Ben 10 RWBY Volume 2: Ultimate Omniverse

by The Omni-Remnant

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

78. As Above, So Below

A/N: Hey there, guys! WOO! On time this week! Didn't think I could do it, but dammit, I didn't wanna disappoint you guys by waiting another extra day. Here we are at the penultimate chapter of Ben 10 RWBY Month, and it's actually a relatively brief affair compared to the last few. Thankfully, I think I got enough action in here to satisfy what I wanted while also focusing well on the actual plot. But you guys can be the judge of that.

Oh, and in terms of the NEXT chapter, as with every year, I'm going to try and push for a Halloween update. Might be a BIT difficult since Halloween is on Tuesday, but we'll see how things end up. Just make sure to keep an eye out next week. So with that said, this is…

Chapter 77: As Above, So Below

…..

Rex stretched out his arms over his head, reclining in the back of the Saturday's Griffon craft as he kept watch over a couple of small screens. Apparently, while everyone was out eating, Doc and Drew had set up several cameras all over the perimeter of the Catacombs' main entry points, and they were all connected to a wireless signal that fed right into the Griffon. So from here, they could keep watch over everything, which was a relief for the EVO. 'Saves me the time of having to fly over the whole city to keep a lookout.' he mused to himself as he closed his eyes… only to feel something start nibbling at his hair. "GYAH! AH!" And just like that, he fell right out of his chair, conking the back of his head against the floor. "Uuuugh…"

"Rawk! Grawk!" Zon screeched as she continued jabbing at Rex's head.

With a heavy sigh, Rex grimaced up at the Ornithochirus. "But, then again, it means I gotta deal with the peanut gallery."

"Well, you didn't HAVE to join me, Robo-dolt." From the other side of the cargo hold, Weiss spoke up as she gently pet Smokey, running her fingers gently through his fur. Also, Komodo was contently resting his head against her lap, hissing soothingly.

"Hah, maybe not, but I wanted to." Rex emphasized as he got up, shooing Zon away lightly. "After all, you shouldn't have to be the ONLY one who stays behind, right?"

Rolling her eyes, Weiss chuckled and smiled to her boyfriend. "I would give you a hug, but I'm currently being held down by these two." Smokey and Komodo both gave low mumbles in response. "But in any case, thank you. Really, I appreciate you being here for me."

"Always, Ice Princess." Rex assured, moving his way over and leaning down so that his forehead touched hers. "I wouldn't ever leave you high and dry."

Weiss' smile became even wider at that. "Oh, you… say, question."

"Possible answer."

"If we were here, in Paris, just the two of us…" Weiss proposed. "…what would you have us do?"

Rex's eyebrows rose at the question, letting out a breathy chuckle. "Hah, well, I'd ideally have better judgement when it comes to restaurants, that's for sure." The two shared a short laugh before Rex got serious. "But to be perfectly honest… I would want to show you the time of your life, Weiss. I know that sounds utterly cheesy, but I'd do everything to research what the most romantic things to do in this city are and then we'd do the heck out of 'em."

The former heiress couldn't help but be amused by the answer. "Ha, well, that's one way to word it." She glanced down to the two cryptids. "Sorry, guys, but I've gotta get up." As much as they bemoaned the very idea of it, both Komodo and Smokey respected Weiss' wishes, allowing her to stand and meet her boyfriend. "Well, once all of this is over… maybe we should think about scheduling a… longer vacation in France. Just the two of us?"

Rex's cheeks flushed deep red at this. "W-Wait, y-you're serious about that?"

"Well, of course." Weiss leaned forward with a knowing smile. "I mean… you're not scared of the idea, are you, Rex?"

"N-No! Of course not!" Rex shoved all flustered thoughts to the back of his mind, reaching up and gently taking his girlfriend's shoulders in his hands. "But—a-and I'm sorry if I'm assuming, but… it sounds like you might be implying—"

Without missing a beat, Weiss went up to her tip-toes, getting right in Rex's face. "And what if I am? Hm?"

And just like that, all of Rex's confidence gave way to his nerves again. "…Th-That's a big step. I-I mean, we haven't even—"

*BZZZZT* *BZZZZT* *BZZZZT*

'Oh, thank god, saved by the alarm' Rex whipped his head around toward the screens with Weiss joining him, their conversation briefly forgotten about. "Y-You see anything?"

"Nothing." Weiss shook her head. "No movement on these screens."

Just then, the door to the cockpit opened, where Doc and Drew came out in a rush. "It was on our screens, kids." Doc said, already slipping on his Power Glove. "We've got men in suits moving in toward the Catacombs' exit point."

"And they're NOT the kinds of suits you want to see." Drew emphasized, pulling out her Fire Sword. "Get ready to knock around some Bucket Heads, boys and girls!"

Rex smirked and gave a thumbs up. "Oh, you know it, Drew! Let's head—oh!" Without warning, Weiss suddenly pulled him down so that her ear was next to her mouth, and she whispered;

"We're not done. We'll talk about this later."

Just as abruptly as that happened, Weiss let her boyfriend go, allowing him to continue. "Er-ahem, l-like I said, let's head out and beat down on some of those Forever Dorks! Haha…" Within moments, the Griffon was in the air and the group were off, though Rex couldn't help but stew in his thoughts as he eyed his girlfriend. '…Ice Princess, you are getting WAY confident recently. I kinda like it… but I'm also a little scared of it.'

But those thoughts would have to wait. With the Griffon flying straight over the buildings of Paris at incredible speed, the group were there in mere moments. The aircraft landed right in the street, where the Knights were already marching and scaring people with their very presence. The ramp lowered for the small team of warriors and cryptids, allowing them to confront the knights head on. "Stop right there, ya bunch of tin cans!" Drew ordered, holding the tip of her fire sword at them. "Any further and I'll be turning up the heat."

The knights all came to a stop… but then their ranks parted down the middle, allowing someone else to come through. What the group saw next took them by surprise. He was a tall figure, practically towering over his associates. His armor was also heavier than the others, though it still kept that similar style that the rest had. However, instead of a dull yet glossy grey, his was entirely in black. He wore the Forever Knights' sigil on his chest and wore a crimson red cape, which also had a much larger version of the same symbol on it.

His helmet, though, was where things really got interesting. Of course, it was styled a lot differently than a normal Forever Knight helmet, with a V-shaped visor and a mouth grate making it resemble a mechanical face of sorts. It also had a pointed head crest that was shaped like a spade. But moreover, it seemed much more high-tech than the others; the visor and mouthpiece themselves glowing a bright, neon green.

He stopped just short ahead of his entourage and placed his arms behind his back, greeting the heroes. "Ah, so you must be the Saturday Family…" The knight craned his head over toward Rex and Weiss. "And you were smart enough to bring a couple Omni-Hunters as back up. Hah… muy intelegente."

Rex's eyes widened when he heard that, as well as the distinct Hispanic accent in the guys' voice. But his comments would have to be saved for later as Doc raised a fist and powered up his glove. "Start talking! How'd you find out we were here?!"

"And who are you, exactly?" Drew furthered.

"Hmhm, so many questions today." The knight brought his arms out toward the couple as he gave them their answers. "Well, in order, we've had a contact here in Paris for a while now that has been keeping tabs on your friend, Dr. Garnier. All we had to do was wait until we got a lead on something interesting…"

"The Ishtar Tablet." Weiss concluded. "You had a feeling she'd come across a piece?"

The knight gave a shrug. "Granted, it was a shot in the dark, but since we figured her line of research was alchemy, we thought it was worth a shot. And it was well worth it, too, it seems." He placed a hand over his chest. "And as for myself… I am one of the Forever Knights' head generals. Your compadres have already experiences, the White Knight. But I am…"

"…The Black Knight." Rex concluded. The words felt almost foreign to his lips, he hadn't said them in so long. 'Good god… I hope White can handle anything SHE tries while we're stuck here. And hopefully Caesar's working on a way to actually GET us back there while he's working on his pet project with Cooper.' All the same, Rex shooed the thought away. 'Not the time to think of that stuff, Rex. Gotta focus.'

Throwing up a hand, the Black Knight celebrated the deduction. "Si, si! Very quick on the uptake, I am glad to see that. But on that note…" Raising his arm, an orange energy shield materialized at his side, and from his waist, the Black Knight pulled out a handle that was seemingly attached to nothing. That's when he pressed a button on it and an orange energy mace appeared from the end, slamming onto the ground as massive spikes grew out of it. "I believe you should let us step aside. We have a tablet piece to retrieve."

"Heh… lo siento, ese…" Rex apologized as he activated his Smack Hands, while everyone else readied themselves for combat as well. "But that's NOT gonna happen."

"Hm, I see…" The Black Knight mused with a short nod, only to jerk his head toward his followers. "Well, I suppose we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. Men! Ready your laser lances!" At his word, all of the knights raised their weapons, taking aim at the heroes. "Dispose of these pests and their freaks of nature… with EXTREME prejudice!"

"Not a fan of that." Doc sneered as he peered back to the family dog. "Smokey! Cover, boy!"

Letting out a loud howl, Smokey let loose a rather large billow of smoke from his body, taking all of the Forever Knights by surprise. "W-What?! What tricker is—OPEN FIRE!" The Black Knight's order came too late, though. Even with a hailstorm of laser fire, not one shot landed on anyone. No screams, no thuds on the ground, nothing. Before anyone knew it, the smoke had covered the entire area, the Black Knight staying on high alert. "Be on your guard, men. They could be anywhere…"

"Augh—"

Spinning around, the Black Knight whipped his mace out toward where the scream came from… and it was met with a metallic CLANG noise. Pulling the weapon back, he rushed in and, much to his dismay, he saw he hit one of his own knights. "AGH! Cowards! Using my own men as a distraction?!" With a quick flip, the knight retracted his mace, in favor of bringing out an energy sword from the other end of the handle. "Come out and FACE ME!"

And then… *CLANG* Belting out a scream, the Black Knight was sent hurdling out of the smoke cloud, hit in the back from a surprise attack. But as he flew through the air, he rearranged himself and managed to land in a crouch, where he saw Rex land just a few feet away. "A'ight, I'm game." the EVO said, popping some muscles in his neck. "Let's do this, mano."

"Hmph! I am not your mano." Charging forward, the Black Knight reared his sword back for a quick strike, only for Rex to leap up and over him for a powerful punch from above. Even so, the knight was prepared for that, raising his shield just in time to block one of the fists.

"Heh, nice… but I've got two, ya know?" Bringing his other arm down past the shield, Rex went for his hit… only for the Smack Hand to get stabbed by the energy blade. Swiftly moving away, the Knight proceeded to slice and dice through Rex's metal arm like a hot knife through butter, leaving him with only one Smack Hand.

The Black Knight balked at him, going on the defensive again. "Hah, what do I look like to you? Un estupido?"

"Fair point. Let's even things up then, shall we?" Shifting the remaining Smack Hand into his BFS, Rex let out a yell and brought it straight down at the knight. But, much to his surprise, the warrior was capable of parrying the massive strike, his energy blade scraping across the giant sword as he stepped away.

"Hmph, that's hardly even. Now THIS…" Pressing a button on the handle, the Black Knight made his energy sword expand out into an entire energy SPEAR, clashing it with Rex's weapon properly. "THIS is much more even." The duo struggled against one another, only to eventually end up eye-to-eye. "So, I must ask… where are you from, chico?"

Rex shrugged, figuring he'd humor the guy. "Honestly, I'm not technically "from" anywhere. I grew up a nomad. But my mom was from Mexico City, and my dad was from Buenos Aires."

The knight hummed at that. "I see. So you are a smelting pot." With a sudden pump of his legs, Black Knight pushed Rex back with surprising strength, enough to stagger the EVO back. "As for myself, I am from Espania."

But Rex wasn't about to easily back down, shifting his BFS into its Battle Saw mode. "Ah, from Spain, eh? Makes sense, pretty sure the Forever Knights are based all over Europe. GRAH!" With a grunt of exertion, Rex forced himself forward, his saw managing to blow through more of the Black Knight's own blows. "But that leads me to ask; why join this walking Renaissance Fair, eh? Lemme guess, free dental?"

"Joke all you want, chico, but what we're doing is for the good of the entire planet!" The Black Knight held his ground, thrusting the lance forward and firing an energy blast from its tip. And when it collided with the saw, it blew the entire blade off of Rex's weapon. "Aliens are an infestation that MUST be cleansed."

"Hah, not gonna happen, bro!" Focusing on his Omega powers, Rex brought out his Bad Axes, ready for another round of clashing. "Some of my good friends are aliens. They're not all bad guys like Vilgax, ya know?"

"Doesn't matter!" Black Knight bellowed and flipped his weapon again, this time changing it into an energy axe of his own. Much to Rex's surprise, he kept up well as he went blow for blow with him, the knight expressing his convictions all the while. "Good or evil, Earth does NOT need alien kind dragging it into problems that do not involve humanity! And the same applies to your friends from Remnant."

"Even though THEY'RE mostly human, too?!"

Beneath his helmet, the Black Knight snarled and yelled; "Whatever problems they have, they can handle it themselves!" Bringing his leg up, he swung it against the Bad Axe that he was clashing with, which was a surprisingly powerful blow.

The fact that it made Rex stagger back was astonishing to him. 'What the hell is this guy's deal? He's like, superhuman!' Furrowing his brow, Rex took a breath and steadied himself. "Hah… you know, believe it or not, you're not the FIRST Black Knight I've dealt with."

"Hmph, that so?"

"Yeah, and she had pretty big aspirations, too. Wanted to make herself and her cronies into gods." Rex narrowed his gaze at the man. "You two would probably get along, given your superiority complexes."

And just like that, the knight snapped. "How DARE!" Rushing forward, the knight went straight for Rex's head with his axe, only for the EVO to shift gears and use his Punk Busters to vault over the man. In what felt like slow motion, the Black Knight could only watch as Rex flipped around and kicked him in the back, sending him careening right into a building. "GRAH!"

Landing on his feet, Rex brought out his Funchucks this time, ready to do some damage. "Last chance to give up, ya big baboso!"

But it didn't even take ten seconds for the Black Knight to burst out of the rubble, shouting at the top of his lungs; "GYAAAH! You'll pay DEARLY for that, knave! My forces will overwhelm you AND your insignificant whelp friends!"

"Uh… yeah, you might wanna check again." Rex nudged his head over to where the action was happening… and the knight didn't like what he saw.

From out of the smoke, Knights were sent flying left and right as the group all fought on, the numbers game seemingly not mattering. Part of that was thanks to Weiss having summoned not only her Arma Gigas, but her Lancer Queen as well, the two Grimm serving as crowd control while the others handled the stragglers. Of course, Weiss herself was elegantly running circles around the knights, using Myrtenaster's power and her Glyphs to blow them away with elemental attacks from all angles.

Doc and Drew, meanwhile, were going for a more brute force approach. Husband and wife stood back-to-back as they knocked down more of the armored goons with energy and fire blasts respectively. Komodo, Zon and Smokey weren't slouches either, the Cryptids using their abilities to their fullest. Smokey created smokescreens while overwhelming the knights with sheer power, Komodo went for sneak attacks while invisible, and Zon attacked from above through the smoke, taking them all off guard.

Overall… it was a disaster, and the Black Knight could feel his rage boiling over the more he looked at it. "You… YOU IMBICILES! What are you doing?! How can you just LET them throw you around like ragdolls?!"

"Hm! It seems you might've underestimated us." Weiss said, now her turn to feel superior. "Also, just an FYI; we've been getting our asses handed to us by the Ministry for WEEKS now. And guess what? We're. Freaking. TIRED of it." Placing her best foot forward, Weiss ushered for her Arma Gigas, the large suit of armor tramping its way over to confront the Black Knight. "So read my lips; we are NOT going to let you get that tablet. Not if it's the last thing we do. So take THAT, pendejo."

"You… you DARE to insult ME, child?!" Flipping his weapon back around, the knight brought forth his energy lance again and fired it at Weiss, only for the Arma Gigas to SLAM its sword down in front of her and deflect the shot right back. But then, the knight raised his shield and made the blast rebound upward, though his rage was still not quelled. "I WILL TEACH YOU A LESSON! You gilipollas!"

Just as he charged her, Rex came in with his Funchucks and bashed them straight into the Black Knight, sending him tumbling away again. "Wanna bet, pelagato?"

"GAH! Imbécil!" Recovering fast, the knight stabbed his lance straight forward, wanting to blast Rex again.

But Weiss took umbrage with his latest remark, and decided to get creative. With a wave of Myrtenaster, she created a glyph and absorbed the blasts' energy, taking it in to use as her own before having the Arma Gigas stab its sword through the glyph. Within moments, the sword was empowered with energy and the living suit of armor barreled straight at the Black Knight, swiping the blade and letting loose a powerful burst that sent him into another wall.

"Hey!" Weiss snapped. "Nobody calls MY boyfriend an imbecile! You, you… c-comes babosas con mocos de mono! Y s-sorbes tu geletina con una p-pajita!"

The sudden Spanish outburst took both men by surprise… mainly because they couldn't believe what she said. The Black Knight stared at her for a few seconds before asking; "…Miss, do you even know what you just said?!"

"Yes! …Kind of." Weiss sounded more unsure the more answers she gave. "…Sort of."

"She's still getting the hang of it." Rex explained.

"OBVIOUSLY!" The knight stood up once more, not about to let this injustice and humiliation be what did him in. "But be that as it may, I will NOT stand for this humiliation!"

The couple smirked at one another when he said that. "Well good… because you can sit DOWN, dude! And if ya don't…" Just like that, Rex and Weiss leapt into the fray, ready to continue the fight. "We'll make you!"

But as they kept the battle going, Weiss couldn't help but wonder how the rest of her friends were doing down below. 'Hopefully things are going a lot better than they are up here. Ruby… everybody… be careful.'

…..

Back down below, little to Weiss' knowledge, things weren't going so well for the others, either. "What'd I tell ya?" Diamondhead said rhetorically as he thrust a hand out to the villains opposing them. "The bad guys always arrive at the last possible second. Happens every time, I swear."

The team had been staring down their own group of Forever Knights for a few moments now, and the face-off didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. It was something that Emily Coltilde, the White Knight, wasn't too keen on keeping up. "So… are we just going to stare at one another for eternity or are we going to actually do something?" she demanded.

"Well, the longer we stare at you, the longer we hold off the inevitable, so…" Sun pointed out.

"It doesn't matter, then." Emily reasoned, stepping forward away from her battalion of knights. "Because as you said, the events that are about to unfold are unavoidable, so why keep everybody waiting?" She waved a hand, ordering the heroes out of their way. "Now, if you would kindly step aside, we have a tablet fragment to retrieve."

Ruby narrowed her eyes at the woman. "How did you even know we were down here? Or even that we'd found a piece of the tablet?"

Emily wore a smirk and chuckled sinisterly. "Hmhm, oh we have a contact here in the city who has kept us VERY well informed of everything going on. And given how hard you are to miss, it was all too obvious what you were doing here. On that note…" She directed her attention over to Juliette, who seemed the most stunned out of everyone. "Bonjour… Juliette. I heard you've made quite the discovery recently."

The doctor seemed almost too stunned to even speak, but she managed to in the end. "E-Emily? H-How did… WHEN did you…"

"You know her, doc?" Yang asked.

Dr. Garnier pursed her lips, frustrated at the sight of the woman before her. "Oui. We were college roommates once." Once again, the heroes were left visibly gob smacked, all while Juliette narrowed her eyes at her former friend. "At least, until she decided to drop out after two years. She wasted much of her family's money with that move, and as a result was cut off for quite a while, if I recall."

"And I still am." Emily sneered, her fist tightening at her side. "It has been years since I've seen a single cent from them. However, as you cans see…" She raised her hands up, gesturing toward her group of knights. "I've found a new crowd to hang around."

With a disappointed glare, Juliette scolded her. "Is THIS how you are planning on getting back at your parents, Emily? By partnering up with a group of xenophobic fools?!"

Emily stuck her nose up at that. "Hm! If it will get there attention, then yes. I cannot wait to see the looks on their faces when they see their darling girl having fallen in line with such scoundrels." Her smile increased into a smirk. "But even if they implore me to come back, I will not. I have much BIGGER aspirations now. The Forever King has promised me great power when we find the Armor of Ishtar. After all, it was made for a woman to wear…"

"Huh, you know, I was wondering about that." Diamondhead pondered. "The knights were always seemed like an all-boys club whenever I was dealing with 'em."

"Well now, they are not." Emily asserted before putting her helmet back on. "But now is not the time for pleasantries anymore! Now is the time for action! And on that note…" She raised her hands and clapped them loudly. "Monsieur Morton! Down here, s'il vous plait!"

*BOOOOOM*

The heroes gave another collective gasp as the ceiling above their heads crashed open, revealing yet another knight. This one was much bigger than his compatriots, and his armor was a much duller gray. In his hand was a massive lance that was almost as long as he was tall, and instead of having an entirely closed helmet, his mouth was left visible. Lifting up his protective eye grate, he focused in on Diamondhead, who was taken aback by his presence. "AHAHAHA! Well, well, well…" he spoke in a deep, cockney voice. "Ben Tennyson. Been a while, in' nit?"

"Sir Morton?!" Diamondhead glowered at the man. "You're alive?! I thought you of all knights would've—"

Morton guffawed and brushed the notion aside. "AHAHA! Funny thing, that, I was one a' the lucky ones who managed to avoid Daigon's wrath. An' with His Royal Highness, Enoch's blessing, I was given quite the promotion." He bowed his head respectfully to Emily. "I now serve as the White Knight's personal body guard… not that she needs it, since she's plenty strong already."

Emily touched her hand to her face bashfully. "Ah, Monsieur Morton, stop, you make blush!" Her cheerful demeanor disappeared and she pointed over to the heroes. "After all, we have some pests to dispose of. I trust you know what to do?"

"'Course, m'lady." Morton's smile grew insidious as he lowered his visor back down, hefting his lance up over his head and calling out to his fellows; "FOREVER KNIGHTS! To arms!" An uproarious cheer erupted throughout the room, with the knights all brandishing their laser lances. "Ready… aim… FIRE!" All at once, the knights collectively blasted their weapons… only for a massive wall of crystal to explode up from the ground and deflect all of them at once. "…On second thought, TAKE COVER!"

The armored warriors all leapt for cover, with Morton protecting Emily all the while. Behind the wall, meanwhile, with a scowl of his own etched on his rocky features, Diamondhead peered over his shoulder toward a certain sorceress. "Hope… I need you to do something for me."

"…What's that?" Hope asked, though she had a feeling she already knew.

"I'm leaving the doctors in your care." The Petrosapein continued, nodding over to the pair. "Juliette and Jaqc need to get down into that cavern while we hold off these chuckleheads. Think you can protect them?"

Hope nodded without hesitation. "Of course. You can count on me."

"Great." The hero glanced over to his team, focusing on a few standout members at first. "Ruby, Zak, Fiskerton, Blake and Sun, I'm having you all go down there, too." He could tell just from their expressions that the five were uncertain of that idea, but Diamondhead explained further; "I know, not the most popular choice, but on the off chance that there's anything down there, I know that you guys will be able to help Charmcaster protect them. Can you do that for me?"

Understanding his logic, Blake came around fairly quickly. "Of course, Ben. We'll make sure they'll all stay safe."

Ruby gave a dutiful salute. "Aye-aye, Ben! We'll defend 'em with our lives!"

"Love the enthusiasm, but I'd prefer if we come back alive—OWOWOW!" Sun was cut off when, from up above, his woodpecker friend came down and tapped him repeatedly on the head. His face twisted into a snarl, he yelled after the bird as it flew away. "HEY! Where the heck do you think you're… huh?" Much to his and everyone else's confusion, the woodpecker actually dove straight down into the open pathway, without any reluctance. "H-Hey! Get back here, dude! Where're you going?!"

Zak was just as confused as the others about this as they watched Sun rush after the bird. "Well, guess there's only one way to find out." He gave the rest of the team a thumbs up. "Best of luck, guys."

Yang returned the gesture, giving them a wink. "Don't worry, we'll be able to handle these clowns. You guys just get down there and get that tablet!" Without needing to be told twice, the team split off and led the two doctors down into the dark depths, leaving the rest to deal with the knights. "So, how do we wanna go about this?"

"I think the best way would be to take them out as quick and efficiently as possible." Ilia suggested. "Preferably without trying to bring down the entire place on our heads."

Diamondhead concurred with her plan as he lowered the crystal wall. "Precisely what I was thinking, Ilia." With a smack to the Omnitrix, Ben transformed directly into… "OVERFLOW!" The Cascan pumped his fists, summoning two water swords from his palms. "Hah, yes! Just what I wanted." He signaled over to his Revonnahgander friend. "Rook, you're with me. We're taking out Morton and the White Knight."

"Understood, Ben…" Taking his Proto-Tool off his shoulder, Rook shifted it into its energy sword mode, pointing it straight at the aforementioned duo. "Thankfully, I have brought a sword to a sword fight."

"Uh, Rook, that's… well, that's fitting, actually, but it's also not entirely correct…" In the end, Overflow waved it off. "Y-You know what? Never mind. Alright guys, let's take 'em out!"

"No need to tell me twice, Tennyson!" Swift shot straight up into the air, faster than anyone could blink. "Hahaha! Yes! Gotta love high ceilings!" Zeroing in on her targets, Swift's eyes and tail began to light up bright red. "Eat this, ya xenophobic role-players!" All at once, she shot three lasers straight down and hit several of the hiding knights, forcing many others out of their hiding places as well. Swift didn't waste a second before she started chasing them down as well.

"WOO! Go get 'em, babe!" Ilia cheered on, only to realize something the very next second. "Oh my god, I called her "babe"." Her spots changed to pink as she blushed. "Oh gosh, oh gosh, I just called my girlfriend "babe". AH!"

Yang went up and gave the chameleon girl a supportive pat on the shoulder. "Woah, slow down, Ilia. Don't get caught up in your own head about it. It's all part of the territory when you're in a relationship." The Blonde Brawler added a wink to that. "Trust me, you get used to it after a while." She nudged her head toward the Forever Knights all running around in a panic. "Now come on. While your girlfriend's got 'em on the run, let's take these bucketheads down."

Her sheepishness quelled, Ilia focused back on the task at hand. "Hm, right! Let's do it!" Extending her Lightning Lash while Yang activated her Ember Celica, the duo rushed in to start doing some damage. And, for Ilia, that would exceptionally easy. After all, what were knights but walking tin cans? "Swift! Heard some of them over to me!"

Swift circled around and aimed her tail downward, shouting; "Copy that, baby!" With another neuroshock blast, Swift corralled a small group of knights over to Ilia, where some of them regained some of their earlier bluster.

"L-Look! Over there! That girl is by herself!" one knight said as he raised his laser lance while running. "Lock on and fire! She can't take us all!"

Ilia narrowed her eyes at that. "Don't underestimate me." With a loud scream, Ilia changed colors, her skin becoming blood red as her hair and spots went bright yellow. All at once, the knights came to a halt and fired out of fear… but another neuroshock blast from Swift was able to cut all the lasers off at once.

"Go for it!" the alien girl cheered.

"GYAAAH!" With a hard crack of her whip, Ilia sent out a burst of electrical power through all of the knights lined up before her, electrocuting all of them and making them fall to the floor…

…All except for one, who managed to stay out of range. "You… YOU KILLED THEM!"

"Nah, they're just unconscious." Ilia denied as she nonchalantly walked forward. "If I wanted them dead, I would've let loose a LOT more electrical output. But you, on the other hand…"

"N-NO! Stay back! D-Don't kill me!"

Ilia shook her head, wearing an amused smile. "Oh, no, good sir… I have something else in mind." All of a sudden, Ilia brought out her lash again and started whipping it around masterfully toward the knight, making him flinch and tuck his head in under his arms. But, when Ilia was finished… he wasn't the least bit hurt.

"W-What? What is—GAH!" the knight quickly found his answer when, to his horror, his armor fell off in tiny bits and pieces, clattering to the floor around him until he was in nothing but a pair of white boxers with red hearts on them.

Neither Ilia or Swift seemed particularly impressed. "Wow, dude. That's just sad." Swift shooed him off. "Now go, before—" *THWACK* "Aw! Yang! We were giving him a chance to run!"

As the man's now unconscious body fell to the ground, Yang pulled back her fist and gave the girls an apologetic grin. "Heh, sorry ladies. I was in the zone there." She turned her head, where Swift and Ilia saw her handiwork; several more knights with their armor dented, helmets broken, and all of their weapons stacked in a pile. Yang placed her hands on her hips proudly. "I'd say we did a good job cleaning up, wouldn't you say?"

"Heh, yeah, these knights are freakin' posers." Swift snickered… only to see the boys having a bit more of a challenge. "Eh, then again…"

"We were dealing with foot soldiers, remember?" Ilia reminded, ready to use her Lightning Lash again if needed. "But those two? No doubt they're putting up more of a fight."

Across the way, Overflow was currently dueling with Sir Morton, the tall, muscular knight putting all of his force into beating the Cascan back. But even then, the water-based alien was able to keep up easily, using the water propulsion jets on his back to keep him from falling down. The duo clashed once again, leaving Overflow open to conversation. "Grah, so… Morton, one last question; how the hell did you get past the Saturdays and our friends? They were standing guard outside!"

"Eh? Oh, them! Haha! Ah, that's a funny one, that is." Morton chortled as he pulled back and swung his lance freely, only for Overflow to backflip out of the way. The alien fired a jet of water at Morton, but he also dodged surprisingly quickly. "Ya see, guv, ya had one BIG flaw in that "stake out" plan a' yours… there's more than ONE way to get into Catacombs."

Overflow's eye twitched and facepalmed in irritation. "…Of course you went in the illegal way."

"I am quite—ah—surprised you did not factor that in! Gah!" Parrying Rook's every strike with her blade, Emily went in to sweep the Revonnahgander's legs, only for him to jump up and away from her. Coming back down, the two combatants clashed once again. "What's more, I used to frequent the catacombs when I was but a child! I'm fairly sure I know my way around here better than any tour guide or explorer."

"How is that possible?" Rook questioned suspiciously. "Reports suggest that people go missing and even perish in these catacombs frequently if they do not know what they are doing. How could a child avoid such a fate?"

"Hm, have you ever heard of the tale of Princess Ariadne and her clew?" Emily pulled back for another series of strikes, but Rook was able to match her step for step. "Using her silken string, she was able to assist Theseus in navigating her father's labyrinth, where the young hero slayed her demonic half-brother, the Minotaur." Her lips curled into a slight smirk, confidence radiating from her as she fought the alien. "I always enjoyed that tale as a girl… and as such, I thought that if I could navigate the Catacombs in a similar matter, then I could one day find my own monster to slay."

Overflow couldn't help but balk at that as he and Sir Morton continued to fight one another, the Cascan getting in a particularly hard hit with a massive water flail that sent the knight tumbling. "Hah, you'd have to go in pretty far for something like that, lady. An' even then, the monsters you'd find aren't the ones you wanna mess with."

Emily gave a musing hum at his point. "Hm, fair enough… my parents thought the same thing. But I did find those monsters when I became older." Beneath her helmet, her insidious grin increased. "And it was an incroyable feeling being able to slay them."

Rook and Overflow were left flabbergasted, picking up on the implication quickly. "…No." the hero muttered.

"…You are responsible for some of these unfortunate disappearances." Rook concluded with a contemptuous scowl.

"Only for those who deserved to go missing." Emily retorted. "The ones who prayed on the innocents… the ones who take things that do not belong to them and have no right to take away—AGH!"

Lost in her own self-aggrandizing, Rook managed to get in a kick to her stomach, before he then shifted his Proto-Tool into its blaster mode and shot her directly in the shoulder. "And how does it feel becoming one of those criminals? Part of an organization that wishes to take not only alien lives, but to excommunicate them from Earth all together?! You may THINK that your acts were in the name of justice, but you are a hypocrite of the HIGHEST degree."

"You really ARE the worst." Overflow was starting to feel more heated the angrier he became, to the point where the portholes on his hands began to steam up as the water in his arms bubbled and boiled. "Rook, lemme have a shot at her. It's time SHE learned how it feels to—WAUGH!" Without warning, Overflow was tackled to the ground by Morton, leading him to turn his attention back to him. "Grr, you are NOT doing yourself any favors here, Morton!"

Morton struggled to hold Overflow down, the heat radiating from the Cascan burning against his armor and—in turn—his skin. "GAH! N-Not on the agenda there, bruv! Can't let the lady get hurt." He raised his head slightly, calling out to Emily as he tried to not focus on the intense pain. "M'lady! You know what to do!"

Beneath her helmet, Emily locked her gaze onto the man and nodded to him. "Oui, Monsieur Morton." Taking out a disk-shaped object from her hip armor, Emily swiftly tossed it behind Rook, quick enough that he couldn't get a good look at what it was. But then, at the same time, she pulled out a second one, dropping it underneath her.

"Stop!" Rook ordered, reaching out to grab her shoulder. "What do you—AH!" Without any warning whatsoever, the White Knight disappeared in a flash of light.

The girls made it over just in time to see that happen as well. "Ah! O-Oh my god!" Yang stammered, whipping her head around to try and find her. "W-Where did she—"

"Over there!" Ilia pointed straight to the staircase that led down into the cavern below… which was where the other disk-shaped device had landed. There, the device lit up and the White Knight reappeared, standing tall and proud with a confident cackle passing her lips. "H-How did she…"

"A miniature teleportation device." Rook concluded, dashing over to the woman at top speed. "Stop! Do not go any further—AH!" But once again, Emily had a trick up her sleeve. Taking out a cylindrical device from her hip armor, she tossed it straight to the ground… and let loose a flashbang throughout the room.

Everyone let out a scream as they were momentarily blinded, but once their vision cleared, the White Knight was nowhere to be found. "GAH! Dammit, she slipped away!" Swift grit her teeth. "She's gonna catch up to Hope and the others in no time!"

Letting out a bellowing yell, Overflow used all his strength to wrench his arms out and finally blast Sir Morton with all of the stored up boiling water in his arms, sending the knight flying back into the nearest wall with a pained scream. "Dammit, we've gotta get after her and—" *BOOM* But then, as if on cue, another wall came down, allowing even more Forever Knights to come charging in. "Oh, come ON! How many of these idiots are there?!"

"Green Boy, we'll handle these chumps!" Yang said, reloading Ember Celica as fast as she could. "You go after the White Knight and bring her down."

But the hero wasn't too sure about leaving them alone like this. "B-But Yang—"

"You gotta make sure Blake, Hope and the others all get that tablet fragment!" The Blonde Brawler asserted as she began firing Dust rounds at all the Knights, downing them one at a time while Ilia and Swift went back into the fray as well. Offering her boyfriend a reassuring smile, she reached out and touched his chest. "We'll be fine, here. You do your hero thing and we'll catch up soon."

"Indeed. And I will handle Sir Morton." Rook added. "You go and apprehend Miss Clotilde."

As much as Overflow hated to admit it, both of them were right. They had very little time to waste, especially now with Emily having gone down after their friends. Taking a deep breath, the Omnitrix bearer nodded to the two. "Alright, I'll go. But make sure to call Rex and the others. I've got a bad feeling that somethin' big's gonna happen… and soon." Slapping the Omnitrix on his chest, Ben transformed directly into Fasttrack and gave a brief; "See you soon!" to his teammates, before rushing straight down the stairs into the darkness below.

…..

Further down below, as the fight was happening, Hope had just gotten her group down to the bottom of the long staircase, lighting the way with mana projecting from her own hand. But even then, that light was FAR from enough when it came to the darkness that unfolded before them when they entered the cavern proper. The only thing they were able to discern was the floor and any walls immediately in front of them. The rest? Complete and utter pitch black. "Hah… well, we made it." Hope narrowed her eyes. "…But now I have no clue where we should even go from here."

Blake grimaced frustratingly, stepping away from the team slightly to try and adjust her eyes to the dark. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to make out. "Hmph, even my eyes aren't catching anything. And Faunus are SUPPOSED to have good night vision."

"Urr… ragamoo…" Fiskerton grumbled, also unable to see anything with his own eyes.

"Remember, this is essentially one giant, empty chasm." Juliette reminded, extending her hand toward the inky black void. "The most we can do is proceed forward and hope we come across something at this point."

"Yes, come." Jaqc concurred with a serious scowl. "We must make haste. The further we are in, the less likely they will be to find us should they get past your friends."

But Ruby was fairly confident that wouldn't happen. "Don't worry, Dr. Lenoir. Ben and the others will be able to hold 'em off, I'm sure of it." Taking out Crescent Rose in its rifle mode, she readied herself for anything they might come across. "And don't worry, we'll make sure to protect YOU two as well!"

With that, the team began walking into the cavern, all being mindful of where they stepped. Thankfully, things seemed to be going well… but then, Zak took notice of something. "Hey… has anyone else noticed the ground's really… smooth?"

"I have, actually." Hope responded, bringing her light closer to the floor. Rather than being craggy and uneven, the stone ground was relatively flat and smooth. It was very peculiar, for sure. "I wonder why that is…"

Juliette had an idea why, though. "Perhaps this lends credence to the idea that this cavern was, in fact, manmade by ancient alchemists! After all, natural rock formations are by no means THIS flat. …Wait a moment. Hope, shine your light that way, s'il vous plait."

"Oh, sure." Following Juliette's direction, Hope brought her hand forward along the ground… and was met with a surprising sight. "An… arrow?"

"A very fancy arrow at that." Blake noted, seeing the curved stylization. "Seems like someone didn't want to get lost down here."

Just then, Sun's woodpecker friend landed on the arrow and tapped it with its beak, chirping up at them almost urgently. "Well, I guess Pecky here wants us to follow it." the monkey boy said. "And for once, I agree with him. Might lead to something good."

Hope concurred as well. "Hm, right. Let's keep moving. And don't lose sight of those arrows." Moving forward, Hope increased the light from her palm a little, just to make sure she was still moving the right way. After a couple minutes, they all came up to what seemed to be their destination… a wall. But thankfully, it wasn't a normal wall. Instead, a set of massive, dark crystals were protruding from it, leading all the way up to the cavern ceiling.

"Woah… 'kay, what do we got here?" Zak asked, peering closer.

For her part, Hope was left surprised. "This… this is chargestone." She drew her hand closer to the line of crystals and part of them actually started to light up, but as she pulled back, they died back down again. "They're a special type of crystal that hold energy inside of them. B-But they only grow in more magical realms… how did these end up here?"

"Perhaps the old alchemists were more resourceful than we thought." Juliette guessed as she pointed to the stones. "But, if these stones are here, then I'll be that they are what's supposed to keep this cavern lit. Hope, do you think you could light them all up at once?"

"I could try." Focusing more power through her hand, Hope went to transfer it into the stones… but she was stopped short by Ruby.

"W-Wait, don't do it just yet!" the Hooded Huntress' eyes were full of worry as they made contact with the sorceress. "Hope, I-I can't explain it, but… I-I've been feeling something off ever since we got in here." Her gaze traveled out into the darkness again, causing everyone else to do the same. "I… don't think we're alone."

Zak swallowed and nodded, keeping a firm grip on his Claw. "Yeah, I-I kinda got the same vibe that Ruby's getting. If alchemists created a cavern THIS big, then I don't think it was JUST to hide all of their secrets."

Hope was beginning to grow a bit wary herself, so she decided to take some extra precaution. Facing out toward the void herself, she closed her eyes and focused on the life energy around her, feeling it flow throughout the entire cavern. She couldn't get an entirely good idea on the layout of the place… but one things was for certain; Zak and Ruby weren't wrong. Hope snapped her eyes open and gasped; "Ah! Hah… hah… o-oh my…"

Jaqc's scowl seemed to deepen at that. "What? Did you sense something?"

"Y-Yes… something BIG is in here with us." Hope warned gravely. "It's currently asleep, but it's power is almost overwhelming." She set her sights back onto her friends to change the plan. "Zak and Ruby are right. We don't want to take the chance waking whatever's down here with us. We'll just have to find the tablet the hard way."

"Okay, so… how do we avoid that thing?" Blake questioned.

Hope raised her hand to her left. "It's out toward the center of the room, so keep close to the walls. With any luck, the tablet may be somewhere along the walls as well, so—AH!" Covering her mouth to cut her shout short, Hope raised her hand and created a shield in front of the group… just in time for the rest of them to see the White Knight come waltzing through the darkness.

With a slow, condescending clap, Emily chortled and gave a sarcastic; "Congratulations, mes amis. Excellent work finding the light switch… now, madame, be a good wizard and light the place up, would you?"

Sneering, Hope jeered at her. "First off; not a wizard. Secondly, what makes you think I will? No doubt you heard all of that. You seriously want to take your chances with an unknown beast?"

"Oh, I won't have to, my dear. You see…" Reaching behind her, Emily pulled out a disk-shaped device, waving it at them. "I have teleportation technology on my person. It was how I was able to escape that hero." She quickly pulled it away before anyone could get any ideas. "So, after you do what I say, we will be retrieving that tablet and leaving you to the proverbial wolves."

Ruby was about to retort… but then she realized what Emily said. "Wait, "we"? There's only one of—"

"AAAAIIIEE—mmph! MMMMPH!" The loud scream from behind caused everyone to spin around… and they were met with a horrifying sight.

There, with a revolver in his hand and Juliette struggling in his gasp… was Jaqc. His glare was focused directly on Juliette as he kept her from moving. "Now, now, my dear, do not squirm. If you do…" He pointed the gun to her head, threatening her. "…it will only get worse for you."

Everyone became pale at the act, with Blake's lips contorting into a snarl. "…Weiss was right."

"D-Dr. Lenoir?!" Zak exclaimed. "You're with the Forever Knights? YOU were their contact?!"

"Correction, dear boy; I am not WITH the Forever Knights." Jaqc clarified, moving away from the group and more toward the darkness. "I WAS their contact, though, yes. They had a feeling that dear Juliette was getting closer to discovering the whereabouts of one of these tablet fragments, so they hired moi to alert them should anything crop up."

With tears in her eyes and a look of betrayal upon her features, Juliette muffled; "…Why? Jaqc, WHY?!"

A sinister chortle passed Jaqc's lips, amused by the question. "Hmhmhm… why?" But then, the switch suddenly flipped and his pupils shrunk to the size of peas as he screamed in her face; "WHY?! YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHY!"

"Dude, keep your voice down!" Sun shouted as low as possible. "Do you want to wake whatever's—"

"I have spent the last THREE YEARS, day in and day out, doing nothing but research on what is essentially a WILD GOOSE CHASE!" Jaqc continued, seemingly not bothered by the circumstances. "I was a FOOL to ever believe it in the first place! Alchemy?! BAH! What a charade! Une absurdité totale!" He sneered down to Juliette as she kept crying, her sobs held back by his hand. "I'll bet you aren't even a descendent of Nicolas. Another one of the dreams you made up in your head. Cryptids, yes. Aliens, sure. Magic, a bit unexpected, but certainly. But science that can create something out of nothing?! How much do you wish to stretch your rational thought, Juliette?!"

Hope had just about heard enough, making to cast a spell. "Hey! I'll have you know that alchemy is—"

"Ah-ah-ah!" Jaqc's grip on Juliette tightened, as did his grip on the trigger. "One false step and her life is forfeit. Now, as the White Knight said, light up this room. She can retrieve her tablet piece and I can claim my reward."

The teens couldn't believe this was happening. "You… you're a monster." Ruby growled. "You did this for money?!"

The man shook his head, clicking his tongue. "Tsk-tsk-tsk, oh, no, no, not just ANY money. The money that I need to start funding my OWN research. Research that will NOT rely on fantasy or imaginative concepts!"

Blake couldn't believe what she was hearing. "…For one thing, Doctor Lenoir, everything you just described; cryptids, aliens, magic, ALL of it was thought to be just fantasy at one point. Your argument is completely invalid. And secondly…" But before she could continue her rant, things began to feel… hot. Considerably hot, even. And it didn't take long to figure out where it was coming from… as a pair of giant eyes appeared out of the darkness… directly behind Jaqc. "…Oh my god…"

"Sacre bleu…" Even Emily was left staggered by what she was seeing, as the dark void began to light up when whatever was behind Jaqc was lit on fire.

"ENOUGH OF YOUR BLATHERING!" Jaqc threatened again, not noticing the creature at first. "Light the room or… wait, where did the…" Once the room really lit up, though, the man turned around with Juliette… and they were both astonished by what stood before them.

And at that point, Hope saw the writing on the wall. "Well, too late to be subtle." With a swing of her arm, she sent a blast of mana at the chargestone crystal, enough power to light up the entire trail that led up to a MASSIVE one suspended high up on the ceiling.

Once the entire cavern was alight, the team could finally see the beast in full… and what they saw was something that none of them could expect. It had to be as tall as a five-story building, its head and body practically towering over them. Thankfully, the cavern ceiling was high enough to accommodate its size. But the sheer size of the monster was completely outweighed by just how strange it was.

Its head was that of a ferocious lion, its man burning entirely in fire with its eyes glowed the same orangey-yellow hue. The underbelly seemed to belong to an ox, while its six limbs were unmistakably those of a bear. On its back was a massive turtle shell, and last but not least, it had a MASSIVE scorpion tail coming out the rear of the shell, completing its overall bizarre appearance.

"…What the HELL am I looking at?!" Sun exclaimed.

"I don't believe it…" Jaqc said breathlessly, his grip on Juliette loosening. "It's real… IT'S ACTUALLY REAL?!"

Ruby glanced from left to right nervously. "W-Why is he freaking out?" She instinctively went to Zak for answers. "Should we be freaking out?!"

"That's the last thing we want." Zak urged, with Fisk nodding hastily. "As for what that is… it's the Tarasque." His attention went back to the monster as it loomed over them, growling at them irritably. "It's a chimera cryptid was said to have terrorized southern France CENTURIES ago! But… what the hell is it doing down here?!"

"My guess?" Hope suggested, pointing down to its legs. "Someone left it down here… as a guard dog." Sure enough, all six of its legs were chained down to the floor with massive metal clasps, leaving everyone even more surprised.

"…Who in the world could have shackled that thing?" Blake asked.

At the revelation, however, Jaqc's bravado returned to him. "Hah… HAHA! HAHAHAHA! To think, the Tarasque of all things is actually a chained-up MUTT! Hahaha—AH!" Much to his dismay, however, Jaqc was proven wrong when the Tarasque opened its giant jaws and lunging its head down, intent on swallowing him and Juliette whole.

Ruby sprang into action immediately, ready to use her Semblance. "NO! Watch out—huh?!"

*SHIIIOOM*

At the last possible second, though, a certain black and blue blur got to the pair first, getting them out of the way. Fasttrack stopped on a dime next to Hope, dropping the two doctors off while separating them from each other. "Sorry I'm late." the hero apologized. "Running around in the dark down in here is NOT advised."

"Haha! Ben!" Sun pumped a fist into the air. "Great timing, man!"

Emily wasn't too happy by contrast. But given the situation… "You are incredibly lucky that we are being born down upon by this beast, Tennyson. Otherwise, I—"

"Yeah, yeah, we'll get to your evil speech in a minute." Fasttrack dismissed, only to then narrow his eyes as Jaqc. "And as for you…"

"A-Ah! Monsieur Tennyson! I must thank you kindly for rescuing—urk!" With one swift chop to the neck, the alien knocked Jaqc out cold, his body slumping to the stone floor.

Fasttrack huffed at the man feigning ignorance. "Hmph, I will never doubt Weiss' intuition in the future." Raising his head up, Fasttrack placed his hands to his hips, sizing up the beast that was baring its fangs at him. "So, just to recap; what the hell IS this freak of nature?"

"The Tarasque." Hope explained. "Chimera, probably shoots fire, generally has an unpleasant disposition."

The Omnitrix bearer smirked at that. "Just like Will Harangue! Alright, just leave it to me! Since it's chained down, I should have no problem subduing—"

"GRAAAAUUUUUGGHHH!" No sooner had he said that had the Tarasque let out a deafening roar, causing the entire cavern to shake around the Omni-Hunters. The group fell to their knees as, with all the strength it could muster, the Tarasque pulled up on all six of its limbs… and jumped. All at once, the chains keeping it shackled to the ground snapped off, freeing it in a single instant.

Fasttrack almost couldn't believe it. "…Of course, after what has to be HUNDREDS of years, the chains finally break. Fantastic." The Tarasque snarled and its mouth began to ignite, which Fasttrack took as his cue for them to get out of there. "SCATTER!" The Omni-Hunters didn't have to be told twice as they leapt out of the way, with Emily darting off far to the side as a blast of flame came shooting out of its maw.

'Hmhm, with the Tarasque distracting them, this could be my opportunity to find the tablet…' Emily mused in her head… only to be stopped when a certain woodpecker came flying up in her way. "H-Huh? Get out of my way you little pest, I—" *WHAM* "OOF!" Never in a million years could Emily have guessed that such a tiny bird could knock the wind out of her by flying into her gut… but it did. And even through her armor, it hurt. 'What… in the world?' Now a sputtering mess on the floor, Emily could only lie there while she caught her second wind, watching as the bird flew back toward the heroes.

Ruby and Zak took cover behind a nearby boulder with Juliette in tow, the Hooded Huntress hoping for a solution. "Okay, so this thing's obviously gotta have a legend behind it, right? Was it ever stopped before?"

"Yes… by a holy woman." Juliette confirmed. "Saint Martha, who blessed the beast and tamed it." The Secret Scientist pondered on that for a moment. "Though that legend also says that the Tarasque was then killed by the townspeople it was terrorizing even though it was tamed by her, so I suppose the legend cannot be ENTIRELY accurate."

From behind another boulder, Hope, Blake and Sun hid, the latter having dragged Jaqc's unconscious body with them. "Well, either way, we don't have a holy woman here with us." the sorceress resigned. "So that solution's off the table…" She peered out from behind the rock, only to see the Tarasque come lumbering over to them on its six legs, growling and hissing while its jaws began to ignite again. "I could use a spell, but doing it on something that big is going to take time!"

In response, Fastttrack came zooming in again, dashing straight up one of the Tarasque's arms and straight up to its head. "Well then, guess it's time for me again! Hero Time!" Slapping the Omnitrix when he got to the top, Ben changed directly into… "HUMUNGOUSAUR!" Raising his fists above his head and growing into his maximum height, the Vaxasaurian came crashing down on top of the beast, wrestling it to the ground even with its fiery main getting in his face.

Humungousaur proceeded to punch down on the Tarasque repeatedly, slamming it into the rocky ground and kicking up several bits of debris, ruining the smooth landscape. But if anything, this only motivated the Tarasque more. Its mane burned just as hot as its rage, rotating onto its back to use its claws on Humungousaur while snapping its jaws at him. "Oh no, not happenin', kitty… bear… turtle… thing!" Grabbing its mouth with his bare hands, Humungousaur shoved the Tarasque back down and flipped it onto its stomach, pushing its head to the floor.

…But unfortunately, he wasn't able to see the scorpion tail come up in his blind spot. "BEN!" Zak warned, standing up from his hiding place. "Look out behind you!"

"Huh?" Humungousaur snapped his head around… and was about to get a face full of scorpion stinger. …At least, that would have happened. Instead, right as the tip almost stabbed him in the nose, it stopped short, much to his confusion. "W-What the…"

"Gah… j-just keep holding it like that!" Shifitng his focus back down to Zak, the Omnitrix bearer was met with a concerning sight. Zak was now directly in front of the pinned Tarasque, and he was using his powers to try and control it. Granted, it had worked, both of their eyes glowing orange as the Tarasque lowered its tail, but the question was… how long would it last?

"Zak! Stop!" Humungousaur bellowed. "What'd I say before?! I don't want you to risk getting another headache again! Do you have any idea what could happen?!"

Zak shook his head, adamantly going against his orders. "Whatever happens to me won't be nearly as bad as what happens if THIS thing gets loose and decides to go on a rampage across the city! We HAVE to subdue it!" His sights briefly moved up to look Humungousaur in the eye. "Whatever happens to me comes secondary here! It's our job to protect people, isn't it?! And last I checked, the Tarasque is a cryptid, so I gotta try!"

Humungousaur was left completely speechless for a few moments, hearing the conviction in Zak's voice. And he couldn't feel any prouder. 'Spoken like a real hero.' Securing his grip around the Tarasque, he sent Zak a smile and shifted all of his weight forward, intent on keeping the Tarasque down. "Heh, you're nuts… but you're right. Give it a try, but be careful!"

"Hm, thanks!" Zak returned the grin before concentrating back on the Tarasque, moving up to its face as it snarled and growled at him. "It's okay, buddy. Everything's fine now. No one's gonna hurt you, we just need you to calm down, please." …But then, a slight pain in the back of Zak's head started to spread toward the front, making him wince. 'Oh no, not now…'

"GRAAOOWW!" A pained bellow escaped the Tarasque's throat, almost as if it shared in Zak's pain before it began struggling under Humungousaur again.

Ruby gasped and went to rush up to her friend. "Z-Zak, wait! Something's wrong!"

However, Zak wasn't having it, raising a hand to stop her. "Ruby, s-stay back! I've got this handled!" Focusing even harder on expressing his thoughts to the beast, Zak spoke softly once again; "Please, don't be scared. W-We just want to help you…"

From the same spot the pain originated from, though, Zak began hearing something… that same inner voice again. "You're failing. Just like the last time." A pained grunt came from the boy as his eyes screwed shut, causing the Tarasque to start thrashing about even more. "You always fail, though, don't you? Like how you failed to save EVERYONE in the war with Argost. Wonder what Van Rook would say to you if he were here right now?"

"Shut up… SHUT UP!" All of a sudden, as Zak's eyes snapped open, the color of his powers changed from orange… to an eerie blue.

As a result, the Tarasque's own eyes began to glow blue as well, though if anything, that only increased its rage even further. "GRAAAAOOOGGHH!" Wrenching its entire body back, it managed to lift itself onto its hindlegs, much to Humungousaur's astonishment.

"H-HEY! Zak, stop, your powers are—" *SHINK* "AGH!" Without any warning, several massive spikes came shooting out from the Tarasque's shell and stabbed right into Humungousaur. None of them pierced his skin, but they were still sharp enough to cause him great pain. He was forced off of its back and fell straight to the floor, where he transformed back into Ben in a flash of green light.

Sun and Blake wasted no time running over to aid their friend, the monkey boy kneeling down to help him stand. "Ben! A-Are you okay, dude?"

"Gah… y-yeah, pretty sure." Ben grimaced, still feeling the side-effects from that attack. "Just wasn't expecting that. "Come on, we've gotta get Zak out of there!" Running back to the main group, Ben went straight up to Zak, standing directly in front of him as he placed his hands on his shoulders. "Zak! Stop! You're only making things worse for yourself!"

"NO!" Zak bellowed, surprising everyone as he pushed Ben aside. "I-I can do this! I WON'T fail again!"

Ruby's brows furrowed, concerned and confused about what her friend was saying. "Again? Z-Zak, what're you—"

"RAAAAOOOORRRHH!" Another roar cut her off as the Tarasque opened its jaws again, preparing to launch another blast of fire down directly at Zak.

And at that point, Ben knew he had seen enough. "FISK! Time to do what you came here for!" With an understanding nod, Fiskerton gave a thumbs up and rushed Zak from behind, wrapping his long arms around him and pulling him to the ground with all his strength. The duo rolled away just in time to avoid the fiery blast, with everyone else scattering again.

Needless to say, Zak wasn't too happy with the move. "Gah! F-Fisk, STOP! Lemme go!" Struggling in his brother's grasp, Zak's eyes slowly went back to normal… but the voice kept egging him on.

"Heh, always gotta have others help you. Sad, really."

"SHUT UP!" Zak snapped, trying to kick his way out of Fiskerton's grasp.

But before he could even try to make an escape, Hope suddenly appeared in front of the two, her hands glowing with magical power. "Zak, that's enough. I'm doing this for your own good!" Putting her hands on his temples, she chanted; "Intus Reprimunt!"

"W-What?! No, wait! I WASN'T DO—"

All at once, the voice disappeared, as did Zak's headache. Letting out a deep gasp, Zak could feel his head start to clear all at once, snapping back to his senses. "W-Wha… what the heck?" His eyes darted around, seeing the team gathering back around him as Fisk finally let him go. "Th-That… that was—oof!"

Suddenly, Ruby went up and, to everyone's shock, pulling him into a soul-crushing hug. "SCARY! Really, REALLY scary! Zak, please don't try that again!"

"Agh! R-Ruby, okay, I get it!" Zak managed to choke out. "Please, let me breathe!"

She loosened her grip, but Ruby didn't dare let go of him. "Zak, whatever the heck is going on with you, we need to figure it out before you try using your powers again." She stared deep into his eyes, her gaze unflinching. "Please promise me you won't do anything like that again!"

Taken aback, Zak stammered out his answer. "O-Okay, I-I won't."

"Promise!"

"I-I promise!" Zak bowed his head to her. "I won't use my powers for a while, Ruby, I swear." He peaked up through his bangs, fearful of what he'd see. Much to his relief, though, he was greeted by Ruby smiling softly at him, satisfied with his answer.

"GRRRRAAAAOOOOOORRRGHH!"

The duo shouted in fear and spun about, facing the Tarasque as it slowly closed in on them, its teeth barred and ready to attack. But in response, Ben, Hope, Blake and Sun all rushed up to stand in the beast's way, with Ruby and Fiskerton joining them soon after. "Zak, get yourself and Dr. Garnier to safety." Ruby advised. "We'll have to take the Tarasque down the hard way."

Juliette, however, wasn't so certain of that claim. "C-Can you really subdue the creature by force?"

"We're gonna have to." Ben lamented, shaking his head. "Trust me, it's not the best solution, but it's the only one we've got." His sights moved over to the resident sorceress. "Charmcaster, I'm assuming you've got a spell or two up your sleeve for the big guy."

With an uncertain breath, Hope could only shrug. "Not entirely sure. It was said the Tarasque was only subdued by Saint Martha's blessings, but I'm no holy woman."

"We'll just have to make due, then." Ben went straight for the Omnitrix. "I'm gonna go Humongousaur again and then go Ultimate. Hopefully that will—" *TAPTAPTAPTAPTAP* "AH!" The hero flinched when a hard tapping knocked into the side of his head, raising his arms to get whatever was on him off. Sure enough… it was the woodpecker again, and it was flapping in the air directly in front of them.

Sun rolled his eyes and groaned. "Oh for the love of—DUDE! We've got an important fight going on, could you PLEASE find something else to—w-wha—HEY! Wait a second!" But Sun's warning went unheeded as the woodpecker spun around and made a straight beeline for the Tarasque, just as it was about to shoot out another fire blast.

"What's the little guy doing?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Don't be a hero!" Blake warned. "Come back!"

All the same, the woodpecker flew forward and spread its winds protectively as it got right in front of the Tarasque's eyes. And, just as the monster was about to fire… a blinding, golden light erupted from the bird. Everyone yelled as the room was entirely lit, all while energy was sent pulsing out through the air around them. Taken off guard and blinded, the Tarasque changed tactics and raised a massive paw to strike the bird… but was instead caught by a strong hand. "Ah-ah-ah! Not today!"

The arrival of a new voice once again threw everyone for a loop, though thankfully, they were able to see again as the light dissipated. …But nothing could have prepared them for what they saw holding the Tarasque back. Floating high above them was a tall, lanky figure of about seven feet in height, holding a long, red staff with golden clasps on each end in one hand while keeping the beast's paw up with the other. He was dressed in a golden mail tunic with a matching chest plate and shoulder pads, all of which had red, ornate detailing throughout. His legs were donned in a pair of red pants with a tiger pelt tied around his hips, his black boots strapped to his feet with golden wrappings. On his back was a red cloak, and his head was adorned with a gold crest that had a pair of long, red feathers sticking out the back.

That, however, wasn't the most shocking part. No, that had to go to the fact that this figure… was a monkey. A tall monkey, tail and all, with bright brown fur. His facial features were somewhat of a mix of humanoid and primate, with a cleft lip that made him seem as if he was constantly smiling, and a flat nose that complimented his rounder features. But in contrast, his eyes were blood red, though they belied a jovial nature as he smirked up at his opponent.

"Hahaha! Now THIS is what I came to France for! So hard to find a good challenge these days…" With a powerful shove, the simian sent the Tarasque staggering onto its back, spinning his cudgel onto his shoulders as he peered back toward the teens. Just as he thought, they were all dumbfounded by his sudden entrance… well, aside from Ben, who was freaking out and likely hyperventilating. All the same, he shook his head and gave a chuckle, winking down to them as he jerked a thumb to himself. "Don't worry, kids. Just let ol' Monkey show ya how it's done."

…..

A/N: And there he is! As many of you thought, the Monkey King himself, the OG Sun Wu Kong, has finally made his presence known to our heroes! And you know what that means! Time for a HUGE monster fight next time! And on the topic of said monster, yeah, I wasn't about to just bring the gang to France and NOT have them fight its most iconic monster. Behold the Tarasque, ladies and gentlemen! Surprisingly NOT a monster that was just made up for D&D, this dragon/chimera thing is honestly one of the coolest monsters out there, and you can bet that Wu Kong's gonna have one hell of a time duking it out.

But that's far from the end of things when it comes to this chapter. For one, we finally get to meet the Forever Black Knight… and before you ask, yes, I DID take some design cues from the Ben 10 Reboot's singular Forever Knight, mainly in the helmet design and weapons. Though I can assure you that is the ONLY thing that's similar between the two. This character is entirely different from the disembodied mechanical head that possesses people. Also, seems he might have a bit of a rivalry forming with Rex, so we'll see how that goes.

Of course, the White Knight's no slouch either, and as many of you ALSO predicted, Jaqc ended up betraying the team in the end, being the Knights' inside man. Greed and anger can be quite the negative motivation for some people, can't it? Thankfully, Ben made sure that he didn't get away with it.

And oh boy, Zak's headaches continue to get worse, as does that voice in the back of his head with all of those harmful "thoughts". Definitely seems that whatever's afflicting him wants him to be in as much turmoil as possible, but for what reason? And how long has this really been festering in his head? Well, guess you'll just have to keep reading to find out those answers, but for now…

NEXT TIME! It's the finale of Ben 10 RWBY Month, and the Monkey King's about to kick some ass! …Though not before getting a word or two in with our heroes. But, as the team makes for the tablet fragment, word manages to get to the heroes up topside and Rex calls for some backup… though the Knights still have some tricks up their sleeves. It's a neck and neck race, so let's hope our heroes pull through. Thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! And of course, stay safe out there!