A/N: Good day, everybody! Welcome back to the story, and the first chapter of the "Predators and Prey" arc. Well, granted, this acts more like a transitionary chapter that leads INTO the arc itself, but hey, semantics. Also, before we get started, fair warning, there's a conversation between Rojo and Mercury in this chapter that's gonna bring up a few somewhat dark subjects. It's brief, but it IS there, so I just wanted to give you all a heads up. So, without further ado, let's get started. This is…

Chapter 45: Of Wins and Losses

…..

It was official; this was the worst day ever. At least, to Ruby Rose, it was. To think that yesterday had gone so well, what with them stopping a potential catastrophe and being introduced to Super Sentai. But then, as if to say "no, you don't get to have fun", the universe decided to throw a wrench into EVERYTHING that happened on this day. Her team and Ben had found the Collective… only for them to get away. They stopped a bank robbery… only for the felons to get recruited into the Ministry. And then finally, what Ruby took to calling "The Fort Knox Catastrophe" happened, leaving everyone feeling completely and utterly dismayed after the fact.

So many things had gone wrong over the course of the day, that Ruby WISHED it was all a massive nightmare. But unfortunately, it wasn't, and as they closed in on Bellwood, she could only dread what awaited them when they landed. 'Six probably isn't going to be happy.' she thought anxiously.

Ruby glanced up at the rest of the team, who had all gathered in the hull of the ship as well, mainly because none of them wanted to be alone after that ordeal. The only ones absent were Gwen and Kevin, the duo having stayed in the cockpit for the flight. Needless to say, the flight back was a lot slower. The Hooded Huntress sighed, propping her elbows on her knees as she rested her chin on her hands. "…Where did we go wrong?"

"I think the bigger question is "what did we do RIGHT"?" Weiss countered, kicking her foot against the floor. "We were just… off our game entirely."

"No, that's not it at all, Weiss." Pyrrha assured. "We fought as hard as we could, but…" She shuddered as she recalled their foes, and how powerful they were. "Those shark women were unbelievably strong."

Ren, who was now wearing a spare pair of sweatpants, nodded in agreement. "Exactly. We were unprepared for just how powerful they would be…" He craned his head over to his white pants, which were soaking in a bucket of soapy water to get the blood out. "…Among other things."

"Oh, ya mean like how freaking Subdora came out of nowhere and just YOINKED all that gold right out from under our noses?" Neptune exclaimed, throwing his hands up into the air. "Because yeah, I'd say we were REALLY unprepared for that."

Ben folded his arms, his brow furrowed toward the floor. "We should've been paying better attention." he resolved. "We should've guessed that there was a reason why the Ministry would be waiting for us AT the front door. We should've…" He paused as he set his gaze out to the team, who were all staring back at him in concern. He heaved out a sigh of his own and let his shoulders go slack. "…We should've planned all of this out better. We were caught with our pants down and we paid the price for it."

"And now, Six is gonna chew us out for our failure." Yang pursed her lips, not looking forward to that. "At least, I'm pretty sure he will."

But Rex raised a reassuring hand. "Hey, hey, let's not jump the gun here, 'kay? There's a big difference between Six and White Knight. You're thinking of White Knight." He went over to Weiss, putting an arm around her in comfort. "Six isn't SO by the book that he snaps at the smallest failure. Yeah, today sucked BIG time, but we shouldn't just give up because of it."

Sun gave a shrug. "Well, yeah, but what can we do? The bad guys got away with the gold they wanted and we can't track 'em in their stupid invisible ship. Whatever they need it for, they've probably already done it."

Blake, who was laying against her boyfriend's chest, craned her head up with a raised brow. "Sun, what makes you so sure about that?"

"Well… I dunno, it just seems like something a villain would do the instant they won." The monkey boy rationalized. "Besides, knowing our string of bad luck, it's probably a good bet."

As much as Blake didn't want to admit that, she gave a shrug. "Well, given that logic, it WOULD be another big way to screw us all over." Still, she shook her head and put on a determined expression. "But Rex also has a point; we may have lost this battle, but the war still goes on. We'll just have to do better next time to try and stop whatever grand scheme they're coming up with."

"Which we still have no clue what that even is." Ilia pointed out. "Between dogs that transform into alien predators, bringing Grimm to earth, giant ant farms, stealing gold, and now shark women that can go back and forth between human and mutant, it feels like the Ministry's just doing bad things for the sake of doing it." The chameleon girl ran her fingers through her hair, trying to figure it all out. "Just what is their big end goal for all of this?"

Nora scoffed, the redhead lounging about on the hood of Kevin's car. "Pfft, search me. I stopped trying to figure those guys out a LONG time ago. But there's one thing that we CAN be sure of…" She sat up and pointed toward Ben. "Whoever's behind the scenes of that big doggy, he's after you, Ben."

"You're right, Nora. Khyber IS after me." Ben concurred, recalling the moment where he saw the silhouette in the smoke. "In fact… I'm pretty sure I had a bit of an encounter with him back there." This piqued the interest of everyone immediately, their focus directly on the hero. "After Rex and I took care of the dog, he came in to save it… but I couldn't see him clearly thanks to a smoke bomb."

"Is that so?" Winter asked. "Did he say anything to you?"

"Yes… he said that his hunt will soon come to an end." Ben replied, much to everyone's disconcertion. Just by reading their faces, the hero could see just how concerned they all were by that. "Yeah, I know, makes me wonder what he's got planned, too." Ben stood up and put his hands on his hips. "But don't worry. THIS time, we're gonna plan out a strategy against them ahead of time that'll hopefully have better results than what happened today."

Yang let out an anxious breath, standing as well to be next to her boyfriend. "Green Boy, I hope you're right about that. Because losing sucks."

"Well, we've been on the winning side for quite a while now, so a loss like this WILL suck." The Omnitrix bearer reached around Yang's shoulders, pulling her into an embrace. "Trust me, been there plenty of times myself. But in fights between good and evil, both sides are bound to have wins and losses. Best we can do is strategize and come back against the bad guys with a workable plan next time."

Ruby smiled and got up herself, pumping her fists in determination. "Yeah, you're right, Ben! We're not about to let one loss get us down, are we, guys?!"

"No, we're not!" Neptune nodded confidently. "…But there's just one thing I've been wondering. Why do the Street Sharks have a time limit on their mutation?" The blue-haired boy's question did have merit, making the others just as curious to the reason. "I mean, Animo usually makes things like this permanent, so what gives?"

"If I may." Penny spoke up, coming to the forefront of the conversation. "I actually may know the reason behind that. You see, when the Street Sharks first appeared, I performed a scan on them to see what sort of genetic monstrosities they were." The redhead's eyes flashed and she started projecting holographic images of Thrasher, Lunge, Stripes and Crunch on rotation. "And in my scans, I've found that their DNA indeed was not permanently altered. Rather, the mutagen agent that Animo uses was coursing through their blood stream. However, this mutagen formula seems a bit different, as it was naturally processed through their bodies before disappearing all together, leaving them to transform back to normal."

As she explained this, the images of the Street Sharks shifted into their human forms… and when they did, Jaune took notice of something. "Hey, wait a sec." He pointed to the ladies' backs, along their upper spines. There, he saw a dome-shaped device that everyone noticed as well. "What're these things on their necks?"

Pyrrha took a closer look as well, scratching her chin. "Hm… they seem to be some sort of implant. Perhaps those could be what injects them with the mutagen?"

"Precisely my thinking, Pyrrha." Penny concurred, deactivating her hologram projectors. "I can only guess that those devices must've been made by Animo so that he can create mutants quickly and more efficiently."

"That… actually makes a little sense." Weiss said in realization. "Why have a permanent mutant that's big, bulky and can't fit everywhere when you can have a human who can fit in those places, but who can also become a mutant when they need to?"

Blake, however, wasn't as convinced. "…But if they ARE big, bulky mutants, can't they just crash into anyplace they want?"

Ben facepalmed, exhaling at the whole situation. "Guys, it's Animo. I stopped trying to figure him out YEARS ago." All of a sudden, the Rustbucket jostled a little and the group felt themselves start to lower. Before long, they felt the aircraft come to a complete halt, signaling their return to Plumber HQ. "Hah, well, we're back. Time to face the music…"

Winter came forward, placing a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Allow me to go out first, Ben. I'll… attempt to soften the blow."

"Thanks, Winter. Much appreciated." Across the way, the entry hatch opened up, and Winter started making her way down into the base. Not a second after she left, though, Gwen and Kevin came in, and Ben set his sights on them. "Hey guys, how're you holding up?"

"Eh, could be better, could be worse." Kevin admitted.

"Honestly, I'm just glad that all of us made it out okay." Gwen said, shifting her focus to a certain green ninja. "Ren, how's your wound? Is it healed up all the way?"

Ren lifted his pant leg, revealing the wound to be little more than a few scars now. "Yep, you can barely see it now." He gave a thankful nod to the Osmosian. "And thanks for letting me borrow these spare sweats, Kevin."

Kevin smiled and waved him off. "Ah, no prob, it's what they're there for." His attention went back to Ben again, crossing his arms toward his best friend. "So, after today, I'm betting you're already starting to think of ways we can make up for all this crap, huh?"

"Kind of." Ben made a so-so gesture with his hand. "Still kinda coming to grips with everything, but I'll think of something…" His green eyes then moved to meet his cousin's, and while he could tell she was keeping a calm demeanor, her gaze told a bit of a different story. Almost as if her mind was in a different place. "Hey… you alright, Gwen?"

"Hm? O-Oh, yeah, I'm good." Gwen assured, only to purse her lips in thought again. "It's just… with everything that's been going on lately, I can't help but feel a little on edge."

"Can't blame you there." Ilia agreed, craning her head down slightly. "It's like, every day with this stuff."

Jaune took hold of Pyrrha's hand, the duo also somewhat uneasy. "Heck, we couldn't even get a good vacation in without crazy stuff happening." The blonde knight tilted his head at Ben. "Living as a full-time hero… does it get any easier?"

Ben bit his lower lip, already knowing the answer. "…No, not exactly." he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Honestly, I've just learned to live with it… but you know what? I'm not gonna let all this crap get in the way of showing you guys a good time on Earth." The hero took center stage and raised his hands, getting everyone's attention. "Listen, how about this weekend, we all go out camping? I know a great place where we can just go out and get away from everything. How does that sound?"

Nora instantly lit up at the idea, as did a few other. "Ooh! Camping sounds fun!" She bounced over and put her hands on Ren's shoulders. "Renny and I are WAY familiar with camping, but we haven't done it in a while, so this should be fun!"

"Hm, yeah, I actually do like the sound of that." Ren approved.

"So do I, Green Boy." Yang smiled brightly, hugging her boyfriend's arm. "Roughin' it out in the wilderness sounds like a great time for all of us."

Gwen raised a skeptical brow, however. "Wait, so if we go camping, who'll stay to defend Bellwood?"

"Well, even if the Knights got away with that tablet, the Plumbers still protected the town pretty well." Ben recalled. "I'm sure they can handle things while we're gone. And besides, Raven will be back by then, too."

"Ooh! Yeah, Ben's right!" Ruby remembered as well. "If anyone can keep Bellwood safe, it's Raven."

Gwen was still somewhat unsure, though she did have to admit, they both raised some solid points. Plus, seeing how excited everyone was for this idea, Gwen slowly started coming around to it as well. "Heh, well, alright. Count me in, then. Heck, maybe we can even convince Grandpa to come along." She nudged her cousin in the arm. "It'll be just like old times, right "dweeb"?"

Ben got a good chuckle out of that. "Hehe, yeah, right "doofus"." The team laughed a little at the banter, but before long, they all saw Winter coming back aboard. Her expression was neutral, though her voice sounded somewhat hopeful.

"Everyone, they're waiting for you." the military specialist waved her hand down the steps.

The teens all eyed one another before Ben took a deep breath, nodding once more. "Well, alright. Here we go."

…..

As much as Six didn't want to say anything, he had a feeling that Winter would be the first to come out of the ship. From the initial report he heard over the transceiver from Kevin, things had not gone well at all. He had expected the team to feel disheartened by all of this, and thus, knew that Winter would likely come out to break the ice first incase things were tense. Fortunately, though, that wasn't the case. "Today was an off day for them."he said to his compatriots as Winter went to get the kids.

"Exactly." Max agreed. "After a good rest, tomorrow should be better."

Holiday took a deep breath, sighing through her nostrils as concern for the teens washed over her. "As much as I want to think that, Max, I'm not too sure if they'll be alright for a little while." The two men set her sights on her curiously. "I mean, after they've won against the villains so many times. To suddenly lose like this must be a big shock to them." If anything, however, this just made Six and Max more perplexed. "…Well, okay, maybe not Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Rex so much. But the others? They've had many victories with those four leading the charge."

"You make a good point, Doctor Holiday." Max shifted his eyes up the rampway, waiting for his grandkids and the others. "But in the end, this will be a valuable learning experience for them. In this war, each side is bound to get their own victories and losses. They'll just have to learn to take them as they come." Finally, Max spotted Ben and Gwen come strolling out behind Winter, followed by everyone else. He sent a sympathetic smile to his grandkids, coming up to place a hand on their shoulders. "Hey there, kids."

"Hi, Grandpa." Gwen muttered.

Ben kept his gaze down. "Today sucked."

"I heard." Max pat his grandson on the shoulder. "But you've dealt with losses before. Trust me, I know you'll get back at 'em." That got Ben's lips to curl into a small smirk, leading Max to give the same advice to the rest of the team. "As will all of you as well."

Ruby tugged at her cloak doubtfully, with the rest of the team also somewhat unsure as well. "Well, hopefully we will. Max, the Ministry just got a big power-up REALLY fast with these… Street Sharks."

Weiss nodded at her partner's words. "They're quite powerful, for certain. We need to think of a way to beat them and find out exactly WHY this Khyber person is hunting Ben."

Six came up, concurring with the former heiress. "My sentiments exactly. Whoever this "Khyber" is, it's obvious that his target is Ben…" The agent's gaze went over to the hero in question, though he was still unsure of something. "But one thing still remains unclear; why did they need to steal all that gold in the first place? What would they need with that many bars?"

"Trust me, I wish I knew, Six." Ben threw up his hands, truly unhappy with the situation. "But believe me when I say that I'm coming up with a plan as we speak…" He bowed his head toward the man. "Also, I'm sorry that we failed the mission. If this is deserving of another punishment—"

"No." Six cut the hero off with a wave of his hand. "Like I said, training is off for the day. You were all caught off guard by these new shark mutants, and quite frankly, lately things haven't gone your way." He scanned across the group, all while they stared back at him. "The only way to assure that this string of bad luck ends, is to work through it and come up with a workable strategy. The Ministry may have won today, but I can be sure that you won't let it happen again anytime soon, correct?"

The team eyed one another, their demeanors serious and thoughtful. However, they were also filled with determination, with Yang putting on a smile and pumping her fist. "You can bet on that, Six. We won't crash and burn again after this."

"Good to hear." Six smiled before turning to Ren, nodding down to his leg. "How's the leg holding up, kid? I see that you're standing."

"It's doing good, sir." Ren reached down and pulled up his pantleg, revealing that his wounds were now completely healed. Even the scars weren't visible anymore. "My Aura's been working overtime to heal it up, and I have Jaune to thank for that." He sent a grin to his leader, who replied with a thumbs up. However, Ren was also a bit upset by the question Six posed. "…Though I guess that means OUR training session is off, too?"

Six reached out gave Ren a light hit on the shoulder. "For now. Get some rest and be back here early for our training. It's going to happen, Ren, I can promise you that."

Ren's eyes widened and he bowed to the agent respectfully. "Yes, sir, I understand." He didn't see it, but Rex was smirking and giving Six a thumbs up behind his back.

Right at that moment, though, a door on the far side of the hangar opened up, revealing Qrow, Vernal and Swift all charging in. The team were taken aback by the trio's sudden appearance, but the fact that they seemed so worried for them was very reassuring to see. "Yang, Ruby!" Vernal exclaimed.

"Good god, you girls okay?" Qrow asked, pulling his nieces into a hug. "When we heard what happened, we nearly lost it!"

"G-Guys, we're fine!" Yang assured, lightly pushing her uncle away. "Trust me, everyone's perfectly fine. Most damage was Ren getting his leg bit." She pointed down to the bucket of water he had brought out of the jet with him. "And even then, his pants were the worst victim here."

Vernal ran a hand through her hair in relief. "Hah, phew, that's good to hear. If you guys died on my watch, Raven would never forgive me. Also…" She trailed off, her cheeks flushing red as Yang and Ruby tilted their heads. After swallowing down her apprehension, Vernal murmured; "I… I would've missed you guys."

Ruby and Yang both gasped and immediately rushed her in a big bear hug. "BIG SIS!" they echoed.

"Yeah, yeah, I've gone soft." Vernal deadpanned, lightly patting the girls' shoulders. "Must be a happy day for you two, huh?"

Ruby could only squee; "Oooh, happiest we've been ALL day!"

"Ili—AH!" Swift nearly flew over to her friend… but figured out pretty quick that she couldn't. She fell to the floor the moment she leapt off the ground, surprising everyone and worrying the chameleon girl herself.

"Swift!" Ilia rushed over and knelt down, helping Swift off the floor. "Are you okay?"

The Aerophibian rubbed her jaw, clenching her teeth in pain. "Ugh, not exactly."

Ilia wore a snarky grin, crossing her arms at her friend. "And just what were you hoping to accomplish with that little stunt." She pointed down to the brace on Swift's ankle. "You've gotta keep that anklet in mind, girl. Otherwise, you could get hurt."

With a roll of her eyes, Swift scoffed and shrugged. "Pfft, thanks mom, I'll remember." She playfully jabbed Ilia in the shoulder and the two laughed, though Swift quickly got serious again soon after. "But jeez, what happened out there? It sounds like you guys went through hell from what we heard."

"Yeah, I mean… shark mutants?" Qrow winced at the very thought. "Hell, sharks alone are scary as hell, but ones that WALK on land? Heh, yeah, hell no."

"Trust me, that was our reaction, too." Sun confirmed, grimacing at the memory. "But what surprised us even more was that the rest of the Ministry was pretty determined, too." He shook his head, recalling how Skull and Hog were keeping up with them during their fight. "I don't think I've ever seen them that driven to win."

Vernal placed her hands on her hips, pondering on what Sun just said. "Well, it's obvious that they've got a confidence boost with those new members." She put on a smirk of her own and balled a fist. "But next time we meet up with 'em, we're gonna tear that confidence down, right? Because next time, you're gonna have a lot more backup."

"That's much appreciated, Vernal." Ben bowed his head slightly to her. "But for right now, we're bushed, beat to hell, and honestly, we kinda just wanna take the rest of the afternoon off, right guys?" He received a round of approving voices from his friends, who were eager to get back home.

Six nodded to them and gestured toward the door. "Of course. Far be it from us to keep you hear." As the team walked past him, though, he stopped them briefly to offer one last bit of insight. "But remember; not everything lasts forever, and this string of bad luck for you all is no exception. Tomorrow is another day, so we'll see you then." After a round of "thank you's" from the team, they all went out the door, with Kevin taking his car to another exit that lead outside.

Holiday smiled toward her fiancé, leaning her head on his shoulder. "See? Positive reinforcement goes a long way."

"Hm, you have no idea how hard that was for me."

The doctor smirked, hearing the dry sarcasm coming from his voice. "Oh, stop it."

…..

Meanwhile, as the team were leaving the Plumber Base, a much different atmosphere could be felt aboard Khyber's ship. Rather than one of melancholy and reassurance, merriment and confidence abound in the hull of the massive space craft as the Ministry of Darkeness celebrated their victory. Things had developed into a kind-of sort-of party onboard the vessel almost immediately after they'd been beamed aboard with the gold. Sure, it had taken Rojo and the others to realize what they'd done, but when they did, they were not shy about bragging about it to the world.

"WOO-HOO-HOO-HOO! We won! We actually won!" Rojo shouted as she took another swig of her drink, which Mercury, Hog and Skull all cheered at. The bounty hunter let out a satisfied "ah" as she finished off her beverage before noticing Cinder sitting quietly next to her, not doing much of anything. "Hm? Cindy, what the hell?"

Cinder raised a brow with a simple; "Hm?"

"Why ain't ya celebrating?" Rojo gestured over to everyone else, who were all partying it up and having a great time, including Dominique and the other girls. "We finally got a major WIN against those dumb heroes! How're you not partying the hardest right now? I thought you'd be ecstatic by this!"

The Fall Maiden craned her head up to Rojo, raising her hand in assurance. "Oh, believe me, I am properly excited, Rojo. Honestly, it's about time those heroes were shown their proper place…" She glanced away, her sights moving to her own drink. "But I'm not exactly much of a… "party person" as it were."

Rojo got a chuckle out of that. "Hehe, says the girl who tries to sing to every metal song she can?"

"Th-That's only in private!" Cinder blushed.

"Oy! What's the crack 'ere, gals?" Dominique sauntered over, leaning up against the table. "Cinder, c'mon, you should be celebratin' with the rest o' us!" She pointed to the young, dark-haired maiden. "Hell, you led us all into battle, after all. And… as weird as this sound… you've actually earned quite a bit of respect from me an' me girls." Dominique extended a hand down to Cinder. "You're alright, luv."

To say that Cinder was surprised was an understatement, but the fact that the four women were starting to be more amicable was something she wasn't going to squander. "Hm… thank you, I suppose." Cinder shook Dominique's hand… only for the mohawked woman to suddenly tug her in. "Ah! W-What are you—"

"But fair warnin'." Dominique whispered huskily, with a hard edge in her voice. "If you do anything to hurt Rojo… I WILL come afta' you."

Cinder furrowed her brow in confusion. "W-What are you—" But then, the realization dawned on her, and she quickly understood what the biker woman had insinuated. All at once, Cinder's expression hardened into a glare, which Dominique wasn't afraid to return. "How… how dare you?" The Maiden whispered harshly. "I would never—"

"See to it that ya don't, then." The blue-haired woman cut off, shifting her eyes between Cinder and Rojo, the latter destracted after striking up a conversation with Mercury. "I can see the writin' between the lines 'ere, an' it's obvious that she's got a thing for ya."

"I-I—mph!" Much to Cinder's chagrin, Dominique placed a finger on her lips silencing her. She activated her Maiden powers, hoping to intimidate the taller woman.

But if anything, it just made her snicker. "Heh, you're cute, Sheila, an' I can see why Rojo's taken to ya." Her expression grew serious once again. "But even if things between Rojo an' me are over… I can't lie, I still kinda have a thing for her." Cinder's eyes stopped glowing when Dominique said that, her interest piqued. "But I also know that if we DID try again, it probably wouldn't end well, so as long as you don't hurt her feelin's, I'll be okay with the two o' ya together."

Cinder narrowed her eyes, pulling her lips away from Dominique. "…We aren't even going out."

"Yet."

A sneer came to the younger woman's lips. "And what makes you think I want—"

"Girl, I caught ya starin' at Rojo's ass at least six times since I've been on this ship." Instantly, Cinder's cheeks lit up red in embarrassment and she whipped her head away… only for her eyes to focus in on exactly what Dom was talking about. With a frustrated groan, Cinder slammed her head on the table and hid in her arms, making Dom laugh out loud. "AHAHA! Ah, don't worry, been there."

Cinder peeked out from her arms, glancing over to Dom in defeat. "Ugh, fine, you've got me. …Any advice?"

Dom propped her feet up on the table, leaning back in her chair. "Only that Rojo's a pretty straight-forward gal. Sure, she'll beat around the bush at first, but once one o' ya makes the first move, she dives right in."

"Hm, well, thank you for the forewarning, though that doesn't exactly help me with this… sudden feeling." Cinder admitted, resting her chin on her palm. "This is… a recent discovery for me."

"What? That ya like women?"

"More like the concepts of "love" and "attraction" in general."

Dominique smiled in understanding. "Ah, one of those people, eh? Haven't had a reason to care 'bout love until the right person just came into your life, eh? I get that." She gave Cinder a shrug. "But hey, you're bound ta figure it out eventually, Sheila. Lots of people do, some don't, but I think you'll be fine."

As another sigh escaped her lips, Cinder sat up, her focus fully back on Dom. "You know, I'll be honest… I wasn't fond of the idea of you all joining the Ministry." She scanned the room, seeing how well everyone seemed to be getting along. "But after today, I feel a bit more confident in this decision." She bowed her head toward Dom. "So thank you. Both for your help, and the advice."

Dom raised her glass to Cinder. "No problem, lady. 'Ere's to more wins comin' our way." The duo clinked their glasses together, sipping their drinks as the celebration continued.

…..

Not too far away, though, Rojo had sauntered over toward Mercury's table, the assassin sitting by himself. "Sheesh, you and Cindy are bein' such sad sacks!" Her statement made Mercury snap his head up to her, which she couldn't help but smirk at. "Ha! Caught ya off guard? Man, talk about jumpy." She pulled up a seat and spun it around, leaning against the backrest as she sat down. "So, what's on your mind, Merc?"

The silver-haired young man pursed his lips, hesitant to answer. His sights went straight to his drink as he swirled the ice in his cup. "…What do you think?"

"Still stuck on Em, huh?" Rojo guessed, with Mercury humming a confirmation. "Yeah, can't blame ya. But hey, you and Khyber are training to work on that, right? Hell, you were pretty controlled in today's fight, honestly."

"Yeah, but… I don't know how long I would've lasted like that." Mercury's grip tightened on his glass, remembering what Kevin said. "Levin tried to break me, but I withstood all the crap he slung my way. And when he ran out of ammo… he said he'd move on to bashing the people I cared about."

Rojo's eyebrows rose up at that. "Woah, Levin said that? Huh, never took him as someone who'd do that."

Mercury shook his head. "Well, apparently, he is. And if he'd said one bad thing about Emerald, I don't know what I would've done."

"Heh, if Em weren't mad at ya, she probably would've been flattered if you kicked the crap out of Levin if he said something like that." Rojo chuckled, only for her amusement to die as Mercury just kept his solemn expression. After a few seconds, Rojo spun her chair around and sat in it properly, reaching over to pat Mercury on the shoulder. "…Ya really care about her, don't ya?"

"Hmph, why do you think I'm putting up with Khyber's training?" Mercury asked, facing Rojo head-on. It was then that she finally noticed the dark circles under his eyes, showing his lack of sleep. "He's been running me ragged for a full night and day straight with this training with only short breaks here and there. It's almost like training with my da—" But then he stopped, sealing his lips up tight.

"Woah, woah, hold on. Don't stop there." Rojo leaned forward, raising her brow at the assassin. "What were you about to say?"

Mentally cursing himself, Mercury saw no point in trying to hide it from Rojo any longer. He already let it slip, so might as well come out with it. "It… it's almost like I'm training with my bastard father again."

Rojo's eyes widened in realization. "Ooh… yeah, Emerald told me about you and your dad." She shifted her eyes over to the door before asking; "Is Khyber really that bad to you?"

Grimacing at the question, Mercury seemed almost frustrated as he replied; "…No, but the strict training cycle reminds me so much of those days." He glanced down to his legs, a dark shadow being cast over his eyes by his hair. "I mean… at least he's not replacing my body parts to make me deadlier."

"Holy shit, dude." Rojo muttered. "And I thought my dad was an asshole."

"Wait… you too?"

Rojo balked and leaned back in her chair. "Ha! Yeah, my dad was the biggest shitbag of a person that you'd probably ever meet." Her expression grew grim as the memories came flooding back. "We were poor as hell since he spent all the money he made on whiskey and smokes. He liked to think he owned me and my mom. And whenever we got out of line… off came his belt."

Mercury's jaw almost fell to the floor. "By the gods… how'd you escape that?"

"Well, by the time I turned sixteen, I'd taken to the streets and did some stealing." Rojo explained as a smirk came to her lips. "I'd gotten enough money to make it out of the town we lived in… but I loved my mom too much to leave her with that asshole alone. So, I broke into his gun cabinet when he wasn't looking, and later that night…"

"Lemme guess; killed him in his sleep?"

The bounty hunter scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Heh, yeah, right. In hindside, I WISH I waited until the bastard was sleeping." She shook her head with a pout. "But no, the old man move just enough for me to miss the mark. Instead, I just ended up paralyzing him from the neck down." A small smirk came to her lips as she shrugged. "But hey, he STILL couldn't do anything to me or my mom anymore. And I even got out of it in court since they ruled it as self-defense. Last I saw, the bastard was locked up in a medical jail for disabled inmates, and I haven't seen him since."

"Wow… and your mom? What about her?"

Rojo smiled fondly at that. "I still visit her from time to time… whenever I'm not in jail." She glanced up toward the ceiling, thinking of her mother. "I might've come outta that whole experience all screwed up, but I'm at least glad my mom could still have a semblance of a normal life after that."

"Hm… wish I actually got a chance to know my mom." Mercury hummed, tapping the side of his glass. "She died giving birth to me." Rojo focused back on him as we continued. "And well, my dad didn't get off as easily as yours, needless to say. Killed him and left him in a pool of his own blood."

Rojo wagged her finger at him. "Why do I get the feeling that's where most of your issues stem from, dude?"

Mercury deadpanned in response. "Wow, never would've guessed. So… what's the point we gotta take away from this whole talk?"

"I dunno… uh…" Rojo raised her glass. "Here's to our bastard fathers not being in our lives anymore… I guess?"

"I'll drink to that." Mercury cheered his glass with hers gladly. "And I guess here's to Khyber for not being an abusive asshole."

As the duo drank to their toast, however, a group of cheers suddenly erupted from behind them, their heads whipping around to see Calisto, Jetta and Roxy all partying on the move. All of them had drinks in their hands and they seemed VERY intoxicated. Calisto in particular practically roared out a party cry; "WOOOAAAH! Rojo! This was the best idea EVER!" The blonde bent over and hugged Rojo, much to her surprise. "We got the gold AND beat those little girls' butts REAL good! HAHAHA!"

"Hell yeah, we suuuure did!" Jetta agreed, her speech somewhat slurred. "An' I came away with a leetle souvenir!" She took a piece of tattered and bloodied white fabric out of her pocket, presenting it to them. "You would NOT believe where I found this! …IN MY TEETH!"

There was another eruption of laughter before Roxy, who seemed to at least be the most sober, came forward and pressed her hands on Mercury's shoulders. "And Mercy, you would NOT believe the awesome news!"

"…Did you just call me "Mercy"?" the silver-haired boy asked.

"Oh, that's a bad sign." Rojo mumbled.

"We're gonna be stayin' on the ship!" Roxy practically screamed into Mercury's ear, leading him to cover it in pain.

Calisto was quick to clarify; "Well, at least for a little bit. We'll be hanging here until Animo comes back with more vials of that Shark Mutagen Then we'll search for our own place. But until then…" She reached down and trailed her finger along Mercury's chest, outlining the defining muscles along his pectorals. "Mercy, it's gonna be lonely for a lot of us… maybe you'd still be interested in that little… offer we made earlier?"

The other girls wiggled their eyebrows at Mercury knowingly, and at this point, the assassin had no clue what the hell to do. 'Dear god, not THIS again!'

Rojo simply sighed and shooed her former gang away from the young man. "My god, thirsty bitches! Give the boy some space, he's trying to have a good time!"

"H-Hey, whaddya think WE'RE doin'? Jetta slurred again, clearly smashed off her rocker. "We're TRYIN' to sshhhow 'im a good time!"

Roxy pointed an accusing finger to the redhead. "And don't think you'll fool us by sayin' you want him all to yourself, Rojo. We know how much you're into that Cinder o' yours, hehehe…"

As the punk woman snickered at her, Rojo's eyes widened at the accusation. "I… I-I… okay, one, you KNOW there's more than one reason why I wouldn't sleep with Merc." She quickly turned to him and put a hand to his shoulder. "No offence, by the way, I just don't swing that way."

"None taken, and quite understandable." Mercury assured.

"And secondly, maybe not say that shit out loud?" Rojo emphasized in a whisper as she pointed to Cinder, who was still talking with Dominique. "I'd rather you NOT blab about my feelings when she's right there!"

"Hey, in our defense… we think it's cool, too, honestly." Calisto admitted, also eying Cinder. "You and your little Cindy really share a close bond, don't ya?"

A small blush came to Rojo's face as she scratched her head nervously. "Ah, I-I'd like to think we—" But then, the sound of automatic doors opening caught her attention, leading her to shift her focus over to who had entered; Khyber. The huntsman was holding a remote in his hands and seemed mostly concentrated on that. But still, she saw it fit to stand up and greet her mentor. "Heya, teach! Whatcha got goin' there, huh?"

Khyber became the focus on the entire room fairly quickly as Cinder, Dom, Hog, Skull and Subdora all gathered together as well. The huntsman's eyeridges furrowed as he explained; "We have an incoming transmission from one of my benefactors, and he has something important to explain to all of us." He aimed the remote toward the center of the large table and pressed a button, making it light up before a holographic screen appeared above it. But, strangely enough, the image was mostly static. "For the sake of his anonymity for the time being, he's chosen not to show his face, but he did wish for us all to hear this."

"Hm, so we'll finally be hearing from one of these mysterious benefactors?" Cinder questioned as she stood up, folding her arms over her chest. "Perhaps now we'll finally get some idea on what our end goal with all of this is…"

The gleaming red eyes of the huntsman went down to Cinder. "Worry not, I expect that he will have quite a bit of news for us here…" Just then, a beeping sounded off from the holo-screen and the words "INCOMING TRANSMISSION" started flashing in red, leading Khyber to press another button before speaking. "This is Khyber, do you read us?"

A sinister chortle came from the speaker, followed by a voice that seemed to have a stutter to it. "Hmhmhm, yes-s, I read you loud and c-clear, Khyber."

"Hm, good doctor." Khyber nodded, acknowledging the voice with a title. "I take it that you have already received the shipment of gold as promised?"

"Indeed! And I cannot th-thank you and your team enough for pulling this-s off!" The doctor praised with enthusiasm. "The Aldaenians were quite—and I use the term loosely—overjoyed by the bounty of golden bars we gave them. And, as p-promised, they gave me the component I required for the Nemetrix's full upgrade, hehehe…"

Rojo smirked as she turned toward both her new and old teams. "And what's better is that WE got to keep two-hundred of those bars for ourselves, right? Like we agreed; fifty-fifty split?" The group all echoed an agreement before the "doctor" continued.

"However, I have received an imp-p-portant update from our other beneficiary." The doctor sounded somewhat nervous on the other end, but also a bit excited at the prospect. "Hmhm, you see, he grows… and I use the term loosely… impatient with the hunt for Ben Tennyson. He has told me that now is the time to finally go in for the kill, Khyber. He w-wants Tennyson dead, b-by any means necessary."

This news seemed to make Khyber visibly frustrated. "Hmph, I keep telling him; a proper hunt takes time and patience."

"T-Two things which he does not have at the moment." the doctor insisted. "Especially with what's at s-stake for him. He wants the Omnitrix, and to settle his vendetta against T-Tennyson once and for all." Another nefarious laugh escaped his throat before the doctor went on; "Right now, Khyber, you have TWO options. Either kill Tennyson soon and bring the Omnitrix to him… or HE will come to Earth to do it himself."

Khyber clenched his jaw, holding back the urge to fight against this. He was NOT about to let one of his benefactors do the hunting FOR him. Not by a long shot. "…Very well. He wants Tennyson? I'll give him his head on a silver platter."

"Er, he would prefer his ARM, actually." the doctor emphasized. "Preferably the left one, since it has the Omnitrix."

The huntsman rolled his eyes, but complied. "Yes, of course. We will hasten our efforts to capture Tennyson within the next twenty-four hours. Once we have him, we will contact the both of you and deliver the Omnitrix—"

"Wait just a moment!" Cinder interrupted, slamming her hands on the table. "If this benefactor wants the Omnitrix, he has to get in line." She jabbed a thumb toward her chest as the rest of her teammates stared at her in shock. "I am under strict orders from Salem to deliver the Omnitrix to HER when Ben Tennyson is dead, and I intend on fulfilling that duty."

Rojo winced and spoke to her partner through her teeth; "Uh, Cindy? Yer kinda screwing things up here…"

"Hm? Ah, why yes! I nearly forgot!" the doctor exclaimed as his attention diverted to Cinder. "You must be Cinder Fall! The young woman that Khyber told us about. We heard that you and your team had allied with Khyber and this mysterious "Salem" in order to help achieve this goal, and believe me, we are—and I use the term loosely—intrigued by your assistance." There was a pause as another chortle came from the doctor, with Cinder and her team curiously gazing at the blank screen. "We are also q-quite eager to meet you and Salem in person, so perhaps it would be best to dis-s-scuss what to do about the Omnitrix first BEFORE any decisions are made, hm?"

Cinder was a bit taken aback by the doctor's understanding of the situation, but nevertheless, was keen on everything he said. "Yes, of course. We all seem to have our own goals concerning the Omnitrix, so it would be prudent us all meet and deliberate on that." She tilted her head toward the screen. "Perhaps sometime in the near future?"

"Of course, dear girl! My friend and I will be coming to Earth soon anyways, s-so it will be a perfect opportunity for us to meet Salem in-person." What sounded like an excited chatter came from the other end of the call as the doctor said; "Oh, I am very much looking f-f-forward to that meeting! But for now, I must leave. I still have much work to do if these upgrades to the Nemetrix are to be completed in a t-t-timely manner."

Khyber nodded one final time. "Indeed, doctor. We will inform you of our progress soon, I'm sure. Khyber, out." With a press of a button, Khyber deactivated the transmission, only to let out an aggravated breath. "Hmph, so much for relishing this hunt."

"Ah, don't worry, teach." Rojo assured. "I say we keep this winning train a-rolling as much as possible, honestly. Let's not lose any momentum, right, guys?!" Nearly the entire room let out a collective cheer… but then, just a second later, a loud ringing suddenly came from Rojo's pocket. She took out her phone, read the Caller ID, and was a bit surprised by who it was. "Huh…" Rojo lifted the cell up to her ear and answered; "Y'ello?"

"Rojo!" Emerald answered, her voice tittering with excitement. "Neo and I have some AWESOME news! This could change EVERYTHING."

The redhead laughed, trying to get the theif to calm down. "Woah-ho-ho, Em, slow your roll. What's going on?"

"We were on our way back from the store and we thought we'd make a detour after we saw the heroes heading home after you beat them." Emerald explained. "…Oh, great job on that, by the way. Can't wait to meet those shark girls the news is going on about."

"Thanks." Rojo returned. "I'm sure they'd be…" She glanced over to see Calisto, Roxy and Jetta still trying to hit on Mercury, much to his chagrin. "…Happy to meet you too. But what's this news you got?"

Emerald couldn't help but giggle in anticipation at the question. "Oh, you wouldn't believe what we overheard them talking about. Ben's got a crazy-ass plan, and Gwen was NOT happy with him about it at ALL."

Cinder, Mercury and the others overheard the green-haired girl on the other end, leading Rojo to smirk with interest. "Hm, really? Tell me more…"

…..

Back in Bellwood, things were a bit more somber at the Tennyson household. No one was inconsolably upset or anything, but there was definitely a feeling of uneasiness as the teens were gathered in the living room. Sandra and Carl had taken Zwei and Rema out for a walk, so they were the only ones in the house. And what's more, it was very quiet, as Ben, Gwen, Kevin and even Rex went upstairs for a little while to discuss a strategy the former had thought up when he got home.

That left Team RWBY, Team JNPR, Team SN, Ilia and Penny to themselves downstairs, waiting for the meeting to be over. "I still don't get why they wanted us to stay down here." Jaune confessed, standing up from the chair. "I mean, we're ALL part of this team, right? Maybe we should go up and see if we can offer some input."

However, Pyrrha reached up, gently grasping his hand. "Jaune, believe me, I want to do that as much as you. But at the same time, I'm sure that they have their reasons."

"Yeah! I mean, maybe they wanna make sure they've got this plan that Ben's thought up all straightened out before telling us." Neptune reasoned with a wag of his finger. "After all, not having a solid plan is what got our butts whupped in the first place, right?"

"Good point, bro." Sun acknowledged with a shrug, propping his feet up on the coffee table. "Probably best to let the veteran heroes think up the plan for now—woah!"

His feet were promptly kicked off by Blake, who glared at him with narrowed eyes. "Do NOT put your feet on the coffee table, Sun Wukong, I JUST cleaned that this morning."

"A-Alright, sorry!" The monkey boy gave her an apologetic bow. "Didn't know, won't happen again!"

Ilia smirked and gave the cat girl a nudge on her shoulder. "Heh, that was totally a Kali move you just pulled on him, you know that, right?"

Blake's eyes widened at her best friend's insinuation before coughing into her hand, trying to change the subject. "Ahem, w-well, that aside, we should trust Ben, Gwen and the guys to come up with a solid plan. For now, why don't we try to get our minds off what happened today, huh?"

"Great idea, Blake!" Yang approved, reaching for the remote control. "Let's see what's on the tube and see if something good is on." However, the moment the switched the TV on…

KLIK! "Our top story tonight!" The team were stunned as the first thing they saw was their faces all on television. Specifically, it was all of them only mere hours earlier at Fort Knox, smack dab in the middle of the fight with the Ministry and the Street Sharks. And what made matters worse… was that the news story was being narrated by a familiar, irritating voice. "So-called "heroes" FAIL to stop a bunch of thugs from stealing seven hundred bars of gold from Fort Knox as old cartoons from the 90's supposedly come to life!"

Everyone couldn't help but grimace at the infuriating voice, with Yang's eye twitching. "…Oh shit, seriously?"

Sure enough, the image of the battle zoomed out toward the left side of the screen, revealing none other than Will Harangue sitting at a desk toward the right. The news anchor seemed none too pleased as he glared into the camera. "This team of teenaged vigilantes, led by known local menace, Ben Tennyson, have been handed their fourth consecutive failure this week. The Forever Knight's attack on Bellwood, the attack at the museum, downtown being DESTROYED by magma, and now this!"

"Hey! Two out of those three BARELY count!" Ruby shouted at the screen. "Ben FIXED downtown and we weren't HERE for the Knights, you dummy!"

"As the Ministry of Darkness—if that IS their real name—have stolen well over Ten MILLION dollars in gold bars from the country's reserve, these supposed protectors were helpless to stop 'em. Let's go to the video clip, shall we?" The teens all collectively cringed at the sight of their battle with the Ministry and the Sharks. As while there were some moments of comeback, it was mostly showing the points where the bad guys had the upper hand. "As you can plainly see, it's clear that the so-called "heroes" have absolutely NO idea what they're doing here." Harangue continued, earning growls from most of the group. "But then again, if I were confronted by a shark with legs, let alone four of them, I'd probably have no clue what to do either. Yet the fact that these ARMED and supposedly trained "huntsmen" can't handle 'em is quite honestly disgraceful if you ask me."

"THAT'S IT!" Nora rushed up and raised Magnhild above her head, a furious expression etched on her face. "Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!"

"Nora, don't!" Ren held his partner back, putting her in a full neslson as the Pink Dynamo kicked her legs desperately. "You are NOT wrecking the Tennyson's television! Besides, that'd just prove Harangue right!"

"But that leads me to the OTHER part of this story;" Harangue went on as the image shifted to that of the four Street Sharks, all of them in rather fearsome poses. "During the battle, these four mutant shark women referred to themselves… as the Street Sharks. I mean, SERIOUSLY? Is nothing sacred anymore?!" He thrust his arm up, gesturing off screen to emphasize his point. "Bad enough that they're ripping off Ninja Turtle villains, but now they're doing rip-offs of Ninja Turtle RIP-OFFS?! You know how many memories are being RUNIED at this point since now, we've got the Street Sharks reboot that no one wanted!?"

The teens all deadpanned at this. "…Is this really news worthy?" Weiss dryly asked.

"I think he just likes ranting about random nonsense." Penny rationalized, who was also fairly annoyed to the surprise of everyone. "Yang, please turn off the television. My processors are on fire listening to him."

"No argument here, Pen." Yang agreed, shutting off the television as she sat back down on the couch. "Hmph, well, that was a bust. But hey, at least we still have Ben and Gwen's plan to fall back on. We'll show that Harangue guy who's got control."

Ruby's smiled return, hopeful at the idea. "Yeah, you're right Yang! I'm sure any minute now, they'll come down with one of the best plans yet!"

SLAM! "That has to be the WORST plan I've EVER HEARD!"

Gwen's scream almost instantly dashed that hope away, with Ruby's grin disappearing. "…Oh no." Everyone brought their eyes toward the stairs as they heard Gwen come stomping down them, with Kevin, Rex and Ben in hot pursuit. Ben seemed to be trying to get his cousin to stop.

"Gwen, wait, please just hear me out—"

"NO! I'm done!" Gwen whipped around, swiping her hand at Ben for emphasis. "I've heard you come up with some pretty dumb plans in the past, Ben Tennyson, but this one HAS to be the most idiotic one I've ever heard!"

"Woah, woah! Guys!" Yang shot up from her seat, standing between the two to try and calm the situation. "What the heck is going on here?! Why the sudden hostility?"

"Hah! Yang, good, YOU can probably reason with him." Gwen scoffed as she pointed to the Omnitrix bearer, who had put on a more serious demeanor. "Why don't you try to convince your boyfriend not to use himself as LIVE BAIT?" The moment she said that, the team were all visibly shocked by it, and Gwen thought it prudent to add; "Oh yeah, and did I mention that he wants to do this little stunt by himself?"

Yang snapped her head around to her boyfriend in disbelief. "Say WHAT now?! Ben, you can't be serious!"

Jaune came storming forward, putting his hand on Ben's shoulder. "Dude, what the heck are you thinking, man?!" He actually moved Ben so that he was facing him head on, the two young men meeting eyes. "Whatever happened to tackling things as a team?! Sure, things were bad today, but—"

"That's NOT why I want to do this, Jaune." Ben stated firmly, leaning in slightly to emphasize his point. "Believe me, the last thing I want to do is leave you guys out of this." His sights moved out to the rest of the Omni-Hunters, who were staring back at him in confusion and concern. "We're a team, and nothing will change that. But as far as Khyber is concerned, he's after me. That mongrel of his has been attacking us for almost two weeks now because of me, and the rest of you are getting caught in the crossfire."

Ruby held her hand over her chest, an uneasy feeling rising inside her. "Ben… what're you saying?"

A sigh escaped the hero as he explained. "What I'm saying is…" He trailed off, glancing over to Yang. "…If it means protecting the rest of you, then I'm willing to do whatever it takes. If Khyber wants me, then he can have me."

"What?! NO!" Yang grabbed her boyfriend firmly by his arms, her gaze hardening at him. "You listen here, Ben Tennyson, I will NOT allow you to use yourself as live bait for that guy. If you end up captured and CAN'T get out of it, what happens then? Salem wins, she gets the Omnitrix, and you're dead."

"That won't happen." Ben lifted his arm, brandishing the watch. "So long as I have this—"

But Gwen cut him off. "Oh, will you STOP IT?" Her snap caught everyone off guard, with some even feeling a chill go through them. They'd never seen Gwen this angry. "You always like to think that you're invincible with that thing on your wrist? But guess what? You're not, Ben. Yes, you're able to fend off some of the greatest threat's the galaxy's ever known, I don't doubt that." She pointed up a single finger. "But if one thing catches you off guard, then that one thing could mean you being beaten."

The hero held a hand to his head, letting out a frustrated breath. "Gwen, I know that this is risky, but if I can—"

"No, sorry Ben." Gwen shook her head, stepping away from the conversation entirely. "But until you can come up with a better plan that doesn't involve you needlessly risking yourself for our sake, I don't want to speak to you." She spun around and flung her hand toward him. "Call me when you've got a better plan. Kevin, take me home."

Kevin bit his lip at the order, sparing his best friend a glance and a shrug. "Sorry, dude. I kinda gotta agree here; not your best plan." And with that, both Gwen and Kevin were gone, leaving the others to address the massive elephant now in the room.

"…In all fairness, I kinda like the plan." Rex admitted.

"REX!" Weiss went up and slapped her boyfriend on the shoulder disapprovingly. "You actually endorsed this?!"

The EVO held his hands up defensively. "Hey, in my defense… it kinda sounds like something I'd totally do."

"Okay, okay, let's not get into an even BIGGER argument about this, please?" Ben appealed, hoping to try and calm things down. "Look, I'll explain more about the plan later. There's still a lot I haven't thought out yet…"

"Obviously." Blake emphasized with an eye roll."

Ben pursed his lips at that, but continued nonetheless. "But either way, we need to end things with Khyber soon. That dog of his is WAY too dangerous to keep fighting day after day." He held up a hand to the group. "But for now, I think we should all sleep on it. Maybe watch a bit of Kyoryuger to get our minds off of what happened today, huh? What do you say?" He saw the others glance hesitantly toward one another, but thankfully, they mumbled an agreement before heading toward the basement.

But even then, Jaune, Ruby and Yang stuck toward the back of the group with him, the three still unimpressed by his line of thinking. "…Ben, I respect the hell out of you." Jaune stepped forward and stuck his finger to Ben's chest. "You're always the one going on about how we should be working as a team, so I think you should really consider how WE factor into all this."

"And what about Gwen?" Ruby asked as well, her voice filled with worry. "I've… never seen her that mad at you? Does… this mean that—"

"No." Ben shook his head. "Gwen and I may have our disagreements, but we'd never fall back into that stupid arguing that we'd do as kids." His shoulders slacked as a saddened countenance fell over him. "We just… need some space."

Yang folded her arms as she, Jaune and Ruby went toward the basement. "Hope that helps, Green Boy… because you're in some hot water right now."

As they left, Ben bit his lip and followed after them. He knew he wasn't exactly in good graces at the moment… but as he formulated the plan in his mind, he knew that'd change. 'Trust me, guys, this plan's gonna work. I can feel it.'

But, little did anyone know that, just outside the living room window, a certain pair of villains had overheard everything. Once the coast was clear, Emerald and Neo popped their heads out of out a bush beneath the window, the duo creeping out of it while holding grocery bags in their arms. They made it down the block in no time, and just from the smiles adorning their faces, it was obvious they were excited. "Ooh-hoo-hoo, you heard ALL of that, right?" Emerald asked, to which Neo nodded vigorously. The thief set her bags down and pulled out her scroll, dialing in Rojo's number. "SO glad Rojo rigged these to pick up cell signals…"

After dialing in her friend, she waited a couple moments before hearing; "Y'ello?"

"Rojo! Neo and I have some AWESOME news!" Emerald looked to Neo, who wore a rather conceiving grin. The green-haired girl matched the smile, eager to share the info with Rojo. "…This could change everything."

…..

A/N: …Ruh-roh. Things just don't seem to be getting better for our heroes, don't they? Not only are they still reeling from a big loss, but they've gotten their first taste of being harassed by Harangue after the fact. Never a good thing to come home to… though at least the Plumbers and Six were more understanding of the matter. But between Harangue's nonsense, Ben apparently coming up with a plan so insane that even GWEN'S not having any part of it, and Emerald and Neo overhearing ALL of that… well, that just makes the situation even worse. What will the villains have up their sleaves for the heroes now?

But in addition to that, we actually got a bit of development time with the villains themselves at the afterparty. With Dominique and Cinder sharing their experiences with Rojo and Dom even offering some advice to Cinder! Plus, we've got Mercury and Rojo bonding over the fact… that both of their dads were horrible human beings. …Not exactly the BEST thing to bond over, but hey, they can at least agree that Khyber's not that bad.

However, the BIG news is that the benefactors will be arriving on Earth very soon! We even got to hear from one of them (who I'm sure you know who it is given the speech impediment and the familiar phrase he uses). With their arrival, they'll likely be meeting up with Salem soon as well… and you know that can't possibly mean anything good for the heroes, so there's yet ANOTHER way the universe is screwing them over.

Still, we'll just have to see how the Omni-Hunters will handle things going forward. Starting with NEXT TIME as "Of Predators and Prey" truly gets underway and the villains begin putting their plans into motion. Ben and Team RWBY are ripe for picking off… but is everything as it seems? Or does Ben's "plan" have more layers to it than it actually does? Tune in next time to find out! Thanks for reading everyone, and as always, stay safe out there!