Chapter 5: A Warrior's Second Chance
...
Once most people were gifted with unlimited power beyond their wildest dreams, they would usually do anything they wished immediately after. Not Cinder Fall. She had a mission to complete. As she gazed out over the city of Vale in the office of the fool formerly known as Professor Ozpin, she swore in the name of her mistress that she would see this city brought to its knees. But something was troubling her; the Grimm Dragon had retreated from the school and had not tried to return, flying just below the high cliffs that the academy was built upon. She had wanted it to destroy the Cross Continental Transmit System, but it flew away before she could give such a command. Not many things could cause a Grimm of that size to flee... but she could think of only one...
'But a sense of hope that strong couldn't possibly exist... could it?' she asked herself. 'Hmm, no matter, I'll just have to destroy this place myself and then snuff out that hope... just as I'll do with her.'
No, she was not alone in this place, as Pyrrha Nikos, the once "Invincible Girl", was now lying at her feet, an arrow of Cinder's own creation pierced through her ankle and into the floor, immobilizing her. The young girl actually thought she could take Cinder on. How amusing. Pyrrha had tried to use her Semblance of polarity to her advantage, but with a power as great as a Maiden's, the girl was no match. The new Fall Maiden had also destroyed the girl's only weapon and knocked her shield out of reach; preventing any kind of last-minute save the girl might have pulled off. Cinder strutted toward the girl, her obsidian bow in hand.
"It's unfortunate that you were promised a power that was never truly yours." Cinder said as she bent down and pulled the redhead's chin up to meet her gaze. "But take comfort that I will use it in ways you could have never imagined."
Pyrrha wretched out of Cinder's grasp, matching the woman's look with her own hard stare. "Do you believe in destiny?"
Cinder could only frown as she answered. "Yes." She instantly created another arrow, knocked it in her bow and aimed it point blank at the fallen girl's chest, intending to end her life in an instant. But before she could, a blast of energy came straight out of nowhere and shot the bow out of her hands, destroying it and the arrow. The two women were left shocked and confused.
"Yeah, about that, I'm gonna have to ask you not to kill her." They whirled their heads around and were astonished to see a tall humanoid creature made of purple rock and pink crystal floating through one of the broken windows, a young girl around Pyrrha's age floating in beside it. "You see, I have some new friends down there who would be pretty disappointed if I came back without her."
The floating girl darted to Pyrrha's side, crouched next to her, and created a pink energy dome. She quickly expanded it to knock Cinder away, the Fall Maiden doing a backflip and digging her heals into the floor to slow herself to a halt. She glared at the girls as the dome shrunk back down, protecting them from Cinder's wrath as the crystal man dashed in front of the two redheads, creating a second line of defense.
Cinder sighed. "So, you two must be the new hope that is keeping my dragon away."
"Oh, you mean lizard lips?" the crystal creature asked. "Yeah, he's scared of us alright. Can't get enough of that positivity now can ya?"
"I see. And who exactly are you?"
The creature balled his hands into fists and put them on his hips, puffing out his rocky chest. "The name's Chomastone, and I'm here to Take. You. Down."
"Ah, I see. Well I certainly wish you luck in that endeavor. I certainly wouldn't want to be facing myself right now."
"Really? And why is that?"
"You see, I recently just acquired an immense power that was thought of to only be legend until recently. And I have her to thank back there for being too scared to accept it herself."
Chromastone looked back to girls, who seemed to be talking to each other inside the bubble before they noticed him face them. Chromastone faced Cinder again, a questioning look on his face. "...Prove it."
A sinister grin came to Cinder's face, a pair of obsidian swords appearing in her hands. "As you wish." The two charged at each other, Cinder swinging her blades down onto Chromastone's forearms as he blocked the strike. The final battle for Beacon's fate had begun.
...
As the two fought, Pyrrha could only watch in shock, awe and confusion as her head settled into the lap of the new redhead beside her. Her name was Gwen, but that's all she really knew from the few seconds that they had spoken to one another. As the two watched the fight, Gwen felt the need to reassure the warrior girl. "Don't worry Pyrrha, my cousin has handled much worse."
Pyrrha's eyes widened. "That thing is your cousin?"
Gwen gave her a nervous smile. "Well... yes, but Ben doesn't always look like that." She glanced over to Ben and then back to Pyrrha and whispered: "Between you and me, he actually looks worse when he's normal." she cheekily said with a wink. It made Pyrrha laugh, something that she desperately needed at the moment, but it also made her wince at the pain in her ankle. Gwen winced herself. "Ooh, right, better start working on that."
Gwen moved Pyrrha off of her lap and onto the concrete floor in an awkward laying position as she moved down to inspect the warrior's ankle. "Hmm... well, good news is that I can get the arrow out and stop the bleeding for a while. But I'm going to need Swampfire for the rest."
"Swamp-what?"
"Swampfire, another one of Ben's aliens. He has the ability to make regenerative spores. If we're lucky, six weeks of healing could only take six days or so. Now hold still while I work my magic... literally." Gwen moved her hands over Pyrrha's ankle and began chanting a mystic incantation that the warrior girl couldn't understand. The arrow glowed the same pink as her energy field and it disintegrated into nothingness, painlessly turning into pink energy. Before the ankle could start bleeding out, Gwen created a small energy sphere around the wound, holding the foot aloft to stop any further bleeding and feeding some of her mana into Pyrrha's Aura. Gwen sighed in relief. "Okay, you good?"
"I... I think so. Thank you Gwen."
Gwen smiled. "Hey, Redheads gotta stick together right?"
Pyrrha smiled. "I think that's grand." But her smile vanished as she moved her head to the side, focusing on the battle between Ben and Cinder. The two were trading blows, one with swords and the other with crystalline fists. The turning point came when Ben grabbed the blades and wrestled them out of Cinders hands. He was about to crush them when he noticed something.
"Wait a second... are these obsidian?"
"Yes, of course they are!" Cinder yelled back.
"As in... volcanic glass?"
"Yes, now what is your point?!"
Ben crushed the swords effortlessly. "Just what part of Chromastone did you not understand?"
"Then I'll try something else!" Cinder thrust her hands forward and shot a stream of fire at Chromastone, who managed to dodge it.
"Woah! Okay, new plan... interrogate and annoy." Chromastone kept dodging, all the while asking questions. "So Miss... Oh yeah, never did catch your name!"
"Cinder Fall, enjoy it for it will be the last name you hear!" Another blast and dodge.
"Ah okay, so Cinder, question, what lead you to being here? Dreams of great power? Wealth? A retirement plan?"
"Depends, do you believe in destiny Chromastone?" Blast and dodge.
"What an odd question. But if I had to answer, I'd say I somewhat believe in it. Although, I personally think that we're free to create our own destinies. You never know what tomorrow might bring so why not make the best of it?"
Pyrrha's eyes widened at the Crystalsapien's answer. 'What does he mean by that?'
"Your answer is interesting Chromastone." said Cinder. "But your idealism won't save you. You see, I have always wished for power and respect. All I needed was to meet the right person to help push me in the right direction." She began surging with a fiery aura, large flames appearing in the palms of her hands as her eyes glowed brightly. "And now that I possess the power of the Fall Maiden, I can finally thank her... by destroying YOU!" Cinder brought her hands together and sent a wall of flame straight at Chromastone. But the alien didn't falter, instead deciding to just stand there as the flames enveloped him. Gwen and Pyrrha turned their heads away from the intense light. When it stopped they could only see a billow of smoke where Chromastone had been standing. Cinder smiled maliciously, convinced she had won...
"WOW! That was some blast!" Cinder's eyes widened and out stepped Chromastone, not a scratch on him. "But I gotta say, not your smartest move."
Cinder was flabbergasted. "B-but how?! That was my strongest blast!"
"Well, other than Fire not being that effective against Rock, I may have left out a little something about myself..." The pink crystals on Chromastone flared to life with a complete spectrum of different colored lights. "You see, I am a conductor of sorts. I can take any form of energy that's thrown at me and send it back, but more powerful. In short, I am rubber, you are glue. Whatever you throw at me, bounces off and back to you." His goading served to make Cinder more annoyed and angry, just what he wanted. "That said, I think it's time we end this."
Cinder clenched her fists. "You think I care about what you are capable of? A Maiden's power surpasses that of anyone else! And I finally have that power! I can finally be feared like I always wanted! I have the strength I need to make entire KINGDOMS fall at my feet!" The intense fiery aura began to radiate off of her again. "I am Cinder Fall! And I will not be defeated BY THE LIKES OFF—"
"To be honest, I've heard all kinds of evil speeches before so let's just get this over with." Chromastone fired an intense multi-colored beam from his hands and straight toward Cinder. The young woman unleashed her own blast of flame again, but the energy just cut right through the fire. She was hit in the shoulder and sent screaming out the window. Chromastone rushed to the edge and watched as Cinder... well... fell to the ground. About half way down, she seemed to be enveloped in some sort of dark haze before disappearing all together. "Huh, weird." The hero turned around, quickly sprinting over to Gwen and Pyrrha
"Ben, is she...?" Gwen asked as she brought down her shield.
"Dead? No. She just... disappeared." Ben's attention was directed to the Invincible Girl. "You must be Pyrrha. Hi, I'm Ben."
"Hello." The warrior said dumbfounded. It was one thing to see the creature from afar, but up close was a whole different thing.
Gwen gained Ben's attention. "Ben, I'm going to need Swampfire to seal her ankle up."
"Oh! Right!" Ben hit the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and changed into... "Swampfire!" The change had been so instant that Pyrrha thought she had blinked and missed it. The swamp man knelt next to her and cupped his hands together, creating a large sum of yellow spores in his hands. He looked her straight in the eye. "Okay, Pyrrha, just giving you a heads up. These spores can heal skin and muscle tissue no problem, but bone takes longer. It's going to take a while and even then you may need help before you're able to walk on your own again. Okay?"
Pyrrha nodded and Swampfire signaled his cousin to undo the mana field around Pyrrha's wound. Fortunately, the bleeding had slowed and Pyrrha's Aura had built back up again, if only a little bit. Swampfire cupped his spore-filled hands around the wound and pushed them in, making Pyrrha wince with pain for a second. But a moment later, she could already feel them tingling in her heel. "Now for the finishing touch." Swampfire very carefully removed her grieve and boot, his hands producing a bunch of vines that gently wrapped around her ankle, making a cast for her ankle. "There we go! All done!"
Pyrrha was in awe of what had just happened. She felt obliged to ask... "Who are you two?"
Gwen was about to explain when a loud beeping came from the Omnitrix, now flashing between green and red. One flash of green light later and Ben was back to normal, the face of the Omnitrix now red. "Huh," Ben said, "Guess its recharge time."
"Not surprising considering how many times you must have transformed today." Gwen added. She faced Pyrrha. "Now, I think we owe you an explanation..."
Once Gwen had given an abridged version of her and her cousin's story, Pyrrha took a deep breath, taking it all in. "That is... quite the tale."
"Yeah, we know. Kind of unbelievable."
"Yes... unbelievable." Pyrrha lay down on the ground, her face stoic, almost sad. She faced the two heroes and asked; "Why did you come to save me?"
The cousins were caught off guard. "Why would you ask something like that?" Gwen questioned back.
"Yeah, we're heroes. We don't discriminate who we save." Ben added.
"It is just..." Pyrrha began, "I do not think I deserve it."
The cousins eyes widened and they yelled over one another; "WHAT?!" "Why not?!"
Pyrrha sighed as she sat up. "Do you remember how Cinder said that... that it was my fault that she had the Maiden powers?" They both nodded. "Well... she was right. If I had only taken the powers without a second thought... If I hadn't been so selfish then maybe..." Pyrrha started to feel tears brimming her eyes, "maybe Ozpin... a-and Amber... and P-p-penny... oh gods Penny!" She lost it. She brought her hands to her face and she let her tears fall, her sobs loud and unforgiving. She heard the quick shuffle of feet and could feel two pairs of arms encircle her frame, supporting her as she let her anguish out. She could hear Gwen's voice.
"Pyrrha sweetie, it's okay. It's all going to be okay. What happened to them?"
She answered between her cries. "THEY'RE DEAD! They are all dead because of me!"
"Pyrrha, that can't be true." Ben reassured.
"But it is! I-if I had accepted the Maiden powers sooner, I wouldn't have fallen for the hallucinations and killed Penny! Amber's powers wouldn't have been stolen by Cinder! And Ozpin wouldn't have faced Cinder alone!"
"You mean like how you were doing just now?" Ben's words had caused Pyrrha to look up at him, her eyes now blood shot. "Pyrrha, I don't mean to be harsh, but when somebody has that much power at their disposal, and you know you can't take them on, the answer is to run away. I appreciate the heroic effort, but facing that much power head on isn't going to fix everything."
"I-I tried to fix it before all of this happened. I tried to take on the Maiden powers, but they wouldn't transfer into me for some reason. But... I guess a part of me is glad that they didn't take. Otherwise, I wouldn't be myself anymore."
Ben was confused. "Wait... so, you accepted the powers even though you knew there was a chance you wouldn't be you anymore?"
"Well... I was going back and forth on it at first, but when I asked Jaune if I should follow my destiny, he said I should."
"And did you tell him any specifics?" Gwen inquired.
"Well... not exactly. I told him it was my destiny to save the world, and that's it. Nothing else. I was sworn to secrecy by Ozpin and his Circle about the Maiden powers."
"Then there's your problem. If he had known what you were going to do, I think he most likely would have had second thoughts about it. After all, if he's really your friend, he would want to look out for you right? And you for him?"
Pyrrha stared at Gwen silently before looking back down. "Y-yes. Jaune is one of the most important people in my life. If anything happened to him... I wouldn't know what to do with myself."
"Well then, I'm happy to say that he feels the same way. At least that's what I got from his call."
Pyrrha gasped. "Jaune's alive?"
"Yep." Ben replied. "In fact, if he hadn't called Weiss, we wouldn't know where to find you." As Pyrrha sighed in relief, Ben felt the need to ask what had been on his mind for a while. "Pyrrha, there's still one thing I don't know... who's Ozpin?"
"He was our Headmaster." Pyrrha spoke calmly now. "He told me that he had chosen me to be the next Fall Maiden and he offered me the choice to accept or not. But like I said, if I did, there was a chance I would lose myself to the powers. But I didn't want to lose my friends either... so in the end, I accepted... but only too late. And now... I do not know what to do about it."
Ben took a deep breath; taking in everything he had been told. "Pyrrha, did you hear what I said to Cinder? About each of us creating our own destiny?" Pyrrha nodded. "Well, I believe in that because I've met not just one, but TWO different versions of myself from two different futures." Pyrrha's eyes widened. "I know, it's weird, I'll tell those stories later, but the point is that the future is never set in stone. You never know what life is gonna hand you. The only thing you can do is take it as it comes." The hero placed a hand on the Invincible Girl's shoulder. "Also, not wanting to lose who you are or the memories of your friends isn't selfish."
"Ben's right." Gwen agreed. "You shouldn't feel ashamed just because of a choice. It's behind you now. What you canfocus on is how you handle what comes next. Preferably without getting yourself killed."
Pyrrha could feel her spirit lift a little at the cousins' words. "I... I suppose so. But what will happen now? Like it or not, Cinder has the Maiden powers."
Gwen shrugged. "Well, I can only speculate, but I bet his "Circle" will know what to do. Pyrrha, if it's possible, could you please tell me who they are?"
Pyrrha was reluctant at first, but as she looked at Gwen, she could see no ill will behind her gaze. She looked to Ben and he wore a smile, with no bad intentions. They had helped and trusted her, so it was only fair that she trust them. She took a deep breath and exhaled. "Well... there is General Ironwood, Professor Goodwitch, and Qrow Branwen."
As the names came, the cousins grew more and more shocked. Gwen sighed. "Okay Pyrrha, we'll question them later. Right now we need to get you out of here. Ben and I will carry you out of the tower and back to the docks." She smiled at the warrior. "Your hyper pink friend is waiting for you."
Pyrrha gasped as she grasped Gwen's shoulders. "Nora! A-and Ren, are they...?"
"Both are fine. So is Team RWBY. And Jaune, obviously."
Pyrrha smiled, only to sigh sadly soon after. "He's probably not going to be happy with me when we see each other."
"Why not?"
"Well... I might have pushed him into a rocket locker to prevent him from helping me."
"You WHAT?!" Both cousins exclaimed.
A blush came to Pyrrha's face. "And I... may or may not have kissed him right before that. Without any prior warning."
The two stared at Pyrrha dumbfounded. "Wow, yeah that dude's gotta be a hot mess of emotions right now." Ben commented.
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Ben, just help me lift her." Ben did as he was told and lifted Pyrrha up bridal style with Gwen supporting her ankle. However, Pyrrha had some objections.
"Wait! My spear and shield." Gwen glanced around and indeed saw a circular shield on the far side of the room. At her feet, the remains of a red and gold spear lay three large pieces. She focused on the shield and floated it over, with Pyrrha grabbing it. The Anodite lifted the three pieces of Pyrrha's spear, a sad frown overtaking the warrior girl.
"Did you make this yourself?" Gwen asked.
Pyrrha nodded, "Indeed... I forged her with my own two hands."
"Then I know you can forge her again." Gwen handed her the broken pieces with a smile. "And she'll be even better than before. Heck, I'll help you out if you want."
Pyrrha stared at her new friend before smiling back. "Gwen?"
"Yes?"
"I am so glad that I met you two. Thank you so much." The two redheads shared a quick hug.
"What're friends for Red?" The two pulled away and Gwen made a mana platform outside the nearest window. "Alright, now let's get out of this godforsaken place."
...
Ruby paced back and forth outside of the ship, Yang leaning on the edge of the door not far behind. Everyone had made their way on board accept for them. It had been a chore to get Bumblebee, Kevin's car and the Rustbucket on the Bullhead, but they had managed. But Ruby was tired of waiting. The Hooded Huntress had never been good at patience so she did stuff like this very often. And it always got on her sisters nerves.
"Ruby, come on! You need to calm down."
"What do you think I'm trying to do? It's not exactly easy considering we have a friend who might be in danger and a dragon ready to eat us!"
Yang sighed. "Look, if anything had gone wrong up there, we would know by now. Did you see that blast? That seemed pretty powerful."
Ruby let out her own sigh. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I should just—" Out of the corner of her eye, Ruby caught sight of a pink light and she gasped in excitement. At the top of the tower, she saw Ben and Gwen step onto a pink platform and they began to descend toward the docks. As they got closer, she could see that Ben was holding something... or rather someone.
"Well, son of a bitch," Yang said, "they live!"
Ruby let her legs carry her forward to meet them as they landed a fair distance away. As she ran, she waved frantically. "Ben! Gwen! Pyrrha!" She saw Gwen and Pyrrha wave back and she yelled; "Pyrrha what in the HECK were you thinking?!"
"I'm sorry!" the wounded girl yelled back. All of a sudden, Ben and Gwen stopped in their tracks, their eyes focused up to the sky in panic, Pyrrha's following soon after.
Ruby heard Yang scream behind her. "RUBY, COME BACK!" The young girl started to question why but the answer came sooner than she thought. A dark shadow flew above her and landed directly behind Ben, Gwen and Pyrrha.
The Grimm Dragon had made its move.
...
As Ben stared up into the blood red eyes of the Grimm Dragon, he could only think to himself; 'I'm an idiot, I am a goddamn idiot. How in the hell could I've forgotten about THIS thing?' He should have known. It had waited for the perfect time to strike, just like Vilgax. The dragon must have sensed how powerful the Omnitrix was so it stayed away until the device shut down to recharge. It made the young hero frustrated. He should have been able to pummel the beast into the ground with Humungousaur or even Way Big, but the stupid watch just HAD to—
Bee-be-beep!Ben looked down at the watch, the green glow having returned. His eyes narrowed at it. "You know, for a watch you always have this tendency of being late."
Ben lowered Pyrrha to the ground and he faced the dragon, the beast backing away, now knowing the grave error it had made. As much as he wanted to beat this thing with his two biggest aliens, Ben knew he had to get this done quick. And he knew the perfect alien for the job. Ben activated the Omnitrix, selected the alien he wanted and transformed, his body becoming composed of copper gears and circuitry, a large twist key protruding from his head.
"Clockwork!"The two redheads stared up at the Chronosapien as the dragon continued to back away, growling in self-defense. As Ruby and Yang ran up and stopped behind the two, the key on Clockwork's head began spinning. From his chest, he shot a green time laser at the dragon as it spread its wings in an attempt to get away. The time-ray made the dragon age so rapidly that it started turned into black dust. As the beast roared in agony, its cry fell on deaf ears as its head dissipated, its body now soot on the pavement. Clockwork dusted his hands, speaking in his German accented voice. "And that takes care of that." As he turned around, he saw his cousin smiling at him while the three Remnant girls were looking at him in awe. "What? Do I have something on my servos?"
Ruby was the first to snap out of it as she looked down at Pyrrha, who looked up to meet her gaze. Ruby's eyes welled up with tears as she tackled Pyrrha with a hug. "Pyrrha! You're alive!"
The Invincible Girl was taken aback by the sudden embrace. "R-Ruby? Why are you—?"
"What were you thinking trying to take that girl on by yourself?!"
"I-I saw now other way. After what happened at the tournament I—"
"Pyrrha." Ruby pulled out of the embrace and looked Pyrrha right in the eye. "What happened was NOT your fault, do you hear me? Emerald tricked you into doing it."
"E-Emerald?"
"She's the one who caused you to hallucinate. Like I said back in the arena, I don't blame you for what happened."
"B-but she was your friend..." Pyrrha looked down dejectedly
Ruby looked down and sniffed. "Yes... P-Penny was my friend. But you're my friend too! I can't lose two friends in one day! I just can't! You're important too, Pyrrha, to myteam and yours."
Pyrrha took a deep breath and exhaled. "...Can I have another hug?"
Ruby smiled and chuckled. "Sure, I'm told I'm good at giving them." They embraced again, hatchet buried.
Meanwhile, Gwen and Yang made their way over to Ben, who had transformed back to normal. Unexpectedly, Yang put her arm around Ben in a side embrace. "Gotta hand it to ya Green Boy, you're somethin' else. What the heck WAS that?"
Ben chuckled. "Thanks Yang. And to answer your question, that was Clockwork, one of my most powerful aliens, believe it or not. I haven't figured him out entirely yet, but he's basically a time manipulator."
"So you AGED that thing into a smudge on the pavement?"
"Yes he did." Gwen reaffirmed before turning to her cousin. "I'm actually surprised you went for Clockwork, Ben. No Way Big? No Humungousaur again? I'm glad you went with your head."
"Thanks Gwen," Ben said as the three made their way back to Ruby and Pyrrha, "Though to be honest, I just wanted to get it over with nice and fast." He looked at the two embracing girls as they turned to meet his gaze. "Hey ladies, how 'bout we get outta this hell hole and get something to eat? I don't know about you, but I'm starving."
The Hooded Huntress and the Invincible Girl both suddenly felt their stomachs rumble, the two blushing soon after. "Heh, guess fighting all day works up an appetite, huh?" Ruby said.
"I suppose so. I'm famished!" Pyrrha added.
"I hear that, P-Money!" Yang exclaimed as she circled her arms around her sister and Gwen's shoulders. "C'mon girls, I've had enough of this place." Ben picked Pyrrha back up and the group made their way back to the Bullhead, the ramp closing as soon as they boarded it.
"Pyrrha!" At the sound of the shrill voice, Pyrrha turned her head to see Ren and Nora, both on stretchers and with multiple bandages on them. Nora's expression was of complete and utter joy while Ren was more subdued in his relief.
"Nora... Ren..." Pyrrha croaked out her words. She truly thought she would never see them again. It was the second time that the gravity of her choice hit her. She had sent herself to fight the Fall Maiden, seeing it as the best way to save the family that she had made, but she had not considered what her family might have thought of it. There was a third stretcher next to the two and Ben placed her on it, Nora immediately reaching for her sister's hand.
"What in the hell were you thinking Pyrrha?! You could have gotten yourself killed!" Nora cried. "Jaune thought you would be a goner!"
"I know... and it was a very dumb decision."
"To say the least!"
"But I promise I'll explain everything... once things calm down a little."
"You'd better! Do you know how many pancake breakfasts you owe me for putting me through this emotional distress?! DO YOU?!"
Pyrrha chuckled. "Many, I am sure."
Ben looked on with relief. Everyone was okay, that's all he could ask for. As the rest of Team RWBY had piled in to talk with Pyrrha, he and Gwen went off to find Kevin. They eventually found him in the infirmary watching the still unconscious Adam like a hawk, Goodwitch and Ironwood at his side. After Gwen and Kevin reunited in a loving embrace, she told Ironwood that they were successful in their mission to save Pyrrha and a smiled came to his face. "Gwen, Ben, Kevin, I must say, you have all proved to be an amazing asset today." Ironwood saluted the heroes. "Thank you."
"Indeed" Glynda added. "Thank you all for saving my students. As well as everything else you've done."
"You're more than welcome," Ben replied, "but I'm afraid we have more to discuss."
Ironwood's expression fell, his arm following suit. "What do you mean?"
"Pyrrha told me everything about the Maiden powers. And now a Miss Cinder Fall has them. We've got a problem on our hands."
Glynda and Ironwood's faces fell even further, becoming ones of regret. "Oh... I see." Glynda said.
Ironwood sighed. "You're right... we do have a problem. But we should wait until we get these kids to a hospital to discuss this further."
Ben nodded. "I'm fine with that."
...
The usually busy streets of Vale were dead with silence, they had been for the last several minutes. The Grimm had suddenly all run away, something that no one was expecting. In this empty city street stood Jaune Arc, drained both physically and emotionally. He was in front of one of the city's hospitals, waiting for the arrival of the Bullhead that he saw approaching in the distance. He hadn't heard back from his friends so he could only hope they were all on board that ship.
But that wasn't the only thing on his mind right now... he had just gotten done talking to his dad on his scroll. When the middle-aged Huntsman had heard about what was going on in Vale, he instantly strapped on his armor, grabbed his sword and boarded the first Bullhead to Vale. He would be there in a half hours' time.
Normally, Jaune would have been ecstatic. His dad was his hero, his inspiration for wanting to be a huntsman. However, in the back of his mind he knew why his dad was coming, and that was to take him home, back to his mother and sisters. Now, Jaune loved his family... but if he went back, they most likely would not let him leave again. It had been a miracle that he was able to leave the FIRST time. If he went home now... that would be it for any future Huntman career he could have. But more importantly, he didn't want to leave the many friends he had made, including his team.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when the massive Bullhead from the academy landed on the desolate street, there being just enough room to maneuver it between the buildings. Jaune jogged to it as the ramp descended, hoping to quell his worst fears. He didn't have to wait long for as the ramp touched the ground, he was greeted Team RWBY all sporting happy smiles as they ran down to greet him.
"Guys! W-what happ-oof!" He was suddenly enveloped in a group hug by the four girls.
"JAUNE WE DID IT!" Ruby exclaimed.
"We won Vomit-Boy! We won!" Yang yelled in celebration.
"W-wait, we won?! HOW?!" The blonde knight questioned.
"It's a long story Jaune." Blake said.
"Yeah, you wouldn't believe what happened today!" Weiss added.
"Just fill me in later." Jaune dismissed. "All I want to know is if my team's okay."
"Why don't you ask us yourself, Fearless Leader?!" Jaune turned his head, looking up the ramp to see Nora with her signature happy grin, Ren right beside her as both were on stretchers. Without a word, Jaune ran up the ramp and embraced the two, tears streaming down his face.
"Thank god you two are safe!" The duo leaned into the hug, comforting their leader and brother. Jaune's eyes shot open and he pulled back. "Wait! Where's..."
"Jaune." He froze. His gut sank at the tender voice that he had become so familiar with. He slowly turned around, and there she was. Alive. The most that was wrong with her was that her foot was now in a weird green cast. Her stretcher was being pulled by a bunch of people he didn't recognize along with Sun and Coco, but he wasn't focused on them right now. All that mattered was her. They stared at each other, Jaune in utter disbelief while she had guilt written all over her face. "Jaune... I..." Pyrrha didn't even finish before Jaune sprinted over and hugged her close, crying his eyes out.
"Pyrrha! You're alive! I can't believe you're alive!" His anguished cries only served to make her do the same. She shut her eyes tight and cried, returning the embrace.
"I'M SORRY!" she wailed. "I am so sorry!" The two pulled themselves closer, fully taking each other in as they wept. They stayed that way for two full minutes before Jaune pulled away, though not fully out of the embrace.
He wiped the tears out of his eyes, speaking with a dry voice from all the crying. "Please... please promise me you won't ever do that again."
Pyrrha nodded while wiping away her own tears. "I promise." she choked out.
"Thank you, because..." he swallowed hard, "I can't stand the thought of losing you." They hugged again, this time only briefly as they were interrupted by a clearing throat.
"Ahem" Jaune whipped around to see a young man about his age, clad in green. "Hi, Jaune right?" he asked.
"Um, yeah? Who are you?"
"I'm Ben Tennyson. This is my cousin Gwen, my Grandpa Max, and my friends Kevin and Cooper. I've gotta say man, you were lucky. If you hadn't called when you did, Pyrrha probably wouldn't be here."
"Wait... how do you know about—?"
"Jaune, Ben and Gwen were the ones who came to save me." Pyrrha clarified.
Jaunes eyes widened. "R-really? You saved her?"
"Not just her Ladykiller." Yang chimed in. "These guys saved all of our asses today."
Everyone confirmed, but Ben refuted; "Aw come on guys, we can't take all the credit! I mean, yeah sure we did a lot of the grunt work, but you guys helped us out big time. If it weren't for you, we'd be running around like chickens with their heads cut off."
"Yes," Gwen reaffirmed. "And we'll probably STILL need your help seeing as how we don't have a clue how to get home now."
"Wait, how can you guys not get home?" Jaune asked.
"Well... let's just say they're not of this earth." Ruby said.
"So what are they like... aliens or something?"
"That's..." Ben began, "not IN-accurate. We'll explain inside. Come on, let's go." As the massive group got off the Bullhead and moved to the front doors of the hospital, they were interrupted by a voice... one that sounded very familiar.
"Not so fast!"
...
Ben swore his ears were playing tricks on him. Was he just interrupted by himself?! Well, the voice SOUNDED like him, but it seemed a lot calmer, colder than his own. And on top of it all, malicious to its core. As he turned around, he could only think of one person...
"Oh for crap's sake, is Albedo here too?! Because I swear, I have absolutely no time for—wait a second, you're not Albedo." Indeed it wasn't the Galvan-turned-human, but instead a fair-skinned man who was decked out in a grey and black outfit with spikey unkempt grey hair. Next to him stood a young woman with medium-brown skin, red eyes and mint-green hair in a straight fringe. Both were glaring at the hero, as if they had a bone to pick with him.
"MERCURY!" Yang yelled in rage.
"And Emerald." Ruby said in contempt.
Ben could only guess that they were enemies. The gray haired douche spoke again. "Oh come on ladies, is that anyway to talk to your friends? I'm disappointed Blondie, I thought for sure you'd come back at least missing ONE appendage!"
Yang's face twisted in rage and her eyes became red. Before she could wail on him, Gwen put hand on her shoulder, the redhead giving her a look that said: "not worth it". The Blonde Brawler turned to look at Ben and he gave her a knowing smirk. Yang's eyes became violet again as she smirked back. He had a plan. Ben turned back and addressed the idiot called Mercury. "Alright asshole, if you're done here I suggest you leave. Everyone's had enough for one day."
"I don't think so." Emerald replied for her partner. "See, you hurt our friend, Cinder. And for that..." she unsheathed a pair of sickles, "you're going to have to die."
"And what makes you think you can beat me when Cinder couldn't?"
"Simple," Mercury answered, "we're professionals."
"You and every other person who's tried to kill me. The only difference being that you have no fashion sense and the douchiest haircut known to mankind."
"WHAT?!"
"I mean, seriously, how much hair gel must you go through to get it to such levels of douchebaggery? Do I even needto mention the stupid asymmetrical collar just hanging there is also very douchey? What, are you just trying to earn the award for "World's Biggest Git"?"
As most of the teens in the group started laughing at him, Mercury snapped. "THAT'S IT!" He lunged forward and made a grab for Ben's collar.
"Oh, you're getting the special treatment!" Ben smirked. As Mercury grabbed at his shirt, Ben activated the Omnitrix, turning into the first alien selected. Mercury now held on to nothing, his fist resting against a big furry chest. He glanced up, meeting with the angry glare of a giant anthropomorphic tiger. The alien picked him up with its single-clawed hand and roared in his face: "RRRAAAAAAATH!"
Kevin and Gwen watched with smirks as the others looked on with a mix of shock, surprise, and astonishment. The couple always knew one thing: nobody was ever prepared for Rath.
"LEMME TELL YOU SOMETHIN' ASSHOLE GUY WHO SOUNDS LIKE ME! IF YOU WANNA PIECE OF RATH, THEN YOU'D BETTER KNOW THAT RATH COMES IN A MILLION PIECES! AND HE'S GONNA PUNCH YOU WITH EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!"
"That doesn't make any sen—"
"Hey Ben!" Rath's head whirled around to Nora who wore a malicious grin. "Break his legs!"
Rath grinned back. "RATH LIKES THE WAY YOU THINK NORA VALKYRIE!" Rath grabbed Mercury's midsection with his other hand and turned him sideways. The Appoplexian grabbed both legs with one hand and clenched, only to feel that these legs weren't normal. "HUH?" He pulled and they came off at the knees with a flurry of sparks, Mercury screaming in pain and fear. "WHAT?! METAL LEGS? THAT'S NO FUN! BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IS FUN?" He flipped Mercury upside down, holding one thigh in each hand. "SPLITTING LEGS LIKE SPLITTING HAIRS!"
"What does that even mea-EEEEEEEE!" Mercury soon found out when Rath pulled and forced him into a complete upside down side split, clearly something that the young man wasn't meant to do. The group behind him cringed. Well, except for Yang, Nora, Ruby, Sun and Coco, they were cheering the alien on.
"OOH! FELT SOME MUSCLE RIP THERE!" Rath gleefully yelled. "NOW LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE..." From the corner of his eye, Rath could see Yang smirking at the spectacle, and, for a moment of clarity, he had an idea. "You Know What? Lemme Tell Ya Somethin' Asshole Guy Who Sounds Like Me, Rath Is Gonna Let The Lady HAVE HER WAY WITH YOU! YANG! HEADS UP!" Rath threw Mercury head first at Yang, whose smile grew even wider as her eyes became red once again.
"Thought you'd never ask!" Yang pulled back her fist and activated her Ember Celica. As Mercury approached at high velocity, Yang punched him right in the face with a loud victorious cry, unloading a Fire Dust round from her gauntlet. It was the second time she broke someone's nose that day. Mercury landed on the ground near her feet and she picked him up by the collar of his jacket. She then proceeded to knee him in the crotch, once, twice, three times. With all her strength, Yang threw him right into an opposing building, the broken man becoming embedded in the brickwork, the left side of his face badly burned from the Fire Dust.
Emerald rushed over to her partner and glared at the group. "Stop it! He's had enough!"
"Then LEAVE!" Yang yelled angrily. "We don't want you here!"
"LEMME TELL YOU SOMETHIN' EMERALD, GIRL WHO MAKES HALLUCINATIONS! RATH WILL TAKE OUT THAT GUY'S VOCAL CHORDS, TIE THEM AROUND HIS DICK AND USE THEM TO TEAR IT OFF... IF YOU TWO DON'T LEAVE IN THE NEXT THIRTY SECONDS!"
"Please don't" Mercury squeaked out. Emerald's eyes widened. If Mercury was in enough pain to say "please", he definitely needed help. She relented, not wanting to see her friend in more pain than he already was.
"Okay, okay, we'll leave!"
"GOOD! BECAUSE HONESTLY? I'M TIRED, I'M CRANKY, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY..."Rath's stomach suddenly gave a loud growl. "Man, I'm Hungry!" One green flash later and Ben was back to normal. "Who else is hungry?!" The group of teens let loose a loud applause as they flocked into the hospital, Yang and Ben high fiving as they went in. But Jaune was still in shock at the whole ordeal. Weiss had to drag him in as he babbled incoherently.
"B-b-b-but the g-giant tiger man was..."
"It's okay Jaune, we'll explain later." Weiss consoled the knight. Ironwood, Goodwitch, Qrow and Max followed the two inside, leaving Emerald and Mercury alone in the middle of the street. As she held her mess of a partner in her arms, Emerald could only say one thing:
"What the HELL just happened?!"