A/N (IMPORTANT, Please Read): Well folks, here we are. The final chapter in this first "season" of Ben 10 RWBY Ultimate Omniverse. And I gotta say, since returning to this story back in April, it's been a blast working on it. But, with that said, I think I'm definitely ready to take a bit of a break from it as well. Don't wanna get too burned out on it, ya know? But don't worry, when I return to this fic in May of next year, we're gonna be seeing TONS of new things coming into the story, so look forward to that! And of course, after my break week, I'll be hopping back over to the next arc of my Transformers/MHA crossover, so if any of you are interested in that, please feel free to check it out! Also, coming at the start of next year is the next "Season" of Ben 10 RWBY Chibi, so feel free to hop on over there as well if you so wish!

For now, though, I think it's time we get into it! This is…

Chapter 31: It was Them!

…..

The beach had been one of the many things that Ruby was looking forward to the most on this little mini-vacation. She hadn't gotten much of a chance to go back during the summer on Remnant, so this presented a good substitute for that. Making up for lost time and all. And overall, things had seemed to be going well… right up until the giant ants attacked. Now granted, they hadn't expected that, but it still managed to sour everyone's mood a bit after that, especially since it essentially caused Ben, Yang and Neptune to miss out on some fun time.

'Guess it just goes to show that we really CAN'T go a single day without something weird happening.' Ruby thought to herself with a small sigh. She was currently hard at work making a sand castle with Penny and Velvet, and although it was coming along rather well, she still couldn't get her mind off of what had happened earlier. 'Guess it's just something we'll have to get used to.'

Since the others had departed a few minutes ago, the gang had gotten back to doing their own activities as well. After they had set the volley ball court back up, the teams reorganized themselves so that it was now Team JNPR playing against the team of Kevin, Gwen, Rex and Weiss. As expected, the established team of four first-years were in pretty good sync with one another, though that didn't mean the opposing team of two couples weren't able to keep up with them. Yatsu had taken up refereeing duties for this game, as Cooper was currently… preoccupied with something more important.

Meanwhile, Sun and Ilia had decided to go surfing with Fox, who was surprisingly pretty good despite not being able to see at all. Ruby could only guess that his other senses must've been so enhanced that the lack of sight didn't bother him much. This theory of hers was only reinforced when she saw him surf, because the redheaded young man was so confident hanging ten on his board that Ruby couldn't believe it. 'He HAS to have an incredible amount of confidence to do that.' she noted. '…Either that, or he's crazy.' Ruby couldn't help but smile as she watched Sun and Ilia shoot through the curve of the wave, the latter even going up to get some air time. "Woo! Go Ilia!"

Penny and Velvet craned their heads up as they watched the chameleon girl come falling back down on the wave, sticking the landing on it perfectly. "Oh my, she's quite good!" Penny said as she began analyzing Ilia's trick. "She had to land that at a perfect eighty-three-degree angle to pull that off!"

"I know, it's astonishing!" Velvet concurred.

"Hmhm, well, maybe to you." The girls all perked up as they set their sights over to Blake, who was currently lounging in a chair and basking in the rays of the sun. Coco was doing the same next to her, though the difference was that the fashionista was one; lying on a beach towel on the sand, and two; has nestled directly next to Cooper, both of them partially under an umbrella. Blake lowered her sunglasses as she watched Ilia, Sun and Fox come shooting out the wave as it crashed to the water's surface. "Ilia's always been one for a bit of challenge. If anything, she probably considers this balance training."

"Balance training?" Velvet quirked a brow.

But Ruby realized what Blake was talking about right away. "Ah, that makes sense. Ilia probably wants to make sure she's as balanced as possible for potential spy missions, right?"

Blake grinned and gave her a nod. "Yep, but even I got to admit, surfing DOES seem kinda fun."

Everyone heard Coco give a soft chuckle at that. "Heh, you sure that's not JUST because your wet, shirtless boyfriend is out there, Kit Kat?" Blake deadpanned toward the brunette as she pointed that out. "I'm just sayin', you're quite the lucky girl. You know how many gals would kill to have a boyfriend with washboard abs like Sun's?" As soon as she said that, she ran her hand up and down Cooper's own abdominal area. "Ya know, kinda like THIS six-pack?"

"A-Ah!" Cooper blushed as he looked down to his girlfriend. "C-Coco, while I appreciate the compliment, I really don't think my muscles are as impressive as Sun's."

"Well, that's where we're gonna have to disagree, Tech Head." Coco began running her hands all over Cooper by that point, taking the genius by surprise. "Mmm, as far as I'm concerned, you're not just a main course, you're a whole goddamn meal!"

"OKAY, TMI!" Ruby interjected, shooting a small glare over to the Team CFVY leader. "Coco, I like you, I respect you, but your mind is filled with FILTH!"

If anything, though, this just made Coco's smirk increase. "Oh, you know it, Rubes." She rasied her leg a little bit, intentionally rubbing it against Cooper's own leg to elicit another surprised yelp from him. "And I'm relishing all of it."

Ruby grumbled a little bit before crossing her arms in a huff and plopping back down into the sand, slightly flustered after seeing that. However, Penny couldn't help but think that there was a bit more going on here than her best friend was letting on. She wasn't exactly an expert on reading emotions, but she knew enough to know whenever Ruby was upset about something, so she decided to ask. "Ruby, is there something the matter? …Aside from the current conversation?"

"Hah… to tell you the truth, Penny, my mind's still on Ben, Yang and the others." Ruby explained. "It's just a shame that they got sucked up into something that yet again, we didn't plan on happening during our vacation."

"Oh, yes…" Penny's face fell slightly at those words. "Yes, it is rather disappointing."

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it." Blake brought up. "Remember; they said that they'd be back before sundown, so I'm sure that those two will still have plenty of time to do some fun beach stuff." She glanced to the side with a slight smirk. "Can't say the same for Neptune, though, but that's a given."

Velvet gave an agreeing nod. "Blake's right, Ruby. I'm sure this whole Animo situation will work out fine and they'll be back before you know it!" She offered the silver-eyed girl a shovel and bucket afterward. "So, you ready to continue work on our sandcastle?"

Ruby sat in silence for a second before smiling and taking the bucket and shovel with a chuckle. "Hmhm, sure thing! And thanks, gals, that makes me feel better. Now c'mon, let's build this thang!"

…..

Meanwhile, out in the middle of the hot, Mexican desert, the Proto-TRUK was flying at top speed several feet above the ground, making its way toward its intended destination. As the cracked, arid landscape passed by, Ben couldn't help but think about what had transpired over this supposed "vacation". Granted, he always had a feeling that the god hunting part of the expedition wouldn't be easy or relaxing, but the Ministry had definitely made it MUCH more difficult for them to fully enjoy the experience. And while Sunday morning had been pleasant, the incident at the beach managed to throw a wrench into the rest of their day.

"I swear, when I find Animo, I'm going to make it VERY clear to him that he and the Ministry made a big mistake barging in on our vacation." Ben murmured.

Next to him, in the driver's seat, Rook over heard and sent him a sympathetic expression. "I fully understand, Ben. If my time off were to be ruined by enlarged Formicidae, then I would also be rather displeased."

"Yeah, I mean… wait, what was that F word?"

"Formicidae." Rook answered. "The scientific name for ants." He wore a smile as he began to elaborate more on the subject. "I read all about them in a field guide Merzel of Veldus Prime before I arrived on Earth. It was really quite fascinating."

Ben tilted his head at that. "So… you know a lot about ants, then?"

"Indeed." The Revonnahgander raised a single finger as he listed off some facts. "For example, did you know that ants could lift about six times their own body weight? Or that they are the dominant species on your planet?"

"Hehe, yeah, I did actually—wait." Ben deadpanned as he realized what he just heard and raised a brow. "Repeat that last part to me again?"

"Merzel stated in his guide book that Formicidae were the dominant species on your planet." Rook repeated before shrugging. "Now, obviously, that is inaccurate, but I can see where he was coming from. After all, ants do outnumber humans nearly two-hundred thousand to one."

The Omnitrix bearer's eyes widened at the revelation. "…Huh, okay I had a feeling that there were a TON of ants in the world, but not by that much."

Rook nodded in agreement. "Indeed, I was just as surprised." He couldn't help but give an amused chuckle after that. "But at the same time, I could not help but find it ironic that ants are native to all continents accept for one; Antarctica."

Before Ben could even respond, a small hatch on the back wall of the cab suddenly opened up, with Yang popping her head out with a big smile. "Rook, that is both VERY ironic and an excellent pun! Haha! I'm impressed, man!"

"…That was a pun?" Rook asked before facing back out to the horizon before them. "Hm, interesting."

Ben couldn't help but shake his head before turning his attention to his girlfriend. "How're you guys holding up back there, babe? Sorry again that there's no room up here."

"Ah, it's fine, Green Boy." Yang leaned down next to Ben's head and gave him a smooch on the cheek for self-assurance. "You're fine, and we're doing fine back there, too. We've been entertaining ourselves…"

"ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS-SHOOT!" All of a sudden, a pair of voices suddenly rang out from the back, unmistakably Neptune's and Manny's. And, the very next second, Neptune alone let out an annoyed groan. "Oh come ON, again?!"

"Sorry man, rock beats scissors!" Manny defended.

"Dude, you have like, THREE other hands, how am I supposed to keep up?!"

Ben and Yang glanced back into the hold before the Blonde Brawler sent a concerned eye back to her boyfriend. "Okay, in truth, we're utterly bored and we've been doing nothing but trying to beat Manny at Rock-Paper-Scissors for forty-five minutes." She thrust her arms out and began shaking her boyfriend desperately by the shoulders. "Please tell me we're close so this dull crap can be stopped!"

Rook was quick to point at the radar on the Proto-TRUK's dashboard. "Worry not, Yang, we are almost at our destination. I will be bringing the Proto-TRUK in for a landing soon, so please, be sure to stay in your seat as we do."

Yang broke out into a huge grin and pumped her fist in victory. "Haha! Alright! Rook, you are a lifesaver!" She pulled herself back into the hold and informed the others as soon as she did. "Hey guys, did ya hear? We're close to where Animo is and we're comin' in for a landing!"

"Oh thank god." Helen slumped forward in her seat with an exasperated sigh. "There was only so much more roshambo I could take."

"Man, and I was so close to winning…" Neptune huffed as he crossed his arms.

Manny, however, balked at the idea. "Ha! Yeah, right." He jerked a thumb to himself with a cocky grin. "You're lookin' at the roshambo champion, my friend."

"Dude, c'mon, those extra hands of yours just GIVE you an extra advantage." Neptune argued with a small glare.

"Ah, you're just jealous since ya don't have an extra set." Manny waved his lower appendages for emphasis before locking his seatbelt in, preparing for landing. "But hey, we can talk about that later. Right now, let's focus on bringin' down D'Void—er, I mean, Animo."

Yang and Neptune couldn't help but furrow their brows a bit at that slip. "D'Void?"

"Oh, yeah, you weren't around for that." Helen jumped in, quickly giving a brief explanation. "You see, a couple of years ago when Manny and I had went to the Null Void, we found that the entire dimension had been overtaken by Animo when he took control of the Null Guardians, who were in charge of the prisoners in the void. We also ended up running into Max while we were in there, and—"

But then, Yang gasped. "Ah! Wait, I think Ben told me this already. He said that you sent a message to him from the Null Void and he came to help, which was when he found out that Max was still alive. Then he helped you beat Animo." A chuckle escaped the blonde's lips as she set her sights toward the cab. "Hey, Green Boy, ya left out the detail where Animo gave himself a dumb nickname!"

"Ha, yeah, I guess I did." Ben called back. "Sorry 'bout that, Yang."

Neptune cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention to him. "While this is all really interesting, I think we should be ready for whatever we're gonna find when we reach this place. I mean, who knows how many types of ants Animo could have up his sleeve?"

Manny crossed his arms and nodded. "Yeah, and from what you guys told us, he may have back-up, too…" The Tetramand hybrid pulled out a data pad from one of his pouches and activated it, bringing up a pair of holograms of two people. One was a massive Caucasian man with large muscles and wearing heavy brown armor, complete with a large, domed helmet over his head that had a blue laser crystal in the center of it. The other hologram was of a heavy-set African-American man with a black mohawk, wearing a black shirt with a yellow lightning bolt across it with matching black jeans and leather boots. Over his shirt, he wore a purple, sleeveless leather jacket as well. The man's equipment consisted of a purple-lensed visor, a set of metal gauntlets, and to top it all off, a large chain mace that appeared to be quite deadly.

"These two, right?" Manny continued. "Thaddeus P. Hogan and Farkas J. Skullovich."

"A.K.A. Thunderhog and Exo-Skull." Helen added. "A pair of Class D supervillains. On the surface, they shouldn't be too much of a problem…"

Ben set his sights back into the hold and eyed Yang and Neptune, who gave their own wary glances back toward him. The hero went back to Helen and Manny before pointing at the holograms of the human forms of Hog and Skull. "Uh, you guys might wanna update the database and bump those guys up a class. Because lemme tell ya, they got a LOT tougher since they were last in this dimension."

"I mean, they're still kinda dumb, but they're VERY strong." Yang emphasized. "Plus, they don't even LOOK like that anymore."

Manny gave them a shrug. "Oh, we know ALL about that. The database just hasn't been fully updated yet."

Helen raised an eyeridge to Ben. "That leads me to ask, though… what DID Hog and Skull get mutated into?"

"…It's probably best if you see for yourselves." Ben sat back down in his seat as the Proto-TRUK began to descend. "Because if I just told you, you probably wouldn't believe me."

"Ah, please, we've seen enough crazy stuff before." Manny waved off. "What makes you think we wouldn't believe ya?"

Ben thought about it for a moment before deciding to take a chance. "…Animo turned them into a giant rhino and warthog."

"…Okay, maybe a LITTLE bit of disbelief."

"See?!" Ben threw his hands up in the air. "What'd I tell ya?!"

Manny got right up near the hatch and eyed Ben skeptically. "Okay, dude, I'm willin' to believe ya on a lotta stuff, but… a rhino and warthog? That's WAY too coincidental." He crossed all four of his arms and added; "You expect me to buy that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle bullcrap?"

Just then, the Proto-TRUK jostled a bit as it came to a full landing, before Ben then took off his seatbelt and faced Manny full-on. "Oh, trust me, Manny, you'll be believing me when you actually SEE Hog and Skull. Now come on, let's get going." With that, Ben and Rook opened their doors and climbed out of the spaceship, with the back hatches opening up to let Manny and the others out as well. But when they touched the ground, Ben immediately noticed the signal tracker in Rook's hand… and from what it was saying, they were still quite a ways out from their destination. "Uh, Rook?"

"Yes, Ben?"

"Why are we still this far away from the signal?"

Rook raised a finger to the hero as he explained. "For two reasons; one, so that we can more easily make it past any security measures that Animo may have in place. After all, we do not want to be shot out of the sky. And secondly…" He pointed off toward the east. "Over there."

The rest of the team all craned their heads around and instantly saw what Rook was talking about, though they were still pretty surprised. It was a long line of massive, mutated ants, all of them of several different genus and sizes. But the fact that all of them were carrying some pretty heavy equipment on their backs was what really caught their attention. "Woah, why're they carrying all that machinery?" Neptune asked.

Helen took out a pair of binoculars and zoomed in on the ants, getting a clearer view of the machines in the process. "…Oh no." She lowered her binoculars with a worried expression. "Guys, all of that is some pretty advanced alien tech."

"Wait, really?" Yang was given the binoculars so that she could get a better view herself. "But where'd they find all of it?"

"I believe I know." Rook spoke up again before recalibrating his signal tracker, which was now showing a rather dull blip on the radar. "I read that there is an old abandoned Plumber base out here that a group of technicians were working on, bringing in some fresh equipment in the process." Rook brought the tracker back to focusing on their location. "However, the project has been temporarily put on hold in light of the Bellwood Plumber Base requiring repairs after Vilgax's escape."

"Leavin' all that new equipment ripe for the pickin'." Manny finished before slamming two fists into each of his open palms. "So Animo swooped in an' nabbed all of it with his new pets. Well, I say we get back at him for it, whaddya say?!"

Ben set his focus on the line of ants moving northward, giving a small nod. "I agree, but let's not get too hasty. Going in gung-ho will just tip Animo and his stooges off to us being there. Let's follow the line of ants and see where they head." He pointed to the team one more time. "And remember; keep a good distance. If we alert them, we could wind up being their dinner."

With that rather troubling reminder, the team of six began following the ants. But, as they went on, the silence was beginning to bother Helen a bit, so she decided to make small talk. "So guys, how've things been on your vacation?" Yang, Neptune and Ben all craned their heads around, focusing on her. "You guys MUST have been to some pretty amazing places in Mexico after a day and a half, right?"

"Oh, we have, alright." Yang affirmed. "And we've seen some amazing stuff, too." She pulled out her scroll and brought up her pictures, scrolling through them before showing them to Helen. "Check it out, this is from yesterday…"

Helen peered closer to the image before her eyes widened in shock. There, on the holographic screen, was a picture of Ben, as Four Arms, along with Rex, and they were both fighting some sort of giant monster-like being with grey, shriveled skin, pointed ears, and glowing red eyes. What was more confusing was that they seemed to be inside some sort of old stone structure, though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what it was. "W-What… what in the world is THIS?"

Neptune pointed to the screen and explained; "Oh, that's Ah Puch, the Mayan God of Death. Ben and Rex fought him inside an ancient temple that rebuilt itself." All he got in response was an incredulous stare from the half-Kineceleran, with Rook and Manny also dumbfounded by the information. "…I'm guessing that was a bit too sudden of a revelation."

"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" Manny shouted, rushing past Neptune to see the picture. "You're tellin' me that you guys fought a freakin' GOD?!"

"Yep." Ben nodded. "Even took Rex's soul out of his body temporarily. Plus, we met another god right after we fought him."

"SAY WHAT?!" Helen and Manny echoed.

Rook also came up to inspect the photo himself, taking note of Ah Puch's appearance. "Hm, this being is definitely unlike any alien I've ever seen." He eyed Ben with a bit of skepticism. "Still, I must say that I am somewhat curious… I always thought that the godly pantheons that your people worshiped in ancient times were only myths and nothing more."

Ben couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Hehe, well Rook, you'll find that sometimes, there's way more to myths than meets the eye. And that's true for both Earth AND Remnant, actually. But, if you still don't believe me…" He glanced over to Yang and gave her a wink. "Show 'em the other guy we met, Goldie Locks."

"You got it, Green Boy." Yang gave a thumbs up and scrolled through her pictures until finding the one she wanted. "Okay, so after our meet-up with Ah Puch and Ek Chuaj, we went to Teotihuacan where we ended up fighting the Ministry. But, the whole reason why we WENT to Teotihuacan was so we could find THIS guy!"

Yang thrust the picture out to Rook, Manny and Helen… and the moment they saw it, the latter two felt their jaws drop, with Rook's eyebrows raising up. There, right in the center of the frame was the glowing, golden form of Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent in mid roar. "…No fuckin' way." Manny murmured.

"Is… is that who I think it is?" Helen stammered.

"Yep! That's Quetzalcoatl in all his glory!" Ben nodded. "Nice guy, really. He beat up the Ministry and he gave us his tail after Cinder cut it off as a souvenir."

Neptune jumped in at that. "Plus, it has healing feathers, so that's cool."

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CASUAL ABOUT THAT?!" Manny bellowed.

Ben only gave a shrug. "Eh, what can I say? I've experienced a lot of weird stuff, so a sliced off tail with healing feathers doesn't really phase me all that much."

Rook, however, could only tap his chin, taking all of this information in while keeping his more skeptic side on point. "Really? If that is the case, then I would like to see this healing tail when we return. It sounds fascinating."

"Sure thing. But for now, let's keep going. We've still got a way to go." After that, the gang continued for about another half mile before seeing their destination appear before them. And needless to say, they were both shocked… and unsurprised at the same time. "Hah… should've guessed their base was a giant anthill." Ben deadpanned. For indeed, the massive butte before them had been repurposed into a massive anthill, which served to unsettle many in the group.

"Ugh, SUPER creepy." Neptune shuddered.

"Yeah, I mean… LOOK at them all." Helen pointed up toward the top of the butte, on which several more ants could be seen scuttling all over it.

"Man, this just keeps getting better." Came a sarcastic comment from Yang. "You see an anthill, I see an Ant Hell."

Ben smiled and gave his girlfriend a supportive hug. "Points for the awesome pun, my dear. But don't worry, we'll be fine so long as we keep a low profile. Now c'mon, guys, we can't waste much more time."

The group of six swiftly made their way up toward the giant anthill before hiding behind a massive boulder, watching as several different ants kept marching in with devices on their backs. There were standard ants, fire ants, and… a rather ugly type of ant as well. Ones that appeared to be a lot bigger than even all the other ones and had abnormally shaped heads. These ants in particular were ones that were much more gnarled around the edges, with mostly tan, armored hides and long, thorny legs. They also tended to have long, single white horns on their heads, bright red eyes, and all of them had mandibles that seemed to be made of metal.

Neptune couldn't help but shrink back a bit at the sight of those ones. "Ugh, what the heck is THAT kinda ant?"

"Yeah, they're a LOT different than all the other ones." Ben noted.

"If my hunch is correct, then those ants are of the species Haidomyrmecinae." Rook received a bunch of wide-eyed glances at the rather long and complex word, so he decided to simplify it. "Or, as you humans more commonly and so eloquently refer to them; Hell Ants."

Helen winced as she saw the Hell Ants move farther into the ant hill. "Ugh, well, I can definitely see why. But, Hell Ant or no, we gotta get in there. C'mon, let's—"

But Rook held up a hand. "Wait, Helen. It would be more prudent if we be mindful going about this…" The Revonnahgander trailed off as he scanned his eyes around the area, searching for something. Apparently, it didn't take him long to find his quarry as he walked over to a pool of rather gooey substance on the ground. He knelt down next to it… and then reached for it with his bare hand.

Neptune went up to Rook to see just what the heck he was doing. "Uh, Rook, what the heck did you just—" SPLAT! …That would prove to be a major mistake. Right as he got close, Rook suddenly shoved the goo right in Neptune's face, sending him reeling while everyone else gave a chorus of "EW!". Neptune gasped and cringed at what just happened. "Augh! Gross! Dude, what's with the mud pack?!"

"Not mud, pheromones." Rook clarified before shoving more of the goo at Neptune, making some of the others gag. He then took up more of the pheromones and then began lathering it on his own body as well. "Ants instinctively attack any intruder. But with these secretions on us, we will be like members of the colony."

Yang and Helen both glanced toward on another in disbelief. "Please tell me he's joking." Yang uttered.

"Girl, it's Rook." Helen reminded. "He doesn't make jokes intentionally." The Kineceleran girl took a deep breath before going in for some pheromones herself, rubbing them along her arms and tail. As much as she didn't want to either, Yang also knew she had to go through with it, so she slathered a bit on her own arms and legs. Manny grumbled as he and Ben also went through with it, but all the while, Neptune just kept glaring at Rook.

"This had BETTER work." The blue-haired boy pointed at the alien. "Because if you just smeared me with ant goo for nothing…" He narrowed his eyes at the last part. "We're gonna have a real problem, man."

…..

Once the whole gang were slathered with pheromones, they reluctantly went out into the open and started following the ants into the anthill. However, almost immediately, they were picked out my one of the enormous Hell Ants. The ant spun around on its spindly legs and lowered its head down to them, letting out a cautious clicking noise in the process. The heroes and the Plumbers all stood completely still and prayed that it wouldn't attack… and thankfully, it didn't. The Hell Ant simply went on its way, leaving them alone.

Yang sighed as everyone else took in a relieved breath. "Hah… thank the gods that worked."

"Indeed, low let us press on." Rook urged.

With their resolve strengthened, the team all made their way in, passing by several more different ant species before crossing a long natural bridge in a rather cavernous room. And, inside said room near the bottom… were a bunch of little ant larva that were all chittering away. "Oh, that's just not right." Manny shook his head. "Please tell me I can kill them first."

Helen rolled her eyes and kept pressing her partner forward. "Focus, Manny. Let's keep going." The team kept on their trek forward, though as they passed over the larvae, Helen couldn't help but notice that a certain blue-haired boy started to seem a bit queasy. She went over to him and put a hand to his shoulder, ignoring the gooey pheromones. "Neptune, you okay? You're looking a little green."

"Oh, yeah, sure." Neptune shakily replied. "Seeing all of this gross bug spawn and being covered in ant secretions ain't affecting me one bit, hehe…"

She could tell that he was being sarcastic, but still, Helen gave him a supportive smile. "Don't worry, you're not the only one grossed out by this. We'll make it out of here, though, okay?" Helen sent him a reassuring wink. "Trust me, you got this."

It was at that point that Neptune was thankful all this ant goo was covering his cheeks, as he felt them heat up instantly. "Uh… yeah." He nodded back with a smile. "Yeah, we will. We've got this, I mean… it IS just Animo, right?" With his resolve now reinforced, Neptune continued forward with Helen and the others until they reached another entryway. They stepped through and immediately, they were taken off guard by what they saw.

"…Okay, what the hell is that?" Yang said as her eyes went further up the massive structure. It seemed to be some sort of towering antenna that had glowing red energy lines all throughout it, each one leading to the tips of a series of massive spikes that jut out from the sides. At the very top, there was a two-pronged set of spikes as well, though what purpose the entire antenna served, they had no idea.

"No clue, but in my experience, I bet it's nothing good…" Ben trailed his eyes around the massive cavern, which was actually being lit up by the sun itself since there was a massive hole at the very top of it. He saw a ton of ants going marching along several pathways as well, all of them working their way up the massive antenna while carrying more mechanical equipment. However, near the base of the antenna itself, there was a large control panel… and standing in front of it was none other than Animo himself. "Why don't we ask him, huh?"

The heroes proceeded forward as Animo raised his hands toward his army of ants. "YES, my pets! Build… construct… GROW!"

"Doctor Animo!"

The good doctor gasped and spun around, revealing himself to the group. He was now wearing a brand-new green lab coat and a pair of black pants, along with a set of matching boots and fingerless gloves. On his head, however, he wore a dome-shaped helmet that had a pair of antennae sticking straight out of it, along with a set of red goggles over his eyes. He gave a gnarled grin and spread his arms out in greeting. "Ah, Ben Tennyson! I've been expecting you…" But then, his smile faltered a bit when he noticed the size of the team. "Hm… although, you have far lesser numbers than I was anticipating."

Yang crossed her arms defiantly as she and the others began wiping the pheromones off their bodies. "Yeah, well, we weren't about to let you ruin everyone else's beach day, so we came here to kick your butt by ourselves."

"Ah, so you DID get my little gift." Animo wrung his hands together eagerly. "Excellent, that means my pets' burrowing capabilities are FAR greater than I thought!"

Manny scowled at the doctor and pulled all four of his guns out of his holsters. "Cut the crap, Animo. Just what the hell is goin' on here?!"

If anything, though, this just served to amuse the doctor. "Oh, well if it isn't the Helpers? I haven't seen the two of you in quite a while."

"Well, we're not just Helpers anymore, Animo." Helen pulled out her own pistol as well as her Plumbers badge, flashing it toward the Animo. "We're duly deputized members of the Plumbers, and we're here to place you under arrest."

"I see…" Animo put his hands in the air with a sinister smile. "Well then, I suppose I have no choice but to… wish you luck with that." He snapped his head up and called out; "Oh boys! We have guests!"

"COMIN', BOSS!" Manny, Helen and the others all craned their heads up in time to see two dark shapes come crashing down from high up on the antenna. And then… THWAM! Only Helen was fast enough to get out of the way of the incoming duo, though she also grabbed the nearest person she could to save them as well.

…And of course, that person ended up being Neptune. "GAH! Oh god, that was…"

"Oh my gosh, sorry Neptune!" Helen apologized. "I probably should've warned you…"

"It's okay… hah, I-I just need some time to… oh crap."

Helen shot her head up to see what Neptune was seeing… and her eyes widened considerably. Ben wasn't lying about Hog and Skull after all. Before the scattered group of heroes stood two massive mutated beastly humanoids, one resembling a rhino with a big laser horn and a mini-gun strapped to his back while the other was a warthog with a purple visor, metal gauntlets, and holding a mace in his hands. And if that weren't enough, they were also wearing the same clothes and armor as Hog and Skull, only solidifying that it was indeed them. Helen shifted her eyes over to Manny and called out; "Manny, you owe Ben an apology!"

"Ugh, wha…" Manny lifted his head up and opened his four eyes… and his jaw hit the floor the moment he saw Thunderhog and Exo-Skull standing before him with menacing smiles.

"Ahaha! Well, well, what do we have here?" Hog guffawed as he smashed his gauntlets together, generating a surge of electricity. "Seems like a certain team felt like they could downsize for this mission, eh, Skull?"

"Heh, yeah, an' THAT'S gonna be a major mistake." Skull lowered himself down to the group and padded the dirt with his hand, getting ready to charge. "And let me tell you, you guys are gonna PAY for what you did to our teammates yesterday, ESPECIALLY Subdora!"

Manny could only stay silent for so long, though. "Ho… ly… CRAP! They really DID get mutated into Bebop and Rocksteady!"

This took the wind out of Hog and Skull's sails pretty fast, the latter even falling on his face while his swine friend slapped his forehead. "For SHIT'S sake! How many times to we have to TELL people?! Yeah, sure, we were inspired by Bebop an' Rocksteady, but we are a THOUSAND times better than they could ever hope to be!"

Ben and Yang deadpanned at that. "Yeah? In what universe?" the blonde questioned.

"Okay, THAT is it!" Without wasting any more time, Hog brought his mace up and began spinning it, generating a brilliant display of red lighting that arced all around him. "Don't believe me?! Then watch THIS! Thunder! THUNDER! THUNDERHOG!" The pig man bellowed a mighty roar and slammed his mace on the floor of the cavern, causing it to crumble as a small fissure opened up, with arcs of lightning being sent out everywhere.

Acting as quick as they could, Yang, Helen, Neptune, Rook and Manny all got out of the way while Ben activated the Omnitrix, transforming himself into… "Feedback!" The Conductoid landed on the ground and brought his hands up, absorbing as much of the red lightning as he could into his tendrils and tail. The energy coursed through his entire body and coalesced into his arms before he sent it right back at Thunderhog. The impact caused a small explosion and Feedback smirked. "Heh, how does THAT feel, Bacon Strips?" But, when the smoke cleared, he was met with an unexpected sight. "Huh?!"

As it turned out, Exo-Skull had managed to charge his way in front of Thunderhog at the last possible moment. And, much to everyone's surprise, he was protecting his best friend with a massive blue energy shield that was projecting out of his right arm. "Haha! Nice try, Tennyson." Skull laughed. "But I've been given a bit of an upgrade."

"Ha! Nice one, Skull!" Hog said with a pat to his friend's shoulder. "The big man said you're your size would be good for protection, but damn!"

"And who would this "big man" be, exactly?" Rook asked as he took aim at the duo with his Proto-Tool.

"That's none a' your business." Skull emphasized. "But right now, I'd say that you've got bigger things to worry about." The rhino man craned his head over to Animo and gave him a nod. "Doc, we're good to go."

"Excellent!" Animo said before pressing a button on the control panel, and immediately, the antenna began to power up and extend up through the massive hole in the ceiling. "Tell me, young heroes, did you know that there are a quadrillion ants on planet Earth?" He raised a finger to emphasize the point. "With species native to every continent except for… Antartica?"

The team all eyed one another in surprise before Feedback responded. "Uh, yeah, kinda. What's your point?"

Animo raised his hand up to the massive antenna. "The device before you generates a mutagenic pulse. One that will turn every single ant on Earth into a giant mutant, with I, Doctor Animo, as their king!" The doctor raised his fists into the air while Hog and Skull laughed it up. "And thus, the Ministry of Darkness will have a venerable army of loyal foot soldiers at our disposal, and the world… will be our ANT FARM!"

There was a long, drawn-out silence after Animo finished saying that, the team of heroes all staring with dumbfounded expressions. Finally, however, Neptune spoke up. "That… is probably the lamest plan that I've ever heard in my life. They're just BUGS."

"…Actually, Neptune, it's kinda ingenious." Helen noted. "Ants are a LOT more dangerous than you're probably thinking, especially at the size he wants 'em at. Plus, the fact that they outnumber humans twenty-thousand to one, it would be a BIG problem."

Feedback stood tall and placed his hands on his hips. "Exactly, which is why we need to stop him here." He sent a pointed glare to the doctor to make a point. "I mean, c'mon Animo, you seriously don't think we'll let you get away with this, do ya?"

"Oh, you can certainly try and stop me, Tennyson." Animo invited before snapped his fingers, to which Hog and Skull stood at attention. "But remember, I have my trusted muscle AND an already well-sized army of ants at my disposal!"

"And I like those odds." Feedback smirked before focusing to his team. "Alright guys, let's… Rook?" The Conductoid was confused at the sight of Rook seemingly staring off into the distance, only to then notice that he was actually staring directly at one of the giant ants. This ant in particular was carrying a cylindrical device on its back as well.

"…That is a kormite power core." Rook uttered.

Yang leaned toward him and raised a brow. "Uh, I'm sorry, a what powercore?"

But much to everyone's shock, Rook waved his hand to them. "Er, keep chatting with the villains. I will handle the ant."

"W-Wait, what?!" Yang exclaimed as Rook suddenly began running toward the ant. "Rook, what the hell?!"

But Rook wasn't the only one who took off charging. "Hey! Get back here!" Exo-Skull hollered before activating the jets on his back, barreling forward as they helped propel him. He was about to close in on Rook when… THWAM! "GAH!" Just as he closed in, Manny suddenly lunged forward and sent two powerful fists into the side of Exo-Skull's head, causing him to go off balance and then crash head-first into a big stalagmite. Skull lurched back, pulling his head out of the rock to face Manny, the tip of his horn glowing blue. "Yer gonna PAY for that, kid."

"Bring it, Ramrod, I ain't scared of you!" Manny pounded his fists into his palms before smirking to Yang. "Yo, Yang! You wanna help me kick this dude's ass?!"

Yang pumped Ember Celica with a smirk of her own. "Gladly!" The Blonde Brawler knelt down and blasted herself forward with her gauntlets, flying toward Exo-Skull with amazing speed. Manny quickly joined her and before long, a brawl had broken out.

However, Thunderhog hadn't lost sight of Rook either, and he was gearing up to blast the Revonnahgander with his laser visor. "Hehe, gotcha locked on target…" But, just as he was about to press the button, he felt a burst of wind suddenly rush past him and take him by surprise. "H-Huh? What was—" BAM! "ACK!" THWAK! "OOF!" CRACK! "AUGH!" A quick flurry of punches, kicks to the gut and a stiff uppercut sent Thunderhog toppling back, making his laser completely miss Rook by a country mile. He landed on his backside and was met with Helen standing right in front of him, aiming her pistol at his face. "Oh yeah, forgot 'bout you."

"Yeah, and I suggest you stay down, buster, if you know what's—"

"RAH!" Thunderhog wasn't in a listening mood, though, the mutant man jumping up to his feet and reaching out to grab her. Unfortunately, his hand met nothing but air as Helen dashed off, leaving him surprised. "H-Huh? W-Where'd she—" THWAP! "EEYOWCH!" A hard whipping sensation then began to sting across his rear end, causing him to stumble forward and growl angrily. He craned his head around to see Helen coming to a stop, her tail wagging a bit after she hit him with it.

Helen took aim for him again and shook her head. "Sorry, but I don't think so."

"Oh, you are IN for it now, bitch!" As quick as he could, Hog began to lay in rapid fire blasts from his visor, only for Helen to dodge each and every one of them. "Would you HOLD STILL?!"

"Kinda goes what I'm all about, so no!" Helen denied.

Another growl escaped Hog's throat as he started switching tactics. "Oh yeah, well then maybe you'll like THIS a bit more!" Once more, Thunderhog spun his Thunder Mace over his head and brought it down onto the ground, sending out arcs of red lightning all over the place. This time, though, it managed to work. Helen was hit directly with a bolt of lightning and forced to a stop, letting out a screech of pain as she crashed to the floor. "AHAHA! There it is!" Hog rubbed his fists together as he approached her, generating more lightning as he made to grab her. "Now, let's see how you fry!"

But then… SHINK! "AAAAAGGH!" Hog bellowed in pain as a sharp blade suddenly pierced his hid, before then being greeted by an intense shock that went through his entire arm. REEEEEET! The direct electric shock made Thunderhog squeal in pain before pulling his arm back, stumbling away as he was met with an intense pair of glaring blue eyes.

"Don't you DARE touch her!" Neptune bellowed as he switched Tri-Hard into gun mode, blasting Thunderhog with more Lightning Dust rounds at a very close range. He made sure the shots were fired at his arms and legs, and while the gauntlets managed to absorb most of the lightning, he could tell that Hog was still hurting bad. Once the pig man was a good distance away, Neptune dashed over to the fallen Kineceleran girl, flipping her over to her back and holding her up. "Helen? Helen, speak to me!"

The young Plumber began to stir and her eyes fluttered open, being met with the concerned gaze of Neptune… along with a bit of a headache. "Mph… Neptune?"

"Hah, oh thank god!" Neptune sighed in relief. "Am I glad you're okay. You were blasted really bad and it made ME pretty worried."

Helen's eyes widened a bit at the amount of concern he was showing for her. She had to admit, it had been a long time since anyone had been this worried about her. Granted, she knew she could take care of herself, even her teammates knew that, but still… she couldn't help but feel touched by this. It was only then that she noticed her cheeks heating up a bit, so before Neptune could notice, she cleared her throat and smiled to him. "Uh, heh, well thank you Neptune, that means a lot. And thanks for the save, too."

"Hehe, y-yeah, no problem." Neptune could feel his own face start to heat up, so he shifted the conversation. "So, how 'bout we take Thunderhog to the cleaners?"

"Oh, with pleasure." Helen smirked.

…..

As the others battled and Rook went for that power core, that left Feedback facing off against Doctor Animo. The Conductoid hadn't expected a big fight to start out off the bat, but at the same time, it also left him to handle Animo, which he knew that he was more than capable of doing on his own. "So, here we are." Feedback placed his hands on his hips with a nostalgic grin. "Back to this old song and dance."

"Indeed so." Animo said before activating his helmet. "But in this instance, it is I who will come out victorious, Tennyson!" The doctor began concentrating on his creations as telepathic waves started projecting out from his antennae, all while he spoke to his pets. "Come forth, my ant army! Destroy Ben Tennyson!"

All at once, several black ants and red ants came marching toward the hero, to which Feedback shook his head. "Heh, yeah, not likely. Time for me to smash this picnic!"

The Conductoid sprung forth into the fray with his tail and tendrils trailing behind him, leaping up and into the incoming insect battalion. Immediately, he socked an army ant right in its face before stabbing another one in its eyes with his head tendrils, delivering a shock and making it cry out in agony before it fell limp to the ground. Using his tail, Feedback leapt up and then kicked another ant straight in its mandibles, propelling himself back off of it as he performed a backflip into another one. He slammed his hand fingers first into that ones face and unleashed a blast of energy from it, taking it down instantly. "Heh, that the best ya got—WAH!"

As if to answer his question, multiple red ants began to breath fire from their maws, blasting it all onto the hero's backside. Feedback jumped several feet into the air before coming back down, landing on his feet but now with a fresh burn mark on his butt. "Gah, fire-breathing fire ants? Yep, the doc definitely messed with YOUR DNA a bit too much." Feedback brought his hands up again and fired a blast of energy at the ants, who retaliated by spitting more hot fire in his direction. But as expected, the energy cut through the flames like butter before blasting all four of the fire ants, making them screech painfully as they fell limply.

"Animo, I appreciate the commitment to gimmick of these different kinds of ants, but come on!" Feedback raised his arms up to the good doctor with a bit of a toothy grin. "Why don't ya at least try to give me some kinda challenge?"

With a clenched fist, Animo furrowed his brow at Feedback in contempt. "You may be strong, Tennyson, but in sufficient numbers, ants can bring down ANY prey!" He touched the sides of his helmet and sent out another mental pulse, bringing in several more ants from up above… including the larger Hell Ants.

"Hah, alright!" Feedback smiled in approval. "Now THIS is what I'm talking about!" Without hesitation, Feedback went right up to one of the large Hell Ant and reached his arms up, intending to let out another energy blast. However, the Hell Ant stopped him from doing so by clamping down its metallic mandibles onto Feedback, stopping him in his tracks. "Heh, not bad, big guy, but I'm not one to be stopped that easily…" Feedback brought his three tendrils up and plugged them back into the metal mandibles, before then sending the rest of his stored-up energy into the ant itself. The Hell Ant screamed as its entire body was shocked with an intense blast, before finally falling down.

"Alright, one down…" Feedback trailed off the moment he noticed many, many more Hell Ants beginning to surround him. "…And a crapton to go—AUGH!" No warning came as all of the Hell Ants immediately began swarming the Conductoid, their metal pincers all each grabbing onto one of his limbs along with his tendrils. "A-AH! Hey, stop! Get offa me!" Feedback managed to pull his arm away and slam the Omnitrix on his chest, not caring which alien he'd get so long as it got him out of this ant-dogpile.

…And fortunately, he got exactly what he wanted. A green flash shined from the ant pile before a small alien crawled out of it. He was a grey, humanoid frog-like alien with big, round eyes that had a slit-shaped pupil. He was only about half a foot tall and wore a green and black unitard, with the Omnitrix having taken its place on its back. Grey Matter placed his hands on his hips and chuckled a bit as he watched the Hell Ants try to find them amongst themselves. "Hehe, what a bunch of idiots."

"Ben!" Grey Matter spun around the moment he heard Rook call out to him, seeing the Revonnahgander approach him with the kormite power core in hand. "I have retrieved the power core!"

"Ah, excellent!" Grey Matter approved as he approached Rook. "With that, we can take care of this whole thing." The Galvan jumped up and began adjusting a few things on the power core, all while explaining what he was doing. "Now, normally when a device like this would detonate, it would destroy everything within a fifty-point-one-seven-zero-two-mile radius. However, if I adjust the frequency to one that matches the ant's line of communication, then we will be able to only destroy THEM."

"Exactly what I was thinking." Rook concurred. "How long before you—"

ZRKT! "It's done." Grey Matter hopped down and gave Rook a thumbs up. "Now all you have to do is get that core further up the—WATCH OUT!" Rook's head snapped up just in time to see the horde of ants having turned around to face them and come charging, their sights focused in on Grey Matter. "You get that core up the tower, I'll handle these things!" Rook was hesitant to go, but by the look the Galvan was giving him, he could tell he was serious. So with that, Rook sped off and activated his Proto-Tool, shooting a grappling hook up to a higher level on the antenna and leaving Grey Matter to himself. "Alright, you oversized insectoid freaks, COME AND GET—MMPH!"

Immediately, Grey Matter was trampled over by the Hell Ants, with all of them making to bite into the tiny alien with their metal mandibles. However, at the last possible second, Grey Matter managed to hit the Omnitrix again. There was another green flash… and then…

BOING!

The ants were all broken up at once when something big and green came jumping out of the pile, all while shouting; "WOOOO-HOO!" The tall, slim figure then went on to bounce all around the place, his leapt and bounds always being accompanied by a BOING! He was bouncing off walls, several ants, even the antenna itself before finally coming to a halt in the middle of the room where everyone could see him. And what they saw took them all by surprise.

He was indeed a tall and slender alien, though ironically enough, he was actually also very insectoid. His arms were rather thin and short with three clawed fingers on each, though in comparison, his grasshopper-like legs were long and powerful with two toed claws on each of them. His rear also resembled a grasshopper's as well, if a bit smaller in comparison to his main body unlike most insects. His head was also much larger than a typical insects as well, complete with a neck, a prominent chin, and a large single horn that stuck out the top of his head. He also had sharp teeth, his dull green carapace was lined with several spikes along his legs, arms and the back of his head, and he was also wearing a green and black singlet that somehow extended to underneath his rear. The Omnitrix symbol had taken place on his stomach, completing his transformation.

Once he had taken stock of the situation, the new alien gave out a laugh, his high-pitched voice having a mild clicking noise to it as he spoke. "Haha! A NEW alien?! Cool!" The hero flexed his legs up and down, testing his movements. "I wonder what I can do?"

"Uh, Ben, I think you just DID what you can do!" Yang pointed out all of the massive craters that the new alien left behind in his bouncing wake, including the ones he left in all of the ants he killed. "You've got some deadly hops, babe. You crash into something, you break it…" The Blonde Brawler put a hand to her chin, thinking all of these points over before snapping her fingers. "I've got it! You're Crashhopper!"

The new alien smiled eagerly at that. "Crashhopper? I LOVE it! Thanks, Goldie Locks!"

"It matters not what you call yourself!" Everyone's attention was brought back to Animo, who suddenly shed his lab coat and tossed it to the side. In doing so, he revealed something that took EVERYONE off guard. He was wearing what appeared to be brown armor that was shaped like an ant's body, complete with an abdomen, an extra set of robotic arms beneath his real ones, and a pair of mandible-like structures on his shoulders. He also touched a button on his helmet, which flipped out a pair of insectoid-like lenses over his eyes, making him appear even MORE like an ant. "Because now, you face the fury of Doctor Animo… THE ANT KING!"

Once again, silence. Nothing but utter, dumbfounded silence as all fighting stopped so everyone could just stare at the clearly deranged man before them. "…See, THIS is why we usually put more thought into my alien's names." Crashhopper pointed out. "Because honestly, now this is REALLY kinda lame."

"Yeah, gotta admit, the boss looks a bit like a tool." Skull whispered over to Hog, who nodded in agreement.

"Oh really, Tennyson?!" Animo raised both sets of arms and pointed his palms up at Crashhopper. "Well, would you say THIS is lame?!" From his hands, four streams of flame shot out toward Crashhopper, making the insect alien's eyes widen.

"Ayee!" BOING! One powerful thrust of his legs later, Crashhopper jumped high into the air, avoiding the attack… while also careening head-first into the rocky ceiling.

"OOH! That's gotta hurt!" Helen winced. "Woah!" The Kineceleran only had mere seconds to duck, however, as Thunderhog swung his mace at her head.

Neptune came rushing up to her and helped her up, all while glaring daggers at the mutant warthog. "Might wanna focus on US not getting hurt for the time being, Helen." he reasoned. "Besides, knowing Ben, he can take care of himself…"

Back up on the ceiling, Crashhopper pulled his head out of the rock and shook the daze out of his eyes, his clawed hand rubbing his large horn slightly. "Oof, heh, glad I've got such a hard head. Probably should ease back on the leg power, though…" The insectoid alien repositioned himself before then bouncing again. He landed on metal spike before then rebounding further down the antenna and back toward the battle, where he crash-landed straight into Thunderhog.

REEEEEET! The pig mutant gave another pained squeal as Crashhopper pinned him beneath his strong legs, knocking him out and leaving Neptune and Helen shocked. "…Huh, guess we DIDN'T have to worry about that after all." The blue-haired boy scratched his head.

"Yeah, thanks for the assist, Ben." Helen nodded.

"No problem!" Crashhopper gave a thumbs up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go help Manny and Yang!" BOING! In a single bounce, he made it over to the other duo, who were now standing straight across from Exo-Skull again. "Hey guys, mind if I get in on the fun?"

Manny smirked and pumped a fist. "Heh, sure! Sounds like a blast!"

"Oh, you want a BLAST?!" Exo-Skull reached behind him and brought out his mini-gun, the Exterminator, and aimed it right for the trio. "I'll show YOU guys a blast!" RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT! All at once, Skull unleashed a furry of bullets at the three, which forced them all to make a break for it.

Yang rolled off to the left while Manny sprinted toward the right, all while Crashhopper jumped skyward again. Skull was trained in on her, however, so she had to keep running to avoid the incoming fire. The Blonde Brawler used her gauntlets to give herself a bit of air time, launching herself up and forward to give herself some more distance. She pumped her gauntlets again and sent two more Fire Dust rounds at Skull's face, exploding near his right eye. The rhuno mutant shouted in pain and his free hand went to his face. "Manny, now!"

"AAAAAGH!" Manny belted out a yell as he leapt into the fray, taking hold of the Exterminator with all four of his hands before yanking it away from Exo-Skull. "Heads up, chump!" Manny took hold of the mini-gun by its barrel and then smacked Exo-Skull across the face with it, making the rhino stumble back even more. "Ben!"

"On it!" BOING! Crashhopper came bouncing back down toward the group and then slammed into Exo-Skull with so much force, it propelled both of them into the ground, forming a massive crater. However, whilst Skull had been knocked out, Crashhopper was just fine. The insectoid alien raised his hands up in a victorious cheer. "Woo-hoo! That's two-for-two on the good guys' side!"

"Nice work, Green Boy!" Yang gave her boyfriend a brief hug and then jerked her thumb back toward the antenna. "But we've still got one more to go."

Crashhopper nodded as he bent his legs in. "Right, time to take out Animo!" BOING! One more mighty leap later, Crashhopper had made it back to the mad scientists, who now appeared to be madder than ever. But, before he could get a quip in, Animo sent more laser blasts at Crashhopper, forcing him to jump again… and this time, he rammed straight into Animo and sent them both into the antenna's control panel.

The hero jumped away from the crash site and back up the antenna a bit, watching on as Animo stood up and began to make a hasty getaway. "Oh no, you don't!" With one more thrust of his legs, Crashhopper went down and did a flip before landing feet-first on Animo's back, making the scientist holler as he smacked directly into the ground. Animo growled while Crashhopper landed on top of a nearby construct, placing his hands on his hips. "Having fun, Animo? Because I'm having a BLAST!"

"Ben!" Just then, however, a shout from Rook brought everyone's gaze further up the antenna, where they saw the Revonnahgander being surrounded by multiple Hell Ants near a ledge. "If you have a moment, I could use some assistance!"

"Oh boy, hang on, Rook!" Crashhopper called back before facing his team. "Come on guys, follow me!" BOING! With that, Crashhopper bounced back up the antenna again, with the rest of his team following after him in their own way. Yang shot off multiple shots from Ember Celica to scale the wall while Manny simply jumped up, grabbing onto metal spires to pull himself further.

Helen, meanwhile, actually took hold of Neptune and placed him on his back, much to his surprise. "W-Wait, what the—"

"Hold on!" Helen advised as her visor lowered, and before Neptune knew it, they were zooming up the side of the tower, much to his chagrin.

"AAAAAAGH!" Neptune screamed all the way to the level Rook was at… and then kept screaming even when they stopped. "AAAAAaaaa… oh, we're here."

Helen smirked as she let Neptune down. "Yeah, see? Not so bad, was it?"

Neptune smiled back to her… but it quickly fell away when he saw something behind her. "No… but THAT is!"

The Kineceleran girl spun around and ducked just in time to avoid a set of Hell Ant mandibles almost biting her in half. "Ah! Hey!" With quick reflexes, Helen whipped her body around and slapped her tail right in the ant's face so hard that its head snapped back. It was at that point that everyone else came up as well, and they were all ready for battle. "Okay, I am so ready to be done with all this."

"Agreed!" Crashhopper concurred before nodding to Rook. "Rook, you get that powercore set up." With a nod, Rook darted off to the side, leaving the rest to fight off the mutant bugs. "Everyone else, take an ant and start layin' into 'em!"

At his call, the team all barreled forward and began to handle the ants with each of their own techniques. Helen zoomed up and sent many quick kicks into the face of the ant that almost bit her head off, pushing it back so that it was isolated from the others. She then began to rush around it in a circle, creating a wind funnel that blasted upward and off the side of the antenna, sending the ant back down to the ground below. "Good riddance."

Manny was much more straight forward; he wanted to hit the ant REALLY hard. Granted, he didn't right off the bat as it made to crush him in its mandibles, but he managed to grab them as they closed in. "Oh, you are NOT gettin' the jump on me!" Manny gripped the mandibles as hard as he could and then picked the ant up, bringing it up over his head before he slammed it right back down into the metal floor. With it now incapacitated, he swiftly made to punch the beast in the face with all four fists. "THIS! IS! FOR BEING! GROSS!"

"You read my mind, Manny!" Yang agreed as she sent a flurry of punches in her Hell Ant's direction, letting off multiple shots from her Ember Celica at it. The bullets all found their mark and the ant shrunk back a bit, which Yang took as her chance. She ran forward and leapt toward the beast, giving a battle cry as she brought her fist back. Unfortunately for her, the ant actually caught her in its mandibles, bringing its vice-like mandibles down hard. Thankfully, Yang's aura protected her from most of the damage, but it still hurt a little bit. "AAAGH! Why you—WAH!"

Without warning, the Hell Ant suddenly lurched to the left and slammed Yang right into the wall… multiple times. On probably the sixth or seventh hit, the ant finally stopped and backed away, sure of itself that it had finished her off. …But then, a pair of glowing red orbs were seen emerging from the wreckage, and the ant took a step back. It was Yang, and her eyes were piercing red. "Oh, you just made a BIG mistake, bud. GRAAAAH!" Belting out another cry, Yang jumped with all her might and delivered an uppercut to the ant, one so powerful it was sent falling off the side of the antenna.

"Woo! Nice one, Yang!" Neptune called out before being forced to hold up Tri-Hard in self-defense, using the guandao to block the metal pincers of his own Hell Ant. "Gah, wish I was having better luck!" He pulled away from the ant and spun his weapon around before pointing the blade at it, all while it shifted into trident mode. "Alright, ya overgrown picnic stealer! Take this!" Neptune made to stab his trident at the ant, but it managed to side-step him just in time before bringing its metal pincers back around. However, Neptune's reflexes were still just as quick, and with a big spin, he caught the pincer with his trident before they clamped down on him.

"Gotcha!" With a pull of the trigger, Neptune sent a jolt of lightning through the blades of his trident, shocking the Hell Ant with severe intensity. By the time he was done, the ant was covered entirely in black soot, and it fell over, dead. "Hah! See? Mess with Neptune, ya get the electric business!"

"Hey, not bad yourself, Neptune!" Helen commended as she and the others came over to him. "You did REALLY well." She set a hand on his shoulder in support.

"Hah, thanks, Helen." Neptune said with a slight blush. "But what about Ben, did he—"

BOING! As if to answer his question, the sound of a loud boing alerted the team to Crashhopper's presence, seeing the insectoid alien kick a couple of ants down off the side of the antenna himself. Crashhopper landed and gave his team a thumbs up. "All good! Also, I think I found a great new alien to work with."

Yang smiled and laughed at her boyfriend's enthusiasm. "Haha! I'm sure you have, Green Boy. So, what now?"

Ding! Before anyone could suggest a thing, though, the nearby elevator suddenly opened up and Doctor Animo came marching out. He didn't seem too happy, either. "Curse you, Ben Tennyson! Curse you and your meddling ways!"

Manny placed all four of his hands on his hips. "Ah, please. What do we look like, some mystery solving teens with a dog?"

"For this, you shall all pay dearly!" Animo continued before a smirk came to his face. "And fortunately, I have just the ally for the job…" He reached for a small communicator on his hip and spoke into it; "Send it down, if you would…"

"Wait, what're you—woah!" Crashhopper was taken off guard when a bright white light suddenly flashed behind them in a beaming effect, and from that light stepped out a familiar four-legged figure. "Oh… you've gotta be KIDDING me!" Once again, the Anubian Baskurr stood before them, growling as it appeared ready to pounce.

"Oh come on!" Neptune bemoaned. "This thing is back already, even after last night?!"

Yang reloaded Ember Celica and got into a combative stance. "Be ready, it could literally turn into anything!" As if on cue, the device around the Baskurr's neck flashed red and it transformed… though it certainly wasn't anything that they were expecting, especially in comparison to when they last fought it. And all Yang could say about this transformation was; "…Uh, the HELL is that?!"

This predator was on the larger side. Not as large as the Tyrannopede, but still pretty big. And that had a LOT to do with the fact that it was just an enormous mass of fat and huge front limbs, with a long tail that pretty much devoured its much smaller hind limbs. Its face wasn't much to look at either. In fact, it was downright but ugly with its narrow red eyes, its massive jowls, the rows of spikes going over the top of its head, and the two nostrils that were up near its forehead. Plus, it had a hideous mouth with sharp teeth and a long tongue sticking out of it as well.

But the most prominent feature of this alien were the bulbous sacks of pink, gel-like liquid that covered nearly its entire body. From its arms, to its tail, to its chin and even its stomach, these pink sacks were on full display, and if anything, they just made it all the more gross. "Oh god… I think I'm gonna hurl just by seeing it!" Neptune gagged.

"Ugh, that shit is just wrong, man!" Manny sneered as well. "It's like it's covered in mucus or somethin'!"

"Okay then, we'll call it a Mucilator and call it a day then." Crashhopper concluded. "Because I'd rather not waste too much time on thinking a name up for something THAT grotesque." At that moment, the Mucilator belted out a roar and then charged for the heroes, making their eyes widen. "Oh crap, I think I offended it!" Crashhopper and Manny reached out and grabbed their teammates before jumping out of the way of the Mucilator… allowing it to ram into Animo instead.

"AAAAGGH—" THWAM! The fat mass of the Mucilator slammed into Animo at full force, imbedding his body into the structure's wall. Once the Mucilator got up, Animo snarled as his eye twitched irritably. "Grrr… is THIS what I have been reduced to?! Attack THEM, not me you mongrel!"

Crashhopper landed and set down Yang, only for the two to look back as the Mucilator charged toward them again. "Damn, what now?!" Yang asked.

The hero bent his legs in, preparing to attack. "Gimme a sec, I'll see if I can take tubbo off balance!" BOING! Crashhopper jumped off to the side and ricocheted off the wall before slamming directly into the Mucilator's face, making it stop in its tracks. He then rebounded back off, landed on the ground, and then bounced again, going for a hit to the beast's chin. However, before he could do that, the Mucilator actually managed to rear itself back far enough so that the hero instead would land right on one of the pink mucus parts.

Crashhopper tried to correct himself in midair, but he could only twist himself around so his legs were what got stuck instead of his head. "Gah! Oh man, you've gotta be kidding me!" The insectoid alien tried to struggle his way out of the mucus, but much to his chagrin, doing so only pulled him in deeper.

"BEN!" Yang instantly rushed forward to try her boyfriend out of his predicament, but was stopped short when the Mucilator snapped its head down and went to bit her with its massive teeth. The blonde managed to avoid the jaws, but just barely. "AH! Ugh, seriously?!" She brought up her gauntlets and began firing at the beast, though it didn't seem that her blasts were doing much of anything. "Let! My! Boyfriend! GO!"

"Yang, Ben, hang on!" WOOSH! Before either of them could blink, Helen came zooming in, speeding up toward the Mucilator's stomach to quickly pull Crashhopper out of there. She went up to Yang and dropped her boyfriend down to his feet. "Hah, there, you okay Ben?"

"Phew, I think I'm good, thanks Helen." Crashhopper nodded.

Yang smiled to the Kineceleran as well. "Yeah, thanks!" Her attention went back to the Mucilator, which had its tongue lolling out of its mouth at them. "…But now we gotta figure out a way to bring this thing down!"

Once again, the Mucilator barreled toward them, forcing them all to get out of the way. Putting a hand to his chin in thought, Crashhopper took notice of all the other ants surrounding them… and it was there that an idea entered his mind. "Wait, that's it!"

Neptune and Manny came up to him after that. "What's it, Ben?"

Crashhopper pointed to the Mucilator as Yang and Helen kept it distracted. "That thing didn't come in covered in pheromones like we did. Meaning that the ants COULD see it as a threat."

"But they're not attacking it!" Manny noted, waving all four of his arms to the ants that were actually coming for them instead. "How do you expect to get their focus on the dog instead?"

The insectoid alien craned his head around until he spotted Doctor Animo, glaring at them off to the side as he controlled the ants. "…By letting nature take its course." BOING! With one more mighty jump, Crashhopper jumped up to the metal ceiling above them and then rebounded right into Animo, knocking the wind clean out of him and shoving him to the floor. The hero then grabbed the man's helmet, brought it up over his head and then smashed it across his knee, effectively breaking off the mind-control signal.

The result was immediate as all of the Army Ants, the Fire Ants, and the Hell Ants all stopped in their tracks, giving out chittering cries before noticing that something was NOT right. There was an intruder in their anthill. They all snapped their heads around and charged toward the Mucilator, the beast roaring in surprise as all of the bugs began to pile right on top of it.

"Woah! What's going on?!" Yang exclaimed.

"Girls, run for cover!" Crashhopper warned, with both ladies immediately following his instructions. Once he saw that they were clear from the ant pile, the hero craned his head over to Rook, who had just finished integrating the kormite power core into the antenna. "NOW, ROOK!"

Rook gave him a salute before pressing a small, red button, sending the power core's energy up through the antenna just as its signal was about to be sent out. With a powerful pulse of energy, the ants all shrieked in pain before they all blew up simultaneously, which in turn caused the Mucilator a great deal of pain as well. Once the ant's remains were all gone, the Mucilator slumped over, transforming back into the Anubian Baskurr once more.

"Hah… that was far too close." Rook commented before walking over to the alien canine. "Now, what to do with—huh?" He took a step back when the Baskurr suddenly shined with a brilliant light… and then in the very next second, it was gone.

"AGH! NO!" Crashhopper jumped back to land on Doctor Animo… but it was too late. The unconscious doctor was encased in the very same light before disappearing as well, making the her shout in frustration as he changed back into his human form. "GRAAAH! Dammit, they got away again!"

Yang and Neptune went over to the side of the antenna and peered down to the ground, seeing that neither Thunderhog or Exo-Skull were anywhere to be seen. "Man, even Hog and Skull are gone!" Neptune scowled.

"And after all that shit we just went through?!" Manny slammed his fist into the antenna, not particularly caring that it went straight through. "This bites."

"It does." Helen crossed her arms in disappointment. "But, I suppose we SHOULD be glad that we at least managed to stop their plan in time. An earth filled to the brim with mutant ants is something I wouldn't want to see."

"Yeah, good point." Yang agreed before going over and pulling Ben into a hug. "Don't worry, Green Boy, we'll get them next time."

Ben sighed and relaxed into her arms, returning the hug. "I hope so. Because there's only so much of this "getting away at the last second" stuff that I can take." He put a smile on his face and gave Yang a quick kiss. "But yeah, at least we stopped that signal from going out." He faced Rook, Neptune, Manny and Helen with a thumbs up. "Nice job, team. All of you."

Rook and the others all returned the gesture. "Thank you, Ben. I only wish we could have apprehended at least one of them."

Neptune could only shrug at that. "Eh, there's always another day. But hey, we made great timing, I'll say that much." He craned his head up to the hole in the ant hill, seeing the sun only just a little lower in the sky. "We may be able to make it back to the others before sunset, actually."

"Ah! Awesome!" Yang cheered happily. "We can still have some of our beach day!" She faced Helen, Manny and Rook with an inviting grin. "You guys wanna join in? After today, I think you could use a bit of a break, right?"

The three were surprised at her invitation, but Helen was quick to jump on it. "Ooh, yes! I was hoping you'd ask! I even packed a swimsuit and everything!"

Just as she spoke those words, Neptune's mind went on high attention. Helen… in a swimsuit. His cheeks flushed red at the very thought. '…Man, why do I have to be afraid of the freaking WATER?!'

"Thank you for the offer, but I will politely decline." Rook shook his head. "I myself have not packed a bathing suit, though even still, I would prefer not to get sand in my fur today."

"Heh, suit yourself, man." Manny said as he jerked a thumb to himself. "More fun in the sun for us, then!"

"Exactly." Ben nodded as he lead the group over to the elevator, intent on getting out of the anthill as soon as possible. "Let's go, guys. I think I've had about all I can stand of this place…"

…..

About an hour later, back in Cancun, the sun was making its way down toward the horizon, though it hadn't quite reached it yet. The sky was still bright and blue, but after hours of fun in the sun, the team were ready to bring it in for the time being. Most of them had made it back inside already, but there were still a trio of girls who were just headed toward the Plumber resort, and they were exhausted. "Woo! Man, what a day." Ilia stretched her arms over her head as Ruby and Penny trailed behind her. "I still can't believe I got to actually surf! That was always on my bucket list, believe it or not."

"Really?" Ruby asked. "And you only just started now?"

Ilia rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Heh… yeah, I kinda had Sun show me the ropes a little beforehand."

"Well, suffice it to say, you were sensational!" Penny clapped her hands together. "I would have never guessed that was your first time."

"Yeah, Ilia, you were great out there." Ruby agreed. "Guess those reflexes of yours come in handy for more than just stealth."

Despite herself, Ilia couldn't help but feel her cheeks heat up, her spots shifting to pink. "Aw, thanks girls. That means a lot. And hey, your sand castle was pretty great, too!" She craned her head around to see the structure still standing, complete with flags, sea shells and even a moat surrounding it. "You put a lot of effort into that."

Ruby held her head high with pride, and Penny mimicked her perfectly. "Indeed, we did! And when we go home, we're gonna pocket some of the sand and take all the seashells back as souvenirs!" The Hooded Huntress thrust her fists up to the air. "Best. Vacation. Ev—huh?" She cut herself off the moment she heard powerful engines approaching from high above, and before she knew it, the Proto-TRUK had flown over their heads and started descending near them. "Ah! Hey, they're back!"

The girls all went up to the ship as it landed, and when it did, the back hatch opened up to reveal Yang, Neptune, Helen and Manny all waiting to greet them. Ben and Rook exited out of the cab along with them. "Hey, sis!" Yang came up and put her arm around Ruby's shoulders in a hug. "So, how was your beach time?"

"It was awesome, Yang!" Ruby answered.

"So, how did the mission go?" Penny followed up.

Manny scoffed and crossed all four of his arms. "Well, aside from the bad guys gettin' away, we managed to stop their plan." He furrowed his eyeridges with a grumble. "Guess it's better than nothin', but it's like the Ministry has all sorts of escape plans up their sleeves."

"Yeah, they tend to do that." Ilia rolled her eyes. "So, will you guys be sticking around?"

Helen nodded to her. "Yeah, we will…" She pulled up a small black backpack that she had brought with her. "And I even brought my swimsuit just in case…"

"Ditto." Manny added as he lifted his own backpack. "We were gonna go change, but uh… are all you guys done out here?"

"For now, yeah." Ruby nodded. "We're all gonna come back out on the beach later on tonight for a bonfire, though. So if you still wanna have some time in the ocean, you definitely can."

"Oh, great!" Helen cheered. "I'm gonna go get changed then." Before she went, however, she eyed Neptune with a tilt of her head. "Neptune, you gonna head in?"

The question made Neptune hesitate for a minute. On the one hand, he had his crippling fear of water. But on the other hand, the inviting smile that Helen was sending his way was so hard to resist. '…Ya know what? What the hell? I'll just stay on shore.' He cleared his throat and smiled back at Helen. "Er, heh, ya know what? I think I'll actually change back into my trunks and catch some rays out here while the sun's still up."

Helen's smile widened at that. "Awesome! Great to hear, Neptune." She waved her clawed hand as she followed Ruby, Ilia and Penny inside. "I'll see you back out here!"

"Hehe, y-yeah, see ya…" Neptune sheepishly waved back, only to then double forward after a hearty pat on the back from Manny. "Gah! Dude, the heck?!"

But the Tetramand hybrid simply chuckled and shook his head. "Bro, you have got it bad."

"Yes, even I can see that." Rook smiled knowingly.

Neptune gave a slight grumble as the three boys made their way inside as well, but the blue-haired boy stopped when he realized that there were still two of them not accounted for. "Oh, hey Ben, Yang, you guys comi—OH GOD!" Neptune quickly shielded his eyes as he caught sight of the powerful couple… stripping off their clothes right on the beach. "GUYS, WHAT THE HELL?!"

Ben and Yang glanced toward one another before shrugging toward Neptune. "Uh, Neptune, we wore our bathing suits under our regular clothes, dude." Ben pulled down his pants, revealing his green and black trunks.

Yang removed her top, and indeed, her bikini top was under it. "Yeah, I mean, what would be the point of taking them off when we'd just have to put 'em back on again when we got back? This is WAY more efficient."

"Uuugh." Neptune placed a hand over his heart, trying to slow it down after what he thought he just witnessed. "God, freaking TELL someone about that before ya just start stripping for all to see, will ya?" He waved them off as he started his way toward the resort again. "Whatever, I'm going to go get changed properly, thank you."

Once he was out of earshot, Yang and Ben smirked toward one another. "I was hoping for that kinda reaction." Yang giggled.

"Yeah, I'll admit, it was kinda funny." Ben admitted while throwing his shirt off to the side. "Though I'm honestly more surprised that we had the same idea."

"Well, what can I say?" Yang winked as she shimmied out of her boots and pants. "Great minds think alike." With both of them now back in nothing but their swimwear, Yang approached her boyfriend with a small smirk, closing the distance as she pressed her chest up against his. "Now… I think you and I have a little engagement to get to…"

Never before had Ben felt this much skin touching between himself and his girlfriend, and it was driving him crazy. Still, he found it in himself to put his arms around the small of her back and hold her as her arms found their way around his neck. "Heh, you have to have SOME idea of what you're doing to me, don't you?"

"Oh, I know FULL well what I'm doing, Green Boy." Yang batted her eyelashes in a seductive manner before trailing her gaze down Ben's own body, getting a good for herself. She traced her fingers across Ben's pectorals as she felt his own hands softly rubbing along her back, and both sensations felt equally amazing. The two of them could feel their faces heating up as they got caught up in the moment. "Mph, but if anything, you're doing the exact same thing to me right now. Rawr."

"I'm more than happy to oblige." With those words, Ben caught Yang's lips with his and before they knew it, the two were making out, with the hero pressing his back up against the Proto-TRUK for support. Yang had to resist the urge to just jump up and wrap her legs around him to make things more interesting, because if she did that, they'd both wind up in the sand. And the last thing she wanted at the moment was a head full of sand. Eventually though, the need for air DID come, and once they separated and caught their breath, Ben breathed out; "So… beach towel?"

"Beach towel." Yang agreed, the two going off to where their own lounge chairs were. Once they made it there, they pulled out both of their beach towels, Ben's with the Omnitrix's classic green and black hourglass symbol on it while Yang's was mainly yellow with her signature symbol on it in black. They laid their towels out next to one another and then they themselves laid down on them, falling back onto one another's arms yet again. Their eyes then went out over the ocean, where they saw the sun nearly reaching the water's horizon.

Ben sighed as he nestled his head against his girlfriend's. "You know, this vacation may not have gone as intended…" He moved his head down and pecked at Yang's lips. "But if anything, I'm glad that I got to spend all of it with you, Goldie Locks."

Yang rubbed her cheek against Ben's in return. "Same here, Green Boy. And hey, it was still really fun! We found gods, learned a lot about the local culture, had a rockin' beach day, AND we kicked bad guy butt. What more could we ask for?"

"Heh, now THAT, I can agree with." And with that, the two settled into one another as their sights focused on the sea, watching as the sun descended lower and lower in the sky.

…..

Back in Bellwood, meanwhile, the sun had already set, giving way to the dusk as the city streets continued to hustle and bustle. However, while the night was lively throughout the town, a certain individual wasn't exactly feeling it. He was a young man in his early to mid-twenties, walking down a secluded city street with his hands in his pockets and visibly crestfallen. Things hadn't been going his way much lately and to say that he was upset about it was an understatement. He stopped near a corner, waiting for the crosswalk light to turn green as he pulled out a pink slip from his pocket.

'Fired… goddamn it.' he thought to himself as the crosswalk gave him to okay to continue. He stuffed the slip back into his pocket and his brows furrowed in frustration. He had given five good years of his life to that job and for what? To be laid off due to "budget cuts" of all things?! 'It's one of the most successful businesses in Bellwood! They can recover from that damage those villains caused the other day EASY! Why the hell would they need to be concerned about firing a freaking JANITOR?!' A yell of frustration escaped his throat before he kicked a nearby trashcan, sending it directly into a nearby light pole. "GRAH! Damn those bad guys! Why the hell does Bellwood have to be like this?!" The can toppled over and his eyes went up to the pole… only to see something that caught his eye rather quickly.

Taped onto the metal pole was a piece of paper that had a smiling man printed on it, and above his head were the words; "Down on Your Luck? Worried About What's Going on in the World?" in big bold letters. Underneath him in slightly smaller print were the words; "Join Us" and directly beneath that were several cut-out slits of paper that had an address printed on them. Curiosity taking hold, the young man reached out and plucked on of the slits off the main flyer, and inspected the address…

…Though he didn't get very far when a voice piped up behind him. "Greetings."

"Gah-ha!" With a loud yelp, the man jumped and spun around in the air, surprised by the sudden voice. He then gasped when he saw just who was behind him, and he took a couple steps back. It was a hooded woman in a large, brown cloak that hid most of her body… and probably for the better since she had a massive hunchback. The most he could see was her mouth and pale face, along with a bit of her messy, chin-length black hair. "Wh-Who are you?!"

"A friend." The woman replied in an eerie yet somewhat soothing voice. "Please, do not be frightened." She raised her rather skinny hand and pointed to the slip he was holding. "I take it you're interested in our organization?"

The young man blinked in surprise. "W-Wait, you work for these people?"

"I do. What is your name?"

He was a bit hesitant to answer given that he had just met this woman, but at the same time, he couldn't see the harm. "M-Mitchell. My name's Mitchell."

"I see." the cloaked woman nodded. "Well, Mitchell, I take it that you might be in a spot of bother?"

"…Yeah, I guess you could say that." Mitchell nodded. "I just lost probably the best job I've ever had." His face scrunched up in frustration. "All because a bunch of villains caused some damage to the main office building and the company has to make "budget cuts" to fix it, never mind the fact that they're probably the RICHEST company in Bellwood and I was just a janitor there." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pink slip, crumpling it in his hand. "I wish there was something I could do about it…"

The woman seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking again. "Well… perhaps there is." She pointed to the slip of paper he got from the flyer. "If you would like, I could take you to that address right now. The support group is about to have a big meeting, and I think you may wish to attend yourself."

Mitchell blinked in surprise. "Woah, really? Y-You think they'd let me in?"

"All are welcome in our organization… well, aside from a select few, but we will explain that at the meeting itself." The hunchback raised her hand, ushering him to take it. "Just hold on, and I will have us there in mere seconds."

That part made Mitchell blink in confusion, but at the same time, he couldn't deny that it did sound intriguing. "…Okay, sure. At this point, I'll try anything." He reached out and took hold of the woman's hand… before his entire vision suddenly flashed red. "Gah! W-What?!" But then, the very next second, his vision cleared and the two were now inside of a building, leaving him flabbergasted. "W-W-What did you do?!"

"I did what I said I would do." The woman gestured over to a nearby door, where several voices could be heard coming from the other side. "Now come, the others are waiting…" She led Mitchell over to the door and opened it, where, much to his surprise, were several more people waiting as well. They were in all sorts of age groups, but there were mostly young people talking amongst themselves, all of them anticipating what they were about to hear.

At the very end of the large room was a big stage that had many other people standing on it, and all of them were wearing dark cloaks with hoods over their heads, along with white, featureless masks covering their faces. "Woah… what's all this?" Mitchell asked.

Just then, a nearby door opened, and the entire room suddenly went silent. "…You're about to find out."

Up on stage, a pair of men came walking up, taking their place in front of the cloaked figures. One was a rather tough-looking man in his thirties with tanned skin and a bug mane of silver hair, wearing a navy jacket with a big, white, furry collar. He also had two scars over his right eye as well, along with a silver goatee on his chin. The other one was much huskier, but dressed much nicer in a dark green three-piece suit and a pair of black spats with a matching tie. However, this was offset by the black and gree luchador-esque mask that he wore over his head, which was rather beastly with the white teeth that were sewn across the mouth hole.

Once they had taken centerstage, the man in the navy jacket raised his hands up to the crowd, giving a greeting smile. "Welcome, everyone! I see you found the address no problem, very good." He spread his arms out to the crowd as he continued. "I take it that you all are here for a variety of reasons. Be it life not going your way, or perhaps even being concerned with the near-constant dangers of everyday life, especially in THIS town."

This caused another murmur in the crowd as the man in the mask spoke up next. "Well, ya don't have to worry about any of that here. Because here, you're all among like-minded people. Friends." He placed a hand on his chest and introduced himself. "My name is Scales…"

"And I am Bishop." The silver-haired man added. "And we represent the organization known only as "The Collective"." Once again, the crowd began speaking amongst themselves, and Bishop raised a hand to them. "Now, now, if you would please. Tell me, do you ever feel… powerless? As if you're unable to control the way your life is headed? Or do you feel like you can do nothing in the face of these threats from beyond the stars that keep coming to our planet?" He heard a slew of rousing agreements from the crowd and he grinned toward them. "Hm, that's what I thought."

"Well, we're here to tell you all that your troubles are over!" Scaled announced. "With our help, we can help you take back control of your lives, and in addition, give YOU the power to defend yourselves from these extraterrestrial threats instead of having others do it FOR you."

This got the crowd REALLY going, and Bishop was quick to support his partner's claims. "Indeed, our leader, the Exalted One, wishes to bring unity to the world in a way that the modern-day heroes you see in the news everyday cannot. And the first step in doing so is to stop relying on them all together and start doing things for ourselves…" He trailed off when he saw a hand stick up out of the crowd, belonging to a young woman. "Yes, you there?"

"U-Um… hi, name's Katie. So, who IS this Exalted One, exactly?" she asked nervously. "Is he here?"

Bishop nodded to her assuredly. "Ah, both excellent questions. Unfortunately, the Exalted One is not here right now. Currently, he is making special preparations for what is to come next."

Scales interjected with a raised hand. "But don't worry, yer all gonna be meeting him VERY soon. He wants to get to know everyone in his organization, after all, including potential recruits." Once again, he saw another hand go up, this one belonging to Mitchell himself. "Yeah, you in the back!"

"Uh, yeah, hi." Mitchell waved. "So… just to clarify, how exactly WILL we be doing what you're suggesting? How can WE fight off all these aliens and villains if we're just human?"

Bishop nodded again. "Another excellent question. You see, the Exalted One himself has the ability to grant power to any one, should they choose to except it." There was a gasp that went throughout the crowd and Bishop decided to ride with it. "That's right! Behold!" From Bishop's fingers, his nails extended into long, black claws, much to everyone's amazement. He then slashed them across the stage, putting a huge hole through it. "You see? THIS is what the Exalted One is capable of granting!"

"And he can do the same to you if you're willing to join our cause!" Scales preached. "Though you will have to climb the ranks in order to do so, it will be worth it."

"Think of it." Bishop raised his claws for emphasis. "No longer will the heroes be the only ones available to defend you if things go wrong. Ben Tennyson has done good, yes, but not even HE or his team can be everywhere at once." A sinister grin formed on his face before what he said next. "In fact, I heard that they all took a little weekend trip down to Mexico. Now tell me, does that sound like something a responsible hero would do?"

Once again, another gasp went through the entire crowd, and Scales took it up from there. "You see? Heroes are not to be relied upon when things go from bad to worse. Who's left to defend you? The Plumbers? They couldn't even stop their worst prisoner from escaping a month ago! So, what do ya say?!"

There was a bit of a silence throughout the crowd before a certain voice spoke up. "I'm in." Everyone turned in time to see Mitchell come walking through the audience, stopping at the base of the stage as he craned his head up to Bishop and Scales. "I wanna take control of my life back… please."

"I'm in too." Katie piped up as well, standing next to Mitchell with a slight sneer. "I'm not gonna just stand by if an alien attacks and everyone's on vacation."

"Ah-ha, excellent!" Bishop and Scales reached down and grabbed their hands, pulling the two up on stage before raising their arms up into the air. "These two have taken the necessary first steps to improving their lives for the better! What say you?!" All at once, a massive cheer went through the entire room, making Bishop give a victorious grin. 'My master, it worked. Everything is going exactly how you said it would…' His smile increased to a sharp-toothed smirk. 'Now comes the next phase… where the heroes will be the ones to take a fall.'

…..

A/N (Please Read): And there's your hook for Season 2 of Ultimate Omniverse, ladies and gentlemen! Seems like the Collective have been quite busy since we saw them at the beginning of this story, and their recruitment seems to have been going pretty well. Yet the question still remains, just who ARE these people, really? And why do they seem to be so focused on the heroes? Well, when we come back to this fic next year, we'll definitely be seeing more of them, so tune in for those answers!

But for the chapter itself, seems like the team's overall success rate was pretty good on this mission! The team brought down Animo's army of giant ants, they bested the Baskurr again (with a rather clever plan), and what's more, Ben's unlocked a new (yet familiar) alien! Welcome to the roster, Crashhopper! I can tell I'm definitely gonna like using him in action scenes. BOING! Plus, I believe that this is Grey Matter's story debut as well, so there's that, too. And hey, while the bad guys managed to get away yet again in the end, at least Ben and Yang got to have their own romantic ending on the beach, so huzzah!

So, with all that being said, NEXT TIME! …Well, we've definitely got quite a bit in store for you when it comes to Season 2. The Collective storyline is gonna be picking up in a big way, we've also got a lot of big stuff happening with Khyber and the Ministry, plus we'll be seeing the debut of more Omniverse characters as well as the return of a couple classic ones as well. …And among those characters will be the debut of a certain family that I'm sure that MANY of you have been looking forward to, hehe…

With all that said, be sure to tune in to THIS story on the first week of May 2022 for Season 2's debut! It will NOT be a separate fic on its own, it's still just gonna be this one, so keep that in mind. With that said, I hope you've enjoyed the story so far guys, but for now, it's time for a little break. But like I said at the top of this fic, if Transformers and My Hero Academia pique your interest, be sure to hop on over to Transformers MHA, Arc 2: Earthrise when that drops in a couple weeks. Until then, I'll catch you all later, guys! Thanks for reading and, as always, stay safe out there!