Ben 10 RWBY Volume 1: Dimension Twist

by The Omni-Remnant

After an incident involving an old foe and a Null Void Portal, Ben and his team are transported to the world of Remnant... right in the middle of the Battle for Beacon. What will be the consequences? Ben doesn't know, but he does know one thing: It's Hero Time! (Takes place after Ultimate Alien. WARNING: Major changes to the end of RWBY Volume 3 and beyond. MAJOR AU.)

72. Unforeseen Reunions

A/N: Hey everybody! Happy 2020 to all! Hope you guys enjoyed your holiday and got what you wanted. I myself had a great week off to take a breather and now I'm ready to get back into the swing of things! So, where did we leave off last time? Oh yeah, that's right! It's time for some happy reunions… and a little bit of tension. This is…

Chapter 72: Unforeseen Reunions

…..

"…Mom? Dad?" Blake still couldn't believe it, even after those two words came out of her mouth. There, standing in front of her in some of the most ragged black hoods she had ever seen, were her parents. If it weren't for the fact that they were wearing their regular clothes beneath the drapes, they could've been mistaken for vagrants. 'I really don't know how to feel about that. In fact, I have no CLUE how to take ALL of this in.'

However, as Blake was still processing everything, she was pulled out of her stupor when her mother discarded her hood and ran forward. Kali pulled Blake into the biggest hug imaginable and let out a relieved sigh. "Oh, my baby girl." She spoke with pure joy in her voice as she closed her eyes, taking in the moment.

Blake was unsure of what to do for just the slightest moment before a smile worked its way onto her face. 'It's really her!' With that, she buried her head in her mother's neck, a slight waver in her voice as she spoke up. "M-Mom! What in the world are you doing here?!"

"Looking for you!" Kali exclaimed. "After Beacon was attacked, we were worried day and night about you." She pulled away to lock eyes with her daughter, placing her hands on either side of her face. "Oh, Blake, we were horrified. Your father was pacing up and down the halls for an entire day."

Ghira chortled slightly as he came forward, discarding his own hood as well. "Oh, come now, Kali. I knew in my gut that she would be fine."

Kali raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? Even after you "accidentally" clawed the doorframe of the living room out of anxiety?"

Ghira coughed into his hand as his face became slightly red. "Ahem, dear, could we try to avoid talking about that incident, please?" He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment before smiling at his daughter once again. "What's important right now is that we've found our daughter and that she's safe. Blake, are you alright? I can imagine that living here for over two weeks since the incident must have been difficult."

Blake's eyes widened at the question. She was surprised that her father was showing any concern at all. 'After all of the things that I said to him and mom… they're still worried about me?' Blake recalled the moment when her parents had left the White Fang, and how she was far from happy about it. She had called them many things, and the unpleasant memory of it all still rang in her head. 'I called them cowards… but they came all the way here to find me!' Blake took a deep breath, resolving to talk about it with them later before giving her father a small grin. "Well… actually dad, it wasn't all that bad." She gestured over to her friends. "I mean, I've had some pretty good company."

Kali's eyes went up and she smiled brightly at the teens. "Oh! These must be all the friends that you've made at Beacon!"

But Ghira eyed Diamondhead in suspicion, pointing an accusing finger at him. "But what is THAT creature? It's almost like a pile of walking Dust crystals." He then raised a brow at Rex as well. "And what about that boy with the metal fists?"

Blake winced at her father's words, a nervous sweat going down the side of her face. "Uh, they're actually my friends too, dad."

Everyone else was still gawking in shock, astonished at the two people who had just revealed themselves from seemingly out of nowhere. Finally, the silence was broken by Weiss, the heiress uttering three little words to sum it all up; "Oh… my god."

"I'm right there with you, Ice Princess." Rex nodded. "Like… holy crap."

Sun literally had his tail tucked between his legs. "Oh god, I wasn't expecting to meet them this soon." he whispered to himself. 'And Blake was SERIOUSLY not kidding about her dad's intimidation factor.'

Contrary to her friend's bewilderment, Ruby's eyes lit up with glee as a loud squee escaped her throat. "EEEEEE!" In a split second, she had burst into petals and zipped over to Ghira and Kali, a bright smile on her face as she shook the latter's hand. "Oh my goodness gracious, I cannot BELIEVE that I'm actually meeting you! I'm Ruby Rose, and your daughter is one of the greatest friends I could've ever asked for!" She then went over and shook Ghira's hand as well. "You two were the LAST thing we were expecting today. This is just too awesome!"

"Um… thank you." Ghira said hesitantly as Ruby continued shaking his hand. "I think."

Kali however, was all smiles as she glanced to her daughter. "Oh my. Honey, I had no idea that you had such a social butterfly as a friend."

Blake gave a shrug. "Yeah, well, that's Ruby. She's the leader of our team."

Yang came over and pulled her sister away from Ghira, allowing him to retake his hand. "Sorry, my sis can be a little overexcited when it comes to meeting new people." The blonde gave the couple a wink and a salute. "Anyway, I'm Yang. Blake and I were paired up during our initiation into Beacon."

"I see." Kali smiled before grinning over to her daughter. "Blake, I must say that you have great taste in friends. Where did you find them?"

Blake rolled her eyes at that. "Well, it's actually more like they found me. But still, I wouldn't trade them for—"

"AHEM!" The sound of a rather annoyed voice brought everyone's attention back to Exo-Skull and Thunderhog. The mutated duo were rather annoyed that the subject matter had been changed so quickly, and they were intent on getting things back on track. "Uh, HELLO?" Hog shouted indignantly. "Still here, ya know?!"

Exo-Skull blew air out of his nostrils in anger. "Yeah! What're we, chopped liver?" He popped a few muscles in his neck before cracking his knuckles. "Now, this little family reunion's been real nice an' all, but we've still got a job to do, and we ain't about to let you get away with this."

Realizing that she had completely forgotten about the present problem, Winter opened up her primary blade and took out her secondary one before rushing forward. She stepped in front of the Belladonnas in a defensive stance, pointing one blade at Hog and Skull while keeping the other one held up to block the family from the brutes. "Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna, I suggest that you get away from here as fast as possible." Winter gave Blake a nod. "Blake, take your parents and run. General Ironwood should be here soon."

Ghira's eyes widened at the name. "General Ironwood? What is he still doing in—"

"No time for explanations, dad!" Blake insisted as she began leading her parents away. "Right now, we gotta go!"

But Kali was quickly growing concerned. "Blake, why the rush? I mean, we all just found each other." She gestured out to the crowd of teens. "Besides, we out number them now, and your father and I are no pushovers, remember."

"I know, but where ever those two bozos go, destruction always follows." Blake then pointed over to the Petrosapien and the EVO. "And besides, once Ben and Rex get going, you do NOT want to be around—"

But Diamondhead spoke up. "Whoa, whoa, hold the phone there, Blake." The alien gave her a smirk and pointed to the Omnitrix. "I think I can actually end this pretty quickly." He balled his crystalline hand into a fist and pounded the Omnitrix, creating a flash of green which made him immediately transform into something else. Ghira and Kali's jaws simultaneously dropped as Ben transformed into… "GRAVATTACK!"

Ghira gasped and backed away. "Wha…What IS this?!"

Kali put her hand to her head. "Am I having some sort of hallucination?" She shifted her eyes to her daughter, pleading for an explanation. "Blake, what in the world is going on here?!"

Blake sighed and her ears flattened out. "Well mom… that's actually a much more complicated story than you might think." The cat girl directed her attention back to Gravattack as the Galilean squared off with Hog and Skull. "For now, I think we should just enjoy the fireworks."

Gravattack pounded his fist into his rocky palm as he glowered at the two mutants, gritting his large teeth together in preparation. "Alright boys, we can either do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"HA! You kiddin' Tennyson?" Hog countered. "We gotta job to do, an' we're NOT about to upset Lady Salem twice in one week!"

"Yeah!" Skull added. "We ain't lettin' nobody screw us up anymore!"

Ghira leaned over and whispered to his daughter; "Is he aware that he just used a double negative?"

Blake rolled her eyes and groaned. "Ugh, unfortunately, I don't think so."

Gravattack just shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, suit yourselves. But don't say I didn't warn ya." He moved his massive head around and gave his girlfriend a knowing smile. "Hey Goldie Locks, think I should give 'em the "Round the World" technique with a little slingshot to end it?"

Yang grinned wickedly and gave him a thumbs up. "That sounds like an awesome idea, Green Boy! Let 'em have it!"

Hog kept a firm grip on his Thunder Mace as the two spoke. "Woah, woah, woah, back up. Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Tennyson?"

Skull, on the other hand, readied the Executioner, its barrel spinning rapidly as he kept his trigger finger steady. "Get ready, he's about to do some—HEY!" The large minigun was pulled out of Skull's grip and tossed to the side as Gravattack's hands began glowing green, his gravitational powers activating instantly. "What's the big ide—AAH!"

Hog's eyes widened as Exo-Skull was pulled off of his feet and into the air. "Skull! Hold on, buddy, I'm—AGH!" The pig man didn't have much time to act as he too was pulled off of the ground and towards Gravattack, the Galilean proceeding to spin the two large mutants around him in his own orbit. "WOAH! Somebody, ANYBODY, stop this crazy thing!"

"Sorry, Hog, no can do." Gravattack wore a snarky grin at what he was about to do next. "Time to put a new spin on things." With that, he pulled in his arms and legs, entering his planetoid form as he began floating up into the air, much to everyone's amazement.

"I'm surprised at how fast he got that alien down." Weiss commented before sending Yang a knowing grin. "I wonder if he practiced by floating a certain someone around in the air?"

Yang returned the smile with a shrug. "What can I say? Practicing with Gravattack and experiencing Zero-G's was totally fun and worth it."

Back up in the air, Gravattack grit his teeth again as he focused on sending his gravitational pull in an opposite direction. "Okay boys, I think you've had enough. Here's your stop!" At his word, Gravattack used his own orbit as a slingshot, sending Hog and Skull hurtling over to a nearby abandoned warehouse, the duo plowing straight through the wall and causing the whole front of the building to collapse in on them. Gravattack lowered himself down to the ground, bringing his arms and legs back out as the Omnitrix flashed green once again. When the light died down, Ben was back to his normal self, a proud smile on his face. "Well, that actually went pretty well." He placed his hands on his hips, facing the Belladonnas again. "Now maybe we can have time for a nice, civil conversation and… oh. I probably owe you guys an explanation."

Ghira and Kali were gawking at the young man, their mouths agape as they witnessed his transformation back into his human form. But once the shock wore off, a serious expression came to Ghira's face and he stormed forward. "To say the least!" He stood directly in front of Ben and pointed directly at him. "I don't know WHO you are young man, but I want to know exactly what in the world is going on here."

Just then, Kali came forward and grasped her husband's arm, pulling it toward her. "Ghira, please, show a little restraint." she pleaded. "This boy is a friend of our daughter and we should treat him as such." The cat woman set her eyes on the green clad hero with a nod. "Besides… Ben, was it? I'm sure that there's a perfectly rational explanation for you transforming into those…"

"Aliens." Ben finished as he lifted the Omnitrix up to show them. "I use this device to transform into aliens." The hero eyed Rex and the EVO came over, deactivating his Smack Hands as he did. Ben pat Rex on the shoulder as he continued; "And my friend and I here are actually from different alternate dimensions, so there's that too."

"Yeah, it's pretty weird." Rex snapped his fingers and pointed double finger guns at the couple. "But then again, "weird" is kinda our thing. Name's Rex, by the way."

The Belladonnas blinked in astonishment as Kali put her hand to her head again. "Alright, maybe it's not as clear cut as I thought."

Blake came over and set her hands on her mother's shoulders. "Mom, I know that this must be a lot to take in, and there's a TON more that's left to explain, but right now, we need to rendezvous with the rest of our team." Her eyes trailed over to the wrecked warehouse in trepidation. "There's no telling when Hog and Skull will be getting back up."

Ghira's eyebrows shot up. "You mean they're not dead?"

"Nah, they've taken worse." Ben handwaved. "Even when they were still human, they took worse beatings."

"Those two used to be human?!" Kali exclaimed. "And here I thought they were mutated Faunus."

"Well… close." Weiss explained as she approached as well. "A mad scientist actually used Faunus DNA to create a mutagen, which was then used to mutate those two bozos."

"Hmm, I suppose that makes sense. I—wait." Ghira paused mid-sentence as he narrowed his eyes at Weiss and Winter, though they quickly snapped open when he recognized the two. "Hold on just a moment, I know you! You're Winter and Weiss Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company!"

Kali let out a gasp. "Oh my god, they are! I thought they seemed familiar!"

Weiss wore a worried face while Winter's remained neutral, giving a nod to Ghira. "That's correct, though I need to correct you on one thing; we have both disassociated ourselves from our father." She bowed her head to the chieftain in respect. "And rest assured that my sister and myself do not share his views on the Faunus community in the slightest."

Blake grinned to Weiss and crossed her arms, giving the heiress a wink. "Even if I had to say a few things to get through to a certain someone."

Weiss wore a guilty grin and glanced down to the ground. "Yes, and I'm still sorry about—"

"Oh, for pete's sake, get over here." Blake walked up and pulled Weiss over to Yang and Ruby, the cat girl wrapping her arms around her teammates as she presented them to her parents. "Mom, dad, these are my teammates and my best friends."

Ruby pumped a fist into the air. "Together, we're Team RWBY!"

Yang followed her sister's exampled. "And we kick MAJOR ass!"

Weiss blushed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, what they said."

Ghira put a hand to his forehead in disbelief. "A Belladonna making friends with a Schnee. Not once did I ever think I'd see the day." However, out of the corner of his eye, he spied a certain blonde-haired boy nervously standing over to the side, almost as if he was worried to come over. But then, Ghira saw the tail that was sticking out from behind the young man, and he gave him a small nod in greeting. "And what about you, young man?"

Sun's eyes bugged out and he immediately straightened up. "Uh, hi there!" At the last second, he gave Ghira a salute. "S-Sun Wukong, at your service, sir! Blake and I've actually known each other for a good while now." He winced internally at that. 'Dear god, that was stupid!'

"Ah, I see." But in the back of his mind, Ghira couldn't help but be suspicious of the monkey boy. 'Why is he so nervous?'

Blake, meanwhile, was about to have a panic attack. 'Oh god, I completely forgot! Please somebody change the subject!'

Kali put her hands together and bowed her head toward Team RWBY, her smile having returned. "Well, it's certainly an honor to meet you all. And thank you for being friends with my daughter." She lifted her hand and whispered to Ruby. "I'm sure you know that she's not exactly the most social of bookworms."

"Oh, I like to think we've broken her outta her shell!" Ruby beamed.

"Yeah, she's a lot chattier than when we first met, believe it or not." Yang added.

Blake gave her friends a slight stink eye, but she couldn't help but smirk as well. "Gee, thanks for being brutally honest, girls. You're really are true friends."

Kali gave her daughter a wink. "Oh, come now, Blake. There's no shame in admitting one's faults." She went over and whispered to her daughter with a sly grin; "But if you want to change the subject… how exactly did you meet that Sun boy over there?" She pointed over to Sun, the monkey boy still nervously glancing to Ghira as beads of sweat trailed down his face. Kali saw her daughter make a similarly nervous expression, which she quickly took advantage of. "I recognize THAT kind of nervousness anywhere. Don't tell me… is he your boyfriend?"

Blake was about to go into panic mode again, but then an idea came into her head. She cleared her throat and shifted her attention back to her father, a nervous undertone in her voice. "Ahem, so uh, dad, how DID you guys get here anyway?"

Kali smirked internally at her daughter's reaction. 'Sweetheart, I love you, but I can read you like a book.'

Ghira sighed and put a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "We came here by boat, actually. It wasn't a pleasant ride, but it was the only way we could get out of Menagerie undetected."

That got Blake's full attention. "Undetected? What do you mean "undetected"?"

"That actually brings me to the next point." Ghira shut his eyes momentarily to prepare himself. "Blake, the White Fang in Menagerie have been overtaken by a pair of insurgents. They managed to overpower their best fighters and are now lording themselves over Menagerie with iron fists."

"WHAT?!" Blake practically screamed. "You've gotta be kidding me! Please tell me that this is some kind of joke!"

Kali's ears folded down and she shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, dear, it isn't. They arrived in Kuo Kuana about a week and a half ago and they quickly overpowered both the Guard AND the White Fang. We managed to escape with Ilia, but…"

Her statement made Blake do a double take. "Woah, hang on, Ilia's here too?" But at her outburst, she received a few confused glances from her teammates, and she realized that she had never brought up the aforementioned chameleon girl to them. "Oh, she's an old friend from my White Fang days… and she doesn't exactly like humans very much."

"Gotcha." Yang nodded. "So the main takeaway from that is; be careful about what we say around her."

"Yeah, that's about right." Blake affirmed before going back to her mother. "So where is she anyway?"

"She's currently leading the White Fang away from our location." Kali answered. "She told us that she would be fine, but…" the woman sighed before continuing. "We'll have to rendezvous with her later. In any case, we came here to ask the Vale branch of the White Fang for help. But unfortunately, we were too late." Her eyes went over to the rubble. "Those two managed to take over Vale's branch thanks to Adam's absence."

Blake grimaced at the reminder. "Yeah, but if you ask me, it probably would've been worse if Adam WAS still in charge of that sect."

"As I've recently learned." Ghira concurred. "They told me about how Adam and many more of them had participated in the Fall of Beacon…" He wore a pained expression as he locked eyes with his daughter. "Blake… I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of that. I wish I had seen Adam's true intentions sooner."

Blake sighed, her face still soured at the memory of her old flame. "Yeah, so did I." After a few moments, she shook her head, getting back on track. "But I don't get it! Who could be that powerful to over throw the White Fang leadership? I mean… even Sienna?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Kali confirmed. "And what's worse is that they're holding her hostage, using her as leverage in case any White Fang decide to rebel."

"If anyone even tries to overthrow them, they'll kill her." Ghira clenched his fists in anger. "I may not agree with Sienna on many things, but this… this is just inhumane!" The chieftain, directed his attention to Ben once more. "Fortunately, thanks to Thunderhog and Exo-Skull, we have a better idea of who we're facing. We described the insurgents to them and they said that they knew who they were… and they also said that they were aliens."

Ben's eyes snapped open at that. "Can you describe them for me? What do they look like?"

But, before Ghira could do so, a loud rumbling was heard over head as another turbulent wind blasted down onto the group. They shielded their eyes as a rather familiar dropship landed, with a certain large man stepping out of the back the moment it landed. Hazel gazed out to the group with a neutral face, his eyes landing on the Omnitrix bearer. "Ah, Ben Tennyson. We meet again, I see."

The team were immediately on edge, with Ben giving Hazel a nasty glare. "Hazel! I should've suspected that Salem would send you out here with Hog and Skull. Rojo's not exactly the best babysitter for those two."

"As I've seen." Hazel concurred. "But we're not here for you, Tennyson. We're here for the White Fang."

Ghira stepped forward, mimicking Ben's expression. "Over my dead body!"

But Blake was quick to stop her father from doing anything rash. She grabbed him by the arm and held him back. "NO! Dad, please, I'm pretty sure that he can arrange that!"

Yang went up and stood next to Ben, readying her Ember Celica. "Yeah, Mr. B, you just leave this to us. We've taken this guy down before, and we can do it again!"

Hazel folded his arms and gave the couple a questioning gaze. "Really? If you truly believe that, then prepare to be disappointed." He leaned toward them and narrowed his eyes. "I was holding back in our last fight."

Everyone's faces paled, though Ben's seemed to be the most shocked out of all of them. "Y-You what?"

"Indeed, I held myself back to get a grasp on just what you were capable of, Ben Tennyson." Hazel straightened himself up and unfolded his arms. "And now that I have a solid idea, I won't be doing so again should we do battle once more." Hazel turned around and waved his hand at the group. "But for now, I have no time for such distractions. Thaddeus! Farkas!"

The moment he called out their names, Hog and Skull burst out from the rubble, the duo roaring in defiance as they blasted their respective lasers into the sky, blowing away the wreckage all at once. Once they were done raging, Hog grinned and gave Hazel a salute while Skull picked up his minigun. "You called for us, Big H?!"

"We're leaving." Hazel announced. "Board the ship quickly, we need to pick up Tyrian and the White Fang under our command."

Ben raised a brow in intrigue. 'Tyrian? Who's Tyrian?'

With his command in place, Hazel faced the dropship and began to board it, with Hog and Skull not far behind. "Menagerie is on the other side of the world. We need to head out now if we intend to make it by daylight over there."

But, unexpectedly, Rex was the first one to spring into action. "Not so fast, el bulto grande!" The EVO activated his Punk Busters and leapt up into the air, careening himself toward Hazel as Ben and the others warned him not to. However, it was too late. Rex brought his massive foot down on Hazel… only for the man to grab it with his large hands, taking Rex by surprise. "What the?!"

"Child's play." Hazel got a better grip on Rex's Punk Buster and swung him around, causing the machine to break off of the EVO's leg. The result was Rex being tossed him back to whence he came, his other Punk Buster breaking when he hit the ground.

Rex crashed in front of everyone, with Weiss being the first one to make it over to him. "Rex!" the heiress exclaimed as she kneeled down next to him. "What kind of idiotic move was that?! You attacked the guy who JUST SAID he was holding back!"

Rex groaned as he rubbed his head. "Okay, maybe not one of my more thought-out moments." He sat himself up just in time to see their three muscle-bound enemies board the ship and take off, blasting down the street in a mere instant when they became airborne. "Oh, yeah, that ain't good."

"They're going after the White Fang!" Sun exclaimed. "We gotta stop 'em!"

"Right!" Blake agreed as she pulled Gambol Shroud out of its sheath. "If we hurry, maybe we can—"

"Blake." Winter spoke up. "I apologize, but I'm afraid that's not possible. When you get right down to it, they're in a dropship, and we're on foot." The elder Schnee craned her head out to where the ship was headed. "We can follow, but we cannot catch up to them like this. The only thing we can do is hope that our allies can hold them off until we get there."

"Allies?" Ghira asked, his eyes going to his daughter again. "You mean you have more teammates?"

"Yeah, we've got a ton of friends on that ship." Blake shifted her eyes to where Winter was facing. "I only hope that they can hold them off. And if all goes well, maybe Ilia will realize that they're there to help."

But then, Kali eyes snapped open when she recalled something important. "Oh no." She faced her husband with a concerned face. "Ghira, Ilia put her White Fang mask on before she left, remember?"

Ghira raised a brow. "Yes… why?"

But Blake was quick to realize what her mother's concern was. "Oh god, our friends could mistake her for being WITH those White Fang!" As quick as a snap, Blake began running down the road, disregarding the fact that she couldn't possibly make it in time. "Come on! We gotta get there before something goes wrong!"

Ben and Yang shared a glance before giving each other a nod. "Blake, wait!" Ben's call got the cat girl to stop and face him, a questioning expression coming to her face. "Winter's right, you can't make it there on foot… but a few of us can. You just hang back here with your parents, we'll take care of the rest and be back for you as soon as we can."

Blake was about to protest, but after going over it in her head, she realized that her friend was right. With a heavy sigh, she gave Ben a reluctant nod. "Okay, just make sure that Ilia doesn't get hurt by anyone… and vice versa."

"No problem!" Ben exchanged glanced with Rex and Yang. "Alright guys, let's take care of this." Rex activated his Sky Slyder and allowed Yang to climb on while Ben brought up the Omnitrix once again, the hero dialing in Fasttrack. "It's Hero Time!"

…..

As the ramp on the back of the Resolute lowered once again to let its second batch of passengers out, Raven lowered her gaze down to the ground below, concentrating on their adversaries. The mob of White Fang were charging through the streets, all of them shouting as they ran. Raven had no idea why they had separated from Hog and Skull, but it almost seemed like they were chasing something. She moved her eyes around until she saw a potential target; a lone, female White Fang member who was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, keeping ahead of the others.

Raven narrowed her eyes at the girl. 'There's something not quite right, here.' The first thing she noticed was the girl's mask, which was much more detailed than the usual White Fang mask. 'A possible high-ranked agent?' But then she noticed the franticness of her running, almost as if she were desperately trying to stay ahead of them. She would know, she had seen such running many times in her career as a bandit. 'Perhaps she's a defector? Why else would she be running from them?' She then trailed her eyes back down to the mob… and they immediately widened when she saw who was leading the pack; a scorpion-tailed Faunus who was leaping down the streets like a madman, though it also seemed like he was trying to get to the rooftops in whatever way he could. 'Dear god, it's him!'

The tribe leader whipped her head around to the teens, making them focus on her. "Children, I'm only going to say this once." She pointed down to the erratically moving Faunus. "Leave the one in the lead to me. He's a very dangerous acolyte of Salem's, and he will not hesitate to kill you."

The seriousness in her voice caught them all off guard, causing Gwen to crane her head down and fix her gaze onto the scorpion Faunus. The redheaded Anodite read his body movements and then his mana, and she immediately recoiled. "Oh my lord, I… I can see why." Gwen shook her head in disgust. "I don't think I've ever read the mana of a man that crazy. It's almost as if he's focused on one thing while his energy is going in a million directions at once! Who is he?"

"That is Tyrian Callows." Raven revealed. "He is Salem's most loyal servant. He considers her his "queen" and would do anything to please her."

Kevin's face soured at that. "How much "anything"are we talkin'?"

"He's the worst kind of killer that you can ever imagine. One that takes delight in watching you die by his venomous sting." Raven glowered down, seeing that the masked girl had reached the end of the street, a dead-end. With no more roofs to jump to, the girl prepared herself as Tyrian started climbing the walls, with some of the White Fang even going into the warehouse to use the stairs. "His fighting style is erratic, so I will handle him."

Jaune nodded as his team stepped forward. "Right, so the rest of us will handle the ones on the ground." He faced his team with a smile. "You guys ready?"'

"You betcha, Fearless Leader!" Nora exclaimed before jumping right out of the ship. "Geronimo!"

"NORA!" Jaune reached out in vain. "Wait! We haven't come up with a real plan yet!"

Kevin knelt down and absorbed the metal of the floor, changing his hands into hammers as a smirk came to his face. "Alright, here's the plan; we drop, kick the White Fang's ass while Raven takes Tyrian, and then we win. How's that sound?"

"That's a stupid plan!"

"Don't care!" Kevin ran forward and launched himself down, all while yelling; "BANZAI!"

Raven's eye twitched in irritation. "I really don't like how gung-ho those two are."

Gwen sighed and facepalmed. "Yeah, it's a bit much." However, she then noticed that Neptune was stepping up to the ramp as well. "Neptune, you too?"

Neptune gave her a shrug. "Well, yeah. Kevin and Nora have already dropped, so we might as well get this started, right?" He lowered his goggles and readied Tri-Hard, changing the unfortunately named weapon into its trident mode. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go and take on that White Fang in the pointy mask and pony tail. See ya down there!"

As Neptune fell backwards out of the ship, Raven ran forward to try and stop him. "Neptune, wait, she might not—" But it was too late, Neptune was out of the ship and falling toward the earth below. "…be with them." Raven grumbled, screwing her eyes shut before taking a deep breath. "Is this ALWAYS how you kids do your missions?"

Pyrrha stepped forward and pulled out Milo, getting ready to jump. "No, it's mostly just Nora. We're still working on a solution for her overeager tendencies."

"Indeed." Athena said as she pulled her own javelin out. The Mistralian Huntress steadied her footing with a determined expression. "Unfortunately, it's far too late now! Come dear!" With that, the mother and daughter jumped out of the ship, with Jaune following right behind them.

Ren shrugged as Penny strolled up beside him, the green ninja resigning to what fate had given them. "Well, maybe we'll have better luck next time." He glanced to the robot girl with a quirked brow. "You ready, Penny?"

Penny gave him a salute. "Willing and able, Ren! Let's do this!" The two followed their friends' example and propelled themselves out of the ship, dropping down with their comrades. Penny even took the opportunity to activate her new jetpack for good measure.

That left Gwen and Raven alone in the cargo hold, both ladies thoroughly exasperated at what had just transpired in front of them. Raven pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head. "What in the world am I going to do with you children?"

Gwen's shoulders sagged. "I really don't know." She gave the tribe leader an inquisitive gaze. "Is it any easier training thieves?"

"Yes… most of the time." Raven reluctantly answered. "Some of them can be dullards or… hard to teach…" A slew of memories came flooding back to her, the image of a young girl flashing in her mind. Raven closed her eyes as the memory passed. "They either learn, or they don't."

Gwen's lips parted in shock. For a moment, she had seen Raven's mana fluctuate, almost as if she were feeling conflicted about something. Hesitantly, she asked; "…And what if they don't learn?"

The Anodite didn't get an answer at first, with Raven simply facing away from her when she asked the question. But after a few seconds, she finally got one. "They pay the ultimate price… one way or another." That answer had sent a small chill through Gwen, and Raven could tell that the girl had been off-put. "Remember, Gwen, I have done many inexplicable acts throughout my time as leader of the Branwen Tribe, and not all of them have been pleasant."

"I know that, but… have you actually—"

"Killed my own people? Yes." Raven confirmed. "In the tribe, it's survival of the fittest, and if you're a weak link, you must be severed. Either you leave the tribe quietly, or you meet your demise. Be it by the Grimm's hand, or my own."

Gwen narrowed her eyes at Raven. "I see. So your people go by the villain's way of thinking."

Raven suddenly whipped around and pointed in Gwen's face, taking her aback, though the redhead kept in the scream that threatened to escape her throat. "Do NOT presume too much, Gwendolyn! I take absolutely no joy in disposing of my own people!" As Raven glared at Gwen's face though, the young girl's face from her memory suddenly flashed in her mind again, making her step back. 'NO! Not now!' Raven screwed her eyes shut and moved away from Gwen, forcing the memory away as she went over to the ramp. "Enough of this. Let's just focus on the mission at hand!" And with those words, Raven jumped, leaving Gwen behind.

But the Anodite's suspicions were still riding high, especially after seeing that Raven's mana had fluctuated again. 'Something's off with Raven, and something tells me that I need to find out.' Gwen leapt down to the streets below, Raven's outburst never leaving her mind for a second.

…..

"Fantastic!" Ilia shouted from the warehouse roof she was on. "Fan-freaking-tastic!" The chameleon girl had run down the entire street, jumping across rooftop after rooftop, only to come to a dead end. There were no buildings to her left, right, or in front of her, and if she went back, she'd be leading the White Fang right back to the Belladonnas. 'So basically, I'm pretty much screwed. Well, better get ready for the… what?' Just as she was about to prepare her Lightning Lash for battle, the sound of powerful engines suddenly graced her ears, causing her to look up into the sky. At first, she saw nothing, but then a large ship suddenly appeared from seemingly out of nowhere before lowering its exit ramp. Needless to say, she was confused. "What in the hell is that?!"

A moment later, she saw two figures drop from the ship, both yelling obscenities as they fell. Finally, as they approached the ground, Ilia could hear them both yell; "CANNONBALL!" before making impact. She went to the edge to see two people; a boy covered in metal and a redheaded girl in a pink skirt holding a large hammer in her hand. The girl had a wicked grin on her face as she went into a battle stance. "Alright, ladies and gents, who's first?!"

The boy slammed his hands together… only they weren't hands, but metal hammers. "C'mon, any takers?"

As the duo ran into crowd of White Fang to do battle, Ilia's eyes widened in surprise. 'Are… are they our back-up? Already?!'

But before she could think about it any further, Ilia heard a masculine voice call out to her from overhead; "Hey you!" She craned her head up to see more people jumping out of the ship. There were two more redheaded women; both dressed in warrior garb while holding their own javelins and shields. Next to them were two boys; a blonde knight in jeans and a hoodie, and a dark-haired ninja dressed in green. And then, swooping down to the ground was yet another redhead, this one with a pink bow in her hair and a large, green and black jetpack on her back.

But they weren't Ilia's main concern. Rather, she was focused on the neon blue-haired boy that was falling straight toward her with a trident in his hand. Ilia's eyes widened and she jumped back, making it just in time to avoid getting slashed at by the three-bladed weapon. She landed on her feet and glared up to her assailant, seeing that he was wearing goggles over his eyes. He pointed his trident to her and spoke; "I don't know what you and your White Fang friends are up to, lady. But whatever Hog and Skull's got you doing, we're not letting ya do it!" The blue-haired boy surged forward, changing his weapon into a guandao for close-quarters combat.

As the boy lunged at her with the blade stabbing forward, Ilia acted quickly and pulled out her Lightning Lash, using the blade to parry the attack before stepping away from him. "AH! Hey!" she yelled out indignantly. "What the hell is your problem? I wasn't doing anything!"

"Oh, really?" The boy leapt in and began taking more swings at Ilia with his guandao, though Ilia was quick to counter with her own weapon. But an idea made its way into the boy's head and he began spinning his weapon whilst keeping the pressure on Ilia, striking against her Lightning Lash in rapid succession and forcing her to walk backwards. "Then why're you and your friends going up and down the street and terrorizing people?!"

"WHAT?! I'm not with—" Ilia's eyes widened in realization; 'Oh… I'm still wearing my mask, aren't I?' She did a back flip away from the boy and discarded her mask. "I'm not with those idiots down there! If anything, I'm trying to work against them at the moment!"

The blue-haired boy narrowed his eyes at her explanation. "A likely story." He tossed his guandao in the air and it transformed into a rifle, landing in his hands perfectly. "Or maybe you're trying to trick me by tossing away your mask and making up some sob story! Well I'm not fallin' for it!" The boy began shooting the gun, with multiple Lightning Dust rounds blasting out straight toward her.

Ilia rolled her eyes in frustration. "Guess we're doing this the hard way." she said to herself before pressing the trigger of her weapon. At that moment, the multiple sections of her Lightning Lash began coming apart, revealing a bright yellow energy whip holding the sections together. The weapon began cracking with electricity and she began swinging the whip, deflecting the Lightning Dust rounds as she ran toward the boy. As she got closer, Ilia decided that there was only one way to get through his head; by doing what she does best. In an instant, her skin began changing from a deep tan to bright red while her spots, eyes and hair changed to a vibrant yellow, taking the boy off guard. He stopped shooting, which Ilia quickly took the opportunity to whip his weapon out of his grasp. The boy reeled back in shock as Ilia landed a flying kick on him, pinning him to the ground in an instant. "Would you just listen to me for TWO freaking seconds?! Or is that too much for your human pea-brain to handle?!"

The boy glowered right back at her. "Ugh, well, if you're really NOT with the White Fang, then go on, prove it to me."

"I don't have to prove ANYTHING to you, human." Ilia spat back. "Besides, I AM with the White Fang, I'm just not with the sect that those two bozos took over! Some back up you turned out to be. Where did Ghira and Kali even find you people?!"

The boy raised a brow. "Uh… what?"

Ilia's eyes widened and she changed back to her natural coloration. "Ghira and Kali Belladonna? I sent them to go get back up and they sent you, right?"

"Miss, I have NO idea what you're talking about, but… did you just say Belladonna? As in Blake's parents?"

At that point, Ilia's eyes nearly bugged out. "BLAKE?!" She got off of the boy, only to grab him by the collar and hoist him up, giving him a glare as she did. "You know Blake?! Where is she? Are you holding her somewhere? Tell me!"

The boy raised his hands defensively. "Whoa, whoa, hold on there! Nobody's holding anyone hostage or anything! Blake and I are friends, that's it. We met when my team and I came here from Mistral for the Vytal Tournament." He raised a brow and pointed down at her. "Come to think about it, how do you know Blake?"

"She's…" For the briefest moment, Ilia's spots turned pink, though she quickly shook those thoughts away. "She's an old friend." She let go of Neptune's collar and gave him a serious face. "In any case, you WILL take me to her—" BLAM! The two were shocked when a large explosion was heard from the streets below. They looked over the edge to see a large crater with the hyper redhead in the middle, the girl having slammed her hammer on the ground to clear the area. Many White Fang members were scattered and lying on the ground while the teens remained standing, though there were still a few fights going on down there. "…Right after we get out of this mess."

"Right. Look's like Nora's on a roll down there." The boy scratched the back of his head as he wore a guilty expression. "And uh, sorry for attacking you straight away, I probably should've asked more questions first." He gave her a smile and pointed to himself. "Name's Neptune, by the way!"

"I don't exactly care." Ilia replied blankly.

But before the two's conversation could go on, they were interrupted by multiple shots suddenly being fired at them from their left, causing Neptune to shout; "Watch out!" before they dove off in different directions. As they picked themselves up, they heard a rather sinister laugh coming from where the shots came from, making them crane their heads up. "Oh, that's probably bad." Neptune commented.

In front of them was a wild-eyed man with a braided pony tail and wearing a brown leather coat over an open white jacket. He had a pair of pincer-shaped weapons on his arms, each with a set of double-barreled guns situated near his knuckles. Though that wasn't his main feature; that honor would go to the scorpion tail that was peeking out from behind his back. "HAHAHAHA! Well, well, what do we have here? A little entertainment before the REAL show begins! Hehehe!"

Ilia stood up and brought up her Lightning Lash again. "What in the heck are you talking about? We're not here for you to get your sick kicks!"

Neptune grabbed his rifle and aimed it at the beady-eyed psychopath. "Yeah, we're not gonna go down without a fight, Tyrian!" He leaned over and whispered to Ilia; "In all honesty though, we should probably run from this fruit cake as fast as possible. I heard he's unhealthily obsessed with his master." Just then, a shot rang out and whipped past Neptune's ear, making him jump with a yelp.

"Don't think I can't hear you, boy!" Tyrian snarled with a wicked gaze. "If you take the name of Her Grace in vain, then I WILL strike you down where you stand!" But then, his crazed grin returned. "Ah, but it seems that you already know my name! And here I am without a formal introduction. Hehehe, tell me, who told you about me? The general? The drunkard, perhaps? Or was it…" he craned his head up above their heads, "…her?"

Neptune and Ilia were surprised when a raven flew down from out of the sky and landed right in front of them, only for it to transform into a familiar dark-haired woman. Raven did an about face and sent a glare at Neptune as Ilia's jaw dropped to the floor. "Ugh, I swear, Neptune, do you EVER look before you leap?"

The blue-haired boy shook off his initial shock and replied with a salute; "Apologies, ma'am! It won't happen again, ma'am!"

"I'd hope so." Raven then directed her attention to Ilia, the girl still frozen in place. "And you, young lady. Are you with us, or against us?" After a few seconds of Ilia just staring at her, Raven snapped her fingers in front of the girl's eyes, snapping her out of her trance. "What's your story, young lady?! We haven't got all day!"

Ilia blinked and let out a gasp, finally comprehending the question. "Uh… yeah, I think I'm with you miss… wait. You're Raven Branwen of the Branwen Tribe!" She went into a defensive stance with her Lightning Lash. "You used to stop the White Fang and make them pay tolls for your roads! What are you doing here?!"

"That is a story in and of itself." Raven drew Omen and stepped toward Tyrian, the crazed man hunched over creepily in his own strange combat stance. "For now, you both need to get off of this roof and away from here. I'll hold him off."

Ilia narrowed her eyes at the tribe leader. "And what if I choose not to trust you?"

"It's either that or your life ends at the psycho's hands." Raven stated. "Take your pick."

After a brief pause, Neptune went over and gave Ilia a nod. "Listen, I know that you probably already don't trust us, but can we at least both agree that getting killed by a psychopath isn't on any of our bucket lists?" He nudged his head down to the ground below. "C'mon, my friends will help you get back to the Belladonnas. With any luck, Blake's already found 'em."

The chameleon girl sighed and returned the nod. "I hate to admit it, but you have a point. Let's go." With that, the two leapt off the roof and down to the street, joining in on the fight immediately.

"AHAHA!" Tyrian cackled. "I had a feeling that you'd show yourself sooner or later, Miss Branwen! And to think, Her Grace was actually considering allying with you at one point. But now that you've come crawling back to Vale, I suppose that's out of the question now!"

Raven gave him an annoyed sneer. "I did not come "crawling back". Talk like that anymore and you will lose your tongue."

"Oh, I am SO scared!" Tyrian put a hand to his chest. "Perhaps it would be best to end your life here and now, then. After all, it is the least I can do to make the Queen happy. But enough talk…" He lowered himself to the ground, ready to strike. "Let's FIGHT!"

"Took the words right outta my—" Raven didn't get to finish that sentence as Tyrian rushed forward in a flash, using his blades to strike at her face. But Raven was much quicker, using her sword to deflect both strikes. Tyrian wasn't done yet though, as he circled around to deliver a kick to her abdomen. Raven ducked under the kick and grabbed Tyrian by the leg before slamming him back onto the ground. She brought her sword down to end the fight quickly, only for the man's tail to wrap around it in mid-swing. With a swift tug, Tyrian pulled Raven and swung her away from him before getting back onto his feet.

After that, the fight was almost a blur as Tyran rushed around Raven, using either his tail or his weapons in order to strike at her. But Raven was just as quick, blocking every blow with her blade before finally deciding that she'd had enough. With a single, quick motion, she brought the blade down on Tyrian, though he managed to block the strike by intercepting it with his own blades. The madman gave a small cackle as his eyes met with Raven's. "Hehe, don't you ever get tired of fighting? My Queen cannot be defeated, you know."

However, at that moment, Raven could hear a sound approaching; the sound of someone running. But it wasn't just anyone running, it was almost as if there were a pair of feet running on the wind. 'There's only one person I know who can run that fast.' She furrowed her brow and shot back at Tyrian. "Maybe not by myself… but with enough time, there may be one who can."

"Oh… you mean… HIM?!" With impressive speed, Tyrian pulled his tail up in time to stop Fasttrack in his tracks, taking the Citrakayah off guard.

"AH!" Fasttrack hollered. "What the—"

"AHAHA! So, Ben Tennyson! We meet at last!" Tyrian suddenly kicked Raven's hands and flipped away from her blade, his tail wrapping around Fasttrack's neck in the process. The scorpion man put one of his arms around the alien's neck, his blades brushing right under Fasttrack's chin. Raven could only watch as Tyrian cackled in Fasttrack's face. "HAHAHA! So, you really thought that you could get the drop on ME?! I could hear you coming from a mile away!" He whipped his head over to Raven, all whilst grazing his weapon across Fasttrack's fur. "Tell me, what's black, blue and red all over? Well, take one step closer, and the Queen's Servants will slice open his jugular vein! THEN we may just find out! Heeheehehe!"

Raven grit her teeth in frustration. "COWARD! Fight me and leave him out of this!"

"Are you KIDDING?! My Queen wants this little nuisance dead, along with his cousin! And if it pleases Her Grace, then I'm more than willing to—GAH!" Tyrian was suddenly blinded when a green flash hit his eyes, causing him to stumble off of Ben and hit the ground. Once his eyes cleared, he saw what had happened… and his jaw dropped.

"Nice try, but you forgot to restrain my fast hands." Before Tyrian stood what appeared to be a giant walking furnace, one with large arms and legs made entirely out of metal. Each appendage had a bracer bolted onto it, one on each wrist and the same for the ankles. Its "head" was flat with three long slits where the eyes would be, and they were glowing red with power. On his chest was a heavy lock, with the Omnitrix having placed itself directly over it to ensure that it stayed closed. The alien's voice echoed from inside the suit, and it had a very deep and very thick Russian accent to it. He balled his hands into fists and proclaimed; "Now, face the power of… NRG!" The slits on NRG's face began glowing brighter before a red beam of heat blasted out straight toward Tyrian, forcing the Faunus to leap back. Once the beam hit the roof, the concrete melted away almost instantly.

Tyrian breathed out as he landed on his feet, giving the hero a sneer. "What're you, crazy?!"

"Look who's calling who crazy!" NRG countered. "You were literally about to kill me just two seconds ago!"

Raven stepped up and drew her sword again, holding the blade out in front of the Prypiatosian-B in order to stop him. "Very well done, Ben. Now go help the others. I'll handle things up here."

But NRG pointed one of his large fingers to her. "Are you kidding? I'm not about to let you take on Mr. Cuckoo for Coco Puffs all by yourself." He balled his hands into a fist. "If we do this, we do this as a team!"

Just then, a certain voice came up from behind them; "You might wanna listen to what he says, mom!" Raven and NRG turned around to see Yang and Rex approaching on the latter's Sky Slyder, the two landing right beside them a moment later. Yang gave her mother a soft jab to the shoulder and a grin. "Besides, going up against a guy like him by yourself is crazy talk."

"Yang, what are you doing here?" Raven questioned. "What happened with Thunderhog and Exo-Skull?"

Rex pointed a finger up to the sky. "Uh, that's actually what we came to tell you about." The group of four, as well as Tyrian, directed their attention skyward to see Hazel's dropship drawing ever closer, descending down toward the battle below. "As you can see, we've got un problema grande on our hands."

"We managed to find Blake's parents though." Yang added. "So there's a plus."

"AHAHA! Well isn't this just perfect timing?!" Tyrian chortled. "I suppose the big boys have had enough… AND SO HAVE YOU!" He rushed forward and immediately went for Yang, only to have a large metal fist slam into his gut. Tyrian tumbled back and landed in a crouch, glaring up to NRG in distain.

"That… was the worst mistake you could ever make." NRG said angrily as his hands began igniting with heat.

"Ugh, why must you heroes be so persistent?! Can't you just give in and DIE?!"

"Not happening, Fruit Loop." NRG rebuked as the heat energy became more intense. "Besides, I think it's about time we end this!" The Prypiatosian-B blasted twin heat beams from his hands, forcing Tyrian to backflip even further away. The scorpion man landed on his feet at the very edge of the roof, a sly grin etched on his face. But NRG just kept his hands aimed on him. "Nowhere to run now, Tyrian! It's over!"

"Maybe…" Tyrian pointed down. "But then again, maybe not." NRG, Yang, Raven and Rex all peered down to the roof they were standing on, only to realize that the heat beams had cut two long lines through the structure. What's more, upon gazing down into the building, they could see that the beam had also melted a support beam… and that's when the structure began to shake. Tyrian gave them a salute and cackled out; "We'll meet again, Tennyson!" before falling backwards off of the building.

Yang and Rex sent worried glances up to NRG while Raven shot him an annoyed glare, to which NRG gave a shrug. "Alright, admittedly, not one of my best plans. EVERYONE JUMP FOR YOUR LIVES!"

…..

At ground level, Jaune and his team were currently taking down White Fang members left and right in the most non-lethal way possible. After all, those White Fang would still have to face justice for what happened at Beacon, so they couldn't injure them too much. Jaune himself was in the middle of another take down when he suddenly heard a pair of jet engines coming from overhead, which made him crane his head up to see a dropship coming in hot. "Oh crud, GUYS!" the blonde knight called out to his team. "We got company—AGH!"

After taking down the White Fang member she was fighting, Pyrrha's head whipped around at Jaune's yell, and her eyes widened in horror. "JAUNE!"

In the briefest moment that Jaune had let his guard down, a very large White Fang with the claws of a bear came up from behind and slammed him into the ground, keeping his massive hand over the blonde knight's chest. The Faunus pressed down on Jaune's breastplate, making him scream in pain. "Oh, shut up, human!" the White Fang growled, raising his free hand above his head to strike. "This'll all be over soon—AAAAAAGH!" But the threat was cut short when a whip suddenly wrapped around the Faunus' wrist and gave off an electric shock. The White Fang fell back in pain, releasing Jaune and allowing him to breathe again.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha cried out as she knelt by his side. As Jaune kept taking in deep breaths, she lifted his head and settled it onto her lap, locking her eyes with his. "Are you alright? If you can say anything…"

"Pyr, it's alright." Jaune said breathily as he grabbed hold of her hand. "I'm okay. Though I have a feeling that if he'd pressed down any harder, he would've broken some of my ribs."

"Well, you're just lucky that your armor held up." Pyrrha smirked as she knocked against his breast plate. "What was the first thing we discussed about swordplay?"

Jaune sighed and replied; "Never let your guard down. But… who saved me?"

"That would be me." Jaune and Pyrrha whirled their heads up to see a tan-skinned girl with a pony tail with a whip-like weapon in her hand. She pressed down on the weapon's trigger and the whip retracted, changing it into a blade. "Are you human's alright?"

"Uh… we're fine." Jaune confirmed. "But who're you?"

At that moment, Neptune came up from behind the girl, his weapon drawn and a grin on his face. "Hey guys! I see you've met… uh…" The blue-haired boy shifted his eyes onto the pony-tailed girl. "I just realized that I didn't get your name."

The girl rolled her eyes at him. "Ugh, if you HAVE to know, my name's Ilia." Ilia focused back down to Jaune and Pyrrha. "I'm a friend of Blake's and I'm here to find her. Do you two know where she is?"

"Um, yes." Pyrrha answered reluctantly. "She should be… oh no." The Invincible Girl had trailed off when she noticed the dropship land just a few feet away.

Th ship's ramp lowered to reveal Exo-Skull, the rhino mutant stepping down the ramp with his weapon drawn. "C'mon, you little pansies! If ya don't wanna be sent to the slammer, get on the goddamn ship!" Many of the White Fang members began following Skull's advice, running toward the ship as fast as their legs could carry them.

As the White Fang stampeded past them, Pyrrha realized that their current location wasn't the best place to talk. "Ilia, we might have to continue this conversation later." The Invincible Girl grabbed a hold of Jaune and started hefting him up, draping his arm over her shoulder. "Alright, Jaune, nice and easy."

Neptune came over and started doing the same with the other arm. "Yeah, man, don't strain yourself."

Though he was grateful for the help, Jaune gave the two a reassuring smile. "Heh, guys, c'mon, I'm not even hurting all that—OW!" The moment he tried to move his torso, a sharp pain shot through his chest muscles, causing him to take in a sharp breath. "On second thought, better let my Aura do its thing first."

Ilia's eyes darted between Pyrrha and Exo-Skull, the chameleon girl going over everything in her head. 'As much as I hate to agree with a human, she's right.' She sighed and gestured for them to follow her over to the warehouse. "Alright, this way, we'll take cover in…" But the moment she turned around, she saw that the building in question was beginning to collapse, with five figures suddenly jumping off the roof. "You know what? Never mind."

All of the fighting came to a sudden halt as the warehouse's front fell, with everyone's attention having been taken by the avalanche of rubble. Nora stopped herself as she was about to bring her hammer down on a White Fang member, allowing him to get away unscathed. Her lips turned down in a pout before yelling; "Alright, who destroyed this building without getting ME in on it?! I LIVE for this kinda destruction!" She spun her head around to see Jaune, Pyrrha and Neptune approaching her, along with a new face. Nora pointed to the girl and shouted; "Was it her?!"

It wasn't long until Athena, Ren, Kevin, Gwen and Penny came over as well, having heard the commotion. "What is going on around here?" Athena asked before noticing that Jaune was hurt. "Oh my goodness, Jaune! Are you alright?!"

Jaune grinned and waved a hand up to her. "It's alright, Athena, I'm good. Nothin' a little rest won't fix."

Ilia placed her hands on her hips. "Just count your lucky stars that you weren't pinned for very long." She pointed to Jaune's chest. "That chest plate wouldn't have protected you from a Faunus that size for much longer."

Gwen raised an eyebrow at the newcomer. "I'm sorry, but… who are you?"

After shedding his metal coat, Kevin balled his hands into fists. "Hold on, that was the White Fang girl who was runnin' on the roof!" He stepped forward and got right in her face. "Alright, start talkin'. What're you an' your group planning with all of this?" The Osmosian gestured out to the destroyed warehouse and the mob of White Fang. "Is this some kind of attack?"

But Ilia wasn't taking any of it. "UGH! How many times do I have to explain it to you humans?! I'm not with these White Fang! Yes, I'm part of the White Fang, but I'm not with these idiots!" After chewing Kevin out, she faced Gwen with a calmer demeanor whilst crossing her arms. "Anyway, I'm Ilia, and I'm a friend of Blake's. Think you can lead me to her?"

Gwen blinked in surprise. "Oh, sure, we can. But first we need to take care of…" CLANG! Gwen let out a scream as a certain metal-clad alien slammed into the ground next to them, eliciting the others to do the same. But once she saw exactly who it was, her eyebrows snapped up. "BEN?! What the… I thought that you… how'd you get here and why are you NRG?!"

NRG lifted himself up, his metal hand going to his helm in pain. "Ugh, it's a long story, cous', trust me." The Prypiatosian-B got up, only to find that his team weren't the only one's present, noticing Ilia standing among them. "Ah, and you must be Ilia." But he didn't get a response from her, only a bewildered stare. NRG raised a peaceful hand to Ilia, hoping that she wouldn't freak out. "Alright, I know that this isn't exactly all that normal, but just here me out for a second." NRG slapped the Omnitrix core on his chest and transformed back into Ben, the hero giving Ilia a friendly grin. "See? I'm actually human!"

Ilia's face went from astonished to somewhat irritated in a single second. "That doesn't exactly make things much better. That said, WHAT THE HELL?! One second, you're a big metal… thing and now you're a normal person?!"

Ben raised his arm off to show the Omnitrix. "Yep, that's my thing. This device on me can turn me into a whole bunch of different aliens. Cool, ain't it?"

Ilia blinked twice before putting her hands to her head. "Has the whole world gone insane?!"

"No, but it's pretty close." Ren quipped, making Nora stifle a laugh.

As Ilia went off on her tirade, Penny tilted her head toward Ben, still slightly confused by his presence. "Um, Ben? You never did answer Gwen's question. Why are you here?"

"Oh, well, after we found Blake's parents, Yang, Rex and I came over to follow Hazel's dropship. We were fighting Tyrian on the roof with Raven and… wait, where're the others?!" Ben whipped around and began scanning his eyes across the rubble, hoping to whatever deity existed that his girlfriend hadn't been crushed. "YANG?! Guys, can you hear me?!"

It wasn't long before he got a response; "Hey Ben!" Everyone turned their heads up to see that Rex had activated his Boogie Pack and was hovering down to ground level, with Yang and Raven holding on to the wings as they descended. "Don't worry, the ladies are safe and sound. And good news! Raven's only a little pissed off at you!"

Yang rolled her eyes and mumbled; "You're not making this any easier, Rex." As the three landed, the Blonde Brawler noticed that Ilia was still going on her little tangent. "Uh, so I'm guessing the girl in the one-piece is Ilia?"

"Yep." Neptune answered. "She's kind of odd, but I've got a feeling that she'll get used to us pretty quick once we explain things."

Raven came forward and sent a glare toward the Omnitrix bearer. "Ben, what in the WORLD were you thinking?! You could've killed us with a foolish move like that!"

Ben shut his eyes and nodded in regret. "Okay, yeah, it was really stupid. I was just getting REALLY fed up with Tyrian and I lost my cool after he went for Yang. …Hold on, where IS Tyrian?" Ben whipped his head around before finally finding the dropship, where the last of the White Fang and Tyrian were climbing aboard while Exo-Skull covered their backs. Once they were all on board, the ramp lifted up and the ship began to ascend into the sky. "NO!" Ben shouted as he and the team began running toward the craft.

Ben's yell managed to snap Ilia out of her rant, and she too noticed that the dropship was leaving. She ran over to the group, stopping directly beneath the ship as it took off. "We can't let it get away!" Ilia screamed over the jet engines.

"We won't!" Kevin assured before pulling out his Plumber's badge. He pressed a button on it and he threw it like a frisbee up at the ship's hull. Once the badge reached up high enough, it magnetized itself to the hull, with Kevin wearing a satisfied grin as it flew away. "There, now we'll be able to track it where ever it goes! They won't be getting away that easy—ack!" The Osmosian was cut off when Ilia grabbed him by the collar, forcing him down to her level. "Agh! Jeez! What the heck are you doin'?!"

On the other end of things, Ilia was giving him one of the deadliest glares imaginable. "You idiot! I meant that we literally can't let them get away!" She pointed out to where the ship was flying; straight toward the ocean's horizon. "They'll be flying directly to Menagerie over the ocean! And I doubt that they'll be landing anytime soon!"

However, Gwen was quick to intervene. "Alright, time for a breather!" She used her mana to remove Ilia's hand and push the two away from each other. The redhead then went over to Ilia and gave her a stern face. "This isn't the time to play the blame game on each other. Instead of just yelling at us, why not explain the situation to us and we can act accordingly? We'll be willing to help if you can cooperate with us."

"Ha, that's a laugh!" Ilia scoffed. "Humans who actually "care" about a Faunus' situation. Like I haven't heard that lie thrown around dozens of times before."

It was at that point where enough was enough for Yang. She came up behind Ilia and spun her around to meet her gaze. "Okay, seriously? That's enough. You listen here little miss, just because you're the friend of our friend doesn't mean that ANY of us have to take this from you." Yang pointed back down the street. "The Belladonna's have already explained your problem to us, and we're willing to help, so don't go throwing a good thing away, okay? We can help you, but you just have to trust us on this, alright?"

At that moment, there were so many things that Ilia wanted to say to this blonde girl she didn't know. But she knew if she did, she'd never hear the end of it from the Belladonnas… and Blake. 'I have no clue HOW she made friends with so many humans or WHY, but if she really trusts them that much… I guess I have no choice.' Ilia huffed and crossed her arms, her eyes shifting off to the side. "Fine, I'll go along with this, but only for the sake of Blake, her family, and my home."

Gwen gave her a nod. "Alright, that's fine. I'm glad we could come to an agreement." Gwen pulled out her Plumber's badge and began talking into it. "Tetrax, we need pick up now. Blake and the others are waiting back where we dropped them off… also, expect three additional guests coming back with us."

Yang slapped her forehead. "Oh god, dad's gonna have a freak out when he gets home."

Raven winced slightly. "Hmm, yes. I'm not sure how many more people that house can hold. Hopefully this arrangement won't be for too long."

Athena let out a sigh as the Resolute landed in front of them. "Well, at least we managed to control the situation…" The Huntress moved back around to see the remaining unconscious White Fang members who were lying down in the streets. "At the expense of knocking out a few dozen people." She faced Pyrrha and Jaune with a grin. "I'll call James and wait here for him, just to make sure that none of these White Fang wake up and leave."

The couple returned her smile and both nodded. "We understand, mom." Pyrrha said. "We'll make sure to catch you up on everything once you get back to the house, okay?"

"Sounds grand." Athena gave her daughter a wave as the teens and Raven began boarding the ship. "Good luck with everything, sweetheart!"

Jaune gave a small chuckle as Pyrrha and Neptune assisted him into the cargo hold and onto a bench, allowing him to lie down. "Heh, guess it's time for another big adventure, huh?"

"Might as well be everyday around here." Nora laughed. "Ya know what I'm sayin'?"

"Well, I don't mind one bit." Neptune shrugged. "Better than doin' nothing at all, right?"

"Indeed." Ren concurred. "Though I have to wonder what we're in for." The green ninja shifted his gaze over to Ben and Ilia, the two just boarding the ship along with everyone else. Just as the ramp came back up, he hesitantly asked Ilia for more information. "So, just what IS going on here? Something to do with Menagerie?"

Ilia stopped in her tracks as the ship began to fly back up and her glare returned, only this time, it was aimed at the ground. "…Yes." she spoke in a low tone. "A pair of powerful insurgents came to Kuo Kuana about a week and a half ago, and they easily over threw the White Fang's leadership with their strength and unique abilities." Ilia moved her eyes up to Ben. "The rhino and warthog said that they knew them, and that they were aliens."

Kevin facepalmed. "Oh, for god sakes! MORE bad guys from our world? An' here I thought we'd run out."

"Afraid not, Kev." Ben shrugged. "And it sounds to me like Hog and Skull are gonna try and meet up with them soon." The hero focused back to Ilia. "Are there any allies of yours back in Menagerie that you can get in contact with? Maybe warn them about those guys before they get there?"

"Unfortunately, no." Ilia shook her head. "The ones who took over made sure to shut down all communications to and from the outside world. It's why the Belladonnas and I had to make the long boat ride here. And even then, there wouldn't be anyone who could get that message. Those two aliens made sure to snuff out any rebellion in Kuo Kuana." Ilia's right hand went to her left arm. "Even our leader, Sienna Khan, was taken as a hostage. They're using her life as leverage in their rule. If anyone dares try to take them down, they'll kill her right on the spot."

Penny let out a gasp. "That's awful!"

Her exclamation took Ilia by surprise. "It… It is?"

"Yes! No one's life should ever be threatened like that!" Penny stepped up next to Ilia in concern. "Do you at least know if she's in a safe location?"

"Uh… yeah, she's in the White Fang's prisoner hold." Ilia narrowed her eyes at the redhead. "But why do you care?"

Ben piped up from behind her. "Well, that information's actually pretty helpful if we're going to save her, so…"

"No, no, no, I know that. I'm asking why she cares about Sienna's life." Ilia spread her hands out to the entire room. "In fact, I'm surprised that any of you are still going along with this!"

"Why? Because it's the White Fang?" Rex asked. "If that's the reason, then you should probably know that we help anyone who's in trouble. No discrimination here."

"Rex is right." Gwen supported. "It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from. What's important is that you need help and we're willing to give it to you, no strings attached."

Ilia stood in place, staring at Gwen in bewilderment. 'They're… willing to help the White Fang? Just who ARE these people that you've made friends with, Blake?"

"Hey." A voice from behind spooked Ilia out of her trance, making her spin around to see Yang smiling at her. "Oh, whoops! Hehe, sorry, didn't mean to scare ya." The blonde offered the chameleon girl a small smile. "Listen, I know that you probably don't trust humans all that much, I get it. But now that you know that we're all wanna help you, think we can at least all work together to help free your home?"

Ilia's lips parted as she processed Yang's words in her head. "I… yeah, sure. I have no freaking clue who you people are, but… if you really are Blake's friends, then I guess I can't fault her judgement." She crossed her arms and turned away from them. "But I'm still not completely happy with the situation, just so you know."

"And that's fine." Ben assured. "At least we know were all on the same side. We share a common enemy here, so we'll take 'em out together." He raised an eyebrow to Ilia. "By the way, just who are they, anyway? I haven't heard you throw around any names."

"That's because they haven't spoken their names in public." Ilia explained. "The only ones who know are the White Fang officials that have allied with them." She clenched her fists in ire. "The ones who've welcomed their take over with open arms."

"Whoa, seriously?" Jaune asked. "There are some White Fang who're going along with this?"

Ilia nodded solemnly. "Unfortunately, yes. Many of the White Fang's high-ranking officials were growing impatient with Sienna for not getting the results they wanted when they wanted them. There were rumors of a rebellion beginning to bubble up for some time now, and I even heard that Adam was supposed to lead it." A guilty look came to her face. "And… I may or may not have been considering joining it. But after the take-over, my stance on the rebellion changed immediately."

Pyrrha eyed Ilia in suspicion. "…I see. And why is that?"

"Because now, the insurgents are running our organization like a common mob, and the allied White Fang are allowing it to try and convince them to take up their cause!" Ilia sneered in disgust. "They're terrorizing the people of Kuo Kuana, extorting them all out of their money! People are so afraid that they can't even leave their own homes."

"WHAT?!" Nora clenched her teeth and readied her hammer. "Alright, we'll pick Blake and the others up and then we're headed STRAIGHT to Menagerie, because THAT is unacceptable!"

"While I like you attitude, Nora, I'm afraid we can't." Ben politely denied. "We'll need a plan of attack first if we're going to take Menagerie back. But I agree, that's disgusting." Ben sent a concerned expression to Ilia. "How have you gone a week and a half like this?"

Ilia shrugged her shoulders. "Because Ghira and Kali were two of the rebellion leaders in Kuo Kuana. But like I said, the aliens used the White Fang to shut down any rebellion that took form. We thought that we could handle this ourselves, but… well here we are."

Yang gave Ilia an understanding nod. "Well don't worry, Ilia, we'll figure this out." Just then, the ship jostled a little bit as it stopped and began to descend, catching everybody's attention. "Well, guess we're at stop number two." In a matter of moments, the ship landed and its ramp lowered once again, allowing everyone else to climb aboard. The first one inside was Blake, to whom Yang gave a salute. "Hey Blake! Take a gander at who we found!"

The cat girl stopped at the top of the ramp as her parents, Sun and Ruby came up behind her. Sure, she had been told that Ilia had come along with her parents, but it was still surprising. But finally, it all settled in for her and she gave the girl a friendly smile. "Hey Ilia… long time no see, huh?"

Ilia felt her gut do a flip when Blake spoke to her. 'Keep it together, Ilia!' she scolded herself as her spots changed to pink again for a split second. 'Now's not the time to focus on those thoughts. Just go up to her and say hi.' Ilia took a deep breath and did a quick walk over to Blake, returning her smile with a wave. "Uh, hi Blake. It HAS certainly been a while. I only wish that the circumstances could be a bit better."

"Yeah, me too." Blake went over and pulled Ilia into a hug, much to the other's surprise. "Still, it's good to see you."

Ilia was simultaneously really happy and very worried. 'On one hand, she's hugging me. On the other, I hope to god that she can't feel how fast my heart is beating.' Taking another breath, Ilia reciprocated the hug, all while trying to calm herself down. "Y-Yeah, it's good to see you too. I met your friends, by the way. They're kind of an odd bunch."

Blake pulled her head away and gave Ilia a grin. "Well, that's this team in a nutshell; an odd bunch." She gestured over to Sun and Ruby as Ghira and Kali went further into the ship, the latter two introducing themselves to everyone else. "But there's more where that came from. Ilia, this is Ruby and Sun."

"Hey there." Sun pointed a pair of finger guns at Ilia and gave her a wink. "Always nice to meet one of Blake's pals."

Ilia was taken aback slightly by Sun's greeting. 'Well, he certainly seems cheery.' Her eyes then noticed his tail, and a small smile formed on her face. "Oh, it's nice to meet you. I see that you're a Faunus too."

"That's right." Sun placed his hands on his hips. "Born and raised in Vacuo, and proudly went to Haven Academy in Mistral!"

Ilia raised a brow at that. "Really? Well that's a bit odd. I've heard that Faunus rights are much better in Vacuo. If that's the case, then why go to the Huntsman Academy in Mistral?" She folded her arms with a slight head tilt. "Wouldn't it be better to go to Shade Academy instead of Haven?"

Sun raised a finger and countered; "Maybe, but if you ever lived in Vacuo for an extended period of time, then you'd know that it's not worth it. The whole kingdom's almost a barren waste land and there's sand EVERYWHERE." He jerked a thumb to his chest with a goofy grin. "I don't know about you, but I'd rather live somewhere where I don't find sand in every part of my clothes every time I wake up in the morning."

Blake gave a small giggle, which Ilia immediately took notice of. 'Did… did she just laugh? Blake almost NEVER laughed back in Menagerie!' Deciding to write it off for now, she shook her head and gave out a chuckle of her own. "Heh, well, I can't fault that logic, I guess." However, Ilia suddenly felt another pair of eyes on her, moving her head around to find a smiling Ruby staring straight at her. "Uh… can I help you?"

Ruby happily extended her hand. "If a friendly introduction is considered "help", then yes! I'm Ruby Rose. My sister and I are on the same team as Blake! It's really nice you meet you."

"Yeah… sure." Ilia reluctantly extended a hand to Ruby and they shook, even if the chameleon girl wasn't exactly too pleased about it. "So… who's your sister?"

"Yang, the blonde girl over there." Ruby pointed Yang out to Ilia, whom the recognized instantly.

"Oh, her. Yeah, she and I have already met." Ilia gave out a sigh once the shake was over before going back to Blake again. "Well, Blake, for as many human friends as you've made, I'm glad that none of them don't seem to have anything against Faunus."

Blake shrugged her shoulders. "Well remember, this isn't Atlas, Ilia. It's not exactly going to be as awful as it is up there." But then, Blake's eyes widened as the final two passengers came on board the ship. "Uh… though speaking of Atlas… you may not like my final team member. But I promise that she's actually really nice once you get to know her."

Ilia faced the direction that Blake was looking toward. "Why, who is… what?" Ilia went from calm and collected to on the defensive in less than a second. As the ramp closed up and the ship lifted off again, she saw who was standing just a few feet away from them; Weiss and Winter Schnee. "What are they doing here?" She asked with a hint of venom in her voice.

Weiss backed away a small bit while Winter parted her lips in surprise. "Oh, you must be Ilia." the elder Schnee spoke up with a respectful bow. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am—"

"I KNOW who you are!" Ilia said angrily as she stepped over to the two and pointed in their faces. "Now answer my question! What the HELL are you two doing here?!" The volume of her voice echoed throughout the hull of the ship, silencing everybody on board and garnering their attention. "What business does a Schnee, let alone TWO Schnees, have here?!"

Weiss reluctantly stepped forward, offering a peaceful, if somewhat nervous smile. "Um, hi, Ilia's you're name, right? Firstly, I know that my father's company and the White Fang have been at each other's throats for quite some time, and your organization has had very good reasons to be angry with him." The heiress bowed her head toward Ilia and shut her eyes. "I'm sure that any apology I make won't change much here and now, but I just want you to know that I don't share my father's views, at least, not anymore."

Ilia's glare hardened. "I don't believe it. And I mean that VERY literally."

"And I don't blame you." Weiss affirmed as she raised her head up to meet the other girl's intense gaze. "After all of the horrible things that my father has done to Faunus kind, I can see why you have a reason to not trust me or my sister." She then shifted her eyes and smiled over to Blake. "But I just want you to know that one of my best friends is a Faunus, and she's standing right next to you. She's actually the one who helped me improve my views on the Faunus community."

Ilia's eyes snapped back open and she whirled around to Blake, astonishment written all over her face. "B-Blake… is it true? Are you seriously friends with a Schnee?!"

"That's right." Blake confirmed. "Not just friends, actually, we're teammates. She didn't even know I was a Faunus OR associated with the White Fang until about three months into the school year. And even when she found out, she said that she didn't care." The cat girl went over and put an arm around Weiss. "She might be a rich girl, but Weiss isn't her father's daughter. She's a good person." Blake then jabbed a thumb toward Winter. "And her big sister's pretty cool too."

"Thank you, Blake." Winter said. "The compliment is much appreciated."

Ilia could only stare at her friend in shock and awe. "A Schnee… who's nice to Faunus? Am I in some sort of alternate reality or something?!"

Ghira stepped over to the four women with Kali by his side. "I know, Ilia. I could hardly believe it when I first heard. But it seems that Weiss certainly is sincere about wanting to better herself and distance her from her father's infamous legacy."

Kali came forward and placed a hand on Ilia's shoulder. "Ilia, I know that it might be hard to grasp given your… history with the people of Atlas. But people can change, and no one is a better example than Weiss." The woman sent the heiress and her daughter a kind smile. "In fact, Blake has made a lot of great friends while at Beacon, and I hope I can hear about all of the things that happened while you were all there."

"Hehe, I can certainly try, mom." Blake chuckled before going back to her old friend. "Ilia, I left the White Fang not just because of Adam's approach to things, but also because I wanted all of the hate to stop from both sides." She went up and gently grasped Ilia's hand while also holding onto Weiss'. "This is what can be achieved by a more peaceful approach. We can make progress on Faunus rights without using violence to get our point across. So what do you say? Do you wanna try and make some new friends?"

Ilia stared at her friend's face for a moment, then over to Weiss, before finally going to her hand, which was just a few inches from Weiss' own. A few seconds later, Ilia pulled her hand away from Blake's grasp, making the cat girl's face fall. "I'm sorry Blake, but I'm not about to just become friends with someone who's family is responsible for so much Faunus mistreatment." Ilia furrowed her brows as Blake's ears flattened. "You might be my friend, but I'm not about to be friends with a Schnee." And with that, Ilia walked off to a secluded part of the cargo hold, hoping to keep to herself until the ship landed once again.

After a moment of silence amongst everyone, the one to finally break it was Rex. "Well, uh, I guess that could've gone better."

Weiss gave him a deadpan face. "Robo-dolt, sometimes you have to know when to not state the obvious." She gave a sad sigh before glancing over to her cat-eared friend. "I'm sorry, Blake. I guess Ilia just doesn't trust me."

"It's okay, Weiss." Blake said with a pat on her friend's back. "You can't just change everyone's minds in a day, after all. But I'll try and talk to her some more, see if I can help her come around at least a little bit."

"Okay, but if she still doesn't want to, I'll understand." Weiss then tilted her head toward Kali. "But… what did you mean about her history with Atlas, Kali? Did she used to live there?"

"Yes, a long time ago." Kali nodded. "I don't know the full details of the story though."

"I do." Blake said. "But that's probably not a topic for here and now."

Ghira was quick to agree. "Right. Instead, there's actually a topic that I HAVE been very interested in." The tall man faced Ben with intrigue. "Tell me, Ben, would you be so kind as to tell us the full story of just what in the world is going on here?"

Ben gave Ghira a smirk. "I'd be happy to, Mr. Belladonna."

But Ghira waved a hand to that. "Oh, please, Mr. Belladonna's much too formal. Feel free to call me—"

"Ghira." A female voice called out to the side, one that sent a familiar chill down Ghira and Kali's spines. Raven emerged from one of the darker corners of the cargo hold, revealing herself to the couple. "And Kali as well. It's been far too long, hasn't it?"

Kali's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "RAVEN?! Raven Branwen?!"

Ghira went over to his wife in a protective stance. "What in the world are you doing on this ship Raven?" He whipped his head around to all of the teens. "Children, stay back, this woman is a very dangerous—"

"Oh, they know all of that already." Raven clarified. "Trust me, we established everything yesterday." She walked past Ghira and Kali nonchalantly, making her way over to Yang. "In any case, I'm not here for anything involving the tribe." She stopped next to her daughter and nudged her with her elbow, the two sharing a smirk. "I'm actually visiting family, just like you two."

Ghira and Kali blinked in bewilderment, but then they began noticing the stark resemblance between Raven and Yang. As the realization dawned on Ghira, he felt compelled to whirl around to his daughter. "Blake, are you telling me that your teammate is the DAUGHTER of Raven Branwen?!"

Blake gave her parents a small shrug. "Hehe… surprise?"

…..

Over the course of the ship ride back to Patch, Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Rex gave the three newcomers an abridged version of the events that had happened since the Fall of Beacon. From how the Alien Trio arrived, to how Rex arrived, before finally ending with the events of the day prior. Ghira and Kali absorbed the information in silent intrigue while Ilia listened in from the corner she had secluded herself to, the three Faunus all taken aback by what they were hearing. Once the ship finally landed at the Xiao Long residence, everyone began to disembark, with Ben wrapping everything up. "And that's it. I know it's a pretty strange story, but I swear, I couldn't make any of it up if I tried."

"Oh, trust me, we believe it." Ghira assured. "Your transformations are more than enough evidence for us."

Kali faced Gwen, Kevin and Rex with a grin. "Though that's not to say that your friends and cousin don't have amazing abilities as well. Mana control and magic, absorption and building weapons out of your own body parts? It's all just so spectacular!"

Gwen gave Kali a grateful bow. "Thank you, Kali. Though I gotta say, the people of this world are unique in their own way as well." The Anodite craned her head toward Ilia and asked; "So, what do you think about all of this, Ilia?"

The chameleon girl raised an eyebrow. "I have to agree with Ghira. If I hadn't seen your cousin change into a walking furnace, I never would've believed any of this."

Once Teams RWBY, JNPR and SN, as well as Winter, Raven and Penny all stepped out of the Resolute, the mighty ship began to take off one last time, going back to its usual hiding place within the forest. It was then that Ben realized something; "Wait a second, isn't Grandpa Max still onboard Tetrax's ship?"

"He said that he still had a few small things to go over with Swift concerning her parole." Ruby explained. "Tetrax will escort him back home later."

Jaune, who had made a surprisingly speedy recovery from his chest injury, put a hand to the back of his head. "Man, I can't believe that girl might actually just get out on parole." He then folded his arms across his chest. "And to think that she tried to wreck house at Beacon a few days ago."

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow toward Ruby. "Do you think that she'll be able to qualify?"

"I really think so." Ruby shrugged. "That is, if Velvet and Coco are willing to make peace with her. I mean, one can only hope, right?"

Blake smiled toward her friend. "Yeah, I guess that's a good mindset to have, Ruby."

Kali then sent her daughter a similar look. "My word, my daughter surely has changed quite a bit while she was a way. What a positive attitude!" She placed a hand to Blake's forehead. "Are you sure you're well, dear?"

The cat girl blushed and rolled her eyes at her mother's words. "Oh, come on, mom, I haven't changed that much."

Ghira placed his hands on his hips. "Well, if there's one change I'm glad happened, it's that you strayed away from Adam and the path that he set himself upon." He shook his head in disappointment. "I had hoped that he'd come to see things in a different light as he got older, but sadly, he brought about his own downfall."

"Yeah, after we kicked his butt, at least." Yang added with a punch to her palm. "The asshole totally had it comin'."

Weiss cleared her throat, hoping to get the conversation back on track. "Ahem, sorry to interrupt, but now that we're out of the chaos, I have to ask…" She focused onto Ghira. "Who are these insurgents you keep mentioning? We know that they're alien criminals from Ben's dimension, but other than that, we don't have much detail."

"Right, of course." Ghira concurred. "They've never given their names, but their appearance is unforgettable." The panther man sent Ben a glance. "Which means that you'll probably know who I'm describing, right?"

Ben nodded back. "Oh yeah, it's hard for me to forget a face of someone who's tried to kill me."

"Alright. The first one is about yea high." Ghira put his hand up to his hip for measurement. "He's a blue monkey creature of sorts, but with four arms and four eyes. He also has the ability to shoot webbing from his tail and stick to walls, so I can only assume that he is some sort of hybrid creature."

Gwen's eyes widened and she brought up her Plumber's badge, activating its holographic prisoner database. She scrolled through the holographic images of people and aliens before finally finding one that matched Ghira's description. "Is this your monkey?"

Ghira pointed to the image. "Yes! Exactly that."

"Alright, that's Simian." Gwen explained. "He's a silver-tongued, opportunistic con artist of an Arachnichimp who we've dealt with before."

Kevin's face hardened and he folded his arms. "Not surprising that he's the one behind this. Extorting money outta people is something I definitely see Simian doing."

"An Arachnichimp?" Ilia questioned. "Bit on the nose for a species name, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but that's kind of the case with most aliens." Ben clarified before tapping the Omnitrix. "But all that aside, Simian shouldn't be that hard to take down for us. I have my own Arachnichimp transformation, so I know pretty much everything that the species is capable of."

Sun came up and got a closer look at the hologram of Simian. "So wait, this guy can shoot webs outta his tail? Man, wish I could do that!"

"Ew, dude, that's just gross!" Neptune recoiled. "Why would you want that?!"

"'Cause then I could swing anywhere I want!" Sun pointed the tip of his tail up to the peak of the house. "One shot of web up there and ZIP! I'd be up to the roof in a second!"

Ghira furrowed his brow and leaned over to his daughter. "Does he… always go on random tangents like this?"

That only made Blake's nerves grow. 'I hope to god that he doesn't freak out when he finds out about me and Sun.' After that silent prayer, she gave him an answer; "Oh, uh, only sometimes. He's actually pretty well focused when he needs to be. Anyway, who was the other alien?"

"Ah, yes, right." Ghira lifted his arms up over his head. "The other alien, the one in charge of the whole thing, is practically a giant. He must be at least twelve feet tall. But that's just the beginning. He resembles an elephant, one with shaved tusks and ears shaped like bat wings. He also wears black and purple garbs, and has a cap with a red jewel in the middle."

Kevin and Gwen's eyes simultaneously widened. "No way." The Osmosian uttered. "He was in the explosion?" He faced Ben with a serious expression. "I thought for sure that he was sent back to the Null Void."

Ben pursed his lips. "He was… but then he got out again. We were planning to send him back as soon as we could, but… well you know what happened."

"So, who is he?" Kali asked. "You all seem so worried. Is he really that dangerous?"

"A little bit, but he's more stubborn than dangerous." Ben explained. "Gwen?"

"On it." Gwen began going through the holograms again before finding the elephant man in question. "Everyone, gather round, you'll need to hear this." The entire team gathered around her, with everyone getting a good few of the hologram. "This is Trumbipulor. He's an alien crime boss wanted in fifty sectors of our home galaxy. He's escaped the Null Void two—"

"Three." Ben corrected.

"Three times in his career, and he's extremely powerful." Gwen pressed down on her badge and bought up some statistics. "He's highly durable, can cause earthquakes by just stomping his feet, and he's incredibly smart."

Nora suddenly let out a happy gasp. "You mean that we're going to be fighting a giant elephant man?! AH! That's so awesome!"

"Agreed!" Penny pumped her fists. "Maybe now I can really cut loose with my new weaponry!"

"Wait, wait, WAIT!" Ilia waved her arms to get the redheads to stop talking. "Are you telling me… that we lost our homeland and the White Fang… to a guy named Trumbipulor?!" She graced her face with a double facepalm as that fact sunk in. "That has to be the DUMBEST name I've ever heard!"

"Well, they ARE aliens, ya know." Kevin countered. "Whaddya expect them to be named?"

"I… I don't know! I just didn't expect such a dumb sounding name!" Ilia took a deep breath and regained control of herself. "Whatever, let's just get to Menagerie so that we can take these two down and get our home back."

"Uh, I think you're skipping a couple of steps there." Rex pointed out. "Remember, we have no plan."

"We can make one up on the way there." Ilia insisted. "If we let the pig and the rhino get there before us, they'll be allied with Trumbipulor by tomorrow!"

"I'm aware." Ben nodded. "But we can't just rush over there, guns-a-blazing, without a proper plan. It'd be suicide."

"Ilia, I know that this probably isn't what you want to hear, but Ben is right." Ghira spoke up. "If we wish to defeat these scoundrels, we'll need a proper plan in place before we do anything."

"Are you serious?!" Ilia hollered. "Menagerie will only suffer more if we wait! If what they said is true about who those two mutants work for, then our homeland could be a new nesting ground for the Grimm and their mistress if we wait for too long!"

"Which is why we won't be waiting too long." Ghira shifted his gaze up to the sky. "Menagerie is on the other side of the world, which means that though it is afternoon here, it's currently the middle of the night there. If we were to leave now, we'd most likely arrive by morning, which won't be ideal for a mission such as this. So, we'll leave first thing tomorrow, allowing us to make a plan and get some rest after today. By the time we arrive in Menagerie, it'll be around midnight. It'll be the perfect time for our operation to take place."

"A sound idea, Ghira." Raven vouched. "We may not make it there before Salem's forces, but we WILL have something that they don't; the element of surprise." The tribe leader quirked a brow to Ilia. "Wouldn't you say so, young lady?"

Yang leaned over to her mother and mumbled; "Mom, don't try to antagonize her, please?! We're trying to earn her trust, not make her mad."

As frustrated as Ilia was at the whole thing, she had to admit that Ghira had a point. If even one thing went wrong, they would lose everything. This had to be a planned-out attack and not a gung-ho one. With a heavy sigh, Ilia slumped her shoulders in defeat. "Alright, fine, we'll make a plan and wait until morning…" She pointed a finger and waved it around to everybody. "But I'm getting up before everybody else so that I can make SURE that you're all awake!"

Jaune smirked and shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so, but just to let you know, we're pretty early risers ourselves."

"Oh… well good! Glad to hear it." Ilia turned around and began heading toward the house. 'Well, if I'm gonna be here, I can at least finally have a shower.'

As Ilia made her way to the abode, Winter let out a content sigh. "Well, now that all of that is over, I say that we get started making up that plan." She pulled back her sleeve, allowing her to take a look at her watch. "After all, it's only…" But then a panicked expression took over her features. Her wrist watch's hands were pointed to twelve and six, which could only mean one thing. "Oh no! I missed my lunch date—I mean, meeting with Kenny!" Winter quickly corrected herself as a blush came to her face, with her sister and Gwen giving her similarly sly smirks.

"Ah, that's no trouble, Winter." Ben waved off. "I'm sure my cousin will understand you missing your normal date time. Hold on just a sec." The hero brought up the Omnitrix and quickly transformed into… "FEEDBACK!" The Conductoid gave Winter a thumbs up and a toothy smile. "C'mon, let's get you and Kenny on the horn."

Yang stepped up and nudged her boyfriend. "I'll come with. Once you're done, maybe we can squeeze in a quick Arkham session before making up a plan." She then gave Winter a thumbs up. "And don't stress out, 'kay Winter? Kenny'll be cool with you being a little late."

Winter let out a nervous breath as she followed Feedback and Yang to the door. "Well, I can only hope so, Yang."

With a quick walk, Winter, Yang and Feedback managed to catch up with Ilia. But as soon as the four reached the door, it opened up right in front of them, revealing Doctor Holiday on the other end. Ilia jumped back in shock while the other three went inside. "AGH! Who are you?!"

Holiday crossed her arms and tilted her head. "Well, I could ask you the same question, miss." She craned her head up to face everyone else down the drive way, focusing particularly on a certain EVO. "Rex, who's this?"

"Oh, hey Holiday!" Rex greeted before waving his arms over to the Belladonnas. "Hey guess who we found wandering around Vale? Blake's Parents!"

Holiday's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Well, that's certainly a surprise!" She sent her eyes back in Ilia's direction. "But then, who's she?"

"Uh, the name's Ilia." The chameleon girl answered. "I'm Blake's friend."

"Ah, I see." Holiday stepped aside with a welcoming smile, waving her arm toward the inside. "Well, come on in! We weren't exactly expecting company today, but friends and family are always welcome."

"Um… thanks." Ilia said. "Uh, just one thing, where's the bathroom?"

"Oh, you'll find one just down the hall and to your left." Holiday pointed down the main hallway.

"Thank you, I—WHOA!" Ilia was suddenly spooked when she felt something fast and furry run underneath her legs, rushing past her and out into the front lawn. "What in the heck was… that?" She set her eyes out to the lawn to see two small bundles of fur bounding out to the group, with each letting out small, excited barks. "P-puppies?"

"Romulus, come to mommy!" Pyrrha called out as Romulus ran over to her and Jaune. "Were you good for Doctor Holiday while we were gone?"

"I'm sure he was a good boy." Jaune said while petting the wolf pup's head.

Blake beamed as Rema came over to her, holding out her arms for the little wolf to jump into. "Haha! Hi Rema!" She scratched underneath Rema's chin as the pup began licking her face. "Oh, you're happy that mommy's finally back home, aren't ya?"

In contrast to the excitement that everyone was feeling, the Belladonnas were staring at their daughter in amazement. "K-Kali, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Ghira stuttered.

"I… I think so!" Kali clasped her hands together in joy. "Blake, you've gotten over your fear of dogs! How wonderful!"

Blake blinked at her mother's words before a smile came to her face. "Heh, well yeah, sort of. But even then, these technically aren't dogs." She lifted the little pup up to her mother. "See, Romulus and Rema are actually wolf pups. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ruby and Kevin found them after their parents were found dead, so they decided to take them in. And well, this little one got attached to me… and the feeling was mutual."

Kali gasped and scooped Rema into her arms, twirling around as she gazed into the pup's baby blue eyes. "Oh my goodness, aren't you just the cutest little thing I've ever seen!" She pulled Rema into a hug. "Rema, I'm your grandma!" Rema got in a good whiff of Kali's scent, and she immediately perked up when she realized how similar it was to her mothers. The little wolf pup barked happily and began licking Kali's face, much to her enjoyment. "Oh, dear! Well aren't you friendly?"

Back at the front door, Ilia wore a soft smile as she went inside the house, making her way to the bathroom as she chuckled to herself. "Heh, well that was unexpected. Nice going, Blake."

As Kali happily played with Rema, Ruby went over to Blake and whispered to her; "Don't you think your mom is overdoing it just a little bit?"

"Nah, she's always this outgoing." Blake denied.

Ghira chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well Blake, I must say, you've become a much different person than when you left home. You've made so many friends, concurred your fears and defended Vale along the way. Tell me, is there anything you haven't done?"

Blake was about to answer him before remembering that she hadn't told him about her relationship with Sun. '…Maybe I can keep it hidden from them while they're here and just tell them once this business with Trumbipulor is over? …No, that wouldn't be fair. They of all people deserve to know. Besides, mom probably already suspects something.' Blake gave another sigh, lowering her gaze to the ground. "Well, there is one thing that I've neglected to mention."

That caught Kali's attention and she stopped her little cuddlefest with Rema. "What is it, dear? Something wrong?" After she'd said that, she noticed how Blake glanced back to Sun with a mixture of happiness and trepidation, which Sun returned to her instantly. It was that one look that confirmed her suspicions. 'Ah-ha, I knew it!'

"Blake, is everything alright?" Ghira asked. "You seem afraid of something."

"Not afraid, dad. Just… a little nervous is all." Blake beckoned Sun to come over to her with a smile. "Well, what do you say we rip the band-aid off?"

Sun shot the same smile back to her. "I'm right there with you." He came over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Always."

"Thanks." Blake took a deep breath and faced back to her parents, her father with a confused face while her mother wore a knowing grin. "Guys, I know that you've already met him… but now its time I give you a proper introduction." She wrapped her hand around Sun's shoulders as her blush came back. "You see, Sun is… actually someone very special to me. He's helped me deal with a lot of problems that've come my way and I've come to care about him very much… so much that we actually started going out about a week ago. Mom, dad, this is Sun Wukong, and he's my new boyfriend."

The two parents were at a loss for words… for two completely different reasons. Ghira's jaw had dropped in astonishment while Kali was back to beaming happily, her eyes lighting up as soon as the news was dropped. The two focused their eyes on Sun, who gave them a nervous wave. "Uh, hehe, nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. B."

…..

A/N: And I think that's a good place to leave it off for now. Ilia and the Belladonnas have been reunited with Blake, they've been acquainted with our heroes, and now the identity of our two Menagerie miscreants have been revealed; Trumbipulor and Simian. I told you guys that I wanted to get the spotlight on to some of Ben 10's more obscure villains, and I meant it! But man, Ilia's not feeling the warm welcome, is she? And hoo boy, Sun might be in for it, guys. Can't wait to see how he deals with the parental pressure. But that will have to wait for… NEXT TIME! As the planning process to take back Menagerie and the White Fang begins, Blake feels the need to try and sort some things out with her father, though she finds that to be easier said than done. Meanwhile, Ilia finds that she can't just be left alone in a house filled with over twenty people. Will she make some unexpected bonds, or will she keep herself closed off? The only way to find out is to stay tuned, so until next time guys! Thanks for reading, and I'll be seeing ya!