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)

93. Bros In Space

A/N: Hello everybody! Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY and FINALLY the chapter with the correct name this time. But before we get started, I promised you guys that I'd be casting the Rustbucket IV's onboard intelligence system, BUS, and that's what I intend to do… and this voice actor is going to be VERY familiar to you all if you grew up in the late 90's/early 2000's like myself. So without further ado…

BUS – Voiced by Veronica Taylor

And yes… I'm imagining THAT voice. I mentioned that BUS sounded like a little kid, didn't I? What better voice to use than the one for OG Ash Ketchum himself? So, with that in mind, this is…

Chapter 92: Bros in Space

…..

~Earth, Central Asia~

The duo who shared the name "Sun Wukong" went rushing across the sky at breakneck speeds upon the deific one's cloud, which was just big enough to hold the both of them. For the younger Sun, it was an exhilarating experience. He had only dreamed of this kind of experience before, flying through the sky as if there were no boundaries that he could break. And the fact that he was on his way to train with the Great Sage Equal to Heaven was only icing on the cake. They had sped past raging seas, barren deserts, high mountain ranges and the lowest of plains, before then arriving at yet another body of water. This one, however, was much different, the monkey Faunus could tell. At first, the waters were much calmer… but then, off in the distance, he could see it; a bright, shining land with an absolutely staggering mountain peak in its center, which flowed with fierce waterfalls and bloomed with gorgeous foliage all around.

The only catch? It was surrounded by a ring of the sharpest, craggiest, most hostile landscapes Sun had ever seen. The ring of land was as black as coal and was rippling with fissures full of magma, which occasionally exploded up into the sky. None of the fiery geysers went high enough to reach them, but the first one he saw explode was enough to make him flinch. "Gah! H-Holy crap! Monkey King, what the heck is that?"

"Ah, I call that the Ring of Fire." Wu Kong answers, sparing a brief glance down to his protégé. "It's what keeps my home protected from mortal outsiders."

"…People come out here?"

"Well, they try. The Ring's usually enough to deter them, though. But…" Wu Kong pointed down to a heap of old bones that made Sun's eyes nearly pop out of his head. "…Yeah, sometimes thieves are so bold that they'll try and get by this place. They hear my legends and immediately get it in their head that they can try and reach my home to plunder it."

Sun eyed Wu Kong warily. "Um… you haven't…"

The Great Sage shook his head with an amused grin. "What, killed 'em? Naw, I thought you knew me better by now, bud! I don't kill people—anymore." That made Sun narrow his eyes a bit, which made the Monkey King raise his hands. "Okay, okay, BEFORE I was enlightened, chumps were up for grabs. But these days, I try to enlighten any trespassers and send them away as different people… though in some cases, I'm too late and the Ring claims 'em before I get to 'em." He shook his head down to the remains. "Such a shame, really."

With a short sigh, Sun nodded in understanding. "Okay, I get ya. So, we gonna fly in or what?"

"Heh, someone's eager." Giving his cloud a kick, Wu Kong shot straight toward the island paradise, bringing them in for a landing on the beach. The stop was so abrupt that it ended up sending Sun flying through the air and into the sand, his bindle sticking in the dirt not too far away. Wu Kong hopped off his cloud and yanked Sun out of the sand by his tail, propping the boy up on his feet. "Well Pilgrim, here we are!"

As he was stood up, Sun was able to get a better look at the landscape before him… and what he saw took his breath away. He had seen a lot of beautiful natural scenery before in his life, but this… almost took the cake. The whole island seemed to have an ethereal, golden glow, as if the land itself was shining. The greenery that grew upon the mountainous terrain was unlike any he had ever seen, the trees' branches growing long and prosperous. The sheen of the waterfalls flowing down the mountainside seemed to reflect the natural glow of the area itself, to the point where he was pretty sure the water was reflective, like a mirror. All in all, it was a breathtaking sight to behold.

'…Still can't top Blake, though.' the monkey boy thought to himself.

"Pssh, you're obsessed." Wu Kong said with a jab to Sun's shoulder, knocking him out of his stupor.

"Gah! W-What?! I didn't even SAY anything!"

"Ah, but you were THINKING it, and the Great Sage knows all…" Wu Kong nudged his chin toward a nearby pathway that led further into the island. "Now c'mon, there's some people I want you to meet." Begrudgingly, Sun followed, though his annoyance gave way once again to simply marveling at the sights around him. But before long, the Monkey King came to an abrupt halt, lifting his head and raising his hand to his mouth, amplifying his voice as he called out; "HEY EVERYONE! I'M BAAACK!"

With his call echoing throughout the area, it didn't take long for a response to be heard. There was… chittering… and then chattering… before it EXPLODED into full out screeches and cries as a MASSIVE troop of monkeys all barreled out of the tree line and toward them. "Ah! AAAH!" Before Sun could react, he found himself being trampled by the surprisingly big monkeys, all about four to five feet in height. None of them matched him or Wu Kong in stature, but still, they were large. "W-Woah! HEY! Can you guys please not crush me, your distant cousin?!" Sun pleaded.

Wu Kong quickly went to calm things down as well. "Woah-ho-ho, guys, GUYS!" Raising his hands again, the king slowly brought his arms down, motioning for his subjects to settle. "Let's bring it down a few notches, shall we? Let the Pilgrim have some breathing room."

The simians all shuffled out of Sun's way, with one even helping him stand back up. "Hah… hah… thank you." Dusting himself off, the blonde craned his head around and met the monkey troop's gaze, seeing mixed emotions amongst the group. Many were curious, some were wary, and a few—particularly the younger ones—were still quite excited. "So, uh… these are you subjects, Monkey King?"

"You're darn right." Placing an arm over Sun's shoulder, Wu Kong introduced him to the troop. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Pilgrim Sun!" That earned the Monkey King several confused looks, which he explained; "Yeah, yeah, I know, kinda confusing, but it's really no joke! We share the exact same name!" One of the monkeys made a curious sound as it pointed to Sun's tail and then his face, which Wu Kong understood immediately. "Oh yeah, that's real too! He's what's called a "Faunus", basically a human with animal traits. In this case, he's a MONKEY Faunus!" He then repeated his words… this time in the native tongue. "OOH-OOH-AH-AH-EEE! OOH-AH-EEE-EEE-AH!"

In one fell swoop, all of the monkeys went back to being happy again, with some even reaching out to Sun to shake his hand. "O-Oh, um, okay!" the monkey boy obliged, shaking many hands. "Gotta say, wasn't expecting this kinda welcome."

"Heh, well since my subjects are all immortal, they're a lot more intelligent than you think." The Great Sage gave a wink. "The only thing holding them back from actually speaking human language is the lack of evolved vocal cords." He brought his staff out and hoisted it up, signaling to his troop. "Please, make Pilgrim Sun feel at home, everybody… just not TOO at home. Understand, ladies?"

"Pfft, funny joke there, Monkey King." Sun scoffed as he picked up his bindle… only to feel like he was suddenly being watched.

The celestial simian took the boy by the arm and ushered him to follow. "Uh, hehe, yeah… not a joke, bud." Wu Kong glanced over his shoulder, prompting Sun to do the same… where they saw a group of female monkeys all leering at the monkey boy. Almost… playfully so. Wu Kong quickly used his hand to jerk Sun's head back to the front. "Do not make eye contact, they see that as an invitation."

"…I'll keep that in mind." Sun agreed as they continued their way up the mountain. "Definitely not going out of the cave by myself, that's for sure."

"Smart plan. Now c'mon, let's get ya started on that training."

Despite that… rather unnerving reception, Sun had to admit, this island was paradise. 'Almost makes me sad that I'm only here for a few days. …I wonder how the gang up in space are doing?'

…..

~Revonnah, The Next Night~

So far, things had not been going well with the Omni-Hunters' visit to Rook's childhood home. The attack at last night's dinner had been one thing, but during the day when they had been put to work, it only got worse. Nora had somehow gotten it into her head to use her HAMMER to expedite the harvesting process, shattering one of the many fruit-bearing rocks that stood in her way. Unfortunately, that had the adverse effect of splattering Amber Ogia juices everywhere, wasting the crop… and making Rook Da very unhappy. Thankfully, his frustrations were diverted from Nora… when another horde of Muroids attacked. And again, the Revonnahganders treated it as unusual since it was a daytime attack, and again, the giant rodents were on two legs.

The farmers and the Omni-Hunters DID manage to fend the beasts off, but again, things were not in the heroes' favor. Ben had decided to transform into Crashhopper in order to get the Muroids away… and was immediately mistaken for a "locust" by the farmers. Thankfully, Yang had cleared up the understanding before the Revonnahganders could bludgeon him with their tools, but Rook Da was still thoroughly unimpressed.

"These are farmers," he had declared, "and we have enough pests around."

So, after that incident, there they were, all gathered outside in front of the Ogia silos to conclude the day's work. Ben had since restrained himself from transforming again and Nora… well, she just struggled to restrain herself entirely. It wasn't easy for her, but the last thing she wanted was to get the locals angry at her again. "Rook, gonna go out on a limb here, but I don't think your dad likes us." The Pink Dynamo concluded.

"…Hah, relax." Rook sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "This is not about either of you."

Overhearing, Ren couldn't help but ask; "Then what is it about? You becoming a Plumber?"

"…Somewhat. While my father respected my career choice, I do not believe he respected the idea of me leaving Revonnah entirely." Rook explained. "I believe he thought that I would come back and serve with Sheriff Watt-Sen on the planet, but instead, I wanted to leave entirely. To experience worlds outside of Revonnah. That is not the Revonnahgander way… and neither is it to bring off-worlders back home."

Ren hummed thoughtfully, taking the information in. "Hm… yeah, I see where you're coming from. Maybe if we did something to help your dad see that we're not all bad, he'd come around to us?"

"Best of luck with that." Rook rolled his eyes… only to see a certain someone in his peripheral vision. Rayona stood across the way with a group of other Revonnahganders, presumably her own family, and she caught him looking as well, brightening up and waving over to him. Rook sheepishly waved back… which made the other two smirk.

"Ooh… so THAT'S your girlfriend, huh?" Nora teased.

"Sh-She is not my girlfriend." Rook insisted in a rare stammer.

The redhead winked up to him. "Not YET, anyway. Still—and please don't take this the wrong way—but it's kinda crazy how YOU of all people are romantically involved with someone."

Rook countered her point with a smirk. "I would say it is more believable than half of the things I have seen working with you, Nora."

"Yeah, well, you've seen ALL of those things."

"And now, you have seen Rayona."

"Who has seen Rayona?" A gasped escaped Rook's throat and he stumbled around, the girl in question having whispered into his ear. …And he fell right on his rear for his trouble. "Ahahaha! Blanko, always one to startle easily."

Fighting to regain his composure, Rook cleared his throat and addressed her. "R-Rayona… hello."

Rayona raised a brow and leaned forward. "Hello to you as well. Tell me, what flusters you, Blanko? I know we have not seen each other in a long time, but…" She glanced away slightly as a dark blue hue came to her cheeks. "…I was hoping that we would be able to have some… time alone to catch up."

Rook blinked as his own blush appeared, only for Nora to nudge him just a bit closer to the purple-haired girl. He sent the redhead a glare, but all she did was wink back, bobbing her head toward Rayona. And, as afraid as he was to do it… Rook knew he had no choice. "U-Um… I apologize for being… dodgy, as my friends would put it."

That left Rayona confused. "What are you dodging? I see no threats around."

"...Oh." Nora deadpanned, along with Ren as well. "So, they're ALL like this."

"Apparently Revonnahganders aren't into idioms." the green ninja concluded.

Rook wasn't bothered by it, though, and instead explained; "You. I have been dodging you. I realize that I may not be the most straightforward Revonnahgander on the planet, but I do know what my own feelings are telling me. It is just… I am—"

"Nervous?" Rayona reached out and gently grabbed Rook's hand, much to his surprise and Nora's elation. "Do not worry. I am, too. In fact, just doing this is taking every ounce of my bravery."

"Hah… th-then I suppose I should relieve you of your stress." Rook reached his other hand up and placed it over Rayona's in a two-handed grasp. "Rayona… will you allow me to honor your request from last night and accompany you to the festival celebrations tomorrow night?"

All at once, Rayona broke out into the biggest smile imaginable and let out a joyous laugh. "Haha! Y-Yes! Yes, I would… I would like that."

Nora couldn't contain herself anymore at that point. "EEEEEEEEE! He's in boys! He did it! He said it!" From out of nowhere, she pulled out a pair of airhorns and pressed down on the buttons, unleashing a blaring noise throughout the area.

"KEEP DOWN THAT RACKET!" A Revonnahgander shouted from the silos.

"…I'm out, boys! I'm out, BAIL!" And just like that, Nora dove behind the nearest bolder she could find, tossing the airhorns away for good measure. Ren could only sigh and shake his head in response.

Across the way, meanwhile, the rest of the Rook family were observing the Amber Ogia they had harvested getting sorted into the silos on conveyer belts. The rest of the Omni-Hunters were also present, with Max approaching Rook Da from behind. "Ah, a fine day's work, I'd say." the elderly Plumber remarked.

"I was just about to say the same thing." Da agreed. "Aside from a few… less than ideal moments, of course."

Max hummed at the remark. "Hm, yes… those Muroids are becoming a bigger and bigger problem, almost by the hour."

Da coughed into his hand curtly. "Ahem, indeed, though that is not all I was referring to."

Bralla was instantly on him for that, though. "Oh, Da, will you be reasonable? The children apologized and only a small bit of the crop was affected. We will live without a few Ogia." The bearded Revonnahgander simply grumbled, to which Bralla shook her head.

"Man, that dude's as stubborn as a mule." Vernal deduced.

"Yeah… though I can't imagine that our presence is helping all that much." Gwen added with a shrug. "Revonnahganders are a species who're only JUST starting to learn of the outer worlds. I think it was only in the past… what, thirty to forty years that they've been introduced to other species?"

Kevin affirmed her thinking. "Yeah, round about. Which means he's been around for the whole thing. Probably wasn't the biggest fan of it, I reckon."

Ben stepped into the center of the group, garnering their attention. "And I can totally see where he's coming from, really, I do. But I think we're still ignoring the BIGGER picture here." The hero gestured toward the desert. "Those Muroids out there? They're evolving at an accelerated rate, so much so that there's only one plausible way this could be happening. I'm telling you guys, this has GOT to be the work of Doctor Animo."

A collective groan came from most of the team before Weiss countered; "And I'm telling YOU for the umpteenth time that there's a VERY low chance of that actually being the case, Ben!"

"Yeah, dude, while I'm all for being suspicious about how these giant rats are acting, what the hell are the chances that Animo even KNOWS we're here?" Rex asked.

"That's the thing; maybe he doesn't know we're here!" Ben countered. "Maybe he's under Salem's orders to collect Amber Ogia so that she can have a new source of fuel!"

Weiss and Rex eyed one another skeptically, the former raising another point; "Okay, then, if that really IS the case… then how would Salem know of Amber Ogia in the first place?"

The hero raised a finger and went to argue… only to find that he couldn't find a concrete answer. "Maybe… maybe Eon told her about it? I-I don't know! But hey, it's not like we haven't run into impossible situations like this before, right?"

"Ben's got a point." Yang folded her arms across her chest. "Not like the Ministry hasn't screwed us over with surprise appearances before."

"Yeah, I'm not about to rule out the possibility either." Gwen stood next to her cousin in solidarity. "And even then, Animo in the past has always popped up in the most unexpected places. Let's keep observing the Muroid's behavior. Maybe we could even follow them to their den and see what's going on for ourselves."

The Omnitrix bearer smiled to the girls gratefully. "Hah, thanks ladies. I'm glad someone sees my reasoning here."

Both Rex and Weiss narrowed their eyes at him. "Dude, it's not that we don't believe you." the EVO rebutted. "It's that—"

"We'd rather stay hopeful that our vacation WON'T be ruined by villainy." Weiss summarized.

"Oh, trust me, I understand that." Ben assured. "I'd rather it not either, but in our line of work, we've gotta be prepared for stuff like this." Rex and Weiss both groaned in unison, practically falling into each other in sheer exhaustion and disappointment.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Vernal were more focused on the silos. There were several rings of them dotted across the town, each with about twelve in total. And the fact that ALL of them were filled to the brim with Amber Ogia was almost incomprehensible to them. "These things are enormous!" Kevin said while looking to Shar. "You sure you need ALL of these silos?"

Shar nodded without question. "Indeed. And really, they are not that big." She pointed up to one. "Not when you consider that they hold an entire year's supply of food, fuel, and material goods for the surrounding farms."

"Damn… you guys like to conserve your fruit, that's for sure." Vernal commented, only for something else to grab her attention; a strange yet familiar noise that she had grown accustomed to over the past day. "…Huh?" She, Kevin and Shar whirled around just in time to see a bunch of curled-up Muroids come rolling in, with the lead one unfurling… to reveal that it was wearing a black helmet with a gold spike on top. "What the hell?!"

"They are back!" Bralla called out, grabbing Young One and her other daughters before making haste away from the area as several other Revonnahganders went to rally against the beasts.

Seeing this, Rook placed a hand on Rayona's shoulder. "Go find your family, I will meet you later." His hand received a light, supportive squeeze from Rayona before she darted off, leaving Rook to take up his Proto-Tool to defend the silos.

But the group were in for quite the surprise when several more Muroids gathered with the lead one, all standing on two legs… and donned with the same black helmet. The rodent in front then… seemed to communicate with the others, speaking in a language of grunts and gurgles before they all said in unison; "BROH!"

Needless to say, the others were astonished. "…First they stand on two legs, now this?!" Rook exclaimed.

"So it would seem." Rook Da said as he and Max came up to the Omni-Hunters with many flares in hand. "But regardless, we must not allow them to take the crop! Everyone, to arms!"

Following his lead, several Omni-Hunters actually began taking the flares, with a few exceptions. Ben and Nora were almost two of them, the former reaching for the Omnitrix absentmindedly while the latter did the same with her hammer. …But then, they remembered, and just like that, they brought their hands back down in favor of approaching Da. "Don't suppose you'd be willing to spare a couple of those?" Ben asked, with Nora nodding in agreement.

"…Only if you are prepared to protect the silos with your very lives." Da responded.

"Sir, I'm hoping to be a huntress." Nora explained. "Risking my neck for others is part of the job."

Ben placed a fist over his chest. "Same goes for being a hero. These rats won't know what hit 'em." They saw Da's expression become one of surprise very briefly before it hardened back up… and he tossed them a flare each. "This may not be the best idea… but it's what we've got to work with." That earned him a smile—again, very brief—from Da before they all lined up to confront the Muroids.

With echoing shouts of war, human and rodent alike charged against one another, though the two Omni-Hunters who chose not to take flares were left to prepare themselves. "Alright, let's send these rats packin'!" Kevin said as he absorbed a nearby stone before taking out a Fire Dust crystal and absorbed that into his arms, smashing his fists together to ignite himself aflame.

Yang popped her neck muscles, loosening herself up as her eyes changed from purple to red. "With pleasure… RYAAAAAHH!" All at once, her Aura burst into flames and she blasted herself into the fray, with Kevin not far behind as both of them began wailing on Muroids relentlessly.

Weiss, Rex, Ren, Nora and Vernal meanwhile, reserved themselves to simply blasting the rodents with their flares, all while Gwen kept many others at bay with her mana bursts. Ben, Max, Rook and Da kept themselves in a tightly knit group, standing back-to-back as they blasted Muroids away from all sides. Even Shar had gotten herself into the mix, dual-wielding flares as she smacked and kicked Muroids away in an impressive display of combat.

…But it was during this that she tossed one of the Muroids into a nearby cart, knocking it and all of its Amber Ogia contents to the ground. This quickly garnered all of the rodents' attention and they practically swarmed the fallen fruit, taking it up in their arms and running away with it as fast as they could on two legs. Shar, Rook and Da were completely dumbfounded. "Most unusual…" the daughter muttered. "Muroids usually only eat food where it lies!"

"Yes… much is strange about these rodents." Rook concurred.

Before the Muroids could hightail it out of there, though, Gwen thrust her hands out and created a large barrier, stopping them in their tracks. "They may be strange, but they're not getting away that easily!" With her eyes glowing pink, she cast a spell; "Telekava… Immensia!" and all at once, the Amber Ogia began floating out of the rodents' arms, floating back over so the Revonnahganders could reclaim it. Gwen lowered her shields and gave the word; "Everyone, NOW!"

Following her lead, the Revonnahganders and Omni-Hunters unleashed a barrage of fire upon the Muroids, successfully making them retreat into the night. "HA! Yeah, you'd better run!" Rex cried out, waving his flare after them.

"And this time, DON'T COME BACK!" Nora called out.

Several sighs of relief came from the Revonnahganders as they returned the Ogia to its rightful place, and the team regrouped with the Rook family soon after. "Hah… that was too close for comfort." Shar commented, wiping her brow.

"Indeed, but the crop is safe, and that is a good thing." Da reassured, to which he turned to the heroes and bowed his head slightly. "I… must thank you. For helping defend the silos." He set his sights onto Ben specifically. "And doing so without changing your shape," his gaze then trained over to Nora, "or causing any more destruction."

The two smiled back at him, with Nora giving a salute. "Any time, sir!" …Which is when she absentmindedly threw her flare over her shoulder, very much still lit. The team were left horrified when it nearly hit the ground, but thankfully, a certain ninja was quick to stop it…

…But to say he was unhappy was an understatement. "NORA! What the heck are you doing?!"

The redhead was taken aback, spinning around to her best friend in shock. "I-I was just done with the flare so—"

"So you decided to CHUCK IT away while it was still LIT?!" Ren flicked the weapon off as he continued to chide her for the near accident. "What if it had gone off?! These things shoot pretty far, who's to say it might've lit a silo on fire?!"

"Your friend is correct!" Da pointed a stern finger to Nora. "That was completely irresponsible!"

At that point, the whole mood had completely changed, with Nora shrinking back while everyone else grew worried. "I-I'm sorry!" she implored. "I-I didn't think—"

"No, you didn't!" Ren cut her off, his frustration palpable. "That's just been the thing lately with you, hasn't it? You're not thinking, Nora! You just go in, gung-ho and headfirst without pausing to think things through!" Nora went to speak, but Ren didn't even give her a second. "Seriously, one of these days, that lack of forethought and dumb decision making is gonna get you killed! THEN what, huh?!"

"W-Woah, Ren, dude, chill…" Kevin started forward, raising a hand to try and calm things. "It was a mistake, nothin' to—"

"NO, Kevin, I'm not going to "chill"." Ren rebuked, leaving the others, even Da, all the more stunned. "I mean, am I really the only one taking this seriously?"

Gwen, having heard enough, stepped up to confront the green ninja. "Of course not, we ALL are… but you're being way too harsh about it."

"And what makes you say that?!" Ren got his answer when Gwen pointed behind him. He whipped his head back around… and what he saw shattered his very being. Nora… was crying. Tears were streaming down her face like a waterfall as her lips quivered and her whole body trembled with sorrow. …And he was the cause of it. "N-Nora, I—"

He instinctually tried to reach out, but was met with a back-handed smack from Nora, who spun away from him and ran off while bawling her eyes out. "GO AWAY! I-I don't wanna even be NEAR you right now! AAAAHH!"

The air was so thick with tension afterward that one could practically feel it. Thankfully, it was the Young One who had broken that tension. "…Wow. You can be a real dumbass when you want to be, Lie Ren."

"Young One!" Rook chided. "I suggest you keep that word out of your mouth… but I will not disagree." He and the others all glowered disapprovingly at Ren. "That was completely unnecessary."

Ren didn't even try to argue. He instead fell to his hands and knees, his head low and his mind racing with remorse. "…What have I done?"

With a heavy sigh, Gwen went up and knelt beside him. "You… just unleashed a ton of frustration onto the person you care about most. …But I get the sense that it's not just HER that you're frustrated with, is it?"

"…No." Ren hung his head low. "I… I haven't really been feeling good about myself lately."

Hearing that, Gwen became a slight bit more sympathetic. "How so? And when did this start?"

"…It really started when we got beat by Cooper in the Hazard Chamber the other day." Ren took out Stormflower as he explained. "I just… I felt like I was completely useless in that fight. That I had no hope of doing anything while everyone else could do something. …Doesn't help that my training with Six hasn't really gone anywhere."

That made Rex wince a bit. "Ah… dude, I warned you. Six doesn't pull any punches when it comes to his lessons, physically or verbally. Ya gotta learn to put on a thick skin when it comes to that, otherwise… well, this."

Gwen rested a hand on Ren's shoulder. "I understand how you must be feeling, Ren, but you need to talk with Nora about it instead of projecting your feelings onto her. Understand?"

"…Yes." the green ninja nodded solemnly.

"I suggest you think long and hard about what you need to say to her, because right now… I would NOT want to be in your shoes." The Anodite stood up and went back to the more predominant topic. "But, while our poor ninja deals with that, I think I just found the key to figuring out what his Muroid problem is all about." She opened her hand, revealing a rather thick strand of hair. "I plucked this off of one of them with my spell earlier. I can track them to their den and then we can get to the bottom of this."

Da approached the team, his countenance quite grave. "You intend to go out into the barrens and pursue those creatures?"

Rook pursed his lips, knowing what was coming next. "It is either that, or we continue allowing the Muroids to ruin our way of life, father. What would you prefer?"

"I would prefer if our way of life remain exactly as it had been." Da asserted. "But it would seem that, since the arrival off-worlders, that is not the case anymore." He turned his back to his son, saying; "Do what you feel you must, Blanko, but be warned; do NOT bring any ill fortune back with you from the barrens. Come, Shar." And with that, Da walked back toward the rest of the Rook family, with Shar following behind hesitantly.

"…I am sorry." she whispered to them.

Once the Omni-Hunters were by themselves, Vernal coughed into her hand. "Hak-hak, awkward."

"To say the freakin' least." Yang rubbed her temples. "Ugh, makes you wonder if we really ARE the source of all this drama?"

But Rook simply shook his head. "No… as I said to Nora earlier, this is not about you." His sights shifted out toward the direction of the barrens, determined to get to the bottom of this. "Come, let us be off. We may have a long trek ahead of us."

…..

As it happened, though, the Muroid's burrow was far closer than Rook had thought, only a few miles out from the village. And thankfully, they didn't have to trek anywhere thanks to the Rustbucket 4 getting them there in just a few minutes time. "One express trip to a giant rodent den coming right up!" BUS had exclaimed, blasting off in the direction Gwen had indicated once everyone was safely seated. It wasn't long before they came upon a rather large mountain, one that was terraced just like the village's own terrain. Though the major difference was that there didn't seem to be a single soul around. "We've arrived at our destination! Now searching for entrances…"

"Thanks, BUS, you're the man." Ben smiled.

"…But I'm not a man. I'm a ship." the artificial intelligence observed.

The entire ship—aside from Rook—let out a collective groan. "Uuuugh, I swear, the amount of people who don't get expressions on this planet is staggering." Weiss rolled her eyes, only for a worried look to rest upon her features. "Hey… do you really think it was okay for us to leave Ren and Nora back at the village? I mean, I know they gotta talk it out with each other, but maybe we could've talked to them first to help out."

But Gwen shook her head. "I don't know if that would've helped, at least in Nora's case. She needs some time alone, I think." She smiled reassuringly to her friend. "But don't worry, I talked to Shar and Rayona before we left, and they said they'll keep an eye on her if she needs help."

"Well, I guess that's somethin'." Rex muttered as the ship came in for a landing. "Still, kinda hard to believe that THOSE two would get into a fight."

"I know, right?" Yang agreed. "They've been like that for the past couple days now… I wonder what's going on?"

As the ship landed in front of a tunnel leading into the mountain, Ben, Gwen and Kevin got up, prompting the others to join them. "Well, we'll need to worry about that later. Right now, we've got some rodents to take care of." The Omnitrix bearer nodded to his grandfather. "Grandpa, stay with BUS in case something happens and we need a quick evac."

Max sent his grandson a quick salute. "On it. Good luck, Ben. We'll be waiting."

"And bring back a souvenir if you can!" BUS added, activating his screen to show a Muroid tail. "Preferably one of the Muroid's appendages for me to analyze."

The team shared a wary look before Yang answered; "Eh… we'll see what we can do."

And just like that, the team were off into the passageway, with Gwen taking the lead and lighting the way with her mana. Rook, Ben and Kevin took point with her while the others watched the rear, just to make sure nothing snuck up on them. After a while, though, Vernal couldn't help but notice that their Revonnahgander friend had been awfully quiet since getting on the ship. "…You've kept your lips sealed since we got here, Rook." she spoke bluntly, jarring him from his deep thoughts. "Lemme guess, still thinkin' bout your dad's chilly reception?"

"I will admit, my father has been fairly cold recently." Rook sighed, understanding the expression for once. "I am simply… wondering if I should have come back. Revonnah's traditions seem to be ending."

"Aw, c'mon Rook." Yang encouraged with a nudge to his elbow. "This situation isn't anything worse than what we've dealt with on Earth."

"Earth does not have Amber Ogia." As they spoke, the group came to a small chasm in their path, though Gwen quickly remedied this by creating a mana bridge across to the other side. Even so, Rook decided to take the harder way around and actually leapt the entire distance, leaving the others surprised. "Hah… Amber Ogia can feed a space fleet. Clothe it, fuel it, it is the perfect material." he explained as they continued down the tunnel. "Any two-bit lowlife or petty dictator might steal our Ogia and threaten the galaxy."

"And you really think this is what's going on?" Weiss raised a brow.

Ben peered back to her over his shoulder. "Huh, funny, because I'VE been suggesting the same thing over and over to you since LAST NIGHT and you haven't been taking it seriously."

"Uh, mainly because there's no way Salem could know about it!" Weiss argued back. "If she really assigned Doctor Animo to a project like this, then I ask again; how would they even KNOW about the Ogia in the first place?"

"We're about to find out…" Gwen pointed ahead of them while keeping her voice low. "Lit cavern at twelve o'clock…" Ben signaled for the team to keep their heads low as they shuffled their way toward the opening, and when they looked down into the cave, they were met with an astonishing sight.

Sure enough, the Muroids were there, standing on two legs and punching the air while rhythmically chanting; "BROH! BROH! BROH! BROH!" Up on a rocky outcrop platform, leading the punching exercises, was none other than Fistrick and his gang; the redheaded Hoodlum, the white-haired Vandal, and the older, black-haired thug; Crush. And not far away, to Weiss' utter bafflement, there stood Dr. Animo, along with Thunderhog and Exo-Skull, the three of them watching on as the workout took place.

"…You've gotta be kiddin' me." Kevin muttered. "Fistrick?"

Gwen rolled her eyes to her boyfriend. "Well, well, your old pal strikes again."

Ben was also eyeing Weiss with a slightly judgmental gaze, making her raise her hands in surrender. "O-Okay, I'll admit… I kinda forgot that they have Fistrick. I guess THAT'S how Salem knew about the Ogia. Happy?"

"Sort of. I'll be even happier when we put a stop to him." Ben glowered down to the mohawked menace as the workout suddenly stopped.

Fistrick raised his fists to the sky, addressing his rodent army. "WE… are your Emanci-papers!" The Omni-Hunters automatically facepalmed as the thug went on. "The great… gah, you dumb rats only know the one word! Let's cut to the chase!" He and his crew leapt into a large, chain-link octagon cage that was set up to the side, beckoning the Muroids to join them. "Bros! Bonding time!" Taking the hint, the Muroids all leapt over top the fence and charged at the quartet… only to get their tails handed to them in hand-to-hand combat.

"Too slow!" Crush grunted as he hefted a Muroid over his head and into the fence.

"Not slow ENOUGH!" Hoodlum bellowed, suplexing the rodent straight on his head.

"Slow and steady…" Vandal grabbed a Muroid and flipped it upside down, giving it a sit-out piledriver. "WINS THE RACE!"

Fisttrick spun around in time to catch an Ogia that had been flung at him, no doubt intended to distract him as the last Muroid charged at him. But even so, he finished it off by grabbing the rodent by its tail and flinging it straight out of the cage with one hand. He hefted the Ogia up into the air and pointed to his Muroid army. "Now, take your sick new gear, get in your harvesters, and bring us every one of those… Amber Ogilio berries… and SHOW THOSE HICKS HOW IT'S DONE!"

As the Muroids collectively roared, it was only then that Kevin noticed what Fistrick meant by "harvesters". The Osmosian's eyes widened when he spotted a slew of large, bulky orange and grey mechs across the room, all lined up in a row. They had short legs, but big and powerful upper bodies with arms to match, one being a claw hand while the other had a suction device with a tube that led to a storage unit in the back. Not only did these mechs look like they could harvest things, but also do quite a bit of damage. "You've gotta be kiddin' me. That's Level 5 tech at least! How the hell did they train the rats to pilot 'em?!"

"Call it a hunch, but I'm fairly certain Fistrick ain't the brains of this operation." Ben surmised… when he suddenly felt someone's hot breath breathing down his neck.

"What was yer first clue? GRRRAAAAUUUUHHHH!" Belting out his roar that could make glass shatter, Bashmouth sent the heroes flying with the sheer force of the noise, making them all fall down into the cave below. Fistrick, his team, Animo and the mutants all did a doubletake as the teens fell in, followed by Bashmouth jumping down and making the ground shake. But his immediate target wasn't the Omni-Hunters… but rather his underlings. "Ya buncha dumbasses! I thought I told one of ya to keep watch! Now we got witnesses to get rid of!"

"AH! Ben Tennyson?!" Animo exclaimed.

"And Levin?!" Fistrick glowered at his former associate. "Bro, how'd you find us?!"

Hog and Skull both went for their weapons, preparing for combat. "Yeah! We made sure to keep this side-hustle on the downlow for over a week!"

A groan escaped Ben's lips as he rubbed his head. "Would you believe… we're on vacation?"

All of the villains eyed one another before Skull gave a shrug. "Honestly? Yeah, that checks out. But coincidence or not, we're not gonna let ya get in the way of the final phase of our plan!" The rhino man let out a bellow toward the Muroids, spooking them into making haste toward their mech droids. "All of you! GO! NOW!"

Once all of the Muroids were in their mechs, they immediately turned toward the nearest wall and punched a whole straight through, revealing the rising sun on the other side. Rook grit his teeth as he watched them march out of the cave, knowing exactly where they were headed. "Machine harvesters will tear the Ogia away and ruin those fields forever!"

"Rook! Go get grandpa and warn the farmers!" Ben ordered, reaching his hand toward the Omnitrix as the villains began closing in. "We'll handle these punks." Rook nodded and dashed back into the tunnel, allowing the heroes to shoulder the situation.

"Bah-hahahaha! Will ya now?" Bashmouth flashed his metal-toothed grin. "'Cause if I recall, ya'll haven't been able to make me tap out once! Ya came closer than I'd like to admit last time, but now… that won't happen again." Several parts of his body began hardening into armor, ready to get to tussling. "And THAT'S the bottom line! Because BASHMOUTH said so!"

"We'll just see what Overflow has to say about that, Bashmouth!" Ben pressed down on the Omnitrix after making his selection… but Overflow was FAR from what he ended up getting. Instead, he transformed into a certain Appoplexian, one who wasn't too happy with the predicament right now. "RATH?! GAH! LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN', OMNITRIX! RATH ISN'T IN THE MOOD FOR YOUR BULLSHIT RIGHT NOW!"

Bashmouth was about to burst out into laughter, only to then notice a new key detail on his old foe; "Ha! Well would ya look at that!" The Metallikanine pointed down to Rath's lower half. "Kitty-kat's got clothes now! HAHAHAHA!" The Metallikanine and his thugs all laughed together, with Hog and Skull joining in as well.

Rath's lips curled into a snarl and he pointed at the group. "LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN', BASHMOUTH, THE METALLIKANINE WHO HUMILIATED RATH! YOU'RE NOT GONNA HUMILIATE RATH A SECOND TIME! THIS TIME, I'M GONNA BE THE ONE DOING THE HUMILIATING, AND THAT GOES FOR YOU AND YOUR JOCKSTRAP HENCHMEN!"

"…Bro." Vandal's face fell at the name-calling. "Harsh."

Fistrick merely rolled his eyes and gave Vandal a light smack to the back of the head. "Bro! Don't listen to 'im! Remember, we got somethin' that'll help us level the playin' field a bit."

"Ha! Yeah, right." Yang activated Ember Celica as Rex, Weiss and Vernal brought out their weapons as well. Kevin absorbed the nearest rock he could before absorbing Lightning Dust into his arms, bringing up a sword and mace. Finally, Gwen flew up into the air, surrounded by a pinkish-purple aura. "And what makes you think you low lives can compete with us?"

"Hmhmhm… I believe that is where MY genius comes into play!" Animo announced, pointing directly to the four thugs. "Show 'em, boys!" From behind their backs, Fistrick, Vandal, Hoodlum and Crush all pulled out… several familiar devices that made the heroes' jaws drop. In their hands were Gene Slammers, though while nearly identical to the ones that the Street Sharks used, there was something different about these models. Namely; the lenses in their centers were all different colors. Fistrick's was red, Vandal's blue, Hoodlum's yellow and Crush's was entirely black. "Behold! The second generation of my Gene Slammer invention… now with added Dust affects!"

Weiss couldn't believe what she was hearing. "D-Did he just say what I think he said?!"

"GUYS! Don't let 'em put those on!" Rex brought out his Blast Caster and whipped it forward, intent on snapping the devices out of their hands. However, Exo-Skull got in the way and took the hit for them, getting blasted with energy in the process.

"AAAUGH! N-No ya don't!" Skull glanced back to his colleagues over his shoulder and shouted; "NOW!"

"You heard the bro!" Fistrick placed his Gene Slammer on the back of his neck, his gang following his lead. "Let's Mutant UP!" They pressed down on the central lens and the device activated, sending the mutagen throughout their bodies… while also igniting their respective elemental Dust.

The transformations happened instantly, with the men all growing in size and muscle mass as their bodies convulsed. They let out screams of pain and excitement as their hands and feet thickened, to the point where their boots were all ripped open. Thankfully, the rest of their clothes managed to stay on, if becoming a bit ripped and frayed in places. But must noticeable of all… was the Dust that grew out of their bodies, becoming armor and, for some, deadly claws.

Fistrick suddenly felt a little cramped in the rear, so he used one of these claws to rip open his pants a bit… revealing a long, orange and black-striped tail. Once it was freed, at its tip, another Dust crystal popped out, leading him to smile as his features became distinctly more… pantherine. "Oh-ho-ho! BROOOAAAARRR!" All at once, the same orange and black fur began growing across his arms and legs, with his underbelly and chin contrasting with stark white fur. Shoulder and knee pads made of Fire Dust emerged from his body, and his spiked mohawk actually became shards of Fire Dust as well. "This! Is! BEASTLY!"

Vandal's body probably became the bulkiest of them all, and, in addition to the Dust claws and pads on his arms and legs, he had an entire mane of Ice Dust crystals going down his back, all while stark white fur grew out of his body. Finally, his head grew a long muzzle with a black nose at the tip, his ears becoming rounded to overall resemble a certain type of bear. "HAHA! Talk about chilly!" Vandal laughed, all while exhaling frosty breath.

Hoodlum, though, was a different case all together. Rather than bulking out, he became much skinnier, specifically in the arms and legs. He ended up stepping out of his boots because they became too big for them… and his shirt was ripped at the back when a pair of crystalline Lightning Dust wings grew out of his back, very insectoid in nature. A bulbous thorax grew out of his rear end as well, though thankfully his pants were spared as jagged yellow and black stripes appeared across his skin. At the tip of the thorax, a Lightning Dust stinger jutted out, and from his midsection appeared a second pair of arms. Finally, his eyes became entirely black and segmented as a pair of mandibles grew next to his mouth, a pair of Lightning Dust antenna growing out of his head. "WOAH! Thizzz izzz zzzo AWEZZZOME!" the mutant hornet buzzed.

Finally came Crush, and he—ironically—became the BIGGEST of them all, growing probably four times his original size. His arms became huge and burly, with thick, black hair growing out while his hands became huge and meaty, though somehow his clothes still managed to stay on. He, like the others, had Dust pads across his arms and legs, but he was also heavily armored across his chest and fists as well, forming a chest plate and heavy Gravity Dust gauntlets. His feet also became more hand-like, while his brow was covered in a protective Dust crest. "OHH-OHH-OHH YEAAH!" Crush beat on his chest, activating the Gravity Dust and sending heavy reverberations throughout the cave. "It's ON like DONKEY KONG!"

By the time they were finished transforming, the Omni-Hunters were left gawking at a mutant tiger, polar bear, hornet and silverback gorilla, all outfitted with natural Dust armor. Exo-Skull let out a mighty guffaw as Thunderhog came in to break him out of Rex's grasp, the duo shoving the EVO back so they could join their fellow mutants. "Oh-ho, you're in for it now, BRATS!" the rhino man laughed.

"Got that right!" Hog hefted his mace over his shoulder as he thrust his arm out to the new mutants. "Allow me to introduce… er…" He craned his head back to the boys. "What do ya'll wanna be called?"

"Hmm…" Fistrick clenched his paw and made his Dust claws ignite into flame, causing him to smirk intensely. "Call me… Tora Flame!"

Taking in a deep breath, Vandal exhaled and created a large spire of ice, only so he could slice through it with his own claws. "Then that makes me… Polar Claw!"

"Zzzz…" Hoodlum began using his wings, the rapid beats generating electricity that allowed him to float up into the air with ease. "Zz-zz-zz! And I'm… Lightning Buzz!

"As for me…" Crush SLAMMED his fists into the ground, causing the rock to break and then float up on their own. "You can call me Sliver Smack!"

Animo was all for the names. "Oh, excellent! Beware, Omni-Hunters, for you now face my…" He thrust his arms up into the air as his six animal-human hybrids circled around him, with Bashmouth leaping in toward the front with his arms crossed. "MY MUTANIMALS! AHAHAHA!"

There was a long pause as the teens simply gaped at the group of seven animalistic warriors, knowing now that this was going to be MUCH harder than they thought. "…Lemme tell ya somethin', Omni-Hunters…" Rath spoke in a surprisingly low voice. "I think I can speak for everyone when I say this;" He lifted his head with a massive snarl and screamed to the heavens. "I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THESE FREAKING MUTANTS!"

"HELL YEAH!" Yang smashed her fists together while the others all stood in a line, matching each of themselves up with a Mutanimal. "Are we just gonna take this lying down, guys?!" She received a collective "NO!", which was all the answer she needed. "Then COME ON! Let's take these idiots to the freaking ZOO where they belong! And by "zoo", I mean prison!"

"We ain't goin' back there anytime soon, bitch!" Fistrick—or rather, Tora Flame—roared as fire spewed from his maw. "You'll have to drag us back as dead men to do it! Right guys?!" He received a united roar from his teammates.

"Good answer!" Bashmouth got onto all fours, prompting the mutants to do the same. "Then LET'S KICK THEIR ASS! GRAAAH!" With a loud battle cry, the two opposing sides clashed, sending a burst of Dust energy through the cavern in the process.

…..

Back in the village, Nora was sitting by herself, overlooking the barrens of Revonnah while farmers worked around her. She had received several curious looks from the locals, but she didn't care. She was too lost in her own dejection and remorse to pay attention, the events of last night still playing in her head. 'One of these days, that lack of forethought and dumb decision making is gonna get you killed!' those words replayed in her head over and over, Ren's biting tone stinging her every time. She had to hold everything back to keep herself from crying, but even then, she was too tired to even shed tears.

Just then, however, the sounds of footsteps caught her attention, leading her to crane her head up and see Rayona. "Hello." the purple-haired Revonnahgander greeted. "How are you feeling, Nora Valkyrie?"

"Snf… not good." Nora replied, her voice quite hoarse.

"Hm… may I sit?"

"S-Sure…" As Rayona sat, though, Nora couldn't help the first question that passed her lips; "So… come to try and get me to talk to Ren?" This made Rayona's eyebrows raise up, which only got an eyeroll from Nora. "Psh, knew it. Gwen probably put you up to this, huh?"

Rayona cleared her throat, composing herself. "Ahem, well… she asked me to keep watch over you, just to be certain you are okay. She did not mention anything about getting you to talk to your boyfrie—"

"He's NOT my boyfriend!" Nora suddenly snapped angrily… only to then deflate back into her saddened state. "…He's not."

"…You could have fooled me." Rayona tilted her head. "You two… seem so close."

Despite herself, Nora couldn't help but smile. "…We practically grew up together. We'd both lost our families when we were really young. Traveled the road, relied on each other, we were taught how to hunt Grimm by the same mentor…" She laced her fingers together against her knee, resting her chin upon it. "We just… haven't taken that next step is all. And after… that… I don't know if we'll be ready to any time soon."

There was a short pause, but Rayona was quick to argue against that. "To be quite frank, Nora… I do not believe that."

Nora's teal eyes were filled with confusion at the statement. "…Did you NOT see what happened last night?"

"Of course, I did. But not every couple is perfect." A chuckle escaped her throat as she reminisced on a certain memory. "Hmhm… when we were younger, Blanko and I would often get into arguments over the pettiest of things. Who would get to pluck the first fruit of the season? Who would unload the silos to make room for more Ogia? Which of us would be first to leave the planet…" She returned her focus back to Nora. "You can probably guess how the last one turned out."

"Well, sure, but… difference here is that this one's a lot more serious." Nora fell back on the ground, her gaze settled on the sky. "Ren's right… I could've majorly screwed up everything last night. I was careless, and he got angry with me about it. I mean, we've sometimes butted heads before but… this is the first time where it felt like it really hurt."

Rayona hummed ponderously, reaching out to grasp Nora's shoulder. "You saw him after he realized what he did, yes? The regret upon his face, the sorrow in his eyes… he still cares for you dearly, without a doubt." Nora nodded slowly, yet wordlessly, prompting Rayona to continue. "Far be it from me to advise you on what to do, but I believe it would be best to speak with him. If only to clear the air, so to speak."

"And then what?" Nora questioned. "Just… forgive him?"

"Well, not necessarily. Forgiveness and understanding do not have to come hand in hand." Rayona smiled knowingly. "Once you understand why he did what he did, tell him that, if he wishes your forgiveness, he will have to earn it." She raised her hand and twiddled her fingers around. "Then, he will be like Ogia puddy in your palm."

The idea gave Nora pause… before she eventually smirked while humming in thought. "Hmm… that might not be such a bad idea!" Nora extended her hand. "Thanks, Rayona!"

"Any time." the young Revonnahgander woman accepted Nora's handshake readily. "After all, I have you to thank for finally coaxing Blanko to ask me out."

With a sheepish grin, Nora rubbed her neck as her cheeks flushed a light pink. "D'aw, I didn't do much. I just—huh?" But right then and there, the duo's attention—along with the rest of the farmers—were brought skyward as the Rustbucket IV came zooming across the sky and lowered down toward the base of the mountainside. It didn't fully land, though, which only made Nora confused. "What the…"

She soon got her answer, though, as Rook alone disembarked out of the ship's rear hatch, dropping down and running up the side of the hill at breakneck speed while the vessel took back to the sky. "Ren! Nora! Mother, father!" Rook picked up a pair of scythes and started clanging them together, warning the whole village; "MUROIDS! They are coming!"

"What?!" Both Nora and Rayona exclaimed, the duo standing up to go meet Rook. Along the way, though, they ended up coming face-to-face with Shar… and Ren. Nora's expression hardened and she turned her head away from the green ninja before he could even get a word in, and while he wanted to say something, Rook arrived and tossed the scythes to the ladies, arming them for battle.

"Rook Blanko!" Bralla chided as she and Da approached their eldest son. "You were out all night!"

"No matter. The Muroids are coming in force!" Rook pointed out toward the barrens… where the entire village bore witness to something they'd never thought they would see. Stomping their way toward the village were several mechanized suits. They were slow and plodding, but no less intimidating as they used their large claw hands to pluck boulders growing Amber Ogia right out of the ground, before then using their suction arms to harvest and liquify the fruit.

And all the while, Muroids were harvesting more fruit alongside the mechs by hand, which only confused everyone. "W-Wait… who're the ones piloting the mechs?" Ren asked.

"They are ALL Muroids." Rook stressed, making several Revonnahganders gasp. "I know, I am just as stunned."

Da wasn't too happy about this, to say the least. "This… this is the end of the Revonnahgander way!" He took up a flare and aimed for one of the mechs, all while giving his son a nasty side-eye. "What have you done?" He shot one of the mechs, but predictably, it did nothing, rebounding harmlessly off the armor.

Rook glared at his father as he shoved the flare down. "We did NOT bring this threat to Revonnah! Ben was right. Doctor Animo is here and he has been increasing the rodents' intelligence to have them harvest the Ogia for themselves."

Nora nudged her chin down below. "Okay, and the mech suits?"

"Courtesy of Bashmouth and Fistrick, I am afraid."

"UGH! Of COURSE those two have to be here." Nora rolled her eyes, reaching back to pull out Magnhild. She tossed the hammer up, transforming it into its grenade launcher mode and taking aim. "Gimme a sec, lemme test somethin'…" *POW* She fired a single grenade and it made impact with a mech, which caused the hatch in front to pop up and expose the Muroid inside. "HA! I knew it! Rook, fire!"

Taking up his Proto-Tool, Rook did as she said and shot at the Muroid, though the beast bailed out at the last second. Still, that one shot to the interior was enough to take out the harvester mech, so Rook considered that good enough. "Everyone! Use your flare launchers! Use your scythes! Use your fists if you know how! Aim for the Muroid inside, NOT the machine! RRAAAAHHH!" Following Rook's lead, Nora and the farmers all let out war cries of their own, all of them charging down the hillside to engage with the mechs. Up above, the Rustbucket IV circled back around and started shooting at the enemies, too, providing support.

The only one to not follow after them… was Ren, resigning to stay behind. He peered down to Stormflower with mild annoyance, feeling completely useless at the moment. '…What can these do?' he thought to himself. 'Not much against those mechs, THAT'S what. Gah, I should just sit this one out—'

"REN!"

Shocked out of his stupor, Ren stammered; "H-Huh—" *smack* "OW! What the—mph!" In quick succession, he was slapped and grabbed by Nora, who held his face firmly as she forcibly set his attention on her.

"Get your head outta the freakin' clouds and FIGHT!" she barked.

She let go of him rather forcefully, pushing him back a little as he reached up to his sore cheeks. "Agh… I-I'm sorry, Nora, I… I just—"

"Oh, what, first you yell at me and now you lose your constitution?!" she glared at him, placing a hand on her hip. "Make up your mind, would ya? And do it quickly, because we've got rats to exterminate!"

Ren clenched his teeth, his frustration rearing its head again. "What USE would I be to you?! I wouldn't be able to crack those mechs if I tried!"

"What the heck are you talking about?! I've seen you take on stuff that's bigger AND tougher!"

"These aren't GRIMM, Nora!" Ren lifted Stormflower up to emphasize his point. "And these? These can't pierce through heavy armor plating! What am I gonna do? Stealth takedown the eight-foot mech armor?! I'm USELESS—ach!"

Without warning, Nora suddenly reached up and grabbed hold of Ren by the collar, hoisting him off the ground. "Don't you DARE use that word to describe yourself, Lie Ren! Otherwise, you're gonna feel EXACTLY how I feel about it!" Yanking him back down so that he was below her now, she got right in his face and shouted; "Stop focusing on what you CAN'T do and what you CAN do! When the shell is cracked, you crack the nuts inside!" She pointed Magnhild down toward the battle. "And by "nuts", I mean Muroids! You see those farmers down there? They're fighting for their home and their crop, and they don't have any special weapons."

Ren glanced down to the fight, where some farmers were using their scythes to pop the hatches of the mechs while others used their flares to shoot them out, rendering them useless. "I… I-I didn't…"

"…We work best as a team, Ren." Nora emphasized, her features softening a little as a slight smile appeared on her lips. "We always have, right?"

"…Yeah."

Letting go of his collar, Nora shifted Magnhild into hammer mode and jerked a thumb toward the battle. "So, let's do what we do best. We can talk about what happened last night later, but right now, it's Hero Time."

Peering down to his weapons, Ren spun them around in his hands and secured them in his grip, feeling a little more confident than he had before. "You're right! Let's do it!" That made a wicked grin appear on Nora's face… one that Ren always loved to see. And on that note, the two rushed down the hillside while screaming in unison, determined to help.

Nora started by immediately launching herself at the closest mechs and, in rapid succession, slammed her hammer against them, causing one explosion after another. This had the added bonus of sending her bouncing around from mech to mech, which meant more of them opened up, leaving the Muroids exposed for Ren to get a clear shot at. With every Muroid he shot out, he made sure to kick them in the head for good measure, increasing his speed so he could keep up with the Pink Dynamo. This continued on until at least ten mechs had all been taken care of, and the number only kept increasing as they went through the ranks, leaving many Revonnahganders astounded.

Across the way, the Rook family couldn't help but marvel at just how fast the duo were going. "My word…" Bralla breathed out before kicking another Muroid away. "Those two are quite the cohesive team!"

Rook himself smiled at the sight, as did Rayona and Shar. "Indeed, they are."

"Focus, everyone!" Da shouted as more of the mechs approached, firing several flares directly at the hatch seams so they'd pop open. Rook and his sisters went to take them out, but Da held his son back for a moment. "Son, where exactly are these interlopers from?"

"Bashmouth is a crime boss from the Andromeda galaxy." Rook answered gravely. "He is an incredibly dangerous individual who is under Salem's employment."

"I see. And what of this "Animo" and "Fist-Trick"?"

The Plumber was hesitant to answer, but he knew he couldn't avoid it. "Um… Earth?"

"…Where do you come from?" Da questioned again.

Rook's features hardened, glaring at his father only to then shift his Proto-Tool into its blade mode. He spun on his heel and rushed up to a mech, jumped on top of it, and manually pried it open with his energy blade to dispose of the Muroid inside. He craned his head back to his father, declaring; "I AM FROM REVONNAH!"

Da grimaced back. "Then FIGHT like a Revonnahgander!"

"HELP!" The father and son whipped their heads around at the sound of Young One's voice, seeing him having been cornered by a mech. Rook reacted quickly, shifting the Proto-Tool into grapple mode to lasso the robot's legs and topple it backward. Afterward, Nora and Ren came in to crack it open and get rid of the Muroid within, much to Young One's delight. "Woohoo! Nice one!"

Rook performed a backflip off the mech he stood upon, returning to his father with the same glowering expression. "With your permission, father, I will fight as I please! Now, we must finish off these—"

"Done!"

The Plumber's eyebrows rose up, circling back around to Nora. "Excuse me, what?"

"All done!" Nora repeated, shouldering Magnhild as the Rustbucket IV came in for a landing. Across the battlefield, every single harvester mech was laid out and left for scrap as the Muroids rolled away in the opposite direction. "No stone's been unturned, no mech left operational. Now, if you'll excuse me…" The redhead slumped over as she went back to the ship. "I need to go to sleep…"

"Ditto." Ren yawned. "Can't believe I was up all night."

As Rook watched the duo leave, the surrounding farmers all cheered at their victory, some even heaping praise upon Ren and Nora while they boarded the ship. "Hm, well, that is one half of the problem solved." Rook's sights focused off into the distance. "Now to only hope that the others can defeat Bashmouth and his bunch…"

…..

Unfortunately, things weren't going as well as Rook would've hoped on that front. When the two sides met in battle, the villains had actually been smart in who they paired off against. Of course, Rath and Bashmouth were struggling against one another, that was no surprise. Meanwhile, Rex and Vernal were doing their best to fend off Exo-Skull and Thunderhog respectively, though the former bandit was having trouble avoiding the pig mutant's lighting attacks. And for the others… well, while the Mutanimals weren't too intelligent, it was at least evident that they knew how to play Rock-Paper-Scissors.

Tora Flame had wasted no time in pouncing at Yang, the Blonde Brawler doing her best to match the tiger man's strength in a grappling contest. Thankfully, she was, but she also found that her strikes didn't do much, and all of the heat she was generating wasn't harming him in the least. "Hahaha! Try all you like, babe, but your flames can't hold a candle to mine! Get it?! HAHAHA!"

"Oh, that one's gonna get you ALL kinds of messed up!" Yang clenched her teeth while drawing back a fist. "And do NOT call me BABE!" She struck the former Fistrick straight in the jaw with an uppercut, sending him flying backward.

However, he was able to land on his feet—or rather, all four paws—and then ignited his Fire Dust claws, swiping them at her with aplomb. "Hehe, nice try! But you'll have to do better than THAT!" With a powerful, flame-fisted palm strike to her abdomen, Tora Flame sent Yang careening into the nearest stone wall, which left a deep imprint and several cracks. "HAHAHA! Bro, I LOVE this! I've got, like, the explosive power of a HUNDRED bombs!"

Just then, though, Yang's eyes snapped open, redder than any fire Tora Flame could generate. "Oh yeah?" With a simple flex of her arms and legs, Yang broke free, taking Tora Flame aback. "Then how 'bout I match that with TWO HUNDRED?! HYAAAH!"

Not far away, Weiss was in the middle of a duel with Polar Claw, who kept barreling down upon her on all fours. Every attempt to strike at her was met with failure, however, as she kept bringing up her glyphs at every opportunity, though Weiss knew that she couldn't keep this up forever. "You… are VERY persistent."

"Hehe, tell me about it." Polar Claw reared his head back and exhaled what might as well have been a gale force wind that actually managed to leave Weiss a little chilled. But not enough to completely immobilize her. Instead, she stuck Myrtenaster into the ground and created a Summoning glyph, bringing forth the Arma Gigas. "Woah…" Polar Claw uttered in awe. "Bro, that's sweet! I can't wait to freeze it!"

"Not likely." Weiss thrust a hand out, ordering her living armor; "Go!"

The Arma Gigas raised its sword and slashed at Polar Claw, but the bear mutant actually managed to catch the blade with his large paws, the Ice Dust claws at his finger tips freezing the sword over. The Arma Gigas pulled back and instead went for a powerful stomp, but even still, Polar Claw reached his arms above his head and caught it, opening his mouth to let out a freezing breath that coated the armor's foot in ice. With a mighty shove, the Mutanimal laid the Arma Gigas on its back and let loose another bout of ice breath, encasing the whole thing in ice in seconds, to Weiss' astonishment. "H-How—AH!"

The former heiress had only seconds to spare getting out of the way of Polar Claw's next attack, leaving a small nick in her clothes for her troubles. "Hah, ya get it now, girl? I've got fierce breath that's as cold as Arctic winds! You don't got a snowball's chance in hell of beating ME!"

"Your jokes aren't funny!" Weiss spun the chamber in Myrtenaster's hilt, activating the Fire Dust vial to heat its blade up. "And news flash; YOU'RE gonna be the snowball in hell!"

Kevin was having about the same amount of trouble with his opponent. Of course, Lightning Buzz had flew right into him first chance he got, the mutant hornet lifting him off the ground and running him across the cave wall. "AHAHAHA! Now THIS is what I'm talkin' about, bro!" he cackled as electricity crackled around them. "Feel that RUSH!"

The Osmosian raised his hammer arm and swung it at the mutant's face, which managed to make him let go… but didn't seem to do much else. In fact, as Kevin landed, he saw the lightning from his Dust get absorbed into Lightning Buzz's Dust antennae, making him grumble. "Gah, of course I just HAD to go with Lightning Dust…" He de-morphed his mace hand and reached into his Dust pouch. "C'mon, c'mon, I need Earth Dus—GAH!" But his search was cut short when Lightning Buzz RAMMED into him at top speed… butt first.

Or rather, stinger first, because the mutant knew exactly what would cause the most damage. And he was right, as the Dust stinger pierced directly through Kevin's rocky armor and into his shoulder, where a bit of blood trickled out. "Man, this piercing needle's got incredible force! …How's about a SHOCK to the system?"

*ZZZZZZAAPPP*

"AAAAAAUUUGGH!" Kevin screamed as the jolt passed straight through his armor and into his body, leading his armor to dissipate entirely and leave him completely exposed.

"NO!" Gwen cried out. "Kevi—ACH!" But before she could even think to fly over, she found herself SLAMMED against the wall by Silver Smack, the gorilla mutant exerting an incredible amount of force upon her. "A-AUGH!"

"Ohh-ohh-ohh no you don't, girly." The ape mutant chortled. "You're not goin' anywhere… until we drop some hard beats!" Hurling her across the room into yet another wall, Silver Smack let out a guttural howl and began beating against his Gravity Dust-armored chest, creating massive ripples of force that POUNDED into Gwen which made her practically sink into the rocky floor. "AH! AH! AH! YEAH, that's what I'm talkin' about! I've got enough power to ANNIHILATE a mountain! AAH! AAH!"

Kevin could only stare in horror as he watched Gwen get pushed further and further into the floor, the increasing gravity visibly hurting her. "GWEN! AAAUGHH!" Despite the pain, he reached up and pushed the stinger out of his shoulder, quickly rolling away to absorb more stone once more. Then, he reached into his pouch and procured his Earth Dust, absorbing it and slamming his hands into the floor, creating a tremor that managed to take Silver Smack off his feet. "GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU BASTARD!"

"W-W-Woah!" Taken off his feet, the mutant gorilla hit the floor, which freed Gwen from her gravitational prison.

"Hah! Ah… oh my god, Kevin!" Casting a quick teleportation spell under her breath, Gwen reached down and inspected the open wound. The bleeding had stopped thanks to Kevin absorbing the rock again, but it was still fairly sizeable. "Oh my god, a-are you—"

"Don't worry 'bout me." the Osmosian insisted as both Silver Smack and Lightning Buzz got back up, the duo glowering at them. "We've got a bigger problem on our hands…"

However, before the thugs could close in on the couple… they were met with Tora Flame and Polar Claw… getting flung at them. "WAAAGH!" *BAM* All four mutants were left lying in a heap after that, much to the duo's surprise.

But they didn't have to wonder about that for long when both Yang and Weiss came rushing toward them, the latter moving to help Kevin to his feet. "Oh my gosh, are you two okay?" the white-haired huntress asked.

Kevin let out a grunt, but stood without much issue. "Mmph… I'll live, if that means anything."

"Man, these dudes are a LOT tougher than I was expecting." Yang rolled her shoulder, popping a few muscles. "Guess it's all brawn and no brains with them—AH!" However, her thought was cut off when, from out of nowhere, Vernal and Rex came sailing through, though the two managed to flip around in midair and land on their feet. It didn't take long for Exo-Skull and Thunderhog to come barreling toward them, however.

"Ach! Tell me about it!" Rex remarked, having overheard the Blonde Brawler. "Any ideas?"

Seeing the other Mutanimals start to get up, a smirk formed on Vernal's lips. "Just one! Everyone, on my mark…" The teens all prepared themselves as the rhino and warthog mutants kept charging in. "Ready… MOVE!" Once Vernal gave the word, the group all scattered at the last possible second… leading to the larger mutants colliding with their new cohorts.

*CRASH* *BANG* *BOOM*

And with that, all SIX of them were now in a massive pile, much to Animo's dismay. "AH! NO!" the mad scientist went over and starting kicking the men in their keisters, ushering them to move. "You simple-minded fools! Get up and show them your superior strength and prowess! You are being HUMILIATED!"

"Agh! Oof! Gah, sorry boss!" Skull and Hog said in unison.

"W-Woah—OW! Bro, CHILL!" Tora Flame snapped. "We're gettin' there!"

"I beg to differ!" Animo bit back… only to feel a tap on his shoulder. "H-Huh—" *WHAM* With one hard punch to the face, Yang knocked the doctor our cold, his body falling limp onto the pile of mutated men.

Dusting off her hands, Yang nudged her chin down to the madman. "And THAT'S for giving us so much crap to handle."

However, the Mutanimals weren't happy about that at all. "AH! BOSS!" Skull shouted before himself, Hog, Tora Flame, Polar Claw, Silver Smack and Lightning Buzz got back to their feet once again. "You're gonna pay for that!"

"We'll see. Who's in favor of trading dance partners?!" Yang's question was met with a resounding "YES!" as the team reconfigured themselves with more suitable foes. "You're mine, Bear Necessities!"

As the Omni-Hunters took on the mutants, though, Rath and Bashmouth were locked in a battle of wills. A brawl that could only be described as all kinds of destructive as the very cave crumbled around their clash. Not even the team's own rumble could deter them from wailing upon one another, whether it be in the cave or out. But even so, there was one constant to this incredibly taxing battle between feline and canine…

"POLARIS PILEDRIVER!"

"ANTERIAN ARMBAR!"

"OPHEUCHUS FACEPLANT!"

Wrestling. The two similar yet different species kept the moves coming one after another, and neither of them even considered stopping. But before long, Rath couldn't help but feel his curiosity get the better of him. "So lemme hear somethin' Bashmouth, how the hell did ya GET to Revonnah anyway?!"

Bashmouth growled; "I know a guy!" before flinging Rath away, only for the Appoplexian to leap right back into the fray."

"And the Amber Ogia?! How'd ya know about that?!"

With a powerful sucker punch to the gut, Bashmouth sent Rath skyward. "I know a guy who knows a guy!" Jumping up, he performed a mid-air spin and kicked Rath back down into the floor, but the Omnitrix bearer rolled out of the way before the Metallikanine could strike a powerful blow.

"HOROLOGIUM HAMMERLOCK!" Quick as a flash, Rath managed to grab Bashmouth by the arm and wrench it behind his back, eliciting a pained howl from the canine alien. "And the mech suits?! Oh wait, lemme guess, YA KNOW A GUY—OW!"

Snapping his head back, Bashmouth butted Rath right in the nose, reaching his arms up to take hold of the Appoplexian by the neck. "SERPENS STUNNER!" Dropping down, Bashmouth rammed Rath's face straight into his shoulder at full force, knocking the hero for a loop before delivering a swift kick to the face. "…Knew a guy. Past tense." He hoisted Rath up by the midsection and hollered; "SAGITTARIUS SPINEBUSTER!" before SLAMMING him down right on his back, making Rath roar in agony. But Bashmouth wasn't done yet. Hooking Rath's legs in his arms, he then stepped over and turned the tiger alien around, locking him in a sharpshooter. Or rather, a… "SCORPIUS DEATH LOCK! TAP OUT, YA LITTLE BITCH!"

Teeth clenched and fists pounding on the ground, Rath vehemently refused. "RATH TAPS FOR NO ONE!" Pushing his upper body up, he tucked in his chin and then fell back down on his shoulders, allowing him to shimmy around and through Bashmouth's legs, to the Metallikanine's astonishment.

"W-What the—"

"LACERTA LOW-BLOW!"

*BING*

"OOOOOOHH!" Bashmouth went cross-eyed after Rath's punch to his nether regions… the one place he didn't have fur to harden into metal. He fell to his knees and instinctively went to cover his privates, which only let Rath have even more opportunities.

"DELPHINUS DOUBLE AXE HANDLE!" Bringing his hands together, Rath brought them both down on Bashmouth's head and then swung them back up into his chin, making him stagger back. Hopping up to a ledge, Rath landed in a squatting position, making sure his aim was true. "FROM THE TOP ROPE! MONOCEROS METEORA!" With a powerful jump, Rath careened down knees-first onto the dazed crime boss, knocking him flat on his back and driving the wind out of him. "Now… SIRIUS BUTT-KICKING!" Literally kicking him in the butt and into the air, Rath bounced up and unleashed rapid-fire punches and kicks, before taking Bashmouth by his collar and swinging him down into the wall. Rath landed and belted out a victorious roar, catching the other combatant's attention. "YEAH! THAT'S WHAT YA GET WHEN YA MESS WITH—"

*CHOOM*

Just then, everything came to a halt when a portal suddenly popped into existence across the room… one that swirled with purple energy around its edges. And, on the other side of the breach, the Omni-Hunters could see the Land of Darkness… along with the one who made the portal in the first place. "Bashmouth, I am here to collect—oh." While he didn't step through the portal, Eon could still see through it just fine, and he wasn't too happy with what he was met with. "…Hah, I should've known THIS would eventually happen." the dimensional traveler sighed. "You always find a way to ruin a good thing for us, Tennyson."

"EON?!" Rath bellowed as he stormed up to the portal, pointing right at the villain. "LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN', EON, CHRONIAN FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION WHO TAKES OVER ALTERNATE VERSIONS OF MYSELF! I'LL GIVE YA THREE SECONDS TO TAKE THESE MOOKS BACK TO YOUR LITTLE HOLE, OR ELSE I'LL SHOVE 'EM IN THERE MYSELF!"

"…Ew." Kevin grimaced.

The answer Eon gave… was actually quite surprising. "Very well."

"OH NO, I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANY—wait, what'd you say?"

Rath and the others were only left more stunned when Eon repeated himself. "You heard me. I said that your terms are acceptable." He raised a hand as he explained; "Lady Salem has deemed the amount of Amber Ogia that's already collected sufficient at any rate."

The Appoplexian narrowed his eyes at the time traveler. "…Give. It. ALL. Back."

But Eon didn't seem in the mood for further negotiations. "Now those terms are NOT acceptable." He pressed his fingers together, getting ready to snap them. "I offer you an ultimatum; you can TRY to get the Amber Ogia back by fighting for it… but in turn, I'll open up several portals to Revonnah and let the Grimm here come to wreak carnage upon the masses." He spread his fingers back out, extending his hand to Rath. "Or… we could go with your original terms. I will take the mutants back, and in exchange, we will leave Revonnah in peace. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Grrrr…" Rath wanted so badly to rip Eon a new one… but he knew if he did, he'd be putting the lives of several innocent farmers in danger. 'Can't do that to Rook's family… I'm gonna hate myself in the morning.' With an annoyed groan, Rath complied. "Grah! Fine, just GO! BUT!" He extended his knuckle claw at Eon. "If I see ANY Ministry members in the next WEEK AND A HALF, then you all will CATCH THESE HANDS!"

"Excellent. I will keep that in mind." He beckoned for the mutants to walk through the portal. "Come, everyone. Our operations here are done."

"Understood." Exo-Skull affirmed as he helped Bashmouth out of the wall, all while Thunderhog picked Animo up and lugged him over his shoulder. "Let's go, boys, we're done here."

Of course, the new mutants weren't too pleased with that. "Aw, man! Seriously, bro?!" Tora Flame threw his hands into the air. "But we were just gettin' started beating on these punks!" The other Mutanimals began to riot as well… until their boss shit them up.

*RRRROOOOAAAARR*

The thugs zipped their lips, giving Bashmouth their undivided attention. "Shut yer yaps, ya clowns!" the dog alien said while trying to soothe his pelvic region. "We got the Ogia we needed anyway, so no bellyachin'!" He peered over his shoulder to Rath with a snarl. "An' as fer you… that cheap shot's the only reason ya won, Tennyson. Next time, ya won't be so lucky."

Flashing his teeth, Rath scowled and pointed at his foe. "Lemme tell ya somethin', Bashmouth… Just. Leave." That got a chuckle out of the Metallikanine as he and the rest of his team walked through the portal, which closed thereafter. Lurching forward, Rath transformed back into Ben, the Omnitrix bearer immediately being met with a hug from his girlfriend. "…I'd like to go to X'Nelli now."

"I think we all do, Green Boy." Yang whispered, running her fingers through his hair comfortingly. The silence was somber as everyone nodded their heads, knowing that their victory was bittersweet.

…..

Later that night, as the village's harvest festival started to get underway, the team were gathered outside of the Rook household, having said most of their farewells to the family. Rook had elected to stay behind for a couple extra days on Revonnah, both to help in the harvest… and to spend time with Rayona. So, after unloading the Proto-Truk from the Rustbucket IV, they found themselves looking on as Rook and Da had a conversation, all while watching the fireworks overhead.

"The land… has been kind." Da spoke first. "Despite our losses, the harvest is plentiful." He set his gaze upon his son with a furrowed brow. "Blanko, without tradition, you are nothing." Rook's lips tightened at the harsh words… but then Da added; "However, without you… tradition itself would not have survived."

That got Rook to smile again. "Then I suppose tradition and I are even."

Da reciprocated the grin and reached out, patting Blanko on the back. "Hm, I suppose. Hopefully the harvest next year will be less… disorderly." The older Revonnahgander then turned to the heroes, bowing in respect. "And… I must thank you off-worlders as well. Your dedication to preserving our crop was greatly appreciated… even if your methods were unconventional."

"You're welcome, sir." Max extended his hand, which Da shook without a second thought. "Though maybe it's best if we… don't come back next year."

"Hm, you read my mind, Maxwell. Still, I hope you all take good care."

"We will, sir." Ben assured as the rest of his team waved to him. "So, Rook, we'll see you on X'Nelli in a couple days?"

Rook gave a salute. "Indeed. Until then, please make sure to relax. You all have earned it."

Yang stretched her arms up, a tired yawn escaping her throat. "Aaaahhh… ya got that right. …By the way, how're Nora and Ren doing?"

As if to answer her question, the Pink Dynamo's voice could be heard over near the ship… and she was busy berating a certain green ninja. "You dunderhead!" The group spun around and saw her shaking Ren by the collar, scolding him something fierce. "Just freaking TELL me next time when you start feeling depressed! Don't just bottle it up and not tell ANYBODY! We're your friends! You can tell me, Jaune or Pyrrha ANYTHING!"

"I-I know th-that! I-I'M S-SORRY! Just please S-STOP!" Ren pleaded, his eyes swirling as Nora kept the shaking him.

"…I think they'll be okay." Gwen smirked, leading everybody to share a hearty laugh.

…..

~Vacuo High Security Prison, Remnant~

Inside of an isolated and heavily guarded prison cell, the former White Fang operative known as Yuma sat on the cold, hard slab that qualified as a "bench". It had been almost two months since he'd been incarcerated, no thanks to those foolish Huntsmen in training, the heroes from another world and… the traitorous bitches who dared go against the will of Adam Taurus. 'Blake especially.' Yuma thought with disgust. 'Adam offered to give her EVERYTHING she could ever want and yet she STILL denied him… and for that MONKEY, no less!' His eyes narrowed as he began voicing his thoughts. "And Ilia… here I thought she'd be better than this. But… I suppose she didn't exactly enjoy seeing Blake with Adam either, so—"

"Grub time, punk." Came the voice of the guard from the other side of his cell, followed by a tray of food getting pushed through a slot in the door. No sooner did that happen did the slot lock back up, leading the Bat Faunus to let out a grumble.

It was a constant cycle. The same thing day in and day out. The thoughts in his head, the crappy food on his plate, it was all so monotonous. "Would it KILL the world to throw me a bone and have something INTERESTING happen for a change?!" Then, as if to answer his question…

*BOOOOOM*

Yuma let out a shout and covered his ears as the back wall of his prison cell exploded into the room, followed by a loud alarm sounding off. Within seconds, the guards burst into the scene… only to see Yuma on the ground and the huge hole. And standing there, backlit by several spotlights, were several masked figures; four female, one male, all glaring at the guards. "FREEZE!" they went to raise their rifles. "Hands where we can see—" *THUNK-THUNK*

All Yuma heard after that were choking, gurgling noises before both men fell to the floor, now with MANY obsidian blades sticking out of their bodies. The wild-haired Faunus craned his head up to the five, seeing one of the women with her hand on fire and… controlling the flames. "…Wait a minute. You're…"

Removing her hood, Cinder revealed her face, grinning down to Yuma with insidious glee. "Yuma Kuromori, I presume." She extended her hand to him while Rojo, Neo, Emerald and Mercury all peeked out from their own hoods. "…Have we got a deal for you."

…..

A/N: Oh dear… well, Ben and the gang might've managed to get the Ministry off of Revonnah, but not only did they already get a lot of Ogia off the planet… but back in Remnant, they're moving and shaking with the recruitment as well. Indeed, we see the return of Yuma, the former White Fang who only got a bit of focus in the series itself. As you can guess, I'm gonna be giving him a MUCH bigger role here. Starting with giving him a last name! "Kuromori" is actually the Japanese word for "black forest", but I also took it from the words for "black" (kuroi) and "bat" (komori) and fused them together. Clever, eh?

But that can be focused on next time. For now, though, NEW MUTANTS! Indeed, it's time for Fistrick's group to get an upgrade as well, and each of them is… actually referencing the same exact piece of media. See if you can guess it just by going off the animals and powers I gave 'em. That said, they managed to present themselves as threatening for a good while there, though ultimately everyone's fights just falling into one another ended up not being in their favor. But hey, could've been worse for them… they could've been Bashmouth getting hit where the sun don't shine. Ouch.

Oh, and also, more drama! Both in terms of family AND romance. Rook and his dad may have had some disagreements on off-world stuff, but ultimately, they do still love each other and that's what's important. But for Nora and Ren… they've got some things to work out, it seems. When things get to the point where NORA starts crying, then ya know something's wrong. Maybe things will clear up once they get to X'Nelli.

However, we'll have to check in with our vacationers another time. Because NEXT TIME, we're checking back on Earth to see how Ruby and Cooper are doing there. And wouldn't ya know it, but Caesar's back from Remnant! …And he's got a BIG surprise for our resident redheaded android. But little do they know… that there's ANOTHER redhead in town. One who seems to be trying to quell some commotion in Undertown that's being caused by… a mechanical scorpion centaur man? What the HECK is going on?! …Only Zak knows that answer. Next time; Say Uncle. Thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! And of course, as always, stay safe out there!