SZ:...So...50 chapters for this story, and five years since this story has been out….
*thunder rumbles before a Dewlorean shoots out of nowhere*
SZ: 0-o...what the…? ...Alright. Who messed with time again?!
GT: *gets out of the Dewlorean* What? I thought it'd be fitting with today's chapter.
SZ: Ahh...nevermind then. It is very fitting. I mean….5 years of this Sonic/Ben10/Blazblue crossover story with 206 reviews under its belt.
GT: Yep-yep-yep. Haven't had this much review work since my CBB series and the original one. ...I really need to get back to working on that.
SZ: Indeed. I loved reading that story, man. Your CBB is how I first found out about ya back in highschool, and now look. We're best buds and fellow authors in fanfics.
GT: True. So very true.
SZ: Mmm hmm...but I think we've delayed this long enough. Let's begin with the story. But first...shall we do a disclaimer, or no? I...just wanna be cautious after the Archie Sonic comics got cancelled and a certain asshole(Fuck Ken Penders) will try and sue us for using 'his' character without his permission, and try and take our OCs and claim them as his own.
Haseo: E-eh?!
GT: ...Say what now? *raises brow* D...Did he actually do that to someone?
SZ: Well after saying that he's gonna be much better when IDW 'bombs' with their Sonic comic more or less, I would not be surprised if he started resorting to stealing other people's OCs for his crappy comic and claimed them as his own. I mean, the guy DID sue Sega once or twice before.
Haseo:...*hides behind Roll, shaking like a leaf*
GT: ...Oi vey…
SZ: Yeah...ahem. So...shall we do the disclaimer, or...know what? The people already know who we own and don't own and stuff, so...mind starting us off GT?
GT: Very well! *pulls SZ into the Dewlorean and drives off. The resulting flames from travelling back in time setting fire to the screen*
It was said that time is the greatest innovator. That time can be empty and full, business can be successful und unsuccessful, and things occur and die. It is a constant in life and will always continue on even when everything else is gone. For a certain green hedgehog, though, Time was a bitch that was being cruel to him...that and the goddamn spatula slapping his hand.
"Manic-nii, keep your hands off the waffles until I'm done making enough for everyone," Roll scolded, wearing a white frilly apron with a heart on the chest area.
"Bu-but-but waffles~" Manic adopted a puppy dog pout.
"...That only works for my little brother."
"Damn it!" Manic face faulted into the counter.
"Sit, mister," Roll pointed at the table.
"Mind telling me why he's acting like that?" Ragna asked.
"Once a month, Ferrel would make waffles that even Roll's said are a culinary masterpiece, but he could only make so many," Sonic summarized as Manic slunk over to the table, "So basically fights were held over it that helped improve one's fighting skills and thieving skills if you could get some without being noticed."
"In other words; Manic and waffles are synonymous with Sonic and chili-dogs," Sonia compared, smiling at a little as Sonic glowered at her.
"Or Makoto and Ben with their Parfaits and smoothies…" Manic muttered as he rested his head on the table.
"I'm guessing this isn't the first time he's been after the waffles?" Mai asked.
"When I would cook them, he'd always manage to get around ten before either Sis or I could eat," Sonic replied.
"Bet you're glad Noel's making your waffles, huh?" Makoto whispered to Mai as she glanced at the kitchen where purple fumes were seen around Noel as she was cooking a it away from Roll.
"Very much so, yes," Mai smiled a bit, "Noel's waffles are the best."
"LIES! LIES AND DECEIT!" Manic snapped, startling the blunette.
"Down! Manic, down," Sonia ordered, a squirt bottle in hand and squirting it at the green hedgehog, "No attacking others at the dining table. You go outside after eating to do that. No."
"And this is why neither of us sit near Manic on Waffle Sunday," Sonic whispered to Haseo, sitting beside him, "Or say someone's waffles are better than Ferrel's."
"N-noted, Sonic-onii-san," Haseo nodded nervously before looking back down at the bracelet on his wrist, 'This thing...where did it come from? I...I don't remember putting it on, or even getting it before Luin…'
"Should I turn into Water Hazard just to be safe?" Ben asked Sonia as Manic huddled in his chair, keeping his eyes on the waffles being made like a vulture on something that will die soon or a puppy waiting for a treat.
"Keep him on standby," Sonia answered, keeping a close eye on Manic.
"Did everyone wash their hands and faces?" Roll asked from the kitchen.
"Yup/uh huh/hai/yeah yeah/h-hai, onee-chan…"
"Huh?" Manic blinked twice.
"Any reason in particular why?" Ragna asked.
"It's called common decency," Tsubaki answered, placing a bookmark in her book before closing it, "It's to make sure no one gets sick from possibly food poisoning or anything like that. Correct, Roll?"
"Hai," Roll replied.
"Tch. Fine, I guess," Ragna walked off to the bathroom, 'Didn't have to do this back when Ben was eleven…' a green blur shot by him, into the bathroom, and then back out, making him look to see Manic sitting with pure white gloves on, '...Guy must really like waffles.'
"And that is why Ryugu is not part of the UN," Skye groaned as they exited the Plumber ship and onto the landing strip of the castle, "Too much sitting and discussion that goes completely off kilter and devolves into pointless arguments that only serve to try to make others compensate for things missing."
"It did get rather chaotic in there fast…" Nicole admitted with a sigh.
"It happens everywhere you go when it involves a meeting," Max shook his head.
"...Now I'm dreading if there's a galactic UN…" Skye muttered a bit...before slowly looking over at Max and Nicole as they were trying not to look at him, "..." he sighed, "And just like that, my faith in other worlds being smarter than Mobius has gone down the proverbial drain."
"Politics does have that effect on people, no matter what planet they are from…" Nicole sighed a bit.
"It is a dangerous, yet incredibly bothersome, game," Aleena admitted, "Everything that is said and done by you can be used as an attack by others aimed at you."
"That is true," Max nodded, "You also have to be careful what you say and do, otherwise you could end up starting a war."
"Something I bet Robotnik would do…" Skye muttered.
"Achoo!"
"Bless you, sir," Starscream noted.
"Thank you, Starscream," Eggman nodded as he resumed looking at a digital screen floating before him, "So far, none of my Grand Masters have heard hide nor hair of Soundwave nor of that creature Thunderbolt described."
"Lord Eggman, Grand Master Clove is on Line 1," Shockwave informed, glancing over at one digital screen before going back to another.
"Excellent! Put her on!" Eggman ordered before the screen changed to show Clove, "Greetings. Did your search go well?"
=Yes. But…= Clove paused, a grim look on her face as she looked away.
"...Oh don't tell me...he moved someplace else, didn't he?" Eggman groaned.
=Not….exactly…= Clove sighed, making him blink in confusion at that =I did find him, but...it seemed...someone else got to him before I did…=
"...Wh...what do you mean?"
=I'm saying…= Clove paused as she gave a sigh =He's….dead=
"...what?" Eggman felt his mouth go dry as his glasses nearly slipped off his face, "Wh...who...killed him?"
=I'm not sure...before he passed on, all he said was that they they had a number as their name…= Clove answered
"A number?" Eggman repeated before glancing over at Lien-Da, "Was there anyone you knew with just a number in your former Zone?"
"Nope," Lien-Da shook her head.
"So we can possibly rule out this 'number' was native to Mobius," Eggman frowned, "Was there anything else he said? Anything that could help with identifying his killer or the cure we need for that bow?"
=...Nothing on the former, but...I did find out something for the latter= Clove answered =The weapon that Cassia touched is known as the Izayoi, and...one of the things that could help her now is the 'Sword of Mobius' True king; Excalibur'=
"?! E...Excalibur?!" Eggman gasped, "But...that's just a myth; a legend."
"What's Excalibur?" Lien-Da asked.
"It was something I took time to study before my conquest of Mobotropolis all those years ago," Eggman noted, "In case they had something to defeat me back then. Excalibur...is the sword that belonged to King Arthur, the first Ruler of all of Mobius. It was said that Excalibur was forged by numerous gods of multiple religions and presented to Arthur as a young ward after he pulled a stone magically stuck to a stone that proclaimed whoever pulled it would be destined to rule all of Mobius." he began to pace, "The blade was rumored to be sentient...and so powerful that it could cut and not cut through anything the wielder wished."
"...And what exactly happened to it?"
"That's the thing! The only book that I could find that even spoke of it was partially destroyed!" Eggman threw his hands up, "But from what I learned through my last moments with the late King Azure, he didn't even know about the blade when I demanded its location." he held up a finger to Lien-Da, "And before you say he was lying, he told me that the Oracle told him that he would die that day and decided to die with nothing but utter honesty. I even recorded that final talk to review multiple times just to make sure I didn't miss anything and he. knew. nothing."
=...He did say something before his death= Clove spoke, earning his attention =It wasn't much but...he said that it was lost during the era of the Dark King=
"Now that there was plenty of information of," Eggman noted, earning a nod from the few Mobians, Overlanders, and Beastkin at stations and from Clove.
"..." Lien-Da just frowned.
Eggman looked at her, "Oh! Right. Different Zone." he cleared his throat, "It's actually an important part of history on Mobius. No one knows who the Dark King is, but it has been recorded that the Dark King slaughtered thousands during his single year of reign, destroying a multitude of things from Mobius's history before his reign. His three children worked together and he was slain by them. The eldest daughter became the first inheriting Queen of Mobius, Queen Grace, while the other two chose to fall into obscurity but it was known that neither had children and chose to be that way."
"I see…" Lien-Da noted before pondering a bit, "...Hmm...it's a theory but, could it be possible one of the two other children of the Dark King took Excalibur with them?"
"?!" Eggman's eyes widened, "Everyone put everything on hold at once!" everyone in the control room of the main base looked at him, "We need to start doing research on the royal hedgehog lineage and figure out the lives of those two sons immediately! I want to know where they went, what they did, what they ate for lunch every day, everything. Clove, you and Cassia return to Northamer base and inform your men, women, and machines that your branch is given three months vacation immediately."
=Sire?=
"You didn't let Cassia see the body, but knowing someone passed and with you seeing his final moments, you deserve peace from the chaos that is the 'real world,'" Eggman informed, "Remember, three months then it's back to work."
=O...of course, sire= Clove nodded =I'll be sure to let her and everyone else back at the base know. Clove out=
'This is good...it's not much info, but this is good…' Eggman thought as the screen turned black, 'Still...the fact the Oracle was killed...and by a person with a 'number' as their name...who c….no...i-it can't be...could it be her? That woman who made m-'
"Everything kay, sire?" Shockwave asked, earning Eggman's attention.
"Y...yeah...just...I'll be in my room," Eggman stated as he walked off, "Let me know if you find anything out."
"Of course, my lord," Shockwave complied before turning to Lien-Da and Starscream the moment he was gone and the others resumed their new tasks, "He's made a connection on the murderer."
"Really?" Lien-Da asked.
"I believe so," Shockwave nodded, "His heart rate accelerated at that moment and his response and actions afterwards are akin to a startled epiphany."
"I see," Lien-Da noted, "Should we keep an eye on him just in case?"
"Possibly. For now, let us complete the task at hand."
"Gotcha," Lien-Da nodded.
"O-of course," Starscream nodded.
"Okay, we should be able to see the lake in a few minutes," Sonic noted as he drove the bus, Ben sitting shotgun.
"Glad we got those directions," Ben spoke.
"And supplied on quite a few donuts for Haseo, too," Makoto added, poking her head in while pointing to the twin-tailed fox as he happily ate a blueberry donut while his tails swayed in content.
"Don't eat too many of those or you'll spoil your appetite," Roll warned.
"Hai, onee-chan," Haseo nodded before finishing his donut in one bite, "...G-gomen. I...really love the blueberry donuts from Luin."
Roll giggled, "It's okay. Hmm…" she poked her head into the driving booth, "Sonikku, I'm taking Haseo-chan up to the roof to get a better look at the lake when it comes into view."
"Okay. Stay safe," Sonic nodded.
"Hai," Roll nodded as she pulled her head out of the driving booth.
"Wonder what we'll do once we get to the lake?" Makoto pondered,"...Ooh! Maybe we can play some Lacrosse!"
"You play Lacrosse?" Sonia blinked at that.
"Yep!" Makoto grinned, "It's a hobby of mine!"
"Sounds fun, Makoto," Ben noted.
"Thanks, Ben-kun," Makoto smiled, "You guys can try after us girls are done...in fact…" she hurried to the window and poked her head out, "Hey, Roll-chan! Wanna be my partner if we play Lacrosse once we get to the lake?!"
"Hai~!" Roll replied before blinking twice, "Ano...What's Lacrosse?"
"I'll explain once we get there!" Makoto shouted before pulling her head back in...before sticking it back out, "You see it yet by any chance?! The lake I mean!"
"I...I think so, demo…" Haseo paused as he squinted his eyes, "Wh...why is the moon still out?"
"m0oZ?" Yacker tilted his head, poking out of Roll's hair with a portable mini-telescope and looked through it, "GA7?!"
"What's wrong?" Roll asked as Yacker handed it to her to let her look through, "Oh my…! Haseo-chan, that's not a moon."
"N...nani?" Haseo blinked.
"I...I think...I think it's a planet over the lake itself!" Roll gasped as she handed it to Haseo to look through.
"Eh?!" Makoto exclaimed upon hearing that as she pulled her head back in, "Roll says there's a planet over the lake!"
"...Just once," Ben hit his head on the dashboard, "Just...Just once? A normal vacation with nothing weird at the destination?"
Sonic raised a brow, "Uh…"
"Don't. Ask."
"...R...right…" Sonic sweatdropped a bit, "...M-maybe it's part of the lake itself?"
"With what we've been through, I honestly doubt that…" Tsubaki sighed.
"Any reason why you're laughing?" Manic asked the laughing 'Grim Reaper.'
"Because this always happened when I was with the kid when he was eleven," Ragna chuckled, "No matter where we stopped, there'd be something that would happen not even a few hours in or even starts up just as we arrived."
"At least I wasn't dressed in drag and had to do a hula for a Tiki God on Hawaii!" Ben snapped, making Ragna tense and start blushing.
"Y-you did what?" Noel blinked as she looked at Ragna with wide eyes.
"...W...well...at least...damn it! Can't think of an argument!" Ragna frowned.
'It...It's official. His reputation is completely ruined to me,' Tsubaki sweatdropped as Makoto laughed.
"Oh god! Y-You dressed in drag and did a hula?!" Makoto asked between laughs.
"Coconut bra and all," Ben added, making her laugh even harder.
"Well...at least I didn't wind up in a PEACOCK farm during a chase with those freaky circus guys!"
"Dude! We swore we'd never talk about that day!" Ben snapped, an embarrassed blush on his face.
"...Peacock Farm?" Mai blinked.
"Ragna, don't you d-" Ben began.
"Ben's scared of Peacocks."
A flash of green light and Ragna jumped over a lunging Omnikaka.
"Meow! Not cool, Rawgnya!" Omnikaka hissed, her tail standing straight up in anger.
"Consider it payback for the Tiki god story!" Ragna argued, "And how the...it was Nun-kaka, wasn't it?"
"Yep," Manic replied before a pillow slammed into Ragna's face.
"...Beeeeeeen!" Ragna growled as he grabbed the pillow, his eye twitching before dodging another thrown pillow.
"RAWR!" Omnikaka hissed as the two pulled each other into a fight cloud, the sound of a cat yowling being heard within it.
"H-hey! Don' c-" Makoto began before a pillow hit her in the face, "..." she slowly reached for the pillow and pulled it off, "Oh….it's on."
"Makoto, don't you d-" Tsubaki began.
"BANZAI!"
"She dared…" Mai deadpanned as Makoto hopped into the fight cloud.
"..." Sonic reached under the dashboard and flicked a switch, causing a door to slide down from the top of the entrance to the driver's area and close it off from the inside, "Not going to deal with that. No way, no how."
The bus soon slowed down and stopped near a shoreline of a large lake. The water was crystal clear, letting one see down to the very bottom of it to see a 'knot' of sorts in it. Flowers of numerous shapes and sizes littered areas around the lake as large pillars of earth and stone scattered about the area as far as the eye could see.
"W...wow…" Noel awe, being the first to step out as she looked at the lake, "H..how beautiful…"
"Yeah," Mai nodded in agreement.
"But...where's that planet Roll mentioned?" Makoto asked...currently sporting a few scratches on her face while she wore a green tee with an acorn on the front and a pair of baggy white shorts.
"What are you talking about?" Ragna questioned as he pointed at above the empty lake, "It's right there."
"...Huh?" Makoto blinked twice, "Um...I don't see anything."
"The hell are you talking about? The thing's huge!" Ragna pointed once more at the area above the lake, "Seriously, it's like the thing came out of what made the goddamn lake!"
"As much as I'd like to agree with you, I have to side with Ragna, Makoto," Tsubaki added, "It's right there in plain view."
"Oh, not you too, Tsubaki…" Makoto groaned.
"...A cloaking device that only turns on within a certain distance?" Ben guessed.
"It's actually a natural defense for what Ragna and Ms. Yayoi see."
"...Roses?" Roll pondered as she sniffed the air.
"Oh god damn it…" Ragna's eye twitched as, in a swirl of roses, Rachel appeared on her Nago and Gii throne and cushion, Valkenhyne pouring her a cup of tea at her side.
"The reason as to why they can see it while the rest of you are unable to when you're so close is that they have eyes not their own," Rachel explained.
"..." Ragna held a hand up to his red eye.
"Eyes not my own?" Tsubaki repeated, blinking twice before her eyes widened, "The cure for the Izayoi!"
"Yes," Rachel nodded, "Those who also do not share time with others can see it."
"Eh? Sh-share time?" Haseo repeated.
"I believe the professor can help explain."
"Indeed, Lady Alucard."
"Hoo-geeze!" Makoto yelped, jumping back and turned to see Paradox standing behind them, looking out at whatever Ragna and Tsubaki were seeing.
"You again?" Ragna growled.
"You know Professor Paradox, Ragna?" Ben asked.
"It's a wonderful little planet that many who time travel or have experienced it at least once can see," Paradox explained, "Many who can try to come to this little paradise when it appears for three days every year above this lake, even letting those who haven't seen it before be able to witness it."
He opened his pocketwatch and the rim of it glowed. A shadow came over them and they looked up to see a large planet roughly the same size as the lake floating above the lake. It looked more like a little Earth or Mobius than anything.
"However…" Paradox pocketed his pocketwatch and pointed towards the east...where a massive chain was embedded into one of the pillars of land and stone, going all the way up to the planet itself, "...It has been six days since it has appeared here. Due to that, it has triggered natural defenses within."
"And before any of you ask, no. The one you call 'Eggman' is not behind this," Rachel added, "Mr. Genius is currently busy with something else at this moment in time and has sworn to avoid this area due to events of a year previous when Little Planet appeared."
"...So if Eggman's not behind this...then who is it?" Sonic asked, "Who else could know about this place?"
"Those who know time are capable of it as well as those who arrived here during the first day it appeared when it would be visible to all," Rachel responded, taking a sip of her tea, "It is quite a danger to all of time should Little Planet not return to where it came soon."
"Huh?" Sonic raised a brow.
"Should Little Planet remain here for more than seven days, time will begin to break down and, eventually, nothing will be left," Paradox informed.
"?!" the group's eyes widened at that.
"Y...you mean…" Mai began.
"Yes...and the Master Unit's power may not be powerful enough to fix it…" Rachel replied, "Actually...it most certainly would not."
"Huh?" Makoto blinked.
"The Master Unit controls this timeline and the ones that it creates," Paradox informed, "However, that is for this Universe. Little Planet is a multiversal planet, existing in all the timelines of all the universes. It connects them all in some way, shape, or form."
"Unless you come from where the Zoni exist," Rachel shook her head, "What fools, tampering with their universe's time until they had to resort to creating a time-making machine to prevent their universe from ceasing to exist."
"Hello? Can we please focus on the fact that time is gonna collapse?!" Makoto asked, swinging her arms up in disbelief.
"Is there anything we can do to stop it?" Ben asked.
"There is…" Paradox nodded as he pointed to Little Planet, "Find the one who is hiding within Little Planet, locate the Time Stones, and destroy the chain keeping Little Planet imprisoned."
"T-Time Stones?" Noel repeated.
"Magical stones that allow one to manipulate time," Rachel explained, "But there is a second effect to them; time immunity."
"Time immunity?" Manic repeated.
"Yes. If one were to be in contact with a Time Stone, they become immune to factors of time aside from aging," Rachel informed, "Amaterasu fears the Time Stones for a reason, after all."
"Because they basically make you immune to Continuum Shifts," Ragna surmised.
"Correct," Rachel nodded, "Many of those who are 'in charge' of their time tend to see these stones as something that must never fall into the wrong hands." she moved a lock of hair behind her ear, "I must say, I did not expect you to figure it out before anyone else, Ragna."
"Why you little…" Ragna growled before sighing, "Look...I get the situation is bad, but here's the question...how are we gonna get up there?"
"Simple…" Rachel replied, pointing to the chain connected to Little Planet.
"...Bullshit," Ragna frowned, "No way it's that easy."
"Hey guys!" everyone aside from Rachel and Paradox looked to see Sonic waving on top of the chain, Roll beside him with a bit of worry on her face, "What's taking you guys so long? We've got time to save!"
"...That better not have been a time pun!" Sonia barked, waving her spear at him.
"...maybe," was all Sonic said before he ran up the chain laughing, Roll following after him.
"...Ugh….someone get the bus ready…" Sonia sighed.
"On it," Manic grinned.
"DO NOT LET HIM DRIVE!" Sonic's shout echoed from far up the chain, "HE CRASHES INTO MIRAGES UNLESS IT'S A HOVERBOARD!"
"ONE TIME! ONE! FREAKIN'! TIME!" Manic snapped.
"AND YET YOU STILL CRASHED INTO IT!"
"I've got it," Ben shook his head as he walked to the bus.
"Shotgun," Ragna stated.
"Shotgu-fuck," Manic cursed.
"Gotta be faster than that," Ragna chuckled as he went to the bus after Ben.
"A moment of your time, young Haseo?" Paradox gently placed a hand on the fox's shoulder as the others left for the bus.
"Ano...wh-what is it?" Haseo asked as he turned to look at him.
"You may need this while you're up there," Paradox informed as he reached into his lab coat and pulled out a crystal ring in the colors of the Chaos Emeralds the size of Rath's fist.
"Eh? Ano...what is that?"
"Think of it as a key of sorts for the planet," Paradox explained as he gave it to Haseo, "I borrowed it but forgot to return it when I left the last time I was there. Would you kindly take it back to the planet?"
"Eh? M...me?" Haseo blinked as he pointed to himself, "Wh...why me?"
"Lil-Bro! You coming already? We don't want to get murdered by Step-Sis if we forgot you!" a slap went off, "OW! I mean, hurry up!"
"C-coming!" Haseo called back, about to run back to the bus before giving Paradox and Rachel one last look. "G...gomen, demo...I need to…"
"Of course," Paradox nodded, "Take care and be careful of the defenses Little Planet has. Time has no meaning there, after all."
"...H-hai," Haseo nodded before running back to the bus.
"I'm rather surprised you willingly revealed yourself," Rachel noted.
"She never fully saw me since I kept out of her complete line of sight the entire time," Paradox replied.
"Still, Mr. Time-walker, do be careful. You know what would happen had she been able to Observe you."
"...I am well aware of that…" Paradox stated, a serious tone in his voice, as the bus flew up after Sonic and Roll along the chain, "I just hope Ben and his allies are well prepared for the upcoming battle…"
"So...He actually came here. I thought it would have taken more to bring him here."
"Shall I pursue him?"
"Keep watch of him. Study anything you can on him. Even the smallest of details."
"What of the man in the red jacket and the Crossbreed?"
"Ah, yes. They were the ones that managed to hurt your Anubian Baskurr. Do the same to them along with anyone else around those three."
"Of course."
"This is going to be rather interesting...I wonder how far you've improved...Tennyson?"
"What took you guys so long?" Sonic asked as the bus landed.
"Sorry. Lil-Bro was busy with something," Manic said as he and the others got out of the bus and began to look around, "...Wow. Talk about a lot of palmtrees."
"I know right? Might as well call it 'Palmtree Panic' or something," Sonic joked a bit.
"More like a paradise," Makoto noted, her tail wagging a little, "It's so awesome here!"
"And yet…" Tsubaki spoke, her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked around, "I feel as if something's...off about this area."
"Off?" Ben repeated.
"Whoever's hiding here on Little Planet most likely set up some traps...keep an eye out for anything suspicious," Tsubaki advised.
"And the natural defenses. Don't forget that weird guy mentioned that," Ragna snorted, "Seriously, Ben remember that time when a teleporter malfunction ended up with us in Australia?"
"Yeah," Ben shuddered, "Everything down there was trying to kill us, even the plants and water!" he tensed, "So we should consider this Australia?"
"Bingo," Ragna nodded.
"Dang…" Ben slumped a bit, "...Well, we better start searching around then…"
"Any idea what they're talking about?" Makoto asked.
"I have no idea what an Australia is, but from the everything trying to kill them angle...It sounds like Downunda here on Mobius," Manic noted, "Everything in Downunda is bigger and angrier than anywhere else in the world...spiders and snakes and the like normally hide under rocks. Mobius is one big rock, Downunda is at the bottom of the big rock, and so they're trying to hide under it."
"You're kidding me," Tsubaki noted.
"Nope. I know a guy from there and he's a Platypus and he is literally venomous. Has these spikes on his legs that he used on these traitors in the Freedom Fighters who…" Sonic sighed, "Who went too far in how they betrayed us. He stabbed them with roundhouse kicks and..." he shuddered, "If there's ever a time that I have to kill, I know that I am never going to use any venom that was made by a Platypus."
"...n...noted…" Mai said, slowly inching away from Sonic.
With that, everyone started to head off, trying to find any leads on where to go. Unaware to them, a shaded figure was watching them, keeping a close eye out on them.
"These flowers are amazing," Noel awed as she and Haseo looked at a trail of flowers, almost like it was a natural forming path.
"H-hai," Haseo nodded, "M-maybe since this place isn't affected by time, the flowers never wilt here."
"They grow so big, too," Noel noted as she sniffed one that was as tall as her, "And they smell so nice."
"Hai.." Haseo agreed, smelling a few flowers his size, "...Y...you think Nicole-san would like these?"
Noel giggled, "I think she would."
Haseo nodded a bit, a small blush forming on his face as he gave a small soft smile.
"Whoo! This is fun!" Makoto beamed as she climbed one of the tall palmtrees in the area, "Now I know how monkeys feel when they climb these!"
"You crazy girl! Get down from there, dammit! What if it explodes like those eucalyptus trees in Australia!?" Ragna barked, shaking a fist at the girl.
"That Australia place really traumatized you, huh?" Mai asked.
"Here's a bit of a leaf I keep as a reminder of that place," Ragna replied, earning a look from her, "...What? I saw you lick that blood and suddenly understand what happened back there."
"Well...yes but…"
"...Of come on. It's not like it's really gonna blow you up."
"..." Mai took the leaf and took a small lick, "?!" she paled and shakingly handed it to Ragna, "M-M-m-m-m-Makoto...Please get down?"
"...Okay," Makoto shrugged as she jumped down, landing on her feet.
"Exploding tree?" Ragna asked.
"Worse. I 'saw' the entire history of the place," Mai shivered, hugging herself, "Especially the Pleistocene...I've seen old videos of kangaroos...they should not have had buzz-saw-like teeth and been carnivorous…"
"Say what?" Makoto blinked.
"Don't ask. Just….don't."
"I'm just glad Ben used Greymatter and managed to fix the teleporter before anything worse happened," Ragna noted, "And a hell lot more glad that neither of us ever let my master know about Australia. He'd consider it a paradise for training and I enjoy living, dammit."
"Uh...noted," Makoto sweatdropped a bit.
"It sure is nice here," Manic noted as the three royal siblings looked around, "Perfect for a private vacation spot...if it weren't for the short day span."
"True, I...short day span?" Sonia repeated.
"Little Planet is only around for three days. Remember?" Manic reminded.
"Oh yeah…" Sonia nodded, "It would be nice for a vacation."
"I can agree with that. But...let's hurry and find whoever chained the place to here before things go from bad to worse for time itself," Sonic noted.
"Gotcha. And who know…" Manic paused as he gained a creepy expression, "Maybe it's an evil clone of ours bent on taking us down~!"
"...Where did you get the flashlight?"
"Oh, made it myself in the lab," Manic grinned, "Good for dramatic effect if I may say so…" he then pulled out a red and yellow cube, "Also reworked my board to unfold from this and be good to go anytime we need it."
"Been a while since you last used it," Sonic noted, "Not since Ben and Makoto showed up if I remember right."
"Well to be fair, we have been busy since the whole 'Chaos' Emerald incident," Manic stated before chuckling a bit, "Heh...remember when we thought there used to be one?"
"Oh those were the days," Sonia sighed, "Then the second one showed up and broke in two and nearly caused the end of the world and then there being seven more while the first two became one giant Master Emerald."
"Heh...yeah," Sonic chuckled a bit, "Ahh...man those were the days...and now look. Our group's bigger than ever now, and we got Mobotropolis back."
"Hell yeah," Manic grinned, "And you've got yourself a girlfriend, too."
"Speaking of...how goes trying to ask Tsubaki out?" Sonia asked, making Manic tense and start blushing.
"I...have no idea what you're talking about," Manic denied.
"Bro, we're siblings. We can both see that you dig her," Sonic said, patting his back, "Just be honest with her on wanting a date."
"...You honestly think I could be with her?" Manic asked, "I mean...She comes from a noble family more or less while I...I was raised as a thief."
"So? She may have been raised as a noble, but you've seen how she acts," Sonia pointed out.
"I know...she's an amazing person...probably too good for someone like me…" Manic sighed.
"Do we have to pester you with a song like we did with Knux?" Sonic asked.
"...You wouldn't."
"Then after this is done, ask her out to anything," Sonia informed, "Sonic and I believe in you."
"Yeah. You deserve happiness, bro," Sonic added.
"...On one condition," Manic spoke, making the two blink, "After this is over, we try and get both Ben and Makoto to go out on a date."
The two adopted grins, "Deal."
Ben and Makoto shuddered, 'I have a baaad feeling now...Almost as if I'm being set up for something soon…'
"Daijobu, Ben-san?" Roll asked.
"I...I'm fine. Probably just the wind is all," Ben assured her and Tsubaki.
Tsubaki raised a brow, "Very well, Ben-san. Though..."
"E-Everyone!" Noel called at the top of the path of flowers, "I think Haseo-chan and I found something!"
The others blinked at that before rushing over to where Noel and Haseo where, going down the path of flowers until they reached the two.
"What did you find?" Sonic asked.
"That," Noel replied.
She pointed out towards the bottom of the hill to a large clearing surrounded by oversized flowers and a few coconut trees. In the center of it all was a strange object. It looked like an obelisk with the middle of it replaced with a glowing blue sphere while vines grew up towards the sphere from the ground.
"The hell? What...are we looking at?" Ragna asked with a raised brow as they made their way down to it.
"I'm not sure," Tsubaki replied, "But it looks ancient."
"That's...kinda worrying. I mean, everything else looks so alive and fresh," Makoto noted, "This…" she motioned to the obelisk, "You get a chill own your back, right? Because that's what I'm getting."
"...You think it might be one of the Time Stones?" Mai guessed.
"I'm not sure," Sonic replied.
A soft glow earned Haseo's attention. Looking around, he realized the light was coming from his normal-colored tail. Reaching to it, he pulled out the ring Paradox had given him, which was shining and grew brighter now that it was out.
"...M...maybe…" Haseo whispered, his tails beginning to twirl around as he flew towards the obelisk.
"Huh? Hey, Lil' Bro, what's that ya got?" Manic asked.
"Th-that man gave it to me, saying it was the 'key' to the planet," Haseo replied.
He held up the ring to the stone in the obelisk and the light grew stronger on the ring. The sphere began to shine brightly before it let out a white light that forced everyone to close or block their eyes.
A scorpion-shaped flying vehicle was in the sky. Something fell from it, landing on the ground below. It slowly stood up, the shadows giving only the vague shape of a hedgehog, its head slumped. A red glow shined from the eye area as its head began to rise up slowly.
"Billions of beings on this planet and the Omnitrix lands on a foolhardy youth," a tall figured in a black and grey combat suit spoke, a black layered dome with a green visor on its head, as it stood before Diamondhead in a western town.
"Well, like I told your buddies, this thing doesn't come off," Diamondhead argued as he got up, "I tried."
"Of course it doesn't. Its power utilizes alien DNA which binds to its host's genetic structure," the figure explained, Diamonhead charging when its back was turned, "It is not as simple to remove such as taking off a hand…" he then blocked the strike before punching him away, "Your choice of warriors is based solely on brute strength, without regard for any strategy. Do you ever pause to consider your actions at all?" the scene then seemed to change in a wave of light, revealing the figure standing over a downed Diamondhead, " The Omnitrix is not some toy for your amusement. It's the most powerful weapon in the galaxy, the key to an epic battle between good and evil."
"And whose side are you on?" Diamondhead asked.
"You're still alive, aren't you?"
The light faded to reveal the Obelisk trembling, the stone pulsating loudly. The top broke in two, releasing a blue smoke that swirled before slamming into the Obelisk below, engulfing it. The smoke dispersed as the figure emerged. The layered dome clicked before the front slid down and the rest folded back, exposing a head resembling Diamondhead's while the armored hands retracted into the suit, revealing Diamondhead-like hands.
"Victory will be swift and effortless," the Diamondhead copy stated, cracking his crystalline knuckles.
"...Wait a minute. Isn't he…?" Makoto began.
"Diamondhead?" Mai pondered.
"No. That's Tetrax," Ben gaped, "But...How did he get stuck in that obelisk?"
"I don't know, but…" Ragna paused as he reached for his sword, "I don't think he's here on friendly terms."
As if to confirm, Tetrax slammed his hands on the ground and a ring of crystal erupted from the ground and formed a dome, leaving himself, Ragna, Mai, and Roll within. For a brief moment, a blue aura covered the dome before vanishing before being noticed.
"N-nani?!" Roll gasped a bit.
"Why did…" Mai began before tensing up as the trio quickly rolled out of the way of a flurry of sharp diamonds aimed at them, the blunette quickly summoning her spear.
"Damn it…" Ragna growled a bit as he stood up, glaring at Tetrax, "Guess the only way we're getting out of here is to beat this guy…"
Outside, Ben activated his Omnitrix and slapped down on it. Echo-Echo ran at the dome and split into dozens of himself before releasing a barrage of sonic vibrations at the dome. At first, it looked as if the dome would shatter but it stayed strong and the cracks healed instantaneously or, rather, the damage was being reversed.
=What is with this? Echo-Echo should be perfect for this= Echo-Echo pondered as he came back into one self.
"I know! He should've shattered this thing by now, and yet it's healing itself!" Makoto exclaimed, "What gives?!"
"...I don't think it's healing itself…" Tsubaki spoke, earning the others' attention, "Rather...it's reversing the damage."
=...I think I'm starting to get why Kevin hates anything involving time travel or time manipulation= Echo-Echo frowned.
Inside, Ragna swung his sword, shattering some crystal shards sent at him, before rolling out of the way of some laser fire from a pistol Tetrax whipped out. A yellow blur shot by Tetrax, causing him to tumble back from sparks coming off the front of his suit, before Roll skidded to a halt by Ragna, katana out.
Tetrax frowned before slamming his fist into the ground, sending out pillars of crystal at the two as they quickly rolled out of the way.
"Moon Blossom…" Tetrax looked up to see Mai leaning against the wall before shooting towards him, her spear thrusted forward as she was covered in a dark rose-pink energy, "Suzuran: Dipper!"
Tetrax slammed his hands on the ground and a wall of crystals formed between him and Mai. Mai then crashed before the wall, the energy surrounding her flowing out from the impact, creating a shockwave that slipped through the small openings in the wall and crashed into Tetrax, sending him skidding back a bit as the bluenette hopped away from the wall.
Tetrax shook his head to clear the proverbial cobwebs from the impact before pulling out a black and grey curved rectangle. He tossed it at his feet before it split into four and extended out to reveal a green surface beneath, forming a floating board. He jumped onto it and took flight, shooting crystals at the three and making them dodge.
"He flies, too?" Ragna scowled.
"Yacker-chan," Roll spoke.
"HOVER!" Yacker declared as he shot into Roll's katana, forming the Hover Board.
"Like, hop aboard, Mai," Roll giggled as she jumped onto the board, her arms the same green as her board's primary coloration.
"...Roll with it," Mai whispered as she climbed on just as the Hover Board floated up into the air.
"Great. What am I supposed to do?" Ragna muttered before looking at the crystals stuck in the ground, "Hmm…"
"Keep it still, Roll," Mai advised as she stood up, preparing her spear.
"Totally," Roll nodded before Tetrax pulled out his blaster and began to fire blue lasers and crystal shards at them, making her start dodging them, "Whoa! Major turbulence, man!"
"I'll see if I can do something about it," Mai said as she threw her spear, Tetrax then dodged it before the weapon changed directions and pierced through his blaster, the spear making another turn before Mai caught it.
"Like...what is that weapon anyway?" Roll asked as she looked at Mai's spear.
"The Gallia Sphyra: Outseal," Mai answered, "My friend Kajun made it for me. Can't go into much details right now, but basically, it has the power to harm immortal beings, like the undead...more or less."
"So, like, keep it away from Tikal or Chaos unless they go harsh in their mellow, right?"
"Right," Mai nodded in response, "...I think." 'Why does she talk like this when Yacker turns into this?!' she yelped as Roll had to do a barrel roll to avoid a spray of crystal shards, 'Think later, survive now!'
Tetrax came right at them, his arms sharpened and extended into blades. He was about to reach them when his board was pierced by several of his own crystal shards. Ragna whistled as he tossed a handful of the shards in the air and caught them, a smug look on his face as he watched the board spark. Tetrax jumped off before the board exploded and slammed his fists on the ground, forming an erupting wave of crystals at Ragna.
"DEAD SPIKE!" Ragna roared as he swung his blade upwards, forming the black and red energy-made beast's head to block the crystals.
"That is, like, one tough diamond dude," Roll noted as she hovered down to beside Ragna to let Mai hop off.
"No kidding…" Mai agreed before pondering a bit, "Hmm...but...maybe…"
"Got something?" Ragna asked as he looked over at her.
"Possibly. I just need you two to give me time and to clear an opening for me," Mai answered, 'I just hope it works...if not...I'm gonna be exhausted after this…'
"Fair enough," Ragna smirked as he cracked his knuckles.
"CUBE!" Yacker declared.
"Hai…" Roll slowly agreed, slowly hefting the Cube Hammer on her shoulder.
Tetrax merely frowned as he slammed his fist into the ground. Both Ragna and Roll began charging through the pillars of crystal sent their way as Mai stood still, taking deep breaths as she focused, her emblem slowly starting to appear behind her. Tetrax made a shield of crystals when Roll got near. Roll swung and the impact shattered the shield, letting Ragna jump over her and slam a fist into Tetrax's face, knocking him away from them and into a wall of the dome. He then shook off the shock for a moment before he planted his hands into the ground once more, summoning a pair of large crystal hands that grabbed both Ragna and Roll. He began to approach the two before…
"Overdrive…" Mai whispered, her emblem flashing behind her as an azure aura surrounded her. Before she could give him time to react, Mai shot towards him, the blunette faster than normal as she was before him, "Exceed Accel! Flurry of the Winter Moon!"
Tetrax prepared to block before Mai struck him with a roundhouse slash from her spear, followed by a series of fast slashes, her arms almost a complete blur as she struck her target multiple times, a trail of dark-rose pink energy following every slash she made. Finally, she delivered one powerful vertical slash on her opponent, sending him flying as he crashed into the dome.
"That got him!" Ragna smirked.
"Not...yet…" Roll slowly pointed as Tetrax began to get up.
"..." Ragna's eye twitched, "This guy's a bigger pain in the ass than that black sludge."
"Wait for it…" Mai advised as Tetrax slowly walked over, staggering a bit..as if he was trying his best to stay up. He attempted to fire more crystals at the group...until he fell over once more into the ground, "There…"
The crystal dome began to crack. Ranga swung his sword above him as the dome shattered, raining down crystals on them. Mai blinked a few times as she looked up at Roll on her shoulders, the Hover Board over them as she leaned a bit on her head while the shards bounced off Roll's weapon/transportation.
"You're, like, welcome," Roll noted.
"...Heh...thanks…" Mai smiled a bit, "...Though...mind getting off me once the shards stop? I'm...feeling exhausted from that attack."
"Like, sure," Roll replied before sniffing, "Hey, do you, like, use the blueberry-scented shampoo?"
"...Ano, hai. Why?" Mai asked.
"Your, like, hair smells like blueberries," Roll replied.
"Oh...thank you..." Mai nodded a bit as the shards stopped falling.
Roll hopped off her shoulders and Yacker separated from her katana, letting Roll catch the blade and sheath it. Ragna put his sword back on the back of his waist as the shards that had once been the dome began to fade away into the field of flowers that had been wrecked by the forming of the dome.
"Good...it's done…" was all Mai said before she collapsed onto the ground, panting as her spear laid beside her.
"Ahh! Mai-chan!" Noel gasped as the others ran over.
"What happened in there?" Ben asked.
"We were fighting him before Mai-chan used something called an 'Overdrive' and 'Exceed Acell' to deal with him," Roll answered before gasping when she saw something.
The others looked to where she was to see Tetrax floating in the air. His body glowed before it turned into the obelisk that collapsed on itself. The crystal shattered while the blue smoke went off into the distance. Unaware to them, the blue on Haseo's crystal ring faded away to a glittering gold-like crystal.
"...Um...what just happened?" Manic asked, blinking in confusion.
"I think that meant that we took down the planet's security system in this area," Sonic guessed.
"We?" Ragna deadpanned.
"Well, 'we' as in 'you, Mai, and Roll,'" Sonic shrugged.
"...Still that was freaky," Makoto spoke, "I mean, when I hear security system or something, I thought like a series of traps or guard bots/golems, not facing someone a majority of us encountered in the past."
"Excuse you?" Ragna raised a brow at that.
"Long story short, we met some alternate versions of us and...yeah. I think I'll end it there," Makoto explained.
"The smoothies were good, though," Ben noted.
"Very true," Makoto nodded before frowning, "Though...where do you think that smoke went to?"
"Dunno, but if those traps are able to summon people from our past to fight..." Ragna paused as he looked out into the distance, "We're in for one hell of a fight…"
GT: Hoo-boy. That was an effort. Get ready for a long…*gets knocked out by Kokonoe*
Kokonoe: Oh no you don't! Someone cue my omake!
SZ: 0-0
Kokonoe: It's the 50th chapter, and you two idiots are not skipping my omake!
SZ: But..there's no question f-
Kokonoe: *snaps fingers, causing Golder Tager XX to appear*
SZ:...START THE OMAKE!
"Help me! Professor Kokonoe!" A Chibi-style Omake
Starring: Professor Kokonoe, Iron Tager, Ben Tennyson, Ragna the Bloodedge, and Sonic the Hedgehog
The curtain lifted, revealing something of a dark unlit lab…Said lab being somewhat messy. Then a spotlight sparked to life, revealing a fairly young adult catgirl with a slim body, wearing a large scientist like jacket with abnormally long sleeves that end up looking like paws, with cuts made in them allowing her slender arms to slip through, red pants with two long pink tails with white tips coming from the back, and high-heeled sandals. Her hair was pink, tied in a style consisting of a long ponytail backing up longer tufts resembling large cat ears which tend to overshadow her actual cat ears. Her eyes were a golden-amber with visible bags under them, possibly due to over-working, and she was also wearing glasses. With a certain elegancy, she began to speak.
"Hello lost children. I am Professor Kokonoe, lord and master of the Sector Seven laboratory," She paused to push her glasses back into place briefly, and then began to speak again, "…Well, OK, we aren't in the lab at the moment. This place can sort of be temporarily moved into the Boundary. Well, simply put, it's a mysterious room. A mysterious room where you can do anything you want. To be honest, it's a paradise for all those sad, little children who couldn't make it to the true ending. A sort of Avalon. If you're one of those nutbars who's all 'I don't need help,' or 'I want to unlock hidden stuff,' or 'I'll just look for a flowchart online,' then you can piss off."
She proceeded to sigh.
"Anyway, my job here more or less is to do three things every five chapters. First: Answer common questions that I believe most people are asking. Second: To do a little re-cap of what happened in the past five chapters for you idiots who decide to skip them to get to the good parts in later chapters. And finally, give out supporting information to further your understanding of the terms of BlazBlue and Ben 10," Kokonoe proceeded to glare at you, "One thing I would like to make clear now, is that none of the actions in this segment are considered cannon to the story, regardless of how crazy, funny, or even lovey-dovey it is. If I get one message asking about if this was cannon or not, I'm castrating the sender of said message with a cattle prod and a rusty knife!"
Kokonoe proceeded to sigh once more. It was rather repetitive for her at that point. She began to speak yet again to you, the reader.
"Very well. Now that that's out of the way, lost children of the day…you may enter," She ordered, and suddenly the whole lab lit up and Kokonoe took a few steps back.
As if on cue, the sound of a metal door sliding open echoed in the area. Ragna the Blodedge, Ben Tennyson, and Sonic the Hedgehog entered, walking into the middle of the lab.
"Huh? Where the heck are we?" Ben asked.
"Still haven't fixed that issue, have you?" Sonic asked.
"Sonuva…!" Kokonoe growled.
"...ugh...okay. What did we do wrong?" Ragna asked with a groan.
"Kokonoe, calm down," Tager advised, "Remember what's going on right now."
"Ugh...right right…" Kokonoe sighed before glaring at the three, "First we talk questions, do the recap, talk about any extra info, all that crap."
"There are no questions."
"...What?" Kokonoe turned to Tager.
"No one has submitted any questions to this story in months," Tager replied, "It's...actually quite unsettling with the lack of reviews and questions."
"Seriously?" Ragna asked.
"Damn it!"
"I think I have an idea to cure that," Sonic noted before running off and then back, "Seanzilla has a few."
"But...isn't he one of the authors for this?" Tager asked.
"Yeah, but GammaTron is the one who has the plans for the story's progress," Sonic replied.
"I'm lost here," Ben admitted.
"Just smile and nod. That's what I'm doing," Ragna replied.
"You're scowling and nodding."
"Listen to what I say, not what I do," Ragna's eye twitched.
Kokonoe sighed, "Can't believe we're doing this, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Okay, Sonic, shoot the questions."
QUESTIONS
"Let's see...He has a few actually. For one, is there going to be something similar to World Collide/Unite?" Sonic read the note card.
"Trust me when I say that there will be, just not in the way one would expect," Kokonoe replied, "But he downright refuses to do a clusterfuck like Worlds Unite was in terms of characters or his CBB rewrite series is."
"Noted…" Sonic nodded as he read the next note card, "Let's see...if she even is on Mobius, where is Kokonoe?"
"Hm? Where am I on Mobius if I am on there? Well, you'll just have to wait for that to come up in the story," Kokonoe replied, "But just to let you know that if I am there or when I get there...Science. Lots and lots of Science."
"...oddly cryptic…" Sonic noted before moving onto the last question, "How will Central Fiction be put into play for this story?"
"That's directly listed under 'spoilers,' so I can't give an answer," Kokonoe responded, "If I told you...well...I'd have a new 'guinea pig' to test on…"
"Okay! Moving on!" Sonic shouted.
RECAP
"Hoo boy, where do we start?" Ben pondered as he tried to remember everything that had happened in the last five chapters.
"Hmm...well from what Roll told me for starters, she and her dad were busy comforting Haseo because no one on Mobius had seen or heard about Nicole," Sonic answered, "Little guy was depressed, hoping to see her again...then if I recall, Roll said he had the idea that Gwen and Kevin might know where she could be."
"Meanwhile, Kevin was going against Makoto in arm wrestling...yeah. You can probably guess who was winning at the time," Ben deadpanned a bit, "Even used Taydenite and he still lost. Was thrown right through a wall from the loss."
"During that, me, Bro, and Sis learn more about our weapons and such," Sonic added, "Such as learning one of our ancestors held all three of our weapons and medallions. Kinda cool...until we learned from Tsubaki, who was talking with Rook at the time, that there's an entire city dedicated to…" he shuddered a bit, "School…"
"Oh yeah...That place. I heard about it," Ragna noted, "Think I went looking around that place once for something. Can't remember what, though…"
"Moving on!" Sonic exclaimed, "A bit later, me, Roll, and Uncle Chuck were on our way to a Freedom Fighters meeting, and we ran into two members of the Medista Freedom Fighters, Spike and Sonar." he chuckled, "They're apparently big fans of me and Roll...and that they dealt with the Sandblasters."
"Sand-what?" Ragna raised a brow at that.
"From what we gathered, these guys are way too extreme, thinking they have the right to choose who gets freedom and who doesn't," Sonic frowned, "They even go into trafficking other Mobians, Beastkins, and anyone with robotic parts into slavery and the like." he shook his head, "Spike was nervous big time since it was his first meeting that he was involved in." he blushed, "And Uncle Chuck resorted to embarrassing stories of both my first big meeting and even Mom's."
"Ha."
"Oh, shut up, you jerk," Sonic glowered at Ragna.
"Get on with it," Kokonoe deadpanned.
"W-Well, after that, we ran into Skye and Haseo...and then Haseo's fur got all poofy when Skye said 'Apple' for some reason and Sonar lost all control and started cuddling him. From how Skye and Roll acted...this isn't the first time a poofy Haseo got girls hugging him."
"Tch. What do you expect? Girls go for anything cute and fluffy," Kokonoe scoffed.
"Soon after, the big meeting with all the Freedom Fighters began with the first bit involving talking about busting slavery rings and that the Sandblasters caused a huge botch up for Spike and Sonar's team, ending with the death of their original leader and twenty other members leaving just them and their buddy Trevor the Mole," Sonic scowled, "We also learned that the Grand Master near their place, N, doesn't seem to try to take any captives. Probably because of the Sand Blasters." he smirked, "We put it to a vote and, by a big majority, the Sand Blasters were cast out of the Freedom Fighters and now we're going to be fighting them as well as Eggman's forces."
"And then Skye started showing off the ability to predict the future by observation and probabilities?" Kokonoe questioned.
"Well, it was first a devolving of the meeting when White's ability to somehow predict what Miyuki wants in advance came up when White pulled out an air horn to stop it...and caused Haseo's fur to poof again and then Skye started doing that," Sonic shrugged, "But once everything got back on track, it went by quick."
"And then I was brought in when they went to talk about the recent events of the ARK," Ben noted, "And then the praise came on and I tried to not let it get to me and inflate my ego. I am so glad the queen redirected the talk back to the topic on hand and introduced the Plumbers to them...earning a laugh fest from Finnic until Leonidas stopped him with a roar. And...And well I was shocked. Really shocked."
"What?" Ragna asked.
"Well...it turns out that Grandpa Max was in contact with Aleena and came in person...with his apprentice, Nicole," Ben informed.
"Yeah..and it took Haseo by surprise," Sonic added, "Heh...little guy was blushing like mad...He was acting even more shy than normal…if that was possible."
"After Grandpa Max talked to them and answered some questions, he left Nicole and Gwen as representatives for the meeting while we caught up," Ben continued, "And after the meeting, Nicole talked with Roll, Haseo, and Skye. From what Grandpa Max told me, the Vreedle Brothers kidnapped her from the planet which is why she was MIA on Mobius. He told me that Nicole will be the Magister for this solar system, so Haseo will get to see her more often."
"The next day while Ben would be taking his gramps on a tour of the town with Bro and Sis, I went to Ryugu with those native to it and Makoto, Tsubaki, Noel, and Mai for...well...for the funeral since the last of the bodies finally got out of the Soul Ice made by Jin Kisaragi," Sonic frowned.
"Jin…" Ragna clenched his fists.
"...m-moving on," Ben spoke, "I was showing Grampa Max the Market Place with Manic and Sonia's help and...well...let's just say that Meh Burger place is either gonna be closed due to the only employee there purposely tried to rip off his customers, or it's gonna improve after my…'talk' with him as Rath."
"Right," Sonic nodded, "Well...while you were off doing that, we ended up running into Sly and Carmelita, cheering on Panda King against this other guy...who turned out to be Roll and Haseo's uncle and Skye's cousin, P'li."
"Who's apparently a Panda?" Tager asked.
"From the pictures in Roll's family's book I've seen, they're a krudzu in terms of species though the majority of it being fox Mobians," Sonic replied.
"Huh...interesting," Tager noted.
"Yeah. But still, P'li was startled when Roll and Haseo shouted his name in recognition enough to fall over with his pack on," Sonic snickered, "Turns out that Skye had called him a few days before to head over to Ryugu for...well...to help with the funeral. It turns out that a Sakurai funeral involves laying them on a bed of strawberries they tended to, cover them with a sheet with the weapons they used most on top of them, aaaaand set them on fire with a flaming arrow fired by a bow."
"Huh...went with a viking funeral more or less I see," Kokonoe noted.
"Funny enough, one of her ancestors was a viking," Sonic recalled from Roll's family book, "So maybe it came from that ancestor?"
"Let's just keep moving on," Ragna snorted, "A few days after they got back, I was training with Sonic and Roll with our swords and using this goddamn Chaos Emerald."
"Still not having any luck using Chaos Control?" Ben asked.
"None what so freakin' ever!"
"Okay...moving on," Sonic sweatdropped a bit, "When we weren't busy training, we were more or less having a mini-vacation of sorts...until it was interrupted by some freaky crab/rhino thing Makoto dubbed Crabdozer."
"And it seemed to keep coming after me," Ben sighed, "Why is it always me when it comes to the freaky alien monsters?"
"Oh gee. Maybe it's because of the GIANT TARGET you have on your wrist," Kokonoe deadpanned, earning a twitchy eye from Ben.
"...Moving on...while we were busy, Grandpa Max, Skye, Nicole, and the Queen were having a meeting with the UN to deal with the issues involving the ARK and GUN," Ben spoke, "Crabdozer just...vanished...when we managed to trap it in a deep hole."
"No kidding. I mean, no way something that big could move that fast," Sonic added with a frown, "But regardless...we needed a new place to vacation in, and Mai suggested a place she heard about called the Lake of Trinity."
"And apparently, Jacky showed Haseo a certain game involving eight pages," Ragna scowled before muttering, "I'm shoving my sword up his ass for that next time I see that damn raccoon…"
"You and Roll both…" Sonic muttered, "Ahem! Anyways..during the drive up there, we made a pitstop at a town Haseo visited before with Alpha and his group, Luin. But by the time we got there...it was almost like a ghost town…"
"And we had Kvar to thank for that…" Ben added with a frown.
"Kvar?" Tager repeated.
"A very bad Great Horned Owl Mobian that was under Eggman's allegiance," Sonic informed, "His men ransacked the village and we got to see Ben use Grimlock again...or for the first time for some of us on the bus."
"Freakin' brutal too…" Ragna muttered, "After that, we went out and found the bastard's base and decided to do a few small missions in there to get enough info on him and what he was doing."
"Roll and I found out. He...He was turning the lives of the villagers and maybe even other villager from different villages nearby into these small spheres to act as power sources," Sonic scowled, "He didn't even care as he thought he was 'Superior' to them because of his Cyberization enhancements."
"So you were dealing with a bastard owl with a twisted god complex...noted," Kokonoe frowned a bit.
"Yeah...and he's more clever than we thought. Turns out he was well prepared for anyone attempting to escape the base, or Ranch as he called it, and for anyone attempting to attack said Ranch," Sonic added, "Even set up a barrier that messed up machinery and hurt this friend of ours; former Eggman robot Jetstorm, who had been at Luin when it happened and came to try to free the villagers."
"So we decided to go with Plan B," Ragna smirked, "Went to the nearest base, beat the hell out of everyone there, and then contacted Egghead on what we were doing. Then it was sitting back and waiting for him to show up to distract that guy."
"Yup. And while Ragna, Makoto, and I went to deal with the generator for the barrier, Tsubaki, Noel and Mai left to go deal with the 'factory' that was producing the Exspheres and free the prisoners while Jetstorm dealt with the remaining security from the air," ben went next, "Sonic, Manic, Sonia, and Roll went to go hack the PA system so Eggman would know what Kvar was really up to, and what he thought of him."
"And it worked...but…" Sonic had a rather nervous, guilty look, "What followed after...was nothing we could've expected."
"Why is that?" Tager asked.
"Kvar...turned into Clockwerk MkII."
"And we should care...why?" Kokonoe raised a brow.
"Turns out that if anyone that went through Cyberization and betrayed Eggman with him realizing it, he triggers the Cyberized parts to...well...become a robot version of them, ripping apart to original flesh and bones," Sonic informed, "But, Kvar landed on an Exsphere and it let him retain himself in his new, bigger, menacing body. ...And Manic completely freaked out the entire time."
"...bullshit. No way he looked th-" Kokonoe began before a screen lowered down, showing an image of Kvar, "...Okay. I'm...almost impressed and terrified at the same time."
"You should be terrified for the latter. The guy was tough...really tough," Sonic frowned, "While me and Manic were trapped, Roll and Sonia had to deal with him before Jetstorm and Ragna joined the fight...and he still wouldn't go down. He even ended up injuring Roll...bastard."
"Things were starting to look bad before Sonia managed to awaken the power of her Medallion-seriously, how does that shit work?-and managed to do some damage to Kvar," Ragna went next, "Seems she can spam teleporting with flames with her spear. Once he was weak enough-and a threat of him trying to say his legacy will live on-, I delivered the final blow with an Astral Heat, making sure that damn bastard would stay dead."
"..." while Ragna had his eyes closed with a smirk, Kokonoe and Tager shared glances and a silent agreement not to tell him about it.
"Okay. And, as usual, we don't do the current chapter since you just read it," Kokonoe spoke, "So moving on!"
EXTRA INFORMATION
"Let's talk about Little Planet," Kokonoe spoke as the planet was shown on a monitor, "Also known as the Miracle Planet or Kiseki no Hoshi is, in the main game series, a satellite. According to legend, the Little Planet appears over Never Lake one month out of every year, and vanishes completely for the remaining eleven months. It is unclear precisely where it vanishes to, although its appearance above earth would suggest that it is in geostationary orbit."
"And in our universe?" Ben asked.
"Your Little Planet is actually a planet that connects all timelines together. And not just your own, but other timelines as well," Kokonoe replied, "As you saw in this chapter, when in danger, Little Planet will 'lock down' and set up its Security System in the form of stone obelisks that transform into beings you have met, will meet, or may never meet."
"...Hoo boy," Ben gulped a bit at that, 'That might mean I might end up facing Vilgax or Agregor again…'
"So, yes, you might be facing Vilgax or Agregor again," Kokonoe adjusted her glasses, "Or you may fight someone you've yet to meet or someone from a separate timeline. Like I said, it's a real clusterfuck of timey-wimey shit and that nonsense."
"Timey-wimey?" Sonic repeated.
"Doctor Who reference and all that crap," Kokonoe stated, "Look, what's the most important thing are these…" the screen showed seven stones in the colors of the Chaos Emeralds but in different shapes, "These are the Time Stones. They have the power to change or manipulate time. They even have the power to make you immune to changes in time, making you an Observer more or less...and the Master Unit doesn't like that one bit."
"So why doesn't it…?" Sonic began to ask.
"Because doing so would earn it the attention of other Gods of Time and they would more than likely destroy it for attempting to destroy Little Planet and the Time Stones," Kokonoe deadpanned, "Also, a bit of extra information. It is also said they, the Time Stones, can cause an event of miracles to occur, like transforming polluted water and the surrounding desert into a beautiful lake."
"...And if they're used the other way around?" Ragna asked with a frown.
"What else? Leads to deserts and clean water to sludge," Kokonoe snarked, "I'd say look at the latest game, but that's spoilers for anyone reading this and hasn't played the game yet."
"...Huh?"
"Now if we're done here…" Kokonoe paused as she stood up, "You other two get out. I...want of examine that Omnitrix of Tennyson's."
"Oh no…" Ben paled.
"Oh yes...n-" Kokonoe began before something smacked her in the face, "Ack! Hey, wh-nigh nigh~" she purred as she plopped onto the floor, her tails swaying a bit.
"...What just…"
"Catnip," Tager answered, "I suggest you leave now as fast as you can. She'll wake up soon."
"Noted," was all Ben said before rushing out of there.
"Wait up!" Ragna called, "No way in hell I'm staying in here any longer than I need to be!"
"See ya," Sonic waved before he and Ragna ran after Ben.
"Zzz...c..come...back...zzz…" Kokonoe snoozed as the curtain fell.
"Honestly…" Tager sighed.
GT: Ow...What hit me?
SZ: A very annoyed and angered catgi-*ducks under a rocket fist*Scientist! I mean cat scientist!
Kokonoe: *offscreen* That's what I thought...zzz
GT: ...Okay…*slowly backs away from the sleeping Kokonoe*
SZ: Thank god for catnip...ahem. But yeah...this chapter is finally finished, and things are getting quiet intense.
GT: Eeyup. So make sure you all read and review!
SZ: Ja ne, and have a good day, readers.