Aftermath

Aftermath is the sixth episode of RWBY: Grimm Force.
==Plot==
"That boy needs to be contained!" A man's angry voice shouted.
A group of people were gathered around in Ozpin's office. Ozpin himself, Max, professors Goodwitch and Port, and both of Ben's parents, Carl and Sandra Tennyson. And of course, the person yelling. Mayor Coleman. He was an older, pudgy man who wore an almost entirely white suit, and a comically large hat to match.
"Mayor Coleman..." Ozpin was leaning forward, elbows on his desk, and hands before his face. It was clear that this conversation had gone on long enough to the point of him losing his patience. "Mr. Tennyson was working to help your village and keep it safe. Same as the rest of his team, same as the mentoring Team RWBY."
"What he was intending and what actually happened are two different things!" Coleman's face was turning a bright red. "The village ended up damaged from the oncoming Grimm attack. So... Who do I hold responsible for this? Do you intend to take the responsibility, Ozpin? Or you?" He looked at Port. "It was an assignment you gave them! What about you two? Or you?!" He looked at Carl and Sandra, then Max.
Carl then stood up, and neared Coleman. "My son intends to take the full responsibility. We already had a talk with him. And you will, too."
"What?! What could I possibly have to say to that little-"
Coleman was interrupted by the sound of the elevator ding, and the doors slid open. Ben stepped in, staggering a bit as he walked. Between his movements, and the bags under his eyes, it was clear he hadn't slept much since the mission.
"...You." Coleman scowled at the approaching Ben. "If it wasn't for you, my village- WHOA!" Coleman was forcefully shoved into his seat by Ben, who kept his face close to the startled Coleman, glaring back at him.
"Ben!" Sandra yelled, followed by Carl. "What do you think you're doing?!"
Glynda stepped forward to intervene, but Ozpin put his arm out to stop her. Ben continued his glare at Coleman before eventually backing up, stepping backwards away from him.
"For the last seven years of my life..." Ben's voice was just as groggy as his appearance. "I've hid my Semblance. I've refused to use it time and time again. Not just because it hurt. But because of people like you..."
"People like me? What, you mean normal people?!"
"I mean cowards."
Ben's sudden bluntness caught the room by surprise, with the exception of Ozpin, who hid a smirk.
"I've had the decency to not use my power because I knew people would be scared. That night in your village... I was holding out for any alternative. But it was the only thing that would've worked. I didn't do it just for fun, I did it because I had no choice."
"And your lack of choice-"
"Led to more Grimm, I'm well aware. And what did I do, then, huh? I'll tell you what I did. I stopped them. I helped to fight every Grimm that showed up. While you were hid away in your little town hall." Ben's breathing was erratic, the lack of sleep clearly getting to him. "I did what I had to do to help your people because that's what I do. It's what I'm here to learn how to do better. And if that's not enough for you then..."
Ben paused for a moment, trying to collect his scattered thoughts.
"...Then I guess I just got a lesson in people who won't be grateful for what you give them, and focus on the negatives, instead."
Taking a step away, Ben stumbled a bit, but managed to make his way over to the elevator. He stopped, and only partially glanced back.
"Next time your village needs protecting... Do it yourself. I won't be there."
Ben opened the elevator, and stepped in, taking his leave. Coleman was without words, simply trying to wrap his head around what just happened. He turned to Ozpin, who stood up, a slight smile across his face.
"I do believe we're done here. All things considered, I believe this was quite the successful meeting." He said, not noticing, or perhaps just ignoring, the way Max glared at him.
----
Ben exited the elevator once it reached the bottom floor. He stumbled out, but started making his way back to his dorm. He stepped out of the building, and almost walked right into someone.
"O-Oh. Sorry." He stepped back, embarrassed.
The person looked down at him. They wore a gradient purple top with white pants, as well as a purple witch's hat atop their head, which was covered by flowing white locks. They also had black boots.
"Are you alright?" They asked him. There was a genuine concern to the question, though their tone and expression were primarily neutral.
"Y-Yeah. Just.... Very, very tired." He cracked his neck, then a curious look came over his face. "Are... Are you meeting with Ozpin?"
"That I am. We're old acquaintances. Shion Zaiden." They introduced themselves.
"Pleasure." Ben responded. "Ten Bennyson- Er. No. That's not... Ben Tennyson. Sorry. Tired."
"...Are you sure you're fine?" Shion asked again. "Do you need assistance getting to your dorm?"
"No, no. It's fine, th-thanks. Excuse me." He yawned before stumbling around Shion.
Shion half turned about to watch Ben stumble away, studying the boy as he walked off. "...Hm."
----
There was a knocking at Team TRTL's door. Gwen opened up the door, a surprised look coming over her face. "Kai? Wh-" On the other side of the door was Kai Green of Team EKKO. And on her shoulder was where she was carrying a sleeping Ben. "What happened?"
"Found your cousin having fallen asleep in Beacon's courtyard. I couldn't get him to wake up long enough to get a straight answer about what happened so... I just brought him back here."
Gwen sighed. "Thank you." She stepped forward and took Ben onto her shoulder from Kai. "Sorry about this. It's a long story."
"No, no, it's fine. I'm happy to help." She flashed Gwen a smile, then turned to the sleeping Ben with a concerned look. "...Keep me updated on him, yeah?"
"Yeah, sure." Gwen smiled. "Thanks again."
"Any time." Kai nodded, and took her leave as Gwen closed the door.
Gwen walked the sleeping Ben over to his bed, and laid him down gently. She looked over at her other two teammates. As usual, it was difficult to get a read on Rook's feelings about the situation, especially as he was focusing on studying over his class notes at the moment. However, she noticed that Kevin had given Ben a slight concerned glance before turning away.
"Something wrong?"
"Huh?" Kevin feigned innocence.
"You seemed a bit worried." She walked over and sat on her bed across from him on his own. "Come on. What is it?"
Kevin crossed his arms, looking away while trying to keep up his tough guy routine. This was short-lived, however, as he glanced back at Gwen, and relented upon seeing her look of genuine concern. "I just... I think if I had kept my guard up this situation wouldn't have happened."
"Kevin."
"The Grimm wouldn't have gotten to me, and a scene wouldn't have been made. Ben wouldn't have had to transform, and-"
"Kevin, you're not being fair to yourself. It's not your fault."
"It sure feels like it is."
"Gwendolyn is right, Kevin." Rook spoke up, surprising the two. Though, he kept his attention on his work. "A Grimm attack can come at the most inopportune and unexpected moments. Even if your guard is up, it does not ensure the Grimm will not arrive." He looked up from his notes, and finally expressed some emotion by giving the two a slight smile. "It is not your fault anymore than it is anyone else's. It is not anyone's fault, for that matter."
"...Um..." Gwen cleared her throat, then nodded. "Yeah. What Rook said."
Kevin blinked, then gave an exaggerated groan of frustration. "You two are too perceptive for me." This prompted a chuckle from Gwen.
----
By the time Ben had woken up, it was night, and the rest of his team was asleep. He stood from his bed, and quietly stepped outside into the hallway. Walking down the hallways, he found himself meeting with the cat Faunus of Team RWBY.
"...Blake?" Ben asked, still a bit groggy but far better than earlier.
"Hey, Ben." Blake said softly. "I didn't take you for a night owl."
"Yeah, it's just been a long day. ...Okay, not really, I slept through most of it, but still."
Blake chuckled. "Well, I guess it's lucky I ran into you. Come on, I wanna show you something." Blake started leading the way, and Ben followed with a mix of confusion and curiosity.
Blake had led Ben to just outside of school grounds. She placed her Scroll on a small rock, and set it to project a hologram. A large amount of text scrolled on the screen before landing on the single word 'Ice.'
"What is this?" Ben asked.
"My team's been talking, and, if it's okay with you, we want to try to help you feel more comfortable using your Semblance."
"...Blake."
"I know, I know. Considering everything, it's not the best timing. But we wanna help, only if you're willing to let us, though."
Ben considered for a moment, then glanced up at the hologram again. "What does that have to do with it?"
"Should you decide to let us help, I made up a little randomizer to determine the Dust types or combinations used for your Semblance. Gwen helped me with which types are in your watch."
Ben rolled his eyes with a slight smirk. "Of course she was willing to help. She's always wanted me to be more outgoing with my Semblance. You sure you wanna do this, though?"
"It's only if you want to."
It took Ben a few minutes, thinking about the night in the village, as well as some of what Coleman had said. However, he shook his head, trying to silence those voices. He looked back at Blake, a semi-determined look on his face. "Alright. Let's do it."
Blake gave a soft smirk. Ben activated the Omnitrix, selecting the Ice Dust icon, and pressing down on the core. A few moments later, Blake was swinging about the forest, dodging the icy beams generated by Ben's Arctiguana transformation.
The Scroll hologram randomized again. 'Rock' and 'Combustion.'
Blake attached the katana blade of Gambol Shroud into a tree, then swing to another tree on the other side of a path. She pulled the ribbon tight, and the yellow sphere form of Cannonbolt rolled in, hitting the ribbon, and enough tension was built up for him to be thrown back in the direction he came.
'Metal. Hard-Light.'
Blake looked around, not seeing Ben anywhere. Her ears twitched, straining to hear him. Her eyes widened, and she pulled out Gambol Shroud. She threw it to the side, realizing that it had a black and cyan pattern across it. It generated tripod-like legs to stand on, then shot out an energy net that managed to catch her. However, she used her Semblance to escape it. She glared back at the weapon, and its legs retracted as the amorphous form of Upgrade pulled off of it, holding her weapon. He gave her a cheeky shrug.
'Wind. Combustion.'
Chased by Ben's current transformation, Blake continuously dodged with the use of her Shadow Semblance creating decoy clones. However, she was caught off guard as Fasttrack sped around to where she was headed, and he managed to land a hit on her.
'Lightning. Fire. Ice.'
Ben paused. "...I've. Um. Never done more than two types for a transformation."
"First time for everything, right?" Blake responded.
Although hesitant, Ben slowly began selecting the Dust types necessary. Blake took hold of his hand, catching his attention.
"I was only half-serious. Like I said-"
"I-I want to try it." Ben said, surprising himself as much as he did Blake.
Smiling, she let go of his hand, and he continued. He pressed down on the device's core. When his Aura flash diminished, he was shown to be an odd creature that was half-reptilian, half-bat, and all around weird. His body was covered in eyes, colored blue, red, and yellow, for each dust type he was made of. Ironically, none were on his face, instead having bat-like ears growing off of them.
Blake stared in awe for a moment. "...Well?"
"It feels... Very weird." He lifted his arms, his multiple eyes glancing all over his new body. "I'm not used to being able to see all around me."
His eyes then glanced back to Blake as he heard her ready Gambol Shroud. The two smirked, and Blake immediately dodged a blast of ice from Eye Guy's blue eyes. She also luckily managed to dodge a blast of lightning from the yellow eyes. Eye Guy put his hands out, and eyes on the palms opened up. They flashed between the different colors, blasting the three elements each time they changed. Blake lept from a tree to evade another attack, but glanced back in shock as she realized Eye Guy had used fire for this one. Before she could react, however, he immediately blasted the fire with ice, cancelling it out. She sighed with relief, then turned to him.
"Close call."
"You're telling me. Let's just be glad we didn't roll for me to become Heatblast. That might've burned the whole forest down."
"...Heatblast?"
"Oh. Um. Well. I've kind of taken to naming the transformations. Makes it easier than saying their Dust types." Eye Guy awkwardly scratched at the back of his neck, and Blake chuckled.
From afar, and unbeknownst to Eye Guy or Blake, a curious Kai Green had watched the scene unfold.
----
Ben and Blake made it back to the dorms right after sunrise. Ben yawned as he reached the door. He opened it slightly, but stopped.
"What is it?" Blake inquired.
Ben turned to her with a slight smile. "Thanks. I... I've never really had fun with my Semblance before. But... I enjoyed that."
Blake patted his shoulder. "We're here when you need us."
Ben nodded, and Blake took her leave. Ben walked into the dorm and closed the door behind him. He realized he was alone in the room, the rest of Team TRTL having already woken up and left already. Yawning once more, Ben stretched before making himself comfortable and going to sleep.
Not too long later, the window to the team's dorm opened. Quietly, something stepped inside. This 'something' was a blue and purple manta-like creature. Albedo's version of the Jetray transformation. Ensuring he was alone, he made his way towards Ben, as silent as possible. In his hand, he held a small container that he opened, and a black and white crescent-shaped seed was let out. It fell to Ben, and faded into pink energy upon making contact. A dark colored pattern of a thorny root or vine appeared on Ben's neck, and his content face changed to one of discomfort.
"Sweet dreams, brother." Negative Jetray taunted before escaping back out the window.
==Major Events==
*Ben Tennyson finally openly admits to having fun with the use of his Semblance.
*Shion Zaiden debuts.
*Albedo Tennyson infects Ben with a Nightmare.
*Kai Green learns of Ben's Semblance.
*Arctiguana, Cannonbolt, Upgrade, Fasttrack, Eye Guy, and Jetray debut.
**It explicitly is shown that this is the first time Ben used Eye Guy in-universe as well, marking his first usage of a transformation with the use of more than two Dust types.
==Characters==
*Ben Tennyson
*Rook Blonko
*Gwen Tennyson
*Kevin Levin
*Blake Belladonna
*Professor Ozpin
*Peter Port
*Max Tennyson
*Glynda Goodwitch
*Shion Zaiden (debut)
*Kai Green
===Neutral===
*Mayor Coleman (debut)
*Carl Tennyson (debut)
*Sandra Tennyson (debut)
===Villains===
*Albedo Tennyson
===Grimm===
*Nightmare (debut)
==Transformations Used==
===Ben Tennyson===
*Arctiguana (debut; cameo)
*Cannonbolt (debut; cameo)
*Upgrade (debut; cameo)
*Fasttrack (debut; cameo)
*Eye Guy (debut)
===Albedo Tennyson===
*Negative Jetray (debut)
==Allusions==
*Ben accidentally referring to himself as "Ten Bennyson" is a nod to Captain Nemesis intentionally doing so to mock him in Hero Time.
*The description of Eye Guy is a nod to his bio on the Cartoon Network website during the Original Series era.
*Ben remarks on the potential of Heatblast burning down the forest, a nod to the events of And Then There Were 10.
*Albedo infecting Ben with a parasitic creature that creates a dreamscape for the victim is a nod to the events of Night of the Living Nightmare.
==Trivia==
*There were plans to make the training scene with Blake longer, but they were scrapped as the scene might've gone on for too long. Thankfully, this didn't include once again scrapping Fasttrack.