A/N: Hello everyone! And welcome to the official beginning of the Negative Ten arc, which will be the final BIG arc of the story before the ending. With that being said, things in this arc are probably gonna be pretty heavy and a bit dramatic going forward, so brace yourselves and bear with me on this one, okay? We've got a big battle this chapter, so let's get into it, shall we? This is…

Chapter 109: Why So Negative?

…..

Within the meeting room inside of Evernight castle, Salem sat at the head of the long table, watching intently through one of her Seers at what was currently happening in Vale. Her force of followers, which Rojo had apparently dubbed "The Negative Ten", had just successfully interrupted the White Fang conference at Vale's city hall. So far, everything was going according to plan. There was only one thing left for her to do; unleash their secret weapon. However, she would bide her time, wait until the heroes and her minions fought for a little while before making a… grand showing of their powerhouse of a Grimm.

But still, her mind was still lingering on that strange name. "So… "the Negative Ten"? While a very poetic name, I must ask…" Salem craned her head over to Viktor, whom was standing with Doctor Watts and Hazel as well. "Where DID Rojo come up with it?"

Viktor bowed his head and put a hand over his chest as he answered; "My lady, it was a name given to a group that Rojo was once a part of back on Earth." The Transylian directed his eyes toward her. "I personally was not around to bear witness to these events, I heard it was formed by the former Forever King, Lord Driscoll, in an attempt to quash Tennyson's heroics once and for all back when he was but a child."

"Hm, quite interesting." Watts said with a hand to his chin. "A bit on the nose with the name, but I suppose it IS quite apropos."

Hazel simply grunted out a response while nodding, not bothering to jump into the conversation. However, this also managed to garner Salem's attention. "…Is there something you wish to share with us, Hazel?" she questioned, to which she received silence. "I sense an air of frustration around you. Is it because of Ozpin?"

"…Lady Salem." Hazel uttered while lowering his head to her. "With all due respect, I wish you would have sent me with the others. To hunt down and dispose of Ozpin."

Viktor mimicked Hazel's movements. "And if I may be so bold, my lady, I also wish to have been sent out as well. My presence would have added even more firepower to their arsenal."

"I am aware, on both accounts." Salem said as she faced the duo. "However, the both of you are still in no shape to do battle." She gestured toward Hazel's sling. "Especially you, Hazel. If you had gone, then they would have immediately targeted your injured shoulder." The large man grumbled as Salem went to Viktor next. "And dear Viktor… don't think I didn't notice you wincing and groaning in pain earlier this morning when you came down from the tower."

"But I—" Much to his shock, Viktor was cut off when Salem stood up, placing a finger to his lips.

"No "buts"." The witch said firmly. "I will not allow you to put your body through more than it already has."

Viktor took a pause for a moment before nodding his head, with Salem taking her finger away. "I understand, my lady."

"Very good." Salem said with a small smile before returning to her Seer, peering into its crystal head. "Now, why don't we sit back and watch events unfold, hm? It should be quite interesting, to be sure."

"Indubitably." Watts nodded. "But if I may ask, Lady Salem… why the Beringels with wings?"

"…You shall see."

…..

A part of Ben couldn't believe that this was happened. After all these years, a new Negative Ten had been formed, one under Rojo's leadership. Or rather co-leadership, as he was certain that Cinder was also a big part of this being Salem's Fall Maiden and all. Still, as he glared up at the still-smirking Rojo, he KNEW that this was a fight that was going to be a lot tougher than the ones the team had experienced so far… especially with the addition of those flying Beringels. 'What's next, wings on Boarbatusks?'

At that moment, a voice piped up from behind him; "Tennyson!" Ben's head whipped around to see Sienna pulling out her chain whip, Ghira bringing out his claws, and Kali producing a flint-lock pistol from beneath her hakama, the three feline Faunus preparing for battle. "Don't worry, we're here to back you up!" Sienna said with an assuring grin.

Ben smiled back and gave a thumbs up. "Thanks, Sienna, much appreciated." The hero turned back toward the street to see that all of the reporters had left, much to his relief. He then scanned his eyes across Teams RWBY, JNPR, CFVY, and SN, as well as Gwen, Kevin, Rex, Cooper, Ironwood and Goodwitch. Sure enough, they were all ready for battle. "Alright, guys, this is gonna be one hell of a fight, so let's give them everything we've got!"

He received a simultaneous; "RIGHT!" In response.

Back up on stage, Rojo and Cinder snickered a little bit at the comradery of the team, glancing toward each other knowingly. "Oh, how noble." Cinder goaded. "Valiant as always, it seems." Her smug expression became a light glower toward the team. "Well, I'll have you know that WE have been more on the same page as well, as of late, so I'd say our chances are rather adequate as well!"

"Case in point!" Rojo raised a hand and pointed at the heroes, shouting; "Attack!" The heroes prepared for the Negative Ten to come charging, but much to their surprise, it didn't come to that. Rather, all of the winged Beringels began swooping out of the sky and tacking themselves into the large group of heroes, separating many of them from the group in the process. By the time the Beringel's onslaught had finished, only Ben, Gwen, Kevin, Rex, and Teams RWBY and SN were left, all of them taken aback.

"W-What happened?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"MOM?!" Blake cried out, getting to her feet immediately. "DAD?! ILIA?!"

"Blake!" Everyone heard Ghira answer back and they whipped their heads around, seeing that the Beringel had carried many of their friends and allies off to other parts of the massive courtyard in front of city hall. Ghira was currently slicing into the jugular of one of the massive Beringels, fending it off as he shouted to his daughter. "Stay focused! We'll be fine, I promise!"

"Just keep those villains from doing any damage to the city!" Kali added as she shot a Beringel through its skull with her weapon at close range. "We'll regroup shortly!"

Weiss stepped forward in concern. "But we can't just LEAVE you!"

On another section of the courtyard, Cooper had taken out his laser cannon and shot a clean blast straight through an incoming horde of Beringel, slicing them in half and turning them to dust. "Don't worry about us!" The armored genius called out. "You guys have your OWN things to worry about!"

Coco whapped her purse upside one of the Beringel's heads before stomping it in with her boot, a light smile on her face. "Yeah, we'll take care of the flying monkeys for ya! Just take down those bad guys, huh?!"

Yang pursed her lips before glancing over to her boyfriend, the hero nodding back to her slowly. With a short sigh, Yang shouted back to them; "Alright, but NOBODY get killed, ya hear me?! Or else I'LL kill ya myself!"

"We shall make the effort to try!" Penny said as she brought out her Block Busters and smashed two of the Beringel's heads together, killing them instantly.

"Alright… let's do this." Ben muttered as he and the others faced the Negative Ten once more. Rojo, Cinder, Emerald, Mercury and Neo had all jumped off of the stage and began to stroll over to the four mutants and Subdora, the ten of them lining up side by side with each other. The team of heroes did the same thing, standing parallel to their opponents.

Sun and Neptune were both facing off against Leonidas, the lion mutant's blank white eyes glowering back at them. "Think there's anything left of Lionheart in there?" Sun asked.

"If there is, it might be hard to reach." Neptune sighed. "But… I guess our only hope is to knock some sense into him."

Kevin and Gwen stood across from Thunderhog and Exo-Skull, the mutated duo grunting and bellowing as they readied for their attack. The redhead smirked to her boyfriend and asked; "Think we can take them?"

"So long as I get the big guy, I think we'll be good." Kevin said as he slammed his Lighting Dust arms together, creating a spark of electricity that coursed through his arms as his eyes became yellow. "Now let's do this!"

Ruby and Weiss were standing directly across from Neo and Subdora, the Merlinisapien twirling her gold-plated gun around in her hands while the multi-colored mute simply glared right at Ruby, making the Hooded Huntress shrink back a bit. "How is it that someone like HER can be so threatening?" Ruby muttered.

"She must be REALLY mad about what happened to her boss." Weiss commented before smiling to her partner. "But don't worry, we'll beat them."

To their immediate right, Blake and Yang were in an stare down with Emerald and Mercury, the cat girl giving her own partner a grin. "Ready to show them how a REAL team works?"

"You bet, partner." Yang said with a fist bump. "Let's do this!"

Meanwhile, Rex found himself face to face against Silyrian, the scorpion mutant cackling madly as a loud clicking was heard in his throat. Rex couldn't help but wince uncomfortably at the sound. "Ugh, guess I've got crazy guy over there." He shifted his gaze over to Ben… to see that the hero was facing off against both Cinder AND Rojo. "Uh, dude? You need any help on this one?"

"Trust me, I'll let everyone know when I need it." Ben affirmed as he reached for the Omnitrix. He began searching through his aliens before he found one that stood out to him… a new icon that had a very canine-like face. "Besides… I think I've got just the alien to give them a run for their money." He raised his hand and slammed the Omnitrix core down, transforming in a bright green flash of light.

In no time, a majority the hero's body became covered in thick, black fur, with certain areas of white fur growing around his face, upper chest, and the undersides of his arms. His body grew to about seven feet tall and became very bulky, his muscles growing quite significantly. His face became more akin to that of a dog, with a long muzzle, sharp teeth, and pointed ears at the top of his head. His hands were much bigger and his feet were more canine as well, with sharp claws coming out of his four fingers and three toes. His legs were adorned in a pair of black pants while his upper body was adorned in an open, sleeveless green leather jacket with the numbers one and zero emblazoned on the front in black numbers. On the jacket's back was a large set of skull-and-crossbones which also had the number ten on its forehead. With the Omnitrix on his chest and his signature green eyes glowering at his enemies, Ben let out a mighty roar, one that crumbled the very earth underneath him... while also shattering all of the glass windows of city hall. "GRAAAAAAH! Alright! Who here is lookin' for an ass-whuppin'?!" the new yet familiar alien spoke in a clear Texan accent.

Everyone couldn't help but stare at the new alien transformation that Ben had changed himself into. "That's… that's a Metallikanine!" Ruby shouted.

"Yer goddamn right I am!" Ben growled back. "Now I ask again! Who wants to have their ass kicked in by Ben Tennyson!?"

Cinder couldn't help but sneer at the alien before her. "Ugh, he transformed into that uncontrollable mutt that attacked Beacon the other day? Bad enough that we only listened to it, but now we have to FIGHT it as well?"

"Apparently." Rojo said as she popped a few muscles in her neck. "But why don't we cut that chit-chat an' actually get to fighting?!"

Ben let out another roar, this time retracting his second metallic sets of claws and teeth, all while the fur on his shoulders and forearms hardened into thick steel plates. "Hell yeah, I'm all fer that! An' let me tell ya somethin'; ya'll better be ready to brace yerselves fer impact, 'cause I ain't 'bout to go easy on ya! NOT this time! THIS time, I'm gonna make sure that ya'll're put away an' shipped off to prison, even if that means beatin' the SHIT outta ya an' shippin' ya off in a body bag! An' THAT'S the bottom line, because… uh…" The Metallikanine slapped his forehead. "Gah, dogshit! I didn't even come up with a NAME fer this guy!"

Right next to him, however, Yang was already thinking up potential names for this new alien, her gaze moving up and down his form in contemplation. 'Let's see, he's a dog… with metal plates…' Her gaze then moved to the back of his jacket. 'And he has a skull-and-crossbones on his jacket…' Yang's eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face, having suddenly jumped up onto her boyfriend's shoulder to whisper into his ear.

"Huh? What's that? …Oh." Ben's canine lips moved up into a metal-toothed smirk at what his girlfriend was telling him. "Oh yeah, I LIKE that one." He cleared his throat as Yang jumped off his shoulder. "Like I was sayin'; THAT'S the bottom line…" The alien reared his head back and roared out; "BECAUSE STEEL BONE SAID SO!"

As much as she didn't want to, Rojo grinned at his proclamation. "Alright, I've gotta give props, That's metal as shit." She pulled Bloodstrike off of her back as Cinder light her hands on fire, creating a pair of deadly blades in her hands. "But enough talk! Let's fight!"

"Gladly!" the newly named Steel Bone growled back. "Everyone… CHARGE!" Both groups gave out their own battle cries as they ran forward, meeting in the middle and clashing with each other immediately.

…..

However, unknown to any of the heroes or villains, a pair of television news reporters were still hiding behind one of the nearby buildings… and they had both seen the boy in the green jacket transform into that massive dog beast. In her many years as a news reporter, Lisa Lavender had never seen ANYTHING like this, and she could only stare dumbfoundedly as the two groups began to clash. Without taking her eyes away from the fight, she asked her camera man; "Gregory… did you see that?"

She received a tiny; "Uh-huh." Gregory the camera man was still quite clearly shocked.

"Did the camera get that?" Lisa inquired further.

"Every second of it." Gregory replied. "W-What kind of semblance does that kid even HAVE? I don't think I've seen transformation-type semblances that're THAT good."

Lisa narrowed her eyes at the group as they continued to fight. "…I'm not too sure if that even IS a Semblance. Did you see how he was fiddling with his watch before he transformed?"

Gregory glanced toward her, making sure not to move the camera away from the battle. "Actually, yeah, I did. Think it's some type of secret piece of technology? …Or maybe even magic?"

"Too early to tell." Lisa said with a shake of her head. "For now, just keep rolling, Greg. This sort of thing is what news headlines around the WORLD are made of."

"Right… and if we run out of memory on the camera?" Much to Gregory's shock, Lisa pulled out a memory card from her left breast pocket, all while keeping her gaze focused on the battle. "…Wow, you're good."

Lisa smiled with determination. "I know I am. And are we still live?" She received a nod from him in response. "Good. Now, let's give the people some reassurance, hm?" With that, Lisa stepped in front of the camera briefly to address her audience. "People of Vale… and possibly all around the world, this is Lisa Lavender of the Vale News Network… and what you're seeing behind me is something that has to be seen to be believed."

…..

Back at the fight, Ruby and Weiss were busy fending off Neo and Subdora respectively, the two villainess' being unrelentless in their attack. Despite how much bigger Crescent Rose was to Neo's weapon, Hush, the mute girl was having no trouble fending off Ruby's giant scythe with her umbrella, having extended a sharp blade from its tip for extra deadliness. After a series of parries and counters from both sides, Ruby suddenly came to a stop and raised her hand up to Neo. "WAIT!" The mute girl stopped just short of thrusting her umbrella at Ruby, giving the silver-eyed girl a pointed glare. "I know you probably blame me for what happened to Torchwick… and honestly, you have every right to. But is allying with Salem full-time really WORTH it?"

Neo raised a brow and shouldered her umbrella, placing a hand on her hip as Ruby continued. "If Salem gets all of the relics, then that means the world is over! Everything, gone in an instant! What's the point in getting revenge on me if there's no world to live in anymore?!"

Not too far from them, Weiss and Subdora were caught up in their own little duel, the heiress using Myrtenaster to keep the Merlinisapien from getting in close with her Queen's Ransom. However, Weiss paused for a moment to give Ruby and incredulous face. "Ruby, really?! You're trying to do this NOW of all times?!"

"Si, it definitely seems inopportune." Subdora agreed before suddenly wrapping her tail around Myrtenaster before pulling hard, yanking the weapon right out of Weiss' hands. "But then again, taking your focus off the enemy is also quite ill-advised."

"HEY!" Weiss shouted before letting out a scream, having narrowly ducked out of the way of Subdora's energy machete. "Oh, that was a cheap move!"

"Weiss!" Ruby whirled around and began making her way over to help her partner. "Hang on, I'm comi—ACK!" All of a sudden, Ruby was pulled to a stop when her signature red cloak was promptly yanked, choking her at the same time. She stumbled backward and was immediately struck across the face, her eyes seeing nothing but pink as Neo's umbrella made a direct hit. The umbrella then snapped down and struck her in the hands, making her let go of her scythe. "GAH! Hey!" Ruby dove down toward her weapon, but before she could grab it, Neo opened her umbrella and then hooked it around the massive scythe's head, pulling it up and tossing it up and away from the duo.

Neo closed her umbrella and settled it on her shoulders, turning around while smirking devilishly at Ruby as the scythe spun downward and landed on its tip in the courtyard pavement. Ruby glared right back at Neo. "…So that's how it's gonna be, is it?" Neo nodded before performing a series of flips toward Ruby, culminating in a kick right at Ruby's face. However, Ruby suddenly jumped back and grabbed Neo's foot, giving it a twist to flip the ice-cream colored girl away from her. Neo landed on her feet and made a "come at me" motion with her hand, opening her umbrella at the same time. "Oh, it. Is. ON!"

With that declaration, Ruby rushed forward and made to punch at Neo, though surprisingly, the girl didn't make a move. Instead, Ruby's fist connected… and Neo shattered like glass, much to her surprise. "W-What—AH!" Ruby leapt back when Neo sprang up on her right side, swinging her umbrella at her with its bladed tip just a mere inch away from her face. Ruby performed a backflip and landed on her feet before using her Semblance to rush directly at Neo, though the mute girl simply smiled at this. Neo retracted the hidden blade and opened her umbrella again, holding it out in front of her just a second before Ruby would hit her. When the Hooded Huntress made contact, red rose petals were sent scattering and Ruby found her face smushed against the umbrella, a pout on her face. "…You don't make things easy, do you?"

Neo shook her head before shoving Ruby back, delivering a kick to her midsection and knocking a bit of wind out of her. As Ruby regained her breath, she glowered at Neo and tightened her fist, giving out another cry as she made to strike Neo upon her face. However, like before, Neo's image shattered before her, making her eyes widen. "What? W-Where'd she—huh?" Ruby felt a small tap on her shoulder and she spun around with a raised fist… only to see her sister standing behind her. "Wha?! Yang?! What're you doing—" SMACK! "AGH!" Ruby reeled back and clutched her face, staring up at her sister and disbelief. But that didn't last for long… as Yang's violet eyes briefly flashed pink and brown

"…So that's how it's gonna be, huh?" Ruby wiped her face and rolled her shoulders, loosening her muscles in preparation. "Well, let me just tell you, your mind games won't work on me!" She raised her fists again. "Because I've actually had practice fighting my own sister! RAH!" Ruby made to hit the disguised Neo, but found her fist caught in her opponent's hand, the face of her sister smirking before bringing back her own fist to hit Ruby back. But before she could, Ruby swung her body back and performed an arm drag on the disguised girl, much to Neo's surprise.

Ruby, however, smirked to herself. 'She might be able to DISGUISE herself as someone else, but there's one thing she CAN'T mimic; someone's bodyweight.' The Hooded Huntress threw Neo to the ground, shattering the Yang illusion that she had put up. The mute girl tumbled for a bit before flipping onto her feet, bringing out her umbrella again before noticing that Ruby had disappeared, a few rose petals having been left in her place. She glanced to the side to see Ruby rushing toward Crescent Rose, making Neo furrow her brow a bit.

The mute girl gave chase, but it proved to be for naught. Ruby grabbed the handle and swung herself around her weapon, heating it out of the ground before giving her signature spin, propping it up over her shoulder as she had many times before. "Now… why don't we try a new dance?" Neo smirked before performing a front flip as she was running, vaulting herself up and over Ruby and landing on her feet directly behind her. She then extended the hidden blade within Hush once again and made a quick stab at Ruby, which she countered by swinging her scythe handle to bat the umbrella away.

"Not today!" Ruby said before shifting Crescent Rose into its sniper rifle mode, locking and loading before shooting off round after round at Neo. But shockingly, Neo was quick to the punch with how quickly she was creating illusions to take the bullets for her. One after another, each one shattered, until finally, Nep was right next to Crescent Rose's barrel, giving it a kick upward as another shot was fired. Neo wore a cheeky grin while Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Oh, you're good."

Meanwhile, not too far away from the two, Weiss was having her own problems. The heiress found herself in a game of cat and mouse as she found herself unarmed and vulnerable to the Merlinisapien that was trying to maim and-or kill her. Subdora was kick to the punch as well, taking every opportunity to try and trip Weiss up. She wanted her to make the one mistake that would prove fatal, no matter how many times she had to strike the heiress. "Come now, biancaneve, don't keep trying to delay the inevitable!"

"Sorry, I'd like to keep my face, thank you!" Weiss said as she weaved away from another swing from the energy machete. "Besides, I'd rather not have; "Killed by a Walking Fashion Disaster" on my tombstone." The heiress had to smirk internally at that insult. 'Rex's word play is beginning to rub off on me.'

"AH!" Subdora gasped with a sneer. "How DARE you?!" The Merlinisapien twisted herself around and whipped her tail at Weiss' face, sending her stumbling back. The white-haired girl rubbed her face to dull the pain… but her eyes widened the moment she looked back up, seeing that Subdora had jumped into the air to stab her Queen's Ransom right down at her. "I will have your head for such an insult!"

Weiss quickly tuck and rolled out of the way as Subdora stabbed down into the ground, the heiress finally making it to Myrtenaster in the process. The heiress picked up her weapon and held it aloft, bringing forth a Summoning glyph immediately. "Heh, let's see how you handle THIS insult?!" From out of the glyph, her Boarbatusk emerged, the pig Grimm snorting and padding the ground in anticipation. Weiss pointed forward and commanded; "Roll Out!"

The Grimm was quick to respond, snorting before rolling itself up and spinning forward at breakneck speeds, catching Subdora off guard. She was hit directly and sent flying backward toward a nearby lamp post, but was able to hook her tail around it and spin around, latching her hand onto it to balance herself. Once she was able to collect her thoughts, Subdora saw the Boarbatusk barreling right at her… and a smirk came to her face. "My apologies, but I am going to have to bid you… addio." With a tip of her barrette, Subdora disappeared, leaving the Boarbatusk to do nothing but knock down the street lamp.

"Huh?!" Weiss exclaimed as the pig Grimm stopped spinning, the creature searching around for Subdora immediately. "Use that nose of yours and sniff her out!" Weiss encouraged, to which the Boarbatusk instantly obeyed. But, the moment it began sniffing, it suddenly let out a squeal of pain and began bucking wildly, much to Weiss' confusion. "W-Wait! What's going—"

"GAH-AH-AH!" A familiar scream alerted Weiss to the presence of Subdora, the Merlinisapien reappearing on the Boarbatusk's back with her energy machete plunged right into its back. She was using it as a make-shift handle to hold on, but quickly found that wouldn't last for long. She instead decided to jump off and slice down through one of the boar's horns, making it squeal again. "Hmhm, not so tough now, are you porcellino?"

"Why you!" Weiss spun the barrel in Myrtenaster's hilt and it landed on the Ice Dust setting. With a wave of her weapon, Weiss created a massive wave of ice that was sent directly at Subdora, which prompted the Merlinisapien to jump up and sliced cleanly through the incoming ice wall. She landed on top of it before lunging right at Weiss, the heiress moving forward as well with the aid of her glyphs.

But, just as the duo were about to collide, Subdora reached forward and grabbed Weiss' head, using her arm to vault over her opponent and land behind her. She then lashed her tail at Weiss' neck and began tightening it with all her might, chocking Weiss effectively. Weiss began gagging and hacking as she felt her airways being closed off, her face quickly changing into a shade of red. "Ah-ha-ha-ha!" Subdora laughed as she put a hand next to her mouth. "Oh, how fortuitous! I'll bet you didn't see THAT one coming, eh, biancaneve?" Weiss tried choking out a response, but was only met with Subdora tightening her grip, her face becoming bluer as the seconds past. "Ah, do not worry, my dear. I will be sure to give your friends my condolences when you perish…" She leaned in close and whispered into Weiss' ear. "…And I will be sure to give the Latino boy a shoulder to cry on."

Weiss' eyes widened as a glare of righteous fury over took them. That was the last straw. This bitch needed to be taught a lesson. With all the concentration she could muster, Weiss spun Myrtenaster's barrel and it landed on the Fire Dust setting, the blade heating up within a second. In a split second, Weiss grit her teeth and swung her arm around and upward, slicing the heated blade cleanly through Subdora's tail.

Subdora took it surprisingly well. "AAAAAGGH!" The Merlinisapien stumbled away, cradling her tail close to her as Weiss fell to her hands and knees, sputtering for breath. With gritted teeth, Subdora spat; "You cagna! How DARE you!?"

"Hah… hah… oh, I dare alright." Weiss said with a deathly tone. "And I dare YOU to make one more COMMENT about Rex again! Go ahead, see what happens!" She saw her Boarbatusk limp its way toward her and she waved her hand at it, saying; "You're excused." The Grimm faded away and Weiss readied herself to continue the fight, her gaze piercing into Subdora's very soul. "Now… do you REALLY want to mess with me now?"

"Hm… let me think about that…" A sly grin appeared on Subdora's face and all of a sudden, her tail regrew in an instant, taking Weiss by surprise. "Yes." With a flick of her wrist, Subdora shifted her Queen's Ransom into its pistol mode and began firing at Weiss, the heiress bringing up a glyph in front of her to block the shots.

'Okay, she is FAR more persistent than I thought.' Weiss pursed her lips in frustration. '…But she's still going down.'

"Weiss!" The heiress perked up when Ruby rushed over to her with her Semblance, sliding right up next to her as she pulled out her scythe once again. Weiss also saw Neo come running up behind her, the mute girl stopping next to Subdora. "Are you okay? I saw her try to choke you out, and—"

"Don't worry, I'm okay." Weiss smiled before spinning Myrtenaster's barrel again. She landed on the cyan Dust settling and the glyph in front of her began to spin, charging up for an energy attack. A beam of light suddenly shot out at Subdora and Neo, though the two ladies were quick to avoid it and come charging right at them again. Weiss smiled to her partner and nudged her head at their opponents. "Shall we?"

Ruby pumped an eager fist. "Heck yeah! Let's do it!"

…..

Not too far away from the red and white duo, a certain pair of black and yellow partners were charging in at their own opponents. "Let me guess…" Blake spoke up. "You'll take Mercury and I'll take Emerald?"

"That's the plan!" Yang confirmed.

Blake rolled her eyes with a grin. "Why'd I have the feeling you were gonna say that? Alright, let's do this!"

As she approached her opponent, Yang glared intensely at the silver-haired young man, her frustration evident across her features. "I swear, Mercury, after this, you won't EVER wanna fight me again!" she snapped.

Mercury scoffed and balled his fists. "We'll see about that, blondie! GRAH!" With a powerful pair of shots from his feet, Mercury thrust himself forward, twisting himself around for a powerful flying kick.

Yang quickly responded by cocking her Ember Celica and sending two of her own blasts toward the ground, propelling her forward as she reared her arm back. "AAAAAGH!" With a scream belting from her throat, Yang connected her fist with Mercury's boot, the two combatants unloading another set of blasts upon impact. Below them, Blake and Emerald had engaged in their own fight, the girls clashing their blades against one another.

The two fell to the ground and reengaged into the fight, throwing off powerful blows against one another in hopes of finally putting this little squabble of theirs to rest. …At least, that's what Mercury was thinking. "I have had ENOUGH of you beating the SHIT out of me!" the assassin belted out as he connected a vicious kick to Yang's midsection, eliciting a cry of pain from her as she was sent skidding back on her heels. Mercury leapt forward and somersaulted in midair, bringing down an axe kick that connected with Yang's shoulder, making her fall to the ground. "I've been bruised, busted open, blown up, and my legs have been broken THREE times too many in one month!"

Yang couldn't help but smirk as she suddenly whipped her body around on the ground and performed a leg sweep on Mercury, making him loose his balance briefly. She then rocketed herself back up and struck him directly in the midsection, sending him tumbling backward while knocking the wind out of him. "Yeah, well I'm gettin' tired of you makin' a big deal out of it." Yang said as she rolled her right shoulder. "Honestly, what IS the deal with you, man?"

"You and that DAMN boyfriend of yours is my problem!" Mercury snapped as she rushed forward and rolled onto the ground. Now on his back, Mercury began to perform what appeared to be a break dance, but what was instead a heavy assault attack that saw him shooting off Dust rounds at Yang as he spun around.

"Woah!" Yang leaned backward as a volley of shots sailed over her head, avoiding them expertly. "Okay, that's enough!" She jumped back to her feet and began sprinting at Mercury, being extra careful to avoid the shots as she did. With another shot from her Ember Celica, she sent herself careening up and over Mercury, grabbing his legs in the process. With a grunt of exertion and a midair flip, Yang sent Mercury flying up and over her, slamming him into the pavement. He tumbled away for a bit before rolling up onto his feet, none the worse for wear.

"C'mon, you really expect me to believe this is all JUST about what Rath and I did to you three weeks ago?" Yang questioned, placing her hands on her hips. "I mean, sure, he made you do the splits and I gave you that burn scar. But if you ask me, there's a whole lot more frustration behind your attacks than JUST the amount you have against both of us."

Mercury stared at the blonde in disbelief. "REALLY?! You're choosing NOW of all times for a psychology session?!"

"Hmm… if I were to guess…" Yang grinned cheekily and pointed at Mercury. "Daddy issues?" What came next, even Yang couldn't predict. Mercury's face became as red as Adam Taurus' hair and he screamed so loud that she was pretty sure his lungs were burning, all while making a mad dash for her with a furious spark in his eye. "…I'm guessing yes."

"AAAAAAAAAGGGH!" Mercury began unloading kick after kick against Yang, the blonde struggling to keep up with the surprisingly violent assault. "DON'T! YOU! DARE! TALK! ABOUT! HIM!" There was a venomous spit on the last word as he slammed his leg directly into Yang's side, the Blonde Brawler having blocked a few of the strikes… but ended up taking most of them anyway. The last kick sent Yang sailing back toward the stage, her impact sending her straight through the wooden structure.

Breathing hard, Mercury glowered at the stage, his anger bubbling up as his face was still red. "My father… he HATED me!" he snapped, knowing full well that Yang could still hear him. "He never went easy on me! Every day of "training", he beat me until I was black and blue! And when I unlocked my Semblance, he stole it with his!" He strode toward the stage, his fingers clawed as he seethed with rage. "He always said; "This is a crutch!" or "This makes you weak!". He said I could have it back when I was stronger. Well guess what?! I got strong… and he STILL didn't give it back! I NEVER got it back! I've had to work harder than anyone to get where I am! So don't you DARE try and—"

At that moment, Yang punched a hole through the stage floor, climbing up and out so that she could look Mercury in the eye. Much to his surprise, there was a sympathetic expression on her face, her violet eyes holding no anger as she spoke her next words. "I… I'm so sorry."

"…What?"

"You heard me." Yang placed her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I may not be able to relate to having an abusive family… but I do know what it's like to have something important taken away from you."

Much to her surprise, thought, Mercury sneered at her and glared in response. "Do NOT try to compare yourself to me! You still HAVE your Semblance!"

"You're right… but I don't have my step-mother." Yang sighed. "She was probably one of the nicest people ever… and she was taken away from us way too soon."

Mercury balled his fists. "…There's still NO comparison between us!" He pointed a finger up to her. "YOU still have a family that loves you! I've got NOTHING! I KILLED my father for what he did to me!"

Yang furrowed her brows. "That doesn't surprise me. Let me guess, you didn't even wait to get your Semblance back, right?"

"At that point, I just stopped caring." Mercury growled. "Taking his life was the ONLY thing that would bring me satisfaction. I got strong even without a Semblance." He resumed a battle stance. "And now, I'm gonna show you what I'm capable of."

"Hm, okay then. But I think you're forgetting something."

"And WHAT would that be?!" Mercury countered… only for his eyes to widen when Yang's shifted from violet to red. It was then that the memory of him landing all of those kicks on her before sending her crashing into the stage replayed in his mind, causing him to grit his teeth. "Oh… shit."

Yang balled her fists and replied; "Yeah, you forgot how my Semblance works." With another set of shots from her Ember Celica, Yang lunged forward and made for another hit against Mercury, though the silver-haired assassin reacted quickly by countering the punch with a thrust kick. However, he was shoved back almost instantly by Yang, the Blonde Brawler making him skid back on his heels. "Now let's see what you've really got."

Back with Blake, she was using Gambol Shroud and its bladed sheath to counter the strikes that Emerald was making with her sickles, the blades sparking and clanging with each hit against one another. The two combatants dashed around the battle field as they clashed, both of them keeping up with one another as they continued to swing at each other. However, there was a moment where they stopped to catch their breath, all while pushing against one another as they struggled for superiority. "Hah… hah… well, I think it's safe to say that we're at an impasse, Belladonna." Emerald breathed out.

"Maybe so, but I'm not done yet." Blake shook her head.

"Me either…" But as Emerald was about to send a few insults at the cat girl, both of them caught wind of Mercury's tirade from across the battlefield, making both of them direct their gaze toward him in shock. It was to the point where Emerald lowered her weapons for a brief time, and while Blake made to quickly capitalize at the start, she paused when she saw the expression on Emerald's face. "…Mercury." she uttered.

Blake's eyes darted between the green-haired thief and the assassin before sending the girl a soft smile. "…I'm guessing you care a lot about him, huh?"

Unfortunately, Blake's words managed to snap Emerald out of it and she quickly shifted her Thief's Respite into their gun modes, taking aim at the cat girl in an instant. "That's none of your business!" She unloaded a couple of shots from her weapon at Blake, but the cat Faunus was able to activate her Semblance, letting a shadow clone take the hit for her while she disappeared. "Wha—AGH!"

From behind Emerald, Blake reappeared and sent a roundhouse kick toward her back, making the thief roll forward. "No, it's probably not my business." Blake reaffirmed as Emerald stopped in a crouch. "But I'm at least glad to see that the bad guys aren't ALL about hating on all of us." She offered another small smile. "Honestly, to see you guys caring about one another is really nice to see."

"Oh, enough with the sentimental crap!" Emerald shouted before jumping to her feet to deliver a thrusting kick right at Blake's face, only for the cat girl to bend back and avoid it. After dodging the hit, Blake made to sweep her leg at the remaining foot that Emerald was standing on, but Emerald jumped up, avoiding the strike all together. The green-haired girl landed on both feet while aiming her guns at Blake. "We watch out for each other. That's what partners do." she said simply before unloading another volley of shots.

With her impressive speed, Blake rushed forward at a blink-and-you'll-miss-it pace, avoiding all of Emerald's shots expertly before making a downward swing with Gambol Shroud. But Emerald was quick on the uptake, shifting her weapon into their sickle modes and crossing them to counter the strike just in time. "And I'm glad you are. But I know that look in your eye…" Blake quirked a brow and smirked. "Because I've been there, too. So… how long?"

Emerald pursed her lips and shoved Blake back before pressing a pair of buttons on her Thief's Respite, making the blades fall from the handles on their retractable chains to enter their kusarigama mode. With a grunt, she thrust her weapons forward and the chains extended outward, wrapping the still stumbling Blake around her midsection. With a quick tug, Emerald pulled Blake toward her and swung her around, slamming her into a nearby wall. With a cry of pain, Blake fell to the ground, with Emerald retracting the chains back into her weapons. The green-haired girl approached the cat girl and glared down at her… while a blush came to her face. "…About a week and a half. Maybe a bit more."

Blake forced out a laugh as she got up, even if she WAS still mad at the girl. "Hah… so this is a recent development for you. Any idea if he feels the same way?"

"RRAAAH!" Emerald gave out a shout as she swung her sickles again, though Blake was quick to counter and their clash of blades from before had continued before they knew it. "I'm—gah! Testing the waters—UGH!" Emerald answered between strikes. "I think—ah! Getting through to him—grr!"

The two began pushing against one another again, with Blake staring eye to eye with Emerald with a small grin on her face. "Good to know. It might take time since boys can be a bit nervous to take action… heh… but I think you'll be okay." Blake gave her a quick wink. "Good luck."

"Like I need your encouragement!" Emerald shouted before pushing her self away, the two standing several feet away from one another. "…But thanks."

"No problem." Blake said as she began focusing on her semblance again, loading a Fire Dust vial into Gambol Shroud. "But now, I think it's time to end this."

Emerald smirked as a small green shimmer came to her eye. "Yeah… I think it is."

All of a sudden, Blake's ears perked up as she heard the sound of angry yelling approaching from behind her, making her whip around to see a rather unwanted sight. A whole group of anti-Faunus protesters, all of them glaring and heading toward her. Many of them were holding signs with awful, hateful words written on them, slurs that many Faunus would see as offensive like "Animals" and "Vicious Beasts". It was one of Blake's worst fears… however, she didn't react the way that Emerald hoped she would. Rather, the cat girl turned back to Emerald with a deadpan expression and quirked a brow. "Hm, pretty convincing… but I know your tricks by now." With that, Blake rushed forward and activated her Semblance, creating a fiery shadow clone of herself that was sent right at Emerald.

"…Damn it." Emerald grumbled before diving out of the way, allowing the clone to explode harmlessly where she once stood.

As that happened, the hallucinations immediately faded form Blake's mind, leaving the cat girl with a small, yet manageable head ache. "Gah, well, that's a little bett—AH!" It was then that Blake was pulled to the ground, with Emerald having wrapped her chains around the cat girl's ankles while she wasn't looking.

"HA!" Emerald laughed. "How's THAT for a trick?!"

"Oh, you like TRICKS?!" Emerald's eyes widened went a Dust round suddenly exploded at her feet, blowing her back a few feet and making her tumble across the ground. As she got up, she saw that it had been Yang who had attacked her, the blonde going over to unwrap the chains from Blake's legs. "Blake, you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." the cat girl affirmed as her partner helped her up. Blake's eyes snapped up when she saw a certain grey-clad young man making his way over to Emerald as well. "Heads up, we're not done."

"Em!" Mercury bent down and helped Emerlad up, checking over her in concern. "You alright? You're not hurt or anything?"

The thief didn't know how to respond at first, but after swallowing down her fear, she found the nerve to speak. "Uh, y-yeah, I'm good."

Mercury smirked at that. "Great." He nudged his head to the black and yellow duo. "How about we tag team this one?"

Emerald smiled back and nodded. "Sounds good to me! Let's deck these bitches!"

"Oh, like we'll let THAT happen!" Yang shouted as she punched the palm of her hand, all while Blake went into her fighting stance again. "We are taking you two DOWN!"

…..

When the fight had started, this was NOT how Kevin had expected things to go. At first, he was headed straight toward Exo-Skull. But, before he even had a chance to blink, Skull had tossed him up and over his massive head, sending him flying right toward Thunderhog instead. Now, Kevin was hoping that this WASN'T going to happen, as he had absorbed Lighting Dust to specifically try to overload Exo-Skull's cybernetic armor. However, thanks to the rhino mutant's unexpected move, now he had little hope in actually doing damage to the warthog who specialized in electricity. In short; it was a GIGANTIC pain in the ass. "Wassa matter, Levin?!" Thunderhog ask as he thrust his massive gut at Kevin, making the Osmosian stumble back. "Wasn't expectin' to fight ME, now were ya?!"

"Not really, but I…" Kevin suddenly cringed when he felt a rather unpleasant feeling in his mouth, reaching in to pull out a coarse lock of brown hair that had no doubt come off of the warthog mutant's belly. "Eugh, gross! Belly hair?! How the hell can you STAND having so much hair on you, Hog?!"

Hog grabbed the chain of his mace, preparing to attack with the massive spiked weapon. "Aw, it's really not all THAT bad once ya get used to it. But enough about my groomin' tips, time to bring the thunder!" He began spinning his mace above his head, generating electricity as he continued his signature catchphrase; "THUNDER! THUNDERHOG!" He slammed the mace down on the ground and sent the lightning arcing out at Kevin, who raised his arms to protect himself.

But at that moment, all of the electricity suddenly redirected itself INTO Kevin's arms, arcing around the Lightning Dust before disappearing all together. Kevin opened his eyes just in time to see the electricity fade and he grinned, laughing at Hog all the while. "HA! Jokes on you, Bacon Breath! I just absorbed the lightning WITHOUT absorbing—" CLANG! "Gah!" In the blink of an eye, Kevin was sent careening backward at high speeds before embedding himself within the wall of a building, a perfect indentation of himself having embedded into the brick work.

"Haha! Guess you forgot my lightning ain't the ONLY ways I can attack someone, huh?" Hog chortled as he swung his mace around casually. "Speakin' of which…" His hand went up to his visor and pressed the activation button, holding it down to charge up one powerful blast. "Hasta la vista, Levin!"

BLAM! All at once, a large beam of purple energy blasted out at Kevin, making the Osmosian's eyes widen in shock. "Oh jeez!" He quickly pried himself up from the wall and fell toward the ground, allowing the laser to miss him and pass through the building instead. Catching his breath, Kevin furrowed his brows up at Thunderhog as the mutant prepared for another big blast. "Okay, this ain't gonna work." Kevin absorbed the pavement from beneath him again, making the Lightning Dust on his arms go away before reaching down and pulling out another Dust crystal; one of the Ice variety. "He may be able to hurt me now… but I won't get anywhere if I can't hurt him!" With that, Kevin absorbed the Ice Dust and stood up, just in time to avoid Hog's next blast.

"Wha—HEY!" The pig mutant began spinning his mace again as he charged at Kevin, gritting his teeth all the while. "I ain't finished with you yet, Levin!"

"Same goes for me!" Kevin said before smacking his fists together, his eyes becoming an icy blue as the Dust's energy was brought out. He then changed his right hand into a spiked mace as his arm froze over with ice, the mace becoming an even larger icy bludgeon. His other hand, meanwhile, simply became a larger, icy fist, which no doubt would hurt upon getting hit by it. "Now let's go!"

Both combatants charged at each other and reeled back their respective maces, slamming them into each other when they met in the middle. All at once, the lightning generated by Hog's mace began coursing itself into Kevin, making the Osmosian cry out in pain. However, Kevin pushed through and shoved further ahead, his eyes glowing a bit bluer all of a sudden. It was then that Hog's weapon began to freeze over, much to the pig man's shock.

"W-What?!" Hog pulled back and smashed his weapon against the ground, freeing it instantly. "What the hell was that all about!?"

Kevin blinked in surprise. "…To be honest, I don't really know myself." His grin returned and he whipped his head up to Thunderhog. "But I LIKE it!"

Hogs pig lips pouted at that before rolling his neck, popping a few muscles to prepare for his next attack. "Yeah, well don't get used to it, Levin. I ain't about to go down that easily!" The mutant began pressing the button on his visor repeatedly to rapid fire a ton of blasts at Kevin, which the Osmosian was quick to dodge or block with his icy arms. While the ice didn't crack and crumble, it DID see a bit of chipping, though Hog was still less than pleased. "Oh, come ON!" Hog shouted as he began generating lightning in his mace yet again. "How thick IS that ice?!"

"Pretty damn thick!" Kevin said as she began running toward his opponent. "Plus it's pretty much below zero, so you may wanna think of something—GAH!" All at once, Kevin was zapped with a powerful blast of lightning, one that forced him to take a knee.

"Hehehe, well, guess THAT worked!" Hog said before running around behind Kevin and kicking him to the floor. The mutant smacked his gauntlets together and even more electricity began arcing out from them, a sinister smirk visible on his face. "Now let's see how ya dig THIS!" He slammed both hands down on the Osmosian's back, eliciting a loud, painful yell from his throat. "Ah-ha-ha! Oh now THIS is what I'm talkin' about! That'll show YOU for givin' me the cold shoulder, Levin! Shockin', ain't it?! HAHA!"

Once Hog stopped zapping him, Kevin growled and glared at the mutant as he tried to get up. "Grr… l-leave… the puns… to Yang."

"Pretty sure you're in no place for demands." Hog shrugged before raising his chain mace up once again. "Now, why don't we—AGH!" From out of nowhere, a pink energy disk suddenly slammed into Hog's face, making him stumble and fall back onto his rear end. A snort and an angry squeal escaped Hog's throat as he whipped his head around. "WHO DID THAT?!"

"That'd be me!" Gwen called out from across the battle field, the girl running for dear life from a charging Exo-Skull. "Take him down, sweetie!"

"Thanks, babe!" Kevin smirked before standing up once more, his icy bludgeon raised. "Now, where were we again?"

Hog snarled and stood up, padding his foot against the ground in a challenging move to the Osmosian. "Oh, you are goin' DOWN, boy." With another blast from his visor, their battle resumed.

Back with Gwen, she was still hoofing it from Exo-Skull, the mutant rhino still on her tail. The moment she saw him toss Kevin over his head, she knew what their game plan was; take down their opponents by messing up the plans they had made up against them. As such, when she saw Exo-Skull charging straight for her, she promptly whipped him in the face with one of her mana tethers and then booked it, working on concocting a new plan in her head as she ran. However, Skull wasn't giving her time to think, as he would occasionally unleash energy blasts from his horn, forcing her to stop and create a mana shield in order to deflect the attack.

"Ya can't run forever, Gwenny!" Skull taunted as he began charging up the thrusters on his back. "An' I'm gonna make SURE that you pay for messin' with Hog over there! We're through playin' games, an' we're SICK an' TIRED of how you KEEP beatin' us! Do ya hear me?!" With that, Skull's jet boosters kicked to life, thrusting himself forward at high speeds. "We're DONE!"

BAM! "AUGH!" Gwen cried out in pain as she felt her back get crashed mercilessly into by Exo-Skull, his horn having made impact first. The redhead was flung forward and sent careening into a large water fountain that was situated right in the center of City Hall's courtyard, her body making impact with a big splash. A moment later, Gwen reached up and pulled herself up out of the water, hacking and sputtering as she forced the water out of her system.

"HAK-HAK! Ugh, that was… a pretty hard hit." Throughout her tenure of fighting villains, Gwen had taken hard hits before, but this was a hit that she was very glad to be walking away from. 'Okay, think, Gwen, think! What kind of spells could work on… wait, of course!' She pulled herself out of the water and smirked at Skull, breathing hard as she fought through the pain in her back. "Okay, Skull, let's try that again!"

Exo-Skull threw his head back and laughed. "HA! Ya know, I'm surprised you're still able to walk after that. But ya know what? I'll humor ya!" He reached behind him and pulled out his Executioner gatling gun, taking aim at the Anodite immediately. "You wanna keep tryin'? Be my guest!" With a pull of the trigger, Exo-Skull began unloading his weapon's ammo at Gwen, though surprisingly, she didn't move an inch.

Instead, Gwen's eyes began to glow and her body was surrounded by a pink aura, extending her hand as she recited a spell; "In Locum Subsisto!" At her words, the bullets all suddenly stopped in midair, each one with a glowing pink energy around them.

Skull's eyes widened at the scene, a bit of a sinking feeling in his gut. "Oh… I think I know where this is heading."

"Smart. Novis!" Heeding her magic word, the bullets all flipped around at Gwen's command. "Impes!" Once again, the bullets followed her command, with all of them firing back at Exo-Skull in the blink of an eye.

The rhino mutant grit his teeth at this new development, his eyes glaring as he returned his gatling gun to his back and began charging up his laser horn. "Well… didn't see that coming." BLAM! He shot off a blast at the incoming hailstorm of bullets, successfully causing an explosion that rocked the whole courtyard. However, it also caused a huge cloud of smoke to be kicked up, which Skull immediately knew to take advantage of. "Oh no, I ain't fallin' for THAT old trick!" he shouted as he charged into the smoke… only to ram right into a large mana barrier.

"Good, because I didn't plan on using it." Gwen said with a smirk. "How do ya like…" But then her eyes widened as she saw the laser horn charge up. "…That?" The Anodite quickly ducked as another blast was sent out, shattering the mana shield at point blank range.

Exo-Skull stomped his way over to Gwen and glowered down at her, his hand slamming down onto her back and making her cry out in pain. "Sorry, Gwenny…" The Anodite's eyes widened as the blue light from Skull's laser lit up her face as it charged up. "Nothin' personal."

Gritting her teeth, Gwen extended her arm again and forced out; "Adfishio Potentia!" All at once, multiple energy whips burst forth from Gwen's hand, wrapping themselves around Exo-Skull's head and forcing him down to the ground. One of the whips then wrapped around his arm and freed her, allowing her to stand up. Gwen's eyes glowed pink again and she brought her hands together. "Now… Appendaga Regoria!" The energy whips suddenly disappeared and Exo-Skull's body suddenly went ridged, a pink light enveloping him as he began floating into the air.

"W-What?! Why can't I move?!" Skull demanded.

"Because I don't want you to." Gwen answered before waving her arms and shouting; "Turbo!" All at once, a strong wind whipped up and sent Skull flying back into the water fountain, breaking it in the process. But Gwen wasn't done yet. "Aquata Risa Spackwata!" With a wave of her hand, the water fountain suddenly burst out into a huge geyser that sent Skull flying straight up into the air.

"WAGH! MAMA!" Skull cried out from up in the air… before noticing that Gwen was starting to look quite tired. A smirk came to his face as he realized how he could use this to his advantage. "That's how you wanna do things, Gwen?! Then fine by me!" All at once, Skull activated his jet thrusters and curled himself up, transforming himself into a makeshift cannon ball. He felt to the earth at a fast pace, taking Gwen aback. "Let's see how ya handle THIS!"

With a deep breath, Gwen gave out another spell; "CONTIGO!" A powerful mana dome surrounded her and took the brunt of Exo-Skull's attack, though it still managed to crack and give way. She waved her hands out to her sides again and said; "Sinnyu Invisibus!", causing two large chunks of the pavement next to her to rise up out of the ground and slam into the incoming Exo-Skull. But even then, he made impact with the ground, and Gwen was sent sailing right up into the air.

However, she didn't fly far before being caught by something, or rather someone. "Gwen, are you unharmed?"

Her eyes snapped open and she smiled up at her savior. "Hah, Penny! Am I glad to see you!"

Penny gave her fellow redhead a nod. "Well, I saw you were in quite the predicament, and the others said I could assist you, so I came to help you out." The Android tilted her head in curiosity. "You DO need assistance, correct?"

"Hah, I guess you could say that." Gwen admitted. "Exo-Skull keeps bodying through every spell I use. I suppose I could use a bit of added muscle."

Without a second thought, Penny sent a determined smile toward her before her eyes went down to Exo-Skull. "Well, worry not. Because as always; I am Combat Ready!"

Gwen nodded as her hands began glowing pink again. "That makes two of us! Let's get him!"

…..

As Sun and Neptune stared down their former teacher, they couldn't help but feel at odds with the situation. And rightfully so. This… former man used to be their headmaster, their guide, the leader of the academy that they had once called home. So to see him now, as a large mutant lion with blank eyes and in a suit of unfamiliar armor just made them unsettled. It was like he wasn't even Lionheart anymore, which they supposed he wasn't. He was Leonidas now, which, while an admittedly bad ass name, also meant that they were probably in for the fight of their lives.

"So… we're about to beat up our old teacher." Neptune uttered as he kept a firm grip on Tri-Hard. "How do you wanna go about this?"

"Dude, I have no freaking clue." Sun emphasized. "Decking him back at Hazen yesterday was one thing, but this…" He glanced over to the snarling lion man, the long sword in his hand leveled toward them in challenge. "This is a WHOLE different ball game."

At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly shouted down at them. "Ahem! If you two are done with the conflicting feelings, could we PLEASE get to the showdown?!" Animo hollered through the ship's loudspeaker before Leonidas made a "come at me" gesture with his furry hand. "My creation and I are growing impatient!"

Sun snapped his head up and grit his teeth. "Shut up you lunatic! What you did to him… it's INHUMANE!"

"Of course it's inhumane! He's an animal!" Animo countered. "There is nothing "humane" about it!"

Neptune growled before transforming Tri-Hard into its rifle mode, taking aim at Leonidas. "Alright, if he wants a fight, we'll give him one! We just gotta take Lionheart down quick so that we can find a way to help him!" Before Sun could stop his partner, Neptune took the shot, the Lightning Dust round connecting right against Leonidas' breast plate. However, much to his and the monkey boy's shock, the electricity fizzled out and disappeared, leaving the lion man unharmed. "W-What?!"

"Ah-hahahaha!" Animo laughed inside the airship. "Did you fools think I wouldn't come prepared for every eventuality?! Leonidas' armor is made of a variety of metals that are resistant to heat, electricity… and rust, though that last one is merely a bonus." On the ground, Leonidas merely dusted off his shoulder before roaring at the duo again. "In short, his armor can counteract most types of Dust… meaning that you will likely have to fight the old-fashioned way! Now en garde!"

Leonidas wordlessly charged forward with his sword again, bringing it out in a strong, wide swing at Team SN. Fortunately, the duo managed to leap back before they could get hit, though Neptune let out an annoyed groan as he shifted his weapon into its guandao form. "Guess we'll have to fight close-quarters."

Sun gave him a nod. "Yeah, but at least our weapons are pretty long." He spin Ruyi Jingu Bang around and slammed it onto the ground, letting off a shot to make the earth shake a little bit and try to intimidate the beast before them. "For now, let's keep our distance until we can come up with a solid plan… or until we can make Lionheart snap out of it."

"Sounds good to me, bro! Let's go!" With that, the blond and blue-haired boy rushed forth into battle, though they made sure to break away to go around Leonidas. Sun banked left while Neptune went right, the duo strafing around the lion mutant while taking in quick hits with their weapons. They would have to get in a bit closer at times, which Leonidas took advantage of by swinging his sword down at them whenever they did. But once they got their respective hits in, the boys made sure do dash away, making a clean getaway before they could get cleaved in two.

Fortunately, there WERE areas of Leonidas that were still exposed, like parts of his arms and legs that weren't in full armor. His calves and forearms presented fine targets for Neptune to either slice into or for Sun to jab, allowing them to utilize their Dust attacks on him. However, much to their surprise, Leonidas still stood, seemingly only becoming angrier with every hit he received. "Okay, what the HECK?!" Sun exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure our hits have made contact!"

"Oh, they have." Animo affirmed. "But a mutant cannot be a true warrior unless their bodies are highly durable. And, unfortunately for you, durability is something that Leonidas has in SPADES!"

Upon a second glance, Sun realized that Animo's words were true. In all of the exposed places on Leonidas' body where he had jabbed his staff into, Sun could only made out some singed hair and some small burn marks. Meanwhile, the places where Neptune had slashed were only merely small cuts, with a bit of blood trickling out of the wounds. And neither really seemed to bother the mutant at all. "Damn! Then how do we—"

A powerful ROAR snapped Sun out of his thoughts as Leonidas swung his blade at the monkey boy, forcing him to go on the defensive. He raised his staff up… and it was promptly slashed directly through the middle. Thankfully, it was made to come apart like that. His weapon now separated into its gun-chuck mode, Sun leapt back and began swinging them at Leonidas, unloading more Dust rounds at him. The bullets made contact, but the most they did was explode harmlessly against Leonidas' armor or singe his mane a bit, a deep growl elictiting from his throat as he raised Stalwart up.

"…Oh no." Neptune muttered as Leonidas began to activate his weapon.

"Oh yes!" Animo encouraged. "Pay attention boys, because I made a few small upgrades to Stalwart in preparation for this…"

On cue, Leonidas began combining Dust types with his weapon, first summoning a large flame with the use of Fire Dust before switching to the Lightning Dust setting, the electricity surrounding the ball of fire instantly. What came next was quite shocking to the boys as Stalwart switched to the Ice Dust setting… and completely encasing the electrified flame within a huge sphere of ice, the red flame and yellow lightning glowing brilliantly within the ice sphere. "…What the hell is—"

FWOOSH! Sun was cut off when Leonidas switched Stalwart to the Wind Dust setting, summoning a strong gust to send the ice-encased flame and lightning straight at the duo, making impact with them in an instant. The pain was quite the odd mix of sensations. First came the biting cold of the ice, then the burn of the fire, and finally the shock of the lightning, all while they got blown away by the wind. One thing was for sure though…

"GAAAH!" Both boys fell to the ground and their weapons clattered against the pavement, the two gritting their teeth as they fought through the pain. Neptune was up first, holding a hand over his stomach as he looked Sun in the eye. "Hah… okay." He spoke between breaths. "Now… at exactly… what point… did we lose control here?"

"Honestly, I don't think we've EVER been in control with this fight." Sun admitted as he slowly stood up, seeing that the attack had left behind a huge cloud of steam around them.

"Indeed not, boys!" Animo reaffirmed. "My mutations are quite tired of your team's interference… so they have stepped up their game substantially to take you down." Through the steam, they two could see Leonidas making his way toward them, his blank eyes staring right through them. "And, with Leonidas under my direct control, his strength and fighting skills make for quite the display." Leonidas stopped about five feet away the two, both of them staring fearfully into his blank eyes. "Tell me, boys… have you ever heard of Sparta?"

"N-No, why—" THWACK! "AGH!" Without warning, Leonidas suddenly sprinted forward and delivered a powerful pump kick at Neptune's chest, sending him flying backward. Sun attempted to catch him, but the speed that his partner was going only meant that he was sent careening back as well. The two landed in a heap as Animo began laughing up a storm.

"AH-HAHAHAHA! Oh, I do so LOVE my work." Leonidas drew his sword again as Animo gave one more order. "Finish them off, Leonidas, then go on to the rest of those children."

Sun and Neptune, with determination etched onto their faces, picked up their weapons and stood up once more. They strode toward the approaching the lion man, shouting at him as they did; "Professor, PLEASE!" Sun called out to the former man, hoping to somehow get through to him. "You have to remember who you are!" The lion mutant growled, but made no immediate attempt to attack them, narrowing his eyes as he came to a sudden stop.

"This seriously isn't you!" Neptune added. "You're not a violent lion mutant, you're a huntsman. Sure, you aren't exactly brave, but somewhere deep down, you have a strong will. You HAVE to fight whatever he has over you!" He placed a hand over his chest, making Leonidas focus onto him. "You have to remember who you are! Remember who WE are! Sun and Neptune, remember?!"

Leonidas began to snarl… but then, a large amount of pain began piercing through his skull, a low bellow escaping his throat as he stumbled and fell to one knee. He clutched his head with one hand while Animo began to shout in disbelief. "W-What?! No! This is impossible!"

Sun and Neptune stared at what was once their former teacher as the mutant's eyes began to clear, a pair of golden-brown orbs appearing instead. "S-Sun? Neptune?" The armored lion man started to stand up, but quickly took a knew again as the pain began to shoot through his mind once more, making him roar in agony. "GRAH! W-What is happening?!"

"Professor!" Neptune shouted as he made to run forward, only to be held back by his partner. "Huh?! Dude?! What're you doing?!"

"Being smart." Sun answered before pointing at the still struggling Lionheart as he fought for control. "Lionheart might be fighting back, but he's still REALLY dangerous. Plus, Animo could be trying to retake control. We gotta be smart about how we do this." Sun went back to Lionheart, who was still clutching his head. "Professor, what's he doing to control you?! There has to be a way we can free you!"

Breathing hard, Lionheart moved his eyes up to his former pupil and tried to answer. "It… it's the—AAAAAGH!" All of a sudden, a bright light began shining from the crown at the top of his head, making the mutant shoot his head back as the pain returned. However, that soon came to an end as his eyes glazed over, completely white once again.

"Ah, there, that's better." Animo sighed. "Now, if there will be no more hiccups, I believe we were about to put an end to your lives, correct?"

Sun furrowed his brow as he put Ruyi Jingu Bang back together. "It's the crown."

"Definitely the crown." Neptune concurred. "Only question is… how do we get close enough to destroy it? I don't think we're good enough shots to break it without seriously hurting him…"

"No, you're right on that one. So, here's what we do instead; we keep trying to get through to Lionheart." Sun explained. "If we keep telling him to fight Animo's control, we should see SOME kind of opening pop up sooner or later. But until then, we'll have to keep fighting." He nudged his head toward Leonidas. "Think you can distract him while I get in some hits and a few encouraging words?"

Neptune nodded without a second thought. "You bet. Don't worry, professor! We're gonna get you outta there!"

…..

"Woah! Haha! Oh man, this is AWESOME!" Rex exclaimed as he dodged another of Silyrian's attacks, much to the scorpion creature's amusement and-or irritation. "Man, first Trifa reminds me a whole lot of Spider-Man, and now this universe has its own version of Scorpion, too!" The EVO mused to himself. "Man, what ARE the odds?"

Silyrian let out a few more clicks from his throat followed by a series of cackles, amused by the boy's spirit. "Grah-hahahaha! You have quite the energetic personality, child! I can respect that. But still…" He thrust his long tail forward, the stinger ready to stab Rex square in the chest. "I'm afraid that my queen still wishes you all DEAD! AHAHA!"

At the very last second, though, Rex activated his Block Party, the stinger being unable to pierce the energy shields. "Yeah, not happenin', Scorpy." Rex smirked before shoving the tail back, switching up his Block Party for his Funchucks on the fly. "As cool as your new mutant form is, I'm afraid I'll have to squash you like the insect you look like."

That remark seemed to personally insult Silyrian, the mutant giving an indigent clicking scoff. "Grah! You imbecile! Even I know that I am an arachnid-type Faunus! Or rather… I WAS! AHAHAHA!" He clenched his teeth as his bright yellow eyes glared at Rex, gleaming with a mixture of anger and glee. "Perhaps it is time I give YOU a lesson you'll never forget!" With that, he leapt forward with surprising power in his legs, his long, two toed feet giving him an extra boost.

"HA! Bring it on, mandible mouth!" Rex shouted back before jumping forward himself, bringing his Funchuck up for a big hit. He slammed his arm down onto Silyrian… only for the mutant to use his new, large pincers to catch the weapon, the hands inside of said pincers digging into the metal with his sharp claws. "Huh, nice catch… but I've still got a free hand!" With that, Rex smacked Silyrian away and pulled his other arm back, seeing that the scorpion's sharp digits managed to actually puncture the metal. "Man, whatever Animo used to mutate you guys, it must've been strong stuff!"

"Indeed!" Silyrian said as he landed in a crouch. "But even then… sometimes relying on old tricks works as well. "Silyrian reached behind him and grabbed his signature weapons, The Queen's Servants, with his "normal" hands, holding them inside of his pincers. The pincers clicked twice as he aimed his weapons at Rex before shouting; "Like so!", letting loose a barrage of bullets afterward.

Rex used his Funchucks to block the initial onslaught of weapon fire, but found that Silyrian was quick to get on the move. The scorpion sprinted to his left, which Rex responded with shifting back to only one of his Block Party's to defend himself. "Okay, I've been meaning to ask…" The EVO spoke up. "Just HOW do your hands work? I mean, I get the inner set, but the pincers? Are they like a second SET of hands over your ACTUAL hands or do they have a mind of their own?"

"I like to think of them as something akin to my tail… organic weapons attached to my body!" A manic grin overtook Silyrian's features as he suddenly thrust himself at Rex again, closing his right pincer up into a large point over his hand as his eyes changed from gold to bright violet. "LIKE SO! HEHEHE!"

But the moment he got in close, Rex shifted his Block Party for his Smack Hand and punched Silyrian away, though the mutant simply landed again and resumed his barrage against the EVO. "Man, you do NOT give up easily." Rex commented before a smirk came to his face. "Okay then, how about THIS?!" He retracted his Funchuck and Smack Hand while dodging the incoming bullets, rolling along the ground before activating his Slam Cannon. "Let's see how you like a taste of THIS, cabrón!" The Slam Cannon's maw took a chunk of pavement from the courtyard and loaded it up, firing it at Silyrian a split second later.

However, if anything, this only got Silyrian laughing even MORE. "AHAHA! Oh, don't mind if I do…" He aimed his tail upward and a small orifice suddenly opened at the very tip of his stinger, just as the hunk of pavement closed in. Just as the projectile was a few feet above his head, a green fluid suddenly ejected from the tip of Silyrian's tail and made impact with it… melting the large object within seconds. "Ah-ha! So, it DOES work! Animo, you truly have outdone yourself with my make-over! HAHAHA!"

Rex, however, was utterly flabbergasted by what just happened. "Uh… what the HELL?!"

"Hehehe, allow me to explain." Silyrian said with a wave of his hand. "You see, Animo used quite the unique formula for MY personal injection of mutagen." He placed a hand on his chest with pride. "As such, I am no mere scorpion mutant, boy! Animo used the DNA of the parabuthus transvaalicus genus of scorpion!" He saw the blank expression on Rex's face and sighed at the boy's simple-minded understanding. "Ugh, it MEANS that I can shoot powerful toxins and acids from my tail, idiot!"

Rex hit his fist into the palm of his hand, finally getting it. "OOOOH! Okay! Man, that's pretty—wait." Rex's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity. "I knew scorpions were venomous… but ACID?!"

A sadistic grin overcame Silyrian's face. "Of course! Acid is what gives a scorpion's sting an extra KICK! I simply asked Animo to… strengthen the acid a bit." He took aim at Rex and the orifice in his stinger opened up again. "Care for another demonstration?!" With that, Silyrian began squirting more acid sprays at Rex, which made the EVO begin to hop around to avoid the deadly chemical. "Ah-ha-ha! Yes! Dance, my puppet, DANCE! HAHA!"

Rex could see the pavement being melted near his feet as the acid continued to be sprayed at him, making his face pale slightly. 'Man, that IS some pretty strong stuff.' He reached up and lowered his goggles down, his lips pursing as he formed a plan in his head. 'But, no matter HOW powerful his abilities are, I have to stop him.' Rex's back began glowing blue and his Boogie Pack was built in an instant, the EVO taking to the skies. "Alright, ya poisonous sicko! If your acid is what gives you the edge…" The very next moment, his Big Fat Sword burst out of his right arm, ready to be used. "Then maybe we should give it another snip!"

Silyrian cackled as Rex began to make his approach. "Oh, you can certainly try, hero…" As Rex flew down at Silyrian, the mutant bent over backwards to avoid the sword, his tail moving up to wrap around Rex's leg as the young man continued to fly forward. "But I'm not about to let that happen EVER again! AHAHA!" Silyrian swung himself up and over so that he was high above Rex, letting go of his leg in the process. Next, he took aim and sprayed more acid at the Boogie Pack's left wing, destroying it while also making the turbine fall off.

"Oh shoot—DAH!" Rex shouted out as he made impact with the ground, his Boogie Pack falling apart. He got up and held his BFS aloft, ready to activate its Battle Saw mode. However, Silyrian was quick on the offence, stabbing his stinger into the large orange blade and squirting his acid upon impact. "GAH! Ouch! Ouch! That burns!" Rex let his BFS fall apart as he shook his hand, seething as the burning sensation lingered. "Man, what the hell even ARE you?!"

At that moment, Silyrian's eyes shifted to deep purple again as he took aim with the Queen's Savants again. "Your DOOM! With another series of cackles, Silyrian unloaded another swarm of bullets at Rex… but to the mutant's surprise, the boy's legs suddenly transformed into a large hover bike, with a large battering ram retracting from the vehicle's front as it began zooming across the battle field. Silyrian took aim with his tail again, but before he knew it, the bike hit him head on and began skidding him against the ground, his muffled cries being the only thing that could be heard.

"Yeah, I'm kinda done messing around." Rex said before seamlessly changing from his Rex Ride to his Punk Busters, slamming Silyrian underfoot before jumping up and doing it again with more force. "I may think your mutant form is totally rad, but honestly, I—WOAH!"

Much to his surprise, Silyrian stood up and tossed Rex away, the EVO managing to land on his feet. "AHAHA! Oh, you're good, kid. REAL good." He crouched low to the ground and prepped himself for another great leap. "You're giving me the fight that I've been ITCHING to have for the past few days now! And once I'm done with you, I'll give Raven a taste of her OWN medicine! Heeheehee!"

Rex furrowed his brows, preparing to reengage with Tyrian once again. "Yeah, not happenin', sicko. Now… thrill me."

…..

"GRRRAAAAAGH!" Steel Bone roared as he charged forth, slamming both of his massive fists down onto Cinder and Rojo as they came at him. Both women managed to avoid his attack, however, the duo jumping out of the way just in the nick of time. The two ladies skid across the ground on their feet before dashing forward, sprinting at Steel Bone with their blades at the ready. They made to slash at him, but the Metallikanine raised his arms up, the metal plating on them taking the brunt of the hit.

Steel Bone's eyes darted down, surprised at what he saw Cinder wearing. "Huh, well would ya look at that?" He grinned up to Cinder at the sight of her new footwear. "Seems like someone took my advice an' switched to wedges!"

"Only because it was for practicality's sake, you goon!" Cinder snapped before Steel Bone pushed both her and Rojo back. The Fall Maiden's eyes widened after seeing that not even her heated blades did any damage to the creature's armor. "You're joking! The metal isn't even heating up?!"

"What even IS this alien?!" Rojo questioned as the partners landed back on the ground. "Talk about overpowered!"

A big grin came to Steel Bone's face as she said that. "I know, right? Pretty cool, ain't it?" He clenched his hand, brandishing his claws. "After fightin' one o' these things, it's pretty awesome to get to BE one of 'em. Now…" Steel Bone let out another growl and smashed his jaws together, his teeth clanging inside his head. "Let's bust some heads!"

Cinder glared at the Metallikanine as he went down to all fours and charged at them. She then brought her blades together, the obsidian heating up so that they fused into one longer blade. "I couldn't agree more." She took the blade in one hand and raised her free one, a large ball of fire appearing in it. "Now come at us!" She shot a big stream of fire at the incoming dog alien.

"Yeah, what she said!" Rojo echoed before switching Bloodstrike into its laser rifle mode, blasting a strong, heated laser at her opponent as well.

However, much to their surprise, Steel Bone just charged right through both attacks, almost as if they didn't face him one bit. And they soon saw why. As it turned out, the alien had actually hardened all of the fur on his forehead into metal, creating a protective helmet for him to charge through the attack without problem. "Nice try, ladies!" SLAM! Steel Bone rammed himself into both of his opponents. "But not good enou—YEOWCH!" A burning sensation suddenly erupted on Steel Bone's right arm, his eye's widening when he saw that Cinder had actually swung her sword into his shoulder. The hit wasn't strong enough to pierce his flesh that deep, but it DID leave a noticeable burn, singeing his hair in the process. "Oh… you did NOT just do that!"

As she and Rojo were blown back, Cinder's eyes were just as wide as Steel Bone's, glancing down to her sword in surprise. "I… suppose I did." She then glanced back to Rojo, the bounty hunter cricking her neck. "I didn't even INTEND to do that. My arm just snapped forward after he hit us and the blade just struck him."

"…You know what THAT means, right, Cindy?" Rojo said with a smirk. "It means he's not as indestructible as we thought!" She raised a fist up to Cinder. "We just gotta make sure he's off guard and we can take him out!"

Cinder stared at Rojo for a good few seconds before smiling back, raising her fist up to bump it against hers. "Alright, a solid plan. Let's go for it!"

Steel Bone roared again in anger before charging at the duo. "That's somethin' that I won't even GIVE ya the chance to do!"

Rojo gave Cinder a wink. "I'll take point up front and distract him, you go toward the back and get him there."

"Right!" Cinder agreed before the duo sprinted toward their opponent.

With the flick of a switch, Rojo shifted Bloodstrike back into its blade mode, rearing it back as she made to attack Steel Bone head on. "Tennyson, you've beaten us one too many times! It's time you get a taste of your own medicine!" She swung her sword around and cleaved it downward, slamming it against Steel Bone as he brought his arms up and blocked the hit.

"Fat chance, Rojo!" Steel Bone growled. "Because guess what?! I AIN'T about to let ya ruin this whole day! This day was meant to be a celebration for the White Fang an' their new direction, a second chance for 'em to try an' fix all the wrong doin' they've done in the past!" He pushed against Rojo, though the bounty hunter stood firm. "An' fer you to just come in an' wreck the whole damn thing?! I WON'T allow that! And THAT'S the bottom line, because STEEL BONE said so—huh?" Steel Bone's nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, his enhanced sense of smell picking up… smoke? "Hey, uh, what's cookin'?"

"You." Steel Bone whipped his head around to see Cinder standing behind him, an amused smirk on her face as she waved teasingly at the hero. There was also a bit of smoke billowing up next to her, though Steel Bone didn't know where THAT was coming from. "Hello, hope you don't mind, but I was in the mood for a… hot dog."

"Hm?" But then, Steel Bone's eyes widened and snapped down to his tail… which was where the smoke was coming from. There was also a red-hot flame on it that was beginning to grow with each passing second. "Oh… so THAT'S what the burnin' smell is… EEEYOW!" Steel Bone shot up into the air before crashing down onto his buttocks, dragging it and his tail along the ground with his arms moving a mile a minute as dog-like whimpers escaped his throat.

All the while, Cinder and Rojo had erupted into hysteric laughter, with the Fall Maiden even tearing up a bit. "Ahaha! Oh… oh, that was SO satisfying." Cinder said as she brushed a tear away.

"Hahaha! Oh, Cindy, that was GREAT!" Rojo said as she clasped a hand to Cinder's shoulder. "Plus… did you just make a quip?"

Cinder's face flushed and she turned away from Rojo, closing her eyes while clearing her throat. "Ahem, w-well, I saw the opportunity and decided to take it. Nothing more."

Rojo threw her head back and laughed some more. "Haha! Man, if that's the case, then you should take more opportunities like that, Cindy."

"I'll think about it." Cinder shrugged before bringing her sword up again and going back Steel Bone. The Metallikanine was currently rolling across the ground, having rolled all the way over to the now semi-wrecked stage while the fire had been reduced to a mere flicker at the end of his tail. "Now come on, we have to finish this."

Rojo took hold of Bloodstrike and nodded her head. "You got it, Cindy, let's go!"

Once the fire had been put out on his tail, Steel Bone sighed in relief, though it came out with a frustrated growl at the end. He pounded his fist to the pavement in frustration. 'C'mon, man, FOCUS!' Steel Bone chastised himself. 'Ya gotta focus up if ya wanna beat these ladies.' At the sound of dual challenging screams, Steel Bone craned his head up to see his two opponents charging at them with their weapons raised, and he could see that Cinder's eyes were beginning to glow with her Maiden powers. However, Steel Bone's anger had reached a boiling point, and it was then that he decided that enough was enough. "Alright, ya wanna go?! Then let's GO!"

Rather than charging at them, though, Steel Bone began to climb up the scaffolding of the stage, much to the ladies' confusion. "Hey!" Rojo shifted her sword into its laser rifle mode again and took aim. "Get back here!" BLAM! She took a clean shot at Steel Bone, but he raised up one of his arms, taking the blast right on his armored forearm before continuing climbing upward. "Gah! You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Let's see how he likes THIS!" Using her maiden powers, Cinder projected a beam of ice at the scaffolding, making it slick and slippery. Sure enough, Steel Bone began to loose his grip and slip… for all of two seconds before he used his claws to regain his balance. Cinder couldn't help but narrow her gaze at that. "Alright, then, perhaps we need to take this up close and personal!" She whipped a whirlwind around her body before shooting up into the air, calling down to her partner; "Rojo, follow my lead!"

"Right with ya, Cindy!" Rojo complied before rushing after her.

Steel Bone had finally made it up to the top of the scaffolding, steadying himself on the metal grates as best he could. 'Yeah, this should make fer a good angle.' But it was then that he saw Cinder fly up to him, to which he gave a deadpan expression. "Oh… yeah, kinda forgot you could do that."

"Did you seriously forget what happened during our fight yesterday?" Cinder asked.

"Well, no, but the point is that now this is gonna be a bit harder than I thought."

Cinder furrowed her brow at him. "What ARE you going on about—AH!" Cinder gasped as Steel Bine suddenly shot up with a big jump, bringing his fists together to bring his arms down onto Cinder.

"ARIES AXEHANDLE!" the Metallikanine roared.

Cinder grit her teeth and shot up into the air once more, rearing her blade back to strike against the dog alien's attack. The two ended up pushing against reach other, with Steel Bone's weight making Cinder falter a bit while in midair. "Gah! Urgh, I am NOT about to lose to some lowly wrestling alien!"

"Heh, too bad." With a mighty roar, Steel Bone bit into Cinder's blade and crushed it with his metal teeth, breaking it successfully. "Because ya are." With another shot to Cinder's head, Steel Bone sent her careening back down to the ground. But just as he was about to grab hold of the scaffolding again, another laser blast shot up from below him, successfully hitting him in the gut and throwing him off balance. "GRAH! Oh, COME ON!"

As Steel Bone landed head first on the pavement, Cinder found herself caught before she made impact with the stage, landing in the arms of her partner. "Cindy, you okay?" Rojo asked in concern.

Cinder's face blushed once again, this time a bit deeper than before. "Y-Yes. I am fine." Inside of her head though… 'What in the HELL is WRONG with me lately?' However, before either of the two women could realize what had happened, Steel Bone suddenly shot up out of the hole he had dug with his face and began climbing the scaffolding again, much to their surprise. "WHAT?!" Cinder shouted before aiming her arm up at him, preparing another blast of fire. "Get back down here!"

The Fall Maiden let loose a flurry of fire blasts, but Steel Bone performed a series of powerful leaps, avoiding it entirely while also getting to the top a lot faster. "Oh, don't worry, I ain't stayin' up here for long!" Steel Bone stood up tall and then proclaimed; "From the top rope… HALLEY'S SHOOTING STAR PRESS!" The Metallikanine jumped, bringing his legs close to his chest while performing a double back flip on his way down, crashing right into the two ladies on the stage, making some of the floorboards break in the process.

All at once, Cinder and Rojo were left dazed, confused, and in a lot of pain from being crushed underneath Steel Bone's heavy body, the latter gritting her teeth as she kept her partner close. "C-Cindy… are you okay?"

"Ugh… no, but I am alive." Cinder responded weakly before feeling something strong and muscular link with one of her arms. She was then met with the face of Steel Bone, who was growling at her with everything he had. "…Oh no."

"Oh yeah." The hero replied before swinging Cinder up and over his body, wrenching her out of Rojo's grasped and tossing her away. "ANTILLA ARM DRAG!" A scream was elicited from Cinder's throat as she was thrown away like a rag doll, bounding across the stage before sliding to a halt.

"CINDY!" Rojo screamed while glaring at Steel Bone. "Oh, you did NOT just do—wha—HEY!" Before she knew what was happening, the dog alien had put her into a front face lock, keeping her head firmly between his arm and his side. Of course, the bounty hunter immediately began struggling to free herself. "Get your paws off of me you mangey mutt!"

But Steel Bone just shook his head. "Not a chance, Rojo! Ya ever heard of Psalms an' John 3:16?!"

"W-what?! Yeah, but what does that have to do with—"

"WELL TENNYSON 3:16 SAYS I JUST WHOOPED YER ASS!" Steel Bone roared before executing his next move. "DRACO DEATH TRAP!"

Rojo furrowed her brows at that. 'Doesn't sound like any wrestling move I've ever heard… of.' But then, the moment that Steel Bone suddenly went for a back drop, things suddenly began to click in her head. 'Draco Death Trap… DDT.' Rojo closed her eyes and pressed her lips shut, preparing for impact. 'Damn, that's clever.'

CRASH! With all of his weight crashing down onto the stage, Steel Bone fell directly on top of Rojo and sent both of them through the floor, breaking the floor boards like twigs. Steel Bone grinned as he stood up, raising his arms up into the air as Rojo was left to groan in pain from her place beneath him. "HAHA! Yeah, that's right! Now how'd ya like THEM app—AAAAAAH!"

Steel Bone was blown back off the stage when an arc of lightning suddenly shot directly at him, electrocuting him in one powerful shock. As he shook off the pain, his eyes widened when he saw Cinder floating toward him once again, surrounded by fluctuating energy like she had been in their fight yesterday. And he could tell that she was quite visibly angry. "…You will PAY for hurting my partner in such a manner, beast. And THAT is the bottom line… because I say so."

Steel Bone snarled and shook his head. "Oh no, yer not stealin' MY line!" And with that, he charged back into the fray, not caring that the Maiden was now using her full abilities.

…..

As the whole fight went on, Lisa Lavender couldn't help but be in utter awe of what she was seeing. Here she was, an everyday reporter now right in the middle of one of the greatest news stories that she could have ever imagined. These hunters-in-training, these… teenagers fighting real-life supervillains. It almost seemed like something out of the pages of a comic book! There were four teens she was focused on in particular, though; the one that had transformed into the giant dog beast, the tall one who could absorb different materials, including Dust, the redhead who was creating energy projections and… casting spells? And finally, there was the spikey-haired kid who was somehow summoning giant weapons from his body. Last she checked, Semblances like those were either non-existent or hard to come by in the case of the matter absorber. Which could only mean one thing…

"Gregory… I think some of these kids might be superheroes." Lisa said with excitement in her voice.

"W-What?!" Gregory exclaimed, giving his friend an incredulous look. "That's absurd! These could easily just be their Semblances for all we—"

"Name the last time you saw a Semblance that could cast spells, build mechanical weapons out of your body or transform you from head to toe into a giant monster." Lisa quickly countered.

Gregory pursed his lips at that, but could find no way to argue against her. "…Okay, fair point. But still, what even IS going on here? It sounds like those kids know these bad guys rather well already. The… Negative Ten, I think they called themselves? Plus, where did they come from? And how are those Grimm following them?"

Lisa pointed over to him. "THAT is something that we're just gonna have to find out for ourselves… right after we make it out of this situation alive." She glanced his way and asked; "By the way, how's the footage?"

"Oh, I've been making sure to keep the action all in shot." Gregory assured. "The live feed's still goin' strong too, though I don't know for how much longer it's gonna go."

The reporter waved to him. "That's alright…" Lisa then whispered into his ear; "Besides, with all of this footage, this will most certainly be the story of the century!"

Gregory nodded at that. "Oh, no doubt. Though I gotta say, it's a pretty big miracle that no one has noticed us over here yet. Or that no one over there has gotten anywhere close to us either."

"All the more reason to stay low, then." Lisa said as she concentrated on the battle again. "Don't want to draw too much attention to ourselves… huh?" The reporter had suddenly caught sight of something; a bunch of dark clouds rolling in from the north, the overcast coming in at a surprising speed. "I… I don't remember Brice calling for clouds today… do you?"

Gregory shifted his gaze up to where Lisa was staring, a sinking feeling beginning to overtake him. "N-No…" His eyes widened when he caught sight of something else… or rather a whole BUNCH of somethings that were coming in ahead of the clouds. They appeared to be some sort of jellyfish-like Grimm… and there were a LOT of them. Instinctively, he put the camera onto them. "W-W-What the hell are THOSE things?!"

Lisa saw the creatures as well, a worried expression coming to her face. "I-I don't know but—AH!" Without warning, a single one of those jellyfish Grimm suddenly rushed past the both of them, making the duo jump in surprise. Fortunately, Gregory was able to keep his grip on the camera, but that wasn't all that reassuring as they saw the jellyfish fly over to the battle, joining its fellow creatures as they began to gather in the courtyard. "…I have a feeling that something BAD is about to happen."

…..

Back in the Land of Darkness, Salem and the rest of her present cabal were watching through their own Seer as the storm rolled in and legion of jellyfish Grimm began to descend upon the battle, garnering both the hero's and the villain's attention immediately. "Hm, it would seem that the heroes have noticed my incoming storm." Salem said with her fingers laced in anticipation. "And the Seer swarm is now perfectly in place. Excellent."

Hazel bowed his head to his mistress. "Lady Salem, I assume that it is time for you to make your statement?"

"Indeed, Hazel." Salem affirmed as she stood up and began to walk out of the room. "The battle has certainly been entertaining, but it has gone on for long enough. Now is the time to unleash our new weapon." She gave Viktor, Watts and Hazel a brief wave before walking out. "I will be on the balcony for but a moment while I address the heroes."

Viktor lowered his head to Salem as well. "Do you wish for me to accompany you, my lady?"

"No, Viktor." Salem said with a small smile before turning away, said smile disappearing in place of a more serious expression. "This should not take long."

…..

For Velvet, this whole fight had been unexpected right from the start. She had expected that only maybe a few troublemakers who were against the White Fang would show up to try and disrupt the conference… but their enemies? Here of all places? It was almost too much to comprehend. Thankfully, everyone had been quick to action, even if they were separated. She, along with her team, Team JNPR, and their other allies may have been taken away from the main fight with the Negative Ten, but they made sure to keep downing the flying Beringels that had done the separating in the first place.

However, just as she was about to deliver a strong kick to one of the flying beasts, the Beringel stopped in place and snapped its head up, allowing Velvet's kick to hit it in the chest. But the ape didn't budge, simply continuing to stand like a statue as Velvet fell to the ground. "Ow!" the bunny girl winced as she got back up, her eyes moving up to see just what the Beringel was staring at. But when she did… she sorely wished that she hadn't. "Uh… guys? What's that?"

The whole group, while also witnessing their multiple opponents stop like statues, turned to see what Velvet was asking about… and almost all of the teens' faces grew pale. "Those… those are Seers." Cooper uttered.

Coco furrowed her brow. "And ya know what that means…"

Ghira craned his head over to the girl. "Uh… no, I don't think I know what it means."

"He's right, Coco." Kali concurred. "What's going on here?"

"All these Seers in one place… it could only mean one thing." Ironwood spoke up, furrowing his brow as the swarm began to gather near the stage. "It means that Salem has something to say."

A collective gasp came from Ghira and Kali while Sienna snarled at the small, floating Grimm. "Yeah, and with this many… I think she might be planning to open a portal right here in the middle of the city. Just like she did inside the White Fang castle." Her grip tightened around the handle of her whip. "Which means… we might be seeing her soon."

A collective; "WHAT?!" came the gathered voices of everyone before Jaune took it from there. "C'mon, we've gotta get over there and give those guys backup!" The whole group followed the blond knight's lead as they all made a break for their friends, who had since stopped fighting with the Negative Ten and gathered up together. Jaune's eyebrows shot up at the sight of a large, burly dog beast with metal plates in its arms and shoulders, taken aback by his presence. "W-Wait, BEN?!"

"Hm?" The Metallikanine whipped himself around to see the approaching group, all of their eyes on him. "Jaune! What the heck're you doin' here?"

"Uh… giving you backup?" Jaune answered. "What else?"

Nora gasped and zipped over to the transformed Ben and began looking him over, letting out "ooh's" and "ah's" as she examined his new form. "Ben! This alien is totally AWESOME!" She had somehow zipped up onto his back, her eyes wide and full of excitement. "Man, you are totally ROCKING Bashmouth's species!"

The transformed teen growled a bit before plucking Nora off of his back, bringing her face to face with him as he held her by her jacket. "As much as Steel Bone appreciates the compliments, now is NOT the time, Nora!" He pointed up at the gathering Seers, with one taking the center of the stage while the Negative Ten gathered around it. "If ya haven't noticed, we've got some BIG problems here!"

"He's right, Nora." Pyrrha agreed. "There will be time to gawk later. Right now, we need to focus…"

Up on the stage, Cinder was helping Rojo out of the floorboards that Steel Bone had slammed her into, a trickle of blood rolling down the bounty hunter's face. "Rojo! Are you alright?" The Fall Maiden asked in concern.

"Ugh… I think so." Rojo replied as she rubbed her head. "Man, that DDT was smarts."

"Well don't worry." Emerald said with a smirk while nudging her head toward the swarming Seers. "Because the second wave his here."

Rojo smirked as well at the news, stepping up to the lone Seer floating near them. "Heh, hey Boss Lady. You've got some good timing."

"I would like to think so." Salem spoke through the Seer. "Take some time to rest, Rojo. I shall address the children myself."

Silyrian cackled and dropped to one knee, with Leonidas and the other mutants following his example. "If the queen so wishes, then so shall it be!" the scorpion clicked.

"Very good." Salem said as the Seer's tentacles began to retract into its now-convulsing body. "Now, let us truly get this show started…" The Seer fell to the ground and shattered, its black mist billowing up as the team of teens made it to the stage, with Ironwood, the Belladonnas, Raven, Glynda and Sienna taking point in front of them.

Vernal's lips parted in shock as she saw the form of Salem beginning to take shape from the black smoke, a feeling of utter dread filling her gut. "That… that's Salem?"

Gwen grimaced as her stomach began to feel the same way that she had back on Menagerie when Salem had appeared, only just a slight bit less sick to her stomach. "Yeah… and even when she isn't here in the flesh, she STILL makes me feel ill."

The entirety of Team JNPR were nearly left speechless, with only Ren able to voice his thoughts. "She… she might be worse than I had imagined."

"That… makes two of us." Goodwitch nodded with a hard swallow. "The way that Ozpin described her… doesn't do her justice. In fact, I think he may have been kind to her."

Raven narrowed her eyes. "Why doesn't THAT surprise me now?"

Team CFVY were in a similar state as Team JNPR, with the exception of Cooper and Coco who had seen her before. "Be ready, everyone." Cooper advised. "We can't be sure what she's going to do…"

With her form now visible to everyone there, Salem sent a soft, yet sinister grin down to the heroes, her blood red gaze focusing on them as she towered over the whole group. "So, it would seem that things have come to this." Salem's eyes directed themselves over to what she assumed to be Ben, her brows furrowing at him slightly. "I told you, Benjamin; three strikes… and you were out. I am done giving you all chances to stay out of our business. If you truly want to fight against my will… then fine. But know that you WILL regret your decision."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before, Salem." Steel Bone waved off, his metal teeth barred at the projections of mist. "But hey, listen, as far as I'm concerned, you've been pretty much all bark an' no bite when it comes to these here threats. An' ya know what? I'm gettin' kinda sick of it!"

"Oh? So you wish for me to actually back up my threats?" Salem questioned.

"You're damn right, we do!" Rex challenged, much to many of his friend's chagrin. "Bring it on, we're not afraid of you!"

"Robo-dolt, don't provoke her!" Weiss insisted before smacking him upside the head. "You heard what Darkstar told us, she could sick that new Grimm on us at any point she wants!"

The blonde's statement came as a bit of a surprise to the witch, her eyebrows moving up a bit. "Oh, so Michael already told you about our little pet project, hm?" Salem shrugged. "Oh well, I suppose I should have expected as much. I never took him as one who could keep silent on such matters."

Kevin wore a confident grin as he pointed at the witch. "That's right, lady, we've got your number!" He crossed his arms as he went on. "You actually think that you can create a Grimm that can completely counter Ben and the Omnitrix? Eh, well fat chance on THAT happening."

Salem blinked once before her smile returned, a soft chuckle escaping her lips. "Hmhm, oh… well then, never mind. It seems that Michael also gave you the wrong idea." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "It seems I should still give him a little bit of credit; he knows how to keep something a surprise. But even then…" Her lips turned up even more in amusement. "That's probably the ONLY credit I can give him."

Her statement made all of the villains gave off a simultaneous round of laughs, making the group of heroes grow frustrated pretty quickly. "What are you talking about, Salem?!" Gwen demanded. "What's going on here?!"

With a wave of her hand, Salem commanded all of the other Seers to fly up into the sky, the creatures stabbing their tentacles into each other's glass dome heads as they soared up into the clouds. "Ah, the young mage, Gwen Tennyson. I must say that your powers are quite unique and impressive. But compared to my own, I'm afraid you cannot compare." An amused smile then came to her face. "As for what I am referring to, it's just as I said; Michael has terribly misinformed you. I wasn't creating a Grimm to counter Benjamin's aliens… at least not yet. Rather, I created a Grimm that is in the image of one of his aliens… one that I am sure you will ALL recognize…" She raised her hands and snapped her fingers, commanding all of the connected Seers to explode up in the dark clouds above them.

A few seconds later, a huge vortex suddenly opened up in the sky, causing all of the clouds to swirl around. At first, what came out of the portal was your usual arrangement of Grimm; Beowolves, Ursai, Creeps, and even a dozen or so Nevermore. However, what came out last was something that no one could have EVER expected to see that day. The teens all stared dumbfoundedly at the object as it slowly lowered feet first through the portal… and promptly fell like a brick the rest of the way down to the ground. The group were astonished by the new Grimm in front of them… because it was Humungousaur. A corrupted, twisted, seventy-foot Vaxasaurian Grimm that towered over everyone else, its purple eyes glowering down at them.

"B-B-Ben?" Yang stuttered in while the Metallikanine was still in a state of utter disbelief. The Blonde Brawler saw this and quickly put her smaller hand in his large, furry one, giving as much reassurance to her boyfriend as she possibly could. "Y-You're seeing what I'm seeing, right?"

"It's… it's Humungousaur!" Ruby shouted, still stunned by what was in front of her.

"Correction, Little Red!" Rojo said with a raised hand as a few of her fellow Negative Ten membered continued laugh at the heroes' shock. "This… is the Grimmungousaur!"

All at once, the beast let out a powerful; GYAAAOOOOOOON! The roar was so powerful that it managed to knock a few of the heroes, and even some of the villains, off of their feet, while leaving many others quaking in their boots. "…And it looks and sounds like Godzilla." Sun muttered. "…Great."

"This is NOT sensational." Penny jumped in.

Steel Bone clenched his teeth as the realization dawned on him, glaring at Salem all the while. "So… THAT'S what ya did with the life energy ya sapped from me! You used it to create yer OWN Humungousaur!"

"Indeed, Benjamin." Salem confirmed as she gestured up to the seventy-foot behemoth and declared; "This Grimm will be the first of many I create in the visage of your aliens. With it and many others, I will bring humanity to its knees! For it is… my instrument of destruction!"

…..

A/N: Well folks, it's the moment you've ALL been waiting for! The Grimmungousaur has finally been unleashed! How will our heroes deal with having this giant-sized behemoth to deal with? Well… we'll just have to find out, now won't we? But yeah, this chapter was mostly a fight scene between the team and the Negative Ten, one that pretty much came to a stalemate. Plus, there were a few more character bits in between, such as Mercury venting about his father, Lionheart's situation, and Cinder and Rojo's growing repartee with each other. And of course, Lisa Lavender and her camera man are hiding out and broadcasting this whole thing across multiple TV news stations. Can't wait to see how all THAT turns out.

And HELLO new alien! That's right, ya didn't think I'd forget that Ben scanned Bashmouth, right? Well, meet his new transformation; STEEL BONE! I wanted a name that fit the "Stone Cold" theme while still relating to dogs and metal, so I thought Steel Bone would work since the phrase "cold steel" is a thing. If Bashmouth was heel Steve Austin from the 2000's, then Steel Bone is Attitude Era Steve Austin. And THAT'S the bottom line, because—aw, you know the rest!

But anyway, NEXT TIME! The fight continues as Ben takes on the Grimmungousaur… though the new Grimm's arsenal proves to be quite stunning to everyone there. Can our heroes beat back this new threat… or will an underhanded trick from the Negative Ten's resident scorpion prove to be their undoing? Thanks for reading everyone, and I'll see you all next time! Stay safe out there!