Chapters 9 - 10



Being caught in traffic was annoying, but the source for the traffic was terrifying. Plowing through the traffic was a shiny steampunk giraffe, operated by some punk named Steam Smythe. Steam Smythe was a redhead who wore a steampunk outfit with gears all over him. His head was well set on his shoulders, and his black eyes looked around with cold assurance. He was tall, had a large forehead, straight nose, and well tempered hands. The man was a force to be reckoned with.



Too bad he was essentially the baby boomer's baby boomer.



"The world of technology confounds me! I remember when STEAM was all the rage!" He complained loudly. "I WANT TO GO BACK TO THE GOOD OL' DAYS!"



"That's what every old geezer says whenever they want to complain about youth today," Ben muttered under his breath. He twisted the Omnitrix dial, trying to find Astrodactyl's icon. He passed Diamondhead, Ghostfreak, Water Hazard, some alien he'd never been, XL-



Ben paused for a second. Wait, what?



He twisted the dial back, and looked curiously at the new icon. "What's this?"



Ruby peered over his shoulder. "Haven't seen him before."



Ben shrugged. "I dunno, but he looks cool! Maybe he can stop the robot!"



"Hold up. You don't know what this alien can do, but you want to use him anyway?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't seem very smart."



"Hey, I adapt quickly! Besides, don't you want to see what he can do too?"



Ruby thought for a second. "...Okay, kinda." She smirked. "Go for it."



Ben slapped down the faceplate: his body began to stretch and grow, his child-like stature becoming more and more hulking, becoming a broad-shouldered alien covered in natural, yellow armor plating on his back, shoulders, and the backs of his arms. He was mostly white, with black on his upper half. He had four claws on both of his hands. The Omnitrix appeared on his forehead.



Ruby was suddenly squished in the RV thanks to Ben's new form. "Can't...breathe!"



"Sorry!" Ben apologized as he awkwardly waddled out of RV and into the open. His voice was deep and baritone. Ignoring the screams of innocent civilians, he cracked his fingers and took a deep breath. "Let's see what this alien can do. It's hero time!"



And then Ben stared at the steam-powered giraffe. Menacingly.



"What are you doing?!" Ruby yelled from the RV.



"Heat vision!" Ben yelled back. "Maybe this guy has it!" Ben stared for a few more seconds before sighing. "Well, that was a strain on my eyes. Let's try freezing breath!" The robot leg stomped near him, and he just sharply inhaled...and let loose nothing. Ben smiled sheepishly as the giraffe knocked him across the road and right into a ditch.



Ruby tugged on Max's shirt. "Should I?"



Max sighed. "Just this once. Don't let him see you." Ruby grinned as she rushed off to grab her weapon.



In the ditch, Ben struggled to even get up. The robot stomped closer and closer to him.



"Such a pity that the age of steel has once again failed the present day," Smythe reflected, as he shoveled some more coal into the robot's furnace. "But then again, another reason for more manifes-what the hell are you doing?"



Ben was making circular motions with his hands. "Seeing if have magnetism. Why?"



"...Okay, I'm done here." Steam Smythe's giraffe suddenly thrusted it's head downwards, and Ben curled up in the fetal position. The metal head clanged painfully as it collided with the hard shell of Ben's new alien.



"Alright! I can do something!" Ben cheered from his shell, his voice muffled. "Now, how do I get out of this?"



"Heroic indeed," a familiar voice deadpanned from afar.



Smythe grinned as he ordered his giraffe to smash into Ben once more as something began shooting at the machine, putting slight dents into the metal. Smythe's head swung around, noting nothing of suspicion. He resumed his attack, but again, bullets. They came from a different side that time. Smythe grit his teeth and did another quick study. He noticed something red in the distance; lingering red confetti? The mechanical demon stepped away from the curled up ball.



"What trickery is this?" He said out loud, as he walked on over. "More new-fangled technology?" Suddenly something sped between the legs of his giraffe, causing it to shake a bit.



"What on Earth was-" Steam Smythe never finished his sentence. Something pierced his machine's neck - a curved blade, a strong one too. The head fell off with ease. Smythe gasped as he cradled the decapitated head of his giraffe. And then the legs went, falling to the ground like cut timber. And the other half of his machine's torso, separated into pieces. All that carnage within seconds. He found himself on the ground, surrounded by the pieces of his beloved machine.



Smythe scowled as he stood up, glaring around the place. "WHO DID THIS?"



Smythe was greeted with a flash of red and then pain, searing his body. Blunt metal had hit his torso, and he was suddenly thankful that it wasn't the silvery curved blade that he had seen take apart his robot.



Ben reverted back to human not long after. He struggled to climb his way out of the ditch, and saw the remains of the steam powered giraffe. He blinked before turning his head to see the knocked out Smythe, his clothing cut to shreds and the beginnings of a horrid bruise on his chest.



"Well, that's what he gets for using ancient tech, I guess," Ben said, already dismissing the villain. He walked back to the RV and eased into the soft leather of its built-in seats. Ruby sat innocently in her usual seat, her nose buried in one of the books she had brought for the summer.



"I think we're gonna need some practice with that guy." Ruby yawned, eyes on her newest page.



Ben sighed as he relaxed in the RV, his shoulders slumping with exhaustion. "Didn't know I could go more than 10 aliens. Too bad that new guy was useless."



"And with one more, who knows how many more aliens there could be in that thing?" Max commented. "I thought that species was extinct…" he trailed off quietly, eyes narrowing.



"What did you say?" Ben perked up, a little confused. "Thought I heard you say something else."



"What? No." Max then returned his gaze to the road and focused on his thoughts.



Ben was carefully focused on the news on screen. Normally, any kid Ben's age would not care what the reporter had to say, but today? Something weird was going on.



"Reports say a 'giant raven' has been flying around the Keystone area. All residents should keep a close eye on the skies," the reporter said over the sounds of the RV's engine running.



"Woah, you guys hear that?" Ben asked the other two passengers. Ruby fidgeted a little in her seat as the newscaster continued to speculate about the so-called 'giant raven'.



"Uh, yeah," she said with a slight quaver, "Interesting, but probably a hoax or something!"



"Really? A hoax?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.



"Well, you know! It could just be a prank!" Ruby brushed off the idea.



"You don't sound very convincing, Scully," he teased, but he let the subject drop anyway, and returned his eyes to the TV. Ruby nervously looked back at Max. He seemed tense, unreasonably so.



The other sides of Mount Rushmore were impressive to look at, but that wasn't what people truly wanted to see. The southeastern face of Mount Rushmore, however, had four gigantic carved sculptures depicting the faces of great U.S. Presidents; George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Of course, no one really knows what Jefferson and Roosevelt did (I mean, when you end a war and stop slavery, you're kinda overlooked), but it was impressive to look at.



Ben stared curiously at the sculpture before slowly reaching for the Omnitrix. Ruby grabbed his shirt collar and gave Ben a grave look. "Whatever you do, do not anger President Rushmore."



Ben nodded solemnly, the expression utterly foreign on his face.



Max just looked at the two of them and sighed heavily. "You stay here. I'm going to go look at-" Max scrambled for what to say. "The gift shop! Yes, the gift shop." And then he speedily walked away.



"Okay. We'll be admiring the presidents." Ben raised an eyebrow in serious suspicion. Grandpa Max was being weird again, but he couldn't comment as the older man disappeared from view. "Seriously, he's hiding something from us."



Ruby shrugged boredly. "We all have secrets, Ben. Sometimes we don't like to talk about them. I mean, would you tell everyone about your watch?"



"Okay, you have a point. But still! Grandpa's doing a terrible job of hiding the fact that he has secrets, and honestly? I wanna know what's up. You game?"



Ruby shook her head, which surprised Ben. "Sorry dude. I'm just gonna admire Rushmore for a little longer. Maybe check out Yellowstone? I dunno."



"You're acting weird today, Ruby." Ben noted.



"I'm just really not in the mood to cause trouble, I guess."



"What, afraid that weird bird is gonna snatch you up if you're bad?" Ben joked.



Ruby huffed, and grit her teeth. "Please, do not joke about that." Ben started, utterly confused. He'd never encountered an upset Ruby before, especially when all the vitriol was aimed at him.



Ben frowned. "Well, your loss. If it's something cool, you're gonna miss out on it." Ben then went behind a sign and transformed into Ghostfreak. He phased his ghostly head through the sign and asked Ruby once more, "You sure you don't want to come?"



"I'm good, dude," she said. "Besides, Ghostfreak's voice sounds like pure nightmares."



"Yeah, kinda. But I can change that!" Ben cleared his haunting throat. "Come with me, and you'll see-"



"GET OUT OF HERE!" Ruby sounded even more frustrated that before.



"Ok, going, going!" Ben turned invisible before flying after Grandpa. His mind was so focused on Grandpa right now, he felt he could be missing something. It was obvious, but he didn't care to acknowledge it.



Like that Ruby was also hiding something as well.



She pulled out a walkie talkie and activated it. "Uh, Mr. Tennyson? Ben's following you now."



Max sighed through the other line. "Well, he was going to find out anyways. Follow him, ok? And keep him out of trouble."



Ruby huffed, as she silently followed Ben into the forest.



Ruby didn't mean to cause trouble. Honest. She saw that someone was getting mugged, and so she acted.



By throwing the mugger through the goddamn window.



Really, that was the only logical solution.



It wasn't that big a deal, she thought, watching the man get handled by authorities. She was only doing the right thing.



Ruby blinked as she processed the words. "Wait, you're sending me away for the summer?"



Tiayang nervously scratched his neck. "Kind of. It's a complicated situation. With your sister having some issues with her semblance…" He motioned to a giant gaping hole in the wall, caused by Ruby's victory in Wii Sports. "I think I might have to devote a lot of time towards her this summer. Plus, I don't want you feeling left out of the camp activities, especially since you're too young to attend. Not to mention, your little stunt at the store downtown…" Her father side-eyed her at that.



Ruby blushed and coughed.



"Ah, don't worry kiddo," Tiayang joked as he ruffled Ruby's hair. "I did worse when I was your age."



"So you're gonna leave me with Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked eagerly.



"NO."



"Aw."



"You're gonna be traveling with an older buddy of mine. I think his grandson is going along too," Tiayang explained as he did a quick measurement of the hole. "He's a nice guy. He and I worked on some missions together."



Ruby paused for a moment. "Did Mom know him?" Ruby questioned.



Tiayang went quiet. Ruby quietly drew her answer from there.



"All summer?" Yang frowned, watching her sister pack her bag. "You know if you're not within my vision for 24 or more hours, I'll just shrivel up and die!"



"It's not that bad, Yang! I promise I'll text you everyday, and I'll get some souvenirs for you." Ruby smiled. "Seriously, I don't need you to baby me. I don't want to be the bee's knees, okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."



"What's with you? Aren't you excited?" Yang questioned. "You're gonna be traveling across the country! That's a pretty big deal!"



"It's with some stranger! I feel like I really shouldn't be there." Ruby admitted, "It's kinda like being a stranger in a house? And you don't understand the shower area?"



"Just look at it this way," Yang said, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder, "it's like going on an adventure with a random group of people. Like Lord of the Rings!"



"I guess…"



"Hey, don't worry," Yang smiled. "I'm sure you won't even have to use your powers for anything too drastic. It'll just be a nice, normal summer for you."



Ruby kept repeating that last line in her head a few times. Normal wasn't the first thing she would've thought of, to be honest.



As Ben quietly snuck through the forest, he watched Max creep through a series of trees. "Where is he going?" Ben said to himself quietly. The mystery kept deepening with every moment, and Ben was even more curious for the answer now. He snaked his way through the trees, carefully hiding in the shadows.



Suddenly something flew above him. Both Max and Ghostfreak looked up (in Ghostfreak's case, his eye traveled the tract to atop his head), confused. While Max continued on his way, Ben felt alarmed and stayed behind. Even in this form, which killed a person (was Zombozo dead? He was pretty sure), he was chilled down to his ectoplasmic core.



Something swooped down from the sky and landed heavily on the ground. It was an avian creature, and it was mutated beyond words. Not in an Animo way, his work was sloppy; this mutation looked sleek and natural. The avian had a mask-like white bony structure over-laying the upper front of its head, four glowing red eyes, two on each side of its head and a headpiece that resembled a dorsal spine or fin, reminiscent of that on the heads of condors and some prehistoric pterosaurs.



In its talons, it held a body. An actual, honest to God corpse of a human. It looked to be an older gentleman, around Grandpa's age.



Ben didn't understand why- he had faced down slime freaks, killer clowns, and just recently, a robot giraffe. But something about this- this monster made fear claw inside him, and it was all he could do to force down a scream. He was scared.



Ben suddenly heard the Omnitrix begin to time out, and he freaked out. He swooped low into the trees and hid in behind the trunk of a big oak. He breathed heavily while the beast loudly snacked on the corpse. Ben could hear bones crunching and the squishy sound of flesh being torn apart. What the fuck is that thing?!



Ben nearly screamed when someone grabbed his arm. Ruby was suddenly at his side, and she looked braver than usual. There was no fear in her odd silver eyes.



"Where'd you come from?!" Ben angrily whispered.



"Shhh! Do you want that killer birdy to find us?" Ruby frowned, covering Ben's mouth. Ruby looked up, noticing the the bird was looking at the trees. She sighed, before she reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a pen.



"What are you gonna do, draw on them?" Ben quipped. Ruby just gave him a huge smirk and clicked the pen a few times, finally getting it to beep. She threw it up and a bright, blinding light shined above them. Ruby picked up Ben with minimal difficulty, and in a flash of rose petals, the two were rushing through the forest.



"W-what the fuck?" Ben's mind was pretty much just exploding at this point.



"You're not the only one with powers!" Ruby smiled, quickly navigating through the trees.



"I got that, but why didn't you tell me?!" Ben cried out, more than a little betrayed.



"Well, my life is super complicated, it's more-!" Ruby was cut off by a tree collapsing right in front of her. Ruby veered a sharp right before skidding to a stop right by a glen, and was suddenly met with Grandpa Max, holding a futuristic weapon that was far beyond Earth's technology.



"Alright, I got Ben," Ruby announced. "And really, I think that weapon is still not enough."



"Grandpa?" Ben asked, staring at Max's weapon. "What's going on?"



Max was holding a giant blaster, and two ammunition belts tied around his waist. He looked angry and determined, Ruby noted. There was even a different, more assured aura to him.



"Guess I have some explaining to do after this," Max chuckled as he revved up his weapon. "Just get ready! They're coming." He looked over, expecting to see Ben gearing up for battle.



Ben was just glaring at his grandfather. And the result was an absolutely chilling stare that even had Grandpa Max fearing his grandson, just a little bit. Ben was hurt from betrayal and the burning behind his eyes only added to his feelings of indignation, especially when he saw Ruby and Max exchange knowing looks.



"I want an explanation," Ben demanded. "No more secrets, no more running, just give it to me straight."



Max sighed, before taking deep breath. "As you know, I was a plumber back in the day. I just didn't specify what kind of plumber."



Ben blinked, what a great start. "You lost me."



"He means that there's more than one kind of plumber," Ruby said, her eyes drooping. She suddenly looked exhausted and somehow even smaller than usual. "There's the extraterrestrial kind too."



Ben gave his grandfather the most incredulous look. "You fix space toilets?! Of all things!" Ruby groaned and just stared at Max until he took over.



"The Plumbers are an organization that dates back to the 1700s; essentially, we took down alien criminals and fought in galaxy wide wars. I joined sometime before your father was born."



"So, are you a plumber too?" Ben asked Ruby.



"I didn't really know about Max being a Plumber still," Ruby admitted, her voice tiny. "I knew he and my dad were old friends, but as far as I knew he was retired. And honestly? I didn't even know about the whole aliens-being-real thing until this summer started. I thought Max was like my dad, to be honest."



Ben arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"



"My dad… isn't a Plumber. He's a Huntsman. And I don't mean he hunts animals, he hunts the Creatures of Grimm," Ruby said quickly.



Ben looked like he'd been hit twice in the head with a sledgehammer. "Creatures of… what?"



"Grimm," Ruby said. "I'm not surprised you've never heard of them, no one's supposed to."



"What do you mean? What are they?" Ben asked, curious despite himself.



"They're… they're monsters, Ben." Ruby swallowed, and her hand trembled slightly as she pushed away some hair from her face. "They're a ravenous, destructive force and mankind's greatest enemy. No one knows where they came from, but we do know that they will stop at nothing to kill all of humanity and its creations. They don't feed on animals- the Grimm only kill them for territory- but for some reason they always target humans. They're attracted to negative emotions like fear, anger, despair, panic. It's why the majority of Earth's population doesn't know about them, if they did it'd cause mass chaos."



Silence filled the air as Ben took all that in.



"... And that's not even the worst bit," Ruby said with a bitter smile. "The Grimm aren't obligated to eat humans for sustenance. They just kill us for sport. That's why the Huntsmen were created; they're basically superpowered humans capable of fighting these monsters. And we have to keep it a secret because there's no guarantee we can survive- if just one or two people panic, it can lead more Grimm to us. It's been pounded into our heads to keep all this a secret because secrecy means safety."



And Ben felt his hair stand on all ends. "...I can see why you guys hid this from me." The deadly screech of the Nevermore suddenly broke the silence. "And we need to get somewhere safe now."



Max beamed. "Luckily, I was just somewhere safe. Rushmore's actually a secret base for Plumbers."



"... Okay, as cool as that is, how do we get in?"



Max nodded, his smile dimming. "I know a way." Max pressed a button on the RV key fob, and suddenly it came speeding at them from wherever it was previously parked.



"No more shocking reveals today, please," Ben sighed, as he got into the RV.



"No promises." Max smirked, as he revved up the engine.



After stealthily using the RV and driving down an underground passage, they parked the machine inside one of Rushmore's secret parking spots.



"While we appreciate the groundwork Gutzon Borglum did, we had to make some modifications to the place," Max commented. Suddenly the ground below them began to descend further and further into the earth, until they were in some kind of loading bay. Wide eyed and intrigued, Ben studied the room; it looked like something out of Men in Black, or some other sleek, futuristic sci-fi film. Aliens and humans, working together! They all wore these strange uniforms that looked like astronauts, minus the helmet. There were alien spaceships, too! (And none of those cheesy, UFO-looking things either.)



As soon as Max's dinky little Rustbucket descended, the room went quiet. Max ever so casually parked it right next to the biggest ship and got out. People began lining up and saluting him, giving the kids the impression that Max was a lot more important than he made himself out to be.



Ben and Ruby shot each other a confused glance as they followed him to some control room. It had a very Star Trek feel to it, all shiny and classically futuristic. There were some people and aliens working at computers, talking frequently about the Nevermore.



"What is this place?" Ruby asked in wonderment.



"This is Mt. Rushmore's defensive base," Max explained as he looked over at someone's screen. "I've made great strides to keep this thing up on the best tech in the galaxy."



"Wait, Grandpa, are...are you, like, the leader of Mt. Rushmore?" Ben stuttered out in shock.



"The proper term is Magister, actually," Max smiled, "But yes."



"Did you know about the Nevermore attack?" Ruby asked as Max typed something into a computer system. "Or was it just a big coincidence?"



"Half and half," Max confessed. "I felt I could investigate it by myself and then report back to someone. Didn't really expect you kids to get involved." He reached for a microphone to his side. "Attention all operatives: prepare for combat, code Grimm."



Max pressed a button, and suddenly, some electric humming was heard throughout the base. "There. That should keep it contained for a good hour."



Someone cleared their voice. "Um, about that?" Ben looked around, before his eyes drifted over to a small grey frog on a desk. Or, at least it looked like a frog. He was fat and large and wore a Plumber Suit. He had large green eyes and grey skin and what looked like a sheepish expression on his face. "There was an issue…"



"What do you mean, Driba?" Max questioned. The look on his face said that this was a common enough occurrence, and he was already dreading the answer.



"Welllll, we had a power balancing issue when we were charging the weaponry, so we had to sacrifice some shield power. Shields only gonna last for about twenty minutes." The thing explained. "Thirty at best."



"I felt like I should've heard about this," Max said, crossing his arms. "After all, Tech Support is supposed to have reported to me on a normal, weekly basis. I haven't gotten a single report."



"Okay, so it maybe a me problem, but, we'll b-" The frog stopped as his eyes finally drifted over to Ben's wrist. His jaw dropped and began babbling incomprehensibly. "T-that's...that! Oh my Azmuth, what?!"



Ben raised an eyebrow. "What's his deal?"



"Galvans see the Omnitrix as a testament of all technology," Max explained. "Truth be told, they aren't even sure if it was made by their own hands or someone else's."



"Wait, you mean this janky old watch is the end-all be-all for science everywhere?" Ben scoffed, holding up his wrist and gesturing to the device strapped on it. "This thing gives me the wrong alien half the time! And it's so bulky and inefficient!"



"Blasphemy! Slander!" Driba shouted, waving his little arms. "How dare you speak ill of one of Azmuth's greatest creations?!"



"With ease and experience!" Ben shouted back angrily.



Driba looked like he was going to have an apoplectic fit, but Ruby intervened just in time. "So, is Azmuth like your God?"



Driba calmed down, giving the girl a little smile. "He might as well be!" he crowed, puffing out his chest. "He's the smartest of all Galvans and every life form in three galaxies, arguably five, there's no confirmation; but just about everyone thinks he created the Omnitrix!"



"Why can't you confirm it?"



"Well, no one's seen him in years," Driba admitted. "He's always been a recluse, like all geniuses are, but for the past decade or so no one seen or heard from him."



"So how do you know he's still alive?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow.



"Galvans are long-lived," Driba said dismissively, "And if he had died, we would have known about it."



"Sure you would have," Ben muttered under his breath. "Now, enough about this old frog, what about this 'Nevermore' thing circling a beloved national monument?"



"Well, we do have a Huntress present." Ruby hesitantly raises her hand, only to meekly return it to her side under the Magister's glare.



"No. Boarbatusks definitely, and maybe the occasional Ursa or Beowolf, but nothing as dangerous as a Nevermore," Max told her sternly.



Ben nodded, pretending like he understood what those were. "Alright, so, is a Nevermore essentially a birdy Godzilla?"



"Well, we have actual Godzillas, but yeah, we could consider a Nevermore one of those." Ruby shrugged.



"We'll take care of the monster. You two stay out of trouble." Max ordered as he got up. "Driba, I expect you to watch over these two."



"Fine, fine, use me as your babysitter," Driba muttered under his breath. The second he was out of the room, Driba jumped on Ben's shoulder. "May I see it?"



"Um, sure?" Ben shrugged. He awkwardly put his hand on the table, and Driba began examining it like an exuberant fan boy, fawning over the design and taking selfies with it. "I am so sending that to Blukic!"



Ben rolled his eyes and turned back to Ruby. "So, I've been meaning to ask. What was up with that super speed?"



"Oh," Ruby beamed, "that was my semblance!"



"Semblance?"



"A semblance is the manifestation of one's innate and personal power. It's an ability unique to each individual, with the effects varying greatly from user to user. So, it's kinda like superpowers. It's fueled by Aura."



Ben felt like his brain was being overloaded. "Aura?"



"Aura is an ability that all those with a soul can use, at least with enough practice. The weapons and armor Hunters and Huntresses use can act as a conduit for Aura, allowing for an even wider range of offensive and defensive capabilities. I think that's why your grandpa doesn't want me going out there, cause, well, I'm still young, and I honestly don't think I could hold my own against the thing."



"So, wait," Ben paused, "Is there a chance I could use a semblance?"



"Absolutely." Ruby shrugged, "Though, I can't give you one."



"Aw."



"If you two are done," Driba interrupted, repeatedly tapping Ben on the arm, "do you think you could show me a quick transformation?"



"...seriously?" Ben rolled his eyes, "Fine, go for it. Heck, you can choose, buddy." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. Driba cracked his fingers and started to twist the dial like crazy, stopping at the new guy Ben had just unlocked.



"An Arburian Pelarota? I've never seen one in person," Driba said to himself.



"Ugh, this guy? Tried using him earlier. That was embarrassing." Ben frowned at the memory.



"He literally went into the fetal position!" Ruby added teasingly. "I had to step in to take care of- what was his name again? Steamboat Willy or something?"



"wait, what?"



"Hush! Let me have my moment!" Driba smiled as he slapped down the faceplate. Ben's body, however, did not turn into a bulky behemoth; rather, it was set on fire, and rocks formed around his body. Driba's elation turned to disappointment. "Oh."



"Yeah. See? Wrong alien." Ben sighed, folding his arms.



"Well, maybe if I just…" Driba carefully eyed the Omnitrix faceplate and jumped on it. He slapped it down ever so carefully, shifting Ben into Echo Echo.



"What did you do?" Ben asked, staring at his hands in amazement.



"Just tried something out, that's all." He slapped down the the faceplate again, turning Ben into Eatle.



Ruby blinked. "Wait, so you're saying he could do this the entire time?"



Blukic slapped it again, turning Ben into Water Hazard. "What, you never knew? Your human intelligence is holding you back then, kid."



"Wait, how badly does this kill the battery?" Ben asked, alarmed. Driba was about to answer when the Omnitrix rapidly flashed red. Ben was suddenly human again, and glaring at Driba. "You know, for the tech support guy, you break more stuff more than you actually fix."



"I'm never gonna let this guy anywhere near my weapon." Ruby added, a hint of spite in her tone.



"N-no, no! I can fix this! I have something that could speed up the recharge time!" Driba suddenly ran off. "You two! Stay there! I'll be right back!"



Ben groaned as he disappeared from view. "I can't stand that dude! How does he still have his job?"



"I'm sorry," Ruby suddenly blurted out.



Ben started. "Huh?"



Ruby turned her watery eyes to him. "I really am sorry for keeping this huntress from you, I just… it never occured to me that I could let someone in. And I really didn't know about the alien thing until the beginning of this summer. I knew the Huntsmen worked with Plumbers to get rid of supernatural threats, but I thought it was more Grimm, not aliens. It wasn't until I saw Heatblast for the first time that I put two and two together."



"But, everything else. Everything else about you is…"



"It's all true, Ben. I don't usually lie about personal stuff."



Ben had to smile at that. Ruby had always worn her heart on her sleeve, and while it was hard to wrap his mind about all this Grimm stuff, he could at least be sure that what Ruby said about her life was true. He gently knocked his shoulder into hers and gave her a gentle smile.



"I think I get it," he told her softly. "You'll have to explain more about this later, but… I believe you."



For a second Ruby looked like she was about to cry, but then she broke out into a beatific smile and Ben had to stop himself from smiling too wide.



And then they heard the telltale cry of the Nevermore, the sound echoing from the outside.



"...so, are we gonna do something about that?"



"Probably."



"Think you can handle that thing?"



"Considering the fact that, this summer alone, I've stopped an alien invasion, dumped a witch's caldron her stupid face and survived a meeting with Gwen, I think I can handle myself." Ruby grinned.



"Then what are we waiting for?" Ben smiled, as the two ran out of the control room.



-



It was times like this that made Ben wonder, 'what would the Doctor do?'



"Fuck around with the people trapped in that episode's hellish situation, accidentally get a couple of them killed, save the day with cleverness and a sonic screwdriver, and then feel guilty about the incident for years while covering it up with snark and funny jokes," Ruby deadpanned as they power-walked into the armory. Weapons of different cultures and species lined the walls. Upgrade would have a field day, Ben thought.



He then blinked. "Wait, I said that out loud?"



"Yeah, you do that sometimes," Ruby answered as she snagged a couple of Dust cartridges. "Now, is this going to work with my weapon or not?"



"What kind of- what do you call it, Dust? What kind of Dust do you normally work with?" Ben asked, eyeing the multicolored cartridges dubiously. The Dust itself was in powdered form and sparkly, while there were a few shiny crystals laying about, no doubt about to be grinded down for weaponry. (But Ben wanted to know why such a powerful element was called Dust of all things. Couldn't they have come up with something cooler?)



"It's normally fire Dust mixed with gunpowder," Ruby mused as she perused the extensive selection. "Normal bullets don't necessarily work on Grimm- I mean, they could if you hit the mask, but you'd have to waste an entire barrel just to kill one Grimm, it's just inefficient. But mix Dust with gunpowder and you have a more economic weapon that's ten times more powerful than its predecessor."



"So, you only use Dust to kill Grimm?" Ben asked, brow furrowed. He looked over the funnels that held all that colorful powder and took a look at the labels- fire, ice, lightning, even gravity. It sounded unbelievably amazing, but also a waste.



Ruby hummed in thought. "We do use Dust to power buildings and airships and other things Hunters need, but it's mainly as a backup. We still have to use normal Earth resources because going off grid would look suspicious in the long run, and I know the Plumbers have their own alien energy supply that the Hunters occasionally use. Dust is a finite resource as far as we know, so it's better to save it for the Grimm. Think peak oil."



Ben nodded slowly in agreement. "Makes sense. Can I use gravity Dust on a Grimm? That sounds cool."



Ruby frowned. "No, gravity dust is by far the most expensive and rarest, so don't even think about it. Believe me, I had my dreams crushed about that vision years ago."



"Aw."



"I'm gonna go grab my weapon from the Rustbucket. Wait for me by the exit." Ruby said as she rushed out of the room, leaving behind falling rose petals in her wake.



Ben nervously stepped out of the base. He gazed upon the forest; he could hear low, deep guttural noises that made him shudder violently. It reminded Ben of that hallway that led to Zombozo's lair, giving him that familiar claustrophobic feeling. He looked up at the open sky and tried to steady his breathing, only calming down when Ruby put a hand on his shoulder.



"Take a deep breath, Ben," Ruby cautioned. "They can sense your negative emotions."



Ben frowned. "How's that supposed to make me feel any better?"



"Dunno, that's what my dad tells me to do. But honestly? I think you should just dial up an alien so we can kick their asses. That'll make you feel better." Ruby held up a black suitcase. "I'll set up my weapon."



Ben twisted the dial to the Omnitrix, slowly going through his selection, but he got distracted by a cheerful-sounding mechanical whirring. He looked up to see the black suitcase open and on the ground, and Ruby wielding an a sleek red and black mechanical scythe that was twice her size and looked just as heavy. The blade was wickedly sharp and glinted in the sunlight, and somehow it meshed well with all the mechanical pieces interlocking on the pole weapon.



Ben's jaw practically dropped to the ground as Ruby gave him a cute smile. How did a girl this nice get to wield a weapon lethal enough to kill someone? Was she a wolf in sheep's clothing or something?



"What is that?" Ben gasped in awe.



"Crescent Rose, my personal weapon!" Ruby beamed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It's a high caliber sniper scythe, capable of shifting between scythe and shotgun. Pretty cool, huh?"



Ben held up a finger. "Can we trade?"



"Fuck no." Ruby said firmly. "You're not taking my girl away from me, get your own."



"Ok, ok, fine." Ben frowned, going back to the Omnitrix. He stopped at Eatle's icon and grinned mischievously. "So I have an idea that may sound stupid, but trust me, it's gonna be awesome."



"Are you kidding me, I'm all for stupid plans!" Ruby grinned. Ben slapped down the icon, and Eatle's hard shell suddenly encased his body. Legs broke out from the underside and a massive underbite and horn formed on his head.



"Get on," Ben said, and Ruby mounted him. He suddenly charged into the forest, his mouth dragging along the ground. Ben gathered materials into his maw like a truck loader, growing stronger and slightly larger every time he ate.



"Pleh!" he gagged as he finished loading his mouth. "Dirt tastes awful!" And then he saw it. This creature appeared as a pitch-black, featureless shadow in the shape of a wolf, with red eyes and jaws. It had bonelike spines along its body and a matching mask. Ben gasped as it suddenly perked up and charged at him.



There was a flash of light above him, and the sharp cry of a gunshot rang out. The beast had been sniped right in the mouth; its body crumbled into ash, tar-black smoke disappearing into the air.



"Beowolves are an easy kill," Ruby said, as she blew smoke off the barrel of her gun. "You've got enough power to out run them. Don't ever slow down!"



And that was how Ruby Rose found herself riding Eatle through the forest, shooting at Grimm like she was a knight on her steed.



"DIE YOU SCUMBAGS!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Ben rammed into Beowolves, his face crumpling them like cars hitting brick walls. He could feel the fear leave his body as he plowed Grimm after Grimm. He was an unstoppable force beating down a movable object. Maybe the world of Grimm wasn't so horrifying as Ruby made out to be-



A bird's screech thundered overhead, and Ben could feel shivers shooting down his spine. He could recall bloody talons and cold red eyes, and the squishy sound of tearing flesh and the crunching of human bones.



And then he remembered Grandpa was supposed to be fighting that thing.



So why wasn't he hearing any action?



Ben ran faster and faster, ramming recklessly into Grimm and destroying trees in his wake; fear and panic clouded his mind, and he could hear the howling of even more Beowolves in the distance, which only made his emotions spiral even more. He could see Grandpa Max's bloodless, cold body in his mind, and it was enough to make him run even faster, snarling at any Grimm that dared to cross his path. Even Ruby picked up on his urgency as she began to conserve her bullets. They were this close to finding him, there was nothing stopping him now-



The watch flashed red and timed out. Ben skidded on the ground, sending Ruby flying and tumbling and knocking himself into a tree.



"...ow."



"Oh my gosh, Ben! Are you ok?" Ruby asked, running over. She didn't really look hurt, just lightly tussled with some leaves in her hair. Ben had a huge scrape on his arm and a few cuts on his face.



"I'm feeling fine, actually," Ben said with a light smirk. "Better than how I was just a minute ago." And then his expression turned panicked. "But holy crap, Grimm are intense."



"You're lucky you just had those injuries, mind you," Ruby said, brushing off his shirt. "Right now we need to get to Grandpa before the Nevermore finds him!"



"And before the shield runs out. How much time do you think we have?" Ben questioned.



"Well, I'm gonna say...10 minutes. Maybe 12 if we're lucky." Ruby shrugged. Of course, that was when the universe decided to prove her wrong. More and more Beowolves came out of the woodwork, snarling and snapping at the two.



Ben frowned. "You had to jinx it."



Three of the Beowolves dashed forward and tried to leap at them, but Ruby disappeared in a flash of rose petals, and the creatures crashed to the ground. They quickly looked up and startled snarling.



Ben quickly climbed the tree he hit earlier and waited for the watch to recharge.



Her cape swirling around her body, Ruby reached behind her in slow-motion and pulled out her rifle. She fired a red-white shot that blew a large part of a Beowolf's head out in a burst of blood red smoke. Ruby landed, a smug look on her cute little face- one that drove the beasts insane.



More Beowolves ran at her, claws and teeth flashing with intent to devour. Ruby effortlessly leapt over the first beast and shot it in the back. Then, while still in the air, she twisted around and blasted another one in its side. She somersaulted to the ground and stood back up, unfolding Crescent Rose into its larger - and deadlier - scythe form.



With sparkling eyes, Ben let out a quiet, "Whoa."



One of the braver Beowolves ran forward, but Ruby merely spun, hooked its body in the curve of her scythe blade, and fired the sniper section at a speed that severed the creature's body in a shower of rose petals. Both halves landed on the ground, disappearing into the air as ink black smoke.



Ben smiled as the Omnitrix suddenly lit up. "Alright, I'm back in business!" He turned the icon to Diamondhead, and slapped it down...only to end up as that weird pillbug alien from earlier. The tree collapsed under his massive weight, distracting the Grimm.



"BEN!" Ruby yelled as she decapitated another Beowulf. Ben stood up, rubbing his head.



"I'm ok!" He groaned, "just annoyed that I got this guy again!" The Beowolves suddenly surrounded the poor alien, snarling and hissing hungrily.



"What were his powers again?" Ruby asked as she shot another Beowolf.



"Just this!" Ben frowned, as he curled up into his shell. The Beowulf suddenly began to claw his shell, rendering Ben helpless. "I can't really do anything!"



"Maybe you could crush em with your shell! I mean," Ruby added, "you kind of overpower then in size."



"Oh, yeah, sure, I'll just- hey, that doesn't sound so bad." Ben suddenly began rocking back and forth in his shell, before he began to slowly roll. "Hey! I think it's working!"



Ben began to roll faster and faster, gathering enough speed to tear up the ground. Ben began to blindly charge at the Grimm that were once again surrounding him, knocking them all down in a single blow.



"STIIIIIRIKE!" Ben triumphantly declared. "This alien isn't useless after all!"



"When you struck those guys, you were like a cannonball!"



"More like a Cannonbolt!" Ben joked.



Ruby replaced her spent cartridge for a new one. "Hell yeah! Now let's kill some Grimm!"



And with that, they ran at the approaching army. Cannonbolt smashed into one of the of the Beowulf, just like that, he began bouncing from Grimm to Grimm, destroying them in a single blow. Ben wasn't even questioning how was even seeing this; the overall satisfaction of their destruction made him feel amazing.



Ruby blasted off at a higher speed than ever before, coming at the dumbfounded Beowolves like a rocket as she converted her deadly scythe into a sickle-shape and spun her way through the mass, cutting up and down, left and right, leaving bullets, rose petals, and blackened body parts in her wake. She disemboweled them faster and faster... until the last one falls, and lands in a pose with her scythe hanging behind her as bullets rain from the sky.



"Show off." Ben joked, as he uncurled from his ball form.



"Well, I think that's all of them here," Ruby said. "All that was left was finding Max and defeating the Nevermore."



Ben scoffed. "And with Cannonbolt, I think that's gonna be easy a-" Andthe watch was flashing red again, goddammit.



As Ben tumbled to the ground, Ruby pulled him back up and patted an arm. "No worries dude, I think I can see Max."



"What? Where?" Ben searched the area, his eyes scanning the bushes and trees. It wasn't until Ruby tilted his gaze downwards did he see his grandfather in the underbrush, lightly singed and scratched up, but no worse for wear.



The two children crept over to him and quietly announced their presence. Max startled and aimed a laser sword at them, but calmed down once he saw it was them. "Figured you two would sneak out," he admonished them. The laser sword fizzled out of existence, much to Ben's chagrin. (Though he did notice an odd smell wafting over them. Whatever it was, it didn't belong in the forest.)



"Yeah, like we'd leave you hanging like that," Ruby told Max, rolling her eyes. "We got rid of most of the Beowolves, at least."



"Now we just got Poe's worst nightmare to worry about," Ben said, looking over the underbrush. "What even happened?"



"A whole lot of Ursae," Max told them. "Not as bad as most Grimm, but these ones looked old. Those are much harder to kill than the young ones. But the Nevermore keeps circling, and I don't want to lose any more people."



Ben started. "What do you mean?"



Ruby looked up and gasped. "Oh no," she choked out. Ben followed her gaze and wanted to throw up.



The children overlooked the battlefield; wounded or dead bodies littered the place, broken weapons were everywhere, and the cloying smell of burnt flesh lingered in the air.



And they could understand why Max was hiding in the underbrush. The Nevermore was coming back. Max gulped audibly and turned to the kids, kneeling down to their level. "Run and hide."



"Grandpa, you can't face this thing on your own," Ben protested, his voice escalating. "It's… it's enormous, you can't beat it on your own-!"



Max grabbed something hidden in the bushes and hefted it into his arms- it looked like a supremely high tech assault rifle, with filters of blue light running through it like volcanic veins. Attached to it was a pair of equally advanced goggles that were already on Max's face.



"I think this'll give me a good chance," he declared.



And then Ruby was tugging on Ben's hand, pulling him further into the forest. Ben turned his head back to yell something, but then there was an inhuman screech and the ground started to quake and the sky started to scream-



And then Ruby pushed him into a crevice in the nearby hills, a cramped space that was just big enough for three adult humans. It left the children with enough room to stretch out on the floor but not much else. Ruby clicked on a small flashlight, the weak light illuminating her face briefly. It was enough to show that yes, Ruby Rose was actually scared, but she was able to push it aside for the most part.



"We can't just leave him out there!" Ben hissed as loudly as he dared. "He's one person against that monster!"



"We don't have a choice, Ben," Ruby said, her voice low and only shaking slightly. "He's the only one of us properly trained to take that thing down. We'd just get in the way."



"That doesn't make it right," Ben whispered helplessly. "I can't just-"



Ruby grabbed his hand and squeezed. "I know. Believe me, I know."



And so they waited as the inhuman screeching got louder, so impossibly louder. They could hear lasers, something mechanical and old activating, a devastating hum that could have only been a cannon charging up. They could hear screams of pain coming from the monster, but soon they could no longer hear Grandpa Max.



Soon enough, they couldn't hear anything at all.



Ruby had long since shut off the flashlight, leaving them in total darkness. Her breathing was shallow but calm. Ben's own was ragged and near hyperventilating- he didn't know what was going on, he couldn't hear his grandpa or the beast or anything except-



The cave started to slowly crumble, stone flakes hitting their arms as they forced them over their heads. Light filtered through a small hole, and when Ben slowly put his hands down he looked through it.



A single red eye stared back at him, surrounded by bone white. It stared right through him, piercing him to the wall, and Ben stopped breathing because all he saw in that single red eye was anger and hate, so much anger and hate. It was an eye that belonged to a being that was so very old and powerful, and it knew that a single twitch of its vast wings would slice Ben to the bone, or a single talon could impale him, or perhaps it would simply gulp him down whole.



It was old and powerful and hateful and it looked at Ben like he was nothing.



And then the eye moved away, leaving only empty space and a single immense feather outside. Ben slowly slid to the floor, his own eyes glued to the floor as he sat there limply. Ruby was shaking his shoulder, but whatever she was saying was muted, like talking underwater. He could vaguely hear Grandpa Max shouting something outside, but he couldn't make it out.



Ben hadn't even realized he was crying until teardrops hit his hands.



Nor did he realize that Ruby wasn't going to sit around and be a victim. A screech rang out, the corrupted scream nearly deafening the two children, but Ruby went outside and shot at the monster.



Ben watched in horror as Ruby continued to temp the beast, a bullet hitting it square in the eye and making it screech in pain. "Ruby, stop! You do-"



"Believe me, I do!" Crescent Rose whirled into its scythe position. Ruby grabbed Ben's hand. For a few seconds, wind hit his face, and suddenly Ben was in Max's arms.



"I'll take care of this. You two get to safety!" Ruby said, as she turned to face the Nevermore.



"That thing is way too strong, Ruby! You need to-" Max warned her, but it was too late; in a burst of petals, the redhead was gone.



I'm at 80% aura right now, Ruby thought as she ran. And that overgrown jackdaw's right eye is pretty much blinded. I have to strike it from the right to get a serious advantage! And Ruby veered her course to the right side of the beast. She slid beneath its legs and slashed its left leg clean off, the action like a hot knife through butter. Dark mist began to spill out of the wound, the severed talon suddenly dissipating into thin air. The monster stumbled around, screaming in pain and flapping its injured wings.



Alright, that's gone. Ruby smiled and jumped back up. She carefully analyzed her foe; Nevermore were intelligent, persistent, prolific, and hardy. A deadly set of combinations, if used properly. But Nevermore did have a huge Achilles' Heel; the mask it wore, a weakness all Grimm shared.



If I build up enough momentum, maybe I can shatter the mask! She then started to focus her semblance carefully; this was technique her mother used, according to her dad. It was based off Heisenburg's Uncertainty Principle, a quantum mechanics rule that Ruby did not fully understand. She knew the results though: a wild technique that stated that the faster an object went, the less possible it was to find its location again.



"She called it 'Disbudding' for whatever reason," her father told her once before. "It's the first technique you need to use when aiming for Grimm. I know your weapon isn't 'cool' like Qrow's, but I'm sure you can handle anything with the scythe."



Ruby smiled as she thought of her dad's reassuring smile…



...and suddenly, she was practically a flurry of a million petals. Sharp ones too - they dug into the flesh of the Nevermore like individual knives. Ruby was nowhere to be found in the mess, but suddenly the reinforced blade of the scythe struck against the mask-



And it shattered.



The body crumpled to the ground, heavy wings breaking apart as ash filled the air. Red eyes went out, and smoke filtered out of them like tears underwater. Bird-like bones jutted out of the dying corpse before they too crumpled into nothing.



Ben, standing right next to Max and a good long ways away from the battle, stared up at Ruby Rose. He saw triumph in her silver eyes and grace as she slid her scythe into its gun form. Stared at her in awe as she jumped up and down like the excited little girl she was, right by the the remnants of a monster's corpse.



Ben Tennyson was pretty sure he was in love.



(And then he shoved aside those icky feelings for later, because he was still a child and girls had cooties.)



(But still. Ben Tennyson's best friend was an unrepentant badass. He was so glad Ruby had gone on the road trip instead of Gwen.)



—



Ruby and Ben stood off to the side as medics and other Plumbers flooded the field. The carnage was over, it seemed. The Grimm has been completely vanquished, and there was no sign of them anywhere on the radars. So now it was damage control, picking up the pieces and making sure everyone still alive was well and accounted for. Ben himself had some bandages on him, especially since the huge scratch on his arm was looking fairly gross after all was said and done.



"So," he started, "you just one upped me on that Diamondhead fight with the Mech."



"I did more than one up you," Ruby laughed.



"True. Seriously though, I understand why you hid this part of your life," Ben began. "Like, I got it before, but now it's really starting to sink in. Seeing that giant Nevermore freaked the hell out of me."



"Believe me, it did freak me out when I was younger," Ruby replied. "Heck, my sister and I had an incident with one when we were younger. Thankfully my uncle was there to sort out the mess before it got uglier."



Uglier? Ben thought as Max walked over.



"Well, thankfully no one noticed the giant Nevermore," Max said, scratching the back of his head. "So I think we can take off quietly. I can't express how proud I am of the both of you. Especially you, Ruby!"



"Wait, you're not mad at us for sneaking out?" Ruby questioned as Max beamed at them. .



"You actually gave me an excuse to do something I've been meaning to do for a long time," he chuckled darkly.



"Oh my gosh, there you two are!" A tiny voice rang out. From across the way, Driba came in on a tiny motor scooter. He looked utterly exasperated and tired. "I thought you two had been gobbled up by the Grimm!"



"And that's what I thought too," Max snapped, his voice dripping with anger. "For you utter incompetence to maintain the base's energy supplies, and watching over these two, I'm going to have to fire you."



"N-no!" Driba pleaded. "I'll do anything! Please!"



"Then pack up your things and leave."



Ben and Ruby had to agree; that was probably the best thing Max had said all summer. Driba walked off somberly as Max turned back to the kids.



"Now who wants some milkshakes?" Max smiled. "I know a good restaurant around here."



"Me!" Ben and Ruby cheered.



"Last one to the Rustbucket pays for the food!" Ruby teased as she disappeared in a flash of red.



"Oh, you're so on!" Ben jeered as he transformed into XLR8. And in a blue flash, he was gone, leaving Max behind.



Max shook his head and laughed to himself. "Well, looks like I'm paying." He said as he walked back to the parking bay.



—



Kevin breathed heavily as he hid underneath an underpass, the darkness of the night helping with his camouflage. The sirens of police cars lingered in the air but grew quieter as they drove away. He slumped against the wall and sharply exhaled. He was in the clear.



Or so he thought.



"Running from the law, are we?" A deep voice rumbled.



Kevin shot up and looked around the underpass. From out of the shadows, a red robotic drone walked out. On its head was a monitor of a figure.



Kevin frowned. "And who are you supposed to be, exactly?"



"Call me an ally," the voice replied. "I'm curious in your abilities, human. Absorption of genetic material is an uncommon and powerful skill...perhaps you can help me take down the Omnitrix wielder."



"What did he do to you?" Kevin questioned.



"Nothing of his own fault," The voice answered. "But he has the key for my species' survival. My planet needs it's own hero."



"As long as it's in more responsible hands than Tennyson, I'm in." Kevin smirked. "What's your name?"



"Vilgax," the voice replied. "Vilgax the Savior."