Sonic, keeping extremely close to him as she trembled. She was not taking seeing a murdered body well. Sonic couldn't blame her for it. Manic and Sonic were giving small encouragement to her to come out from behind Sonic, but she wasn't doing it. Minutes later, an officer rolled in a VCR player and a small TV with the tape. The inspector played it and it turned on, showing a set of armor resembling the gold armor in the portrait.
"Oh? It's showing," the inspector examined, "What a stupid criminal. Don't even know that he was being taped."
"There's the owner," Makoto examined as Manaka entered the screen, "So our criminal's gonna be shown soon."
"Hope that punk's ready to…" Manic began, "?!"
Roll screamed once more as they witnessed the armor seemingly come to life. It raised it sword to Manaka, who was unaware as his back was facing it while looking at his watch. Manaka screamed in agony as the attack went diagonally across his back. Fortunately-if you considered it fortunate-, security camera tapes couldn't record noise. The knight landed from is leaping slash before Manaka before delivering a vertical slash on his right side. The knight then grabbed Manaka by the throat and slammed him against the pillar before impaling the man by his neck to it. The inspector quickly stopped the tape, causing it to stop with a headshot of the knight walking away from Manaka's body.
"Wait a second…" Sonic gasped, "I…I think I've seen this scene before."
"What?!" Manic exclaimed, "You've seen a murder like this before?"
"No. This…The way they're posed," Sonic pointed before looking over at, "'Divine Punishment.'"
"It is likely to assume that this murder was set up to act out this painting," Brainstorm noted.
"But what a daring criminal," the inspector noted, "What if he was seen?"
"Now that I think about it, there was a 'No Trespassing' sign along the path to that room," Sonic recalled as he held Roll close.
"What?" the inspector pondered.
"It was around four o'clock when Roll and I first saw it," Sonic noted, "We went off in a different direction than the others in our group. When we went back there, it was past five and the sign was gone."
Sonia avoided trying to whistle innocently. She had been the one who had encouraged the two to enjoy the time together. The Inspector examined the tape once more on its paused image. In the corner was the time.
"The crime took place around 4:30. There's no doubt the criminal put the 'No Trespassing' sign there," the inspector examined.
"That's how he was kept from being seen as he hid in that armor in this room," Brainstorm examined, "Then he killed the owner that he was supposed to meet."
"That means that the criminal has to be familiar with the art gallery," Makoto examined.
"In short…" the inspector looked at Mr. O'Donnell, Isaac, and Kowalski, "…the criminal is one of you!"
"Hey look! The owner is doing something," Makoto pointed out, "Look. While the criminal took the first swing, he was forced forward and the owner is doing something."
"Ah! Yes, he noticed something and took the tab of one of the paintings!" the inspector exclaimed as they watched Manaka doing that, "And now the pen that was on the table!"
"He's writing something," Manic noted as he turned to the still-hanging dead body, "It's still in his hand!"
Slowly, the officers finally removed his body. Roll kept her head buried in Sonic's torso as she didn't want to see the body anymore. Manic walked over and carefully removed it. Death was something he was pretty used to with his upbringing, so this wasn't something unknown to him. He then handed it over to the inspector. The inspector, keeping his gloves on, opened it and gasped.
"Th-This is…! K-'Kowalski!'" the inspector read.
"What?! Why is my name on there?!" Kowalski exclaimed in shock.
"Seems like you wore the armor to hide yourself from the camera," Sonia noted as she glared at him, "But the victim still knew who it was."
"No! No! It wasn't me!"
"Then, shall we hear your alibi at 4:30?" the inspector asked.
"I-I was alone in the office doing the work that the director asked me to do," Kowalski informed.
"I certainly did ask him," Mr. O'Donnell confirmed.
"Then that must mean that nobody saw you at that time," Tsubaki glared at Kowalski.
"W-Wait! I don't even have a reason to kill the owner!"
"Lying won't do any good, Kowalski!" Isaac argued, "You were selling the art pieces here secretly and the owner was forcing you to pay for the loss, right?!"
"W-What?!" Sonic gasped.
"Dude, not cool," Manic frowned, knowing the pot was calling the kettle black.
"T-That's…!" Kowalski tried to stammer out.
"Even if you're proven innocent, you'll be charged with theft," the inspector stated.
"This has nothing to do with this! I did not kill him!"
"It's OK. When my men find the armor, the truth will be revealed," the inspector stated as Brainstorm and Makoto were examining.
"Ah! Here it is!" Makoto grinned, "Inspector! We found the tossed pen!"
"Oh? Nice job, you two!" the inspector nodded as Makoto handed it to him, "Ahh. This is a nice pen."
"That pen was made for the Beika Art Gallery's 50th anniversary," Mr. O'Donnell informed, "All employees would have them."
"So somebody left this behind?" the inspector asked as he extended the retracted tip.
Brainstorm's eyes widened. The Inspector proceeded to make a few scribbles in a blank notebook before examining the note.
"The color and the thickness is the same," the inspector informed, "The victim most likely used this."
"You okay, Ben?" Sonic whispered as Roll barely peeked up at the Cerebrocrustacean.
"It's strange," Brainstorm replied, "Kowalski should know about the camera. Why did he use this room when he had to hide his identity in an armor? In order to match that painting?" he shook his head, "No. He doesn't seem to have any interest in art."
"Oh. That's right," Roll's visible eye widened, "He was very mean to that helmet when we saw him last."
"So why would he perform such an act?" Brainstorm pondered before he walked over to two officers who were watching the tape once more.
"It's like a gory movie," one noted before noticing Brainstorm approach with Sonic and Roll.
"Rewind to when he takes the tab, if you kindly would," Brainstorm spoke.
"R-Right," one of the officers nodded as he rewound the tape.
"…Pause it," Brainstorm ordered before pointing at Manaka, "What is with that expression?"
"He seems shocked for some reason," Sonic noted, "Why's he looking so surprised?"
"Resume," Brainstorm ordered before having them stop it two seconds later, "Why did he discard the pen after he finished? The criminal would have a fair chance of noticing it."
"A-Ano…H…He didn't retract it…" Roll noted, Sonic looking down to see that she had her face away from his chest as she looked at Manaka.
"You're correct. Until Makoto and I were able to discover where it had been thrown, the tip of the pen was in," Brainstorm nodded as Manic and Sonia walked over.
"What's up?" Manic asked.
"Remember when Manaka threw the pen once he was done? He never retracted the tip," Sonic informed.
"But we saw the inspector extend it," Sonia noted before tapping her chin, "Strange. Why would somebody who was about to be killed put back the tip of a rotating-style pen?"
"Maybe…" Brainstorm walked over to Makoto, currently putting the tab in a plastic evidence bag, "Makoto, would you be kind as to allow me to examine that tab?"
"Sure," Makoto replied, "What are ya looking for?"
"There are marks on here," Brainstorm informed before smirking a little, "So that's how it was done. I've discovered the 'trick' of this."
"Inspector, we found it!" an officer informed as he and another one-both Bear Mobians-entered with a large bag, "The armor from Kowalski's locker."
"You found it?" the inspector asked as the bears put it down before him, letting him see the blood-stained armor.
"T-That's impossible! I don't know anything about it!" Kowalski argued as Tsubaki handcuffed him.
"There are two unassailable evidences here," Tsubaki informed, "Let justice be served, Kowalski. You can't argue with the evidence before you; the bloody armor and the dying message that the victim left!"
"No. That is not a dying message," everyone turned to Brainstorm, "It is a trick that the criminal left to blame Kowalski for."
"Wait. This is just a replica. It's one that Kowalski was moving earlier," Isaac noted.
"Ah. So that explains as to why the direction did not become unsettled upon the sight of him treating the helmet poorly earlier," Brainstorm noted.
"We were lucky that the armor used in the murder was just the replica," Isaac noted, "It seems like the other art works were saved too."
"Now that one thinks about it, is it not strange that the wall that the murder took place upon…" Brainstorm pointed at the wall, "…Bare of all paintings, yet not their tabs?"
"Y-You're right!" the inspector gasped.
"That means that the criminal took the paintings off before he did the murder!" Makoto realized.
"In order to save the paintings from becoming stained with blood," Brainstorm nodded.
"B-But what about his alibi?" Tsubaki asked.
"Ah, yes. That alibi. Fortunately, I've deduced that it was the perfect alibi."
"What?"
"There is only one person that could have done it…" Brainstorm pointed to… "Director O'Donnell."
"Wh-What?!" Isaac gasped.
"Uh, Brainstorm, dude? You sure about it?" Manic asked.
"If my reasoning is correct, then he would still have it," Brainstorm informed before he walked over to the director and handed him a piece of blank paper, "Please, if you would be so kind as to remove your own ballpoint pen and write your name upon this?"
"Wh-What?" Mr. O'Donnell asked, "I apologize, but my pen ran out of ink the other day. I merely keep it with me as a memento to the anniversary."
"So you admit to having a pen incapable of writing?" Brainstorm asked as Mr. O'Donnell's eyes widened, "If it pleases the investigation, if the pen that owner Manaka had was inoperable, then the supposed dying message would be a fake." He held up the evidence, "Upon this supposed message of death, there is a mark on it that bares resemblance to writing done by a pen that was inoperable. In theory, what if that mark was made with an inoperable pen in order to erase what was original written upon there?"
"I…I get it!" Manic exclaimed, "This wasn't written by the owner Manaka! It was written by the criminal from the very start!"
"What?!" the inspector gasped, "Then why would the owner take that tab?"
"That's easy enough," Sonia realized, "The criminal most likely told Manaka to look at the tab behind him. The name of the criminal is on there…but on the tab it said 'Kowalski' instead of the criminal's name. The owner, being surprised, tried to erase the name of it with the pen and write the real criminal's name."
"But he couldn't," Sonic added, "And why is that?" he pointed at the ballpoint pen that Manic removed from Mr. O'Donnell's pocket, "Because the pen that was placed there didn't work!"
"That's why the owner threw away the pen and tried to crush the paper in his hand," Manic informed.
"Therefore, in order to isolate us from the truth, this was a carefully constructed ruse that the criminal did with a camera that doesn't record sound and a pen that is incapable of doing its primary function," Brainstorm confirmed.
"B-But what about the pen we did find?" the inspector asked.
"That pen's tip was in when we found it," Makoto informed, "Why would you put the pen tip back in if you were about to be killed?"
"Then…this must be what the criminal placed, but he forgot to place the pen tip out," the inspector realized as he made the pen extend and retract its tip a few times.
"You are starting to understand it. The criminal of this murder…" Brainstorm pointed at Mr. O'Donnell with Sonic, Manic, Sonia, and Makoto, "…is Mr. O'Donnell, the director of the museum!"
"Director…Tell us your alibi at 4:30," Tsubaki ordered.
"D-Director…" Isaac whispered in shock.
"At that time, I was waiting. Waiting for that evil devil by hiding myself in that armor," Mr. O'Donnell informed.
"What?!" Isaac gasped.
"The rest of it was just as you all said," he continued, "The timing to come forward to make it look like I gave the owner some time, the placement of the tab, the placement of the pen…It was all according to plan since I practiced it here many times."
"Ahh! Then, the rumor that the guards saw a moving armor at night was…" Isaac gasped.
"I did think it was a foolish thing to do, but it was all done to get rid of Owner Manaka and prevent Doctor Robotnik from getting a foothold into this city," Mr. O'Donnell informed.
"Dr. Robotnik?" Sonic repeated as the Royal Triplets narrowed their eyes.
"The devil tried to take the art gallery which I thought of as my own child, for his own selfish reasons. A night when I spied on him when he was here, he made audio contact with Dr. Robotnik to have him purchase the museum for a reasonable price. With that foothold in this town, he would be able to have his forces invade and take over," Mr. O'Donnell informed, "Since we live so far from him, he would have used this place as a factory to make his enforcing robots and give Manaka the right to rule this city as one of his subordinates." He then looked over at Kowalski, "And this was also a way to punish Kowalski, who sold the art works behind our backs."
"Mr. O'Donnell, unlike my ancestor in that painting, it seems like you have received divine punishment, too," Sonic informed, making Sonia and Manic look at him in surprise, "Bro, Sis, that knight is one of our ancestors."
"No. It is just like that picture," Mr. O'Donnell informed, "The devil was destroyed by the heroic knight, but the knight who was covered in the evil blood was eventually turned evil by it."
"The Reign of the Black Knight," Sonia whispered in realization.
"I see the princess has made sure to read about her ancestors," Mr. O'Donnell informed before he looked at the ceiling, "No matter what the reason, I am a murderer. I also turned into a devil. As proof of that, I was unable to deceive the eye of justice. Now, before you give me my rights and signify that I no longer am the director of this museum, I hereby appoint Isaac as the successor of this museum." He walked over to the inspector, "I am ready."
"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Manic groaned as everyone was sitting around a table littered with history books.
"Sis wants us to be up to date on all our ancestors just because I didn't know about the 'Reign of the Black Knight,'" Sonic replied with annoyance.
"Well, excuse me," Sonia frowned.
"But it's been three days since you've been making us start reading all these books~!" Manic whined.
"At least the museum's going to stay open, like Mr. O'Donnell wanted," Tsubaki pointed out, "In a way, I kinda feel sorry for him. He just wanted to protect a place he loved like family."
"Yeah," Ben nodded, "And this way, Robotnik can't get his hands in this area."
"Oh! Sonikku, look!" Roll held up a picture of Sonic's guitar in its sword state as it was held by a blue hedgehog with black highlights in his quills, "I found a picture of Arthur-san!"
"Ah! Dude, look!" Manic exclaimed, "Isn't that your new upgrade for your guitar?"
"Y-Yeah," Sonic nodded, "'The Sacred Sword Caliburn.'"
"And on his neck!" Roll pointed at the image.
"Our Medallions?" Sonia pondered as she put a hand over her Medallion.
"Dude…" Manic whispered.
"But look. It's just Sonia and Manic's," Ben pointed out before he turned the page, "Ah! Look at this one!"
Everyone looked. The image was that on Arthur, but his neck sported Sonic and Manic's necklaces. He was holding a spear with the pole made of bronze and a metal/gold blade at the top. Connecting the two was a white cloth resembling fur.
"What's that?" Makoto pondered.
"It reads 'Sacred Spear Rhongo,'" Sonia read.
"And then there's his necklaces. Now he has Manic's and Sonic's, but not Sonia's," Tsubaki examined.
"C…Could this mean that your Medallions all have a second form?" Ben pondered as the Royal Triplets looked at their Medallions.
Tutor Me, Azmuth! - Done in BlazBlue Chibi Style
Characters: Azmuth, Tao, Aya Clover (Nirvana), and Carl Clover
The curtain rises up, revealing not Kokonoe's special lab, but a futuristic black and green laboratory that is kept nice and tidy and organized. On a nearby monitor was a small alien. It has grey skin and seems a bit...frog-like in appearance. His large eyes are green with horizontal rectangle irises while he has six 'whiskers' on his face that go down like a beard and mustache. He wears a green robe with silver bands on the shoulders, waist, and neck.
=Greetings, I am Azmuth, the creator of the Omitrix along with its predecessor, the Unitrix, and this is 'Tutor me! Azmuth'= the alien introduces himself, =If you humans don't understand, I am a Galvan from the planet Galvan Prime MKII and the planet Primus, where the Omnitrix's alien DNA is stored within the Codon Stream along with saving a copy of it inside of the Omnitrix as well as a safety precaution. Right now, we are in a room I had built specifically to let me speak with you all and not worry about canon things. Right now, I'm contacting you live from Kagutshuchi on the search for the elusive 'Squiggly' with my assistant, Myaxx…again. It got away last time, but we'll catch it! Over at the desks are my 'students' Carl Clover, Aya Clover AKA Nirvana, and Taokaka=
"Hello," Carl greeted.
"Meow!" Tao beamed.
=Ready to get started today?= Azmuth asked.
"Yep!" Tao replied.
"Of course," Carl nodded.
=Then let's begin= Azmuth noted as a monitor beside his monitor began to display Ben turning into Omniketsu =This is Omniketsu, an higher level version of a species known as 'Life Fibers'=
"Life Fibers?" Carl repeated.
=Yes. You see, Life Fibers have no original planet. Instead, they travel to a world…= the monitor changed to a digital image of a giant 'blanket' hovering over a planet =…reain down on the surface and evolve one of its species to become the dominate one. Once that happens, they'll engulf that species and then the entire planet, turning the species into energy that is then used to turn the planet into energy. After that, the planet detonates and the fabrics that covered the planet now go off all over the universe=
"What?!" all four in the room exclaimed.
=I didn't say that it would be pretty= Azmuth frowned, his image back on the screen before being replaced with a chart of human evolution =Now then, a prime example of the Life Fibers and their cycle of life is the human race of Earth=
"What?!" Bang exclaimed.
"Nya! How's that possible?" Tao asked.
=When Life Fibers inhabit a body, they cause havoc upon the nervous system, eventually resulting in the death of the host. However, when they cover someone, they drain energy still, but the host remains alive= Azmuth informed as the screen's image changed to an ape with red fur amongst brown-furred apes, holding a bloodied sharpened stone over a dead animal =When Life Fibers first appeared on Earth, they covered monkeys and apes, giving them a bit of higher intelligence. As the years went by, they slowly had the primates evolve until the Life Fibers entered their hibernation stage. When the Life Fiber Core-the original seed that fell upon Earth-is found, the Life Fibers will reactivate and slowly begin their final stage in life of devouring those they wear to become energy to form the Cocoon Planet and then turn the planet into energy and set it off to scatter their seeds yet again=
"S-So what we're wearing…?" Litchi shuddered.
=No. Not a single Life Fiber is in your clothing. I had those scanned= Azmuth informed =In fact, your planet does not have any Life Fibers. Nor does the Earth that I normally travel to=
"…Other Earth?" Tao pondered.
=You think you're the only Earth?= Azmuth chuckled =Oh no, no, no. There are multiple Earths, yet they're so far away from each other that you'd never see them without a powerful teleporter or a way to connect them. The only reason I know about this race is because of Omniketsu=
"What is Omniketsu, anyway? Aren't Life Fibers just strands?" Litchi asked.
=Excellent deduction! You see, I couldn't get enough DNA from just one strand, so I had to gather a bunch of them. Yet, they still didn't want to give any sampling. But when I make a scarf from them, I was strangely able to obtain DNA from them= Azmuth informed =From that, I was able to deduce that they become stronger with the more numbers there are in the shape of clothing. That is why Ben's form, Omniketsu, is so powerful-because Omniketsu is 100% Life Fibers. Yet, in trade for it, he needs to be 'worn' by someone and take a bit of their blood=
"Why their blood?" Carl asked.
=Blood is converted into energy for Life Fibers= Azmuth informed.
=Azmuth! I found it!=
=Huh? Oh! Sorry, but class is canceled for now! Myaxx, don't you dare let it escape! Tetrax, hurry! Hurry! Gah! It's one of those disgusting bugs it produces! Last time I ate one, I needed my stomach pumped!=
"Mr. Azmuth…" Carl whispered as Litchi looked at the static-filled screen in worry.