A/N: How's it going, everybody? Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY and what is set to be the SEASON FINALE of Season 2! Yep, it's getting to be about that time to switch back to Transformers MHA, but don't worry! At the end of this whole little mini-arc, I've got a bit of an announcement planned that'll be related to BOTH stories, so you won't want to miss that. For now, though, let's get into this next chapter, shall we? This is…

Chapter 58: Catching Up at Home Base

…..

Following the rather intense mission, as well as its rather mixed outcome, the Omni-Hunters all unanimously agreed that they needed to take their minds off of it. Thankfully, they still had plenty of their camping trip left, and the Saturdays said that they weren't going anywhere until their research on the Smoke Wolf was complete. So their weekend wasn't completely lost, much to their relief. If anything, it was about to get even MORE fun since the Saturdays were still around, especially as Zak took the opportunity to show them something that they immediately took great interest in…

"Well guys… here it is!" With a quick pull, Zak unveiled the object in question from under its tarp, proudly showing it off. "So, what do ya think?"

"Woah! You guys have your own all-terrain buggy?!" Nora exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement. Indeed, the four-wheeled vehicle in front of her definitely seemed fit for anything. On-road, offroad, the redhead even had a feeling that the tires inflated further so it could cross along water. "This thing looks so cool!"

But, as he inspected it, Kevin noticed something very strange about the buggy. "Yeah, it does… but it's not engine-powered." The Osmosian pointed down toward the floor in the driver's seat, and the team quickly saw the pedals. Several eyebrows were raised as Kevin asked; "Okay, which of you has the foot strength of Fred Flintstone to even DRIVE this thing?" Without even saying a word, Zak pointed to his left… straight at Fiskerton, who puffed his chest and proudly folded his arms. "…I was afraid of that." Kevin deadpanned.

"Does he need a license to drive that thing?" Neptune muttered.

Sun leaned over and added; "Does he even HAVE one at all?"

"Wow, really, guys?" Zak placed his hands on his hips, with Fisk mimicking his movements. "So little faith in the Fiskerton Phantom that you're questioning his driving skills?"

"Well, sorry Zak." Ilia gestured up to the tall Cryptid to emphasize her point. "But it seems a bit farfetched to hear that the GORILLA CAT can drive."

If anything, that just made Zak smirk even more. "Is that so? Sounds like a challenge to me." He glanced up to Fiskerton, who was also wearing a confident smile. "Fisk, let's show these nonbelievers."

And show them they did. After separating into groups of four, the teens were treated to several laps around the clearing where their campsite was, which was surprisingly exhilarating. Sure, there was a bit of hesitancy from all of them at first, but after Team RWBY had all gone, they were quick to dispel any fears the others had. "GUYS!" Ruby exclaimed. "Fisk ROCKS behind the wheel! Haha, it was so fun!"

"Heh, yeah, not a bad ride…" Yang admitted before adding in her head; 'Though obviously, not as good as how I handle Bumblebee.'

After that, everyone had gotten a chance to ride around at least twice before the sun began to set, leading the team to bring it all in for the night. Of course, they were quick to have a campfire, roast marshmallows, tell ghost stories, all the fun camp stuff that they were prepared to do over the weekend before packing it in. Thankfully, Sunday was much more relaxed, with nothing really huge or life-threatening happening at all. It was quite serene… while also a bit odd…

"It's almost noon." Weiss said as she checked her scroll for the time. "How has anything NOT happened to interrupt us—mmph!"

"Shh! Don't jinx it." Blake urged, placing a hand over her friend's mouth. "Just relax and keep having fun, we may never get a day like this again."

A few hours after the cat girl had stopped her friend from jinxing them, however, there WAS something notable that had happened… "Ah, alright, our study on the Smoke Wolf is now complete." Doc declared as he led Smokey out of the airship on a rather thick rope, with Drew walking beside the massive wolf to keep it calm. The rest of the team gathered around, wondering exactly why he was announcing this. But with what he said next, it became very clear why… "So now, it's time for us to release it back into its natural habitat."

This understandably took everyone by surprise. "W-Wait, WHAT?!" Ruby dashed up to Doc and Drew, sad and confused as to why that was. "You're letting Smokey go? Just like that?!" The couple nodded to her, though they also had hints of gloom in their own expressions as well. "But… why?"

"Ruby, sweetie, I realize that all of you have made an incredibly quick bond with Smokey since meeting him." Drew reached out, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "But you must also realize that he's still a wild animal. His natural habitat is out here, after all."

A sad sigh came from Zak, who was directly behind the Hooded Huntress. "Sad to say, but… she's right, Ruby." She turned her head toward Zak, who approached Smokey with his eyes beginning to glow. "As Cryptozoologists, we can't just take Cryptids out of their natural habitat, not unless it's a special case." He reached up and pet Smokey on the muzzle, all while everyone watched on in sadness. "Take care, Smoke. You're free. Go on home now."

After Zak's eyes stopped glowing, Smokey let out a short huff and stood up, allowing Doc to take off the lead rope. But then, something unexpected happened. Smokey turned right around… and dashed straight back up the airship's ramp, making everyone gasp. "AH! What the—" Doc was stunned as he watched Smokey sit right at the top of the ramp, wagging his tail. "Zak, I thought you told him to leave?"

"I-I did!" Zak assured. "I told him to go home." He rushed up the ramp and looked Smokey right in the eye, pointing out toward the forest. "Smoke, come on, you need to go home." A small whine came from Smokey's throat before he walked around in a circle and planted himself on the floor, taking the Saturdays aback even more.

"What in the WORLD is happening here?!" Drew exclaimed.

"Ahahaha!" Just then, a certain laugh caught the group's attention. Max came over to the team, offering a smile to the Saturday family. "Well, you'd think that'd be fairly obvious." He jerked his thumb over to the Smoke Wolf, now resting comfortably on the airship floor. "You all brought what is essentially a giant dog onboard your airship and now it got its scent everywhere in there. Plus now, it's familiarized itself with all of yours, so you know what that means?"

Doc and Drew were absolutely mortified… while Zak and Ruby seemed quite ecstatic. "No, don't tell me." Doc muttered.

Drew pointed toward Smokey. "Are you saying… the airship is his home now?"

"More importantly, your family is his home now." Max said with a smirk. "Congratulations."

"AAAAAAHH!" Ruby and Zak practically screamed in unison in their sheer excitement, all while Doc and Drew stared at Smokey in disbelief. "Haha! No way!" Zak slapped his forehead, finding all of this to be utterly hilarious. "Oh god, the fact that this was all by accident just makes this even better."

Ruby giggled as she bent down to pat Smokey on the head. "Hehe, yeah. Seems this guy isn't going anywhere anytime soon…" She scratched behind the wolf's ear, earning a pleased groan from him. "Ya hear that, Smoke? You're part of the Saturday family now."

Doc raised a finger in protest. "N-Now hold on a second." He gave his son a serious look. "Zak, I believe you yourself said that we DON'T take Cryptids out of their natural habitats unless it's a special case."

"Well, honey, that IS true." Drew piped up before Zak could say anything. The white-haired woman went over and crouched down in front of Smokey, locking eyes with the wolf as it began wagging its tail again. She reached out tentatively, only for Smokey to meet her half way, nuzzling his head into her hand. Despite herself, Drew couldn't help but smile. "…But I'd say that this case IS pretty special, wouldn't you?"

'…Oh no.' Doc knew this scenario very well. It was one thing for his son to get attached to a Cryptid, but whenever his wife would get attached… that's it. The decision had been made. But he still had one last ditch effort he could make. "Okay, I will admit, he IS a good boy. He wouldn't have saved our lives if he wasn't, but… Drew, think of what we'd have to FEED him. I doubt he'd eat normal dog food." He jerked his thumb over to Fiskerton, Zon and Komodo all standing behind them. "I doubt he'd be as easy to feed as them."

"Doc, we can afford raw meat." Drew said with a knowing grin. "You and I both know that. And besides…" She placed her hands on either side of Smokey's head, puffing out his neck fur as she gave him a good rubbing. "Look at this adorable face and TELL me you can't say no to him."

The Saturday patriarch pursed his lips as his wife, his son, and even Ruby were all staring at him expectantly. His sights went straight to Smokey himself, the wolf also staring up at him, though not in expectancy. Rather, Doc could see something in the wolf's eyes that took him off guard; a sense of commitment. Much to their surprise, Smokey sat up from his lying position, practically towering over Doc before bringing his head down… and licking the man's cheek.

As drool rolled down his cheek, Doc gave a defeated sigh. "…Alright, he can stay." Ruby, Zak and everyone else were about to let out a collective cheer, but then Doc raised a finger. "BUT… Zak." He pointed to his son sternly. "Since you were the one who insisted on letting him roam about the airship, Smokey WILL be your responsibility. I expect you to feed him, take him outside, and make sure he's cleaned regularly. I don't want the entire airship to smell like noxious smoke, is that clear?"

"Crystal, sir!" Zak saluted.

"Good… now the next step is finding a collar that'll fit him."

That Sunday night was one of celebration as the Saturdays welcomed their new addition to the family… though Komodo didn't seem too enthused by the whole thing, the lizard giving nasty glares at the wolf. Fiskerton was also a bit hesitant, though he wasn't about to forget how Smokey had saved him the day before. He'd have to see how his new housemate was when it came to back scratches, THEN they'd be on the same page.

Zon, however, was quick to try and form a bond with the wolf… by sleeping on his back. Smokey wasn't ENTIRELY sure why the huge, funny-looking bird had decided to nest there, but he wasn't too bothered by it, thankfully. Also, much to the surprise of everyone, Zwei, Romulus and Rema were also not hesitant in saying hello to the MUCH larger canine… and Smokey was definitely interested in return. He didn't seem to mind the smaller pups using him as a climbing playground, at least.

Finally, Monday came around, and as Max had said, it was an early rise for everyone as they started packing up to head home. All the while, the team got in their respective farewells to the Saturday family, with several of them disappointed that their weekend had to end so soon. "Well, before you go, I gotta say, it's been a blast and a half." Ben said as he, Gwen, Kevin, Rex and Team RWBY all stood across from the Saturdays. "Things definitely could've gone better with the mission, but at the very least, I think we can all agreed we had a great time."

"No argument here, Ben." Doc affirmed, with Zak, Drew and the Cryptids all agreeing as well. "It's been pretty interesting. Plus, we finally got to meet the Moth Man, AND find out more about his species, so at least we had SOME success on this mission."

Yang nudged her boyfriend's arm. "Yeah, not to mention you actually GOT the Moth Man in your Omnitrix now, Green Boy. Can't wait to see what THAT looks like."

"Heh, yeah, me either." Ben nodded, eyeing the watch before glancing up to Fiskerton. "But honestly, I'm STILL stunned that Fisk was able to make it into the Omnitrix." He raised a hand up to the gorilla-cat. "Not to throw shade or anything, Fisk."

"Agabah, algoo." Fiskerton waved back with a reassuring smile.

Zak went up and pat his "brother" on the back. "Yeah, well, I'm not surprised. Honestly, considering the history of Fisk's species, it only makes sense."

Blake tilted her head, confused as to what he meant. "Hm? What about Fiskerton's species?"

"Well, Fisk here is actually what's known as a "Lemurian"." Drew explained, placing a hand on the Cryptid's arm. "In the ancient past, they actually acted as guardians of Kur to prevent his return. …And Fisk here is the last of his kind."

The group felt their eyes collectively widen at that, all while Ben eyed the Omnitrix. "Huh, wow… guess that means the Omnitrix is doing what it's meant to do in this situation; preserve DNA incase a species should go extinct." In his head, Ben thought to himself; 'Wonder what Azmuth would think about this.' Eventually, though, he shook that thought off and continued on. "Well, either way, that IS pretty neat. But now… I guess this is goodbye for a bit, huh?"

"Hah… and just when we were all starting to become good friends, too." Ruby sighed, kicking a rock in disappointment.

Zak's cheeks flushed red a little bit as he brushed his finger beneath his nose. "Hehe… yeah, too true. B-But you guys won't have to worry." He extended a fist toward Ruby in a friendly gesture. "After all, it won't be long until we see each other again."

Ruby, along with everyone else, became perplexed at his words. "What do you mean, Zak?" she said as she hesitantly bumped his fist with her own.

"Well, since there's still a lot to figure out with the tablet that the Forever Knights stole," Drew began, "along with all of the chaos that the Ministry is causing…"

"We figured that it'd be best if we stuck around Bellwood for a while." Doc finished with a wink.

Overhearing that, the rest of the team immediately stopped whatever they were doing and began crowding up, astonished by the news. "Wait, WHAT?!" Ruby brightened up considerably at that. "No kidding?!"

Zak shook his head. "Nope, not kidding."

Drew gave a small shrug. "We all had a long conversation last night before bed, and we unanimously agreed that it WOULD be best to stay near you." She smirked and raised an eyebrow at the teenagers. "Besides, you guys are practically trouble magnets, so it won't be too much of a stretch to assume that the Knights will probably be back to try and take you out."

As much as they didn't want to admit it, the team had to concede to Drew's point. "Yeah, no argument here, I guess, hehe..." Jaune chuckled sheepishly.

"But where will you stay?" Pyrrha asked, tilting her head up toward the airship. "You can't possibly stay in the airship the whole time you're there, can you?"

"Ah, but we CAN." Doc confirmed, glancing over toward Max. "See, the Plumber base has a very special docking bay made just for the airship, correct?"

The old Plumber nodded to the man. "Yep, it's still there. Hasn't been used in a while, but we'll be happy to dust it off for you." Max extended a hand to Doc, who wasted no time in shaking it. "So, I'm guessing we'll see you back in Bellwood?"

"Yes, but not right away." Doc clarified. "We want to make sure we have all the essentials from home for an extended stay." He craned his head over to his family. "We'll probably take about two or three days for a stay at home before heading out to Bellwood, so I hope you all will be rolling out the welcome wagon once we get there."

Yang sent a thumbs-up their way. "Oh, you bet, Doc! Don't worry, you guys'll get acclimated to Bellwood REAL quick with us around."

"Haha! Glad to hear it." Zak laughed, giving Yang a high five. "Can't wait to see what it's like living in a town FULL of aliens, honestly."

"Er, you're gonna have to go to Undertown for that, dude." Kevin advised. "Though unless you wanna deal with people who could melt your face off, I don't recommend it."

Zak began to laugh, but the more he saw how serious the Osmosian was, the more his laughter subsided. "…You're not kidding, are ya?" Kevin shook his head, which made Zak sigh in disappointment. "Alright, well, guess there's THAT ruined for me." He shook his head, getting himself back on track. "W-Well, point is, we're gonna have a good time." Zak's sights landed on Ruby once again, his smile softening as he gave her one last nod. "I-It was still really great to meet you guys, though. This weekend was a blast."

"Hmhm, agreed." Ruby giggled, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "Can't wait for you guys to come back."

Drew came up and bowed her head to Ruby as well. "And the same can be said for us, Ruby. For now, though, we really must be going." With that, the Satudays all began making their way up the airship's ramp, with Fiskerton, Komodo, Zon and Smokey not far behind them. "We'll see you all in a few days!"

"Can't wait for it!" Neptune called out, earning several deadpan glares from the others.

'You WOULD say that, wouldn't you?' the team thought collectively.

The ramp began to rise up, and in a few moments time, so did the airship. With autopilot activated, the massive vessel raised high above the trees and began to fly off into the distance. As they left, however, Doc and Drew couldn't help but notice their son staring out the nearest window, right up until the team were completely out of sight. The husband and wife smiled knowingly toward one another before the latter waltzed over to her boy, leaning just over his shoulder. "So… Ruby, huh?"

"AH!" Zak stumbled forward and spun around to his mother. "MOM! Seriously?!"

With a cheeky grin, Drew gave her son a sly wink. "Well, come on, sweetie, what did you EXPECT my first question to be the second we left?" She waved her hand toward the window for emphasis. "I mean, you practically hung out with her all weekend."

"I-I hung out with EVERYONE all weekend!" Zak argued.

Doc placed his hands on his hips. "Yes, son, but don't think we didn't notice how you look at her." An absolutely mortified Zak could only watch as his parents eyed one another knowingly. "In fact, it's not too dissimilar to how your mother and I sent sparing glances at one another when we first met."

Drew watched with amusement as her son drew his hoodie up over his head, pulling the drawstrings completely shut as he screamed in humiliation. Before any of them knew it, their son was curled up in the corner with his back against the wall, his arms reaching up to cover his head and hide. "Hah… Zak, honey, it's okay." Drew assured as she walked over and sat next to him, settling her arms against his shoulders. "It's all a part of growing up. Besides, this isn't the FIRST time you've acted like this about a girl, remember?"

"…Well, yeah." Zak admitted, pulling his hood back slightly. "But I'm honestly still not really sure HOW I feel right now." He scratched his cheek, trying to find the right words. "I mean, I know I LIKE Ruby, but… I just don't know if I'm ready for another relationship." He sent a sad gaze down to the floor. "Especially considering how things between Wadi and I ended up."

"I know, honey." Drew nodded in understanding, patting Zak's back comfortingly. "But at the very least, we won't be moving around for a while, so that's a plus."

Doc came over and knelt in front of Zak, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Exactly. And because of that, you can take your time and see where your feelings end up going." Zak lifted his head up to meet his father's gaze. "After all, the biggest reason why you and Wadi couldn't really get a good footing while you were dating was because you both moved around TOO much, right?"

"Yeah… dates would be reserved for over vid-phone or whenever we'd randomly bump into each other." Zak's expression soured. "I never liked that."

"Well, with this, things could be quite different." Drew stood up, bringing Zak with her to give him all the moral support she could. "Plus, look at it this way…" She gave him a supportive wink. "You'll certainly have plenty of time to get to know her since we're going to be training with her."

A feeling of fear and excitement bubbled up in Zak's gut when she said that. "Oh yeah… her Silver Eye training." He gazed up to his mother curiously. "You really think we've got a talisman that could help her with her powers?"

Drew ruffled her son's hair reassuringly. "Zak, we've got a talisman for pretty much EVERYTHING back home. There has to be one that can help Ruby." She ushered for him to join her and Doc as they started walking toward the bridge. "Now come on, we've gotta start doing some shopping. If you're gonna keep Smokey, you've gotta have the right supplies."

"Hmph, yeah, okay." Zak sighed, knowing he'd probably never hear the end of how Smokey was his responsibility… or his parents teasing him about a certain Hooded Huntress.

…..

After a several hour-long drive, however, said Hooded Huntress was beginning to feel atrophied in her legs after sitting for so long in Ben's car. …But she couldn't afford to feel wobbly since she had to find a bathroom FAST. "AAAAAHHH!" She let out a relieved scream after the team pulled into the Plumber base and Ben's car came to a stop, and the first thing she spotted was a bathroom right along the far wall. "Thank the GODS!"

WHAM! In no less than two seconds, she had slammed the door shut, leaving Ben and the rest of her team astonished. "…I don't think I've seen anyone get to the bathroom that fast." the hero commented.

"Her own fault for saying she didn't need to go at the last rest stop." Weiss said as she got out of the car, followed by everyone else. However, she also wore an amused smile. "But… now that she's not here…"

Yang smirked, knowing exactly where this was going. "You wanna talk about her obvious new crush, right?"

"Do I ever?" Weiss let out an excited squee, balling her fists together. "Eeee! Isn't it just adorable?! Ruby's first crush, and he's actually REALLY nice!"

"Oh, sister, you have NO idea how relieved I am about that." Yang emphasized, leaning against her boyfriend's car. "I've been dreading this day for about four years now, and I am freaking thrilled that Zak's a good guy. Plus, it helps that he's friends with ALL of us, too."

Blake deadpanned at her teammates, folding her arms over her chest. "Guys, come on, really? You're just going to talk about Zak behind Ruby's back?" Yang and Weiss exchanged confused and worried glances… only for Blake's lips to curl into a grin. "Without me?" The trio practically screamed in happy unison before Blake added; "Isn't he just the cutest thing, though?"

"I KNOW!" Yang gushed, placing one hand on her cheek while waving the other. "Of course, nothing can top Ben for me in terms of cuteness, but Zak is just adorable. You'd never guess he was the reincarnation of a demonic Cryptid dragon god."

"Exactly." Weiss agreed wholeheartedly. "And the fact that his powers ALSO come from his eyes can't be a coincidence. It's like, how can you get a better match?" She placed a fist over her chest, her gaze filled with determination. "That's why I'm making it my solemn duty to help these two realize their feelings for one another! I'm gonna do what Gwen does best and play matchmaker!"

But then, the trio heard someone clearing their throat right behind them, leading them to see Gwen herself standing right there. "Ahem, I believe I heard the term "matchmaking"." She brought her arms up and pulled the girls into a huddle, a wily smirk plastered across her features. "I'm in. It's Ruby and Zak, isn't it?"

Weiss offered her a fistbump, which Gwen reciprocated. "Oh, you know it. So, where do we start?"

"Well, we can't just rush things with this one." Gwen advised, putting on a more serious demeanor. "After all, this is Ruby's FIRST crush, so she's got to realize a lot of things on her own here. It's a BAD move to just push someone into a something they've never experienced before they get their own feelings sorted out, you know."

Yang gave a nod. "Hm, good point. Anything we can do to help her?"

"Most we can do is talk to her about Zak." Gwen continued, tapping the side of her head. "Pick her brain about what she thinks about him and go from there." She twirled her hand in a circular motion. "Once she gets her mind going about him, her thoughts about him should become a bit clearer to her."

"And then what?" Blake inquired next.

Gwen winked and pointed straight up. "Then, once they start hanging out and training together more, that's when things will probably start falling into place. From there we—huh?" Suddenly, several shadows were cast over the four girls, leading them to set their gazes up… toward their boyfriends. Ben, Kevin, Sun and Rex all stood with their arms crossed, the boys staring at their respective others with questioning eyes. "…Boys, this is a private conversation."

"Yeah, well, you might wanna make it REAL private." Kevin advices, pointing behind them. "Because I just heard a flush from the women's bathroom."

Click! At the sound of a door opening, the four girls all gasped in unison before spinning around to see Ruby come skipping back over toward them. "Hey guys! Did I miss anything?"

Yang, Gwen, Blake and Weiss all shook their heads at the same time, the former replying; "N-Nope! No secret conversations happening here, hehe—oof!" Weiss elbowed Yang with a small glare, stopping the blonde from blowing the whole thing.

Ruby narrowed her eyes at the four suspiciously. "Hmm…" But then her cheery smile returned. "Okey-dokey, then! Come on, let's go debrief what happened on our trip so we can head home." The silver-eyed girl let out a yawn, giving a big stretch. "I don't know about you, but I could still go for a little bit of shut-eye."

"Ugh, no argument here." Neptune said as he, Team JNPR, Ilia and Penny joined the others. "I can't believer we got up at five in the morning just to get here before eight." He shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, what's the point?"

"The point, Neptune was to not waste the day." Max interjected, the old man walking over to the team. "After all, General Ironwood said that he'd be here early to pick up Cooper and Team CFVY… along with Lionheart as well."

Both Sun and Neptune's demeanors changed the second he mentioned that name. "Oh, yeah… him." The monkey boy spat, turning his head away as he crossed his arms. "Well as far as I'm concerned, Ironwood can HAVE him. He's done enough damage already."

The team were surprised at the usually positive young man, his distaste being rare to see. Blake went up to him and placed a gentle hand on his chest. "Sun, I know what he did was unforgiveable, and I don't blame you for being mad at that." His blue eyes shifted down, meeting her amber ones. "But you have to remember; he's gone through a lot as a consequence of his actions. Now he's a mutant lion man who we have no idea how to change back."

"Yeah, and that IS really messed up." Sun admitted, only to ball his hand into a fist. "But Blake… he was our headmaster. We put our trust into him and he threw that all away." His hands snapped up and clutched his sleeves, screwing his eyes shut in frustration. "I… I owed him a lot for taking me in when I needed it. And now…"

Blake reached out and pulled him into an embrace, rubbing his bath soothingly. "Shh, shh, it's okay. Everything is okay, Sun. Deep breaths, deep breaths…" She felt him inhale deeply before exhaling, getting a hold of himself before she pulled back to meet his eyes once more. "I understand, Sun. Someone you put your trust in betrayed that trust, so believe me when I say that I'm no stranger to that." Blake reached up and tapped him on the nose. "But remember; staying angry isn't going to change anything."

"…I know."

The cat girl smiled, reaching up to cup her boyfriend's cheek. "Now, if you see Lionheart, I want you to promise me that you won't yell or scream at him. He's been locked up for two weeks, so he might be easily agitated. Can you promise me that?'

Sun nodded dutifully. "Right, of course I promise." He leaned forward and pecked her cheek. "After all, Lionheart might upset me, but the last thing I want is to upset you."

"Yeah, besides…" Neptune stepped up to the duo, jerking a thumb toward his chest. "That promise doesn't extend to ME, so guess who gets free reign to dunk on Lionheart?!" He pointed to himself and proclaimed; "THIS guy!"

The Faunus couple gave Neptune an unamused look before Blake sneered at him and raised her hand, showing off her freshly manicured nails. "You do anything, Neptune and I WILL claw something out of you."

Neptune's face contorted in horror and he immediately snapped up straight. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Thank you." Blake wrapped her arm around Sun's and lead him over to the elevator, ushering for the others to follow. "So, is everybody coming?"

"Actually, you guys can go on ahead." Pyrrha called out as she stood side-by-side with Jaune. "Jaune and I actually wanted to head down to the R&D Department to see about getting Milo some upgrades." She pulled her javelin off of her back, smiling down to it hopefully. "With any luck, by the end of the day, my weapon will be able to assume a bow form so I can shoot my new Hydra poison arrows."

Ruby gasped, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "Ooh! So cool! I can't wait to see how that goes!"

Jaune reached his arm across Pyrrha's shoulders with a smile. "Heh, neither can we. C'mon Pyr, I'm sure Cesar's already down there." The couple began making their way toward the nearby sliding door out of the hangar… only for it to open up and reveal said scientist on the other side. "Ah! C-Cesar! We were just coming to see you!"

"Ah, buenos dias, mis amigos!" Cesar gave a salute as he entered the hanger, giving a nod to everyone there. "How was your camping trip? Was it exciting?"

"Heh, that's putting it mildly, bro." Rex said as he gave Cesar a fistbump and a hug. "But what're you doin' here? You're usually already holed up in the lab by now."

Pyrrha came up, presenting her weapon. "Indeed. In fact, we were hoping that you could help me reconfigure my weapon a little bit for a new upgrade. I-If that isn't too much trouble, of course."

Cesar's hand went to the back of his neck, chuckling sheepishly. "Hehe, uh, yeah… about that." He bowed his head to Pyrrha first. "Lo siento, Pyrrha, but I don't think I'll be able to help you with that, at least not now. You see, I just got a call from Cooper a little while ago, and he wanted me to come to his casa for a secret meeting about something." His sights then went over to Gwen and Kevin next. "In fact, he also requested for you guy to come along if you had made it home by now."

"Us?" Gwen and Kevin echoed, with the redhead tilting her head. "Why us? Sounds more like a meeting for the scientists if he asked you to come along."

Cesar rolled his eyes and sighed. "Si, well, he says he's got a "secret project" in mind that he wants to pitch to all of us, and he said that you'd be a BIG help in this Gwen." He placed his hands on his hips. "Not exactly sure why since your strong suit is MAGIC, but I digress."

Gwen pursed her lips, putting a thoughtful finger to her chin. "Hm… that does sound odd. Well, far be it from me to deny Cooper a request." She craned her head up to her boyfriend, only for him to sigh and grab his keys, moving back over to his car. Gwen gave him a small grin before sending a thumbs up toward her friends. "We'll meet you guys back here in a little while. I'm sure we'll be bringing Team CFVY back with us, after all."

"Heh, right." Ben saluted back. "Good luck with whatever this "secret meeting" is, guys."

Before he climbed into Kevin's car, however, Cesar stopped and reached a hand out to Jaune and Pyrrha. "Oh, but you guys, Luhley should be down in R&D today, so she might be able to help you out with your weapon."

"Luhley… Luhley…" It wasn't long before Pyrrha recalled; "Oh, that's right! The little Galvan girl! Of course, she must be able to help me with my weapon." She bowed her head back to Cesar in gratitude. "Thank you very much, Cesar, much appreciated."

"De nada." Cesar waved before giving his brother a jab in the shoulder. "And I'll see you later too, mijo. How 'bout I treat you and your amor to lunch today, eh?"

Needless to say, Weiss was ecstatic at the prospect. "AH! That sounds positively lovely!"

Rex was all too quick to approve as well. "Yeah, sounds like a plan, hermano. We'll see you then." With that, Cesar gave one final goodbye wave as he got into the backseat of Kevin's car, the vehicle revving up and rolling out toward the exit ramp, where a large hatch opened up to let them out into the world above.

…..

Once Jaune and Pyrrha had departed for R&D, that left the rest of the team to head up toward the main hub of the base. Along the way, however, they heard someone call out to them through the hall; "Hey, you guys!" The team paused and their eyes moved around to see none other than Swift, the Aerophibian hybrid rushing toward them with a greeting smile. "Long time, no see!"

"S-Swift!" Ilia spoke up, the chameleon girl working her way to the front of the group to greet her friend with Ruby and Penny. "W-What a surprise! I didn't think you'd be here right now."

"Indeed, shouldn't you be at work, Swift?" Penny tilted her head.

"Heh, well today I've got the afternoon shift." Swift said with a wink. "Plus I just got outta my counseling session, so ya know. But hey, how was your guys' weekend? Anything exciting happen?"

Ruby laughed and placed a hand over her chest. "Oh-ho, Swift, you do NOT know the half of it." Her eyes lit up as she started expositing. "So, I'm gonna tell you ALL about it! First, we got chased by a Smoke Wolf, then met this awesome family of Cryptozoologists, and THEN—"

But Swift stopped Ruby before she could get on a role. "Woah, woah, hold on there, Rubes, let's not blow all this at once, okay? Take it slow."

"Oh, yeah, you're right. Sorry." Ruby smiled as she rubbed her neck sheepishly. "I-I'm honestly still riding the hype of this whole weekend. It was SUPER fun."

Yang leaned over next to her sister's ear, giving her a little wink. "Pretty sure it's all because you made a cool new friend, right sis?"

That managed to peak Swift's interest… especially when she saw Ruby's cheeks light up brighter than even HER own skin tone. "Ooh, a new friend, you say?" Swift leaned over onto Ruby's other shoulder curiously, wearing a small smirk. "Do tell, Miss Hoodie. Who is this new "friend"?"

"O-Oh, it's not THAT big of a deal." Ruby twiddled her fingers, glancing away from Swift's gaze. "Z-Zak's a good person, and so are his parents. You'd really like them if you met them… which you probably won't have to wait long for anyways."

"I see." Swift raised an eyeridge, studying the Hooded Huntress' demeanor. 'Hm… a budding crush, I can just tell. This requires some further investigation… but for later.' She gave a shrug and removed herself from Ruby's shoulder. "Can't wait to meet 'em! But for now, I wanna catch up with YOU guys." She slowly turned her head toward Ilia, shooting a somewhat sad smile to her. "It's… been a while since we've hung out, after all."

Ilia's heart sank immediately. It HAD been a long time since she had checked up on Swift, now that she had thought about it. 'Oh no! I'm an AWFUL friend!' She lowered her head to Swift apologetically. "Oh my gosh, Swift, I am SO sorry that we haven't been by more often! Things have been—"

"Hehe, Freckles, it's okay." Swift stressed, coming forward to place her hands on Ilia's shoulders to calm her. "I get it, the hero life is pretty intense and it never lets up. Plus, I've been pretty stacked with work and counselling sessions myself. Sure, it sucks that we haven't had much time to hang out recently, but honestly…" She offered Ilia a wink. "I think what you guys do every single day is pretty darn cool."

In an instant, Ilia's spots became bright pink as her cheeks heated up, a shakey grin forming on her features. "O-Oh… well, th-thanks, Swift. Y-You're pretty cool too…" It didn't take long for Ilia to realize her slip of the tongue, her spots becoming even pinker after seeing how surprised Swift was. "I-I mean in the fact that you're working on getting better and going through your parole, of course! Hahaha!"

The others all stared at Ilia after her awkward laugh, which practically screamed; "PLEASE SAVE ME!". Thankfully, Ruby was quick to answer the call. "Uh… yeah! Really happy to see you progressing through your parole, Swift. At this rate, I'm sure it'll pass in no time."

"Ha! I wish." Swift scoffed, her mind now focused on how boring her life has been. "Good lord, between the counselling and the work shifts, I feel so… ugh, normal." She rubbed her arms as she got goosebumps at the thought. "Ugh, I don't do normal."

"Well, look at it this way;" Weiss began, taking a proud stance. "This way, you can become a contributing member of society, and once your parole is over, you can move onto whatever it is you want to do!" She smiled brightly at Swift… only to be met with no emotion whatsoever. "…You have NO clue what you want to do with your life, do you?"

"As someone who's been on the run for most of her young adult life and never graduated high school? No, I don't."

It was then that Penny made a suggestion. "Oh! You could always become a Huntress!" She pointed to Swift's eyes and arms. "Between your laser vision and flight capabilities, I believe you would be stellar at it!"

This gave Swift pause for thought, and the more she thought, the more she liked the sound of it. "Ooh… maybe being a Bad Girl Huntress COULD be a viable option. I'll think about it." She let out a sigh as her shoulders slumped. "But, for now, I'm stuck here for the foreseeable future."

"Yeah, I honestly can understand how you feel." Blake said, eying the walls of the base. "I don't know how anyone could stay in a place that's this… clean."

"Eh, I mean, it's not too bad." Rex admitted. "I mean, do you have ANY idea how many streaming services this place gets?"

Swift groaned in relief. "Ugh, yes, that's the one saving grace of this place. Thank god I'm NEVER bored. …But speaking of which." She set her eyes upon her three closest friends once more, feeling a tad more nervous than usual. "Ruby, Penny, Ilia… I was wondering, I've got a few more hours before my afternoon shift…" Her hand went to her neck as she tried to force the words out. "So, I was thinking… maybe I could show you one of my favorite shows on Disney Plus before I head out?"

The trio gasped as their eyes all lit up, with Ilia's spots changing to a happy yellow. "What?! Of course, Swift!"

"Yeah! This is practically the hang-out chance we've been waiting for!" Ruby bounced in excitement.

"It sounds sensational!" Penny cheered as well. "Count me in!" But then, the redhead paused as she recalled that there was already something important that they had to do, leading her to crane her head back over to her teammates. "O-Oh, well… on second thought, I don't know if we can right now…"

Ruby and Ilia both became saddened as they remembered as well. "D'oh! That's right, the debriefing!" The silver-eyed girls slapped her forehead. "Guh, that completely slipped my mind. I'm sorry, Swift, but—"

"Now hold on just a second." Ben interrupted, putting himself in the middle of the four girls. "Ladies, if I'm letting Gwen, Kevin, Jaune and Pyrrha to skip out on the debriefing for something THEY find important, then I see no reason to not let you do the same." He gave them a thumbs-up as the girls were left surprised. "Feel free to have fun. Heck, at this point, Swift can show you guys more Earth media than I've been showing you recently."

The girls all gasped, a rush of excitement going through them. "Do you mean that?!" Ilia exclaimed before spinning around to Swift again. "Heehee! Swift, we're in the clear!"

"Woo! Alright!" She high-fived her friends before going over to Ben and offering him one as well. "Tennyson, I dunno how you keep doing it, but you keep proving my original opinion of you TOTALLY wrong."

Ben smiled and returned the gesture. "I'll take that as a compliment, Swift. Just be sure to show the girls a good time, 'kay?"

"I'll do my best." With that, Swift spun around on her heel and brought her hands up to her friends. "So, let's get started, shall we?" The four girls giggled excitedly as Swift led them down the hall, taking them straight to her quarters.

"So, Swift, what WILL we be watching, anyway?" Ilia asked as they sprinted through the halls.

"Oh, I have a feeling you guys will LOVE this show, Freckles." Swift replied, her enthusiasm practically bubbling up. "It's called… "The Owl House"."

As they left, Yang went over and put an arm around her boyfriend, beaming up to him happily. "That was very nice of you, Green Boy. I'm sure they appreciate it."

Ben brought his own arm over Yang's shoulders in response. "Well, it's like they said, it's been a while since they got to really hang out with Swift, so I figured it was the right thing to do." A rather bored expression came to him as he let out a sad sigh. "Besides, if I'm gonna save anyone else from this boring debriefing, it might as well be the most innocent members of our team… and Ilia since she's obviously got a HUGE crush on Swift."

"And I appreciate you doing that for her, Ben." Blake said, only to give Ben a side-long glare. "…But are you implying that Ilia isn't as much of an innocent marshmallow as Ruby and Penny are?"

"Er, um, well…" the hero stammered, feeling her eyes piercing through him. "Th-That's not EXACTLY what I was implying!"

Blake raised her head above his shoulder, making him even more uncomfortable. "Then what were you implying?"

"Oh-ho-OKAY!" Sun laughed nervously as he wrapped his arms around Blake's midsection, carrying her off even as her glare didn't relent. "I'd say that this isn't really getting us anywhere and we should probably get back on track, huh? Who's with me?!" As he and the others continued down the hall, Blake made an "I'm watching you" gesture toward Ben, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Yeesh… I know she's Ilia's best friend, but I swear, I didn't mean—"

"I know you didn't, Green Boy." Yang pulled herself up and pecked his cheek reassuringly. "She's just really protective, that's all. Now c'mon, let's go. Six is probably wondering where we are by now."

…..

It didn't take the group long to reach the main hub of Plumber HQ, and much to their surprise, the place was abuzz with agents all over the place. Several of them were armed with blasters while others were standing as firm security, their faces all stone cold serious. At the main console in the very center of the room, they saw Six, Holiday and even Bobo gathered around, along with Manny's squad. "Hah! It's about time you guys showed up!" Bobo piped up, garnering the others' attention. "What took you's guys?"

"Yo, Bobo!" Rex called out, running up to his simian friend and offering a fist bump. "Sorry for the wait, but we ran into Swift on the way here."

"She stole Ruby, Penny and Ilia from us." Yang joked.

That caught Six's attention immediately. "Let me guess, intentional avoidance of debriefing protocol?" The collection of cheeky grins were all he needed to know the answer. "Hmph, why am I not surprised?"

"Oh, Six, go easy on them." Holiday urged, elbowing him lightly on the arm. "They literally just got back from their camping trip. The last thing they need is to recount the more… unfortunate parts of it." The EVO specialist set her attention back to the main console, keeping an eye on a red dot that moved throughout the Plumber base. "Besides, we DO have bigger things happening at the moment."

"Well, whatever they're up to, I hope they have fun." Helen said as she scanned the team, taking a head count. "But I see you're missing a few others, too. Gwen and Kevin must've gone with Cesar, but where's Jaune and Pyrrha?"

Neptune was the one to answer as he approached her. "Oh, they went down to R&D to get Pyrrha's weapon upgraded." His eyes moved across the room, taking note of the several Plumber agents. "Though to be honest, I kinda envy them. This place is CROWDED." He sent a sheepish smile down to the Kineceleran girl. "So, uh… Helen! How've thing's been?"

Helen returned the gesture, beaming up to him brightly. "Oh, pretty good, Neptune. Things HAVE been pretty hectic here, though."

"As is expected." Rook piped up. "After all, we are moving a prisoner, so everyone must be on high alert."

Manny directed his sights over to Sun and Neptune, moving up to the two with his four arms crossed. "You dudes gonna be okay? I heard that this guy used to be your headmaster… and apparently, he really betrayed your trust." He saw the duo eye one another, which caused the Tetramand hybrid to extend a hand to them. "Listen, if it helps, I get where you're comin' from. I'm no stranger to gettin' betrayed, 'specially when I was livin' on the streets. Feels like a kick in the nuts, doesn't it?"

Sun nodded his head, wincing a bit as the memory cropped up in his mind. He hadn't been there when Lionheart betrayed the rest of his team, but he and Neptune practically stormed his office when they had heard. But, as if to deny him the satisfaction of giving the man his just deserts, Salem kidnapped him and had Animo mutate him. That had always stuck with him, because while he wanted to hate the man for what he did… he also recognized that being turned into a freak of nature was something that no one should be forced into. Ultimately, though, he knew that if there was any time to get some harsh feelings off his chest, it would be now. "…Yeah, we'll be okay."

"Believe me, we've got a LOT of strong words to say to him." Neptune added, only for Helen to place a hand on his arm.

"Well, just don't be TOO harsh. He's been locked up for two weeks, remember, so he could be volatile from the isolation." Right as she said that, a loud buzzer went off, signaling for everyone to take their places. "…It's time." Helen said before she, Manny and Rook went to their positions as well, prepared for anything that could happen.

Through one doorway, Max came in, now dressed in official Plumber gear alongside Magister Patelliday. The senior Plumber went right up to his grandson, giving him a nod. "Ben, I'm sure you know the protocol incase the prisoner gets unruly?"

"Of course, grandpa." Ben flashed the Omnitrix, fully charged and ready. "I'm good to go." He saw that Yang, Weiss, Blake, Ren and Nora were also gearing up as well, bringing their weapons up as Rex's hands began glowing blue. "Guys, be ready on standby. Moving prisoners usually goes well here, but you never know what could happen."

Nora sent him a salute. "Don't you worry there, Benny-Boy! We're ready and waiting!"

Ren bowed his head respectfully. "You can count on us."

Ben returned the gesture as he, Max, Six and Patelliday all moved to the front, standing several feet away from the heavily armored door. With several Plumbers making a concrete pathway whilst holding their sidearms at the ready, Max brought up his communicator and made the call; "Alpha Squad, bring him through."

"Roger that, Magister." Brannigan replied. "Bringing him in now." At his word, the armored door lifted up, letting the escort group in. Brannigan himself was at the front, the green-skinned alien calling out; "Forward!" At his command, his squad began slowly moving in, where the team could see that Molly Gunther was with them as well. In fact, she was the one who was holding the prisoner by his restraints… and when the team saw HIM, they couldn't help but be astonished.

Of course, Leonardo Lionheart was pretty much the exact way they had last seen him; a humanoid lion mutant that stood about seven feet tall and had a rather strong build to him. But, contrasting with how mighty his form appeared to be, he remained sadly slouched over as he walked, his eyelids closed and appearing quite heavy. It was obvious that he seemed quite tired, with each sluggish step echoing through the room as his toe claws grazed the floor. Lionheart's tail wasn't even swishing behind him, instead remaining still and low to the ground.

He wore rather simple clothing; tan pants, a white undershirt with a black vest, and a brown, button-up, long-sleeved jacket that all seemed a bit snug on him. Granted, human clothes weren't exactly made to FIT a giant lion man, so that was to be expected. However, in addition, he also wore a pair of glasses now, which were just barely able to stay on thanks to his large, feline-like nose.

Leo's face wasn't ENTIRELY like a lion's, however. His eyes were very much humanoid still, even if the sclarea was black while his irises were a bright gold. He also still had his signature beard, which blended into his greying main fairly well. The lion man slowly opened his eyes, met immediately with the sight of Ben and Max in front of him. "…Ben Tennyson. It has been a long while."

"A little over two weeks, to be accurate, Mr. Lionheart." Ben clarified.

"Has it?" Lionheart sighed, keeping his head low. "Hm, yes, I suppose it has, now that I think about it." He paused as an apprehensive feeling rose in his chest. "Although, I get the sense that I'm going to be locked up for a little bit longer. Just not here, correct?"

"You know what today is, Leonardo." Max said, lowering himself down to meet the mutant's gaze. "It's time for you to go back to Remnant and stand trial for what you've done."

Leo's eyes screwed shut, nodding remorsefully. "…Yes, I know. It's time that I pay for my transgressions, and I'm ready to do so." He stood up straight and shook his head. "There is no excuse for what I did, I realize that." He raised his clawed hands, which were bound together. "After all, what I am now is a consequence of my ill-thought actions. So, I will be sure to tell the truth, and nothing but."

Ben nodded in approval. "That's good to know. But before you stand trial… there's a couple of people here who'd like to have a word with you."

"Hm? What do you—" But Leo's voice was lost and his jaw fell open as Sun and Neptune strode up behind the Tennysons, with Blake and Helen accompanying them not too far behind. The boys wore sour expressions the moment they laid their eyes on Lionheart, the former headmaster still reeling from the fact that his former students were standing directly in front of him. "I… B-Boys, I—"

"Headmaster." Sun interrupted, his brow furrowing even further. "I… ugh, this totally bites…" The monkey boy collected his thoughts and tried again. "Listen, what you did was… appalling. Disgraceful, even." He put a hand to his chest while his other went to Neptune's shoulder, expressing both of their feelings. "Ever since we first came to Haven, we TRUSTED you, and when you betrayed us by allying with Salem, you took that trust and stomped it into the dirt."

Neptune quickly agreed. "Sun's right. The fact that you sided with the witch to save your own hide… it had to be one of the more cowardly things I've ever seen." He pointed at Lionheart with an accusing finger. "And think of all the other students you did the same to! Scarlet, Sage, Arslan, Reese, now all of them had to transfer to other Academies because YOU put Haven at risk by compromising it to the enemy!"

"And now, we've gotta keep the relic HERE so that Salem doesn't find it!" Sun added. "Haven… was my home. It was OUR home! And you… you were like a parent to a lot of us who had no where to go!" He turned away from Leonardo, trying to keep his voice from cracking as tears threatened to fall down his cheeks. "How… h-how could you just do something like that?! You took all of the trust WE gave you and THREW IT ALL AWAY!"

As the monkey boy let out some dry sobs, Blake went up to him and pulled him into an embrace, making sure to shoot Lionheart a silent glare. While Leo would usually shrink back at situations like this, though, he wasn't about to at this juncture. He knew full well that he deserved this chewing out. After what he did, how could he not? What the boys said was all true. He fell to his knees and bowed to the two boys.

"Sun, Neptune… you're right. Words cannot describe how much regret I feel at what I did." As the lion man began, Neptune spared him a glance, with Sun not moving from Blake's arms. "Over these past two weeks, I have had a considerable amount of time to think. And as I said, you are absolutely correct. I am a liar, a coward, and above all, I was selfish. I betrayed you all to preserve my own life when I should have forfeited it for the sake of yours."

That actually caught Neptune by surprise. "Huh?"

"I should have been defiant toward Salem, not complacent. If I could do it all over again, I would undoubtedly give up my life if it meant preserving yours." Lionheart took in a deep breath, his eyes moving off to the side. "But… I was a fool. A complete and utter fool to try and think that I could save my own skin in exchange for the information Salem wanted. No matter what I did… she was always going to dispose of me when I outlived my usefulness…" His eyes went down to his paws, grimacing toward them. "I just never thought it would be like this."

As Sun heard that last part, however, his lips curled into a sneer. "Is that it, then? You're only NOW realizing your mistake after you've become a mutant?"

"No." Lionheart clarified, standing up straight again. "There is absolutely no excuse for my actions, mutation or otherwise." He opened his hands out to the monkey boy. "Sun, my boy, before Salem threatened me into working for her, I wanted nothing but the best for my students… and that's something I lost sight of the moment my own life became endangered." His feline features snarled in disgust with himself, all while his pupils became slit-shaped. "I am a lion Faunus… and yet I am as meek as a common worm! GRAAAAH!"

Lionheart roared in frustration as he stomped the floor, leading every Plumber in the vicinity to raise their weapon. However, Six was quick to put a stop to that. "Hold your fire! Lionheart, you HAVE to remain calm."

"Hah… hah…" Leonardo took several deep breaths to collect himself, his eyes becoming normal once more. He brought his hands up to his face as he felt a headache coming on. "M-My apologies. Sometimes… the feral side takes over." His gaze went back to the boys from Team SSSN. "My point being, boys, is that I wish to make up for my actions in whatever way I can. I know that I will never be able to return to Haven, but I will not rest until my misdeeds have been paid for." He lowered his head once again. "And that includes what I've done to you both."

There was a long pause after that, with both Sun and Neptune taking in their former headmaster's words. The monkey boy was still quite skeptical, though, with Neptune being the more sympathetic of the two. "Huh… wow, I never thought I'd hear that today."

But Sun folded his arms over his chest, keeping his nose up to Lionheart. "Well, words are one thing, Lionheart. But actions are another." He strode forward and leaned over, narrowing his eyes at the man-turned-lion. "Of course, whatever actions you taken aren't ultimately up to me. Pretty soon, General Ironwood and Miss Goodwitch will be here. They'll decide what you'll have to do to recompense for everything you've done."

"And I anticipate whatever awaits me, Sun." Leo resigned. "I am prepared for anything—"

BBZZZZZTT! BBZZZZZTT! BBZZZZZTT!

Without warning, a loud alarm suddenly began blaring throughout the entire base, with red lights flashing as well. "AH!" Lionheart gasped. "Except that! What in the world is happening?!"

Six wasted no time in getting to the primary console again as the team went on high alert, preparing for whatever was happening. As the agent inspected the readings, his scowl grimaced. "Perimeter Breach in progress!" His head snapped up toward the ceiling. "Multiple targets incoming from above!"

"Get ready, guys!" Rex called out as he activated his Smack Hands. No sooner had he said that did he and the others see small holes begin to open up on the ceiling, with several drills doing the digging. "We're about to have company!" Within seconds, the drills broke through, revealing themselves to be the heads of about ten or so mechanical serpents.

"Woah! What the heck are those?!" Neptune shouted as the drills opened up, letting lose an electrical attack upon the Plumbers as they started firing.

"Who cares what they are!" Nora exclaimed, bringing out Magnhild and taking aim. The Pink Dynamo launched a grenade straight into the serpent's "mouth" as it closed up, exploding and destroying it. "Just start blastin'!"

Max was quick to agree as several of his Plumbers were getting whipped around by the serpents, their laser weapons not doing much. "She's right! Concentrate fire, people! And watch those tails!"

And from there, the main hub of the Plumber base became a battlefield, with Alpha Squad doing exactly as their superior ordered while the team commenced their own unique ways of destroying the serpents. Ben, however, had to make sure that Lionheart was out of the way before anything else, leading him and Molly over to a safe corner. "You guys will be okay here."

"Thanks, Ben." Molly smiled. "Now go'n get those snakes!"

Ben gave her a thumbs up as he turned to join… only to be met with a serpent not five feet away. The mechanical creature lunged at him, but quickly found itself destroyed as a blast hit it right as IT was about to hit Ben. "Ah! Woah!" Ben did a doubletake as he saw Rook, aiming his Proto-tool with its barrel smoking. "Jeez, careful, Rook! We've got important people over here!"

"My apologies, Ben." Rook nodded. "But you may wish you keep your head above!"

"That's "head's up", Rook!" Ben called after the Plumber as he rushed toward the battle. "Ugh, whatever…" He dialed up the Omnitrix and its faceplate pulled back, the core popping up as he raised his arm. "Alright, robo-worms, how's about a little Feedba—AGH!" Without warning, Ben suddenly felt his wrist getting pinched HARD, and before he knew it, the one with the Omnitrix was being pinched even harder.

The hero snapped his head up and gasped at who was holding him in place. It was a small, purple Cerebrocrustacean on a floating platform, one with an absolutely evil grin and a mustache to match. His piercing red eyes bored into him as he spoke with a vocal tick; "S-So, the mighty—and I use the term loosely—Ben Tennyson! We f-f-finally meet!" The alien's head opened up and he began using his electrokinesis on the Omnitrix. "Don't squirm TOO much, now. This will only take a s-s-second…"

"Gah! Let me go you weird Brainstorm guy!"

The Cerebrocrustacean chortled at the boy's struggle, knowing that it was all in vain. "Hehehe… if you insist." In seconds, he used his electric manipulation to remove a piece from the Omnitrix' core, resulting in the device letting lose some green sparks. He pushed Ben down as he continued to laugh. "Hahaha… now, if you'll exc-c-cuse me, I'll—" SMACK! "AAGH!"

All of a sudden, Yang came flying in with a powerful kick to the alien's big head, knocking him away. "You're excused!" She whirled around to her boyfriend, reaching down to help him up as Sun, Neptune, Blake, Nora, Ren, Weiss, and Rex all joined her, grouping up whilst facing down the alien. "Ben, are you okay?"

"Well, that is my cue to leave!" The crab-like alien began rapidly floating up on his platform, going through one of the holes that were left by the serpents.

Rook sprinted over to the scene, blasting up at the fleeing alien along with the others. "The Cerebrocrustaean is escaping!"

"Oh no, he's not!" Ben declared as he pressed the Omnitrix down… only for it to suddenly let out a burst of green energy, which enveloped him entirely. "GYYAAAAAAHH!"

"Ben! NO!" Yang cried out as she went to try and help her boyfriend. The others were about to stop her… when several energy bolts shot off of the hero and into all of them, including Rook. The eight teens and Revonnahgander were blasted back, as Ben was enveloped in a bright flash of green…

…..

"Ben. Ben! …BEN!"

"AAH!" Ben's head snapped up, his eyes opening only to be greeted with the worst headache. "Gah… good lord, what the…" As he became more aware, though, he quickly found that the headache was the least of his problems. He was somehow standing upright and his left hand was inside of a large, cylindrical containment unit, reaffirming to him that whatever happened with the Omnitrix DID indeed happen. What's more, Jaune and Pyrrha were standing beside him, the couple relieved that he was awake. "O-Oh, hey guys… ugh, what happened?"

Jaune sighed and reached out, putting a hand to his shoulder. "Good god, Ben, are we glad that you're okay. When that red alert blasted through the base, we came as fast as we could."

Pyrrha pointed down to the hole that Ben had his hand in. "Luhley's taking a look at the Omnitrix in there right now. Whatever that alien did to it, it's caused it to short circuit in the worst ways."

"Not JUST short circuit, Pyrrha." The humans brought their attention down to the hole, where they saw Luhley stick her head out. She was wearing a small hazmat suit, no doubt to protect her from what was happening. "Whatever that sorry excuse for a Cerebrocrustacean took, it's causing the Omnitrix's energy to destabilize."

"Can you fix it, Luhley?" Ben asked, his brows furrowing as he balled his hand into a fist. "I've gotta go give that mini-Brainstorm a piece of my mind."

The Galvan girl pointed up to the hero. "I am working as hard as I can to pinpoint the problem, Ben, don't worry. Hopefully I have the right components to fix this…"

Just then, Max and Six walked onto the scene, their expressions gravely serious. "I'm afraid that alien is the least of our problems right now, Ben." Max said, his eyes shifting over Ben's shoulder. "Right now… there's something even bigger to worry about."

"W-What? Grandpa, what do you—"

"Hmph… Green Boy?"

Ben cut his question off when he heard the voice of his girlfriend. He remembered now; she was caught in that blast. "YANG!" His head snapped around, hoping she was okay. "Yang are you… no. Oh god, no."

The Omnitrix wielder was not prepared for what he saw. It was Yang, to be sure… but she was changed. Her skin was now a vibrant green, the shade you'd find on common plants. However, her lower arms had also bulked out a little, with her hands glowing a bright yellow. Out of her arms and shoulders protruded several red spikes, which glowed yellow at their center, while there were now holes in the palms of her hands.

Her face hadn't changed much… aside from becoming bright yellow. There were also several red petals surrounding her from her chin up to her forehead, giving a clear device between her face and her long… viny yellow hair. Her eyes also had petals around them and were still violet, though now they were entirely that color, with no sclerae or pupils in sight. There was no doubt about it; Yang had become half-Methanosian.

Still in a daze, Yang rubbed her eyes, unaware of the change she had gone through. "Mph… guys? What happened?" Ben, Jaune and Pyrrha were all left slack-jawed, especially the former. "And what're you staring at? Is there something on my face?"

Ben couldn't believe this. What had he done? "My Girlfriend's a Teenaged Plant Alien?!"

…..

A/N: Oh, I have a feeling that a TON of you have been waiting for me to adapt THIS episode of Omniverse. Indeed, the events of Outbreak do make for quite the interesting concept for doing a crossover chapter, since it allows other characters to experience what it's like to be transformed INTO one of Ben's aliens. I've heard plenty of other stories do it, so now, it's time for my take on these events. And we're starting off pretty strong with Yang now being a Methanosian-Human hybrid, and as you can tell by the description, she's ALSO in her Bloomed stage, unlike Swampfire who has yet to bloom. I can't wait for you guys to see which aliens I assigned to the rest of the members who got hit, though, because I think I've made some pretty fitting choices.

That said, this chapter was definitely a lot shorter than the previous ones, but that doesn't mean there wasn't some major stuff going on. We got to see the Saturdays off for the time being, though they WILL be back soon, and we got to see a bit more of Zak's perspective on Ruby. Meanwhile, the rest of Team RWBY, and of course Gwen, are scheming of ways to match Ruby and Zak up, so that oughta be interesting.

And hey, we got to see Swift again, too! Seems like she's been up to a little bit since we last saw her, though it's pretty obvious that Ilia's own crush has NOT subsided one bit despite not being around as much. Heck, if anything, she feels utterly guilty about it, so of course she'd take the chance to bond with Swift by watching a show with her. Penny and Ruby may be tagging along, but I doubt that they see that as a bad thing.

But of course, the big thing (aside from Psychobos' invasion of the base), was the return of Leonardo Lionheart, formerly known as "Leonidas" in his mutant form. Seems like he's taken his time in prison to reflect on a lot of things, from the sound of it. Of course, him trying to appeal to Sun and Neptune and expressing remorse for his actions is not unexpected. But from the sounds of it, actions speak louder than words, at least for Sun. He may not be too easily convinced until Lionheart PROVES that he regrets what he did.

But what about that "Secret Project" that Cooper's got going on that Gwen and Kevin left to go hear? Well, we'll see what's going on there NEXT TIME, along with continuing the events unfolding at the Plumber base. Cooper's got some… interesting ideas to say the least, and meanwhile, the team inspects their new half-alien forms. But, unbeknownst to them, some of those energy bursts actually leaked down into the prison complex down below, and it's mutated a few people who really SHOULDN'T be given superpowers. Time for a break out. Until then, thanks for reading everyone, and I'll catch you next time! Stay safe out there!