SZ: *looks at the full roster for Central Fiction*...man. No matter how many times I see it, that is a big roster. And more importantly...Jubei is finally available as a playable character.
GT: That's cool. So do we get to see his sword in action or is it still sealed up?
SZ: We get to see it in action and...hoo boy. We definitely see why he's known as the strongest swordsman in the Six Heroes.
GT: Cool. *sees the Reader* Oh! Hi there! Welcome to another chapter of…
SZ: Omniverse Underground.
GT: And to part 2 of the Little Planet Arc.
SZ: Mmm hmm. Where we last left off, our heroes had just arrived at the Lake of Trinity, and were given a warning from Paradox and Rachel about Little Planet. Basically if it goes...so does time and space itself more or less.
GT: Oh yeah. And Paradox gives Haseo a special 'key' of sorts for the planet that he had borrowed his last visit there for Haseo to return.
SZ: Eeyup. That, and the other two objectives, find the Time Stones, and find whoever is keeping Little Planet chained down.
GT: Eeyup. Only thing is that due to that chaining down, Little Planet has activated its defense measures...which come in the form of obelisks that transform into strong fighters from the past of someone before the obelisk if the 'key' is there.
SZ: Mmm hmm. And they group had to deal with one of those so far...who knows what else will be in store for them? Well let's find out in today's chapter...GT? Since they know who we own and don't own...care to start us off?
GT: Yep. *teleports us to Cinnabar Island while I am dressed up as an Old Man*
SZ:...how?!...know what? Nevermind. On with the story!
GT: Not done yet. *sends out a Lapras and starts surfing up and down the north-east shore* Hey! MissingNo sucks!
7thtyurg389g3 HHY#*%#H%*#*%#%*
"You see anything, Ben?" Ragna asked, on the back of Firestorm as they flew over the grassland area of Little Planet.
Firestorm let out a grumbling noise. No he hadn't seen anything yet and his head was hurting like something had just glitched out of existence or something on those lines.
"Tch. Damn it..it's nothing but waterfalls and palm trees around this damn place," Ragna muttered before Firestorm growled a bit, "And those weird flowers, too. Yeah, yeah. Seriously, what is with those weird flowers? They look so...weird, right?" a set of growls came from Firestorm, "What do you mean you've seen weirder? Dammit, Ben, what have you been up to since we last saw each other?" a slight shrug was his response, "...That's not an answer, damn it!" a raspy snicker went off, "You are going to get it later, you little…" Ragna's eye twitched before he saw something out of the corner of his eye, "Hold on. Turn that way."
"Rrrr?"
"I thought I saw something," Ragna replied.
"...Rrr," Firestorm nodded as he turned in the direction Ragna told him to go.
The Charizard flew on before he and Ragna spotted a large wall that seemed to have naturally formed from the ground, easily taller than their current level in the air. Ragna looked around before pointing near the bottom of the wall and Firestorm looked. Before it was another obelisk, but the blue sphere was replaced with a red cube.
"...Rrr?" Firestorm blinked a bit, noticing the cube before looking at Ragna.
"The hell should I know what it is...look. Let's just call the others over and see if they might have any ideas," Ragna suggested.
"Rrr."
"...What exactly are we looking at?" Sonic asked.
"It looks like the obelisk we saw before, but instead of a blue orb, it's a….red cube?" Manic blinked.
"That's...kinda weird," Makoto noted.
The wall seemingly made of collapsed stones was nestled between two large waterfalls flowing into the ring-shaped lake around the circle of land they were on, a natural bridge behind them where the bus was parked on.
"...Why do I feel like it's gonna do the same thing the last obelisk did?" Mai couldn't help but ask.
"Oh come on, Mai, what're the chances of that happening again?" Manic asked.
"Cheese," Roll and Haseo grinned, the older sibling hugging the younger from behind as they stood before the obelisk.
Yacker took the photo, "$*T*%#JFJGJS."
"Arigatou," Roll giggled as she took the camera.
"What are you doing?" Sonia asked.
"Ano...just something to remember this," Roll replied.
"H-hai. It'll be good to…" Haseo began before the red cube began to glow, "E-eh?!"
"...Dammit, Manic, Mai!" Makoto barked as she noticed it as well.
In his pocket, the ring Haseo had began to shine brightly at the same time as the cube. The light grew brighter and their sight turned white.
The shadowed hedgehog-like figure shot along natural paths of the planet, seemingly at pure random. At times, it even rammed into walls and crash into the water and come out of it upside down. The scorpion-like vehicle flew away from Little Planet without the figure and the planet vanished.
"Hm? Where's Ragna the Bloodedge?" Tsubaki, wearing a pitch black version of her original NOL uniform and red eyes, pondered as she looked around a damaged coliseum, "...Colonel?" she tensed as a blue barrier erupted around the arena, "A barrier? I can't see the purpose of this, but I'm guesing the leak about Colonel Mutsuki leading a mutiny must be true. Also…" she looked across from her to see Noel, Makoto, and a young teen, a tall humanoid dog with a round shield, and a humanoid duck in just a jacket-like shirt and funny hat both covered in zippers helping keep a heavily bandaged Jin up across from her, "Well, with this revelation, I suppose we should upgrade 'leading a mutiny' to 'leading a rebellion.'"
"Tsubaki…" Noel whispered.
"Well...you seem calm, Tsubaki…" Jin noted, managing to hide the pain going through his injured body.
"Oh no, don't get me wrong, I'm genuinely surprised," Tsubaki admitted, "Lieutenant Vermillion and Lieutenant Nanaya aside, I wouldn't have expected you, Major Kisaragi, to serve Colonel Mutsuki's cause."
"Hmm, at least you...have some intelligence on...on our movement…" Jin spoke, "Nonetheless...I...I wasn't...expecting you...you to come alone...so I...I…"
"Easy now, Jin," the dog noted, "You're still hurt from that Heartless."
"I guess what Jin's saying is that we sure weren't expecting you to actually come alone," Makoto noted, earning a nod from Jin.
"Well, I felt that I would be able to handle Noel and yourself singlehandedly," Tsubaki closed her eyes with an inaudible huff.
"Man, single-handedly? I'm a little insulted," Makoto admitted.
"So, what exactly are you planning here? All three of you and the three with you going to take me out? Even if you do, there will be other Wings of Justice to chase you down. And if you defeat them, more will come," Tsubaki noted, opening her eyes once more, a sharp glint to them, "The Novus Orbis Librarium has zero tolerance for rebellion. We will find you, and put an end to you."
"You're wrong!" the boy called, "We don't want that. We want to help you, Tsubaki."
"Help? I do not need help, child," Tsubaki stated, "Major Kisaragi, you had mentioned before that the Librarium has no value...Value...is a childish thought. The Librarum is everything to me. And if you intend to deny it…I will deem you traitors to the state, and serve the hand of justice!"
"Justice?! How can you say that when the NOL is doing something wrong?!" the boy demanded.
"Everything the NOL...no. Everything the Imperator does is for Justice itself," Tsubaki replied as a dark aura came off her, "And if you are against it, then you are an enemy of Justice itself."
She took a step forward before becoming a blur. A flash of light came before Tsubaki's pen-like blade was blocked by a strange weapon held in the boy's hands. It appeared to resemble a normal key in the shape of a blade. It was pure white with a gold guard that surrounded the hand while the teeth of the key seemed to resembling the outline of a crown. On the other end of the blade was a chain, ending in a silver charm made of three circles that made a head with mouse ears.
"Sowa!" the duck shouted, its 'r' sounding more like a 'w' to those around it.
The boy grunted before swinging his strange blade, making Tsubaki jump back as he assumed a fighting stance with it, holding it in both hands, "I guess we're going to have to do it the hard way."
"Nothing is ever easy, is it?" Makoto sighed, "Yo! Goofy! Donald! Get Jin to someplace safe to try heal him up with that Curwhatsis thing."
"Cuwaga!" Donald squawked, yet helped the dog start carrying Jin away as Noel and Makoto ran up to stand by Sora, assuming fighting stances.
"If we can exhaust her enough, we might be able to get that Heartless out of her," Sora noted.
"Gomen, Tsubaki," Noel apologized as she summoned Bolverk.
"Three on at once? Hmph…" Tsubaki scoffed as she took a fighting stance, the dark aura flaring off her, "Mere child's play…"
The three charged at her and the area turned to white.
The red cube flashed brightly before the light dispersed, revealing the obelisk was gone. Standing in place of it was the boy from the vision. Looking at him clearly, they saw that he was a young teenage boy with large spiky brown hair, though in the right light it seemed to bleed into a rich caramel, blue eyes, tanned skin, and a bit of a lanky build with a rather interesting attire. The hoodie on him was colored black, with silver pauldron-like additions to his sleeves and white lining. His undershirt was a navy blue with a red patch in the center. His pants, similar to chaps, were colored black on the outside, and a navy blue on the inside, lined with silver-white edging. Yellow straps criss-crossed around his pants, held together with a black belt. The pants featured red pockets with a black cross over them. His gloves were colored black on the outside and white on the inside with a yellow line running around them. He also wore large black-yellow shoes with silver soles, a zipper running across the top, and black straps holding them together with buckles here and there.
"Okay…" he grinned before summoning the strange key-like blade in a flash of light before assuming an opening stance with it, "Ready to go?"
"N-nani?" Haseo blinked in confusion.
"Uh…" Manic began before the boy pointed his key-like weapon forward, "?!"
"Blizzaga!"
From the tip of it, a massive blast of snow and ice erupted. Manic tackled Tsubaki to the side as the attack barely avoided them. The ice and snow struck the ground and a wall of ice split the two off from the others along with Haseo and a startled Yacker.
"Hang on, guys! We'll go around on the water and…" Makoto began before a translucent barrier formed around the circular piece of land, "...Son of a…!"
"Haseo-chan! Yacker-chan!" Roll gasped.
"Bro/Manic!" Sonia and Sonic called out.
"Tsubaki!" Mai and Noel called out.
"Oh this is just great…" Manic grumbled as he and Tsubaki quickly got up and summoned their knife and sword and shield respectively, "Lil' Bro, stay close."
"H-hai, Manic-nii," Haseo nodded as he quickly ran behind the two with Yacker.
"Tsu, you okay?" Manic asked as he noticed a slight shaking in her hands.
"I...I'm alright," Tsubaki assured, 'That...That vision...That never happened. But...But it felt so real…Sora...'
The boy grinned before adopting a stern face as he jumped back and actually flew at them.
"He can fly?!" Manic exclaimed.
"Blaze Whip!" Tsubaki called out, her blade turning into its segmented whip form and ignited.
"Reflega!" the boy declared as a barrier formed around him, causing Tsubaki's whip to hit it as it flashed, disappearing for a moment before multiple small explosions of light to burst around the boy.
"?!" Tsubaki tensed as she quickly brought her shield up, only to flinch as the small explosions sent her skidding back.
Manic whipped out one of his drumsticks and spun it around before throwing it. The boy yelped as he was hit in the back of the head and fell to the ground from it hitting him. The drumstick spun in the air before Manic caught it as the boy quickly got back up.
"Firaga!" the boy shouted before a giant fireball erupted from his blade and shot at the green hedgehog.
"HOJEEZE!" Manic yelped, tackling Haseo down and out of the way of the huge fireball, "Dude! Not cool!"
"...sm-smoke?" Haseo sniffed the air a bit.
"Huh? Lil' Bro what are you…?" Manic began before sniffing, "AH! MY QUILLS ARE ON FIRE!"
"...Well...at least it wasn't me this time setting him on fire," Sonia blushed.
"Thundaga!"
"Oh, that doesn't sound g-WOAH!" Manic yelped as he quickly grabbed Haseo and ran, dodging multiple bolts of lightning as they crashed around the area, a small explosion occurring with each bolt.
"N-nani?" Haseo blinked a bit, trying to stay calm but at the same time...analyzing the situation, "...Sp-spells."
"Huh?" Manic blinked.
"I...I think he's using spells," Haseo noted.
"...If it's not robots or bad dudes or dudettes...it's magic users," Manic sighed, his eye twitching.
"Agreed...just be weary of those spells of his," Tsubaki advised, "Especially that barrier spell he used."
"Don't have to tell me tw-"
"Sonic Blade!"
"Sonic wh-?" Manic began before he and Tsubaki barely dodged the boy, who was an almost complete blur as he shot past him, his weapon pointed forward as he shot back towards them, "Woah!"
"Blazing Shield!" Tsubaki called as the 'flames' on her sun-themed shield spun around and ignited.
The boy's blade collided with Tsubaki's shield, creating a vortex of flames that slammed into him and knocked him away.
"Gah…"
"Haha! Got him!" Manic grinned, "Now l-"
"Strike Raid!"
"Strike wh-?" Manic began before the boy tossed his weapon towards them, "?!"
"Blazi-"
"Stop!"
Transparent clocks momentarily appeared around Tsubaki before vanishing into her body, freezing it.
"Tsu…!" Manic began before the keyblade slammed into him, "Guh!"
"M-Manic-nii!" Haseo gasped as Manic was knocked back, slamming into the barrier, 'Oh no...wh-what do I do? I...I don't….I…' his thoughts began to slow down as his head fur began to shadow over his eyes.
"% hgr…" Yacker whimpered, shivering on Haseo's head.
"Blizzaga!" the boy declared as he sent another blast of ice and snow at Haseo.
"...Koi, Wispon," Haseo whispered as he pressed the device on his wrist.
=BURST: FAR-RANGE MODE=
A stream of fire collided with the ice blast, causing it to dissipate into water and steam as Haseo held out the Burst-Wisp like weapon over his hand. Yacker was unsure if he should let out a sigh of relief or look down at Haseo in confusion.
"Oi, Yacker…" Haseo spoke, his shy timid voice replaced with a serious and confident one, "Go check on brother-in-law and Yayoi-san. I'll hold back the paladin."
"?" Yacker floated into the air and flew over to the two, trying to recall if he ever heard Haseo sound like that before.
"Now...for something a little more appropriate," Haseo spoke, pulling his hand out of the 'flamethrower' as he pulled out a handle and pressed a button on the side.
=CUBE: MELEE MODE=
The weapon began to shift and change around, the fire-red turning a cool blue color as the 'flamethrower' changed into something almost resembling a metallic Cube Wisp with a large blunt end on the front, making it resemble a hammer.
"?" the boy blinked a bit in confusion as Haseo used the hammer on the ground, a medium blue shockwave going out from the impact as nearby rocks pieces of ruins shifted into transparent, almost 'glass'-like energy cubes.
"Now…" Haseo began as three of the cubes floated before him, shifting a bt into semi-tall walls, "Cube Wall…" he swung his hammer horizontally, causing the walls to push forward and head towards the boy.
"?!" The boy tensed before managing to jump over them in a single leap, "Balloonga!"
"Balloons?" Haseo raised a brow as the boy summoned what appeared to be a large balloon, "...I see...it's gonna explode into 'homing' balloons that explode, doesn't it? Heh...nothing I can't handle."
Yacker just blinked a bit in surprise, seeing how cocky and confident Haseo was acting right now. Almost as if it was on cue, the balloon popped into a flurry of smaller multicolored balloons that homed in on the fox.
Haseo just smirked a bit as he slammed his hammer into the ground once more. The resulting shock wave caused the balloons coming at him to transform into cubes. He then gave one a light tap before it and the rest of the cube 'balloons' flew right back at the boy. The boy glowed before the cube 'balloons' were sliced apart, exploding moments after being sliced through. Landing on the ground was the boy, but his clothing drastically altered. His clothes had turned red and white with the fleur-de-lis emblem on each sleeve and pant leg while he held not one, but two key-like blades. The new keyblade's shaft displays two hearts, and its handle bore two angel wings. The teeth are fashioned in the shape of the Kanji for "light" (光). The charm on the end of its chain was a star sewn together from Thalassa Shells.
"Form change?" Haseo raised a slight brow, twirling his Cube Hammer a bit, "Interesting…"
"gh$ rri9f94?" Yacker questioned as he began to try to shake Manic awake despite the size difference between the two.
"Ugh...bro, I don't wanna feed Sonia bacon while she's bathing in gravy…" Manic muttered in his sleep, earning a confusion status to Yacker.
"...Oi vey…" Haseo muttered, pressing a button on the grip of his weapon.
=LIGHTNING: MELEE MODE=
The hammer began to change in appearance as the cool blue turned into an ivory yellow color. After a few moments, the weapon now resembled the Lightning Wisp in a way. Haseo swung the weapon towards Manic, sending out a whip of electricity as it smacked and shocked the hedgehog awake.
"I'm up! I'm up!" Manic yelped as he shot up.
"%2h3?" Yacker asked.
"He was speaking nonsense, so I woke him via shock," Haseo answered as Tsubaki began to move once more, "And Yayoi-san is awake as well. Good…
"Ugh...what happened…" Tsubaki whispered, "Why did it feel like time stopped for me?"
"Time...time stopping for…?" Manic muttered before his eyes widened, "Ah! That dude froze you in time!" he turned to see the boy, "...And he got new duds and another sword, too."
"Took you long to notice…" Haseo muttered as he rolled his eyes, resting his weapon on his shoulder, "Also, dodge."
"Dodge?"
The boy's blades glowed before he threw them like buzzsaws. Manic and Tsubaki barely jumped out of the way of them as Haseo ducked under them. The two blades vanished before appearing in the boy's hands in a flash of light.
"...How did…?" Manic began as he looked at Haseo.
"He was getting ready to throw them," Haseo explained, "I noticed his wrist moving a bit before his blades glowed, indicating he was about to throw them."
"Haseo?" Tsubaki raised a brow.
"Hai, Yayoi-san?" Haseo asked before quickly swiping his weapon, causing the electric whip to return as it deflected a blast of ice aimed at the trio.
"...Uh...where did you get that?" Manic asked, pointing to the weapon in Haseo's hand.
"No time for explanation. We have a battle on our hands," Haseo stated, using the electric whip to deflect another ice blast before he pressed a button on the grip.
=DRILL: FAR RANGE MODE=
The weapon began to shift and change once more, the yellow changing to a more earth-ish orange color as it converted into a drill-like blaster. The boy dug his feet into the ground before making a lunge at them.
"Haso, sta-" Tsubaki began as Haseo stepped forward, aiming the drill-like blaster forward.
"Drillnado…" Haseo whispered as he pulled the trigger, causing the drill to spin as it unleashed a large tornado at the boy, the tornado forming into a drill of air as it slammed into him.
"Gah!" the boy cried out as he was sent flying back and crashed into the wall.
"...When did he learn to do that?" Manic whispered to Tsubaki, both staring at Haseo with wide eyes.
"I have no idea," Tsubaki replied before both looked at Yacker, who shrugged with a confused expression.
"Stay focused you two!" Haseo snapped, making them look at him as the boy began to get back up, "He's about to recover!"
The boy held up his blades and his outfit glowed. The angelic key vanished as the red on his outfit turned blue and the fleur turned into blue flame designs. Blue sparkles shined around his feet before he began to float a few inches above the ground.
"Gravity!" the boy shouted, swinging his blade upwards.
"Dodge!" Haseo shouted as he quickly jumped back.
"Dodge wh-" Manic began before he tensed up, the air around him becoming heavy as he tried to stay up, "Gh!?"
"Man-GH!" Tsubaki nearly fell over as she felt gravity increase as well.
"Stopaga!" the boy called, aiming his blade at Haseo as he was starting to land from his jump.
Haseo quickly held his weapon up as he pulled the trigger, causing a cone of wind to quickly form around him before he was frozen in place, yet the drill part of his weapon kept spinning. The boy turned to Manic and Tsubaki before a barrage of blue bullets of light shot out at them. The eyes of the two widened before the others saw an explosion over the wall of ice.
"Oh no!" Sonia gasped.
"Come on!" Makoto growled as she slammed a fist on the ice, yet no cracks formed, "Break, dammit! Mou~! Where's Ben-kun when ya need him?!"
"Right here," Ben deadpanned.
"Will you transform already?" Mai demanded.
"One issue," Ben replied before pointing at his Omnitrix arm..which was stuck in the ice.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Makoto snapped.
"..." Ragna snorted back a laugh, "Ah, this takes me back to when you ticked off Gwen that she tried a spell and got half of you frozen in ice and the other half a tan."
"Why aren't you freaking out?" Mai gawked.
"Because I know they'll win," Ragna replied as he looked out at the ice, looking up at the smoke fading away.
Tsubaki slowly opened her eyes before they widened. The ground shook before the ground-made dome collapsed as Manic stood up despite the intense gravity, the sunlight reflecting off his armor.
"You okay?" Manic asked, looking over his shoulder at her.
"...H...hai…" Tsubaki slowly nodded before shaking off her initial shock.
"Good. When this wears off, think you can do what you did to chase off that ninja chick back at ol' Roasted Rooster's former palace?" Manic asked.
"I...I can," Tsubaki replied before her eyes widened, "Look out!"
Manic spun around, flipping his knife into a reverse grip and barely blocked a demonic version of the angelic keyblade, the kanji for 'Darkness' acting as the teeth. The boy's outfit was now yellow and black with crosses replacing the flames. He was wielding the black keyblade and also the white one. The boy swung his white blade, only for Manic to kick the ground and make a spike of earth shoot up at him, forcing the boy to jump back and land, hovering a few inches off the ground with yellow sparkles coming off his shoes and lower legs. Manic charged at the boy and made a jump, swinging his knife in its reverse grip in a stabbing motion. The boy rolled out of the way only for Manic to grab his leg and begin to slam his repeatedly onto the ground before delivering a knee to the boy's face, knocking him over and letting Manic deliver several slashes with his knife.
"Gah...C...Cur…" the boy panted out before pointing both his weapons up, "Curaga!"
A green bell surrounded by an abundance of leaves appeared above the boy before ringing, sending out a pulse of green energy that healed up the injuries from Manic's attacks.
"He can heal himself?!" Manic gawked, "Ugh...this is why I hate fighting magic users!" he stomped the ground and it came alive, forming into wolves made of the ground, "Sic 'em." 'And now I gotta think Gwen for making me read about wolves to see if there was a reason why Carn's a wolf knife. Why would a book on wolf biology even have a hint?!'
"Magnega!"
"Okay...If Firaga was a fire spell, Blizzaga was an ice…" Manic muttered before his eyes widened under his helmet before the ground engulfed his legs as the wolves charged at the boy.
A dark energy ball seemed to appear over the battlefield as one by one, the stone wolves were pulling into it, moving around it like they were caught in an orbit.
"Thundaga!"
Manic barely made another dome of earth before it was blown apart by a strong bolt of lightning. Opening his eyes under his armor, he grit his teeth as he saw his wolves had been blown apart.
"Then Magnega acts like a magnet of sorts while Thundaga is thunder…" Tsubaki noted, having been out of the range of the attack as she started feeling the gravity spell fading.
"...Okay. This kid is good..." Manic admitted as the boy stood ready.
The boy's attire glowed once more before turning white and black...with two more copies of the black and white blades now floating behind him as he held the original two.
"...And that's just cruel," Manic deadpanned before he began to block the blades with swipes of his knife and kicks from his armored feet.
"...Gah!" Haseo gasped out as the cone of wind dissipated around him, "Gah...jeez...freakin' Stop spell…" he then noticed the boy's new attire and weapons, "...and that's just going overboard."
"Could use a hand here, Lil' Bro!" Manic called before managing to grab one of the floating blades, "Ha!" it vanished in a flash of light and appeared floating behind the boy's back once more, "Aw come on! I call hax!"
"...He's incredibly fast in this form…" Haseo noted as he began to ponder, "...He used a gravity spell beforehand...perhaps...no...that feature isn't added yet...hmm..."
"Some assistance please, Haseo!" Tsubaki called out, quickly blocking a strike with her shield as the gravity spell finally ended.
"I'm trying to think here!" Haseo snapped.
Yacker facepalmed...er...face-tentacled...whatever, giving off an annoyed noise.
"Asteroid!" Yacker shouted as he did a flip and turned into an indigo Wisp with a large round head, a violet eye, and what seemed to be a planetary ring around him, "$ ht3e ~!"
"Okay, I know you used a pocketknife before and even the family blade, but this?" Haseo hefted his weapon, "I highly doubt you'll transform into something necessary for the situa...tion...unless...fine. Go right ahead."
Yacker nodded before shooting into Haseo's weapon. An indigo aura erupted off the weapon and it began to shift and twist, becoming a indigo blaster with the back of it resembling the Indigo Wisp's body, the grip as its tentacles, and the barrel extending from the eye.
=ASTEROID: FAR RANGE MODE=
"...Huh...Interesting…" Haseo noted as he looked at his transformed weapon, "...Let's see what this one is capable of."
He aimed and pulled the trigger. The planetary ring spun before an indigo laser shot out of the barrel. The boy swung one of his floating blades in a stabbing maneuver behind Manic when the shot hit it, causing the blade to crash into the ground, leaving a sword-shaped crater in it.
"...Gravitational forces….soka…" Haseo noted, "...I like it." he then aimed at the boy once more, "Tsubaki-san, brother-in-law, distract him while I take care of his remaining blades."
"Already doing that!" Manic called, stomping the ground and his wolf pack reformed, "Okay, let's try this again. Sic 'em, boys!" two of the stone wolves growled at him, "...And girls?" 'Okay, I think I read too much of that biology book.'
"Thund-!" the boy declared before another of his blades was hit by the laser and slammed into the ground before the wolves managed to slam into him, blowing up on impact, "Gah!"
"Got 'em!"
"..C...Curag-"
"Tsubaki, now!" Manic shouted as he jumped to the side, revealing Tsubaki in her burning Valkyrie attire.
"Astral Heat: Requiem Aeternam - Judgement Phoenix!" Tsubaki shouted as she released her pulled back arrow.
"?!" the boy tensed up, about to summon the reflective barrier before the laser from Haseo's weapon hit both his remaining blades, forcing them to the ground before he was hit by the arrow
"HOLY-!" Makoto exclaimed as they saw a pillar of light shoot into the sky on the other side of the ice.
As the light faded, the ice began to crack. After a few moments, it shattered and Ben sighed in relief as he started checking his arm for frostbite. Everyone else looked to see the remains of the obelisk within a large crater that still had flames in it while Manic was dismissing his armor while catching an exhausted Tsubaki.
"About time you...showed…" Haseo began before he slumped over, his weapon changing back into the bracelet as Yacker flew out. After a moment, he looked back up, blinking a bit in confusion, "Ano...wh-what happened? Did...we win?"
"Haseo-chan!" a yellow blur tackled into him before Roll began to check him over, "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? You don't smell like you were hit by lightning, that's a relief."
"And Roll's gone overprotective checking again," Makoto sweatdropped.
"...R-really? What happened?" Haseo asked again.
"You don't remember, little dude? You went serious and used some freaky weapon to help us fight," Manic answered.
"Eh? I...did?" Haseo blinked.
"Y35!" Yacker nodded, "H2rv ($hfnm $%(1)$( !" he zipped about, wildly gesticulating and pantomiming what had happened, "GH $((fn2jdj2d (**$&#$$##!"
"...Eh?" Haseo blinked further.
"Seriously, Ben, can't that translate him?" Ragna asked.
"I've tried, but it doesn't work," Ben replied.
"HONTO?!" Roll exclaimed, her ears and tail going straight up, "Haseo-chan made you think of Tou-san with how he was acting in the fight?"
"Eh?! I was acting like Tou-san?!" Haseo gawked.
"Huh...Come to think of it, you did sound like him when he and Kevin sparred," Manic noted before holding back a shudder, 'Though it felt more like Skye was in complete control of it from the moment Kevin showed off what he could do…'
"...I...I really don't remember doing that! Honest!" Haseo exclaimed.
"Maybe it was an adrenaline rush?" Mai suggested, "Makoto tends to forget thing when she gets a bit too fight-happy."
"I do not!" Makoto argued.
"The Sports Festival in our third year," Tsubaki, Noel, and Mai deadpanned.
"...Noted," Makoto had the decency to blush.
"...Still, that was freaky…" Manic spoke up, "That boy we were fighting kept using a lot of crazy spells…"
"We saw a few of them over the ice," Sonia noted, "Mainly thunderbolts."
"Th-Thunderbolts?" Haseo repeated.
*poof*
"And there's the poofiness," Makoto tried to not giggle as Roll and Noel cuddled the shivering twin-tailed fox.
"Seriously, why does his fur poof up when thunder is mentioned?" Ragna muttered.
"It also happens when you say the word 'apples,'" Manic snickered.
*poof*
"Mou...Manic-nii," Roll pouted as she started trying to brush down a shivering Haseo's fur once more.
"We blame Uncle Chuck, Skye, and the other scientists back at New Mobotropolis for it," Sonic shrugged before walking over to the blockade, "So now what to do with this?"
"Mmm mmm," Manic shrugged as Sonia walked up to the blockade.
"Hmm…" Sonic began to look around it, "Hey! Over here!"
"What's up?" Ben asked as he ran over.
"Look at this," Sonia pointed at an indent in one of the boulders, "It looks like a ring of sorts."
"You think this is some sort of keyhole we need a ring to open?" Ben asked.
"Maybe…" Manic shrugged...before he realized something, "And the boy we were fighting before was wielding a key-shaped sword…ah crud."
"Eh? Ring?" Haseo repeated as the last of his puffed up fur was brushed down before he dug into his pocket, "Ano…" he pulled out the ring Paradox gave him, "Will this work?"
"...hmm…" Tsubaki mummered as she knelt down to look at it, Manic helping her keep steady, "...Possibly…but just in case..." she looked over at the others, "Stand ready just in case."
"Got it/Hai!" everyone agreed.
"Good," Tsubaki nodded as she looked back at Haseo, "Go ahead, Haseo."
"H-hai," Haseo nodded as he cautiously approached the blockade, taking a few deep calming breaths as he stood before the ring-like keyhole.
After a moment of silence, he cautiously moved the ring forward and pressed against the keyhole. He moved back as the ring began to glow. The area began to rumble as cracks began to spread out from the keyhole. After a few moments of rumbling, the cracks had spread to all the rocks before shattering, exposing a stretch of natural dirt road going into the distance.
"Whoa! Nice work, Lil' Bro!" Manic cheered.
Haseo giggled a little, blushing at the praise from Manic, before a light caught their eye. Floating down from where the top of the blockade had been was an unusual gemstone. It appeared to be a fine-cut bright green quartz that was giving off a radiant glow.
"Eh? A...gem?" Mai blinked.
"How the heck is it floating? This planet makes no sense no matter how long I've been on here…" Ragna muttered.
"...m-maybe it's one of the Time Stones Paradox-san mentioned," Noel guessed.
"Good thinking, Noel," Ben agreed, "Let's grab it and…" the ground rumbled, "...Please tell me this is an aftershock."
Before anyone could reply, the ground before them erupted as a pair of massive blue insectoid/bird-like jaws emerged from the ground and ate the stone. The rest of the body soon followed, revealing it to be a massive worm-like creature with a lavender/orange hide and white underbelly with multiple silver spikes growing out of its back. It let out a shriek while flailing the four insectoid legs on the top of the underside of its body. Haseo and Noel let out a gurgling squeak before they fell over, eyes blank and foam coming out of their mouths.
"Uh...what the H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS IS THAT?!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Whatever it is, it ate the Time Stone," Sonia gulped.
Ben activated the Omnitrix and slapped down on it in a charge, turning into Armadrillo in a flash of green light. The Talepaedan roared as he swung a fist at the giant worm-like creature while making his fist rumble. It collided and Armadrillo began to blabber as he was the one that ended up bouncing around from the vibrations of his punch.
"Whaaaaaaaaat juuuuuuust haaaaaappeeeeeneeeed?" Armadrillo asked through his vibrations.
The worm made a hacking sound before releasing a barrage of lime-yellow balls of slime. While everyone else was able to dodge-Sonic and Roll grabbing the passed out Noel and Haseo-, Armadrillo got hit in the arm by one just as he stopped vibrating. He let out a cry of agony as steam began to hiss out where the slime was touching him.
"Acid!" Tsubaki gasped.
"Sonia! Quick rinse!" Sonic called.
Sonia nodded as she ran over to the circle of water around them. She proceeded to spin, becoming a pink tornado that quickly picked up some water and flung it at Armadrillo, rinsing off the acid and exposing his armored limb was partially melted, exposing a black, burnt flesh beneath. The Andromeda Galaxy alien breathed heavily as he held the limb.
"It...it ate through his armor?!" Mai gawked.
"...Damn it! I think this thing is Armadrillo's predator!" Ragna realized.
"What?!" everyone looked at him.
"Ben, change into something else!" Ragna shouted.
Armadrillo hissed in pain, but managed to slap his Omnitrix emblem. In a flash of light, Heatblast stood in Armadrillo's place. He hissed as he held his arm, the burns replaced with broken obsidian on his arm.
"Darn it...I...I was going for Swampfire…" Heatblast hissed through his teeth.
"Talk about crappy timing for it to glitch…" Makoto cringed.
The worm-like creature hissed at Heatblast before something made it turn to look at something in the distance. It gave out a hissing screech at them one last time before burrowing back into the ground and away from them.
"It….just left?" Manic blinked, "What the hell man?"
"Maybe it was that whistling sound it heard," Makoto guessed.
"Whistling?"
"Seriously? You guys didn't hear it?" Makoto asked, earning silence in response, "...Maybe it's just me…" 'Then again...I did hear that same whistling noise before Crabdozer came and attacked us before…'
"Ben-san!" Roll gasped as the Omnitrix timed out, letting Ben collapse while holding his burn-coated arm.
"So...This is one of the Time Stones. Khyber, excellent work."
"My pleasure...though it was unfortunate I couldn't poach Tennyson at the same time."
"Just make sure to keep an eye out on them. They could lead us to the remaining Time Stones."
"Of course," Khyber nodded as he left.
"I must say, I was not expecting that to be the natural defenses of this planet," the figure noted before turning to a liquid-filled device reminiscent of what Ben and Makoto had been sealed inside of as a red mist flew into the area and into a vent on the device, lighting up a red light beside a blue one, "But the results are just as told by Eon. Just twelve remain and you will be complete."
"Just keep those bandages on your arm," Roll advised as Ben looked at his bandaged arm, "The mixture I spread on them will help soothe the burn and mend the damage from it."
"Got it," Ben nodded, "...Though I…"
"No Omnitrix for a while," Tsubaki stated with a slight stern frown, "We don't want another incident to occur if we run into that creature again."
"But…"
"Makoto will be keeping an eye on you to make sure you don't try anything," Tsubaki added.
"...Fine…" Ben sighed a bit, "...speaking of whom, where is she?"
"She went to go get changed into something 'a bit more fitting'," Mai answered.
"...Say what?" Manic raised a brow.
"...It's not like her original outfit, is it?" Sonia asked with a slight annoyed frown.
"No idea," Mai shrugged, "Though...maybe some new clothes would be a good idea. I mean…" she motioned to her clothes, sporting a few cuts from Tetrax's shards that managed to graze her in the fight, "These aren't exactly good for battles we might be having up ahead."
"That's the spirit, Mai!" Makoto's voice perked up.
Everyone looked to the stairs to see Makoto walking down them. Makoto wore a tube top/tee that was primarily a golden-yellow with blue detailing, a window on it exposing her neck and top of her cleavage while leaving her navel and waist completely exposed. She wore a golden-yellow skirt with a dark-blue belt embedded with blue diamonds and oversized silver buckle on it with an acorn-brown belt securing the skirt to her figure, the bottom of the skirt thankfully ended an inch above the start of her dark-blue stockings going into golden-yellow combat boots with blue detailing. On her neck was a sun-themed necklace with a blue diamond in the center of it while her lower arms and hands were covered in light-brown leather gloves and bandages with her fingers covered in a golden-yellow leather with leather belts that had gold buckles strapped onto her wrists. A combination top hat/stetson finished her attire, sporting the same golden-yellow the rest had with a leather belt on it with a large metallic blue buckle and a large blue diamond on it.
"...M-Makoto?" Noel blinked.
"Heh. Howdy, guys," Makoto winked, tilting her hat a bit, "Like the new outfit?"
"Well, it does compliment your figure," Sonia noted, "Not as revealing as what you wore when we first met-thank Chaos for that-and does bring out your eyes." she walked over, "May I?"
"Sure," Makoto replied as Sonia patted random spots on her clothes.
"Interesting...A unique blend of fibers that are not only breathable, but highly durable," Sonia observed before stepping back and giving a nod, "Perfect for either a big fight or for just a simple walk. Nice work, Makoto."
"Thanks, Sonia," Makoto giggled a bit before tossing everyone a bag, "Queen Aleena gave me these before we left for the vacay in case we needed them. New clothes for everyone!"
"Oh! S-sugei…" Noel awed a bit as she looked into her bag, "...I-I think I'll try mine on right now." she said as she ran off.
"Seriously?" Ragna pondered, looking at his unopened bag.
"Might be a good idea," Ben replied before looking over at his jacket, the sleeve burned off, "Kinda need it myself. Plus, you don't want to lose your jacket, right?"
"Tch. Fine," Ragna snorted as he walked off.
As everyone went off to get changed, Makoto noticed Ben hadn't left yet. The Beastkin walked over and sat beside the brunette.
"You holding up okay, Ben?" Makoto asked.
"Yeah. Just...Just wasn't really expecting...that," Ben replied, referring to the worm-like creature, "When I went Armadrillo, I thought I could use his vibration powers to make it puke up the Time Stone, but when I hit it...It actually absorbed the blow and forced it back into my body."
"Oof...glad I didn't try hitting it then," Makoto cringed, "And that slime...just…" she looked over at Ben's bandaged arm, "It's strong enough to eat through Armadrillo's armor… Maybe Ragna was right. That worm thing could've been Armadrillo's predator."
"His predator?" Ben repeated before frowning in thought, "Maybe...Makoto, think you can grab that red datapad from the shelf?"
"This one?" Makoto asked as she walked over to a shelf and pulled partway out a red tablet.
"Yeah. It's the current Alien Lifeform Database," Ben replied, "Gwen made me bring it with me just in case."
"Ahh...soka," Makoto noted as she sat back next to him, "Alrighty, how does it work?"
"Well, if we only know traits of an alien, we can put them into a search," Ben replied as he used his non-bandaged arm to turn on the device and display a holographic screen with digital keyboard.
"Well...It was big," Makoto began to type, "Lavender and orange in color, seemed to dig really fast, impact resistant or can just transfer impact damage to the sender…" she glanced at Ben's arm, "...and acid spit." the moment she pressed 'enter,' the screen changed to display a hologram of the creature, "He was right! It's called a Lutum Comedentian from the planet Terra...Terrae…"
"Terraexcava," Ben pronounced.
"Thanks," Makoto nodded, "The Lutum Comed….know what? I'm just gonna call it Slamworm."
"Good name," Ben grinned.
"Glad to hear," Makoto giggled before looking at the data, "...Yeesh. Absorbs kinetic energy and sends it back out upon impact. Capable of tunneling at Mach 23 and through nearly any type of material. It uses an acid capable of melting an entire Talpaedan in ten seconds to consume them for sustenance." she looked over at Ben, "Isn't that the species name for Armadrillo?"
"Yeah," Ben nodded in response, cringing a bit as he looked at his injured arm, "So it really was the predator for him and I gave it just what it wanted."
"Yeah...we're lucky you changed into a different alien in time…" Makoto nodded, "...Though it ended up glitching and gave ya the wrong one again…"
"It happens. I'm used to it doing that," Ben shrugged, "You gotta work with what you got, after all."
"...Heh. Sounds like something my mom and dad would say," Makoto chuckled a bit.
"Really?"
"Hai! Whenever we didn't have much food, mom would always end up making something delicious and enough for the family," Makoto giggled, "And dad...If he doesn't have the right tools, he uses whatever he has on hand...by which I mean his hand most of the time."
Ben nodded before seeing her smile start to slip, "..." he put his hand on her shoulder, "I'm sure they're okay, Makoto. When we're done here, we can go ask Grandpa Max."
"...Thanks," Makoto's smile returned before a thinking frown replaced it, "...Maybe…"
"Huh? What is it?" Ben asked as Makoto began to type once more before the image changed to Crabdozer.
"Ha! Knew it!" Makoto grinned, "...Holy cow, I got its species name in one. It really is named Crabdozer!"
"That thing that attacked us back at the forest was an alien?" Ben pondered before his eyes widened, "Pyros?! That's where Heatblast comes from!"
"Yeah...It's pretty fast for its size, strong enough to break almost any barrier, and its saliva is a fire suppressant...and to add it up, it's completely IMMUNE to fire," Makoto read off the data, "Okay, I'm starting to get a little bit suspicious. I mean, two natural predators to two of your go-to aliens showing up on Mobius of all places?"
"...Come to think of it...both Crabdozer and Slamworm had a collar around them," Ben recalled.
"And then there's that whistling noise I kept hearing before-or after for Slamworm's case- those two showed up," Makoto added, "...There's something going on here or I'm not a fan of acorn parfaits."
"Yeah…" Ben nodded as he began to ponder a bit, "What could…?"
"These are so cute!"
Ben and Makoto nearly jumped out of their seats as they turned to look at Noel as she walked over. She was wearing a periwinkle button shirt under a dark-magenta jacket with periwinkle detailing. She wore a dark-magenta skirt with a black line going around the middle with a dark-red belt holding it onto her body while led down to a pair of periwinkle stockings with her right leg having a dark-magenta ribbon on it, leading down to dark-magenta and periwinkle combat zipper-boots with heels and metalin periwinkle, heart-shaped toes on the ends. She had a pair of fingerless dark-red and black gloves on her hands while a dark-magenta and black pair of goggles rested on her head, her hair once more let flowing out. To complete the outfit was a gold necklace with a pendant on it resembling a pink rectangular gem connected to the necklace by a pair of gold wings.
"H-how do I look, Makoto-chan, Ben-san?" Noel asked.
"You look so cool!" Makoto gave a thumbs up with a smile in response.
"You look great, Noel," Ben nodded.
"Th-thank you," Noel smiled a bit.
"May as well get dressed, too," Ben shrugged as he picked up his bundle of new clothes and walked up the stairs.
"Okay, Ben-san," Noel nodded before walking over to Makoto before asking once he was gone, "Ano...What were you looking at?"
"Just some info," Makoto replied, "Mainly on those two creatures that attacked us before."
"Oh...wh-why?"
"Well, think about what Ragna said. He thought it was Aramdrillo's predator. So we pulled this out and looked it up and it turned out to be right," Makoto replied, "Then I thought about that Crabdozer and, lo and behold!" she motioned to the still showing image of it, "Turns out that it really is called a Crabdozer."
"Eh? R-really?"
"Eeyup..and it turns out it's Heatblast's predator," Makoto added.
"Eh? B-But Ben-san said that Heatblast's species…" Noel's eyes widened.
"On a planet-like star, yeah," Makoto nodded, "Which explains why this thing is freakin' fireproof and has flame retardant saliva."
"Eh?!"
"Yeah, meaning any fire-based attack is useless," Makoto nodded before frowning a bit, "We also noticed something similar about Crabdozer and Slamworm, aka that thing that attacked us earlier….they both sported a collar."
"A collar?" Noel repeated.
"Yeah. These aren't just random incidents. I think someone's gunning for us. And more likely? I think they're gunning after Ben," Makoto scowled, "But the question is...who exactly?"
"...D-do you think it's Eggman?"
"Doubt it. The guy focuses more on machines, not freaky alien predators. GUN?...Nah. Those guys are pretty ANTI alien after what happened at the ARK...hmm…" Makoto mummered in thought, "Who could be sending those things after Ben?"
"...M-maybe...one of his enemies from the past?" Noel suggested.
"Eh?"
"W-Well...He's a galaxy-wide h-hero on his homeworld, hai?"
"Yeah…" Makoto nodded before her eyes widened, "Which means he's got a ton of enemies. Like, uh...um...shoot, the one time we've got a lead and we have no idea since he was pretty much a frickin' mute on some stuff! Either that or I forgot the names since they were said in passing or comparing something to something that happened to him!"
"Oh…"
"Yeah...mm…" Makoto facepalmed a bit, "We got a lead, but it's pretty much a dead end!"
"Maybe we can ask Ben-san about his enemies and, maybe, his allies were like?" Noel suggested, "I...I mean, from what we saw...It was like the obelisks are turning into beings from memories."
"Memories? Tetrax, I get, but that kid?"
"Well...Professor Paradox said that this was connected to multiple timelines, right? M-Maybe that was a memory from another timeline," Noel replied before rubbing her upper arm with a concerned look forming on her face, "Like if we were still home and it hadn't been destroyed by a To'kustar…"
"...soka…" Makoto noted, her ears drooping a bit before she shook it off, "So we'll most likely have to go against people we know, yet don't know from alternate timelines…heh. Can you imagine if we got in the middle of a huge event between two different Zones?"
"Zones?"
"Oh yeah...No one's told you, Ragna, Mai, or Haseo about that time," Makoto realized, "Well, 'Zones' are what we call alternate universes. 'Zones' is just easier to say. And we learned that from when an alternate group of us ended up here for a time."
"...Eh?" Noel blinked at that.
"Yeah...confusing, I know…" Makoto sheepishly chuckled, "Though not the first time we dealt with another Zone." her face paled, "Oh sweet nibblets...I don't want to fight a six-armed three-headed, nine sword-wielding bloodknight of a pirate!"
"Eh?! Wh-What are you talking about?!" Noel gawked.
"Noellie...for the sake of everyone's sanity, I really hope and prey that if we run into another one of those obelisk things, it is not a guy with green hair, three earrings on one ear, and three swords at his hip," Makoto informed, "The glare the guy casually gave made my tail stick up and fell like it was going to rip itself off my body for hours even after he was gone."
"Oh...oh my," Noel gasped a bit at that.
"Yeah...so I seriously hope the next obelisk we run into doesn't bring out someone from that Zone," Makoto said.
"R-right…." Noel nodded a bit.
"So with that...wanna check if there are fluffy or cuddly aliens out there?" Makoto asked, pointing at the data pad.
"Yes please," Noel instantly replied before blushing a bit, "If..if that's okay."
"No problem!" Makoto grinned as she typed on the holographic keyboard, "Oh! There's a list mode if the search is too vague. Nice."
GT: Sorry, guys, no omake this chapter.
SZ: Nope. Things...have been rather busy as of late.
GT: I'll say. What with me tearing down a bathroom to build it back up just to sell the place and get ready to move.
SZ: Yeah...we hope you enjoy this chapter in the meantime, and stay tuned for more chapters in the future. Plus...here's hoping we'll get some more news on Cross Tag Battle, because I want my Makoto and Yang team up!
GT: *chuckles* Here's hoping, buddy. Here's hopin'.
SZ: Yeah...here's hopin'.