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)

95. The Third Labor

A/N: Hey there, everybody! Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY and the next installment of this little Ruby and Cooper-focused mini-arc! We're not gonna waste much time up here since… well, I don't have much to say.

…I mean, I GUESS I could talk about Kamen Rider Gavv since he just got revealed this week. I gotta say, I dig the aesthetic he's going for, though the Monster Gummi gimmick is a bit odd to me. Trust me, I know there's been weirder and there will be EVEN weirder stuff in the future, but I look forward to seeing it in action all the same. Besides, I'm just psyched we're actually getting a PURPLE Rider for the first time since Hibiki! But, with all that said, let's get on with the chapter, shall we? This is…

Chapter 94: The Third Labor

…..

~Evernight Castle, 12 Hours Ago~

Yuma Kuromori was many things. An assassin. A rare winged Faunus. A loyal follower of Adam Taurus' vision for the White Fang. But if there was one thing that Yuma wasn't, it was a fool. He may have been freed by these followers of Salem, but they didn't fool him with their acts of "kindness". Sure, they said on the way there that they wanted to "help" him revitalize Adam Taurus' White Fang, but they never explained how. They just brought him to a creepy castle and were leading him down a dark hallway to… somewhere. He didn't exactly know. But Yuma could just tell that he was a means to an end for them. They were human, after all, and if there was one thing that he had come to learn in this life, it was to never trust humans. They wanted SOMETHING from him, but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what.

"Listen to me, human scum, I won't say I'm ungrateful for you breaking me out of prison, but I have FAR more important things to do than… whatever it is you're taking me to." Yuma stopped in his tracks, prompting Cinder, Rojo, Emerald, Mercury and Neo to do the same. "I will not go a step further until you tell me why I'm here."

A moment passed before Cinder sighed. "Hah… Mercury, if you'd please."

The silver-haired assassin smiled at the order. "Sure thing." With impressive speed, Mercury whipped around and landed a kick into Yuma's side, sending him hurdling into the wall. He would've made a hard impact, but the brown-haired man was quicker than that, spreading his wings to propel himself into the air.

"Gah! I knew it! I knew I couldn't—AUGH!" But before he could fly away, Emerald took out Thief's Respite, launching her weapon's chains out and whipping them around his legs. With a powerful yank, she pulled him back down, right into Mercury's awaiting foot. The kick to the head rocked Yuma, for sure, but he was still ready to—

*WHACK*

…Scratch that. One heavy swipe to the back of the head from Neo's umbrella and he was out for the count. As he drifted from consciousness, though, he could hear the group arguing.

"Wow, Cindy, was that really necessary?" Rojo asked.

"He was resisting, Rojo. We could've done this the easy way or the hard way." Cinder glanced down to the dazed Bat Faunus as his eyes began to close. "…And I chose the easy way."

Yuma had no idea how long he was out for, but when he woke up next, he was in a laboratory of some sort, surrounded by black, brick walls and metal tables with beakers and test tubes all around. He attempted to move… but quickly found that to be impossible. He snapped his head down, only to see that he was strapped securely to a chair. He struggled to try and get out, but that's when he realized that they had been thorough, anchoring his body down so that he couldn't spread his wings. "Gah! ACK! What is this?! Am I to be part of some sick experiment or something?!"

From behind, Emerald spoke up. "In a sense, yeah, but not the kind you're probably thinking of." Yuma whipped his head around, snarling at the sight of his five assailants. "Good to see you up, sleepy head." Emerald teased.

"AAAGGHH! I will deliver your heads on a SPIKE for Adam Taurus, you sycophants!"

Rojo raised a hand. "Woah, don't look at me, Bat Boy, I wasn't the one who chose "the easy way"." She side-eyed Cinder warily. "Which, by the way, if this is your idea of "easy", Cindy, then I'd hate to see what the "hard way" is with you."

"Oh-ho-ho, trust me… you would." Cinder smiled insidiously down toward Yuma, who glared back with clenched teeth. "So, now that you're comfortable, Mr. Kuromori, I believe it's time to show you why exactly we've brought you here."

"Forget it! Nothing you say can coerce me into joining—is that a crab with a mustache?" Yuma was left dumbfounded by the sight of Dr. Psychobos scuttling in from around the corner, followed by Red Son.

The doctor raised his larger claw in refutation. "My good man! I am F-F-FAR more than simply a "crab with a mustache". I am a Cerebrocrustacean!" He raised his head proudly as he introduced himself. "I am Dr. Psychobos. The most brilliant mind in this or ANY other galaxy. As creator of the Nemetrix, I should be regarded as such."

Yuma was just completely lost. "The Neme-what?"

Psychobos flinched and, rather than berate him, instead turned his attention onto Cinder and her team, clearly flustered. "Did you s-s-seriously not tell him about who he was dealing with here?! I haven't f-f-felt more disrespected in my life!"

"Ah, don't get your carapace in a bunch, doc." Mercury dismissed. "Remember, you're on probation time. You aren't owed anything."

"You impudent little—"

Stepping around from behind Psychobos, Red Son brought his arm up and stopped the doctor from going any further. "Now, now, good doctor, let's not fly off the handle, shall we? After all, there are FAR more important matters to attend to than squabbling with the unruly assassin."

Mercury snickered as he watched Psychobos seethe. "Heh, yeah, what he sai—HEY! Who said I'm unruly?!"

"Your haircut speaks volumes about you, peasant." Red Son smirked as he watched Mercury try to lunge at him, only to be held back by Rojo and Emerald. "Ah-ah-ah, like I said, we have much more important business to handle than mere quarrels…" He set his sights down to Yuma, who was glaring up at him with both disdain and slight intrigue. "Now, you must be Mr. Kuromori. My apologies for my… associates bringing you here in such a manner." Snapping his fingers, Red Son created a small burst of energy that was hot enough to burn through Yuma's restraints, but made sure not to burn his skin. "After all, you are a potentially valuable ally."

Yuma clicked his tongue at the prince as he stood up, brushing the ashes off his arms. "Tch, and just who're you supposed to be, magic man?"

"I'm glad you asked! I am Red Son! Heir of the Demon Bull Family, and—if I do say so myself—technological prodigy." Gesturing down to the Cerebrocrustacean, Red Son elaborated further. "And, of course, you have already met my brilliant partner, the good Dr. Psychobos."

Glancing to the brain crab, Yuma hummed; "Hm, charmed."

Psychobos pointed his smaller claw at the Bat Faunus. "As you should! I hope you show more respect, child… but that is neither here nor there." Scuttling across the room, Psychobos went over to a certain desk that had a black cloth draped over it… along with something else beneath it as well. "Now, my c-c-companion and I have something for you… should you be willing to except the offer."

"And what offer IS that, exactly?"

"My offer." The sound of a new voice in the room immediately made Yuma stiffen, feeling an uncomfortable chill move down his spine. His eyes slowly moved toward the lab's entrance and there, as if morphing from out of the darkness itself, stepped Salem. The sight of the stark-white witch left Yuma speechless, knowing full well who she was. "Mr. Kuromori. Good to finally meet you." the sorceress said as she seemed to glide in.

"Y-Y-You…" Staggering away, Yuma felt his back press against the rugged brick wall as Salem closed in on him. "Y-You're the woman who Adam spoke of… the one who promised him great power and control over the White Fang."

Salem nodded as she met the goateed man. "Indeed… and that promise still stands. Provided, of course, if you accept the offer I extend to you." She held out her bleached white hand, the black veins on her arm leaving Yuma uncomfortable. "If you join us and take part in our experiments, then I can assure you that Adam will be freed."

Yuma swallowed hard as he asked; "A-And if I refuse?"

Salem narrowed her gaze at him, taking note of the horror behind his eyes. 'Almost silver…' she thought, noting the color of his ocular orbs. But she dismissed the thought. She could tell a Silver-Eyed Warrior from a mile away, and Yuma was decidedly not one. Still, that did not mean he lacked skill, which she was keen on using for this. "If you refuse… I feed you to my Grimm. Simple as that. Though I can promise you… it will not be painless."

"I-I'll take you up on your offer, then." the Faunus hastily answered.

"Excellent. Doctor, Red Son, if you would please show Mr. Kuromori your completed project?"

Following Salem's instructions, Red Son wasted no time in grasping the dark sheet. "Haha! Of course, Lady Salem. Yuma! Allow me to present…" With a dramatic pull, Red Son tossed the sheet off and revealed… a black and silver pistol that was very steampunk in design, complete with pipework all throughout with a chimney on top and a rail system below the gun's barrel. "…The Transteam Gun!"

There was a short moment of silence as everyone gazed upon the weapon, with Cinder's team all peering past Yuma as he raised a questioning brow at it. "That's… a weird name." he said.

"…I know, but I'd like to remain accurate to the source material." Red Son explained as he broke out a tablet and showed off the schematics for the weapon. "But that is besides the point. What matters is that, with this weapon, YOU will be granted a power unlike any you've experienced before! And it all starts…" Reaching into his pocket, Red Son procured something, only to toss it right to Yuma. "…with this."

Catching it, Yuma analyzed the object… which appeared to be a small bottle. It was like the ones that most energy drinks came in, only this was made of much harder material. The top and bottom were copper brown in color and the middle was purple and translucent. On top was a silver cap that had a "B" on it with some sort of black gear logo… which matched with the giant, silver bat head that was molded onto the bottle. The back was also outfitted with a rail, no doubt so that it could slot into the gun itself.

Inside, Yuma saw that there was some sort of liquid sloshing around, so he shook the bottle… which made it glow. "…What is this?" he muttered.

"That, dear boy, is what we call a "Lost Fullbottle"." Psychobos explained. "Or a "Lostbottle" for short. This is the trinket you will use in conjunction with the Transteam Gun in order to give you the power we speak of."

Stepping forward, Yuma picked the weapon up, inspecting both it and the bottle. "So… what, I just slot the bottle in and… then what happens?"

"The gun will convert the liquid Dust inside into a dark mist that envelopes your body." Red Son went on. "Which, in theory, should transform you into a powerful warrior of darkness."

"…Did you say "in theory"?"

"A-Ahem, yes, well… we haven't tested it yet." Red Son quickly took notice of the disturbed expression on Yuma and quickly reassured him. "B-But don't worry! If something goes wrong, we WILL make certain that you survive. After all, any problems that may occur can be easily fixed with a few tweaks. That said, though… the science is sound, so there should not be any problems."

Yuma grimaced at the idea. "…You seem quite certain, despite the risks." His eyes drifted down to the bottle in his hand, giving it two quick shapes before twisting the cap so that it faced forward. "And if there's one thing I know I am… it's a risktaker."

Red Son clapped his hands together exuberantly. "Haha! Excellent! I was hoping you'd be interested. Now, what you want to do is—"

*CHK-WHRR*

BAT!

"O-Oh, you figured it out yourself. Never mind." Despite the slight irritation of him not being able to explain his creation in detail, Red Son couldn't deny that what happened next… was absolutely funky. The moment the Transteam Gun began playing its absolutely PHAT standby loop, he couldn't help but start banging his head to the beat, all while everyone else was taken aback.

"W-What the…" Emerald trailed off… all while she too started bobbing her head. Next to her, Neo was doing the same, though she was much more into it… as was a certain silver-haired assassin.

"It plays MUSIC?!" Mercury exclaimed, bouncing the heel of his foot to it. "Oh-ho, man, now THAT'S actually pretty sick."

Cinder was much more subdued in her reaction, though. "Is there any point, though? What purpose does it serve?"

"That is what I'D like to know!" Psychobos shouted mentally as he glared up at the demon prince, who was still rockin' out. "I thought I told you to keep that ridiculous feature out of our interpretation! It serves nothing but to waste time!"

Managing to hear them over the pulse-pounding beat, Red Son slightly narrowed his eyes at the two of them and shot back; "I'll have you know that the standby loop serves a VERY important purpose that neither of you can appreciate! It serves as a warning! A sign to step away as the user transforms! And, most importantly, a signal of dread to our enemies that their DOOM approaches!"

The two didn't seem convinced… but Rojo certainly was, playing air guitar to the music herself. "I dunno about all that, but what I DO know is that this beat SLAPS! C'mon, Cindy, ya gotta loosen up a bit!" She received an eyeroll from the Fall Maiden, but Rojo wasn't fooled. She could see Cinder's foot tapping.

"Hm! Glad to see SOMEONE appreciates it!" Red Son whipped around and clenched his fist toward Yuma, who was standing as still as can be. "Now, pull the trigger as you swipe the weapon across your person… and experience the surge in power!" However, he also raised a finger. "But before that, the codeword is; "vaporize"."

Yuma's eyes drifted back down to the weapon as he raised it across his chest, prepped and ready… to transform. "…Vaporize." He pulled the trigger and whipped the weapon down, unleashing a cloud of black mist across his body.

Mist-Match!

Inside the cloud, Yuma immediately felt that power surge that Red Son was referring to, his body convulsing a slight bit as the mist enveloped him… and began hardening across his body into some sort of suit. It was a strange experience. At first, everything felt completely ridged, as if he couldn't move inside the suit at all… but then, he felt a burst of heat igniting within him, and suddenly, things loosened up and he could move again. His head became enveloped in what he could only describe as a helmet, with a gold visor appearing in front of his eyes. All the while, the access heat began building… and building… until…

Ba-Bat… Ba-Ba-Bat…

FIRE!

All at once, a burst of fireworks erupted from the suit and dispelled the remaining black mist, revealing his transformed state to everyone. At first, the others had to shield their eyes with how bright the lightshow was, but once it died down, the only light emanating from Yuma was the golden glow of his visor and the bat emblem on his chest… and they were left absolutely astonished by the black and silver warrior that stood before them.

"Woah… haha! That is SICK!" Rojo pumped her fists.

"I will admit, that is quite impressive." Cinder concurred.

Yuma, though, was still only coming down from his high, raising his now gloved hands to see what he had become. "W-Wha… what is this? A-A mirror! Someone get me a mirror!"

Reaching out from behind a table, Red Son procured a body-length mirror. "I had a feeling you'd ask that, my friend! Come, see the new you!"

Yuma almost stumbled over himself trying to get to his reflection, but when he did, he was completely awestruck. This… was him? He moved his hand up, and sure enough, the dark warrior mimicked his movements, reaching up to the long, chimney-like horn sticking out of his helmet. He ran his hands across his chest plate, lingering on the sharp bat symbol in the middle. And, while he couldn't see his wings at first, that all changed when he flexed them, causing them to retract out of his suit… and he was astonished to see that they had DOUBLED in size, with red and green wires running throughout them. He beat them a couple times and, once more, was stunned as he was actually lifted off the ground, achieving true flight for the first time in his life. He didn't stay airborne for long, though, still wanting to take in his new reflection.

"…What am I?" he uttered.

"Hmhm, as you can see, my good man, you are no longer JUST Yuma Kuromori anymore." Red Son proclaimed. "YOU… are Night Rogue."

The moniker gave Yuma pause, but not for more than a second as a smirk curled onto his lips beneath his helmet. "Night Rogue… I like it."

…..

~Undertown, Present Day~

Since then, Yuma had fully embraced his new Night Rogue persona, and was extremely eager to put his new powers to use. And thus, that's where he stood now; aiming the Transteam Gun at his Omni-Hunter adversaries, the ones who had succeeding in wrenching control of the White Fang from Adam's insurgency. With this power… he would make sure that he'd get it back. "So… who wishes to be the first to sample this bat's bite?" he declared in challenge to the heroes.

The Omni-Hunters, Team CFVY and the Saturday family were, needless to say, stunned by what they'd just witnessed, but none of them could compare to how floored Cooper was. The Ministry had managed to make a copy of his system. Or rather—a knockoff of it. All the same, it did NOT spell good things for them. 'If they can make this in such a short time… then how long before they make a REAL Rider System?' he asked himself.

"So… guessing this ain't a good thing." Doyle spoke up, breaking the silence.

"GEE, what was your first clue?!" Neptune barked.

*POW-POW-POW-POW*

The group gave a collective shout as Night Rogue began shooting relentlessly upon them, a hail of purple blasts raining upon them as Emerald, Mercury and Rojo began doing the same. Cinder and Red Son also contributed by manipulating the fire around them, cutting the team off on either side to prevent their escape all together. "Gah! They've boxed us in!" Blake shouted.

"Don't worry, we out number 'em!" Qrow asserted, bringing Harbinger out to fight. "They can't possibly take us all on!"

Cinder's grin widened at that. "Ah, yes, about that…" With a snap of her fingers, several Grimm came diving in through the flames and out of the nearby buildings. Boarbatusks, Beowolves, Ursai, it was the standard fair. But even still, their numbers were immense. "Benefits to fighting underground… no direct sunlight for the Grimm to suffer from." Cinder thrust her finger out and ordered; "ATTACK!"

As the Grimm charged them, Ruby scoffed and brought up Crescent Rose, ready to engage their enemies. "Then we've got no choice! We've gotta fight!" But in a snap, she also gave an order to the two resident fliers; "Penny! Vados! Fly away and get word out to Plumber HQ! They've gotta know about this!"

Penny saluted dutifully, which Vados followed in tandem. "Got it, Ruby! Sister, let's—"

"Oh-ho, no you don't!" Night Rogue leapt up and flapped his wings, taking flight right as the technological sisters did. "You two aren't going ANYWHERE!" He snapped up his free hand, summoning a burst of black mist from his palm… which took the form of a new weapon in seconds.

It was a short blade with a black handle that had red, yellow and green piping going along the main body, while the pommel at the butt end was angular and had yellow caution stripes on it. The blade itself was jagged and also bright yellow, with some silver details and what appeared to be a gun barrel at the end with the tip sticking out of it like a bayonet. Combine that with an additional black and red scope on top of the short sword and it gave the allusion of being like a rifle. But then, along the blade itself, were several different mechanisms; a red shifter toward the tip, a red lever in the middle, and finally a large, red valve right above the handle, all marked with white arrows and the numbers 2, 1, and 3 respectively.

STEAM BLADE!

With a single swipe, Night Rogue slashed at Penny and Vados, sending a wave of purple energy out at them and forcing the duo back down to the ground. "No!" Build shouted, reaching out to the two fruitlessly as they made impact.

"Ah!" Vados cried out, sending a scowl up to the Bat Faunus as she brought out her gatling guns again. "That is as far as you will go, villain!" *RAT-AT-AT-AT-AT* With her sister concentrating her fire on Yuma, Penny did the same, bringing forth her Floating Array in gun form to blast at him as well.

However, Night Rogue simply began flying across the battlefield at breakneck speeds, which managed to leave the group astonished. "That's… impossible." Ilia muttered. "Winged Faunus shouldn't be capable of flying long distances or keeping themselves aloft like that! The most they can do is glide!"

"The Transteam Gun's upgraded him significantly, there's no doubt about it." Zak stated as he brought out his Claw. "But don't worry! We can ground him easily! Dad, Uncle Doyle! Give me a hand! Mom, you know what to do!" The Saturday Family all nodded in unison as Zak launched his Claw at Night Rogue, wrapping the tether around his ankle as he, Doc, and Doyle all grabbed hold and YANKED.

"W-Wha—AGH!" Having not seen that, Night Rogue was unprepared as he was forced straight down to the floor… and was made a prime target for Penny and Vados. *BOOM* "WAAA—AAAUUGH!" In quick succession, he was blown away by the two sisters… and then careened right into a strike to the back by Drew's Fire Sword, which left a clear scorch mark.

"Hah! This all you got?" Drew kicked him right in the back and he stumbled forward… only to be left slack-jawed seeing him rise to his full height and peer at her over his shoulder.

"Hmhm… oh, trust me. I'm just getting started." Night Rogue brought the Transteam Gun up and held down on the trigger, powering up a powerful blast.

Steam Break! BAT!

All at once, a loud screech was heard as the energy shot forth from the barrel of the gun, taking the form of a flying bat with black mist trailing behind its wings. It zeroed in on Drew with its fangs barred… but at the very last second, Cooper lunged in the energy bat's path, taking the blast full-on. "NO!" *BAM* A violent explosion rocked the area as Kamen Rider Build was sent hurdling back, careening over Drew's head and tumbling across the ground until he managed to stop himself.

All around, the heroes had been busy fighting the Grimm and their adversaries in the Ministry, dwindling the monsters' numbers down steadily. But that conflict came to a sudden halt when they saw what happened. "Ah! Tech Head!" Coco shouted.

"Haha! YES!" Rojo pumped a fist before using it to punch an unexpecting Fox in the face. "That's the way to do it, Bat Boy!" Her comment earned her a glare from Night Rogue, the masked warrior peering over his shoulder at her menacingly. "E-Er, I mean Bat Man—no, no that wouldn't work either… Man-Bat? Eh, maybe a bit too on the nose—"

"It's NIGHT ROGUE." Yuma emphasized. "I'd prefer no ridiculous nicknames of any sort!"

Rojo pouted and crossed her arms in a huff. "Psh, alright, fine. Sheesh… guess that makes you Mr. No Fun."

Drew rushed over to Cooper and helped him up, though the Rider did manage to ultimately stand up on his own. "A-Are you okay? Do you need—"

"I'm fine, Mrs. Saturday." Build assured, taking a turquoise Fullbottle off his hip with what appeared to be a vacuum cleaner molded into it. In his other hand, he brought up the Drill Crusher in its gun mode and made his way forward, shaking off the attack to confront his new nemesis. "This… is between you and ME, Night Rogue! No one else!"

The Faunus warrior groaned in exasperation, though he tone sounded more thankful than annoyed. "FINALLY! I was wondering when you'd get over yourself and join the fight!" He started forward and let loose a volley of shots with the Transteam Gun, but Build managed to dodge them all with a long leap, landing in a sprint running perpendicular to Night Rogue as he fired back.

The duo kept shooting at one another as the others resumed fighting around them, though as the bat went to take to the air once again, Build saw that as the opportunity he was hoping for. He inserted the turquoise bottle into the Drill Crusher, aiming the weapon at Night Rogue as it began powering up. And, with a pull of the trigger…

Soujiki! Vortex Break!

From out the weapons barrel whipped a powerful suction force that could only be described as a gale-force wind, which managed to pull Night Rogue out of the air instantly. "W-Wha?! Wait, what is this?! NO!" He couldn't escape the windstorm as it pulled him ever close to Build, who began using his other hand to crank the Build Driver.

"You may have your own powers, Kuromori, but they can't hold a candle to mine!" Once Yuma was close enough, Cooper tossed the Drill Crusher away, allowing the Build Driver to construct the hard-light graph and trap Night Rogue in its clutches. Taking another big leap, Build reached the apex of the graph and began sliding down to deliver his Rider Kick.

Vortex Finish! YEAH!

"No, no, not like this! NOT LIKE THIS!" Moments before the kick made impact, Night Rogue managed to get his Steam Blade into position, using his hands to move the mechanisms in the weapon. He lifted the lever and then slid the shifter back so it was directly next to the valve, which he then spun around so that the white arrows on both met each other at their tips.

ICE STEAM

Pulling the red trigger on the sword's handle a burst of icy energy erupted from the Steam Blade and froze Build's leg, stopping him from completing his kick. "W-Wha—AUGH!" Flexing his arms, Night Rogue escaped the hard-light graph, throwing Cooper away once more.

"Ha! What was that about not holding a candle to you?" Night Rogue pointed his blade down at Cooper, who SLAMMED the Drill Crusher against his leg to break it out of the ice. "Because from where I'm standing, you're less of a fire and more of an ice pop! Hahaha!"

"Tech Head!" Coco shifted Gianduja into handbag mode and immediately rushed to her boyfriend's aid. "Hold on, I—URK!" But right then and there, Mercury came in and kneed her in the gut, making her stumble back.

The assassin shook his finger at the fashionista, smirking down at her all the while. "Ah-ah, you're fighting me, remember?" Glancing up, he could see Emerald engaging Yatsu across the way, which made Mercury chuckle a little. "Heh, well this is a familiar sight, isn't it? Takes me back to the Vytal Festival… and how we beat your asses there."

Coco grit her teeth and shifted her eyes toward Yatsu, who was managing to hold his own against the green-haired girl. "…I promise you, that won't happen again!" Rushing in, Coco closed in on Mercury with incredible speed, whipping her handbag around to strike at him, though he managed to deflect it with a kick.

"Ha! Yeah, right. The only way you're gettin' outta this is by a miracle—"

*Ba-da-dum—Ba-da-dum—Ba-da-dum—Ba-da-dum*

But just then, things were paused again as a new sound was heard. The group weren't sure what it was, but it was very rhythmic and it grew louder and louder with each passing second. "…Okay, I give, what is that noise?" Neptune wondered outloud.

Fox, though, could tell exactly what it was. He had heard sounds like this plenty of times to know the falling of heavy hooves. "Something's coming. Could be a horse…" But upon further hearing, the force of the impacts only became louder, making him second guess himself. "No, wait… this is something a LOT bigger." He whipped his head around toward the direction it was coming from, as did everyone else… and past the flames, they could see something big dashing directly toward them.

"Oh crap! GET DOWN!" Doyle shouted, prompting the team and even the villains to get out of the way.

Whatever was barreling toward them, though, it didn't just charge straight through the fire. Instead, it took a MASSIVE leap into the air over the flames and landed with a concussive *THOOM* in the very center of the battlefield. …And what they saw left the whole group speechless. It was a pure white deer the size of a moose, with visible blue gems growing out of its magnificent antlers. But that wasn't even the most shocking part. That had to go to Pyrrha, Jaune, Winter and Kenny all riding on the beast's back.

"…Excuse me, but WHAT THE HELL?!" Emerald screamed.

"Hello, everyone!" Pyrrha greeted cheerily with a wave, as if nothing strange was happening.

Ruby had to slap herself to break out of her stupor. "Gah! P-P-PYRRHA?! What the heck is going on?! What is this?!

"Long story." Jaune stated. "We'll tell you later. Did we miss anything—oh." It was only then that Jaune noticed the presence of Night Rogue, who was standing over Build with Steam Blade in hand and ready to strike… but both of them were staring directly at the four on the giant deer. "…Okay, we missed a lot, then."

For his part, Kenny was flabbergasted seeing the bat warrior. "N-Night Rogue!? Holy crap, this would be SO cool if I didn't already guess he's on the Ministry's side."

Winter scanned her eyes around and noticed Red Son as well, who was standing beside Cinder overseeing things. "Hm… and it would seem that he isn't the ONLY new ally. Red Son, I presume? Your appearance matches that which Sun described to us."

"Ha! It would seem my reputation precedes me." Red Son ran a hand through his hair, igniting it aflame at the same time. "I must say, though, impressive entrance, coming in on the Ceryneian Hind of all things."

Drew and Doc had to do a doubletake when they heard that, staring at the oversized deer in amazement. "THAT'S the Ceryneian Hind?!" the Saturday matriarch exclaimed, her eyes wide in amazements. "…It's as beautiful as the legends described."

"But, wait, wouldn't that mean…" Zak's brows shot up in realization. "Does that mean ARTEMIS is here, too?!"

"Technically, yes." Pyrrha affirmed. "But she isn't getting directly involved, at least not right now…" The Invincible Girl trailed off when she noticed that there were still several Grimm all around, the dark creatures stalking their way toward the Hind with their teeth bared and ready to tear into all of them. Meeting the majestic creature's gaze, Pyrrha asked; "I don't suppose there's any way you could get rid of these pests for us?" She received a short groan form the creature… only for him to suddenly rear up on his hind legs. "AAH! WOAH!"

"GRAAOOOOOOOONN!"

As the hooved beast let out a massive bellow, the crystals in his antlers glowed with intense, blue energy, which was then let out in a single, massive burst. The Grimm didn't even get the chance to run before they were reduced to glowing particles thanks to the energy wave, which also managed to put out the fire as well. Going back to all fours again, the Ceryneian Hind huffed and shook his head, all while his passengers sighed in relief. "Hah… okay, that worked!" Kenny pumped a shaky fist. "Hooray…"

"Great, now let's get out of here!" Jaune advised, giving a nod to the team. "We can't waste time with these guys, there's a mythical creature that needs our help!"

Hearing that got Doyle's attention. "Huh, guess we're goin' in the same direction, then." Activating his jetpack, the repo man took to the air. "Lead the way!"

"Right, we've got more important things to do…" Cooper said before shifting his attention to Ruby. "Or rather, you guys do. Leave the Ministry to myself and Team CFVY. Ruby, take the Omni-Hunters and go do your thing."

"On it!" With a swipe of her hand, Ruby ushered the rest of her team to follow her and the Saturdays back to the Griffon. "You heard him, guys! Time to do what we do best! It's Hero Time!"

"NOT YET!" Cinder shouted, creating an obsidian bow in her hand as Night Rogue, Red Son and the rest began to bare down on them. "You aren't getting away that easily—AH!" *RAT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT-AT* But in a split second, the villains were cut off by a line of gatling gun fire from both Coco and Vados, the pair aiming their lethal weapon at them while standing in their path.

Vados took the time to peer back to her sister. "I shall remain here with the others! You go free that creature, Penny!"

The redhead saluted without a second thought. "You betcha! Good luck, little sister!" She saw Vados smile to her before her visor and faceplate slid over her features, now firmly in battle mode. The Omni-Hunters and Saturdays all boarded the Griffon and shot off, following the Ceryneian Hind and Doyle deeper into Undertown.

"GYAAAH! You impudent little…" Red Son's hair exploded into flames in anger, both fists igniting along with it. "You children will rue the day you crossed us!"

Coco and Vados stood unflinching as they were joined by Fox, Velvet, Yatsu and, of course, Kamen Rider Build, the six of them standing across from the Ministry members. "Heh, yeah, I don't think so." Coco adjusted her glasses. "You're the one who's gonna be doing all the ruing, Red Boy."

"THAT'S RED SON!" The demon prince's entire body was now lit aflame, only for the fire to coagulate into a massive fireball in the palms of his hands, which he aimed at the group. "When I'm through with you, you will be nothing but piles of ASHES!" He launched the flaming orb at the team, and it would've hit them… if not for Cooper pulling the green Shoujeki bottle out yet again, along with the yellow Lion FullBottle.

Lion! Soujiki!

BEST MATCH!

Once inserted, Cooper cranked the Build Driver like there was no tomorrow, summoning the Snap Ride Builder which constructed the two halves of his latest form.

Are You Ready?!

"BUILD UP!" With that command, the suit snapped together over his body, changing his colors from red and blue to a vibrant marigold and turquoise. The shimmering yellow half of the suit was, of course, stylized after a lion. The left side of the helmet featured an eyepiece that was essentially a partial lion's head, with its mane serving as the "antenna", while his right arm featured a darker shade of sunny orange in his shoulder pad an on the gauntlet. The shoulder pad itself featured a tail-like protrusion that was tipped with a spike, while the gauntlet itself was shaped like a lion's head, mane and all, making it appear like Build's hand was sticking out of its "mouth".

The turquoise half, however… was indeed MUCH stranger. The right side of the helmet had a stick vacuum-shaped eyepiece with the head of the vacuum itself serving as the antenna… but then the left arm was ENTIRELY a stick vacuum apparatus that was situated over Build's hand. Over the elbow, there was a hose that connected the arm piece to the shoulder pad, which had a clear dust bin sticking out of it. Overall, the form's colors were pleasing to the eye… but even Team CFVY had to admit, this Best Match was bizarre.

Tategami Cyclone!

LIONCLEANER!

Yeah!

Once the form's name was declared, Cooper wasted no time in raising his vacuum arm and activating it, sucking the large fireball in and collecting the fire's energy in the canister on his shoulder. "Not today, Red Son!" Flexing his right hand, Cooper transferred the energy from the canister into his gauntlet and then SLAMMED his fist into the ground, creating a tremor that split the very earth and threw the Ministry off-balance.

"W-Woah! Gah! How the HELL does he keep doing this crap?!" Mercury shouted, grabbing hold of a nearby lamppost.

Having taken to the air, Night Rogue scoffed at the display of power. "Hmph, impressive, but ineffective against me—" *CHOOM* "AUGH!" Without any warning, a bright, pink flash suddenly enveloped the whole area… and Night Rogue was directly next to the epicenter, which managed to send him hurdling back into the nearest wall. The masked warrior shook it off and growled, seeing a womanly figure in the middle of the light. "Gah! Who dares?!"

Cinder's eyes narrowed in contempt, however, knowing exactly who it was. "Oh joy… her." she seethed through her teeth.

Sure enough, once the pink light died down, it was revealed to be none other than Charmcaster, the sorceress wearing a very serious expression. "Alright, I just sensed an EXTREMELY potent burst of primordial magic come from here. What's going—oh." But she cut herself off when she noticed the Ministry standing before her, along with Team CFVY, Build, Vados… and some bat guy who she'd never seen before. "…Oh, that explains it."

"Well, not entirely, but we're glad to see you, Hope!" Velvet greeted cheerily. "Now the numbers have been evened up!"

"Seven on seven sounds good to me!" Yatsu narrowed his eyes at Mercury and Emerald. "We have unfinished business with them, don't we, Coco?"

"You betcha, big guy." Coco affirmed. "Tech Head, you still good against Night Rogue?"

Cooper clenched his fist in determination. "You bet. I'll handle him." He nudged his head toward the remaining members of the squad. "Vados, Fox, Vel, think you guys can handle Neo, Rojo and Red Son?"

"Affirmative, sir!" Vados zeroed in on the flaming-haired boy. "I will emancipate this demon from the perimeter, post haste!" In a blink and you'll miss it moment, Vados went off like a shot, tackling a now screaming Red Son straight into the nearby building.

Fox chuckled and gave a shrug. "…Well, that's one way to handle things. Let's get goi—AH!" But before he could even finish his sentence, Neo came in and swiped at him with her umbrella sword, forcing him to scramble and go on the offensive. "Gah! Ugh! Really? We've gotta stop meeting like this!" Even as their weapons clashed, Neo couldn't help but give him a knowing smile and a little wink… which didn't go unnoticed by the others.

Still, they had bigger things to worry about. "Hah, well, I suppose a little tussle wouldn't hurt." Hope rolled her shoulders as her hands began to glow with magical energy. "I've been meaning to get in some spell practice anyway…" She smirked over to Cinder, who snarled in response. "And you'll make a fine target, Cinder Fail."

"Try me, you catty witch." Cinder retaliated as her Maiden Powers flared up.

"I'll take that as a compliment. I love being a witch."

With that, all that was left was Build and Night Rogue, the two standing off against one another. Cooper widened his stance, ready to fight like a lion… holding a vacuum cleaner. "Like I said, this is between US, Night Rogue." the genius reiterated.

"And I couldn't agree more…" In an unexpected move, Night Rogue tossed the Transteam Gun up into the air, the weapon spinning around as he took hold of the Steam Blade at both ends. "But what say we make this a bit more interesting, hm?" In one quick move, he pulled the Steam blade apart, separating the blade and the handle… before bringing the two haves back in so that he could combine them with the Transteam Gun, which stopped its decent. The handle part was attached to the rear of the gun, creating a shoulder stock, while the blade slid into the gun's muzzle, creating a longer barrel. The Transteam Gun was now in…

Rifle Mode!

Holding his combined weapon properly, Night Rogue took aim at Build, eager to resume the fight. "Now… where were we?" The duo let out simultaneous battle cries as they rushed one another, knowing that this was going to go on for quite a while.

…..

Now far away from the action, and in a more secluded part of Undertown, the Ceryneian Hind came to a halt at Pyrrha's behest, the beast giving another bellow as it did. The Invincible Girl gave it a grateful pat on the neck. "Good boy, thank you." The beast whinnied in response before lowering itself to the ground, allowing the four to dismount off. Behind them, Doyle and Penny came in for a landing, as did the Griffon, the rear hatch of it opening so the rest of the team could join them.

"So… who exactly are you supposed to be?" Jaune questioned the mohawked man as he approached.

Extending a hand to the knight, Doyle introduced himself. "Doyle Blackwell, repo man."

Jaune shook his hand, but gave him a questioning look. "What kinda repo man has a jetpack?"

"One who gets in more scraps than you might think. I take it that you're all part of the team, too?" He glanced over his shoulder back to his nephew. "Sheesh, Zak, when I said you should make more friends, I didn't necessarily mean THIS many."

"Yeah, well, sometimes things just work out that way, Uncle Doyle." the young man shrugged.

Pyrrha and her group were left wide-eyed at that. "W-Wait, Zak, THIS is your uncle?!"

"The one who sent all the Bionicle sets?!" Kenny beamed in excitement toward the other redheaded man. "Dude, you sent your nephew what basically amounts to my childhood in a box. You rule as far as I'm concerned."

"Heh, well, guess I've got some fans, then." Doyle saluted. "Your welcome for the nostalgia trip."

Winter, however, was left a bit stunned, hearing both her boyfriend's AND Doyle's voices. 'What is it with so many people sounding alike?' However, she quickly went into professional mode, placing a hand on her hip. "Let's not beat around the bush here. We've got a mythical creature to save and we can't afford to waste any more time."

Ruby nodded as she took to the middle of the group, approaching Winter, Pyrrha and Jaune. "Right, we may not have much time before this rumored auction begins."

Winter sneered in disgust. "An auction? They intend to sell the unicorn?"

In an instant, the majority of the Omni-Hunters AND the Saturdays all recoiled at that. "A…A UNICORN?!" Doc exclaimed, his and Drew's faces both twisting in rage. "Someone had the GALL to steal a unicorn from its habitat?!"

"Oh, that is IT!" Drew unsheathed her Fire Sword, which was already burning in anticipation. "When we find the lowlife who took that unicorn, I swear I'm gonna—"

But Pyrrha interjected before she could really get going. "W-Wait! Let me explain…" She received a slew of curious looks as she elaborated upon the whole situation. "Believe me, I am just as disgusted as you are by these events… but I've been tasked by the Goddess herself to be the one to liberate this unicorn from the clutches of evil. And… well, I don't know what'll happen if I receive direct help from any of you. She may be upset if that happens…"

But Qrow didn't seem too worried. "Ah, c'mon, what can a goddess do to us? Pretty sure our past encounters with Herc an' Thor pretty much gives us diplomatic immunity when it comes to 'em, right?"

Neptune brightened up at that, stamping Tri-Hard's handle upon the ground confidently. "Y-Yeah! And I recently received Poseidon's favor! I doubt we'll get in too much trouble if we help you out, Pyrrha."

"Well… I suppose that IS correct." The Invincible Girl took a nervous breath, but quickly relaxed as Jaune's hand settled upon her shoulder.

"Don't worry. Trouble or not, I'm gonna be with you every step of the way." the blonde knight smiled, reassuring his girlfriend.

But as that happened, Doyle could only stare at the teens incredulously. "H-Hold on a sec… you mean to tell me that you kids have encountered ACTUAL gods like Thor and Hercules?" His eyes darted to Neptune in particular. "And freaking Poseidon? Are you kidding me?"

Walking up next to him, Zak placed a hand on his uncle's arm. "Trust me, Uncle Doyle, they're not kidding. And those aren't even the ONLY gods they've met."

"He's correct. By this point, we're ALL familiar with the Monkey King himself." Penny added cheerily as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "He's just not here right now because he's off training one of our friends. He's become a mentor to all of us, but especially him."

"…The Monkey King. Sun Wu Kong." Doyle uttered, placing his hand on his forehead as his sister walked up and touched his shoulder assumingly. "Damn, and here I thought the whole Kur thing was insane. This is just… hah, you kids are something else." His brows furrowed as he got back on track. "But we shouldn't waste any more time here. We've gotta find out where this "auction" is taking place. Anybody know any places where Undertown's seedy underbelly would gather up?"

Ilia was the one to come up with that answer. "Actually, we know quite a few places, though I think the one where we should scope out first is Psyphon's old hideout at the train station."

"A fair assessment." Winter agreed. "A large, spacious location like that would be perfect for someone to hold such an event… but Artemis DID say that the Ceryneian Hind would know where the unicorn is." She craned her head back to the hooved creature, who tilted his head back at her. "I say we should follow its lead, then once we arrive, we will make a plan."

"Sounds good to me." Drew smacked a fist into her open palm. "When I get my hands on the creep who stole that unicorn, I'm gonna give 'em a piece of my mind and even more afterward."

Kenny agreed wholeheartedly. "Sounds like a plan! Let's—"

"Woah, woah, hold on there, Kenny." Jaune interrupted. "We let you come with us this far, but we're gonna be diving straight into enemy territory." The blonde eyed the rest of the team, who all nodded in agreement at his silent message. "I think… it'd be best if you stick around in the Griffon for the time being."

While feeling bad seeing Kenny's face fall at the news, Ruby had to agree. "Yeah, I'm honestly right there with him. I'm glad that you want to help out, Kenny, but it's just not practical for you to be right in the thick of things." She gestured to the rest of her friends. "After all, we're armed and… you're not."

"W-Wha—C'mon… guys, isn't there anyway I could help?" the young redhead asked, only to receive unsure expressions. Kenny's eyes darted back and forth, wanting to hold on to any sliver of hope he could. "I-I mean, maybe I could help release the unicorn? Be all sneaky-like so that the bad guys don't notice!"

However, of all people, it was Winter who put the kibosh on that, placing a firm hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "Ken, darling, I appreciate your eagerness to help, but at this point, your training can only get you so far. If you were to be intercepted by this unicorn-stealing villain, or even a low-level alien thug, I don't know if it be—"

"DAN—DADA-DANGYAAAAHH!"

All of a sudden, a loud, reverberating and oddly rhythmic cry broke through the conversation, bringing everybody's heads upward. There, circling above them in a flying descent, was the Cross-Z Dragon, which stopped in midair directly in front of Jaune, Pyrrha, Kenny and Winter. Its green optics scanned across them, taking in their features before letting out another shrill roar. "GRRAAAOO—DA-DANGAH!"

"…Oh my god." Kenny muttered. "Are you kidding me?"

"Is… that what I think it is?" Jaune stared in disbelief.

Zak smiled cheekily as the metal dragon flew over their heads, stopping in front of Doyle for a bit to take in his appearance as well. "Hehe, your eyes don't deceive you, guys. This is part of the surprise that Cooper cooked up for this morning." He extended a hand, prompting the little dragon to land on it. "Meet the Cross-Z Dragon! My—eventual—new partner!"

"Uh, not happening, man." Neptune asserted. "That dragon's gonna be my buddy."

Blake gave an annoyed groan, slapping her hand over her face. "Ugh, not this again…"

Without missing a beat, Drew once more got between the two, and the boys were immediately scared into good behavior. "BOYS. What did I say earlier?"

"It's the dragon who chooses!" Zak and Neptune echoed. "We're sorry, we'll behave!"

"…Damn, that's impressive." Qrow commented with a smirk, glancing down to Ruby. "If she'd been around when you were kids, yer pop coulda taken notes from her to get you munchkins to behave."

"Ah, haha… yeah…" Ruby chuckled sheepishly.

As the Cross-Z Dragon made its way back around, though, an idea struck Kenny there and then. "Wait… this is perfect!" He pointed up to the tiny winged machine and explained his plan. "The Cross-Z Dragon can protect us as we sneak around to free the unicorn!"

Understandably, Winter was wary of the idea. "Kenny, I—" But she was cut off when she saw her boyfriend giving her the saddest look imaginable. And while it didn't make her concede immediately, it did make her feel bad enough to at least think over his idea. "…If you wish to do this, you MUST stick to the shadows as much as possible." A hopeful glimmer came to Kenny's eyes as Winter shifted her attention to Jaune and Pyrrha. "You two, I'll be counting on you to watch over him… along with you, little one." she nodded to the Cross-Z Dragon, which gave another shrill, rhythmic cry. "We will serve as distraction for this perpetrator and whatever other lowlifes we find there while the three of you abscond with the unicorn. Ruby, what do you think?"

"Sounds like a great plan to me!" Ruby gave a thumbs up. "We'll make sure that poacher is brought to justice! Right team?!" The whole group gave a collective cheer, supporting her declaration. "Good! Now, let's roll out!" …And just like that, everything fell into silence as the Hooded Huntress was met with awkward stares all around. "…Okay, yeah, wrong franchise, that's on me. Let's try that again… ahem… It's Hero Time!" The team were far more supportive of that, and on that note, they were off to crash the auction.

…..

Not long after, the team made it to their destination, and sure enough, the Ceryneian Hind led them all to the old, dilapidated train station. Since their battle with Psyphon several weeks ago, the place had been converted into a rather spacious amphitheater, mostly made of wood that was likely reused from the scrap that had been thrown around in that very battle. All the same, the shoddy workmanship didn't prevent alien criminals from all gathering at the place, many of them very eager to spend their Taydens and get what they wanted.

Little did they know, however, that they were being watched from above. High up on a nearby building, a majority of the Omni-Hunters and the Saturday family were observing the goings on down below, with Doyle manning a pair of binoculars to scope out the place. Winter was trying to take a headcount, but she couldn't quite keep track. "How many of these felons would you say we're dealing with?" she asked the former bounty hunter.

"Best guestimate? Probably at least five or six dozen." Doyle craned his head back, seeing the teens' astonished expressions. "Honestly, I was expecting more. You kids been keeping crooks off the streets?"

"Heh, well… we DO frequently patrol Undertown." Neptune stated proudly.

"Though I don't think I've seen many of these aliens around." Penny noted, using her enhanced sight to focus in on the aliens. "Some are familiar, but a lot of them are new."

Doyle brought the binoculars back up over his eyes. "Hm, yeah. Usually with events like these, you'll get con-artists coming from all around the galaxy to get their paws or feelers or whatever on some rare stuff.

Approaching his brother-in-law, Doc asked; "You familiar with any of these guys?"

"Oh, hell yeah. I recognize quite a few." Doyle pointed to a rather heavyset Tetramand with a buzzcut, one who wore a swamp green shirt and black pants with a grey belt across his wide waste. "That right there is Gorvan. He's a smuggler who relies mostly on his own cunning to get what he wants to make up for his lack of strength. …He IS still a Tetramand, though, so don't think he's a push over."

Blake scanned her sights across the crowd, taking in a few other criminals' appearances. Many of them were actually more species she had seen before from the Omnitrix, including a Piscciss Volan who wore a breathing apparatus. However, one of them stood out amongst the rest, and for good reason; they had tussled with him before. A muscular grey-skinned alien with long, white hair sat in the back row, donned in a black and red body suit and a silver helmet over the upper half of his face, with an energy axe weapon strapped to his back. "Wait… isn't that Sunder?" Blake pointed out.

"Huh?! Wait, how's that possible?" Zak said, seeing the hunter as well. "I thought the Plumbers carted him off after we rescued mom and dad from Fuzen."

Doyle winced at the sight of the alien. "Never underestimate Sunder the Retriever, guys. He's an expert in collecting rare artifacts AND escaping the law." His expression became rather grim. "And if he's here… then that means that this auction's the real deal. There may be more than just the unicorn in play here if it's attracting folks like him."

"…Along with some unfortunate deadbeats." Ilia frowned, thrusting a finger down below at a certain pair of OTHER grey-skinned aliens. They too stood out amongst the crowd, with their black muttonchops, bright orange overalls and matching hats. The bigger one was cleaning his ears out with his pinkie finger while his skinnier elder brother hocked a loogie onto the ground.

The Omni-Hunters all groaned in unison at the sight of the country bumpkins. "Guh! The Vreedle Brothers?!" Ruby facepalmed. "I should've guessed they'd be here…"

Doyle himself wasn't too pleased seeing Octagon and Rhomboid either. "Bah, so you know the Vreedles too, huh? Yeah, they're pretty annoying to get rid of…" He trailed off, however, when he noticed a certain alien amongst the crowd. An alien which seemed to command several of the others' respect as they moved out of his way. "…But I think we've got a bigger problem."

Seeing the alien Doyle was pointing out, the group were left collectively slack-jawed. He had to at least be seven and a half feet tall, standing head and shoulders over most of the other criminals. He appeared to be an alien whose body was made up mostly of energy, wearing a specialized suit over his electric blue form to keep the energy contained. He was very big at the shoulders, which were ground and bulbous, while his arms further down were actually kind of slender, especially at the hands, though they appeared more… creepy than dainty. His legs, however, were thick, donned in a pair of black boots and white, padded pants. His "face" consisted of coagulated blue energy that just so happened to have a pair of slitted white eyes and a mouth.

"Woah… who's the walkin' light bulb?" Qrow inquired.

"His name is Zzzakt." Doyle answered grumbly. "He's a Voltarian mercenary. Used to cross paths with him from time to time. Trust me, he is NOT an easy guy to deal with."

"Zzzakt, huh?" Zak smirked. "Don't suppose you told him about your nephew who's got a kinda similar name to him?"

Doyle gave an awkward wince. "A few times. Didn't seem too amused by it."

Zak grimaced as Zzzakt managed to intimidate a couple hapless thugs out of their seats, allowing him room to sit. "Duly noted." But then, he noticed the group of three purple, horned aliens that were sitting near him… and their coats seemed oddly familiar. "Hey uh, is it just me, or do those three behind him look a lot like Ester?"

"Huh?!" Ruby reached up and yanked the binoculars away from Doyle's eyes, much to his shock. "Lemme see!" She focused in on Zzzakt and slowly panned up, where indeed, there were three Kraaho sitting behind him. And the biggest of them was VERY familiar. "SEEBIK?!"

"What?!" Neptune leaped to the edge of the building, narrowing his eyes down at the gathering. "Oh, you've gotta be—we JUST saw him the other day! Cooper freaking SAVED him from Red Son's robots!"

Ilia glared down at the gathering of Kraaho, folding her arms over her chest in disapproval. "How much you wanna be that Ester doesn't know a thing about this?"

Penny nodded solemnly. "That probability is very high. He's probably as subservient to her as he leads her to believe." But then, her eyes lit up in excitement. "Ooh, is this what it feels like when you're about to taddle on someone? It feels thrilling!"

Blake couldn't help but smile in amusement at the android's enthusiasm. "Hehe, oh yeah. He is so busted." Her expression went back to being serious, though. "But we should still wait for Jaune, Pyrrha and Kenny to get into position before we even think of going down there. We don't want to set things off too early, after all. A nod of agreement circled around the group as they continued waiting and observing.

…..

Down below, meanwhile, the three aforementioned infiltrators were stealthily making their way into the train station itself, which was being used as the main building of operations for the auction. And there were many, MANY items that seemed up for grabs, many of which were so abstract that they couldn't make out what they were exactly. Granted, they DID recognize weapons when they saw them, and there were several. "Damn, how many guns do these people need?" Kenny whispered.

"When it comes to criminals, never enough, unfortunately." Pyrrha answered. The Invincible Girl shifted her eyes around the room from their current hiding place, waiting until it was all clear for them to keep sneaking forward.

…At least, they were trying to. Often times, her and Jaune's armor would accidentally bump into crates along the way. "Grr, how do Ren and Blake do stuff like this?" the blonde knight growled under his breath after just barely saving a crate from falling.

"Stay calm, Jaune." Pyrrha soothed as best she could. "We're getting closer, I can feel it…"

However, at that moment… "Welcome one and all to this year's Undertown Not-So-Legal Auction!"The announcement was followed by several cheers and a round of applause outside, which gave the trio pause. "We have quite the eclectic collection of trinkets and valuables for you this year, so please, don't be afraid to place your bids! Each of you is bound to walk away with something!"

"Oh man… it's already starting?" Kenny grimaced as the Cross-Z Dragon flew in next to them. "We need to find that unicorn soon."

"Yeah, we—woah…" At that moment, Jaune caught eye of something rather astonishing. Across the room, there were a group of auction officials all gathered around an open briefcase… which had a clear canister that contained a bright, glowing orb of energy in its center. "What… is that?" Jaune uttered.

Pyrrha's eyes widened when she saw it as well, and while she didn't have a clear answer, she did know one thing; "I can't be sure… but it must be significantly powerful." She saw the officials close the suitcase and take it with them, much to her chagrin. "…I don't think we can leave here without both that and the unicorn. If anybody were to get their hands on whatever that is, it'd surely bad news." She reached into her armor and pulled out her scroll, calling the others. "Team RB, do you copy?"

"Team RB here." Ruby whispered back. "What's your status, Team JP?"

"We just spotted something concerning that's about to be auctioned off. It seems to be a ball of pure white energy."

"A BALL of energy?" Blake questioned. "Like, just… floating energy?"

Jaune confirmed it. "Yeah, they're keeping it in a canister. It looked kinda like a—"

But right then and there, the voice from before cut him off. "Now, let's kick things off with the FIRST item of our auction. It's quite the potent trinket, to be sure, but certainly not the last you'll see here. Allow me to present to you… a DWARF STAR!"

…..

Just like that, several jaws dropped, both at the auction and on top of the building as the bright, shining orb was revealed. Its light may have dulled since it was a proper star, but it was no less intense, so no one dared look directly at it. The presenter, a black-robed and hooded figure, went into detail on what the dwarf star could do. Over their head, they wore a metal mask that had red slitted eyes and a wide smile, the grates over the mouth resembling metal teeth and lighting up red whenever they spoke; "Indeed, quite the marvel, isn't it?" they said in a distinct British accent. "As you know, a dwarf star is capable of supercharging anything it is installed into. It can turn any weapon into a superweapon, or an engine into a super engine!"

"Lots of "supers" being thrown around down there." Drew said as she unsheathed her Fire Sword. "Should we finally crash the party?"

However, Ruby held a hand up to her and the others. "Wait… first we need to get that star away from the presenter. If we go in gung-ho, we'll give them the chance to pack up and run." She brought her scroll back up and spoke to Pyrrha again. "How're you guys doing? Found the unicorn yet?"

"We have one room left." Pyrrha replied. "The unicorn MUST be in there."

Qrow walked up and placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder."Shortstack, I think it's now or never."

Pursing her lips, the Hooded Huntress agreed. "Yeah, you're right. Pyrrha, we're going ahead."

"Understood. Over and out."

With that, Ruby hung up her scroll and took out Crescent Rose. "Okay, here's the plan. Blake, you, Ilia and me will go down there first. We're gonna take down the guards and the auctioneer, retrieve the dwarf star, and then book it so the others can come in and start a big fight. That should give enough time for Pyrrha and the boys to free the unicorn."

"Sounds pretty straightforward." Blake said as Ilia nodded. "But we'll need someone fast to get the dwarf star away from them."

"Which is where Penny comes in." Ruby nudged her head toward her best friend. "Once we get the star, we pass it off to her so that she gets it as far away from here as possible."

Penny saluted dutifully. "Hm! Seems like a sound plan to me! I will do my best."

Ruby smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Okay, so we're all clear on the plan?" The group universally approved, leading the Silver-Eyed girl to clap her hands together. "Alright, let's do it!" Using her Semblance, Ruby sped into the air in a burst of petals, only to come back down to scoop up Blake and Ilia to take them with her.

As the others geared up to take action, though, Doyle smirked and looked to his nephew. "Heh, so… she's the one you were going on about in our last call, huh?"

"E-Er, well… I-I wouldn't say I went on about her…"

"Kiddo, I let you talk for about twenty minutes straight about her." Doyle asserted, much to Zak's chagrin… which earned him some sly glances from his family, Neptune, and even Qrow. "Just admit you have a crush and accept it."

By that point, Zak's cheeks were as red as a beet, and not just because of the embarrassment. "Is now REALLY the time to be talking about this?!"

Doc cleared his throat as he slipped his Power Glove over his hand, clenching his fist so that it began glowing its signature green color. "Zak's right. We can talk about his crush on Ruby later. Right now, it's go-time."

"Dad, you're NOT helping!"

Back down with the auction, the presenter thrust their hand to the dwarf star. "Now, the starting bid is at one thousand Taydens! Any takers?" They were about to get bombarded with a slew of bids right off the bat… if it weren't for a sudden storm of petals bursting in front of them, taking both them and their security off guard. "W-WHAT?!"

Through the blood red blizzard, Ruby, Blake and Ilia materialized, all of them glaring at the auctioneer. "Hi!" Ruby greeted, unsheathing Crescent Rose. "Mind if we crash the party?!" From there, she zoomed in and swung her scythe, hitting the blunt back end of the head into the auctioneer's chin and sending them careening backward. Blake and Ilia, meanwhile, rushed at the two guards and took them down very quickly, the cat girl using her Semblance to fool her target before reappearing behind him and kicking him in the back of the head. Ilia, taking a more direct approach, slashed her Lightning Lash across her target's body, riddling him with fine cuts and electrocuting him into unconsciousness.

Using Gambol Shroud's ribbon, Blake lassoed the dwarf star's cannister, calling out; "Penny! NOW!" before slinging it up into the air, where the redheaded android swooped in and collected the package.

"Got it! Proceeding to the meet-up point!" And with that, Penny let off a concussive burst of energy from her jetpack, propelling herself away so fast that none of the lowlifes there could even hope to catch up to her.

"NO!" Sunder clenched his teeth in ire. "The dwarf star!" He scowled in contempt at the group, recognizing the lot of them. "You! The children who aided that Yamamoto girl in my capture! Do you KNOW how long it took for me to escape the Plumber's custody?!"

Ruby and the girls spun around as Sunder and the rest of the audience stood to their feet. "Considering we didn't know about it until now, my guess is quite a while." the Hooded Huntress quipped before shifting her sights to Seebik with a glare. "And Seebik! Does Ester know that you're here?!"

Instead of being worried, though, Seebik instead wore a confident grin. "I certainly hope not… and she will not get the chance to find out. Warriors! To arms!" On his command, the two Kraaho with him pulled out their own blasters as he took an energy sword off of his hip, its shape resembling that of a scimitar.

"Oh, she will." Blake assured. "And you're gonna be in so much trouble after we beat all of you down."

"Uh, not to be correctin' ya er nothin', Miss Cat Lady…" Octagon Vreedle said as he and Boid kept their own blasters aimed at the three. "But iffin' ya done the mathematics, then you'd realize that we are vastly superior in numbers compared to the likes of you."

Boid found that funny, apparently. "Hehe, yeah, do some additive-ition, girlies! Look at them adjectives!"

The three girls all grimaced at the Vreedles' failed attempt at witty banter, but thankfully, they didn't have to wait long for the numbers game to even up. "Oh, don't worry." Ruby smirked. "We're about to do some "addition" of our own." On that note, the wooden bleachers were broken through by a powerful blast courtesy of Doc's Powerglove, revealing him, Drew, Zak, Doyle, Neptune and Qrow. The felons were now completely surrounded.

"Alright, listen up, criminal scum!" Drew exclaimed as she unsheathed her Fire Sword, pointing the blade as it ignited. "We can do things the easy way or the hard way." There was a momentary pause before nearly every single criminal there took out their blasters and all aimed at them, causing Drew to deadpan. "…Alright, your funeral."

Within seconds, the fire fight began, with lasers flying all over the amphitheater-turned-battleground. But even so, the Omni-Hunters and the Saturdays were on top of things, bashing, slashing and shooting their way through the crowd of ne'er-do-wells. The less impressive mooks and thugs were quickly disposed of, though the likes of the Vreedles and the Kraaho were less easy to deal with. The former duo were relentless with the amount of firepower they were packing, forcing Neptune, Ruby and Qrow to scatter out of the way and hide behind a bunch of debris.

"Gah! Holy crap!" Neptune exclaimed. "I don't think they had this much artillery at Ben's house!" He looked to the uncle and niece duo for answers. "What do we do here?"

Ruby hummed in contemplation for a second as blasts kept sailing over their heads, only to snap her fingers as an idea entered her mind. "I got it! Uncle Qrow, I need you to get close to the Vreedles."

Qrow raised a brow to his niece. "Okay, and?"

She sent him a knowing wink. "Just wait for what happens next."

"…Ah, I get ya." Qrow sighed as he went to stand up. "Just so you know, though, I'm not thrilled that I'm just being used for my Semblance here."

"Don't worry! It'll be hilarious and you'll get to beat them up!"

The unlucky Huntsman had to admit, Ruby did have a point. "Heh… okay, well, let's do it then." On that note, Qrow took to his crow form and flew straight in toward the Vreedles, darting around their laserfire before closing the gap with a flurry of pecks and wing attacks to their heads.

"Agh! GAH! Consarnit, get away ya blasted varmint!" Boid shouted, moving to aim his laser cannon at the little annoyance… only to then trip up as his boots came untied. "AUGH! O-Octagon! Watch out!"

But unfortunately for Octagon, he too became the target of bad luck, as his overalls came undone and fell down around his ankles. With white and red heart boxers exposed, the smuggler was left with no other option than to use his gun to cover his lower half. "HOLY! What in the Sam hell is goin' on—AH!" And just like that, Boid toppled over on top of him, leaving both in a massive heap. "ACK! Fer pity's sake, Boid, watch what yer doin'!"

"I-It ain't my fault, Octagon! I actually REMEMBERED to tie my shoes this mornin'!"

Without missing a beat, Qrow changed back to normal and landed on top of the duo, shouldering Harbinger with a superior grin. "Hehe, ya know, most of the time, I can't stand my Semblance… but it's moments like this that make it worth it. Kids!" At his call, Ruby and Neptune rushed in and used their weapons to slice apart the Vreedles' blasters with vigor, much to their dismay.

"N-Now wait just a second!" Octagon said in a panic. "Don't dice those up willy-nilly! Ya'll could—" *CHINK* But it was too late. Neptune stabbed Tri-Hard into Boid's cannon… and it began to glow red hot as the energy within the core began to overload. "…Uh oh."

"…Uh, I don't think that's supposed to happen." Neptune winced.

"SCATTER!" Ruby ordered.

Qrow was about to follow… but then remembered the Vreedles. "Wait, what about—"

"No time!" Ruby insisted. "They'll be fine, let's go!" At her order, the boys ultimately followed…

…While the Vreedle Brothers were left behind. "D'aw… fiddlesticks." Octagon uttered before they were both blown up, leaving nothing behind but a blackened scorch mark on the ground.

It was a sight that left Qrow utterly slack-jawed, his eyes moving to his niece in complete disbelief. "Ruby… h-how could you just—"

"Uncle Qrow, the Vreedles aren't dead… technically." Ruby explained. "Since they constantly get blown up, they're continually getting themselves cloned, too. They'll be back… eventually."

Qrow's lips tightened and he narrowed his eyes at Ruby, unsure of how to feel in the moment. Ultimately, though, he knew that there were more important things at state. "Young lady, you might've gotten away with this now, but don't think you can pull a stunt like that with anyone else BUT the Vreedles."

Ruby waved her hands frantically, while Neptune stifed a laugh next to her. "I-I don't! I swear!"

Across the way, Blake and Ilia were making their way through the crowd of bad guys one after another, taking many of them down with ease… until a fairly sizeable roadblock decided to slam down in front of them. They recognized him as the Tetramand that Doyle identified as "Gorvan", who was smirking down at them with a superior flair. "Hehe, well girls, just how do you plan on taking me down?" he reached behind his back, pulling out two rifles for each pair of arms, and fired upon the Faunus duo instantly, causing them to break away from each other.

"Ah! Ilia, slice and dice!" Blake called out.

"Already on it!" Ilia responded, deftly dodging all of Gorvan's blasts as she brought her Lightning Lash out to do some damage. She rushed the Tetramand smuggler and went straight in to carving up his guns into itty-bitty pieces, taking him aback.

"W-Wha—AH!" Before he could react, Blake came in and slung Gambol Shroud around one of his wrists, pulling herself in to deliver a kick straight to the head. "ACH! Why you little—" *ZZZZZKKKTT* "AAAAAAUUUUGGHHH!" As it turned out, the kick was just powerful enough to send Gorvan stumbling forward… directly into Ilia's Lightning Lash, which she put into taser mode.

The chameleon girl stepped out of the way and let the stunned Tetramand fall to the floor, before sharing a high-five with Blake. "Hah, nice work."

Blake nodded back. "You too, but we're not done yet. Let's keep going!"

…..

Closer to the train station building, the Saturday Family were currently locked in combat with the Kraaho, with Doc handling Seebik while Drew and Zak went for his followers. The whole time, though, the three Kraaho had managed to stay on top of them with their unique combat skills, stretching themselves around the trio to keep themselves from being overwhelmed by their weapons. Doyle, meanwhile, was engaging with the head honcho themselves, the masked figure having stood back up once the fight began.

"Hmhmhm, oh my, how I've missed this old dance of ours, Blackwell." The figure said as they countered a punch from the mohawked man and threw him over their shoulder. "NOT!"

Doyle landed with a hard THUD, all while reeling at what the figure said. "O-Old dance, what're you—WOAH!" He moved out of the way just in time, avoiding a glowing energy sword that stabbed into the ground right where his head was just a second ago.

The masked figure sighed and shook their head, shouldering their energy blade. "We just can't seem to get away from one another, can we? All these years later and it never changes." They brought a hand close to their chest. "Often times, I wish you had seen it my way… but you chose so poorly when you learned the truth about me."

The figure's words gave Doyle pause. "W-What're you—" *SHWING* "AH!" Taking advantage of his hesitation, the masked person swung their sword back around, nearly gutting him there and there. It was only thanks to his jetpack that Doyle was able to get away. "Listen, I have no idea what you're talking about, but all I know is that you're going do—" *ZZZZAAAP* "AAAAUUGH!" From behind, Doyle was struck with a powerful bolt of energy, causing his jetpack to explode and sending him careening straight back down at the figure's feet.

"NO!" Zak exclaimed, having seen the act and quickly wriggling free of the Kraaho's grip. He swung his Claw right into the warrior's face, staggering him back before sprinting straight for his uncle. "Uncle Doyle! Hang on! AAH!" But he didn't get the chance to get close as another bolt struck the ground in front of him… leading him to meet the blank, white eyes of their attacker.

"I suggest you stand back, child." Striding forward, Zzzakt approached Doyle with a baneful glare, one that could make even the strongest man feel their stomach drop. He spoke with a somewhat distorted voice as well. "Blackwell… how fortuitous that you crashed the festivities. We do have unfinished business, after all."

Between coughs and sputters, Doyle ditched his burning jetpack and stood back to his feet, all while his two adversaries approached him. "Heh… Zzzakt, hey… been a while. You're not still pissed about the whole Warp Drive Incident, are ya—WOAH!" Doyle just barely managed to dodge another blast from Zzzakt, the Voltarian still glowering hatefully.

"…Take a guess."

Despite the mercenary's warning, Zak chose to ignore it. "Uncle Doyle! Hold—HAH!" A gasp escaped his throat as the hooded figure leapt in his way, the red eyes of their mask piercing through him.

…But even so, they spoke with an oddly soothing tone. "Zak, I suggest you stay out of this."

"H-How… How do you know my name?"

The figure didn't answer that, instead craning their head up to Drew and Doc still holding off Seebik and the Kraaho. Though they could tell that the couple's attention was divided between them and their son being confronted. "…I should have guessed that you and your family would've picked up the scent. I took a risk absconding with the unicorn, I know…" They craned their head back down to Zak, who by this point was staring at them mouth agape. "But even so, dear, it's just as I said all those years ago…" They reached up to their mask and pulled it off, revealing their true voice. "…It's nothing personal. It's just money."

All at once, everything connected in Zak's mind the very second that he heard that voice, and even more so when he saw their… or rather, her face. She was a very beautiful woman in her mid-thirties, her long, black tousled hair reaching down to the small of her back as she pulled down her hood. Her bright green eyes bored into his own, a mixture of sympathy and hardened emotion behind her gaze.

Zak tried to glare back at her, but could only manage an uncertain stare. After all, he had once respected this woman, so he found it hard to regard her with contempt. "…Abbey."

Hearing that name, Doyle's head snapped away from Zzzakt in astonishment. "…Abbey?"

"ABBEY?!" Both Doc and Drew hollered in anger the moment they saw her. Doc thrust his fist into the air and sent out an energy pulse that sent Seebik flying back, while Drew's teeth clenched and she blasted the remaining two Kraaho warriors with her Fire Sword so she could break off from the fight.

"Why you little—" *CLASH* "I should've known!" The two women clashed their swords against one another in a fast-paced duel, one which the white-haired woman was clearly using to push Abbey away from Zak. "You stay away from my son, you lying TRAMP!"

"Oh, Drew…" Abbey ducked and went to trip Drew up, though the Saturday matriarch salvaged her stumble by vaulting off her hand and back to her feet. "Hah, I do wish it didn't have to be like this. It would've made the betrayal so much easier if you understood."

"Understood what? That you're a backstabbing bitch who broke my brother's heart AND stomped the trust we had in you into the dirt?!" Drew charged in, continuing their duel. "You dishonor Van Rook's memory continuing down this path!"

The dark-haired woman's sympathy ran out at that point with a roll of the eyes. "Tch, I give Van Rook credit for many things, but as a mercenary, he often let his emotions dictate his actions. I have no such weakness."

As the Blackwell siblings kept fighting their respective opponents, Doc regrouped with Zak, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. "Zak, are you okay?! Did she hurt you?"

"N-No…" Zak shook his head, his expression softening. "…But this just got a whole lot harder to swallow."

"Son, I realize it's difficult to accept, even after all these years." Doc's features hardened. "But we know Abbey can't be—"

"GUYS!" The man's words were cut off when Ruby, who wore a bright smile, came zipping in with a flurry of petals behind her. "Good news! I—woah." Her attention was immediately drawn to the sword fight between Drew and Abbey, briefly glancing toward Doyle's own tussle with Zzzakt. "…Did I miss something big? I missed something big, didn't I?"

Zak sighed and gave her a nod. "Hah, yeah… see that woman over there, fighting my mom? Her name's Abbey Grey. She used to be an ally of ours… until she betrayed us some years back." He saw Ruby lean in, clearly intrigued. "She used to be my babysitter… and she's Uncle Doyle's ex-girlfriend. Now, she's a mercenary, and the one responsible for poaching the unicorn."

Ruby stared at the woman for a few seconds as she took the information in. "…Yep, I ALWAYS miss the juicy drama." Zak and Doc nearly fell over at her response, but the Hooded Huntress got back on track. "Well, in much BETTER news, I just got a call from Pyrrha! She's getting the unicorn out as we speak!"

The Saturday men both winced at that. "D-Don't say that out loud—"

"WHAT?!" Abbey screamed.

It was at that moment Ruby knew… she messed up. "…Oops."

"GYAH! Get out of my way!" Abbey pushed Drew away with her sword and dashed straight to the makeshift auction house, intent on preserving the goods within… until…

*BWEEEEEEMM*

All at once, a bright, colorful beam of energy came blasting out from the building, slicing through the walls like a freshly sharpened knife through paper. No one dared go near the laser for fear of being cut as well, but once it was gone, the group could hear the distinct sound of hooves beating upon the ground… and through the dust and rubble from the new hole in the wall, leapt a majestic and beautiful animal. Its fur was as pure white as snow, but its mane flowed with bright, pastel colors down its neck. It certainly resembled a horse, but it was much lither, especially in the legs and midsection. Even its tail was different compared to most equines, being very whip-like aside from the curled tuft of multi-colored hair at the tip. Its eyes were big, bright and blue, and at the center of its forehead, a long horn protruded, shaped like a spiral all the way to the tip. Its entire being seemed to glow with magical energy as well.

Ruby, the Saturdays, and the Omni-Hunters were all stunned into silence, the brawl stopping all together as everyone simply stared at the ethereal animal. "…Oh my god." Ruby uttered, on the verge of tears as she looked upon it. "…It's beautiful!"

"Yeah… and wait, is Pyrrha RIDING it?!" Neptune exclaimed.

Sure enough, upon second glance, Pyrrha Nikos was indeed on the unicorn's back, armed with Milo and Akouo on each side. The Invincible Girl locked eyes with Abbey Grey and gestured to her with her javelin, wearing a very intimidating glare. "Ma'am… in the name of the goddess, Artemis, I—Pyrrha Nikos—am repossessing this unicorn and bringing it back to its natural habitat." She leaned her head forward and asked; "Got a problem with that?"

…..

A/N: And thus, with that amazing image of Pyrrha riding in on a unicorn, I'd say this is a good point to leave this chapter off. One more labor checked off the list, though of course, we're FAR from done. We've still gotta fend off the main villainess and deal with Zzzakt (who, yes, IS an actual Ben 10 character. Fun fact; he was once a beta design for Upchuck before he was finalized, but he was repurposed in Omniverse! Thought I'd expand a little bit on him here).

But on the topic of that villainess… more Secret Saturdays characters return! Last chapter it was Baron Finster, this time, it's Abbey Grey. Gotta say, going back to watch the show after so long really helped unlock a lot of memories because I legit forgot about Abbey. Not sure how, though, especially since her character has a LOT of potential. Definitely wanted to showcase her here, and having her capture a unicorn felt like the best way to get her and the Saturdays to cross paths again. …But what about that dwarf star? Hmm…

Of course, while the auction was the MAJOR focus of this chapter, we can't ignore the origins of Yuma becoming Night Rogue and getting to showcase his abilities! He's definitely packing quite the punch, enough to actually HURT Cooper in Rider form. Thankfully, Cooper's still got a good number of tricks up his sleeve… which has now taken the form of a vacuum cleaner. …Listen, Best Matches get harder to justify the more you look at 'em, okay? Honestly, I just think they're all cool in their own way. Also, hi Charmcaster! Glad you could join the party!

Speaking of party; NEXT TIME! We see our heroes continue the fight on all sides as this mini-arc concludes. But we'll also be seeing a brief look at how Ben and the others are doing on X'Nelli! Should be neat. Until then, thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! And of course, as always, stay safe out there!