Last chapter of the year right here, and this is a fun and loooooong one. Before you read, I'd like to give a few words of kindness to Derrick J. Wyatt, character designer for multiple series of Ben 10- he passed away sometime in December, and the news hit pretty hard. The chapter released on Christmas was not meant to coincide with that news, as I wrote it a few days before finding out.

I simply hope he was aware that he had a meaningful impact on a large number of people. That even in the midst of his stress and frustration with the fandom at times, there were individuals who respected him, based their own art styles and works around him. He introduced characters and aliens into our lives (Bulkhead, Sari, Attea, Looma, Malware) and gave us most episodes in Omniverse- that's incredible. The man deserves more credit.

Please, after this chapter, watch your favorite episode of Omniverse. It's a small task, but you'll be honoring DJW's memory.

RIP, DJW. Hope you and Dwayne are at peace.


Yang had to admit, as she walked into the sparring room with Blake she wasn't sure what to expect from their opponents. The duo would be going up against the other two members of Team FNKI. She guessed they might have had a music theme to them as well, given Flynt and Neon. Just like with the latter two, though, they were complete opposites.

Kobalt was like her, a brawler, clad in a light blue shirt and blue-gray jeans under a matching vest and legging armor set, two large navy shoulder pauldrons with yellow highlights. He has navy gloves with ultramarine and yellow accents, the left being longer and mixing into a forearm length gauntlet, and calf-length dark blue boots. Ivori seemed to be more precise, wearing black glasses with yellow lenses and a white suit with beige and wheat accents, and knee-high beige boots with gold accents. The suit jacket had a very low collar with no shirt underneath, so his chest was exposed. The suit's sleeves seem to be detached from the shoulders, showing skin underneath. A gold choker around his neck finished the look.

With Kobalt, Yang was being put through her paces during the fight. Both of them were damn good at hand-to-hand. Each strike Yang threw at him was countered, but at the same time, every punch Kobalt sent her way was parried too. This was a great workout actually. She was so distracted by how enjoyable the fight was...that she didn't even hear the crack of a whip from behind her. The only reason she knew about it was because Blake bumped into her back when the whip struck the blocking Gambol Shroud.

Though...what was strange was that Blake didn't hear the attack either. It was just quiet. She only managed to find Ivori, after chasing after him for a bit, when she circled back to see Yang and Kobalt still fighting. It was weird, it was like he had just...vanished during the chase.

"You two are good, I'll give you that." Kobalt said. "But you're too...predictable."

Kobalt spread his hands apart, and clapped- the room shook, like an earthquake had suddenly manifested within the room. Blake and Yang could barely move. The sound overwhelmed their bodies, rocking their cores.

"Must you do that move?" Ivori yelled over the noise. "IT'S VERY INDISCRIMINATE OF WHO IT ATTACKS!"

"IT STILL WORKS!" Kobalt shot back with a smirk.

Blake in particular, though, hated that. Her guard lowered a bit because of how much louder everything sounded. Yang, meanwhile, managed to get off a few shots, aiming at Kobalt's feet. The rounds stuck to the floor and began ticking faster and faster. Kobalt barely had enough to jump out of the way before the rounds exploded. Before he could get ready again, Yang jumped through the smoke and landed a good right hook to Kobalt's jaw.

Blake threw her weapon once more at Ivory, letting it wrap around his arm. Ivory prepared to tug on it, but Blake's body suddenly appeared before him- with a quick kick to the head, Ivory was down.

"And I think that is our win," Yang smirked, after landing one more uppercut to Kobalt, knocking him on his back.

"What?" Blake asked, her ears still ringing from Kobalt's little sound trick.

"I said, I think that's our win!" Yang said, as Blake's hearing slowly returned.

"Ah...okay, thought that's what you said." Blake said, helping Ivori up.

"Yeah...sorry about that," Kobalt groaned as he got back up, "Forgot about the enhanced hearing thing. The heat of the moment and all."

"It's fine," Blake shook her head as the ringing finally subsided.

"So gonna guess that's your Semblance," Yang said, "and if I'm right...what's yours?"

"The exact opposite. His is sound amplification-" Ivori started.

"Crescendo," Kobalt interjected.

"Right, Crescendo. But mine is sound nullification."

"So that's why I couldn't hear the whip. You...muted it," Blake realized.

"Yep. Pretty handy on stealth." Ivori grinned.

"And mine's just for overpowering and intimidation." Kobalt added. "Also very handy."

"...does it work on other people as well?" Blake asked.

"Actually, yeah. Used it with Flynt's weapon before. Usually, his trumpet is just knock-back without any Dust. Add in my Semblance? It can literally shake Grimm apart."

"...I'd pay to see that." Yang said. "So, I believe the deal was...loser buys lunch?"

Ivori sighed. "You guys better not go crazy with the food, damn it. I'm a stressed teen with a bank account lower than my self-esteem."

"We make no promises," Yang joked.

"Greaaaat," Ivori rolled his eyes as the four of them left the training room.

Kobalt pushed the doors open to the exit of a training ground...and suddenly, the four of them were standing in a roaring stadium. "...what?"

Yang looked around- the cheering crowd was not human, but instead, shocking and confusingly alien. "What indeed..."

"...so either I'm dreaming...or we've been abducted," Ivori said.

"So, you're just immediately jumping to that huh? Is that cause we always deal with the alien missions?" Yang asked

"I…well…no? Yes? Ok, fine, yes."

"At least this isn't a first for us," Blake shrugged.

"For you maybe," Kobalt countered, "For us, this is first contact."

"You've fought Ben..." Blake added.

"Yeah, but there's a scrawny twink behind that alien. These guys are in the flesh." Kobalt retorted.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and all other lifeforms in the stands!" a voice suddenly rang out over speakers, the words echoing through the stadium.

"We have the final four new combatants of this season's gauntlet! I know they may not be much to look at, but the data doesn't lie!"

"...did he just say 'season'?" Kobalt asked.

"Oh my god...are they broadcasting this? Did we seriously get abducted to be contestants in a show?" Yang asked.

"Hope it's not like that annoying dating show Rook was talking about." Blake frowned.

"GET READY FOR A MATCH YOU WON'T FORGET!" The announcer yelled.

"Oh, good. A fighting show." Yang grinned.

"Oh! And of COURSE, how could I forget! Their contracts!" the announcer said. There were four sudden flashes and Kobalt reached up to his neck. He felt something clamped around it and, indeed, there was. A cold, metal collar had suddenly been fitted around his neck.

"What the hell?!" Yang yelled, feeling a similar collar around her own neck.

"I don't take too kindly to being in a collar, you know…" Blake growled.

"No one would, especially under these circumstances." Kobalt added.

"Of course, long time viewers know the rules! If the contract isn't...agreeable to our new fighters, there's always the termination clause. A good show for the audience at least, right?" The announcer clamored like he could hear them down there. He probably could actually but the mention of the "termination clause" got the crowd cheering.

"…well, looks like we're gonna have to. If anything has the word "termination" in it, you know that isn't good." Yang said.

"We're gonna have to play by their rules. Just stick together and…" Kobalt said.

Right as Kobalt said that, four massive walls jutted up from the floor, separating the four of them.

"Or he could just...do that, I guess," Kobalt sighed.

"And now," boomed the announcer's voice, "I think it's time for the action I promised you all. The preliminary round staaaaaaarts...NOW!"

A section in the floor opened up on the opposite end of Kobalt's "arena." A panel rose up from the opening, bringing with it Kobalt's first fight of the season. A crimson-furred, quadrupedal alien snarled when the panel stopped, the same collar latched around its neck.

"Luck is not on that guy's side, is it?" The announcer chuckled. "First fight of the night and it's a Vulpimancer!"

"Great..." Kobalt frowned. "I got a weird-ass dog. Hopefully the others got something better…"

Ivori blinked. "That's a weird-ass looking plant…"

Ivori was face to face with a dark green humanoid plant, the "jaws" of a venus flytrap jutting up from the base of its neck to form a kind of collar. Its singular eye was focused on him as it morphed its hand into vine-like claws.

"And of course, the best...saved for me." Blake huffed, as her opponent stepped out. Compared to the Tetramands she'd seen...this one was more voluptuous and feminine in body shape, while still VERY muscular. She wore what Blake assumed to be traditional Tetramand armor, complete with a battle helmet.

"Interesting, a shaved Revonnahgander." The Tetramand teased.

"...do I really look like one to you?" Blake asked, a little offended. But she did notice that this one...she didn't have a collar. The others were all forced to be here, but...this one chose to be here?

"Come now...maybe you'll be a challenge." The Tetramand grinned.

"Oh, absolutely..." Blake said.

Then it was time for Yang's matchup...Yang prepped her weapons, and got into a battle ready pose. The ground shook as her opponent walked out...and if you thought Blake had the harder opponent...you're still right, she does- but Yang's sparring partner wasn't anything to sneeze at either.

The combatant was a male, with yellow eyes, two horns growing out of his chin, sharp teeth-like lips, a strap around his torso, grey metallic pants with black lower legs, and a very muscular orange body. The most striking feature? A large mace in place of his left hand with a cybernetic implant covering his left shoulder and pectoral.

"May I have the name of who's ass I'm kicking?" Yang grinned. The gladiator simply huffed, the mace rotating in place followed by a hiss of steam.

"Ok, not a talker. Fine." The brawler said, getting into a fighting stance.

"Aaaaaaand, FIGHT!" The announcer boomed.

Yang's opponent, seeing she was ready and hearing the announcement, roared and rushed in, rearing his mace-hand back. Yang sidestepped the attack when he got within reach, letting the mace crater the ground where she once was. She moved around and threw several punches into the alien's side. He just seemed annoyed at that, responding with a quick backhand that Yang ducked under. She moved back in, trying to get more hits in on, maybe try and find a weakness in this guy, but he kept swinging, keeping her at bay.

At the same time, Kobalt just barely managed to dodge a pounce from the Vulpimancer. It slammed into the wall behind him, but quickly got back to its feet and roared, getting ready for another attack. Kobalt got ready for the fight, though he reasoned that here, his Semblance would be his biggest advantage. Well, at least if dog-like aliens had acute hearing like Beowolves did.

Blake dodged a flurry of fists from her own attacker, barely being able to block them with her weapon- it was like trying to stop a truck with a branch. Blake had to vary her style. She switched to some Fire dust in her cartridge, and jumped back to leave a fiery clone...

Only for nothing to happen.

"What the-" Blake said. "But...Dust only doesn't work if..."

Blake's ears drooped.

"...uh oh."

"Was something supposed to happen?" the Tetramand smirked before she raced back in at Blake. The cat Faunus was put on the defensive now. She could still use her Semblance regularly though, letting clones take most of the hits that came her way. Whenever she could, she lashed out at the larger alien, but the Tetramand easily blocked the attacks.

"Where's that famous martial arts of yours, Revonnahgander?" the Tetramand asked, "Unless, you don't know it."

Ivori found himself in a similar situation, discovering his Dust didn't work. He had just dodged several slashes from the plant-like alien and readied his whip. He lashed out with the weapon, hoping to immobilize the creature...only for a small cut to slash into the plant's shoulder. The wound quickly healed itself, leaving Ivori a bit shocked. The ice would have delayed the regeneration, but without that, all he could do was wound the creature temporarily.

"Ok...Dust's not working," Ivori muttered to himself as he dodged another vine slash, "how do we deal with this one..."

Ivori avoided another few powerful whips from the Flourona, and frowned. "When Ben used one of those things, he had these seed bombs on the back...maybe I can detonate those with a strong enough hit!"

As if the Flourona heard him, it used its other hand to grab a few seed bombs. Ivori's eyes widened when he saw the plant-like alien throw the seeds like grenades. He dodged each of the explosions before a cluster of vines slammed into him, knocking him into the wall behind him. He groaned from the hit but, at least now he had a plan. Force one of the seeds to detonate. Hopefully the alien could regenerate from that, as it was another victim of whoever ran this bloodsport.

Yang landed a few more good hits on the hulking gladiator before she tried to blast herself away. When the Dust bullets didn't fire properly, she was caught off guard. That one moment let the brute grab hold of Yang and throw her into the wall of the arena. The crowd cheered when Yang fell to the floor from the throw.

"Ok...no Dust...great," Yang groaned as she got back up.

"Wait...if I can't use dust...does that mean..." Yang said. "I'm in SPACE?!"

Her opponent frowned. "Slow, aren't you?"

"Oh, shut up." Yang's hair lit up as she slid forward, before performing a jumping uppercut. The hulking alien stumbled back, as Yang landed. Her attack wasn't gonna let up! Yang began to punch at the ground, exploding the ground around her opponent's feet.

That explosion knocked the alien off his feet, sending him crashing to the ground. Yang smirked and tried to land another hit on the fallen gladiator, bringing him down for the rest of the fight. Only her strike instead clanged against the gladiator's mace.

Kobalt dodged a flurry of slashes from the Vulpimancer, each missed strike just cutting through the metal. The Atlesian specialist jumped out of the way of the last one, giving himself some distance between himself and the dog-like alien. He brought his hands together and clapped, letting the alien suffer the enhanced sound. The Vulpimancer whined as its ears started to ring and it started to sway from the sheer volume. Of course, the entire section of the audience nearest to him was also affected.

The announcer was gonna have to fix that if this one was going to become a regular fighter.

"Ergh…well that's gonna be annoying…" The announcer stated, as Kobalt began to kick and punch the Vulpimancer till it was down for the count.

The beast whined when it thudded to the ground. It weakly raised its head for just a moment before it fell again.

Blake slashed at the Tetramand, hoping to get in a hit while the larger alien was about to strike a clone. The warrior alien simply responded with a swift punch to Blake's gut, making her reel from the hit.

"Hmm...maybe I was right," the Tetramand woman mused, "maybe you don't know Revonnah-kai. If not...would you prefer I fight with only two arms?"

"I would prefer…if you just shut up." Blake said, throwing her weapon around Looma'a arms. They wrapped around and ensnared her arms like they were massive handcuffs.

"What the?!" Looma gasped.

She struggled, trying to break free of the bind but the ribbon held. Or rather, it held long enough for Blake to run in and leap up at Looma, kicking the Tetramand woman right in the face. She jumped back after the hit, shoving Looma over from the move and perfectly landing back on her feet. Looma blinked a few times on the ground before laughing a bit.

"That's what I get for underestimating someone!" the Tetramand grinned.

"…did…did I just win?" Blake asked.

"Two of our new challengers have braved their battles with ease! But what of the other new arrivals?" The announcer yelled.

Ivori was doing his best to try and get around the Florauna, get an angle on the seeds. The plant-like alien wasn't falling for it though, keeping on a swivel and lashing out at every chance it got. Even when Ivori countered, landing a good strike with his whip, the wound just healed in a matter of seconds. The Florauna jabbed one of its hands into the floor, vines snaking under the metal plates and rushing over towards the Atlesian Huntsman. Said vines suddenly erupted from under the ground, surrounding Ivori. He lashed out, ready to cut down one of the vines...and then, mid-strike, one of the seed bombs sprouted on the vine.

"Oh shi-!" Ivori called out.

Ivori was blasted backward, slamming into a wall. Ivori moaned his aura was almost depleted, but he sure as hell wasn't giving up here.

The Florauna smirked, grabbed two more seed bombs off his shoulders, and got ready to toss them.

Meanwhile, Yang was slammed aside by a quick strike from the brute's free hand, letting him get up. He adjusted his mace again with steam jets hissing out from the mace itself. Before Yang could counter and race back in, the gladiator held out the arm with the mace...and launched the mace itself at Yang. The head of the weapon was attached at the wrist by a chain of orange energy. The brawler quickly dodged out of the way, letting the mace hit the wall next to her before it retracted and reattached to the gladiator's wrist with a loud clanging sound.

With that, they once again brawled. While they were near equally matched, Yang managed to get a punch on the orc-like alien, straight to the jaw, before sweeping her leg close to the ground to knock the colossus off his feet. The alien came crashing the ground, as Yang quickly ensnared with her wire around her arm.

The gladiator quickly reached for the wire ensnaring him, only for his efforts to be rewarded with Yang's gauntlet crashing into his face. The hit slammed him into the ground and even managed to crater the floor plating a bit.

Yang wiped some sweat from her brow and panted. "Wow...that was a good fight, right?" Yang questioned.

The gladiator simply groaned in pain.

"Glad we agree on that..." Yang snickered. When the gladiator didn't get up, the crowd erupted into equal parts cheers and curses. Looks like people weren't too fond of the new blood beating their favorite.

"...this one could bring in some great ratings." The announcer mused.

"Oh, what? I didn't shoot this one in the leg!" Yang yelled in defense.

"...I'll look into that later." The announcer made a mental note of that.


Ben and Ceres stared at the doors.

"So, the footage says they exited through those doors...and didn't come out the other side." Ceres said, recounting what was told to her.

"Yep. No red portal, no magic, nothing. Just...poof. Gone." Ben stated. "Ruby's worried sick."

"Worried sick is a VERY big understatement!" Ruby frowned.

"So not the usual tricks," Ceres hummed, "So either Salem's got something new...or it's not her." She walked up to the doors and opened them, seeing the training room on the other side.

"...what if this is something we understand a bit more?" Ceres asked, breaking from her thoughts and reaching for her Plumber badge.

"What do you mean?" Ben asked. "Ruby and I analyzed the scene as Clockwork about a dozen times over. They were just training, and boom. Gone." Ben snapped his fingers.

"Did you scan the air for energy signatures?" Ceres asked, turning on the badge's scanner mode. She moved to where the four had been training and started taking readings.

"...your badges can do that?" Ruby asked, pulling out Ben's from his back pocket.

"Yeah, we kinda just flash them to scare criminals and get free discounts on things." Ceres nodded. "Abuse of power? Maybe." The badge started to flash a bit, picking up...something. There was an energy signature there, but it was as if the reading itself was scrambled. Other energy signatures overlaid on top of it.

"Well, look at that," Ceres said, "Someone was trying their damnedest to leave nothing behind. Too bad the badge could still pick this up."

"What is that?" Ruby asked, looking at the signature.

"Custom teleporter frequencies." Ceres explained. "Used by the elite...or the people who REALLY don't wanna get caught."

"So they were teleported out. Ok, that's the how. Still need the where, who, and why," Ben said.

"The where can be answered once we track the signal...which might be a bit tricky. I don't doubt they have other little tricks set up to stay hidden," Ceres explained.

"Looks like we're gonna need two top minds on this." Ben activated the Omnitrix, and scrolled to Brainstorm's icon. He slapped it down, and instantly, Ben went through carcinization.

Brainstorm snapped his claws. Now...to see if I can 'harmonize' with the teleporter signals.

Every so often, lightning arced across the top of Brainstorm's head, his eyes closing as he focused on the signal. He had to sift through the different interference layers, but it was easy enough.

"This could take a while. Even for a genius like Brainstorm, he'd have to really focus in on it. And you know how…Ben can be a bit…" Ceres said.

"Scatterbrained?" Ruby asked.

"Good word. But yeah."

I might be focusing, but that doesn't mean I can't hear you, Ben shot back, Besides, I'm running the calculations we need now.

"What do you think abducted Yang and Blake and the other two?" Ruby asked.

"Could be anything. I don't think certain conquerors use that private tech, they'd want you to know that the first abducted are warnings…so, that lowers the list significantly." Ceres hummed.

As the two speculated, Ceres's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a very familiar sound. Familiar but still odd to hear in there. The two turned their heads to see none other than Neon skating down the hall towards them.

"Neon?" Ruby asked when the cat Faunus came to a halt next to them.

"Lemme guess- giant crab is Ben?" Neon asked.

"Yep. He does that sometimes." Ceres nodded.

"Good. If you guys are looking for Kobalt and Ivori, we want in." Neon insisted.

"Well you showed up at a good time," Ruby said.

"Got something?" Neon asked, looking behind her to see where Flynt was. She might have gotten carried away and used her speed-boosting Semblance and left him behind.

"Sort of. We know how they disappeared. Someone or something teleported them right out of the sparring room," Ceres explained.

"...oh, that's just cheap," Neon frowned. "Guessing Ben's doing...whatever this one does. What...what even was this one called anyway?"

"Brainstorm." Ruby answered.

"...I cannot see how that thing can be called that." Flynt quipped as he walked in. "I'd settle for 'Crab Leg Special' or 'Seafood Boil'."

...Oh, shut up. Ben said, freaking out both Flynt and Neon.

Flynt jumped. "What the fuck!? What was that?"

Telepathic messaging, ignoramus. Brainstorm's head popped open, revealing its brain.

"...a-ah..." Flynt said, a bit freaked out. "...it's a good name, actually..."

"...Flynt. Just...just for the future, never question the names he gives. Just roll with it," Neon said, recovering from the shock, "because the more you question, the more we're gonna see things like that."

"That...is a fair point," Flynt agreed. Both saw small arcs of lightning spark across the exposed alien's brain.

"...that must feel so weird, though." The cat Faunus muttered.

I've grown accustomed to it. The first few times, it...did feel a bit strange... Ben admitted, before pausing. ...Oh, that's not good...

"What is?" Ruby asked, in a bit of a worried tone. "Did you locate them?"

That I did...they're in a ship not too far from Earth's orbit...still in our atmosphere, actually...but... Ben noted.

"But what?" Neon asked.

We have to hurry. Seems they'll be leaving soon to 'find the next champion'... Ben explained.

Ceres' pupils shrank in fear. "...Oh, Jesus. I know where they are."

"I'm sorry did you just say they're in a ship? As in...space ship? As in 'far enough above Earth for DUST not to work?!'" Neon added.

"Not just any spaceship." Ceres said, rushing to the docking bay. "We'll take the ProtoTruk. We need to get up there NOW!"

The others shared a worried look- what the hell was she so scared about?

"Hope Ivori's ok up there..." Neon muttered before she and the rest raced after Ceres.

And then the dots connected in the cat Faunus' head.

"WAIT YOU GUYS HAVE A SPACESHIP?!"


Yang, Blake, Kobalt, and Ivori were forced into the 'prisoner holding area'- a terrible looking mess hall hybrid with no real sense of comfort in sight. No cells, either...and most of all...just a group of fighters, standing and walking around. Each with the same collars...and also, the same faces of the people they just beat down. Some were aliens that Yang and Blake recognized, ones that Ben had turned into in the past. There was the Florauna and Vulpimancer that Ivori and Kobalt fought, respectively, but they also saw an Opticoid, an Appoplexian, an Arachnichimp, and a Vaxasaurian. There were also aliens that neither of them had seen before, including a creature that seemed to be made of green slime with its organs visible from the outside, a hulking, seemingly plant-like creature with a mostly white color scheme, broken up by a purple head and red eyes scanning the area, and a humanoid alien with light bluish-purple skin and oddly clad in a set of heavy winter gear, with the coat's hood up and all.

"Someone really wasn't dressed for the weather when they got taken," Yang muttered seeing that one.

"I'm more concerned about the giant dinosaur alien in the back. Does he have a fucking sword at the end of his tail?" Kobalt asked.

"Yep. They're like that. Ben has a wrecking ball with spikes for a tail in that form." Blake said...before someone walked over. Blake looked up at the Tetramand.

"...you." The Tetramand said, taking off her helmet. "You've bested me in combat."

"I sure did." Blake nodded.

"Are you familiar with...the Tetramand rules of combat, Revonnahgander?" Looma asked.

"Again, not a Revonnahgander," Blake huffed, feeling like this was gonna be a recurring thing with her, "But...no. I...don't know that much about Tetramand culture."

"Then, this may come as a shock to you." The Tetramand got on one knee, took off her helmet, and stared at Blake lovingly. The rest of the room went silent.

"...we are to be married soon." Looma smiled.

Blake blinked.

"...what?"

"It's Tetramand tradition! Anyone who bests the other combat must marry them!" Looma grinned. "I joined this ring to find some lucky man or woman who could beat me, and then we could conquer armies together! And it appears to be you!"

"...I...already have a buff girlfriend..." Blake blushed, jabbing her thumb at an even redder Yang.

"Then she will be mine as well!" Looma grinned. "I have four hands for holding, you know!"

"...Kobalt," Ivori started.

"No, no, I heard it, too. I don't think either of us were ready for today," Kobalt interjected.

"...there was no way we could have been ready."

"Uh...well I mean...um..." Yang muttered.

Clearly, no one was ready for today.

"Come, come!" Looma smiled. "We have much to prepare for..."

"Uh...about that..." Yang interjected. "We...need to take care of our own issues first, Miss..."

"Red Wind." Looma smiled. "My name is Looma Red Wind."

"Right, Miss Red Wind- uh, we have a BIG situation on Earth, like this witch woman teamed up with a ghost, and now she's gonna try and fight God or something..." Yang was paraphrasing here. "And, we probably need to delay the wedding."

"Ah, prior obligations..." Looma hummed.

"And we're not entirely sure how long that's going to take, considering she's...uh...let's just say it won't be easy to deal with her," Blake added.

"I understand. You two deal with this...adversary of yours. When all is said and done, it shall make a WONDERFUL tale to share at the wedding!" Looma grinned.

"...so...should...we tell the general about this when we get back-?" Kobalt started.

"There ain't no contacting anybody on the outside, kid." The mace handed Detrovite said. "I certainly tried communicating, and now I'm a good few light years away from my family."

"Oh..."

"So...let me just...get this straight. Every single one of you, except for her..." Ivori pointed to Looma, "was just...kidnapped and forced into this? And...the Plumbers were never told about this?"

"Oh, they were told. Slix is just smart enough not to make it easy for them..." The Detrovite said.

"...Slix?" Blake asked.

"The announcer. He only cares about profit and entertainment. Not for our…care." Looma said.

"And the reason it's not easy is because…this vessel isn't easily traceable."

"This ship must be massive though. Easily the size of a Star Destroyer, right? What, does he have a cloaking device on this thing?" Yang asked.

"Among other things," the Detrovite answered, adjusting his mace hand.

"We can't afford to be a part of the alien WWE here…how do we get out of here?" Kobalt asked.

"Do you have a ship?" the Detrovite asked.

"...not that I know of."

"Then you better get used to this. Unless you can survive a vacuum."

"What about escape pods? This thing has escape pods, right?" Ivori asked.

"Locked in place. Guessing the only place you can unlock them is Slix's office."

"...he locked...the escape pods." Ivori deadpanned.

"…then let's unlock them." Yang grinned.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"You...you think he just...Lets fighters into his office? And that he just leaves it unguarded? You're not exactly doing your species any favors..." the gladiator scowled.

"And you're ok with being this guy's slave until he grows bored of you? He sounds like the kinda guy who replaces his champ when they lose too many fights."

"...three times."

'What?" Yang asked.

"He's done that to three previous champions...that I know of."

"Then let's stop his boredom." Looma frowned. "I stand with one of my two new wives."

"…thanks." Blake frowned.

"Part of me still wonders how that's gonna play out," Kobalt admitted.

"Listen, we'll burn that bridge when we get there," Yang said.

"Fair enough."

"...nothing I say is gonna change your mind, is it?" Technorg asked.

"Not a damn thing," Blake confirmed.

The Detrovite gladiator sighed, "Fine. But you're still gonna have to play the part for a while. If he sees you do well enough in fights...he might be interested enough to talk to you."

"What's your name, guy?" Yang asked. "I never got it in our fight."

"You can call me…Technorg."

"Technorg...alright. Think we can count on anyone else in here for help?"

"Depends. Some have gotten drawn too far into all this, others won't hinder...but they won't help either," the Detrovite snorted.

"Ok. So not too many friends..." Yang hummed.

"Let's say we actually get Slix's attention." Ivori said. "We get up to his office...then what? I doubt he's alone up there."

"He's not. He has a form of Techadon robot up there with him. Might be a custom type," Technorg confirmed.

"A Techadon, huh?" Blake frowned. "Those guys are trouble. Nearly had a friend of ours taken over by them."

"Yes, yes, quite the nasty contraption..." The white plant alien nodded.

Technorg raised a brow when he heard the plant-like creature speak up.

"You've been quiet the whole time I've seen you here, Highbreed," the Detrovite gladiator said.

"None of you have been worth talking to until now," The superior alien mocked. "I yearn for escape too, you know. I cannot handle being around such...lower beings."

Yang gasped. "What's your deal-?!"

"Ignore them, sweetheart." Looma said, placing a hand in front of Yang. "Highbreed are...argumentative."

"A funny word to substitute for racism." Technorg frowned.

"Call it what you will. The fact that I'm lowering myself to work with you should be seen as a boon," the Highbreed growled.

"Ha, a boon. And yet, you're the one with a planet so over-industrialized that the smog blots out the sun," Technorg shot back.

"Silence, mongrel-" The Highbreed sneered. "That's no way to speak to Reinrassig III, seventh son of the Noble Highbreed House of Di Ralla, direct descendant of the Pure Blooded High Order of Rasecht!"

"...that's a mouthful." Ivori deadpanned.

"Can we just call you Reiny?" Kobalt asked.

"You will do no such thing." Reinrassig growled.

"Can we at least shorten that to Reinrassig?" Yang asked.

The Highbreed sighed, "Fine. More dignified than...'Reiny.'"

"To be fair, I would've asked about 'Reiny' if he didn't."

"...I am truly desperate, aren't I?"

"Alright, so...we're gonna need a good distraction..." Kobalt began. "Now, do any of you guys know that movie, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay?"

"...I already hate where this is going." Blake grumbled.


Neon was skating around in the back of the ProtoTruk, just taking in everything and doing her best not to touch something important that could end up destroying half of Atlas. This was all alien tech, so she had no idea if there was anything like that in here.

Flynt was in total awe as he stepped aboard the ship as well.

"Damn," he muttered to himself. Ceres made her way to the pilot seat and got everything ready for takeoff.

"So, Ceres, you said you knew where they were. Care to tell the rest of us?" Ben asked.

"There's this reality show, out there in the cosmos. It's called The Next Champion." Ceres explained. "And what's really fucked up about is...people get abducted by them, and forced into fighting for YEARS before...well, either they expire, or the showrunners get bored of him. Happened with a few people on my home planet."

"That's fucked up..." Neon shivered. "So, they're pretty much stuck on that ship forever?"

"Impossible to escape. Even if you DID fake your own death...they throw you out into space." Ceres frowned. "They showed that on air...and the mindless masses loved it."

"So in other words...once we get everyone off the ship, we're blowing it up," Ruby said.

"Oh, definitely. Throw the guy who runs it into a cell too," Ceres agreed.

"Jumping the gun a bit. They're not gonna just let us fly up to them and knock on their door, right?" Flynt asked.

"Absolutely not." Ceres said, flicking a few switches. "So, that's why we're gonna go in and go crazy."

"Oh hell yeah," Neon grinned.

"You might wanna take a seat though. Especially since this is your first time in here," Ceres suggested.

"It's basically just an upgraded airship, right? How bad can it be?" Neon asked, not even seeing Ben, Ruby, and even Flynt getting ready for the ascent.

"...yeah, sit down." Flynt literally pulled Neon into her seat like she was a fussy child, and strapped her seatbelt in. "We're going into space- and I dunno if you know this, but the G-force going up would break a few bones in your body."

"To be fair, didn't know that," Neon admitted, "It's not like we talk about spaceships that often."

Ceres flipped a few more switches as the engines of the ProtoTruk roared to life, the ship lifting off from the ground. It slowly left the hangar it was parked in and, once it was a good distance away, Ceres had the ship speed off. Flynt, Ruby, and Neon were uncustomed to flying into space, as opposed to Ben and Ceres. This felt like going up a rollercoaster to them...while it felt especially intense on the hunting trio. Neon gripped the arms of her seat tightly, closing her eyes as the speed really started to hit her. She was wrong before; this was nothing like an airship and she felt a little silly for even MAKING that comparison.

"P-please let me know when we're actually in space!" the cat Faunus begged.

"We'll be there soon!" Ben grinned, as Ruby slowly realized- holy shit, this was going to be her first time in space, actually. She'd be seeing the world from above...If it weren't for the g-force slamming into them, Neon and Flynt would probably be thinking the same. Sure, to Ben and Ceres this was pretty common, but to the hunting trio? This was something like a once-in-a-lifetime event.

"Never even thought I'd ever leave Planet Earth..." Neon hissed, her ears popping like crazy.

"Dude, same! This is so weird!" Flynt yelled-

And then, they were there. It was weird. The two of them expected maybe...for lack of a better word, turbulence when they stopped. No, it was just a smooth transition, not even that feeling of weightlessness they expected either. The latter was probably thanks to the ship's artificial gravity. Neon shook her head a little, waiting for the side effects of the ascent to wear off before she opened her eyes. Ruby pressed her face to a nearby window, as Ben unhooked his seatbelt. "Be right back. 'Bout to have a cute moment with Ruby." Ben joked to Ceres.

Ben looked over at Ruby, who was staring down at the Earth below. There were so many people down there, hard to believe the Earth was...so small from up here...Neon had found an available window as well, looking down at the Earth. Both of them had to admit, this kind of view was something they'd only see in a dream or a movie. Neither actually thought they'd get to see it first hand.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Ben asked, joining Ruby.

"Yeah..." Ruby was in awe. "Was it like this for your first time?"

"Yeah, actually. The crew had to go to resolve some problem on Upchuck's homeworld, so...for me, Kevin and Kylie, that was our first time in space. And...I know we can't go that far, but it's insane how beautiful the galaxy is. We see flickers of light on Earth, but up here...oh, they're much more than simple flickers."

"Each one's...probably just as beautiful. If not more, right?" Ruby asked.

"Definitely. Well, some of them anyway. Upchuck's homeworld was...weird," Ben chuckled a little.

"It is Upchuck we're talking about here," Ruby grinned at their little exchange here.

"They ate their planet, by the way." Ceres added. "Invaders from far beyond, and their omega plan was to eat it."

"...that was a weird day." Ben frowned.

Neon's stargazing was interrupted when she heard that, leaning back from the window and giving Ceres and Ben this look of "did you really just say that."

"I swear to god, that's how it happened! They did that, what, ten times before we got there," Ceres explained, practically feeling the skepticism from behind her.

"And...which one's...Upchuck again?" Flynt hesitantly asked.

"Small green one, eats things for ammo and then uses that for an energy blast," Ben said.

"...I...have so many questions, but I don't think I want to know the answers," Neon admitted.

"Let's just focus on the mission. We need to decide how we can break into the ship..." Ceres hummed. "Once we locate it, of course."

"On that, I hope this thing's got some extra guns stashed away," Flynt said, holding up his now ordinary trumpet.

"Oh, yeah..." Ben frowned. "Dust doesn't work when off the planet, does it?"

"Lift up your seats. We got some blasters." Ceres said.

Neon looked under hers and pulled out something that...definitely wasn't Plumber standard tech. It was a large rifle made of dark brown metal with two orange spots on the body, closer to the trigger. The spots really seemed more organic in design that the rest of the weapon, even with a split barrel.

"Oooooh, I LIKE this. What is it?" Neon asked.

"Chimerian Photon Rifle. Heavy beam weapon that can cut through most armor," Ceres explained, "Just gotta watch for overheating."

"Oh...ohhhh if I did not hand-make my weapon, I would legit consider asking if I could keep this."

"And what do I get, exactly?" Flynt asked.

"Good question." Ceres said. "Find out for yourself..."

Flynt lifted up his seat to pull out...a tiny, palm-sized firearm. "...oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"Ah, a Nosedeenian Pain Packer..." Ben grinned. "Consider yourself lucky."

"How is this lucky? Thing looks like a toy," Flynt admitted.

"That's because you've never seen a Nosedeedian. Get enough of them together, they can power one of Atlas' Paladins," Ceres said.

"...ok, starting to feel a bit better about this."

"Nosedeenians kicked my ass once or twice. Never underestimate them." Ben grinned.

"And I'll be fine. I integrated parts of Rook's weapon in here, so...no need to worry about a substitute." Ruby said, kissing Crescent Rose. "My baby can't be replaced..."

"Now that we've got that covered, guess I go in first. You said this thing can cut through almost anything, right? In case they try locking us out, I can just cut the door down," Neon grinned.

"Good, good..." Ceres said, typing some stuff. "There's a chance they might have a cloak up."

"That's not good." Ben frowned.

"Course not. But, remember...this is for live extranet broadcast...so, there's gotta be a way to purchase some tickets to board it." Ceres said.

"They actually just have tickets for sale? For illegal death matches?" Neon asked.

"Of course. Rumor is the guy who runs it is even worse than Jacques," Ceres said.

"...like I needed to hate him more."

"Just need to know where to look..." Ben said, pulling up a screen. "Gimme a few minutes. I could score us some tickets for the ball game..."


Several screens were on at once, showing various different fights. The fights were, at least somewhat, familiar. On the right were the team fight that Team RWBY participated in during the Vytal festival and Yang's one-on-one match with Mercury. That one was of special interest because of that off-hand comment made in the arena. On the left was the team fight of Team FNKI. Scanning through the public databases really only brought up this fight. Not too many recordings for them...though there was some mention of a band? Not really what he was interested in though.

Slix Vigma was watching all of the screens simultaneously, thanks to the many eyes he had.

"Interesting...the blond one's certain to be a fan favorite. She even bested Technorg. Add in what I presume to be a relationship with the...I don't know shaved Revonnahgander? and I can easily see them becoming one of my flagship teams," Slix said to himself.

"The other two though...good fighters, no question on that...but...hmmm."

"…Actually, I wonder how they're doing in the 'crew quarters,'" Slix hummed. "Surely, they must have gotten into at least one altercation down there…show off their skills some more…"

"And if not...well I don't have anything scheduled and people would love to see a Highbreed taken down a peg or two," the announcer chuckled to himself as the view on the screens changed. Now, they were displaying different parts of the ship: engineering, the arena, the merchandise area, and of course, the "crew quarters."

The fighters were just standing around, waiting around for what came next. Slix hummed. "Strange…they're oddly in order…"

Slix paused.

"They're up to something, Audio on," the announcer said, suspicion getting the better of him.

In the "crew quarters", the camera silently pivoted to try and find the source of the order...and he noticed his new fighters talking with some of his best, including the Red Wind girl. That wasn't a good sign.

"There's something up here...but what?" Slix narrowed all of his eyes. He was going to look into it more...when he got a notification on another screen.

"What is it now?" The shrewd man hummed, as he hovered over to the screen.

"Sir...one Ben Tennyson just bought tickets to the latest match." A robotic employee said.

Slix's pupils shrank in shock. "What!?"

"Him and four others. Should I let them on board?"

"Should you let them on boa- are you CRAZY?! He works for the Plumbers! Do you WANT to lose your paycheck because of him? Cause letting him on here is gonna ensure that!"

"But...he is a celebrity..." The guard said. "...celebrities are always a good sport about stuff like this. Remember that Deefus guy?"

"...fair point..." Slix huffed.

"So...is that a..."

"...fine. But keep the available areas limited. If this comes back to bite me..."

"Affirmative." The employee huffed. Slix Vigma groaned.

"Ooooh, I could go for a Lenopan Screwdriver right now..." Slix said. He'd have to worry about the fighters later. Tennyson was the more...immediate problem.

"Alright...let's go greet my guests..." Slix said, leaving his office...

And allowing the prisoners to go through with their plans.


"Alright, think we're ready?" Yang asked, looking up at the not-so-well hidden camera.

"About as ready as we can be," Reinrassig said, "Don't mess this up..."

"I'm hurt that you have so little faith in us," the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Humans, as I've heard, are more...untrustworthy than most." Reinrassig frowned.

"Oh, hush." Ivori frowned. "Fuck you and your prejudices."

"Then prove me wrong."

"Gladly," Kobalt smirked, nodding to Blake. With that, Blake left a clone in her place and she quickly raced over to a position to take out the camera.

Blake leapt up, undetected by the camera- and, with a quick slash, the camera was destroyed.

"...still rather unimpressive." Reinrassig said.

Looma clapped her hands. "To you, maybe! Brilliant work, darling!"

"Tetramands are easily impressed," the Highbreed rolled his eyes.

"And Highbreed simply refuse to be impressed by anything," Looma shot back.

"The both of you, shut it before I break both your faces." Technorg frowned.

"Good to know they're being the best of friends..." Kobalt frowned.

"We'll be fine. What team doesn't have a little...bickering?" Yang asked, trying to be a bit more optimistic.

"...yes but for us, it was more about music choice and setting your alarm as rock music at the highest volume," Ivori said, shooting a glance to Kobalt.

"Don't tell me you still hold a grudge over that." Team FNKI's brawler sighed.

"I admit...only a little."

"I'm a heavy sleeper. So sue me." Kobalt joked, as Blake leapt down.

"Phase 1, mostly complete. Now what?" Blake asked.

"Alright, Ivori, you're up," Yang smirked. Ivori nodded and ran over to the door to the holding area. Even without the Dust, his whip's blade-like tip made a good tool. He jabbed it into the control panel for the door and started to mess with the wiring. In a few seconds, the door slid open.

"You know, I had my doubts about him being the tech guy for your team," Yang admitted, "Take 'em all back."

"As you should," Ivori grinned.

"Now, come on." Technorg said. "We gotta find the office so we can get these stupid collars off..."

"Agreed." Reinrassig said, shoving the others out of the way.

"...not a big fan of that guy." Yang muttered, racing after the Highbreed.

The group snuck along the hall, avoiding guards and flinching at every noise. Thank god Ivori was silencing all of them. All was going good...until, well, when they were almost caught though. Reinrassig suddenly came to a halt and leaned against the wall. The others followed suit before they saw a column of four robots...roll past them. Technorg was right, they did look like Techadon bots, but with a more samurai-bend to them. They had a mostly red and orange color scheme complete with more traditional armor over their chassis, the trademark "horns" of a Techadon being significantly larger than the standard model. Instead of legs, these machines had orange spheres that they used to get around. Blake couldn't help but raise a brow at that odd design choice, but she could question it later. The good thing was that they seemed to have gone unnoticed.

"Come on..." Looma motioned, as the group got closer and closer to the office, before they came to stop, hearing voices echo out.

"You know, I was quite shocked when you were coming, Mr. Tennyson." Slix's voice said. "Nearly had my optics pop out of my head."

"I get it. The first thing you thought was 'oh shit, he's coming to arrest me,' right?" Ben asked. They really did just let them walk right in. Not exactly what the group was expecting, but they decided to take advantage of that.

"I...am ashamed to admit it, but yes. I'll...be honest, I did not take you as one who would enjoy such contests."

"Really? We have loads of shows like this down on Earth," Ben lied.

"Oh, yeah. It's honestly a pretty big market," Ruby said, hoping to add some credibility to the act.

"The hell are they doing here?" Blake asked.

"Coming to rescue us, probably." Yang said. "Might be too late- the second Slix sees us, he'll think we're in it together..."

"Did he just say Tennyson?" Technorg asked.

"Yep. One of our friends," Yang confirmed.

"Hm. At least you know someone of import," Reinrassig huffed.

"Could you curb the 'my species is superior to yours' for a second?" Blake hissed.

"...no."

"How on Earth do you know Ben Tennyson?!" Looma asked.

"Eh. He's dating my sister." Yang shrugged.

"...wow." Looma hummed. "To think he'll be my brother-in-law..."

"Hey, we still got a crazy immortal witch to deal with first."

"And he's going to help? I almost feel sorry for her," the Tetramand scoffed.

"Look, like we said earlier, it's very complicated. But, back on track, what do we do?"

"...we need a distraction." Reinrassig said. "But what?"

"I may have an idea." Technorg proposed.

"And what is it, mongre-" Reinrassig never finished. Technorg suddenly pushed him out from behind the wall, in front of the others. Slix and Ben stared down at the Highbreed.

"...uh." Ben stammered.

"Uhhh...ahahaha, why uh...why is he out?" Slix asked with a fake laugh. Reinrassig would've sold out Technorg in a heartbeat here if the circumstances had been any different. But he did say they needed a diversion...So, in a moment of genius, the Highbreed grabbed Ben Tennyson by the wrist...and bolted.

Both groups were left stunned.

...it took Ruby an attosecond later to chase after them.

"...care to explain?" Ceres asked.

"I...would if I could." Slix admitted, "You should probably-"

"Good idea." Ceres said, shoving Slix forward as well, "Wouldn't want someone like Ben being hurt on your watch right?"

"...I hate how much sense that ma-aaaaaaaaaaah!" Slix yelled as Neon slammed into his back with a boost of speed, pushing him after Ruby and Ben.

"...that works." Blake said, as the group walked back to the office.

Ben was being dragged on the floor, still very much confused. "I...could REALLY use some context right now!" The Highbreed looked behind him and saw Ruby, far enough away that she wouldn't hear him.

"This is the distraction we needed!" Reinrassig said.

"Distraction? What the hell are you talking about!?" Ben yelled, as Reinrassig ducked into another room, the door shutting behind them.

"I've been told...you know a blonde human female with some form of gauntlet weapon?" the Highbreed asked.

"Yang?" Ben asked.

"I believe. I did not ask their names. She arrived with three others...and the Tetramand is smitten with her now. Along with the feline one."

"Alright...if that's the case..." Ben said. "I'm...Ben. Ben Tennyson. And...you are?"

"Reinrassig III, seventh son of the Noble Highbreed House of Di Ralla, direct descendant of the Pure Blooded High Order of Rasecht." Reinrassig said, without missing a beat.

"...is it cool if I just call you Reinrassig?"

"Of course, Ben Ben Tennyson."

"Wait...no that's not...nevermind. Where's Yang now?"

"Before you arrived, we were about to get into Slix's office and undo his security. Release the locks on the escape pods and deactivate these," the Highbreed took hold of the collar around his neck, "but she suggested that we keep your involvement a secret for now. And then that Detrovite dog shoved me out here when I said we needed a distraction."

Ben frowned. "Uh...don't like the tone in that last sentence, but the rest checks out." Ben activated the Omnitrix. "So, what can we do to help? I can improv here."

"I suppose the only logical thing here is to fake a kidnapping...and you are just now fighting back."

"Makes sense, I guess," Ben said as he rotated the dial. He slammed it down and, in a flash of green, Ben's form was replaced with that of Four Arms.

"Oh good...another Tetramand," the Highbreed rolled his eyes.

"Hey, watch it. I could crush you like a grape." Four Arms threatened.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure you could," Reinrassig said, "Now...to be sporting, I'll allow you the first hit."

"It wasn't a threat, man, just a warning, a Tetramand handshake leaves a hellova mark." Ben frowned. "How long do we need to distract them?"

"Until my collar breaks." Reinrassig said.

"Alright. And knowing her, should be soon."

"I will take your word for it. She has not exactly impressed yet."

"You and I have different definitions of 'impressive,' don't we?"

"In a manner of speaking."

"So...if we're gonna distract em..." Ben cracked his knuckles. "Come on. Show me some moves."

"With pleasure." Reinrassig's wings suddenly opened, as if trying to intimidate Ben.

"Ok...did not expect that," Ben admitted.

Without a second thought, Reinrassig lunged at Ben with his claws. Ben managed to dodge out of the way, letting the attack dig into the metal wall behind him. The slash left three large gashes in the metal. Reinrassig rushed in again, slashing at Ben in a flurry of attacks. He either dodged the Highbreed's attacks or redirected them. He deflected the latest attack and made an opening, punching the plant-like alien in the gut with both of his lower arms.

"Jeez, dude! We're not even outside of the place!" Ben yelled, as Reinrassig stumbled back.

"If he saw us, he would surely use the collar on me!" Reinrassig countered. "Imagine being tazed with the force strong enough to make blood boil, even for a second!"

"...ok, first chance we get, you get first swing at Slix," Ben said, dodging another slash from the recovered Highbreed.

"Some may contest that claim, as I'm sure you can guess!" Reinrassig growled. Ben sidestepped another slash and landed a few good jabs against the Higbreed, making him stagger. He turned immediately, lashing out with a claw. Ben grabbed hold of the plant alien's wrist and threw him into the nearest wall.

Well, not into the nearest wall. More like...through the nearest wall.

"I advise you- plan your next move carefully." Reinrassig grumbled, as he pointed his fingertips at the Tetramand. Ben raised an eyebrow, before Reinrassig started firing his nail-like fingertips. Ben quickly dodged behind a wall for cover.

"Alright, alright...jeez." Ben frowned. "One hell of a fake fight here..."

"It must look convincing. Slix can tell most fake fights apart from real ones," the Highbreed growled.

"Right." Ben frowned. "Well, if we're gonna be faking..." Ben slapped down the Omnitrix, and suddenly gained his Omni Drive armor. "Better go all out."

Ben held out his hands, as they suddenly flew forward, grabbing the Highbreed's arms and forcing him into a wall.

The Highbreed snarls and tries to drive his elbow into Ben's gut, only for it to clang against the armor plating. He wasn't expecting this, clearly, but he'd faced off against armored opponents before.

"So, how'd you get in here anyways?" Ben said. "Thought you Highbreed guys were...well, purists. You guys usually don't venture outside the planet."

"Usually, no. But I had a mission to complete," Reinrassig said, throwing another elbow into Ben's chest, just to be met with more armor, "As much as it...pains me to admit it...the Detrovite was correct. My planet is...polluted. Our own technology was the cause...so it was believed that reverse engineering other species' technology would at least assist before we found a permanent solution."

"...so you still have this whole 'high and mighty' attitude even though you all admit that you need other tech?" Ben asked.

"As if we would admit that. Even if we did, none of our citizens would believe it. I was investigating the technology of the Archimedians when I was forced into a confrontation. After that...I arrived here."

"Huh. Kinda weird that a guy with that many names is out there in the universe...unless, you're trying to be noble...in spite of your prejudices?" Ben asked. "You're acting on a one man mission, aren't you?"

Reinrassig didn't answer.

"You are. Once we're done here...I could put a word in with the Plumbers. See what they can do."

"...thank you, vermin."

"Weird way to call someone a friend." Ben said. "Now...what's taking the others?"

"A good question..." Reinrassig agreed.


After the distraction, Yang's group had snuck their way into Slix's office. The room was made of polished stone with a large desk at the back, a large array of screens hanging down behind it. Ivori moved behind the desk to try and work at Slix's computer, unlock the escape pods and turn off the collars.

Except the first attempt at getting through was not very successful.

Parts of the walls slid and lifted up, revealing more of those robots that patrolled the ship outside.

"Shit!" Kobalt yelled.

"Sorry! I can do this though!" Ivori reassured the group.

"I hope so!" Looma said, cracking her knuckles and getting ready for the fight.

Yang started by bashing two robot heads together, causing them to crumble against one and other. Yang grinned. "Must be some cheap Techadon armor, if it can break like this."

Of course, that smile slowly vanished when she realized the Techadons were repairing themselves. "...ah."

"They can do that?!" Kobalt yelled as he dodged a halberd swing from one of the bots.

"It's a bit unfair, we know. Just don't wear their gauntlets," Blake said, dodging her own strike thanks to a duplicate. She lashed out at the robot's back, cutting into it and leaving a gaping wound in its back.

"Just keep smashing until these guys can't regenerate no more!" Technorg said, unleashing some incredibly heavy attacks- at some point, Technorg even grabbed a robot by the head and spun them around with them before hurling them away.

Looma was also a fighting machine- her first attack on a Techadon drone started with a frontal somersault leading into a downward punch. She jumped off of it's chest, before unleashing a hardcore flurry of jabs at another. Looma spun around, and kicked another robot's clean off, letting it shatter against the wall.

"...woah." Yang said.

"You guys are lucky." Kobalt teased.

"I mean...I was already lucky," Blake smirked, looking over to Yang. The blonde blushed a little before they got back into the battle, Yang ducking under another robot's swing and she punched into its chest, forcing it back. Blake threw out Gambol Shroud and hooked one of the machine's halberds. She pulled it and yanked it from the robot's grasp, tossing it to Yang. The blonde easily caught it before slicing the arms off another machine.

Ivori kept frantically typing away, as Kobalt smashed his through a robot's chest. "Come on, dude! I have a bad feeling that Slix Sugma or whatever is gonna come back here!"

"Hey...how far can Neon go when she's boosting her speed?" Blake asked.

"...pretty far, why?"

"Neon slammed into the bastard back there with her Semblance...and I don't think she stopped."

"...you know what, fair point. We have a BIT more time then. Unless-...no, not jinxing it," Kobalt grabbed a piece of metal from a downed robot and, before it could be reintegrated, FNKI's brawler threw it and sliced the head off of another machine.

"Are ALL the people from your planet such skilled warriors? Because if so, I would VERY much like to visit!" Looma grinned as she tore off the arms of the current Techadon machine and kicked it away.

"It's a mixed bag, honestly. I know a Grandma who can fire laser beams." Yang said as Ivori gave her a weird look.

"...what fucking ever." Ivori sighed. He really wanted to sleep this all off.

"If that's true then I am definitely coming to visit!" Looma smirked.

"Come on...come on..." Ivori muttered, hoping the second time would work.

And thankfully, it did. Yang and Blake watched their collars briefly spark, and fall to the ground.

"...there we go." Yang grinned.

The other three felt their collars spark and fall as well.

Ben was about to try and take another fake swing at the Highbreed, but both paused when they spark a quick spark followed by a metallic clanking. Reinrassig looked down and noticed the collar that was once fastened around his neck. His eyes narrowed at it before he crushed it underfoot.

"They actually succeeded," Reinrassig said, the smallest bit impressed.

"Of course, they did. This is far from the worst shit we've had to deal with," Ben smirked, "We're still working on our witch problem but, that's another story."

"Witch?"

"Long story."

"So...now what?"

"Simple- riot." Reinrassig said, hearing the doors of the prison explode off of its hinges. "Run rampant, Ben-Ben Tennyson- Vigma will realize what's happening soon."

"Noted."

And realize he did. Neon had drastically overshot her speed and pushed the announcer far away from anyone else. He heard the explosion all the way from where he was, as did some of the spectators that were trying to purchase some merchandise as proof they attended or just a simple keepsake. Slix looked back at the explosion and then to Neon. The cat Faunus smirked mischievously and gave him a mocking salute before she rushed off.

"...I should have blasted those damned 'heroes' out of the sky when I had the chance! The ONE time my desire for money and recognition has betrayed me!" Slix growled. He rolled up one of his sleeves and sent orders to all of his guards to get this riot under control.

Ceres frowned, before she grabbed Slix's cloak. "Remember Callisto and Valetudo? The Archemedians you forced into the ring?"

"They ring a bell...sure as hell didn't last long, expected them to..." Slix went on, before trailing off. "...I don't like how this conversation is going."

"You sure as hell shouldn't," Ceres said, slamming his head into a wall.

He groaned when his head met the metal wall, two of his eyes cracking like glass and sparking a little.

"O...kay. If you would like me...to apologize or somethi-" Slix started before he found his head slammed into the wall again.

"Really think that'd work? No...we're bringing down your whole show here," Ceres said.

"...please don't do that again, you'll break my eyes," the announcer begged, rather pathetically.

"That sounds more like encouragement," Ceres said. "They were PEOPLE. All of these combatants have LIVES beyond fighting, and you capitalized on that. And you can't even see the error of all of this."

"You can't blame me for that, it's my programming!" Slix yelled, trying to plead his case. Even if there wasn't exactly a case to plead, anyway.

"See, that kind of defense would work...if you were a Techadon. But you're not, are you? I don't know what you were built for originally...but I know for a fact, it wasn't running death matches."

"...ok, ok, maybe you're right, but-"

"Maybe? I'm absolutely right." Ceres said. "Your shit show is canceled."

"...if only that were the case." Slix Vigma's sniveling, cowering voice suddenly turned cold and uncaring. Ceres raised an eyebrow- where did this come from?

"I know bad guys tend to deny reality when shit gets bad, but...really? Your 'fighters' are revolting, I've got you pinned to a wall and ready to slam cuffs on you..."

"Oh, I'm not denying anything. You certainly have...complicated things," Slix shrugged, "but complications can always be overcome."

"And how, exactly, do you think you'll be able to do that? Prison break in progress. Your guards are gonna get utterly wiped out by the combatants." Ceres countered.

"I can always get more. Along with a new ship. The money I've made from the fights can buy me at least ten more," Slix said, his usual green eyes flashing to red.

"...you're shitting me." Ruby frowned.

"I am not. You have ten minutes, heroes...can you escape with the riot going on?" Slix teased. "And by the way, you can destroy me if you want- I have a dozen backup bodies."

Ceres rolled her eyes, "Thanks for at least giving us that heads up. Ruby, he's all yours. I'm gonna see if I can't undo the damage."

"Oh, I invite you to try. You might be an Archimedian, but I doubt ten minutes would be enough time to disarm it," the robotic announcer chuckled.

"Wow, you must have no idea who I am, huh?"

Ruby pressed her scythe against the robot's skull. She flipped on the energy blade. "Wonder how slowly I can slice through you..."

"Slow as you like! We got the time!" Ceres yelled as she raced off to engineering.

Ivori was panicking in Slix's office as well, doing his own part to try and counter the countdown. When Slix's eyes flashed, a timer appeared on his computer, giving the team a running clock.

"Ohhhh no, no, no, no..." he muttered to himself, trying to figure out what exactly was the problem.

"Should've figured he would have something like this," Looma hissed when she saw the countdown, "Snakes like him always do."

"What about the escape pods? Are they still on lockdown?" Technorg asked.

"I don't think so, but I'm not sure if there are enough for everyone," Ivori said.

"Then we should go. Find one while we have plenty of time!"

"Agreed!" Technorg said, smashing through the wall- he was immediately greeted by a flood of guard robots. He simply growled before he began to smash his way through the crowd once more.

"...we're not leaving," Yang said, getting her gauntlets ready.

"What?" Looma asked. She was as ready for a fight as the next Tetramand but, a situation like this?

"You guys don't know her...but Ben brought Ceres with him. She can diffuse whatever that bastard set up in half the time he gave her."

"I appreciate the optimism, Yang but we really shoul-!" Ivori started.

"...wait, isn't Ceres the one who Dr. Weller has to practically drag out of the lab because she's pulled too many all-nighters?" Kobalt asked

"The very same," Blake said with a smirk.

"...ok, our chances of not being blown to pieces just went up."

"I'll say," Ceres said, walking through the hole in the wall. "Nice friends...hey, wait a minute- aren't you?"

"Yes, I am Princess Looma." Looma nodded.

"...she's our bride," Blake said sheepishly.

"Wait...'our'?" Ceres repeated.

"Blake beat her, and by 'Tetramand tradition,' they're to be married. And because she's already my girlfriend, Looma said, 'screw it, I'll marry her too,'" Yang summarized.

"And we begin planning the wedding once your witch problem is dealt with!" Looma added.

"...that's gonna be fun to explain to your parents..." Ceres said, shaking her head. She walked over to the computer and moved Ivori out of the way. "Here we go."

Team FNKI's tech expert was...honestly interested to see how this would go, especially if Dr. Weller's praises were to be believed. Ivori watched as Ceres worked her magic, looking at all of the technical issues that Slix was forcing on his ship.

Slix wanted her to try with these though? He should've given her a shorter timeframe, then it would've been a challenge.

Ceres typed furiously, running through multiple security grids. "Shame. They don't keep this place up to date, it seems." Ceres bemused.

Ivori made sure to try and make some mental notes of what Ceres did, for future reference and for improvement. In a few more keystrokes, Ceres was able to isolate the problem and fix it. The entire time, Technorg, Yang, Blake, Looma, and Kobalt were fighting off the horde of Techadons gunning for them. Considering how easy of a fix the self-destruct was, Ceres turned her attention to the Techadons. Slix was able to give them orders through the system, so she reasoned there should be a shutdown command in there as well.

"Maybe...I can even kill a few birds with one stone..." Ceres grinned, as she typed furiously once more. Ivori watched her- it was like Chopin going ham on one of his pieces.

"...beautiful." He whispered.

It took her a bit longer with the Techadons than it did with Slix's proclaimed trump card. She knew her way around those types of systems, sure. After what happened Elm, Ceres had made sure to study those systems a bit more thoroughly in case any more decided to show up on Earth. The models may have been different, and the systems were off in some minor ways, but they were still Techadons. She was able to find the command and pressed the "send" key, telling all the units to switch off.

Technorg was already rearing his fist back when the Techadon he was fighting dropped its weapon and its head slumped forward as it had just fallen asleep. The hit still landed and took the machine's head clean off, clattering against the ground. Soon, each and every other Techadon followed suit. Yang even stopped mid-punch when she saw one deactivate. Blake looked at the two that were trying to flank her and simply pushed them over with ease.

"Weapon Masters should really up their game on these things," Ceres smirked.

"Then that gives us a good enough reason to get out of here. Now." Yang said, hopping over one. "Where'd you park the ship?"

"It's in the hanger." Ceres said. "We need to regroup, first. I think Ben might still be with that Highbreed guy..."

"You mean Reiny?" Kobalt asked.

"...you call him 'Reiny'?"

"Better than the list of titles he wanted us to call him."

"He probably hates it...good." Ceres smirked. "Those guys need to get knocked down a peg."

"Tell me about it..." Blake sighed.

Back with Ruby and Slix, a small crowd had gathered around them, spectators who were displeased that there wasn't going to be any more matches for the day or, unknown to them, ever. Slix's uncaring voice returned to a pitiful tone when he got the notification.

Self-destruct aborted.

"So...um...you were...uh...you were just trying to scare me with that 'how slowly should I cut you' thing...right?" Slix chuckled nervously, eyes darting from Ruby to the crowd.

Ruby hummed. "Nope." Ruby just cut through him like a warm knife through butter.

"...remind me never to cross you." Flynt said.

"Eh, you should be fine," Ruby smirked.

"Hey, guys!" Neon shouted as she zoomed back, rifle slung over her shoulder, a wisp of smoke rising from the weapon's barrel. "What I miss?" The cat Faunus looked down at the sliced remains of the announcer and whistled.

"Gonna guess a lot," Neon shrugged, "But from what Ceres said on the ride here, he deserved it."

"Yep." Ruby nodded. "Now, come on. Let's get back to the ship and-" Boom. The ship shook. Ruby looked around, a bit confused.

"What the hell was that?" Flynt asked.

"Hell if I know." Ruby shrugged. "But...something tells me there aren't many people happy about the interaction..."

"Well, we probably canceled their favorite show and, considering how expensive those tickets were? They are probably pissed as hell that all that money just got wasted," Neon said.

"So they're blowing up the ship?!" Flynt asked in disbelief.

"Who thinks rationally when they're angry?"

"Ok, fair but nobody just causes an explosion cause they're angry!"

Both Ruby and Neon gave him a look because he...did somewhat describe Yang and her Semblance there.

"...ok you know what I mean!" Flynt defended.

"No time to joke! Come on! I've dealt with some seriously nasty aliens..." Ruby frowned. "And I have a feeling these guys are gonna be on that same level."

Ruby was right. Well, Ben wouldn't know she was right, but the fact that Ben was getting tossed around by some rather upset Appoplexians?

Yeah, that'll do it.

Reinrassig grabbed one of the tiger-like aliens by the shoulder and spun him around, followed by a strong right hook to his jaw. The alien growled and tried to impale the Highbreed with one of its wrist-claws, but the plant-like alien simply sidestepped the attack. He grabbed hold of the Appoplexian by the neck and then tossed him into one of those attacking Ben, sending both feline aliens flying.

"KNOW THIS, ANNOYING TETRAMAND WITH THE WEIRD-ASS ARMOR AND SURPRISINGLY HERE ATASIAN!" One of the other Appoplexians yelled. "WE PAID GOOD TADENS TO SEE A FIGHT, AND WE'RE VERY AGGRESSIVE RIGHT NOW! WE WANTED TO SEE SOME TEETH GET KNOCKED OUT!"

"If you so desire a fight," Reinrassig rolled his shoulders, getting ready for this, "I shall oblige." One of them growled and ran at the Highbreed, slashing at him with his claws, each strike missing thanks to the Highbreed's quick movements. The plant-like alien growled and kneed the tiger alien in the gut, making him double over.

Ben took the chance to fight back, landing an uppercut to the Appoplexian on his left, knocking the alien on his back. Ben would've called him a Rath lookalike, but it was more like he was dressed as Kraven the Hunter, large, fur-collared vest and everything.

"Maybe I should think smarter, not hit harder..." Ben said, watching Reinrassic go at odds with the Appoplexians. Wow, he was...a good fighter, all things considered. Punches, roundhouse kicks, ax kicks- a flurry of attacks from this guy. Ben was impressed and watched in awe as Reinrassig laid into the guy.

"...well then." Ben said, slapping the Omnitrix- his armor disappeared, as he lost his extra limbs, and transformed into the not so built for combat Grey Matter.

Reinrassig growled as one of the Appoplexians grappled his neck from behind, pulling him down some. The Highbreed looked over and saw the chance in form.

"A...GALVAN?!" the Highbreed hissed before a punch landed in his gut.

"In case you hadn't noticed, the Omnitrix is pretty useful with this new mode..." Ben said, jumping back and crawling up a wall when the Appoplexian gave chase.

"HOLD STILL, YOU PATHETIC LITTLE EXCUSE FOR A GENIUS RACE!" The Appoplexian screeched. Grey Matter cringed.

"What an awful insult..." He said, slapping down the Omnitrix to upgrade his body.

The once confident Appoplexian was not prepared for the diminutive Galvan to suddenly gain a mech suit.

"SO...THAT WASN'T TO YOU. THAT WAS TO THE OTHER GALVAN ON THIS SHIP," the tiger alien tried back-peddling.

"...there isn't another Galvan on this ship," Ben deadpanned.

"...YOU DON'T KNOW THAT."

"I think anyone of the Galvans would be smart enough NOT to come here." Ben frowned, raising up his robotic limbs. "And that's coming from my human side."

"...OK...FAIR POINT...BUT AT THE SAME TIME..."

"You backed yourself into a corner here. Don't make it worse," Ben suggested.

"...FUCK IT! HOW BAD CAN THE MECH BE?!" the Appoplexian roared, mostly just...hyping himself up.

"Alright, if you're sure. Your funeral!"

Ben immediately halted the Appoplexian under his tractor beam, freezing his movements. The Appoplexian blinked.

"...I'd like to apologize." He said before Ben launched him at the other pesky Appoplexian.

The two were sent flying, freeing up Reinrassig. The Highbreed grabbed hold of the Appoplexian grappling him and threw him in front of him, slamming him into the ground with a loud crash.

"It's...decided," Reinrassig huffed, "Appoplexians are worse than Tetramands."

"Give 'em a bit, you'll come to like both," Ben shrugged.

"...I do not believe that about either species."

"They'll get better with exposure. Trust me." Ben nodded.

"Again. Doubtful." Reinrassig frowned.

"Yeah, yeah. Come on. I can take you to my ship, I can hook you up with the Plumbers..."

The Highbreed nods and races off with Ben.

Yang and her group were racing back towards Ruby and her group. By now, the two different riots of angry customers and vengeful gladiators had clashed at some points and just let chaos reign. A Pyronite was about to blast Yang from the side...but that strange purple-skinned humanoid stopped him, elongating and wrapping his arms around the Heatblast wannabe's wrists and pulling him back. Looma punched aside an opportunistic Lepidopterran that tried to strike at Blake from behind.

"Where the hell is Ruby and the others?!" Blake yelled over the conflict.

"Probably fighting their way through the crowd like us!" Yang yelled, smashing another Lepidopterran's face in- god, that one REEKED.

Yang perked up as she heard laser fire down another hallway. She hung a quick left, as she saw Ruby, Neon, and Flynt, all dealing with a rather upset Aerophibian.

Ruby lashed out, sending an energy blade slicing through the Aerophibian's wings and grounding the ray-like alien. Neon was firing lasers into the ground randomly, missing on purpose. She was just hoping to keep people away from them as they made their escape. Flynt, seeing a trio of aliens-a Zaroffian, an Uxorite, and a Lenopan-make their way towards them, saw no other choice than to fire off a shot from his Nosedeenian weapon. A massive stream of electricity roared out from the Pain Packer and struck all three of the charging attackers, the main shot arcing off from the Zaroffian and shocking the other two next to him.

"...oh damn," Flynt muttered to himself, looking down at the weapon, "Ben wasn't kidding, huh?"

"Thank him later." Ruby grinned, as she noticed her sister at the end of the hall. "Yang!"

"Ruby!" Yang yelled, as Ruby rushed into her sister's arms.

"Oh, thank god! I knew you could handle yourself BUT STILL!"

"Must've been worried sick the whole time, huh?" Yang hugged Ruby a little tighter, "Sorry, sis. But, hey, there's a silver lining!"

"...Yang you were forced to fight in an outer-space deathmatch-" Ruby began before she saw Looma rush up.

"An outer space death match where she met her future wife, thank you," Looma said.

"...wait, what?"

"Long story, but alien cultures can be a little weird. We can tell you the whole thing on the ride home!" Yang smirked.

"I have so many questions, but I am fine with this." Ruby shrugged, as they ran off, back to find the ship.

"Where's the Highbreed?" Technorg asked.

"Well, if he's with Ben...he's probably having the worst fights." Ruby said.

"...good."

"Should be fine, though. They're probably on their way back to us," Ruby said, "Heads up!" She sent another energy blade hurtling towards that same green slime-like alien Yang had noted in the crew quarters. The blade sliced through the alien and both halves splatted to the floor before rejoining and slithering off.

"How the hell did he get a Limax on here?" Ruby asked.

"...good question." Technorg said. "...maybe we should run some more. Those guys are trouble."

"Oh, tell me about it..." Ruby frowned.

"Wait, you know what that was?" Kobalt asked.

"Yeah. Summer road trip with Ben, had to deal with a whole secret invasion type thing they wanted to pull."

"...we have got to talk to you guys more."

"That really seems to be the most common response when anyone talks to us for more than five minutes." Blake said.

"We should release a biography." Ruby hummed.

"Probably should at this point, huh?" Yang hummed.

"Back on track please!" Neon shouted, slamming her rifle's stock into the face of an alien that looked like a mix between a rat and a porcupine, stunning him for a moment.

"...an Acurtian Hog? Huh, not that surprised really. Their homeworld's got one of the biggest black markets out there," Ceres said, "Watch out for the spines! They're serious tranquilizers!"

"Yeah, yeah, I got-!" Neon froze when she suddenly felt three pricks in the side of her arm, "...ok...maaaaaybe I don't..."

Neon slumped over on the floor, as Flynt sighed. "...she really doesn't." He lifted her up, and sighed. "Looks like I'll be piggy backing her for a bit..."

"This is just a repeat of the Mayura incident," Kobalt sighed.

"I thought we agreed never to mention that," Flynt said.

"You can't tell me this doesn't remind you of that!"

"...Mayura?" Ruby asked. She wasn't entirely familiar with that Grimm.

"Peacock Grimm," Ivori said simply.

"...never tell Ben." Ceres whispered.

"Noted." Ruby nodded.

"Ok, so, where'd you guys leave the ship?" Yang asked.

"This way," Ceres said, knowing full well that Ben was no doubt on his way back too. Flynt went over and picked up the now snoring Neon.

"So...for future reference...where are Mayuras found?" Ruby asked.

"Vacuo," Ivori explained, "among other places, but Vacuo's got one of the biggest populations of them."

"Vacuo," Ruby repeated, "good to know."

Ben and Reinrassig made it back to the ship, thankfully in one piece. Ben looked back at the loads of knocked-out bodies behind them.

"...you're a much better fighter than I would've thought, honestly."

"You had doubts?" Reinrassig asked, sounding a little offended.

"To be fair, never met one of you before today. Just heard second-hand stories," Ben admitted.

"Hmph. You too fought...decently." Reinrassig said.

"Decently? Please." Ben said, reverting back to human. "I held my own pretty well..."

"For a...human."

"Human who turned into a Galvan, a Tetramand, a Pyronite, hell I even used Water Hazard in there," Ben corrected.

"...my point stands. You are just adding semantics."

Ben gave him this look that just screamed, "are you fucking serious with that?"

"Ben!" Ruby yelled- Ben looked over to see the group running over. Ben grinned.

"There you guys are!" Ben said. "You had to fight with some unsatisfied customers?"

"Yeeeep." Ruby said.

"And I see that the Highbreed...survived," Technorg said, not even bothering to hide his disappointment.

"What happened to Neon?" Ben asked.

"Acurtian Hog quills," Ceres explained.

"Ooooh, yeah, those are a bitch to deal with," Ben cringed.

"She only got three of them, so shouldn't be out that long."

"Yeah, at least she didn't get hit with ten of them. That puts you in a minor coma." Ben said.

"...lemme guess-"

"Yeah. It happened to me."

"...I wonder if those can affect Grimm," Ivori muttered, getting a bit of a mad scientist idea.

"Don't know, but we'll worry about that later!" Ceres said as she and the rest raced aboard the ProtoTruk.

"There enough room for all of us?" Technorg frowned.

"Yeah, there should be-" Reinrassig said- before he was suddenly shocked. He fell to the ground, as everyone else turned to see...

"I told you. This wouldn't be easy." The new robotic body of Slix Vigma said.

"Oh...oh fuck, backup bodies," Ruby remembered, "Thought you had someplace off-ship for that."

"I thought about it," Slix admitted, "decided it was a bit too risky. I like to keep a close eye on my investments."

"So, what? This the part where we turn you into scrap again?" Ben huffed.

"This is more the part where I get to join in on the fun..." Slix's form began to become more humanoid, gaining a powerful body with all sorts of fun gizmos attached.

"...you are trying so hard to be Ultron, aren't you?" Ruby asked.

"You said that before, I don't know what that is!" Slix yelled, taking aim with several of his new weapons.

Rockets launched out of his wrists, as the group scattered- they exploded against the side of the Truck, shaking it a bit.

"Great." Yang said. "And here I thought the story would be over."

"And...I'm still kinda hungry..." Blake frowned.

"...not the main problem, but mood." Yang said.

"You haven't even been there that long and even you're complaining about the food?! You people need to stop COMPLAINING about that!" Slix yelled, a circular structure appearing around one of his wrists after the missile launcher retracted. The structure began to spin up before firing a barrage of laser blasts at anyone Slix aimed at, spraying the projectiles in an arc in front of him. The other launcher retracted into his arm and a small node took its place, ready to be activated at a moment's notice.

Ben quickly swapped forms- Bloxx quickly constructed a reinforced wall of bricks that blocked the laser blasts from hitting the others.

"Ben!" Ruby called out.

Without a second thought, Ben made a space in the wall for Ruby to shoot through. Crescent Rose's barrel peeked out through the hole and she lined up a shot. She squeezed the trigger and fire, but as the bullet took flight, the node on Slix's arm sparked to life with green energy. Ruby's shot sparked against a green energy shield that had suddenly surrounded Slix.

Flynt had raced into the ProtoTruk and secured Neon in a seat. Before he left to go rejoin the others, he grabbed the Chimerian rifle that Neon was using. Seeing the wall, he tapped on Ben from behind, letting the wall of blocks make another firing hole. He situated the rifle and took aim, charging up a shot and firing, blasting a hole through Slix's shield.

"Oooof course, they have a plasma beam," Slix groaned to himself.

"Keep firing!" Ben yelled, making multiple launchers on the top of the wall. "Keep him at bay!"

Ben's launchers began to fire like crazy, as Slix raised his shield again. Sure, it was plastic, but Segmentasapien damage was not fun to buff out. And this was a new body, too!

"Here!" Flynt tossed the Pain Packer to Blake who caught it easily.

"Is it supposed to be this small?!" Blake yelled, getting into position anyway.

"Yes! Trust me, I had the doubts, too! Size doesn't matter with that!"

"Fine, fine!" Blake put her weapon through a slot, and began to fire. The first burst of electricity shocked her- not in a physical sense, but in a "holy shit", this thing is POWERFUL- Blake watched it hit the shield, and explode in a beautiful ball of chaos.

"...woah."

"Right?!" Flynt yelled over the chaos.

The explosion forced Slix back, his shield barely holding on now. He swapped out the wrist-mounted minigun for a new weapon. Taking aim, he fired several green globs that splatted against Bloxx's barrier. It was only a second before Ben realized he was firing acid at him.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Ben groaned, trying to hold the barrier up for as long as possible.

"Concentrated Sphoeroid acid!" Slix announced, "very potent. Heard that when they go to war or piracy, Sphoeroids use the stuff as a boarding trick!"

Ben clutched his chest in pain, as the wall slowly disappeared. Ruby looked over, and her eyes widened- it looked like Ben's chest was MELTING off of him. Ruby clenched her teeth in pain- that looked VERY painful.

"And...you should see what it does to humans..." Slix grinned, as he fired some more globs at Ruby. She flew around the room with her semblance, narrowly avoiding every shot. "Nghh! Hold still, you!"

Ruby got an idea as she raced around Slix, throwing off his aim. She was trying to see what the weapon looked like, especially if the container that held the acid could be broken.

Flynt and Blake lined up some more shots for once Ruby was out of the way. Slix was still trying to line-up a good shot on the hooded huntress, missing the odd shot and causing acid to eat through some of the plating of his ship. Not enough to be a major problem, but definitely enough to piss him off. You have any idea how much acid damage repairs cost? It's surprisingly a lot, especially when it comes to Sphoeroids.

"Oh, that does it...seems I'll have to be more...direct with you kids." Slix retracted his weapons, and lined up his body, going into a battle stance. In the blink of an eye, Slix was suddenly in front of Flynt. Flynt barely had time to react, as Slix punched him HARD in the gut. It felt like all the air left his body, as Flynt went flying back into a wall.

Blake took aim at him with the Pain Packer, but in the blink of an eye, Slix shoved her arms aside and backhanded Blake into another wall. Yang's eyes went red as she unfurled the wire around her arm and threw it out, aiming to bind up Slix long enough for Looma, Technorg, or anyone to land a hit on him.

Technorg didn't even hesitate. With a few powerful swings, Technorg was denting Slix's body without a second thought. Yang grinned. "How do you like th-"

Yang's wires suddenly started to turn red- in a flash of red, Technorg and Yang were sent flying back, thankfully not into a wall, but Yang's wire was destroyed in the blast. Yang looked down at her yellow robotic arm. "Great. That's gonna be a bitch to replace.

"What the fu-" Technorg started.

"Internal Pyronite Nova-class Heat Generator. Nice little bit of tech for when people get too close," Slix smirked. Ceres ran next, unaffected by such a thing and picked up where Technorg left off.

Looma joined her- Ceres and Looma began to unleash a volley of powerful punches onto his armor. Slix had power, yeah...but honestly, Ceres was just stalling.

Ben's body was starting to recover, and he knew exactly how to take care of their friend here...

He slammed down on the Omnitrix and after a flash of green, the small, red, devil-like form of Jury Rigg replaced the walking collection of legos. Ben smirked when he saw Slix. Ohhh this was gonna be perfect.

Slix growled as he threw a punch of his own, lightning sparking over his knuckles as he landed a hit on Looma.

"Getting really annoyed at being a fucking PUNCHING BAG!" the announcer roared.

Slix was so caught up with the barrage of punches, he never even noticed Ivori silencing Jury Rigg.

"...I have no idea what this dude does, but I'm sure he's gonna be a riot." Ivori said, watching the little guy run off on all fours.

Slix caught one of Ceres' punches and landed a few good hits on her too, shocking her with each jab. He reared back a hit...but his arm seemed to have frozen up suddenly. Whatever he tried, Slix's arm was just stuck. He turned back to see Jury Rigg now on his shoulder and absolutely wrecking the servos in his arm.

"W-what the fuck?!" Slix yelled, "G-get him off! Get him off!"

"Jury Rigg, disassemble!" Ben yelled, as Ivori canceled his semblance. Durability meant nothing to him. He began to rip Slix apart, much to his horror.

"STOP THIS! STOP THIS AT ONCE!"

Slix was terrified right now, doing whatever he could to throw Jury Rigg off of him. Bolts and metal plates went flying, clanging on the floor of the ship. Sparks flew as Jury Rigg crossed wires that were never meant to be connected. Slix's eyes began flashing with static as he continued to panic, trying to move back and slam Ben into a wall, forcing him off.

"Come on, Slix! You knew this was gonna happen sooner or later!" He laughed, ripping out some IMPORTANT wires. Slix could feel his head cycle through a feeling of imploding and exploding, and it was PAINFUL.

The robot yelled out in sheer pain as sparks just began to fly from his neck. Whatever Ben was ripping out must've been important.

Ivori blinked a few times seeing Ben mercilessly disassemble the announcer screw by screw, wire by wire.

"...I almost feel bad for him," Ivori admitted.

"I don't. Go for one of his eyes, Ben!" Kobalt yelled.

"GOT IT!" Ben easily ripped it out, and tossed it Kobalt. "THAT ONE'S FOR YOU, BUDDY!"

"WHAT IS WRONG-WRONG-WRONG-WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" Slix yelled, his voice starting to glitch.

"There's nothing wrong with them." Technorg smirked. "Sometimes, you need to play dirty to win...and I feel you should know that."

"There is a difference between-between-between playing dirty and BARBARISM!" the announcer yelled.

"Pot, meet kettle," Yang smirked.

"What?" Looma asked.

"Human expression. Don't worry about it right now."

"Why would a teapot need to meet a kettle? Are they not the same-" Looma paused. "...ah, I see."

"...yeah, let's stick with that." Yang said.

"You...you will...not go unpunished..." Slix said, as his arm raised once more- a sharp blade suddenly replaced his hand, as he turned to swing at Ben's head-

And he hit something. Just...not Ben.

Ben rubbed his head. What did Slix just hit him with? Sure fell pretty hard for a blade...then, he heard shocked gasps and horrified "no's" from the others. Ben opened his eyes...

To see Reinrassig had taken quite the hit for him.

"Did...did you just...did a HIGHBREED just..." Slix asked. He thought he was hallucinating from all the destruction of his internal components.

Reinrassig growled, grabbing hold of Slix's arm and crushing it in his grasp. He then roared as he ripped the mechanical arm in two at the elbow, sparks flying from the wires within. Slix screamed in pain and staggered back. He would've tried covering the stump with his other hand if the servos weren't fucked beyond repair.

"It's only fair..." The Highbreed hissed. "That I take what you took from me."

Ben's eyes widened as he saw Reinrassig's hand, laying on the ground. Ben's eyes darted back and forth between the two...holy, shit...

Reinrassig fell to his knees, grasping his wound. He was bleeding out.

"Son of a...bitch...you just...you all just couldn't be happy with killing me ONCE could you?!" Slix yelled, getting a bit unhinged in sheer anger.

"...Flynt...can I borrow that gun?" Ruby asked. Yeah, Crescent Rose would've work here too...but in this case, she'd make an exception for finishing this asshole off.

"All yours," Flynt said, handing over the Chimerian rifle. Ruby still held her scythe in the other hand as she walked over to the wounded Slix. She first hooked the blade around Slix's leg, activated the energy blade, and fired off a shot, pulling the blade through his leg and forcing him down to his knees. Ruby then placed the barrel of the Chimerian rifle right in front of Slix's face. The machine blinked a few times, his eyes darting around in panic.

"I'll give you two options." Ruby said. "Escape and flee to your new body, or die now."

"I-I'll gladly take the first!" Slix insisted, as he tried...

And tried. And tried and tried and tried...wait, why the fuck couldn't he-

His eyes darted over to Jury Rigg. That had to be the explanation, he must've severed the uplink!

"You...you son of a bitch...you knew didn't you?! You knew what you fucked with and you knew your psycho friend here would give me this choice!" the machine tried to rationalize it. There was no way this was accidental.

"...I actually didn't know." Ruby said, actually shocked, throwing aside the weapon. "Goddamn, Ben. That's cold."

"But fitting!" Jury Rigg grinned.

"...oh, yeah, absolutely." Ruby said, picking up the head. "Well, change of plans. Where's the airlock?"

Slix screamed, as Ruby snickered. "Jeez, calm down. You're gullible as shit."

"W-wait...so...you're...noooot gonna kill me?" Slix asked, hoping this wasn't just some cruel joke at his expense.

"Nope. But...you're under arrest for multiple things." Ceres said, taking the head from Ruby. "With that in mind..."

Ceres looked over to Reinrassig- Ben was already at work on something. He'd swapped into Swampfire, and was holding the hand. "Hold still," He instructed.

"What...what are you..." Reinrassig groaned.

"Just, stay still. I need to see the wound," Ben said. The Highbreed instinctively gripped the wound tighter, hoping to stop the blood for a minute. Once he was certain that he wouldn't just bleed out as soon as he loosened his grip, he removed his hand and let Ben do...whatever it was he was doing.

Ben put the hand back to where it once was, and let his plant-like body work its magic. Ruby watched in awe as Ben managed to merge the hand back with its body, but it wasn't exactly...complete. Reinrassig's hand was now all green, but functional. Reinrassig stared at his hand in shock, as Ben sighed.

"Figured that since you had a plant-like biology, it would work." Ben said, as Reinrassig wiggled his hand. "Works like a charm, huh?"

"It...it does..." Reinrassig said. Ben picked up that tone in his voice though. He was grateful for being saved, but it sounded like there was a bit of disdain still present, hidden behind the words.

"...you think it makes you impure...right?" Ben asked.

"...yes," the Highbreed admitted, "My people do not believe in...'hybrids.' Genetic purity is...greatly defended."

"...did I...do the wrong thing, then?"

"...I'd much rather I'd gone back home emptyhanded than with an impure one." Reinrassig admitted.

"So...that's a yes, then," Ben sighed.

"I merely gave my opinion on the matter. I did not say it was...wrong for you to save me. Would I have...preferred something different? Yes. Will I complain about not bleeding out? No."

Ben smirked a bit at that. "Right, right...well, I'll take that." Ben reverted back to human, as Reinrassig got back up. "So...now that you can't return home...what will you do?"

"I...do not know. Though...just because I cannot return, does not mean I can ignore my mission," the Highbreed said, closing and opening his new hand a few times just to get used to it.

"I'm shocked- I thought you guys were just...well, racist." Ceres said. "I'm pretty sure anyone else from your planet would choose death than to be impure."

"Yes, yes...I'm quite aware. Any normal Highbreed would've bled out, our bodies aren't built for regrowth...but.." Reinrassig clenched his hand.

"I'm quite distinguished from my relatives."

Even Technorg was a bit surprised by this turn of events.

"Now then...I believe we have a ship waiting for us?" Reinrassig said as he walked over to the ProtoTruk.

"...woah." Looma said.

"Bit of an understatement, that," Technorg said.

"You're telling me..." Ceres said. "Maybe he will change the future of his race..."


Ironwood's day was relatively normal, most receiving reports about the major projects going on behind the scenes. The shipments were arriving on time for the first big one and the second was making good progress, as Doctor Polendina assured. All in all, rather uneventful. In truth, he was waiting on a call from Six, considering the man's own mission. Events in Vacuo had recently come to the general's attention and he wanted to keep tabs on them, get a good enough idea about how to handle them.

It was around the time he was heading down for a routine inspection of the city's hardlight Dust shield generators(something he always preferred to do personally) that his Scroll rang. He answered it without really looking at it.

"Uh heeeeeey, General!" came the sudden voice of Flynt Coal over the call.

"Mr. Coal? Not…who I was expecting," the general admitted, "I may have to speak to you later, I'm waiting for a-"

"I'm sorry to cut you off, but…I don't think this can wait."

"Very…well then. What's the situation?"

"Oh…you know…you've got about…uh…Neon, how many would say there are?"

"Uh…two, four, six, eight, ten…a lot," Neon said, her voice faint.

"A lot…great. You have a lot of alien escape pods heading to Atlas…and we miiiiight be leading them."

"...where are you?!" Ironwood asked in a mix of confusion and shock.

"Oh…y'know…in space. Heading back to Earth from a…giant space cruiser/gladiator fighting pit."

He…really shouldn't have been surprised. Team RWBY and Zeta Squad were probably involved with this somehow.

"I'll…get something ready. Call in some…assistance from those more experienced."


Shortly after that call, the hangar in the Atlas Military HQ was abuzz with activity. Plumbers from the Atlesian outposts had been called in, even two familiar ones clad in maroon and orange armor respectively. Both of them stood behind who could only be assumed to be their commanding officer…or at least some sort of higher-up as he spoke to one of the former prisoners.

"I understand completely, sir," The crimson armored Plumber hummed, his voice gruff with a heavy Southern accent. "But I do need to ask for everything you saw during your time aboard that ship."

The Opticoid's many eyes blinked.

"You…did not just say that," Griff deadpanned.

"Griff! How many times do I need to tell you not to interrupt me as I'm conducting an interview! As your superior officer, I demand some respect in my Plumber duties!"

"Yeah, show Sarge some respect!" Simmons chimed in.

"Kiss-ass," Griff shot back at Simmons.

Elsewhere in the hangar, Technorg was speaking with the general along with Ruby and Ben.

"I appreciate the offer, general," Technorg began, "but I'm not quite sure I ca-"

"From what I understand, you've been forced to fight for…that one's profit," Ironwood motioned over to the still conscious head of Slix Vigma in Ruby's hands.

"To be fair, he was a great source of income!" Slix chimed in.

"Maybe in another life, I feel like I know someone who could replace you and we'd be having the exact same conversation."

"Sounds like my kinda guy! Think I can-"

"You won't be getting any visitors in your cell."

"And the Plumbers will probably be looking into your accounts for all that money you made from this," Ruby added.

"That's the best way to hurt him, honestly," Technorg snorted, "it's the only thing he cares about."

"As I said, this sounds familiar," Ironwood said. He motioned for two soldiers to take custody of Slix from Ruby before they walked off, escorting the machine to a cell.

The soldiers carrying Slix away to his cell walked by Rook, standing with a pad out as he wrote down notes from Reinrassig.

"I…see. And the air quality?" Rook asked.

"In most city-centers, the smog has blocked out the sun entirely. Some citizens even require breathing masks in the areas with the thickest concentration," Reinrassig explained, still occasionally looking at his still-new arm.

"We will need some insight as to the industries of Augstaka, understand the processes and materials used."

"You shall have as much as I know. My house is not involved in that sector."

"Understandable. If your knowledge is not enough, is there a way to make contact with someone more knowledgeable?"

"There is…though it will be a painfully long bureaucratic process, full of political maneuvering."

"Ah…joy," Rook deadpanned. He looked over to Yang and Blake, who no doubt were having an easier time talking to Looma. They…really weren't. It was honestly a little awkward.

"Listen. We…talked it over on the ride back. You're nice and...strong and very, very friendly...but..." Yang began.

"We don't think it could honestly work out. Like, you're very kind...but...considering everything..." Blake continued.

"...I understand completely." Looma interrupted.

"Huh?" both Huntresses asked in unison.

"You are intimidated by my stature-"

"No, dear God no. It's just...emotionally, we're a lot. And well...you..." Yang tried to explain.

"...did you just not expect to take my hand in marriage?" Looma asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," Blake admitted.

"Also very understandable...I accept your withdrawal."

Yang and Blake both sighed in relief.

"Though I must insist that, whenever you can, you should visit Khoros. Perhaps it can be a better experience with a proper fighting pit. Where the only prize one needs is the glory of victory!"

"I mean…" Blake said hesitantly.

"Hey, we're being asked this time. Why not have a little fight club?" Yang chuckled a bit.

At one of the Mantas off-loading supplies, Elm couldn't help but look over at Looma, kind of lost in her own thoughts.

"...are you blushing?"

Elm wasn't expecting the shock- it made the Ace-Op drop the crate she was carrying. Fortunately, the contents weren't fragile.

"M-marrow! Uh," Elm tried to recover, but Marrow wasn't stupid. He turned his head, following Elm's gaze until he saw Looma.

"Huh…so that's your type?"

"Wha-?! Marrow, come on. I'm on the job, I-I can't be fantasizing about her right now."

"First off," Clover said, passing the two by. "Terrible Harriet impression. Second, you basically just confirmed it."

"S-sir?!" Elm asked.

"I'm just stating the obvious though, I think. When all is said and done…I think you should be able to at least introduce you."

"Well…I…" the muscle of the Ace-Ops sighed, before a smile made its way onto her face. "Thank you, sir."

"No problem."


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