A/N: Ah, Friday once again! You all know what that means! It's time for another chapter in the ongoing Ben 10/RWBY saga! Though this time, we're actually gonna go back to some original story content that ISN'T an Omniverse adaptation. And believe me when I say that the title of this chapter is VERY accurate. Get ready for some crazy stuff, because this is…

Chapter 42: Chaos in Bellwood

…..

Ben couldn't be any happier than he was right now. He and his team had all gathered in the basement, sitting in front of a flat screen TV that was connected to a big computer PC, and they were all watching Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger. …Well, almost all of them were, anyway. Gwen had opted to go home early, not really wanting to stick around if all they were going to do was watch Sentai for the rest of the afternoon. 'I swear, she can STILL be such a stick in the mud sometimes.' But Ben wasn't about to get bogged down by his cousin's grumpy mood, especially since he was watching one of his all-time favorite Sentai with his friends. And the best part? It was still as good as he remembered it.

They had made it near the end of the fourth episode, and the monster of the day had just grown giant-sized. The main character of the episode, Kyoryu Black; Ian Yorkland, had just summoned his Voltasaur, Parasagun, to try and shoot down the threat, only for it to get batted away. However, Gabutyra arrived just in time to catch Parasagun by the tail, coming to its friend's aid.

"Ah, meddling again?" Ian said in Japanese, with subtitles providing a translation for the teens. The black ranger wagged his finger at the Tyrannosaurus mech, all while Zakutor arrived as well.

"Let's do a snapping combination!" Daigo, a.k.a Kyoryu Red exclaimed as he jumped up next to his newly-formed friend, putting an arm across Ian's shoulders. "I'm sure our new power will be exciting!"

Souji, the young man who was Kyoryu Green, walked up and hesitantly agreed with his leader. "I don't really want to, but King's intuition might be right."

"No choice, then." Ian resigned, lightly smacking "King" Daigo on the chest. "I'm not a fan of sausage fests… but I'll follow your lead."

"ALRIGHT!" King exclaimed, earning a laugh from the group of teens.

Ruby in particular was VERY excited as she watched Gabutyra, Parasagun and Zakutor take their places, the former biting down on the latter two's Zyudenchis. "EEE! This is so cool! It's an entirely new formation!"

Gaburincho! PARRRAASAGUN!

Gaburincho! ZAKUTORRRR-AH!

Gaburincho! GABUTYYYRRA!

Everyone watched on in anticipation as Parasagun and Zakutor bit down on Gabutyra's connection ports, with Kyoryujin forming up in record time with a new black and green arm formation. Much to everyone's surprise, the mecha came strolling in on some sort of desert-style ranch with the setting sun at its back, all while a western tune played in the background. Kyoryujin struck a dynamic pose all while the loud voice announced;

KYOOORYUJIN—WESTERN! YEEHAW!

As the mecha's bombastic theme started playing in the background, Amy, the pink Kyoryuger, made a finger gun with her hand. "Wow! It's like gunman style!"

Nobuharu, aka "Nossan", the blue Kyoryuger, also made finger guns, quipping; "Come on! Come on!" as a caption at the top of the screen explained his pun. Apparently, the Japanese words for "come on" and "gunman" sound just enough alike to pass for one another, so that's what the man was going for.

And, for probably the tenth time that night, Yang had to roll her eyes. "Once again, Nossan is making MY puns seem tame by comparison. Dear god, talk about taking dad jokes to the extreme."

Ben couldn't help but laugh at that, but kept mostly silent as the battle scene went on, backed by Kyoryujin's awesome theme music. The shootout was dynamic as both the mech and the monster shot projectiles at one another, before Kyoryujin rushed in and performed a massive flip over the monster. As it came down, it slashed its claws on the bird-like beast, still backed by the setting sun. "WOO! Go get 'em!" Nora cheered.

"Slice 'em down!" Neptune added as he and Sun pumped their fists up and down.

"Let's duel, baby." Ian jibed before he, Daigo and Souji prepared the final attack. "Kyoryujin Western! BRAVE FINISH!" Kyoryujin brought its arm up and sliced through the air, creating energy slashes that eventually formed into a ball of pure energy. The mech then stuck Parasagun's rail gun into the energy and then blasted it straight at the monster, destroying it in a massive explosion.

"Haha! Woo! Now THAT is how you finish off a monster!" Ilia applauded.

Weiss, with her arms folded, gave a small shrug. She had to admit, this really wasn't as bad as Gwen was making it out to be. Sure, it was silly, but she had to admit, the fight choreography was very good, and the mech battles weren't bad either. "Yeah, I suppose it was pretty cool."

Pyrrha and Jaune gave simultaneous nods. "Indeed, so far, I've actually been fairly enjoying the show so far." The Invincible Girl said. "The characters are fun, the plots so far have been compelling, and the action is simply bombastic."

"Couldn't have said it better myself, Pyr." Jaune approved. "What do you think, Ren? …Ren?"

Much to their shock, however, Ren was actually one of the closest ones to the screen. Along with, surprisingly, Blake and Ilia. They were right with Sun, Neptune, Ruby and Nora, though they were much quieter than the other four as they focused on the show in front of them. "…It's official, I need to watch more Sentai." Ren concluded.

"Same, this show is very cool." Blake admitted. "Never thought I'd be into this kinda stuff, but I think the characters and action scenes have won me over."

Sun came over and nudged her on the shoulder. "See? I had a feeling you'd like it!"

Blake quirked an eyebrow up at her boyfriend. "Really? And when exactly did you say that?"

"I didn't! I just had a gut feeling." Sun put a proud fist to his chest, raising his head up high. "Sometimes, ya just gotta go with your gut, and mine said that you'd probably like Sentai after hearing Ben describe it."

The cat girl rolled her eyes and set her head on his chest as the next episode started up. "Hm, yeah, sure hon."

Penny went over to Ben and knelt next to him, tilting her head curiously. "I must say, Ben, the show truly IS as exhilarating and enjoyable as you said it was… but I'm still a bit confused." Ben's face scrunched up in confusion as Penny explained. "Well, if you're such a big fan of Super Sentai… why didn't you mention it to us earlier?"

The others all brought their attention to the hero, the android's question ringing true. "Hey, yeah, why didn't you mention it, Ben?" Yang wondered as well. "I mean, when you got me into Godzilla, that was probably a REALLY good time to tell me about Sentai, too, right?"

Ben sighed and he slumped his shoulders, pausing the video briefly. "Well guys… honestly, for the longest time, I had fallen out of Sentai." The room was filled with surprised expressions at the revelation, even from Kevin and Rex. "Yeah, I know, you'd have never guessed. Surprisingly, though, it wasn't because mom and dad "sold" my Kyoryuger stuff."

"Then… what WAS it?" Ruby asked.

"…Let's just say that, for as long as Super Sentai has been running, there are bound to be some off-years for the franchise." Ben answered with a slight cringe. "Granted, the Sentai that came after Kyoryuger, Ressha Sentai ToQger, wasn't really a BAD season, but it didn't appeal to my personal tastes either. The theme that year was trains, which are a MUCH bigger deal in Japan."

It was at that moment where Rex suddenly realized where Ben was probably headed with this, and his own expression soured as well. "Oh… oh, don't tell me. It was the Sentai after that which made ya go on hiatus with the series, right?"

Ben rubbed his temple as unpleasant memories of incessant shouting from an annoying voice entered his mind. "Yep. Shuriken Sentai Ninninger… aka, the show that I WISH I could erase from my memory." He shook his head as the rest of the team were stunned by that remark. "And I had SUCH high hopes for that season, too. The mecha were interesting, the gimmick was neat, and the Sixth Ranger was a COWBOY NINJA with a BURGER CHANGER!"

"Huh?!" Nearly everyone in the room exclaimed all at once.

"Yep, it's all true! And at first, I thought it was alright… but then the further I got into the series, the more annoying it got. It turned out to be mostly a Red-centric series, which while those have existed before and the Red Ranger DOES get the most focus usually, it was VERY bad in this case."

Kevin nodded, recalling some similar criticisms of the series. "Yeah, I heard that he was one of those "Hyper" Reds instead of the cool, calm and collected Reds." He let out a grumble and folded his arms. "Definitely not the kind of red you'd want that heavy of a focus on, huh?"

"Nope. I couldn't even make it to the end of the series before I fell off." Ben continued. "And when Zyuohger was revealed soon after, I wrote it off immediately. And, I mean… to a ten-year-old, cubes that change into animals probably isn't the most appealing of themes, especially after coming off of an unpleasant season…" But then, the hero raised a single finger. "However, in hindsight, that was kind of wrong for me to do. So, after we're done catching up on Kyoryuger and at LEAST show you guys Gokaiger, we'll pick up at Zyuohger and go forward from there."

"Sounds like a good plan, Ben." Jaune gave a thumbs up. "Honestly, I'm REALLY looking forward to what Super Sentai has to offer." He pointed up to the screen, which was still paused on the opening to the fifth episode. "Because if they're anything like this, then I think we just found all of our new obsessions, right guys?"

The room gave a collective cheer and Ben chuckled at their enthusiasm. "Heh, well, I'm glad to hear you're excited. Who knows? Maybe I missed a few gems while I was away. But for now… let's get back to it!"

Ben resumed the episode, which opened up to the Kyoryugers testing out all of their Guardian Zyudenchis to see what did what. After Ian explained why Daigo and Nobuharu were the guinea pigs for the experiment, with the latter taking umbrage with the cool ranger calling him "Nossan", Souji was quick to point out; "Ian always makes other people do the hard stuff."

"Not true! We're taking turns!" Ian countered before taking out Tuperanda's Zyudenchi and activating it. "Next is your turn… green boy."

Souji was taken aback… as was every single person in that basement. "Green Boy? …Doesn't that mean green horn?!"

"GREEN BOY?!" The entire room echoed, their eyes going straight to Ben. The hero had the widest eyes imaginable, only now remembering that Ian's nickname for Souji was the same as the one Yang gave him. Hesitantly, he shifted his eyes to his girlfriend… and as he feared, she wore the most conniving smile as she steepled her fingers together.

"Ooh… I'm gonna get a LOT of mileage out of this."

"Yang, no." Ben begged.

"Yang YES." Yang wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he tried to hide in his hands, a groan escaping his throat. "You'll always be MY green horn, babe, don't worry." The team got a good laugh out of that… along with the fact that Ian had just shot Souji's sword with the Gaburevolver, making its blade fall limp from Tuperanda's power.

"Flimsy boy!" Ian taunted as the other Kyoryugers chased after him and Souji, who continued to whack at him with the limp sword.

The Blonde Brawler gave Ben a supportive pat on the shoulder and whispered; "Don't worry, I doubt you're much of a "flimsy boy", hehe…" And within seconds, Ben's cheeks flushed red like a beat, decidedly keeping to himself for a good while after.

…..

The next morning was a relatively normal one, all things considered. Of course, the marathon had gone for a good while longer, right up to the twelfth episode. And to say that the team were all-in on Kyoryuger after that was an understatement. The arrival of Kyoryu Gold, Utsusemimaru, had effectively knocked all of their socks off… especially a certain blonde knight, who thought the man nicknamed "Utcchi" was utterly amazing. Of course, all things had to end, but they resolved to continue the next afternoon.

But at the moment, the time had come once again to head to Plumber HQ for their daily dose of training. That said, though, the car ride over for Ben and Team RWBY was certainly… lively, to say the least, as cheery music blared through the car and everyone sang along;

Gabugabu kamitsuke, Gabutyra!

Gangan uchimakure, Parasagun!

Gocchin to gekitotsu, Stegotchi!

Zakuzaku katana de, Zakutoru!

Drill de tsuttsuke, Dricera!

Gorogoro kaminari, Pteragordon!

Namae yobeba, oh metcha odoritakunaru-naru-naru de DANCE!

Who-oh-oh! Wo-oh-oh! Kyoryu ga odocchaunda!

Who-oh-oh! Wo-oh-oh! Gabu Gabu Gan Gan! (Vamola Mucho!)

Yes, even Weiss was starting to get into it a little bit. Yes, her friends were all dancing around in their seats like madmen… but she had to admit, the song was unbelievably catchy. "Who-oh-oh! Wo-oh-oh! Kyoryu ga odocchaunda! Who-oh-oh! Wo-oh-oh! Gan Gan Gabu Gabu!"

"Utae Mucho!" Ben shouted.

"Issho ni samba!" Ruby exclaimed

Minna Atsumare Kyoryuger!

"VAMOLA!" All five cheered at once, leading to all of them laughing at their own antics.

Yang put a hand over her chest, trying to catch her breath. "Hahaha! Ah… man, I have NO idea what the heck we're even saying, but it's damn sure a lot of fun." She reached over and set her arm next to her boyfriend's, placing her hand over his. "Thanks for educating us on Sentai, Ben. I seriously think this is gonna be our new favorite thing."

Ruby stuck her head forward, sending her sister a questioning gaze. "Uh, it IS my new favorite thing, Yang! Heck, it might make it on my list of favorite things OF ALL TIME." She clenched her hands and smiled brightly as her eyes started shining. "Just thinking about being able to transform into a ranger myself… ooh, that'd be so cool!" Just then, a thought occurred to her. "AH! Wait, what if we could ALL henshin?! That'd be even COOLER!"

Weiss and Blake rolled their eyes at Ruby's proclaimation, but couldn't help but smile along with her. "Ruby, we already fight monsters and bad guys almost every single day." Blake pointed out.

"Yeah, what'd be the difference?" Weiss added.

"Uh, awesome spandex and helmets, obviously." Ruby pointed out before leaning over and putting her arm over Weiss' shoulder, extending her arm out to set the scene. "Think about it, Weiss, we'd be so awesome in red, blue, yellow and black spandex."

The former heiress deadpanned at that. "Maybe, but it'd be pretty tight, don't you think?"

"Actually, the ones they use on the show are actually pretty breathable." Ben mentioned.

But Weiss shot him a warning glare. "Ben, trying to not get put into spandex here."

"I dunno, Weiss, I think it'd be neat." Yang shrugged, starting to picture it herself. "If I could transform into a ranger, I'd have the coolest dragon-themed helmet you'd EVER see. Yours could have a snowflake-shaped head crest and Ruby would probably have rose petals molded into hers."

Ruby nodded vigorously. "Heck yeah, I would!" She craned her head over to Blake, already knowing what she'd be themed after. "And Blake, of course you'd have to have a cat motif to your helmet."

Blake sighed and folded her arms. "Sure, I would. Not like there's not much else I could base myself around." She pointed up to her ears and wiggled them. "Especially since these are my most prominent feature."

"Ah, you could always put a spin on it!" Ben insisted. "Like, maybe you could be some sort of exotic cat. Like a black lion, a black tiger, a black panth—oh, no wait, that one's taken." He waved it off and went on. "Point is, you girls would make for an awesome Sentai team, I'm sure… so long as me and Rex get to be the green and gold rangers." That earned a series of groans and a few playful shoves from the girls as they approached the traffic light.

Once they came to a stop, however, Ruby noticed something odd across the way. On the sidewalk across the street, she saw two figures in black, hooded robes come hobbling down the street, both of whom appeared incredibly suspicious. "Uh… anyone else see those guys over there?"

Her pointing them out immediately got the team's attention, and they spotted them immediately. "Woah, total creeps at one o'clock." Weiss commented, following their every move. But then, the two ducked into a nearby alleyway, taking the five of them by surprise. "…They were way too quick to go in there."

"You're right." Ben agreed, with the light thankfully turning green a second later. "Let's do some pre-training investigating, shall we?" The hero parked his car near the curb, making sure to do so near a parking meter. They got out and Ben put a couple quarters into the meter before the five crossed the street, steadily nearing the alleyway cautiously. "Blake, scout ahead." Ben whispered.

"On it." Blake affirmed, dashing off into the alley with swift silence. The cat girl scanned the area with her eyes carefully, taking note of any movement she saw. But, much to her surprise, she didn't see any sign of the hooded figures… even though the alley was a dead end. "That's… not ideal." Blake said, moving back to wave her friends in. "Come on, they're not here."

"Huh?" Yang and the others walked into the alley, and indeed, there was no sign of the vagrants. "That's… odd."

Ben shook his head. "And definitely not normal."

Weiss took out Myrtenaster, preparing herself for anything. "I don't like this. People don't just vanish into thin air… well, okay it's happened to us before, but this doesn't feel right."

"Exactly my thought, Weiss." Ben concurred as he began feeling along the walls. "I don't think these guys were teleporters either. Let's start feeling around, see if we can't find anything they might've disappeared into."

The girls did just that and began brushing their hands against the wall, and after a few minutes, a certain Hooded Huntress noticed something. As she ran her hands along the very back wall, the rough brick suddenly changed to a smoother feel beneath her fingers, even though it appeared that it was still just a brick wall. With her red flags raised, Ruby moved her hand down lower and lower until she felt something metallic graze her hand, and before she knew it, she was gripping a door handle. "Ah-ha!" Ruby unlatched the door and pulled it open, much to everyone's surprise. "Open sesame!"

"Ah, nice work, Ruby!" Ben congratulated in a whisper as he and the others approached the door. "Now, let's see where our hoodie-wearing suspects went to, huh?"

Ben and Team RWBY huddled up and slowly sneaked down the dimly lit hallway, directly into a building that definitely didn't seem to be recently used in quite some time. The torn-up floor, the spider webs and the junk strewn all around were clear indicators of that, and it was something that Weiss could barely stomach. "Euch, why do all the bad guys have to have secret lairs that're gross and disgusting?"

Blake smiled knowingly to her. "Probably to keep people like you from finding them." Weiss puffed out her cheeks indignantly at that.

"Shh! Guys… listen." Ben cupped a hand to his ear and the girls followed his example. And before long… they could hear a faint voice coming from down the hall;

"Brothers and sisters, thank you ALL for coming! I hereby call this meeting to order…" A faint yet familiar voice exclaimed, getting louder the further they went in. They also heard a loud cheer come from whoever the voice was speaking to before it went on; "At last, we've made it to our destination; Bellwood! The home of those meddling, irksome heroes."

Ben and Team RWBY were taken aback as the crowd noise cheered out again, shockingly even louder this time. Apparently, whoever had gathered here were NOT fans of them. Another voice piped up after that, this one much deeper and gravellier than the first… yet still somewhat recognizable. "Get comfy, everyone, because we're gonna be hanging out here for a hot minute. After all, if we wanna get our message out, we're gonna wanna do it at the source."

At that moment, the team came upon a door where the voices were coming through the loudest, so it was safe to assume that they'd found the meeting place. "After all this time, our mission will finally start in earnest." The first voice continued on. "We have the numbers, we have the resources, and we have the power of the Exalted One on our side."

That last part sent a chill through the five heroes, their eyes widening in shock. "…No." Ruby muttered. "I-It can't be. They can't be here…"

"They are." Ben's expression hardened, getting serious in an instant. "It only makes sense, right? They sent the Creepers after us a couple days ago, so we should've expected that they'd show up soon after."

"What do we do, Ben?" Yang asked as she activated her Ember Celica, ready for anything. "Think this is our chance to take them down?"

"Woah, let's not go in half-cocked and ready for a fight." The hero advised. "We're probably vastly outnumbered here, especially considering that they can turn any one of those people in there into a Creeper." His gaze hardened on the door, his grip tightening. "What's worse is that we're outnumbered by innocent people who've been brainwashed by those cult leaders, so we don't want to hurt them."

Blake's ears drooped down a little. "Sure sounds like they wanna hurt us, though…"

Ruby pouted, bringing her hands up to her chin. "Oh, but why? I mean… I'm pretty sure we're likeable, right?"

"Yeah, but not everyone on Earth likes me, unfortunately." Ben reminded. "So you girls are being dragged down by association, and for that, I'm sorry." He received sympathetic smiles from the four girls before shifting his attention back to the situation at hand. "For now, we should focus on finding out exactly what the Collective's big plan really is… and I think I have a good idea how…" He reached for the Omnitrix and began searching through for the right transformation. "Let's make a show of it, eh?"

…..

"And so, fellow followers of the Exalted One, I beseech you!" Bishop announced as he and Scales stood on their makeshift stage, overlooking all of their supporters. "In the name of the Collective, let us ring in a new age of humanity, one that holds self-preservation and strength over all else!" The room erupted into cheers as the long-haired man went on. "No longer will we be forced to stay on the sidelines as self-righteous heroes do everything and get all the glory! From now on, WE will be taking the reins, and eventually, ALL of humanity will come to see what the Exalted One's gift can bring to our world! And to those humans, we will say… JOIN US!"

"JOIN US! JOIN US! JOIN US!" The crowd began chanting, raising their hands high into the air. But then, in the middle of their mantra, they all suddenly stopped as a chill went through the room, seemingly coming from out of nowhere.

Scales began shivering, his body temperature dropping like a ton of bricks. "G-G-GAH! W-W-W-What the h-h-heck is going on?! How d-d-did it get so c-c-c-c-cold?!"

Bishop was mostly fine thanks to his jacket, though even then, he had to zip it up. "Grrr… did someone turn on the AC?!"

"Apologies, but I thought you could all do with a little cool-down." The entire room did a double take at the sound of a voice coming from… nowhere. It arrived as abruptly as the cold had, though it didn't take long for its owner to reveal themselves. Up on one of the high I-beams, Big Chill appeared with his arms folded and his wings fully open, catching everyone's attention immediately. "After all, you all seemed a bit heated with how you were bashing me and my friends."

"It's Ben 10!" One of the Collective followers shouted angrily.

Others were more frightened than angry, though. "W-Where did he come from?!"

"How did he find us so fast?!"

Bishop was initially angry and grumbling at the sight of Big Chill… but he quickly got himself under control, instead opting to smirk and speak up to him. "Hehehe, well, I have to say, Mr. Tennyson, you've got a knack for good timing. We were just having a little meeting concerning you…"

"So I noticed." Big Chill shrugged, folding his wings up before transforming back into his human form. "Heard you guys were taking issue with how I save the world on a weekly basis. And hey, that's fine, you don't HAVE to like me." He raised his hand out to the people below. "And heck, I even support the idea of people wanting to defend themselves and not have to rely on my to fix things… but is this REALLY the way you all want to do it? By being transformed into giant monstrosities?"

"Hey! Th-The Creepers are a s-s-special case!" Scales countered as he tried to warm up, making Ben glance down at him. "The Exalted One can m-m-make all KINDS of transformations with the m-m-miracles he's capable of doing. But only HE d-d-decides who gets those. N-N-Not just ANY follower can have th-that kinda power."

Bishop nodded without question. "Exactly. They must EARN their keep as members of the Collective before being granted that power."

The Omnitrix bearer rolled his eyes at their reasoning. "Oh, gee, more talk of this "Exalted One", what a surprise. You know, you keep saying how great and generous this guy is, but for how great he is…" Ben raised his arms up, gesturing to the room around him. "…I don't see him anywhere around here." He nudged his chin toward the cultists. "What about you guys, huh? Have you seen this "Exalted One"?"

"I have!"

"So have I!"

Needless to say, Ben was surprised by that answer and he craned his head down to see two cultists step forward. They took off their hoods, revealing themselves to be a pair of young people. The first was a Caucasian man with curly, brown hair and the other was an African American woman whose wavy brown hair had yellow highlights in it. Both appeared to be in their early twenties, and this stunned Ben a little, as most fans of his were in the same age group, second only to kids and teenagers. "…So you've met this Exalted One, huh?"

The young man nodded to him. "Yeah, we have."

"He liked our initiative when we joined the Collective." The woman explained further. "So we got to have a brief meeting with him."

"I see…" Ben pulled out a small notepad and a pen from his back pocket. "Well, could you maybe give me a bit of a description for this guy? Maybe eye or hair color, how tall he is, etcetera?"

"Why would we tell you that?" The man asked pointedly, narrowing his eyes at Ben.

Ben furrowed his brow in return. "So I can give a report to my superiors, that's way. I don't know WHO this Exalted One is, or if he even exists." He pointed his pen at the two. "Heck, you guys could be lying about all this for all I know. But if he IS real, then he's responsible for the kidnapping and indoctrinating almost every person in this room."

The man balked at that. "Ha! Shows what you know, Tennyson. I joined the Collective willingly."

Next to him, the woman nodded. "Yeah, and so did I. Along with plenty of others here!" At her word, many more of the cultists raised their hands, showing which ones came of their own accord. "The Collective promised us a new life, one that'd be better than the dead-end ones that we've had to deal with."

Once again, Ben found himself baffled. Why anyone would freely join a cult, he couldn't even fathom, but he knew this; he needed to try and at least reason with them. "W-What?! You guys willingly joined a CULT? …I really feel like I shouldn't have to ask this, but WHY?!" He thrust his hand out the window. "You MUST have family and friends out there that're worried about you! And THIS is your answer to getting out of a dead-end life? I'm sorry, but I can think of several better ways than this."

"And how many of those ways would be easily accessible to these people, Tennyson?" Bishop piped up, his hands behind his back as Ben's eyes locked onto him. "Not many, I would think, especially considering where they were. Little income, selfish bosses unwilling to pay, and always the chance of being fired for no good reason. I'd say that things there deserve to be changed as well."

"That's right!" the young man cried out. "I've experienced that exact same thing, and I felt utterly useless after being let go of my job… but now, among these people, I have a new sense of purpose." His expression hardened in contempt for those who let him go. "And they'll pay for firing me because of "budget cuts"."

Ben bit his lip while hearing this, knowing that the man was going down a dangerous path. "Listen, um… what's your name?"

"Mitchell."

"Mitchell, listen, I know that what happened to you sucks big time. Trust me, I'd be pretty angry if that happened to me, too." Ben's expression turned sympathetic as he went on. "But your immediate solution can't just be "I'm gonna join a cult and get revenge". That's not exactly a good mindset, you know?"

"Well, it's an effective way to get the point across, right?!" The woman pointed out, an edge in her voice. "These rich bigwigs who run the world think they're so high and mighty. Well, maybe it's time that they get taken down a few—no, SEVERAL pegs, to see what it's like living down where the people they employ live!"

In Ben's head, he felt a wave of dread as the other cultists cheered for her. 'Oh god, we've got a "fight the power" person in here.' He cleared his throat while rubbing his neck nervously. "Uh, heh, ma'am, I can respect your—"

"The name's Katie, Tennyson. Learn it and remember it."

"Oh um, right, Katie. Like I was saying, I respect the hell out of your drive to try and better your quality of life." Ben supported. "But believe me when I say that what your doing is only going to make you wanted criminals." He thrust his hand toward a nearby window again. "If you guys head out of here and start attacking all of those rick company owners, you'll all be on the six o'clock news, but not in a good way."

Katie scoffed at what Ben was suggesting. "Who said we were just gonna go out and attack 'em? Nah, we're gonna bring 'em down by emptying their pockets." She waved the hero off. "And besides, once the Exalted One makes himself known to the public and starts telling them all about our mission, they'll slowly come to see that we've got a strong and valid argument to be made."

Mitchell smirked devilishly. "And soon enough, all these big wigs will be out of power… and then the everyman will be able to make their OWN decisions without having to worry about higher powers."

'Good lord, they're anarchists.' Ben thought to himself, beginning to panic at what they were suggesting. They had a dangerous way of thinking and it was evident that he HAD to do something to try and rein them in. "Woah, woah, guys, I get what you're saying, but this is NOT the way you go about things."

"Well, maybe it should." Scales suggested. "Think about it, Tennyson, actions speak louder than words, and it's about time that the PEOPLE start taking action. Be it against the big wigs… or the so-called "heroes" that happen to go on vacation while knights attack their home town."

A chorus of boos echoed throughout the room, and Ben felt his gut sink at that. Honestly, he had expected to hear something like that from Harangue, but the fact that the cultists were throwing it at him first was like a knife twisting in the wound. "I-I… I just wanted to show my friends from Remnant how awesome Earth is…"

"They should go BACK to where they came from!" one cultist shouted.

A chorus of agreeing voices echoed that man's sentiments, including one that said; "Exactly, Harangue's right! Those people are no better than aliens! First it's only twenty or so, then next thing ya know, they're bringing their entire world to colonize Earth!"

Ben grimaced at that, legitimately soured by the implication. "Okay, one, that is VERY presumptuous and just straight up WRONG. Seriously, I can't believe you people actually LISTEN to Harangue's bullcrap." The hero raised a finger up into the air. "Secondly, and most importantly, it's just plain rude to talk about them like that… especially when they're behind you."

The crowd all spun around, gasping at the sight of Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang all lined up just a few feet away, the four girls seeming none too happy. "Man… and here I thought Earth was mostly filled with a bunch of NICE people." Ruby said in disappointment. "How is it that, of all people, you take Harangue's word?"

"Yeah, don't know if you've noticed, but he's only the BIGGEST jerk on the face of the planet!" Weiss emphasized.

"And that's an understatement." Blake spat, listing off the ways in which Harangue sucked. "He's mean, he's xenophobic, he sees heroism as a threat for some reason, and to top it all off, he's spreading his hate-speech through a major news outlet. He's evil!"

Yang began swinging her fist around, ready to start a fight if necessary. "Alright, I think all of this has gone on long enough." She smacked her fist into her palm, popping a few muscles in her neck and making the cultists back away. "So, here's the deal. You guys are gonna stop ALL of this, and maybe we won't report you to the authorities."

Ruby took out Crescent Rose and pointed toward Bishop and Scales. "And as for YOU two, you'll be coming with us for questioning. Maybe you can finally lead us to this "Exalted One" of yours."

Bishop and Scales eyed one another silently… before bursting out into a fit of hearty laughter, much to the confusion of the heroes. "Ugh, that's never a good sign." Ben bemoaned. "What's so funny now?"

"Ahaha! Ah… that you think you're actually gonna take us in." Scales explained. "Especially with what's about to happen."

"Huh?" Ben and Team RWBY echoed, the former glaring down at the two. "What're you talking about—"

BRBRBRBRBRBIIIIIINNNGGG!

Right at that second, without any warning, a loud alarm sounded off from outside the building, catching everyone's attention. It didn't sound too far away, either. In fact, it seemed to be just down the street. "Hehe, THAT is what we meant." Bishop chortled. "See, we knew that there was a risk of you finding us here, so we set up a little distraction for ya in case it happened." He pulled something out from behind his back; a device that resembled a remote of some sort. "All I had to do was press a button while you weren't looking and I sent a signal to our welcoming party. They should be robbing the first national bank of Bellwood as we speak."

"WHAT?!" Ben snapped. He leapt off the I-beam and landed in front of Bishop and Scales ready to transform into an alien if need be. But before he could, much to his chagrin, several red portals began to pop open all around the room, and the cultists immediately started filing through them all. "Wait! Don't go—"

"Ah-ah, Tennyson." Bishop halted, wagging a finger at him with a wicked grin. "See, I should probably mention that these thieves we hired… well, they're armed to the teeth and ain't afraid of hurting people to get what they want." He spread his arms wide as he and Scales started backing up toward a portal. "So, you've got a choice to make. You can either follow us and meet the Exalted One… or you can actually BE there for your town and save the day. What'll it be?"

Ben's lips curled into a deep snarl, clenching his fists in ire at the smarmy man. Team RWBY already had their weapons drawn and seemed ready to do anything, though Ruby still looked to Ben before giving any order. "Ben… what's the plan?"

The hero sighed, his shoulders heaving before he closed his eyes. "…We can pick this up at another time." He set his glare on Bishop and Scales, resisting the urge to let his emotions take hold. "I'm not about to prove them right and abandon Bellwood when it needs its heroes."

Scales gave a condescending clap. "D'aw… how sweet! Maybe after ya save the day, you could go on another vacation! Huhuhuh!"

The team sneered at his laughter, but Ben dismissed it. "Okay, sure, we had a bit of vacation time. But if you hadn't noticed, we DID leave Bellwood in more than capable hands." He spun around, with his back now facing the two cult leaders. "We might not be able to be here ALL the time, but I'm not about to just leave this town defenseless. So go on, slink back into the shadows… but I guarantee that we WILL find you again."

"Oh, I'm sure you will." Bishop said as Scales jumped into the portal. Before he could go in himself, though, he spared Ben a glance over his shoulder. "…Or maybe WE'LL find you. Best of luck with those thieves, Tennyson… they're a pretty rowdy bunch." And with that, Bishop leapt into the portal, leaving the abandoned warehouse as empty as it had been before.

Only Ben and Team RWBY remained, and even then, it wouldn't be long before they'd be heading out as well. "So… do you think we'll be able to get THIS lucky a second time?" Blake asked. "You know it won't be easy finding them again, right?"

"No, you're right, Blake." Ben admitted disappointingly. "But sometimes, a hero has to focus on what's more important in the moment, and right now, there are innocent people that could be getting hurt."

"Hm, of course, Ben." Weiss affirmed, pointing Myrtenaster toward the nearest window. "C'mon, let's get to that bank!"

…..

Several blocks away, said bank was currently being held under siege. The large, white building had a hole blown through its front entrance and civilians and tellers alike were all staying low to the ground with their hands behind their heads. Many of them were weeping uncontrollably as the criminals kept their destructive weapons pointed at them, the perps' heads covered by motorcycle helmets. If that weren't enough, these helmets also had big, wide eyes and mouths with scary teeth painted on them, which only frightened them even more.

Four criminals in total had broken into the place, with three currently in the foyer while their leader had gone back to crack open the safe. In the meantime, though, the other three were emptying all of the money from the tellers' registers, all while cackling to themselves. "Hahaha! Oh man, whoever it was that tipped us off, they didn't disappoint!" One of the perps said as they shoveled dollar bills into a burlap sack.

"Yeah, blowin' into this place was a piece of cake." Another agreed as they practically dumped a tray full of coins into their sack… only to see an arm reach out across their field of vision. The criminal's head snapped up just in time to see a teller going for an emergency switch, but they quickly batted the hand away. "Ah-ah, don't even think about it, dude." They aimed their laser rifle up at the civilians on the other side of the counter, making them whimper in fear. "You wouldn't want these nice people to get their heads blown in, would ya?"

"P-Please… don't hurt us!" A little girl pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched her mother's leg. Just then, a boot stomped down forcefully next to the two, making them gasp in shock. They craned their heads up to see a person in camo pants, combat boots and a leather jacket standing over them, their face also obscured by a helmet.

"Relax, sweetie." The person said brazenly with a wave of their hand. "You and everyone else here will be perfectly safe… so long as you follow the rules, anyway."

One of the perps behind the counter perked their head up. "Has the boss got the goods yet?"

"Workin' on it as we speak." The camo-wearing felon affirmed. "Once that safe is cracked open, we grab everything we can and then—" BOOOOSH! "WAAAAGH!" Without warning, a powerful pair of water streams suddenly crashed into the thief's back, sending them barreling onto the floor. The other perps gasped and jumped over the counter, coming to their accomplice's aid… only to recoil at who had blasted them.

Standing in the massive hole that led outside was Water Hazard, the crustacean alien's hands raised as water dripped from his palms. "Alright, I have no clue what the hell's going on here, but you three made a HUGE mistake robbing a bank in MY town!" He waved his hand toward the hole. "Everyone, get out while you can! I'll handle this!"

The cries of grateful people echoed through the bank as they bolted for the outside, thanking the hero as they left. One of the perpetrators went to shoot them with their laser rifle, but Water Hazard simply blasted it out of their hands before they could pull the trigger. The criminal shouted in pain, holding their hand after the water stream's whiplash. "Shit! The kid's here already?!"

"Damn it!" The other one clenched her fists. "Here we thought we'd have more time…"

Water Hazard narrowed his eyes at the two. "Yeah, well, should've thought differently with a guy who has super speed. Now, how about all of you come quietly and maybe you'll only get twenty years in prison."

Just then, a combination of laughing and coughing could be heard from the floor, leading the hero to crane his head down to the third felon, who was starting to get up. "Hak-hak! Hehehe… fat chance, kid." They stood up and tossed their jacket aside… revealing an olive-green tank top and a muscular yet feminine figure. The woman removed her helmet, revealing herself to be a young Caucasian woman with blonde hair in a short pony tail, the sides of her head having been buzzed short. She narrowed her dark eyes at Water Hazard and tossed her helmet aside. "This is finally our chance at some revenge, after all."

Water Hazard was confused, not recognizing the woman at first. But then, the other two removed their own helmets, and he did a double take. One woman was Hispanic and wore bright red lipstick, with her hair dyed a vibrant violet and done up in a pair of buns on either side of her head. The other woman had pale white skin and black lipstick, her equally black hair in a messy pixie cut with red highlights. It was then that he realized that he DID know who these women were…

"Wait… you guys were part of Rojo's old gang!" He pointed toward the two women near the counter. "I saw you two when I was ten! And you…" Water Hazard focused on the blonde woman in front. "You're Amarillo! You were with Rojo on that train heist!" The very next second, though, he saw "Amarillo's" lips curl up into a snarl before she reached onto her hip and brought up two laser pistols, shooting them at the hero.

Water Hazard was able to dodge the blasts, but it was clear that he'd earned the blonde's ire. "Do NOT call me that! That stupid codename was Rojo's idea, and it sucked!" She slung her rifle over her shoulder, lifting her chin up at Water Hazard. "You can call me Calisto…" She nudged her head toward her partners in crime. "And these are my girls here."

The one with the violet hair picked up her own weapon and aimed it at the alien. "Name's Jetta."

And the black-haired girl did the same. "And I'm Roxy, your worst nightmare."

"Lady, I've had FAR worse nightmares." Water Hazard dismissed. "What I wanna know is what the heck are YOU all doing here? Last I checked, all of you were in prison."

"Well, we were, but fortunately, someone was kind enough to break us out the other day." Calisto explained, twirling her pistols in her hands as she tried to remember the person's name. "He's also the one who set this whole operation up for us. Called himself the… I dunno, the Exhausted One or something."

Water Hazard facepalmed at the revelation. "You've gotta be kidding me. Is there NOTHING this Exalted One guy hasn't got his hands in?!"

Roxy sneered at his words. "That's not an innuendo, is it? Because you're dreaming if—"

"FORGET I SAID ANYTHING!" Water Hazard insisted, waving his arms frantically. "Listen, if you're working for the Exalted One, then I've definitely gotta bring you in for questioning." He raised his palms up at them, ready to unleash a torrent of water if need be. "Now come quietly and no one has to get hurt."

Calisto threw her head back, balking at the warning. "HA! Fat chance, hero. We ain't goin' back to the slammer, and you can't make us."

"And we don't work for nobody!" Jetta exclaimed, charging up her laser rifle. "That exalted guy just freed us and pointed us in a good direction. That's it. You wanna take things up with him? Be our guest, but leave us out of it, ya hear? So just walk away an' let us make off with our money."

'Pfft, no way.' The hero thought to himself. "Sorry, ladies, can't help ya there. If you guys don't work for the Exalted One, then the least I can do is arrest you all and take you back to jail where you belong."

Roxy smirked and popped a few muscles in her neck. "Sounds like fun, sweetie pie. Only one problem…" She cocked her laser rifle and pointed it at the Bivalvan, with Calisto and Jetta doing the same. "We outnumber ya three to one. So whatcha gonna do about that, huh?"

But Water Hazard simply laughed back at her, taking a couple steps back. "You honestly thought I'd come here without back-up? Come on in, gals!" A split second later, four of the front bank windows were broken through as Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang all suddenly flew into the foyer, the four girls striking a dynamic team pose as they came in through the hole, villainesses staring at them in shock. Water Hazard folded his arms and nodded to the gang of biker girls. "Ladies, meet Team RWBY. I'm sure they'll have fun whupping your assess all the way from here to the precinct."

"Heck yeah, we will!" Ruby cheered. "Time to round up some bad guys!"

Yang slammed her fists together, wearing an eager grin. "Gotta say, if this helps get us outta training, then I'm game for a throw-down."

"Let's put a stop to this before anything else gets wrecked." Blake advised.

Weiss glared at the three criminals in disdain. "Typical criminals, always searching for an easy way to get money." The former heiress scoffed and turned her head up at them. "Really, it's like they don't even know the value of a… um… it's a "dollar", right?"

"Exactly." Water Hazard confirmed as he transformed back into Ben, stepping away from the battle as he gestured for the ladies to do their thing. "I think you girls have got this one, so feel free to take them down however you please!"

Yang gave a thumbs up to her boyfriend. "Thanks, Green Boy. We've got it handled here. Besides, they don't seem so tough." She cracked her knuckles and focused back on the women, still staring at them incredulously. "So, you ladies wanna do this now, or keep gawkin'? We don't have all day, you know." After a few seconds of silence, however… the three older women all broke out into uproarious laughter, much to Team RWBY and Ben's confusion. "Uh… what?"

"AHAHAHA! Oh, oh… oh this is RICH! Haha!" Jetta guffawed. "Tennyson, as if you couldn't get any lamer, you're sending a bunch o' schoolgirls against us?"

Roxy had to hold herself together as she went down the list, pointing to Ruby first. "Hehe, yeah! Let's see, we've got a preteen…"

"HEY! I JUST turned sixteen!"

"A little princess." Roxy continued, pointing to Weiss, who glowered right at her. "An emo cat girl, and a bimbo to deal with." She set her eyes on Ben as Blake and Yang's wore matching glares. "And Tennyson, you made the WORST mistake ever, since our head girl can probably wipe the floor with all these hussies!"

Ben scowled at how much disrespect was being thrown right in his friends' faces. "Ha! I doubt it. Calisto does look tough, but—"

"Hey, hey! Whoever said I was the leader of this bunch, Tennyson?" Calisto interrupted, taking the hero off guard. "I'm just the right hand around here. But if you wanna see a REAL woman…" She snapped her head toward the counter and called out; "YO, DOM!" Ben and Team RWBY were all the more perplexed by the name she called out. It didn't really sound like a woman's name… but the moment the leader showed herself, they resolved that she could call herself anything she damn well pleased.

"OY! What's all the ruckus goin' on in 'ere?!"

The five teens were left slack-jawed and wide-eyed at the sight of this woman. She had dark skin, spoke with an Australian accent, and was VERY tall, having to be six-foot-two, at the very least. And with that height also came muscle. Toned, very well-defined muscle. She wasn't a body builder by any means, but it was obvious that she worked out a LOT, and she was not afraid to show off her hard work. She wore a ripped up white tank top with a black sports bra underneath, along with a pair of black shorts, matching combat boots and fingerless gloves. She also had piercings all over her, from her belly button, to her lower lip, her ears… and other prominent places that were covered in clothing.

But what HAD to be her most stand-out feature was her hair. It was styled into a very impressive and wild blue mohawk, with most of the rest of her head having been shaved down. What accentuated the mohawk even more was the matching blue face paint she had over her dark chocolate eyes, applied like it was some sort of mask. She vaulted herself over the counter with one arm and reached behind her back, pulling out a large machete with a red energy blade. On her back was another weapon, though no one could tell what it was. But all any of them knew for certain was…

"…DAMN! That girl's JACKED!" Yang exclaimed.

Blake nodded, now feeling fairly intimidated. "To say the freaking least."

"I go to the back fo' five minutes an' you lot get backed into a corner?" the woman asked as she approached her cohorts. "What kinda show're we runnin' 'ere, anyways?"

"Trust me, Dom, we've got it under control." Calisto assured. "We just wanted to get you out here to see what's being thrown at us!" She wore a cheeky grin as she pointed to Team RWBY. "Check out the girlies who wanna play hero! Hahaha!"

With a curious eye "Dom's" sights landed on Team RWBY… and slowly but surely, her serious façade fell and she burst out laughing as well "AHAHA! Are you jokin'?! THIS lot? They look like they couldn't make it to history class on time, let alone FIGHT us!"

"H-Hey… attendance isn't everything." Ruby meekly said as she scuffed her boot across the floor.

Dom kept laughing for a bit longer, but abruptly stopped at the sight of Ben Tennyson, her brows furrowing at him instantly. "Tennyson?! He's 'ere too?!" She whipped over to Calisto and rocked her by the shoulder. "Why didn't ya mention THAT, Cali?! He could ruin this whole thing we've got goin' 'ere!"

"Not if we beat these little girls' asses so bad that he HAS to say behind and help them, Dom." Calisto insisted with a wicked smirk. "Let's show these Beta Bitches who're the REAL bosses around here!"

Weiss' eyes nearly bugged out of her head. "EXCUSE ME?! What did you just call us?!"

"Damn straight!" Dom smirked as she focused in on Ben again. "Get ready, Tennyson… because we're 'bout to ruin yo' little lady friends."

Ben was fairly intimidated to be sure, but still kept his wits about him. He was pretty sure he had never seen a woman this jacked in his life outside of magazines… but at the same time, she seemed somewhat familiar. The fact that she knew him was another telling factor, but after thinking back… something clicked in his brain. The blue hair. There was only ONE person he knew with blue hair and who was associated with Rojo, and he couldn't believe that THIS was that same woman. "Wait… AZUL?! Is that you?!"

The moment that followed as so silent that you could hear a pin drop, and in a split second, Roxy, Jetta and Calisto all grew very nervous. And the teens all saw why immediately, as "Azul's" expression began contorting in righteous fury before she flicked her machete, making it glow before swiping it up swiftly. From the blade, a huge burst of energy came slashing out at the teens, forcing them to duck as even more of the wall behind them was destroyed.

The Omni-Hunters were left speechless as Calisto gulped. "Oooh… you really shouldn't have called her that."

"Listen 'ere, mate…" The mohawked woman said as she pointed her blade right at the green-clad hero. "You'd be smart to keep that damn name outta ya mouth. That nickname carries a lotta bad memories. Azul is dead, ya hear me?!" She ran her hand through her hair and flicked her head back, wearing what could only be described as a "domineering" look. "From now on, you call me Dominique. Know it, remember it, respect it."

Ben raised his hands defensively. "Hey, as far as I'm concerned, you can call yourself whatever you want. …But we're still taking you in."

"Is that right?" Dominique smirked wildly as she ran her finger across her blade, all while her girls all prepped their own weapons. "An' who's gonna make us? The Magical Girls 'ere? Haha! Like that's gonna happen."

Ruby scrunched her nose, quickly getting annoyed by the woman's boisterous attitude. "Hey! We're anything BUT magical. Don't know if you're aware, but we just so happen to be Huntresses in training. Meaning that we ARE trained to fight."

"Ooh, I'm quakin' in me boots!" Dominique mockingly shivered as her cohorts laughed it up once again, before shaking her head at the team. "Why dontcha put ya' money where ya' mouth is, hon? THEN we'll see who's got the real advantage 'ere."

The Hooded Huntress merely shrugged. "Okay, you asked for it. Weapons UP!" In one quick movement, Team RWBY all brought out their weapons, which the four older women almost blinked and missed. But they indeed saw it happen… and all at once, the biker women felt their jaws drop. Seeing Gambol Shroud and Myrtenaster pointed at them was one thing, and Yang bashing her hands together to create a spark with Ember Celica was also pretty worrying. But when they saw petite, little Ruby Rose bring out Crescent Rose with her signature twirl, they were left stunned and speechless. Ruby saw that and smirked at their astonished expressions. "Hehe, surprised?"

"I… I-I… WHAT?!" Calisto exclaimed.

"What the hell are those weapons?!" Roxy added.

"That some fancy Plumber shit or something?!" Jetta asked.

Weiss shook her head. "Nope, these are custom weapons we made ourselves." she stated proudly as she raised Myrtenaster up, striking a proper stance with it. "After all, what's a Huntress without her weapon?"

Blake wore a self-satisfied smile as she watched the women start to have second thoughts. "So, one last chance. You all can either turn yourselves in…"

"Or we beat the living crap outta ya." Yang finished, clashing her gauntlets together to make even more sparks. "Personally, I'm hoping for the latter, so please, feel free to resist."

Dominique's lips curled up into a snarl, her grip tightening on her machete. "Ya damn RIGHT we're gonna resist! Your toys don't scare us, right gals?!" At their leader's rallying cry, the group of bikers gathered their wits and shouted a collective; "YEAH!" in agreement. "See?! You lot ain't gonna make us run off with our tails between our legs!"

Yang simply shrugged at their choice. "Alright, if you insist. Might be a big mistake, but hey, your choice, not mine."

Ruby loosened up her legs, stretching them out before yelling out; "That's right! Things are gonna get WILD!" She pumped her arms forward a couple times before thrusting an open hand out at the bad guys. "So just try and stop us!" With that, Team RWBY belted out a battle cry and charged right at the criminals, and Ben couldn't help but smile at the use of a certain catchphrase.

'Way to get into the Sentai spirit, Ruby.'

…..

Yang got straight to the point and headed right for Calisto, the two blondes meeting in the middle with a pair of strikes on one another. They stumbled, but quickly got back into the thick of it with punches and kicks that landed one after another, and before long, it was nothing but close-quarters combat. Cali, however, ducked a punch at just the right moment before delivering a straight punch right into Yang's gut, making her double back. Calisto went to deliver a kick right to Yang's jaw after that, but the Blonde Brawler caught the boot before it could make contact. "Hah, not bad."

"Not bad yourself, kid." Calisto shoved Yang away and went for her pistols, shooting repeatedly at the younger blonde.

Yang simply started running though, and with a pump of her arms, she launched herself high into the air and over Calisto's head. She actually managed to bat a few of the blasts away with her gauntlets before shooting herself straight down, reeling her arm back for a punch. "GYAAAAH!" BAM! Yang struck the ground with her fist, Calisto having leapt back at the last second.

The older blonde started shooting her pistols at Yang again, forcing her to backflip away as the lasers struck the ground. But Calisto simply went charging forward, not letting up on her target for a second. Yang eventually stopped near a wall, but then she jumped up and landed feet-first on it, before once again blasting herself toward Calisto. The woman was taken aback and was about to dodge again, but this time, Yang was just a little faster. She grabbed hold of the woman's shoulders and then…

"GRAAH!" With a strong flip, Yang actually flung Calisto straight over her head as she landed, watching as she landed in a heap on the floor. Running as fast as she could, Yang caught up with her and kicked her straight in the stomach, knocking the air out of her while making her fly back even further. "And THAT was for calling me and my team "Beta Bitches"!"

Calisto coughed as she tried to regain herself, desperately filling her lungs back with air. "HAK-HAK! Hehe… Hey if it helps, I think you've got great potential..." She got back to her feet and smirked at Yang knowingly. "Hell, by the looks of ya, you look like you'd be a great Alpha. …It's just that in comparison to us—HRK!"

Before she could even finish, Yang actually grabbed her by the throat and pulled her straight to her face, her eyes burning red with rage. "Stop. Talking." She reeled her fist back and punched Cali straight in the jaw, knocking her out and making her sprawl to the floor. "Hah… yeah, that felt good." she said as she walked away.

Meanwhile, Blake and Weiss were currently working with one another against Jetta and Roxy, the two felons blasting them with their laser rifles. …Or at least, they were trying. In reality, Weiss was using her glyphs to protect both of them, the spinning circles actually absorbing the laser's power. "Grrr… stop bein' a bunch of cowards and FIGHT us!" Roxy shouted.

"Yeah, I'm startin' to get bored!" Jetta added.

Weiss couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Well, we know who the meathead of this group is, at least." She smiled over to Blake as she inserted a Lightning Dust vial into Myrtenaster. "Shall we show them was real teamwork looks like?"

Blake returned the grin and nodded. "Right, let's do this." With a wave of her weapon, Weiss summoned a Time Dilation glyph directly under Blake's feet, the glyph spinning rapidly as it imbued the cat girl with its power. Blake's aura began glowing yellow before she suddenly shot off like a rocket, faster than either Jetta or Roxy could comprehend.

"W-What the—where did she—AUGH!" Jetta was cut off when she was rammed into from the side, and then carried over to the other end of the foyer.

"Jetta!" Roxy started after her friend. "Hold on, I'm coming—" CCRRRSSHH! "AH!" But she didn't get far before a wall of ice shot out in front of her, blocking her escape.

Weiss approached from behind, exuding confidence. "And where do you think you're going?"

Blake, in the meantime, had just slammed Jetta back-first into the opposing wall, the violet-haired felon letting out a groan. The cat girl stepped back and took out Gambol Shroud, holding it and its sheath for combat. "Okay, one-on-one now. Wanna call us "weak little schoolgirls" now?"

Jetta shook her head and took up her laser rifle, cocking it to charge up a blast. "Y-You just got lucky! I'm gonna put you down, ya mangy cat!" She shot a single, yet powerful laser straight at Blake… and before her very eyes, she saw the girl disintegrate into teeny tiny pieces. Jetta's eyes snapped open at what she had just done, almost in utter disbelief. "Woah… I-I didn't know these things packed that much of a punch…"

"They don't."

"HUH?!" Jetta whipped her head up just in time to see Blake come down on her, the girl's foot connecting right with her face. The biker woman fell to the floor, her head bouncing against the tile floor and knocking her unconscious. "…But my clones really do make it seem like it does."

Back over with Weiss, Roxy was doing her level best to try and break past the former heiress' barriers, only for each one to absorb her blasts. The young woman snarled at her futile efforts, fuming as Weiss practically yawned. "Ahhh… are we done here? Now I'm the one starting to get bored."

At that point, Roxy stopped firing and belted out a scream. "GAAAAH! Oh, I'm gonna screw you up REAL good, little bitch!" She charged at Weiss with her gun raised, intent on bashing her head in.

"Hm… I was hoping you'd say that." Weiss smirked as she made a glyph under her own feet, using it to jump far away from the woman's strike. Roxy just made another beeline straight for her, but the second Weiss landed, she stabbed Myrtenaster into the floor and conjured a Summoning glyph, her focus intensifying.

Roxy was about to hit her regardless, but just as she made it to the glyph, a big, armored hand popped out of it, taking her by surprise. She skidded to a halt as Weiss' Arma Gigas rose out of the glyph, holding its oversized sword aloft. Roxy had to blink a few times to make sure she was seeing things right. "…What the fu—"

"Take her down!" Weiss ordered, and the Arma Gigas obeyed, swiping at Roxy instantly. The biker had no time to avoid the strike as she was batted away by the flat of the blade, sending her careening into the front counter and shattering it upon impact. Still, that didn't stop her from being persistent, and she quickly raised her gun at the living suit of armor… only to be grabbed by it a second later.

"AGH! Lemme go!" Roxy growled. "This is no fair!"

"Might not be fair, but it's something that you definitely deserve." Weiss said as she gave her knight the "thumbs down" signal. At her command, the Arma Gigas slammed Roxy straight into the floor, cracking the tile and finally knocking her out. The knight saluted to her before dissipating, and as she stood over the fallen felon, Weiss saw Blake and Yang come over with their own opponents slung over their shoulders. "So, not a problem for you two, either?"

"Nope." Yang said as she and Blake placed Calisto and Jetta down next to Roxy. "Just goes to show that these girls are all bark and little bite."

Blake glanced off to the side worriedly. "Well… most of them, at least." The other members of Team RWBY followed her gaze and they saw their leader taking on the biggest and baddest woman of the group, the two of them clashing blades repeatedly. "…But Dominique might be a different story."

Yang and Weiss had to agree. The idea of Ruby taking on a woman who was at least a foot and a half taller than her was one thing. The fact that this woman was also jacked beyond belief was another. And of course, she couldn't forget that machete with its crazy energy slash ability. Overall, all these factors were capable of making Dominique into a very imposing opponent. "Yeah, true… but Ruby's got this." Yang smiled as she watched her sister run circles around Dominique.

As she did so, Ruby herself also kept in mind that she'd taken on Grimm that were MUCH larger and deadlier than Dominique every single day, reassuring her a bit. She just kept spinning and slicing her scythe around in her usual technique, of course being careful not to severely hurt the woman. 'Just gotta keep her on the backfoot, and eventually, I'll overwhelm her.' Ruby thought to herself.

But that idea proved easier said than done, as Dominique was shockingly able to keep up with the younger girl, using her machete to counter several strikes that were sent her way. She managed to catch Crescent Rose on the hilt of her machete and actually got in close to Ruby, a wild smirk strewn across her lips. "Hahaha! I gotta admit, Lil' Red, you've surprised me! Didn't think ya had this kinda fight in ya."

"Hm, well thanks, I—wait, what'd you call me?"

"Lil' Red." Dominique repeated, nudging her chin to Ruby's hood. "Couldn't help but notice ya' hood there. Maybe I'll use it as a sweat band afta' I beat the tar outta ya…" She didn't receive a response as Ruby simply stared at her, almost as if she were too flabbergasted to respond. Dominique used this opportunity to press her advantage. "Oy! What's the deal there, missy?!"

Ruby shook her head and stood her ground. "O-Oh, sorry, it's just… well, I guess you guys MUST have hung out with Rojo a lot, since she has the same nickname for me, and—" The Hooded Huntress halted herself right then and there as Dominique's smirk disappeared, replaced with a rageful snarl. "…I touched something I wasn't supposed to, didn't I?"

"Straight up." Dominique reached onto her back and pulled out a sawed-off double-barreled shot gun from its holster, aiming it right at Ruby's head.

"EEP!" In a split second, Ruby disappeared into a flurry of petals, just as Dominique fired a couple rounds from her gun. The mohawked woman was left baffled as the leader of Team RWBY started bobbing and weaving around her, dodging every shot and energy slash that was sent her way.

"GRRAAAH! Hold still, ya bloody cu—" CRACK! "OOF!" Suddenly, Dominique was sent sprawling forward after Ruby kicked her straight in the back, the young girl using that as leverage to vault herself up into the air.

She took out Crescent Rose again, loaded a cartridge full of Lightning Dust rounds into it, and then took aim, ready to end this. "Language!" BANG! BANG! Ruby pulled the trigger twice and shot directly into Dominique's right arm and leg, sending a powerful jolt of electricity through her.

"AAAAGAGAGAGAGAAAH!" Dominique hollered in pain as the intense shock passed through her, blurring her vision before she fell to the floor. Her arm and leg felt twitchy and, for the moment, weren't responding correctly. It was all she could do to support herself on her left side as the rest of Team RWBY all surrounded her. She breathed hard and was about to fight back… but then saw that her gang were all completely out of it. "…Shit."

Ruby raised her head up proudly. "Hm! Now who's the "beta"?"

"Definitely not you guys." Ben affirmed as he smiled to Team RWBY, giving them each a fist bump. "Nice work, ladies. Now, let's call the Plumbers and get these ladies nice and gift-wrapped for the—"

However, Blake's ears suddenly perked up, picking up a certain sound coming from above. "Ah! Everyone, get away!" She pushed her friends off to the side just in time before… CHOOOOM! A powerful, red energy beam suddenly came blasting down through the ceiling, creating a hole in it as well as cutting a swathe through the floor that separated the heroes from the villains, complete with a wall of fire.

"W-What the—"

CLANG! Ben didn't even have the chance to finish before a figure came falling from on high, landing on their feet in their metal boots. Through the fiery flames, the Omni-Hunters received their answer on who came calling fairly quickly, spotting the signature head of red hair that they had all become familiar with. "…Dammit, should've figured you'd show." Yang glowered at their adversary through the fire.

Still struggling to stand, Dominique lifted her head to see who had come to their aid… and the very next moment, she really wished he hadn't. The woman's face was obscured by a blood red visor at first, but that didn't last long as she peered down at Dom over her shoulder. The visor retracted… revealing it to be none other than Rojo. "Well, ain't you gals a sight for sore eyes?"

"ROJO?!" Dominique snapped. "What the hell're you—"

"I'll explain later. Right now, we gotta get you outta dodge."

"Not happening!" Ben shouted, transforming back into Water Hazard again in a split second to put out the fire.

But Rojo was right on top of things. "Yo, teach! Five to beam up!" At her word, a bright flash of orange light came down through the hole in the roof, enveloping Rojo and the others. Right as Water Hazard had put out the fire, the five women vanished in a flash of light, with Rojo giving him a condescending wave as she disappeared.

"No… NO!" Water Hazard dashed outside with Team RWBY hot on his tail… just in time to see the shimmering cloak of a massive space craft before it blasted off into the distance. Water Hazard clenched his fists, transforming back into Ben as he punched the nearest wall. "Dammit! Not this crap again!"

"Now Rojo's back to recruiting for the Ministry?!" Yang exclaimed, running her hands across her forehead and through her hair. "You've gotta be kidding me! We had them right where we wanted!"

Weiss propped herself against one of the bank's support pillars, shaking her head in disbelief. "This seriously can't be happening… NOW what do we do?!"

A long silence followed before Ruby pointed something out. "Um… well, on the bright side… at least we stopped them from robbing the bank, right? Hehe…" She received several facepalms in response, making her sigh sadly. "Okay, yeah, this really DOES suck."

…..

A/N: So, chaotic enough for ya? We start the chapter with some fun times watching Super Sentai, go through the middle with another confrontation with the Collective to see what they're up to… and then end with a bank heist caused by Rojo's old gang of all people! And to make matters worse, Rojo HERSELF arrives just in time to save their butts from being arrested. Sheesh, talk about a crazy course of events, to be sure.

But indeed, we've officially caught up with the Collective! Or rather, they're setting things up in Bellwood for the foreseeable future, and Ben's starting to get the idea that a lot of them are actually willingly going through with the whole "destructive cult" thing. Especially a certain pair of cultists who we've actually already met. Be prepared for Mitchell and Katie to be prominent members of this whole group in the future. Unfortunately, Bishop's smart enough to set something up to divert our heroes' focus while they make their escape, but this certainly won't be their last confrontation.

As for the reemergence of Rojo's old gang, however, if you look them up, you WILL see that these four characters ARE in fact canon to the Ben 10 series. It's just that two of them from the Original Series went unnamed and the two from Ultimate Alien have generic designs that boil down to Rojo color swaps, along with bad names. Never really liked the names "Amarillo" and "Azul", honestly. Felt kinda forced and it didn't work. So I decided to give them and the others ACTUAL names and some design changes. …Also, yes, Dominique's (the former Azul) redesign takes heavy inspiration from the Junker Queen from Overwatch. What can I say? It's a really cool character design and I thought Dominique would really fit it.

But now that Rojo's brought her old gang into the fold on Khyber's ship… how the heck are they gonna react after not seeing her for so long? Well, we'll just have to find out NEXT TIME as the five women come face-to-face… with Cinder and the rest of the team eventually getting in on things as well. Meanwhile, Ben and Team RWBY head straight to the Plumber base to debrief the situation to everyone, before immediately starting to lay out a plan to get those criminals back. How will things pan out? Well, tune in next time to find out! Thanks for reading as always, everyone. And as always, stay safe out there!