Chapter 10: The Hunter

"Well, what do ya think? Pretty quaint, ain't it? Grubs pretty good too, if I do say so myself."

Currently, Vandham was treating Rex and his friends to a meal at Garfont village. Rex enjoyed some warm bread from the oven with some butter and a smoothie along with Pyra, who was having some jenerossi tea. Nia was devouring into her fish meal with rabid hunger along with Dromarch. And Tora was eating a massive steak with a soft drink, and Poppi… was just smelling some tea? Tora built her with the function to detect smells even though she can't eat.

"Munch! The food is pretty good, and I didn't even realize I was this hungry." Rex replied while devouring his meal with hunger due to eating anything since waking up

"Especially the tea here. It's very lovely," Pyra added while drinking it.

"Hah, I knew you guys would like it." Vandham chuckles at the two's enjoyment. "Say, can one of you grab me a beer? I would get it myself, but my muscles still feel a bit sore from the earlier fight."

Pyra gets up and looks at Vandham with a smile. "Beer? Sure just give me a minute." with that, she walks towards the bar to get a beer for Vandham.

Rex watches Pyra leave with a fond smile on his face. Then he remembered the beating he gave to Vandham and his friends. "Um, are Yew and Zuo ok? I guess I didn't know my own strength back there." he nervously asked Vandham.

Vandham smirks at Rex's question. "Don't worry, those two are fine," he reassures Rex. "Gotta say, though, the fact that you took all of us down in like a second was phenomenal and a bit of a sting to my pride."

"Ehehehe, sorry." Rex laughs nervously at himself for not holding back more and damaging Vandham's confidence.

"It's ok. Say wanna join us? We could really use someone like you, and you'll get three meals a day for free." Vandham asks Rex excitedly. It would be great for someone like Rex to join the Garfont mercenaries.

Rex blinks in surprise at that. "Wha? You want to recruit me?" He's never really been part of a group before. Well, there was that one time with the galactic enforcers, but he only did one mission with them and then quit.

Vandham nods at Rex. "Yeah, we're fine on our own for now. But having someone like you could really be a big help for whatever happens to us in the future. So, what do you say?"

The wielder of the Omnitrix looks down at that. "Look, I'm flattered that you guys want me to be part of your group. But, being part of mercenaries isn't what I want." His true dream of exploring the universe can't be done if he joined the Garfont mercenaries.

Vandham sighs in disappointment at Rex's rejection. But, he understands that the mercenary life isn't for everyone. Again, he looked at Rex and thought about how the boy could tell his intentions by locking blades. Frowning to himself, Vandham just wonders what kind of life Rex lived to be this skilled and strong.

Still, Vandham had a mission to do earlier, and thanks to Saber's little fast attack, his crew was down for a while. "Well, alright, kid, but could you and your friends help us with a job? Recently there's been some disturbance near the titan's blowhole. Least you could do after knocking my crew out."

Rex blinks in surprise at Vandham's job offer. He was bout to refuse. But he was responsible for Vandham's problem, so the least he could do was accept it.

"Sure, will I get paid, though?" Rex asked. Hey, don't look at him like that. Money is essential for life.

"Hahaha, don't worry. You'll get paid, though. I think I have something better than money." Vandham said while laughing at Rex

"Really? What?" Rex asked curiously.

Smirking, Vandham picks into his pocket, pulls out a core crystal, and hands it to Rex, who looks at it in shock.

"A…a core crystal? But I already have Pyra-"

"And I'm gonna have to cut you off their kid," Vandham said, cutting Rex off. "The Aegis is a powerful Blade. But limiting yourself to one Blade isn't a brilliant idea. Unless you can 100% master your Blade, it's best to have a second Blade on hand." He advises Rex.

Rex looks down at the core crystal while biting his lip in thought. It's true that he hasn't fully mastered Pyra's power. But he also felt he was betraying Pyra's trust if he relied on another Blade. At the same time, turning down the core crystal offered to him would also be rude.

Suddenly, a voice behind him interjects. "It's okay, Rex" he turns around and sees Pyra setting down a beer for Vandham, who thanks her for it. "Vandham's right. Another Blade would do us some good since you haven't fully mastered my power," she reassures him with a smile.

Rex looks at Pyra in shock and asks his girlfriend. "Are you sure?"

Pyra just smiled and nodded. Plus it would be great to have some new friends too.

Hearing Pyra's permission and seeing her approval was all Rex needed to know. So, with a smile on his face too. Rex turns to Vandham and grabs the core crystal, and stands up. Looking at the crystal, he squeezes it, and a brilliant light envelops him. As the light intensifies, a figure emerges from the core crystal.

The awakening attracted the attention of everyone around Garfont and what greeted their eyes was a rare Blade. The Blade was a girl that was around the same height as Rex with shoulder-length white hair. Two flower lilies adorned her hair; her clothing was a white woolen poncho. What was shocking, though, was the giant polar bear standing on its hind legs that accompanied the girl.

The girl shyly stood behind the polar and looked at Rex. "I'm- I'm Ursula, and this is Beary. Nice to meet you." Ursula stammered while still hiding, with Beary nodding at Rex.

Rex blinks in shock at getting two people from a core crystal. He looked at Pyra and Vandham, who were also a bit shocked and asked them. "Is this normal?" he questioned.

Vandham shook his head while answering Rex, confused as well. "No, it isn't normal. I've never heard of a Blade, especially a rare one being two separate beings." Pyra nodded in agreement with Vandham. This was all new to her too.

A shout of excitement broke all of the tension. "Wow! Rex-Rex has new Blade. Did you see that, friends!?" Tora's loud and excited voice exclaimed while jumping up and down.

"Yes, masterpon Poppi is also excited to have a new friend and she very cute too and can produce high amounts of blushy-crushy." Poppi cheered while complimenting the new Blade, blushing from everything Poppi said about her.

Nia looks at Ursula in shock as well while asking her partner. "Say, Dromarch, have you ever heard of two Blades for the price of one?" She's never heard of a Blade like Ursula ever before.

Dromarch, too, stares at Ursula in fascination. "No, milady, this is the first time I've heard of a Blade like miss Ursula as well."

Under everyone's intense observations, Ursula was shrinking down and staying behind Beary, hoping this embarrassing moment would end.

Rex realizes what's wrong and claps his hands, catching everyone's attention. "Alright, guys, give the girl some space. She's just been awakened. And I'm pretty sure most people don't like being the center of attention, right?" Rex questioned why staring at everyone with a face that said, 'Leave the girl alone.

A few seconds passed, and people started returning to their daily lives. Seeing his work done, Rex turned to his newest Blade with a smile while holding out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Rex. Nice to meet you, and your name is Ursula. I hope we get along." Rex introduced himself with a friendly attitude to the new girl.

Ursula gasps and blushes while looking away. Seeing Rex stand up for her and his bright attitude left an impression on the girl's mind.

With a small smile, too, Ursula looked at Rex and said. "Thank you for awakening me. I-I-I hope I can live up to your expectations." Her Driver seems like such a nice guy. She hopes that she doesn't mess up.

After their introduction, Rex walked up to Ursula and grabbed her hand, causing the Blade to squeak in surprise. He dragged her to the table and pulled a chair for her, which she accepted with Beary right behind her.

Pushing a small basket of bread forward, Rex asks his new Blade. "Do you and your friend want anything to drink? Water, juice or beer… actually, forget that last one. Don't think you can drink beer." She looks to be around his age, after all.

"Um, j-juice will be fine." Ursula then looked at Beary and said. "And maybe some ice water and fish for Beary if you have any." The polar bear smiles and excitedly nods at that.

Rex smiles at his new Blade. "Sure, I'll be right back." And he wandered off to get the food and drinks.

Ursula stares at her Driver with a grateful look and silently thanks the Architect that she and Beary got such a kind, caring Driver. She then felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Beary with a knowing look on his face. It took her a minute to understand, but her face turned red when she did.

"D-d-don't give me that look. Besides, we just met. How can I feel that about him now? Even if he is cute." Ursula whispers that last part while blushing.

Pyra looks at Ursula and overhears her little spat with her other Blade. She still doesn't understand how Ursula and Beary work. However, when she heard how Ursula thinks Rex is cute, Mythra complained in her mind.

'Are you kidding me, another one!? How many more girls will Rex get!?.'

'Now, now Mythra, just because she's Rex's new Blade doesn't mean she'll fall for him too.'

'So you're saying that if she got pampered by Rex every day as he does to us, she wouldn't fall for him.'

'...Touche.'

'Well, at least it isn't that bitch Brighid.' Mythra scowls at the thought of the jewel of Mor Ardain being with her Rex.

'Do you still hate Brighid that much?' Pyra sighs. After all, it's been five hundred years.

'Oh, for sure. One, she called me a simpleton and two, she burned Rex, so excuse me if I'm still pissed.'

Pyra sighs at Mythra's pettiness though deep down, she's also a bit mad that Brighid burned Rex and accused him of being a flesh-eater. Her hand unconsciously goes down to the leg where she got hurt. The leg where Rex got hurt. The red-haired girl looks at her Driver returning with some food and water for Ursula.

'I know how strong Brighid is, and I know I'm not strong enough yet to protect you from someone like her. But I promise I'll become stronger so I can stand by your side.' With that promise, Pyra went closer to Rex and sat beside her boyfriend.


An hour later,

"Are you guys sure you want to come along? I think I can handle the job just fine." Rex questions while looking at all of his friends.

Nia smirks while crossing her arms, "Don't think you can get rid of that easily. besides, we're a group, aren't we." she says rhetorically.

Tora raises one of his wings, making it do a thumbs up or a wing up. "Tora is ready to follow Rex-Rex anywhere, plus Tora also needs more data on seeing Rex-Rex fight."

Rex sees that Tora and Nia are not budging on this, along with Poppi and Dromarch. Slowly a smile makes its way onto his face as he's glad to have made such good friends.

'You know I could get used to this.' Rex happily thought of having friends who he could share his secret life with,

Tora then exclaimed, "Besides, what could go wr-"

"No!"

Rex freaks out at the nopon, cutting him off and freaking him to the point of falling on his back.

"You don't say that! That's like asking the universe to make things go wrong! And I'm not dealing with that shit! Not now, not ever." Rex finishes while panting for dear life.

Everyone else looks at Rex in shock, having never heard him swear like that before.

"Ok, enough loitering around, people. Our mission is to discover a disturbance around the Titan's blowhole." Vandham cuts into the group's conversation with his Blade Roc beside him.

The gang then followed Vandham. During the journey, Vandham taught Rex that his anchor shot could actually topple an enemy. He also taught them that living inside a titan like Uraya is dangerous due to ether miasma building within the titan. Thankfully such dangerous miasma can be dispelled with wind power like Roc.

Rex looked at Vandham in a bit of awe. The man's charisma and experience were really inspiring. If it weren't for Rex being a hero, he'd probably wouldn't mind joining the Garfont mercenaries.

As the gang was closing on, their location, far off in the distance, was Akhos and Oborna.

"Come on, Akhos, why can't we strike them now?" the winged Blade whined to her Driver. It was just so dull observing them.

The Tornan tactician sighed while pushing up his glasses. "Usually, I would if the Driver of the Aegis is a newbie Driver. But he's not. You saw the state Malos was in after fighting him. I prefer he and the Aegis were separated from one another." Pausing, Akhos then had another idea. "Or maybe you're right, my dear Obrona. We could let's say, 'test the waters and make a tactical retreat using your abilities."

"Yippe!" Oborna cheered, finally glad to have some action.

Things may not have exactly gone to script as Torna thought, so Akhos would have to adapt to a new plan due to Rex's uniqueness.

But even further than the Tornan duo was another pair. The first was a large humanoid male with sea-green skin and red eyes. He wore a black suit covering his upper body with grey pants. Adorning his suit was a bunch of bones that gave off the appearance of armour. His face was not human as he had his teeth fused with his lips, and there were gills under his cheeks.

The second was a small dark blue dog that looked like it's been gene-spliced with a dinosaur with blue spike-like hair running down from her back to her tail. Around the dog's neck was a red collar.

These two were Khyber and his dog Zed. Khyber, known as the milky way galaxy's greatest hunter, has taken down even the most ferocious alien species and claimed their bones as his trophies.

Khyber was currently spying on the Aegis gang or, more specifically, Rex using a pair of binoculars. Having his eyes fixated on the wielder of the Omnitrix, he then pulls out a red watch-like device and attaches it to Zed's collar.

"Soon, we shall see if Rex Salvager lives up to his name."


Back at Garfont village

It turns out the whole disturbance was a dying titan and an arachno that somehow awoke a Blade. But everyone made short work of them, and Rex also learned that Blades are actually born from Titans.

So after finishing the job, the group returned to Garfont. They were treating their injuries right now, and Rex was treating Pyra.

"I'm surprised you know this much about first aid, Rex," Pyra said to her Driver was bandaging her arm with a long cloth that he was holding with his teeth.

Making a small noise of yeah, Rex then completes his treatment with Pyra. "well, when you salvage and be a hero at the same time, you gotta learn first aid."

Pyra frowns a bit at that. Her mind instantly goes to when Rex's arm was crushed when he was ten years old. Her Driver shouldn't be risking his life, especially when he was a child.

"Rex, do you get injured like that all the time?" she whispers with a small amount of dread.

Her Driver flinches at that. That was all Pyra needed to know about what happened to her boyfriend. Pulling him in, she leans against his shoulder while gently holding him to comfort him. She then notices Nia looking at them while biting her lips in jealousy.

'We should really tell Nia that we don't mind sharing Rex, right Myhtra?'

'Says you, Pyra. If I could, I'd make sure Rex belongs to us.'

'Mythra, we can't just do that to Nia. Besides, polygamy isn't illegal, you know.' Pyra sighs at her sister's possessiveness

'I know that, Pyra. I'm just… a bit envious of you. You had that moment with Rex on the bed and at Gormott. But I never got to have much of a moment with him. He's my boyfriend too… I-i-isn't he?' Mythra asks nervously

'He is, and Mythra, I'm sure Rex would love us all equally, so why don't you come out?'

'Not yet. I want a bit more time, please.' Mythra pleas to her sister.

Seeing Myhtra not budging on this, Pyra sighs in disappointment.

"Say do you know what Elysium is really like, Pyra?" Rex asks curiously since he has always wanted to know about the supposed mythical heaven.

Pyra blinks in surprise at the sudden question before answering. "Ah, Sorry, Rex, but I don't know much besides that I was born there and how it looks."

Rex then pulls her in and says. "Well, then we'll find out more when we reach Elysium, I guess." He leans in with the intent of kissing her.

Pyra closed her eyes and excitedly awaited his lips to be upon hers. But just when their lips were a centimetre away, a voice halted them.

"Reach Elysium. I'm afraid we can't let you do that… And would you stop with the couple act it disgusting!"

"Hehehe, who knew the Driver of the Aegis was such a charmer?"

Rex and Pyra immediately turned to the culprits and saw them. But Nia was next to act, shouting.

"Akhos! You're here with Oborna!?"

Oborna giggles mockingly at Nia. "That's right, girl, and let me tell you this, Jin was pretty disappointed in you. He even gave us the go to kill you, traitor."

Nia looked at her former comrade in shock and betrayed by what was said. "Jin did what?"

"Traitor, traitor, traitor." The obnoxious Blade mocks Nia even more, making said gormotti girl tremble a bit at being told that her previous group fully abandoned her.

"Beep."

A beeping sound then caught Nia's attention along with Akhos, and they saw Rex activating his Omnitrix with a serious expression on his face.

"I'm giving this one chance to run away right now. Or I'll turn into Humungousaur and make you pay for messing with Nia." Rex warned the duo of Torna.

Nia shoots a thankful look at Rex while Akhos scoffs and laughs at Rex's threat.

"Ah, the Driver of the Aegis." Akhos dramatically says while looking at Rex as if he was something beneath him. "Well, I must admit your powers were not exactly in accord with the script. You're still an ignorant little child with too much power."

Rex didn't let Akhos's words faze him. If anything, Akhos is the ignorant one. Rex has fought many powerful foes, such as Vilgax, Zs'skayr, Malware and the Highbreed army. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for him, then all life in the universe would've been killed a year ago by the Highbreed.

"Oh? Let's see you call me ignorant in front of Humungasuar!" Rex yelled while slamming down on the Omnitrix.

A bright green flash appears as fast as it disappears, and standing in place of Rex is a 10-foot-tall yellow robotic armadillo alien. The bio-mechanical lifeform had giant jackhammers on its elbows and wrists.

"Armodrillo!"


Omnitrix Database

Species: Talpaedan (Armodrillo)

Homeworld: Poiana Luncas (Andromeda Galaxy)

Power and abilities: Drill hand, jackhammer arms, jackhammer propulsion, enhanced strength, durability and digging, shock waves, earthquake generation, fissure creation and air blender.

Description: originating from a planet in another galaxy, these Talpaedan may look mechanical but are biological. Their evolution gave them a metallic nature because they absorbed the earth's minerals while using their powers to dig through the ground, granting them extreme durability. However, despite their new powerful armour, they are still preyed on by their predators, the Slammoids.

Weakness: Slammoids and electricity


Taking a look at himself, Armodrillo sighs. "Not even going to comment." at this point, he just gave up on going for the right forms.

Immediately, the Talpaedan slammed his hands on the ground and, using his jackhammer arms, a giant pillar of earth erupted from the ground, hitting the airborne Oborna. The flying Blade lets out a cry of pain from the earth as small electric currents erupt from her body from being hit with her weakness.

'Huh, she's a lightning element, Blade. You know I can work with this.' Armodrillo thought, surprised.

"Oborna! You'll pay for that!" Akhos yells in worry seeing his partner in pain. The terrorist immediately ran towards Rex with the intent of revenge. But the talpaedan uses his powers to dig underground, evading the enemy Driver.

"Where the hell are you!? Come out, you coward!" Akhos looks around while slowly going back to his Blade. His decision turns out to be fatal as the ground beneath him and Oborna begins to crack before becoming a large hole.

As they were falling, two large yellow hands grabbed him and Oborna by the neck as they stared into the face of Armodrillo.

'This isn't supposed to happen. This wasn't in the script!' Akhos panics while desperately slamming against the metallic hands cutting his airflow. The Driver of the Aegis should be a weakling, a nobody salvager from Leaftheria! So, why!? Why is he so strong!? He took down both him and his Blade in only a few minutes without breaking a sweat.

Akhos begins to channel lightning through his swords, hoping that would stop this monstrosity. The electricity is conducted by Armodrillo's metal body which lets both of them go immediately.

Gasping for air, both Oborna and Akhos didn't even have time to see two uppercut jackhammer punches that sent both of them through the earth and into the air.

The Driver and Blade duo groan in pain as they try to gather their wits.

Nia is shocked to see Rex take down both Akhos and Oborna so easily. she's spared both of them before, and those two were some of the strongest opponents she's ever battled before. So, seeing Rex curb-stomping them was a huge surprise for her.

Tora and Poppi were amazed at Rex's fighting prowess. Both thought Rex was the coolest person they knew.

Pyra looks at her boyfriend/Driver with a sense of awe mixed with inadequacy. Sure Rex was amazing taking down a Driver and Blade like nothing. But he didn't even need her to do it. A part of her feels that does Rex even need someone like her if he's that strong.

Dusting his drill hands together, Armodrillo looks down at the Torna duo. "Right, that takes care of that. Hope there's some sort of jail place around here and leave them to the authorities." He murmured.

Suddenly, the ground begins to shake, causing everyone to stumble, and Nia shouts. "What's happening!? Does the Urayan Titan have a stomach ache!" she clutches onto Dromarch to keep her balance.

A giant worm-like creature emerges from the ground, putting Armodrillo on guard. The worn looked big enough to swallow Armodrillo with its grey beak-like mouth in one bite. On the creature's back were ginormous spikes sprouting from its brown skin and four huge insectoid legs on its side. Most curiously, around the worm's neck was a red collar with a small watch-like device.


Omnitrix Database

Warning! Warning! Warning! Species sapient level too low to acquire DNA sample unable to use as transformation.

Species: Slammoid (Slamworm)

Homeworld: Poiana Luncas (Andromeda Galaxy)

Powers and abilities: acid spit, sharp teeth, enhanced digging, durability, strength and speed.

Description: hailing from the same planet as Talpaedans, these Slammoids are the predators of the armadillo-like species. Their acid spit can melt through the Talpaedan's armour, so they're easier for consumption, and their beaks can also aim for weak points in their armour's joints. Slammoids also outclass Talpaedans when it comes to digging, so the likely hood of escape is unlikely.

Weakness: attacking the inside of their mouths seems to be the only weak point that can take them out.


"Meh, Meh! Tora never knew worms could grow that big!"

Armodrillo yelled. "They don't! I've never seen anything like this before!"

"Well, it doesn't look friendly, so let's bash it up proper!" Nia said while taking her weapons.

Everyone else followed suit, with Vandham ordering his crew to evacuate the area and leave the fighting to him and us.

Slamworm lunges straight toward Armodrillo, who barely dodges by drilling into the ground. Before the worm could do the same, a flurry of elements composed of earth, wind, water, ice and fire pelted its tough hide. It didn't do much damage, but it still annoyed it. Raising a tail, it slams it down hard on Tora and Poppi.

Poppi thankfully managed to catch the tail as the ground beneath her broke from the sheer pressure. But the look of strain on her face told everyone that even her enhanced strength was being pushed to her limits.

"M-M-Masterpon get away quick Poppi can barely hold!"

Slowly cracks appeared on Poppi's arms as Tora looked on in horror.

"Poppi, no!" Tora yelled out in fright, seeing his Blade breaking apart.

"Feather Typhoon!'' Thankfully, a huge twister managed to blow Slamworn away from Poppi, who Tora ran up to ensure she was okay.

Slamworm then gets up and digs into the ground leaving everyone on guard.

Nia raises her rings, ready with her back-to-back with Ursula and Beary, who were also prepared to attack when it came back.

Pyra and Vandham were standing guard, protecting Tora and Poppi, who was in no condition to fight.

A Tremor spreads throughout the entire area before Slamworm erupts from the ground, and in its mouth is Armodrillo. Who was trying to keep it from crushing him with its mouth.

Slamworn, then retched a bit and spat out yellow acid that landed on Armodrillo. The acid began to erode away at the alien's metal armour as the Talpaedan muffled a scream of pain.

"Ahhhh, Rex!" Pyra screams in pain as she feels Rex's pain.

Quickly Pyra aimed her sword and slashed a fireball at Slamworm's eye. This causes Armodrillo's predator to screech in pain as it drops its prey on the ground.

Pyra then ran over to Rex, quickly checking his wound with Nia following her. The acid was still melting away at Rex's armour, so Pyra burned as much as she could without harming Rex.

"Nia! Please, quick!" Pyra begged

"Healing Halo!"

A wave of water-infused ether runs throughout the area as Nia uses a healing art to fix the damage everyone's suffered. Slowly the pain started to dull, but that didn't repair Armodrillo's metal armour.

"Skreee!"

Pyra and Nia turned back and saw Slamworm recovered from the fire blast, which was now charging toward them. Seeing the charging monstrosity, Armodrillo got up and ran towards it head-on.

Slamworm opens its mouth again, intending to eat its natural prey, but Rex has a plan this time. This time he let himself be caught in its mouth but used one hand to ensure it stayed open.

"Let's see you like this! Hope you're hungry!" Armodrillo changed his free jackhammer hand into a drill hand and punched it right into its mouth. Air currents begin to form in the shape of a blender that shredded Slamworm's insides, causing the beast to shriek in pain and retreat.

Breathing hard, Armodrillo raises his hands, now jackhammers ready to create a shockwave.

"Clap, clap."

"Very impressive I've never seen a Talpaedan beat a Slamnoid before you truly live up to your reputation Rex Salvager."

Everyone turned to the voice, and what they saw shocked them. It was the same green humanoid who had spied on them earlier, and due to his appearance not matching any species on Alrest, it was most likely that he was an alien.

Nia venomously glared at the man. "Who are you?! And was that bloody monster yours!?"

The alien mockingly chuckled at Nia's question, which only infuriated her more. "Yes, that beastie is mine. And as for who I am, you can call me Khyber, the greatest huntsman in the Milky Way."

Snarling, Nia raised her rings with Dromarch behind her. "I don't care. Even if you were a bloody king, you'll pay for everything."

Khyber looks at her and then at everyone else. However, his vision mostly focuses on Rex. "you know, I've never really liked hunting a Driver and Blade. Mostly because there isn't anything left from a Blade to hang up on my wall beside their crystal after their Driver dies."

Raising a gun, he aims it at the sky and fires. A small circular device shoots out and releases an energy field. Said energy field then affected every Blade weapon in the area, shutting them down.

Vandham looks down at his dual scythes, which were now sticks. "Alright, mate, what did you do to our weapons?" the large Urayan demanded.

Khyber twirls his gun while explaining. "A little personal invention of mine, that's what. Nullifies all ether in the surrounding area, making you Driver and Blades pretty much helpless. Now you can't get in my way towards my job. Rex."

"Beary charge him!" Ursula ordered as the huge polar bear ran on all fours towards the huntsmen. she wasn't going to let this thing hurt her new Driver. Khyber brought out another gun and fired a net which caught the bear who was trying to break free to no avail.

"Now, now, little girl, no interruptions." Khyber mocks as he fires multiple nets toward the group trapping everyone except for Pyra, who managed to dodge at the last second.

Pyra charges toward Khyber with a raised fist. Screw her ether. Even if she didn't have her fire, she still had her superhuman strength. "I won't let you get Rex!"

However, faster than Pyra could react, the second she got within arm's length, Khyber placed his hands on Pyra's shoulders and squeezed.

Pyra lost a feeling in her body from shoulder to bottom as she collapsed on the ground, going limb. "W-w-what… did you… do to me?" What happened? She could barely even speak.

Khyber dusts his hands as he explains. "Hephaestan neuro grip. Restrains all manner of prey, even Blades, it would seem." he looked at Rex to ready fight but stopped. "Now that's a surprise."

Armodrillo then turns back into Rex as he, too, falls on the ground from the effects of the neuro grip since he and Pyra were connected.

"P-Pyra!" Rex shouts in desperation

Khyber slowly walks toward Rex, pulling out a cylinder-like device. "Don't worry. I won't touch your girlfriend. It's you I'm after." The cylinder then connects to the Omnitrix, and something begins to come out of it. Little blobs of red and black enter the cylinder, and Khyber walks away, seeing his job done with the huge worm following him.

Right before he fully leaves, he turns back to Rex. "You know, I was really looking forward to fighting the legendary hero of the universe. You might have even won if you didn't have that Blade weighing you done." With that, both Khyber and his pet were dematerialized somewhere.

Hearing Khyber's words struck something within Pyra. 'Am I just a burden to Rex?' Would he have been better off if she wasn't partnered with Rex?


Unknown location

"So, did you get the sample, Khyber?"

Khyber and his dog Zed appeared in a laboratory that was alien in design, with a huge chamber in the middle.

Approaching the chamber, he inserts the cylinder into the chamber.

"Bit too easy for my taste. Didn't even get to fight my worthy prey."

"Oh? And why didn't you finish off Rex? You did say you wanted his head piked on your wall for your collection." the mysterious voice said.

"Business and pleasure are two different things, and I prefer not to get them mixed up," Khyber explained as he kneeled down and petted his dog, who purred in delight. "Besides, one day, I'll return for my trophy. Just send me my payment, doctor."

"Yes, yes, your credits will be transferred to your account. Just let me activate this."

Purple lightning shot out towards the chamber pod, which activated it, and the red/black blobs began to grow slowly.

Khyber leans back against the wall with an intrigued look on his face at the process. "Huh, I didn't know that was even possible. You're really something, doc. Besides, kinda missed the guy, best partner I probably had besides my Zed, of course."

"Yes, soon the Universe, Azmuth and Rex Salvager shall remember the terror of their sins from the past Malware."


Not dead, I repeat, I'm not dead. Sorry for the delay, but two things happened work and Xenoblade 3. My job gets really busy during the summer, and I just finished Xenoblade 3 last week, so sorry for the huge delay.

And this chapter might be wonky since I wrote half of it about a couple of months ago, But I think it's okay let me know what you guys think.

Now a few things to address in this chapter. Rex beating Akhos and Obrona isn't really that farfetched, especially since Armodrillo uses earth attacks which is kind of their weakness plus, Akhos is the guy to plan ahead. Still, the Omnitrix's sheer versatility counters that.

And as for Khyber beating Rex and his friends. Khyber is one of the most dangerous Ben 10 villains since he is one of the most skilled next to Vilgax, who has lived for centuries. He also has the Nemetrix, which was designed to counter the Omnitrix, so there's that.

Oh, and if you're wondering what happened to Akhos and Oborna, they woke up and escaped during the whole fight with Khyber and re-joined with Malos.

Now time to answer some review questions.

Redburningdragon: Yeah, see, the thing is, Cole is hard for me to write since I have a hard time grasping his character, even with Torna. I might have made him out of character. Sorry, he's just someone I don't get. As for the level 5 special sounds like a good idea. I'll think about it. The Omnitrix repair won't work on Zeke.

Temporal king: yeah, I really wanted them to end up together, and this is a mature story, so there will be "scenes."

Rex is scared of Zeke and Pandoria for a good reason, which will be explained in a flashback or side story.

The Omnitrix mistransforming in my story is mainly because Rex slams down on the core. Same reason as in Omniverse when Azmuth said the core was sensitive.

Brigihd and Ursula are back just gotta think about how to execute it well.

Black Latios: Spoilers

Guest: You'll see

Switch 4 life: No, Poppi seems more like the type to be Rex's sister or daughter.

Maxwolf936: Yes, I plan to use as many aliens as possible, even the Anur system aliens. And my favourite alien is Ultimate Echo Echo and Swampfire. Saber is definitely one of Rex's heavy hitters, but he lacks the full damage output to take down Vilgax one v one. And Saber is faster than Fastrack while using the field, but he's slower than XLR8's top speed, even if he's using XLR8's powers during the field. As for the encyclopedia, I'll think about that.

Mister Phoenix - Deltora: Rex won't be with any alien girls. Sorry, Pyra's his first kiss and girlfriend. Apparently, Rex has a Blade fetish in my story, huh.