Ben 10 RWBY Volume 2: Ultimate Omniverse

by The Omni-Remnant

Having returned from a massive adventure in the world of Remnant, Ben, Team RWBY, and the rest of their friends find themselves faced with new challenges at every turn on Earth. Be it villains old and new… or even things that they never imagined to be real. It's going to be a challenge unlike any they've seen before, but they're up for it. It's Hero Time! (Cover Art credit inside)

6. Rescue Operations

A/N: Good day, all! Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY Volume 2! And today, we're going to be seeing the start of both the team's first Earth excursion as well as their first really BIG mission on Earth. That being; save the captive Manny, Alan and Rook, and try to take down a crazy cult. Shouldn't be too hard, right? That said, let's get on with the chapter, shall we? This is…

Chapter 5: Rescue Operations

…..

Yang had to admit, last night had been both very productive AND really fun at the same time. For one, herself and the others had actually gotten to know Helen fairly well, and while the Kineceleran was naturally very worried about her team, her fears were somewhat alleviated as she continued to interact more with the group. That and the fact that Ben, Gwen and Kevin were setting up a plan to rescue Manny, Alan and Rook all the while. And, once they had a solid plan all ready to go, the group decided to remain in the living room all night as a kind of sleep-over, just so it would be more convenient for them to leave all at once. That and they wanted at least one more night all together before they had to separate. Thankfully, it all worked out as Sandra and Carl had enough sleeping bags and air mattresses for all of them.

Those who didn't have any managed to fall asleep on the furniture… which is exactly what Yang and Ben did. Sure, they fell asleep upright and they were sharing the couch with Gwen and Kevin, but once again, the Blonde Brawler had a VERY comfortable sleep on her boyfriend's chest. And thankfully, they woke up before pretty much everyone else, too. The only exceptions were the aforementioned Osmosian and Anodite, Winter, and of course, Helen, who was eager to get started on the rescue.

"Has anyone told you guys that you're both super cute when you're sleeping?" Helen had teased.

A slight blush had come to Ben's face while Yang silently chuckled to herself. "Hehe, well, if you want cute, might I recommend those two over there?" Yang had pointed over to Rex and Weiss, the EVO resting in a rather wide recliner chair with his head craned back and mouth open while he snored. And Weiss… was pretty much in a similar position, only she was laying across Rex's lap and her head and legs were draped across the big, pillowy arms of the chair.

Gwen immediately took notice and pulled out her phone, an amused smirk on her face. "Oh, I need to take a pic of this."

Winter took out her scroll the very next moment with a grin of her own. "Duly noted. This way, I can get back at her whenever she teases me about Ken and I."

"Never took you for blackmail, Winter." Kevin commented.

"When it comes to my sister, I can never have enough leverage." Winter retorted before reaching for her jacket. "Now, I suppose we should be getting things ready, correct?"

And so, they did. In no time, breakfast had been made and, once everyone was up, everyone got something to eat. Of course, Nora had most of the pancakes as per usual, and Helen had to witness the sight of the hyperactive redhead downing all of them. Seeing her jaw practically on the table, Ren reached over and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I can sympathize. First time I saw this, I was in disbelief, too. It's something you get used to."

After that, though, once everyone was dressed and ready to go, the gang loaded up on separate vehicles and rolled for their destination. Max had swung by with the Rustbucket and, to everyone's surprise, Coco, Cooper and the rest of Team CFVY were following them as well. And that's what led them all to where they were at that moment; at an airport just a few miles outside of the main town… and the astonishing sight that was before them right now.

Teams RWBY, JNPR, SN, CFVY, as well as Penny and Ilia were all staring slack-jawed as they stared at the big, green air craft that was before them, the group practically basking in its glory. It was sleek, it appeared to be incredibly fast, and most importantly… it was technically theirs. "YOU HAVE YOUR OWN JET?!" Ruby practically screamed in excitement, her arms flailing about as she faced Ben. "Why the HECK didn't you tell us this?!"

"…You didn't ask?" Ben said with a shrug, to which Ruby and a few others in the group facepalmed at. "But hey, better late then never, right?"

"Almost TOO late if you ask me." Ilia said before shaking her head. "I just… wow, this thing is VERY impressive."

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet." Kevin assured. "Trust me, the Rustbucket III is decked out with so much alien tech that you wouldn't believe it. Plus, not only is it a jet, but it also functions as a spaceship AND a submarine."

All of the blood immediately drained from Neptune's face at that part. "A-A-A s-s-submarine?"

Sun couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Dude, c'mon, we're not using it as a sub today, we're using it to fly."

"Hey, we're going to a place that already HAS a ton of water, dude." Neptune countered. "I don't wanna take any chances!"

Helen couldn't help but glance over to the blue-haired boy and asked; "Oh, you're afraid of water, Neptune?"

"U-Uh, oh… I-I, um…" Neptune stammered at the sudden question, unsure of how to respond without seeming like a total doof. Meanwhile Sun was smirking knowingly at him, which certainly wasn't helping matters. "W-Well, um… you see… i-it's actually kind of personal."

"Oh, okay then." Helen accepted. "If you don't want me to pry, then I won't."

Both Neptune and Sun were surprised, but the former was grateful nonetheless. "O-Oh… thanks. That means a lot, actually."

Helen gave him a smile. "You're welcome. Now come on, we should probably get loaded up."

"Man, this is gonna be SO cool!" Nora exclaimed as she and her team approached the craft, with Kevin having lowered its ramp using, of all things, a key fob. "I mean, riding in Tetrax's ship back in Remnant was SUPER awesome, but I bet that riding inside of a supersonic jet will be even COOLER!"

"No doubt about it." Jaune agreed as he and Pyrrha walked up the ramp hand in hand. "I have a feeling that I'm gonna like traveling around in this if it's how Ben plans on showing the world to us. AND it can go into space! That's so freaking cool!"

As the others conversed with each other as they went aboard, Ben, Rex, Team RWBY, Cooper and Team CFVY hung back with Max and Winter, the latter two planning to head back to Plumber HQ for the time being. However, the Military Specialist was still somewhat hesitant to do so as she faced her sister. "Now, you are certain that you don't need me to accompany you on this mission?"

Weiss smiled and placed a hand on her sister's arm. "Winter, don't worry, we'll all be fine. Besides, you heard what Ben said last night; we should keep this to the standard team so that we're less noticeable."

"Exactly." Ben agreed. "Trust me, with an operation like this, sneaking in without being noticed is gonna be pretty important." He glanced over to Cooper and Team CFVY with sympathetic expressions. "Which kinda means…"

"Say no more, Benji." Coco said with a raised hand. "We get what you're saying. Team CFVY's not really much for subtlety anyway." She then nudged Cooper in the side. "Besides, we know that you guys will be okay on your own, right, Tech Head?"

"Heh, y-yeah." Cooper nodded. "I'm sure you guys will get Manny and the others out safely." He reached around and pulled Coco into a side hug. "Besides, maybe now we can FINALLY get to my folks' place. After everything that happened last night, we ended up staying at Plumber HQ just in case you guys needed us."

Ruby gave both of them a bright smile at that. "Aw, thanks guys, but you didn't need to hang around on our account."

"Ruby's right." Gwen assured. "You guys should've gone to Cooper's house last night if you really wanted to."

However, Coco waved them off. "Ah, what's done is done. What matters is that we're goin' now, so that's what counts." She gave them a big thumbs up. "That said, best of luck on your guys' mission! We'll see ya when you get back, 'kay?"

Yang returned the thumbs up and winked at her. "You got it, Coco Puff. And best of luck with the first impressions on Cooper's folks. I'm sure they'll get a kick outta you!"

"That's what I'm hopin'!" Coco said before ushering her team to follow her. "C'mon guys, let's bounce!" With that, the quintet all headed back to the fashionista's roadster, bidding their friends a fond farewell as they did.

Max let out a sigh and smiled over to his grandson. "Well, on that note, we should probably get back to HQ. Six and Holiday are already waiting for us there, after all." He reached out and placed a hand on Ben's shoulder. "We'll be monitoring you all from there, Ben, so if there's any trouble, make sure to let us know, alright?"

"Will do, grandpa." Ben said with a thumbs up. "But don't worry, I'm sure we'll be good."

"Yep, we'll get those guys outta there no problem!" Yang pumped a determined fist. "And best of all, we'll get to do some sight-seeing after we kick that cult's ass!"

Winter rolled her eyes at that. "I'm sure." The elder Schnee's attention then went to her sister once again. "Just try not to have the entire cave and waterfall collapse on your heads, alright?"

Weiss raised a brow to her sister before nudging her head toward Ben and Rex. "You're telling that to me when these guys are more likely to do something like that?" She received deadpan expressions from the boys as a result. "Hey, no offense, boys, but you two ARE the ones who can turn into giants around here, not us."

"Point taken." Rex shrugged before putting an arm around his girlfriend. "But honestly, with the plan that we've come up with, I doubt we'll need to worry much about that. Outside of anything random happening, I don't think we'll have much—"

"Ey-yo, Chief!" Rex's eyes widened and everyone's head snapped toward the Rustbucket at the familiar voice, seeing Bobo come climbing out of the RV. "Ain't ya forgettin' somethin'?!"

"W-Wha… Bobo?! What're you doing here? I thought you were staying back at base!"

"An' miss out on the chance to head out on a mission with ya on yer first day back? Not happenin'." Bobo strolled up to the group and jerked his thumb over to Weiss. "Besides, like I said yesterday, I wanna get the chance to talk to yer knew main squeeze."

Weiss pursed her lips slightly at the term, annoyed at how casually he said that. "Oh… joy."

Rex sighed and facepalmed before crossing his arms at Bobo. "Okay, listen, this mission calls for being descript and NOT going in guns blazing. Think you can do that, bud?"

Bobo raised his right and put his left one over his chest. "I swear on my mother's chest hair… maybe."

The entire group couldn't help but cringe at that as the simian made his way toward the ship, with Blake remarking; "Well, this just got a whole lot more interesting."

"Yeah, we might have to change a few things around to take Bobo into account." Ben added, shaking his head before facing his grandfather once more. "Well, we should be off. We'll see you later, grandpa."

"Sure thing, Ben." Max smiled back. "And best of luck."

With that and one final goodbye, Max and Winter went back to the Rustbucket, the two of them rolling back to the Plumber Base. That left Ben, Team RWBY, and Rex to themselves, the six of them all looking to one another. "So…" Ruby began. "Guess it's time to get going to the Falls." She smiled as she glanced around to her friends. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited!"

"No doubt about it, sis." Yang agreed before turning around and ushering the group to follow her. "Now c'mon, let's get this train a-rollin'!"

…..

It wasn't long before everyone had grouped up into the cargo hold of the ship, with Ben and Kevin having loaded their cars into the hull as well. Ben took a headcount of just how many of them there were. In total, the team comprised of sixteen official members, with Helen and Bobo coming in at a total of eighteen. '…Man, sometimes, I forget how tough being a leader is until the numbers start adding up.' Sure, Ben had led big teams before, but none that had never been THIS big. Not that it was a bad thing, of course, but still, leading a covert rescue operation with a team THIS size would probably be difficult. Fortunately, they had come up with a pretty good plan the night before.

"Alright, guys, listen up!" With those words, everyone's heads perked up, their eyes all focusing in on him. "I think it's important that we go over the plan before we take off. We'll be heading into enemy territory with this one, so to get the drop on them, we'll need to be as subtle as possible… at least when we first head in." He directed his attention to Nora and Bobo… and saw that the former was once again hugging the life out of the chimp. He sent them both a serious face, which managed to get Nora's attention and loosen her grip on Bobo. "And that goes for you two especially."

Nora sighed and slumped over, giving a half-hearted salute. "Yes Ben, I understand."

"Hck-hack! Readin' ya loud an' clear, Big Green." Bobo said as he regained his breath.

"Good, so let's remember which groups we're in." Ben jerked a thumb toward himself. "I'll be leading a group comprising of Ruby, Blake, Yang, Gwen, Kevin, Helen, Nora and Ren." He craned his head over to Helen and gave her a nod. "We'll be sneaking our way into the cavern through the backway, the same one that Rook made his way through, right?"

"Exactly." Helen nodded. "With any luck, we'll find it exactly where Rook left the Proto-TRUK. We'll make our way through there and, hopefully, be able to sneak past the cult members along the way. Then, we quickly locate Manny, Alan and Rook and help them escape."

Nora quickly brightened up and literally hopped into the conversation. "Ooh! Ooh! And that's where I come in, right?"

"Yep." Gwen affirmed. "Helen DID say that the Infinitum cage was electrified. So while we might not be able to destroy it, YOU might be able to bend its bars if you use your Semblance to absorb the electricity and increase your strength enough."

Ren quickly interjected and put a hand on Nora's shoulder. "Just make sure you don't hold onto the cage for too long, okay? Remember, your Semblance DOES have its limits, and we really don't want to risk going over them."

Nora smiled up to her best friend, blushing slightly at his concern. "Aw, don't worry, Renny, I'll be okay, I promise."

"And just to make sure of that, I'll dial up one of my electric guys to take some of the edge off of her." Ben added in, pointing to the Omnitrix before setting his eyes on Kevin. "And Kev, you'll lend a hand, too, right?"

Kevin then pulled out a piece of Lightning Dust from one of his pouches. "Sure thing. I'll absorb a bit of Lightning Dust and things should be smooth sailing. With all three of us workin' on that cage, we should be able to bend the bars no problem." His attention went back to Ren with a thumbs up. "So don't worry, Ren, she'll be fine."

The green ninja gave him a grateful nod. "Thanks, Ben, Kevin. Glad to hear it."

Ben nodded back before directing his attention over to Ruby, Yang and Blake. "Okay, so now that we're clear on that, you ladies know what you and Gwen will be doing, right?"

Ruby gave Ben a salute. "Yessiree! We're on point to make sure that, if the Collective DOES somehow find us, we take them out before they can get to you!"

"We'll make sure that no one gets to you guys." Blake jumped in. "You can count on that."

Yang gave a big thumbs up. "Yep! We're all over it, Green Boy."

"Glad to hear it, Goldie Locks." Ben smiled before stepping over to put his arm around her. "And once Nora and I get Manny and Alan out of their cage, we'll be there to lend you a hand with those cultists. Just uh… keep in mind that we don't want to hurt them TOO much. They ARE just regular humans after all, so using weapons is a BIG no for them."

"THAT I understand." Yang confirmed. "But what about those three big head honchos with the weird powers? What do we do about them?"

"Well, those guys we can probably at least use our powers on, and in some weapons case, we can definitely let lose." Ben raised a finger. "Just so long as we don't uh… maim them or anything."

Ruby smiled brightly and gave him a nod. "Now that, we can definitely do."

The Omnitrix bearer returned the smile wholeheartedly. "Good, glad we're all clear on that. That said…" He craned his head over to Rex, Weiss and everybody else, giving the EVO and former heiress a serious face. "Rex, Weiss, you guys will be leading the team of Jaune, Pyrrha, Team SN, Ilia, Penny and…" the young man sighed as he saw a certain chimp wearing a knowing smile on his face, wiggling his eyebrows expectantly at him. "…Bobo."

"Gee, sound more enthused, why don't ya?" Bobo remarked as he jumped up and sat down on the hood of Kevin's car, reclining like it was no big deal. "It's not like I'm muckin' the whole thing up by bein' here or nothin'."

Kevin grimaced toward the simian out of spite. "SOMEONE is gonna get mucked up if they don't get their hairy ass off my ride."

Bobo pointed right back at Kevin. "Hey, I wouldn't wanna go throwin' those words around if I were you, kid. EVERY member of the ape family has hairy asses… an' that INCLUDES you "higher mammals"." Everyone's faces all contorted in shock at that, which led Bobo to smile in victory. "Heh, I think I made my point."

Ben shook his head and let out a groan. "Ugh, we're getting off track here." His focus went back to Rex and Weiss. "Okay, you guys are going to be taking your team and you're going to head toward the main cave entrance behind the waterfall. That way, the Collective's main escape route will be blocked off and you can intercept any that try to run from us."

Rex pounded a fist into his hand. "Understood, mi amigo. We'll make sure to block 'em off."

Weiss held her head up high with pride. "Indeed, they won't be going anywhere."

"A very bold prediction." Penny piped up, stepping forward to interject herself into the conversation. "However, I believe the phrase is; "easier said than done". Remember, these people have a woman who can teleport things via red flashes of light. Who's to say that this ability cannot extend to human beings as well?"

At the mention of this woman, Rex's brow furrowed and his lips pursed, almost as if he were thinking something to himself. This didn't go unnoticed by Weiss, the white-haired girl noting that her boyfriend almost seemed… perturbed by something. "…Yeah, you've got a good point, Penny." He faced his squad and raised a fist. "Alright, you heard the girl-bot. If any of you guys find this… hunchbacked girl, find her and subdue her before she can teleport anyone out of there."

"You got it, Rex." Jaune agreed. "Hopefully she won't teleport herself before any of us try and stop her, though."

"I think I may be able to get the drop on her." Ilia said as she inspected her Lightning Lash. "And maybe I can stun her a bit on top of that, too."

"Very good thinking, Ilia." Pyrrha smiled, complimenting the chameleon girl. "If anyone among us could sneak up on her, it would definitely be you."

Sun and Neptune, meanwhile, were both leaning up against Ben's car, the former smirking as he thought about how much action he was going to be getting into only on his SECOND day on Earth. "Man, I think we've got this all in the bag! Right Neptune? …Neptune?" However, when the monkey boy eyed his blue-haired companion, he saw that Neptune wore a rather apprehensive expression, leading him to sigh and facepalm. "Ugh, okay, I'll bite; what's going on?"

"W-W-Well… I can't help but notice that I was put on the team that's going BEHIND the water fall!" Neptune exclaimed, waving his arms around in panic. "Did everybody forget that I do NOT do water well?!"

A series of groans were heard throughout the cargo hold before Weiss piped up. "Ugh, REALLY, Neptune? I mean no disrespect to you, but you need to learn to move past this phobia you have. How do you plan on being a good Hunter if you're scared to cross everybody of water that's in front of you?"

Blake cleared her throat and gave a shrug. "I hate to tell you this Neptune, but Weiss is right. I know it's probably not easy to get over your hydrophobia, but you should probably at least try."

The blue-haired boy groaned and slumped over, feeling utterly defeated by what he was hearing. "…Yeah, yeah, I understand. I'll work on it, I promise. But for now… anyone wanna switch teams?"

Gwen let out a sigh of her own and raised her hand. "Okay, Neptune, you and I can switch teams. But I'm going to hold you to that promise you made." She could already see her teammates about to protest, so she raised a hand to them. "Guys, don't worry, really. It shouldn't affect anything major, anyway. Besides, I think I'd be better on Rex's team anyways. If this hunchbacked girl is using some kind of magic to teleport, then I might be able to counter her."

"Good thinking, Gwen." Ben approved, failing to notice that Rex was wearing that thoughtful expression again. "Plus, with your mana shields, you can keep people from going anywhere, so that's another plus." The hero placed his hands on his hips and glanced out toward his team. "So, now that we've gone over the plan, anyone have any more questions?"

"Uh, yeah…" Bobo raised his hand, scratching the back of his head with the other one. "Any snacks on this flight? I'm starvin' ova' here."

The group all wore deadpan expressions at the EVO chimp's question before Jaune shook his head. "Yeah, no, I think we're good, Ben." He smiled toward Kevin hopefully. "But… now that we DO have that all cleared up, think maybe we could get a tour of the jet?"

Kevin chuckled at the blonde knight's request and ushered the group to follow him. "Hehe, I was hoping that someone would ask that! C'mon, follow me to the cockpit and I'll give you guys the lowdown while I get this baby ready for takeoff…"

…..

For the next half hour, the entire team had strewn themselves about the Rustbucket III, each of them taking different seats as the jet flew to their destination. They all knew that the flight up north to the falls wouldn't take too long, so each of them simply fell into comfortable conversations as they mentally prepped themselves for the mission ahead. However, there was a certain EVO who was lost in thought, staring out through one of the windows and out over the horizon as the mountain ranges of New York State passed down below.

Rex had to admit, he had no idea what was eating at his brain like this, but he DID know that he wasn't a fan of it. Since the Helen had described some of the Collective's members to them, there was a nagging feeling in the back of Rex's mind telling him that SOMETHING sounded familiar about all of this, but what that was, he didn't know. 'Gah, c'mon brain, freaking WORK!' he thought to himself as he smacked the side of his head.

"You know, that's not exactly going to HELP you any." Rex's eyes widened and he spun his head around to see his new girlfriend standing before him, her hands on her hips as an amused smile graced her features. "If anything, it's going to make you LOSE more braincells than you probably already are." Rex glanced down to the floor and shrugged, making Weiss' smile vanish instantly. She immediately sat down next to Rex and placed a hand to his shoulder in concern. "H-Hey, I'm sorry. I-I didn't realize I took it too far, Rex, I just—"

"O-Oh, no, Ice Princess, you're good." Rex assured, putting his arm around her and pulling her into a soft embrace. "Trust me, under normal circumstances, I probably would've had a comeback ready for ya. It's just… there's something that's been bugging me since late last night and I seriously can't place…"

Weiss gently put her arm around her boyfriend, resting her chin against his arm as she gazed up at him. "Well, you know I'm all ears, Robo-dolt. So what's wrong?"

Rex smiled back and chuckled a bit. "Hehe, thanks, Weiss…" A sigh escaped his lips and eyes went up toward the ceiling. "It's just… when Helen told us about the Collective, she described them in a way that almost feels… familiar to me." He scrunched his eyes shut in frustration. "I'm just having trouble figuring out HOW I know them."

"Hmm… drawing a blank, huh?" Weiss guessed. "Do you think this is amnesia related?"

The EVO shook his head. "No, I already cleared up a bunch of amnesia stuff. This just feels… different somehow."

The couple sat in silence for a few moments before Weiss settled her head against Rex's arm. "Well, maybe if you see these guys in person, it'll help jog your memory a bit. And if it doesn't, don't worry, you can be sure I'll help you out with whatever this is. Okay?"

Rex smiled and reached down, finding Weiss' hand so that he could lace his fingers with hers. "Thanks, Weiss. It means a lot."

"Hey, who else is going to keep your head on your shoulders?" Weiss retorted as she reached up to ruffle his hair.

"Hehe, good point." He leaned down and kissed Weiss on the cheek, to which she reciprocated with a peck of her own.

"D'aw, ain't that just sweet?" Both Rex and Weiss' eyes snapped open to see Bobo now sitting on the console next to them, the chimp now with a bag of potato chips in his hand as he smirked at the couple. "Now THIS is what I'm talkin' 'bout right here. Was hopin' to see a little moment between you's guys."

The couple grimaced at Bobo with deadpan faces before Weiss piped up. "Yes… and it has been effectively ruined."

Rex furrowed his brow a bit at Bobo as well. "Yeah, Bobo, not cool. Listen, I definitely missed you and all, but do you think we could chat another time?"

Bobo raised his hands immediately. "Hey, say no more, Chief. I get ya, boundaries an' all that. I just wanted to say somethin' to your lady here, if ya don't mind."

Weiss glanced over to Rex in confusion, which her boyfriend could only offer another shrug. "Um… okay? What's up?" Bobo made a "come here" motion with his hand before jumping off the console and moving several feet away from the couple, making them even more confused. Still, Weiss stood up and made her way over to Bobo, crossing her arms expectantly. "Okay, we're one-on-one now, so what's going on?"

"Listen, er… Weiss… I just wanted to say thanks an' all." Bobo said, setting his bag of chips off to the side as he gave her a serious expression. "For bein' there for Rex, I mean. He'd never let me live it down if he heard me sayin' this to ya if he heard this conversation, so I just had to get it out there to you."

The former heiress blinked in surprise. "W-Wait… that's what this is about? A thank you for me helping Rex?"

"MORE than just that, really." Bobo admitted. "Look, ever since Circe left, the Chief's been ALL outta sorts. Even when he seemed alright, I could tell that he just wasn't. When we came to THIS Earth, he got a little betta', but when he went to YOUR world an' met you… sheesh, I may not know all the juicy details, but I can tell you two bonded like nothin' else." He gave her a smirk, though it seemed very genuine. "So thanks for that. Seein' you two together makes this simian happy."

Weiss was understandably taken aback by the somewhat brash chimp's demeanor, but still, she made sure to respond appropriately. "O-Oh… thank you, Bobo."

"'Ey, no problem, chicky." Then, the EVO Chimp's face went back into serious mode before pointing to Weiss with a stern finger. "That said, I hope you know I won't go easy on you if ya end up breakin' his—"

"I'm going to stop you right there." Weiss interjected, sending Bobo an icy cold stare. "I have a feeling I know what you're trying to insinuate, and I can tell you now that won't happen." The former heiress narrowed her eyes further, making Bobo flinch. "I plan on staying with Rex for quite a while, understand? I know I might LOOK like a person who takes advantage of guys, but I'm not, so any doubt you have can just be tossed aside." She lowered herself so she was eye-to-eye with Bobo, still glaring daggers at him. "Do I make myself clear?"

Bobo wore a shocked expression for a moment before it gave way to his usual smirk again. "Heh, I had a feelin' I was gonna like your attitude, Snow Queen. I appreciate the honesty." He gave her a thumbs up as he grabbed his chip bag again. "An' trust me, ya made all that VERY clear. Thanks again."

Weiss smiled in satisfaction, returning to her full height as she bowed her head to him. "You're welcome, Bobo. I'm glad we had this chat."

With that, the two went their separate ways, and Weiss returned to a still somewhat confused Rex. "So, uh… what'd you two talk about?"

"Oh, nothing, really." Weiss smiled knowingly.

Rex quirked a brow at her. "That kind of response usually means that you guys talked about something important." Weiss nodded cheerily. "…And you're still not gonna tell me?" The white-haired girl shook her head, her smile still on her face. Rex sighed and rolled his eyes a bit. "Heh, of course…"

"Hey, don't sweat it, Robo-dolt." Weiss said with a wink. "Trust me, if you know what we were talking about, you probably wouldn't let Bobo live it down."

"Dang it! Now you're making me wanna know MORE!" Rex said as he began pulling at his hair, causing Weiss to laugh.

"Ahahaha!" Weiss pulled Rex into a hug to calm him down. "Rex, please, I can tell you right now that you're not missing out on much…"

The EVO grinned and began laughing along as well, reciprocating the hug instantly. "Hehe, okay, okay, I'll drop it. …Still, I'm glad that you're getting along with my best bud, Ice Princess. Not to sound worried or anything, but a part of me was kinda afraid that your personalities would clash too much."

The former heiress shrugged a little. "Well, I'll admit, he's a bit crass, but for a gun-happy chimp with an eyepatch and fez, he's alright."

All of a sudden, a familiar voice came on over the intercom; "Attention all passengers." Kevin spoke up. "This is your captain speaking. If you would all come to the front and take a look out over to your right, you'll see our destination in sight!" Almost immediately, everyone came up and clamored into the cockpit, the whole group speaking up over one another in excitement.

From the front of the jet, Ben stood up and gestured out to the right side of the jet. "Well everyone, take a gander; Niagara Falls!"

A slew of "oohs" and "ahs" were heard throughout the group as they set their sights down to the splendorous beauty of Niagara Falls, watching as the cascading waters crashed down into the basin below. In addition, the bright summer sun combined with the mist that was being sent up from the falls was creating a natural rainbow, which only stunned the group even more. Everyone was utterly enraptured by it's beauty… aside from Neptune, who immediately turned away from the window as his face became a whole lot greener.

"AH! It's so pretty!" Ruby gushed, along with several others.

"Yeah, it's awesome!" Yang agreed. "Can't wait to get down there…"

"But remember; sightseeing comes AFTER the mission, girls." Blake reminded.

"Yeah, yeah, we know." Weiss assured before setting her eyes down to the falls once again, taking note that there seemed to be a visitor's center not too far away from the landmark itself. She nudged her elbow lightly into Rex's side and gave him a wink. "Say, perhaps once we've taken in the sights, we can get some lunch down there?"

Rex brightened up and nodded with enthusiasm. "Y-Yeah, sure thing! …This doesn't count as our first date, though, right?"

"Oh, of course not." Weiss waved off. "Think of this as a… pre-emptive outing. Besides, the fact that all of our friends are with us kind of discounts it as a date anyway."

"Phew, good." Rex smiled with a wink. "Because I'm pretty sure that I've come up with the perfect plan for a first date and I don't want it to be discounted."

At that, a very excited grin came to Weiss' face as she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with her boyfriend. "Oh, I can't wait for that."

…..

The Rustbucket III came in for a landing over the town of Niagara Falls, its cloaking device activating so that it wouldn't draw attention as it came in close to the ground. It was descending toward a rather large field that wasn't too far away from the waterfalls themselves, one that was in the middle of the town that was built AROUND the falls, in fact. "So, Helen… you're sure about landing HERE, right?" Kevin piped up from the captain's chair.

"Sure am." Helen nodded before pointing down through the front window of the craft. "See that down there? There's Rook's Proto-TRUK, right in the middle of the field."

The Osmosian pressed a few buttons on the command panel and brought up a holographic screen in front of the windshield, allowing everyone to see what was below them. True to form, there was a large service truck right in the middle of the field, one with an orange cab and a cream-colored trailer part. On the side of the trailer, in big, bold red letters were the words; "Max's Plumbing", with a large monkey wrench replacing the "L" in "Plumbing". Kevin blinked in surprise before giving a shrug. "Hm, well, okay then… brace yourselves, guys, we're going in."

The cloaked ship lowered itself down toward the field and landed next to the Proto-TRUK, its ramp lowering as soon as it touched the ground. The team soon filed off the ship, with Helen taking the lead as her eyes darted around, searching for something. "Let's see… I know that it must be here somewhere…"

"You mean the tunnel that Rook snuck in through?" Jaune guessed. "Is it in a cave or in the ground?"

"Ground." Helen answered. "We managed to locate a small underpass directly beneath this field that lead right into the waterfall cavern and Rook dug down into it. We find the hole, we get our safe passage inside."

"Good, so let's keep a sharp eye out." Pyrrha nodded as she and many of the other team members began searching for the hole as well.

After a few minutes of searching, however, the teens could only come up with nothing. They weren't seeing anything other than the grass and dirt beneath their feet. "Uh, so… you sure Rook didn't like… fill IN the hole after he dug into it?" Nora asked.

Ren couldn't help but raise a brow at her. "Nora, why and how would he do that?"

"Well, I dunno, but it's the only reason why I'm seeing a BIG lack of holes!"

Helen clenched her teeth in frustration. "This… this seriously doesn't make any sense! I could have SWORN that the hole was right around here! I SAW Rook digging it myself, I—" But then, she cut herself off when she realized something. "…Wait." All of a sudden, the Kineceleran hybrid shot off across every inch of the area that group had searched, stopping just as suddenly. "…Gah! Damn it!"

"H-Helen?" Neptune stammered as he and everyone else rushed over to her. "What's wrong?"

"THIS!" Helen pointed down to a soft patch of ground beneath her wheeled feet, stomping down on it for emphasis. "THIS is what's wrong! Those cultists FILLED IN the hole!"

"Huh… well, no big deal." Sun said with a shrug. "We'll just dig it out again!"

"Might not be that easy, Sun." Ilia interjected. "How much you wanna bet that they filled in the rest of the tunnel, too?"

Gwen raised a hand and stepped forward. "Hold on, let me try something." The Anodite lowered herself down over the covered-up hole and placed her hands over the dirt, her palms lighting up a bright pink as her eyes did the same. She then closed her eyes to focus directly on the earth beneath her, feeling the mana flow through it and, as a result, getting a sense of what lied beneath them. Gwen furrowed her brow in frustration and let out a groan, her eyes going back to normal. "Ilia's right, those cultists are pretty smart. They cut off the back way inside their base with boulders and rocks."

"Well, I doubt that will still be a problem, though, Gwen." Penny said with a bright smile as she activated her Mechano-Crushers, the large pair of arms ready to go to work. "We can simply dig our way in there, right Rex?"

Rex brightened up at that. "Hey yeah, good point, Penny." He activated his own Smack hands before directing his sights over to Ben with a nod. "Dude, you can burrow down there with Armodrillo, too, can't ya?"

Ben, however, seemed a bit less sure about the plan. "Guys, as much as I appreciate the direct approach, I think you're forgetting something; the noise we'll make when we burrow in." Ben pointed to the Omnitrix. "If I use Armodrillo to pummel our way in, we'll be heard for sure. And I doubt your guys' arms are all that quiet either."

The EVO and redheaded android both became crestfallen as their ideas were shut down. "Oh… a very valid point." Penny admitted.

Ruby gave a soft smile to her friend and gave her a pat on the back. "Hey, don't be upset, Penny. Under different circumstances, your plan probably would have worked."

Penny returned the grin and gave her a nod. "Thank you, Ruby."

Weiss crossed her arms and sighed. "Well, now that we're down a plan, what do we do? I mean, it's not like we brought shovels or any—AAAH!" The white-haired girl let out a scream as she suddenly felt her foot being pushed up off the ground by something, causing her to stumble back. Thankfully, Rex caught her. "Gah! W-What the heck was… that?"

Much to everyone's astonishment, sticking up directly from the earth was… an orange shovel. Bobo narrowed his eye at it before aiming one of his guns at it. "No clue, but whatever it is, it ain't gonna get up to any funny business when it comes out…"

However, at the next moment, the shovel retracted back into the ground, making everyone jump while confusing them as well. "Uh… what?" But then, at the very next moment, a whole hand and arm suddenly thrust up from the ground below, waving around frantically as a series of muffled shouting was heard as well, causing everyone to yell in shock and Ruby to let out a scream. "AAAAAAHH! MOLE PEOPLE!" She rushed behind Jaune in fear before peaking out over his shoulder, visibly shaking all the while.

While everyone else was staring at the waving arm and hand in shock, Ben, Gwen and Kevin were a bit more skeptical. "No, not really. I've met a mole person once and this hand definitely doesn't look like one of 'em."

"…Green Boy, if that were coming from anyone but you, I don't think I would've believed you." Yang remarked.

Ben smiled and winked over to his girlfriend. "What can I say? I get around." The hero stepped forward and grasped the hand firmly, causing the muffled shouting to stop. "Listen to me! I'm gonna pull you out on the count of three! Ready?!" He heard a muffled confirmation beneath the ground and nodded. "Okay, one… two… THREE!"

The hero yanked with all his might and, from out of the ground… a rather tall alien being was pulled out, his blue fur caked in mud and dirt. The teens' eyes all widened at the sight of the alien as it took in breaths of fresh air, all of them taking in every detail of him. Again, he was rather tall and somewhat lanky with a well-built physique, and his face and hands were quite furry. The fur itself was mainly a shade of periwinkle, with the fur around his face being white. Oddly enough, his features were somewhat cat-like, though he had pointed ears and lacked a normal nose at the same time.

He also had black markings over his face, mainly around his chin and jawline leading up over his cheeks and up to his eyes. On top of his head were three black stripes; two thin ones on either side of a larger one in the middle. The alien was wearing blue and black Proto-Tech armor and held the orange shovel in his hand… which quickly began converting into something else entirely the moment he was unearthed.

"Hah… hah… finally, I am free!" the alien breathed out as he moved his yellow and red eyes onto the group. "Thank you, I—" He cut himself off when he saw who had pulled him out, his eyes widening a bit in surprise. "Wait… you are…"

"Ben Tennyson, at your service." Ben smiled with a quirked brow. "And you, my friend, are covered in dirt."

At that moment, Helen let out a gasp and shouted; "ROOK!" In a split second, she rushed up to Rook and grasped him by the shoulders, a bright smile on her face as she hoisted him up out of the ground. "HAHA! You got out! You're safe!"

The teens all wore surprised faces as what she said. "W-Wait, THIS is Rook?" Neptune asked.

"Huh, what a convenient stroke of luck!" Nora commented.

Rook, however, was still trying to take in the whole situation. "H-Helen! You have come back!" Rook stood up and smiled down to her, sighing in relief as he gave her a grateful nod. "Manny told me that you would be returning soon. I am very relieved to have run into you here…" But then, his attention went back to the group of teens in surprise. "Although… I had not expected you to return with quite the amount of backup…" His eyes then settled onto the Alien Trio, and the Plumber still quite surprised by their presence. "…And I can now see that you were not jesting when it came to who you brought."

Helen rolled her eyes and gave a laugh. "Hehe, the expression is "joking around", Rook. Here, let me introduce you." The Kineceleran girl smiled out toward the team and gestured to the taller alien. "Guys, this is Rook. And Rook, this is…" Her emerald green eyes trailed across the whole group, only realizing now just how much lengthy of an introduction this would be. "…This may take a while."

After everyone introduced themselves one-by-one to him, Rook gave the group a smile and nodded back. "It is a pleasure to make all of your acquaintance." He then stood up straight and gave the group a salute. "And now that I know who you are, allow me to introduce myself. I am Rook Blonko of the planet Revonnah, recently graduated from the Plumber Academy with the rank of Officer. I anticipate working with all of you in the future."

"Likewise, Rook." Yang said with a returning salute. "So, question for ya; how DID you get out of there, exactly?"

"Yeah… Helen said that the hunchbacked girl teleported you somewhere to capture you, didn't she?" Ruby added.

"Ah, yes, I should probably explain." Rook sat upon the ground with his legs crossed, ready to recount the events of his escape. "It all started late last night. I was in my cell while Manny and Alan were in their cage not far from me… and that is when she came in…"

…..

Rook had to admit, this was not how he imagined his first week on the job would play out. Freshly graduated from the Plumber Academy at the top of his class and already, he was captured with no clear way out. They had taken his Proto-Tool, as well as most of the other gear that he kept on his as well. Meaning that he was now a "sitting duck" as the humans said. 'I still have NO idea how waterfowl equate to uselessness.' the Revonnahgander thought to himself. He briefly opened his eyes to take in his holding cell. It wasn't much, but it was certainly effective; a set of heavy iron bars that had been placed in a small alcove, leaving him very little room to do much of anything. The wall behind him was mostly made of heavy dirt and rock, which made him muse to himself; 'Well, I suppose I now know what it means to be "between a rock and a hard place", at least.'

However, he could at least take heart in the fact that he was not alone in his plight. For just across the way from his cell, Manny and Alan were sitting in their own imprisonment; an electrified Infinitum cage with no plausible way out. On top of that, all three of them were in a sealed in a large room in the cavern that had been blocked off with a large boulder to further prevent any escape attempts. Fortunately, they had Alan's flames to help them see… but it was obvious that a certain Tetramand was NOT happy about their situation.

"GAH! This SUCKS!" Manny said as he punched the floor of his cage, only to wince as the indestructible metal nearly sprained his hand.

Next to him, Alan wore a deadpan expression. "Ugh, you said that three minutes ago."

"And I'm gonna KEEP sayin' it until we can get our ASSES outta here!" Manny stood up and was about to hit the bars… but then thought twice about it when he remembered that he'd get badly zapped if he did. "Ugh, man, I wish Helen would hurry up an' bring that backup. I wanna kick these Collective jerks' asses SO badly."

"Manny, I am sure that you will be able to kick many a behind in due time." Rook spoke up, his eyes closed as he kept himself seated on the ground in a meditative pose. "However, complaining about it will not hasten Helen, nor make her return any sooner. We must have patience."

Manny rolled his eyes and groaned again. "Easy for YOU to say, Mr. "I don't use contractions". You're freakin' calm all the time!"

"Because I see no use in being perturbed by inconveniences such as these." Rook reasoned. "We WILL be rescued. We simply need to have—"

FLASH! All of a sudden, a flash of red light engulfed the entire room, making everyone's eyes wince. Once the light died down, they were greeted by a new lightsource; a lantern that was being held… by the hunchbacked woman.

Manny's eyes widened and he grit his teeth. "YOU! What the hell do you think you're—"

"Hush!" the girl said, whipping herself around to snap at the half-Tetramand. "Keep your voice down. Nearly everyone's asleep, and we don't have much time."

The trio of Plumbers all wore confused faces at this as Rook stood up and approached the bars of his cell. "What do you mean?" he asked as he focused on the woman. "What is the meaning of this?"

The hunchback faced him, her lips turned down in a frown. "Listen, I'm not going to mince words when I say this; I cannot STAND working with these people. I've been doing it for years now… and it's only gotten worse and worse for me." She pursed her lips, pausing to take a deep breath before going on. "The Collective are very cunning for sure, but if there's a way to take them down, then you can be VERY sure that I'll do anything I can to try."

Alan furrowed his brow a bit. "Wait… so you JOINED them at first… but now you hate them?"

"Trust me, it's been a very slippery slope for me since I first joined." The woman said, her head craning down toward the ground. "It's as I said; the Exalted One is merciless in his endeavors. He doesn't care who he has to hurt to reach his goals… he'll do it."

Manny scoffed at that. "Pfft, sounds like an upstanding guy. If he's that bad, then why'd you join him in the first place?"

"I was… different." The woman answered. "As you can no doubt see, my deformity is prominent and my powers only made me more of a freak to other people. But the Exalted One… saw promise in me that no one else did. But as the years went on, he became much less hospitable to me and… well, there have been many disagreements between us."

"I see." Rook said as he crossed his arms. "So, how is it that you think you can help us?"

The woman's lips turned up into a smile. "With this…" She extended her rather skinny arms and there was another red flash… and at that moment, Rook's Proto-Tool appeared in her hand. "I take it this is yours?"

Rook was initially taken aback by what she had done, but he collected himself quickly and raised a brow to the hunchbacked woman. "I see… I assume there must be a catch to all of this?"

"Indeed… when you return with your backup, I want you to make the Collective HURT." The girl said as she extended her arms, offering Rook the Proto-Tool. They will most likely have me act as their getaway, but before that happens, I want you to deal a blow to them that they will never forget."

Rook's eyes shifted between his Proto-Tool, Manny and Alan, and finally the girl, before a small smile came to his face. Manny saw this and raised an eyeridge. "Dude… you're gonna TRUST her?"

"I can hear how earnest she is, Manny." Rook reasoned as he reached out and took up his Proto-Tool, the girl giving it to him without hesitation. "I believe it would be fortuitous to take advantage of this newfound ally and her kindness."

Once again, the hunchbacked girl gave Rook a smile. "Thank you, it means a lot to hear that." Her face went back to a neutral expression as she faced Manny and Alan again. "You remember how your friend went rushing back into the cave when she was teleported out? I let her do that." The duo were equally surprised by that. "Believe me, the last thing I want to do is allow the Exalted One's plans to come to fruition. So please… I ask for your trust."

Manny and Alan glanced toward one another, the latter giving a shrug. Seeing that Rook was also behind her as well, Manny sighed and nodded his head. "Well, I guess we don't have any better choice." He then pointed a stern finger at the girl. "But you'd better hold out on this, girly. Trust me, I ain't got patience for traitors."

"Duly noted. Good night for now, boys." With another flash of red light, the hunchback was gone, leaving the Plumber trio alone once again."

Rook cleared his throat before shifting his Proto-Tool into shovel mode, preparing himself to start digging for a whole night straight. "Well… I suppose I should get started…"

…..

"And that is how I escaped." Rook concluded, seeing everyone still hanging on to his every word. "For the several hours that followed, I dug my way out of that cavern… and it seems that I could not have picked a better time to do so."

Ben gave him a nod. "No joke, dude. And the fact that you managed to work your way back here is pretty surprising, too."

"Well, I attempted to work my way back into the tunnel I came in through… but the Collective were one step ahead of me, it seems."

Helen crossed her arms in thought. "Yeah, but what I'm more surprised about is that girl. First she lets me go back into the cave and then she comes to help you out. What IS her deal?"

Not far away from the Kineceleran, Weiss had noticed that Rex had a thoughtful expression on his face as well. In fact, it was the same one she had seen on the Rustbucket III earlier. "…Rex, what're you thinking?" she whispered to him. "Something about this girl sounding familiar?"

"…Kind of." Rex whispered. "I'll have to find her to see if my theory is correct, but until then, I think we should focus on the mission." He cleared his throat and spoke up, quickly changing the subject. "Ahem, so… now that we've got a new backway in, maybe we should get down to the dirty work?"

Ruby smiled brightly as she pointed to the hole that Rook dug out of. "Hey, yeah! We've got a tunnel that leads RIGHT to where Manny and Alan are, so I say we get in there! We can sneak win without anyone noticing."

Yang glanced down to the hole in question… and gave it an uncertain look. "Uh, Ruby, not to burst your bubble, but that hole is really small, and I'm sure the tunnel isn't all that big either. How's our team supposed to even all FIT down in there?"

Nora gave a shrug. "I guess we'll just have to do some digging after all."

"If only to widen the hole a bit." Ren agreed before turning to Ben. "I don't suppose there's any quiet way for Armodrillo to dig?"

"Not unless you want this rescue to take hours." Ben shook his head. "Armodillo's a good digger, but he's most effective with his jackhammers…" However, Ben's eyes widened when he realized… he may have another good digger in the Omnitrix he could use. "Although, now that I think about it… I may have a quieter digger in my watch now… at least one that doesn't cause the ground to rumble."

"Well, don't leave us hanging, Green Boy!" Yang winked. "Let's bring 'im out and start digging!"

Ben gave his girlfriend a nod and waved for everyone to take a few steps back. "Alright, I suggest you guys make some room, because this is probably gonna get messy." The team did as he instructed and Ben activated the Omnitrix, its holo-ring popping up immediately. The hero scrolled through his many options before finding the one he was searching for. "Ah ha! There you are! It's Hero Time!" With that, the Omnitrix core popped up and Ben pressed it down, a green flash of light shining through the area as his transformation began.

Immediately, Ben's eyes became blank white before disappearing all together, the hair on his head growing at a fast pace as it shifted to a shade of orange. In fact, orange hair began to grow all OVER his body, his clothes disappearing as his body began to grow and change into a more four-legged stance. His teeth became much more pronounced and his lips became a dark black to contrast with his fur, which the same could be said for the claws on his hand and feet… or rather; his "paws". On his forelegs, chest and back, short spines began jutting out, while on his neck, a set of gills suddenly became visible. Finally, the Omnitrix symbol appeared on his chest, completing his transformation. But, rather than speaking, the new beastly alien let out a loud roar, slamming his front left paw onto the ground.

"RROOOAAAARR!"

Everyone gasped and took a step back as the new alien faced them, the group somewhat taken aback. "Woah! What the heck is THAT alien?" Jaune exclaimed.

"A Vulpimancer." Rook answered. "Though if memory serves, I believe this specific transformation is called…"

"WILDMUTT!" At the sound of the somewhat deep and growly voice, everyone directed their attention… to Gwen. The Anodite hybrid had attempted to throw her voice over in Wildmutt's direction… and failed miserably. A blush came to her face and she let out a nervous giggle. "Uh, hehe… sorry, I always feel the need to do that."

"…Gwen, you do realize that none of us are going to let you live that down, right?" Pyrrha asked with a cheeky smile. Gwen deadpanned at that and hung her head, which got the Invincible Girl laughing. "Ahaha! Oh, please, I'm just kidding." she said as she gave Gwen a reassuring pat on the back. "I just thought that whole thing was simply funny."

The redheaded mage sighed and returned the smile. "Well, I'm glad I could humor you…"

"So… can he even see?" Yang asked as she approached the dog-like beast… only for it to come bounding over to her in an instant, his gills moving as he did. Wildmutt came to a stop directly in front of her, sitting on his haunches before cuddling his head against the Blonde Brawler as he happily panted. This was both shocked Yang quite a bit… and made her laugh as Wildmutt's fur tickled her. "Gahahaha! O-Okay, that answered my question. Good, um… boyfriend."

After a few more happy pants, Wildmutt went over to the hole and began to dig down into it, expanding its size by quite a large margin. "Well, since he's getting started, I think it's best that we get to the other entrance behind the falls." She glanced over to Weiss, Rex and the rest of their squad and gave them a nod. "You guys ready?"

"Whenever you are, Gwen." Weiss affirmed as Ilia, Jaune, Sun, Penny and Bobo all grouped up with her and Rex.

"Good." Gwen nodded before turning to Kevin and the rest of the rescue team. "We'll meet you guys on the inside, okay?"

Kevin approached her and gave her a small hug. "Sure thing. And uh… please make sure none of you fall in the drink."

Gwen smirked and gave her boyfriend a wink. "Trust me, you won't have to worry about that." She pecked her lips onto Kevin's and gave him a pat on the cheek. "And be sure to stay focused on the rescue, okay? Let's get this done."

"No argument here." Kevin assured as he let go of his girlfriend.

With that, Gwen created a mana platform for her team and they all loaded onto it, the Anodite lifting themselves up off the ground. "Well guys, you're in for a rather scenic view of the falls. Here's hoping it doesn't ruin the sightseeing for you…"

Once the group were gone, Rook stepped up and focused directly onto Kevin. "If it is not too much trouble, I would like to accompany you back in there." He placed a hand over his chest. "I came here with my new team to complete a mission, so I would like to see it through to the end."

With a wry grin, Kevin chuckled and gave Rook a nod. "Heh, sure, why not? We could always use more back-up if things get hairy." He jerked his thumb over to where the hole was… and Wildmutt had already dug down several feet in. "Speakin' of hairy, I think Ben's already ahead of us, so let's jump in after him, huh?"

…..

Several minutes passed and already, the rescue team could feel themselves going deeper and deeper into the earth, the group keeping up with Wildmutt's pace as best as they could. They made sure to stay at least a few feet behind the Vulpimancer as he dug further in, careful to avoid the mounds of dirt that he kicked up. Fortunately, Kevin had brought a flashlight from the Rustbucket III, and Rook had a light of his own… which was coming from the device that was once his shovel.

Ruby couldn't help but give the strange device a confused look. "So, wait… that thing's a shovel AND a flash light? What kind of combo is that?"

Rook set his sights down to Ruby and smiled. "Oh, it is FAR more than just that." He took the device off of his shoulder and the flashlight flipped back into it as he explained. "You see, this is called a "Proto-Tool". It has over a thousand uses, along with a few personal modifications I made to it. Not only does it have several practical uses, but it is also my weapon of choice." With the press of a button, the Proto-Tool shifted shape until it was a hand blaster, its barrel glowing a bright orange. "See?"

Ruby's ears had immediately perked up at the word "weapon", and her silver eyes gradually widen more and more at the sight of the newly formed weapon. In front of the two, Yang and Blake both glanced back to their team leader, her pupils shining in wonder as stared at Proto-Tool. "…Oh no." Yang muttered.

"Hm? What?" Rook asked, having heard her. "What do you mean by "oh no"?"

Blake gave Rook a sympathetic smile. "You just pressed Ruby's weapon button. Be prepared for a—"

"EEEEEEEE!" Ruby squealed, making the whole group jump in surprise. "That is SO COOL—"

"Roaarr!" The Hooded Huntress snapped her lips closed and spun around at the brief roar, seeing Wildmutt having turned back to the group. He… seemed to be facing her before putting one of his fingers to his lips, mimicking a "silence" motion.

Ruby sucked her lips in the moment she realized what she did before bowing to Wildmutt. "Sorry, Ben." Wildmutt gave a nod and a small chuff of acknowledgement before getting back to work. That left Ruby to go back to Rook before apologizing to him as well. "Sorry if that just came out of nowhere, Rook. I-I just… I love weapons, and any new weapon that I come across, I want to know more about it and sometimes I get too excited, and…"

Rook raised a hand to her in assurance. "Worry not, Ruby, you are absolutely fine. I am actually quite happy that you appreciate my weapon of choice."

"Thanks. So…" Ruby's eyes brightened up again. "What else can it do?"

"Oh, well, like I said, it has several configurations." Rook said before activating another of the Proto-Tool's transformations, the device shifting into an energy blade. "This is the Power Sword configuration.". Next, the Proto-Took shifted into a bow and arrow, the string of the weapon appeared to be made out of hard-light energy. In an instant, a set of energy arrows appeared as he drew the "string" back. "Bow and Arrow." The very next moment, he activated yet another configuration, the Proto-Tool extending out into a large pole. "Bo Staff." And yet again, the impressive weapon changed, this time into a tonfa. "And a tonfa, among many others."

Ruby's jaw was practically on the ground at that point, with Kevin also getting into it at that point. "Dude, that this is freaking sick! That's all Galvan Tech, isn't it?"

"It is, though I do not see why my Proto-Tool would be ill." Rook said in confusion. "It appears to be working just fine."

Kevin, Ruby and many of the others all wore perplexed faces at that before Helen explained. "Heh, don't worry, guys. Rook doesn't really get human expressions all that well. He's only been on the planet for a week and… well, Revonnah isn't exactly the most outgoing planet."

Nora quirked a brow at that. "Really? How so?"

Rook cleared his throat, a somewhat awkward expression on his face. "Well… my people are not exactly what you would call… "up to date" on modern commodities. We Revonnahganders are a very tradition-oriented race, and none of us have ever gone off-planet before. In fact, I am the first Revonnahgander to ever set foot off Revonnah."

"Yeah, I've heard about how isolated Revonnah is." Kevin nodded. "Almost as bad as Earth was before all of the alien activity stared happening here."

"Indeed. When I joined the Plumbers, one of my hopes was to help bring Revonnah into the greater galactic whole." Rook went on. "I know that I have a VERY long way to go, especially when it comes to our traditional way of life, but I believe it to be possible."

Ren gave the Revonnahgander a smile. "Well, that certainly sounds like a great goal, Rook."

"Hey yeah! And I think you have a good chance at doing it!" Nora supported as well.

Neptune gave him a thumbs up. "Yeah, best of luck dude. I—" SPLAT! "GAH!" All of a sudden, a huge hunk of dirt was sent flying up into Neptune's face, causing the blue-haired boy to tumble to the floor. Wildmutt immediately stopped digging and faced back around, bowing his head to Neptune with a series of apologetic grunts. "Ptui!" Neptune spat dirt out of his mouth as he wiped his face off, giving Ben a wave. "Heh, i-it's okay, Ben. I was the one not paying attention and got too close. Keep on diggin'!"

Wildmutt smiled and nodded before going back to it, with Helen offering Neptune a hand. "Well, you certainly took that in stride. Need a hand?"

"Heh, thanks." Neptune accepted the hand and Helen hoisted him up, a sheepish grin coming to his face all the while. "Guess that'll teach me to watch where I'm going."

"Hmhm, right." Helen chuckled before proceeding forward, making sure to stay a fair distance away from Wildmutt. "So, you ready for whatever we'll be up against? One way or another, we're gonna have to fight some cultists."

"Psh, yeah, totally." Neptune said as if it were no big deal, jerking a thumb to his chest. "I've faced off against bad guys and Grimm alike. I'm sure I'll be able to handle 'em."

Helen smiled and raised an eyeridge at him. "I like your confidence, Neptune. But try not to be OVER confident. That can come back to bite you if you're not careful."

Neptune paused at that, surprised at what she said. "Oh, uh… well, yeah, you do have a good point there, I guess. I just… well, I—"

"Is there something wrong, Neptune?" Helen asked. "You seem a bit out of it."

The blue-haired boy pursed his lips in thought. As much as he wanted to talk to her more about what he was feeling right now, he knew that this probably wasn't the time or place. 'Still, it would be nice to just… talk.' He set his eyes to Helen again and whispered; "Could, uh… could we maybe talk about this later on? Like, after the crazy stuff with the cult is over? Not really a good time to talk about stuff like this."

"Oh… yeah, sure, Neptune." Helen whispered back. "Sure thing."

"Roaarr!" The team all perked up when they heard Wildmutt give off another roar, the Vulpimancer pointing one clawed finger to where he was digging. Sure enough, there was a hole with a flickering light shining through, making everyone perk up immediately.

"Hey!" Ruby smiled. "There it is!"

Then, all of a sudden, a voice came from the other side of the whole. "What the—who's there?! Rook? Helen, that you?!"

A smirk came to Wildmutt's face as he popped a few muscles in his shoulders before moving his neck from side to side, ushering for his group to take a few steps toward the sides. The Vulpimancer went back several feet before turning right around and charging directly into the hole, tackling it with his shoulder. When he broke through, he was immediately met with the sight of Manny and Alan, the duo taken aback one moment only to be all smiles the next. "Haha! BEN!" Alan exclaimed.

"Dude, no way!" Manny pumped a fist. "How the hell did you get here so—"

"Manny! Alan!" At the sound of Helen's voice, the duo whipped around to see her, Rook, Kevin… and a bunch of other people that they didn't know all come filing into the room, the former wearing a look of relief. "Thank god you two are okay!"

"Haha! Helen, I KNEW you'd come through!" Alan cheered.

Manny crossed all for of his arms and shook his head. "Yep, never doubted ya for a sec. Rook, I seriously didn't expect ya to come back with reinforcements THIS quick."

"Neither did I." Rook admitted. "They quite literally pulled me up out of the ground the moment I finally made it to the surface."

Kevin stepped up with a wry smirk, his focus squarely on Manny. "Yep, and now I guess we're gonna have to get your asses outta trouble yet again, huh, Armstrong?"

Manny's smile gave way to a grimace as he narrowed his eyes at Kevin. "Ugh, of course YOU had to be on the rescue team, Levin." He waved his hand at the Osmosian. "I don't have to take this BS. Why couldn't Gwen have come instead?"

"Well, she, Rex and the others are all making their way to the front entrance as we speak." Helen explained. "We're hoping we can cut off the Collective before they force that girl to get them away from here."

"Oh, so Rook told you about her, huh?" Alan guessed. "Yeah, she seemed pretty genuine, I think. She seems trustworthy… at least I hope."

All of a sudden, a green flash shined throughout the room, bringing everyone's attention to Ben as he went back into his human form. "Yeah, I hope so, too. We're taking a bit of a gamble with her, but I'm glad it's working out so far." He went up to the cage and jerked his thumb back toward the rescue team. "But don't worry, this team's got ya covered, guys!"

Manny raised an eyeridge up to the aforementioned team, eyeing Nora, Ren, Yang, Ruby, Blake and Neptune in confusion. "Yeah, I was gonna ask… who the hell are these guys? And… did you say that Gwen and Rex have MORE of 'em with them?"

"That's right!" Ruby said with a cheery smile. "I don't know if Six told you this or not, but we met Ben and the others when they were blasted to our world!"

Manny and Alan's eyes widened before the Pyronite put his hand to his forehead. "Oh yeah, I DO remember Six mentioning something like that. He didn't go into too much detail, though. So, who are you guys, anyway?"

Yang stepped up and pointed to the two. "I think introductions can come later, boys. Right now, our main objective is getting the two of you outta this cage."

"Yang's right." Ben agreed before facing a certain redhead and his best friend. "Nora, Kevin, it's time we get to work." The two nodded to him before stepping up to the cage themselves, with Ben then shifting his focus onto a certain cat girl. "Blake, I know that boulder blocking the entrance is pretty thick, but do you think you can still hear what's on the other side?"

Blake went over to said boulder and inspected it, feeling fresh air seeping in past the creases between it and the entryway. "I should." She answered. "It might be thick, but there are small openings where air's still coming in, which means I can hear through those."

"Good, keep a sharp ear out for anyone coming." Ben said before going to the others. "Yang, Ruby, Ren, Neptune, back her up. If anyone comes in, we'll need to take care of them quickly. And plus, you'll probably want to stay as far away from the cage as possible when we do this."

"You got it, Green Boy." Yang said with a thumbs up. "C'mon, guys."

Once everyone was a safe distance away, including Rook and Helen, Ben, Kevin and Nora all stepped up to the cage, ready to proceed with their plan. Kevin bent down and absorbed the stone under his feet before taking out a Lightning Dust crystal, absorbing it into his arms. Alan's eyes widened as he did this. "Woah, what IS that, Kevin?"

The Osmosian smirked and gave him a wink. "You'll find out soon, Al." He glanced over to Ben and Nora expectantly. "So, ready?"

Nora popped her neck a few times and cracked her knuckles. "As ready as I'll ever be! Lemme at that cage!"

As she stepped up, however, Manny was visibly taken aback at what she said. "Woah, woah, woah, HOLD up a sec." He pointed down to her and gave a scrutinizing face. "The heck are you talkin' about? Don't know if you've noticed, but this cage is electrified. One touch and you're fried."

The Pink Dynamo replied with a wild glint in her eye. "Ooh-hoo, don't worry about that, big guy. With my Semblance, I'll have you guys out in no time at all. Besides, for me, this'll probably only feel SUPER tingly to me, heeheehee!"

Manny was quite visibly worried at that wording, as well as the manic smile that was now on Nora's face. "Uh… the hell is Crazy Girl talkin' about?"

"Manny, trust me, you guys will be fine. I'll explain everything she just said later." Ben assured as he began searching through the Omnitrix again, finding Shockquatch's icon before the watch's faceplate retracted once more. "But for now, I suggest you take a couple steps back." The two Plumbers did as he advised before Ben raised his arm. "Alright, here comes Shockquatch!" He slammed his hand down on the Omnitrix and transformed in a bright flash of light… only to emerge as a creature that was FAR from Shocksquatch. No, rather than the Gimlinopithecus, Ben was now a certain Transylian in a black and olive-green leather duster, the transformation taking him off guard. "H-Huh? Frankenstrike?!" He became crestfallen and slumped over immediately. "Aw, man! I SWEAR I dialed in Shocksquatch!"

However, near the entry way, Yang wagged a finger to her boyfriend. "Ben, you remember what Azmuth told you YESTERDAY, don't you? Slamming the Omnitrix is what causes those mistransformations."

"…Oh, yeah. Right." Frankenstrike smacked his forehead, feeling like an utter imbecile. "Well, there's ONE habit I need to learn to break." Still, he shrugged his shoulders. "Ah well, I guess this still works." He nodded down to Nora and Kevin. "Alright, on the count of three, we all grab a set of bars. Ready?" The duo nodded back to him and he began the countdown. "Okay… one… two… THREE!"

With that, the trio lunged forward and grabbed onto the cage's bars, the electricity beginning to flow into them instantly. Frankenstrike and Kevin had settled for just grabbing the bars, while Nora practically jumped onto the front of the cage, the Pink Dynamo feeling her strength already increase by tenfold. "AH-HAHAHA!" Nora laughed. "Alright, let's get you outta there!"

Over by the entrance, however, Ruby began shushing her friend. "SHH! Nora, they could HEAR you!" she whispered harshly.

Still, all at once, Nora, Frankenstrike and Kevin all began pulling on the bars with all their might, the electricity not bothering them in the least. In a matter of seconds, the trio had managed to bend the Infinitum bars enough for Manny and Alan to safely get through, leading the Transylian to call it there. "Alright, we're good! Everyone let go!"

At his word, the three of them all let go, though when Nora did, she propelled herself off of the cage with a "WEEEE!" and landed flat on her back. The group couldn't help but be slightly perturbed by the image of the Pink Dynamo jittering on the floor as pink electricity arced across her entire body, but the fact that she was laughing all the while dispelled their worries. "Eeheeheeheehee! Ooh, I-I w-was RIGHT! Th-That W-WAS t-t-tingly!"

"Woah! That was awesome!" Alan said as he leaped out of the cage. "How the heck did she even DO that?!"

"Again, we'll have to explain that later." Kevin said as he picked the still-giggling Nora up. "Now c'mon, let's blow this pop stand and start kicking some cult ass."

Once again, Manny sent a somewhat concerned gaze down to the jittering Nora as he stepped down to the ground. "Man, somethin' 'bout that girl just ain't right."

"Trust me, you'll get used to her." Frankenstrike waved to him. "For now, let's focus back on—"

"Ssh!" Blake suddenly shushed, causing everyone to focus onto her. "Someone's coming." she whispered. The whole group fell silent as Blake pressed her ear up against one of the small gaps, concentrating on the footsteps that were coming their way. "It… it sounds like there's about twelve of them, and… wait…" All of a sudden, a high-pitched beeping noise graced Blake's ears, confusing her at first… but once it started getting stater and faster, the cat girl's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, no… everybody, HIT THE DIRT!"

She lunged away from the door, causing everyone around her to do the same. Frankenstrike, Kevin and Manny even put their bodies over most of them while Rook used his Proto-Tool to bring up an energy shield. the four of them having a feeling at what was coming next. And then… BOOOOOM! In a rather well-sized explosion, the boulder that sealed off the entrance blew up, sending debris flying everywhere. Pebbles and dirt rained down upon the group, though thankfully, no pieces were big enough to do serious harm.

Once everything seemed to be over, Frankenstrike uncovered Yang, Ruby and Blake, gazing down to them worriedly. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah, we're good, Green Boy." Yang smiled as she pat his chest. "Thanks for the save."

Manny stood up as well, allowing Alan, Helen… and some blue-haired dude he didn't know to stand up. "Well, that was—wait, who're you again?"

"Dude, haven't introduced myself yet, remember?" Neptune reminded him. "…That said, name's Neptune."

"Guys, focus." Helen lightly reprimanded as her eyes focused onto the entryway, where dust was still lingering in the air. "Something tells we we've got company…"

"Indeed." Rook's Proto-Tool shifted back into its standard blaster mode, the Revonnahgander aiming directly at the entrance. "Whoever you are, come out with your hands up!"

Kevin, Nora and Ren all stood up as well… though the redhead still seemed a bit out of it as she pounded her fist into her palm, with pink lighting coursing through her hands. "AHAHAHA! Bring it ON! I'll take 'em ALL at once!"

Ren sent a hesitant gaze to his best friend. "…Nora, I'm tempted to pull you from the action until you calm down at least a little."

"Oh no, please, let the girl fight!" a growly voice called out from the dust, causing everyone to focus up. From out of the dust stepped none other than Bishop, with Scales strolling in not too far behind. And from behind them, there came a slew of about ten cult members, all of them dressed in white garb and hoods while holding Techadorian Multiblasters. The rifles were all trained on the heroes as Bishop wore a toothy grin, a chuckle escaping his lips. "Heh, after all, the fun is only JUST beginning…"

…..

A/N: To be continued… I know, I'm evil, but this felt like a good natural ending point to leave things on for now. And hey, we still had quite a bit going on in this chapter. We got a lot more interactions between the cast in this chapter (including a little personal talk between Weiss and Bobo), the Rustbucket III has been reintroduced in this story, WILDMUTT has made his story debut (complete with Gwen's voice gag), Manny and Alan have been saved, and, most importantly; ROOK! Yes, our favorite Revonnahgander has finally been introduced and he's exactly how you remember him! And of course, Ruby HAD to geek out over his Proto-Tool. Trust me, we'll be seeing a LOT of that in this series. Also, Helen and Neptune continue to make small conversation. One must wonder if that'll lead to a bigger one down the line…

That said, the interaction he had with this hunchbacked woman was quite eye opening, was it not? She's with them… but she doesn't WANT to work with them, to the point of helping Rook break out. And what's more, Rex is beginning to have his own suspicions about this "Collective" after hearing more and more about them.

With that said, the Collective themselves are here now, and they definitely have some back up with them… but the question is… is that their ONLY backup? Well, we'll just have to see NEXT TIME! It's fight time as Ben and his team face the Collective, with Rex and Gwen's crew coming in from the front entrance to help out in the battle as well. However, the Collective are ready to unveil a certain secret that they've been hiding; a weapon gifted to them by the Exalted One. And believe me, it's definitely not a conventional one.

Once again, the next chapter should be coming in a couple weeks, so tune in on May 7th to see the thrilling conclusion of this mini-arc! I'll see you guys then, and thanks for reading! And as always, stay safe out there!