Ben 10 RWBY Volume 2: Ultimate Omniverse

by The Omni-Remnant

Having returned from a massive adventure in the world of Remnant, Ben, Team RWBY, and the rest of their friends find themselves faced with new challenges at every turn on Earth. Be it villains old and new… or even things that they never imagined to be real. It's going to be a challenge unlike any they've seen before, but they're up for it. It's Hero Time! (Cover Art credit inside)

89. Pack Mentality, Part 1

A/N: Hey there, everybody, how goes it? Well, now that we're out of the starting line for this season, it's time to start really getting into the nitty-gritty. Lemme tell ya, this two-parter is only the first of MANY significant events that happens in this season as we head out of the Malware Arc and into, what I like to call, "The Countless Conflicts Arc". Because hoo boy, the heroes are going to be getting into LOTS of battles with enemies new and old in the future, and by the end… well, I'm not gonna divulge everything too soon, but it WILL be pretty big. So, with that in mind, let's get started, shall we? This is…

Chapter 88: Pack Mentality, Part 1

…..

As the Omni-Hunters had expected, their departing of Japan had been met with sweet sorrow from the general public. The citizens of Tokyo were, of course, upset to see the young man who had saved their city leave, but Cooper had also promised that he would return one day. "Because wherever help is needed, a Kamen Rider will be there to save those in need." he had vowed to the people of Japan, before then boarding the Rustbucket 4 to head home.

He had gotten a few curious stares from his peers after saying that, though. "Uh, what do you mean "a" Kamen Rider?" Ruby inquired. "'Cause that sounded like you were implying a plural."

"Ha! You think I'm gonna stop at just one?" Cooper winked. "We started working on the second Build Driver before we even LEFT Remnant! I'd be selfish if I just hoarded this power all to myself. I wanna make sure that more people can join the fight for freedom."

His words instantly made Zak's eyes light up. "Oh… OH-HOHO! I'm pretty sure I know what that means!" He pointed at Cooper and said; "You're preparing to unleash the dragon, aren't you?"

Cooper wore a cheeky grin at that. "…Eventually. Once I get all the pieces in place. Gotta find the right candidate, though, so… put a pin in it and we'll circle back later."

After that rather exciting tease, the team had a nice, relaxing flight back home… where many were immediately met with jetlag upon landing in Bellwood. They also reunited with their parents and guardians, with Ilia practically getting tackled by Swift the moment she saw her. "AH! You're alive!" the Aerophibian girl shouted as she embraced her girlfriend in a soul-crushing hug. "Do you have ANY idea how worried I was when I heard you got freaking abducted by the Galvan?!"

"Gah… Swift, believe me, I understand." Ilia assured as she slowly ran out of air. "B-But… can you please let me breathe?"

However, undoubtedly the most enthusiastic greeting of all… came from Kenny, who had made sure to get out of work specifically to be there. …Just not for his sister. "COOPER!" he shouted while storming up to the blonde genius, who was suddenly very awake. "You have SOME nerve, man! What the hell?!"

"U-Uh, K-Kenny!" Cooper kept his eyes as wide open as possible, though he wore a nervous smile as the older redhead stopped in front of him. "W-What's going on here?" he stammered.

"Oh, you know EXACTLY what's going on." Kenny narrowed his eyes. "You went out of your way to make an ACTUAL working Build Driver… and you didn't even tell ME about it?!" He thrust his arms out toward Winter, who was standing behind him with a deadpan expression. "You even told WINTER about it before me! Not cool, dude!"

"I-It was… meant to be a surprise!" Cooper reasoned. "And I made sure Winter knew first because… b-because, um…"

Winter rolled her eyes and stepped forward, raising a hand toward the tired genius. "Cooper, please, you're too tired to try and talk your way out of this." She then reached out and grabbed a hold of Kenny's chin, bringing his attention straight to her. "And as for you, mister. I already told you, my knowledge of this was pure coincidence because I was told to accompany General Ironwood to the initial meeting about it. My secrecy was sworn the moment Cooper asked." A light smile came to her features, however. "That said, I DID know how surprised you'd be when it'd be properly revealed, so if you're going to blame anybody for keeping it secret, blame me."

Her words gave Kenny pause, the young man eventually sighing while his shoulders slumped. "…Okay, I know when I'm beat." he relented, his eyes shifting back to Cooper. "Sorry for giving you a hard time, Coop. I was just so hyped up that… I guess I lost my cool a bit."

"Ah, no problem, Kenny." Cooper gave a thumbs up. "Can't be mad at a fellow Build fan."

"Hehe, great. …And um, speaking of which…" Kenny wore a hopeful smile, staring at Cooper with shimmering eyes. "Could I see it?"

Surprisingly, his parents along with Ben's parents all agreed with him. "Yes, please do." Frank crossed his arms. "This is something I gotta see for myself."

"Yeah, I wanna make sure it isn't just a TV trick." Carl voiced as well, with Sandra and Natalie nodding in agreement.

A chuckle escaped Cooper's lips as he stepped away from the group and into a more open part of the room, where he was sure he'd have space to transform. "Haha, alright, alright, I know when I'm out voted." Reaching behind his back, Cooper pulled out the Build Driver, Kenny's eyes lighting up even more when it was revealed. The blonde genius put the device to his waist, allowing the yellow strap to wrap around and lock it into place. "Now… shall we begin the experiment?" Once he pulled out the Rabbit and Tank bottles, Cooper placed them both into the Driver, getting the Best Match announcement before he turned the crank, allowing the Snap Ride Builder to form around him and create the two halves of his suit.

ARE YOU READY?!

"Henshin!" And just like that, the two halves snapped together over Cooper, transforming him into his primary Rider form.

Hagane no Moonsault! RabbitTank!

YEAH!

The Tennyson family, Winter and Swift were left wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the sight of Kamen Rider Build before them, though none were more entranced by the transformation than Kenny himself. What was once mere fiction was now reality… and it made him incredibly giddy. "AAAAAHH! SO COOL!" He started going around Cooper, inspecting ever inch of the suit. "This is amazing! Incredible! How were you able to even make this?!"

Build raised a single finger and answered; "With determination, knowledge, Dust, and…" He gestured over to Gwen and Charmcaster. "A good amount of magic added in."

Kenny's head immediately snapped over to his sister, his wonder giving way to absolute shock and disbelief. "Gwen… YOU helped make this?!" His face scrunched up in confusion. "But… I-I thought you hated stuff like this?"

Placing her hands to her hips, Gwen sent her brother a grin and gave a shrug. "Well, I'm not the biggest fan of it, I will say." Her eyes shifted over to Cooper and she nodded to him. "But I wasn't about to refuse a request from one of my friends. His confidence in this project is what convinced me to give it a shot, and in the end, it wound up working out. Combining Dust and worldly things together through the use of magic is what made Build possible, and I'm glad that I was able to be a part of it."

"Me too." Hope added, placing a hand on her chest. "Admittedly, I don't know much about Kamen Rider myself, but I was willing to help in any way if it meant being able to prove my worth to this team." She glanced over to Ben and the others. "…And I take it you guys are happy with the results?"

"Hah, MORE than happy." Ben assured. "But I gotta say, when you said that you'd prove yourself to me, I didn't think you'd end up doing THIS." He jerked a thumb over to Build. "Honestly, I thought you'd do something like, save my life or something."

Tilting her head, the silver-haired mage raised a brow at him. "…Is that still an option?"

A laugh was shared throughout the group, with Ben answering; "Haha! We'll see. Right now, though, I wanna see more of what Build can do." He set his sights upon the Rider and raised a fist. "Tomorrow, you wanna go a few rounds against us in the Hazard Chamber?"

"Oh, you're on." Cooper accepted, knocking his fist against Ben's. "You guys are in for a treat."

…..

As the next day came, the very first thing the Omni-Hunters did was head down to the Hazard Chamber, with Raven, Qrow and Vernal accompanying them. The Monkey King was there was well, wanting to see exactly what Cooper was made of. "Gotta admit, out of all the things I've seen in my time, this is definitely new." said the Great Sage. "I mean, transformation is one thing, but transforming in a way like THIS? Outside of TV shows, haven't seen a lot like it outside of… well, that." he pointed toward the Omnitrix.

"Yeah, and even then, this is different from what Coop's got." Ben stated with an eager grin. "I can't wait to put myself up against him today."

"Woah, woah, Green Boy, don't go diving in head first just yet." Yang held an arm out in front of her boyfriend, poking at his nose with her finger. "No offense to you or Coop, but your aliens are probably gonna give him a run for his money. So don't run him over before the rest of us get the chance to fight him first."

As he let his girlfriend's words sink in, Ben ultimately had to concede to her point. For as powerful as the Build Driver was, he knew that the Omnitrix was still much more powerful. 'Not to discredit of Cooper's work, but when the most powerful device in the galaxy was strapped to your wrist, you kinda get to feel the weight of that.' Ben thought to himself. 'Still, gotta hand it to him, he sure as hell put a lot of work into that Driver, and I can respect him for that.' He let out a sigh and accepted it. "Yeah, you're right, Goldie Locks. But now, here's the next question; who gets to fight him first?"

That managed to get everybody talking… which slowly devolved into a war of words. "Well, I think Team RWBY should have the honors." Weiss said proudly.

"Really? On what grounds?" Pyrrha challenged.

"Heh, the grounds of "dibs"." Ruby retorted.

But Nora butted in and got right in the Hooded Huntress' face. "Oh-ho-HO no, we are NOT playing that game, sister. Ya can't just call dibs outta nowhere! Team JNPR hasn't seen as much action as you lately, so I think WE should test our might!"

Neptune got between the four ladies and raised his hand. "Well, I think Sun, Ilia, Penny and I should take a crack at Cooper first."

The blue-haired boy received several confused stares at his declaration. "…Uh, mind telling us why, then?" Jaune asked.

"…Heh, because we've got THE Monkey King vouching for us!" Sun thrust his hand over to the Great Sage, who at this point was just chilling in the corner of the elevator. "Right, Monkey King?"

Wu Kong opened a single eye, sticking his pinkie into his ear. "H-Huh? What was that, Pilgrim? I wasn't payin' attention."

Sun sent his mentor a deadpan glare and rolled his eyes. "Of course. Can't win 'em all, I guess."

Before long, things had devolved even further into a shouting match, but it didn't take long for Gwen and Raven to intervene, getting into the center of the three groups. "ENOUGH!" Gwen shouted, bringing the noise back down to normal levels. "What are we, five-year-olds?! It's obvious that we need to decide this in a fair manner." Extending her hand out, Gwen's eyes glowed briefly as she summoned three small sticks into her hand, though she closed her palm just a mere second later so that they stuck out to one side. "So, we'll just draw lots to see who goes first."

"An excellent idea." Raven said, judging the three teams with narrowed eyes. "And I expect you all to be RESPECTFUL of your peers no matter which order you go in. Is that understood?"

"…Yes, mom." Yang affirmed, her team lowering their heads a bit in shame. "So, uh… how do lots work again?"

Gwen held out her hand, the sticks all appearing to be the same length from above. "Typically, the shortest one is the winner. And then the fights will go in order of shortest to longest. So, with that in mind, will the leaders of the three teams step forward?" Ruby, Sun and Jaune all did as she asked and reached in, setting their hand on their chosen stick. "Alright… draw!"

One by one, they pulled the lots out of her hand… and the results were not what they were expecting. Ruby had drawn the longest lot, Sun had gotten medium… and that left Jaune with the shortest. The blonde knight and his teammates were astonished, but it didn't take long for them to break out in celebration. "Hahaha! WOO! Yes!" Jaune cheered.

"No WAY! We actually WON it!" Nora jumped up and down happily… only for the elevator to come to a stop and she hit her head on the ceiling. "Gah! Ow."

"Aw…" Ruby sighed. "I thought for sure I'd picked the right one." A sigh passed by her lips and she gave her friends a smile, even though she was upset with herself. "But… congratulations, guys. Fair is fair, after all."

Weiss bowed her head to their friends, both in respect and apology. "Yeah, Ruby's right. …And sorry for the way we acted earlier."

"We were just so pumped to go up against Cooper that I guess we got ahead of ourselves." Yang rubbed her neck guiltily.

But Pyrrha shook her head, smiling back at them. "No worries, ladies. Believe me, I understand your position. After all, we are not without fault when it comes to that either." She turned to her teammates and they all nodded in agreement. "But we promise, we'll start things off with a bang. You can count on that."

Ilia was all for that. "And we look forward to seeing it, Pyrrha. Best of luck." With that, the group moved onward into the Hazard Chamber's control room, where several of their allies were already waiting for them. Team CFVY, Six, Winter, Tetrax, and to their surprise, even Zak and Kenny were all there, with the Petrosapien being the first to greet them.

"Well, well, it's certainly been a while since I've seen THESE faces." Tetrax grinned, approaching the Omni-Hunters with his hands on his hips. "What, you all too busy to visit me or something?"

The question left many of them feeling awkward, with Ben coughing into his hand. "A-Ah, well, um… ya see Tetrax, things have been—"

"Haha! Relax, Ben, I'm only pullin' your leg. Trust me, I know how much you kids have been through these past couple of weeks. No need to explain anything to me." The Petrosapien's eyes then noticed the tall monkey man strolling into the room with Raven and Qrow, catching his interest rather quick. "Ah, and you… you must be this "Monkey King" that I've heard so much about." He ambled up to the celestial simian, extending his hand. "Tetrax Shard. I help train these kids. Pleasure to meet you."

Wu Kong grinned and reciprocated the gesture. "Oh, so YOU'RE the guy Ben told me about this mornin'. Name's Sun Wu Kong, but please, feel free to call me Monkey King… for the sake of not getting things mixed up, ya know?" he said as he nudged his head toward Sun.

Tetrax gave a short chuckle at that. "Hmhm, yes, of course."

As the two introduced themselves, the Omni-Hunters went over to their friends, with Kevin asking; "So, where's the man of the hour? Thought he'd be here by now."

"Oh, he's already down there." Coco jerked her thumb over her shoulder, where the team saw that the Hazard Room down below was already running a simulation. They peered through the window and were met with an expansive cityscape, with tall buildings as far as the eye could see. "He's hidin' somewhere down there, and I bet he's just itchin' to get things started."

"Yeah, I'm sure he is." Jaune pulled up his sword and turned to his team, rallying them to his side. "So guys, let's not keep Cooper waiting much longer, huh?" Pyrrha, Nora and Ren all concurred, leading the blonde knight to call over to Six. "Elevator please, Agent Six."

"Right." Six pressed the nearest button and the elevator raised up in the center of the room, allowing Team JNPR entry. "Best of luck." With that, the elevator lowered back down, and the Providence agent looked to the other teens. "So, I take it you decided which order you're going in, then?"

Rex gave him a thumbs up. "Yep. Team JNPR's first, Team SN, Ilia and Penny next, then Team RWBY, and finally…" He gestured between himself, Ben, Kevin and Gwen. "Us."

"Hm, I see. How did you decide that?"

"Drawing lots." Blake answered. "That and Ben's team are being saved for last since they're the most powerful."

Hints of a smile appeared on the agent's face. "Hm, very sensible and mature of you."

Across the room, however, Kenny and Zak were keeping their eyes glued on what was about to happen down below. "Man, I am SO psyched for this." the older of the two pumped a fist. "Watching an actual Kamen Rider fighting LIVE! This is so cool!"

"Dude, you're in for a show." Zak affirmed. "Seeing him do his thing in Japan? It was like straight out of the show. It's insane." It was then that he saw Ruby, Weiss and Gwen approaching their little group, to which he sent them a wave. "Hey ladies! Getting front row seats to the action?"

"You could say that." Gwen replied as she and the girls sat down, all while eyeing her older brother. "Though I'm mainly over here to ask a certain someone why he's here. Don't you have work today, Kenny?"

Kenny gave a cheeky grin and shook his head. "Nope! It's my day off and I decided to spend it watching this." He gestured over to Winter. "Of course, I asked if I could come along, and thankfully this lovely lady said I could."

Winter put on a sarcastic grin and rolled her eyes. "More like, he wouldn't stop begging me until I said yes."

Gwen sent her brother a deadpan stare, putting him into panic mode. "Y-You don't have to be so brutal about it!"

"Oh, relax." Winter reached up and lightly pinched her boyfriend's cheek. "I'm pulling your chain." She leaned over to give Gwen a reassuring smile. "He DID say please, multiple times, so who was I to say no?"

"Hah, well, I guess you were at least SOMEWHAT polite." Gwen shook her head. "I'll let it slide, but please, I don't think I need to tell you NOT to give her a hard time."

Weiss made her opinion known as well. "Yeah. Otherwise, WE'RE gonna have a hard time if you upset her."

But Winter quickly dismissed that. "Weiss, I'm perfectly capable of handling things myself, thank you." Her gaze directed back over to Kenny, sending him a soft, sympathetic smile. "And besides, his excitement is one of the things I find quite charming about him."

"D'aw… shucks." Kenny blushed. "W-Well, if that's all cleared up, then let's watch the show, shall we? It oughta be exciting…" A loud buzzer signaled the beginning of the training exercise, right as Team JNPR took to the field.

…..

In the simulated city below, the four Beacon students kept on their guard as they proceeded, each of them watching all four corners around their position. They had no idea where Cooper was, after all, so they were keeping their eyes peeled. "Man… kinda sucks that Cooper started this without us." Nora lamented. "Puts us at a massive disadvantage."

"Agreed." Ren said, the green ninja keeping the rear covered. "But on the other hand, it was rather smart of Cooper to do so. He must be viewing us as villains for this training session."

"Well, then we'll just have to do the same with him." Jaune concluded. "Kamen Rider Build is now the big boss of this level, so let's see if we can overcome him."

Pyrrha smiled and concurred with his statement. "Yes, an appropriate comparison. But the first obstacle in doing so is finding out where he… wait." Cutting herself off, Pyrrha raised her head up, feeling a light trembling coming from somewhere around them. "Do any of you feel that?"

Nora pulled up her hammer, her guard going way up. "Yeah… something's rumbling, and I know for dang sure it ain't my tummy."

With Stormflower in hand, Ren wondered out loud; "Does the Hazard Chamber have an earthquake simulator, too?"

"Maybe… but I doubt that's what it is." Jaune denied, all while the trembling became even stronger, right up until it felt like something was coming up right beneath their feet. And it was at that moment Jaune knew… they had to get out of there. "SCATTER! Quick!" On his command, the quartet broke off in four directions, right as the very pavement beneath them exploded, sending chunks of dirt and debris scattering everywhere.

Team JNPR regrouped quickly as the dust wafted around… and through it, they could see a familiar silhouette with glowing red and blue eyes. "You know what they say about rabbits…" With the Drill Crusher in hand, Cooper, already in RabbitTank form, stood before them, his weapon sitting against his shoulder. "They're really good at burrowing."

"Gah, he got the jump on us!" Jaune raised his shield and pointed his sword at their adversary. "Team JNPR, surround him! Make sure he can't get away!" With several powerful leaps, the other three were now on all sides of the Kamen Rider, Nora having used her hammer to sail right over his head.

His, however, only made Build chuckle. "Hmhm, Jaune… what makes you think I want to get away?" Pulling the Harenezumi FullBottle off his hip, he gave it a shake and inserted it into the Drill Crucher, which began to shine bright while energy spikes emerged from its blade. "If anything, you'll wanna get away from me." He thrust his weapon toward the sky and pulled the trigger…

Harenezumi! VORTEX BREAK!

YEAH!

The drill spun at near-blinding speeds and sent out the spikes in all directions, forcing Jaune to change tactics. "G-Guys, MOVE!" The team didn't need to be told twice as the spikes skewered themselves into where they once stood, only to then disappear a second later. The four of them were about to regroup when Cooper took his opportunity, rushing in and slamming right into Jaune, who barely had time to get his shield up to counter the Drill Crusher. "GAH!"

"Ah-ah, might wanna stop and think before you do that." the Rider warned before bringing his left leg up and SLAMMING it hard against the shield, sending Jaune skidding back along the ground on his heels. "The most important part of battle is making sure you have the right tactics to counter your opponent. So…" Pulling out the Harenezumi bottle, Cooper replaced it with the Lion bottle, switching the Drill Crusher to gun mode in the process. "How do you plan to countering me?"

Jaune clenched his teeth as he saw the Drill Crusher start powering up, but an idea entered his head just a split second later. He once again went to his shield, stepping in front of his teammates. "Everyone, get behind me!"

"W-What?!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "Jaune, what're you—"

"Trust me, Pyr." Jaune sent her a reassuring grin over his shoulder. "Everything will be fine."

"We'll see about that, Jaune!" Cooper stated, aiming his weapon right at them. "Because here comes the lion's wrath!"

Lion! VORTEX BREAK!

YEAH!

The very second Build pulled the trigger, the golden energy burst out all at once, taking the form of the huge lion head that they'd seen in the Japan battle. But Jaune stood his ground, bringing his shield up just as the bestial blast bit down onto the group. Cooper spun his weapon in his hand, preparing to see a scattered Team JNPR when the dust settled. …But to his surprise, they were all still firmly standing, all thanks to Jaune's shield… which had expanded out with a protective energy barrier that covered all of his teammates. "Woah!" the Rider said, impressed by the move. "When did ya get THAT, now?"

"Heh, let's just say I made a few upgrades while you were away, Coop." Jaune replied. "Luhley's a real genius."

"I can certainly vouch for that. Not a bad move, Jaune." With a flick of his wrist, Build put the Drill Crusher back into the Driver's subspace… before then putting his hand on its handle. "…But can your shield handle this?" Cranking the Driver up as fast as he could, Cooper generated a heavy amount of energy before leaping into the air, allowing the hard light graph to form in front of him. *Ready? GO!* Thrusting his right leg out, he slid down the long line that led right toward Jaune's shield… which was when the blonde knight realized something bad.

"I-I can't move!" No matter how hard he tried, his feet wouldn't go… and he only found out why when he looked down. His ankles were stuck in a hard light trap, and the more he struggled, the more it actually started to hurt. "…Oh god."

Pyrrha gasped and went to grab her boyfriend's arm. "We need to get you out of—"

VORTEX FINISH! YEAH!

*WHAM* Jaune didn't even get a second to prepare before he felt his arm suddenly get HAMMERED with a massive impact, his eyes flashing back up to see Build colliding into his shield. The tread in the Rider's boot was going a mile a minute, making sparks fly off of Jaune's shield, only to ultimately… *KA-BOOM* …explode. "GAAAAHH!" Jaune yelled out as he was sent flying across the street, slamming straight through a building's window.

Pyrrha, Nora and Ren were forced to duck as it happened, leaving them temporarily without their leader. "JAUNE! No!" Pyrrha cried out, only to then nearly avoid getting hit with a punch from her right.

"Sorry, I think your main concern should be me right now." Cooper stressed as he brought out the Hawk and Gatling bottles from his holster. "Just let me get changed quick." Without much fanfare, he extracted the Rabbit and Tank bottles and replaced them, quickly turning the crank which summoned the Snap Ride Builder. *Are You Ready?!* "Build Up!" Faster than the team had expected, Build had changed forms, and waisted no time blasting at them with the HawkGatlinger.

Tenkuu no Abarenbou! HawkGatling!

YEAH!

Pyrrha brought up her own shield right as Build flew into her and slammed his more heavily armored arm against her, though she didn't give an inch despite her surprise. "W-What?! How did you—"

"Change so fast?" Cooper finished. "It's a Quick-Change function in the Driver." He pushed against Pyrrha and pulled the trigger on his gun, forcing her to move quickly. "Believe it or not, there's an even faster setting that I call "Flash Change". That's where I skip the pretense all together and just go directly into a different form!"

By this point, Ren was circling around Build's back and shooting at him with Stormflower, though his bullets only seemed to be ricocheting off of the armored hero. "Gah, then why not use THAT function all the time?"

Build only laughed at that idea. "Ha! What, and skip the best part of the whole transformation? C'mon, that's like Ben not saying the names of his aliens." He spun around and flew into the air, shifting his aim toward Ren as he followed him. But, right as he seemed to be cornering the ninja… something fast and hard smashed into his side, driving the wind out of his lungs. "AUGH!"

"Not today, Sky Guy!" Nora shouted, swinging her hammer and hitting Build directly in the gut, sending him careening straight through structure himself. With their opponent temporarily indisposed, the three regrouped to check on their leader. "Jaune! You okay?!"

"Ugh… y-yeah, I think." Emerging from the window he flew through, Jaune stuck his head out, revealing all of the cuts and bruises that were healing by the second. "Glad I've got a lot of aura and had my shield, otherwise that probably would've ended me."

Ren helped his leader out, though he kept glancing over his shoulder for their opponent. "Good, but we're not out of the woods yet. Cooper's still got a big advantage and we haven't done much to put big damage on him."

Nora furrowed her brow at Jaune. "I think I took care of him for a bit, but I've got no doubt he'll be back. What do we do, Fearless Leader?"

Humming in thought, the blonde knight considered their options. He knew exactly what his team's strengths and weaknesses were, so they needed to capitalize on that. 'Let's see, Pyrrha's the best fighter and incredibly durable, Ren's fast and good at dealing quick damage, Nora's a powerhouse that could end this in one hit, and I'm…' Jaune lifted his sword, peering at his reflection in the blade. 'I'm both the paladin AND the white mage.' He then saw Nora in his sword's surface and immediately got an idea. "…Guys, I've got a plan." Pulling out three vials of Lightning Dust, Jaune waved them at the Pink Dynamo. "But first, Nora… we've gotta get you powered up."

"…Oh, I like where this is going." Nora smiled from ear to ear.

Meanwhile, Build had just freed himself from the rubble that had collapsed on him. He had to admit, that had taken him off guard a bit. "Hah… first time getting hit with Nora's hammer." Cooper breathed, trying to get his second wind. "Yeah, not fun." Spreading his wings, the Rider flew out of the building and scanned the area, keeping the HawkGatlinger at the ready. "Now… where are you?"

*POW-POW-POW* *Rat-at-at-at-at*

"WOAH!" Swerving in midair, Cooper managed to avoid the incoming firepower from below, snapping his head down to see Ren and Pyrrha aiming their guns at him. "Ah, finally decided to start shooting back, huh? Bout time!" On that note, he spun the chamber of his own weapon five times; 10! 20! 30! 40! 50! Taking aim, Build pulled the trigger and unleashed a hailstorm of firepower, which took the form of tiny energy birds that divebombed the duo.

"We've got his attention!" Ren down the street, with Pyrrha not far behind. "Let's move!"

As they made haste, though, Pyrrha noted that the little bird bullets were homing in on them, resulting in her making a snap decision. Quick as a flash, she shifted Milo from its shotgun mode into bow mode, pulling back the drawstring and summoning three energy arrows as she ran. "Ren, how good is your aim?"

"Decent, but not as good as yours, I think."

"Well then… climb that house and give me some supporting fire." The Invincible Girl spun around and unleashed her arrows upon several of the energy birds, not wasting time in repeating the process again and again. "We need to take these pests out!"

Ren did as she asked and watched as several of the birds exploded when she shot them, causing a chain reaction that made even more of them blow up. "Well, guess I don't have to be too precise…" He spun Stormflower in his hands and then took aim as well, shooting rapidly into the flock and causing even more small blasts in midair.

From above, Build observed the whole thing, humming to himself in thought. "Hm… Jaune and Nora aren't with them. They probably have a plan cooking." Extending his wings, Cooper went in for a nosedive, keeping the HawkGatlinger pointed straight down at them. "Maybe it's time for a change in tactics, then!"

As more bullets rained down, Pyrrha gasped and quickly ducked out of the way, only to then throw her shield right up at the incoming Rider. Build deftly dodged out of the way… but then was caught off guard. Pyrrha used her semblance and redirected her shield right into Cooper's back, throwing him off course. "GAH!" Tumbling toward the ground, Build managed to tuck and roll into a landing, where he was met immediately by Pyrrha.

"Didn't expect that, did you?" Pyrrha caught her shield and put it on her back. "You're certainly good, Cooper, but you forget…" She pulled her bow's draw string back, bringing forth two energy arrows. "I didn't earn my nickname for nothing."

Letting go of the string, Pyrrha let her arrows fly, and while Build went to get up quick, he wasn't fast enough. The two energy arrows caught him right in his wings and propelled him straight into another structure, only this time, he was pinned right into the wall. "Agh! …Hah, very smart, Pyrrha." He sent his weapon back into subspace while his other hand went to his hip. "But remember, I've got MUCH more where that—"

"HEY! Bird Boy!" Cooper snapped his head up at the shout… and saw Nora come careening down from above, her body surging with pink lightning while she reeled Magnhild high above her head. "IT'S HAMMER TIME!"

Behind her, Jaune had just loaded in his third vial of Lightning Dust into Crocea Mors, hefting the blade above his shoulder to prepare his attack. *Triple Dust Loaded: Zandar Thunder* "Let's do it!" Bringing his sword up, Jaune widened his stance and announced; "Thunderstorm… AFTERSHOCK!" before swinging the weapon down and letting loose a MASSIVE bolt of lightning, which surged its way toward the trapped Rider.

"…Well, this calls for something different." Quicker than anyone could see, Cooper took out the two bottles he was using and inserted two more; a magenta one with a cute octopus on it and a bright yellow one that depicted a lightbulb.

Octopus! Light!

He didn't even give the Driver a chance to say anything more than that before he cranked it up and shouted; "BUILD UP!" By that point, though, Nora and Jaune's attacks hit their mark, resulting in an explosion that engulfed everything around them.

Jaune regrouped with Pyrrha and Ren, the three of them breathing hard as they waited for their pink-clad teammate. "Did… did we get him?" Pyrrha huffed.

"I-I don't know." Jaune uttered in concern, seeing as the hyper redhead wasn't already back there with them. "Nora?!"

"Nora!" Ren exclaimed. "Come on, we—ah!" But the green ninja gasped when something started shining brightly inside the cloud of dust; a yellow light that seemed to be sparking with electricity. "…Nora?"

"No…" Pyrrha stepped back, now seeing a pair of glowing eyes approaching from the smoke. One was pink and the other yellow. "…He changed again."

Appearing before them, Cooper emerged in a completely new form to them… one that seemed very odd at first glance. The magenta half of his suit had an upside-down octopus as the left eyepiece, its tentacles serving as the "antenna". Meanwhile, his right shoulder pad also resembled an octopus, complete with eight tentacles that hung down over his arm. The yellow half, though, had three lightning bolts molded into the left eyepiece that were clearly very antenna-like, and there was another bolt across his right pectoral. His right shoulder had a large lightbulb sticking out and there was a big, black spotlight strapped to his arm, which seemed to be all charged up thanks to Jaune's attack. The sound of electronic music could be heard as the Driver declared the form's name;

Inazuma Technician!

OCTOPUSLIGHT!

Yeah!

"…Octopus?" Jaune uttered.

"Light?" Pyrrha added… only for her eyes to widen at what else was going on. "Ah! NORA!"

Indeed, the Pink Dynamo was being trapped by Build's tentacles, which were wrapped around her wrists and ankles. …And what's more, they seemed to be sucking away her energy by the second, the pink lightning coursing through the multiple arms and into Cooper. "G-Guys… I… I-I can't… sleepy…" Nora's head hung low as she was entirely drained, which prompted Build to slowly lower her to the ground as she lost consciousness.

"Sorry 'bout that, Nora." Cooper apologized, the tentacles returning to his shoulder. "I'll make it up to you with pancakes later."

"Hmph… you'd better… zzz…" And by that point, Nora was out for the count.

Jaune was completely flabbergasted. "W-What? …How did you—"

Build chuckled and wagged a finger to them. "Like I said before! I've got a Flash Change function on my Driver! Which means something like THIS…" He brought his left arm up and the spotlight strapped to it turned on, immediately blinding the three remaining members of Team JNPR. "Is very much possible."

"GAH! I can't see!" Ren cried out, his hands flying up to his eyes at the searing agony.

"Everyone, remain calm!" Pyrrha said firmly, though she herself was doing everything in her power to ignore the pain. "This should only be temporary, so the best thing we can do right now is avoid Cooper's attacks."

Jaune grit his teeth, frustrated at being taken by surprise like this. 'Dammit! I should've seen something like this coming! Of course Cooper would have something to counter electricity!' Despite the unfavorable situation, though, Jaune took a deep breath and clutched his sword, keeping a sharp ear out for any noise the Kamen Rider may make. "You're right, Pyrrha. Ren, stay focused!"

Build, however, didn't move a muscle. He had a feeling they may shift to that approach once their eyesight was hindered, so he planned to not do anything at all. …At least, not when it came to running around. He lifted his finger up and drew it along his right antenna, saying; "The winning formula… is decided." Bringing his hand back down, he turned the crank of the Build Driver, generating power that began flowing through his body.

However, this also made the mechanisms inside the driver start clanging and banging against one another, getting Team JNPR's attention. "Ah! Oh no. Everyone, guards up!" Jaune took a defensive stance, bringing his shield up as Pyrrha did the same. Ren had nothing to hid behind, so he simply pointed Stormflower to where he heard the noises and started firing.

"Hm, sorry guys." Build apologized as the eight tentacles on his shoulder pad whipped all of Ren's Dust rounds out of midair. "But it's time to end this."

Ready? GO!

Swinging his right shoulder forward, Build's octopus-shaped armor began expelling ink from its mouth, which engulfed the three Beacon Students in seconds. Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren were left confused when they felt the haze spread around them… and then, it happened. The inky blackness coagulated into three large bubbles that trapped the trio, which Build then brought together with his tentacles to make one large bubble.

"What is thi—erk! HAK-HAK-HAK!" Ren made the mistake of breathing it in as well, and before long, all three of them were coughing up a storm. Soon after, though, Build had closed in on the bubble, his left hand reeled back and crackling with electricity.

Vortex Finish! YEAH!

"GRAH!" Belting out a forceful yell, Build hit the ink bubble with an electrical, explosive punch, blowing it up in one fell swoop and sending the three members of Team JNPR flying. His opponents slammed into a building, a street pole and even a car, their auras dissipating after his devastating final move. With steady breaths, Build nodded with finality, reaching down to his Driver to remove the Fullbottles. "Hah… and that… is a wrap."

In a flash, Cooper transformed out of his Rider suit, and rushed right over to his defeated adversaries. He knelt down next to Pyrrha and helped her sit up first, the redhead groaning in pain. "Hey, you alright?"

"Hmph… that was… unexpected." Pyrrha admitted, her eyes shut tight from the pulsing headache she now had.

"Yeah. No offense, but I think you might've got a bit overboard, Coop." Jaune bemoaned, rubbing his eyes in hopes of clearing his vision.

"Hah… sorry, guys." Cooper bowed his head. "I may have been a bit overeager to test out some more bottles."

Ren slowly got up as well, crawling onto a bench so he could just lay on it for a few minutes. "Mph, well, at least you realize that. Maybe you'll go a bit easier on the others after this?"

Tapping his chin, Cooper mulled the suggestion over, only to give a shrug. "Eh, all depends on how they want to go about it, I guess." He tapped the side of his head and gave a wink. "If they want a real challenge, then I'm more than happy to give it to 'em. …But again, only if they REALLY want to."

As her eyesight finally cleared, Pyrrha stood up and went over to Nora, hefting the sleeping redhead onto her shoulder. "Well, I guess that's fine enough. But right now, I'm just ready to take a break and replenish my aura. Come one, everyone, let's head back up."

…..

Needless to say, the reception the five of them received upon their return was overwhelmingly positive, on BOTH ends. "Guys, you did great down there!" Ruby commended as Team JNPR came over and practically collapsed onto the seats near them. "Your battle tactics were amazing, really! I'm definitely taking notes for when it's our turn."

Jaune let out a tired breath, smiling at his best friend. "Thanks, Ruby… though I'd recommend not copying the whole losing part."

"Dude, come on." Yang encouraged, giving Jaune a jab to the shoulder. "Don't be such a downer. You and your team would've had that won if Cooper wasn't so… prepared." Her violet eyes glanced up to the fellow blonde, her features etched with caution. "Honestly… not sure how WE'LL fair against him right now either."

"I'd suggest keeping your distance." Pyrrha advised. "With how many bottles he has, he could pull out anything."

"And you don't wanna be close to him when he does." Ren nodded, all while Nora slept on his lap. "Trust me, it won't end well."

Blake bowed her head toward their friends in gratitude. "We'll keep that in mind, thanks."

Weiss glanced over her shoulder at Cooper, pursing her lips in uncertainty. "But what COULD he have, though? Has anyone watched the show… or even remember the toys that he and Kenny showed off?"

Ruby raised her hand. "I've seen a good chunk of episodes, so I think I know what to expect. Still, remember what we saw in Japan; Cooper can apparently create NEW Best Matches, so we probably can't predict everything he has." Her brow furrowed at the young genius as both Kenny and Zak came up to him. "We'll have to be careful…"

"Cooper, dude, that was AMAZING!" Kenny praised, rushing up to Cooper and offering a fist bump. "That was exactly like something you'd see out of the ACTUAL show! Haha! I can't believe I actually saw that!"

"Heh, thanks, Ken." Cooper reciprocated the fist bump. "Gotta admit, it's a dream come true using this thing." He took the Build Driver out and set it on the center console. "Honestly, sometimes I can't even believe I actually made it."

"Well, ya did! And I'm incredibly jealous." Zak asserted, his eyes gleaming eagerly. "So, uh… this version of the Driver wouldn't happen to measure actual Hazard Levels, would it?"

Cooper shook his head. "Nope, no need for it since Hazard Levels aren't a factor."

"So… hypothetically, ANYONE could use it, then?" Kenny beamed from ear to ear, which was when Cooper caught on to what they were getting at.

"Haha… yes, they could… but they still can't." Cooper put the Driver behind his back once again. "The Driver instead has a DNA scanner that tells who's wearing it. If the wear's DNA doesn't match up with mine, they can't use it to transform."

That news left Zak and Kenny instantly crestfallen, their shoulders slumping in unison. "Aw…"

But Cooper was quick to reassure them, raising a single finger. "BUT… did you forget what I said yesterday, Zak?" He gave a wink down to the young Saturday. "Along with what you said about "unleashing the dragon"?" And just like that, a glimmer of hope returned to Zak's eyes, and it didn't take long for Kenny to pick up on the subtext, too. Spinning around, Cooper announced to the group; "That's right, I WON'T be the only Rider for long. Even as we speak, a second Build Driver is being worked on, and right now, I'm on the search for my future sidekick."

"Er, I think you mean "partner", babe." Coco corrected sternly. "Remember what we said about the whole "equals, not sidekick" thing?"

Coughing into his hand, Cooper quickly amended himself. "R-Right, sorry. But yes, I AM going to be scouting for my future partner in crimefighting, so if any of you guys think you have what it takes to be a Rider…"

Instantly, several hands went shooting up into the air… including some that he didn't expect. Zak and Kenny were no-brainers, and of course there was Sun and Neptune, along with a tired Jaune. But the most shocking volunteer of all was undoubtedly… "Yang?"

"Yeah, 'sup?" the Blonde Brawler asked casually.

"I… just didn't expect you to volunteer is all."

Yang scoffed and flipped her hair around. "Pfft, what? Because most Riders are guys?"

"N-No! It's not that at all!" Cooper quickly denied. "I'm all for more female Riders, it's just that I didn't think you'd be that eager."

Blake turned to her partner, echoing the sentiment. "Yeah, I'll admit, I'm pretty surprised, too. You wanna be a Kamen Rider, Yang?"

The resident powerhouse of Team RWBY gave her best friend a shrug. "I mean, why not, right? Aren't you curious to feel what it must be like? Being snapped into a Rider suit like that and suddenly having access to so many different powers?"

Her words made her teammates mull over the idea for a moment, with Weiss bobbing her head to the side. "Well… maybe a little, but I think I'm alright with just being a Huntress. Besides…" She unsheathed Myrtenaster and quickly summoned her Boarbatusk, giving it a pat on the head. "I'm already quite satisfied with my powers, honestly."

"Yeah, same." Ruby agreed. "Being a Rider would be awesome, but I dunno if the suit would exactly match my fighting style."

"Heh, well I don't have any qualms about it." Neptune piped up, raising his head with a smirk. "In fact, I think I'd make a pretty awesome Rider."

Zak peered at the blue-haired boy over his shoulder, getting a chuckle out of that. "Heh, not if I have anything to say about it, dude." That earned him a soft glare from Neptune as he put a hand on his chest. "After all, I am probably the second-biggest Kamen Rider fan here."

"Uh, get in line, man." Kenny leaned forward, getting eye-level with Zak. "I'm the second-biggest Build fan here. If anyone's gonna be the secondary, it should be—"

But before he could finish, Winter placed a firm hand on her boyfriend's shoulder, cutting him off. "Kenny, darling, need I remind you that you're only NOW starting on the basics of combat?" she said with a serious stare. "You've certainly improved your physique in the past couple of weeks, but without the knowledge of combat to go with it, you aren't going to make much of an impact on the battlefield, I'm sorry to say."

That left Kenny rather downcast once again. "Winter, you… you don't think I can…"

"Not right now." Winter stressed, all while giving him a hopeful smile. "Someday, though, I think you WOULD make a fantastic Rider. But only once you've honed your fighting skills."

However, Gwen made her own opinion on the matter know. "Even then, though, I don't know how I'd feel about you joining us in battle, Kenny." Her expression was one of worry as she reached up and touched her hand to her brother's shoulder. "You need to remember the types of enemies we fight. Salem, Vilgax, Van Kleiss, all of them are extremely dangerous. And I wouldn't want you getting seriously hurt if something went wrong. Do you understand?"

While Kenny could understand the reason behind the two most important women in his life not wanting to rush into action, he had to admit, their words stung a bit. Still, he bore his way through it and sent them both a curt nod. "Y-Yeah… I understand."

Over by Sun, though, the Monkey King glanced down to him. "So, couldn't help notice your hand go up, too, Pilgrim. Wanna be a Kamen Rider, huh?"

"Oh, it'd be cool, sure." Sun shrugged. "But I won't get torn up about it if it's not meant to be. Besides, I've already got the Great Sage Equal to Heaven helping me with my training."

"Gaw, jeez, you sweet-talker." Wu Kong roughed up his student's hair a bit. "Save it for your girlfriend." Just then, a sudden buzzing noise went ringing through the room, catching everybody's attention. "Hm? Yo, Ben, I think that's yours." The celestial simian pointed out.

Ben's eyebrows rose up and he went right to his pocket, pulling out his cellphone. "Huh, it is…" When he saw who was contacting him, though, his eyebrows rose up in surprise. "And… it someone I haven't heard from in quite a while."

This promptly piqued everyone's interest, with Ilia getting up to walk over to learn more. "Who is it? You seem a bit put off, Ben."

The hero shook his head in denial. "Not put off, exactly, Ilia. Just curious. It's an old informant of mine who I haven't heard from in weeks. Not since I got back from Remnant, anyway." He began scrolling through his messages, seeing what his contact sent. "Wonder what he's been up to?"

"An informant?" Kevin questioned. "Heh, didn't know you had one of those, Tennyson."

"You'd be surprised what I got up to while you guys were at college. I—" But Ben cut himself off when he finally got to what was sent. It was a video… and just from the first frame, he knew its contents were of the utmost importance. "…Woah. You guys are gonna want to see this." He lifted his phone up so that everyone could see, the large group crowding up to get a clear view.

Immediately, several of the teens went slack-jawed at the sight of the familiar robed and hooded figures. It was the Collective, and they seemed to be once again holed up in some abandoned garage or factory. Right in the center of the cultist crowd were two figures in black robes, though their hoods were down, allowing the team to see their identities. "Now, I'm sure you are all aware that our previous endeavor to appeal to the public went south rather fast." Mitchell spoke first. "But the Exalted One has assured us that will NOT be the case for long."

"Indeed." Katie said, her brow furrowed out toward their followers. "Our next step will be attempting to influence people to join our group AWAY from Bellwood. Come morning, we make for the next state over. Just keep a low profile and hopefully the Omni-Hunters won't take notice."

Mitchell couldn't help but scoff. "With any luck, they'll be too busy with other crap to take notice. Let's move, people, we have preparations to make!"

With that, the video ended, and Penny quickly deconstructed the situation. "So, it seems Powerclaw and Fenix have returned." She craned her head back to her team. "And from the sounds of it, Van Kleiss has promoted them to sub-commanders of the Collective."

"While the actual Pack is hiding in the shadows." Six said, coming up from behind while eyeing his seething protégé. "…Rex?"

"Grr…" Rex balled his hands into fists, his jaw clenched in ire. "He's back at it again. …Just what I was hoping for." He slammed his fist into his palm, urging his team to go. "Come on, we've got Pack butt to kick."

"Woah, woah, hold on, dude." Ben halted his friend. "We don't even have their location yet—" *blip* As if on cue, the address popped into Ben's messages, all while Rex raised a brow at him. "Huh… speak of the devil."

Weiss approached the two boys, her sights going to Ben as she stood by her boyfriend's side. "Ben, I know you usually like to take your time with this, but if we don't do something now, then we're going to regret it later."

Across the room, Coco piped up as well. "I'm with Weiss-cream. These cultist freaks have been a pain in our asses since we first arrived in this world, so this seems like the perfect opportunity to take 'em down a notch…" She reached up and placed a hand on Cooper's shoulder. "Especially now that we've got Tech Head's new powers to give 'em a run for their money."

"Yeah, Ben, I have to agree." Cooper voiced. "And I think I might have an idea on how to do what Coco said." He wore a confident smile as he sent Ben a thumbs up. "Let's give them as hard a time as they've been giving US for a change, hm?"

As he pondered their words, Ben couldn't help but see the determined gazes that the rest of his team were giving him, signaling that they too wanted in on giving the Collective their dues. "…You know what? You're right." His features now etched with resolve as well, Ben raised a fist up and declared; "Guys, you know what time it is, right?" Without even needing to say it, they all responded;

"HERO TIME!"

"Great, then we're all on the same page." Gwen interjected. "Only one thing…" She extended her hand over to Team JNPR, who were still incredibly exhausted. "They're in no shape to fight after what they went through."

Jaune sighed and slumped forward a bit. "Yeah, we're gonna need a breather and some time to build our auras back up."

"I'm sorry, everyone." Pyrrha bowed apologetically. "But we may have to sit this one out."

"Hey, guys, it's okay." Ben reassured. "Trust me, I get it. I'm more than happy to let you guys rest." He trailed off, though, thinking over what they'd have to do with four teammates out. "Hm… still, it would be good to have some reinforcements…"

When he heard that, Zak practically slid in next to Ben. "Uh, dude, right here?"

The team's eyebrows collectively shot up at that. "Uh, Zak, are you sure?" Ruby inquired, tapping her fingers together. "With, you know… your powers acting weird and all?"

But the reincarnation of Kur wasn't about to be put out that easily. "Hey, Ruby, don't worry. I haven't had a really bad headache in days, and I've barely been using my powers." He pulled his Claw off his back and twirled it around in his hand. "Besides, I think you're forgetting that I'm an expert at hand-to-hand. So with or without powers, I'm good to go."

"And I'll get into contact with Rook." Six added. "Him, Manny and Helen are out on patrol and I'm sure that they'd meet us there."

"Huh… actually, that's not a half bad idea." Ben pointed at Six and Zak. "Alright then, make it so!" He spun around to face the other adults. "As for you guys, remain on standby. I think we'll be able to handle this on our own."

Raven had to admit, she was mildly concerned for the group, but after seeing how they handled Galvan Prime, she wasn't TOO worried. "Hm, very well, then. Best of luck, everyone."

"Just don't be afraid to call if ya need backup." Qrow waved them off. "We'll be there in a flash."

"Thanks, guys." Yang saluted as the other Omni-Hunters began filing out of the room. "We'll kick enough cultist ass for all of you, promise!"

Once the team and Six had left, the Branwen Siblings, Team JNPR, Tetrax, Winter, Kenny and Wu Kong were left to their own devices. Raven gave a short sigh and sat down, reflecting on everything. "I have to say, that was… quite fast." She noted.

"I know." Winter concurred. "I never expected Ben to have an informant, either." She glanced over to her boyfriend curiously. "Do you have any idea who it could be, Ken?"

The young redhead scratched his chin in thought. "Hm, well… I might. But I also don't think that Ben would go THAT far. …At least, I hope not."

That managed to get Raven's attention. "What do you mean by "that far", Ken?"

But before Kenny could answer, Wu Kong just waved it off. "Ah, relax, Raven. Last thing we need is to start worryin' over nothin'. The kids have got this handled, I'm sure of it." He started making his way toward the door himself, waving to the group over his shoulder. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna head off and watch the carnage! Heehee!" In a flash of light, the Monkey King disappeared, leaving the rest in silence.

"…I can't get a read on that guy for the life of me." Qrow uttered, leading to several nods throughout the room.

…..

As it happened, the Collective had actually decided that their hiding place would only be about an hour north of Bellwood… which only took about five minutes to get there in a Plumber stealth ship. Six had decided to acquire the vessel for this mission, as it'd be the best one to approach their hiding place while staying undetected. Before they left, though, two others had requested to join them for the mission. "'Ey, heard from the Bird Mom that you's were headed to take out Van Kleiss." Bobo said as he and Holiday approached them. "We want in."

Six furrowed his brow, not surprised that Bobo wanted to join. …But naturally, he was more concerned about his fiancé joining the fight. "Are you sure?" he asked. "We're dealing with several uncertain variables."

"Hm, well I think you're forgetting that I always deal with uncertain variables in my field, dear." To emphasis her point, Holiday threw off her doctor's coat, revealing herself to already be in orange and grey combat gear, complete with a Plumber-issued sidearm on her hip. "And besides, it's not like I haven't been in combat before. What's the difference now?"

The agent briefly glanced down to her hand. "…The ring on your finger." Six then snapped his head around so that he was glaring at the Omni-Hunters over his shoulder. "And if I hear one "it's expensive" joke, it'll be training with me non-stop for an entire week."

Sun and Neptune immediately pulled their lips in, keeping them tightened between their teeth.

"Haha, Six, relax." Holiday reached out, giving her fiancé's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be laying down supporting fire only." Her expression hardened. "All I want is to make sure Van Kleiss knows in no uncertain terms that the crap he put us through, taking us away from our world, will have dire consequences for him."

"…And that is why I love you." Six smiled before pulling her in for a brief kiss, earning several "aw's" from the team. But it didn't take long for Six to go back into serious mode. "Now let's move, people. We can't let the Collective get away this time."

And thus, there they were, gathered just outside of the abandoned garage after landing in their camouflaged ship. Unsurprisingly, there were a couple of guards posted on the roof of the building near the front entrance, which the team stayed out of sight of for the time being. "Ilia, help me with the guards?" Ben asked as he activated the Omnitrix.

"Of course." Ilia affirmed as Ben transformed into Big Chill, the Necrofriggian spreading his wings as the chameleon girl hooked her arm with his. The two then silently flew up to the roof, where they saw yet another set of guards toward the back of the facility. "I'll take one, you take the other?" Ilia grinned.

"Sounds like a plan." Big Chill winked back before swinging her onto the roof, all while he went intangible and flew to his chosen pair. Within seconds, he went through the duo's arms, which held their weapons and took them aback. But they didn't even get the chance to shout before Big Chill appeared behind them and smacked their heads together, knocking them clean out.

Ilia was just as quick in her execution. Using her Lightning Lash, she precisely sliced up the cultists' weapons while leaping over their heads, taking them off guard by how fast it was. She landed on the ground behind them, swept their legs out and then tased them both with her weapon on the way down, leaving them unconscious. "And just like that, we're good for infiltration." Ilia and Big Chill shared a fist bump. "Nice teamwork."

"Agreed, now let's get back to the others." After flying Ilia back down, Big Chill returned to his human form, addressing the Omni-Hunters. "Alright, guards are taken care of, and…" He trailed off at the sound of jet thrusters overhead… where he saw the Proto-Truk come flying in to land right on the roof of the building. "…just in time, too."

"Hm, seems they got our message." Six concluded, to which he craned his head toward Cooper and Team CFVY. "You five know what to do from here."

"Yessir." Velvet saluted, with Fox and Yatsu mimicking her. "We join the others up top, and while you guys get the Collective's attention from the front and back, we get the drop on 'em from above."

Gwen and the others nodded, all clear on the plan. "Right. Hopefully with this strategy, we can pin them down and they won't get away so easily."

Rex faced the team with a rather stern gaze. "Just make sure everyone keeps an eye out for Breach's portals. They can come in at any time, and we don't want any of them going through."

"Right. But before we get started, there's something I gotta know…" Yang sent a questioning eye toward her boyfriend. "That informant of yours… is he still here?"

Ben pondered the question for a moment… but then heard something from a nearby vent on the side of the building. *clunk* *clang* "Gah! Son of a—"

"Watch your mouth, dude." Ben reprimanded the voice inside the vent, which took everyone off guard. "You know you can't use that kind of language yet."

A gasp was heard in the ventilation shaft before whoever was in there clamored the rest of the way out. The vent hatch opened… and in their haste, the person fell out. And to the entire team's astonishment… it was a pre-teen boy. He appeared to be twelve, maybe thirteen, his light brown hair brushed back and covered in dust bunnies from his journey. He also wore brown khaki pants, black sneakers and a white undershirt… along with what appeared to be a hoodie version of Ben's jacket. He rubbed his head as his brown eyes fluttered open, dazed from his sudden fall. "Ugh… regret. Instantly regret."

"Jimmy?!" Gwen and Kevin exclaimed.

"Jimmy?" the entire Omni-Hunter team echoed, all equally confused.

Six, however, was less than pleased at the sight of the boy, his focus shifting straight to Ben. "Your informant… is a child?"

The Omnitrix bearer raised a hand, trying to defuse the situation. "H-Hey, he's not just ANY kid. He's probably the one kid who gets in and out of places without ever being noticed." He went over and knelt in front of Jimmy, offering him a hand. "…He also happens to be my biggest fan, but that's inconsequential."

Facepalming, Gwen let out a sigh. "Why am I not more surprised?"

Jimmy's pain was immediately forgotten about and he accepted Ben's help. "Ben! Hah, man, am I glad you got my messages!"

"Thanks for sending 'em my way, Jimmy. But uh, might wanna quiet down." The hero advised, placing a finger to his lips. "We just took out the guards and we don't want to give away our positions, right?"

"Oh, right, sorry…" Even so, Jimmy couldn't help his eyes lighting up at the sight of the Omni-Hunters, beaming at them so brightly that it might have rivaled even Ruby's biggest smile. "A-And you guys are his new team! I was hoping you'd come, s-since I haven't gotten to meet any of you yet and all."

Ruby and Zak exchanged a brief glance, unsure of how to respond. "Uh… thank you?"

"I-Is something wrong?"

"No! Not at all. It's just…" The Hooded Huntress gestured down to him. "When Ben told us he had an informant, he didn't mention… well…"

Jimmy immediately deadpanned, knowing what she was getting at. "Ah, I see. Hah, yeah, I get it. The whole "kid" thing is putting you off."

"Well, kinda." Zak admitted, though he grinned down to the boy. "But I've gotta say, what you're doing reminds me of all the stuff I used to get into when I was your age." All that did was get a confused look out of Jimmy, leading Zak to explain. "Well, my parents and I are scientists and our field sometimes leads us to getting into scraps, and when I was younger, I sometimes found myself in your position."

That left Jimmy feeling reinvigorated. "Hah, really? That's pretty cool!"

However, Holiday came in to tone things down a bit. "While that's all well and good, I still don't think this is the safest place for you, young man." She glanced between him and Zak. "After all, the main difference here is that Zak has been trained and you haven't."

The boy's face fell at that, and what his hero said next didn't improve his mood. "Dr. Holiday's right. I appreciate you running reconnaissance, Jimmy, but now, it's time for us to finish the job." However, Ben raised a brow at him. "But before we do… where've you been? I haven't heard from you since I got back, like, a month ago."

"Oh, hah, yeah… my mom and I went on a summer trip to Europe and I was on a pretty strict "limited technology" rule." Jimmy rubbed his neck sheepishly. "B-But I WAS at least able to keep up with what you guys were doing on TV, so I know how important stopping the Collective is to you." The boy raised a determined fist. "Now go kick their butts!"

"Heh, will do…" Ben lowered his voice, adding; "And I'll forward your remunerations later." The two shared a thumbs up and Ben addressed his team once again. "Alright, so we're all set on the plan?" Everyone gave a shared nod and Ben ushered them toward the front. "Alright, now let's move in. Time to give these guys what they deserve."

Just as they went to execute their plan, though, Yang took a brief moment to stop and kneel down next to Jimmy. "Hey, I know Green Boy already said this, but…" She reached up and ruffled his hair. "Nice work, Jimmy. We owe ya one."

"Y-Y-You…" Jimmy swallowed nervously as his cheeks became bright red at the sight of the gorgeous girl in front of him. "Y-You're Ben's girlfriend, right?"

"Yep, Yang Xiao Long." The Blonde Brawler gave him a wink. "And don't worry, we're gonna beat the crap outta those idiots. See ya later, Jimmy."

"Hm! Best of luck." With that, the group split off into three, with Team CFVY and Cooper finding a ladder up the side of the building to climb up. Kevin, Zak, Team SN, Ilia, Penny, Six and Holiday went to the back entrance while Ben, Gwen, Team RWBY, Rex and Bobo went up to the front. As he watched them leave, though, Jimmy lowered his gaze to the ground in disappointment. "…Well, guess I'd better just go home, then." But right as he turned around… he bumped into something. "Gah! H-Hey, what the—"

"Woah-ho, slow down there, little man." Jimmy felt a hand on his head stop him from falling back ward, which also resulted in him looking up… at the seven-foot-tall monkey man in front of him. "You're gonna get into a wreck goin' anywhere like that."

Jimmy's jaw went slack at the sight. Even though he had no clue who this was, he could just tell that THIS was someone important. "Wh-Who… who are you?"

Giving a light chuckle, the celestial simian sat down cross-legged on the pavement in front of him, bringing out his staff from behind his ear. "Heh, who am I? Why I'm the illustrious, handsome and enlightened Great Sage Equal to Heaven! But you can just call me "Monkey King". I'm a friend of the heroes in there. So…" Snapping his fingers, Wu Kong summoned his cloud under the two of them, lifting them up much to Jimmy's amazement. "You wanna watch this battle on the best seat in the house?" The boy was all too quick to say yes, and they found the nearest window to watch everything go down.

…..

Inside the building, things were moving quickly as the Collective prepared for their next operation. Every single member was determined to make sure that things didn't go wrong for their group this time, though none were more resolute than the ones who were chosen to lead this mission. Mitchell and Katie went about the place, dictating the preparations seamlessly and precisely to their leader's specifications. "Things are going well." Katie reported to her partner with a smirk. "Very well."

"Yeah, well… hopefully it'll be well enough." Mitchell said a bit more pessimistically. "I swear, if those Omni-Hunters get involved, I'll skewer them myself."

"Hey, you gotta calm down." The young woman-turned-EVO said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Ever since your transformation, your tendency for violence has shot straight up. Remember what our goal is; to persuade people to join us."

"Gah, I know…" Mitchell ran a hand through his hair… which wasn't really hair at all. A clicking noise escaped his throat as he faced his partner. "Sorry. A scorpion's natural aggression is… hard to keep a cap on, honestly."

Katie offered him a soft smile. "I know. I'm only now just learning to control my flames so I don't burn everything around me."

With a breathy laugh, the two shared a small moment of solace, only for Mitchell to start asking; "So… Katie, um… perhaps… whenever there's some free time, could we—"

*BANG*

*BOOM*

Unfortunately, the question would have to wait as two explosions abruptly rocked the entire place, leading both of them to put their guard up. The rest of their Collective brethren all took up arms as the dust cleared… revealing an unpleasant sight to all of them. On either end of the room, they were boxed in by the Omni-Hunters, all of them ready for battle. "What?!" Katie exclaimed, a bird-like screech escaping her throat.

"Grrrkhkhkh…" Mitchell's growl switched to the clicking sound once again, and by that point, all pretenses were out. The two did away with their ID masks and revealed their EVO forms in full, though no one batted an eye. "Guess it was too much to ask for you idiots to be preoccupied with something!" The four-legged, humanoid scorpion EVO bemoaned. "How did you even FIND us here?!"

"A little birdy told us." Ben replied, making sure to smirk over to Fenix. "Maybe one of your relations?"

With her teeth grit, the bipedal phoenix EVO let out another shriek, spreading the wings on her back as her flames ignited. "Enough games! The Exalted One will reward us greatly by bringing you back to him…" She zeroed in on Rex in particular. "Especially you, Mr. Salazar. He's been wanting to speak to you personally for some time."

"Pfft, he had his chance." Rex brushed off, bringing out his Smack Hands. "Time for talk is over. Let's fight!" On cue, Six, Bobo, Team RWBY, Team SN, Ilia and Zak all brandished their weapons, while Gwen and Kevin activated their powers. Holiday did as she promised and also unholstered her sidearm, making sure to stay on the outskirts of the battle.

"Agreed!" Penny shouted, the redheaded android going into her upgraded form and ejecting ten Floating Array blades from her person. "There'll be no escaping us this time, you scoundrels."

"Scoundrels?!" Powerclaw spat. "I won't stand for this!" Opening his one giant claw, he powered up an energy blast and aimed it at Penny. "Let's see how you like this, robo-freak!" *CHOOOM* The beam shot straight at the flying girl… only for her Floating Array to shield her completely and absorb the attack, to which they all changed from blade mode into blaster mode and arranged themselves in a perfectly straight line. "…Oh. Well, that stinks." Powerclaw muttered.

In a flash of green light, Ben transformed into Swampfire, the Methanosian narrowing his eyes at the group. "Yeah, for you. Attack!"

Within moments, the Collective were assaulted with all matter of attacks, from energy blasts, to punches, kicks, and other forms of blunt force trauma. Team RWBY had one group of cultists pinned against the wall and subdued them almost immediately, all while Sun, Neptune, Zak and Ilia did much the same thing. Six and Rex had paired off to face Fenix while Swampfire was going at Powerclaw alone, though he had both Bobo and Holiday laying down suppressing fire.

"Gah! Ach! Dammit, STOP!" Powerclaw raised his pincer and fired again, only for Bobo to jump up and avoid it.

"Not happenin', kid!" The EVO chimp gave a toothy smirk down to Swampfire. "Tennyson, how's about ya REALLY let 'em have it?"

Swampfire didn't need to be told twice. "Took the words right outta my mouth!" Raising his hands, Swampfire let loose a powerful burst of methane gas straight at Powerclaw, practically immersing the scorpion EVO in a cloud of noxious gas.

Within seconds, the foul stench went through Powerclaw's nostrils and he started coughing and hacking, his four eyes all welling up and blinded by that point. "HAK-HAK! W-What the—why does it smell like a sewer?! I-I've gotta get—AUGH!"

One quick punch denied Powerclaw his escape, Swampfire beating him back relentlessly. "Yeah, how 'bout we don't do that?" The Methanosian raised his hand, pressing his thumb and middle finger together. "Funny thing about methane… doesn't take much to make it blow." He snapped his fingers, igniting a single spark… which sent the whole area around him and Powerclaw up in flames. Swampfire was fine, but his opponent…

"AAAAAGHH!" Flying out of the inferno, Powerclaw struggled along the ground, trying to put himself out. …The key word being "try". "Agh, stupid legs! Stupid tail!" he cursed as he tried to stop, drop and roll, much to Bobo's amusement.

"Ahahaha! What a chump!"

"SILENCE, CHIMP!" While he was on fire, Powerclaw wasn't completely incapacitated, using his tail to strike at Bobo. The EVO chimp doubled back quickly, leading to Swampfire catching it instead. "GAH! Don't you ever give up?!"

"When it comes to people like you? Nah." Using all his strength, Swampfire pulled Powerclaw up off the ground and spun him around, all while shouting; "REX! Let's take these two for a spin!"

As it happened, Rex had the same idea, having grabbed hold of Fenix with his Blast Caster while she was distracted fighting Six. After sending a surge of energy through her body, he raised his whip up and went to toss her. "Way ahead of ya, Ben! Heads up!" With that, the heroic duo swung their opponents at one another, resulting in a head-long collision… which also wound up putting out the fire on Powerclaw, as it was absorbed into Fenix's body.

The two groaned in pain as Swampfire and Rex met back up, approaching them from the front. Joining them were Gwen, Kevin, Six and Bobo, surrounding them on all sides. "Grr… this isn't getting us anywhere." Fenix spread her wings and grabbed her partner, preparing for takeoff. "We need to gather who we can and execute a tactical retreat! Everyone! We'll meet at—"

*KA-BOOM*

She never got to finish that order as yet another explosion rocked the entire structure, this time coming from above. A blast of fire and smoke came cascading through a new hole in the roof… along with nine figures falling down toward them. The first one down was accompanied by a flash of red and blue while he somersaulted through midair, along with a guitar riff as he landed on one knee and PUNCHED the floor so forcefully, it cracked under his fist.

Hagane no Moonsault! RabbitTank!

YEAH!

Swampfire and Rex's smirks grew as Kamen Rider Build stood between them, all while Team CFVY, Rook, Manny and Helen landed behind them. "Sorry, people, but you aren't going anywhere." Extending his hand, Cooper summoned the Drill Crusher from subspace, pointing the weapon at the EVOs. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

"…Okay, now who the HELL are you?!" Powerclaw belted out.

"The name's Build…" Settling his weapon against his shoulder, the masked hero brought his other hand up, running a finger along his antenna. "Kamen Rider Build."

All of a sudden, several of the cultists grew much more warry of the suited man before them. "W-Wait, isn't he that guy from the news?" one person muttered.

"The one who beat up all those monsters AND beat the Ministry in Japan singlehandedly?" another asked.

Build raised a finger at that. "Ah, well, too be fair, I didn't take them ALL out. I just made a good show of it." Taking off the drill part of his weapon and flipping it around, he promptly switched it to gun mode. "…But when it comes to you people, I think I might do just that. If you don't come quietly, that is."

Rook came forward with his Proto-Tool armed and ready and flashed his Plumber's badge. "Indeed. By order of the Plumbers, you are all under arrest."

"HA! Like we're gonna let a buncha alien freaks tell US what to do!" Said one cultist in a gruff, older voice, aiming his laser rifle right at them. "Now, go take your ridiculous outfits and—GAH! Hey!" The man didn't even get the chance to fire his weapon as Manny took it out of his hand and crumpled it into a ball within seconds. Immediately after, Helen went around the entire room and disarmed all of the other Collective members in less than two seconds, dumping them all in the center.

"…You were sayin', pops?" Manny challenged.

"You people are lucky that we're not looking to get into a fire fight." Coco said as she and her team encroached upon some of the robed stragglers, with Cooper moving to join her. "Otherwise, we would've had this fight won already."

By that point, Powerclaw's fist was so tight, his sharpened fingers were digging into his armored flesh, snarling and clicking with rage. "Snnrrt… Fenix. This is going south fast."

"My sentiments exactly." The phoenix EVO agreed, lowering her head. "This operation has resulted in failure…" But then, Fenix snapped her head up with a powerful, yellow-eyed glare that sent a wave of energy out around her in a five-foot radius. "But that doesn't mean we cannot escape! Let's move! We have ten seconds!"

"Oh no you—agh! Huh?!" Unfortunately, as Swampfire went to move… he found that he couldn't. In fact, several team members were paralyzed, too, including Rex, Gwen, Kevin, Bobo, Six and even Manny and Helen. "…Oh no."

Helen let out a grunt of exertion, trying and failing to move her legs. "This is... w-why can't I move?!" she cried out.

"I-I can't get out of it, either!" Gwen added, unsuccessfully attempting to activate her Anodite powers. Next to her, Kevin and Manny were also trying to force their way out, but nothing was working. "Is this some kind of magic?!"

Rex knew exactly what it must have been, though. "No, worse! It's probably another EVO power of hers! GUYS!"

It didn't take long for the rest of the team to come to their aid, but by that point, Fenix was already on the next step of their escape plan. From her pantleg, she pulled out a special comm device and called into it; "Sir! We need an evac! The Omni-Hunters have found us!"

"NO!" Rex bellowed, all while many familiar red portals started appearing and scooping up the downed cultists that had just been taken out. "Someone, STOP THEM!"

All at once, evert Huntress and Huntsman in the room unleased every ounce of ammo they could muster, with Weiss even summoning the Arma Gigas to run down upon the two EVOs. "Rex! Hang in there!"

Build, Coco and Velvet immediately spun around as well… just in time to see one of Breach's portals appear right behind them. "Oh no, you don't!" Coco unfurled Gianduja from her handbag, the barrel already spinning and ready to fire. "You just earned yourself that fire fight!"

Seeing how fast the portals were moving, however, Cooper recognized that shooting them wouldn't make much of a difference. "There's no time! Coco… I'll be back." Before Coco could even ask what her boyfriend meant, Build exchanged the Fullbottles in his Driver for two different ones, sprinting into the action all while cranking the handle.

Panda! Rocket!

Best Match!

Are You Ready?!

"Build up!" Once the Rider shouted the confirmation, the Snap Ride Builder compressed his new suit over him, revealing it to be a white and sky-blue form. The white parts were clearly all panda-based, with a left eyepiece that resembled the face of the black and white bear while his right arm was actually a large gauntlet that had a massive paw for a hand, which in turn had very long claws. Even the armor on his bicep and shoulder was a bit bulkier, and the same could be said for the other side. His entire right arm was practically made of broken up rocket ship parts, with the nosecone serving as his gauntlet while an entire rocket thruster was his shoulder pad. And of course, the left eye was a downward-flying rocket with the flame trail expelling from its thrusters serving as the only antenna for this form. Leaping forward and sticking his rocket arm out, the thrusters in Build's shoulder ignited, blasting him off at incredible speed while epic music blasted from the Driver;

Buttobi Monotone!

ROCKETPANDA!

Yeah!

The team were left gob smacked as Build flew straight toward Rex and Swampfire, calling out; "Guys! Brace yourselves!" He ended up stabbing his panda claws into the Methanosian's back while ramming shoulder-first into Rex, picking both of the paralyzed heroes up and taking them with him.

"C-Cooper?!" Rex hollered. "What're you—"

"It's like you said, Rex!" Build reminded. "We're not lettin' 'em get away this time!"

It didn't take long for Swampfire to get what his friend meant. They were jetting straight toward one of Breach's portals, the same one that Powerclaw and Fenix just disappeared into. At that point, he could feel parts of his body start to move again, and with only seconds to spare, he called over his shoulder to a certain huntress. "RUBY!"

Just like that, Ruby stopped in her tracks. "H-Huh?!"

"You're in charge! Call Ra—" *SHYOOM* …But whatever the hero was about to tell her was cut off as he, Rex and Cooper all disappeared into the portal, which itself then vanished soon after.

The team was left in complete and utter silence after that, aside from the sounds of those paralyzed beginning to regain their own sense of motion. Kevin immediately fell to his knees and SLAMMED his stone fist into the floor. "DAMMIT! NO!"

"BEN!" Yang sprinted into the center of the room, with Weiss hot on her tail.

The Arma Gigas behind the former heiress stood as still as a statue before she waved it away, the shock of what happened now hitting her. "Did… did that really just happen?"

"It did." Holiday affirmed, moving up to Six to check on him. "Cooper just took a big gamble. Those three are on their way into Breach's pocket dimension, a place that Rex has only been in once…" She craned her head down in uncertainty. "And even then… it was hard enough getting him back the first time. Unless they can get Breach to willingly send them out… they're essentially trapped there."

"…No." Yang balled her fists, her anger fueling her resolve. "No, NO! No way am I taking that! There's gotta be another way!"

"I mean… we could try the Dimensional Doorway?" Blake suggested.

"That's a possibility, but there's an immediate problem with that." Six pointed out. "Only Cooper and Caesar know how to calibrate it."

Sun had his own counterpoint, though. "Luhley could it! Pretty sure she's smart enough!"

Neptune crossed his arms in uncertainty. "Well, yeah, but we don't even know WHERE this pocket dimension is! How would she calibrate it if she doesn't know either?"

Within moments, everyone was speaking over one another, making their own arguments on what to do. …But that's when a certain Hooded Huntress piped up. "QUIET!" Ruby's loud screech was enough to silence everyone in seconds, their focus doing directly to the glaring, Silver-Eyed Warrior. "I understand that everyone's worried, but you heard what Ben said, right? He left ME in charge… so it's up to me to decide what we do next."

"Hm, I was waiting for you to say something about that." Gwen said with a supportive grin. "What's our plan of attack, Ruby?"

"Well…" Ruby's sights shifted toward Weiss, Blake and Yang, only to see that they had already gathered up around her. The three ladies all went behind her and smiled as well, showing that she had their backing, too. "First, we should regroup and—"

*BAM*

Just as she was about to give her first order, though, Ruby was interrupted when one of the garage's walls abruptly fell in on itself. Everyone naturally spun around to see what had happened… and were met with a large, black and gold hover car with no wheels and massive exhaust pipes. As the vehicle landed, though, several of the team found it fairly familiar. "Wait… isn't that…" Ilia stared.

"…Oh no." Kevin paled and his gaze shot over to Manny. "Dude, I'm sorry. This whole situation just got worse."

"W-What?" Manny's head whipped back and forth between the Osmosian and the hover car, right as its canopy went up. "How could this get any—"

"BELOVED!" And just like that, Manny's blood ran cold. He whirled back around… just in time to see one Princess Looma Redwind leap over from her vehicle and land directly in front of him. In less than a second, he was brought into a soul-crushing, four-armed embrace, being lifted off the ground at the same time. "I have returned, my dear!" Looma beamed excitedly. "Are you surprised?!"

Feeling his bones pop all over, Manny could only utter; "Hmph! Yeah… this just got worse."

…..

A/N: Well… that was certainly something. A majority of the team are left without their leader, Ruby's in charge, and now Looma is back on Earth. The next part of this little event is gonna be quite interesting to watch unfold, that's for sure.

But of course, let's go over what just happened, shall we? We got a short training session between Team JNPR and Cooper, which allowed the new Rider to show off a bit more of what he could do, we had the return of Jimmy Jones and it seems he's gotten back into his old habit of finding out what the bad guys are doing (only this time, Ben's fully aware and knows Jimmy's got a knack for getting in and out of these situations), and now the Collective have retreated back to Breach's pocket dimension with Ben, Rex and Kamen Rider Build giving chase. Plus, now the group have to deal with a volatile Tetramand Princess, so that's gonna be chaotic, for sure.

That said, though, as you may have caught on in this chapter, Cooper's not gonna be the ONLY Rider to join the team. Because, of course, when it comes to modern day Kamen Rider, one ain't enough, ya gotta have several, and Build's Secondary Rider is probably one of THE most badass of them all, so of course, why WOULDN'T Cooper want to bring him in? Only question, though… WHO is it gonna be? Could it be one of the Omni-Hunters… or someone else? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, we've got the debut of TWO new forms; OctopusLight and RocketPanda! …Yes, I'm fully aware of how crazy these combos are.

And oh, how can we forget the Monkey King just watching this all go down like he's just watching his favorite TV show? And hey, he was nice enough to let Jimmy watch in on the battle, too, so can't say he's not a nice guy.

For now, though, NEXT TIME! As Ben, Rex and Cooper arrive in Breach's pocket dimension, they instantly go for a stealthier approach, hoping to find the portal-making EVO and set her free before Van Kleiss even notices they're there. In the meantime, the Omni-Hunters are left forming a plan with Ruby at the helm, who's thinking over what Ben was trying to her before he went through that portal. First, however… she's gotta somehow convince Looma to help… while preventing her sister from getting in a fight with the princess. This might take a while. Thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! And of course, as always, stay safe out there!