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Ben's neighborhood had never looked special. It was just another little slice of suburbia. And that's why, despite how cautious he was acting, one individual looked VERY out of place. He was an older individual, wearing a heavy gray trench coat over a copper-brown (and in some places) steampunk-styled suit with a large cog-shaped buckle for the belt. Two copper tubes connected to the metal collar of his suit and wove around to his back. He used what looked like a crude type of armor and gauntlet over his arms. Not crude as in poorly made but crude as in it seemed...outdated.

He adjusted his large smokestack-like top hat, lowered a monocle lens over his right eye, and looked across the street from where he was hiding. He checked the address and matched it with what his new benefactor had told him. He looked around to make sure that no one would be around to get in the way or try to be a hero. "Hero"...if all of this goes according to plan, he'd never have to worry about a specific hero ever again.

Ruby happily scooped out another few pieces of cookie dough and put them on the sheet. "I haven't cooked anything that wasn't from a box in a few months. Isn't that kinda sad?"

"Well, it was the same for me in college," Sandra laughed. "I survived off of box taquitos and ramen. Consider your current life 'training' for college."

"Oh, good," Ruby sighed, not looking forward to that.

The figure outside was closing in on Ben's house, hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat. How hard could this be?

Sandra washed her hands and she noticed something moving in the bushes. "Hm?" She walked over to the sliding glass door.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"Something's moving out there, might be a squirrel or gopher or something." Sandra sighed. "And I thought they'd keep out of my garden."

"Eh, nothing too bad then," Ruby said, more focused on seeing how well these cookies would turn out.

The man outside was frozen in fear that they had seen him so he didn't move for what felt like ages to him. Once he was certain that they didn't see him, he let out a sigh and made his way to the back door of the house. He could see Ruby through the window and that made him even more cautious.

Ruby happily put the cookies in the oven and sighed. Oh, fresh cookies- she hadn't had some in a good while. Sucked that all of Atlas' cookies were either in those dumb pouches or just store bought.

Ruby closed the oven...and noticed something odd in the black glass' reflection.

She raised a brow at that and turned around to see what the source was.

Ruby was making full eye contact with Steam Smythe now. Ruby's expression became a rather tired 'are you kidding me' kind of look, as she sighed.

"Mrs. Tennyson, uh, you might wanna take cover."

"Huh?" Sandra asked, a bit confused.

"Guess someone decided they'd pay Ben a visit..." Ruby said.

"...well, stealth's out the window!" Smythe said, cursing under his breath. He got himself ready for a fight. This was fine though, it would give him a chance to test out the gifts from his benefactor.

"Break that window, and I'm gonna break one of your bones!" Ruby yelled. "Attacking at home is a low blow!" Ruby zipped off and grabbed her scythe.

"To be fair," Smythe shouted back, "I wasn't expecting a fight! In truth, I didn't even know YOU would be here! If I did, I wouldn't have come alone!" His gauntlets started to heat up and he turned to Sandra. "Though it would be rude of me not to apologize in advance for any damages this might cause."

"What do you mean 'you weren't expecting a fight'?" Ruby asked, stepping out the sliding glass door.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Everything had been planned so thoroughly, as well. Shame one bad cog like you can throw so much off."

Ruby gripped her weapon a bit tighter. "Well, if you weren't expecting a fight...this should be easy." Ruby loaded a darker cartridge of Dust into the Crescent Rose and gave Smythe a determined look. Ruby swung her scythe at Smythe, sending a dark purple projectile at the man.

He dodged out of the way and took aim with his gauntlets, sending out jets of scalding steam from his palms.

"You're not the only ones who have redesigned their equipment, you know!" he shouted as the steam continued to fire.

Ruby stared, as she just let the steam kinda hit her body. "...well, it's annoying, but aura just kinda...cancels out whatever you were going for."

"Did I say I was done?" he smirked and Ruby saw something that...shouldn't really be in Smythe's arsenal. The electricity suddenly arced between the fingers of his gauntlet and he sent the current THROUGH the steam to electrify Ruby.

"I wouldn't use this under normal circumstances, but a smart man knows when to swallow his pride!"

Ruby gasped, as she quickly evaded the attack with her speed. Ruby flung another powerful slash at Smythe, this one traveling faster than the last.

He brought up his gauntlet which...actually managed to withstand the slash. Smythe just smirked as he used one hand to shoot another stream of steam and propelled himself toward Ruby. With that momentum, he reared back his fist and threw a hard right hook at her.

Ruby blocked his attack with her scythe and frowned. "Okay, so, going all-in with the Steam part. Fine." Ruby dropped her scythe and quickly sped behind the Smythe. She grabbed her scythe again, pressed it to his neck, and began to choke Smythe.

Smythe grabbed hold of the scythe with his gauntlets and smirked, sending that same shocking current through Ruby's beloved weapon.

Ruby gasped, as she dropped the scythe again. "Yeesh...well, if you wanna fight dirty...fine."

"Well I doubt you're just going to LET me do what I came here for," Smythe defended, "I'm just glad Tennyson isn't here. Let him hear it from you."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "...you weren't seriously gonna kidnap her, were you!?"

"Normally, I wouldn't! But things haven't exactly BEEN normal, now have they? Not that you would know..."

Ruby took a deep breath. "Alright. Fine."

Ruby immediately sped at Smythe and snatched him up in a flash of red. Ruby ascended high into the sky, higher than she would've liked, but it was high enough to do what she wanted.

Drop Smythe to the ground.

"Oh," Smythe said, eyes wide in horror when Ruby dropped him. He flailed a bit as he fell before trying to use the steam jets to slow his fall. "Starting to regret not asking for assistance on this!"

Ruby landed back on the ground perfectly- thank you Beacon landing techniques- while Steam Smythe smashed on the ground.

He groaned as he got back up to his feet, even grabbing his hat off the ground and putting back on his head. "You haven't lost your touch...oh...good," he grumbled.

Ruby grabbed her scythe. "Try fighting against crazy assholes for a living. You learn how to diffuse a fight fast." Ruby said.

Ruby sighed, as she walked back in. "Sorry about that, Mrs. Tennyson- hopefully we can still relax a bit before..."

Ruby opened her eyes, to see Sandra had disappeared. "...Mrs. Tennyson?"

Ruby then heard Smythe's steam jets power up again, filling the backyard as he took off, getting some distance from Ruby. "Farewell, you cretin! Seems I had some assistance after all!"

Ruby's eyes lit up, as she once more flew through the air, grabbing onto Smythe's body. "Where did you take Sandra!?" She demanded, nearly wrapping her hands around his neck.

Smythe gasped and grabbed a hold of Ruby's hands, his gauntlets heating up to try and force her off of him.

Ruby powered through the pain. "Either you give me a straight answer, or I LITERALLY will cleave a limb off! I've done it twice already!"

"I'll just take your word on that! All you need to know is, I'm not the one you should direct all that hate towards! Try looking in the past! He seems to have a love for a time before even the age of steam!" Smythe said as he amped up the heat even further.

Ruby grinned. "But you're someone I can send a message with." Ruby sliced the jetpack in two.

Smythe's eyes widened again and he flailed for a moment before falling, the steam jets sputtering out. "No no no no no no!"

Ruby grinned, as she jumped off Smythe, and watched him hit the roof of a parked car. Smythe groaned as Ruby landed elsewhere.

"He'll recover...probably."

With Smythe taken care of, Ruby raced back to Ben's house. She started looking around, looking for any clue about what happened to Sandra while she was busy with Smythe.

"Come on, come on...please be something!" she muttered to herself as she frantically searched.

Ruby suddenly noticed Carl's car turning into the driveway. Ben hopped out of the car, a confused look on his face.

"Ben!" Ruby yelled, using her speed to get herself over.

"Ruby?" Ben said as he got out of the car, "Ruby, what-"

"Remember Steam Smythe?" Ruby asked.

"Kinda hard to forget a guy who can build steampunk robots."

"He must've heard you were back in town cause he showed up. HERE."

"What?!"

"I managed to hold him off for a bit but...but.." Ruby was panicking a bit now.

Ben turned to Animo, picking him up by the collar. "Somehow I feel like you played a part in this. Where're my parents?!" Ben's voice was enraged and anxious for answers. Animo had never heard him talk like this before.

"I swear, I had nothing to do with it! Honest! As I said, I just HEARD you'd be back in town." Animo said. "I just hopped in to say hi, have a good fight, and then presumably get arrested."

"I think he's telling the truth, Ben." Ruby figured. "Animo's always been somewhat honest with...a lot of his plans."

Ben exhaled through his nose. "Fine, fine." He dropped Animo on the ground, as Ben looked back at the house. "And it wasn't Smythe either...he isn't really the kidnapping type."

Ruby's eyes wandered back over to Animo. "Did he hear about them from the same source as you?"

"I dunno. Maybe?" Animo said. "All I know is that he mentioned something about...a knight asking him to pay a visit to the Tennysons."

"Knight?" Ben repeated.

"Yeah, some valiant iron-clad Ren-Faire dimwit spread the word to your Bellwood enemies. I guess I missed him because I just heard it from Fistrick." Animo said. "We met up at Psyphon's one-year memorial last week, and he just said that in passing. By the way, did you hear about Psyphon?"

"Actually, we did." Ruby nodded. "His crew works for some dude in Hong Kong now. How'd he die?"

"Someone snapped his neck. People believe it was a deal gone wrong." Animo shrugged.

"It's the Forever Knight," Ben grimaced. "Salem must be messing with us."

Ruby hissed. "Or Zs'skayr. You know how he is with taunting and jeering about family members."

"Yeah..." Ben clenched his fist. "We need to track him down before he does something to my mom and dad."

As the two discussed a course of action, Animo just sat there, watching the two. It was...strange. For some odd reason, it was nice to see these two again. Their relationship had gone through some strange turns in the day, and this...felt like the "healthiest" it had ever been. These weren't the two dumb kids he'd once growled at in a mini-mart, but they were two competent young adults...

He felt like a proud grandfather.

...or at least a grumpy next-door neighbor who saw the kids on the street grow up. They were oddly interchangeable here.

"Hold on, hold on," Animo interrupted the two. "I...may have an idea of where this 'Knight' character is hiding out."

Ben's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, really? Where?"

"Fistrick DID mention something about some old military base outside of Bellwood," Animo explained. "He said that was where the Knight was gonna call them all when the time was right."

Ruby and Ben shared an uneasy look. "...The Knight must really, really be trying to fuck with us," Ruby murmured.

"What a sick joke," Ben said.

Animo's brow furrowed. "...well, come on! We need to go!" Animo got himself into the car and rolled down the window. "Can't stand around and let your parents be kidnapped! We need to go get them!"

"...how come you're helping?" Ruby asked.

"Call it charity. Now shut up." Animo said.

"He WOULD be a handy distraction," Ben whispered.

"True, true," Ruby nodded, as she and Ben hopped in the car.

"Now..." Animo began. "Will someone PLEASE catch me up on what's going on?"

"Right, right...where should we start?" Ruby asked.


"So, Ghostfreak was...a split entity from the watch? All this time?" Animo asked, utterly confounded. "How?"

"I dunno, but Ceres said something about Ectonurites being able to survive within a few strands of DNA. Freaky, huh?" Ben said.

"Oh, and I also chopped off a dude's tail." Ruby beamed.

"I could see that. You DID once bite me." Animo said.

Ruby shot him a look. "That was 7 years ago. Get over it."

"NEVER!"

"I will make you walk back to base in handcuffs..."


"...This Cinder woman...sounds very VERY crafty," Animo said. "And I'm very concerned at the wildly loose whims of the Gods, making a woman forever immortal like that."

"Oh we were all PISSED at the Gods," Ruby explained. "Still am!"

"As a Christian, that must be very hard for you," Animo said.

"...Animo, I just like the cross aesthetic. I've never even read a Bible." Ruby frowned.

"...somehow this is the biggest shock to me," Animo said. "I'm more confused about the 'evil Ben twin', where did he go?"


"So...wait, wait, wait...this Ozpin guy...is Ozpin like. Possessing the boy forcibly or is it like a shared spirit thing?" Animo had a notepad chalked full of notes.

Ben and Ruby shared a look...before giving a half-hearted 'I dunno' sound. Like they'd done the past few times.

Animo angrily threw his notepad down. "WELL GET ONTO FIGURING IT OUT! I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!"


After a long trip, the gang arrived at Los Soledad, where Ben's parents were being kept hostage. Ben parked a long way away from where they might be seen. Ben didn't want to be here—after all, there'd been a death in the family here. Ben was almost trembling...until Ruby placed a hand on top of his.

"I'm right there with you, Ben," Ruby remarked. "I don't enjoy being here, either, but...we have to concentrate."

"...right." Ben gave a nod. "So, what's our game plan?"

Ruby hummed. "There's a few of our villains in there. Who knows what strength in numbers they have?"

"I may have an idea." Animo rubbed his hands together. "Now, are either of you familiar with the art of...guerilla warfare?"

Ben blinked. "...are you saying GOrilla or GUERilla? Because you and animal puns are...very, VERY common."

"GUErilla. Like the military term." Animo said.

"Ah. Then, go on..."


"And...there we go." Watts said as he finished his 'check up' on the Forever Knight. "All diagnostics are ready to go."

"Thank you." The Knight said. "...I see you're taking precautions." The knight turned around to face Watts- he had masked his face with an Atlesian extreme cold weather mask.

"I want to make sure my face is hidden, in case those brats see me," Watts said.

"Fair enough," the Knight admitted, looking at all the diagnostics behind his visor. "Now then, everything should already be in motion. I'll need to oversee the rest of this myself."

"Of course. I'll be taking my leave, then." Watts said, gathering his materials. "I will see you back at the castle."

The Knight nodded, as Watts waited for a portal to open.

...nothing happened.

"...that's strange," Watts said. "Breach is usually punctual."

The Knight hummed in thought. Even when Breach was busy with her "toys", she still made time to open the rift.

"There's a way to contact her, correct?" the Knight asked.

"I'd have to call Salem for a proper answer," Watts said. "This may interfere with our 'flawless' getaway.

"Hmm...if the rift doesn't open soon, we got to the backup. Should be simple enough."

"Right. I'll call Salem..." Watts said, setting his bag down and walking outside, behind the house.

However, as he did so, getting ready to call, Watts suddenly got the feeling he wasn't alone. As a precaution, he put his hand to his revolver, ready to bring it out and shoot at a moment's notice.

"Didn't think the paranoia would set in this quickly," the doctor muttered to himself. He picked up his Scroll. "FK- it's Watts. You may have company."

"….it appears we get to act sooner than I anticipated."

The Knight left the building and fired an energy beam from his gauntlet. The resulting blast made most of the other assembled villains scatter for cover, but the Knight just kept firing.

Once he stopped he shouted out, "Tennyson! I know you're here! You took less time than I thought. Everyone here's been dying to see you. Some of these individuals have been wondering what to DO with themselves with you gone!"

The Knight's posturing went unanswered at first. Even the other rogues were tense. That was when shadows rushed at the knight. That's no comparison or anything, ACTUAL living shadows started to charge at the ironclad warrior, crawling across the ground. He jumped back as soon as one of the shadows began to coalesce under him, before jutting up in the form of a spike. Then came the sniper shots. The first shot got lucky, clipping the knight's armor from behind.

"But I don't understand!" Steam Smythe shouted over the chaos to his compatriots, "How did they know we were HERE?!"

"Someone must've ratted us out! But wh-," Fistrick started before he realized who WASN'T here, "Ohhhhhhhh fuck me….."

"What? You know who gave us up?"

"Yeah…Animo."

"What?! Animo has as much a reason as the rest of us to knock Tennyson off of his pedestal of gears and wires! Why would he-?!"

"Because, you simpletons," the three other villains turned around to see Animo, "I don't bring family into it!"

For Smythe and Clancy, seeing the mad doctor so healthy was certainly a surprise. Fistrick, on the other hand, was more concerned about the metal headband he wore.

The knight, meanwhile, dodged another shadowy strike, this one an almost liquid-like shadow hand, and drew his energy blade and shield. He turned back to the assembled villains, raising his shield just in time to block another one of the sniper shots. "A traitor….change of plans. You three have HIM to deal with. I'm going after Tennyson and Rose." Without another word, the Knight charged forward, bashing through the door of the hangar the meeting took place, and began to search for his assailants. They were nowhere to be found, not even a flick of movement at the top of the hangar. That….was curious.

He began to search for the two, tapping the side of his helmet to activate multiple scanners in the visor. He kept turning his head, looking at each and every vantage point he could, hoping to find some trace of the duo. He was so focused, that he almost didn't notice one of the shadows he stepped on a shift like liquid. At the last minute, he was able to avoid being hit by a serrated shadow blade.

"...clever. Very clever. Umbrakinesis..." the Forever Knight muttered to himself. And then he looked around again, turning off the scanners. Shadows from every building, in every space between them. The traitor had given them an advantage by telling them where the meeting was….and Ben had used that advantage into a shadowy minefield, courtesy of training as Ghostfreak.

A little-known fact about Ectonurites, some exceptionally powerful individuals can control and mold the shadows. This can be used as effectively for offense as it can for defense. Ghostfreak is one such….individual may not be the right word, but given his origin, it would make sense that he had such abilities as well.

The knight tread carefully, moving through the abandoned base, shield and sword drawn. Every so often, he would be clipped by or deflect a sniper round, each time from a different direction. Hit and run tactics….it was simple but effective.

While the knight searched for his enemies, Animo began his battle with the assembled villains. Fistrick pulled out a pair of blaster pistols and began to fire, only for the doctor to dodge behind some crates for cover. Clancy and Smythe moved in from the sides, ready to strike as well. Using what time he had, Animo brought in his heavy hitters. On the way here, he managed to mutate two new creatures, and now seemed the perfect time to bring them in. He closed his eyes and concentrated, the red circle in the middle of the headband glowing. Right as Steam Smythe turned to face Animo, arm raised to fire a jet of scalding steam at the mad doctor, the wall gave way as a massive bat slammed into the hangar and roared.

"What in the name of-?!" Smythe shouted when he saw the giant creature. Given his fixation on steampunk technology, the genetic altering Animo did regularly was like magic to him.

Clancy was surprised as well until he heard another wall break down, showing yet another giant bat.

"Now my pets, take them! Fistrick is mine!" Animo cheered his pets on.

"Ohhhhhhh, shit!" Fistrick shouted, his own terror drowned out by Steam Smythe trying NOT to sound too panicked by the sight of a giant bat smashing through the wall.

The Knight began to push boards and debris off of himself. That last trap the two had sprung on him was effective, to say the least. His visor actually glitched out a few times. He had to knock against his helmet to fix it, at least temporarily. It was probably going to need better repairs from Watts. He dusted himself off and scanned the warehouse. The two of them had to be here. With the visor out of play, the Knight simply activated an energy shield on his left arm and summoned an energy mace in his left. "Where are you...," he muttered to himself.

Ben reappeared behind him. "Boo."

Ben quickly summoned spikes of shadows from the ground, before they spun like drills. The Knight jumped through the trap, and he whipped his weapon at Ben.

The macehead went flying at Ben, but it passed through him as he went intangible. Ruby then launched herself from her hiding spot and would've landed a round-house kick to the Knight's helmet if it weren't for his energy shield. He brought it up just in time to block the attack. "Certainly different from how you usually fight," the knight said with...almost a shred of surprise in his voice? Or was he just mocking them?

"We've been practicing," Ben said, as he slid along the ground. Ruby ran alongside him, as he quickly popped up behind the Forever Knight, and Ruby in front of him- a pincer attack!

He didn't even hesitate. The knight brought up two energy shields and braced for the attack. He doubted he'd escape a hit if he tried to fly out of the way, Ruby's aim being the main concern there. All he could do for now was tank it. Scythe and shadow clashed against the yellow constructs. They were holding, but each side was putting more and more pressure on the shields.

"You've grown since the last time we fought. Even without your teammates, you're still a threat." The Knight was bemused. "Maybe I should stop fooling around myself..."

The Knight suddenly unleashed a surge of energy, sending the two flying backward. Who to take care of first...

He came here to hurt Tennyson indirectly, so what better way to do that than remove the Rose? Salem might not be too happy, but she never explained why she wanted the girl alive. The knight held out his hand and formed a yellow sword before making for a running jump at Ruby, aiming to thrust the blade down into her chest.

Ruby quickly transformed into a burst of rose petals, as she avoided the blade being thrust into her chest.

The knight then summoned up a second sword in his free hand and raced after Ruby. He just needed to whittle down her Aura. A few more good hits and she'd be open for one last killing blow. But as he raced after the reaper, he was suddenly grabbed from below and tripped. He looked back to see the shadows of this place having formed into sickly imitations of Ghostfreak's own. He sliced through them to escape their grasp, only for Ruby to come back in and finally manage to connect that round-house kick she wanted to at the start. The knight recoiled and rubbed his chin after the hit.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Ruby smirked.

"Clever girl." The Knight said. He vaulted into the air and did a forward somersault- for a man of...40? 50? Ben and Ruby didn't know his exact age. Whatever, the man did a somersault, before dropping back to the ground and bringing the mace down on the ground, causing the building to shake.

Considering the damage they'd already done to the place, it didn't take the duo long to realize that he was trying to finish the job. Bring the rest of this old, rickety warehouse down on top of them. "Think you have enough time?" the knight mocked the two.

Ben frowned. "I can make the time." He slapped down the Omnitrix symbol, as he transformed into XLR8. But even he wouldn't be enough.

Time to bring out the BIG guns. He slapped the Omnitrix symbol again...

Black and white armor climbed its way up Ben's body. Green energy gathered by his feet before turning XLR8's gliders into large energy wheels. The same flame-like energy gathered around his forearms, back, and head, forming small green additions. The one on his back came to resemble a flaming green tail while the additions around his head outlined the visor that had dropped down in front of his face and even formed a small trail at the back of his head.

"So, these are the power-ups that Elias mentioned..." The Forever Knight's energy output increased. His shield and mace became less see-through and more...solid.

"XLR8's got one too? Cool," Ruby said as she quickly loaded a new clip into Crescent Rose. A clip with a snowflake logo on it.

"Dunno how many of these guys got some, but, I know one thing..." Ben pulled out a dust crystal- a purple-colored one.

Ruby smirked and, with one last satisfying click from the loader of Crescent Rose, the two renewed their assault.

Ben rushed forward, his green energy suddenly turning purple. The dust activated, as the Forever Knight was suddenly pushed to the ground by a sudden burst of gravity.

Ruby could smirk as she fired a shot from Crescent Rose to propel her forward, turning into a storm of petals and, using all the built-up momentum, used it to shoot a barrage of ice down at the Knight. Shots managed to hit him in the arms and legs and freeze them to the ground.

The Knight tried to free himself, but Ben kept rushing past him, causing the bursts of gravity to just get stronger and stronger...

Ruby quickly swapped out cartridges again, this time going for one with a lightning bolt symbol. She fired and lightning surged through the knight's body and armor, but he didn't scream in pain. Either he had incredible control, or he was nulling the pain somehow.

Their teamwork is too much for me...but, I have TIME on my hands... The Knight thought.

As the two kept dealing damage, the building around them kept getting worse. Supports fell around them, and the roof started caving in at some points. Soon the walls would as well. Who knows how long until it all came tumbling down.

Ben and Ruby were just so focused on bringing down the Knight, they failed to realize...well, everything else.

Well, that was until a support beam almost hit Ben, the metal missing him by a few inches.

Ben blinked. "...Oh, yeah, the collapsing building," Ben said.

The knight could only chuckle to himself as another bit of roof fell. This time, Ruby was almost caught by the falling debris. The pile of metal and beams was mere inches away. "Ok, I think it's time to go!"

Ben and Ruby rushed away, leaving the Knight alone in the collapsing building.

"Just as planned..." He chuckled.

The whole thing came crashing down atop the Knight, shaking the ground and sending dust everywhere.

As the two looked back at where the warehouse once stood, Ruby decided to break the silence. "Wonder how Animo's doing."

Ben blinked. "...oh god, Animo's the one rescuing my parents."

Ruby blinked a few times as well before the realization hit her. "...we should probably get back to him now. It's not that I don't have FAITH in him...but...yeah, we should go."

The two left the collapsed warehouse behind, racing back to where Ben's parents were still held, both going as fast as they could leaving behind trails of roses and energy respectively. When they arrived, they saw Clancy trying to avoid being eaten by a massive mutated bat. The mutant lashed out, trying to pin him with its wings but the now more-insectoid criminal flew out of the way. In response, the bat simply began to beat its own wings and took the skies, chasing him down.

"Guess he's doing pretty good," Ben said, seeing the bat fly off.

"Right." Ruby nodded, cracking his knuckles.

"Not so fast..." A voice said. Ben and Ruby perked up. The voice was female, an attractive one too- the owner of the voice, however...she didn't fit the vibe. The source stepped out from the shadows- she wore a metallic helmet and gloves to hide her face and hands, with holes in his helmet for eyes and mouth. She also wore a medieval tunic and pants.

"...do we...know you?" Ruby asked. "I'm pretty sure we'd remember fighting...a sentient trashcan?"

"Wait...I think..." Ben hummed a bit before he shook his head, "Nope. No clue. Help us out here a bit?"

"...the school. I warned you of his arrival." The buckethead said.

Ben's eyes widened. "...Wait, are you talking about Bankcroft?"

"We fought some blonde bimbo with a caldron...not...you?" Ruby said.

"That WAS me!" The buckethead hissed in annoyance.

"...are...are you serious? The weird cult girl? That's YOU? Holy shit, where did the Knight find YOU?!" Ben asked, genuinely surprised that she was here. She wasn't even one of those constant villains like Smythe or Animo. He and Ruby fought her only once.

"Michelle Morningstar is no more." The girl announced, as her hands suddenly were encased in dark orbs of energy. "Call me Darkstar." She began to fire black bolts of energy from her hands- Ben and Ruby ducked out of the way.

Ben quickly activated the Omnitrix and scrolled to a random alien. "Oh, please let it be good!" Ben said- the second Ben slapped down the symbol, grey and black fur ran up his arms, before his body bulked up, becoming more top-heavy. His fingers morphed into sharp, black claws, and his face became more dog-like.

Ben blinked. "Blitzwolfer? Wow. Haven't been this guy for a hot minute..."

Ruby took a few shots at the newly dubbed Darkstar, but the cultist simply formed a black shield that the bullets slammed into, creating small explosions of fire against the obsidian energy.

"Same old tricks? Disappointing," Darkstar sighed before Ben's jaws split and he howled. The soundwave slammed into her and knocked her away, sending her flying through a wall.

"Guess he didn't fill you in?," Ruby smirked, "We've had to deal with some bigger threats than your little cult recently."

Darkstar grimaced behind her mask. "He...did not."

"Yeah, you might be on the end of a curb stomp right now," Ben said, as he rushed at Michelle- two metal plates covered his hands, and he began to throw out some devastating metal-coated slashes.

She tried her best to block them, the metal sparking against the black spheres around her hands. Ruby raced in behind her, kicking Darkstar in the back and causing her to stagger forward, dropping her guard, Ben lashed out with an uppercut to the cultist's mask, knocking her off her feet. Ruby quickly added insult to injury by firing off a Gravity round into Michelle's chest, knocking her to the ground with a heavy impact.

"What..." Michelle gasped her mask a little scratched thanks to Ben.

"I did tell you this was probably a curb stomp," Ben said.

"Now, hold still while-" Ben's fist was suddenly restrained by a bunch of tendrils, with hands on them. Ben gasped, as he was suddenly ensnared.

"Ben!" Ruby gasped before she was suddenly grabbed by the waist.

"Hm...looks like you aren't the only people you forgot about..." A gross sounding voice said. Ben looked behind him, to see a not-so-familiar face.

"Zombozo's old lackeys..." Ben mumbled.

"Oh...god, is he here too?" Ruby asked, honestly a bit unnerved at the idea of meeting Zombozo again.

"No, the 'boss' is still in pieces thanks to your friend there," Thumbskull said, cracking his knuckles.

"Oh, don't tell me you're here to 'avenge' him!" Ben yelled, "He doesn't fucking deserve it!"

"Of course not! We want payback for the beatdowns you gave us! Zombozo can literally rot for all we care!" Frightwig hissed.

"...ok at least that makes sense. But again, we've been dealing with a lot more high-tier shit these days!"

"I'm sure you are." Acid Breath said. "But don't underestimate the oldies..."

"I'm getting really sick about hearing about this high-tier shit..." Darkstar mumbled. "They kicked me from Bankcroft, and I was forced to go on the run. At least these idiots took me in..."

"The circus freaks took you in?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. "...last I checked, you don't fit a description of 'circus freak'."

"Did you forget that you dumped an entire cauldron's worth of POTION on me?!" Darkstar hissed.

"...oh yeah, I did! I thought you'd melt back then."

"Oh, that's VERY nice to hear!" Darkstar got back to her feet, obsidian energy flaring out as her anger grew, "I suppose you got what you wanted then! Why do you think I'm wearing this...unsightly mask?!"

"...ohhhhh." Ben said. "...Ruby, we might have deformed a girl when we were 10."

"Yep, starting to realize that now too." Ruby nodded. "Sorry about that!"

"...SORRY!?" Darkstar screeched.

"Anyways..." Ben's maw suddenly split open, as he unleashed a sonic howl.

The Circus Freaks were blown away from the howl, Frightwig losing her grip on Ben in the process. Darkstar was about to last out at Ben before a swing from Ruby came her way, forcing her to duck under the scythe swing. Darkstar growled in annoyance and changed targets, sending out a beam of dark energy at Ruby. She was hoping to ensnare the huntress in the beam, but Ruby was faster, letting only rose petals be caught.

And it was a good thing only petals were caught. Ruby turned back and saw that the petals that were caught had almost instantly shriveled up and died before they even reached the ground.

"...since when could you do that?!" Ruby yelled.

"Something I had to pick up on the run. A temporary fix to hide the scars you gave me!" Michelle hissed.

"...what is it with me and making enemies with defining scars? First Cinder, now you..."

"Oh, shut up!" Michelle suddenly let loose a torrent of dark energy, something Ruby quickly got out of the way of. Good thing, too- Thumbskull got up at the wrong time, and Ruby was horrified at what she saw if it was only briefly.

Thumbskull's skin began to shrivel up like a raisin, and his physique seemed to be malnourished. Ruby's pupils widened before she scowled. "Well, gotta take her out first..."

"Watch your firing that shit!" Acid Breath hissed, before turning his attention back to Ben and releasing a spray of acidic mist from his mouth. Ben howled, the soundwaves pushing the mist back towards the Circus Freak Trio. Frightwig rolled her eyes as she grabbed the drained Thumbskull and dragged him out of the way, making sure he wouldn't be burned.

"...at least that worked for a nice charge-up," Darkstar sighed, "He'll be fine...probably."

Ruby's eyes narrowed. "Time to get busy." She said before she shot herself towards Darkstar. She jumped up, and slashed at their chest- Darkstar tried blocking it, but Ruby's strength was far greater than her own. Ruby landed on the ground, and Darkstar frowned. She began firing sinister bolts of energy at her, which Ruby evaded with ease. Her aim was awful...

But her timing was perfect. Ruby suddenly felt some awfully warm breath on her back- she jumped back and saw Acid Breath breathing mere inches from her. Good thing she had her aura up. Ruby spun her scythe around before she inserted some water dust into her weapon. "Let's clean that mouth out, shall we?" She said before she slammed her scythe into the ground. Ruby started spraying spurts of water from her blaster, powerful enough to dislocate a jaw.

The circus freak staggered back from one of the jets, having dodged a few of them, save for one of the most recent. Another one slammed into his shoulder and a final one splashed into his face, knocking him to his back. Darkstar took the chance and grabbed a hold of the scythe with one hand, while the other reached for Ruby's arm. Ruby pulled away from her grasp and freed Crescent Rose from the ground, pulling it free from the former cult leader's hands and taking a swing, barely missing her opponent.

Ben, meanwhile, dodged a few more lashes from Frightwig before one of them wrapped around his mouth. He clawed at the whip, trying to get it off of him.

"Fido can't bark if we muzzle him, now can he?" Frightwig smirked before unleashing another series of whips, lashing into Ben without pause.

On the most recent whip, Ben narrowed his eyes and managed to grab ahold of one before Frightwig pulled it back. He pulled on it forcefully and brought Frightwig close enough to him where he could kick her in the stomach, making her double-over in pain and releasing her grip on the alien wolf's snout. Ben grinned before he forced her to the ground with an elbow drop to her back, causing her to gasp for air on impact.

"Should've stuck to birthday parties." Ben chuckled before leaping over to Ruby. Ruby was avoiding several Darkstar energy bolts and starting to slip up... Darkstar had picked up on her patterns.

Ben jumped behind Michelle and hit her in the back of the head, causing her helmet to fly off her head. She dropped to the ground.

"Damn..." Ruby said, cringing a bit. "That was brutal..."

Ben was about to say something, but the two then turned back to see Michelle getting back to her feet. Black sparks flew around her hands as Ben and Ruby got a good look at her true face.

"Oh...fuck," Ruby gasped seeing the disfigurements. The best way to describe it was zombie-like, with grey skin, patchy hair, and beady sunken eyes.

"Of all the people," Darkstar hissed, "to see me without the helmet...it just had to be you two..."

"...we did that to you?"

"The caldron had some ill effects..." Michelle admitted as she had her helmet return to her. "And the only way I can return to normal...is this."

Michelle's black bolts of energy suddenly blasted her fallen teammates- she was draining them dry, of what energy they had.

Acid Breath and Frightwig suffered the same effects as Thumbskull, taking on emaciated appearances. She began to shift back as more of her comrade's life force surged into her. Her spotty hair came back fast to full, blonde strands, her complexion reverted to its former fair tone, and her eyes returned to normal.

"So, they traded one vampire for another," Ben growled.

"If you want to see it that way," Michelle sighed after she was finished, having fully rejuvenated herself.

"It is quite undignified, the way I have to feast..." Michelle said. "But...at least I know I can defeat you two the way I imagined it. With your lifeless husks before my feet...and my true beauty restored."

Ben slapped down the Omnitrix and stepped up as Shock Rock. "You want energy? Come get it."

"Well, if you're offering," Michelle mocked before firing off two obsidian streams at the new alien. He didn't even move, letting Ruby jump behind him for cover. The beams latched onto Shock Rock, splintering off into smaller tendrils that began to drain Ben's energy like leeches. Michelle's eyes went wide when she "tasted" the first drop of the Fulmini energy. Compared to the dull "flavor" of normal people, the energy of this alien was like a fine wine. She needed every drop she could get from him.

Ben's energy didn't even fade. There was no sign he was gonna become a lifeless husk like the other two. "What the hell are you DOING!?"

"Something stupid, but if it works-!" Ben grunted.

"Yes...yes...YES!" Michelle yelled in utter joy at this quality of energy. With the simplest command, she had more tendrils splinter off and drain more and more of the alien's natural energy. From the sheer amount she was absorbing, the streams themselves started to shift more towards Shock Rock's lightning blue color. Even her eyes began to glow with the energy; she felt invincible with all this power! Whatever "high-tier" bullshit they were talking about earlier? With the kind of power she was getting, she could blow it away with a snap!

But...then...something felt...off. The energy was coming to her faster and faster now like Ben was willingly giving it to her now.

Ben's core was starting to fill her body with energy. It was...painful, incredibly so. It felt like her lungs were being torn asunder by the energy in her chest.

"W-what are you doing!?" Michelle yelled.

"Simple! Giving you ALL the energy you ever needed!" Ben said, taking a few steps forward.

"W-what...n-no! It...it's too much!" Michelle yelled, trying to cut the connection between herself and Ben, but for some reason, the streams didn't stop. Her eyes darted around in a panic, trying to think of something, anything that could protect her from this. The glow in her eyes started to get brighter and brighter, followed by the rest of her glowing that same lightning blue.

"No...no, no, no, no! Stop! Let...GO!" Michelle pleaded, feeling the energy continue to build up inside her chest. And it was almost at a breaking point. Just a few more drops of Fulmini power and-

BOOM. Ruby and Ben were blown back by the force of the explosion. Ben reverted back to human, as he and Ruby crashed into a wall.

Ben laid there for a few seconds.

"...wasn't expecting that."

"WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING!?"

"...being honest? Thought it'd be more...electric overload. Like a generator shorting out," Ben admitted.

"...you were a FULMINI! They're not just gonna make a little spark!"

Ben looked over Michelle had literally exploded out of her armor, and there were no remains of her around. "...yeah, that was kinda overkill..."

"'Kind of' is an understatement." Ruby frowned. "Then again...she did give us a run for our money this time."

Ruby said. "And...totally drained her own teammates."

"So...not totally undeserved. Just a bit...excessive."

"...sure, let's go with that. Come on," Ruby helped ben up before the two raced off back to the main warehouse where Ben's parents were. And hopefully, that was the last of the old villains they had to deal with, not counting Smythe and Fistrick if they were still conscious in there.


Watts snuck around Los Soledad, avoiding any of the action- no contact from Breach just yet, but he needed to bide his time. If he was captured…

"Well well well, what have we here?" Someone called out.

Watts immediately drew his revolver and aimed toward where he heard the voice come from "I thought I was the only weirdo around here tonight, BUT! It appears not." Animo stepped out of the shadows and looked at Watts. "Aren't YOU a sight?"

"Wait...aren't you-?" Watts began.

"Doctor Animo, yes. So nice to hear that my reputation precedes me. Saves me some time."

"So what is this? Another one of their enemies coming to make a deal?" Watts always had his revolver trained on Animo. Animo wasn't intimidated. Honestly, he thought the gun looked overdesigned. Who made a revolver with THAT many chambers?

"Far from it," Animo said.

"I may be a mad scientist, but I draw the line at endangering family. Sure, I may wreak havoc, but that's usually BLIND havoc. I don't know how things are gonna turn out." Animo said, whirring up his helmet. "But you, you- this was all planned, was it not?"

"Of course it was," Watts said, pulling back the hammer of the gun, "The fewer pieces on the board, the better."

"And why would a chessboard involve peasants?" Animo asked.

"I'll be honest...the Knight's obsessed with the Tennyson boy. I don't know what he did, but this whole plan was meant to make him hurt. The only reason I agreed to help was that it served more than his...revenge fantasy," Watts replied.

"That's it? An act of petty revenge? From what Tennyson and Rose recapped, they've never met the guy prior." Animo said.

"Don't ask me. He's never fully explained it to...anyone, really. I doubt even she knows," Watts admitted, "But from my perspective, it was more than that. Tennyson's been a key factor in several plans failing. For one reason or another, he's gotten in the way. Remove him, things are likely to move along smoother and faster."

"All the more reason why all of this is just pointless." Animo's helmet began to light up. "Tell me, who do I have the pleasure of facing?"

"Now...why would I say?" Watts smirked under his hood and fired, embers and smoke rising up from the barrel of his gun. Animo dodged out of the way and looked at the impact shot.

"Nineteen," Watts muttered.

Animo frowned, as he activated his helmet. "It's a good thing we're in the desert- lots of interesting creatures here. Have you ever seen the movie 'Tremors'?"

Watts simply fired out another shot at Animo, this one leaving behind a trail of sparks and lightning. Again, Animo simply dodged out of the way.

"Not one for banter are we?" Animo said.

"Well, whatever. You've already got its attention."

The ground shook, as a massive rattlesnake-like creature burst from the ground.

"Ah, right. Mutations," Watts said as he raw the rattlesnake rise from the ground. For the most part, the body was still that of a snake, even if the scales were thicker, like proper armor. The snake's eyes had vanished and its jaw was now able to split in two at the bottom, venom dripping onto the ground. Watts began to run, taking shots at the creature, each time counting the number of shots he had left.

"Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen," he muttered to himself. The normal bullets bounced off of the creature's hide, sparking against it like metal. Fire bullets didn't do much either. Lightning and ice, however, made the creature flinch. It hissed and opened its jaws wider, the two prongs that made up the bottom jar spreading apart as a stream of venom surged forth. Watts rolled out of the way just in time. Watts was more of a robotics doctor, but he knew what would happen if that venom touched him. Necrosis and paralysis. He'd be helpless if the latter took hold, and if it was the former? Well, let's just say he'd be able to put those robotic skills to use when making a prosthetic for himself.

Watts hummed. The scales of the snake were tough, but...what could be said about the inside of the snake?

He spun the chamber in his revolver to a normal bullet, firing it at the snake's head to get its attention. It hissed again and reared its head back, but right as the jaw split open, Watts fired again, sending an ice Dust bullet down the snake's throat.

The snake hissed loudly- before ice crystals pierced through its body. The creature yelled some more, as it fell to the ground.

Watts nodded as he checked the ammunition in his rifle. This should be enough to deal with this pitiful excuse for a scienti-

Watts' inner monologue was cut short as he was knocked back by a swinging right hook to the jaw.

"Didn't think you were the only one who could count now, did ya?" Anime sneered.

Watts huffed and rubbed his jaw where the fist connected.

"So, we're doing it this way then?" Watts sneered. The doctor then rushed in, holding the gun by the barrel and using it as a makeshift cudgel. He threw a punch to Animo's gut and followed up with a quick uppercut. Animo almost lost his balance, but he managed to recover. He threw his own series of punches but Watts was able to weave out of the way, countering with a quick strike whenever he saw an opening.

Animo coughed. "A-augh...alright, fine. I underestimated you. But...you, also underestimated something about me."

"And what would that be?" Watts said, a little smugness in his voice.

"The most numerable creature on his green Earth- ANTS!" Animo yelled.

"Ants?" Watts said. "...you're kidding."

"I'm not~" Animo grinned, as Watts heard something chittering behind him. He looked up, and on a roof, there it was.

A giant, red ant.

"...oh wonderful," Watts deadpanned, before spinning around to throw one last punch at Animo.

Animo blocked the attack and threw a powerful haymaker back. Watts managed to block it with his other arm, but he was about to have more trouble. He could hear more of the ants scuttling closer all around him. How many did Animo mutate?!

"I mutated enough to swarm the area, just in case. All mine to control!" Animo grinned, as they began to pile onto Watts.

Watts struggled under the swarm, taking shots at the ants at every chance. Now, the ants themselves weren't sturdy. Each shot Watt fired was well-placed, dropping the giant insects easily either by burning them, freezing them, shocking them, or just tearing through their bodies with normal bullets. In his panic, however, Watts wasn't counting. The gun suddenly clicked after yet another ant fell to the ground after getting a bullet between the eyes.

"How many do you have left?" Animo teased. "Two? One? Zero? You strike me as a man of science, but- You may be a doctor of technology...but NOT biology! You claim to know everything about those kids, now, do you? Are you just reciting their weak points over and over again? Things they can easily patch up? PATHETIC! A true villain doesn't give jack or shit about it! WE LIVE TO SEW CHAOS!"

"You sound like Tyrian," Watts huffed as he tried just punching one of the ants that got too close to him, "But you're wrong. A true villain doesn't aimlessly sew chaos. A true villain has a goal, a motivation. You seem to be content with being an annoyance...but I won't be satisfied until I topple that half-metal warmonger and the fat moron he calls a scientist!"

Animo blinked, as he looked at his notepad. "Let's see...was that mentioned anywhere in the notes?"

"You're checking NOTES? NOW?!" Watts shouted as another ant tried grabbing his arm with its mandibles. He pulled his away and punched the mutant insect in the side of the head.

"Hey, I've been out of a loop I never knew existed," Animo said. "This story is 10x more complex than it needs to be."

As he scrolled through the notes, Animo found...nothing. No mention of someone with a revolver like this or some grudge against, what he assumed were former colleagues. Half-metal warmonger though...that was something to remember.

"Hm...some Zodiac Killer wannabe isn't in the notes. Who are you, exactly?" Animo yelled.

"I'm not a Zodiac Killer wannabe. This was the best disguise I could get for this!" Watts punched another ant.

"And you chose that mask. You want to remain anonymous." Animo said. "That must mean- you're a key player in Salem's plot. Are you a billionaire afraid to show their face?"

"Not a billionaire," Watts huffed. "Just someone looking for credit."

"Ahhh, not getting their due credit. Something I can relate to..." Animo chuckled.

"Not getting due credit is an understatement," Watts said. He was getting tired. No matter how many ants he had killed earlier, or scared off by punching them, more and more just fill in the empty ranks.

"For now...you're done," Animo said. "I'm performing...a citizen's arrest!" Animo walked forward, as a portal opened up beneath Watts' feet.

"Oh, NOW you show up?" Watts huffed as he started to sink into the portal, "What kept you?"

The portal simply swallowed him, and a few ants. Animo stared at the hole, lost and confused.

"Hmm...next time I see them," Animo said. "I should bring this up." The ants dispersed, as Animo was left alone.

"Now...back to the mission!" Animo darted off.


Ben and Ruby burst down the door, ready to kick some more ass...but instead found Carl and Sandra, getting untied by Animo.

"What took you?" Animo sassed.

"Just some more 'friends' the Knight managed to find," Ben said before rushing over to help Animo untie the two.

"It's...honestly a little creepy how many he knew, Ruby admitted, "We actually forgot about one of them until today..."

"It's like he was there..." Ben shuddered, as he began to pull the ropes off. "You guys okay?"

"More annoyed that this Knight guy ruined our dinner plans." Sandra sighed.

"...well, you have your priorities straight," Animo said.

Ruby sighed in relief when she heard that, a little smile forming. They seemed like they would be fine. She still had her weapon at the ready, just in case any of the villains tried for one last jab at Ben. And if it was Smythe that tried, well...she was gonna make up for the fact she let him get away the first time.

"I'm shocked you got one of your villains to help out with all of this," Carl said, looking at Animo. "Why would you help?"

"Complicated reasons that you wouldn't understand!" Animo yelled. "That, and I'm invested in the plot!"

"Yeah, we might've told him on the way about what's been going on," Ben admitted as he cut the last rope to free his dad and Animo finished untying Sandra.

"I have no idea what the hell's going on, but I draw a line at involving the family," Animo said.

"...the first time we met you, you were being petty for not getting a trophy," Ben pointed out.

"Yes, but no one kidnapped your parents back then, did they?" Animo countered.

Ben's eye twitched. "...T-that's...that doesn't even make sense!"

"That tracks for him," Ruby smirked.

"Oh yes, very funny," Animo rolled his eyes, "now then, unless you'd rather stay in the abandoned base..."

"Yeah, yeah..." Ben said, putting the cuffs back on Animo. "Come on. Let's get back to Bellwood."

"Actually, before you toss me in a cell...I'd like to check something," Animo said.

"And what would that be?" Ruby asked.

"Call it a hunch...but if this is where the Knight decided to set up..."

"...then he might have brought something here with him. Something we could use," Ben finished.

"Exactly," Animo responded as he began to make his way to the back of the warehouse. Ruby trailed him, allowing Ben to stay with his parents. She could handle Animo if he was trying to flee. The mad scientist hoped that this establishment had an office off to the side that the Knight might use as a staging area.

"Now...let's see if I'm right," Animo muttered to himself.

Animo eventually found something- a computer room, but it looked like the room had been wiped clean. It was the nicest place on the entire base.

"Looks like they prefer to do their work under…nicer circumstances." Animo hummed.

"Wait a minute..." Ruby said, walking up to one of the computers. One of the monitors had a familiar logo on it, staff in front of a cog, surrounded by a stylized circle.

"What? What is it?" Animo said, walking over. He took notice of the logo. "Does that look familiar to you?"

"...it's the crest for Atlas."

"…the place? The city?" Animo asked. "I'd there a connection here?"

"Maybe...maybe it's stolen. Maybe this is just the Knight trying to throw us off...but...considering what you said about a disgraced scientist..."

"...you think that...witch you're fighting has someone from Atlas working with her."

"Hell, the Knight himself might have a connection there, I don't know..."

"...so, I may have stumbled upon a major conspiracy, by accident?" Animo asked.

"...seems likely, yeah."

"...wow."


The break didn't exactly pan out as Ben and Ruby had planned, but the blame was placed on the Forever Knight's shoulders. But, fortunately for the two, his plans didn't ruin all of their time back in Bellwood. After the attempted kidnapping, they all tried to make it a bit more of a normal break. After a proper family dinner, Ben and Ruby caught a movie together, and they even paid a trip to Undertown.

But, of course, that break had to come to an end.

The duo was packing their bags the day before they left, Ironwood having sent a message ahead of time that an airship would be coming to pick them up at around 10 the next day.

Ben sighed, as he packed his bags into the shuttle around 8 AM on the cloudy Monday morning. He hoped for a more peaceful weekend, one that didn't end with his parents nearly getting killed, but...hey.

Ruby was putting her bags on the shuttle, too. Packing up was the easy part of this, honestly. The hard part was what came next. Carl and Sandra were right behind the two, ready to see them off.

"Well..." Carl said, with a long, drawn-out sigh. "I suppose this is goodbye for another long time."

"Yeah..." Ben said, rubbing the back of his head. "I know you guys miss me like crazy, but...I promise, the second we take down Salem, I'll move back here for a little bit, maybe I'll go to college- dunno yet."

"Ruby's coming back with you I assume?" Sandra asked with a smile.

"As...in...?" Ben asked, even though he knew the answer.

"No, not just to split the rent," Sandra chuckled.

"Maybe. Though, we did also talk about a nice place in the country." Ruby smirked.

"That's a future thing, though," Ben said. "We absolutely don't have the money for it now..."

"Well, yeah, but never hurts to say it."

"I mean...fair, I guess," Ben admitted.

Sandra smiled a little more before pulling Ben into a loving hug. Carl joined in on the hug. Ruby awkwardly stood back, watching the hug. Maybe she should've spent the weekend with Taiyang- she felt the slightest twinge of guilt knowing he was all at home alone. Carl looked up...and motioned for Ruby to come in and join them.

Ruby was elated to join in.


Ironwood was taking this all in as best he could. The Forever Knight. Ever since Beacon, that was the one ally of Salem's who'd been somewhat absent. No new reports of him...until now. What made it worse was the evidence that now sat on his desk. Pietro had broached the subject with him before, both men knowing how bad it would be, both in terms of the kingdom's security and foreign relations. Now? That theory was all but confirmed with an Atlesian-made laptop being the last nail in the coffin. Ben and Ruby were both telling him everything that happened and, while he was listening, his attention had essentially gone into tunnel-vision...all centered on that spear and cog crest emblazoned on the white metal.

The symbol of his nation. A nation he made sacrifices for.

Now it was being used against him...

"We recovered this from Los Soledad. We don't exactly know who used it, but from what Dr. Animo said, he was wearing a mask that obscured his face." Ben said. "He was a male, though. Lanky too."

"Salem has a hacker- it must be how she was able to hijack those knights way back when." Ruby hypothesized. "And he's a good one, too..."

"...I didn't want to believe it. It was always a possibility...but it'd be the worst-case scenario," Ironwood sighed, moving his hand up to his face. This was worse than he could ever have imagined honestly.

"Given the connections, he's probably Atlesian. Any ideas? You wouldn't have happened to...maybe piss off a tech support guy or something, right?" Ben joked. Ironwood glared at him. Ben shrank a bit.

"I don't know who it could be...but there are...several candidates. None of them are good. Tell me...you're familiar with the term 'white hat' correct?" Ironwood asked, getting up from his seat. His voice was coldly serious as he walked to the middle of his office, activating the holographic briefing table hidden under the floor.

"Yeah. A person who hacks into a computer network to test or evaluate its security systems." Ruby said. "Lev was one, I think. You think our guy was one of those?"

"They might be. There's just...one problem. Atlas uses a division of those hackers as a sort...elite cybersecurity and intelligence gathering unit, overseen by Doctor Weller." The general activated the table and brought up a display, pressing a few buttons until a full personnel roster was on screen. It showed at least thirty hackers in this division...and one of them was familiar to the two with her blonde hair and small pet robot.

"Any one of these people would know not only how to hack into our systems and turn our weapons against us, cover their tracks and make it look like someone from Vacuo sliced their way in...but they would also know everything we're keeping close to our chests." Ironwood was openly referring to military strategies, personnel strength...mentally, he was hoping this traitor didn't find those files.

"Yeah...with all the files you probably have, it'd be dangerous if some sort of truth leaked. It'd put us at the worst disadvantage." Ruby frowned. "Or have weapons used against us..."

"I'd recommend strengthening it, or just removing the files from the digital world and switching to physical. Harder to obtain that way." Ben suggested.

"Strengthen it...or...we use this to our advantage," Ironwood began, turning away from the display. "They might not know you've told me or even realize you found their equipment...I can get in contact with Weller. Have him screen the white hats again, and see if we missed something the first time. If we get a hit, we can turn this around. Salem wanted information on us...and if we find that hacker, we'll get information on her."

"Sounds like a good idea," Ben said. "We parasite off the parasite."

"And hopefully…we'll get to the bottom of all of this." Ironwood hummed.