A/N: Morning, everybody! Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY Month, and today, it's another shorter chapter, this time so we can set up bigger things to come for the rest of the month.

Before we get started though, I wanted to give a quick shoutout to an old friend of the story's; Paleodemon! The same author who kindly commissioned the artwork for Ben 10 RWBY Volumes 1 and 2. He's recently started a new story called "Riders of Teyvat", a crossover between Genshin Impact and Darksiders. Now, I'm personally not too familiar in either franchise, but if anyone in my audience IS familiar, then may I kindly suggest you check it out. It'd mean a lot to me and Paleodemon, so once again, shout out goes to him!

Okay, so now, our concern today is getting TO our titular destination, so let's not delay any longer! This is…

Chapter 102: When in Rome

…..

Things at the Tennyson household were incredibly tense, needless to say. After getting a worrying call from Max telling them to meet him and the others at Ben's house, Natalie and Frank wasted little time. Once Team JNPR got back home, they grabbed Rema and booked it straight to Sandra and Carl's place. Apparently… something BIG had happened, and it was concerning enough that they ALL needed to be there as a family. Thankfully, no one had died, much to Natalie's relief. When she had first heard what Max said her thoughts immediately raced to her having sent her son to his death. But thankfully, that wasn't the case, though Max didn't elaborate any further on what this was about.

But even so, when they got there… things were already quite on edge. "I can't believe this, I just CAN'T believe this!" Carl had been uncharacteristically fuming for a while now, having lost his cool due to something that neither Frank nor Natalie could believe either. "I can't even BEGIN to fathom the amount of balls your son has, Frank, to TAKE that Plumber Rifle right out from under my wife's nose! I thought he knew better than that!

"H-He should, Carl!" Frank asserted, raising his hands defensively. "Believe me, we raised him better than this, but don't go pointing accusing fingers at me! If I knew he'd do this, I would've stopped him!"

Natalie couldn't help but lower her head shamefully. "Carl, please, don't yell at your brother." She rubbed her arm, trying to comfort herself in through the situation. "Besides, it's my fault for not fully paying attention. I was so absorbed in my yoga session that I only half-heard his question… gah, I feel SO stupid!"

Carl rounded about and reached out to his wife's shoulders, offering his own comfort. "Sandra, sweetheart, don't blame yourself for this. This is Kenny's responsibility to bear, not yours. But then again…" He peered over his shoulder, shooting an accusatory eye at Natalie. "Neither you, me, or Frank are the ones who sent a powerless kid out into battle in the first place."

"I… I-I… you're right." Natalie sighed relentingly. "I DID send Kenny out to fight with the others. If I knew that THIS would be his next move, I would've thought twice, but…"

"But WHAT, Nat?" Carl raised his voice again. "You trusted some tiny metal dragon to watch over him? Do you know how absurd that sounds?!"

"Hey!" Frank came to the defense of his wife without a second thought. "Yell at me all you want, Carl, but if you raise your voice to my wife again, we ARE going to have problems."

The younger Tennyson sibling narrowed his eyes at his older brother. "Frank, come on, you can't seriously be defending her choice right now."

"I'm not… trust me, I also think it was a poor decision." Frank gave his wife a sympathetic glance, to which she nodded in understanding. "But I think that we can ALL agree that this is something that we should punish Kenny over, not one another." He furrowed his brows at Carl seriously. "Believe me, he WILL be reprimanded for—"

*knock-knock-knock*

Just then, everything stopped as the parents' attention was drawn to the front door, which Sandra hastily went over to answer. "I'll get it." She turned the knob and swung it open, revealing Max, Raven, Ben, Gwen, and Team RWBY all on the other side. "Hah! Oh, thank goodness, you're all here." She ran out and immediately embraced her son. "You're all doing okay, right? Nothing hurt, hm?"

Ben recoiled a bit, not expecting the sudden contact. "Woah, woah, mom, we're fine, really!" He raised a brow to his grandfather. "Grandpa, what did you tell them over the phone?"

"Hm, nothing too drastic." Max replied, sending a questioning brow of his own to his children and daughters-in-law. "What'd you all think I meant?"

"Well, dad, it sounded urgent, so sorry for us assuming the worst." Carl said with a deadpan bite to his voice. "Now, where's Kenny? And do you have the rifle he took?"

Clearing his throat, Max decided that it probably was time to address that. "Ah, yes… Ken, time to face the music."

As the group cleared a path for him, a rather sheepish and scared Ken Tennyson came walking forward with the green Plumber rifle in hand, with Cooper and Winter walking with him all the way. He didn't meet his uncle's nor his father's eyes, but he could just tell that both were glaring at him with disappointment. "…H-Hey, Uncle Carl. …Hi, dad."

"…Take the gun, I'll handle this." Following his brother's word, Carl yanked the rifle out of Kenny's hands and Frank took it from there. "Kenneth James Tennyson, I am surprised at you. Your mother giving you permission to go to Plumber base is one thing, but I'm pretty sure that NO ONE said that you could take part in the battle itself, let alone TAKE your uncle's space rifle!" He thrust his arm toward Sandra. "Do you have ANY idea how you made your aunt feel when she realized what you asked of her?! How you made all of US feel?! We were scared for your life, son!"

Swallowing hard, Kenny nodded his head. "I… I know. Believe me, after what happened, I realize how stupid of a decision that was."

Frank was confused by his wording. "Okay, what happened exactly?"

"What he means, sir…" Winter began, stepping forward with a serious countenance. "…is that Gwendolyn and I have already viciously reprimanded him for his actions. Both her and I realize that this does not make up for what he's done, and you are free to punish him however you wish. But before that…" Her gaze went over to the redheaded mother. "Natalie, is there anything you want to say to him?"

"…I do." Her voice resolute, Natalie came forward and met her son's gaze, his expression apprehensive as she did. "Kenny, I gave you permission to go to Plumber HQ, not to take part in the battle. What you did was incredibly foolhardy and I would NOT approve of such a thing again… unless you've found what you were searching for during that battle." Natalie's features softened as Frank, Carl and Sandra all eyed to one another in confusion. "That little dragon… it helped you in the end, didn't it?"

A nervous yet hopeful smile worked its way onto Kenny as the Cross-Z Dragon flew in over his shoulder. He reached behind his back and pulled out his Build Driver—which he had exchanged with Cooper's earlier—and set it across his waist, much to the adults' astonishment. "…I think I can confidently say "yes" to that." Kenny answered before looking at the little mecha dragon. "You ready?"

The dragon gave a rhythmic roar before folding its neck and tail up, followed by Kenny bringing out the Dragon Fullbottle. He gave it a shake and inserted it into the dragon's back chamber, before then slotting the dragon itself into the Driver.

Wake Up!

CROSS-Z DRAGON!

"You might wanna step back for this." Kenny advised, prompting everyone to back away as he cranked the Build Driver. The Snap Ride Builder appeared at his feet and expanded out, creating his suit and leaving the parents stunned.

Are You Ready?!

"Henshin." Kenny said calmly without striking any pose, simply allowing the suit to snap over his body and take solid form.

Wake Up Burning! GET CROSS-Z DRAGON!

YEAH!

And just like that, Kamen Rider Cross-Z was standing before them all, a small burst of energy pulsating off his body in the process. Needless to say, his mother, father, aunt and uncle were all completely slack-jawed and wide-eyed, while the Omni-Hunters, Winter, Cooper and Max all smiled in approval. Once things had settled, though, Kenny raised his arms and asked; "So… what d'ya think?"

"What do we think?!" Frank exclaimed. "Ken, what in the world IS this?"

Cooper decided to answer that question himself. "This, good sir…" He reached up and clasped Kenny's shoulder pad, giving him a reassuring shake. "Is my new partner. Kamen Rider Cross-Z."

With a deep sigh, Natalie smiled sadly at the sight. "…I knew it. I had a feeling that this would happen, but… I guess a part of me just wasn't ready to accept it." She reached up and placed a hand over her chest. "But even, then, I knew… I knew that this was bound to happen eventually." She glanced to her daughter and nephew with a nod. "You kids… in some way, you've all followed in your grandfather's footsteps. It's a bit strange how it skipped a generation, but I suppose it's only fitting that you all become heroes in your own right."

"H-Hold on just a second, Natalie…" Frank protested, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. "What's gotten into you? Weren't you the one who was hoping our kids would take after your side of the family before?"

"That was then, Frank… this is now." Natalie stressed, though the strain in her voice indicated she wasn't completely happy about it either. "I realize now that trying to keep our children away from this life was a mistake. I should've been more accepting of it from the start, really."

Frank furrowed his brow, clearly perplexed. "Then… what changed?"

"…The day a god showed up on our doorstep, it woke me up." Natalie admitted. "I knew from then on that our lives would never be normal, no matter how much I try to make it so." She went over to her son, placing a hand on his arm. "And that's why I told Kenny that it was alright to go to the battle, even if I didn't think he'd go to such drastic lengths to be a part of it. Because I had a feeling that this would be the result."

Sandra pursed her lips, knowing what her sister-in-law said was true. "She has a point. Our children take more after their grandfather than any of us, honestly."

Carl couldn't help but smirk toward his son knowingly. "Hah, ain't that the truth?" However, his countenance grew serious once again. "Still, that's no excuse for doing what you did, Ken."

Lowering his head, Cross-Z rubbed his neck guiltily. "Yeah… I know. And I'm sorry, Uncle Carl, I really am. Anything I can do to make up for it, you can guarantee I'll do."

The Tennyson brothers looked to one another, as if silently agreeing on something before telling Kenny. "Alright, well… considering you're going to be entering a new profession, you'll have to quit your old job." Frank concluded, which startled the Rider a bit. "So, until you transition to being a deputized Plumber… how long could that take, dad?"

"A few days to a week, depending on how quick the paperwork can get done." Max answered.

"Good enough." Carl accepted.

"Yes, agreed." Frank echoed before pointing at his son. "You'll be doing chores at BOTH houses until then. Is that clear? Oh, and NO Rider powers… whatever those might be."

With a dutiful salute, Kenny accepted his fate. "Y-Yes, sirs! I'll be sure to not shirk on my duties!"

Carl pointed a stern finger at him. "You'd better not. Now…" He passed the Plumber Rifle back into Kenny's arms. "Go put this right back where you found it. Understood?"

"O-Of course!" Scurrying to the mantle in the living room, Kamen Rider Cross-Z swiftly hung the weapon back up above the fireplace.

Yang let out a sigh, placing a hand on her hip with a relieved smile. "Well, that went a lot better than expected."

Ruby nodded as she sat down on the sofa. "Yeah… and here I thought they'd ground Kenny for life or something."

"Oh, we wouldn't have done that even if we wanted to." Sandra assured. "We all took a promise to not ground our children past the age of eighteen, even if they still lived with us." Her eyes drifted toward Ben and Gwen, as if giving them a silent warning. "So you two had better keep that in mind for the last month or so you have until your birthdays."

The two cousins straightened up and echoed; "Yes, ma'am."

Carl jerked his thumb over to Kenny as he came back. "So, I'm guessing that THIS was the big news that you had us all scrambling over, huh?"

Everyone else all shared a knowing smile, which put the parents on edge once again. "No, no, that's actually only PART of the big news." Weiss wagged her finger slyly. "The REAL heavy hit is yet to come."

"And trust me, you guys are probably gonna flip out." Blake added… before she was tackled by Rema and put on the receiving end of an endless licking. "Ah! O-Oh, hello sweetie! Y-Yes, mommy's home! EEP!"

Natalie folded her arms, apprehensively thinking of what it might be. "Well, don't keep us in suspense. What exactly is going on here?"

Just then, though… Frank furrowed his brow, an odd yet familiar feeling coming over him. "…Wait." His eyes drifted through the room, his suspicions raised as everyone focused on him. "This feels oddly set up, don't you think? We're all here, as a family, and there's something "big" happening…" After coming to his conclusion, his head whipped around to peer over his shoulder. "Care to enlighten us… mom?"

To everyone's surprise, a pink flash erupted throughout the living room, signaling Verdona's arrival. Carl, Sandra and Natalie were left gawking at her while Frank looked down at his mother with an amused smile, which she returned. "Ah, there it is again. Always knowing when I'm watching, aren't you, Franklin dear?"

"Hmhm, I've got a lot of experience. You know how sharp I had to be to avoid getting into trouble?"

"And yet here you are disciplining your own son." Verdona placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side.

Frank could only give a shrug. "Ah, do as I say, not as I do."

Carl, however, couldn't believe his eyes. "M-Mom!"

"Verdona!" Sandra gasped. "Y-You're here!"

…Natalie was, predictably, much less enthused however. "Oh… joy."

The Anodite beamed over to her second son and extended her hand toward him. "Hello, sweet pea. It's been quite a while, hasn't it?"

"Hah, to say the least!" Moving toward his mother and brother, Carl could barely keep his emotions in check, especially when his father moved to join them as well. "God, it's been… what, close to eighteen years since we've all been together?"

Max nudged his chin over to Ben and Gwen, who were staring at the scene with delight. "Yep, since those two were born. Of course, she's had the occasional visit… though the stars haven't aligned all that well until now."

"Indeed. The holidays on Anodyne are a bit humdrum this go around." Verdona explained with a bored expression, though it was quickly replaced with an eager smile. "But here on Earth? Ooh, I can already tell that the party's just getting started. And I'm gonna be sticking around for all of it." She brought her hands up to her sons. "Now come here, boys, family hug time!" Frank, Carl and Max didn't argue in the slightest, the group expressing their happiness with laughs and embraces.

Meanwhile, Sandra and Natalie watched from off to the side, the former leaning to the redhead. "So… I'm guessing that you're not too happy about this, hm?"

It was true, Natalie wasn't exactly thrilled about her mother-in-law's presence… but she wasn't about to gripe on it. Not when her husband and the rest of her family were having such a happy moment. "It… it's fine." Natalie breathed out. "The boys are happy, the children are happy, Max is happy. I'm not about to bog all that down."

"Well, that's good… because you know she's staying at your place, right?" The face that Sandra got from Natalie could only be described as "silent sour frustration". "Okay, listen, it only makes sense, right? Because she's GOING to want to train with Gwen, and you know it."

"She's right, dear." The two women's attention was brought back to the "old woman", who approached them after the Tennyson group hug had ended. "And not only that, but now young Kenny has awakened to his spark, too, meaning that he'll need MUCH more training as well."

Natalie's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull at that information. "…I'm sorry, what?"

Clearing his throat, Kenny grabbed the Dragon Fullbottle from his Driver, consequently transforming himself out of his Rider form. "Ahem, uh, yeah… I kinda discovered a neat trick before I transformed for the first time…" He shook the bottle as fast as he could, and around his hand, blue lightning began to crackle until it exploded and took form as a big, blue draconic energy claw. Frank and Natalie went slack-jawed while Sandra and Carl blinked in astonishment, all taking a second to comprehend what they were seeing. "Heh… pretty cool, right? I guess I'm a late bloomer to the whole "Anodite" thing."

Having to take a deep breath, Natalie had to center herself, knowing full well that this was always a possibility. 'Just calm down, you already gave the big speech, it's time to move past it.' She put on a strained smile and gave a shaky nod. "Th-That's… great, honey. Seems that you have more of that "hero gene" in you than even I realized."

"You aren't wrong there, Natalie." Winter spoke up, making her way over to Kenny to take him by the shoulders. "In fact, it was thanks to his Anodite powers awakening that he saved my life, and for that, I owe him a lot."

"Ha! No fooling?" Frank asked, beaming with pride toward his son. "Ken, I gotta say… you might've not made the best decision by taking your uncle's weapon, but in terms of this… I'm quite proud of you, son."

"So am I." Natalie supported. "And that's the truth."

"Aw, thanks mom, dad." Kenny put the bottle away, dissipating the energy claw so that he could reach up and take Winter by the hand. "Gotta say, though… fear of losing her was a pretty powerful motivator."

Winter's smile grew as she leaned toward him. "Oh, stop." She pecked him on the lips before Kenny made it a full-on kiss, which Natalie nearly screamed at. …Though the little noise that she made before clasping her hand over her mouth was enough to get everyone's attention. "…I had a feeling that's how you'd react."

Natalie bowed her head bashfully. "S-Sorry. I'm just… so ecstatic for the two of you."

"Like father like son, as they say." Verdona noted, giving Natalie a knowing look. "I see a lot of the same attributes in Winter that Frank admires in you, dear. Quite interesting, don't you think?" The redheaded woman merely coughed in her hand, pretending to pay Verdona no mind. But even so, that didn't deter the Anodite. "I must say, I was surprised to hear that you were the one who allowed Kenny to go in the first place. Of course, I don't approve of him taking the rifle either, but still… you saw the potential in him to be something greater."

"Well… what else was I supposed to do?" Natalie shrugged. "I've long accepted that our family's sense of "normal" was out the window, so… I decided that maybe it's time I loosen up a bit. Besides, I'd rather not become an uptight old lady that gets called a "Karen" online."

Confused, Verdona tilted her head. "I… I'm sorry, what?"

"Ah, right, you haven't used Earth internet in a hot minute." Ben spoke up with a smirk as he pulled out his phone. "Grandma, wanna see some memes and get caught up?"

Gwen let out a noise that could only be described as "aghast disgust". "Augh! Ben, don't! I swear, if you give our grandmother brainrot from memes, I WILL make you suffer for it."

Yang, however, was amused by the idea. "Ah, c'mon, it won't be THAT bad, Gwen! Besides, she's young at heart, I'm sure she can take it."

"I will NOT be hearing my grandma use internet vocabulary!" the young Anodite insisted, giving an irritated groan as she rubbed her temples. "Besides, don't you guys have to start packing? Your trip to Rome is in two days, you've gotta be ready for that."

"W-Woah, hold on, Rome?!" Carl asked, him and the other parents similarly bewildered. "What's this about Rome? You all just got back from your vacation in space, didn't you?"

Weiss cleared her throat, intent on explaining. "Ahem, right, about that… you guys remember a couple weeks back when we went out to France to investigate something with the Saturdays? Well, this is a bit of a follow-up to that."

"Exactly, and we won't be going to Rome primarily for fun either." Raven assured. "The mission comes first. We've gotten a lead on a potentially powerful energy source that we cannot allow Salem to find out about."

Sandra raised a brow. "And that would be?"

Blake stretched her fingers to make it appear as if she were holding something. "They're these medals that are about the size of a silver dollar. They have animals engraved on them and they can apparently give whoever wields them some pretty intense abilities." She gave a shrug. "We're not entirely sure what those abilities are yet, but from the letter that their creator left behind, they have the side-effect of transforming whoever wields them into "greed-driven monsters"."

"And if Salem can make these greed monsters, then who KNOWS what kind of havoc she could make." Ruby concluded, clenching a fist. "So we're going off to Rome to find 'em and take care of them before she can find out."

It was Max's turn to ask a question. "I never did find out from you kids, but how exactly would you "take care of them"?"

"The letter also mentioned something about the medals having to be completed." Ben revealed. "The creator, Nicolas Flamel, said that they were "incomplete", but he knew that they could be otherwise the one who advised him to create them wouldn't have been so convinced of their usefulness… or something along those lines." He scratched his head, his mind starting to ache. "It all gets kinda confusing the more you think about it."

Cooper, though, wasn't all that confused. "Eh, sounds about right to me. Even if this Flamel guy was an alchemist, that's still a form of science. And a scientist always wants to make sure their creations are complete." He gave a wistful sigh. "It kinda sucks that I won't be able to come with you. If I did, we'd be leaving Bellwood undefended, after all."

This piqued Sandra's interest. "Oh, really? Then I'm guessing this is going to be another whole-team mission?"

"Actually, not really." Gwen denied. "Kevin and I are going to be staying home, too." She smiled over to her brother and then to her grandmother, both of whom nodded back. "After all, I've got a lot of catching up to do… and Kenny's gonna need help in his training."

"Yeah, and I've been meaning to get some time with my mom." Kevin added. "Haven't done much with her in a while. Aside from us, though, the rest of the team's goin'."

Carl huffed and shook his head with an amused smile. "Man, it's like you kids never stop. Wish I had that kinda energy when I was your age."

"Well, I guess all we can do is hope you have a good time and stay safe." Sandra conceded. "Make sure to take plenty of pictures, though! I've always wanted to take a trip along the Mediterranean."

Yang gave her fellow blonde a thumbs up. "Don't worry, Sandra, we will."

Verdona clapped her hands together, wanting to bring the conversation in a different direction. "Excellent. Now, there's still quite a bit of time left in the day. Why don't we try to make something of it, hm? For starters… Ben, why don't you tell me more about these "memes" you were going on about?"

"Oh, sure, grandma." Ben obliged, pulling out his phone much to Gwen's chagrin.

"Uuuugh… just make sure it's nothing too cringe, please?"

Unfortunately for her, the elder Anodite was all for that. "Oh, please, BRING the cringe. I'm all about that stuff." For the rest of that afternoon, Gwen was completely mortified, no matter how much her friends tried to comfort her.

…..

About two days later, the time finally came for the Omni-Hunter's mission to Rome, and compared to their last globetrotting adventure, things were a little different. For one, they would be taking the Rustbucket IV rather than the Saturday's Airship, namely on the principal that it was just so much faster. Also, Wu Kong wasn't a stowaway this time. He was coming aboard with them for the journey with their knowledge and they were more than welcome to his guidance. The same could be said for Raven, who was keen on joining the expedition rather than get called in late to the party. "If, for any reason, we need the rest of the team, I can just make a portal back to Bellwood and have Qrow send for them." the Spring Maiden had reasoned.

In addition, they were also now joined by Team JNPR, Penny and Neptune, the six of them eager to get in on the adventure as well. "Ah… after a week of rest and relaxation, it feels GOOD to get right back into the thick of things!" Nora said as she stretched her arms and legs out, lounging back in her seat.

"Plus now, we get to meet this Dr. Garnier for ourselves." Pyrrha added with a bright smile. "I can't wait to hear about her research."

"You guys will like her, I'm sure." Charmcaster said as she walked into the main bridge. Once again, with Gwen taking a leave of absence, she had been requested to join the mission in her stead. And seeing as she had done so last time, she felt it was more than fitting she do so again. "She's very passionate about alchemy, there's no doubt about that."

"Anything we should be prepared for before we meet her?" Neptune questioned.

Zak gave a ponderous hum as he thought about that. Just as they had before, the Saturdays were chaperoning the mission, though the Cryptids were left back in Bellwood under the care of Doyle, much to the uncle's irritation. "Hmm… not really. I mean, just be ready for a couple cheek kisses since she likes to greet people the traditional French way, but other than that…"

"H-Hold on, did you say cheek kisses?"

Jaune was just as taken aback as Neptune. "That, uh… that's quite the way to greet people."

Weiss rolled her eyes and scoffed with a little smirk. "Hmph, maybe to normal people. But in high society, that's honestly a pretty common greeting."

"Uh, friendly reminder, Weiss, you are a "normal" person now, too." Blake said as she poked Weiss in the head.

"Yes, I know, just stating a fact." Weiss waved off. "Anyway, I'm guessing that we're going to be getting right down to business when we land in Rome?"

In the pilot's seat, Doc turned around and affirmed her deduction. "That's right. We've got little time to waste on this one since Juliette was only able to reserve a certain day for the expedition. We'll need to get this done pronto, so no messing around."

Sun wasn't too worried about it, though. "Ah, don't worry, Doc. Thing's are gonna be all good. Besides, this time, we don't even gotta worry about those Forever Knights getting in our way."

Drew pursed her lips, the slightest bit of apprehension rising in her gut. "Yeah… and let's hope that stays that way."

"Eh, I doubt they'd be interested in something like this if they knew about it." Ben shook his head, all too familiar with the Knights' motives by now. "If they're focused on finding the rest of that tablet, then they're probably pouring all of their efforts into that. We've just gotta keep what we're doing on the downlow so that none of our OTHER enemies find out. Which reminds me…" His attention shifted back to the Rustbucket's console. "You're keeping us under the radar, right BUS?"

From the center dashboard, the onboard computer's holographic face popped up, managing to frighten a few of the passengers. "Sure am!" BUS replied cheerily. "I'm not sensing hide nor hair of any suspicious individuals. And you can count on me to keep it that way!"

"Ah!" Ruby gasped. "BUS, please don't do that!"

"Yeah, we're already trying to get used to you as it is." Blake said with a hand over her chest. "Please don't to spook us like that."

BUS's big, pixelated eyes on the screen went from cheery to apologetic in an instant. "Oh… I'm sorry, everybody. I didn't realize…"

Thankfully, Penny offered a sympathetic smile to the onboard AI. "Don't worry about it, BUS. Believe me, I know how hard it is to learn the nuances of human behavior. People really don't like being suddenly scared."

"Duly noted!" BUS affirmed, his eyes smiling once again. "Thank you, Unit Penny!"

With that, the screen disappeared, and everyone's focus shifted toward the redhead confusedly. "Wait… Unit Penny?" Ilia asked.

"Oh, yes. Apparently, he sees other technological lifeforms as "units"." Penny clarified, bright and bubbly as ever. "I think it's rather cute!"

Right at that moment, the rear door to the bridge opened up, revealing the team's final tag-along on this journey. "We're about twenty minutes out from our destination." Ironwood stated, taking to the center of the room with his hands behind his back. However… he was met with many incredulous stares, which brought him to a halt. "…What is it?"

"Er, sorry, general, it's just…" Jaune trailed off.

"We're not used to seeing you in something so… casual." Pyrrha clarified.

The general peered down to his ensemble, consisting of a white, button up collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, revealing his robotic arm in the process. He wore a pair of brown cargo pants with black hiking boots, and slung over his shoulders was a steely grey backpack. Ironwood chuckled a little and gave a shrug. "Haha… well, I suppose this IS something atypical of me to wear. But hey, Glynda sent me here on a small vacation, so I might as well dress appropriately for this occasion, right?" The crowd gave a murmuring agreement as he cleared his throat. "Now, I'm assuming everyone's ready for the big mission?" He received a round of affirming voices from the group, to which he nodded in approval. "Good, I'm glad that's the case. Before we head out on the expedition, though, there's one other thing that I want to speak to you about… and that's concerning matters back in Remnant."

Ruby perked up at that. "Oh, yeah. You did say you were waiting for all of us to be back on Earth… but why wait until now to bring it up when we're gearing up for this?"

"Ah… well, I didn't want to heap this onto you RIGHT after the Ministry's invasion of Bellwood." The general admitted, glancing toward Ben and Yang. "I mean, you all came home from your vacation rather abruptly already. The last thing I wanted to do was give you MORE things to worry about right off the bat. …That and with your grandmother's timely arrival, I didn't want to ruin the good times."

"Oh, thanks, general." Ben gave a grateful smile. "But now I think is a good time."

"Yeah, what's happening back home?" Yang asked, with the other Remnant natives growing interested as well.

Taking a seat, Ironwood took a deep breath and finally spilled the beans. "Long story short, we're getting concerning news out of Vacuo. The Headmaster of Shade Academy, Theodore, has been noticing a spike in mysterious disappearances lately, with many of his students being among them."

"Oh gooooood!" Nora bemoaned. "Don't tell me there's ANOTHER cult going around in Remnant trying to recruit people!"

"No… we think it's worse." Ironwood clarified. "We believe this is the work of… traffickers."

All at once, the air in the room seemed to shift, with everyone taking a considerably more serious tone to the matter. "As in… human traffickers?" Raven asked with a frown.

"Human AND Faunus traffickers." Ironwood affirmed. "These people aren't privy to the type of people they collect. Huntsmen, Huntresses, human, Faunus, it doesn't matter. Though further investigation into who they've absconded with has revealed that they do all have one thing in common." He could tell by the way the group leaned in that they were eager to learn what that was. "…They all have incredibly potent Semblances."

With the information laid out, Wu Kong came to a swift deduction. "Hmph, sounds to me that these traffickers might be preparing for a war."

"You think so, Monkey King?" Sun tilted his head. "What makes you so sure?"

"Kid, when you've been around for as long as I have, you've seen plenty of wars." Hopping down from his perch, Wu Kong took to the middle of the crowd, standing next to Ironwood. "And believe me when I say that an army will draft the strongest of fighters if it's desperate enough, whether those soldiers are willing or not."

The general nodded in agreement. "Precisely what I was thinking. Whoever is gathering up these people, they must have SOME sort of goal in mind… but what that is, I'm not entirely sure yet." He craned his head back toward the teens. "And that's the other reason why I came to Earth in the first place. I wanted to request your help in investigating these crimes. I'm well aware that you kids are already having a pretty hectic time here battling Salem's forces on Earth, but if she catches wind of this, then that witch will likely take interest."

"And with an army of strong Semblance-users under her thumb, who KNOWS what Salem would be capable of back home?" Ruby concluded, gripping onto her cloak worriedly as she looked to Ben. "I think it'd be a good idea to go through with that, Ben. We can't just leave the general high and dry."

Thankfully, Ben was all too quick to approve as well. "I was just about to say the same thing, Ruby… though there IS one problem." He scanned his eyes across his team, internally debating one of the toughest decisions ever. "Who would I even send? I mean, you guys are all an incredible credit to this team… I wouldn't wanna split any of us up."

Reaching out to Ben's shoulder, the general assured the young hero. "Woah, I'm not asking you to make that choice now, Ben. I've still got a few days left before I head back to Remnant. And even then, I'd only be asking you to spare a few team members. Team CFVY and Cooper have already agreed to help, and with your cousin joining the fold, we—"

"W-Wait, did Kenny AGREE to that?!"

A chuckle passed Ironwood's lips as he confirmed it. "Haha… yep, he sure did. Seemed pretty eager, too since Winter's coming as well."

"AND Winter?" Ben's eyes darted toward Weiss, who seemed just as surprised. "You didn't know about this, did you, Weiss?"

"I-I mean… kind of?" the former heiress scratched her head, clearly perplexed. "I mean, she told me that she'd been asked by the general to go back to Remnant for a while, but she didn't tell me why… OR that she was bringing Kenny with her."

"Because I personally asked her not to give out too many details." Ironwood continued, bowing his head to the white-haired girl. "I wanted to break the news of this to you myself, after all. Again, though, I'm not pressuring anyone for an answer right now. I want you all to think carefully before deciding on who stays and who goes."

Drew couldn't help but give an apprehensive sigh at all this. "Hah… kids, I don't envy you. That sounds like a REALLY hard choice to make."

Jaune nodded solemnly. "It will be… but we'll make it work. Somehow."

*beep-beep-beep-beep*

All of a sudden, the focus was shifted back to the front of the ship, where BUS's pixelated eyes appeared once more. "Attention one and all! We've arrived at our destination. If you'll look down below, you'll see the splendiferous city of Rome, Italy, coming up on our left!" The team followed his instructions and were immediately amazed by what they saw, their eyes immediately drawn to the partially crumbled, cylindrical building in the center of the city. "And off in the distance, you'll see our destination; the ancient Roman Colosseum!"

"Woah… it's like Amity Arena… but on the ground!" Neptune marveled at the sight.

"…Thanks for the color commentary, Neptune." Blake deadpanned with an eye roll. The blue-haired boy didn't seem to notice her little jab, but she didn't mind. She was still enraptured by the view of the expansive city. "I will admit, though… this place IS incredibly beautiful I can't wait to go on a tour once our expedition ends."

"Heck yeah!" Rex pumped a fist, his smile wide with anticipation. "Then we can all go out for some genuine Italian pizza! Trust me, you guys are gonna LOVE—"

He was suddenly cut off as Nora let out an excited gasp. "AH! Yes! Dinner Pancakes! I'm SO down for that!"

All at once, everyone slowly turned their heads toward the Pink Dynamo, staring at her incredulously. "Er… did you just say "dinner pancakes", Nora?" Yang uttered.

"Well yeah. If ya think about it, that's kinda what pizza is, ain't it?"

The group all collectively winced, their faces sour in disgust. "…Outside of them being flat and having flour in them, I don't really see the connection here." Ilia grimaced, suddenly not in the mood for pizza. "And please don't tell me that you're thinking that tomato sauce as "syrup", because that's just NOT right in the slightest."

Nora scoffed at their cringing, handwaving it away. "Ah, you guys just don't get the flawless logic I've got going here."

"I can point out SEVERAL flaws, honestly." Penny stated bluntly.

Raven couldn't help but pinched the bridge of her nose. "This has to be THE strangest conversation I've ever heard."

"AHEM." Doc cleared his throat, bringing everybody's attention back to him. "We can discuss dinner plans later. Right now, we should all get back to our seats so that we can land at the airport." The teens followed Doc's directions as he took the controls back, directing the Rustbucket IV toward their landing site. "Now keep in mind, Juliette's got little time to waste, so be prepared to move out as soon as we land."

…..

~Five Minutes Later~

"AAAAAHH! Bonjour! Bonjour, mes amis!"

As it turned out, Doc couldn't have been more wrong. Because the moment they landed on the tarmac and proceeded out of the ship with their backpacks in hand, they were instantly met by a very excited Juliette Garnier. And Doc was right about her not wasting time… in greeting them the only way she knew how. "Mwah-mwah! Mwah-mwah! Mwah-mwah!"

One by one, she gave greeting kisses on each cheek to the ones she had met on their previous venture together, which of course had mixed results. Some accepted the form of affection with composure and grace while others were… a bit more bashful, to say the least. "Hmm… forgot how nice it was getting smooched by a pretty French girl." Yang hummed to herself.

"Heehee… yeah." Ilia giggled, earning her a small smirk from the Blonde Brawler. Her cheeks flared to a bright pink as she collected herself. "Er, um, of course, I'd be happier if I was getting smooches by my own girlfriend, but still."

Yang couldn't help but chuckle, giving Ilia a playful nudge. "Ah, you're fine, Color Girl. By the way, how DID Swift take the news that you couldn't bring her along this time?"

"Oh, she understood, even if she wasn't too happy about it." Ilia sighed, only to put on a hopeful grin. "Thankfully, I DID hear that Ben's request went through to shorten her probation time, so we'll see how things go there." Yang put her fist up to her and Ilia reciprocated in kind, bumping them together victoriously.

Meanwhile, Juliette had gotten to the end of the line, and consequently, to the new faces that she was completely unfamiliar with. "Oh! And this must be the rest of your team, non?" Rather than kissing their cheeks right off the bat, she instead bowed her head to them. "It's such a pleasure! Ben and the others have told me much about you."

Pyrrha bowed back, prompting the others to do the same. "Likewise, Dr. Garnier. We're honored to be in the presence of such a prolific Secret Scientist."

Juliette's hands flew up to her face as her complexion became beet red. "Oh, stop, cherie, you're making me blush! But please, call me Juliette. And to whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?" Once Ironwood, Penny, Neptune and Team JNPR had all introduced themselves to her… that's when the kisses continued. "Mwah-mwah! Mwah-mwah! Mwah-mwah!"

"W-Wow…" Neptune rubbed his cheeks. "Guess this is what counts as a "traditional French greeting", huh?"

"Indeed, and she is very enthusiastic about it!" Penny approved.

Once she got to the general, however, the teens were astonished to see him accept the smooches without so much as a blush, almost as if he had been greeted in this way before. He did smile and give a small chortle, though. "Hmhm, it's truly nice to meet you, doctor. Now that we're all acquainted, though, shouldn't we be headed to the Colosseum? I've been told that you're on kind of a tight deadline for this expedition."

"Ah, oui, I am." Juliette said with a slight bit of irritation. "Unfortunately, getting the permission to undertake this quest by the Colosseum's landowners was not easy. But I DID and now we can explore the premises freely… but only for one day."

"Makes sense." Hope shrugged. "I mean, you can't close a national monument for days on end."

Juliette's shoulders slumped and she sighed, disappointed in that reality. "Indeed, it cannot be helped. But on that note, we should make as much use of our time as we can. Although, there is one thing we should do before we go…" Her focus shifted toward the Monkey King, who was standing nonchalantly apart from the group. "Monsieur Wu Kong, I apologize for any inconvenience, but I believe that it would be best for you to disguise yourself, at least until we are underground."

"Hm? Bit of an odd request there." Wu Kong noted. "Any particular reason?"

Fishing out her phone, Juliette pulled up her Flitter app and showed him the screen. "Simple, because you have become internet famous."

Hearing that, the entire team walked around to see what she was talking about… and their jaws all simultaneously dropped. The video that she had pulled up was one of Wu Kong himself, fighting the Six-Eared Macaque in the skies above Bellwood. It was only about thirty seconds, but after it ended, Juliette began scrolling through the Chrips below which were all along the lines of; "Mythology Comes to Life in Bellwood?", "Clash of the Gods in America!", "Aliens or Gods?!", and "FLYING MONKEYS ARE REAL!" among others.

Needless to say, the group were flabbergasted. "…Is that what I think it is?" Drew managed to get out.

"Hah… seems so." The Monkey King resigned, shouldering his staff with a grimace. "Over five-hundred years of keeping it on the downlow… and now I get spotted."

"What's the big deal, though?" Sun asked his master. "You told me that you used to interact with mortals ALL the time during your journey, didn't you?"

Giving his pupil a pat on the shoulder, the celestial simian explained. "That was several hundred years ago, kid. Back when people were more believing in things like gods, demons and monsters. But nowadays, the general public are more susceptible to panic, so seeing us in the flesh is just gonna cause more problems."

Sun's face scrunched in confusion. "But didn't you say that people believing in you guys in the modern day was a good thing?"

"Seeing and believing are pretty distinct concepts, kid." Wu Kong clarified. "Back then, it wasn't uncommon for both to be put into practice. Gods revealed their existence to mortals all the time back then. But nowadays, while people believe in our legends, they don't exactly worship us like they used to… at least not in most places. So they're less inclined to believe what they see." He pointed to Juliette's phone. "All of those comments you see on line about my fight with Macaque? It's mostly either hyperbole or people trying to rationalize what they're seeing. They may know our legends, but there's still a long way to go before any sort of widespread worship starts happening again."

"That… is a VERY longwinded way of saying "mortals are dumb"." Raven deduced.

Wu Kong snapped his fingers and pointed at the man. "Exactly! Though obviously not ALL mortals, mind you." He shook his head to get back on track. "Anyway, better put on a good disguise so that I don't attract the wrong attention." On that note, the Monkey King erupted into a puff of yellow smoke… and was replaced by a tiny mouse who had a toothpick-sized staff behind his ear.

The team stared down at him for a moment before Nora came to a swift conclusion. "…That is the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life."

"Thank you!" Wu Kong reached up with his tiny mouse hands. "Now c'mon, uppies!"

"…The mischievous Monkey King just asked for uppies." Blake spoke in complete monotone, yet granted the deity's request, reaching her hand down to pick him up. "I will now officially never forget this day."

Clapping her hands together, Juliette roused the group, encouraging them to follow her. "Excellent! Now, follow me, everyone. Our shuttle for the Colosseum should be arriving any moment now."

Once the bus got there, the group had found out rather quickly that Juliette had actually rented out the WHOLE bus just for them. Granted, it was a small bus, but still, it was fairly big. "You seem pretty confident in this whole operation you've got going on, Juliette." Doc noted. "Springing for a whole bus just for us, asking us to come out here in the first place… and all without a proper team to help you here."

"Ho-ho, but Solomon, YOU all are my team!" the French woman winked. "After our experience in Paris, I couldn't let just anyone assist me in this investigation…" Her expression soured and she spat; "Pfft, especially after dealing with that lowly snake in the grass, Jacq."

"Yeah, I had a bad feeling about him from the start!" Weiss piped up, voicing her clear disapproval. "Anyone with that name should NOT be trusted."

Ruby wasn't so sure about that. "Isn't that a bit unfair, though? I get that you have a bias because of your dad, but I don't think EVERYONE who shares his name should judged that harshly."

The former heiress hummed contemplatively, coming to a swift conclusion. "Well… fair enough, I guess. But if it becomes three-for-three, I'm not gonna let it slide."

As the buildings of Rome passed them by through the windows of the bus, Zak couldn't help but get more pumped the closer they got to their journey's end. "Man, I can't WAIT for you guys to see the Colosseum. It's one of THE coolest places in the world."

"Have you been there before, Zak?" Pyrrha inquired.

"A couple times, yeah. Though my mom's been there WAY more than me."

Drew gave a confirming nod. "Indeed, I have. I've popped by Rome and the Colosseum quite a few times in my travels, actually. Chasing legends, searching for evidence on Kur… and many a date night with a certain someone." She shot a loving smile toward Doc in the seat ahead of her, which he reciprocated gladly. "But I have to admit, never did I think that the Colosseum itself would be home to something as incredibly powerful as these medals. By the way, Juliette, you brought the ones you kept from that box, right?"

"Why, yes, of course." Reaching into her bag, Juliette pulled out the box in question, keeping it shut for the time being. "I felt it only fitting to bring these medals to reunite them with the ones that Flamel left behind here. That reminds me, though…" Her gaze redirected toward a certain monkey boy. "Have you been feeling well, Sun? No strange compulsions or illnesses?"

"Uh… no?" Sun replied, clearly confused. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I've read the letter that my ancestor left with those medals countless times… and the wording keeps sticking with me." Juliette could recall the description of what happened in the letter as clear as day. "He said that… these medals could transform a person into a monster fueled by greed. And I have a feeling that if the Monkey King hadn't stopped that medal from entering your hand… that might've happened."

Sun's jaw clenched, remembering what had nearly occurred. He gazed down to his open palm, the same one that almost saw that medal fuse into him. "Yeah… that was pretty scary, no doubt." He put on a confident smile as he clenched his fist. "But I'm honestly doing pretty good. In fact, I think I'm doing better than good. Especially after Monkey King's training."

Juliette beamed back to him, grateful to hear his positivity. "Well, I am glad to hear that." Just then, the bus began to put on the brakes, garnering everyone's attention. "Oh! And this is our stop! Shall we disembark on this adventure, mon amis?"

…..

Needless to say, once everyone was off the bus, their reaction could only be described as "silent awe". The first thing that the Remnant teens' eyes were drawn to was the massive structure itself, towering before them with its partially crumbled might. Though while parts of the buildings were in ruins, that only left them more astounded that such a structure was still standing even today. The Colosseum seemed to only become grander as they made their way inside, and while there were some obvious modern-day additions that were made with tourists in mind, that didn't stop the national wonder from being any less magnificent. "This place… is massive." Ren whispered, completely enthralled in the place.

"I can almost hear the roar of the crowd." Jaune said, similarly breathless as they walked out into the open amphitheater.

"Oh-ho, boy, kid, you should've seen this place back in its heyday." Mouse-Monkey King said, standing atop Blake's shoulder as he raised his little paws toward the seats across the way. "Wall-to-wall, this place was packed to the BRIM with people, probably the most I've ever seen in one place at the time. We didn't have stuff like that where I came from, that's for sure. And the entertainment? Ha! Man, I almost stayed here just for that alone!"

Nora, who was already half-way leaning over the guardrail, was all too eager to know what kind of entertainment there had been. "Really?! Well, c'mon, don't leave us hanging! What'd they do here back in the day?"

"Mostly gladiatorial battles." Juliette answered, pointing down toward the very bottom of the arena. "Down there was where they staged the events. Nearly every day, people would come from all around to see the bloody spectacles for their own amusement. Ancient Romans craved acts of violence, from what we can discern."

Yang's brows scrunched together confusedly, seeing that there didn't seem to be a "stage" at all. "Er, if that's the case, then why's there a maze down there?"

"Yes, I was about to ask the same." Raven concurred. "Doesn't seem all that practical for a combat arena at all."

"Well, that's because the stage has long been rotted away." Juliette clarified. "It was made of wood with a thick layer of sand to cover it." She pointed down to the "maze" that they were talking about, which laid atop a small, grassy field. "What you see down there were actually once the hidden corridors that the warriors used to move around between acts, out of site from the crowd. This would be how gladiators would also move the animal acts around."

Neptune did a doubletake at that. "Woah, animals? So what, they had like, circus performances or something?"

Ben pat Neptune on the back with a shake of his head. "Eh, not exactly. Mostly these acts consisted of lions who the gladiators would be tasked to fight. Kill or be killed." The team stared incredulously at the hero as he enlightened them further. "And then this place would also see criminals be put to slaughter by either the gladiators OR the lions. It was all pretty gruesome."

"No kidding!" Weiss exclaimed "…That sounds horrible!"

"It kinda was." Rex shrugged. "But hey, that's Ancient Rome for ya. More violent than the Greeks by a HUGE margin, that's for sure."

"Side note; be sure NOT to search up an emperor by the name of "Caligula"." Hope advised. "You WILL regret it."

Penny made sure to save that tidbit in her memory banks. practically shivered at the thought. "Duly noted. So, now that we're in the Colosseum, where DO we go from here?"

"I am glad you asked!" Julliette ushered for the group to follow her toward a series of steps that led further down into the structure. "Follow me, everyone. And mind your step. These stairs are centuries old, after all." The group dutifully followed the young Frenchwoman until they were on the same level as the formerly hidden pathways, and they continued through into the very maze that they had seen only moments before. "My radar scans have shown that there should be a concealed passage in the corridors beneath the Colosseum. Once there, we must proceed with caution. There's no telling what sort of hidden defenses that Flamel and his sect of alchemists might have left behind."

"Ah, you don't have to worry about any sorta traps, madame." Neptune assured, bringing out Tri-Hard to show his preparedness. "We Omni-Hunters are ready for anything."

Sun couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Yeah, sure, and we don't scream like little girls at ANYTHING at all, right?" He grinned cheekily to his partner, who sent back a sour scowl.

Juliette didn't seem to notice, however. "Ah, that is good. Because there is a very high probability that we will find dead bodies down there."

That managed to make Sun and Neptune pause, almost as if a record had been scratched. "…I-I'm sorry, but did you say "dead bodies"?" the latter asked.

"We talking like the whole Paris Catacomb thing where the bones are laid out across the wall and stuff like that?" Sun asked hopefully.

"Ah, no… I am referring to full corpses." Juliette informed, much to the boys' horror and the misery of others, namely Weiss. "There are bound to be some down there that might've remained for centuries since the landowners wouldn't have found the passageways in that time. Thankfully, most of them at this point have likely decomposed, so the smell of rotting flesh will not be a problem."

Weiss didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "Urp… the fact that we're going down into a place where people have died before still isn't much of a comfort."

Rex reached down and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Hey, don't worry. Stick close to me and if we come across a body, just pay attention to me as we walk by, okay?" While she was still fairly shaken, Weiss still gave him a nod, showing that she was willing to take the attempt. "Okay, deep breaths now… we're here."

The team had arrived in a spacious yet very old room, one with a massive slab cut out in the floor that was secured on hinges. And at the other end, there was a big handle that was just begging to be pulled. "Solomon, if you would please." Juliette requested.

"On it." Doc obliged, using his Power Glove to increase his strength and lift up the seal. With a hard push, Doc swung the slab upward and it hit the ground, kicking up dust as the passageway was revealed. "So we go further down from here, right?"

"Yes, and there should be a hidden offshoot about fifteen meters down the tunnel."

Zak's eyes widened hearing that. "Thirty meters? That's almost fifty feet down!"

Giving him a pat on the back, Drew smiled at her son encouragingly. "Then we'd better get moving then, shouldn't we? Get your flashlights ready, kids. The expedition officially starts NOW!" Following Drew's enthusiastic lead, the team switched their lights on and trekked their way after her… all while keeping an eye out for any corpses along the way. Thankfully, there were none—for now—though that didn't make the half hour-long walk any less arduous, with stray stones and divots often cropping up and getting underfoot. But eventually, the group did manage to find their way down to their destination, at least according to Juliette.

"Ah! This is it!" Opening her holographic tablet, the Secret Scientists brought up her radar-made map of the tunnel system, pointing at the little red dot on the screen. There, the tunnel seemed to part ways, with a blue line indicating the main path while their off-shoot was marked with green. And at the end of that off-shoot was a big, green opening that must've been Flamel's chamber itself. "This is where we need to be."

The group gave a glance around, but saw nothing. "Uh… what exactly are we supposed to be looking for, anyway?" Yang scratched her head.

"Yeah, there's not like, any door around here, is there?" Weiss began feeling around the walls, making sure they weren't missing anything. "Maybe a hidden switch?"

"Hang on, let me give it a try." Hope closed her eyes and began sensing the mana around her, searching for anything that was out of place. Sure enough, after a few minutes, she found the solution to their plight. "There's a door… behind that wall." Raising a finger to the right-hand wall, Hope relayed to the others; "But there's no "switch" to get to it, per se. It's just been sealed behind that rock wall… and I think there's even another seal keeping it closed."

Rex wore an eager smile as he brought out his Smack Hands. "That so? Well then, we'll just need to bring the wall in front of it down!"

Nora was right behind him, pulling her hammer out with aplomb. "Heck yeah! Smashy-smashy time! Let's crack this baby ope—"

"Wait." Ren asserted, giving his best friend a worrying look. "Nora, if we do that, there's a risk of bringing the tunnel down on all of us."

"He's right, Rex." Weiss asserted, giving him a stern eye. "We'll need to think of a different way."

While the duo were disappointed, they also clearly understood the situation. "Yeah… I see your point, Renny." Nora accepted. "So, how DO we do that, exactly?"

Ben took that as his cue to step up to the plate. "Allow me. I've got just the alien for this problem…" Activating the Omnitrix, Ben scrolled through his set playlist before locating the alien form he needed. Pressing the core down, he was enveloped in a green flash of light, transforming into… "Subsidian!" The Submar Manzardill shook his head, heating up his insides as he gave his allies a warning. "I suggest you all stand back. This could get a bit messy…"

The team did as they were told, with Zak giving the alien a wary look. "…What's he plan on doing, exactly?"

"Just watch." Yang winked knowingly. "You'll see. This is pretty cool." Once he was in position, the group saw Subsidian take a deep breath before unleashing a potent wave of heat onto the wall, reducing it to molten rock within an instant. Then from there, he began… to eat it. Just straight up devour it without a second thought. The Saturdays, Hope and the others who weren't on X'Nelli could hardly believe their eyes, while everyone else didn't even flinch. "Yeah, Subsidian's species has got quite the appetite for melted rock."

"I'll say." Jaune blinked. "And Ben can just do this without being affected at all?"

"Considering the likes of Eatle and Upchuck are in his arsenal and he's been fine with them, I'm honestly not surprised at all." Pyrrha reasoned.

Eventually, after a few minutes, most of the rock wall had been eaten away and, to the group's amazement, they came upon the second layer of protection that Hope had mentioned. Though it certainly wasn't what they were expecting. Standing before them was a massive set of golden double doors that were chain locked shut, sealed tightly thanks to a big, central lock in the center. What's more, this lock had a great, big sun symbol on it, which seemed to radiate an orangey-yellow glow. It was quite clear that this lock was held together with some sort of unbreakable power.

Subsidian backed away from the door and transformed back into Ben, staring up at the lock with a thoughtful expression. "Okay… now THIS is out of my wheelhouse."

"How'd Flamel even GET something like this?" Blake wondered out loud. "This whole door seems more mystical than alchemic."

Juliette was quite curious about it herself. "Hm… you are correct, Blake. This does seem quite odd. But more to the point, can it be opened?"

Shaking her hands in preparation, Hope decided that it was her turn to take a swing at things. "I can certainly try. One second…" She began concentrating on her magical abilities as her hands and eyes began to glow. Then, all at once, she created a magic circle in the air to unleash her spell. "Recludam Aperta!" Several beams of energy shot out and hit the lock straight on… only to just bounce off in several different directions, blasting off chunks of the cave around them. The team managed to avoid the debris, but it was clear to Charmcaster that this lock was a lot tougher than it seemed. "Hah… well, that's definitely not your normal enchanted lock. This thing must've been placed by a deity who doesn't want anyone going in."

"Not just any deity, witch girl." Wu Kong spoke up, transforming back into his usual simian self. He reached behind his ear and plucked out his staff, approaching the heavily sealed door with purpose. "But by the looks of that lock, it seems it's been sealed by the biggest god around these parts… apart from his own father." He furrowed his brow as his grip tightened on the Ruyi Jingu Bang. "And something tells me that, if we disturb this lock, we'll definitely get his attention."

There was a brief silence before Sun guessed what would happen next. "You're totally gonna bust that door down and get that god's attention, aren't you?"

Wu Kong lifted his staff to the sky with both hands. "Of course I am! GYAAAH!" With a powerful leap and a single swing from his mystic weapon, Wu Kong successfully broke the seal, unleashing a powerful wave of energy from it in the process. The team were thankfully unaffected, but even so, they could tell that they had just done something that'd get them targeted.

"Uh, maybe try NOT pissing off the gods for once?!" Drew requested irritably.

"I must agree, this is incredibly foolhardy!" Raven insisted, getting right in the Monkey King's face. "How could you risk putting these children in the crosshairs of the gods when we've already worked hard to win their favor?"

Nonchalantly, Wu Kong spun his staff around, settling it on his shoulder. "Miss Raven, relax. Remember, I know MOST of all pantheon's gods and goddesses, and the guy who left this seal is no exception. When he comes around, I'll talk with him, but for now…" He extended his staff out toward the door, opening it forcefully to the path they sought. "Our goal is straight ahead of us. Wouldn't wanna stop here, would ya?"

"…No, I would not." Juliette affirmed, putting on her bravest face as she stepped closer to the tunnel. "Flamel's legacy is so close that I can taste it!" She spun around, scanning her eyes across the team. "Everyone, are you with me?"

There was another short silence before Ruby gave a shrug. "Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, am I right?"

"Exactly what I was thinking!" Zak approved, the duo sharing a fist bump before rallying the others. "C'mon guys, let's go find some medals!" It only took a single second for the rest of the Omni-Hunters to fall in line, all eager to see what secrets Flamel's vault held. Doc, Drew, Raven and Ironwood followed from behind—albeit hesitantly—while Wu Kong brought up the rear, keeping a sharp eye out.

Eventually, they reached the mouth of the chamber… though Juliette gasped as she didn't expect such a sudden drop-off. "AH!" She nearly fell in, but thankfully, Ruby and Zak caught her and stood her back up. "Ah! Hah… thank you, mes amis."

"No problem, but you should be more careful. Can't see a thing in here…" Shining his light around, Zak eventually managed to spot several lamps that were hanging up high on the wall. "Gah, if only we could light those up."

"Hm, a simple matter." Hope said as the rest of the team joined them. With a snap of her fingers, she cast a spell that saw all the lamps light up one by one… and steadily reveal what lied below them. Jaws collectively dropped and eyes were left wide at the discovery they had made. "Oh… my god."

As the room lit up, the team were able to get a rough estimate of how big the chamber was. The ceiling was fairly high, about as tall as a three-story building. The circumference of the room, meanwhile, was more comparable to the length of a full-sized basketball court. But even then, it wasn't the size of the room that left them in awe, rather what was in the middle of it.

Ilia blinked a couple times, rubbing her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "You can't be serious."

Penny, however, knew that this was indeed real. "There has to be at least… ten million of them by my rough estimate."

"This… this isn't any vault!" Ben shouted, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. Before them stood an incredibly deep hole that stored thousands upon THOUSANDS of the same medals that they had found in France, all of them engraved with different animal symbols. And Ben was reminded of only one thing. "It's Scrooge McDuck's money bin!"

Rex peered over the side, grimacing at the sight. "Really wouldn't wanna dive into that if what the letter says is true, though."

"Well… this was certainly unexpected." Ironwood commented, only to notice something else across the way. "Wait… what is that?" Towering on the other side of the pit full of medals was what could only be described as a giant, black sphere that appeared to be composed of hardened magma, just conspicuously sitting by itself. "Is that… some sort of obelisk?"

Doc scratched his head, gazing up at the immense object. "I'm not too sure, honestly. Never seen anything like it."

Drew crossed her arms as she peered into the medal hole. "Either way, it seems studying these medals isn't gonna be as easy as we were hoping."

"Hah, indeed… and here I thought Flamel would have an easier way of storing them." Juliette sighed, knowing that there would be a lot more work ahead of her. "Would anyone have happened to bring a container of some sort with them?"

There were multiple headshakes throughout the group, but once again, the Monkey King came in to offer a solution. "Don't worry, I've got ya right here." Plucking a couple of his hairs from his head, Wu Kong blew on them and they glowed with power, transforming into a wooden bucket and a thick rope that tied itself around its handle. "And this is where the 72 Transformations technique comes in handy."

Neptune clapped his hands together, rubbing his palms in anticipation. "Awesome! Now, let's lower this baby down and—"

*VRRRRRRRMMMMM*

*FLASH*

"AAAAHH!" All at once, things were brought to a grinding halt as the team were collectively blinded by a sudden flash of light that appeared from out of nowhere, with their ears being put on the receiving end of a loud rumble. Which, oddly enough… sounded like an engine. "Agh! What the hell?!" Blake shouted, shoving her head into Sun's chest when closing her eyes wasn't enough to keep the light out.

"What's going on?!" Weiss unsheathed Myrtenaster, though with her sight limited, she couldn't very well see what her target was.

Wu Kong could only just barely handle the blinding light, having experienced far worse before. Even so, he knew exactly who this was. "Ugh… 'bout time he showed up. Turn off that light, would ya?!"

Thankfully, whoever was blinding them obliged and the light dimmed considerably, allowing everyone's vision to steadily return. Even so, they didn't let their guard down… especially when they were met with the source of the light; a cherry red Ferrari that seemed to be emanating a golden aura. The driver of the car stepped out and called out a casual apology. "Sorry 'bout that! Sometimes I forget how much light mortals can handle."

As the group's vision continued to clear, they were met with the sight of a young, blonde man approaching from the vehicle… who Raven did a doubletake at. '…Tai?' But as he got closer, she realized that it wasn't her lover at all… though he did bear an uncanny resemblance. If she didn't know better, she would've sworn she had been transported back about twenty years to when Tai was still young.

But his clean-shaven face, bright green eyes and his modern fashion sense all made it clear that it was not Tai. He wore a golden overshirt that shined thanks to the headlights of his car, as well as a white undershirt and a pair of blue jeans. His open-toed sandals, dark sunglasses handing from his shirt collar, and carefree smile made him seem like a slacker, though his stance was that of someone who was ready to get down to business. "So… busted my lock, eh?" the man raised a brow. "You know, it's not nice to come onto a god's property uninvited."

"YOUR property?" Ben questioned. "Sorry, but we thought this chamber belong to Nicolas Flamel, the famous alchemist."

"Kinda, yeah." the man reached behind his back, which put everyone on high alert. "But he prayed to ME to watch over it for him after his passing. So…" He revealed what was behind his back; a golden harp… which left everyone confused. "Are we gonna have a problem?"

Most of the Omni-Hunters didn't feel threatened in the least. "…So what, you gonna bore us to death with your music?" Neptune laughed off, much to Ben and Wu Kong's chagrin.

"Dude! Don't taunt a GOD!" the hero snapped.

The deity, however, merely chuckled at the blue-haired boy's impertinence. "Hehehe… not the first time I've heard that. Let's see how you like… this." With a flick of his wrist, the god transformed his instrument of music… into an instrument of war. Specifically, a golden bow that used the harp strings as the drawstring. He raised the weapon, pulling back on the string to summon an arrow. "How do you feel about it now?"

"…A bit more intimidated now, yeah." Neptune squeaked out.

Yang placed her hands on her hips. "Okay, I'll bite. Which god are you?"

"That's a pretty easy one to answer, honestly." Hope said, shooting the god a knowing look. "The bow, the harp, the car that shines as bright as the sun and handsome as all get-out. …You're Apollo, aren't you?"

The blonde man smirked as he lowered his bow, sending it away with a flick of the wrist. "Hah, guilty as charged. Indeed, I am Apollo! God of Archery, Music, Healing, the Sun and… Prophecy." In a flash, Apollo summoned an electric guitar and hit a power chord, his sunglasses moving to his face as he did so. "Consider yourselves lucky, kids! My Oracles predicted your arrival to this place, so I was never gonna hurt any of ya. So, what can the god who bridges Greece and Rome do for you?"

…

A/N: Well, guess it was only inevitable that HE showed up at some point, right? But hey, what better place than Rome to bring in the one Olympian God who's known by one name in both Greece AND Rome, eh? Indeed, Apollo seems to know about this place left by Flamel years ago, having been tasked to keep it sealed away from mortals. Though what stake does he have with this place? And what about the giant orb of solidified magma in the room as well?

Well, those can be answered next time, because right now, we've got other things to focus on… like Verdona's family reunion and Kenny's punishment. Yeah, when you just take a dangerous weapon like that, you're bound to get SOME form of repercussions. Thankfully Kenny becoming Kamen Rider Cross-Z was able to get his sentence softened up a little, but still, that's gonna be a LOT of chores. And of course, Verdona's tense relationship with Natalie continues, but at least she's going to be spending some quality time with her sons!

But with that, we move onto Rome… and we finally hear what Ironwood has to say when it comes to what's happening in Remnant. A group of traffickers in Vacuo sounds like pretty serious business, especially if they're targeting people with strong Semblances. And of course, Ironwood wants some of the heroes to come back and help deal with this threat. Hm… wonder who would volunteer for that sort of mission, though? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, hi Juliette! Long time, no see! And… oh, seems Wu Kong has become internet Famous, huh? Welp, time to go on the downlow, at least in public. However, with one quick stroll through the Colosseum, we find ourselves back down where we left off. So on that note…

Next Time! As Apollo explains in more detail why he was the one who Flamel asked to guard this chamber, we check in on our villains to see what they're up to. Turns out, they've actually suspected that the team was up to something for over a day, and they might just be onto their little excursion as well. …But something ELSE is happening as well. The pod down in Animo's Undertown lab seems to be causing a stir… whatever's inside is close to being done. All that's needed is a few extra steps… Next Time; Gods and Monsters. What IS in that giant orb, though? Thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all next time. Stay safe out there!