A/N: Morning everybody! Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY Ultimate Omniverse, where IT'S OUR 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! That's right folks, on this date, August 28, all the way back in 2018, I posted the first chapter of Ben 10 RWBY Dimension Twist, and needless to say, things have only gotten bigger from there. We've seen our heroes overcome several challenges thrown their way, but recently, they've been saddled with a bit of bad luck. Will they be able to overcome that in this, the unequivocally LONGEST chapter of Ultimate Omniverse? Well, only one way to find out! Brace yourselves, people. This is…

Chapter 48: Of Predators and Prey, Part 3

…..

Cinder's day had gone from wonderful to dreadful within the span of mere minutes. Everything that she and her team had worked so hard to achieve in the past two weeks was coming undone before her very eyes, and to say that she was enraged by what was happening was an understatement. It was one thing for the heroes to secretly be planning against them without their knowing, but the fact that they had found them so quickly, brought back-up, and now even Raven was back in the action was all just fueling her anger at this point. And was wasn't going to stand for it.

Swiftly, Cinder rolled up into a crouch and let out a bloody scream, blasting a stream of fire at the Spring Maiden. However, Raven simply spun Omen like a propeller, the blood red blade absorbing the fire before she swiped it up and sent it right back at Cinder. The Fall Maiden countered back, however, using her Semblance to transform the fire into a longsword for her to use. She blasted forward, her blade burning as Raven met her in the middle, clashing their weapons.

Raven wasn't exactly impressed, countering and parrying the strikes with ease. "Hm, seems someone still can't control their temper when things don't go their way."

"Only because YOU decided to show your face again!" Cinder roared, her eyes blazing as she grit her teeth. "I'm sick and tired of you showing me up, acting like you're my superior simply because you have more experience with your powers."

"Well, at least you freely admit your inexperience."

"GYAAAAHH!" Cinder thrust her free arm forward, sending out a blast of lightning from her palm. But Raven snapped her head out of the way and raised her own hand, catching the bolt and redirecting it… toward Nora.

Everyone did a double take as the redhead convulsed and giggled as her hair stood up on end, the yellow electricity becoming pink as it danced across her skin. Once the shock was over, Nora lifted her hammer over her head, feeling energized. "WOO! Thanks for that, Raven! Needed that!" She lunged out and raised Magnhild for a strike, going straight for Cinder. "Special delivery!"

WHAM! Raven leapt out of the way as Nora came in and struck Cinder right in the gut, knocking the wind out of her and making her fly back. Rojo dashed over and caught Cinder, though the sheer force of the hit made both of them topple back into the villains. The only one not in the way was Khyber, who stood with his loyal pet. The Huntsman was somewhat in awe by the display, particularly at how well trained in combat Raven was. "So… this is the power of the Spring Maiden."

Raven took notice of the alien, raising her nose up at him. "Hm, and you must be Khyber. The one who's been hunting my daughter's boyfriend these past couple of weeks?" She eyed the Buglizard, sneering in distaste. "Ugh, you and your… "pet" have been a real thorn in our sides."

"Only because your children keep interfering with my hunt."

"Hm, yes… that reminds me." Raven's expression did a one-eighty as her lips turned up into a smile, facing her Yang, Ruby and their team. "Hello, girls. Trouble in paradise?"

Yang rushed up and enveloped her mom in a hug. "Ha! You can say that again, mom! You got here just in time." She gave her a wink. "So… how was your little "getaway" with daddy-o?"

Raven's cheeks flushed slightly and she coughed into her hand. "Ahem, let's not talk about that right now, shall we? We have more important things to—oof!" She was cut off when, all of a sudden, Ruby came in and gave her an absolutely massive hug. The Hooded Huntress' eyes were gleaming happily as she looked up at her, taking Raven by surprise.

"Raven, you have no IDEA how good it is to see you!" Ruby nestled her head on Raven's shoulder, tears of sadness brimming her eyes. "They took away our weapons and we've been lost without them. But now, we can get them back and FINALLY bring them all down!"

The Spring Maiden could have sworn her heart skipped a beat, but her mind thankfully told her body to hug her step-daughter back. Raven sighed, putting her arms around Ruby's shoulders reassuringly. "Hm, it's alright, Ruby." She reached down, pulling up on Ruby's chin so that their eyes met again. "You did what you needed to do, even without your weapons. We'll get them back for you soon, of course. Cooper and Team CFVY are on it."

"Oh, yeah! Thanks for bringing them with you, by the way. That's gonna be a BIG help."

"No need to thank me." Raven said, ruffling Ruby's hair a little. "After all, it was your idea to tell Max that got them here in the first place." Out the corner of her eye, Raven could see the villains all getting to their feet again, though this time, they were ready to stand firm. "…That said, you and your team might want to head out there to help them. It's going to get very hectic in here, very fast."

Weiss came forward, creating a large glyph with her hand to act as a shield. "Agreed. Come on, girls, we've gotta move!"

"We'll cover your escape." Rex said, activating his Smack Hands while Penny brought out her Mechano Crushers. "Just get out there and kick some fishy tail!"

"We'll stay behind and deal with these clowns." Sun said, reaching out to grasp Blake's hand once more before she left. "You ladies give those sharks a receipt they'll never forget."

Blake smiled and squeezed Sun's hand. "Right. Just be careful, okay?"

"Of course." Sun leaned in, kissing her cheek before she went off with her team.

Cinder wouldn't let them go that easy, though. "Don't let them escape! Concentrate your fire on Team RWBY!" Hog and Skull followed her command and let loose their respective laser attacks, while Emerald and Mercury shot off from their own weapons as well. Subdora fired a few shots from her Queen's Ransom pistol as well, with Cinder topping it all off with yet another stream of hot fire.

Team RWBY had nearly made it to the nearest hole in the wall when they saw the attacks coming their way, letting out a gasp… only for Rex to slide right in. He brought up his Block Party and took the brunt of the onslaught with his energy shields, standing his ground as he was bombarded. Gritting his teeth, he glanced to Weiss out the corner of his eye. "GO! We've got things handled!"

Penny used her Mechano Crushers to usher the girls through, following after them to provide more cover. "Let's go, we have little time to waste!"

"And be cautious!" Raven warned, giving a nod to Yang. "We don't know what else the Ministry might have up their sleeves."

Yang was somewhat hesitant to leave them all behind, but the looks that her mother and boyfriend were giving her helped reassure her. 'They'll be fine, Yang.' she told herself. 'They always are.' The blonde smiled and gave them a salute. "Gotcha! See you on the other side!" And with that, Team RWBY dashed off with Penny trailing close behind, much to Cinder's irritation.

"GRAAAAH! I've had enough of this!" The Fall Maiden brought her hands together, creating a rather large obsidian axe in her hand. "Raven, it's time that we settle this. And I can assure you that your death will be long and torturous."

Raven sheathed Omen and rotated her sheath, switching the red blade up for a deep purple one. "Empty threats, oh how I've missed them." She craned her head toward Terraspin, Team JNPR and the others. "You all can handle the riff-raff, right?"

"Of course." Terraspin assured, sending his glare toward Khyber and the mutt. "I've been wanting to get my hands on them all day. Which reminds me… if there's one alien in the Omnitrix who HAS to be able to withstand all of those predators, I can think of only one guy…"

Terraspin slapped the Omnitrix and transformed in a flash of green light. And once the light died down… the villains could feel their guts dropping. "…Oh god." Rojo paled. "Not him. ANYONE but him!"

Khyber seemed surprised for a second, if not very intrigued by the choice in alien. It was one that he had heard much about in his hunts throughout the cosmos, and indeed, this species was VERY resilient. Standing head and shoulders above him was a big, dog-like alien with charcoal grey fur, as well as a creamy-white underbelly and muzzle. His pearlescent fangs were bared and his eyes were green, as always, though there was a bit more of a malicious glare to him than the other transformations. His ears were perked up and pointed and he had a long, furry tail, which stuck out of a pair of torn, black jeans. The jeans themselves had the Omnitrix symbol on the belt buckle, and he wore a dark green leather jacket with the sleeves torn off. On the back, in white, was a skull-and-crossbones design with the words "Steel" and "Bone" above and below respectively in black.

In no time, the canine-like alien flexed his arms and hands, his fur hardening into thick, metal armor on his shoulders and forearms as metal claws popped out of his fingers. The same could be said for his legs and toes as well, all while a second set of metal teeth slid over his normal ones. He reared his head back and let out a deafening howl-like roar… which shattered any glass within a mile radius.

"GRRAAAAAAUUUGGH! STEEL BOOOOONE!"

Everyone had covered their ears… aside from Khyber, who was still intrigued. "Hmph, a Metallikanine. Quite the formidable species, indeed."

"Crap, crap, CRAP! Not THIS guy again!" Emerald zipped behind Mercury and pushed him forward. "Here! Eat Mercury! He's a jerk!"

"H-Hey! Em, c'mon, I—" SQUEEZE! "ERK!" Mercury's eyes nearly popped out of his skull as the Metallikanine's entire hand wrapped around his body, nearly crushing the air right out of his lungs. But then, the alien just threw him straight over his shoulder and into the nearest wall, not interested in him in the least.

"Khyber… Cinder…" Steel Bone growled as he and Raven made their way toward them.

"…Bro, I think we should take this fight somewhere else." Thunderhog advised.

"For once, we agree." Jaune concurred before blasting a whole in the floor with his shield gun. "Come and get us, Meat Sweats!"

Nora couldn't help but laugh as she cannonballed after her leader, with Pyrrha and Ren following soon after. "MEAT SWEATS?!" Thunderhog's visor started glowing more intensely. "Oh, you're gonna GET it now! Subdora, Skull, let's get those fools!" The rhino led the charge and bashed himself horn-first into the same hole, widening it so that they could get their bulky frames through.

Mercury, after catching his breath, got up and went over to Rojo and Emerald. The trip were about to follow the mutants… but were stopped by Sun, Neptune and Ilia, the trio blocking the hole. "Ah-ah, try a different way, please." Sun wagged his finger.

"Or you could try going through us." Ilia added. "Your choice."

The three villains narrowed their eyes at the teens, readying their weapons for the incoming fight. "Eh, compared to Steel Bone, you'll be a cakewalk." Rojo shrugged before eyeing both Emerald and Mercury. "IF we can all work together, that is." The duo shared a glance before Emerald spun her head away, making both Mercury and Rojo sigh. "Ugh, can we PLEASE save the drama for later?!" But then, Rojo felt something wrap around her wrist and jerk her forward, only to then feel a might kick strike her right in the chest. "AGH!"

"Yes, can we PLEASE save the melodrama?" Ilia asked as Sun and Neptune moved in on the dysfunctional pair. "But do keep the "not working together" part. That makes it a lot easier for us."

Rex, Gwen and Kevin, meanwhile, watched on as Steel Bone confronted Khyber and Cinder, the Metallikanine glaring down at both of them. Raven stood to the side for the time being, knowing that this first part wouldn't take very long. "…Lemme fill ya in on somethin', Khyber!" Steel Bone pointed a clawed finger at the huntsman. "Do you KNOW where the Number One Hero on this planet was sittin' on his way to Florida today?" There was a pause as Khyber didn't even attempt to answer. "Trick Question! He WASN'T sittin'. He was hangin' UPSIDE DOWN! And ya wanna know how he felt about that? VERY DISPLEASED!"

"Uh…" Gwen lifted a finger to interject, only for Kevin to push it back down.

"Shh-shh, let the dude vent."

"Yeah, this is getting good." Rex agreed, pulling a bag of peanuts out of his back pocket as he watched the promo unfold.

"And ya wanna know what the Number One Hero had for breakfast this mornin'?!" Steel Bone continued. "It was a slapped together bacon, egg an' cheese sandwich stuffed in a brown paper bag! Now I'd like to say that's what made me sick, but that's not the case!" He snapped his arm up and pointed to Cinder. "It's seein' Cinder Fall whinin' and cryin' every time things don't go her way, and it makes me violently ill to my STOMACH!"

Cinder's features contorted in anger at the mention of that. "WHAT?! Tennyson, I will BURN your furry head off—"

"DID I SAY I WAS FINISHED?!" Steel Bone roared at her, making her hair fly back so much that it actually stiffened up that way for a good few seconds. "Where was I? Oh, yeah, right. If she ain't whinin', she's quittin'. An' if she ain't quittin', she's doin' somethin' else that ain't nothin' good and it just makes me sick! I'd like—"

Khyber reached down and pulled up his knife. "You have five seconds to—"

But Steel Bone just batted it away. "Nah, shuddup, I'M talkin' here!" He pointed at Khyber again. "I'd like to tell ya that I was indeed throwin' up everywhere, but it goes a little beyond that. WAY beyond. That woman makes me wanna projectile vomit ALL over the place and the thought of that just makes me all the more ill. …But you wanna know what makes it all worse?" He poked and prodded Khyber's chest. "You, comin' after me an' my friends when you have NO business to. YOU make me the kinda sick that has people glued to the toilet fer 'bout an hour, forward AND backward, an' THAT'S sayin' something. So, in short, I'm gonna take you, yer DOG, AND Cinder, and I'm gonna make sure that YA'LL experience what it's like to BE on that toilet! And THAT'S the bottom line, BECAUSE STEEL BONE SAID SO!"

The air was still in that room for a good few seconds after Steel Bone finished… and needless to say, everyone was either grossed out, baffled, or a combination of the two. Cinder was in the latter category. "…What in the WORLD was that supposed to mean—" BAM! "AUGH!"

A single punch made the Fall Maiden go flying through a wall, and Raven quickly followed her. "I wasn't TALKIN' to you, Cinder Fall!" He narrowed his eyes at Khyber, smashing his fist into his palm. "Now, 'bout that toilet. GGGRRAAH!" He swiped his claws at Khyber, only for the huntsman to bob and weave around the alien dog's arms, before then reaching up and striking the underside of the arm and swinging Steel Bone over his head.

"Hmph, so it IS true." Khyber mused to himself. "Metallikanines and Appoplexians are cut from the same cloth."

"Grr… well, there IS one difference." Steel Bone reached up and slammed Khyber into the floor, stepping onto his shoulder blade to try and wrench his arm out of socket. "I can actually control my temper… kinda. GAH!" Just then, the Buglizard pounced up and started clawing at Steel Bone's back through his jacket, though this seemed to only annoy him further. "Grrrr… ya think ya got a chance, ya freak? Not happenin'!"

Steel Bone hardened the fur on his back just as the Buglizard went to dig in again, only for its claws to scrape against metal. The beast howled in surprise before Rex leaped up and used his Smack Hands to pry it off of Steel Bone. "Sorry, Bugly, but you're not getting away that—AH!"

Rex gasped as the Baskurr once again changed form, this time into the massive worm that the Omnitrix bearer had encountered back in Undertown. The spikey worm roared in Steel Bone's face, with Gwen and Kevin doubling back a bit. "Damn, what's THAT thing?!" the Osmosian asked.

"Dunno." Steel Bone shrugged. "Some sorta… Slamworm or something? I don't really give two shits." He flexed his claws again, glaring at Khyber. "All I care 'bout is guttin' the sonovabitch who brought us here!" He lunged at Khyber once again, ready to go all out… only to then get slammed by the Slamworm and sent straight down through the floor.

"BEN!" Rex, Kevin and Gwen were taken aback, but they quickly snapped out of it when they saw Khyber dashing for the door. "Hey! He's getting away!" Rex exclaimed.

"We'll handle him." Gwen assured, placing a hand on the EVO's arm. "Right now, though, Ben could use some back-up, so you should help him. We'll try to prevent Khyber from using that whistle of his anymore."

Rex nodded to the redhead with a salute. "Right! I'll do what I can!" He activated his Boogie Pack and flew down the hole, ready to get in it with the alien predator once again.

"Hah, okay Kevin, let's head after Khy—"

"WATCH OUT!" Raven pulled Gwen out of the way just as an obsidian arrow nearly flew right into her head, saving her from what might've been a very untimely death. Gwen stumbled into Kevin and they snapped their heads around to see Cinder flying just outside the ship, an obsidian bow in her grasp. "You two, go now!" Raven ordered, pointing Omen toward Cinder as her Maiden Powers activated once again. "Get after Khyber and stop him from moving this ship!"

"On it!" Kevin saluted, the couple dashing off for the door.

Raven waved her sword, summoning a small whirlwind around her that carried her through the hole, where she met Cinder in a stare down. "Hmph, you've trained them well, Raven." Cinder smirked, transforming her bow into another sword. "They know when to run from a more powerful enemy."

The Spring Maiden simply shook her head. "If that were the case, then Gwen would've run from you several times… but that's the thing, isn't it? You aren't more powerful than her." Cinder's eyes widened, flaring up in rage. "You're inexperienced, you're short-tempered, and quite frankly, she outclasses you in terms of power even without Maiden abilities. If anything, YOU'RE the dumb one for not running away from HER." She slashed her sword to block a fireball before flying in close and swinging her blade again, with Cinder blocking the strike. "And might I add… it's also highly advised that you run from me."

"Never going to happen!" Cinder's body began to glow red before a burst of fiery energy was sent out from all over her, knocking Raven back a bit. The Spring Maiden stayed airborne even while Cinder rushed her, countering every sword strike with a parry of her own. The two dueled through the marshy Everglades, staying just above the water before Raven blasted skyward to get off the backfoot.

Once she had recouped, she surged back downward and delivered a swift strike at Cinder's arm, only to hit an obsidian shield instead. The glass shattered, but quickly reformed into a spikey javelin that burned intensely, which Cinder wasted no time thrusting toward Raven's midsection. The black-haired woman was no slouch either, though, twisting herself in midair to avoid the hit while also swinging her sword up, shattering the weapon yet again.

Cinder took that opportunity, however, using her powers to summon the glass shards back to her hand and bringing them together into one massive blade, one that burned orange with intense heat. Raven couldn't help but deadpan at the sight. "Didn't you use that trick at Haven against Chromastone?"

"I believe the expression is; "if it isn't broken, don't fix it"! GRAH!" Cinder flew forward in a mighty swing, intending to cleave Raven clean down the middle. Raven raised Omen above her head and made it take the brunt of the attack, only for the blade to shatter in mere seconds. The Spring Maiden gasped and flew out of the way, all while Cinder cackled in glee. "AHAHA! How is THIS for "inexperience", Raven?!"

Raven pursed her lips in annoyance… but then another idea came to her head. She took Omen's handle, disregarding the remains of the broken blade before sheathing it again. In seconds, the blade was replaced with one made of Ice Dust, and Raven quirked a brow at her opponent. "Not impressed, to be quite honest."

"Well, you WILL be soon!" Cinder roared, prepped and ready to strike Raven again… which was just what she was hoping for. Raven flew in and raised the blade up again, garnering the same result as before. Cinder had shattered it… but this time, Raven enacted a new plan. Cinder could only watch as the Spring Maiden used her powers on the Ice Dust, the pieces glowing as the air began to cool around them Within seconds, the freezing moisture and the Ice Dust came together in Raven's hands, creating an equally massive Ice Blade that was comparable to Cinder's own. "W-What?! You MUST be joking! Now you're just stealing my ideas!"

"Maybe, but it's working, isn't it?"

"GYAAAAH!" Cinder screamed and flew straight for Raven, her eyes burning furiously. "I WILL end you!" Raven responded by going in as well, meeting Cinder head on with a strike from her own elemental blade. The two swords clashed in midair, the meeting of fire and ice creating a massive ripple of force that emanated throughout the entire marsh.

…..

Even back at the ship, the effects of the Maiden's battle could be felt. Outside of the vessel, the Street Sharks were trying to hold their ground against the Plumbers who had decided to drop in, as well as Cooper and Team CDVY who had joined them not long after. To say they were on the backfoot was an understatement, as the leader of said team was keeping them down with surprising fire. "C'mon, bad bitches!" Coco challenged. "Ya can't hide in the swamp forever!" But then, the battle came to a sudden halt as the force ripple was felt by everyone, going so far as to even take Coco off-balance a little. "Woah! What the heck was that?!" the fashionista shouted.

"I… I'm not sure." Velvet admitted.

"It was so powerful, though…" Rook pondered. "I wonder if—"

"GAAAH!" All of a sudden, Cooper came in for an unexpected landed, colliding with the damp, muddy ground of the marsh.

"AH! Tech Head!" Coco deactivated Gianduja and rushed over to him, doing her best not to step in the mud in her new boots. "Are you alright? You didn't get hit, did you?"

Cooper grunted as he stood up, his armor none the worse for wear aside from a bit of mud. "N-No, I'm fine, Coco." he assured. "Whatever THAT was, it just took out my stabilizers for a second. VADOS, estimated time of flight restoration?"

"Automatic repairs should take about ten minutes, Cooper." VADOS answered, the A.I. already proceeding with the process. "All weapons are still fully operational, however, so feel free to keep at it!"

"Thanks VADOS." Cooper acknowledged before the faceplate of his Centurion armor lifted up. The rest of Team CFVY, along with Qrow, Vernal, Rook and Winter gathered around him and he started laying out a plan; "Alright people, here's how it's gonna go down; we keep up the pressure until we either snag Team RWBY's weapons, or they willingly surrender."

Qrow let out a snarky laugh at that, shouldering Harbinger on his shoulder. "Heh, yeah, good luck with that, kid. Nothin's that easy."

Winter nodded reluctantly. "Once again, hate to agree, but Qrow has a point. If we want to get those weapons, we have to do it quickly." Her sights went over to the rabbit girl, making her flinch a little. "Velvet, your speed is impressive. Do you think you can duck in and out without problem?"

Velvet pressed her fingers together sheepishly. "You want me to head over there? …Alone?"

"We'll give you as much covering fire as possible." Vernal assured. "But those women aren't going to give those weapons up without a fight, so—INCOMING!" The group gasped at the sight of a huge wave of fire coming straight at them, forcing the nine combatants to leap away to safety. Some landed fine, others not so much, but once the fire struck the ground, it left a burning patch of dried land, having scorched the mud instantly.

They all set their eyes upon the "Sharks", the four women having regrouped and recovered after the initial surprise attack. They were all cackling up a storm as Dominique held her axe up over her shoulder, with Crescent Rose clipped firmly to her belt. "AHAHAHA! Oy! Maybe you'd get some actual shit done if ya quit chattin' an' start DOIN'!"

"Yeah, and lemme tell ya, we did NOT appreciate the whole "ganging up on us" thing." Calypso added, slamming the heads of her hammers together. "At least have to common decency to WAIT for us to mutate so we can kick your asses!"

Fox couldn't help but scrunch his nose in confusion. "Mutate? What do they mean? Are they like Hog and Skull?"

"Kind of." Winter answered, holding up her swords as she readied her Semblance. "They call themselves the "Street Sharks". You can probably guess what they can become. But they do so using special "Gene Slammers" that Animo invented, which only temporarily mutates them."

Rook shifted his Proto-Tool into bow mode, taking aim. "Well then, it would be prudent to prevent them from gaining access to those devices while also procuring Team RWBY's weapons." Without any further waiting, the Revonnahgander shot off two energy arrows from his bow, only for Roxy to jump out in front of her teammates and slash them with her Dust Claws.

"Heh, fat chance, Blue Boy." She crossed her claws and dragged them over each other the blades sparking as a result. "We ain't giving up those Beta Bitches' weapons for anything!"

"Yeah, and we're gonna skewer ya and eat ya for dinner!" Jetta added, pointing her spear at the group.

Coco grimaced at the thought. "Ugh, gross. I'm done with this." She hefted up Gianduja and gave Yatsuhashi a nod. "Yatsu, mind shaking things up for us?" The tall swordsman gave a silent nod back and pulled Fulcrum off his back, charging forward toward the Sharks. The four ladies saw him lift his blade up high and went to counterattack… only for him to bring the sword down onto the ground in front of them.

The results were immediate as the foundation of the swamp beneath the villains began to destabilize, with mud and grass being flung up in the air. Needless to say, the four women were confused. "H-Hold on, what the heck's going on now?!" Calypso asked.

"Dunno, but I'll bet it ain't nothin' good." Dom muttered. She narrowed her eyes to try and see through the new veil of dirt and grime in front of them… but then noticed something else as her eyes trailed up. All of that mud that had been flung up into the air? It was now coming right back down… on them. "Oh crud—GET BACK!"

The Sharks were about to retreat from the attack, but Coco was way ahead of them. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" She open fired with Gianduja, the four women all shouting in panic as they were forced to the ground to not get shot. "Have a nice MUD BATH, ladies!" Just as Coco was hoping, the mud came falling down like rain onto the Sharks, effectively burying them all. "Now, Vel! Here's your opening! Fox, give her cover!"

"Right!" Velvet started sprinting toward her target, with Fox hot on her tail. The rabbit Faunus performed a big leap and came crashing down onto Jetta first, procuring Gambol Shroud. She then hopped over to Roxy next, getting Myrtenaster with ease. Velvet was about to get to Crescent Rose next… but then, Dominique whipped around, pulling out a shotgun and aiming it point blank at her face.

"Surprise, BITCH!"

"VELVET!" Fox wrapped his arms around the bunny girl and pulled her away right as Dominique pulled the trigger, the bullet just barely grazing a lock of her hair. Velvet cried out in shock as Fox started shooting at Dominique as well, only for her to block the bullets with the head of her axe.

Calisto slammed her hammers into the dirt, using them as leverage to pull herself out. "Nice try, kiddies!" She swung her hammers back and activated the jets, ready to charge forward. "Now, let's see how ya like—" WOOSH! "Huh?! What the—ACK! OOF! AUGH! OUCH!"

Without warning, a rushing figure came in and started battering Calysto with high-speed punches and kicks, almost unseen to the naked eye. It wasn't long before the figure stopped and revealed itself to be Winter, having used a Time Dilation glyph to increase her speed. And not only did she take Calypso by surprise, but she had also procured Yang's weapons as well. "Missing something?" Winter delivered a swift kick to Calypso's midsection, making her sit down.

"Oh, you little hussy!" Dominique pulled herself out of the ground and went for Crescent Rose, holding it firm in her grasp. "That's it! One wrong move an' I'll CRUSH Lil' Red's weapon with me axe!" As Dom made her threat, however, she failed to notice a certain crow having flown up and landed on a tree branch right above her… and almost immediately, the wood started to crack. "An' don't think I won't do it, either, 'cause I've got NO chill right now!" Dom set Ruby's weapon down under her foot and raised her axe, its boosters charging up. All the while, the branch kept breaking and fracturing… before finally… CRACK! "AHAHA! So, what's it gonna be, people?! What's it gonna—" THWACK! "AAAUUGGH!"

The big branch landed right on Dom's back and she was sent crumbling to the muddy swamp floor, her head now in a daze as her vision blurred. She could only make out one thing, though; a crow landing right in front of her… before it transformed into a man and took up Crescent Rose. "This belongs to my niece." Qrow stated. "I'll thank you for returning it."

Several cheers could be heard from the group, with Vernal crossing her arms with a small grin. "Hey, not bad there, ol' Qrow." she commended. "Really using that bad luck to your advantage."

"Heh, I might not be able to control it, but at least it has its uses." Qrow snickered back. "So, what next?"

Just then, the sound of loud creaking filled the air as the ship's loading ramp lowered down, slamming the ground with a sudden BOOM! The team all set their sights over and saw none other than Doctor Animo coming down the rampway, the good doctor keeping one hand behind his back while the other held a suitcase. "What next, you ask?" Animo reiterated. "How about…" He opened the case, revealing the Gene Slammers. "Complete and total annihilation!"

"DOC! About time!" Calypso shouted as she helped Dom out from under the tree, with Jetta and Roxy supporting their leader on their shoulders.

"Apologies, ladies, but things have gone belly-up inside as well." Animo explained, only to see Cooper dashing straight for him from his right. "Ah-ah, I don't think so!" He held up a wrist band he was wearing and pressed a button, creating a dome-shaped hard light forcefield around him as Cooper ran straight into it. CLANG!

"AUGH! …Seriously?" The Dust crystal in the center of Cooper's armor started glowing brighter, ready to fire off a blast. "Like I'm gonna let THAT stop me. Uni-Beam, FIRE!" He shot off the laser straight at the forcefield… only for it to ricochet off and go blasting back at him. "Wha—AH!" Cooper's boots left trenches in the dirt as he was pushed back by the blast, slamming him back-first into a tree and making it topple over.

Animo chortled at the attempted attack. "Ahaha! Oh, what a sad state you're in, boy." He proceeded forward as several of the other heroes tried to break through this forcefield as it moved with him, but to no prevail. "I had a feeling that you would all try to gang up on me as I deliver my greatest invention to their recipients, so I had this little gizmo I got from Dr. Watts on standby." THUMP! "Hm? AAH!"

Animo recoiled at the sight of Coco standing directly in front of his dome forcefield, aiming Gianduja right at him. "Hm, neat toy. …But can it stand up to the Hype?" She began focusing on her Semblance and, without a second to spare, unloaded several rounds into the forcefield at pointblank range. The resulting blast was so powerful that it sent Animo flying, his shield destroyed, but he himself was still intact. Coco smirked as she watched the flailing doctor land in the mud. "Hm, guess not. That was for my boyfriend, by the way. Fire at will, people!"

At her word, the heroes focused their firepower on Animo, forcing the doctor to sprint away as fast as his legs could carry him. He hit behind a fallen tree, but even he knew that wasn't going to last him long. "ANIMO!" The doctor perked his head up a bit at the sound of Calypso's voice, seeing her about a yard away with her team. "C'mon, I'm open!"

"Gah, no choice then!" Animo resigned as he lifted the metal briefcase up. "Here goes! GRAH!" With all of his strength, he tossed the case over to Calypso, the blonde rushing out to grab it.

…But then, from out of nowhere, a flurry of rose petals came rushing between the two, scooping up the briefcase in midair. "W-What?! NO!" Calyspo's lips curled into a snarl as she watched the storm of petals go dashing over to the group of heroes, where Ruby Rose slid into a landing with the case in hand.

"HA! Not today, chumps!"

"RUBY!" came the collective voices of the heroes as they gathered around her. Velvet went up to the Hooded Huntress immediately with a greeting hug. "Haha! Excellent catch!"

"Heehee! Thanks, Vel!" Ruby returned the embrace. "It's great to see you! Thanks for coming to help."

Coco lowered her sunglasses and gave Ruby a wink. "Think nothin' of it, Ruby. We weren't planning on an early comeback, but hearing you guys needed help taking these clowns out… how could we refuse?" She glanced off to her right and let out a gasp at what she saw approaching them. Cooper was covered in sticks, mud and patches of grass sticking to his armor, the genius walking with a bit of a limp. "AH! Tech Head! Are you okay?!"

Cooper let out a ragged breath as Coco reached out to him, grasping her hand reassured as his faceplate retracted. "Y-Yeah, I'm okay, Coco. Just wasn't expecting that is all."

"I could've told ya that was probably a bad idea, ya know." The fashionista reached up and knocked her boyfriend over the head, taking off some of the grime. "Ya need a lot of force to break a forcefield like that."

"Duly noted." Cooper conquered before smiling toward Ruby. "But hey, at least someone swooped in just in time to get those Gene Slammers."

Qrow came forward and gave his niece a noogie, much to her chagrin. "Heh, yeah. Nice work, Shortstack."

"Gaaaah, Uncle Qrow, not now, please!"

"Are ya sure?" Qrow let his niece go… before presenting her with Crescent Rose. "Because I've got something that says otherwise."

Ruby gasped as her silver eyes began to glisten with tears. "AAAAH! MY BABY!" She rushed up and unfurled the scythe, hugging it with all her might. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! Please don't EVER leave me again!" But then, she suddenly felt several eyes on her, and she opened hers only to see everyone staring awkwardly at her. She cleared her throat and abstained from hugging her weapon with a nervous chuckle. "Uh… hehe, anyway, thanks guys. But we're not done yet!" Ruby peered over everyone, her sights locked toward the ship as she gave a wave. "Girls, get over here! It's time to kick some butt!"

The others all did an about-face to see Weiss, Blake, Yang and Penny all coming their way, much to their relief. "Weiss Schnee!" Winter shouted, making the former heiress stop in her tracks as she was met with a stern look. "Do you have any idea how worried we were about you? You're lucky that Gwen and Kevin explained the whole plan to us on the way here, otherwise I would have QUITE a few choice words for you."

"W-Winter, I—" But Weiss was suddenly caught off as Winter enveloped her in a hug.

"Hm… but truth be told, I'm just glad that you're all safe."

Weiss felt a smile tug on her lips as she returned the embrace. "Sorry to make you worry."

"Glad you guys could make it." Blake said as she went up to Rook, shaking his hand. "We were in a pretty tight spot before you guys finally decided to waltz in."

The Revonnahgander tilted his head. "I… do not know how to waltz. However, my catalogue of Earth customs has a rather interesting section on—"

But Yang cut him off. "Rook, skip it."

"I do not know how to skip, either." Both Blake and Yang deadpanned at him with questioning looks, and it was then that it finally dawned on him. "Oh, wait… human expressions."

Ruby winked and touched her nose. "Bingo!" Rook mimicked her movements, much to her amusement. "Hehe, also an expression." Her focus shifted to the briefcase in her hands, fiddling with the little locks to get it open. But what she failed to notice was that Animo wore a gnarled smirk while she did so. "Now, let's destroy these things so that we never have to deal with these dumb shark girls agai—WHAAAAT?!"

Empty. The briefcase was completely empty. Aside from the foam insert where four round holes were cut out specifically FOR the Gene Slammers, there was no sign of the devices in sight. The heroes were left speechless as Animo burst out into uproarious laughter. "AHAHAHA! I believe the expression is; "You just got PLAYED, suckers"!" He waved his hand off to his right. "You see, I employed a little assistance with delivering the goods to their destination, while I distracted you with a decoy!"

Everyone whipped their heads around and they saw the four biker girls having gathered… around Neo. The monochromatic girl was holding the four Gene Slammers in her hand while her lips were curled in a sardonic smirk, aimed specifically at Ruby. The Hooded Huntress felt her jaw drop as Yang's eye twitched. "NEO?! When did SHE get out here?!"

"She must've snuck off when Raven arrived." Blake deduced.

By that point, Dominique had recovered from her painful blow, even though there was still a slight ringing in her ears. Nevertheless, she grabbed her Gene Slammer, which was marked with her name so that they wouldn't get each other's mixed up, and secured it to her neck. "Ugh… okay, no more foolin' around!" the blue mohawked woman glared over to the heroes as her and her crew pressed the buttons on their devices. "Kiddie gloves're off, ladies! Let's start the feedin' frenzy!"

The group could only watch as the four women mutated into their shark forms, fins bursting out of their back and even ripping some of their clothes as their muscles expanded. Thankfully, they wore elastic tube tops that expanded with their mutation… but that didn't stop Team CFVY from expressing their distaste at what they saw. "Oh… good god." Coco winced, pushing her sunglasses up over her eyes. "That is just unsightly."

Fox's expression could only be described as disgusted. "Okay, I can't ACTUALLY see, but just by sensing them with my Aura, I just… what even the hell?!"

Velvet turned her head away, with Yatsuhashi putting a reassuring arm around her. "Fox, they're even uglier than Kevin described." the swordsman deduced. "That's ALL you need to know, trust me."

"Oh, YOU want ugly?!" Thrasher exclaimed, brandishing her axe in both hands as Lunge, Stripes and Crunch finished their own transformations. "We'll show ya somethin' REAL ugly, mate! Your FACES afta' we get done with ya!"

Velvet, after recovering from the rather horrifying scene, came up to Blake and Weiss, standing between them as she handed them their weapons. "You girls will need these." she advised. "I've got a feeling we're in for a big slobber knocker."

"Thank you, Velvet." Weiss grumbled irritably as she struck her battle-ready pose with her weapon. "Hah, and here we were thinking this would be easy."

"It never is, little sister." Winter said, all while handing Yang her Ember Celica. "But don't worry, we still outnumber them several times over. We'll be able to beat them."

Yang smiled and put her weapons on, the bracelets expanding into their full gauntlet mode immediately. "Yeah, you're right, Winter. Things might not have gone our way at Fort Knox, but that's NOT gonna happen again." She rolled her shoulders, loosening them up for the fight to come. "Besides, they're just four mutants. This'll be a piece of cake."

"Ah-ah-ah! Don't get too hasty now, my dear!" Animo scolded with a wagging finger as he strolled out into the middle of the battlefield as well. Neo skipped in next to him and spun to a stop, using her umbrella to lean on. "For you see, when a situation like THIS arises, it's all hands on deck for us…" From his back, Animo pulled out another Gene Slammer, which he quickly stuck to the back of his neck. "And I mean ALL hands!"

"Oh, you've GOTTA be kidding!" Ruby exclaimed. "Animo, are you pulling our legs here?!"

But the scientist simply waved his hand. "On the contrary, Miss Rose! For you see, last weekend, Tennyson's newest transformation, Crashhopper, reminded me of something. And as a result, gave me an interesting idea. His form of combat through jumping was unique yet familiar, and I thought to myself… why not replicate that… but with my own twist?!"

"Well, you're right about one thing; you're TWISTED." Vernal shot back.

Animo smirked and pressed the Gene Slammer, injecting himself with his choice in mutagen. "Tell that to the man about to kick your a—AAAH!" Animo let out an agonizing scream as he suddenly fell to his knees, his hands flying to his head as pain wracked his entire body. The first to change was his skin, which started becoming darker and thicker, almost like a carapace. Next were his fingers, which became clawed while jagged spikes burst out of his arms. His legs also underwent the same treatment, with his feet becoming two-toed and clawed as well. However, most horrific of all… had to be what happened to his face. His hair retracted into his head as a pair of antennae jutted out from his forehead, all while his features contorted into a horrific grimace as they reshaped themselves. His eyes became entirely red before bulging out of his head all together, making the heroes scream as his mouth just became all teeth. His ears and nose were gone in seconds, and what was left was something that could only be described as a humanoid insect.

And the heroes were all terrified. "OH DEAR GOD!" Winter gasped, covering her mouth.

"…I've seen a lotta fucked up shit in my day." Qrow pointed at the new Animo. "But THAT was on a different level entirely."

"I will never be able to unsee that." Penny's hands went to her head, staring a thousand miles toward the ground. "My processors will repeat that in my nightmares for years to come."

"GRAAHAHAHA!" The insectoid doctor belted out a laugh, his voice now distorted by bug-like chittered and growls. "What's the matter, kiddies?! Afraid to confront the new and improved… SHIN ANIMO?!"

Cooper's brow furrowed at that title. He could've sworn that he'd heard that before, and now that he wasn't completely grossed out from the transformation… it was starting to click. The genius' eyes widened and he muttered; "…Wow, the man really went there, didn't he? He's referencing Shin Kamen Rider of all things with this little stunt."

"Shin what now?" Ruby asked.

Cooper lowered his faceplate again, glaring at Animo beneath it. "Do yourself a favor and don't look that up, Ruby. Ask Ben about NORMAL Kamen Rider first before anything else." He activated his thrusters and went airborne, ushering Penny to follow him. "Penny, I'm gonna need your help to take Animo out."

"If it allows me to sleep peacefully at night, I'm in!" Penny agreed, the duo flying straight toward the grasshopper mutant. Animo responded by immediately jumping up straight into the air, dashing past both of them in less than a second before grabbing onto Cooper and crashing right into his back with a powerful kick. "AH! Get off of him!" Penny activated her Mechano-Crushers and went to beat Animo down… only for him to jump out of the way, causing her to hit Cooper instead. Penny gasped while Cooper went crashing into the mud yet again. "AH! I'm so sorry, Cooper!"

"Augh, don't worry, I—PENNY! Behind you!"

"H-Huh—AAAAAH!"

Penny screamed bloody murder as she turned her head, seeing Shin Animo right up in her face. "Hello, my dear android." Within seconds, the robot girl had exchanged her crushers for her Bash Blasters, aiming them at Animo right at point blank range. The green energy charged up and then came bursting out of the cannons… but Animo simply jumped out of the way again, doing a midair flip before coming back down with his leg extended. "RIDER KI—ACK!"

"NO! NONE of that!" Cooper berated, smashing into Animo full force. "You do NOT deserve to say that!"

As the skirmish continued, the others couldn't help but watch on in confusion, not sure what to make of what Cooper meant. "…I feel like we're missing some major context here." Vernal commented… right before seeing a wave of fire coming their way. "HIT THE DIRT!" The team followed her advice and dove out of the way, the blast of flame exploding behind them as the shark mutants laughed it up.

"Ah, it's a nerd fight, Sheila." Thrasher waved off. "Let the geeks duke it out."

"Haha! Yeah, besides you've gotta focus on US right now…" Crunch snapped her jaws out, the sight making several stomachs churn. "And guess what? Hehe… we're hungry."

Slash craned her head toward Neo, giving her a nod. "You know what to do, Neo. Go get us some help!" Neo saluted and made a mad dash for the ship, though she wasn't about to get away that easily.

"Not so fast!" Winter created a glyph and summoned a Beowolf, the snowy white beast howling before pouncing onto Neo. But with a smirk, she simply let it happen… and then shattered into a million pieces. The Beowolf struck the ground and rolled up onto its paws, whipping its head around in confusion. Winter was just as stunned, but it wasn't long before Neo entered her line of sight again, the mute standing on the ship's ramp.

"No! Get back here!" Winter and the Beowolf ran after Neo as she sprinted up the ramp and back into the ship, though she wasn't about to head in alone. "Qrow, Vernal, help me apprehend her! We can't let her get away!" The duo agreed and followed the military specialist into the ship, chasing after Neo… only for the ramp to come up and close them in, revealing to everyone else that Neo was actually hiding under the ramp.

"Oh, COME ON!" Ruby slapped her forehead, but she didn't have time to stew on the trickery as Thrasher came charging at her. The Street Shark raised her axe above her head and it came thundering down, forcing Ruby to burst into petals and relocate herself behind the mutant. She went in for a strike with Crescent Rose, but Thrasher simply spun around, blocking it with her axe. "You KNEW that'd happen, didn't you?! You wanted to get our numbers down!"

"Oy, not my fault that Neo's bad at followin' orders." The Great White gave Neo a wink, which she reciprocated. "Besides, this is MUCH more of a fair figh—AUGH!"

The shark's bragging didn't last long as Coco swung her handback into the back of her knee, making her fall over. The mutant was quick to recover, but now she was met with the fashionista giving her a glare. "Heh, I think you'll find that a fight with Team CFVY is anything BUT fair." She smiled over to Ruby, lowering her sunglasses. "Especially when Team RWBY's on their side, right?"

"Right!" Ruby gave Coco a fist bump. "Let's do this!"

Lunge, meanwhile, had made her way over to Yang, swinging her hammers down at the Blonde Brawler. Yang brought her arms up and blocked the strike, but the blow was so powerful that it made the ground cave in around her, leaving a mini-crater. "Heh, I don't care if there's four or four HUNDRED of you hunters, the Street Sharks are gonna get another JAWSOME win!"

Yang pursed her lips in annoyance. "Okay, one; that pun's gonna get old if you run it into the ground. And secondly…"

"GRAH!" From out of nowhere, Fox came in and socked Lunge in the cheek, sending her sprawling back.

"I've got some good backup." Yang finished before unloading several shots at Lunge, which exploded against her back. "Get her, Fox!"

The blind huntsman wasted no time in laying in more strikes as Lunge recoiled from the pain in her back, going in straight for her chest and abdomen area to land the powerful blows. He paused for a moment, but then leapt right up and brought Sharp Retribution in for a double-bladed strike on her head, slashing at her hammer-like forehead. And then… he landed one last punch right on the tip of her nose.

"AAAAAAUGH!" Lunge stumbled back, feeling her entire system going into shock at what just happened. What was even scarier was… she had no idea WHY she was in so much pain and astonishment, leading her to writhe on the ground as she held the sensitive area. "AAGH! What the hell did you DO?!"

"I… hit you." Fox answered. "I feel like that's pretty self-explanatory."

Up in the air, however, Cooper had seen what had happened while he had Shin Animo in a chokehold, and a sudden realization occurred to him. "Wait… that's it!" He threw the mutated scientist over to Penny, who switched to her Block Busters to kick him straight into the swamp before going after him again. "Guys! Sharks have VERY sensitive noses! They'll avoid anything that hits them there!"

"Wait… so their weakness is nose boops?" Blake concluded as she dodged Crunch's spear, with Yatsuhashi batting it away with Fulcrum. "Huh, should've brought Nora for this."

Weiss and Velvet were facing off against Stripes together, the former heiress creating a time dilation glyph under the rabbit girl. "Alright then, so it's settled. We go right for their noses and MAKE them run away!"

"Like we're just gonna let THAT happen!" Stripes flicked her wrists and her Dust claws activated, burning with flame and freezing with icy power. "Now that WE know that, we're gonna keep our guard up around our noses, right, ladies?!"

"You heard the gal!" Thrasher concurred. "Keep your schnozes up an' outta the way!"

Lunge slowly got to her feet, rubbing her sensitive nose as Yang and Fox stood across from her. "Alright, THIS time, it's game on!"

As the sharks and two teams of hunters brawled with one another, Neo was about to join the fray as well… only to come to a halt when someone got in her way. Rook stood before her, tall and stoic, as if he were a moving statue. "Apologies, miss Neopolitan…" He took up his Proto-Tool and shifted it into its energy sword mode, ready to engage the girl in a fight. "But I am afraid I will have to bring you in."

Neo wore an intrigued expression before shrugging her shoulders, bringing up her umbrella as her own blade popped out of its tip. The two combatants ran toward one another and began their duel, swords clashing as they made to parry and sidestep each other's strikes. Neo decided to spice things up first by flipping away from one of Rook's swings and dashing straight in for a killing blow, but the Revonnahgander managed to dodge roll away before reaching his arm out to grab the umbrella itself. With a mighty grunt, he threw Neo over his head and slammed her into the ground, where she once again shattered and reappeared behind him in a matter of seconds.

The Plumber only had seconds to avoid her attack, performing a high jump over her and coming back down in a double kick to her back. Neo staggered forward, but cartwheeled onto her feet, pulling out the handle of her umbrella to use her full blade. Rook responded by making his own energy blade extend as well, and before they knew it, they were right back at it. Once he saw an opening, though, Rook raised his leg and kicked her in the stomach, giving him room to reach for his Plumber's badge. "Hah… Winter, I have some unfortunate—"

"Rook, if it's about Neo… don't worry, we know. Unfortunately." Winter replied in a disappointed tone.

"I see—gah!" The Plumber raised his sword and countered Neo's strike, the girl smirking at the sound of her little trick working. "I am presently engaged with Neo at the moment."

"Woah, Rook, at least take her out to dinner first." Qrow commented on the other end.

"I fail to see how a meal would assist in her apprehension!"

He heard Vernal groan at that. "It's a joke, Rook… and a very LAME joke, too."

"Ah, you're just jealous ya couldn't come up with somethin' better."

Rook pressed back against Neo as the banter went on, quickly growing frustrated. "Listen! I believe it would be wise for you to stay on board and help as much as you can." He saw an opening and went in for a swipe at Neo, only for her to once again shatter as he hit her. "Gah, we will handle things out here. Just assist the team as much as you can."

"Of course. We'll catch up with you later, Rook." Winter acknowledged. "Best of luck. Over and out."

The second Winter hung up, Neo came right back in from Rook's blind spot and swung her blade, striking his armor… but she only barely left a scratch. Rook grinned, spinning around to clash blades again with Neo. "Now then, where were we?"

…..

Back on the ship, things were going…

CRAAAASSSHH!

…Moderately well, at least from Jaune's perspective. Sure, they had just crashed through yet another level of the ship thanks to Exo-Skull literally LANDING on top of their heads, but for the most part, everyone was alright. Now, he and his team found themselves in the hull of the ship, specifically in what appeared to be the cargo hold. Thankfully, this turned out to be pretty good for them considering how much cover there was to hide behind, along with the limited space for the mutants to move around in.

Also, the fact that it was also fairly dark in the room was also a big plus, with the only source of light coming from the hole that they came through. Himself and Pyrrha were presently hiding behind a large metal box, their weapons at the ready. They could just barely make out Ren and Nora taking cover behind another metal crate, the latter just barely containing her giggles as they were being stalked by the mutants and Subdora.

"Jaune, what do we do from here?" Pyrrha questioned, peering around the corner for any sign of their adversaries. "We can't just stay hidden forev—ah!" Her hand clasped over her mouth, stopping her gasp short as she pulled her head back.

"P-Pyrrha!" Jaune whispered, having jumped from her gasp. "What's going…" But then, he saw her pointing around the corner, and he decided to take a look. He felt a chill go through him as he saw nothing but Thunderhog's bright, purple visor glowing in the darkness, as well as Exo-Skull's gleaming yellow eyes and the blue glow of his horn laser. They didn't seem to take notice of them, however, so Jaune took a deep breath before facing his girlfriend again. "O-Okay, I don't thing he spotted us, so let's try to take him by surpri—"

CHOOM! All of a sudden, the lights all turned on, taking Team JNPR off guard and blinding them for a few moments. "Ah-HA! There you are, you little nuisances!" As their vision cleared, they snapped their heads around to see Subdora at the other end of the room. "BOYS!"

"Haha! Gotcha!" They heard Hog shout as the rumble of might feet shook the floor beneath them. "Hope ya had fun, losers! Because I'm about to get back at ya for callin' me MEAT SWEATS!" WHAM! The team jumped as Hog's Thundermace came crashing down between their hiding spaces, with Exo-Skull charging in and sliding to a halt.

"Though to be fair, that WAS a pretty sick burn." Skull granted.

Hog came up and gave him a slap on the shoulder. "Dude, who's side are you on?!"

Exo-Skull raised his hands. "H-Hey man, I'm just giving credit where credit's due! C'mon, why don't you try callin' them something?"

Hog scratched one of his many chins, liking the sound of the idea. "Hm… you got a point there, Skull. I'll give it a shot!" He pointed his finger at Jaune, the one who gave him the insult. "Alright, listen here… um… Banana Head! Haha, yeah, Banana Head! I'm gonna make you regret callin' me "Meat Sweats" so much that you'll wish you'd never been born! Hahaha!"

Everyone remained silent at the… rather poorly delivered jab. Even Nora didn't really find anything funny in that. "…Really?" Jaune asked. "Banana Head? That's all you've got?" He reached up and took a lock of his hair. "My hair isn't even remotely shaped like a banana!"

"Yeah!" Nora agreed, popping up next to her leader to rifle through his hair. "Honestly, it's more like a lemon than anything."

Jaune grimaced and pushed Nora out of his personal space. "Not HELPING, Nora."

"Bah, this is pointless!" Subdora threw her hands up before taking out Queen's Ransom, shifting it into its energy knife mode. "Let us just commence with the killing, shall we? Gyah!" She went in with a thrust toward Ren, who acted quickly to block the strikes with Storm Flower.

"Gah, alright then." Nora grumbled as she raised her hammer above her head and went right for Thunderhog. "Come and get me you wretched—GAH!"

But, without warning, Exo-Skull suddenly charged right into her, bringing Nora to the other end of the room entirely. "Sorry, NOT falling for that one again!" Skull smashed the redhead directly into a big set of metal crates, knocking her for a loop. "You've already been charged up enough by Branwen. Last thing we need is you getting even more juiced!" He threw a punch down at her, but Nora caught his massive fist with both hands.

"Yeah, good point!" The Pink Dynamo's eyes sparked as her muscles tensed up. "Lemme work off some steam then, huh?! GRAH!" She pushed Skull back and then proceeded to twist his arms so that he came falling down on his side, allowing her to stand up once again. She was about to take a swing with her hammer… but then she noticed Skull's horn start to light up. "…Uh oh!" PEEEWW! She just had barely enough time to get out of the way, the laser cutting through the wall like tissue paper to the outside.

Skull stood up and padded the ground with his foot, ready to charge again. "Alright, no more messin' around! RRAAH!" He slammed right into Nora and tossed her up into the air, sending her across the room and into yet another crate.

Nora wasted no time getting out of there, though, taking up Magnhild and shifting it into its grenade launcher form. She saw Exo-Skull once again running toward her on all fours, and she smirked, aiming directly for him. "Not today, Metal Head!" She shot off two grenades and they exploded directly in his path, making Skull topple over straight onto his head.

As that was going on, Jaune and Pyrrha found themselves on the receiving end of a certain pig mutant's mace. Thunderhog was on a path of absolute destruction as he flailed the weapon around himself expertly, taking the couple by surprise as he made sure to keep both of them separated from one another. Whenever it seemed they'd double back up, Hog would just swing his mace between them and go after one of them with it. …Though it was mostly Jaune in that case.

"Ah-ah, not happenin', boy!" Hog chided, swinging his mace at the blonde knight. "I KNOW you've got a crazy strong power that can juice your magnetic girlfriend up, so I ain't even LETTIN' ya touch her!"

Jaune dove away from the mace as it struck the floor again. "Dude, NOT cool!"

Hog simply laughed as he raised his mace above his head… only to find that it wouldn't fling forward. The warthog man paused in confusion, tugging on the chain only to find more resistance. He spun around… and was stunned to see his mace simply floating in midair, surrounded by a black aura. "Oh… you've GOTTA be kid—" CLANG! "D'OH!"

"As you can see, I don't need a boost to use your own weapon against you, Thunderhog." Pyrrha smirked as the same black aura covered her right hand, all while she moved it in a way that made the mace repeatedly slam back and forth into Hog's face. Finally, she stopped, simply letting the mace fall onto the mutant as she rejoined Jaune. "You alright?"

"Heh, yeah." Jaune smiled, leaning over to briefly nuzzle her cheek with his. "That, however, was very entertaining."

"Thank you, I—Incoming!" Pyrrha moved Jaune out of the way just as Exo-Skull came charging over again, with Nora holding onto his horn for dear life.

She waved apologetically to them. "Sorry, guys!" But that proved to be a mistake as Skull came to a screeching halt, and Nora lost her grip and went flying across the room as a result. She even flew between Ren and Subdora as they were having their own duel. "Hi, Renny! Bye, Renny!" CRASH!

The two combatants cringed as Nora smashed headfirst into a bunch of wooden boxes, with splinters flying everywhere. "Er… your lady friend, she is… how you say… eccentric."

"Understatement of the century." Ren agreed before unloading rapid-fire shots at Subdora, making her gasp and perform several backflips to get away. "But that's exactly what I like about her. You never know what you're gonna get next with Nora."

Ren didn't know it, but he made the redhead's heart flutter when he said that. 'Aaaahh… he's such a sweetheart!'

"Hmph, touching." Subdora stopped and turned invisible, disappearing without a trace. "But I think you will find that my Farkas and I are a MUCH better duo! Get him, mia cara!"

Ren heard a loud bellow from his left and cried out as Exo-Skull rammed right into him, sending him careening right next to the wooden crate. He hit the wall backfirst, just in time for Nora to get her head out of the wrecked box. "AH! Ren!" She saw his aura flicker for a moment, but it seemed to stabilize, thankfully. "You alright?"

"F-Fine… I think." Ren staggered to his feet, keeping Stormflower held firmly. "Don't worry, I'm not looking to get healed by Jaune again."

Nora smiled and playfully shoved his shoulder. "You'd better hope not, mister. Otherwise, I WILL be on your ass about that."

"Why do you think I'm trying to avoid it?" Ren quipped, the duo sharing a brief chuckle before focusing back on their enemies. They also saw Jaune and Pyrrha continue holding off Thunderhog, and it was then that both of them knew that they had to regroup. "Let's switch things up, huh?"

"Read my mine, Renny!" Nora swung her hammer down just as Skull started charging again, with Ren holding onto her as she mounted the head. "Ready… GO!" BOOM! With a pull of the trigger, the duo blew right past Skull, leaving a trail of pink smoke that he ended up inhaling and having a coughing fit over. As they closed in on Hog, Nora threw Ren at the mutant and the green ninja delivered an unexpected kick to his cheek, before the redhead came in to finish the job with another hammer swing.

Jaune and Pyrrha watched as Hog was sent packing, the former giving them a thumbs up. "Ha! Nice work, guys!"

"Indeed." Pyrrha concurred as, once more, they heard a loud bellow coming closer toward them. They all spun around to see Exo-Skull coming at them again, the rhino man now even angrier than before as his horn glowed with energy. She gave a nod to her boyfriend, already knowing exactly what to do. "Now, let's do the same for him, huh?"

"Right! Arkos formation!" Jaune and Pyrrha raised both of their shields… and it was then that the redhead could finally take note of the modifications that Jaune had Cesar make to it. Right in front, just below the Arc family crest, was a new compartment that wasn't hard to miss. It was painted gold and appeared to hinge open, which was interesting. Also, there was a new handle grip near the top of his shield, which seemed to be on a sort of pump-action.

Pyrrha wasn't sure what the new additions were for, but she couldn't dawdle on that right now. She and Jaune both dodged Exo-Skull's laser blast before going to intercept him, keeping their shields raised while she worked her Semblance. Skull tried to stop and turn tail, but it was too late. The couple rammed themselves into him and made him fly back as they had done before, the polarity between his suit and the shields overpowering him immediately.

…But that didn't mean he was down. Sure, he had left a huge dent in the wall, but he wasn't about to let that stop him. Exo-Skull pried himself out of the wall and felt to the floor, breathing hard before letting out an angered roar. "GGRRRAAAAAAHH! That's IT! I've HAD it!" He reached around his back and pulled off his Exterminator gatling gun, leveling it with Team JNPR as its barrel started to spin. "Time for the big guns!"

The teens were backed up against a large metal door, though much to their dismay, it must've been locked since it didn't open automatically. Sure enough, Subdora reappeared next to a nearby control panel, wearing a sinister smile. "And don't think you'll be able to escape easily, either. Fire at will, my dear!"

"Gladly, I—" SHINK! "Huh? What the?!"

The teens jumped as a blood red energy blade suddenly burst through the door, which actually caused it to spring open by force. Much to everyone's surprise, the one on the otherside was Rojo, and she appeared to have just narrowly missed a certain monkey boy by just a hair. "Gah, dammit, so close…" But then, she trailed off when she noticed Team JNPR and the mutants, with Sun doing a doubletake as well. "Oh… well, this is a coincidence—" THWACK! "AUGH! You little monkey bitch!"

Sun stuck his tongue out and taunted the bounty hunter with a few smacks on his rear. "Haha! Yeah, well what're you gonna do about it, huh?" He separated Ryui Jingu Bang into its gun-chuck mode and went right at Rojo again, the villainess doing all that she could to counter the swinging weapons. Upon second inspection, Team JNPR finally noticed that Neptune and Ilia were fighting Mercury and Emerald respectively in the hallway as well, all of them in close-quarters combat. "You guys need any help?!" Sun asked.

"Nah, I think we're good." Jaune assured. "But thanks for giving us more space to work with."

Skull simply took aim yet again, getting over his initial shock from what happened. "Gah, doesn't matter! By the time I'm done with you kids, you'll all just be splatters on the wall!" RAT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT! The rhino man pulled the trigger and bullets started flying toward Team JNPR, who immediately went on the run.

A few stray ones ended up going down the hall, though, nearly grazing the others and spooking them significantly. "AH! Hey, watch where you're aiming that thing!" Emerald shouted.

"Yeah, trying to have a fight here!" Mercury added as he had Neptune pinned to the wall with his foot. But, unfortunately, for him, that proved to be a mistake as the blue-haired boy simply raised Tri-Hard and stabbed it into his robotic leg, with a burst of electricity surging through it in no time. Mercury belted out a scream before Neptune pulled away and kicked him right into the wall, taking Emerald off guard.

"H-Hey! Mercury, don't…" But she found herself lost for words, not sure of what she should do. 'Should I help him? No, I'm still angry at him. …But HOW angry am I? I mean, I don't want to be a TOTAL bitch to him, but—" ZZZZZAP! "AAAAAAAHH!" Emerald was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed Ilia wrap her Lightning Lash around her arm, essentially doing the same thing that Neptune had to Mercury.

Emerald fell to the ground twitching as Ilia stood over her, shaking her head. "Girl, you have WAY too much going on to get distracted by drama."

As that was happening, the cargo hold was being utterly decimated by Exo-Skull's weapon, with nearly everything that could be used for cover quickly being leveled through bullets. Pyrrha, Jaune, Ren and Nora were behind one of the last remaining crates, but they knew it wouldn't last them long. "Jaune, what do we do?" Pyrrha asked. "We can't hold out for much longer like this."

Jaune sighed, keeping a grip on his sword. He glanced down to his shield, knowing full well that if there was any good time to test the new mods he requested, it would be now. And there was only one way he could do that… he had to get in close. He placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, looked into her eyes and nodded to her. "Wait right here. I'll be back."

"Jaune, what are you—"

"Trust me." Jaune smiled and winked at her. "This'll be great." He stood up and raised his arms above his head, screaming loud enough to be heard over the bullet fire; "WE SURRENDER!" Everything paused in that moment, including Sun's fight with Rojo. No one could believe that Jaune of all people had said that, especially right at that moment. "It's clear that you guys are way out of our league. We can't hope to match that gun."

"Jaune, dude, what're you—ow!"

Rojo elbowed Sun in the neck, taking him to the ground. "Quiet, you." She set her sights over to Jaune curiously. "So… surrender, huh?"

"Yep, complete and total." Jaune affirmed. "And as proof…" He sheathed his blade and held it in its sheath with both hands. "I'll surrender my sword to you. No funny business."

"Hm… Subdora, get the sword." Rojo ordered. "But don't let your guard down."

"Of course." Subdora and Jaune met each other in the middle of the room, the Merlinisapien reaching out her hand. "No funny business, remember."

Jaune nodded and handed her his sword. "Right, none at all. Just, uh… make sure you don't touch that pump action handle on the sheath." he said with a smirk. "Something bad will happen if you do."

Subdora saw this and scoffed. "Hmph! You humans and your reverse-psychology! Like I will fall for that!" She noted the handle and reached for it immediately. "Obviously something good must happen if I pull it like this…"

"Jaune Arc not detected. Activating defense mode."

"W-Wait, wha—AAAAHH!" All of a sudden, an electric shock coursed through Subdora, making her fall to the floor in a twitching heap.

Jaune picked up his sword with a confident grin. "Heh, told ya."

"SUBDORA!" Skull dropped his gatling gun and rushed over to his beloved, picking her up in his arms. "Are you alright?! Speak to me!"

"I KNEW it!" Rojo shouted as she started charging toward Jaune with her own sword. Jaune shifted Crocea Mors into its greatsword mode and parried the strike, making Rojo growl in anger. "I knew it wouldn't be that easy! You had that in the back of your head all along!"

Jaune gave an amused chuckle as he reached up to the new compartment. "Yep, and that's not all I've got…" He opened it up, revealing a cavity that almost resembled a battery compartment. From one of the pouches in his pants, he pulled out a vial of Lightning Dust and inserted it into the compartment before closing it and pumping the new handle.

"Dust Vial; Loaded. Zan!"

In an instant, Crocea Mors' blade became electrified and he dodged Rojo's next strike, allowing him an opening to her back. With his strike came a powerful jolt of electricity, making Rojo scream as she fell to the ground in a similar state to Subdora. Immediately, all of his friends were either shocked or ecstatic to see what the blonde knight had done. "Woah! Did you guys SEE that?!" Nora exclaimed.

"Yeah… but I feel like I've seen it before, too…" Ren noted.

By that point, Thunderhog had gotten back up and growled at the knight. "Hey! Lightning's MY schtick!"

Jaune simply rolled his eyes, opening the compartment back up to insert another vial. "Please, do you know HOW many people on this team use electricity in there weapons? What's one more?"

"Double Dust; Loaded. Zandar!"

Thunderhog roared and charged in with his Thundermace already bursting with electricity, but Jaune wasn't concerned. He dashed in and rolled under the swinging weapon before coming back up and hitting Hog in the stomach with the flat of his sword. The surge of electricity was so powerful that people could swear they smelled cooked bacon in that room.

As his partner fell unconscious, Skull's rage grew immensely. "First my girl… now my best friend!" He roared in defiance and went in for a charge, the thrusters on his back starting to power up. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, ARC!"

Jaune just narrowly avoided the first charge, but Skull was quick to change his course, coming back around. In that brief time, though, Jaune had managed to load in one final Dust vial, filling the cavity completely.

"Triple Dust; Loaded. Zandar THUNDER!"

"It's time to show you what this baby can REALLY do, Skull!" Jaune stated, standing in place as Skull came in. He flicked his sword and immediately, powerful bolts started to burst off of the blade, surrounding him almost like a protective barrier as he performed a technique. He took the sword in both hands and waved it around as he brought it up over his head. He widened his stance, bringing the sword down just above his shoulder while narrowing his eyes at his target. "Lightning… AFTERGLOW!" As Skull came within ten feet of hitting him, Jaune brought the sword down and it sent out a wave of electrical energy at the rhino man, making him scream in pain before a huge explosion enveloped the room in a flash of light.

Once everyone's vision cleared, they saw Jaune standing before a charred Exo-Skull, the mutant's eyes spiraling as he coughed up smoke. Jaune sighed and shouldered his sword, steadying himself on against a crate. "Phew… who said imitating what you see on TV is a bad thing?"

"JAUNE!" The young knight was immediately greeted by a pair of loving arms wrapping around his torso, pulling him into a hug. Pyrrha beamed up at him as the others joined as well. "That was amazing!"

"Hell yeah, it was!" Nora gave his shoulder a light jab. "That was one heck of a lightshow, Fearless Leader!"

Ren couldn't help but smirk as he eyed Crocea Mors. "So that's the mod you had Cesar made? Essentially turning your sword into Zandar Thunder from Kyoryuger?"

Jaune's cheeks flushed a bit and he gave a nervous chuckle. "Hehe… what can I say? I REALLY like KyoryuGold."

Sun went up and clasped his hand on Jaune's shoulder. "Well, I thought it was awesome! Great job, man."

"Yeah, now we can—Woah!" Neptune was cut off as the ship suddenly lurched beneath their feet, forcing them all to brace themselves before things stabilized again. "W-What the heck was that?!"

"I doubt that was Team CFVY again." Ilia noted as she felt slight shifts beneath her feet. "It feels like we're… oh god." Her eyes widened in realization. "We're lifting up into the air. Which can only mean…"

"Yep." Everyone took a battle stance as Rojo sat herself up, rubbing her head with a wince. "Teach is taking off… this wasn't part of the plan, honestly."

…..

Outside, as the massive skirmish between the Street Sharks and two Beacon teams went on, they too started noticing something off-putting. Ruby had just managed to get in a lucky shot with Crescent Rose, shooting Thrasher in her dorsal fin and allowing Coco to get a clear opening for a hit to the nose. But then, the ground started to rumble as the ship's thrusters suddenly burst to life, taking them all off guard. "Woah! What the hell?!" Coco exclaimed.

"I…I-I have no idea!" Ruby admitted, with everyone shifting their focus toward the slow-rising ship. "But something tells me that this isn't good."

"Yeah, an' not just for you, Sheila!" Thrasher said in a mild panic before ushering her sharks to follow her. "C'mon, gals, we can't let these bastards leave us behind like this!" Immediately, Lunge, Stripes and Crunch all followed her lead and dove into the ground, swimming through the mud before breaching and grabbing onto the side of the ship. They group could also see Shin Animo jumping off of a tree and onto the ship as well, with Cooper and Penny giving chase.

"Get back here, you Rider Rip-off!" Cooper hollered.

Even though she had no idea what he was talking about, Weiss echoed his sentiments. "Oh no you don't!" The former heiress created several gravity glyphs behind herself and all of Team CFVY, which started spinning at high speeds. "Everyone, jump on and get ready for a boost! We've only got one shot at this!"

Blake shifted Gambol Shroud into its hook mode and pulled out its ribbon, eyeing one of the sharper protrusions on the side of the ship. Then, with a precisely-timed wind-up, she threw her weapon up and it wrapped around it, catching on the ribbon. "I'll see you all on there!" she announced before swinging up onto the ship.

"Right behind ya, partner!" Yang said as she shot herself up there as well, followed closely by Ruby who simply used her Semblance.

Following Weiss' instructions, Team CFVY performed a simultaneous backflip onto the gravity glyphs and, with a flick of Weiss' wrist, they were all sent straight up onto the ship as if they were shot out of a cannon. That only left Rook and Neo on the ground, and the monochromatic girl hadn't failed to notice that. She smiled and waved goodbye to Cooper before pulling out a vial of wind dust from her pocket and smashing it at her feet. The updraft was so powerful that it blew Rook off his feet as Neo opened her umbrella, allowing her to float right up to the top of the ship.

"Oh… she is good." Rook took his Proto-Tool and shifted it into grapple mode, firing it up and hooking it around one of the ship's sharp bits. "But so am I."

As all of this was going on, another certain pair of combatants had just noticed the ship's ascent as well. Cinder and Raven's giant elemental swords had long been broken through, but neither Maiden had given an inch in their fight. …But when Cinder saw the ship moving up into the sky, she let her focus get away from her. "What?! What in the word is happen—ING!"

She was blown straight downward with a gust of wind, though Raven couldn't help but comment as well. "Hm, hedging my bets here, but it would seem that they're leaving without you, Cinder. Can't blame them, really."

"GRR! I will NOT be left behind like this!" Cinder barked before changing course and flying off toward the vessel, with Raven giving a sigh as she did the same.

"Well, seems we're doing THIS now."

…..

As all of that was happening, things were still quickly spiraling out of control inside of the ship, at least from Rex's perspective. The "Slamworm" as Steel Bone had called it, had burrowed through the whole vessel and crashed down into the engine room, bringing the Metallikanine with it. Ever since, it had been nothing but a complete war of attrition as Steel Bone refused to give an inch to the predator, even though its fanged beak was able to crack through his hardened fur with ease.

"You wanna put chinks in MY armor, Slamworm?!" Steel Bone challenged as he raised the beast over his head, tossing it straight toward Rex. "Well feel free to come at me, 'cause Steel Bone don't take that kinda shit! HE JUST GIVES IT RIGHT BACK!"

Rex activated his Blast Caster and wrapped it around the massive worm, delivering his most powerful shock. …But even then, it was barely fazed. The creature simply glared at him and roared, opening its mouth wide to take a big bite. "Uh, BEN?!" Rex shifted his free arm into a Smack Hand to try and ward off the Slamworm. "You think you can actually change into a DIFFERENT alien to maybe get the upper hand?!"

"I've got a better idea, Salazar! Why don't ya shut yer trap…" Steel Bone leapt over to a nearby support pillar, which was holding up a large mechanical fixture near the ceiling. "An' let ME handle the hard part! GRAH!" With one steely punch, Steel Bone took out the pillar and the fixture came falling down onto the Slamworm's tail, crushing it and making it wail in agony.

Rex pulled himself away from the beast and narrowed his eyes at Steel Bone. "And what would've happened if that thing fell on ME too?"

"Ah, you'd be fine." Steel Bone waved off. "You've taken worse."

Rex grumbled at the dog alien's brazen personality before the entire ship suddenly jerked around, nearly taking both of them off balance. "Uh… what was that?"

Steel Bone growled. "I dunno… but I don't like it." The hero pressed the Omnitrix, activating it communicator. "Gwen, Kevin, we got big an' ugly right where we want him. But what the hell's happenin' up there?!"

"Ben, Khyber's gotten to the bridge and he's taking the ship into the air." Gwen replied. "Sorry, we couldn't get to him in time, but we're headed there now."

"You've gotta take it out, cous." Steel Bone insisted. "He's the source of the whistle that makes this thing switch aliens…" He glanced off to the side just in time to see the Slamworm having chewed out of its entrapment and roar at him and Rex again, the latter activating his BFS in response. "Oh boy… uh, ya might wanna make that snappy! We're facin' my natural predator here!"

Kevin piped up on the other end; "Dude, CHANGE ALIENS. That thing can't change unless it hears the whistle, right?"

Steel Bone growled once again, mainly because he hated to admit that Kevin had a point. "…Alright, Levin, I'll do it. But NOT because ya told me to!" The Metallikanine slapped the Omnitrix and transformed, his head clearing while his body shifted from big and furry to thin and bug-like. Stinkfly took to the air, focusing his four eyes on the Slamworm. "Alright, this oughta do! Time for an aerial assault!" He flew in as Rex fended off the creature with his blade. "Rex! Let's try a slimy slam cannon combo!"

The EVO grinned and gave a thumbs up, jumping away again. "NOW you're speaking my language, Ben! Let's do it!" He shifted his BFS for his Slam Cannon, making the maw scoop up a chunk of the ship's siding as ammo before Stinkfly shot several streams of acidic, green mucus into it as well. Acting swiftly, Rex took aim and fired the melting ball of steel at the Slamworm, hitting it right in its middle and making it cry out in pain. "Woo! Direct hit!"

The ball of acid-coated metal hit the floor and melted through, which the Slam Worm actually followed through after. Taken aback, Rex and Stinkfly eyed the hole curiously. "Uh… that was too easy." The Lepidopterran flew closer to the hole and peaked his head out, seeing the sky and the swampy ground below… as well as the Buglizard wrapping its tail around him. "AUGH! I KNEW IT!"

The beast dragged Stinkfly out of the ship, making Rex gasp and give chance. "Ah! Ben! Hold on, I'm coming!"

…..

Up on the bridge, Khyber was at the helm with the ship's controls in hand, watching the outer cameras as his pet grabbed Tennyson and started climbing up the side of the ship. "Excellent work, old friend. Bring him here, and we shall end this once and—"

BOOM! Just then, the door to the bridge was burst open in a blast of flame and lightning as Kevin entered, his arms coated in Dust while his body was solid steel. He shifted his Lightning Dust arm into a sword and the Fire Dust arm into a mace, pointing the weapons at Khyber. "It would appear that the hunter has become the HUNTED, Khyber! Give it up!"

As Kevin charged at the huntsman, Gwen came in, speaking into her Plumber's badge; "Ben, we've made it!"

…..

"Good! Now stop this freight before we fly into Tampa Bay!" Stinkfly responded before hitting the Omnitrix again, changing into Crashhopper, bouncing out of the Buglizard's grasp and straight over the ship. On top of the vessel, he could see Team RWBY and Team CFVY fighting the Street Sharks, along with Rook engaging Neo in battle. It made for quite the sight… but then he noticed that he had jumped WAY too high and was poised to actually MISS the ship coming back down. "Woah! BAD IDEAAAAA—oof!"

"Gotcha!" Penny exclaimed, smiling cheerfully as she held the insectoid alien aloft. "Salutations, Ben. How have things been going?"

"Oh, you know, kinda terrible." Crashhopper dryly answered before seeing Cooper fly right past them… while holding what appeared to be a humanoid cricket in his grasp. "Uh… what the heck is that?"

Penny grimaced at the sight. "If I said; "Animo", would you—"

"No need to explain." Crashhoper assured before seeing the Buglizard and Rex having another stand-off, the EVO using his Block Party to deflect the creature's attacks. "Hey, mind flinging me down there?"

The android saluted immediately. "Can do!" All at once, she started spinning in midair, much to the hero's chagrin. "And awaaayyyy you GO!"

"AAAAH! PENNY!" The hero screamed as he was sent into a head-first collision with the Buglizard, making it stumble across the top of the ship. Crashhopper was thrown for a loop, to say the least, but he still wasn't done by anymeans. He quickly bounced to his feet and grinned eagerly. "Hah, that went better than I expected. Well, c'mon ugly! I can keep this up all day!" He leapt in for a big kick… only for the Buglizard to become the Mucilator in an instant, trapping Ben in one of its sticky jowls. "…This is one landing I DIDN'T want to stick!"

At that point, Yang and the others had taken notice of Ben and Rex's reappearance, and the blonde was frustrated that she couldn't help them at that moment. "Dammit! The boys need help over there!" she said before countering one of Lunge's hammer strikes with a punch.

"As much as I want to, I've kind of got my hands full over here!" Weiss sympathized as she blocked a slash from Stripes, Myrtenaster's blade sparking as the Dust claws raked against it.

Rook leapt away from his battle with Neo momentarily to contact the team inside. "Gwen, how are things going in there?!"

…..

"Working on it!" Gwen replied as she raised a mana shield, blocking a bolt of electricity as she slowly made her way over to the ship's controls. "Kevin's holding Khyber off as best he can, but—AH!" The Anodite was stopped short when Khyber suddenly flung his knife at her, the blade just barely missing her skin but catching her by the shirt. The garment was torn as the knife flew, leaving the right side of her belly exposed. "AAH! Oh, you did NOT just do that!"

Kevin lunged at Khyber with a vengeful growl, shooting a fire ball at him only for the huntsman to roll out of the way and rush past him. "You're gonna pay for that, dude! You do NOT just tear a girl's top like that!" He shot out another stream of flame, only for Khyber to grab a shield off the wall and block the attack.

He was about to reach for a rifle that was mounted there as well… only for Gwen to grab it and snap it in two. She then pelted the huntsman with it, striking him on the back of the head and forcing him to drop the shield. "Kevin, NOW!"

The Osmosian rushed forward and slammed the flat of his blade into Khyber's abdomen, shocking him and bringing him down. "Jig's up, Khyber!" Kevin stated as he brought out a pair of cuffs. "By order of the Plumbers, you're busted." Just as he grabbed Khyber's wrist, however, Khyber wrenched his arm away and slammed Kevin to the floor, rolling back up and going for a rather spikey sword that was on the opposite wall.

Kevin belted out a yell and went straight at Khyber again, the two exchanging blows in a brief clash before going into a struggle against one another. "Hmph, your abilities are versatile, Osmosian." Khyber granted. "But you lack power!"

"Well, sometimes versitality has its advantages." Kevin countered. "Case in point…" He reached down and pulled out an Ice Dust crystal, absorbing it over his Lightning arm before thrusting it forward into Khyber's abdomen. In an instant, the huntsman began to flash freeze in a massive block of ice, immobilizing him effectively. "Ha! Finally."

"Great work, Kevin." Gwen smiled as both of them went for the controls. "Now let's get this thing on a course AWAY from Tampa Bay…"

…..

Back up top, everyone suddenly felt the ship begin to lurch beneath them as it changed course, causing some to lose their footing. Among those was the Mucilator itself, which stumbled forward a bit and lost its hold on Crashhopper. The alien hero shouted out as he tumbled between the two sides, who had done their best to group up. The Omnitrix timed out and Ben changed back to normal, breathing hard as Team RWBY surrounded him. "Well, that worked."

"Yeah, but what happened?" Weiss asked. "Did we change direction?"

Ben lifted the Omnitrix and contacted his cousin. "Gwen, status report. What's going on?"

"We're commandeering this ship, Tennyson!" Kevin's voice replied, much to his surprise. "How's about we take this baby all the way to Disney World after we drop these baddies off at Plumber HQ?"

Before Ben could respond, Ruby screamed; "There's a Disney WORLD?!" She grabbed Ben by the collar and started shaking him. "Why was I not informed of this?! Where is it and how fast can I get there?!"

"Woah, woah, Ruby, let's save vacation plans for AFTER the mission, please." Blake insisted, grabbing the Hooded Huntress by the shoulders.

Just then, though, a crash could suddenly be heard from the other end of the communicators, followed by Kevin and Gwen simultaneously screaming in fear. Yang leaned in and shouted; "Guys?! Guys, what's happening?!"

"It's… it's Cinder!" Gwen cried out. "She just freed Khyber and—oh god, WAIT—SSSSHHHH"

"Gwen? …GWEN!" Ben hollered into the Omnitrix, the her despondent when no one answered him.

Meanwhile, the Sharks and Animo were all laughing it up across from them, with Neo wearing a proud smirk. "Hahaha! Well, seems like you blokes have gotten just what ya deserved." Thrasher said as she smacked the handle of her axe in the palm of her hand. "I right good ass kickin', an' one last big loss to cement your bad luck streak." The Mucilator also got back up and quickly transformed into the Tyrranopede, acting on Khyber's command, no doubt. "So, what've ya gotta say NOW, Tennyson?"

With Team RWBY, Team CFVY, Rex, Penny, Rook and Cooper all surrounding him, Ben clenched his fists in anger and sadness. He knew Gwen wasn't dead. His cousin would be certain that she wouldn't get herself killed by Cinder of all people. But still, the thought of her and his best friend being in trouble… it only made him more determined to see this operation through to the end. He looked down to the Omnitrix, knowing that there had to be SOMETHING inside of it that could be at the top of the food chain. Something that had NO predators. All he needed to do was find a way to access it.

…And there was only one way he could realistically do that. "Omnitrix… surprise me." Without even bringing up the dial, Ben made the core of the Omnitrix pop up and then SLAMMED down on it with all the force he could possibly muster. Azmuth was probably going to chew him out for that, but they needed SOMETHING new to get them out of this.

Fortunately enough, Ben got his wish. In a flash of light he transformed, and he could just tell that he must've been something BIG. Not as big as Way Big, but he certainly gained quite a few pounds. Heavy enough to make the ship lurch again at the very least. He felt his hands go from having five fingers to just four and his feet now only had two toes, with all appendages now having sharp claws attached to them.

His musculature was now quite impressive as his overall body shape changed to be more reptilian, his neck growing out while a tail grew out of his rear. His facial features extended into a muzzle with a beaked lip and flared nostrils, all while a pair of long, curved horns grew out the back of his head. Black spines lined down his neck, along his back and to the tip of his spiked tail, with sharp teeth emerging from his maw.

A black chest piece adorned his pectoral region, with the Omnitrix firmly attatched to it as his eyes gleamed as green as his new scaley body. His underbelly was a pale shade of yellow-green, offsetting his main color. With his transformation complete, Ben felt the urge to rear his head back and roar to the heavens, his breath hot and almost burning in a way.

Down below, all of the villains and heroes had fallen as the ship swayed beneath them again, only this time, many of them were too stunned to even get up. Why was that? Because Ben 10, hero of Earth and savior of the universe… had transformed into a mythical beast.

"GYRRAAAAOOOORRRR!"

"…You've gotta be screwing with me right now." Coco muttered as she moved her sunglasses down.

"I'm not seeing things, am I?" Velvet uttered as well. "This… This isn't a joke?"

Fox's jaw dropped at what he was sensing through his aura at the moment. He might've been blind, but given the way Ben's body shape changed, even HE could tell what he was. "Yang… your boyfriend just transformed into a FUCKING DRAGON!"

Indeed, the wielder of the Omnitrix was a dragon. An absolutely MASSIVE dragon. Like, one who had to be at least as big as Humungousaur at full height, or maybe even a bit bigger. And Yang was grinning like a madwoman at the whole thing. "AAAAAAHH! Holy freaking SHIT! Ben! You're a DRAGON!"

The beast's eyes widened and his head snapped down to his body, inspecting himself over. "…Hah… Hahaha! AHAHA! YES!" Ben pumped a fist victoriously. "I've been WAITING to get this transformation for YEARS now! About time, too. Couldn't have asked for a better moment…" He craned his head down to the Street Sharks, Animo and the Tyrannopede, all of them visibly floored by the beast before them. "Now… where were we?" Ben asked before snorting flames out his nostrils.

…..

Gwen could not have been in a grosser situation if she'd tried. Cinder had flown straight into the bridge through one of the windows and immediately freed Khyber by melting away his icy prison, allowing him to get yet another weapon from the wall. This one, as it happened, was some sort of slime cannon that immediately trapped both her and Kevin against the floor of the ship, much to her chagrin. Her shirt was already ruined… but now she had to feel this gunk sticking to her stomach, which was revolting. The sound of evil laughter brought her gaze up to Cinder, the Fall Maiden standing over the couple with a cocky grin.

"Ahaha! Oh, Gwen, it would seem that you and your boy failed to seize control of this ship." Cinder shook her head in disappointment. "Such a shame… for you." She craned her head back to Khyber. "How are things topside?"

Unfortunately, the tone she heard from the hunter was anything but positive. "…See for yourself."

Cinder set her eyes upon the holo-screen… and her jaw fell to the floor. There, standing on top of the ship and towering over everyone, was a massive dragon. Its very presence made the ship sway once again, making Cinder brace herself against a computer console. "No… it can't be…"

"Hm, Ben." Gwen smiled.

"Dude pulls this kinda stuff out of his ass WAY too often." Kevin noted as well. "I mean, I'm not complaining, but still."

The Fall Maiden sneered at this and faced Khyber once more. "Well, no matter! You can just simply have your hound change into its natural predator, right?" There was a pause as Khyber kept his sights locked on the screen. "…You DID say that there's a predator for every kind of prey, correct?"

"There is… but matters are complicated when the species you're hunting is at the top of its food chain." Khyber admitted. He saw Cinder's eyes widen in shock as the dragon that was Ben Tennyson started throwing the Tyrannopede around the top of the ship like it was nothing, making the vessel start listing even more. Warning lights and alarms started blaring through the room as Khyber struggled to keep some control. "Gah! I may lose my ship, but I will NOT lose my prey!"

"You plan on trying to kill him in THAT state?!"

Khyber shook his head. "No. A dragon is not so easily killed… but, something with enough force CAN incapacitate it. Something such as… a crashing ship." Cinder was understandably stunned to hear this, but Khyber continued; "Cinder, get your team off the ship. I will finish the job."

"What?! Khyber, that's insane!" Cinder argued, trying to get in his field of view. "You'd risk getting yourself killed for the sake of killing Tennyson!" She placed a hand on her chest. "And besides, how do you expect ME to get everyone off this ship in the first place—ah!"

She gasped as Khyber reached out, grasping her by the shoulder while locking eyes with her. "You are the Fall Maiden, Cinder. You have the power to manipulate the wind to your will and your team needs your right now. So do something about it."

Khyber's tone might've been forceful, but that wasn't to say it didn't leave an impact on Cinder. Yes… she WAS the Fall Maiden. She alone had the power to get everyone off this ship before it crashed, which at this point, was an inevitability. Reaching a finger up to her ear, she contacted her partner; "Rojo, Ben Tennyson has escalated the situation. Khyber has a plan, but we're evacuating the ship. Get out as fast as you can and jump. …I'll be there to catch you."

She got a confirmation from Rojo and hung up, with Khyber nodding to her. "Good girl. Now go!" Cinder nodded curtly back to Khyber and then made her way toward the window she came through… only for a bolt of lighting to come in and hit her. "NO!"

Cinder was sent flying across the room as Raven came flying in, her hands glowing with power. "There you are, you little sneak!"

Right at that moment, the door burst open and in came Qrow, aiming Harbinger at Khyber before taking a shot. In an instant, Khyber was struck in the shoulder, eliciting a growl from him as one of his shoulder pads was shattered. "Sorry there, Mr. Ugly, but we're turnin' this tub around!" Qrow stated as Vernal and Winter came in, brandishing their blades.

"NO!" Khyber raised his head and went to whistle, but Kevin wasn't about to let that happen. Using all of his strength, he pulled his arm up and threw a handful of sticky gunk at Khyber, covering the holes in his jaw. Qrow then took this opportunity to dash in with Harbinger in sword mode, only for the alien to bring up his own sword.

Winter and Vernal dashed past the action to help the couple out while Qrow gave a thumbs up to Kevin. "Thanks, kid! Great work!"

"Thanks." Kevin returned as the two women cut him and Gwen out of the gunk. "Ugh, wish we didn't have to get stuck in that, though."

"Never mind that now." Winter waved off, training her eyes on Cinder. "We have bigger things to worry about right now." She pointed her sword at the Fall Maiden as Raven did the same, and before long, everyone had locked onto Cinder, backing her into a corner. "It's over, Cinder. You and the Ministry have lost."

Cinder pursed her lips at this. "Today? Maybe so… but if you think this is where we'll stop, you are VERY wrong." Her eyes lit up and her hands began to glow, mixing several elemental powers together. "Right now, though, I have bigger things to do."

Raven went in with Omen raised, intent on running Cinder through. "Cinder, don't you—AAAH!" But it was too late. Cinder threw the sphere of energy to the ground and it exploded in a brilliant flash of light, enveloping the entire room for a moment before a crashing sound was heard. As everyone's vision cleared, they saw a shattered window… and no Cinder in sight. "DAMMIT! Not again!"

Gwen went over and put a hand to Raven's arm. "Raven, I agree that Cinder getting away isn't idea, but—AH!" Everyone gasped as the ship moved again, making almost everyone fall to their knees. "We kind of have a bigger thing to worry about here!"

Just as she said that, the door swung open again and in came Sun, Neptune, Ilia and Team JNPR, the seven of them all with panicked expressions. "Um, guys?!" Sun shouted. "Anyone mind explaining what's going on out there?!"

But then, Vernal spotted the screen herself, and her expression was quite similar to Cinder's from before. "Um… I think it has something to do with that." The entire team saw the holo-screen, and their jaws dropped immediately. There was a dragon on top of the ship. "Anyone want to make any bets?"

"HOLY CRAP, BEN TURNED INTO A FREAKING DRAGON!"

Once Nora was done screaming, Jaune had to admit, it WAS pretty badass. "Hah, yeah, that's pretty freaking awesome." The team watched as the dragon continued to fight against the Tyrranopede, the insect-like dinosaur easily no match for the flying reptile as it was smacked around the ship. But then, they watched as Ben-Dragon picked the Tyrranopede up as it charged at him… and then lifted it up above his head. Almost as if he was about to… "Oh crap, he isn't!"

"Brace yourselves!" Ilia warned, grabbing the nearest support beam.

Sure enough, the dragon brought his arm down and SMASHED the Tyrranopede against the ship… which subsequently made it crash through into the bridge and come falling down over everyone. The group collectively screamed and scattered, all aside from Khyber who was too late to get out of the way of his own pet. He was crushed under the massive predator and was forced to bear witness as the dragon peered inside. The alien visibly winced as he saw everyone gathered around. "Oh… oops. Sorry guys! I didn't know this was the bridge!"

"No worries, Ben!" Pyrrha waved up to the massive hero. "Honestly, the fact that you're a dragon is easily making up for that."

"Hah, I know, right? It's amazing." Ben concurred as his focus shifted over to the thrashing Khyber, who had been silenced and trapped under his beast. The hero smirked and motioned his head to his team. "Everyone, climb on. We're getting outta here."

"W-Wait, what about the bad guys?" Neptune brought up.

From above the dragon's shoulder, Yang peered down at the group. "Actually, that's kinda weird!" she shouted down. "They all just jumped off of the ship for some reason and Cinder whisked them away!" She smirked and nudged the back of her boyfriend's neck. "Guess the bad guys knew when to give up, huh? Now c'mon and get up here! We're getting off this wreck!"

Nora didn't need to be told twice. "Ben's a dragon! I call shotgun!" she hollered before shimmying up the scaley alien beast's arm. The others followed suit, though Qrow and Raven elected to fly out instead, with Gwen doing the same. In the end, Team JNPR, Team SN, most of Teams RWBY and CFVY, Kevin, Winter and Vernal had all climbed onto Ben's back, holding onto the large spines sticking out of his backbone. The only ones who weren't riding him were the aforementioned three, along with Penny, Rex and Cooper. The latter two were also carrying Weiss and Coco respectively as they flew off into the sky.

Ben took one last look down into the bridge, seeing Khyber scowling up at him. He matched the glare before giving the huntsman one final farewell. "Hasta la Vista, Khyber." His eyes and the inside of his mouth began glowing bright orange before he unleashed a beam of flaming energy down into the ship, destroying the controls entirely as explosions continued to wrack the entire ship. Ben spread out his wings and thrust himself off the ship, intentionally putting it off course from the nearby city and into the forest directly below.

On his back, the team cheered victoriously, with Ben himself bellowing out a massive roar with them. "AHAHA! YES!" Ruby gave Blake and Yang double high fives. "Omni-Hunters WIN! Flawless victory!"

"Yep, pretty much." Blake affirmed.

"We are back in the game!" Yang pumped a fist up high.

Raven, who had chosen to fly in human form, came in close to the dragon, eyeing the three members of Team RWBY. "Words can't describe how impressed and proud I am of you right now." She shifted her sights over to the others on Ben's back as well. "And that goes for all of you. You took a bad situation and you turned it on its head in your favor. That sort of ingenuity is part of what being a huntsman is all about."

Yang smiled and nodded to her mother. "Thanks, mom. That means a lot…" Her attention went straight to her boyfriend, calling out to him to ask; "So, what do you think we should name THIS guy, Green Boy?"

"Hah… actually, I've made a pretty big list of names that I've wanted to give this one." The dragon admitted. "I always knew I'd unlock this form someday, but I never really decided on a name. Maybe you could help me out with that when we get home?"

"Gladly." Yang gave Ben a pat on the head.

"By the way, that reminds me…" The dragon's eye moved to Raven, his eyeridge raising in confusion. "I assume you got the team here by making a portal, right, Raven? If that's the case, then how the heck are we gonna get home?"

Raven sent him a reassuring wave of the hand. "Oh, don't worry about that, Ben. Tai came back with me for a little bit so he could see the girls. We won't be having trouble getting back to Bellwood."

"Good to hear… because you're gonna want to open that portal soon." The dragon craned his head down toward his chestplate, where the Omnitrix was starting to blink red rapidly. "I'm working on borrowed time, if ya hadn't noticed." At the sight of the dial's blinking state, everyone on Ben's back started shouting in panic, all while the hero himself tried to get himself as close to the ground as possible to lessen the impact.

However, Raven was right on top of it. "Alright, hold on!" The former Branwen Tribe leader poured a bit of extra Maiden power into her Semblance before slashing Omen down toward the ground, where an absolutely massive portal appeared. "There! Everyone go for it!" At her word, Gwen, Penny, Qrow, Rex, Cooper and herself all made a beeline for the portal, with Ben diving in last before the portal closed entirely.

…..

Meanwhile, Cinder was in far less good spirits. She had managed to escape the Spring Maiden's wrath, yes, but having to use her powers to help all of her teammates down off the ship was an excruciating task, to be sure. It took all of her willpower to keep herself aloft with the wind while also using it to keep her friends steady as well, at least while she lowered them all down to the ground safely. She basically collapsed to the forest floor after all was said and done. "Hah… hah… I can't believe I pulled that off."

"Believe it, Cindy." Rojo said as she came over, placing a hand on Cinder's shoulder with a supportive smile. "Thanks for getting us outta there."

Cinder smiled back at Rojo, but the peace didn't last for very long. "Oh god! Look!" At Emerald's cry, the Ministry craned their heads up, only to be horrified at what they saw. The heroes had effectively destroyed Khyber's ship, leaving the huntsman and his dog in it before sending it hurdling down to the forest below. The ship landed with a massive explosion that saw the trees catch ablaze, leaving everyone stunned.

But, none were left more in disbelief than Rojo. Her mentor's plan had failed… and he had went down with his ship. "No… NOOOO!" Immediately, Rojo dashed off in the direction of the fire, with her teammates, the Street Sharks, and even the mutated Animo all in hot pursuit. "TEACH!"

Mercury also seemed fairly concerned, calling out for his new mentor. "KHYBER! Goddamn it, you'd better not be freaking dead!" Without hesitation, he and Rojo went into the fire, which Cinder started to control in order for them to get past.

At first, the villains saw nothing but flames and smoke. But, much to their relief and shock, they saw a familiar figure come staggering through the smoke, before falling to his knees and chest. It was Khyber, and he was very much alive. "Khyber!" Cinder exclaimed, extinguishing the flames as everyone surrounded him.

"Teach, are you okay?!" Rojo slid next to her teacher, concern etched across her features.

"Blimey, mate!" Thrasher said as her fellow sharks helped him to his feet. "How the hell did ya survive that?!"

Khyber coughed and hacked, dispelling smoke from his lungs before answering; "Barely…" Just then, the sound of pained whining graced everyone's ears, and from the flames came the Anubian Baskurr, limping slightly before falling to the ground. Khyber pulled himself out of Lunge and Stripe's grasp and went over to his pet, giving it a pat on the head as it stared at him apologetically. "Fret not, old friend. That young whelp, Ben Tennyson, will pay dearly for this."

"Indeed, he will." Animo agreed, the mutated doctor coming over to check on the dog's condition. "But first, we will have to recouperate after this loss… and I doubt that Lady Salem will be too happy with us."

"No, she will not." Cinder affirmed. "But, at the very least, we are still free, so—" But then, she cut herself off when she heard movement coming from the trees, causing her to spin around and call out; "Who goes there?! Show yourselves!"

There was initially no response… but in time, the group could see two figures come walking toward them from the smoke. One was quite small and squat, and was absolutely NOT humanoid. Rather, it was more crustacean… a Cerebrocrustacean to be precise. He was mainly a light purple in color, with his cranium cover being dark purple. He had a pair of red eyes and a triangular mouth which seemed to be in a permanent evil smile. One of his purple claws was bigger than the other, and he also had a light blue handlebar mustache.

The other figure, however, was MUCH bigger and more intimidating, with broad shoulders and a large hunched back that had spikes sticking straight out of it. The being's massive arms had one normal hand and one without a hand at all, instead with a massive, glowing cannon in its place. Through the smoke, they could see that the being had several, curving red lines all across its body, and as it revealed itself, they also saw that the rest of its body was entirely pitch black. It had only one "eye" and it had a massive, unmoving open maw with "teeth" jutting out, giving it an overall frightening appearance.

Khyber's eyes widened in shock. "You… are here."

"Indeed, Khyber." The frightening Galvanic Mechamorph confirmed, his terrifying voice accentuated by an unfeeling reverb. "And I certainly do hope that you can make do on your word of making Tennyson pay." The alien set his sights over to the Ministry, lifting his head with a ponderous hum. "Hmm… and these must be the disciples you've taken on." He approached Cinder directly, which made the Fall Maiden actually recoil somewhat. "Greetings, all. My name… is Malware." He extended a hand toward the Cerebrocrustacean. "And this is my associate, Dr. Psychobos. We've heard that you all have quite the set of skills to offer, but please tell me… where can I meet this "Salem" person?"

…..

A/N: And thus, we've come to the inevitable; the return of Malware, and the beginning of him laying the foundation for his revenge. Oh, and of course, Dr. Psychobos is with him as well. Seems the Ministry now has two MORE technology-savvy villains to add to their roster. One who's good at making it… and one who excels at using it. Even though they've been brought down, the villains DID get something in the end. Though where they go from here is certainly up in the air.

But, that said, dear GOD, I was right to delay this chapter! Without a doubt, this has to be THE longest chapter I've done in a while. Last time I remember writing one this long was at the tail end of Volume 1, so this certainly served as a test to see if I could still pull it off. And of course, that's to do with the sheer scope of the battle here. We've got several characters fighting one another, so you bet that it would NEED this length.

Some of the more notable moments that I wish to touch on, however, are the fact that, as you probably could've guessed, Animo used the Gene Slammers on himself along WITH the sharks. And if you want to see the inspiration for this form that he mentioned in-story… fair warning, Shin Kamen Rider is NOT for the faint of heart. Not even I have watched through it, and I'm a BIG Toku fan. You won't have any trouble finding the "Henshin" sequence, but even then, it's nightmarish and Guyver-esque, so fair warning.

Also, seems Jaune's been inspired by the team's latest addiction to Kyoryuger to have his sword modified in a way that evokes KyoryuGold's own sword! Granted, it doesn't play music or say "GABURINCHO!" but it effectively works in the same way now, and man, does it WORK. …Though Jaune makes a point, there are now a LOT of people on the team who use Lightning Dust.

We also got a bit of a clash with Raven and Cinder as well, somewhat evoking their fight from Volume 5. Though that didn't last too long as Cinder found herself confronted with quite the responsibility of getting her team to safety. She's probably going to start taking Khyber's words more to heart after that…

But then, indeed, we have the BIG one. *inhales deeply* DRAGOOOON! That's right, people, the transformation that every fan in the Ben 10 community wants to see is FINALLY in the story, and from the brief moments we've seen of him, he kicks ASS! Plus, it helps that, naturally, dragons would likely have no natural predator given their fierceness, so he's got that going for him. Now all he needs… is a name. I've had a few boiling around in my head for a while such as "Xenomander" and "Astrogon" but if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know! …Oh! And of course, we saw the return of STEEL BONE as well. And THAT'S the bottom line!

Alright, so after that massive battle, where do we go from here? Well, back to Bellwood, naturally, as NEXT TIME, our team comes back and is greeted by their mentors, who congratulate them on a job well done. After that, though, the team head back home to recoup after the crazy day they've had, as well as to catch up with Team CFVY and what they've been up to. Yep, it's time for a breather chapter, and it'll be back on Friday, so look forward to that! Until then, however, I'll see you all later everyone! Thanks for reading, and as always, stay safe out there!