I dunno how but I got three shinies in the Teal Mask DLC

Blanket the Mamoswine, Coco the Mightyena and Busta the Shiftry

Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5


Things were not going fine with Locus and the others. Who knew a bunch of AK-130s could overpower 5 people? Easily?

Locus found himself straining to keep his focus. Too many damn targets...

The standard AK-130s were easy enough to deal with, something Blake's previous experiences with them could attest to. Standard guns in the arms and arm-blades like their successors didn't sound bad on paper. The problem was that these androids used Dust bullets instead of regular ammunition. Couple that with the inclusion of the special AK-135s, a special variant that dropped ranged weapons in place of a riot shield, and more shooters raining lead down from the manor's second floor, the foyer was easily turned into a death trap.

Blake took a few potshots from behind one of the marble pillars, hoping she could get lucky and slip a shot in through the slot in the riot shield, but she watched as the one lucky bullet that seemed to get the right trajectory bounced off a small barrier of Hard Light Dust.

"We need to get behind them somehow!" Blake yelled, her words almost drowned out by the gunfire.

"Yeah, no shit!" Rex said, building up the Slam Cannon and taking a few pot shots at the shooters on the upper floors.

"Xiao Long! Your explosive rounds, what's the range on them?!" Locus shouted.

"I literally have to punch them on!" Yang yelled back, firing off a few shots at the riot shields. The metal clanged as the bullets hit, but they still held strong.

"We need to re-strategize…" Locus looked around before holstering his shotgun. The close range weapon wouldn't really do much good in this scenario, but a more precise and long range weapon would work wonders here. He brought out a sniper rifle and adjusted the scope so the zoom wasn't magnified too much.

"Belladonna, how many targets on the balcony?!" the Atlesian yelled.

The feline Faunus took a quick peek from behind her cover and quickly counted. She dove back behind the pillar when one of the 130s turned and fired at her with earth Dust rounds.

"I count five!" Blake called.

"How many do you need taken out for an opening?"

"At least two!"

"Done!" Locus spun out from behind his cover and took a knee. Before the outdated bots could adjust their own aim to fix on the soldier, the Atlesian elite fired off a shot, taking the head of one of the 130s clean off. He adjusted slightly and fired again, sending the bullet through the faceplate of a second android.

"GO!"

That was just what she needed to hear. Blake rushed out with Gambol Shroud's ribbon extended already. Other AKs noticed her and fired off rounds her way, but the ninja Faunus was able to avoid them with precise and clever uses of her Semblance. Bullets tore through ice sculptures and stone statues instead of the real deal, giving Blake all the time she needed to toss her weapon to one of the guard rails. When her blade dug into the stone, Blake used another clone to boost herself up to that balcony. Once she was over the railing, she opened fire, taking down one android with three shots. She quickly reloaded before she saw a few of the machines swap to arm-blades, while new mechanical defenders rushed in from behind her.

"Intruder: identify yourself," the lead bot of the rearguard droned.

"Deja vu," Blake scoffed. Her cat ears twitched a bit when she heard the second group's guns start to spin up. Two of the robots in front of her nodded at each other before rushing. Blake leapt at the precise moment so that she avoided the incoming barrage of fire, while simultaneously ensuring that her attackers would take all the bullets. The team's resident ninja gracefully landed behind the trio of robots and slashed through their necks in one swift motion. Their heads thudded to the ground, one even rolling off the side and smashing against the tiled floor. Blake drew her bladed sheath and began to cut down the remaining shooters on the balcony.

There was a bit of a flashback there, to a certain cargo train, but the memory quickly faded as she returned to the here and now. She kicked the last defeated bot's body over the railing.

"Yang! Boom Shield!" Blake yelled.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Yang smirked.

"What are you-?!" Locus began, before he saw Yang make a beeline for the defeated wreck.

"Cover her!" the Atlesian soldier barked the order, taking aim and firing off sniper shots at the phalanx of machines guarding the stairwell. Ceres and Rex followed suit, firing off their own shots to distract the gunners. Yang skid across the tiled floor after a running start, as if she were trying to slide in for a home run, and grabbed the wrecked robot's ankle. In one move, she picked up the hunk of metal and placed it in front of her, rushing the mechanical lines with a loud battle cry. Her eyes changed to a crimson hue as she charged. At about halfway, she then threw the wrecked machine at its compatriots with one final, powerful punch. The wreckage slammed into the shield wall, forcing the machines to recoil a bit.

"And what did THAT accomplish?!" Locus questioned.

"This!" Yang said as something clicked in her gauntlet. One of the 135s looked down at the body of its former comrade and saw that it was riddled with glowing red dots, glowing red dots that began to flash faster and faster, until-

BOOM!

Locus shielded his eyes as the explosion rang out, followed by the sounds of robotic debris hitting the floor in a chorus of clangs and clinks. Yang smirked, her eyes now back to their usual violet color, and she dusted off her hands.

"Nice work, huh?" Yang asked.

"Next time…tell me what you're going to do," Locus growled before rushing for the stairs, "We still have two targets to deal with. North, Salazar, you're to find the orb. Take the west wing of the manor. Belladonna, Xiao Long, you're with me. We take the east wing, find Churmon and arrest him."

"Right," Ceres agreed. Splitting up wasn't the ideal, but at least this way there'd still be eyes on the soldier.

The team split up, racing down the various corridors of the manor, but each foot of ground they covered was fought for. Churmon must have bought these androids in bulk, maybe to cover the entirety of his manor or maybe because he had too much wealth to know what to do with. Either way, the two teams charged through the machines on their search.


The west wing of the manor was where most of the more mundane rooms were in the Churmon manor, everything from guest bedrooms to storage rooms. It wasn't as expansive as the Schnee Manor or even Jacques' own manor, but it was still a full-on Atlesian mansion. Gunshots rang out as more mechanical soldiers tried to corner Ceres in one of the rooms she had just finished searching. Instead of wasting ammo, the Archimedian just threw a chair at the two older robots and knocked them down. She rushed over to them and slammed her fists into both of the robots' chests, making them spark and go limp.

"Damn it," the Archimedian huffed, "where the hell could he hide it?"

"Intruder," the droning voice of an AK-135 rang out as it and two 130s with arm-blades at the ready approached Ceres, "Identify yourself."

"Oh my god, it's like you guys only have that one line."

The 135 and one of its comrades rushed at their target, with the 135 opening up the assault by trying a shield bash. Ceres managed to dodged the hit and landed a roundhouse kick that forced the machine to the ground. The 130 tried to rush in and slice apart its target, but the leader of Zeta Squad deftly dodged out of each strike. On the last one, Ceres reached out and grabbed the robot by the arm, making the machine pause for a moment. If it could rethink its decisions, it probably would here. With a quick bit of pressure, Ceres crushed the 130's arm and ripped it off. She used her free hand to blast a hole in the robot's chest, before she spun around and stabbed the 135-model with the severed arm-blade. The third android tried to leap at Ceres from behind to surprise her, but it was quickly restrained by the Blaster Caster. Rex's whip wrapped around the droid and slammed it into the tiled floor a few times.

"Any luck?" Rex asked.

"Not yet!" Ceres answered, "For all we know, it's not even in this wing!"

"Don't think he suggested we go on our own-?"

"Because he thinks he can handle them easier? Maybe. But you think he'd try to pick you for that. He knows what you can do, he's worked with you before. But Yang and Blake?"

"...it might be personal," Rex said.

"Cause of that mission with the Talpaedan? He doesn't seem like the type to be petty over a missed kill."

"No, he's not upset about missing the kill," the nanite-using Ace-Op said, "If anything, he'd be upset that he didn't finish the mission."

"But…he did?"

"Not in his mind. Andreas managed to 'escape,' and he was ordered to kill him. To him, Andreas getting away is a black mark on his record and while it wasn't outright said that Yang and Blake helped…"

"He's not stupid," Ceres finished.

"Right. He probably put two and two together but kept it to himself."

"Shit. Should've told the others about that earli-" Ceres began, before she was cut off by the sound of visors audibly flipping down, signaling the arrival of new Atlesian Knights.

"Intruders, identify-" the AK-130 began.

"Oh shut up!" Ceres yelled, racing right at the new group.


A final shotgun shot rang out and the head of an AK-130 fell from its shoulders, rolling along the ground. Locus lowered his weapon and loaded in a new line of slugs. With that familiar pumping sound to signal the weapon was ready, Locus looked around at the destruction he, Yang, and Blake had caused. There was a significantly higher amount of the droids protecting this one room. After all the hallways they fought through, this must be the one. Locus turned to Yang and Blake and directed them with some hand signals, telling them to flank the door. The Bumblebee duo did as requested, before Locus counted down with his fingers.

3…

2…

1! With that, Locus kicked the door to the room and gave it a quick scan. It was Churmon's personal study. He looked around for any sign of the Atlesian millionaire, only seeing some of the Atlesian's possessions. He carefully approached the desk and, when he reached it, threw aside the chair to check under it. He heard a fearful whimper and growled, reaching down and throwing out the man of the hour, Onyx Churmon. Onyx was a short man, dressed in a shiny black suit, complete with a purple tie and business shoes.

"W-wait, I surrender, I surrender!" Onyx begged, curling in on himself.

"This is Churmon?" Yang asked.

"He's…" Blake began.

"Like a human rat?"

"Yeah."

"I-i don't know w-why you're here!" Onyx called out, "B-but I surrender!"

"The orb, Churmon," Locus growled, grabbing the millionaire by the back of his collar, "Where. Is. It?" He slammed Churmon into one of the walls, but there wasn't a hint of rage in his movements. There wasn't any emotion in his actions.

"Locu-" Yang started.

"Quiet. Now. Churmon. You are a known associate of Amoncio Glass and we have reason to believe he sent you something important."

"H-he…he did," Churmon sniffled in fear, "H-he just…told me to protect it a-and he'd pay me w-well for it. I-i'm a collector and trader s-so it worked out."

"Then where. Is. It?"

"...r-right…here," Onyx dropped the currently active orb, its light already flashing.

"Oh shit!" Yang yelled. Locus tossed aside the corrupt collector and took aim at the orb with his shotgun. With one final pump, he fired and blasted the orb apart, letting the fear mist within dissipate.

"Mission accomplished," Locus nodded.

"Guess the defenses did their job," Yang said, "Who knows how long that thing was-"

The entire room suddenly shook. No, not just the room, it was the whole building.

"-on," Yang finished.

"W-what…what was that?" Onyx asked.

"Shut up," Locus growled.

"I-i surrendered! Y-you have to protect me, I'm a prisoner!"

"I said, shut u-!" Before Locus could even finish the sentence, the wall behind the Atlesian millionaire exploded, sending rubble everywhere. One piece managed to hit Locus in the chest and knock him off his feet. Blake and Yang managed to catch sight of what caused the wall to explode through the dust and debris.

Seemingly in slow motion, the familiar, yet frost covered beak of a Nevermore broke through the glass and stone of the manor. Onyx turned just in time to see the open beak loom over him. He didn't even get to scream for help before the beak snapped shut around him. The Nevermore shook its head about, splattering some of the surroundings with blood, before finally swallowing its prey. The Grimm then turned to the trio still left in the room and screeched at them.

Yang's hair set alight and she rushed the Nevermore. She didn't even hesitate to just sock it right in the face with a powerful right hook. The screeching from the giant bird monster stopped and two of its four red eyes focused on Yang.

"What's the matter? Not so hungry when your food fights back?" the blonde growled.

As if to answer, the Nevermore let go and flew away from the building, but only a bit. It was about to give one more powerful flap of its wings when Blake realized what it was doing.

"RUN!" Blake called out. Yang saw it too and bolted, Locus not far behind them. They left Onyx's personal study just as the Nevermore unleashed a flurry of its projectile feathers. They tore through the room, destroying more bits of glass and stone. If the trio had stayed there, the feather-spears would have surely impaled them all. The Nevermore screeched when it didn't smell blood from its attack and began to circle the building.

Locus, Blake, and Yang all made a beeline for the foyer, with the blonde brawler radioing in to Rex and Ceres.

"Guys, we got it!" Yang called, "Orb's gone, but we still have a problem! It managed to draw a Nevermore here! Churmon's dead and I think our ride might be if it gets closer!"

"How did this even happen? A lone Nevermore couldn't have slipped through the defenses like that…" Locus thought aloud.

"They're tracking the swarm the orb was luring, right?" Blake asked, "So what if the defenses aren't up yet because the swarm's still far off. One Grimm sped ahead and got here before the rest and went unnoticed."

"That's…actually might be likely," Locus admitted.

"So, plan's to take out the Nevermore, right?" Yang asked.

"Of course. It cannot be allowed to run amok in the city. How is that even a question?"

"Ok, next question. How powerful is that sniper?"

"Not powerful enough to pierce a Nevermore's skull plate. The wings on the other hand…" Locus said, making the plan clear.

"Is something we can totally handle." Rex said, forming his cannon build.

"How many detonators do you think could break that skull plate?" Yang asked, wriggling her fingers.

"Maybe...your whole stock." Blake hummed.

"Only one way to find out," Yang punched her fist into the palm of her hand.

The group reached the door that led back out to the front yard of the manor, Locus pausing right before it.

"On my signal. Understood?" Locus asked.

"Got it," Ceres nodded.

"Good," Locus swapped out his shotgun for his sniper, ensuring it had a full clip before counting down, "3...2...1...GO!"

With that, Locus kicked the doors open and they all raced out into the courtyard. Locus skidded into a kneeling position and immediately looked skyward, trying to track the Nevermore. Yang got her detonators ready and Rex's build took a chunk out of the stone stairs. Blake and Ceres got their respective weapons ready as they heard the echoing shriek of the Nevermore. The usually jet black bird monster, now covered with patches of ice like all the Grimm of Solitas, circled around the mansion and zeroed in on the group. It let out another shriek as it practically dive-bombed them.

"Hold fire..." Locus ordered, "Hold..."

The wings of the monster reared back, exposing one of its weak-points around the shoulder.

"NOW-!" Locus ordered. But before anyone could actually shoot, three whistling sounds were heard before a trio of missiles slammed into the Grimm and turned it to dust mid-air.

"Who the fu-?" Yang started, before she saw a second Manta fly into view.

"You're WELCOME!" Felix's voice blared over the loudspeakers.

"FELIX!" Locus yelled into his communicator. "THAT WAS A STUPID AND DANGEROUS MANEUVER! I could report you to the General for insubordination!"

"Yeah? Guess it's true what they say. No good deed goes unpunished," Felix smugly smirked.

"As well as the pilot who fired-!" Locus continued.

"Sorry, that was me! Not really a pilot, but when was I ever gonna be able to shoot airship rockets?" Ruby nervously chimed in.

"Agent Rose...you get off with a warning since this is your first official mission with us. And...I still owe you my thanks for what you did with Gatlocke."

"Oh, thanks." Ruby said. I totally forgot about that.

"See? It all worked out! Everything's good in the neighborhood." Felix grinned. He said this as he didn't see the look Ben was drilling into the back of his head.

"Are we forgetting something?" Weiss chimed in.

"She's right," Locus said, "The third orb. Open the doors, we'll take the ride together."

Felix landed the plane, and opened the hatch. "Carpool is ready to go. I've got juice boxes in case you kids get-"

Locus shot him a look to say 'Shut the fuck up'. Ben appreciated it.

"Ok, ok," Felix sighed, "Sheesh. Wouldn't kill you to crack a joke every once in a while in this line of work."

"It's not our job to 'joke.' Our job is follow through with the mission," Locus said, taking a seat, "Set course for Dormir."

"Roger that, captain buzzkill." Felix grumbled, as he began to set course. Ruby got out of the co-pilot's seat, and regrouped with the others. She pulled out her scroll and shook it- code word for 'talk on your phones'.

They all nodded and took out their Scrolls. Blake was the first to start things off.

I don't think Locus is in on it. If he is, then he hides it very well. Blake texted.

Got a bit rough with the guy who had the orb, but nothing that screamed 'I'm a bad guy'. Yang added.

Same with Felix. Dunno if he's a traitor...but the guy's a FUCKING PSYCHO. Ben texted, adding a hockey mask emoji at the end to compare him to a certain slasher movie villain who loved Camp Crystal Lake.

Is that appropriate? Weiss shook her head while texting. She would occasionally look up to see if Felix and Locus were paying attention.

Yes, very much. He just executed two guys because they were rude to him. Ben explained.

Fucking what?! Ceres asked. Right in front of you guys?!

Oh, he split us up! He probably wanted to kill these guys from the start without being seen! Hell, his exact orders were to use lethal force...in a factory with possibly innocent workers! Only like...ten of the workers were actually bad guys! The rest were just working overtime!

Ben only got a chance to see it because he went Nanomech. Be thankful the Omnitrix didn't block that one out. Ruby explained.

That's horrific. Who does he think he is? Blake frowned.

Clearly he thinks he's better than the Ace-Ops. According to Ben, what set him off was being compared to them. Something about having a 'mind of his own.' And he chooses to -murder- two innocent people for it… Weiss answered.

How'd he pass the mental evaluation? Yang asked the group chat.

Probably hides the crazy well enough. Ceres suggested. Even Ironwood was caught off guard by the truth.

It's what he did with the workers. Ben said. He acted all buddy-buddy with them at first, then he got aggressive. Then he basically said 'I'm going to gaslight my teammates into believing that this worker killed his boss!'

What the FUCK?! Yang turned to look at Felix.

"There a problem back there?" Felix asked, "I can tell one of you's looking at me back there!"

"No problem! Just...wondering how long the flight will be!" Yang covered.

"Dormir is out east, past Mosset Grotto," Locus answered, "The ship is going as fast as possible, so it will be...twenty minutes."

"Cool cool cool," Ben said, furiously typing. "Think we'll be back home for dinner?"

His text read: HE FUCKING KNOWS

Don't panic! Don't panic! We might be overreacting! Ruby tried to calm him down.

"Depends on how bad the Grimm are out there. Heard there was one of those...mercs out there. Guardians or something," Felix shrugged.

"Alright, that's good." Ruby said. "Ben and I were...just weighing dinner options. Salad bar?"

"Maybe." Ben hummed, as he typed again.

GIVE ME MY OSCAR I AM FREAKING OUT. Ben texted.

(Kylie almost sent a cute picture of Ben giving Oscar a piggy back ride.)

"Xiao Long," Locus called back, "Focus on your preparations. We'll be there."

"Oh, yes sir," Yang said.

FUCK THEY BOTH KNOW. THAT WAS HIM SAYING HE KNOWS, I FUCKING KNOW IT! Yang panic-texted.

Locus and Felix, however, were actually oblivious to their texts. They still knew that these kids were catching on, though. Watching these kids suffer was a shared enjoyment the two had.

Hey. Felix tapped morse code onto the dash. They're really freaking out.

Yeah. And don't do that. Locus scolded. What if one of them knows morse code?

Come on! Who does? Felix scoffed.

Kylie did.

...they're both in on it. Kylie texted. They just said it.

Wait, what? Ruby asked.

The tapping. They're talking in morse code.

The ship went silent. Too quiet. Locus and Felix looked behind them, noticing the kids staring back.

Felix sighed. "Okay, let's just fucking do this." He pulled out his gun, and fired it at random.

"Felix, what are you-?!" Locus yelled.

"Oh, they fucking know! Better to let their bodies burn up in a ship crash!" Felix countered. Weiss quickly used her Dust to summon up a Hard Light barrier, letting the shots bounce off the shield.

Locus groaned and activated the ship's auto-pilot, getting out of his seat and drawing his shotgun.

"Ok, so Felix I can kinda get," Yang said. "'cuz it turns out he's insane."

"Not insane! I'm amoral, blondie," Felix rolled his eyes.

"But why you? What do you get out of this?"

Locus didn't answer at first.

"Answer me something, Xiao Long. How would you define the perfect soldier?" the traitorous soldier asked.

"I dunno. Someone that follows order, doesn't question stuff and is ready to lay down their life." Yang shrugged. "What the hell does this have to do with anything?"

"You hit most of the points," Locus said.

"Most?" Yang repeated.

"Follow orders, do not question your orders, be ready to lay down your life...and do whatever it takes to survive. Survival is what I'm after."

"And money, can't forget the money!" Felix chimed in.

"You're joking, right? You put two whole cities and countless villages at risk-!" Blake began.

"For a paycheck, yeah. Ironwood's a lot more generous to his science team than to his grunts. The 'honor of defending the greatest Kingdom' is payment enough, or some shit like that."

Ben frowned. "You're just like Hanlon- but somehow worse. Is that why you shot him, Felix? Cuz you saw a bit of yourself in him?"

And then Felix doubled over in laughter.

"Hahahahaha! Oh that's good, that's good. Go on, tell another one. Ease up the tension here. I fucking hated that guy! I told you, I can't stand preachy types! I shot him because he was a loose end! Glass was fine because he didn't ask questions. He basically knew nothing. But Fiefstone? Fiefstone knew just a taaaaad too much. So.." the traitor put two fingers to his head and flexed his thumb, mimicking the hammer of a gun pulling down when it was fired.

"It's standard protocol," Locus coldly added.

"To kill somebody who had ANSWERS?!" Ben exclaimed.

"Continues the monetary flow, hence maintaining stability." That tone of smug happiness in Felix's voice prompted Ben to switch on the Omnitrix. He selected the icon for Diamondhead and scowled at Felix. He slapped down the Omnitrix. Diamonds grew around Ben's neck and head, and soon his entire face was encrusted with them, and shards started emerging from every crevice of his body. For an instant, Ben's eyes glowed a vibrant green.

"Come get your blood diamonds, then." Ben frowned, as he shot shards at the pair.

The duo dodged out of the way, with Felix rolling to the side and Locus just jumping to the side. But the shards had to hit something. Everyone on the ship watched as the shards stabbed into the control panel of the ship, sending sparks across the entire dashboard. Locus and Felix shared a look before they both nodded. They quickly sat back in the pilot and co-pilot chairs and pulled on two chords. Two pieces of roof paneling shot off, followed by their chairs launching out.

"...since when did this thing have ejector seats?!" Rex yelled.

Ben frowned. "SOMEBODY CALL IRONWOOD! WE'RE GOING DOWN!" Ben tumbled over as the ship began to careen out of control.

Weiss grabbed her Scroll and tried to get the call in.

Felix and Locus, firmly fastened into their now slowly descending seats, watching as the Manta began to spin in the air, careening faster and faster towards the ground.

"There they go, the optimistic kid heroes, all the way to the-!"

BOOM!

"Ohhhh, not quite, didn't make it," Felix chuckled.

"We should still check the crash site. If they survived, they may try to make their way to the third orb," Locus said.

"What's one more orb? Not like we don't have like...what? Fifty more?"

"I didn't count them..." Locus deadpanned.

"Me neither, but my point stands!" Felix said.

"Either way...no way any of them survived that." Locus said. He felt confident in that.

For a second.

Jetray suddenly shot out of the wreckage, with Ruby on his back. Ruby began firing her sniper at the two's parachutes.

"Oh that Red Riding Hood rip-off daughter of a basta-aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Felix yelled as he fell. Locus was oddly calm as he fell, before both seats thudded into the snow.

Felix angrily hopped out of his seat, as Ben and Ruby flew around in the sky. Ben's eyes were charging up with energy. "I'll give them a warning shot- and nothing ELSE!" Ben unleashed a powerful neuroshock, which split the ground open.

Locus didn't even hesitate, drawing his sniper rifle and taking shots at the Aerophibian. Ben managed to weave around the shots with ease, but Ruby took notice of something about the vapor trails the shots left behind. There were...embers in the air, trailing behind the shots.

"Oh my god...BEN! Their Aura! It's unlocked!" Ruby called out.

"Wait, what?! THEM?!" Ben asked.

"Guess they unlocked it a while back..." Ruby frowned. "Go all out, babe."

"With pleasure." Ben said, as he zipped towards the ground.

"Fuckin' great," Felix hissed, "What's the plan here? They came to us here...so..."

"...then we kill them here," Locus said, moving to the front. He just stared at Ben and Ruby as they rushed towards him. He waited for just the right moment.

Ben was about to slam into the more serious of the duo, before he activated a shield that projected from his arm, just like Weiss' own barrier but it seemed much sturdier. Ben pulled up at the last second, barely avoiding slamming into the Dust barrier.

"The hell is-?!" Ben began, before more shots rang out thanks to Felix. He was firing off rounds of Dust as well, hoping to land a shot that would ground the duo. As it stood, they had more of an advantage, something that Felix couldn't stand really.

"Come on, you goddamn-" Felix cursed, before landing a shot of ice Dust on Ben. Ice crystals formed around Jetray's wing, throwing him off balance.

"There we go," Felix smirked.

Ben spiraled out of control, but quickly blasted the ice off with his tail.

"Aw, what!? His tail too!?" Felix said.

"I don't MAKE alien biology rules, okay?" Ben yelled, as he charged up an attack with his eyes and tail. He aimed the beams at each other, which somehow made an even bigger, more powerful beam of energy that went straight towards Felix's position.

Felix held out his arm and summoned up a similar Hard Light Dust shield that Locus had, letting the powerful beam refract off of it, cutting lines into the snow away from him.

"Where the hell did he get that?" Ruby wondered aloud.

"Call it an advance on the payment! Sign of good faith and all that!" Felix answered.

"Felix!" Locus chided.

"Oh, like she's gonna live long enough to tell anyone else."

Ruby frowned. ...Maybe I'll pry it off his knocked out body. That kinda looks cool.

Ben stopped his attack so as not to hurt Ruby, or cause some Grimm to notice. "Ugh. This is getting annoying...I wish I had Upgrade or something so I could merge with their tech and make them punch themselves."

"Why not just drop down to our level?" Felix taunted, "Or is the great 'Ben 10' scared of two normal dudes kicking his ass and sending him and his girlfriend back to space?"

"So we're gonna stomp them into the snow now, right?" Ruby asked.

Ben smirked. "Oh, absolutely. Maybe I just need to turn the tables with..." Pressing the Omnitrix, Ben changed into Four Arms and fell from the sky. The instant his feet struck the ground, he smashed them into it.

"You had to say something," Locus deadpanned.

"We've dealt with bigger brutes than this guy," Felix said. He quickly pulled a yellow Dust crystal out of a pouch on his belt and jabbed it into Ben's arm, sending one hell of a jolt into his body. The shock forced him to let the two go, but Ruby quickly raced in to take on Locus. Her scythe blade came swinging down towards the calmer traitor, before he managed to block the strike with his shotgun.

Surprisingly, Crescent Rose didn't just cut cleanly through it. Instead, the elite soldier forced Ruby back with a shove and took a swing at her using the shotgun as a bludgeon for a minute. After Ruby ducked under the swing, she heard the shotgun be pumped and dodged out of the way to avoid a slug being fired at her. More slugs fired off from the shotgun, though none found their mark with her speed.

"Ok...guess that means it's you and me," Felix said.

Ben pulled the lightning Dust crystal out of his arm and threw it to the ground. His eyes locked onto Felix and slammed his fists together.

"Not the smartest idea on your part," Ben taunted.

"Funny, didn't think that was the telepath alien."

Ben twisted the dial. "Ha. Ha. Ha." He slapped down the Omnitrix, and let metal and tech meld all over his body. The Omni Drive form had been activated, and Ben was looking forward to pummeling the ever living shit out of Felix.

"And I'll start with this." Ben kicked up the electricity dust, and injected it into his suit.

"Real original," Felix said. Ben actually made the first move here, rushing over with two fists raised and ready to slam down on the traitor again. Felix dodged out of the way and swept Ben's legs out from under him, letting him thud into the snow.

"Round 1, Felix," the Atlesian soldier said with a mock bow, his voice sounding like a fighting game announcer.

Ben flipped himself back up, and activated the suit to make his hands larger. "Round 2..." Ben grunted as he launched the hands at Felix.

"Oh shi-!"

That took Felix off guard, the two fists slamming into him and sending a shock through his body. His Aura flared up for a moment, orange in hue, as electricity sparked across his armor.

"Lucky shot," Felix growled.

Ruby, meanwhile, raced towards Locus after his last shotgun shell was fired. She left her storm of rose petals and struck at the traitorous soldier again. He dodged the strike and swiftly followed up with one of his own, landing a punch to Ruby's gut. He followed up with a few more quick jabs that made her stumble back, mixing in smacks from the shotgun as well. Ruby growled as she dodged the last shotgun smack and then headbutted Locus. Maybe not her smartest move, since that hurt both of them.

"Ow, ow, ow..." Ruby groaned, rubbing her forehead. Locus only groaned after he was hit, quickly shaking it off.

"That was a stupid mistake..." Locus said, as he reloaded his shotgun. "And it'll cost you dearly."

"Yeah, not my brightest move." Ruby admitted. "But I'll do anything for a small opening." As she said this, something slammed into Locus' blindspot- a giant broadsword.

"Not much of a perfect soldier if you let that distract you," Rex smirked. Locus wasn't amused, if anything he seemed disappointed. Hard to tell with the helmet. Locus quickly got back up and loaded some fresh slugs into his shotgun.

"Agent Salazar," Locus said, pumping the shotgun, "Unpredictable, insubordinate..."

"Hey, the Outcasts thrive on that kinda chaos, what can I say?" Rex smirked.

"...it makes you a terrible Ace Operative."

"Great to hear." Rex said, unbothered by the comment. He swung his sword again, and Locus narrowly ducked under it. As the blade swept past, Locus sprang to his feet and countered with a strike of his own- a shotgun blast. Rex parried the blow, sending a shockwave through his weapon that reverberated in Locus' bones. Rex stepped back, grinning.

"I don't exactly play well with most of those guys anyways." Rex melded his weapon into the Smack Hands.

"I know. You're the farthest example of a true soldier I've ever seen," Locus said, taking out a grenade and throwing it after pulling the pin. Rex dove for cover before the grenade exploded, sending a shockwave out that created a ring of earthen spikes surrounding an impact crater much larger than it should've been.

"Coming from you that's a compliment," Rex said as he got back up.

"But so are the rest of them."

"...what?" That caught Rex off guard, a state of confusion Locus took advantage of by firing off a few sniper rounds. Rex brought his Smack Hands together as a shield to block the rifle shots.

"The other Operatives are not the perfect soldiers either. They each have their own hindrances. Marrow is like you, impulsive and more likely to go against his orders. Elm, no doubt thanks to you, is now the same, but she always had the wrong mindset for her line of work. Vine is too detached, more willing to negotiate than fight. The closest are Clover and Harriet, but even they fall short. Harriet may put on a brave face, but she's ill-suited to missions today. And Clover is a living safety net. So long as they have him, the Ace-Operatives can afford to make whatever mistakes they want, because in the end it will all turn out thanks to their 'good luck charm. And Ironwood lets this go on...it's a farce, an insult."

"So, what? They're the best of the best. If they suck as soldiers, why did Ironwood devote an entire faction to them? Make it make sense, dude!" Rex said, hammering the ground with his fists.

"Make it make sense…fine. I will." Locus said. "The Ace-Ops, as a unit, are meant to be a single machine, with each member as a component. But if you take one part out…then the entire thing falls apart. That's not how you train soldiers. That's how you make a system," Locus said, before firing off another volley of sniper fire. The bullets, this time, froze over at the site of the impacts, coating the Smack Hands in ice crystals.

"Then why the hell did you even apply for them?!"

"Because back then I thought they were different. But when the time came-"

"You were rejected, right?!" Rex yelled.

"No. I was accepted...and turned down the offer."

"So, what? You think you're better because...I dunno, you're a free thinker or something? More independent?!" Rex morphed from the Smack Hands into the Block Party. He began blocking some of Locus' shots, trying to deflect them back.

"I don't think I'm better...I just am," Locus said and fired off another round from a new clip. Rex held firm and was ready for his build to just take the hit like it had before. But that wasn't happening. The shield that the bullet hit actually shattered, along with the rest of that part of the build.

"What the-?"

"A gift. From a benefactor," Locus said before firing again.

When Rex heard this, his pupils dilated, and his entire body trembled from the anxiety it caused.

"You gotta be kidding me..." The Ace Op muttered as he dodged the attack. He was at a loss to explain why the phrase had provoked such a powerful reaction in him. After their most recent encounter, in which he emerged victorious, he thought it was...maybe a one and done situation. When he reflected on what the knight had said, he felt a shiver travel up and down his spine.

"It's a shame you didn't recognize me."

"You're...working with her!?" Rex yelled.

Locus didn't answer. Instead, he was about to open fire again, only for Felix to be thrown into him by Four Arms. The duo thudded into the snow as Ruby flourished her scythe.

"Huh," Ruby shrugged, "Not as tough as I fought."

"Rex marched over to Felix and morphed one of his hands into a Smack Hand again, grabbing hold of Locus.

"Who is she?! She called herself Black Knight, but I wanna know who's under that damned helmet!" Rex demanded.

Locus said nothing. Rex could feel the traitorous soldier glaring daggers at him from behind his own helmet.

"If you want to talk with me, then you'll talk to Harriet. And, in case you didn't notice, she's getting better."

The silence continued, but then Locus tilted his head, as if he was listening to something or someone. Felix did too, before the more chatty of the duo started chuckling.

"Well kids…" Felix snarked, "sorry to cut this short. But we've got somewhere else to be."

"And you think we're gonna just let you walk?" Ben growled.

Felix smirked under his helmet as a portal opened up beneath him. It wasn't a dark red like the Outcasts were accustomed to, and instead it appeared like a green ripple in reality. Felix quickly sank into it, right as another ripple appeared behind Locus. Just like his teammate, the would-be Ace-Op shifted into the ripple and quickly vanished.

Rex was stuck, looking at nothing with eyes filled with shock, horror and confusion. He had no idea what to do or how to comprehend the scene before him.

"Rex..." Ben said, extending his hand. "Are you...okay?"

"We...we need to find them," Rex said, deconstructing his build, "The tech they had...the tech that Fistrick had back in the mine, it was her's."

"Wait, what? Who's tech?" Ruby asked.

"She's...she's someone that might know something about my past." Rex explained. "And that's all I know. SHE made the orbs or something..."

"Rex, we know the orbs came from Arrowfell. Unless there's another Atlesian scientist on the same level as Weller or Pietro," Ben began.

"She might be. I...I don't know, but we need to-"

"What we need to do," Weiss said, riding in with Kylie on the back of her Queen Lancer summon, "is to get to Dormir."

Rex frowned. "N-no! I can't go to Dormir. I...I need to chase them. Find out something, just ANYTHING about my past! You can't expect me to focus on the mission after that bombshell!"

"Ok, question for you Rex," Kylie said, "Where did they go?"

"Those rifts...they weren't Breach's. Maybe it's not who you think," Ruby suggested.

"Then whose were they!?" Rex demanded. "I have so many goddamn questions it's stretching my mind thin!"

"We'll figure that out later," Ben said, "They did look familiar, but we have a town to save right now."

"He's right. Can't just leave those people on their own," Ruby said. Ben dialed up Jetray again on the Omnitrix and transformed into the Aerophibian form once again.

"Hop on."

"I...god...damn it!" Rex cursed, building up the Rex Ride and revving his engine, ready to make his way to Dormir.


A short distance away, Locus and Felix emerged from the green rifts, the latter dusting snow off his armor.

"Good timing girls," Felix said.

"Yeah, yeah," Ivy said between breaths, "transport isn't...exactly my specialty with those. So...you're welcome."

"How'd it go?" Bianca said.

"Not good. The Outcasts knew we were onto them, jumped us mid-flight. They're on their way to Dormir right now to cover their tracks."

"Then we should go after them! Jump 'em when they least expect it!" Ruda suggested.

"Except they'd be 100% expecting, Drillbit. So, we let this play out," Felix said.

"We need to choose the battlefield and our contact will be able to set that up for us," Locus said.

"...hate it when you two are right," Rude huffed and crossed her arms, disappointedly.

"You should've heard that Tennyson brat," Felix growled, "Thought he was better than all of us cuz of that stupid watch he has. We're only human! I'm sorry not all of us have the cosmos on our wrist."

"Yeah, he looked the type to flaunt that kinda power," Roane rolled her eyes.

"And you're positi-" Bianca began.

"If we were mistaken...we would have already corrected our approach by now. They are the ones who stole the Arrowfell technology," Locus cut her off.

Bianca didn't say anything back, getting into a stare-down with the elite soldier, though it was hard to read any of his expressions as it was. Her hand tightened around the hilt of one of her blades while Locus seemed ready to draw a pistol on a moment's notice.

"Alright, time out!" Felix said, getting between the two, "Bianca, why the doubts? Why now?"

"I just...want to make sure this is right. We've got...a bad history with trust," Bianca admitted.

"Which is completely justified. Locus here, he's just not one to understand other people's...hesitations. He's more of a 'finish the mission at all costs' type."

"If...we're done," Ivy huffed, composing herself, "don't we have an ambush to plan?"

"That we do. Let them 'pretend' to be heroes. We'll get 'em next time. Count on that," Felix promised, patting the mercenary huntress on the shoulder before turning and walking off.

"Besides...our contact has been serious about the next part of this mission. If all goes well, we'll expose everything that Atlas wants to stay hidden." Locus said.

"So long as our part of the deal's upheld," Ruda added, before she, the rest of team BRIR, and Locus all walked after Felix, off into the tundra. Bianca gave one last look in the direction of Dormir before following her team.

Her doubts had not been dissuaded.