GT: And here we is. Last chapter for the arc. Hoo...this was long.
SZ: Very long...and hopefully you guys will like the finale of this arc. So...you guys know who we own and don't own, so let's cut to the chase! GT, start us off good buddy!
GT: Huh? *looks up from iPad* You say something?
SZ:...*puts a helmet on* What did you do now…?
GT: What are you talking about?
SZ:...I was expecting something freaky or crazy to happen to cut to the story...well…*pulls curtain down* Good to have a normal one for a change…
GT: Oh, I should mention that I had Sento make Bubba, the bear-themed boss from FNaF World, as a security guard for the place. And, uh, I told him that the curtain couldn't be pulled down today.
Bubba: Hey! I'm Bubba! Who pulled down that curtain?! I'm gonna kick their butt!
SZ: ...WHAT?!
GT: SZ did it, Bubba.
Bubba: I'm gonna kick your butt! MMMM~BUBBA! *fighting noises break out behind the curtain*
"...Ugh...what...happened?" Sonic groaned as he began to regain consciousness. "Ugh...anyone get the number of...that…" His eyes widened in realization as he shot up. "The bus! Metal must've separated me from the others….oh, shoot! Roll!"
"I-ite…" Sonic turned to see Roll nearby, slowly getting up herself. "N-nani…?"
"Roll!" Sonic exclaimed as he ran over. "You okay?"
"I...think...ahh! The bus!" she gasped in realization. "Where…?!"
=About time you and the half-breed woke up, faker= The two turned to see Metal Sonic, hovering far in the air above them.
"...Have you been there the entire time we've been out of it?" Sonic asked.
"Creepy…" Roll shivered, scooting behind Sonic.
=As if I care what you inferior beings think= Metal scoffed as he hovered down, glaring at Sonic. =Especially a fake like you=
"...Where are the others?" Sonic asked with a frown, glaring back at Metal.
=As if I care...most likely dead or trophies on Khyber's ship…=
"Khyber?" the two repeated.
"Ngh…" Ben groaned as he began to regain consciousness, struggling to get up...only to find he was bound to something. "...what the…?"
"Ahh...I was wondering when you'd awake."
"?!" Ben tensed as he looked over, seeing Khyber polishing his dagger. It was then he noticed...the metal walls covered in what looked like parts of different alien species. "What...the...heck?"
"Amazing, isn't it?" Khyber asked, holding his blade up as he looked at his reflection. "So many different species, each one more unique than the last...course, you and your little watch are no exception…"
"...Where's Makoto?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes...the hybrid," Khyber recalled. "Quite the fascinating subject. Immense strength that could allow her to break the moon if she were to stop holding back for one."
"...I said where is she?" Ben asked with a frown.
"Most unusual. You seem to prioritize her over your current predicament," Khyber noted.
"I already figure you're after the Omnitrix…" Ben countered, "Judging by your wall of…'trophies'...you practically scream hunter, and want it for a trophy."
"...and you got all that just from your situation alone?"
"Yes, but stop avoiding my question. Where is she?" Ben sternly demanded.
"You need not bother to know," Khyber replied, "All that you need to be aware of is what I plan for you."
"...Let me guess, you're either gonna cut my arm off just for the Omnitrix, or you're gonna 'give me a headstart' in running for the 'fun of the hunt'?" Ben guessed.
"..."
"...I got one of those right, didn't I?" Ben asked with a small grin.
"In a sense, yes. However, I will not be alone on this. Oh no," Khyber informed before his gills flexed and he whistled.
A deep snarl went off nearby. Ben managed to turn his head to see a pair of feral red eyes glaring hungrily at him. Said eyes were owned by a crimson and black jaguar-like beast...wearing the Nemetrix collar.
"Allow me to introduce my new pet, a Panuncian from the planet Hathor. His favorite is Splixson."
"...oh crap," Ben whispered, realizing what that meant.
"Now you realize the situation you are in...If I were you, I'd start running," Khyber advised as the bindings keeping Ben in place unlocked, letting him fall to the floor, "And as a bonus; if you find the hybrid...well, it will be two birds in one stone."
"..."
"I didn't say the bonus was for you…" Khyber replied, "Four minutes."
"..." Ben said nothing as he started running, going past Khyber as he shot him a small glare.
"...Perhapes once I'm done with those two, I'll go on a small hunt for one of the local creatures of Mobius…" Khyber whispered to himself.
"...BASTARD!" Ragna's voice roared as he burst out from some rubble, sword already out, "Grr...where are you, ya son of a bitch?!"
"Ugh...What the hell was that? It was like I couldn't do nothing!" Manic exclaimed.
"That was the Izayoi," Tsubaki noted, "But ow was it repaired? Sonic said he broke it and threw it off a cliff!"
"I know...we saw it…" Sonia groaned as she got up, "Question is who repaired it and why does that robot have it?"
"Dunno...but I'm gonna stab that a-hole rapidly and repeatedly when I find him," Ragna growled.
"Save some for me," Manic agreed.
"We need to get back to the bus," Sonia noted, an arm over Haseo, cringing a bit as she tried to keep pressure off her left leg.
"Daijoubu...Noel?" Mai asked as she helped Noel up.
"...fine," Noel replied, the empty tone still in her voice as she swatted Mai's hand away, "...Target has been lost…"
'...she still has that voice….please don't tell me she's gonna turn into that form sooner than expected…' Mai thought in slight worry.
Haseo sniffed the air, "S-Smoke…"
"Hmm?"
"I...I smell smoke."
"I see smoke," Ragna added, pointing to where a pillar of smoke was going into the air.
"...That's where the bus is…" Manic whispered with wide eyes.
"..."
"...Sonia, can you…?" Ragna began before Sonia covered Haseo's ears before Ragna could finish asking, "Thanks." he inhaled, "FUCK!"
"...Must've been Ragna cursing," Sonic figured, standing before a large highway with Roll and Metal, "...And why are we here exactly, copycat?"
=Simple, Fake...to prove who the true Sonic is...a race battle. It is where we shall prove who is the true fastest thing alive...who the true Sonic is= Metal explained =She is here since my scanners detect something connecting you both=
'The Bond!' Roll thought.
=So once I beat you fake..she will be mine= Metal stated
"Eh/What?" the two asked in shock.
=Only someone like I can have her…= Metal stated further =Only the true Sonic...no, the king of this world can have her as their queen=
Sonic looked over at Roll.
"It does not work that way," Roll whispered to Sonic, her ears flattening as she gave him an annoyed look for even thinking it.
"Oh phew…"
=I suggest you mentally prepare, fake...because we shall start the battle…= Metal informed, summoning a replica of Jin's sword once more.
"...No way am I losing to a fake like you," Sonic frowned, bringing his own sword out, Manic and Sonia's Medallions clinking together on his neck.
=Good...then keep up…= was all Metal said before he rushed off in a blur.
"...You ready, Roll?"
Roll checked to see if she had her katana still before Yacker poked out of her hair and then ducked back in, "Hai."
"Good..then let's hurry and take care of that fake."
"Yosha!" Roll replied before the two ran off after Metal Sonic.
"Ahh...ahh...ahh…" Ben panted as he ran behind a tree, gripping his arm a bit as he looked around the edge of it.
He had lost track of Khyber, but...for some odd reason there was an entire jungle-like forest within the ship...most likely to hunt any new prey he came across. Didn't help Makoto was somewhere in this giant ship, so he had two...three things to worry about; the third being about the now stolen Time Stones.
"...I just need to find Makoto and get out of here…" Ben whispered, "Then we need to find the others and…"
"KYA!"
"Makoto!" Ben gasped, rushing out of his finding spot to find the source of the scream.
"Woah hey! Watch the ta-AH!" Makoto's voice screamed as she bursted out of some nearby bushes, "What i-"
*THUD!*
"O..hey! W...Ben?"
"Makoto?" Ben groaned before a roar went off, "The Panuncian!"
"The mutant red saber-toothed tiger!" Makoto panicked while getting up, letting Ben take notice that her outfit was covered in clumps of mud, sticks, and leaves with a noticeable tear on her chest exposing the underside of her hefty bosom and the silky acorn-yellow bra beneath the fabric.
"...uh…"
"Run!" Makoto freaked, grabbing his arm as she ran off.
The Panuncian roared as it jumped out of the foliage, chasing after them.
"Where the heck were you?! That thing has been chasing me for god knows how long!" Makoto exclaimed.
"I just got here! That thing's owner had me locked up before sending me out just so he could hunt me!" Ben replied before another Panuncian joined in the chase.
"How many does he have?!"
"Just one! They multiply since they hunt Splixsons like Ditto!"
"...Oh, you gotta be kidding me! Bad enough I had one chasing me just as I woke up, now we gotta worry about a pack of them?!" Makoto complained before her ears twitched, "And what is that whistling?!"
"...Uh, Makoto? I really hope that you noticed the collar," Ben gulped.
"Why?" Makoto asked as a shadow came over them, "...It was the Nemetrix, wasn't it?"
"Yep."
"And because it's on a multiplying alien, it can turn into all of them?"
"Yep. And they're Crabdozer and Slamworm," Ben replied, "Run faster please!"
"RUNNING!" Makoto exclaimed, almost practically a blur as she ran from the two predators, punching away any trees and boulders in her path, "Way Big would be nice about now! Or Humongousaur!"
"I would, but he already has a counter to the latter and I am terrified he might have the Predator to the former!"
"What is it?!"
"A virus!"
"...A VIRUS?! I...fuck it! Omniketsu! I don't care...something to at least give us an edge!"
"Here's hoping there's no Predator for that one!" Ben replied, activating his Omnitrix and ended up tripping on an exposed root, "Whoa!" a flash of light went off and Makoto jumped up, barely avoiding Grimlock's hand nearly hitting her, "Guh! Me, Grimlock, mean not do that!"
"...It's fine, because I can't tell ya how happy I am to see Grimlock right now!" Makoto beamed before the two predators came rushing in, "But enough of that, Grimlock! Get 'em!"
"Me, Grimlock, getting…" Grimlock began before Slamworm transformed into a tiny orb-like robot with big blue eyes, "OUT OF HERE!" he scooped up Makoto and ran off.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"
"Me, Grimlock, made of metal! Him, Scraplet, eats metal! Me, Grimlock, not going near that! Scrap that slag, me out!"
"Okay…" Makoto growled before running up his arm and slapped the Omnitrix, making a flash of light go off before she was caught by a fleeing Rath.
"Lemme tell ya somethin', Makoto Nanaya!" Rath roared as he turned around and tackled the Scraplet and proceeded to pummel it, "RATH IS GOOD WITH THIS!" he threw the dented Scraplet at Crabdozer, "Lemme tell ya somethin', Panuncian with the Nemetrix; RATH WILL DESTROY YOU!"
"Yeah, that's right! Beat him within an inch of his life!" Makoto shouted, cheering him on before yelping when a Panuncian tried to jump at her from behind, trying to bite at her tail, "Why do you keep going for my tail?!"
The Panuncian snarled before the Nemetrix on it glowed. Its body became twice as big and fur was replaced by pale-off-white scales with pitch-black scales going down the back all the way to near the end of its tail where it turned a deep crimson. The end of its muzzle peeled back to expose razor sharp fangs and pink muscle while its head became bigger and more lizard-like with the same pale scales before a black mask made of scales grew over that. Red sacs of skin swelled up on the underside of its neck. It growled again at Makoto, its four red eyes all glaring at her like a piece of meat.
"...Okay...you are a giant lizard and look as disgusting as one of those bug thingies the others talked about that got spawned from Arakune," Makoto noted, "I'm calling you Buglizard." the newly-named predator responded with roaring, revealing its mouth was much much bigger than expected, "OH PEANUTS!-!" she yelped as she barely rolled out of the way of it's lunge, "Rath, a little help here please!?"
"Busy!" Rath shouted, rapidly punching Crabdozer in the face before the third one became another Buglizard that tackled Rath.
"SERIOUSLY?!"
"...Damn it…" Ragna frowned, he and the others looking at the remains of what used to be the bus.
"What happened here?" Mai questioned before a whimpering went off, making them look to see Rexy limp up to them.
"Rexy!" Ragna exclaimed before running over, "What the hell happened here, girl?"
Rexy barked while pointing at a piece of metal and then at Sonia and Manic with her snout.
"...Robot doubles of those two?" Ragna guessed, earning a growl, "...Metal Sonic?" a bark was his reply, "Aw great. And I guess he took the others?" another bark, "Dammit. Ben sh-" another bark mixed with a whine, "...Wait. He didn't take Ben or squirrel girl?...then who..." another bark went off as Rexy pointed to her neck, wincing since she used her bad paw, "...your former owner?"
"Is it just me, or does anyone else find it kinda neat Ragna's only had her for less than twenty four hours, but already knows how to talk with her like that?" Mai whispered.
"Not the time, Mai," Manic sighed before scowling at the wreckage, "Dude messed up our home. Sure we have some bases, but...but this was our main home. And takin' Bro, Sis-in-Law, Ben, and Makoto? Way not cool."
"They really crossed a line now…" Sonia noted with a frown before looking at her bad leg, "Though...I don't think any of us are ready and able."
"...Nothing I'm used too…" Ragna muttered with a frown, "Alright…" he looked around before grabbing two metal poles and used his sword to cut them in two before ripping his jacket up into strips, "Alright…" he walked over to Sonia and put two of the poles on the sides of her bad leg and wrapped them tightly together, making a tourniquet, "These will have to do for now," he did the same to Rexy's bad front leg and picked her up, "Any ideas how to find them?"
"...!" Rexy's ears perked up a bit.
"...You know where your former master's hiding, don't ya?" Ragna grinned, earning a bark, "Great. Growl when we go the wrong way, got it?" a bark went off from Rexy, "Attagirl."
"Seriously, did...did he have a secret goal of getting a pet dog or something?" Mai pondered as she followed after the others, carrying Sonia on her back to avoid slowing down everyone.
"No clue," Sonia replied.
"Too slow!" Sonic shouted, dodging a slash from Metal as they and Roll ran through the large highway, the former two clashing blades.
=Not bad..but can you handle this?= Metal asked, his free hand forming into a blaster as he aimed right at Sonic's face.
"Whoa!" Sonic yelped before the blaster fired, only to be blocked by Roll's Hover Board before she stabbed at him with her Laser Rapier.
=...Not bad...you will make a perfect queen…= Metal noted, grasping her rapier as it was inches away from his face
"Again, it doesn't work like that!" Roll snapped as the tip of her rapier glowed and fired a cyan laser, managing to tear into the side of Metal Sonic's head.
=ARGH!= Metal roared out, moving away from them while putting a claw to the gouged area before it turned to a metallic liquid that quickly mended the wounded area =Not bad. I should have guessed there was more to it than just a transformation of the blade=
"Never underestimate your opponent…" Sonic's voice began, prompting Metal to turn before Sonic spin balled right into him, "Like me!"
=Stop= Metal invoked as everything froze around him. He then summed his replica Yukianesa, summoning small daggers of ice as they aimed right at Sonic, =Time resumes...=
"Ugh...wh-" Sonia began as time resumed, the hedgehog noticing the ice daggers, "GH?!" he quickly brought his blade back out as he tried deflecting as many of the daggers as possible, some brushing past him or cutting him up.
"Sonikku!" Roll gasped before Metal was before her, "?!"
=Time for you to have a time out= Metal stated before slapping a metallic sphere on Roll's chest before moving back.
Roll reached out to swipe at him with two Burst Busterswords before the sphere glowed and a dome of energy covered a three meter radius of her, freezing her in place.
"Roll!" Sonic gasped.
=A time bomb. Created by the Zoni, they can freeze time for things for a limited time= Metal explained =Now it's just us, fake=
"...Oh you're on now, buddy," Sonic stated as he frowned.
=Then bring it…=
"Get back!" Makoto roared as she slammed a fist into Buglizard's face, sending him into the distance, just as Rath was knocked over to skid to beside her, "Ugh...Ben, can't you go Ditto and outnumber them with all your aliens?"
Rath slapped his Omnitrix and became Diamondhead, "I would…" he caught the lunging second Buglizard before encasing it in crystals, "But if I did that, they'd all have different personalities."
"How do you know tha-you did that with Ditto before, didn't you?"
"Echo-Echo, but it still counts," Diamondhead replied before Hypnotik phased through the crystal and became Slamworm as the third copy returned, becoming Tyrannopede and surrounding the duo with three big, bulky predators, "Well this sucks."
"It's bull is what it is…" Makoto muttered before more Panucians jumped in,"...And that's just unfair. Whoever designed that Nemetrix or hired that bounty hunter is really gonna get a taste of my fist."
=Oh, that will be quite difficult. The one who originally made it is currently in Plumber custody= Khyber's voice came, a faint crackle in Makoto's ears telling her it came from several speakers in the area =As for who perfected it, well...he's currently busy with Soundwave at the moment=
"Perfected it?" Diamondhead repeated before four spikes emerged from each Nemetrix of the transformed Predators and single Panuncian, "...Aw nuts."
The sole Panuncian roared before growing to the size of a bus as bits of fur fell off, exposing red skin beneath. Bony spikes erupted down its spine and out of the shoulder blades as a bony mask littered in bone spikes and an actual blade for a horn covered its head. Crabdozer roared as its six legs became four with six spikes emerging from the bottom of the now flat feet of it as parts of its body broke apart, revealing bubbling magma as more spikes resembling miniature emerging from the parts that hadn't broken off with vents spewing flames on the much larger main horn. Buglizard shrieked as its body inverted colors as two large bat-like wings grew out of its back as buzzsaw-like growths grew down its back while vents grew out of the palms of its clawed paws. Slamworm's upper body split into three heads as it grew two large mole-like limbs on the lower half, the claws now pitch-black drills.
"...Awww...acorns!" Makoto complained, "They got Ultimate Forms, too…"
"...wait...Ultimate forms…" Diamondhead repeated, "..." he groaned, facepalming, "I should've know…"
"Eh?"
"I think I know who's behind this whole Little Planet incident…"
"...The hell am I looking at?" Ragna blinked as the group stood before a simple one-story structure with a lone door at the front.
"Might as well knock," Manic noted before reaching for his neck and frowned, "...Where's Carn?"
"I could probably tele…" Sonia began before checking her own neck, "Oh no! I'm missing Rhongo!"
"...They must've gotten lost during that explosion," Tsubaki pondered, "Still...we need t-"
"Proceeding with destruction of obstruction."
"..." the group slowly turned to Noel...Bolverk in its Rocket Launcher state aimed right at the door, "?!"
"Ahh! N-Noel, m-" Mai began.
*BOOM!*
"Meep!" Haseo squeaked, hiding behind Ragna as smoke covered the front of the building.
"Noel, what the heck?!" Manic exclaimed.
"Obstruction destroyed...proceeding with mission…" Noel whispered, dismissing her guns as she walked through.
"...Okay seriously, what's gotten into her?" Sonia pondered before Noel screamed as she was electrocuted and knocked back, the smoke blown away by a barrier appearing to reveal the area of impact had no damage to it, "Noel!"
"...Grr…" Ragna's eye twitched, "Seriously? Ugh! You gotta be kidding me!" a confused whine came from Rexy, "Never saw it do that before, did you?" a bark came from Rexy, "Should've guessed."
"Must've set this up recently…" Manic noted.
"Oh no. It's been built in there since its creation upon our arrival."
"...Ben?" Tsubaki pondered before her eyes widened as Soundwave emerged from the building, "You!"
Soundwave moved to the side and...Ben stepped out. However...his skin was pale, far paler than normal. His hair had become a pure white as his eyes were a brilliant red. He wore a black shirt with red lines going up the sides of it with a black '10' in a red dot on the left side of the chest and a pair of black slacks. The Omnitrix was also different as well. Instead of being a white watch on the wrist, it had become a glove-sized gauntlet over his hand and had become a deep crimson in color with black markings over the knuckles.
"...Who the hell are you?" Ragna demanded with a frown
"Hmm...Ah, I suppose it has been quite some time since we last encountered one another, Bloodedge," the off-colored Ben noted, "Then again…" his body glowed before it transformed into a Greymatter, but its body was much skinnier and slightly taller, looking more like an italic 'T' in terms of body shape, wearing a black and red version of Greymatter's clothes and red eyes, "...You've only seen me as my true self."
"...oh yeah, the idiot apprentice that made things worse when we first met Malware," Ragna recalled as the others, minus the downed Noel, looked at what had happened in surprise, "Retool, right?"
"Gh?! It's 'Albedo,' you white-haired ape!" he snapped.
"You look more like a 'Retool' to me," Ragna shrugged before pausing, "Hold on. ...How the hell do you have an Omnitrix?!"
"Ultimatrix," Albedo corrected, "As as for 'how?' I made it. It's my superior copy of Azmuth's pitiful Omnitrix."
"Ultimatrix? That's what Ben called the Omnitrix before it upgraded," Sonia recalled.
"Upgraded?" Albedo repeated before Soundwave bent down to Albedo and displayed a screen of Ben using the Omnitrix, "...How? It shouldn't have been able to do that." he scowled, "Ben Tennyson, you continue to befuddle me."
"Eh?"
"Nothing you lower less intelligent lifeforms need to worry about," Albedo waved them off.
"...Oh, I don't like him one bit," Manic noted with a scowl.
"True. Azmuth when we met him was much nicer about comparing intelligence," Sonia agreed.
"...That fool doesn't know potential if it blew up in front of him," Albedo frowned, "He was afraid of my potential..of my intelligence, so he discarded me…but now thanks to this planet...my intellect...I have transcended both time and space!"
"Maybe it was that ego that got him expelled…" Mai whispered to Tsubaki.
"Shut up!"
"...Wait...Metal Sonic…" Ragna began in realization..before glaring right at Ableo, "That was you, wasn't it?"
"His upgrades? Quite simple, really," Albedo replied, "While whoever created him designed him with the intentions of being a perfect recreation of that blue hedgehog, I made him far better than before."
"So you were the guy behind that metal copycat Eggman made," Manic noted.
"...Eggman? What kind of...oh yes. That fat idiot…" Albedo recalled, "I've been studying the world this 'Little Planet' has been on for a few weeks now. To imagine that Ben Tennyson has been here for the last five years. Though, it also explains my current predicament."
"You mean how you looked like an off-colored Ben?" Manic asked.
"Yes. Because of him, I was transformed into a duplicate of him due to the Omnimatrix using him as the Base," Albedo noted, turning back into his Ben form, "It seems that I reflect his current state as well, which explains why I have not changed in how I appear as this form for the last five years." a frown grew on his face, "But that addiction is still there…"
"Addiction…"
"Addiction for those blasted chili-fries!"
"?!" the group-minus Noel-nearly facefaulted at that.
"Seriously?!" Manic exclaimed, "...Wow, you are dumb."
"...How dare you…" Albedo frowned as Soundwave aimed his arm at him, "Don't you EVER call me that, you pathetic waste of a life form!"
"Uh-oh," Manic gulped before jumping out of the way as Soundwave's arm shifted into a blaster and began to fire plasma blasts at the hedgehog, "Ah! Whoa!"
"Oi, Mai. You think you can keep an eye on Rexy and Sonia?" Ragna asked.
"Huh? Uh, yeah. Why?" Mai asked before Ragna put Rexy down beside her.
"Stay," Ragna ordered, pointing at Rexy, before turning around and jumping at Soundwave, blade out, "Bring it, asshole!"
"Soundwave...eliminate him," Albedo ordered.
Soundwave shifting into a fighting stance. He quickly rolled out of the way of Ragna's blade before sidestepping another swing of his blade before catching the punch sent at him.
"Woah!" Sonic yelped as he hopped over a missile aimed right at him, "...Heh. For a metal copy of me, you surprisingly use a lot of moves belonging to a bunch of other people."
=And yet unlike the originals...= Metal began as the missile exploded, sending out a wave of diamond shards at Sonic from behind =I can improve on their movesets=
"Gah!" Sonic yelped as he began to block and dodge the shards before gagged when Metal's hand attached to a plasma chain grabbed him by the neck and pulled him to the metal duplicate before being slammed into the ground, making a crater and cracking the ground around the two.
=Face it, fake; It's useless. You cannot defeat me…= Metal taunted as he lifted Sonic up, his free hand changing into a copy of Kitsunehime's branched sword =Unlike you, I don't rely on those weaker fools to help me fight…=
"Oh yeah? Then...why fight with copied powers, huh?" Sonic asked as he struggled with the claw digging into his clothes, "Not feeling that your normal skills can't take me?"
=No...because I see these abilities as my own. The ones whose powers I 'borrowed' wasted their talents; I, however, am using them to their fullest= Metal countered =Unlike you, my power is limitless! You are nothing more than a pathetic creature pretending to be something he is not! A prince..royalty...something I truly am...=
"And yet? You don't have what I have," Sonic replied before Metal grunted as Rhongo and Carn tore through his arm, freeing the hedgehog and let them go back into Medallion Form on his neck, "A family looking out for you and vice-versa."
=Gh! Infuriating…= Metal growled as he regrew his limb before glancing over at the still-frozen Roll before firing a barrage of missiles at her.
"Gh?!" Sonic gasped before rushing over and slicing through the missiles while a free hand slid a green gem into his left shoe.
The missiles exploded in a barrage of flames, electricity, metallic sludge, and diamond shard. Sonic spun around in a dance move and released a burst of wind that knocked them away. He sighed in relief before crying out in pain as Metal's foot rammed into him, knocking him away from Roll.
=Hmph. So easy to predict= Metal noted before Sonic's eyes widened upon looking the robot...who was holding Roll's family katana while Yacker was frozen in the sphere with Roll, looking as if he had been harshly backhanded into it =You risked your life for her..and yet didn't realize I was going for her blade…=
"...That belongs to her…" Sonic frowned as he got up.
=Hmph. It will be mine soon enough..along with her= Metal scoffed.
"She isn't property. She's a living being," Sonic defended.
=...To quote the person that rebuilt me: as if I care about what a pathetic, less intelligent, lower being thinks= Metal stated.
"...Yeah, that doesn't sound like Eggman lately…" Sonic muttered to himself before tensing at seeing Metal pull out a Time Stone.
=Time Freeze= Metal spoke.
The Time Stone glowed before the area inverted colors along with Sonic, the hedgehog freezing in mid-cringe. Metal huffed before releasing a barrage of diamond shards, ice shards, and several explosives around the hedgehog. The attacks slammed into him before the colors reverted.
"ARGH!" Sonic screamed as he collapsed, diamond shards littering his body as burns coated parts of him with several holes in his body emptied due to the ice melting from the heat of the explosives.
=I told you...It is useless to fight me…= Metal ordered as he stepped over, stepping on Sonic's arm as he gripped his sword =I will take this..something befitting a king...a god= The blade glowed before returning into Medallion Form on Sonic's neck =Hmph. Even now, it resists? ...I see now= he kicked Sonic onto his back before raising Roll's blade =It does not submit because you still live=
'I...I guess this is it, huh?' Sonic thought.
=Very well…=
'Sonia...Manic...Roll…Haseo...'
=Then with this…=
'Mom...Ben...Makoto...Ragna...'
=...it ends!=
'...Tsubaki...Noel...Mai...everyone…'
=Now die!= Metal roared as he swung.
'I'm sorry,' Sonic thought, closing his eyes as the blade met his chest, the Medallions in-between.
"Come now. Is that all you can perform?"
"?!" Sonic's eyes snapped open as he looked around, "Wh...What?"
All around him was greenery. Lush, bountiful greenery. The skies above, while sporting small white clouds, was dominated by a pure blue sunlit sky.
"Ye be the current wielder and ye be gettin' keehauled by a mangy piece of scrap?"
Sonic turned around to see several figures upon thrones, grey robes obscuring each of them.
"Do not be fooled. The metal being appears far more advanced than what thou hath faced in thine times upon the seas," the tallest of the figures spoke in a rich British voice, their throne made of chiseled stone with purple fabric to sit upon.
"Aye, aye…" another waved off the tallest, sitting upon a throne made of a ship of sorts held together by tightly-bound ropes.
"Do you truly not remember your encounters with Metalbeard, you daft pirate?" another questioned, sitting on a throne of bricks with a pair of muskets acting as armrests and a cannon pointing skywards as the back of the throne.
"...The heck is going on?" Sonic asked as he blinked several times.
A soft giggle came from a figure in a throne seemingly made of space and stone pillars, "I do believe we have him quite confused, do we not?"
"Of course we do!" the last member of them huffed in annoyance, sitting upon a stereotypical throne of gold with red leather.
"...wait…" Sonic began as he looked at the tall figure, "You...your voice sounds pretty familiar...wait..are you the voice that was in my head?!"
"In a sense, but not at the same time," the tall figure replied with a soft chuckle, "Do forgive us. We normally do not see another until they have been-I believe you call it-'put down' by the next of kin due to the curse that once beheld the King's Trinity."
"Huh?" Sonic pondered.
The figures rose from their seats and allowed their cloaks to fall to the ground. Sonic's eyes widened. The one who sat upon the ship throne was a blue female hedgehog decked out in an armored version of typical pirate gear. She had her quills braided into a ponytail while she had a cutlass sporting the guard of his sword at the end. The one in the throne of stars and pillars was another shapely magenta hedgehog with her quills brushed into luscious locks that draped her shoulders and down her back, donned in a Spartan's armor minus the helmet with a serrated broadsword sharing the same guard as Sonic's sword. The musket and cannon and brick-made throne-sitter was a slim green hedgehog wearing an armored version of old colonial attire with his tri-tipped hat actually being a crown with a sword/musket hybrid sharing the same guard as Sonic's sword. The one in the stereotypical throne almost looked like Sonic, except for the greying beard on his muzzle and the hardened look in his eyes, holding a rapier with the guard the same as the others.
The last of them, the tallest of them all, was a blue hedgehog with locks of green and magenta in his quills. His armor was that which befitted a king in medieval times, layered and seemingly made of golds and silvers with intricate detailing carved into each piece. Upon his head was a simple crown that wasn't too elegant nor fanciful in tastes, but more befitting a humble ruler. A red cape draped his shoulders while in his hands...was Sonic's sword.
"We are the Council of Kings. Those born of triplets to the throne whom left a shade of our true selves within the blade upon our passings," the magenta hedgehog informed, "I am Queen Milo."
"I am King Gael," the colonial-looking hedgehog greeted.
"I be the fierce Pirate Queen Maelstrom!" the pirate declared.
"I never got to meet you since you were still in your mother's womb at the time," the older, colder Sonic-copy informed, surprising Sonic, "I am your grandfather, King Adam."
"And I am the one who began it all," the tallest hedgehog informed, "I am King Arthur of Camelot!"
"...K...King Arthur?!" Sonic exclaimed before tensing, "Wait...then does that mean my sword..is...uh..shoot what as the name? Caliburn...Caliwave...oh! Excalibur! ...Wait, I have the sword of kings?!"
"Not exactly, dear," Milo informed, "The blade you wield on your own is known as 'Caliburn.' And until recently..."
"Do ye see none of our siblings?" Maelstrom asked, waving a hand about, "Tis because of what that blade has done to we who be done wielding it."
"Huh? W...wait...You mean that each time a Dark Ruler came in our family, it…" Sonic began.
"Yes. Aside from Arthur, each and everyone one of us killed our siblings and stole their Medallions to be unmatched," Adam admitted, "All because the sword was cursed."
"...cursed?" Sonic repeated.
"Perhaps I shouldst explain it," Arthur informed as the Hedgehogs sat upon their thrones once more, "It began with one woman; Morgana Le Fay. Now whilst history says that we were siblings, that is, to be honest, a false statement created by thine historians who didst not perform their duties correctly. While it may be true in realities other, that is not true for ours."
"Grandfather has been wanting to get that out to a descendant that didn't die yet for centuries," Milo stage-whispered, smiling innocently while looking away from Arthur as he glowered at her.
"As I was saying, it started with Morgana Le Fay. She sowed discord within my Court, causing war to break out amongst my brave knights. She conjured creatures from the netherworld itself to lay a siege upon my kingdom and the people. She bewitched my son, Mordred, into believe she loved him and he allowed her into the kingdom...only to be betrayed and slain by the literal poison she put upon her lips just as she did to his mind with her poisoned words."
"...Um…"
"Once again, your historians are foolish idiots who cannot perform their tasks properly. I had two children with my wife, Mordred the eldest and Alan the youngest. While Mordred perished, my wife and Lancelot-still loyal to the royal family-left, taking Alan with them to Athens, Fleece, as we agreed upon should Camelot fall," Arthur continued, "Though I was able to rally and unite the knights, there were only five left of the original thirteen, Lancelot included. We did battle ferociously whilst the citizens fled the kingdom's capital. By sun's rise, it soon came down to just Morgana and I. We attacked one another with final strikes. Both of us received fatal wounds upon that last clash. Whilst I was content, ready to accept my fate...Morgana would not. She howled and wailed until-with her final breaths-did curse my sword to seek out those who held my knife and my spear and slay them before waging conquests upon the land in the name of Morgana. Yet Merlin...bless that old teacher of mine...he came upon us as my final breathes neared whilst hers had been given. He took the sword, my knife, and my spear. He took them and gave them to Nimue, the Lady of the Lake. They combined their magics and created measures to keep the curse at bay."
"Huh?"
"They be turning them into Medallions that would become instruments at first-formed into ones that those who had them cherished most-and then into their true selves when the three became equals in battle," Maelstrom informed, "It be giving the other two a fair fighting chance, yet…"
"But...but that means that…" Sonic gulped.
"No," Adam informed, "Look to your left."
Sonic looked and cringed. Lying upon the grass nearby was a smoldering corpse, bisected down the middle. It was decaying at a rapid pace as a gentle breeze kept the smoke coming from its erosion far away from them.
"Your beloved's blade was the key," Milo informed.
"Huh? Roll's family sword?" Sonic asked.
"It cannot cut unless a Sakurai channels through it," Maelstrom explained, "I should be knowin', seein' how I be fightin' THE Bonnie Anne Sakurai, th' second fiercest pirate of the seven seas several times in my time sailing!" her eye softened, "She be tellin' me it as my life was ended by her when she be th' proverbial hand of me own son that the blade cannot cut the physical plane; but the spiritual and mystical planes. Only way it be able to cut physically is with either th' little one that she be companions with or through channeling Chaos Energy through it."
"The metal pretender of the throne did not cut you. What it cut was Morgana's curse," King Arthur informed, pointing at the rotting split corpse as it finished crumbling away, "And is what allowed us to finally reach you."
"...Woah…" Sonic whispered, taking all that info in, "Man...that's…"
"A lot to take in, yes, but we do not have time!" Adam informed, "You are on the cusp of death! At the moment, that metal pretender is laughing, believing you deceased when you very well will be in minutes!"
"What he has not noticed is he has dropped something near you that can help," Milo advised.
"When you do, call upon my spear and knife," Arthur informed.
"But…" Sonic began.
"Okay. Let me, ladies and gentlemen," Gael informed as he got up and walked over to Sonic, "You are hearing what we are saying, do you not?" Sonic nodded, "Good. That is what I thought. Now then, listen to me. We know that right now, you are going through hell, but you must not give up, understood? You are not done yet, not even close. When you get out of here, I want you to get up. That will get his attention and he won't like it. It will only get worse when you reach down to pick up what he dropped and use it. Oh, he won't like it just like the Red Coats did not like the guerilla tactics we pulled on them in the war. But that won't be the easiest part."
"Huh?"
"No. This is the easiest part of all," Gael informed as he waved a hand and an image of Metal Sonic appeared before them, "You see that metallic brute in front of you? That ugly facsimile? The one who has been kicking your behind this whole time despite the hits you've managed to get in?"
"Yeah."
"Well, if you lose here, then he's going to kill your family, both blood-related and made through the bonds of friendship and camraderie," Gael informed, earning Sonic's eyes widening, "He's going to kill each and every last one of your friends, your family, and your beloved when he realizes she will never be his no matter what he tries. And he's not going to stop until he's done."
"...That won't happen," Sonic scowled, "I'm gonna beat his metal butt from here to the ARK...I'll show him who's the real Sonic...no..who the REAL royalty is!"
"Good. Because the only person who can stop him from doing that is you. So, what you need to do is dig deep into yourself. Deeper than you've ever gone. You want to pull out every last bit of power you have, every last inch of it, all of it, and you are going to put it towards cutting. him. down. Do you think you can handle it?" Gael asked, earning a determined look and nod from Sonic, "Heh. I know you had it in you. Well, you seem to have it handled, so get going. Good luck to you." Sonic nodded before running off, yet he could still hear Gael, "Oh, and before I forget?" the realm turned to white, "You're using my magic Gems damn fine."
=Ah, such ease. It's almost a pity. Then again, he was merely a fake= Metal Sonic chuckled as he approached Roll =And now to claim what is mine=
"...hey, tin can..."
=...Impossible…= Metal whispered as he slowly turned to see Sonic getting up...holding up a Time Stone =?!=
"You...dropped...something…" Sonic panted before the Time Stone glowed and covered Sonic in the energy...reversing all the damage he took in a second.
=N-No! You...I stabbed you through the heart!= Metal Sonic exclaimed.
"Yeah….should've took a better look," Sonic smirked, "Oh and by the way….Time…"
=?!= Metal tensed before running up to him.
"Stop!" Sonic shouted as everything, even Metal froze around him despite the power of a Zoni from Clank should have stopped it, "...Huh. No wonder he was charging. Even that time-immunity that Ben said that little robot had can't bypass this. Now..." he frowned, grabbing Roll's sword out of Metal's hand before summoning his own, "Time to put you down for good…"
=I….Im...poss...ible…= Metal thought out as Sonic's emblem appeared behind him =How...how can I lose...I...I am the ultimate life form...Metal sonic...I...I am the REAL Sonic!=
"Soul Surge!" Sonic roared before becoming a blue wind that passed over Metal and reformed beside Roll, "Winds of the King."
He pressed the Time Stone against Roll's hand before time resumed. Metal cried out as multiple slashes decorated his body as Roll finished her gasp as the time bomb dropped the ground. Sonic caught Yacker as he finished his yelp of pain.
" $#%?-!-!"
"...heh. You okay, little buddy?"
"50N1C!" Yacker beamed.
"S-Sonikku?" Roll pondered before looking at his hand, "Ah! Th-that's a Time Stone!"
"He dropped it," Sonic replied, thumbing over at Metal as it began to get back up, "Aw come on...You're still wanting to fight?"
=You...you are nothing..how...were you…= Metal got out, sparking a bit as his knee buckled =How could you use the Time Stone...how...how could you….?=
"Simple...I have something you don't...allies..friends...family…" Sonic listed, "And smarts to know when to not underestimate my opponent…"
=...no...I...I had...the skills...I…= Metal grunted as he fell to his knees =I...I...I am Sonic..the real Sonic...and if I can't win…= his chest opened, revealing a ticking bomb within =I will take you and this entire area with me!=
"No…" Sonic replied as Carn and Rhongo came out of their Medallion forms, "You won't."
Carn howled before assuming Knife Mode and attached to the bottom of Sonic's sword. Energy flowed from the knife and over Sonic before he was donned in golden armor aside from his head, upper arms, and lower legs. Rhongo shrieked before flipping in the air and then attaching to the top of Sonic's sword, connecting to it and letting out more energy that completed his armor. Two red capes emerged from Sonic's back in a burst of flames before grasping the sword with both hands. The 'wings' on the guard tilted down before a crown-like attachment formed on the guard as the entire blade turned gold. A burst of energy shot into the sky from the blade before dispersing, leaving behind a glowing blade barely floating around the actual blade. Sonic took a step before vanishing and appearing behind Metal.
=What…?= Metal pondered before realizing...the ticking had stopped =n-no…= Sonic spun around and vanished before appearing beside Roll.
"Soul Surge…" Sonic informed before his armor and weapon dismissed...while Metal gasped out as he faded away, "Reality Slicer."
=N...no….imposs...i...ble...I...how...I...am...th…= was all Metal said as the last trace of him faded into nothing.
"...Sonikku...what...did you do…?" Roll whispered, looking at Sonic with wide eyes.
"I cut his ties to existence itself," Sonic replied, "And nonexistence as well, for good measure. In short...it's as if this version of him...never existed."
"?!" Roll's eyes widened further at that.
"...Come on. Let's hurry to the others...and find the jerk behind all this," Sonic said.
"Daijobu?" Roll asked in concern.
"...I will be," Sonic assured, "Just...we really need a vacation from vacations."
"Seriously, Ben! I'll take responsibility, for tree's sake, just make copies to counter these forms already!" Makoto pleaded as she and Diamondhead barely avoided another blast of burning magma from the spikes and horn on Ultimate Crabdozer.
"Okay, okay!" Diamondhead replied as he turned into Ditto and split into several, "Okay, let's…" he cried out as Ultimate Panunican became a blur, slashing into all of them and sending one clear over the trees as the rest became a single Ditto with several slashes, "G-guh!"
"Ben!" Makoto gasped before yelping as the spider-like Predator alien came into form from one of the remaining normal Panunicans and trapped her in webbing.
"M...Makoto…" Ditto grunted, 'Come on...g-give me an advantage already…'
He slapped the Omnitrix and a green flash went off. In Ditto's place...was a rather...unusual alien, even for the standards of the ones he already changed into. The body was large with a potbelly and sickly yellow skin/scales. It wore a pair of briefs made of black and green metal while its head was covered in a green metal helmet with a locked grate on the front...allowing just the green eyes beneath shine through.
"...Makoto...close...your...eyes…." the new Alien spoke in a deep, rather unsettling tone.
"?!" Makoto tensed before she did so.
=...?! No...retreat, n-!= Khyber began in a panicked tone the moment the vent on the new Alien's helmet began to open up.
Every single Ultimate Predator stopped what they were doing...and soon turned a pure pale white the moment they saw what was within the helmet. It was something… something… horrific...unspeakable...terrifying...horrifying beyond comprehension! The predators shrieked and wailed, backing away and changing back to normal Panunicans and then into a single one. After several moments, the new Alien allowed its mask to close and the now pure-white Panuncian collapsed into fetal position, whimpering and trembling madly with its paws over its eyes and a green puddle slowly expanding out under it.
"...wh-what's going on? I hear whimpering?" Makoto asked, her eyes still shut before the net was torn right off her.
"Job...done…" the Alien whispered before changing back into Ben.
"...what?" Makoto blinked before looking over at the shaking Panuncian, "...what...did I miss?"
"It's, well, something Kirby unlocked for me in the Omnitrix," Ben explained, "He called it Toepick and, well...as you can see…" he motioned to the Panuncian.
"...Was it literal nightmare fuel?" Makoto blinked with wide eyes.
"...Given what just happened...most likely," Ben shrugged.
"...Never look in the mirror in that form," Makoto scolded.
"Got it," Ben chuckled, "Now come on." his eyes narrowed as he looked around, "We still have a hunter to find."
"Given he wasn't scared off by whatever that form did," Makoto countered as she got up.
"Rah!" Ragna roared as he sliced at Soundwave, only for him to dodge, "Damn it! Stop dodging!"
Soundwave complied...by coming right up to him in a second and delivering a series of kicks to Ragna, that disarmed him, forced him to bend down from the blow to the gut, and then knocked away by the metal foot slamming into his face.
"It's pointless really. You cannot defeat Soundwave…" Albedo taunted, "He is programmed to counter any situation given to him…Add in that weapon the fat idiot's machines found, and he is unstoppable..."
"Okay, I am really getting tired of this guy boasting about his ego…" Manic muttered, "Mai?"
"On it," Mai said, prepping her spear as she threw it right at Soundwave..who immediately deflected it before it could 'bounce' off the air, "?!"
"Oh how adorable. Was that a sneak attack?" Albedo taunted further before Soundwave tossed Mai's spear at Tsubaki just as she was about to summon her weapon, "Heh..I told you, it is impossible."
"Ahh...what do we do…?" Sonia whispered.
"...I..I d-" Haseo began before he tensed, his eyes flashing a bit red once more, "...Send Noel at him."
"Eh?"
"A far range fighter would be a much better choice...and Noel is our best choice," Haseo stated.
"Good thinking," Manic agreed before looking over at the downed blonde, "...Noel, that robot over there kicked a puppy and shot it for being cute."
"...Exterminating target," Noel frowned, a glint in her eyes as she summoned Bolverk.
"...heh. And what will basic guns d-" Albedo began before Soundwave staggered back, a bit of his visor cracked from a bullet shot, "?!"
"Terminate," Noel stated, firing another shot that made Soundwave stumble back with sparks coming off where the shot hit.
"...nope. Staying out of this," Raga whispered, putting his sword away as he stepped back.
"S-soundwave, what are you doing?! Do-" Albedo began before a stray shot grazed his cheek, "?!..." he slowly looked back, his eyes widening at the massive hole in the wall behind him, '...th….that could've killed me...those guns...th...that girl…' he looked back at Noel, who kept firing at Soundwave as he kept trying to dodge, only to end up getting hit each time, 'Such precision...just...just what is she?!'
"Exterminate," Noel repeated, firing Zero Gun: Thor at Soundwave when the shots were pulled away before they could hit, "..."
"Oh, did I do that?" a dark-red Gravattack asked, the shots spinning around his glowing hand as his red eyes glinted in amusement, "Here. Let me give them back!"
He swung his arm and the attack shot back at Noel at twice its original speeds. Noel tensed a bit before she dodged the shots expertly, jumping over the last one as she aimed at Nega-Gravattack.
"Target 2 sighted...proceeding with extermination…"
"Yeah, no," Nega-Gravattack replied before his hand glowed and slammed Noel down on the ground with gravity before she could even fire, "Not so intimidating now…"
"...gravity based…" Haseo whispered, looking at his bracelet as he looked it over, "...Wispon, koi."
=Void: Far Range Mode=
"Hmm?" Gravattack raised a brow before a shot went past him, prompting him to look at Haseo, who was holding a dark purple mini-rail gun, "...Missed, y-"
"Look behind you."
"Hmm? Wh-?!" Gravattack tensed as he was starting to get pulled back, making him look behind to see what looked like a mini-black hole pulling him in, "Oh you cheeky little…"
He was nearly sucked in when six tendrils emerged from the Ultimatrix symbol on his head that dug into his body in the same manner as the spikes on the Omnitrix. His body transformed in an instant, losing his legs and replacing them with much more jagged crust on the rest of his body with crests and peaks forming on his surface. His body changed from a dark-red to a deep purple in color. The red and black core on his body moved into his mouth and enlarged to completely fill it. Finally, three little 'moons' sporting sinister faces formed in orbit of him. His hands glowed red along with his moons before the black hole was crushed by a stronger gravity made by Ultimate Nega-Gravattack.
"...Kus-" Haseo began, about to change his Wispon's form before it was pulled out of his hand, "?!"
"None of that now," U-Nega-Gravattack scolded before catching the Wispon and crushed it with a powerful burst of gravity.
"...That took me weeks to build…" Haseo frowned.
"Now...one more pest to deal with…" U-Nega-Gravattack said as he pulled Noel towards him, making her face him, "Any last words?"
"..."
"...I said..any last w..." U-Nega-Gravattack began as he pulled her closer...and tensed up the moment he looked into those eyes of her...her deep azure blue eyes, "?!"
=Warning...warning...Master Unit detected within the vicinity= the Omnitrix went off.
"Master Unit?" Makoto repeated as they got out of the jungle and into a metal hallway.
"Don't look at me. I have no idea what it talks about at times," Ben replied.
"...Hopefully nothing too serious…" Makoto whispered.
"...wh….what?" U-Nega-Gravattack whispered, dropping Noel as he backed away, changing back into his Ben form with a pale look on his face, "You...you're not normal...just...what are you…?"
For a brief moment, Albedo didn't see Noel stare at him...or rather...he saw some...humanoid-like machine staring at him...staring straight into his body..his soul. As if she were...judging his existence...whether he should or shouldn't be erased from reality.
'...she...she's not a human...nor alien...I...what is she…' Albedo thought, "...S….Soundwave! Fall back!"
Soundwave twitched before transforming into a damaged stealth fighter and flew off. Noel aimed before the area inverted colors. Albedo's worried expression shifted to a smirk.
"Seems keeping these on me was a good idea," Albedo chuckled as he pulled the neck of his shirt to look at a necklace with the remaining six Time Stones on it, all active, "Now then…" he transformed into a red Spidermonkey before the six tendrills came out and dug into his chest, letting him transform into a pitch-black gorilla with a split lower jaw, six red eyes...and six massive arms, "Time to 'even' the odds." he split his lower jaw and spat out a large amount of webbing that ensnared Noel tightly along with everyone else, "And...resume."
The world turned back to normal colors and everyone yelped as they fell over.
"Wh-What the heck?!" Manic exclaimed.
"Is...is that Ultimate Spidermonkey?!" Tsubaki exclaimed.
"Ew~! It's worse than the normal one!" Sonia exclaimed.
"...Wait…" Mai began, noticing the necklace around U-Nega-Spidermonkey's neck, "The Time Stones!"
"Call it a back up if you will...but I tire of our little fun…" he stated as he turned, "If you will excuse me...I need to check on Khyber and see if Tennyon is part of his wall of trophies."
"Oi! Grr...bastard! Don't you...damn it! Walk away!" Ragna snapped, struggling to get out of the webbing; yet U-Nega-Spidermonkey jumped away, "Damn it!"
"Great...now what?" Manic muttered.
"Keep trying to get out of these," Ragna replied.
Rexy growled before snapping at the webbing on Ragna...only to pull away with the webbing now stuck in her mouth like massive piece of chewed gum.
"..."
"...So much for that," Sonia deadpanned.
"...Seriously, where the heck is this Khyber guy?" Makoto frowned as she and Ben looked around the metal hallway, "He owes me some new clothes...and I owe him one trip to the moon via my fist."
"Let me try something," Ben offered before gently pushing down on his Omnitrix, turning into Wildmutt before slapping his emblem and shifted to his Ultimate Form, "Rrr…" the 'gills' on his neck flared before he growled, "Got him."
"Perfect, then let's get 'em," Makoto frowned, about to hop onto his back before barely dodging a shot of webbing aimed at her, "?!"
"Well...I am honestly surprised you are still alive, Tennyson."
"...Albedo…." Ultimate Wildmutt growled, frowning as Ultimate Nega-Spidermonkey let go of the ceiling and landed before them."
"Sweet chestnuts! Is that supposed to be an Anti-you?!" Makoto exclaimed before blinking twice, "...Wait. Who?"
The ultimate negative-Arachnachimp shifted back into Albedo, "Come now, Tennyson. You haven't spoken of me before to them?"
"..." Makoto blinked before looking back and forth between Ultimate Wildmutt and Albedo, "...Your anti-self has a British accent?"
"?!" Albedo nearly facefaulted at that, "You...you haughty halfbreed freak…"
"...And like that, I already hate him," Makoto frowned, her ears flattened as she glared at him.
"As if I care what you think," Albedo scoffed as Ultimate Wldmutt changed back into Ben, "But again, I am still surprised you're alive, Tennyson. Then again, considering I haven't changed, you were in suspended animation this entire time."
"Considering the last time we met, you were trapped in a perpetual nightmare from an alien creature you were planning to use on me in my sleep? I'm surprised you're here," Ben replied.
"Hmph. I had help in a sense," Albedo replied as he smirked a bit, "Considering you were gone for five years. ...Heh, I would have figured you had killed yourself after the Forever Knight incident. Then again, if you had, I'd appear quite older now."
"Huh?" Makoto pondered, "Uh, Ben? A little introduction?"
"This is Albedo, a Galvan," Ben replied, "The reason he's like this is because he got jealous of Azmuth, made his own Omnitrix, and-because I was using the original-he got stuck looking like me. He came after me and our Omnitrixes connected, nearly destroyed the universe, and changed him to how he looks now."
"...wow."
"It doesn't help you also stole my Ulitmatrix from me," Albedo frowned.
"Uh...hello? Vilgax remember?" Ben reminded, "Double-crossed you, the original Omnitrix self-destructed, and I had to nearly do that same to yours to give us a fighting chance."
"...Oh, so he made that Ultimate feature?" Makoto asked.
"Yeah, but he also removed the 'Ark' feature in it to help restore species that become extinct so long as their DNA is in the Codon Stream," Ben noted.
"Yes...but it seems it went through a change…" Albedo noted, frowning at the Omnitrix, "Azmuth...he couldn't accept my genius creation, so he went and modified my Ultimatrix without me knowing…"
"Works a lot better than the original design," Ben quipped, "Plus, it has the 'Ark' feature and can finally tell time." he looked at Albedo's Ultimatrix, "And I see you made a smaller version? Probably meant to help stabilize your shapeshifting."
"Say what?" Makoto asked.
"Tricked some Aliens to pose as my aliens for a stage show to get money to build a device to let him change back to normal, but it stuck him with the ability to turn into any alien I had at the time he made the Ultimatrix for only a few minutes at a time before forcing him back into his current look," Ben explained.
"...And let me guess: it has an Ultimate feature, too, based off the freaky gorilla form he just used?"
"Well of course."
"...So you can turn into all the aliens I can change into?"
"Correct."
"...Ever hear of Omniketsu?"
"Y-wait...what?" Albedo blinked at that, "You have a form I know n….oh ho...I almost fell into that Tennyson, tricking me with a from you do not have…"
"..." the two Freedom Fighters shared glances with each other.
"So let me take a wild guess: you're here for the Omnitrix again, beat me for once, and probably take all the Time Stones for your own gain?" Ben guessed.
"...Somewhat on the Time Stones and beating you…" Albedo stated as Khyber slowly approached Ben and Makoto from behind, blade in hand, "As for your 'Omnitrix' as you called it now...Why would I want something so inferior? ...I mean, you and the filthy half-breed there can't do a thing to any of my Ultimate forms."
"...Grr," Makoto frowned, her eye twitching.
"What's wrong? Did I touch a nerve in the mixed breed, or perhaps she realized how pathetic her existence is," Albedo taunted further.
"...That's it," Makoto growled before snatching Ben's Omnitrix arm.
"Gh?! Wh-what are you…" Ben began as Makoto searched through teh different Aliens.
"Looking for Omniketsu."
"...Again with that form," Albedo rolled his eyes, noticing Khyber preparing his blade behind the two, "How long will you keep that charade u-"
*CLANG!*
"?!" Khyber tensed up a bit, his blade being deflected as a green flash ended.
"Did you have to turn me into this...?" Omniketsu sighed.
"Hey. The egoistic prick has it coming," Makoto frowned, her blade on her shoulder as she looked back at Khyber, "Oh and FYI...you forgot the ears, teme."
"...How'd you get that form?" Albedo demanded.
"Wouldn't you like to know, Al?" Makoto countered.
"Wh?! A...Al?!" Albedo sputtered.
"Yeah, Al. Your name's too long to remember, so 'Al.'"
"It is NOT too long to remember!" Albedo snapped, "Al-Be-Do! It is that simple!"
"Heh heh. You said 'Do'," Makoto snickered.
"...You're messing with me, aren't you?"
"Not so funny, now is it?"
"A...are you seriously ignoring me?" Khyber frowned before Makoto put a finger on his lips.
"Shut it. I'm messing with him," Makoto whispered before looking back at Albedo, "Oh, and also? If you hated Ben so much, why stick looking like him? I mean you got the whole evil twin thing going on right now...only thing missing is a mustache."
"Makoto, you recall he can become Ultimate forms, correct?" Omniketsu replied as Albedo's left eye twitched madly.
"So?" She asked as Albedo transformed into U-Nega-Spidermonkey once more and engulfed her in webbing, "Gh!"
"There...that should shut you u..." U-Nega-Spidermonkey began before a green glow came from the webbing before it was shredded, "It grew blades?"
"That's not all it can do," Makoto taunted before shooting forward, Omniketsu changing into his jet form before she punched U-Nega-Spidermonkey in the gut, knocking the air out of him as she skidded back a few feet.
"...That actually hurt…" U-Nega-Spidermonkey coughed a bit before transforming into a rust-colored Echo-Echo =Now I'm mad=
"Oh please, what can you d-There's an Ultimate version of this, isn't there?" Makoto asked.
"Considering you spoke about your ears and this is a sound-based Alien? Yes," Omniketsu replied.
Negative Echo-Echo gained the six tentacles on his emblem that dug into his chest, transforming him into his Ultimate form. It was taller, roughly a few inches taller than Makoto, and made of a dark blue metal. His eyes were a solid red with various red cables connecting from the back of his back to his hands with silver detailing all over him in the shape of speakers that were on the back and palms of his hands, his disc-like shoulders, the lower sides of his torso, the sides of his lower legs, the top of his head, and two on the front of both lower legs.
"This...is going to hurt," Omniketsu noted before each of the 'speakers' on Ultimate Nega-Echo-Echo detached, revealing them to be miniature heads that surrounded Makoto.
"...Aw p-" Makoto began before screaming once the heads released waves of sound at her, "Itetetetetetetetetetetetetete!"
=So...you have sensitive hears much like a normal beast...yet you have strength far superior than that of a typical Earth squirrel...= U-Nega-Echo Echo noted.
"...oh..trust me...I'm...more...than that…" Makoto grunted out, a small grin on her face.
=?= U-Nega-Echo Echo blinked at that before Makoto poofed up into smoke, leaving an acorn in her place =?!=
"You are aware that it won't fool him twice, correct?" Omniketsu noted as Makoto crawled through a ventilation system, "He tends to learn from past mistakes. ...Well, outside of going after me."
"Hey. It'll give us some time to think of something," Makoto whispered, "Plus, we can snatch the Time Stones from him when he's not looking."
"Provided he doesn't see us coming," Omniketsu noted.
"Thanks for spotting those on his neck, by the way."
"Considering how we're both the same in body shape, I could tell he was hiding something under his shirt. Wasn't much to realize it was the Time Stones. Though, he seems to be missing one. More than likely Metal Sonic or Khyber has it," Omniketsu noted before everything trembled, "...We need to finish this sooner than later. That was more than likely the planet. Furthermore, we need to find you some more clothes or a cloak."
"...Provided it's not skinned or something," Makoto countered as she slipped out through the vents into a small room...full of animal and alien skins, "..."
"I think we need to make a list of rules for our team with the top rule being 'Stop tempting Murphy's Law,'" Omniketsu informed.
"Agreed…" Makoto muttered, '...Good thing I took Home Ec back in school…' she thought as she looked through some of the fur there.
"Wait. Go back two," Omniketsu spoke.
"Huh?" Makoto pondered, but did.
"Look at the skin here," Omniketsu noted as Makoto looked at it.
"It's scaly and green."
"It's my skin as Ultimate Humogousaur," Omniketsu stated.
"...Oh crap," Makoto paled in realization, "Khyber can hunt Ultimate Aliens too…" she paused, "Wait a second. How did…?"
"A glitch in the Ultimatrix that Azmuth corrected after I nearly died to release the current Ultimates from it," Omniketsu explained, "They were released, I didn't die thanks to Azmuth, and he took them to a planet they could live in peace. Though, with this evidence...it wasn't safe enough to avoid Khyber."
"...Yeah. We need to get rid of this guy fast," Makoto whispered before looking through some more, "Ugh. I know he's a hunter and all, but seriously? Nothing just, oh I don't know...normal?!"
"Now where would be the fun in that?"
"?!" Makoto tensed as she quickly turned, using her sword to block Khyber's blade.
"You are quite the interesting prey. Once I get what I need from Tennyson, I'll go for your tail as a trophy," Khyber stated, pushing her back a bit.
"...Sooner I'd let you take my tail is the day I stop eating Chestnut parfaits," Makoto frowned before giving him a light shove, sending him crashing through the wall, "And guess what? That ain't happening."
"Grk…" Khyber grunted before pulling himself out of the rubble of the wall, "...Not bad, but predictable."
"...How s-" Makoto began before touching the...oddly squishy ground a bit, "...Albedo turned into a Galvanic Mechamorph, didn't he Ben?"
"It appears so," Omniketsu replied.
"...Pinecones," Makoto muttered before barely jumping away just as Nega-Upgrade tried to grab her, "Nice try!"
=Actually, I was hoping you'd land there= Nega-Upgrade noted in amusement.
"Huh?" Makoto pondered before Khyber pulled out a remote and pressed a button, causing a white light with hints of red in it hit her.
"G-Gh?!" Omniketsu grunted before he glowed and changed back into a school girl uniform frozen stiff, "I...can't...move."
"You're not the first composite being of Life Fibers that I've hunted," Khyber explained as Makoto grunted, trying to move, "The light you're currently under has the unique ability to not only negate the abilities of Life Fibers, but freezes anything made of them solid, unable to move even an inch."
"Ahh...nuts. Can't...think of any more nuts…" Makoto grunted just as Nega-Upgrade turned back into Albedo.
"Honestly, that little nut trick was rather clever..but not enough to impress me," Albedo gloated, "You should just give up...I have the galaxy's Ultimate Bounty Hunter on my side, the time Stones, my improved Ultimatrix, the Nemetrix, Metal, Soundwave, and that sword he recovered for me."
"Sword?"
"Yes..the one that interferes with light waves...very useful."
'?! ...The Izayoi…' Makoto mentally tensed at that.
"It appears she has knowledge on the weapon in question," Khyber noted.
"Oh? In that case, she might know of more deadly weapons like it," Albedo noted as he approached Makoto, "Perhaps even that...that THING that was with Tennyson's allies."
"...What thing?" Makoto raised a brow.
"Are you referring to Noel Vermillion?" Khyber asked.
"Yes, that."
"How d…" Makoto began to ask.
"I prefer to learn as much as I can about my prey before I hunt," Khyber noted, "Sneaking into bases to obtain data is child's play. Some reports I found written by one 'Shockwave' note that while she appears human, she's actually some sort of homunculus of sorts."
"...She's no mere homunculus…" Albedo frowned, "She seemed more...machine than organic...such precision shooting...such force...and those eyes… I admit, I...am fearful, almost impressed, yet jealous at the same time. Whoever made that thing is clearly a genius far superior than anything from his home world."
'Yeesh, he likes to hear himself talk…' Makoto mentally sweatdropped.
"But considering the type of person you are, I doubt you'd be willing to give the information we want…" Albedo stated, "So how about we pick that brain of yours for all the information then?"
"?!" Makoto tensed at that, "...p...p...pick...my…" she whispered, the Beastkin starting to hyperventilate as her mind began to flash back to Relius.
"Khyber, do we have anything special just for that?" Albedo asked.
"I have some materials you may use to create one," Khyber replied.
"..n...no…" Makoto whispered, tears of fear starting to well up in her eyes as she shook, "D...don't you dare…"
"Oh come now...where's that defiant personality from earlier?" Khyber questioned.
"M...Makoto…" Omniketsu grunted before the light turned off...along with everything in the ship.
"What? A power failure?" Albedo asked.
"No. The only way this could happen...is sabotage," Khyber growled before a sharp whistle went off.
"Ya know, I can stand a lot, and I mean a lot of stuff. Well, lay down a lot, but eh, semantics," a voice spoke up, causing the two to turn to see Ditto leaning against the open doorway, a switch in hand, "But seein' a grown lady breaking down is pretty high up on the list of things to get back for."
"Five?" Omniketsu pondered.
"..." Albedo said nothing as he slowly glared at Khyber, "You didn't check to see if all of Tennyson's Splixon form's copies were back as one?"
"Actually, that happens by default. Can't turn into another alien and can't change back until we're all together," Five noted before tapping his cheek in mock thought, "Well...unless it's been 22 years for the guy ya got the DNA sample from."
"Twenty two...Oh you have to be kidding me!" Albedo exclaimed.
"Yup. Oh and while you two were busy playing chase, I helped myself to the ship's system and sent out a distress beacon to anyone nearby," Five noted, "Well, that and some other stuff."
"...What...other stuff?"
"What? You think I'm gonna tell ya what I was looking at?" Five joked, "Oh, and as an old Chinese uncle would say; One more thing. You forgot to pay attention to Makoto."
"?!" the two tensed before they were suddenly grabbed from behind.
"...You tried to use my worst fear…" Makoto whispered in a low voice, lifting the two up as Omniketsu changed back into his battle form, "You shouldn't have done that…"
*BOOM!*
"Woah!" Manic yelped as a pair of figures were sent flying overhead before crashing into a nearby empty building, said building collapsing in on itself, "The heck was that?!"
"Mmmph…" Tsubaki muffled, trying to ignore the rumbling of thunder in the sky.
"Grr…" Ragna growled as his eye twitched, "Can someone alr-" he began before a pair of blurs passed by, cutting the web keeping them down, "...About time you two showed up."
"Sorry. This was the second-to-last place we were checking," Sonic admitted, "So what happened to you guys?"
"...Would you believe the person behind this was a…" Mai paused as she looked at Tsubaki, "...Galvan?" a nod was her response, "...a Galvan with a huge ego, has his own Omnitrix, and hates Ben?"
"...Eh?" Sonic and Roll blinked at that before they heard a groan, making them turn to see Albedo-in his Galvan form- crawling out of the rubble.
"S….such...frightening...strength…" Albedo groaned, "What kind of world creates something that…?" he paused as he slowly looked up, seeing the group looking straight at him. He was about to pull out one of his Time Stones before he quickly noticed...the necklace that had them was gone...making him sweat a bit nervously as he looked back at the group, "Oh...eh heh...greetings…"
"Huh. I think he's shorter than Greymatter," Sonic noted.
Albedo narrowed his eyes before turning into a silver Clockwerk.
"Oh no," Tsubaki realized as six tentacles came out of the Ultimatrix and dug into Nega-Clockwerk...before everyone cried out as they were smacked around with several large slashes appearing on parts of their bodies.
"Now I'm mad."
The group struggled to look up to see a humanoid figure approach. Their body was pitch black with rusted-red machinery visible in places. Their hands ended in claws resembling clock hands while rusted red bladed wings made of energy in the shape of clock machinery were floating inches away from their back. Their head was robotic with a pair of sinister red optics and several horns in the form of a crown while the Ultimatrix emblem was on their torso amongst a gear pattern...with the six Time Stones once more on his neck.
"Quite nice of Tennyson to reveal this to me," U-Nega-Clockwerk chuckled.
"...You…" Ragna began before he felt like he was kicked hard in the gut, actually being knocked away several feet, "Gah!"
"And a shame. It appears Metal Sonic has failed," the Ultimate Chronosapien noted as Sonic began to get up before he was slammed into a wall and shattered it, "Why thank you. I was looking for this." he chuckled, holding up the last Time Stone and placing it on his necklace, "There...now all are together. Time is now under my control...I...am the master...no...I...am god."
"Funny…" U-Nega-Clockwerk looked over to see Makoto standing nearby, "When a god gets too haughty, usually someone has to tear them down…"
"Oh?" U-Nega-Clockwerk asked before Makoto choked as her eyes widened, "Now who is haughty?" he rose his foot up and kicked Makoto off the hour hand-shaped sword in his hand, "Not I. All I see is something that should've learned its place years ago...a pathetic rodent who should've stayed in their hole..."
"...Then…" Makoto began, coughing a bit of blood as she used her sword to stay up, "Perhaps...I should..even it out then."
"?" Omniketsu blinked at that as Makoto reached for the Omnitrix symbol, "?! Makoto...you're not gonna…?!"
*THUD*
"G-GAH!" Makoto cried out as she clutched the stump of her shoulder, dropping her sword as she collapsed to her side.
"Trying to go Ultimate, I see...heh...Perhaps your next attempt will cost you an eye...perhaps a leg or that tail…" U-Nega-Clockwerk chuckled in amusement.
"Ugh…" Khyber groaned, getting up amongst the rubble.
"So...Ya grumpy still?" Khyber looked to see Five grinning in amusement at him.
"You," Khyber growled.
Five blew a raspberry before running off, "Can't catch me~!"
"...You little…!" Khyber growled as he gave chase.
"Come now… Try again, little rodent. I dare you," U-Nega-Clockwerk goaded Makoto before kicking her hard in the face, sending her tumbling along the ground.
"...grr...no...way…will I…" Makoto began as she tried to get up, only to cry out as the stump of her lower left leg was hit.
"Just give up. You're facing a god...What hope do you have?" he questioned as Makoto collapsed onto her front, "Hmph. One down, the rest to go." he turned before approaching the downed Noel as she was reaching for her guns, "No need for these anymore." Noel cried out as her hands were sliced off while the guns of Bolverk were now held in the Ultimate Chronosapien's hand, "Now why would I be frightened of you? Heh-heh-heh...Must have been the foolish Tennyson's DNA acting up."
"..." Makoto grunted as she tried to get back up.
"Makoto...stay down…" Omniketsu spoke up.
"Go...get 'em...Ben…" Makoto whispered, managing to tap the Emblem before she collapsed.
"Hm?" U-Nega-Clockwerk pondered, faintly seeing a green flash before spinning around and parrying U-Clockwerk's punch, "Ah. So you've gone with this form!"
"ALBEDO!" U-Clockwerk roared as the two vanished from sight.
"...Where...did they...go…?" Sonia weakly asked before faintly hearing the sounds of fist colliding and metal clashing in the air.
"...Th...they're going so fast...W-We can't keep track of them…" Tsubaki realized.
"Hmph. Why do you continue to struggle like this?" U-Nega-Clockwerk questioned, blocking a punch before throwing a kick that U-Clockwerk parried with his own while time was frozen around them, "You can't do a thing against me now!" the seven Time Stones glowed before U-Clockwerk cried out as sparks raced off the slashes in his body, "My control of time is beyond yours to the point I can freeze even frozen time! I am a God now - your God!" he slammed a punch into U-Clockwerk's gut, "This planet's god!" a kick went to the face, "Those foolish friends of yours' God!" U-Clockwerk collapsed to a knee as Nega-U-Clockwerk approached him, "I...am the God of all of time!"
He swung his blade down at U-Clockwerk. The Ultimate caught the blade while throwing a punch, managing to score a hit to the Nega-Ultimate's chest. Nega-U-Clockwerk grunted as he stumble back. The area inverted colors once more.
"I'll end this now!" he growled as he approached U-Clockwerk; He made for a stab when U-Clockwerk surprised him with an uppercut, "GAH! Im-Impossible! How are you…?"
"I grabbed this when I punched you," U-Clockwerk replied, holding up a Time Stone.
"?! My...my Time Stone!" Nega-U-Clockwerk snapped before he was decked hard in the face, causing his right optic to crack a bit as he staggered back.
"Time Start!" U-Clockwerk called, clenching the Time Stone tightly as the colors changed back to normal as another rumble of thunder went off, "Albedo...You crossed a line!"
"Tennyson!" Nega-U-Clockwerk roared before the two charged at each other.
Khyber slammed down a metal door with a tackle, "Come out, you insufferable mongrel!"
"Yeah...No," Five's voice replied in amusement, "Come get me~"
"Oh, I will enjoy this," Khyber replied, pulling his hunting knife out as he walked into the center of the building before tensing as a glass tube slid out of the ground around him while a metal contraption sealed it from above, "What is this?!"
"This is what we call here on Mobius a Roboticizer," Five noted, making Khyber turn to see him at a console, a hand on a lever.
"A what?"
"Basically it turns ya into a robot. Sure, ya think that's cool; Buuuuuut there's a huge downside...Well, two, but eh," Five shrugged.
"Tennyson!"
"Yeah, see, there ya go calling me the wrong guy," Five noted, "If ya did your research, ya'd know that even 22 years...Splixson's reproduce aesexually using the fifth copy each time."
"?!"
"In short...I'm my own Splixson…" Five smirked before pulling down the lever, "Whoopsie~"
"No!" Khyber roared, grunting in pain before agony set in.
"Ohh…" Five cringed, closing his eyes as crunching and splattering went off before peeking an eye out in a random direction (A/N: The reader's direction), "Chekov eat your heart out...and get some help. Eesh."
"...D….DAAMN….yoU...S-=
*CRUNCH*
The two Ultimates panted as they stood across from one another.
"You...You insufferable human!" U-Nega Clockwerk snapped, a lone Time Stone remaining on his necklace.
"This is the end!" U-Clockwerk snapped, clenching his single Time Stone tightly in his hand.
"No...it is not! You...You cannot defeat a god!"
Green energy and red energy flared off the two. Behind them both, Ben's emblem appeared with the one behind U-Nega-Clockwerk upside down.
"Fall before…"
"Let me show you why…"
The two began to charge at one another. Both jumped into the air, their wings spreading out as they shot at one another. They spun around and aimed their feet at the other.
"My Genius!"
"...I'm the Ultimate Hero!"
The two collided, creating an explosion green and red energy. Both roared as the energy swirled around them violently as their eyes glowed along with the Time Stones. After several seconds, a foot shattered as another slammed into the emblem on a torso. Five Time Stones fell through the air before clattering before Sonic well on the other side of the fortress.
"...W-What th..." Sonic began before the two Ultimate Chronosapiens reappeared, the good one on his knee and U-Nega-Clockwerk standing, seemingly victorious.
"...I...Im..possible..." Nega-U-Clockwerk whispered, looking at the cracked Ultimatrix symbol on his torso as his form began to fluctuate "N...no...I...how could I...I am a God...I...am a Go…" he grunted before the effects thousands upon thousands of punches and kicks simultaneously slammed into him before he collapsed, exploding midfall, "GAAAAH!"
U-Clockwerk panted before the time out went off. A flash of red light went off from him at the same time a flash of red light came from the smoke of the explosion. Ben grunted as he rubbed his foot, the shoe torn apart to reveal it had been mangled. As the smoke cleared, it revealed a bruised and battered Albedo completely knocked out.
Sonic grunted as he reached out and grabbed a Time Stone, "R-Reverse."
The Time Stone glowed in Sonic's hand. The energy washed over him and he stood up, fully healed. He moved towards Ben, who held up his own before motioning to the others. Sonic nodded before going off to help the others.
"Did I mention I hate time?" Manic groaned.
"Agreed," Sonia agreed as Sonic used the Time Stone on them before giving them their Medallions back.
"Thanks for these," Sonic thanked, "I wouldn't have beaten Metal me without them."
"...heh...no prob, bro," Manic chuckled a bit.
"...u...unit...damaged…" Noel's voice spoke, making Sonic turn to see her looking at the stumps that used to be her hands, the empty look still in her eyes, "...can't...recover…"
"...I got it…" Snic whispered as he approached her, "...Reverse."
"?" Noel raised a brow before the damage on her disappeared, her eyes back to their normal color, "...n...nani? Wh...what did…" she tensed when she saw the condition Makoto was in, "Ahh! Makoto-chan!"
'Phew….she's back to normal…' Mai thought.
Ben grunted as he pressed the Time Stone in his hand against his mangled foot, "Reverse." he watched as the exposed bones returned to beneath the surfaces muscles, blood vessels, and flesh reformed before a shoe formed over it all, "Huh...No pain." He walked over to Albedo and quickly grabbed the Time Stone still on his neck, "None for you." he walked over to Makoto, still laying facedown, "Come on…" he placed the taken Time Stone on her, his hand pressing on it, "Reverse." He managed to hold in a cringe as he watched the limbs reattach and the gaping hole in her gut seal itself up, "Does anyone have a spare set of clothes on hand? Or a big cloak?"
"..."
"...oh...right...bus exploded…" Ben recalled before the area rumbled, "Hoo boy!"
"It appears they've managed to accomplish their task," Rachel noted as the chain connecting to the planet fall from it and crash into the lake below, sending up an abundance of water that was blocked by Nago and Gii turning into a pair of umbrellas to protect Rachel and then back into a chair and cushion for her to resume sitting in.
Multicolored sparkles began to fall off the shaking Little Planet, growing more abundant as the shaking increased. After several moments, the Planet flew up into the air before vanishing into a spiral of red sparkles.
"Did they get off?" Nago pondered.
"Goddammit, Ben! Why did you go with Stinkfly?!"
"I panicked, okay?"
"E-Ew~"
"Don't you two throw up on me!"
"Ahh! N-Noel-nee fainted!"
"It appears so," Paradox chuckled as Stinkfly barely avoided crashing into the water while carrying a large sack of slime that popped, revealing everyone covered in it.
"We are never doing that again!" Ragna barked, glaring at Stinkfly.
"Again; I panicked and picked the first one I saw with wings!"
"Sc...scary big bug…" Noel shivered in her unconscious state, her entire body a pale white, as Haseo fanned her with his tails.
"Welcome back!" Paradox greeted.
"You could've warned us of the goddamn freaky security measures!" Ragna snapped, pointing at Paradox.
"Oh come now. They weren't that bad."
"Weren't that bad?!" Ragna snapped.
"Ah, so this is the cause of that issue," Paradox noted, noticing the bound and tied Albedo.
"Well, it wasn't just him," Makoto admitted, the slime managing to cover her exposed body well enough, before motioning to Five who doodled childish drawings on Albedo's face, "But he won't tell us what happened."
"Nope. That's my secret!" Five replied, "Also can someone get the poor girl some clothes before the slime slides off her? Not that I don't mind..." he gave a purring growl at Makoto, "Hello~ Nurse!"
Ben gave Five a flat look as Paradox chuckled and replied, "But of course." he pointed to a rock formation, "We'll come out over there."
Everyone looked over at the rock as a horn honked loudly. The group's eyes widened as the bus drove out from behind the rock formation and came to a halt. Makoto hopped out of the driver's seat, all clean and fully dressed in what she had been given by Queen Aleena, as Paradox stepped out of the passenger's seat.
"...Still not sure how ya did it, but thank ya Prof!" Makoto beamed.
"The bus is back!" Manic exclaimed, running over and hugging it, "Now I know how Murray felt about his van!"
"You're still not driving it," Sonic and Sonia deadpanned.
"Nertz!" Manic slumped.
"So what do we do about this guy?" Mai asked, poking Albedo with a stick.
"I will make sure he is brought to Azmuth," Rachel informed, "Considering what he nearly caused, having Azmuth give the punishment would be best."
"Be glad you guys got the Time Stones back. It'd be scary if he had found the Phantom Ruby," Gii commented.
"Phantom what?" the group repeated.
"...Gii…"
"Gh?! P-Princess, w-!"
*BZZZZRT!*
"Do not worry about that," Rachel informed, ignoring the roasted, twitching Gii on the ground behind her.
"Time itself thanks you for what you've done these last two days," Paradox noted, "We must be off now. Oh, and before I forget. Whatever you do, do not let that bus touch anything from 1987, the year it was made. Oh, and I recommend Angel Island for a nice vacation spot. It is lovely this time of year."
"Wait wh-" Manic began before both Paradox and Rachel vanished, Albedo no longer in sight as well, "...Ugh. Time Travellers…"
"Don't worry. He said the same thing to Kevin in a note on his car after our first time meeting him," Ben assured, "It's a time joke of sorts for him since nothing happens if you do that."
"...Let's all just agree on one thing: this adventure never happened, and we had to change vacation spots because of certain circumstances," Tsubaki informed.
"Agreed," everyone replied.
"...So...Angel Island?" Sonic offered.
"...Maybe we should head home first," Sonia suggested.
"Given that it was Professor Paradox who suggested the place…" Ben noted before cringing, "The moment we go there, it's gonna be a wild adventure and not much of a vacation."
"...Can we not go there then?" Mai asked, almost pleaded even.
"And if he's suggesting we go there, then if we don't go there eventually...it'll mean that something bad will happen that would've been avoided if we had gone there in the first place," Ben continued.
"...Ragna, I completely agree with you on that guy; he's a time traveling bastard," Mai deadpanned.
"I've only know the guy for a few days before Shadow and, yep, that's exactly what he is," Ragna snorted.
"Ben-san, do we even want to know why you kn…" Roll began.
"When we first met him, Kevin, Gwen, and I were all ready to let this time creature that was accelerating everything it touched to dust or really old age in Kevin's case to roaming around an abandoned military base," Ben explained, "Paradox took us to the moon in the future where we did that...and nothing on Earth. No water, no life, nothing but a dead planet...oh, and a talk with another Paradox on the moon."
"...Yeah. I don't think any of us wanna deal with time for a while," Manic deadpanned.
"Agreed," everyone replied as Noel woke up.
"I...is the bug gone…?"
"Yes...and we were just about to head home."
"Oh thank kami…" Noel sighed in relief.
"You do know that bug was Ben, right?" Manic asked.
"Again; planet was shaking, the giant chain exploded when we used a Time Stone to accelerate that base it was coming out of to dust that only made the shaking worse, and we were panicking on how to get out of there when we had no plane mode bus," Ben deadpanned.
"...Fair point…"
"Let's just get going. We'll rest up for a few days back in New Mobotropolis, restock on supplies, and then go to Angel Island and get it over with," Sonia sighed.
Everyone voiced out agreements and began to make their way to the bus. The only one that didn't leave yet was Ragna, who looked out at the lake. Specifically, he looked out at where Little Planet had been.
'So the Master Unit has a big weakness to little stones…' Ragna thought, reaching a hand into his jacket to brush his fingers along the red Time Stone within, before walking off to the bus, 'Good to know.'
GT: And there we go.
SZ: And thus ends the Little Planet Arc finally. Phew...what a time trippin' ride.
GT: Yep.
SZ: Yup..and to make up for this long...time for some relaxing filler.*ducks under some thrown stuff*oi oi! Cut it out!
GT: What's that about?
SZ: That was people who particularly don't like filler and just want the main story to go along.
GT: Ah. Trust me, this filler...is also plot relevant. So don't get annoyed. And also next chapter if Professor Kokonoe's segment at the end, so remember to ask questions for her to answer or it'll be cancelled due to lack of interest...along with the story possibly. Kinda feels like no one likes stories that I write anymore as apparent by the lack of reviews. Just a single question would be more than enough to keep it going, however.
SZ: ...I feel ya, man. I feel like I rarely get reviews anymore myself if it isn't a new story...that is if it isn't a trolling Flamer review…*glares at a burning anon review for Lupin Vs Pato: Personification*
GT: Easy now, SZ. Ah well, just please read and review.
SZ: Later guys.