Chapter 2: Removing the Horns
...
If this kind of thing hadn't happened to Ben several times before, he'd probably have a hard time explaining his situation to the two girls. But Yang and Blake had been willing to listen and let him tell his side of the story. They were still in the abandoned mess hall as he told his story, as there probably wasn't anyplace better to go at the moment. He had to cut out some parts because from what he understood they were pressed for time, but they seemed to get the basic gist of it.
"So, let me see if I've got this straight:" Yang began, Ben nodding his head for her to continue. "In your universe, you're a superhero in a world where aliens exist." She pointed to the Omnitrix. "And that watch on your wrist lets you to transform into any alien that you want. And you, your cousin, your best friend and your Gramps all fight evil dudes together?"
"Yeah, that's basically it." Ben replied, hoping they would believe him.
"That..." Yang gave an intense stare into his eyes, checking to see if there was any inkling of falsehood in them. But she found none, he was telling the truth. When she realized that, she gave Ben a grin and loudly exclaimed; "is so freaking COOL!"
"Oh... uh, thanks Yang, much appreciated." 'Man, she's got energy to spare.' Ben thought to himself.
Blake's eyes widened. "Wait a second Yang... you're actually going to believe him—just like that?"
"Um, yeah." The Blonde Brawler replied with a shrug. "I mean, we both saw him come out of that portal and transform right? What other explanation IS there?"
"Well, sure, but I just feel like we should be asking more questions." Blake faced Ben. "Like how did that portal get you to this specific place? And at just the right time too?"
It was Ben's turn to shrug. "To be honest Blake, I don't know. Lucky timing I guess? To be honest, I'm not sure how this whole dimensional travel thing works... even if I HAVE done it in the past, but that's a story for another time. Right now I'd like to start asking a few questions of my own. What world am I in? Just what is it that you two do with those—admittedly awesome looking—weapons? And finally, why does the outside look like Godzilla's last stomach ache?"
"The hell's a Godzilla?" Yang asked.
Ben paused, wide-eyed from shock. Pop-culture was a no-go. "Okay so, I'm not in any normal dimension. Got it."
Blake groaned in exasperation. "Okay, in order: You're in the world of Remnant, in the Kingdom of Vale on the continent of Sanus. Yang and I are Huntresses in training. Hunters and Huntresses help protect our world from the malevolence known as the Grimm. Creatures which, along with a...group of terrorists..." she seemed to be forcing the words out of her mouth in disgust, "known as the White Fang and some other evil force that we know nothing about are currently attacking our school, Beacon Academy. Is that a good enough answer?"
Ben looked to Yang for confirmation and she shrugged again. "She basically gave you the cliff notes version, but yeah, that's it."
Ben sighed. "Okay, I'm satisfied, but I'd like some clarification on a few things later."
Blake nodded. "Sure. Now, onto more important things." She faced Yang, anger now gracing her features. "Namely, WHAT IN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"
Yang put her hand's up in self-defense. "Whoa, easy Blake I was just—"
"You we're about to make the stupidest decision in your life!"
Yang began to get irritated. "Oh, so what? Trying to save my partner is a stupid decision?"
"NO! Going up against an enemy who you know nothing about is the worst decision that you could ever make! Adam could have maimed you! Or worse killed you!"
"I know, okay?! I just didn't realize it until it was too late! Besides, that didn't end up happening anyways thanks to Ben's explosive entrance."
"And that's supposed to make everything better?!"
"He was going to kill you Blake! What did you think I was gonna do, stand by and look at my boots while he did?"
"Adam wouldn't have killed me! He wanted to see me suffer by taking away everything I love! And if you had just run away like I had told you to, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now!" Blake's eyes were rimming with tears at this point.
"Exactly! Because he probably would have killed you if I had run away!"
"Look around Yang!" Blake gestured around the destroyed mess hall. "All of this destruction! Our school is in flames! And it's all because of me and my stupid mistakes!" Blake hugged her arms around herself in a vain attempt at comfort. She couldn't take it anymore, her sadness and self-loathing were clouding her mind. Her tears fell and, without thinking, she blurted out: "Maybe it'd been better off if he HAD killed me!"
"Don't you DARE say that!" That was the last straw for Yang as she grabbed Blake by the shoulders and pinned her against the wall, something that left Ben shocked. He kept his mouth shut however; this seemed like something he shouldn't butt in on. Yang glared into Blake's eyes, breathing hard, venting her anger. But as she starred into the saddened and terrified gaze of her partner, she managed to calm down, only for her own tears fall. She unpinned Blake and pulled her into a tight embrace, crying into the cat girl's shoulder. They stayed that way until Yang was able to calm down. She spoke to her partner, her voice now very hoarse.
"Blake, on the day of initiation, I went into those woods with only one sister. By the time I left... I had two more. If anything ever happened to you, Ruby, or Weiss, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. You're more than just my partner Blake, you're my family. My sister." Yang let out a few more light sobs as Blake was left stunned. "I don't know if you think of me that way... but I want you to know that I will always, always be there for you. And none of this is your fault. So please don't talk like you deserve to die!" When a few moments of silence had passed, Blake pulled Yang off of her shoulder and looked her straight in the eye.
"You... you really think of me as... family?" Blake's voice cracked. On the one hand, she was immensely happy that her partner had thought of her like that, on the other, she had realized what she'd accidentally said in her grief. And now she was immensely regretting ever saying it.
Yang wiped away her tears. "Of course I do! After all we've been through, why wouldn't I?"
Blake looked down dejectedly. "Well, it's just... I haven't been the most supportive teammate. Especially lately with the whole Mercury thing and..."
"Oh who gives a crap about that? You're part of my family Blake. And you know what? Nothing can change my mind about that."
Blake could feel herself choking up. "I...I've always wanted a sister. A-and I have thought of you guys as family for a while... I've just been too stubborn to admit it I guess."
Yang gave her most earnest smile. "Well guess what sis?" She gave her partner a wink. "You've got one now."
Blake could feel tears running down her cheeks as she and Yang hugged again, this time much softer. "Just promise me you won't do something like that again, okay?"
Yang's smile softened and she sighed. "Okay, I'll try to be careful. Just so long as you promise to not blame yourself and run away again."
"Deal." Blake dried her eyes and removed herself from Yang's shoulder, only to see Ben facing away from them. "Uh... Ben?" Blake called out, Yang looking back to the hero as well. "Are you okay?"
Ben turned back around. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just wanted to give you two some space is all. It seemed like you needed it."
"Wait, did you hear all that?" Yang questioned with a brow raised.
"Well... kind of. I only heard a little bit... sorry."
Yang smiled. "Hey, it's okay. What's an emotional moment between friends, huh?"
Ben's eyes widened. "Huh, wow, friends already? I would have at least expected a little bit of distrust before that happened."
Blake gave him a small grin. "Ben, you just blasted my abusive ex-boyfriend through a wall. I think that qualifies as being friends."
"Yeah, and if you hadn't gotten here when you did, I would have been... disarmed!" Yang raised her right arm for emphasis on the last word. "But seriously, thanks a bunch."
Ben's couldn't find the words to say at first. These two already considered him friends? Awesome. "Ah, jeez, it's really no problem. I do this stuff every day. But I really appreciate it. It both means a lot and means I don't have to be stuck in any energy tubes this time."
Yang and Blake looked at each other in confusion as if asking the same question: 'Energy tubes?' before shrugging it off and refocusing themselves back to the matter at hand. "So what happens now?" Yang asked.
"Well, while you two were sorting things out, I managed to contact my cousin Gwen and my friend Kevin. They aren't far and they should be here in a minute to pick us up. Also we should probably unearth that guy and restrain him so we can stuff him in Kevin's trunk."
"Already have that covered thank you very much." At the sound of the familiar voice, the trio's heads all whirled around to see Adam, standing on top of the rubble from the hole he was blown through, his clothes torn and burned, covered in a thin layer of dust and a fresh new scar on his face. He did not seem happy. "Now, I was simply going to go easy on you at first. Cut the blonde's arm off, maybe torture her for a good while before finally snuffing her lights out, but now..." he gave out a soulless chuckle, "now I am livid."
"Oh, I bet you are." Ben said in a smug tone, arms crossed. "Not many people can take a blast like that and still be conscious. Then again from what I've gathered, the people here aren't exactly all that normal."
"That's big talk coming from someone who was a bipedal plant." Adam insulted.
"Also big talk coming from a bi-horned bitch." Ben shot back.
"OH DAMN!" Yang shouted. "Green Boy with the come backs over here!"
Ben looked at her in confusion. "Green Boy?"
Yang smiled. "Yeah, I give everybody nicknames. Anything wrong with that, Green Boy?"
"Oh, no, it's fine. I actually kind of like it." Ben said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Blake was writing her last will and testament in her head. 'Is he insane?! He's basically digging our own graves by throwing that many of insults!'
Adam however, was not deterred. "Insult me all you want, Ben Tennyson; I am far above such poultry name calling."
Ben turned back, a smile adorning his features. "Okay, you win I guess. But, before you kill us, I just have one question for you."
"Which is?"
Ben's smile became a smirk. "Do you know what a Khoros-5 engine block sounds like?"
Adam's brow rose. "No, why would I—?" Beep Beep!Adam swerved around, just in time to be met with a pair of headlights and a roaring engine. The muscle car hit him and sent him flying, yet again into an opposing wall and burying him in rubble. Yang and Blake's eyes widened in surprise, Ben taking pride in his perfect timing.
"The correct answer was: nearly silent, until it's too late." The young hero said smugly.
From out of the car, a young man and woman emerged, the former with a proud grin on his face. "Did anybody get the number of that bitch?!" he hollered.
The pony-tailed girl gave him an irritated look. "Kevin..." she warned.
"Aw come on Gwen! At least I didn't sideswipe him this time!"
...
Blake never thought that the day could get any weirder than it already had. All that she knew was that when Adam got up again, they would all likely die. The two people that ran into her ex, who must have been Gwen and Kevin, descended the pile of rubble that they had rolled in on and hurried over to Ben, with the redhead embracing him.
"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, you had us worried sick!" Gwen chastised her cousin.
"Well, not so much me, but she was definitely worried 'bout ya." Kevin corrected.
"Come on, Gwen," Ben said, "you really shouldn't be worried, I can take care of myself."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Okay, sure, but can you blame me? First Vilgax escapes, then the entire city block blows up, dimensional travel is REAL apparently, and now we're in the middle of a war zone! Just how can this day get any..." she trailed off when she noticed that the usual trio was not alone. "Oh, hello." she politely waved at the two Huntresses.
"Hello." Blake waved back.
"Hi there!" Yang exclaimed as she stepped over to the three, Blake not far behind. "You must be Ben's cousin. Gwen, right?"
"Um, yes." The redhead answered. Blake could tell that Gwen had very little experience with exuberance of Yang-level proportions. She could see it in her face, plain as day. But dear god did she try. "And you would be...?"
"Oh, yeah," Ben realized, "I haven't introduced you. Ladies, this is Gwen and Kevin. Gwen, Kev, this is Yang Xiao-Long and Blake Belladonna. They've been helping me out since I got here."
"Aw Ben, don't be so modest." Yang said while giving him a friendly pat on the shoulder. She turned to his redheaded cousin. "Gwen, let me tell ya, Ben's been more helpful to us in the last fifteen minutes than anyone else in this godforsaken place."
Ben rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, thanks Yang. Again, means a lot."
At first, Gwen didn't know what to say, but a subtle sly smile graced her features. Blake could see the gears turning in the girl's head, almost as if she was concocting some sort of plan. "Good to know." she replied.
Blake cleared her throat and brought everyone's attention to her. "Hate to break up the fun, but Adam's going to be up again soon and we are totally out matched."
Ben was confused. "What do you mean? We out number him five to one."
"Might as well be three to one." Blake took out her scroll and brought up her and Yang's Aura levels, both in the orange zone. "Our Auras are seriously low. We're susceptible to major harm if we don't have any of it. It also prevents us from using our Semblances."
"Your what?" Kevin asked.
"Semblances, the powers we possess that makes us all unique. But if we don't have adequate Aura levels we can barely use them."
Gwen's interest had peaked. "Aura? As in life energy? As in... mana?" she asked with a smile.
"Well, yes," Blake answered as Gwen stepped behind her and Yang, "mana is a part of what gives our Aura its latent power, but unless someone here knows where we can get a fresh supply of—" Blake turned around to see that Gwen's hands now had a pink glow around them.
"Hold still!" the redhead ordered as she placed her hands on the two young huntresses shoulders. Blake all of a sudden felt like she could take on an entire army of Grimm. Her adrenaline was rushing like a freight train; she could practically feel the energy flowing through her as it made its way through her veins. And, just as instantly as it came, the feeling went, but she was feeling much better than she did before.
"HOLY CRAP THAT FELT AMAZING!" And apparently so was Yang.
Blake faced Gwen in shock as she asked the first thing that came to her mind: "How?"
"I'm half energy being. Grandmother's side of the family."
Blake turned to Ben. "And why didn't you tell us about that?"
Ben shrugged. "Because you never asked?"
The cat girl slapped her forehead while her partner laughed at her expense. She sighed in defeat. "Okay, but we're still not good enough to take Adam head on. He's so much more experienced and powerful than any of—"
She was cut off when Adam burst out from out of the rubble and looked straight at them. From beneath his mask, Blake could see his eyes, blood red with anger. "I AM VERY MUCH DONE WITH ALL OF THIS!" Adam unsheathed his blade again. "Every other worldly person here DIES today! Heroes, degenerates and red-haired bitches alike!"
Kevin crossed his arms and looked at his girlfriend "I'm going to break his arm."
Gwen faced her cousin. "Ben I think he called you a degenerate."
"Pretty sure he wasn't talking about me." Ben replied with a smirk. He looked to the two huntresses behind him and smiled. "Blake, Yang, we'll tire him out, but I want you guys to finish what you started. When I give the signal, he's all yours."
Blake was concerned. "Are you sure you can pull it off?"
"Hell yeah. Besides..." Ben turned back around to face Adam, "we've fought tougher. It's Hero Time!" Ben activated the Omnitrix, and slammed down on the core. His body started becoming encased in aquamarine crystal, from his arms all the way to his head which reformed to have a bigger chin and a large spike coming out the back of it. Two larger crystal spikes emerged from his back, jutting out right above his shoulder blades. His entire torso became dressed in black armor with white pants and black boots adorning his legs. The Omnitrix symbol situated itself in the middle of his chest. His eyes shined a bright green and he shouted: "Diamondhead!"
Yang smirked again. "So do you just name ALL of your aliens?"
Daimondhead looked back to her, his neck clinking with crystalline muscle. "Well, yeah, that's half the fun."
"And your own catchphrase?"
"Well, wouldn't you have one?"
"Well... okay can't argue with that."
"Then point proven." Ben turned to his half-Osmosian friend. "Kevin, commence operation: Remove the Horns." Kevin glanced at Adam's sword and got the message. Fortunately for him, there was a large piece of metal from one of the cafeteria tables on the ground next to him. He bent down, grabbed it, and absorbed the metal, becoming the metal himself.
Yang gave a whistle, impressed. "Nice power, what does it feel like?"
"Won't lie," Kevin answered, "it's not as uncomfortable as you might think it is." The Osmosian slowly backed away from the others, making sure Adam's concentration was locked solely on Ben the whole time.
Adam was getting angrier. "First a plant, and now a rock monster? Is there no end to this absurdity?!" He rushed forward with his blade and Diamondhead did as well, his hand morphing into a blade of his own. He deflected Wilt while rolling away from Adam, the two now adjacent and farther away from the other four. The two combatants clashed their blades thrice more before Diamondhead punched Adam away. In a split second, Diamondhead's hands turned into crystalline shards and he began firing them at Adam, who started deflecting them away, though the sheer force of the shards impacts forced him to stay in place.
In all this chaos, Yang suddenly remembered something and took out her scroll, furiously typing on the screen. Blake's brow rose. "What are you doing?" she asked.
Yang grinned. "Calling the cavalry."
Blake smiled, understanding what she meant. She then remembered something herself, leaning over to the redhead in front of her. She whispered as low as she could while still being heard, hoping Adam couldn't hear her over the clanging of his sword against crystal: "Gwen, his sheath is a gun."
"Oh, is it?" The Anodite hybrid replied with a sinister grin. "Thanks for the tip."
Back at the fight, Ben yelled out: "Hey Adam!"
"WHAT?!" the bull Faunus yelled back.
"You may want to start paying attention!" Adam heard a battle cry come from his right and he turned to see Kevin coming right at him. Adam realized that he had foolishly let his anger get the better of him, but he would not repeat the same mistake twice. Ben had stopped firing at this point so he moved his sword for a downward slice that would have gone right through Kevin... that is if the car junkie hadn't caught it in his metal hands first. Adam was stunned! No one had ever caught Wilt by the blade before, and here was this filthy degenerate... actually complementing his weapon?
"Hoo, nice blade. Love the craftsmanship. Never seen anything like it." Kevin suddenly absorbed Wilt's tempered metal, becoming the blood red steel. He gained a big smirk. "Mind if I borrow it?" Adam, in shock and desperation, moved to pull his blade away from Kevin's grasp, but Kevin had anticipated such and moved his hands in the opposite direction, snapping Wilt in two.
As the blade fell to the ground, Adam forgot his previous vow of his anger clouding his thinking. He felt like he was going to explode. "You...YOU!" He went to his belt to pull Blush from his waist and eviscerate the man who would dare to destroy his beloved weapon. However, all he grabbed was thin air. In shock, he looked down at his belt to see that Blush was nowhere to be seen. Where had—?
"Ahem!" Adam turned to see that Gwen had taken Blush while he was distracted. She was levitating his weapon in mid-air, twirling it around while she spun her finger in a similar fashion. The girl was grinning at him maliciously. "Wow, gotta admit, a sword sheath that's also a gun? Quite the smart idea. It would be such a shame if a certain red-haired bitch would do..." Gwen clenched her fist and Blush was now nothing but a crumpled up piece of metal. "That."
That was the last straw. Adam's horns were now glowing red, not just through the energy he had absorbed, but out of pure hatred for the people who were somehow beating him. He rushed forward, screaming bloody murder, and raised his right fist, intending to put Gwen in her place. But she didn't even flinch. Instead, she brought up an energy field in front of her, and before he could reel back, Adam's fist connected... and he heard a loud SNAP! He punched the wall so hard that he broke his wrist. But he didn't care. He continued punching with his left hand... but he could soon feel his own power leaving him. What was going on? He felt weaker with every blow! Then he noticed that Gwen's devious smile had grown into a full on smirk. It was then that he knew: it had to be her.
"How does it feel Adam?" she asked as her eyes became bright pink. "How does it feel to have YOUR energy drained?" She lifted her hand and pushed, sending the wall of pink mana straight into his face and propelling him backward. She yelled out to her boyfriend. "Kevin, heads up!"
Kevin heeded his girlfriend and grabbed Adam as he was flying back, spun him around by the shoulder, and began punching him in the face repeatedly. By the fifth punch, Kevin changed his left hand into a metal hammer and socked Adam in the gut, knocking the air out of him. "Tennyson, you're up!"
As Adam began refilling his lungs with air, Diamondhead charged at him, holding out his crystalline arm. "Here comes the pain train!" the Petrosapian hollered as he slammed his arm right into Adam and drove him into yet another wall. Ben turned back to the two huntresses. "Blake! Yang! It's all you!" He tossed Adam into the air, so far up that he connected with the ceiling before falling back down.
Blake looked to her partner. "Should we try our new trick?"
Yang gave a thumbs up as she readied her Ember Celica. "You read my mind sister! Let's do it!" Blake nodded and unsheathed Gambol Shroud, holding it in front of her and closing her eyes as she focused her Semblance. This was a technique that she and Yang had been practicing for months with Ruby's help. Better late than never to test it out.
When her eyes opened, they were glowing brightly, her pupils having changed to cat-like slits. She performed two backflips, each one producing a pair of purple shadow clones of herself. The four clones propelled themselves toward the still falling Adam to begin their onslaught. Each one used its own Gambol Shroud to slice at Adam's body, not cutting him deep, but still able to do some serious damage, with him being too dazed to do anything.
Yang cupped her hands together and gave Blake the go ahead. The cat girl stepped on her partner's hands and, with her impressive strength, Yang launched her into the fray. As the clones finished having their way with Adam, Blake used Gambol Shroud to cut a long, clean gash right across Adam's torso, letting loose a scream of pain from his throat. She flipped over his shoulder and did the same to his back, making him scream again.
Blake pushed him forward right as Yang crouched down and fired her Ember Celica, propelling herself into the air. Her eyes became red and she pulled back her fist. With a mighty battle cry, the Blonde Brawler punched Adam in the face, unloading a single fire Dust round from her weapon. Two things had broken: Adam's White Fang mask... and his nose. He landed on the ground in a heap while the girls landed perfectly and high-fived each other. The Alien Trio returned to the two, praising them on a job well done.
"Way to go ladies!" Ben exclaimed as he changed back to normal.
"Yeah, that was pretty hardcore!" Kevin added.
"Amazing is what it was! I've never seen any fighting techniques like that before!" Gwen praised.
Yang rubbed the back of her head while Blake gave a smile. "Thanks," she replied, "we've been working on that routine for a while and..." Blake trailed off when she noticed that Adam was still moving, gaining the other four's attention. He used his good hand to prop himself up, holding his wounded chest with his other. He glared at the five, his eyes bloodshot from anger, almost as red as his own pupils. He breathed heavily, his nose bleeding profusely.
"This...is NOT...OVER!" He tried to get up but found that he couldn't move, almost as if something were holding him in place. He looked down to see that his arms and legs had been trapped by a black glyph... shaped like a snow flake. It was a symbol that he knew all too well. If possible, his anger had grown more. "No! NO! Not by a Schnee! Anyone but a damn Schnee!"
"Aw, you know my last name, how nice." At the arrival of the new voice, the five turned around, Yang and Blake both with relieved smiles on their faces. The girl was a visage of beauty, her white and red combat dress flowing with each step she took, her heels clicking across the floor. Her long white hair was pulled back into an off center bun-tail and she had her weapon, a rapier with a gun barrel in it, drawn and aimed at Adam. Her features were regal, her blue eyes focused on her prey, the only blemish being the small scar across her left eye. She smiled back at the girls. "And just what have you two been up to?"
"Hoo boy, Weiss, like nothing you would believe." Yang answered with a wink. "Glad you got my message."
"Oh, it isn't just me. NOW!" Without warning, a dark red streak flew past them all, leaving a flurry of rose petals in its wake. The streak didn't let up as it went straight to Adam and socked him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground, the glyph disappearing. The streak stopped, revealing itself to be a young girl. She had short black hair that was tipped with red, and wore a black and red blouse, black stockings, combat boots, and finally, a large red hood with a cloak. From behind her, she pulled out a strange red compartment that instantly unfolded into a large intimidating scythe. She spun it around and slammed the blunt end hard into Adam's forearm, breaking the appendage. He cried out in pain before he finally fell unconscious. The girl removed her weapon and looked down at him with contempt in her silver eyes.
"And THAT was for trying to hurt my sister!"
Chapter 3: RWBY Reunion
...
General James Ironwood never expected the day to go like this. Beacon Academy was under attack, his army's newest assets had been compromised and many students were already missing. Fortunately, many heads were still counted for, Coco Adel and Sun Wukong being the most helpful in their assistance holding off the Grimm. The rest of their teams had all escaped to Vale to hospitalize their injured, with Professor Port and Dr. Oobleck going with them.
Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren were sitting on the ground behind the General, having been exhausted their Auras. They refused to leave until their entire team was present. Weiss Schnee was a pivotal advantage in the fight as she and Velvet Scarlatina were able to destroy his rogue assets almost without a problem, though Velvet had been knocked out in the process and was now on her way to a Valian Hospital. Qrow Branwen and Glynda Goodwitch were by his side as they fended off the Grimm as best as they could... but an unexpected new ally was about to make his arrival.
As strange as the day had been, nothing topped an odd-looking recreational vehicle simply appearing out of nowhere, an old man emerging from said vehicle only a moment later. He was clad in a red button-up shirt with an orange floral pattern and brown pants, but he also had a strange blue and gray rifle in his hands. The man took aim at five Ursai, lined up the shot and fired, a blue laser coming out of the gun's barrel and blasting clean through the Ursai's heads, killing all five instantly and gaining everyone's full attention. James had never in his life seen a weapon such as that! Just how powerful was that thing?!
However, at that moment, something even stranger happened. The Grimm Dragon, which had been circling the school for some time now, suddenly stopped in mid-flight. It raised its head and sniffed the air. It apparently didn't like whatever it smelled and roared in anger. It flew away from the school and right over their heads, descending the cliffs surrounding the academy and flying low around them. James and Glynda both looked on in a state of shock. A Grimm that size would never run away unless it sensed a strong sense of... hope. "What... just... happened?" Glynda asked.
"I have no idea." James replied. In a single moment's peace, James and Glynda had managed to learn the man's name: Max Tennyson. The old man was apparently not of this world as he recounted the tale of his arrival. It all seemed too good to be true! His grandson could turn into aliens? His granddaughter was half energy being? His granddaughter's boyfriend could absorb any solid material?! It all sounded like utter nonsense... at least until a column of fire erupted from behind the remains of the school from the mess hall.
"What in the world?" asked Glynda.
"That was probably Ben." Max answered. A few minutes later, a large green and black muscle car zoomed past the front of the school and rounded a bend to get to where the blast of fire came from. "And that was Gwen and Kevin." Max breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, they're all okay."
James turned back to the old man. "Mr. Tennyson, if what you've been saying is true, would it be possible if you and your family could help us in this desperate time?"
Max nodded. "Of course General, it's what we do."
"Hey, old man!" Qrow called out. "I think you got a straggler comin' outta yer rust bucket." When Max and Ironwood turned to see what the half-drunken man was talking about, they saw a tall young man trying to get out of the RV, holding a rifle of his own. And his legs seemed to be injured as he limped out.
"Cooper! Get back inside, NOW!" Max yelled.
Cooper looked back at him with pleading eyes. "Max, please, I need to be of SOME use after what happ—AGH!" Cooper had been suddenly jumped by a snarling Beowulf, tackling and pinning him to the ground. The creature's teeth were inches away from his face, threatening to rip it apart. Cooper let out another scream of terror, but as soon as he did, something hit the Beowulf and sent it flying off of him. Cooper got up and sat against the Rustbucket, clenching his chest in fear as he steadied his breathing. "Thanks a lot, I owe you one."
"Damn right you do."
...
Cooper's eyes widened as his savior spoke. It was a girl. Well, it wouldn't have been the first time that he'd been saved by a girl, but he never expected anyone to be brave enough to smack around a creature so horrifying! The voice also seemed to have an air of confidence around it, almost as if it was no big deal that she just smacked away the vicious beast. He craned his head up to look her in the eye and was met with a pair of aviator sunglasses. The young woman was quite fashionable what with her barrette, turtleneck, scarf, cincher and leather boots, but what had to be the most unique part of her was her hair. It was longer on the right side of her face, and on that side it was dyed so that it changed from its natural dark brown to a bright caramel color.
Cooper hadn't noticed that his breath had been taken away from him. In a metaphorical sense of course, but it could have fooled him. Whoever this young lady was, she was probably the most— 'Wait is she snapping her fingers in my face?'
"Hello? Remnant to Dumb Blonde! Wake up!"
Cooper shook his head, looking for a good excuse for his staring. "Oh, uh sorry! I was just still in shock." The technopath chuckled as he hoped she wouldn't notice his flustered state of mind.
"Uh-huh." she responded flatly.
"So...uh, to whom do I owe my thanks?"
The girl straightened her aviators. "Name's Coco. And trust me boy, I've saved more lives today than just yours, so don't go around losing it, 'kay?" She turned around to see that the Beowulf was standing again... and it had brought back up. "Ugh, really, again? It is such a bad time for this." She clicked a button on her purse and, practically from out of thin air, it transformed into a large rotary cannon! As Cooper was busy processing how in the hell THAT worked, Coco mowed down the pack of Beowulves with no problem. She turned back to Cooper who was still staring dumbly at her handbag-gun. She smirked. "Impressed by its girth big guy?"
Cooper was quick to respond this time, mostly because of the innuendo. He shook it from his head and asked what he had been questioning himself. "I'm sorry but... that should NOT be possible! How did you get that big of a gun into that small of a bag?!"
Coco kneeled down to Cooper's eye level, her smirk never leaving her. She lowered her sunglasses and winked at him. "Trade secret." Coco gave a small chuckle and put her sunglasses back to their rightful place. "You should probably stay here, wouldn't want that nice blonde head to be eviscerated right?"
"O-okay." Cooper's breath had been taken away yet again.
...
Back with the others, the group of adults and Weiss were discussing how best to approach the situation at hand when they were interrupted by a series of loud barks. Weiss' eyes widened and she looked down to see... "Zwie?!"
"Bark! Bark!" the corgi responded. Weiss picked him up and brought him to her face.
"How did you get here?" He responded by licking her. "Bluh, okay then where's—?"
"WEISS!" the Schnee heiress turned to the source of the call and a smile graced her regal features.
"RUBY!" the two partners ran to each other and embraced for a quick moment before separating. "Where in the world have you been?"
"I've been looking for you!" the silver eyed girl replied. "What's going on? Where are the others? ...And what's with the weird looking RV?"
Weiss paused for a moment. "Well... do you have a minute?" After explaining the entire thing to Ruby and introducing her to Max, the younger girl could only stare wide eyed at the prospect of people from another dimension coming to save them.
"Weiss... why do we have such weird lives?" she asked.
"Quite honestly, I've given up any semblance of being relatively normal a long time ago."
"Ha! Semblance! It works on two levels." Ruby said cheekily.
Weiss rolled her eyes. "Yes, a very Yang worthy pun."
Ruby's expression turned slightly more serious at that. "Speaking of which, where is Yang? And Blake?"
Weiss sighed. "I don't know, I haven't seen Yang at all and Blake left a while ago to go take care of somethi—" Suddenly, Weiss' scroll made a sound in her pocket and she took it out, her eyes widening at who the message was from. "Huh, speak of the devil, it's your sister!"
Ruby broke out into a grin. "It is?! Oh, thank goodness. What does it say?"
"Hold on a sec... "Weiss, at cafeteria with Blake. Almost got my ARM CUT OFF"?! WHAT?!"
"WHAT?!" Ruby exclaimed.
"WHAT?!" Weiss and Ruby turned to the massive collection of voices from the group behind them, all voicing their concerns.
Weiss returned to her scroll. "Wait, there's more. "I'm okay. 'Bout to fight Blake's ex. Come round back, got big surprise to show you–Yang". Blake's ex?"
"That must be Adam. He must have tried to cut off Yang's arm! But what about the surprise?"
Max interjected. "That surprise is probably my grandkids. If your teammates are with them, they're in good hands."
Ruby smiled at the old Plumber. "Thanks Mr. Tennyson, but considering that Yang's with them, we've really got nothing to worry about."
"Still," Weiss reminded, "Yang said we should come. And we need to bring her and Blake back anyway." She addressed Ironwood. "We'll be back in a moment, Sir."
The general agreed. "Right, go get your teammates. And keep an eye out for Mr. Arc and Ms. Nikos while you're out there."
"And most importantly," Goodwitch added, "...be safe."
The two partners nodded to their teacher before Ruby spoke to Max again with a gleeful smile. "I can't believe I get to meet an actual SUPERHERO! This is gonna be so awesome!" This was the light in one of her darkest days. Meeting a superhero with awesome powers sounded like good consolidation for her second home being destroyed.
Max smiled back. "Oh, I'm sure my grandchildren are going to get a kick out of you too. Now go, they're expecting you."
"Hey Weiss!" the heiress turned around to see Sun Wukong sprinting to her. "Ironwood says that I need to stay here and help. Could you... maybe... if it's possible..."
"Make sure Blake is okay?" Weiss finished. Sun stood shocked as she chuckled. "Sun, I'm sure she's fine. She can take care of herself. But still, it's really sweet that you're worried about her so much."
Sun rubbed the back of his head and blushed. "Thanks... I do know that she can take care of herself but... you know."
Weiss smiled. "Yeah, I do." She and Ruby turned around and ran as fast as their legs could to the mess hall, hoping that they weren't too late.
...
Moments later, with assistance from Weiss' glyphs, Ruby and the heiress had arrived outside the mess hall. "Come on!" Weiss called out. "They may need us!"
Ruby followed after her, but she skidded to a stop right outside a window to look inside, and her jaw dropped. "Weiss, come back!"
The Ice Queen turned around. "We don't have time! What is it?"
"Just look!" Weiss did as her partner asked as she peered through the broken window, and her eyes widened. In the room was a girl projecting a pink energy shield, a man who appeared to be made out of red metal, and the most awe inducing sight, a large humanoid creature made out of aquamarine crystals. All three were facing a member of the White Fang, who they quickly deduced must have been Adam.
"That must be them." Weiss concluded.
Ruby smiled. "Ten guesses as to which one's Ben." Weiss gave her partner an annoyed side glance at the remark. "What?! I'm just trying to lift the mood! Goodness knows we need it."
"Here comes the pain train!" came a deep voice from inside. The two's attention was brought back to the battle, where Ben had just clothes-lined Adam into a far wall. The crystal creature turned back around and hollered: "Blake! Yang! It's all you!" The two craned their heads to where Ben was facing and their faces lit up as their eyes settled on their two beloved teammates.
"There they are!" Ruby moved to get up and climb through the window but Weiss pulled her back down.
"Wait! Let's see how this plays out." Ruby pouted, but relented as she watched Ben toss Adam all the way to the ceiling. Yang and Blake seemed to agree on something before the two started performing a maneuver that Ruby was all too familiar with.
She gasped. "That's the new trick we've been practicing! We've been working so long on that one!" Weiss had to smile at the pride in her leader's voice. Many months' worth of hard work was starting to pay off. But it was worth it as the two watched their teammates hand Adam's butt to him on a silver platter. The group of five gathered together with Ben transforming back to normal, the three alien teens congratulating their teammates. Ruby and Weiss were about to join them, but they saw Adam start to get up. Weiss, however, would not have it.
"When I give the word, hit him with everything you've got."
"Alright!" Ruby agreed. Weiss focused her Semblance and created a gravity glyph around Adam without him noticing. When he did notice though, that's when she made her entrance.
"No! NO!" The bull Faunus cried out in hatred. "Not by a Schnee! Anyone but a damn Schnee!"
"Aw, you know my last name, how nice." Weiss entered the mess hall, aiming Myrtenaster at her foe. She had gained the wide eyed attention of the trio of newcomers and big smiles from her friends. She smiled back at them. "And just what have you two been up to?"
"Hoo, boy, Weiss, like nothing you would believe." Yang winked at her. "Glad you got my message."
"Oh, it isn't just me. NOW!" At the word, Ruby rushed past Weiss and all the others, landing a punch on Adam's jaw, sending him to the ground. But what Weiss didn't expect Ruby to do was take out Crescent Rose, spin the weapon around, and slam the blunt of it on Adam's forearm making him cry out in pain as she heard a loud SNAP! She removed the weapon as Adam fell unconscious, glowering down at him, her silvery gaze full of distaste.
"And THAT was for trying to hurt my sister!"
"Ruby!" Yang's voice was just the right trigger for Ruby to look up. Her sister was running towards her, and just the sight of her being there was enough for Ruby to tear up.
"Yang!" She half-answered half-sobbed. She met her sister with a hug and began crying into the blonde's shoulder, the day's events finally catching up to her. Yang began to slowly rub circles into her back, whispering promises of "It's okay" and "I'm here" into her sister's ear. She always knew what to do whenever Ruby cried, and it worked every time, though this time, it seemed to last a little longer than usual.
'No kid deserves to be put through what Ruby has today.'Yang decided in her head.
...
Kevin went to his car to fetch a tourniquet, some energy cuffs, and a metal mouth clamp for Adam, who he then promptly threw into the trunk of his car. Just to be safe, Kevin had put two pairs of cuffs on him, one around his wrists which were restrained behind his back, and a pair around his ankles. All the while, the Osmosian was thinking to himself: 'Man, I wanted to be the one to break his arm.'
Back with the others, Ben was introducing himself and his cousin to the two new girls in the hall. "So, Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose. Nice to meet ya, I'm—"
"Ben Tennyson." Weiss finished as she looked over to the redhead. "You must be Gwen, and the boy mumbling about breaking arms is Kevin, correct?"
The two cousin's eyes widened in surprise, Gwen replying; "Um, yeah, how'd you now?"
Ruby answered for her partner with a smile. "Oh, we've met your grandpa."
That got Ben's attention. "Grandpa Max is here?!"
Ruby nodded. "Yep, and your friend Cooper's here too. They're both waiting with General Ironwood back at the docks."
Ben smiled. "Well then what're we waiting for? Let's go!"
Blake put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Wait a second, Ben. I have to say something." She turned to her red and white teammates and took a deep breath. "Ruby, Weiss, there's something I need to tell you." Blake paused briefly before continuing. "Before all of this happened, Adam told me that he would take away everything I love. It... it had to be one of the weakest moments of my life. And if Ben hadn't gotten here when he did, one of those things might not be still here with us today." She looked to Yang, who gave a guilty smile and a shrug, Blake smirking back. "I've made my decision. No more running away. I'm going to stay, and protect everything that's important to me." She reached for the top of her head and undid her bow laces, pulling it from her hair and revealing her cat ears to everyone, though Ben, Gwen and Kevin seemed to be the only ones surprised. "I'm not afraid to hide who I am anymore. I'm staying, and protecting my family."
Weiss was smiling, though she was confused at the last statement. "That's really great to hear Blake! Although, I wasn't aware you had family in Vale. Are they close by?"
Blake's smile grew and she chuckled. "Closer than you think, Weiss."
The Ice Queen's confusion grew as she placed her hands on her hips. "I don't follow."
Ruby, however, picked up on the subtext pretty quickly and rolled her eyes at her partner's expense. "Ugh, Weiss, how can you be so incredibly dense?!" Her expression quickly changed to a smile. "She's talking about us." At that, Weiss' eyes widened as she watched Ruby bound over to Blake and hugged her, squeeing like an excited school girl. "EEEEE! I have another sister!"
The Schnee heiress looked to her Faunus friend and Blake gave the most sincere smile that Weiss had ever seen. "I-is that true? D-do you really think of me as... a sister?"
She got her answer when Yang clasped her on the shoulder and pulled her into a hug. "Yup! Welcome to the Fam, Weiss-Cream! Always room for one more!"
Weiss brought a hand up to her chest and over her heart, feeling herself tear up while doing so. "I... I really don't know what to say. I'm just so honored that you would even consider me like that. Especially considering... well... I haven't exactly been the BEST sister."
Yang shrugged. "Eh, no family's perfect. We've all got our defects, but who cares?"
"B-but where did this all come from in the first place?!"
Blake smiled. "Let's just say that I had to have some sense beat into my head." Yang smiled and rolled her eyes at that.
"Ahem!" The girls looked over to see Gwen approaching them. "Girls... I know that this might not be the best time, but I know a photogenic moment when I see it." The Anodite hybrid brought out her cellphone and turned it sideways, activating the camera function. "Now, say 'Family Photo'."
Team RWBY all smiled at each other before looking into the camera and repeating: "Family Photo!" Gwen snapped the picture as the girls all laughed amongst themselves.
The redhead looked at the picture with pride. 'Now THIS is worth remembering. Better make sure they each have their own copy.' she thought as she put her phone away. "Oh yeah, and Blake, I love the ears." The redhead complimented.
Blake blushed. "Thanks."
"Hey!" the group turned to Kevin, who was still leaning up against his car. "If you don't mind me interrupting, we've gotta get movin'. Max is probably wondering where the hell we are and we've got a package to deliver." he said while jabbing his thumb towards the trunk of his car.
Ben lightly smacked his forehead. "Oh god, right! Come on guys we'd better go." The group started walking toward Kevin's car, but the Osmosian held up his hand.
"Hold up, Tennyson. We've got a problem. My car seats five. There's seven of us. Do the math."
Yang smirked and rolled her eyes. "Psshh, you call THAT a problem?" The Blonde Brawler reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a... key fob? "I've got it covered." She pressed a button on the fob and it went bleep-bleep! At first, nothing happened, but soon the group could hear a loud motor fast approaching. "May wanna take a few steps back, guys." Yang motioned the others back and the doors to the mess hall flung open as a yellow and red unmanned motorcycle crashed through, breaking one of the mighty doors off its hinges. The bike skidded to a halt in front of Yang, a trail of dust in its wake. She spread her arms out over the mighty machine. "Tennysons, Kevin, meet Bumblebee!"
The trio's eyes widened. "Okay, THAT is badass!" Kevin said.
"No kidding!" Ben added. "I've never seen anything like this!" He stepped up to the bike to take a closer look, much to the apprehension of the rest of Team RWBY. They knew that Bumblebee was one of Yang's two babies (the other being her hair) and she didn't like anyone getting that close to it without her permission. But oddly enough, Yang allowed Ben to approach the bike, albeit cautiously.
"Yup! She's my baby." she stated proudly.
"Sweet! How long have you had her?"
"'Bout two years. Got her for my fifteenth birthday."
"Wow, seriously?! The only thing big I got for my fifteenth was my jacket."
"Well I don't see a problem there, it's a nice jacket."
"Yeah, but, heh, no present can top your bike."
Kevin took offense to that. "Hey Tennyson, don't forget I built your friggin' car for your sixteenth, ya ingrate!"
"And it's a very nice car and I'm still very thankful for it, but come on! You said it yourself that this bike is badass!"
Kevin sighed. "Yeah, got me there."
Yang let out a laugh. "Well, I'm glad you like her Ben. You wouldn't believe how many people take bikes like this for granted."
"Hey no problem, I get it. Now what do you say we leave before anything else crazy happens?"
Kevin agreed. "Good idea. Alright ladies, one of you'll go with Yang and the rest will pile up into my car. That means you too Ben, get it in gear missy!"
Ben scowled at his friend and Yang let loose another laugh, louder this time. Ben sighed and began walking to Kevin's car before an idea popped into Yang's head. 'If he's really that into it... then maybe...' "Hey, Green Boy!"
Ben turned back around. "Yeah?"
Yang smiled and opened up a hatch on Bumblebee's rear, bringing out a black bike helmet. "Since you've shown so much interest in Bumblebee... you wanna see how she runs?"
"W-wait, are you asking me, and I mean seriously asking me if I—"
"Wanna have a ride on my bike? Yeah, sure."
There were a few mixed reactions to this. Kevin and Gwen raised their brows in surprise while Weiss and Blake's eyes widened in shock. All this followed up with Ruby almost losing her jaw to the floor. Ben contemplated his answer... for all of two seconds. "Well... I guess if you're offering... Aw what the hell. Sure, why the heck not!?"
"Now that's what I like to hear!" She tossed the helmet to Ben and turned to her team. "Girls! You go with Gwen and Kevin! We'll meet ya at the docks 'kay?" The girls all gave reluctant nods, except for Ruby who was still in so much shock that Weiss had to drag her to the car. Yang mounted her bike with Ben following soon after. "Better hold on, cause this is gonna be epic!"
"Heh, right." Ben looped his arms around Yang's midsection... and immediately became nervous about the bike. Yes, he had ridden on much more dangerous stuff in the past, but it was still something that made his stomach twist in knots. Something about the potential danger on large, high velocity motor vehicles while he wasn't transformed always got to him somehow. It was the reason he was glad that Julie never upgraded from her moped... that is until Ship upgraded it for her.
Yang however seemed to pick up on this pretty quickly as she put her hand on his forearm. "Ben," she turned around to meet his gaze, "I can already tell that if you keep yourself nervous like that, you're not going to enjoy riding on Bumblebee." She gave him a reassuring smile. "Now, I want you to take a deep breath and relax. It's important that you hold on, okay? Wouldn't want you to fall off of a high speed motorbike, right? Just remember," she winked, "this isn't my first rodeo. You're in good hands. So sit back, relax, and most importantly..." she took out a pair of aviator sunglasses and put them on, "have fun, 'kay?"
Ben blinked twice before smiling back. "Okay."
"Alright! Let's get going!" For as bombastic as Yang was, Ben had to admit, she had a really calming effect on him. Guess that came with being a big sister. He did as he was told and took a deep breath through his nostrils, and, just like that, he could feel himself rela—
'Wait, why do I smell lilacs?' Ben took another silent whiff. 'Wait, is that her hair? Huh... very relaxing.'
...
Inside Kevin's car, Ruby was still in a jaw-dropped coma. "Ruby?" Weiss called to her partner, snapping her fingers in front of her face. "HEY!"
"Gah!" the younger girl exclaimed, finally snapping out of it. "Oh, sorry Weiss, I just thought I heard Yang offer Ben a ride on Bumblebee."
"Uh Ruby..." the heiress pointed out the window and Ruby saw Yang and Ben having a conversation on her bike. Ruby's eyes widened in shock.
"Guys... something weird is going on."
"What makes you say that?" Blake asked. "Things seem pretty normal to me. Well... in terms of us but..."
"Nonono you don't get it. Yang hasn't even known Ben for, what, half an hour? And yet she trusts him enough ride on her motorcycle? Yang almost never lets anyone else ride Bumblebee."
Weiss interjected. "Wait, what about Neptune that one time?"
"Like I said almost. And only for really important situations like that was. She is SUPER protective about that bike and you know it."
"Well Ruby," Gwen spoke up. "Would it be too farfetched to say that Ben actually showing interest and complimenting her bike was enough for her to offer him a ride?"
"I mean... maybe, but I just find it weird that she's only known him for a little while, and she just offered to let him ride her bike!" Ruby narrowed her eyes at the two bike riders. "Something's going on here, and I intend to find out!"
Gwen smirked and rolled her eyes. 'Poor, sweet, innocent Ruby.' the redhead sighed and looked back to the silver-eyed girl. "Hey Ruby, if you let me, would it be okay if I help you out?"
Ruby was surprised at the offer. "Really? ...Why?"
"I won't lie, I'm a little curious myself. Also, I know my cousin better than anyone, so if you need help, I'm your best shot."
"That's awesome! Thanks Gwen!"
"No problem. Besides, I already have a little theory going through my mind right now."
Ruby gasped. "Really?! Ooh, let's hear it!"
"Uh-uh, not yet. Let's get out of this place first before we discuss anything."
"Ladies!" their attention was directed to Kevin. "Not to interrupt the gossip on Tennyson, but Yang's giving us the go ahead!" Indeed, Yang was giving them a thumbs up, signaling that she and Ben were ready.
Gwen looked at Ruby and smiled. "We'll continue this conversation later."
Ruby smiled back. "Okay! Let's go!" And with that, the two vehicles rolled out into the fire fueled night, with plans for the future concocting in the two girls minds.