A/N (Please Read): *POP* (Author's eyes widen as he pops into existence, patting himself down to make sure he's all there). So, uh… are we live? Okay, good, we're live. Hey everyone! Sorry that yesterday went chapterless, and I'm VERY sorry if I made anyone worry. It's just, well… it's been a bit of a week for FFN if you hadn't noticed. I decided to take a day to try and reorganize myself after all of THAT, so now we can get back on track! Special shout out to ssjmichael26 for posting updates in the comments over the past couple days about the situation, he's been a big help. Speaking of which, I am indeed working on setting up an AO3 account! That being said, I'm not LEAVING FFN by any means, but it's just always good to have a back-up. Especially after the week we've had here.

Now with the business stuff out of the way, let's move on to the real meat and potatoes because Volume 8 premiers today! Like last year, I'm gonna be keeping relatively spoiler free until it all comes to an end, so please be respectful and don't post spoilers in the comments. Now, why don't we get to the chapter itself, huh? This is…

Chapter 115: Aftermath… Again

…..

There were just some things in life that Ben Tennyson had resigned himself to never fully understanding. Be it why the Omnitrix would at times turn him into the wrong alien or, more frequently, why every evil being out in the universe seemed to be gravitated toward him. But at the moment, those pretty much paled in comparison to what was happening right now. Sienna Khan, after making her way off the Resolute, had just punched him in the face… only to then extend a hand down to help him up. That had to be one of the BIGGEST mood swings he had ever seen in someone ever. Her face had gone from utterly pissed to calm yet serious, and now she was offering him a gentle smile as she offered him her hand. "Well, Tennyson? Are you just going to lay there on your ass all day or do you want to get up?"

"O-Oh, yeah… also OW!" Ben reached up and grabbed Sienna's hand, the tiger woman hoisting him up while he rubbed his now sore cheek. "Sienna, I know ya don't like Rath, but was that really—"

"Yes, it was." Sienna said as she suddenly yanked him toward herself, grabbing his face with her free hand as she stared into his eyes with her serious expression having returned. "I thought I made it quite clear that you were not to transform into Rath around me ever again. Am I correct?"

Ben glanced off to the side, hoping to avoid her judging gaze. "W-Well… yeah, but—"

"And you broke that rule, correct?"

"…Yes."

"Will you make the same mistake again?"

"…No, ma'am."

Sienna's smile returned and she took her hand away from his face, ruffling his hair a little bit. "Good boy." She gave Ben's jacket a light dusting off with her hands, much to the hero's chagrin, before patting him on the shoulder. "I'm glad that we understand each other on this one."

"Yeah, thanks." Ben said before turning back to Yang… only to see that she was biting her finger to resist letting out a laugh. "Wha—Yang?! What the heck?!"

A small snort came from the Blonde Brawler before giving her boyfriend a hug. "I'm sorry, Green Boy, but you have to admit, ya kinda had it coming." She saw him about to protest and she pointed at him. "Hey, like she said, she made her rules pretty clear, so you have no one to blame but yourself for getting decked like that."

"She's right, you know." Ilia said as she came up and smirked at Ben. "Sienna's a woman of her word after all."

Sienna gave a small smile to the chameleon girl. "Indeed." She went over and pulled Ilia into a hug. "And I'm glad to see that all of you are safe, as well, Ilia." Sienna then quirked a brow over to Ben as the hug ended. "Also, I could've done a lot worse to you." The tiger lady smirked and placed her hands on her hip. "By the way, nice job taking care of that Leviathan, you AND Rex over there."

Ben rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, thanks, Sienna."

All of a sudden, from behind Sienna, Kali and Ghira came charging toward them, the cat woman and her husband setting their eyes onto their daughter in relief. "Blake!"

"Mom! Dad!" Blake closed the distance between the two groups and enveloped her mother in a hug, her father's larger form standing behind Kali as he wrapped his arms around both of them. "Oh, let me tell you, you should have SEEN what just went down."

"Oh, but we DID!" Kali assured as she met her daughter's eyes. "And it was amazing!" She craned her head over to Ben and Rex and gave them a greeting wave. "Hi boys! Nice work, the both of you!"

Ghira sent the duo a nod as well. "Yes, very nice work. Not every day that two people can take down a Leviathan by themselves… in fact, I'm quite certain that has never happened before."

"Gracias, Ghira." Rex said with a salute. "All in a day's work."

Just then, Sun came strolling up from behind Blake to greet the Belladonna's as well, giving them a small wave. "Mr. and Mrs. B! Glad to see you guys are alright!"

Kali gasped and extended her arm, immediately bringing Sun into the group hug. "Oh, Sun, I'm glad to see that you're doing alright, too! Isn't that right, Ghira?"

The panther man sighed and shifted his eyes off to the side. "Well, I suppose—oof!" Kali sent an elbow to her husband's abdomen, the woman giving him a stern face before he correcting himself. "Er, I mean, yes. Yes, it's good to see you're alright as well, Sun." Blake and Sun merely glanced at each other, the cat girl letting out a little giggle at seeing her mother take control of the situation.

"Ben! Guys, you did it!" Everyone's heads perked up when they saw Cooper and Team CFVY approaching them, the blonde genius greeting them with open arms. "Nice going you guys!"

Velvet jumped up and pumped a fist into the air. "You really showed that Leviathan what for!"

Coco approached Ben and sent a jab right into his arm, making him wince a little. "Gotta admit, I seriously did not see that whole "Way Big" thing coming. Mad props for bein' awesome, Watch Boy."

Fox grumbled and crossed his arms, with Yatsu giving him a pat on the shoulder. "Still wish I could've seen it."

"Hehe, thanks guys, I appreciate it." Ben said with a salute. "And thanks for backing us up through all of this. Seriously, it means a lot."

Coco returned the gesture without a second thought. "No prob, dude. Anything to keep this city from falling… completely." She craned her head toward the city itself, seeing that there was still smoke billowing from where the Grimmungousaur had blasted its deadly energy beam. Everyone's expressions became sullen as they recalled just how much damage the beast had done… and there was no doubt that innocent people had been caught in the crossfire. "Damn it." Coco's grip on her handbag's strap tightened, her teeth clenched in ire. "How do these bastards keep taking chunks out of the city like this?"

Cooper came up from behind and put his hands on her shoulders, hoping to soothe her as best he could. "I honestly don't know, Coco. But don't worry. We'll figure out a way to keep this from happening again."

"Actually, I already have a plan for that." Everyone turned their heads to see General Ironwood and Professor Goodwitch come strolling up to the group, the former with his hands behind his back. "Hopefully, once this project is completed, everywhere in Remnant will have a new form of protection." He sent a smile out toward the whole group. "But… for the amount of protection that you all provided, I must say you did a good job. Well done, everyone."

Off to the side with his team, Jaune nervously put a hand behind his head. "Thanks, General, but I'm afraid we can't take ALL of the credit." He jabbed a thumb over to Ben and Rex with a smile of his own. "Really, it was those two who did most of the work."

"I must disagree with that." Goodwitch dismissed with a proud face. "You students have certainly come a long way from just three weeks ago. Words cannot describe the amount of pride I have for ALL of you." The headmistress then quirked a brow and smirked over to Ben and Rex. "However… I WILL admit that last trick was quite unexpected from both of you."

"No joke." Coco agreed before elbowing her boyfriend in the side. "What's next, Tech Head? You gonna build a giant robot so YOU can help Ben and Rex out?"

The whole group got a good laugh at that before Cooper replied; "Hehe, well, maybe. But I'd rather not take any chances being crushed inside of it." The genius lifted his arm, revealing that he was still wearing his gauntlet before bringing up the schematics for his Mark III armor again. "Besides, I've still got a new project to work on."

Seeing the schematics, many of the other teens let out simultaneous "oohs" and "ahs" at it, with a certain redheaded android getting in close. "Oh my, now this looks to be quite the feat of engineering, Cooper." Penny applauded. "I am sure it will be quite wonderful."

All of a sudden, VADOS piped up; "Isn't it sensational, sister? Mr. Daniels thought of every contingency with this one, I believe!"

"EEP!" Penny exclaimed before realizing who was talking. "Oh, apologies, VADOS, I was not expecting to hear you. Say… what exactly happened to the other armor?"

"Oh, Cinder destroyed it, unfortunately." VADOS answered. "But you can be certain that this new armor will be…" Penny's eyes brightened up and she finished the sentence with her sister; "Combat Ready!" the two shared a laugh after that, which managed to spread throughout nearly the whole group.

…At least aside from three certain individuals. The laughter began to die down as Qrow and Raven stepped forward through the crowd, leading a certain lion mutant toward Ironwood and Goodwitch. The two headmasters' smiles disappeared immediately, replaced with expressions of surprise and shock at Leonheart's presence. Off to the side, Ghira, Kali and Sienna took defensive positions in front of Blake, Sun and Ilia along with Coco and her team as well, the group keeping their eyes on Lionheart as he and the Branwens approached. Once they stopped, Lionheart lifted his head to meet Ironwood's eyes. "…James." He trailed his eyes over to Goodwitch as well. "Glynda."

Ironwood pursed his lips, his brow furrowing at his former ally. "Leo… you're free."

"I am." Lionheart gave a nod over to Ben. "It was thanks to him that I was freed in the first place." He took a brief pause before lowering his head again. "James, I—" But he was then abruptly cut off when Glynda suddenly stepped in front of him, catching his attention. "G-Glynda, I—"

SLAP! Most of the group let out a simultaneous gasp all at once as the headmistress gave a hearty smack across Lionheart's feline features, making the lion mutant's head jerk to the side… but only slightly. For as hard of a slap it was, the man's enhanced strength still meant he could take it relatively well… but he was certain that Goodwitch didn't care about that. "How COULD you?! You betrayed us, betrayed Ozpin, and LOOK where it got you!" She thrust her hand at his new mutated form. "You should have known from the start that allying with Salem would get you to this point, or even worse, and yet you continued to aide her! HOW could you have done this, Leonardo?!"

The righteous anger etched across Glynda's face was more than enough to drive the point across for Lionheart. He had made a mess of everything. "…I don't know what to say other than you are right." He said with a sigh as his head sagged again. "I was a fool. A complete and utter fool to trust Salem like I had done." He glared down at his hands in disgust. "And now because of my actions… I am a monster."

"Call it karma, Leonardo." Goodwitch said with an edge in her voice. "You got exactly what was coming to you for all of your misdeeds."

"I can't say I disagree with her, Leo." Ironwood concurred. "You brought this upon yourself."

Lionheart closed his eyes solemnly. "I know. And I can offer no excuse that would justify my actions. I was an utter coward who was trying to save his own neck. And thus…" He raised his hands up to Ironwood, presenting his wrists. "I request that you punish me like a coward should be. Lock me up in Atlas' highest security prison if you have to, but please, give me what I deserve."

Ironwood took a moment to think on the lion man's words before eyeing the large wrists. "Well, I'm afraid we can't bring you to Atlas without turning some heads. Plus, we don't have cuffs that fit you. However…" He gestured over to the Resolute. "I think I know a place where you'd be locked up properly. Tetrax?"

"Of course, James." The Petrosapien stepped forward and pulled out a pair of energy cuffs from his back pocket, placing Lionheart's hands behind his back before putting them on. "Alright, Lionheart, let's get on board." He, Ironwood, Glynda, Cooper, Team CFVY, Vernal and the Branwens all began leading Lionheart to the ship… but not without setting his eyes onto a certain Aerophibian hybrid. "Swift, you too."

The Aerophibian's head snapped back as she let out an exasperated groan. "Ugh, fine. Had a feeling my time outside wouldn't be for long." Swift began making her way to the ship with the others, though not before offering Ilia a wink. "I'll see you on board, Freckles."

"U-uh, y-yeah!" Ilia said with a nervous smile, her spots becoming a soft pink. "You sure will." Once Swift was gone, Ilia felt an elbow jab her side and she spun around to narrowed her eyes at Blake, who was giving her a cheeky grin. "Blake, I swear, I am NOT ready for this yet!" she harshly whispered.

"Oh, don't worry, I won't push you into doing anything… at least not yet." Blake winked, earning a small frustrated sound from the chameleon girl. "Hehe, but seriously, the way she saved you? I wouldn't be surprised if SHE has a thing for you, too."

Ilia's expression softened and she tapped her fingers together. "…You really think so?"

"I do. And don't worry." Blake settled her arm around Ilia's shoulder with a supportive smile. "I'll be sure to do my best to help you out in this. But for right now, I think it's time for us to head home." She perked her head up toward her other friends. "What do you say, guys? You ready to finally put this day to rest?"

Nora mimicked what Swift had done just a few moments before at her question. "Ugh, YES! Dear god, I am SO tired!" For a brief moment, her face lit up with a big smile. "Granted, Ben and Rex both just pulled off the most AWESOME-TASTIC thing I've ever seen in my LIFE, but still…" She bent forward and let her arms wobble around. "My everything feels like jelly."

Pyrrha nodded at her teammate's assessment. "Indeed. At this point, I simply want to get home and perhaps try and finish the Spirit Temple in Ocarina of Time."

"Ooh, good plan." Gwen agreed. "We're literally this close to finishing the game." She gave a smirk to her fellow redhead and nudged her shoulder with Pyrrha's. "Think we can complete it before we head out to Earth tomorrow?"

"We can certainly try!" Pyrrha said with a raised fist.

"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I could certainly go for a good nap after all of that." Ren piped up.

Neptune raised a hand in agreement. "Same here, dude. I feel like I just ran a marathon or somethin'." However, it was then that Neptune began to ponder something, placing his finger on his chin. "Hmm… but why do I have the feeling we're forgetting something?"

This got everyone else thinking as well… and before long, Ruby gasped when she realized what it was. "Ah! Oh my gosh! We forgot about—"

"Me?" Lisa Lavender finished as she suddenly zipped up behind Ruby and popped her head next to her, earning a small shout from the Hooded Huntress. Lisa let out a laugh and pat Ruby on the shoulder. "Haha! Ah, don't worry, kid. I was just busy signing off." She set her sights out toward the whole group, giving them a grateful smile. "But trust me, the whole of Remnant is sleeping better tonight now that you saved the day." She bowed toward the group as well. "I'm honestly very glad that we have people like you guys watching out for us."

Ben gave her a wave in response. "It was no trouble at all, Lisa. We're just glad to help." He set his eyes out toward the city and let out a sigh. "I just wish we could've done a better job with the attack at first."

"Well, that is a good point." Lisa conceded. "But still, it could've been a LOT worse if that Leviathan made land fall, so still, you all did a good job." Her arm suddenly snapped up toward Rex, giving him a big smirk. "And YOU, young man, you absolutely FLOORED me with that giant robot trick! That was AMAZING!"

Rex rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at that. "Heh, thanks. I'm just glad that I was able to pull it off at all."

"Aren't we ALL?" Weiss and Winter said simultaneously, much to Rex's chagrin.

Lisa laughed again before noticing Ghira, Kali and Sienna were still present, her eyes lighting up when she saw them. "OH! Miss Khan! Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna!" She briskly jogged up to them while pulling out a pad of paper and a pen from her pocket, hoping to get in a few final notes. "Firstly, I apologize that the press conference didn't end the way we wanted it to. I was actually very invested with what your new mission statement was and I was hoping I could get in a few final words from you regarding what you'll be doing from here."

Sienna, Kali and Ghira all exchanged gazes with one another before the latter gave a shrug. "Ahem, of course, Miss Lavender." Ghira permitted.

"Fire away." Sienna waved.

"Thank you." Lisa put her pen to the paper and began her small interview. "Now, how closely do you plan on working with the Atlesian Army? Is this working relationship going to be Ace-Ops level or will it be a bit looser?"

"Likely the latter." Sienna answered. "While the Atlesian Army have volunteered to work with us for our future endeavors, we have a feeling that we still won't be very welcomed in Atlas itself." She gave a sneer at the thought of a certain Dust Company giving them trouble. "And I'm sure that the SDC will be hounding James for even considering allying with us."

"And that brings me to my next question;" Lisa gestured out toward the group of teens behind her. "It's obvious that you have a working relationship with these kids considering what you said about Miss Schnee at the press conference earlier. Does that mean that you're familiar with Salem as well and are aiding them in their fight?"

Kali gave her a nod. "That's right. We've been aware of Salem for a few days now. She and her forces aided in the subjugation of our people in Kuo Kuana…" She wrapped an arm around Blake's shoulder. "And our daughter and her friends have been aware of her for quite a few weeks as well. They've been fighting against her practically since the Battle of Beacon."

"Oh my! Well, that certainly makes sense." Lisa jotted a few notes down before directing her attention back to the three feline Faunus. "And one last question; will you be continuing the press conference at a later date? I'm certain that you will want to finish what you started."

Ghira took in a deep breath and answered. "Indeed, we will…" His eyes moved over to Vale and a slight cringe came to his features. "After all, considering what just happened, we'll HAVE to have another press conference." He set his sights onto Ben and Rex, raising a brow at the two boys. "Although, I doubt that the White Fang will be the total focus of THAT particular press conference."

Lisa nodded as she eyed the duo herself. "Hm, I see what you mean. Well, I think we can set something up in a couple of days, so—"

"Uh, actually…" Kevin raised his hand, catching Lisa's attention. "We kinda have to leave for our home dimension tomorrow, so…"

The reporter's eyes widened in shock. "Y-You're leaving?! So soon after you made yourself known to Remnant?!"

Ben wore a guilty face as he rubbed the back of his head. "…Yeah, our families have been worried about us for three weeks straight, and now that we have the ability to go in between dimensions, we wanna get back and see 'em." The hero raised a single finger to make another point. "Plus, we have a whole bunch of other problems to take care of back in my home dimension, and then there's the fact that we wanna recruit more help in fighting Salem as well."

Lisa made sure to write all of this down before giving a sigh. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that someone like you has enemies all his own." But then, a determined expression came to her face. "But if that's the case, then I'm going to make sure that we get a press conference set up for you before you guys head home! Question is…" She quirked her eyebrow over to the city of Vale again. "Where should we have it?"

"Ooh! Perhaps over on Patch?" Penny suggested. "It isn't too far away from the city."

"Hey, yeah!" Ruby agreed. "And it's where we live, so it'd all work out pretty well!"

Lisa put her finger to her chin in thought for a moment before agreeing with her assessment. "That's a pretty good idea. Patch maybe a bit homier than the places we usually set press conferences up, but it's a FAR better option than the city." She sent a smile toward Ruby and gave a thumbs up. "Alright, Patch it is, then! I know my bosses will be quite eager to get some words from you, so I think it'll be easy to set this up." She set her gaze toward Ben, giving him a wink. "And just so you know, I will probably swing by a bit early to get in a quick interview with you before the actual conference starts. Is that alright?"

"Oh, sure, provided you can find us." Yang spoke up as she proceeded to give Lisa her address. "We're a bit far out in the woods, so it might be a bit of a trek, but I think you'll find it."

Lisa nodded to Yang in gratitude. "Thank you very much. I'll be there first thing tomorrow morning." She gave one last wave to the group as she turned back around toward Greg. "I'll see you kids then!" The teens waved goodbye as Lisa called out to the cameraman. "Greg, pack it up! We need to get back to the station PRONTO!"

As the group watched the two adults leave, a few of them let out some tired sighs before Ben piped up. "Well, I think that's our que to go home, too." He set his hand to his stomach as he heard a light growl come from it. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm STARVING."

At his words, many more stomachs in their group began grumbling as well, eliciting another round of laughter before Kali spoke up. "Hmhm, well, I know exactly what you kids need! Another healthy dose of salmon and tuna!" She turned to her husband and grabbed his arm. "Oh, dear, you should SEE the smorgasbord of fish that our daughter brought back from Mistral the other day, you and Sienna will be salivating before it's even cooked!"

"Oh, really?" Ghira smiled over to his daughter with his eyebrows raised. "And where did you get this "smorgasbord", Blake?"

"A fishmonger named Randolf in the city's marketplace." Blake answered as the group made their way to the ship. "If you guys ever head to Mistral, you should look him up. Fair warning, though; his way of bargaining is… rather painful." She rubbed her stomach with a slight grimace. "Still feeling the pain of balancing on the wooden pole."

"Hmph, how odd." Sienna remarked before noticing Ironwood, Goodwitch and the Branwens standing at the top of the ramp, waiting for them patiently. "So, general, I take it that Lionheart is in a cell?"

"He is." Ironwood affirmed, holding up a communicator in his hand. "And I've called in the… next round of clean-up efforts now that the city's been cleared of the villains." Ironwood sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, with Glynda setting a steady hand on his arm. "I can never seem to catch a break with these attacks, can I?"

Ben lowered his head slightly. "Sorry, general. But I guess that means that you're not coming back to Patch with us?"

Goodwitch shook her head. "No, Ben, we still have many things to do in the city and at Beacon now that the attack is over." She sent him and her students a small smile. "But that doesn't mean that you all have to stick around. Go home and get some rest. You all have well earned it." Glynda craned her head over to Qrow with a serious face. "That goes for you as well, Qrow." The headmistress pointed down to his bloodstained clothing. "And some new clothes will probably be necessary as well."

Qrow groaned and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you—gah!" Without warning, Ruby suddenly pinched her uncle's shoulder hard, making him concede. "Agh, alright, alright, I'll get some shut-eye." Ruby wordlessly gave him a big toothy grin before zipping inside the ship, a sigh escaping him as the others boarded as well. "Ugh, what's gotten into her lately?" He quirked a brow over to his sister. "Are you bein' a bad influence on her?"

"Hm, maybe." Raven said cheekily before strolling into the ship. "And if I am, I'm VERY proud of her. Now come along, dear brother. Time to go home and tuck you in." Qrow grumbled and followed his sister, much to his irritation.

"Oh, that reminds me." Ironwood faced Winter and gave her a nod. "Winter, your new uniform has arrived back at base. I'll have somebody send it over to Patch right away before you depart for Earth tomorrow."

Winter's eyes widened slightly before giving Ironwood a salute. "O-Oh, yes sir! But… are you certain that you have no reservations about my—"

"Winter, when was the last time you had a vacation?" Ironwood asked expectantly.

"…Um, I…"

"I thought so." Ironwood smiled before putting a hand to her shoulder. "I know that you and Gwen's brother have been eager to meet one another, so feel free to take as much time as you want. Besides, I can tell that you've found a good place among this team." He sent her another salute. "I hope you'll keep a good eye on them throughout your time on Earth. But most importantly; remember to have a bit of fun yourself."

There was a momentary pause before Winter smiled and saluted yet again. "Yes sir, understood."

"Very good. I'll send your new uniform over immediately." Ironwood and Goodwitch filed off the Resolute, giving the young heroes one last wave. "Have a good rest, everyone. You'll need it before you leave tomorrow. And once again… thank you." Once the duo were off the ship, its exit ramp rose up and closed before it took off, blasting off toward Patch once more. Ironwood sighed and stared out to the city. "Well… the secret's out."

"Indeed it is." Glynda sighed. "A secret we've worked to keep for well over twenty years… and one that Ozpin's been keeping for his entire life." She set her eyes on James with a worried gaze. "The media is going to be all over us on this."

James let out a breath and rubbed his eyes, getting exhausted at even the thought of having to deal with those vultures. "Yes, and the people up in Atlas will be hounding me when I get back up there." He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Ugh, there's so much going on at once, I can't concentrate!"

Glynda quirked a brow at her fellow headmaster. "I thought your Semblance was supposed to help with that?"

"Well… I think it's been thrown out of whack ever since Ben and the others arrived." Ironwood explained. "The Battle of Beacon was one thing… but everything ELSE happening at that same time, it… it was so much that for the first time in a while, I was knocked for a loop." He put a hand to his forehead. "And it's been that way ever since. I don't know, Glynda… maybe I should just get used to everything not being normal ever again. Maybe then I can get my Semblance back on track."

There was a brief pause before Glynda reached over and grasped James' hand, garnering his attention before giving him a warm smile. "Honestly, I think I could get used to things not being normal. And I think I can help you adapt, too." She sent him a wink, making his eyes widen. "That is… if you'll let me."

James stared at her for a moment before a smile came to his face as well, putting his other hand over hers to reassure both her and himself. "Yes, I'd… I think I'd like that." All of a sudden, a ringing came from James' pockets, making him give out a groan while Glynda forced down a small laugh. "Oh what NOW?!" He took out the scroll and answered it; "Hello?"

"General, this is Clover." a voice came from the other end. "The other Ops and I just saw what happened on TV… what the HELL is going on down there?!"

James' grin returned and he chuckled a little bit, thankful that it was just an old friend. "It is a LONG story, Clover. But don't worry, we have it all under control."

"I should hope so!" Clover said on the other end. "That… that just looked insane." There was another pause before Clover piped up again. "Well, I suppose it's good that I called you anyway. I have some news that I wanted to share with you. It came in just as the press conference was starting and I didn't wanna interrupt you…"

Ironwood sighed and rolled his eyes a bit. "Well, I suppose even MORE news couldn't hurt. After the events of today, I don't think anything can phase me. What do you have to report?"

"Sir… our people found her. We have the Winter Maiden."

James nearly broke his scroll in his iron grip.

…..

The Resolute had made it to Patch in record time, having lowered down in front of the Xiao Long house to let its passengers off. Among them was none other than Caesar, the genius beaming with pride as he kept his arms settled over Rex and Weiss' shoulders. "Haha! Mijo, papi would be SO proud of you right now!" Caesar ruffled his brother's hair with gusto before he faced Weiss with a small but sad grin. "And Weiss, our madre would've been ecstatic to meet you. Man, I wish they could be here to see you two."

Weiss blushed and brushed a stray hair away from her face. "Thanks, Caesar. I wish I could've met them, too."

"Yeah, so do I." Rex agreed as he reached around his brother and grasped Weiss' hand. "But it's okay. I'm just glad that we were able to get our feelings out, finally."

"Heh, "Finally" is right, hermano." Caesar laughed as the three stepped off the ship. "Now c'mon, Holiday's probably worried sick."

As the group of teens were disembarking, Yang and Ben stayed behind to talk with Cooper and Team CFVY near the edge of the ramp, the latter five having elected not to join them. "You sure you guys don't wanna come inside for dinner?" Yang asked just as the Belladonnas and Sienna stepped off the ship. "I mean, it'll probably be a tight squeeze, but…"

Coco waved her hand at her friend and shook her head. "Nah, it's okay, Yangarang. You guys already have a lot of people to deal with already." She craned her head over to her team. "Besides, I'm pretty sure everyone here just wants to get back to the apartment as soon as possible. We've got a big day tomorrow, after all."

Velvet's ears perked up a bit at that. "Oh yes! We'll finally be able to go to Earth! This is all so exciting, I—snrrrk." Without warning, Velvet's head lolled off to the side and her eyes snapped closed, letting out a snore as her body almost fell to the floor.

Yatsu was able to catch her, however, holding her in his arms as he sent a smile to the group. "We have to get Velvet back to the apartment anyways."

"Heh, yeah, pretty sure we're ALL pretty bushed after a day like today." Fox snickered.

"No doubt about that." Ben agreed, letting out a small yawn. "But hey, I hope you guys will at least swing by tomorrow morning. I'm sure Lisa would be pretty stoked to meet all of you." He quirked his brow over to the blonde genius. "Especially since she's probably eager to know about the guy in the armored suit."

Cooper rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Hehe, yeah, probably."

"Aw, don't act so nervous, Tech Head." Coco said as she elbowed her boyfriend in the side. "I always thought Lisa was pretty cute anyway, so meeting her in person would be pretty great." She lowered her sunglasses and gave Cooper a wink. "And who knows? Maybe if I ask nicely we could set up a special little something…"

"COCO!" Cooper blushed madly.

"What? C'mon, Tech Head, don't be like that." Coco smirked. "If you can't make yourself a giant robot, then maybe you can at LEAST grow giant sized."

"GAAAH!" Cooper hung his head while Yang was desperately trying to hold back her laughter behind him, with Ben having glanced away as he too blushed profusely at the implication. Fox and Yatsu simply rolled their eyes, as if they had experienced this before. "Dear lord, does your dirty mind know no bounds?!"

"Nope!" Coco gave Cooper's butt a smack before strutting her way back inside the ship, making sure that Cooper got a good look at her own backside. "Now c'mon, we can't keep these guys waiting. See you all tomorrow!"

Yang rolled her eyes as she watched the group head back, a small laugh escaping her throat as Ben kept his eyes away. "Hehe, yeah, we'll see you guys later." She elbowed Ben in the side, successfully getting his attention. "Tryin' to keep your eyes off something, Green Boy?" She wrapped her arms around one of his own and gave him a wink, making sure she pressed her chest nice and snug to him. "I can always give you something ELSE to focus on, ya know."

"HA-HA-HA!" Ben let out a stilted, nervous laugh he tried with all his might to keep his nerve, though his blush belied his true demeanor. "W-W-What, who, me? Nah, I'm just… eager to get back inside is all."

"Hm, yeah, right." Yang let go of his arm and moved down the ramp, making sure to put the same sway in her hips that Coco had done. "I'll see ya down there, Green Boy. And don't think I forgot about that little chat we promised."

Ben's eyes widened, not just at the reminder that he still needed to tell her that one very important thing… but also at the fact that his eyes briefly gazed at his girlfriend's rear. 'STOP. THINKING. BAD. THOUGHT—ugh, who am I kidding? My girlfriend is hot as hell and I know that for a fact.' He hung his head with a sigh and was about to walk off the ship… before he noticed that Ilia and Swift were still talking near the ramp as well, much to his surprise. "Uh, gals? Tetrax needs to take off soon, you know."

Both girls moved their heads up at the mention of that, with Ilia rubbing the back of her neck. "O-Oh, sorry. We were so caught up, we forgot." She gave a small grin to the Aerophibian girl and offered her a hug, which Swift graciously accepted. "So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Like you have a choice?" Swift smirked with a slight chuckle. "How else are ya gonna get to earth, Freckles?"

Ilia gave Swift's shoulder a light smack. "Oh, don't be such a wise-guy… er, girl." The chameleon girl's spots suddenly changed to pink again. "And… thanks again for saving me, Swift. I owe you a whole lot for that."

"And thanks for helping out in the battle, too." Ben added as he stepped over to them.

"Ah, it was nothing." Swift waved to the hero before returning her sights to Ilia. As her red eyes met the chameleon girls' light blue, a light shade of pink came to her cheeks. "Hehe… what're friends for, am I right?"

"Y-Yeah… best friends." Ilia said sheepishly before giving Swift's hand a gentle squeeze. "We'll see you tomorrow, Swift, and thanks again." After the two girls said their goodbyes, Ilia and Ben descended the ramp, stopping at the bottom before it rose up again. Once it did, the ship rose up and blasted off to the town of Patchwork, finally leaving the team to themselves for the night. Ilia sighed and gave a shrug to Ben. "So, what do we do now, Tennyson?"

Ben placed his hands on his hips. "Well, I think we should just—" SLAM! "…brace for impact."

"KIDS!" Tai exclaimed as he, Athena and Holiday all came charging out of the house, with Max, Oscar, and Paradox trailing behind, the latter chauffeuring Azmuth on his shoulder. "EVERYONE! You're back!" He immediately enveloped Ruby, Yang and Raven in a lung-crushing hug, much to the three women's dismay. "And you WON! Haha! This is fantastic!"

"Th-Thanks dad." Ruby croaked out. "But can we have our lungs back now?"

"Yes Tai, I would appreciate air again, thank you." Raven added her input.

Tai was quick to comply and let them go, keeping his smile on his face. "Heh, sorry, I had to get that out of my system." His features suddenly became serious as he trained his eyes onto Qrow, the man flinching at his best friend's gaze. "Because I have to have some WORDS with YOU!" Tai marched right up, grabbed Qrow by the collar and began shaking him back and forth. "WHAT. THE. HELL. WERE. YOU. THINKING?!"

"Gah-ah-ah-ah! TAI! I'm sorry, okay?!" Qrow grabbed a hold of Tai's hands and stopped the shaking, giving his old partner a slight glare. "Seriously, I think I've had enough people grill me on my rash decision today."

But Tai vehemently shook his head. "Oh no, I'm not letting you off that easily, Qrow. You could've died out there." He pointed over to a certain Anodite. "And I'm pretty sure that it took Gwen summoning Jinn to heal you, right?"

"Eeyup." Gwen affirmed. "Any longer and he would've… well, let's not go there, shall we?"

Tai nodded at that. "Hm, I rest my case." He faced Qrow again with a raised eyebrow. "Listen, Qrow, I don't know about you, but after a blow like that, I think you need to take some time off." The former drunkard wore a surprised face at his friend's words. "I know it's not something that you wanna hear considering how dedicated you are to being a Huntsman, but you've been through a lot, especially in the last forty-eight hours."

Raven stepped up with Yang and Ruby, the three giving Qrow equally concerned faces. "He's right, Qrow. The last thing I want you to do right now is keep risking your life, especially since you're only now starting to drop the drinking." Raven folded her arms as she went on. "Perhaps a little vacation is in order, something to help you get away from things."

Qrow shifted his eyes between all four of his family members before giving a resigning sigh. "Yeah… yeah, you're right. Maybe it's time I slow things down for a while." He crossed his arms in thought. "But honestly, I'd have no idea where to even START with a vacation."

But then, an idea suddenly came into a certain hero's mind. "Well… you could always come with us to Earth!" Ben suggested. "After all, there's plenty of room in the Resolute for one more."

This made Qrow and the others eyes widen in surprise. "Wait, Earth?" Qrow asked. "Really?"

"Well sure!" Max piped up as he walked over as well, giving Qrow a smile. "Earth is really the perfect place for someone like you to vacation. For one, there's no Grimm." The old plumber began counting off on his fingers. "And another thing; you'd be as far away from… well, all of THIS as possible." Max waved his arm in the general direction of Vale for emphasis. "Not to say that Earth isn't chaotic, especially with all of the alien activity, but it'll still be a good change of pace for you, I think."

Gwen and Kevin approached the group as well, with the Osmosian crossing his arms at Qrow. "Whaddya say, old man? Wanna make the jump with us?"

"Kid, I'm forty-two. Keep callin' me old and I'll slug ya where the sun don't shine." Qrow snarked back before shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, even if I DID go to Earth, where the hell would I even stay?" He shot Max a glance. "'Cause no offence, Max, but a motor home wouldn't exactly suit me."

Max raised a hand at that. "Understandable. But still, we'll be able to work something out."

"Yeah, you could even stay at one of our places if you need to." Gwen pointed between herself, Ben and Kevin. "I'm sure any one of our parents would be more than happy to help out."

Qrow rubbed the back of his head. "You sure 'bout that, Red? Ya DO know that I kinda come with a whole buncha bad luck, right?"

"Ah, we'll iron out the details when we get to Earth." Ben said with a wave of his hand. "What's important is helping YOU take a break for a while and recoup after all of THIS. So, whaddya say, Qrow?"

"Well…" His eyes trailed over to his nieces, who were both giving him approving faces. He saw that Raven and Tai were wearing the same expressions and he gave a sigh, his hand going to his neck again. "Well, with a deal like that, how can I refuse?"

Ruby let out a loud; "YAY!" before glomping onto her uncle with a hug. "This is gonna be so GREAT! It's a whole Xiao Long-Branwen-Rose ROADTRIP!"

Yang let out a laugh and rolled her eyes at her sister's display. "Oh, THIS should be fun." However, she saw that Vernal was standing by herself out of the corner of her eye, the lady bandit simply observing the conversation. "Hey, V! You wanna come along, too?"

This made Vernal's eyes widen in surprise. "W-Wait, me?! You actually want me to come along with you?"

"Ooh! Yeah, it'd be fun!" Ruby said excitedly as she broke her hug with Qrow. "Just think! It'd be so much cooler than hanging out with a bunch of crooks, right?"

Vernal could only stare at the two sisters in utter shock before trailing her eyes over to Raven. Her mentor gave her a small shrug in response. "It's your decision, Vernal. I will not pressure you to do something if you don't wish to do it." She smiled and offered a wink. "But still, it IS something to consider." Raven strode forward and whispered into her protégé's ear; "Besides, I think you're slowly falling into the "big sister" category with them." That made a slight blush appear on Vernal's face, her eyes trailing back to the smiling yellow and red duo.

"Well…" Vernal rubbed the back of her head and gave an appreciative smile. "While it's really sweet of you guys to offer, I don't really know if I'm ready for all of this. Fighting those assholes was one thing, but… traveling across dimensions is something I don't think I'm ready for just yet."

Ruby became crestfallen at that. "Aw… does this mean you're going back to the tribe?"

"Er..." Vernal winced at the question. "I really don't know. I mean, you're right. I'm not exactly in the best position being with those guys, but…"

Suddenly, Tai snapped his fingers, a smile forming on his face. "Wait, I have an idea!" He pointed to Vernal and said; "You could housesit for me!"

This made Vernal blink twice and tilt her head. "I'm… sorry?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna be heading to Earth with these guys for a while so I'll need a house sitter." Tai gave her a thumbs up. "Think you can manage?"

"…You're letting an expert thief watch your house." Vernal stated plainly. "I can't tell if that's poorly thought out or plain stupid." She crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "…But, I can't lie and say that it's a better option than going back to the tribe." Vernal opened her eyes and gave Tai a thumbs up back. "Eh, what the hell? Sure, I'm in!"

"Great!" Tai saluted. "And once I get back, you'll be given the chance to join them over there on Earth again."

Ben gave a nod in approval. "Sounds good to me. Besides, we'll already have Cooper and Team CFVY going back and forth as well, so it all works out, really."

Vernal put a hand to her chin at that. "Hm, yeah, guess so. Alright, sounds like a deal."

"Awesome!" Tai said, nudging his head back to his home. "And whenever you come back to Remnant, you can always just bunk here. I mean, you're Rae's student and my daughters like you, so that makes you practically family, right?"

Vernal couldn't help but blush again, making it a point to turn her head away slightly. "Heh, let's not TOO get carried away, old man." However, once her eyes landed on Ruby again, her eyes widened before returning to Tai, jerking her thumb to the Hooded Huntress. "Oh yeah! Did they mention that your daughter's eyes exploded with light?"

Ruby, Yang and Raven's faces all simultaneously fell as Tai's eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. "RUBY, YOUR EYES ACTIVATED?!"

Ruby chortled apprehensively before waving her hands. "Hehe, surprise?"

…..

At the same time that the family were having their chat, Athena had charged up and practically enveloped all of Team JNPR in a hug, much to the four's surprise. Meanwhile, Penny was standing off to the side, observing the scene with a bright smile. "Oh, thank the GODS you kids are all okay! You have no idea how worried we were back here!"

"I-I can imagine, mother." Pyrrha managed to get out before the group bear hug ended. "But to be fair, we DID win."

Athena sighed and smiled at that. "Indeed, you did. And I have to say, that last battle was particularly spectacular." She sent a wave over to Ben and Rex, though the latter currently being bombarded by a hug from Holiday. "Great work, you two!" She received waves of acknowledgement before turning to face Jaune, a serious expression coming to her features. "And Jaune, your parents called TWICE during that battle. You had better call them back, because your sisters are all worried sick!"

"Oh, shoot!" Jaune exclaimed before rushing inside. "Thanks, Athena! I'll be right back!"

Nora couldn't help but snicker as she leaned over to Ren. "Hehe, talk about a handful, eh? Wouldn't wanna deal with the heat he's gonna get from those girls."

"Hm, agreed." Ren concurred before going back to Athena. "So, I'm assuming no more Grimm came by here?"

The Mistralian Huntress shook her head. "No, things were relatively calm after you left. Though with how worried we were, I'm surprised that a Grimm DIDN'T show up." She let out a sigh as she thought back to when Ben and Rex took on the Leviathan. "However, when the Leviathan showed up in Vale's harbor, I truly thought that there was nothing more that could be done. Heh… how wrong was I in that assessment?"

"QUITE wrong!" Penny pipped up, raising her arms up to the sky. "Because Ben and Rex's display of power was spectacular!"

Athena let out a chuckle at that. "Hmhm, it certainly was, Penny." She then settled a hand to Pyrrha's shoulder with a small grin. "But I am still very proud of you all. You certainly showed Salem's forces what you are all made of out there. Well done."

Pyrrha went in for another hug from her mother. "Hm, thanks mom. But now, I'm just happy to be home."

"Now THAT is a correct assessment." Penny concurred before looking back over to Holiday and Rex, the doctor having just broken her hug with the EVO.

"Rex are you INSANE?" Holiday asked incredulously. "You were only able to access the Omega EVO form all of once before. Why in the world did you risk getting flattened on a fifty-fifty shot?!"

The young Latino could only give her a shrug. "Ah, c'mon, Doc, I had a pretty good idea that I was able to do it." He tapped his fingertips together anxiously. "It, uh… just took a bit of luck on my end is all." Holiday didn't seem to like that response, giving Rex a pointed glare. "B-But I DID have a good motivator if that makes you feel better!" he assured as he wave his hands frantically.

Holiday rose an eyebrow in confusion. "Motivator? What're you…" However, she trailed off when Weiss sheepishly stepped forward, the heiress keeping her hands behind her back.

"Well… he likely means me, Doctor Holiday." she said with a blush.

"W-What're you…" But then she saw the sly grin that Caesar and Winter were wearing off to the side, giving her pause. Combining that with the fact that Weiss was standing VERY intimately close to Rex… it didn't take long for Holiday to put the pieces together… resulting in a small, happy yell. "AAAAH!" The EVO expert rushed forward and this time enveloped both Weiss and Rex in a hug, laughing all the while. "Hahaha! No way! You two are actually together?! Please tell me this isn't a joke!"

Weiss and Rex each put an arm around Holiday, their smiles not faltering for a second. "Nope, we're telling you the truth, one-hundred percent." Weiss answered.

"AH! This is so exciting!" Holiday pulled back and looked between the two with pride. "I'm so glad that you two finally confessed your feelings for one another. You have no idea how much I wanted to knock some sense into you…" She eyed her EVO compatriot in particular. "Especially you, Rex, you were being rather thick-headed in particular."

Rex facepalmed while Weiss let out a few guffaws of her own, putting her arms around her new boyfriend as he wore a defeated face. "Aw, c'mon, Doc! I wasn't THAT bad, was I?!"

Caesar came up, smiled at his little brother and shook his head. "No, mijo… you were worse."

That made Rex's head lower in shame, though Weiss made sure to give him a pat on the back. "Oh, don't be so down in the dumps, Robo-dolt. Honestly, I needed to get over myself before I even admitting that I like you… to myself. So really, you're not alone in this."

"She's right." Winter concurred. "My sister was always quite the stubborn one." She smirked when she got an evil eye from Weiss. "Oh don't give me that look, you know I'm right."

Rex smiled and put a hand over Weiss', giving her an appreciative smile. "Yeah, Ice Princess, she's just having a bit of fun." Weiss grumbled slightly before pressing her head back against his chest, earning a chortle from Rex.

"Well, I'm just glad that things turned out alright in the end." Holiday sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "And I'm especially glad you didn't access your OTHER EVO form by mistake, Rex."

This caught Weiss' attention. "Wait… other EVO form?"

"Ah, si." Caesar nodded. "Rex's primary EVO form is what happens when all of his other Nanites become activated, resulting in a more monstrous form compared to the Omega EVO form." He raised a brow over to his little brother. "It was also the cause for a LOT of his memory loss as a kid."

"WHAT?!" Weiss shouted before rounding on her boyfriend and grabbing him by the collar. "You mean you could've gone into that OTHER EVO form instead and lost all of your memories?!"

"W-Well, kinda-sorta?" Rex said uncertainly. "I-I mean, I haven't GONE into my normal-EVO form in a while and I don't think I can do it willingly, so…"

"Good!" Weiss shouted, much to his surprise. "And I don't want you to ever try to do it willingly, got it?" Rex was taken aback by how serious Weiss was taking this, seeing the visible worry on her face. "Because… I don't want you to risk losing your memories." She moved an arm up and wrapped it around his neck, pulling herself closer to his chest. "Do I make myself clear?"

Rex took a few moments pause before wrapping his arms around her waist, securing her in a comforting hug. "Hmhm, yes, ma'am." Rex said with a slight chuckle. "Whatever you say."

Off to the side, Winter, Holiday and Caesar were beaming at the young couple, the military specialist in particular nodding in approval. "Well, say what you will about them, I don't think they'll ever have a dull moment in this relationship."

"Sin duda." Ceasar agreed.

As the group were conversing out on the lawn, the Belladonnas, Sienna, Team SN and Ilia had all decided to head inside, the group intending to head straight to the kitchen. On the way, however, they were met by Professor Paradox, Azmuth and Oscar by the front door, the farm boy in particular eager to speak to all of them. "Hey guys!" he greeted with a wave. "Glad to see you all back."

Blake smiled down and bowed her head slightly. "It's good to see you, too, Oscar. So, did you see that big fight on the television?"

"Did I ever?!" Oscar exclaimed in excitement. "Oh man, Ben and Rex were so AWESOME! I had no idea that they could even DO that!"

"Heh, join the club." Neptune snickered. "It was literally a pretty BIG surprise. Haha! Ha… ha…" The group gave the blue-haired boy a collective deadpan expression as his laughter faltered. "I, uh… guess I should leavy the puns to Yang, huh?"

Sun put his hands behind his head, rolling his eyes. "Dude, that joke fell as flat as a piece of paper." This got a few snickers from Blake, Kali and Ilia, making the monkey boy smirk to himself. "See? That's how you tell a joke."

Even Professor Paradox laughed at Sun's joke. "Haha, splendid, young Sun!" He and Oscar then began walking past them with Azmuth in tow. "Apologies for the short chat, but Azmuth has insisted that we speak with Ben."

"That's alright, professor." Ilia said with a small nod before shifting her eyes over to Kali. "We were just about to go in and get dinner started, right?"

The cat woman clapped her hands together and rubbed them fervently. "Oh, you are absolutely right, Ilia!" She wrapped her arms around her husbands and lead him in. "Come on, dear, you will not BELIEVE the size of the mackerel that I saved for your arrival."

Ghira's eyes widened and his stomach grumbled at the sound of that. "Oh… well, at least I know that dinner won't be an issue for me."

"There, um… there wouldn't happen to be any swordfish too, would there?" Sienna asked as she licked her lips hungrily.

"Oh, there's swordfish, bass, tuna, mackerel, basically if you can think it, it's in there." Blake answered.

Sun couldn't help but watch the conversation with slight amusement before leaning over and whispering to Ilia; "So… think ALL feline Faunus like fish?" he whispered.

Ilia rolled her eyes before nudging him in the side. "Well, let me answer that with another question; how many bananas have you consumed over your life time?"

"…Point taken." Sun deadpanned as he held the door for Athena, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora to follow them in. He then saw Paradox, Oscar and Azmuth approaching the others, and the monkey boy's curiosity piqued for a moment. 'Hm, wonder what they're talking about?' he thought to himself before shrugging. 'Eh, a question for later. Right now, FOOD.' With that, Sun closed the door, his stomach leading him to the kitchen.

…..

"Ah, welcome back, young heroes!" Paradox greeted as he approached the others out on the lawn with his two compatriots. The group had fallen into silence the moment the time traveler spoke, the man beaming a smile toward all of them. "We saw your exploits from the television, and—"

"And that was probably the most AWESOME thing I've ever seen in my entire life!" Oscar exclaimed as he rushed up to both Ben and Rex, his eyes gleaming in admiration. "How is it that your guys' powers just seem to keep getting cooler and cooler?! I mean… you both have GIANT forms!" He pointed over to Rex. "And yours is a ROBOT!"

Ben and Rex glanced to each other with similar smirks. "Man, who knew we'd made such a big fan out of him?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, and in such a short amount of time." Rex shrugged before giving Oscar a thumbs up. "But thanks for the high praises, Oscar."

Oscar nodded his head eagerly. "Yeah, it was great!" But then, he became crestfallen as he hung his head a bit. "…I just kinda wish I had been there to see 'em in person."

Once again, the two heroes smirked at each other, motioning for everyone else to step away a bit while Oscar still wasn't looking. A few moments later, Oscar's eyes caught sight of two blue and green flashes before he craned his head up, letting out a gasp when he saw what was in front of him. There, standing great and tall before him were Omega Rex and… "WAY BIG!" Oscar and the other teens couldn't help but smile widely as the To'kustar lowered down to one knee, giving everyone a grin and a thumbs up. "Well guys, what's it like seeing us up close?"

"HAHAHA! This is amazing!" Oscar exclaimed. "You're HUGE!"

Omega Rex did the same, his hand lowering down in front of Weiss. "Pretty cool, eh, Ice Princess?"

Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes, but still, she smiled and placed a hand on her new boyfriend's giant, metal finger. "Yeah, yeah I suppose it is."

"Ahem!" Way Big's eyes widened and he focused down onto Azmuth, the Omnitrix's creator standing with his arms crossed and with a disapproving face. "If we are done with the pleasantries and using the Omnitrix for fan-appeal, I would like to have a few words with you, Ben."

Way Big rubbed the back of his head. "Erm, r-right. Of course." Way Big pressed the Omnitrix symbol and transformed back into his human form, giving Azmuth an apologetic face. "Sorry, Azmuth." Ben bowed his head slightly. "Just trying to make Oscar's day is all."

Azmuth sighed and shook his head, giving Ben a stern glare. "Some things are more important than just making a fan's day, Ben Tennyson. You SHOULD know that by now." He crossed his arms as he continued. "And while your decision to use the To'kustar transformation against that monster was a just one, you are extremely lucky that the beast itself didn't make landfall earlier than it did." He pointed at the Omnitrix for emphasis. "You used the Ultimate Vaxasaurian form until you ran the battery out, thus putting you and everyone else in great risk." He glanced over to Qrow, noting the man's bloodstained shirt. "Perhaps if you had managed to conserve some energy, that man wouldn't have gotten hurt."

The Galvan's rather strict face unnerved many of the others present, including Rex who had exited his Omega form as a result. The only one who didn't seem phased by the diminutive alien was Yang, the blonde giving Azmuth a glare of her own. "Hey, I don't know about you, but Ben did what he had to do to beat that Grimmungousaur. Sure, Uncle Qrow got… stabbed… but Gwen was able to find a way to help him."

"Both very true points." Azmuth conceded. "But then what about you, Miss Xiao Long? Heading into battle with Ben against an opponent that is at least fourteen times your eight? Rather reckless, wouldn't you think?"

Yang clenched her fists and stepped toward Azmuth a bit more. "Listen, we're all a team here, so that means we work together in situations like that." She reached over and pulled Ben into a side embrace, pointing her finger to his chest. "And I don't care if my boyfriend has awesome Ultimate forms or not, I WILL still go into battle with him. No matter what happens, we stick together. Not just because we're an item, but because we're a team."

"Aw, thanks babe." Ben smiled.

Yang gave him a wink back. "Don't mention it, Green Boy."

Azmuth was stroking his beard in contemplation, taking in Yang's words. "Hm, you make quite the compelling argument, Miss Xiao Long. And I WILL admit, you all handle yourselves fairly well out there against a beast of that magnitude." He gave a small grin to the Blonde Brawler. "Perhaps you and Ben are even MORE alike than I initially thought." He set his gaze out to everyone with a nod. "And further still, good job to all of you as well. However, there is someone among you that I wish to speak to." He moved his gaze over to Penny, the redheaded android jumping a bit when he did. He hopped down from Paradox's hand and strode over to Penny, greeting her with a nod. "Miss Penny Polendina, I presume?"

"U-Um, yes, you presume correctly." Penny answered, nervously keeping her eyes on the small, grey frog-man.

"My name is Azmuth. In case you are not aware, I am the creator of the Omnitrix."

Penny's eyes widened at that. "Oh, really? Well, it's certainly an honor to meet you!"

Azmuth extended a small hand to her. "Well, If I must be quite honest, I feel I should be saying the same about you." The Galvan heard a small, collective gasp come from behind him, no doubt from Ben and his companions. "If you do not mind my asking… could I perhaps see some of your inner systems? I noticed that you used weapons in your fight against the Grimmungousaur that appeared to resemble that of a Galvanic Mechamorph, and once Ben and Rex told me about how you were brought back online, I grew quite intrigued."

Penny brightened up and lifted her wrist. "Oh! Well if that is all you wish to see, then please, feel free!" She opened up a compartment on her arm, revealing the Mechamorph-esque inner workings of her systems, lowering herself to Azmuth's level in order to show him. "Here, see? My systems used to be much different from before Ben and Rex rebuilt me, but now it's like I am completely new on the inside."

Azmuth stepped forward, a small smile coming to his face as he nodded. "Hm, yes, yes, this all seems to line up. Your systems have indeed been fused with the techno-organic metal of a Galvanic Mechamorph." He reached in and took note of a few small details as he continued speaking. "Hm, it would seem that the nanites in Rex's system reacted to the ones that make up a Galvanic Mechamorph's cells, which explains how they were able to fuse with you so naturally."

This came as a shock to both Ben and Rex. "W-Wait, Mechamorphs are made up of NANITES?!" Rex exclaimed.

"Indeed, though while they are similar to the ones within you, they are also quite different as well." Azmuth raised an eyeridge the two heroes' direction. "How do you think YOU two were able to fuse together to take on the Alpha Nanite?"

The duo stared at the First Thinker in surprise. "W-Wait, how do you even KNOW about that?" Ben asked.

"I, uh… may have told him a few details while we were working on the Dimensional Doorway." Caesar answered with a grin. "Honestly, he was quite fascinated by it, though."

"Hm." Azmuth nodded before going back to Penny's arm. "I only wish I was able to take a sample of this for testing." He glanced up to the redheaded android, who was still utterly intrigued by what was happening. "Because if my theory is correct, you fusing with Rex's nanites and the techno-organic Mechamorph cells means that you very well could very well have your own DNA."

A long silence came over everyone present before a collective; "WHAT?!" rang out through the whole area, making Azmuth wince at how louds it was.

Penny, however, seemed to be the most shocked out of all of them. "Wait… I could have my own DNA?"

"Ahem, yes, that would be the case." Azmuth confirmed. "Galvanic Mechamorphs, like any living being, have their own unique DNA. Otherwise they would not be catalogued in the Omnitrix." He extended hand to extend his point. "In fact, I've made it a point to keep track of the Mechamorph's DNA strands ever since I accidentally created them eons ago."

Once again, silence, and then another "WHAT?!" This time, though, Winter picked it up from there. "Alright, I must ask; how in the WORLD do you "accidentally create" something?"

Without turning away from Penny's arm, Azmuth waved over to her. "Let's just say that attempting to make a moon hospitable can yield quite interesting results, Miss… erm…"

"Schnee."

"Gesundheit."

Weiss narrowed her eyes a bit at that and crossed her arms. "Alright, Shrimpy, is THAT why you've been so nice to Penny but really stilted towards us? Because she's half-Mechamorph?"

"That is part of the reason, yes." Azmuth answered with a shrug. "I suppose you could say I have a certain kinship which Mechamorphs with how they were created." He tapped his chin as he continued to ponder how to get a sample from the girl. "But, back on the topic at hand, if we wish to confirm the presence of Mechamorph DNA, I'll need to…" Just then, a few water droplets landed in front of him, taking him aback a bit. "W-What?" He craned his head up… and saw that Penny was crying, a look of disbelief still on her face as her lower lip quivered a bit. "…Miss Polendina?"

Penny sniffled a bit before wiping her tears away. "I-I'm sorry, I don't know what has come over me. B-But… if you can prove that I have DNA… actual DNA… then could I then be considered a truly living being?"

"Well, yes, I could." Azmuth said as his eyeridges rose in intrigue. "Though I must say, if you are capable of showing THIS much range of emotion, then you are already more alive than any android I've ever seen."

"It's because she has a soul powering her." Ruby explained as she stepped up to comfort her best friend, peering down to Azmuth with a smile. "You remember when I explained Aura to you a little while ago? Well, the man who created Penny used a bit of his own Aura to give Penny a soul, meaning that she's already just as alive as any of us here."

"Fascinating!" Azmuth said in surprise. "Well, if that's the case, then I'd certainly want to meet this man as well. Not even I have found a way to manipulate life energy in such a way." He glanced over to Ben, eyeing his creation. "Another reason why Anodites are not in the Omnitrix."

Penny sniffled again, composing herself as she bowed her head toward Azmuth. "W-Well, my father is up at Beacon right now, actually. I will give him a call right away and we can set up a meeting for tomorrow before we leave."

Azmuth nodded up to her. "I would very much appreciate that." His eyes then went back to her arm. "But still, there remains the issue of DNA extraction. The parts of your inner-workings are all solid. I can only extract a Mechamorph sample when they are in their gelatinous state."

"Oh! Well, that will be no problem, then!" Penny detached her arm and pulled it right out of her sleeve… making Weiss dry-heave once again. "Oh, apologies, Weiss!" A few seconds later, a green and black tendril snaked its way out of Penny's sleeve, the redhead presenting it to Azmuth. "Here you are!"

Off to the side, Vernal's eye couldn't help but twitch as she watched this all happen. She eyed her mentor and uttered; "How are you able to handle this weirdness, Raven?"

Raven sighed and pat Vernal's shoulder. "It takes… a while, Vernal, but you get used to it."

Azmuth also seemed to be taken aback by this, but he quickly brushed it off and refocused himself on the task at hand. "Ahem, yes, thank you, Penny." He put a finger to his chin again as he observed the tendril moving about. "…Tell me, do you have any control over that?"

"Barely." Penny admitted. "It's still quite new and I haven't had much practice with it." She narrowed her eyes at the tendril as it wiggled around. "And the only times I've done it, I nearly burned a whole through a wall and made Death Toast."

"Can we NOT mention the Death Toast again?!" Rex piped up with a shudder.

Azmuth quickly waved off the exchange and made his way toward the jerking limb. "Well, regardless, this should do the trick…" He reached into his back pocket and took out what appeared to be a very small yet high-tech syringe before looking up at Penny once again. "Think you can restrain it, Miss Polendina?" Penny complied and did the best she could to keep the tendril still while Azmuth pricked the needle into it, extracting a green substance from it that was visible within the syringe. "There we are, all done."

Penny breathed a sigh of relief before bringing her arm back up, the tendril clasping onto it by the shoulder before pulling it back through the sleeve. The arm quickly reattached and Penny flexed her hand, smiling down to Azmuth in gratitude. "Thank you, Azmuth, I appreciate this greatly!"

"You're quite welcome." Azmuth reciprocated before smiling to her once again. "Oh, and in regards to the tendril acting out on its own and your technological possession ability, worry not, you'll get the hang of it. Many newly created Mechamorphs have the same problem while others do not. It all comes down to practice."

"Thank you, Azmuth." Penny bowed in respect. "I greatly appreciate it."

Azmuth nodded back. "You're very welcome." He walked back over to Professor Paradox, who offered his hand to the Galvan to pick him up. "Now, let's see if we cannot get a DNA sample from those Faunus children."

This made Holiday's eyes widen. "Wait, you want THEIR blood, too?"

"Only to extract the Faunus gene to see if it can be catalogued into the Omnitrix." Azmuth clarified. "If the scanners cannot go through their Aura, then perhaps I can do it manually. Provided I have the time to study it, of course."

Paradox smirked and gave Azmuth a sidelong glance. "Hm, you ARE a rather busy Galvan, aren't you?" Azmuth grumbled and placed his hands behind his back, facing away from the time traveler. "Hmhm, well, in any case…" Paradox shifted his eyes back to the group. "I suppose you all are quite famished after a day like today, so why don't we all go in for a bite, eh?"

Kevin sighed and threw his head back. "YES! I'm freakin' STARVED."

"Same here, dude." Vernal piped up as she and the adults began heading toward the front door. "I swear, I could eat a horse right now… or shark if we're having fish. Hehe."

The lady bandit's quip garnered a few chuckles from the group as they made their way in, though Raven made sure to prod her brother in the gut with her finger. "Before you even THINK of sitting at that table, Qrow, I suggest you change out of that."

The former drunkard sighed and gave her a wave. "Yeah, read ya loud an' clear, sis." He lowered his eyes down to the ensemble he wore and sighed sadly. "Damn, an' this was one a' my favorite coats."

"Don't worry, Uncle Qrow!" Ruby beamed

But just before he crossed the threshold, Ben was suddenly held back when he felt a familiar warm hand touch his own. He spun around and saw Yang staring up at him, almost expectantly. The heroes' eyes widened as he realized what she must've wanted. "Y-Yang, about what I wanted to talk to you about—hmph?"

But then, he was silenced when Yang pressed her finger to his lips, the blonde giving him a small wink. "Not here. After dinner, we'll go downstairs, just the two of us. And then, we'll say what we need to there." She stood up on her tiptoes and pecked her lips onto Ben's causing him to blush. "Okay?"

"O-Okay." Ben smiled with a nod. "Sounds like a deal."

"Ahem." The couple's heads whipped up to see Max, Gwen, Kevin, Ruby, Rex, and Weiss still standing in the doorway, with Blake having now joined them again. The cat girl was smirking wryly at the duo before nudging her head toward the kitchen. "So, you guys gonna come get some fish or are you gonna let my dad and Sienna eat it all before you get the chance?"

"Hehe, yeah, we're comin'." Yang chuckled before leading Ben in by the hand. "Just talkin' about what we're doin' later."

Gwen quirked a brow at the couple. "I see… so I take it you'd like Pyrrha and I to move our Zelda session somewhere else?"

Yang wore a guilty face, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "Hehe, yeah. Sorry to make you do it, but—"

"Hey, I get it." Gwen assured with a smile. "Something tells me that this is pretty important…" She leaned in close to Yang and her cousin as her lips transitioned into a smirk. "…Right?"

The powerful couple both blushed profusely, the thought of what they wanted to say VERY clear in their minds. "Heh… yeah, it is." Ben nodded. "But for now, why don't we focus on dinner for now, huh? I mean, we've got a bunch of stuff we gotta talk about. Tomorrow's the big day, after all!"

"Hell yeah! Back home!" Kevin pumped his fist in victory. "Man, I can't wait to see my mom again."

"Yeah, I can't wait to see my family either." Gwen concurred before grinning toward a certain elder Schnee on the other side of the hallway. "And I can certainly think of SOMEONE who's eager to see my brother!" That made Winter cough into her hand in surprise, shooting the redhead a soft glare before going into the kitchen. Gwen and Weiss subsequently high-fived each other.

Blake put a hand to her head, running her fingers through her hair. "Oh god, we need to pack! There's so much we gotta bring with us, too!" She set her gaze down to her feet and saw Rema cuddling up to her, to which Blake immediately scooped the pup up and held her close. "Do you think wolf pups are good with dimensional jumps?"

"And corgis?" Ruby added as she held Zwei aloft as well.

"Heh, I'm sure they'll be fine, guys." Rex assured. "Heck, Bobo survived the jump and he's an animal!"

"Yes, but he's also a chimp, Rex." Weiss emphasized. "Kinda closer to humans in that regard."

Ben nodded and raised his hand to the group. "Heh, we'll get to the nitty-gritty about what and what NOT to bring with us on the jump… though yes, the dogs ARE coming with us." That earned him a pair of toothy smiles from Ruby and Blake before he moved on. "But we can focus on all of that a bit later. Right now…" He rubbed his hands together eagerly. "I think it's time I start telling some classic stories from our world!"

Yang titled her head at this. "…Are you talking about the one's we're supposedly the equivalent to from your world?"

"Oh no, not those stories." Ben declined, though I DO plan on telling those to you soon. No, I mean the ones I was talking about yesterday."

This got Ruby to gasp excitedly. "You mean the ones about your planet's own ancient gods and heroes?!" Ben gave her a single nod in confirmation. "AH! This is so exciting! I've been wanting to hear all about them since yesterday! But, well, you know what happened."

Max's head perked up in interest. "Oh, planning on spreading the tales of ancient gods, eh, Ben? Well, hearing YOU tell these stories should be quite the experience since I told 'em to you all the time when you were a kid."

"Psh, yeah." Rex said with an eye roll. "Just be careful, Ben's been on a big theory binge lately about the gods having been supposedly "real" in the past."

Max gave the EVO an incredulous expression. "Huh, really?" He then raised a confused brow to his grandson. "Say, Ben, why theorize on something that you already know to be true? After all, you've fought a total of TWO ancient gods before."

That made the group fall into a dead silence for a good while, with the Alien Trio and Rex giving Max astonished expressions while Team RWBY simply seemed perplexed by what he meant. But before long, Rex let out a forced laugh and pat Max on the shoulder. "Ahahaha! Oh, good one, Mr. Tennyson! That's some classic old man humor right there, heh… heh…" He then saw that Max didn't seem to be laughing with him. "…You're not joking, are ya?"

"No, I'm not." Max replied before going back to his grandchildren. "I'm just surprised you don't remember."

"Uh, grandpa, the only "god" we ever fought was Daigon." Gwen answered. "And even then, he was more likely an inter-dimensional alien with god-like powers."

"Hm, you have a point there." Max conceded. "But are you kids really telling me you don't remember when we went to Mexico all those years ago to stop the Forever Knights from retrieving the Sword of Ek Chuaj?" He made a circular motion. "You know, the sword I was obsessed with getting?" He then pointed over to Ben, who seemed to slowly be recollecting the memory along with his cousin. "And Ben, you even fought with Ah Puch, the Mayan God of Death… and you beat him."

Team RWBY's jaws all collectively dropped at the news, and Ben's hands went to his head as the memory began to surface. "OH MY GOD! How could I have forgotten that?!" Ben staggered back-first into a wall, his knees shaking as Yang went to support him. But all Ben could do in that moment was stare blankly at the opposite wall, letting it all sink in. "I… I battled against a freaking MAYAN DEATH GOD?!"

Gwen's own hand went to her forehead as well. "I have to admit, I forgot about that, too. And usually it's ME who has the good memory." Her eyes caught Ben's and the Anodite smiled at her cousin, letting out a breathy laugh. "Heh… I guess there might be something to your "gods might be real" theory after all, Ben!"

"HAHA! I knew there had to be!" Ben raised his arms in victory, all while Yang gave him a bright smile. "This has to be the most awesome revelation ever!"

"Woah, woah, woah, let's take un tiempo muerto here, guys." Rex stepped up and raised his hands, halting things before they got too excited. "Why don't we take a seat and consider what COULD have happened instead." He pointed over to Max. "You said that it was the Forever Knights who were trying to steal the sword, right Max? Maybe they just disguised one of themselves as Ah Puch or something to drive you guys off?"

But Max quickly waved off the notion. "Ah, that's a no-go, Rex. For one; Ah Puch was actually fighting OFF the Forever Knights from stealing the sword themselves. If what you said was the case, then why would they go through the trouble of creating a disguise to do that?" He raised a second finger. "And secondly, Ah Puch was BIGGER than Four Arms, so they could never believably disguise themselves as it in the first place."

Rex's jaw followed Team RWBY's and dropped a bit, still trying to wrap his mind around what he was being told. "So… that means that ancient gods and heroes… really COULD have existed back on Earth?"

"On OUR Earth, anyway." Kevin said with a smirk. "Not too sure about yours, though."

Yang jabbed her fist lightly to Ben's arm before enveloping him into a hug. "Haha! Congrats, Green Boy! You hit a home run with that theory of yours!"

"AH! This is all so exciting!" Ruby said as she bounced up and down. "Our world isn't the only one where gods are real after all!"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Blake concurred. "Question is… where've the gods of Earth been after all these millennia?"

A determined smile made its way to Ben's face as he stood on his own power, confidently lifting his head. "That, my friends, is something that we're gonna have to find out!" He balled his fist and raised it. "Before we got sent here, Grandpa Max, Gwen, Kevin and I were going to head to South America for our summer vacation. But now that we know all of this… I propose we do something even COOLER! We might have to research this a bit more, but I think we might be able to find these gods if we try hard enough!"

"Ben, do you know how CRAZY you sound right now?!" Rex exclaimed.

"Yeah, I mean… where do we even start?" Weiss added. "We know that this "Ah Puch" exists, and that IS a good start, but that's literally ALL we have to go on."

The hero pointed over to Weiss with a nod. "Exactly, but it's still VERY hard evidence. That gives us some good ground to stand on." Ben placed his hands firmly on his hips. "Plus, I have a feeling that if we wanna find more evidence of these gods, we're gonna have to travel around Earth a bit." He extended his hand to Team RWBY. "And that gives YOU guys an excuse to REALLY see the sights that Earth has to offer! Whaddya say?"

The four girls looked excitedly between one another, with Ruby answering for them. "That sounds like a GREAT idea!"

"Hell yeah, globe-trotting!" Yang pumped a fist. "I've always been a fan of the concept and getting to see your world would be an amazing experience…" She stepped up and placed a finger on Ben's chest. "Especially if it's with you, Green Boy."

Rex crossed his arms and quirked a brow. "You DO realize you could be leading us on a wild goose chase, right dude?"

Ben gave him a shrug. "Eh, maybe…" He moved over and whispered into Rex's ear. "But then again, we COULD always take or girlfriends on some awesome exotic dates, so there's that to think about." He nudged his head to Weiss slightly. "I'm sure Weiss would appreciate that."

The EVO's eyes darted over to Weiss, who was giving both him and Ben an incredulous face. "What're you boys talking about over there?"

"Oh… nothing much." Rex grinned before pulling Weiss into a surprise side-hug. "But ya know, even if it IS a wild goose chase, it COULD still be a pretty fun wild goose chase while we're seeing the world." He gave Weiss a wink. "Who knows? Maybe we could make a thing out of it, Ice Princess?"

"Hm, you make an excellent point." Weiss said with a smirk. "And I'm sure it was all your idea?"

"I… may have been given a helpful push." Rex shrugged.

Ben clapped his hands together. "Then it's settled! Once we get you guys all settled in Bellwood, we'll start our research and then take some excursions around the world in search of gods, heroes and monsters!" He ushered everyone to follow him into the kitchen, both to eat AND to regale tales of long ago. "But speaking of, I think it's time I tell you the story of one of the greatest demi-god heroes of them all. The Mighty… Hercules."

…..

A couple hours later after dinner had finished, Ben got himself changed into his casual green t-shirt and black shorts in the bathroom before heading toward the basement, confident that his blonde girlfriend was already down there. On the way, he briefly glanced into the living room to see Gwen and Pyrrha already hard at work on going through Ocarina of Time's Spirit Temple, with many of the others gathered around them. 'Heh, they'll probably be burning the midnight oil.' Ben smirked to himself before pressing on.

Dinner itself had been pretty interesting, seeing as Ben had found out he had a knack for story-telling after recounting the tale of Hercules to everyone. The whole group was enthralled as he told the story of the demi-god child of Zeus, all the way from his birth to his death over the course of an hour and a half. Yang, Ruby, Nora, Jaune, Pyrrha and Oscar all seemed particularly enthralled with the story, hanging onto Ben's every word as he described all twelve of the ancient hero's trials to them. It was quite possibly one of the best dinner conversations ever.

…Plus there was the fact that he remembered that he had fought a death god when he was ten years old, so that was cool, too. 'How does someone forget something like THAT?' the hero questioned himself before letting out a sigh. 'Something to dwell on later. Right now, you've got something else to deal with now, Tennyson.' Ben reminded himself as he stopped near the top of the basement stairs and took a deep breath. 'Well, here we go.' Ben began descending the stairs and peered into the basement, seeing that indeed, Yang was already down there. She was also in her own casual wear; her orange tank top with her emblem on it, a pair of black short-shorts, her hair done up in a pony tail and her feet bare.

While the sight wasn't really new to Ben, a blush still came to his face when he saw what she was doing. The Blonde Brawler was crouched down in front of the DVD player, getting it set up for their usual binge-session of Batman… and the position she was in allowed Ben a very generous view of the small of her back. Ben tried to do the gentlemanly thing and take his eyes away from that area… but as a result, they instead found Yang's rear end again, and the fact that she was in shorts that exposed her legs didn't help all that much.

'Dear god, what's happening to me?!' Ben slapped his face to get his mind back on track, his eyes shifting to the back of her head… which was ALSO somehow very beautiful to him. A small smile came to his face as memories from the past few weeks replayed in his mind, cementing his thoughts on how close both of them had grown to each other. And when she turned around, he immediately saw her face, and it made his insides do a flip. 'How did I ever find a woman so awesome, nice, funny AND gorgeous?' Ben put a hand to his face to try and compose himself. 'Yeah, pretty sure I'm in lo—'

"Ben!" The hero's recoiled a bit before refocusing himself onto Yang, who was smiling at him with a hand on her hip, looking up at him expectantly. "You comin' down or what?"

For Ben, however, him being snapped out of his first trance put him into another one… since now he had a frontal view of Yang in the tank top, which always managed to fluster him no matter how many times he saw her. But still, he always managed to keep his eyes on hers and not her… stunning figure— 'STOP! BAD BRAIN!' Ben screamed in his head.

Yang gave him a wink and made a "come hither" motion with her finger. "C'mon, Green Boy, we're alone, so now we can say what we need to say."

"R-Right." Ben stammered before making his way down the steps, trying his best to fight off the redness in his face. The moment he was able to reach her, though, his anxieties began melting away when she shot him her signature grin, making him smile as well as he reached out and gently grasped her hand. "So, uh, you ready to go tomorrow?"

"Oh, you bet I am." Yang smiled before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling herself in so that their chests were pressed against one another. "And I bet YOU are real excited about getting back home too, eh Mr. "I Defeated a God of Death"?"

"Hehe, y-yeah." Ben chuckled again, his hands moving around to hold Yang by her hips. "I-I still really can't believe that I FORGOT about that."

Yang gave him a shrug. "Eh, we all manage to forget some things over the years." However, Yang quickly took notice of something going on with her boyfriend, causing her to quirk an eyebrow and smirked at him. "You okay, Green Boy? Ya seem a bit shaky."

Ben's eyes widened when he realized his hands were still shaking even when holding her, making her clothes move a bit. "AH! S-Sorry! I-I'm just a bit—"

"Nervous?" Yang finished. "Hmhm, I'll bet." She put a hand to Ben's cheek, caressing it softly. "But there really isn't any need, Ben. Besides… I'm pretty sure we both know what we're gonna say, right?"

This took Ben by surprise, his lips parting a bit. "A-Are you sure? Because…" he let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "Yang, this is something I've been certain about for a while now… but then I keep thinking about how we've really only known each other for three weeks and—hmm?"

Ben's words were cut off when Yang placed a finger to his lips, giving him a smile so loving that it left his mind stunned and his heart melting. "Ben, honestly, the concept of time doesn't matter if you know how you feel about someone… and I'm pretty sure I know how I feel about you. I don't care if it's been three WEEKS or three MONTHS, because either way, that doesn't affect how I feel." Yang leaned her head on his chest, returning her hand to here it once was. "What I want to know is… if you feel the same way too."

The Omnitrix bearer could feel a hitch in his throat at her words. 'She… she DOES know.' Ben swallowed whatever anxieties he had left and cupped a hand to Yang's cheek, bringing her face up to lock his eyes with hers. "Yang, there aren't enough words to describe how I feel about you. You're awesome, you're funny, you're powerful, you HAVE to be the nicest and most beautiful woman on the face of this or ANY planet. But when it comes down to it…" He leaned his forehead down and rested it against hers. "I love you, Yang Xiao Long."

Yang was floored. She knew that this moment was coming, but what she didn't expect were those heartfelt words about her. And from the tone of his voice, she knew that Ben was telling the one-hundred percent truth. She choked back a small sob as she suddenly pounced onto her boyfriend and locked her lips with his, resulting in them both tumbling down onto the nearest couch. The kiss was quick, but she smiled into it all the while, and she could tell that Ben was doing so as well. Once they separated, Yang continued to lean her forehead against his, letting out a small breathy laugh.

"I love you, too, Ben Tennyson." Yang stated firmly. "With every damn thing I have. You're a great hero, you're funny as hell, you're a gentleman to a fault, and you're definitely the nicest guy I've ever met. You're a part of my life I know I'll never take for granted... and I look forward to whatever comes next for us."

Ben wrapped the love of his life into the closest hug he could muster, putting his hand up to caress her hair gently. "So do I, Goldie Locks. And I can't wait."

"Glad to hear it, Green Boy." Yang said as a small smirk replaced her loving smile for just a moment. "But for future reference…" Much to the hero's shock, Yang grabbed his hand and brought it up so that it was sitting on her butt, the blonde giving him a wink as his face ripened like a tomato. "You really shouldn't be afraid to touch me a bit more intimately."

"I-I-I-I—" Ben's stammering was stopped when Yang gently pat his cheek, bringing him out of it. "S-Sorry, I just wasn't sure when you wanted to—"

"Ben, I love you and I trust you." Yang emphasized as she and her boyfriend laid themselves down on the couch. "It may take a while before we're ready for… you know, that, but until then…" Her smirk returned as she suddenly grabbed Ben's rear end as well, making his eyes widen. "We shouldn't be afraid to test each other's boundaries."

Ben let out a shaky breath and wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, his fingers tracing along the exposed small of her back. "Okay… I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He smiled down to her and brought her in for another kiss, this one lasting a bit longer than the initial one. The two pulled away before Ben whispered; "I love you, Yang."

"I love you too, Ben." Yang whispered back before quirking a brow over to the stairs. "And if a certain SISTER of mine knows what's good for her, she'll stop SPYING on us! And that goes for you, too, GWEN!"

"AH!" Ben's eyes widened when he heard Ruby give out a shout from the top of the stairs, her foot falls being heard running away as she yelled back; "Congratulations you two!"

"Y-Yeah, congrats!" Gwen sounded off before running away as well.

Ben blinked a couple times before shifting his eyes back to Yang. "How'd you even know they were there?"

Yang rolled her eyes and tilted her head toward the TV. "Sister's intuition. So, shall we get started with the usual?"

"Oh, definitely." Ben smiled as he reached for the remote and turned on the TV and DVD player, starting up their favorite show. However, even as they watched Batman on the TV, the powerful couple couldn't help but be captivated by each other the entire time. They simply laid there on the couch for the whole time, completely absorbed in one another as the night went on. Because in each other's hearts, they knew that whatever came their way in the future, they would face it together.

…..

A/N: And thus, our main couple finally cement themselves as true lovers. But just like when they had their first date and their first kiss, that doesn't mean that their trials are over. If anything, they've only just begun. That said, I feel like I can say my personal ship name for Ben and Yang is in fact; OmniDragon. It's been really fun to write these two and I look forward to doing so for a long time to come.

Also, in addition, now that Rex and Weiss are together, I can tell you that my personal ship name for them IS, in fact, Frozen Nanite. Special Thanks to Paleodemon in the comments for helping me come up with BOTH of these names AND for commissioning some awesome artwork on them. He also happens to be the one who commissioned the very cover art on this fanfic! If you wanna see the Frozen Nanite art that he commissioned DeviantArt user BaoNguyen2212 to make, then head on over to SinraiPaleodemon01 on DeviantArt to check that awesome piece out!

As for the rest of the chapter, there's also the little revelation that Grandpa Max just dropped onto the group. I'll admit, even I forgot about the episode "Ultimate Weapon" from the original series for a little bit, but taking that into account now… yeah, there may be more to Ben's godly theory than we initially thought! And hey, any excuse for the gang to travel around the Earth so that Team RWBY and everyone else can take in the sights is too good to take with a venture like this, right? And oh boy, it seems like Lisa's looking forward to a real interview and press conference before the gang leaves. THIS should be interesting… But hey, at least Sienna and Ben came to an understanding about Rath. Here's hoping Ben can keep things from going out of control between them. And plus, we got to hear a little bit from Clover! …And he's got some pretty big news. This might be a BIT different from what actually happened in canon, but to be fair, I was still writing this when Volume 7 came out and revealed that the Atlesian Army had the Winter Maiden in their care so unless I do a LOT of retconning to this fic, I think we can change it up a bit.

Now, onto the AO3 business. In the coming days, I'll be setting up all of my previous chapters over there in chunks, so hopefully we'll have everything set up on both sites and ready to go soon. Stay tuned for more information, everyone. Oh, and the next update WILL be next Friday again.

But for now… NEXT TIME! We're going a bit more casual as the gang get ready for Lisa's arrival for her interview with Ben. Meanwhile, things in the Land of Darkness… aren't going so well, especially with the mood that Salem's in. However, at the arrival of an unexpected guest, Salem finds herself intrigued at the prospect of a new offer on her table. As that's going on, Lisa arrives at the Xiao Long house for her interview… and she ends up exposed to a bunch of Earth stuff while she's there. As you can imagine, shenanigans ensue. Thanks for reading guys, and I'll see you all next time! Stay safe out there and I'll see ya later!