A/N: Hello one and all! Welcome back, everybody, to the start of a new tradition for this story! It's October, it's the Halloween season, and that means only one thing; IT'S BEN 10 RWBY MONTH! …Yeah, couldn't think of any clever wordplay to go with this one. Ben 10 RWBY-tober doesn't completely flow well, RWBY-ween just kinda sounds awkward and god help us all if we go with OCTO-BEN, so Ben 10 RWBY Month it is!

But more to the point, for the next FIVE chapters, we'll be going back-to-back with Ben 10 RWBY updates, featuring one long storyline over the course of the month. But before we get into the thick of it, we've gotta get some setup in… as well as address what happened at the end of the LAST chapter, so with that said, let's get things started! This is…

Chapter 74: Shockwaves of Malevolence

…..

The moment Raven used her Semblance to create a portal to Ben, Yang and Ruby didn't hesitate to leap through first. …But what they found on the other end was FAR from what they were expecting. Police cars were absolutely packed to the brim in the fairground's parking lot, red and blue lights flashing all over the place while people were being escorted away from the premises. They could see the mayor talking to the chief of police, but between the large crowds, they couldn't see where their friends were. "Woah… what happened?" Ruby asked.

"Uh… I'm guessing that." Yang pointed over to the festival itself, where several stalls and attractions were damaged and the pavement was torn up, no doubt from where the Street Sharks had "swam" underground.

It wasn't long before Raven, Tai, Max, Neptune and Helen all came through as well, and they were all just as astonished as the sisters were. "Oh lord…" Max muttered. "Those sharks and that mutt did all of this?"

"I'm not surprised." Raven scowled. "Those women take pride in their destructive tendencies."

"G-Grandpa Max! You guys!" A familiar voice in the myriad of crowd murmurs shouted out to them, bringing their sights to the entrance to see Kenny running over to them. And behind him was a… man who they didn't know in the least. "Hah, am I glad to see you!" the redhead smiled to his grandfather. "I-Is Ben here?"

"He should be, Kenny." Max affirmed. "Raven ported us all here, so he should be nearby." Seeing the middle-aged man with him, the elder Tennyson raised a brow at him. "Er, Ken, who is this man? He seems… familiar somehow."

"Oh! Hah, I-I'm sorry, sir. My name is Abel North." Abel extended his hand, which Max shook. "You must be Ben Tennyson's grandfather, then. You probably know me better as Kangaroo Kommando."

Max's eyes widened in realization. "O-Oh! The show that Ben always watched as a kid! Hah, I thought I recognized you." He gave the actor a small grin. "You know, Ben always looked up to you. Pretty sure he had me buy every Kangaroo Kommando action figure under the sun when he was younger, hehe."

That got a chuckle out of Abel. "Hah, I'm flattered. Though part of the reason why I took this festival appearance is because I wanted to try and get a chance at seeing your grandson again."

"Uh… again?"

Before any more questions could be asked, another voice called out to them; "Grandpa! Kenny! Everybody!" Their attention was brought back to the crowd, where Gwen was practically plowing her way past everybody with quick "pardon's" and "excuse me's". Finally, she reached the group and immediately hugged her grandfather and older brother in relief. "Oh, thank god, you all are here. Something's happened… s-something terrible, something—"

"Woah, woah, slow down, Gwen." Yang soothed, placing a hand to her friend's shoulder. "We're all here, everything's okay. What's going on?"

"…It's best if you follow me." Gwen advised, taking Yang and her grandfather by their hands and ushering them all back toward the ground. Her gaze was dead serious as she said; "Ben needs you two, right now."

Both Max and Yang were taken aback by that, but their concern outweighed all of their questions. Something had happened to Ben, and that meant they were needed. "Gwen, you really should've mentioned that!" Without any prompting, Yang burst past all of them and barged her way through the crowd, only giving a semblance of politeness along the way. "'Scuse me! Comin' through! WORRIED GIRLFRIEND HERE!"

"Hah… of course." Raven rolled her eyes. "Still, Ben's wellbeing is important. Come on." Following the Spring Maiden, the group managed to get through the crowd fairly easily, the people letting them pass willingly after Yang's rougher method. Once they made it to the other side, they were greeted by the sight of the rest of the team all together, with Weiss, Blake, Sun and Rex standing with each other near the Proto-Truk while Team JNPR, Penny and Ilia were stood separate, the latter sticking close to Swift in particular.

Blake was the first one to notice their arrival, seeing her partner's blonde hair. "Yang!"

"Blake!" Yang reached out, placing a hand to her best friend's shoulder. "W-Where's Ben? Is he—"

"Over there." Sun jerked a thumb over toward the Proto-Truk's other side. "He's been… having a tough time since—woah!" The monkey boy had to step back as Yang rushed past him, bounding behind the vehicle in no time. "…Okay, then." It was then that he and the others saw everyone else, wherein he offered a soft smile to his partner. "Yo, guys, I—wait." His eyebrows rose up when he saw Neptune and Helen… who were still wet. "…Neptune, dude, did you… did you get in water?"

Neptune winced and gave a shrug. "Well, not exactly by choice. More like unavoidable circumstances forced me to BE in water."

Weiss and the others were astonished to hear this. "Wow, really? What circumstances were those?"

"We almost drowned to the bottom of the Delaware River." Helen said without missing a beat, leaving the Omni-Hunters absolutely stunned. "We were accosted by a band of alien pirates who tried stealing Earth boats to sell them on the intergalactic black market after trapping them in humongous bottles, corks and all."

"…You know, if our lives weren't already weird as hell, I'd question the validity of that sentence." Jaune piped up, crossing his arms over his chest.

Helen nodded at that. "Yeah, fair." All the same, she beamed up to Neptune and reached up to his shoulder. "But, thanks to this guy coming in clutch with his Semblance, and a little prayer that reached the God of the Seas himself, we managed to get out of there."

Sun's jaw dropped when he heard that. "DUDE! You used your SEMBLANCE?!"

"AND you got the help of a Sea God?!" Gwen exclaimed in astoundment. "That's amazing! Which one was it?" The only response that Neptune gave her was a knowing smirk, taking out Tri-Hard and transforming it into its trident mode. "…It was Poseidon, wasn't it?" Neptune nodded and Gwen gave a breathy laugh. "Haha! Oh my gosh, that's amazing! Congratulations on getting his blessing, Neptune."

Slinging his trident over his shoulder, Neptune held his head up high. "Ah, it's no biggie. Besides, even if I didn't end up reaching Posiedon with my prayer, I still would've used my Semblance. After all…" He reached around Helen's shoulders, pulling her in to his side. "I couldn't let HER die on my watch."

"Oh, stop it!" Helen pushed playfully against his chest, all while everyone else were left speechless. "One life or death scenario and you're suddenly a hotshot?"

Neptune sent her a knowing smirk in response. "Hey, you're the one who essentially asked ME out during that whole sitch, so if anything, you're the hotshot."

"Wait, wait, WAIT! Back up right there!" Nora interrupted, wanting to make sure she heard everything correctly. "You're telling me that you…" she pointed to Helen, "…asked him out FIRST?"

Helen brightened up and leaned her head against Neptune's arm. "Oh yeah, we're dating now, by the way. Feel free to scream and all that, let it out of your systems."

And that, the girls did. All at once, a slew of high-pitched screams echoed through the parking lot, causing a good chunk of the crowd to suddenly disperse while everyone else covered their ears. There was a healthy round of congratulations from everybody, ranging from excited to more subdued showings of compliments to the duo.

"That's great, guys, it honestly is." Ilia commended, one of the only ladies to be calm about the whole situation. "And I'm glad to hear that you actually STOPPED your bad guys." Pursing her lips, the chameleon girl lowered her head solemnly, all while Swift placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Unfortunately for us, the Ministry managed to one-up us AGAIN."

Ruby furrowed her brow and clenched her fists. "Yeah, we heard the Street Sharks and Khyber's dog were here." Her gaze shifted down in frustration. "Guess we were a bit too hopeful to think they might've gone down with their spaceship."

Rex shook his head. "It wasn't JUST them. We managed to hold our own well against them and might've actually been able to beat 'em…" Moving his sights to the Proto-Truk, he took a deep breath and gave a heavy sigh. "But nope. They didn't attack us just for the hell of it. It was all just a distraction."

Max quirked a brow at that. "A distraction? For who?"

"…Malware." Just like that, everyone's attention was brought straight over to the Proto-Truk as Ben stepped out from behind it, with Yang practically hugging his arm along the way. Max was left stunned when he saw his grandson's complexion; almost deathly pale while his eyes were red and puffy, and the tear stains along his cheeks made it obvious that it was from all the crying he had done. But all the same, despite his state, Ben was completely stone-faced and serious, quite clearly unhappy. "Grandpa… he's back." he said hoarsely with a hard swallow.

The old man's blood ran cold when he heard that, running up to his grandson and placing his hands on his shoulders. "Malware? Are you sure, Ben?"

"I saw him with my own two eyes, Grandpa Max." the hero affirmed, one fist tight at his side while his other hand clenched onto Yang's. "He looked exactly how I remember him the first time I… I thought I'd destroyed him." He scowl deepened, his sadness and anger roiling inside his mind. "He… he mocked me, Grandpa… a-and I couldn't do anything but just stand there and GAWK at him!"

"Ben, baby, it's going to be okay." Yang reached up, cupping a hand to his cheek. "You can't be mad at yourself for that. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably wouldn't be able to do anything either. What we need to do is calm down and—"

"Calm down?" Ben reiterated, suddenly moving away from his girlfriend, which left her stunned. "Yang, this is NO time to calm down! Malware is BACK. And he's WORKING with the Ministry!" He whipped his head up to all of his friends, who all flinched as he kept raising his voice. "Don't you all GET it?! THIS is why they've been able to stay ahead of the game on us for so long! How they've been able to BEAT us so many times since we've got here! Between Eon and Malware, they've allied themselves with the two villains from my past who know me better than anyone. And it's been nothing but constant victory after victory for them because of it! GRAAH!" Swinging his leg around, Ben kicked the Proto-Truk, his anger overriding the pain in his foot. "GOD DAMMIT! We've been played like FOOLS this entire freaking time!"

Without thinking twice, Jaune stepped forward and reached out to the Omnitrix bearer. "Ben, settle down, please. You're not thinking straight. This isn't like you."

Ben let out a laugh at that. "Ha! Oh really? And what DO you know about me, Jaune?" Rounding around on the blonde knight, Ben pointed directly at him. "Let me get one thing straight with you here; Malware is not to be taken lightly. The fact that none of your are taking this more seriously despite me telling you all about how dangerous he was in the past is quite frankly a bit terrifying for me."

But Jaune doubled down. "Dude, we ARE taking it seriously." He gestured out to the rest of the team. "All of us are, in fact. But you're so lost in your own distress and anxiety that you're not thinking things through."

"He's right, Ben." Yang piped up, joining Jaune at his side. "You're letting your emotions speak for you right now, and trust me, I know better than anyone what that's like." Her frown deepened at him. "And if I'm being honest… you're scaring me here, Green Boy."

"I… I…" Ben's words were lost in his throat as he took in what they were saying to him, seeing the rest of his friends all staring worriedly at him, Raven and Tai included. It was at that moment that his thoughts started to become much clearer, his incensed state beginning to wind down a bit. "I… I-I'm sorry, guys." He put his hand to his forehead as he leaned against the Proto-Truk, trying to steady his breathing. "I'm just at a total loss right now. I was angry, upset, and… gah, I can't believe I almost took it out on you guys."

Pyrrha offered her own voice of reason. "Ben, it is alright. Believe me, after what you've said about Malware, it's understandable why you would react like this." She placed a hand over her chest. "But please, just be careful not to lose yourself to your grudge against him."

Ren nodded in agreement. "Right. A clouded mind can lead to dangerous things. That's a lesson that you guys taught many of us."

Pursing his lip, Ben took a deep breath and gave a nod of his own. "…Yeah. Yeah, you guys have a point. I shouldn't let my emotions take control…" Still, he furrowed his brow as he addressed his team. "All the same, I don't want any of you to let your guard down. Now that we know that Malware IS working with the Ministry, it's important that we stay on our toes." He pointed straight at a certain redhaired android in particular. "Especially you, Penny. He seemed to have it out for you considering your connection with Azmuth."

"W-Wait, really?" Ruby tilted her head toward her best friend, who seemed rather put off at the moment. "Penny, did he say something to you while he was here?"

"…Yes." Penny wrung her hands together awkwardly, keeping her head low. "He… referred to me as "Azmuth's new favorite" and… an "abomination"."

At that, Neptune, Helen, Yang and Ruby all were left shellshocked… and the Hooded Huntress in particular was left with a twisted snarl of pure anger. "HE SAID WHAT TO YOU?!" Taking out Crescent Rose, Ruby spun it around and slammed its blade into the pavement, hard enough that it actually shook the ground. "Alright, where the HECK did he go?! When I see him, I'm gonna cut him to ribbons for saying that to you!"

But Ben groaned and shook his head. "Ruby, I literally just said that we need to be careful about this." He walked up to her and placed his hand on her scythe's handle. "You see your weapon? The one you love so much? Malware would latch onto it the moment you'd try and slice him and then absorb it to make it a part of himself."

"…R-Really?" Ruby paled at the thought.

"Yes, really." The hero scanned his eyes across his group of friends. "And that goes for the rest of you as well. Malware absorbs technology right down to the last component." He nudged his head over to Rex. "He learned that the hard way."

The group looked to the EVO and he rubbed his neck shamefully. "…Yeah, that one's on me. I got to gung-ho and went in for a Smack Hand smackdown and one of 'em got absorbed into Malware. Now he's got one of my weapons on him." Crossing his arms, Rex locked eyes with his green-clad companion. "But what exactly do we do about him, dude? I mean, we kinda rely on tech to get by."

"Which is why you guys are going to stay as far away from Malware as possible." Ben asserted, bringing a fist up. "After all, I'm the one he has unfinished business with. Next time we see him, he's mine."

There was an immediate objection to that. "I don't think I have to tell you how foolish that mentality is, Benjamin." Raven scolded with a narrow-eyed stare. "Aren't you forgetting that you have a powerful Maiden and your magic-wielding cousin on your side?"

Ben shook his head. "Of course, I haven't. But I know how Malware operates. He'll take advantage of any single significant thing about you and then use it against you. He's a megalomaniacal mastermind who'll do anything to get what he wants."

"…Which would be what exactly?" Weiss prompted.

"Ultimately, revenge. Revenge against me, Azmuth, and anyone else who's "wronged" him." At that moment, the back of the Proto-Truk opened up, and from the back, Rook, Kevin and Winter emerged. "Oh, good, you guys are right on time." Ben greeted.

"I can see that." Winter noted, only to then spot Kenny toward the back of the group. "AH! Oh my goodness, Ken!" She didn't waste a moment in running up to him, the couple reaching their arms out to embrace one another. "I am so sorry that I didn't come and get you! So many things happened all at once and—"

But Kenny stopped her with a brush of his hand to her cheek, giving her a reassuring smile. "Hey, hey, it's okay, Winter. I'm just glad that you're okay. …But uh, what were you doing in there, exactly?"

Winter craned her head back to the Truk and explained. "We were attempting to determine what exactly it was Malware took from the systems onboard the Proto-Truk. So far, though, that's been hard to pin down."

"Indeed." Rook concurred. "He did not take any weapons or equipment, but a section of the main memory core was destroyed, along with some of the auxiliary power systems."

"Dude, you're just lucky he didn't turn your Truk into dust." Kevin emphasized, reaching an arm around Gwen comfortingly. "From what these guys have told me, Malware's got a deadly touch."

But that just left Rook with even more questions. "Who IS this Malware? I would check his Plumber file, but… well…" Reaching into his Truk, the Revonnahgander pulled out several destroyed wires.

"Short answer; he's a Galvanic Mechamorph and a total psychopath." Ben replied. "For the long answer… well, it'd probably be easier to go into detail back at headquarters."

Max was all for the idea. "Agreed. Let's pack everything up here and get back. Six is going to want to hear this, I'm sure."

Just as everyone was about to return to their vehicles, though, a certain man toward the back cleared his throat. "A-Ahem, sorry if I'm speaking out of turn…" Everyone's attention was brought back to Abel North, the actor taking a rare anxious step into the spotlight. "…and trust me, I know that this sounds like quite the serious situation." He walked his way over to Ben. "But I'd like to get a word in with you, young man, if you don't mind."

Ben was left perplexed for a second… but then he realized who the man before him was. After all, while his features had aged a bit, Ben still recognized the person he idolized on TV every Saturday morning when he was a kid. "W-Wait a second… Mr. North? I-I haven't seen you in years! W-What're you doing in Bellwood?"

"I was a special guest at the festival, meeting fans and promoting my latest project." Abel extended his hand to the younger man. "It's good to see you again, Ben. You've grown quite a bit since I saw you last."

"Ah-hah… wow, you remember me?" Ben reciprocated the handshake.

Abel grinned back at him. "Hah! How could I forget you? You were the one who saved my career! If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be the one behinds bars instead of my brother." He sent the boy a wink. "Also helps that you've become insanely famous in the past couple years. Kind of hard to forget you at this stage."

Yang eyed her boyfriend curiously. "Uh, Ben? Who's this?"

"Yang, this is Abel North!" The hero replied, his dismay over Malware seemingly forgotten, if only for a brief moment. "He's the man who played Kangaroo Kommando, my childhood hero! …Also, yeah, I kinda helped him out of getting framed by his twin brother for crimes he didn't commit back when I was ten."

A look of realization came over both Yang and Ruby at that. "Oh, yeah! I remember you told us about that!" Ruby piped up, her eyes now lit up brightly as she gazed at Mr. North reverently. "Wow, a real big-time actor here in Bellwood! That's so cool!"

"Hah, well, I wouldn't say I'm "big-time"." North said with a sheepish smile. "I've acted in some small indie movies, but big Hollywood roles have never been for me. I'm happy being a TV actor. But thank you, nonetheless." He reached behind him and pulled a rolled-up piece of paper out of his back pocket. "In any case, though, as I said, I'm here promoting my next project… and I think you'll be interested to see it, Ben."

Curiously, Ben reached for the paper that was handed to him and unrolled it, allowing everyone to see. As it turned out, though, it was actually a small poster… one of Kangaroo Kommando in a new, armored suit. The colors of the old one remained, but it was very obviously updates for a modern setting, complete with a new, stylized symbol on the chest that resembled the head of a kangaroo.

But what took Ben even more off guard was that, on either side of Kommando, there were two other people; a woman with dark skin and wavy brown hair in a slim, grey suit with a matching mask tied over her eyes… which had long ears sticking up on the sides of her head. She also had a brown sash tied around her waist that resembled a tail. And on the other side was a man with tanned skin who wore an all-black outfit with a cowl over his head that had small, mammalian ears sticking out the top as well. The outfit also had a large, V-shaped white stripe going across the chest.

These were heroes that Ben had never seen before on any episode of the old show, and it left him intrigued. "W-Woah… what is…"

"My new show!" Abel announced, raising his hand up as he said the title; "Kangaroo Kommando and the Outback Warriors. It's a semi-reboot/sequel to the original show featuring all of the original cast as well as newcomers to the industry. Made for both new fans AND old." Just by the way Ben was staring at him, Abel knew the young man was interested. "Basically, the premise is that Kommando is brought out of retirement to help train a new generation of heroes, among them being these two." He pointed to the younger actors on the poster. "Wallaby Woman, played by Jaquline Thomas and Tazmania Man, played by Andre Idola. They're relatively new to the acting world, but I make sure to give them advise as often as I can whenever they ask for it."

For the first time since Malware's appearance, Ben was actually smiling, his hand going over his mouth to try and subdue his excitement. "Hah… no way. I-Is this ACTUALLY happening?"

"It is. Principal photography begins in a couple months' time and we're hoping to wrap up production on the first season some time by the end of the year." He offered Ben another smile and a short nod. "After something like what happened here today, I hope that this news can help you feel better. And I hope you'll tune in when the season drops, too."

By this point, Ben was beaming from ear to ear as he looked back to Abel, his excitement spreading amongst his friends. "Oh, you know for DAMN sure I will! Mr. North, thank you, I-I… I don't even know what to say."

But the actor just raised his hand. "Think nothing of it. Just consider it me paying a debt forward. You helped save my career, after all. Oh, but one more thing…" He took out a black pen and took the small poster back for a few seconds, signing his autograph on it before handing it back to Ben. "Keep it. And once the show starts production, I'll invite you and your friends on set so you can meet Jaquline and Andre. Oh, and Ben…" He gave the young man one more pat on the shoulder. "Don't be discouraged. Whatever this "Malware" is doing, I'm sure you'll be able to stop it. After all…" Abel's eyes shifted out toward the team. "You've got a lot of people watching your back."

Sparing a glance to his friends, Ben could see them all still smiling at him, unflinching in their support. "…Thanks, Mr. North. I appreciate the encouraging words." Ben and Abel shook hands once again. "I look forward to seeing you again, but for now, we've got some business to get to."

"As do I." Abel concurred, giving the group a wave. "It was nice to meet you all! Oh, and make sure to kick those sharks' butts REAL hard next time you see 'em."

"Haha! Will do, Mr. North!" Yang gave a thumbs up.

As the actor left the group, Ben took a deep breath to steady himself. "Alright, guys… back to base. It's Hero Meeting Time."

Without missing a beat, Nora leaned in and said; "Pretty sure you just did that, Ben."

Ben deadpanned and hung his head, with Yang rubbing his back. "Oy, I should've seen that coming."

…..

Half an hour later, the team had gathered back at base, and everyone had gathered in the meeting room. The only one who wasn't there was Kenny, who had to get his mother's car back home. Sitting at the massive round table, the whole team were waiting for the "authority figures" to arrive, all of them busying themselves by chatting about the days' experiences. Yang, Ruby, Neptune and Helen went into more detail about the fishing trip and how they had stopped Captain Cork while everyone in the other group told them about what little FUN things they managed to do while at the festival. No one was keen on bringing up Malware until the adults arrived… and that meant Ben remained mostly silent.

The news of a new Kangaroo Kommando show was a delight for him, to be sure, but that didn't mean he was about to lose sight of his new primary directive; Stop Malware, by any means necessary. 'I just don't get it, though.' he thought to himself. 'How did he survive the Omnitrix DESTABALIZING him?' Ben peered down to his new Omnitrix, pursing his lips. 'Probably won't work a second time, that's for sure. He'd probably come back instantly just to spite me. I need to find a more permanent way of getting rid of him.'

To Ben, destroying or killing an enemy was always a last resort, one which he tended to avoid if at all possible. Granted, some cases were a bit more… unavoidable than others, but if it meant keeping the world safe, then he would take the gloves off. He'd go all out. And that would probably be what he'd have to do to finally rid the universe of Malware. 'The only question is… how?'

A soft touch to his arm brought him out of his inner thoughts and back to reality, seeing Yang staring straight at him. "Green Boy, you okay?"

"H-Huh—oh, y-yeah, never better!" Ben feigned a smile, only to see Yang's unimpressed expression. "…You can see right through that, can't you?"

"Babe, I'm Team RWBY's Team Mom for a reason, you can't hide crap from me."

"Hmhm, should've figured." Ben chuckled, propping his chin on his hand over the table. "…Yeah, I'm back to thinking about Malware. More importantly, I'm thinking of how to BEAT him, and permanently."

This caught the attention of Ilia, who was sitting on his other side. "Wow… permanently? That's rare. I don't think I've ever heard you express wanting to… well, kill anyone."

Ben shook his head. "I never want to kill anyone, Ilia. What matters is if I have to or not." His eyes narrowed slightly. "…But this time is a bit different. When I was a kid and destroyed Malware the first time… I definitely DID want him dead. I wasn't sure if overloading the Omnitrix inside him would do the trick, but as we all know, it didn't."

Gwen, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table, extended her hand out toward her cousin. "But you've matured since then, Ben. So, what is it you want to do now?"

"Now? …That's obvious." He raised his Omnitrix arm and balled a fist. "I have to destroy Malware. No matter what it takes."

"…Good answer." Gwen agreed, much to everyone's surprise.

"Woah! Gwen, are you serious?" Nora piped up.

Ren put his hand to his chin in awe. "I have to admit… this is ALSO very new."

"Trust me, guys, you haven't seen the kind of damage that Malware's capable of doing." Gwen reasoned, lacing her hands together on the table with a troubled countenance. "And we've seen him do incredibly disturbing things… including destroy Feedback."

"You speak with such certainty." Rook noted

Kevin was all too quick to voice his backing of the idea. "Honestly, I'm all for it. If what I heard is true, this dude is FAR too dangerous to let live." His brow furrowed at his next statement. "And if he's working with the Minsitry… it just spells an alphabet of constant "L's" for us if he stays with them."

On that note, the door opened, allowing Max, Six, Tetrax, Winter, Raven, Tai and Qrow into the meeting room. Six, having heard Kevin's words, approved the idea as well. "On that, we can agree. Max informed me, Tetrax and Qrow about everything, and from what we've concluded, Malware is a threat that must be dealt with, by any means."

"I've only heard stories passed around the galaxy about Malware before, but knowing that he's allied himself with the Ministry…" Tetrax trailed off as he sat down at the table, wearing a grim expression. "It's unnerving, to say the least." His gaze settled onto Ben, seeing the hero's own discomfort. "I can only imagine what you must've been feeling, Ben, seeing him again."

"It wasn't pleasant, I can guarantee you that, Tetrax." Ben affirmed, steepling his hands together and resting his chin on his thumbs. "It was… it felt like I was going to be sick."

Qrow gave a hollow laugh at that. "Heh, been there, kid. Ghosts from the past will do that to ya." He went over to his nieces and rested his hands on the backs of their chairs. "I'm just glad that neither of you were there. If Malware knew the connection you two and the rest of our family has to Ben…"

Raven came in and finished her brother's thought. "He'd more than likely try using you as bargaining chips… or worse."

"Mph…" Ruby felt a chill go down her spine. "I-I definitely wouldn't want that."

Yang balled a fist and slammed it against the table. "I'd go down fighting first. No one is taking me hostage without some resistance."

"Hah, atta' girl." Tai beamed with pride, only to go back to a more serious look. "So, what now? Is there any way to BEAT this Malware?"

Max shook his head. "Not that we know of. The only one who'd possibly be able to know is Azmuth, and he's—" *CHOOM* "AUGH!" Everyone let out a sudden yelp at the same time as Max as a bright light suddenly flashed right in the center of the table, taking everybody off guard. Many of the young heroes went to stand up and get their weapons ready… but then they saw that it was, in fact, Azmuth himself, and all of them were left stunned. "…Right here, apparently." Max finished.

"A-Azmuth!" Ben shot up out of his seat at the First Thinker's arrival. "H-How did you—WHEN did you—"

"Just a few moments ago." Azmuth spoke, his hands settling behind his back as he strolled across the table toward the bearer of his Omnitrix. "Luhley contacted Galvan Prime and told me about everything." His eyeridges scrunched together gravely. "…It is as I feared, then? He has returned." A solemn nod from Ben and several others was all the answer he needed. "I see… I will admit, a part of me had hoped that this would not happen. That Malware's cells would have destabilized permanently… but given his mutant DNA…"

This caught Ben's attention immediately, and his mood took a complete shift from somber to incensed. "Hold on… you KNEW there was a chance this could happen?!" He slammed his hands against the table as he stood up, though Azmuth didn't flinch one bit. "Why didn't you TELL me, then?! I could've been READY! I WOULD have been ready!"

Azmuth, though, didn't quite believe that. "Would you, now? Just as you were ready for the Highbreed when they surfaced on your planet?"

"…W-Well, I—"

"Or when Vilgax made his return? Aggregor's rampage, Daigon's rise to power, these events are things that you can never well and truly prepare fully for, Ben Tennyson." The Galvan genius pointed up to the young hero. "And if you had spent all these years bracing yourself for Malware's reappearance, you would have been MUCH less ready for all of those other things. Believe it or not, I know you, Ben. And you have a one-track mind when it comes to subjects such as these." Turning around, Azmuth walked a few steps away. "If I had told you there was a chance of Malware coming back, would you have allowed me to remove the Omnitrix? Giving up any sense of a normal life you could've had?"

"I… I don't know." Ben answered truthfully.

A nod of understanding came from Azmuth as he peered back to Ben over his shoulder. "Exactly. And imagine me telling you this information when you were still eleven."

Having calmed down a bit, Ben was starting to see Azmuth's point. "Well… o-okay, yeah, I probably would've been even worse than I am right now." he admitted. "But still, if you knew that there was a chance this could happen, why do you sound so… I dunno, astonished by it?"

"Because after all these years of silence, I held out hope that what you did managed to do the trick." Azmuth answered. "I had faith in what you did, Ben… but unfortunately, it seems that faith wasn't enough in this case." He closed his eyes, lowering his head. "And now, Malware has returned, so that makes it ALL our problem."

Penny leaned forward, speaking her peace. "Azmuth, Ben said that Malware would be out for revenge against him AND you. What does that mean, exactly?" Hesitantly, Penny also added; "And… a-and why did Malware call me an "abomination" when he saw me?"

Hearing this, Azmuth grimaced at the android and approached her, placing his tiny hand over the one she placed on the table. "Now, now, Penny, don't you believe a word of what he says. Malware is simply… envious of you." A sigh escaped him as he went on to the next part. "Hah… but as for why he called you that, though, as well as his grudge against me… to explain that would mean having to delve into the origins of Malware himself. And by proxy, the entire Mechamorph race."

"OOH! Story time!" Rushing out of the room, Nora came back a split second later with a bucket full of popcorn, sitting cross-legged on her chair. "Mmph! Go on!" she said while stuffing her face. "You can tell it now!"

"…Your inexplicable speed perplexes me, Nora." Azmuth said bluntly as he stroked his whiskers. "But very well." Taking to the center of the table once again, the First Thinker began the story. "To start with, the Mechamorphs themselves are in reality a much newer race. They were brought into being on Galvan B a mere 100 Earth years ago. Once simply Galvan Prime's moon, Galvan B was once nothing but miles of dead rock. It had no atmosphere, no day or night. Which is what made it the perfect environment to conduct a planet-wide experiment. A place upon which life could thrive… and thus, I prepared my latest experiment, the Helix, to transmogrify the planet."

Pyrrha hummed in understanding. "I see. And I take it the results were to your liking, given what happened."

A slight smile appeared on Azmuth's lips. "Oh, the results were MUCH more than I ever could've hoped. Galvan B certifiably inhabitable after the experiment… but…"

Neptune rolled his eyes. "Ugh, there's always gotta be a "but", doesn't there? You sure you're as smart as you say you are?"

"Smarter." Azmuth assured, narrowing his eyes at the blue-haired boy. "As I was ABOUT to say, there were some unforeseen circumstances. My experiments had prompted the creation of a brand new technorganic species, which you know as the Galvanic Mechamorphs. We Galvan had no right to colonize their world, even if we ourselves had created it. They were born from the very planet itself, after all."

"So you gave it to them." Sun concluded.

"Precisely. With our help, they built an entire civilization within only days of their creation. They were peaceful new neighbors, and my experiment was a success beyond my wildest dreams…" Azmuth trailed off as his mood took a grim turn. "…But it was also a failure beyond my most dreadful nightmares."

It wasn't hard for anyone to come to their conclusion. "Malware." Weiss voiced for everyone.

The Galvan nodded solemnly. "Yes. An incomplete Mechamorph, its life code interrupted… while I was shutting down the Helix for maintenance."

Blake and everyone else were surprised to hear such a confession. "Wait… so then that means…"

"Malware is entirely my fault, yes." Azmuth admitted. "I even gave him his name, relating to the corruption during his creation. Because of this, unlike the others of his kind, Malware had the ability to not just mimic technology… it also became him. But at a terrible price. Whatever technology he touched would be reduced to dust… including his siblings."

"Sheesh… sounds like a curse if you ask me." Qrow piped up, rubbing his neck. "An' here I thought I had bad luck…"

Raven wasn't so intent on letting Azmuth off the hook, though. "Of course, given your treatment of him, I suppose he has reason to—"

"Do not mistake me, Raven." Azmuth cut her off, giving her a harsh glare. "I have tried MANY times to help him, to make him like the others." He craned his head down, frustration etched into his features. "But his condition is complex, made even more so by my former assistant, Albedo's meddling with the Helix."

Hearing that name, several of the teens couldn't help but remember it from somewhere. "Albedo…" Blake muttered before raising a brow to Ben. "Wait, Ben, is that the same one who you said was an evil doppelganger of yours?"

The hero nodded to her. "Yep, the very same. And Gwen, Grandpa and I were actually there to see it happen. Never thought the irritating little Galvan would come back to be my evil double in the future, but in hindsight, he kind of always DID rub me the wrong way."

"Hm, yes." Azmuth said with a shake of his head. "In any case, Albedo's act managed to stabilize Malware, but it did nothing to fix his corruption."

Ben remembered that moment vividly. "Yeah, I beat him with Diamondhead, but he kept coming after us at several points for the rest of that summer… until…"

Yang reached out and touched his arm. "The incident, yeah. So, now that he's back, what can we do to stop him?"

"Well, to start with, I have never stopped giving up trying to find a cure for Malware's condition." Azmuth pressed on, making his way back to Penny. "After reprograming my Helix, I believe I may be on the cusp of a breakthrough. The only difficulty is how to go about it. Malware's volatile nature is challenging, and given his grudge against me, there is no way he would voluntarily go back to Galvan if I asked."

"Then perhaps we… lure him there?" Penny suggested.

"That is one option, but part of me is hoping his quest for vengeance will bring him to Galvan unprompted." Azmuth gestured to himself. "After all, it IS me he is after."

But Ben wasn't too on board with the idea. "No offense, Azmuth, but after everything he's put me through, the last thing I want is for Malware to be cured and get off scot-free."

The First Thinker raised his chin at the boy. "Are you saying that you would spurn my method of stopping Malware, Ben Tennyson?"

"No, I'm not." Ben denied, sharing a brief glance between himself, Gwen and Kevin. "I learned not to reject other's methods a long time ago. I'll let you try your way… but mark my words, if it doesn't work… then I'll put Malware down myself if I have to."

Despite everything telling him to, Azmuth couldn't find it in himself to argue at the moment. "Hah… your choice has been made perfectly clear. Should my experiment fail and Malware not be cured, I will respect your wishes and not stand in your way." Ben gave a bow of the head to the Galvan before the elder alien turned back to the rest of the team. "But in the meantime, all of you must be wary. Malware's abilities will allow him to absorb your weapons into his systems and use them as his own, so keep your distance."

Rex winced and raised his hand. "Yeah… kinda too late for me on that part. He managed to absorb one of my Smack Hands."

"Hm, I see." Azmuth hummed. "Well, I suppose you should consider yourself lucky that none of your more powerful builds didn't get absorbed, Rex." He then went to Penny, and his expression couldn't be anymore dire in doing so. "But most importantly, Penny, you must take care not to get too close to Malware yourself. Not only would he be able to corrupt your systems, but… but I fear that he would do much worse if he were to get his hands on you."

Penny could feel a slew of emotions churning within her when he said that. On the one hand, she believed him one hundred percent… but on the other, she couldn't help but still feel the sting of Malware's words. And she wanted to prove him wrong. "Azmuth… you said that Malware was likely jealous of me… and that's why he called me an abomination. But… why would he be jealous?"

"Because, my dear, you are a living reminder to Malware. A reminder of what he isn't; whole." He walked over and hopped up to Penny's shoulder, giving her a supportive grin. "What's more, you represent what may possibly be the next step in Galvanic Mechamorph evolution; the ability to take on a different appearance beyond merging with technology."

"Oh my… really?"

"Yes. After examining you makeup from the sample you gave, I have come to an exciting conclusion." Azmuth reached his hand out and touched Penny's cheek. "Penny Polendina, you aren't just a Galvanic Mechamorph hybrid, but a life form with technorganic DNA unlike which I've ever seen." Just by Penny's stunned expression, Azmuth knew he had struck a chord, and it gave him joy to deliver the news. "Penny, you are a truly sentient being. A real girl."

All of a sudden, Penny's vision began fogging up, and from the corners of her eyes, tears began to well up and fall down her cheeks, all while small whimpers came from her quivering lips. She tried to wipe the tears away and hide her emotions, but it was all too much. She fell to her knees and wept into her hands, the sheer joy overflowing as her friends all cheered in celebration and gathered around her. "I-I-Is this true?" Penny stammered. "A-Am I… an actual person?"

Azmuth hopped down to the floor, patting the back of her hand to assure her. "Indeed. And while I may have to run some further tests, I theorize that you may be capable of procreation as well, so—"

"I CAN DO WHAT?!" Penny shrieked, the news taking everyone by surprise.

"W-Wait, how exactly can that be possible?" Ilia asked. "She I realize the "organic" part in "technorganic" is a thing, but I didn't think she'd be able to… well, have kids."

"In all honesty, I didn't either." Azmuth admitted. "Especially not when I started the tests. However—and I'm not certain HOW this happened—but I hypothesize that during the reconstruction process, the mixture of Rex's nanites with the Mechamorph DNA might have hybridized to the cellular level, and the resurrection process brought Penny's soul back into the mix and it was made uniquely her own." His sights trailed back over to the two young heroes. "So in that sense…"

Both Ben and Rex's eyes widened as they put the pieces together in their heads. "…Wait." Ben uttered.

"You're not saying that…" Rex mumbled in shock.

Azmuth gave them both a smirk. "Congratulations, boys, you two are the proud second and third fathers of a powerful young lady." And just like that, the entire room fell into silence as Azmuth bounded back up onto the table, making his way toward its center. "Well, do with that information what you will. But on that note, there is still much to do on Galvan. I have to be ready for whenever Malware decides to make his move. Farewell for now, everyone." Giving one last wave, Azmuth vanished in a flash of light, leaving the stunned teens and adults all still digesting the information they were told.

…And it was Ruby who broke the silence. "Well, um… on the bright side, I guess you two have a reason to celebrate Father's Day sooner? Hehe…"

Ben and Rex shared a deadpan stare, shifting their focus back to Penny. "L-Listen, Penny, in the spirit of making things less… awkward for everyone, could we…"

"Forget those words ever came from Azmuth's mouth?" Penny finished without hesitation. "Indeed, I was thinking the same. …But not before this." Much to the duo's surprise, Penny leapt up and pulled them into a gentle hug, burying her face into their shoulders as she choked out; "…Thank you. For giving me true life."

At first uncertain, the two boys again exchanged a look… before they both shrugged and returned the embrace. "Hey, no problem, Pen." Rex said softly.

"Yeah, exactly. We might not've expected it to happen, but I'm definitely glad it did." Ben concurred. Once the embrace ended, though, the hero took a deep breath and shoved his hands into his pockets. "So, now that we've had that moment, we need to start getting ready. After all, we don't know what Malware's next move will be… or even where or when it'll happen. So with that in mind, we should get to training again."

"My thoughts exactly." Six stood up with a nod. "Malware will surely have some tactics ready to take you off guard, so with that in mind, Tetrax and I will be developing some new training exercises in the Hazard Chamber for you all."

Tetrax offered his own input as well. "Some of these exercises are ones that we've actually been working on for a while now, but now seems as good a time as any to begin implementing them." Rising from his chair, the Petrosapien ushered the teens toward the exit. "Come, we'll show you what we've come up with and then—"

*Bleep-bleep-bleep-bleep*

A loud ringing cut Tetrax off and made everyone pause… and it didn't take them long to figure out where it was coming from. All eyes were locked on Ruby as she fumbled in her seat, reaching for her scroll in her pocket. "Oops! Sorry, that's me. Hang on!" Finally managing to get her scroll out, she opened it up and brought it to her ear. "Hi Zak! Sorry, you kinda caught us at a bad time…"

Yang and many others wore knowing smiles the moment they heard it was Zak. "Ah, that explains it."

"Yep. Can't imagine anyone else calling Ruby when we're ALL here." Weiss commented.

Just then, Ruby's expression changed to one of intrigue, listening as Zak spoke to her. "Oh? …Really, are you sure? Hah, wow th-that's awesome! Okay, I'll tell the others ASAP. We're actually IN the Plumber base right now, so we won't be long. Great, see ya soon!" With a bright grin, Ruby hung up and popped up from her chair excitedly. "Guys, change of plans! We've gotta head down to the Airship in the hangar bay RIGHT now!"

"Wait, what?" Ben questioned. "Ruby, what's going on? What did Zak say?"

"Ben, they've got a lead!" Ruby informed, raising a determined fist. "The Saturdays think they know where the next piece of the Ishtar Tablet might be!"

Just like that, Ben's demeanor switched on a dime, forgetting about the training without second thought. "What?! Ruby, you should've led with that!" Getting behind the Hooded Huntress, he quickly started pushing her toward the door, her heels skidding across the floor without much resistance. "Come on, we can't waste another second here! Let's go, team!"

…..

Down in the Plumber's hangar bay, Doc and Drew were on the main bridge of the airship, the married couple staring at the massive holoscreen which displayed a map of Europe. They were waiting on their son and the Omni-Hunters to arrive before doing or planning anything else, wanting to share the information they had just learned from one of their contacts about a major find. Needless to say, it had the potential to be a significant breakthrough. "…Is it kind of weird that I'm actually really excited over this?" Drew asked her husband.

Doc was perplexed by his wife's question, though, tilting his head toward her. "Uh… no? Sweetheart, you're always excited over stuff like this. You love ancient artifacts more than anything."

"NOT true." Drew asserted, wrapping her arms around Doc's arm and giving him a peck on the cheek, making him smile. "And you know that very well. But no, I'm not talking about hunting for artifacts. What I meant was… well, that there's actual stakes to us finding this." That made Doc's eyebrows raise up as she continued explaining. "I mean, it's been three years since Argost bit the dust and, to be honest, our job has been… lacking something, I think. That sense of urgency, that feeling of a chase."

"I mean… sometimes we get that." Doc contended with a shrug. "Remember those poachers that were after the herd of Arsino that were discovered?"

Drew sighed and sat down, leaning against one of the consoles with her chin propped up on her hand. "Yeah, but we deal with poachers ALL the time now. The Forever Knights feel like a REAL threat for us to deal with again."

"Well, technically, we're helping to deal with them." Doc amended.

But Drew waved him off. "Ah, the devil's in the details. So long as I get to have a proper throwdown, I'm game."

A sigh escaped Doc and he knelt down beside her, placing his hand over hers. "Hah, what am I going to do with you when we have to retire?"

"Hmhm, you're not gonna get me down that easily." Drew challenged, leaning her forehead against her husband's.

Before they could go any further, though, the sound of a cough caught their attention. "Ahem." The couple brought their eyes away from one another and over to their son, who was standing awkwardly in the doorway with his features etched into a cringe. "First off, not on the bridge. Especially not when you know I'm here."

Drew rolled her eyes and stood back up, with Doc following her lead. "Oh, Zak, please, you should be happy we still flirt. You have any idea how many people with kids get divorced these days?"

"She's right, son." Doc supported, reaching his arm over his wife's shoulders. "Be lucky that your parents still love each other."

"Trust me, I am. But still, probably not the best time to do this…" Zak sidestepped to reveal… the entire Omni-Hunter team behind him. "Especially not when we have guests."

Nora waved her hand at a blurring speed over the crowd, calling out; "Hi Doc and Drew! Sorry if we're interrupting, but don't worry, we didn't see TOO much!"

Their eyes wide and cheeks flushed red, the Secret Scientist couple quickly shifted into business mode, trying to hide their flustered states. "O-Oh, everyone!" Drew greeted. "I must say, you're uh… a LOT faster than we thought you'd be."

"We thought you were all busy today from what Zak told us." Doc added.

"Yeah, we were in the base already." Ruby replied with a slight wince. "Things ended up not going as planned today." From there, the next twenty minutes involved nothing but explaining what had gone down that day, from the Undertown Pirates all the way to Malware's return. By the end of it, Zak, Doc and Drew were left quite stunned to say the least. "So, yeah… kind of a hectic day." Ruby concluded.

"To say the VERY least!" Zak exclaimed, running a hand through his hair. "Guys, how do you even HANDLE all of this stuff? I mean, I was just barely able to handle Argost, but you guys have so many enemies, it's insane!"

Ben pursed his lips and shook his head. "Trust me, it's not as easy as you think."

Doc sent the hero a sympathetic gaze. "I can understand that, Ben… especially if what you said about that Malware guy is true. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that as a kid, but if there's anything we can do, we'd be happy to help."

With a nod, Drew voice her own agreement. "Exactly. You've already done a lot to help us, we'd be happy to help you out in return."

"Guys, please." Ben halted with his hand, offering them a small grin. "You've already helped me and my team, and you're doing it even right now. No need to go overboard." He clapped his hands together eagerly. "But on that topic, please, tell us what you've found."

"Ah, right, yes." Doc took out a remote and aimed it at the holoscreen, controlling the map of Europe and making it zoom in on the country of France. "Well, we just received a call from a colleague of ours about a recent discovery she made in Paris that could very well be where the next piece of Ishtar's tablet lies."

At his words, an image of a strikingly beautiful, young brunette appeared on screen. She wore a purple turtleneck sweater under a white lab coat, and she wore an emerald necklace with matching earrings that helped make her green eyes pop. "This is Doctor Juliette Garnier." Drew said as she folded her arms over her chest. "A more recent addition to the Secret Scientists who specializes in the study of alchemy."

Neptune was left perplexed at the unfamiliar word. "Alchemy? What's that?"

"It's an antiquated form of chemistry, which is considered to be a pseudoscience today." Gwen explained, reaching into her pocket to pull out her spell book. "It was a form of science that was popular during the Renaissance period, and sought to transmogrify certain elements to try and change them into different things all together. Essentially, people thought that they could do magic with science, and usually their goal was to create gold."

"Ooh, well that sounds interesting." Weiss expressed, her attention set directly on Juliette's picture. "Though I have to say… she doesn't really seem like the type to be interested in pseudoscience."

Drew couldn't help but smirk at that. "Well, looks can be deceiving, Weiss." Typing in a command, she brought up the doctor's credentials on the screen. "Juliette's a graduate from one of France's most prestigious colleges, and she's dedicated her research to proving that alchemy was NOT pseudoscience, but had actual impact on the world as a whole."

Kevin couldn't help but scoff a bit at that. "Heh, well, good luck to her, I guess. Magic's one thing, but alchemy? That's gonna be an even harder sell on me."

Sending Kevin a side-eye glance, Doc retorted; "Believe it or not, Kevin, Juliette's got more footing than you might think. After some reliable leads, she's found something that could very well hold the key to a major discovery… and it could also lead us to our next Ishtar tablet piece as well."

"Awesome!" Ruby cheered. "What'd she find?"

"This…" Doc zoomed in further on the map, directly onto the French capital city. "Natives of Remnant, allow me to present you with Juliette's home city; Paris. France's capital has a rich history of being an epicenter of strange anomalies and actually had a relatively big part in the Renaissance." Once again typing into the console, Doc controlled the map so that it gave a side profile of the city, along with a view of what lied underground. "Beneath it is a vast array of hidden pathways, known as the Catacombs. And it's here where Juliette found something astounding…"

The group watched as the map once again moved, this time going much lower so that the city was no longer visible. Then, beneath the Catacombs, a large tunnel appeared that to an even bigger chamber down below. "A hidden chamber that's been left undiscovered for who knows how long." Doc went on, all while the teens stared at the screen in awe.

"Woah, that's insane." Sun muttered.

"You're telling me." Jaune agreed. "How the heck has that city not collapsed or anything?"

Zak felt the need to explain that one. "Dr. Garnier believes that the chamber was manmade—more specifically, made by alchemists—and that there's structural supports in place to prevent it from collapsing." His smile widened as he gestured toward the screen. "But isn't this so cool? THIS is one of the perks of being a Secret Scientist; ya get to be the first ones to know about this sorta stuff!"

Ren furrowed his brow skeptically. "But… how has no one ever found it before now? Seems a bit too convenient if you ask me."

"It's all about the technology, Ren." Drew said, pointing up to the chamber. "As radar technology continues to improve, we're able to keep finding new things deeper and deeper below the surface of the Earth. And this is a prime example of that. Juliette believes that the entrance to this chamber was so well hidden in the catacombs that no one was the wiser to it for the better part of five centuries, maybe even more."

"But now, it's been found." Ben spoke up, folding his arms over his chest. "And now that it has, no doubt people are going to want to get to whatever is inside that chamber." He scowled in distaste. "Including the Forever Knights, I'll bet. I take it this information hasn't been made public yet, right?"

Doc shook his head. "Nope, we and the other Secret Scientists are the only ones who know about it."

Ben breathed out a small sigh. "Hah, good, good. So, how soon can we get in there?"

"Word from Juliette is that she's still getting clearance to enter." Drew answered. "But she's confident that she'll be able to get it by at least this weekend."

"Okay, that's great news. We'll head out to France on Saturday, then." All the same, Ben's expression didn't let up as he turned to the rest of his team, putting his hands to his hips. "But at the same time, though, I don't exactly want to leave Bellwood undefended like last time, especially now that I know that Malware's on the loose. I know that this probably isn't gonna be a popular decision, guys, but I think we're gonna have to split the team up on this one."

Almost immediately, some groans were heard from the group… namely from Nora. "AWW! C'mon, Ben, seriously? Sure, I get we're in a tight spot, but why do ya gotta deny some of us kicking Forever Knight butt?"

Pyrrha placed her hand on Nora's shoulder, hoping to ease her disappointment. "Nora, I understand that you're not entirely happy with the situation, but Ben has a point. The Ministry are now more dangerous than ever, and someone has to be here to make sure that Bellwood is in safe hands." The Pink Dynamo gave her fellow redhead a pout, but relented, even if she didn't entirely like the idea. "So, Ben, who will be staying and who will be going?"

"Well, I know I'll be taking Team RWBY with me, that's a given." The green-clad hero reached his hand out and grasped Yang's, sharing a brief smile with her. "Aside from you girls living with me, I'm not about to say no to showing you a good time around Paris. It's known as "The City of Romance" for a reason, after all."

"D'aw, shucks, Green Boy." Yang rolled her eyes, blushing despite herself. "You're WAY too nice to me."

"Uh, hey, if that's the case, then maybe WE should tag along, too." Sun pointed out, strolling up behind Blake and putting his hands on her shoulders. The cat girl's ears perked up and she blushed bright red as well, her eyes dilating to the size of peas as her boyfriend said; "You seriously wouldn't separate US from our girls like that, would ya, Ben?"

Rex put his hands to his hips, raising his chin in defiance as Weiss leaned against his shoulder with a confident grin. "Yeah, bro, c'mon, let us in. Because if ya don't, the ladies will make sure you do."

Weiss stuck a finger in Ben's direction. "And that's a guarantee."

"Y-Yeah, do it." Blake asserted, still a bit flustered. "Coward."

The Omnitrix bearer deadpanned at the four of them and their little act, pointing back to Blake first. "Okay, first off, that was unnecessary."

"Sorry, my mind's going a hundred miles an hour right now." Blake apologized, her ears folding back as Sun's hand brushed against her neck.

"Secondly, you guys don't have to go through all this flirting in front of me just to prove a point." Ben eyed the two boys in particular. "Besides, I was going to have you two come along anyway. We need some heavy hitters in case the Forever Knights bring out some unexpected surprises. You two, Yang and Weiss definitely fit that bill."

The former heiress was taken aback by that. "W-Wait, you consider ME to be a heavy hitter?"

Giving a thumbs up, Ben assured her of that fact. "I mean, yeah. Being able to summon a suit of armor, a giant hornet, and a literal Sphynx really do wonders for your power scaling."

"Oh, why thank you!" Weiss waved in appreciation, only to follow up with another question. "Okay, so that makes a total of seven for this away team. And since this team has sixteen members to it, that means we need one more."

Ben nodded and started scanning his sights across the others, deducing who to pick. "Hm, exactly." He started with his cousin and his best friend. "Gwen, Kevin, sorry to say, but I can already rule out you guys. I need you two to stay behind and keep things under watch while I'm gone."

The Osmosian gave him a two-fingered salute. "You got it, man. We'll keep Bellwood safe."

Gwen, however, was a bit more hesitant. "Are you sure, Ben? I mean, what if you need some magical assistance if you run into something?"

"…Gwen, you can teleport." Ben reminded.

"…Okay, fair point." Gwen conceded. "And admittedly, I DO have some things to take care of for Cooper's project. But still, it'll take me a while to get halfway across the world." However, at that very second, an idea entered the Anodite's mind, and she cracked a smile. "Actually… maybe I can set something up."

Ben quirked a brow curiously. "Hm? And what's that?"

"You'll find out on Saturday." Gwen winked. "I think you'll enjoy it."

Narrowing his eyes, Ben gave his cousin a suspicious glare before moving on. "Uh-huh… well, in any case, I know who else should probably stay behind, too." His gaze became more sympathetic as he went to Jaune and his team. "Team JNPR, sorry to say, but you'll have to sit this one out." Nora was about to challenge him, but Ben raised a hand. "And Nora, before you say anything, I promise that you'll be able to come on the NEXT trip. Okay?"

"…Will I be able to hit things?" Nora pouted.

"I will do my best to find things for you to hit."

And just like that, Nora's frown turned upside-down. "Okie-dokie! Thank you, Ben!"

Jaune sighed and shook his head, all while Pyrrha and Ren could only smile in amusement. "Well, hitting things aside, we'll be sure to defend Bellwood with everything we have if something happens, Ben." The blonde knight offered his hand. "You have my word."

Ben took the offer and shook his hand, giving him a nod. "I know you will, Jaune. Thanks. And Pyrrha, Ren… please try to keep Nora from going overboard."

"Ben, that's something that you really don't need to worry about." Ren assured, nudging his head over to Nora who was now absentmindedly spinning in a chair. "What do you think I've been doing for over the past decade?"

"Yeah, you're right, that was kinda dumb for me to ask." Ben chuckled as he shifted focus over to the remaining three. "Alright, Neptune, I know that you have a date with Helen coming up soon, so I won't prevent that." He extended a fist out to him. "Oh, and congrats on that, by the way."

"Thanks, bro." Neptune reciprocated the fistbump. "Much appreciated."

With an affirming hum, Ben finally set his sights on the final two; Penny and Ilia. And, after a moment of careful contemplation, he finally made his ultimate decision. "Okay, ladies, after considering all factors available to me, I've decided on… Ilia." The chameleon girl's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You'll be coming to France with us."

Ilia was still reeling for a bit, having not seen the choice coming. "I-I, uh… me? You want me to come with you?"

"Yes, you." Ben affirmed. "When it comes to being out in the field, you've proven to have quite the level head. And to be honest…" He jerked a thumb over to Sun and Rex. "With these two on board, I need all the level heads I can get to help balance things."

As if on cue, both boys shouted; "HEY!" with indignant glares.

Ilia tapped her chin, though, mulling over the reasoning. "Hm, well, I won't argue with that…"

"W-Wha—Ilia, come on!" Sun pleaded. "I thought we were chill!"

"No amount of chill can deny how gung-ho you are, Sun." Blake said, now being her turn to get one up on her boyfriend as she gave a supportive smile to her best friend. "Besides, I think it's a great idea. Ilia, you should totally come."

Sharing a look with everyone, Ilia went over her options in her head. 'I mean, it's not like I had any plans this weekend anyways… though now I'm realizing how weird it'll be going with Blake and Sun to "the City of Romance".' The idea made Ilia wince a little. Of course, she had excepted Sun and Blake's relationship for a while now, and ever since confessing her crush to Blake, they had only become better friends. …At the same time, though, she didn't want to feel like an extra wheel. …But then an idea entered her head, and a hopeful glimmer shined in her eye at the thought. "Okay, I'll go… but on one condition."

This left Ben intrigued, but he was open to suggestion. "Okay, sure. Anything, go for it." To his surprise, though, Ilia marched up to him and cupped her hand up to his ear, bringing him down to her level so that she could whisper her request. As she explained, Ben's lips curled into a grin, obviously liking what he was hearing. "I see, I see…" Once she was done, Ben gave her a big thumbs up. "Consider it done. I'll arrange it immediately."

"Thank you, very much, Ben." Ilia bowed her head. "I appreciate it." But it was then that she noticed that both Blake and Penny were giving her knowing gazes, causing her spots to change pink. "…You heard ALL of that, didn't you?"

"It was a bit muffled." Blake said, wiggling her kitty ears. "But you should know by now that these pick up a LOT, Ilia."

"Indeed, my keen hearing picks up almost everything as well. And I must say…" Penny went in and gave Ilia an abrupt hug. "Best of luck in Paris."

By this point, Ilia was full-on flushed in the face. "E-Er—um, th-thank you, Penny. I appreciate it." She shook her head and gave her friend an apologetic bow. "Sorry that you didn't get chosen to go, though."

However, Penny just waved it off. "Oh, it's alright. I completely understand Ben's reasoning." She let Ilia go and spun around to Ben, giving him a salute. "After all, I am needed here to balance out the heavy hitters, aren't I, Ben?"

"Hah, you read my mind, Penny." the hero confirmed, only to give her a more serious expression. "But listen, while you're here, I want you to be EXTRA careful if Malware pops back up. If you see him, RUN. Fly back here as fast as you can and tell them to activate the shields for the base"

The redheaded android hung on to every word, knowing that she must follow the order. As much as she wanted to confront Malware, she also knew what would happen should he catch her, and that wasn't what any of them wanted. "Of course, Ben. I will do as you say."

"Thank you. Also…" His sights went back to the rest of the home team. "If any of you HAVE to engage Malware, make sure it's only through ranged combat. And make sure to call me, too, because I'll be one portal away."

Pyrrha understood her leader's statement loud and clear. "Of course. We will make sure to be incredibly cautious should he decide to show himself, Ben." It was then, though, that the Invincible Girl realized something. "Wait, speaking of portals… what will Raven and the others be doing?"

"Oh, I'm going to meet up with them soon and we're going to talk about ALL of that." Ben clarified. "Trust me, I've got a plan of attack here." Turning back to the Saturday family, the hero clapped his hands together eagerly. "But all that said, I think we got our squad picked out for this mission, guys."

"Haha, excellent!" Zak cheered. "This is gonna be so awesome!"

Ruby pumped her fists into the air with him. "I know, right?! I've been wanting to go on another big adventure for a while now!"

Doc chuckled and switched off the screen. "Haha, well, now's definitely your chance, Ruby. So, we're all clear on the plan; Saturday morning, we leave for Paris."

"Make sure you have the essentials packed because this'll definitely be a weekend trip." Drew added. "Toothbrushes, toiletries, a change of clothes, ammo, the works."

"Gotcha, Drew! We'll be ready!" Yang guaranteed. "Alright guys, you heard the lady. Let's head home and start packin'! We've got a tablet to find!"

…..

~Friday Evening, Gwen's House~

"I still can't believe they let you have this." Charmcaster said as she lifted up Gwen's latest acquisition. The two mages were upstairs in the attic of Gwen's home and they had just finished creating a magic circle, one strewn all around with several different glyphs and signs in preparation for the spell they were about to do. Surrounding the circle were the various things that Cooper had them collect, and Hope was holding onto one of the last few they needed… a pirate's peg leg. More specifically, the peg leg of Captain Kork himself.

Gwen peered up from her spell book and gave her friend a shrug. "Well, after they confiscated it from him, they were just going to throw it out, so I figured I wouldn't let it go to waste."

"Hm, fair enough." With that, Hope went over to the pile of items and picked up the first two they would be using; the rabbit's foot and the piece of tank tread. "Now, you've memorized the spell, correct? We only get one shot at this."

Closing her book, Gwen gave a single nod. "Right. I've got it all up here." she tapped the side of her head before going for the other ingredient they would need; two crucibles full of liquid Dust. The fluid seemed to glow more intensely the closer it got to the magic circle, and Gwen took that as a good sign. "The Dust seems to react positively to magical energy. Hopefully that means we'll have some success."

As Gwen placed the two cups in the center of the circle, Charmcaster followed up by placing the two items in them with utmost care. "Right. From what I've gathered, Dust seems to have some inherent relation to magic itself. Not sure how exactly, but the fact that it reacts well to it is fairly significant." Stepping to her side of the circle, Hope took a deep breath and sat in a meditative position, raising her arms high. "Alright, let's begin…"

The Anodite followed her lead and began focusing with her, the two mages concentrating on their own magic as they began chanting an incantation: "Ut nova vis creetur, infundendo haec in hanc potentiam crudam…" As their eyes glowed, magic circle around them began to glow an intense, bright pink as well, the liquid Dust doing the same. Before long, the rabbit's foot and the tank tread seemed to sink down into the cups, all while Gwen and Hope started to float up into the air. '…Ita ut de novo facultatem ei tribuat!" And just like that, two beams of light shot straight out of the cups, changing color from a blinding white to red and blue as energy lightning crackled around them. "Magna Potentia, prodi et ostende te!"

Just as suddenly as it had happened, everything came to an abrupt stop, the red and blue pillars of light ceasing as the magic circle's glow faded. Gwen and Hope floated back down and their eyes stopped glowing, the two standing up to inspect their results. "Well… did it work?" Gwen asked, hesitantly peering into the cups.

"Hm…" Charmcaster picked up one of the crucibles, and instantly, she was left pleased with the results. The Dust had taken on a bright red color, and it had a faint glow that radiated a… springy sort of energy. She took the other cup and was immediately hit with a MUCH more intense energy, the blue liquid exhibiting an incredible, blasting feeling. "Oh… yep, this definitely worked."

"Are you serious?!" Gwen beamed from ear to ear as Hope handed one of the crucibles to her. And the second she touched it, she felt the same energy going through her. "Haha, that's amazing! Cooper's going to be ecstatic about this."

"I'm sure. But for now, what do we do with it?"

"This…" Gwen walked over to a clear plastic container where they kept all of their crucibles, which sat next to a massive, metal tub that was filled almost to the brim with liquid Dust. And accompanying each crucible was a cap, which Gwen grabbed a pair of. "We'll just seal these babies up once we finish with them, and we'll let Cooper handle the rest." Twisting the caps, she felt a small *pop*, indicating that they were shut up tight.

Hope folded her arms across her chest, taking a deep breath. "Alright, good. Two down… and thirty-eight to go."

Gwen raised a finger in contention. "Thirty-six, actually. Still don't have the Dragon Scale or the Pheonix Feather yet. And even then, we don't have to do them ALL in one night." Placing her hands on her hips, she raised a questioning brow to her friend. "Which reminds me, have you made a decision on the Paris idea I suggested?"

A frown came to Hope's lips and she sighed. "Gwen, I get what you're trying to do. You're trying to put me into a situation where you're hoping that your cousin can learn to trust me. And I appreciate the gesture, really, but… I don't even know if I'd be wanted on that trip."

"Not even when Ruby's going with them?"

That made Hope crack a tiny smile. "Heh, Ruby's a sweet girl, but even then, I don't think I'd be too welcomed by the others, Ben notwithstanding."

"Oh, that's nonsense!" Gwen dismissed with a handwave. "Listen, Hope, I can assure you that my friends are probably the nicest people out there. Rex and Sun are total sweethearts, Ilia and Blake are good judges of character, and Yang makes friends with everyone." The redhead gave a shrug. "I mean, the only one I think you'd have a hard time with outside of Ben is Weiss, and even then, she's not mean or anything." Despite her words, Charmcaster still looked away from Gwen, unsure of what to do. "…Hah, Hope, I want them to have at least SOME magical know-how in the event they need to deal with something. They're going deep underneath Paris, who KNOWS what could be down there?"

Hope hummed in contemplation. "Hm… true, you never know what could be down there…" She tilted her head toward Gwen. "But didn't you say you didn't want the Ministry to know I was with you? What if I get spotted?"

Gwen smirked and went over to her backpack, which was settled in the corner of the attic. "Don't worry, I planned for that, too!" Zipping it open, Gwen reached into the backpack and pulled out a long, purple, hooded cloak, along with a matching facemask, much to Hope's surprise. "Tada! The perfect disguise for a mage in hiding."

"Hehe… okay, I will admit, that IS very stylish." Hope giggled, only for her frown to reappear. "But… are you sure that they'll be okay with it?"

"They will, I promise." Gwen assured, handing the cloak and mask to the silver-haired girl. "I'll explain everything to them beforehand, and I'm sure you'll be welcomed. So, what do you say?"

Charmcaster took a few more moments to ponder her decision, but ultimately, she knew exactly what she had to do. This was an opportunity for her to earn the team's trust, and that was something she desperately wanted. With a relenting sigh, Hope smiled to her best friend and asked; "Alright… what time does my flight leave?"

…..

A/N: Ooh, would you look at that? Hope's gonna be getting in on the action for this story arc! That should definitely make things a whole lot more interesting, huh? Oh, and of course, had to add a little scene of them getting the Dust liquid ready for Cooper's big experiment. That's gonna be coming up soon, but for now, let's focus on what's important right NOW.

So, with that, now the team knows about Malware in his entirety, all courtesy of Azmuth making a visit from Galvan upon hearing the news. Quite the unfortunate origin for this homicidal Mechamorph, but in the end, he didn't really help his case by going on a rampage. And thus, the string of malevolence began, and the end result was Feedback's destruction, leading Ben to give the hero life a break for a while.

But now, Malware's back, and Ben's incredibly serious about wanting to stop him… permanently. To the point where he almost flipped out on his own friends. Thankfully, they were able to talk some sense into him, and Abel North being there to help encourage Ben and give him some news to be excited about certainly helps. …But will that be a lasting solution? That's the question here…

Aside from that, though, we have our setup for this story arc; the next piece of Ishtar's tablet has been potentially found and it's up to the Omni-Hunters and the Saturdays to go retrieve it before the Forever Knights do. Time for a weekend trip to France! But yes, unfortunately, the team's gonna be split up for this mission. With Malware on the loose, it's best to leave a home team to watch over Bellwood, after all. But hm… what was the condition that Ilia asked of Ben so that she'd go? Well, guess we'll just have to find out…

NEXT TIME! So, with everybody gathered for the trip, the group set off toward Europe… though they find that they've got an unexpected little hitchhiker coming with them, hiding in Sun's backpack. Along the way, though, Drew and Zak have something to show Ruby, something that could potentially help her control her Silver Eyes better. Hm… what could that be? And why does Dr. Garnier's assistant give off some weird vibes when they arrive? Well, tune in next time to find out! Thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all later. Stay safe out there!