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)

106. Journey Through the Decade

A/N: Captain's Log, Stardate; 10/31/24. Happy Halloween once again, everybody! Man, feels like Ben 10 RWBY Month kinda flew by this year, didn't it? Then again, kinda feels like time is moving fast in general nowadays, but hey, I still think we had quite a bit of fun throughout this month. And of course, we're ending it off with probably one of the most notable cast additions I've made in a while… which seems to be a running theme with Ben 10 RWBY Month now that I think about it. Monkey King last year, Kamen Rider Decade this year… wonder what next year's gonna bring? Ah, well, we're getting ahead of ourselves at this point. In any case, let's get into this chapter and finish off the month with a bang, shall we? This is…

Chapter 105: Journey Through the Decade

…..

The night had taken a dark and stormy turn in Bellwood, the once clear, stary skies and crescent moon having been overtaken by rather foreboding storm clouds. The abrupt change in weather had come seemingly from out of nowhere, and somehow, Gwen had a feeling that this wasn't the doing of any god. She couldn't sense any overwhelming power from this incoming storm, so the presence of a deity was quickly ruled out. However, she did feel incredibly uncomfortable just watching it loom over the city, so it was entirely possible that this was related to whatever the Ministry were doing up on that rooftop.

Said rooftop actually belonged to the Bellwood municipal center, the big, cylindrical building apparently serving the villains' purposes well enough. Currently, Kevin, Winter and herself were hiding out behind one of the big bushes around the center, while Kamen Riders Build and Cross-Z were inside of another. They were waiting patiently for two things; for Qrow to return from recon and for Doyle and Team CFVY to get there. Whoever that tall, creepy butler was, the mohawked repo man apparently had some key information on him that they needed, which would be helpful.

Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long as Qrow flew in from high above, transforming back into his human form. "Hah, alright, here's the skivvy;" he said, making sure that everyone's attention was on him. "We've got mutants, we've got the Maiden, we've got the annoying mute, and the butler guy is helping Animo set up that pod thing." He furrowed his brow and added; "But here's the big one; that demon princess is there, too."

"Princess Iron Fan?" Gwen whispered harshly, now VERY sure that something big was going on. "If they need her help for this, then I can only imagine what it is they have in that thing…"

"You don't think he's got ANOTHER demon in that thing, do you?" Kenny asked.

Kevin shook his head. "Nah, Animo ain't in the business of growin' demons. My guess is that they're prepping for some sorta… ritual, and whatever's in the pod is what they're doing it on."

Cooper hummed contemplatively, trying to think of what this could all mean. "Hmm… well, I know one thing's for sure; we're not gonna let them go through with this."

"You're damn right, Tech Head." Build perked his head up at the sound of his girlfriend's voice, leading him to crane his head over his shoulder. Sure enough, there stood Coco, Velvet, Fox and Yatsu, all of them armed and ready to roll. "We miss anything yet?"

"Nope, we were just about to get started." Cooper took Coco in his arms for a brief embrace. "Any sign of Doyle?"

"He's right behind us, actually." Velvet pointed down the street, where, true to her word, Doyle was driving right toward them.

…Or rather, Fiskerton was driving toward them in the Saturdays' pedal buggy, with Doyle in the front passenger seat. Smokey and Komodo were piled up in the back, while Zon flew in behind them and perched atop the vehicle as it came to a stop. "Sorry for the delay." Doyle apologized as he and the others exited the vehicle. "These guys insisted on coming with as backup."

"No problem." Winter assured. "We appreciate the additional help."

Qrow approached his fellow uncle, greeting each other with a fistbump. "So, D, what're we dealin' with here, exactly?"

"The old man said you had some info on the Lurch guy, right?" Kevin added.

"Yeah… and he's someone who we were hoping we'd never see again." Doyle glanced over to his Cryptid family members, who all echoed his sentiments. Fiskerton let out some worried whimpers while Komodo gave a disgusted growl, Zon capping it off with an angry screech. Smokey was the one exception, merely tilting his head with a confused whine. Doyle reached up and pet the smoke wolf's head comfortingly. "…His name is Munya, and he used to work for our worst enemy. I'm assuming you've heard of him?"

Gwen furrowed her brows, knowing exactly who he was talking about. "Oh, right… him. I hate to admit it, but I was actually a fan of his show at one point in time. Kinda glad that I grew out of it, looking back."

Reaching down to grasp his sword, Cross-Z picked up on what was being implied. "So, he's really bad news, then. But what's he doing with Animo?"

"That, I don't know." Doyle admitted. "But honestly, the fact that he's even resurfaced after all these years is baffling to me." He pointed up toward the roof of the municipal center. "But what I DO know is that if the Ministry are working with him, then that's got bad news all over it."

Slamming his fists together, Fox popped some muscles in his neck, eager to get into it. "Well, what're we waiting for, then? Let's get up there and rough 'em up!"

"Woah, woah, hold on there, Foxy." Coco halted, placing a firm had on his shoulder. "We're not jumping in without a plan of attack." She lowered her sunglasses, giving him a skeptical look. "And besides, after your last encounter with that little ice cream hussy, I wanna make sure you've actually got your head in the game."

"Gah!" Fox flinched, avoiding Coco's gaze like it was the plague. "Er, um, I-I… I have no idea what you're—"

"Oh, come off it, Fox." Velvet rebuked, her features scrunching at him, clearly unimpressed. "We ALL saw you with her."

Gwen and Kevin also shot Fox a deadpan stare. "Yeah, and they told us about that, too." the redhead folded her arms. "Gotta say, didn't take you for the "femme fatale" type, Fox."

Fox tried to stammer out a retort, but Yatsu put a heavy hand down on his shoulder, stopping him. "Dude, I wouldn't try to defend yourself at the moment. We ALL could deduce what was actually going on between you two."

"…Ugh, okay, so maybe I'm vaguely interested in her." No one was buying his words for a second, with many still wearing looks of disbelief. "But aside from that, I genuinely think that there might be more to her than JUST being evil. She lost someone important to her, after all."

"And from what I've been informed, that person was an evil mob boss." Winter retorted, bringing out her scroll to show him said person's mugshot. "Roman Torchwick, wanted on SEVERAL counts of criminal activity. Was killed during the first Battle for Vale." She swiped left and, much to Fox's dismay, brought up Neo's mugshot. "And then there's his accomplice, Miss Neopolitan. As you can probably tell, she is no innocent girl, Fox."

The blind warrior sighed, knowing that fact to be true. "Maybe, but…" He craned his head up toward Gwen and Kevin. "Aren't you guys all about the whole "second chances" thing?" He raised his hand toward the latter specifically. "I mean hell, you're an ex-con!"

"Well yeah, sure, but they've got to want that second chance first." Kevin asserted. "And back then, I did want it. Then I had to earn the trust of those that I wanted to prove that to." He glanced down to Gwen, sending her a knowing grin. "And hell, you're not the first person to wanna convince someone to change…"

The Anodite winced, knowing that to be true. "…I can't say you're wrong about that. I'd make me a hypocrite if I did otherwise." After receiving a side-hug from her boyfriend, Gwen went up to Fox, addressing him seriously. "But again, if Neo wants to seek redemption, she's going to need to want it and prove it. And from what I've seen, she's not going to be as easy as Kevin to convince."

After mulling it over for a couple seconds, Fox smirked down at her. "Well, if that's the case, then I'll just have to do my damnedest to try."

Despite herself, Gwen couldn't help but smirk back. "Atta boy. That's the kinda gumption I wanna see."

"Ahem, not to interrupt the teen drama, but could we please focus on what's really at stake here?" Doyle interjected, nudging his chin up toward the center roof. "We've got bad guys all around up there in the middle of doing… something. We need a plan of attack."

"Oh, don't worry." Build said, stepping to the middle of the group as he raised a finger. "While everyone was talking about that, I was forming a little plan of my own."

Winter encouraged him to go on. "Well, we're all ears, Cooper. Tell us what you have in mind."

"Okay, so these guys wouldn't do something like this out in the open if they didn't expect us to show up." the Rider rationalized. "After all the roof is entirely exposed and can be approached from literally any angle."

Cross-Z nodded in agreement. "Hm, yeah… so they're probably anticipating us to show up any second. Question is, how can we take them off their guard?"

Running a finger along his antenna, Cooper gave a chuckle. "Hehe, by doing something that none of them would expect. The winning formula is decided… and Gwen, I'm gonna need your help with it."

…..

Meanwhile, atop the municipal center, Princess Iron Fan was staring at the pod that was presented to her by the… rather manic doctor. She had to admit, she wasn't expecting to be asked to lend her skills to something like this, but at the same time… the thought intrigued her. Bringing back the soul of a person inside of a cloned body was a new one. Usually, it was the original corpse that had to be reanimated, but this… this was both far more efficient and would be quite the test of her skills if she got it right. However, there WAS still something that concerned her. "So, doctor, you're saying that you believe that this man's soul can be returned to his body, even after three long years dead?"

"Indeed, your highness." Animo bowed dramatically. "I believe you'll find that his will be quite the worthwhile resurrection."

"Worthwhile, maybe… but I wouldn't call it easy." Iron Fan placed a hand on her hip as she explained. "Normally, a ritual such as this would have to be performed almost immediately after death. Give it a day and Yama is guaranteed to have their soul in the afterlife."

Animo, however, wasn't too worried. "Ah, but you see, this soul is unique! The man—or rather—the person in this pod once held many special powers. Namely, the power of Kur and the Anti-Kur!"

"…Kur?" Iron Fan repeated, her eyes widening. "The ancient Sumerian god of the Underworld? The first dragon to ever exist? THAT Kur?"

"The very same." Animo raised a finger to the pod. "And while that power has faded with his prior death, I have no doubt that his soul was affected by the process. I have a feeling that it still lingers around in the mortal realm SOMEWHERE. So perhaps…"

Iron Fan pursed her lips, humming in contemplation. "Hm… it COULD be easier than I initially thought. But, we shall see…" She turned around, seeing Cinder, Neo, Hog, Skull and Munya all awaiting orders. "Is everything set up accordingly?"

"Yes, princess." Cinder bowed her head briefly before looking up at the large tesla coils on either side of the pod. "So, electricity is the key to harnessing the power to bring a soul back?"

"It is the main conduit, yes." The princess affirmed with a wave of her hand. "Back in the day, you have no idea how difficult it was harnessing the power of lightning. Summoning a storm was easy enough, but getting the bolt to land right where you needed it? Only a Thunder God could hope to have such control."

"And the two Thunder Gods we know of would sooner kill us than help us." Exo-Skull concluded.

Placing her hands behind her back, Iron Fan turned her back toward the Ministry, inspecting the pod and the tesla coils. "Hm, indeed. Running afoul of the Norse God of Thunder and the King of Olympus' son WAS rather foolish of you. Just goes to show that demons are far less fickle than the gods above." Taking a deep breath, the princess raised her hand up high, summoning her plantain fan. "Now… let us begi—"

*CHOOM*

"AAAH!"

The loud scream and bright glow from behind made the demoness' eyes widen, spinning around to see the four Ministry members and Munya in a heap on the rooftop. And, right where they had been standing mere moments before… were the Omni-Hunters, with Build, Cross-Z and Team CFVY right at the forefront. "Ah, so you've arrived." Iron Fan grinned, tapping her fingers along her fan's metal shaft. "As we expected. Quite the unanticipated entrance, though."

"Element of SURPRISE, lady!" Kevin hollered, swiping his finger across the whole group. "You guys might've been expecting us, but WE anticipated that, too!"

"Not exactly the smartest move doing this out in the open, even IF it's getting dark out." Qrow added, his eyes zeroing in on Animo. "Now spill, doc! What the hell're you up to?"

Animo merely cackled at the question as the rest of the Ministry stood up, preparing for a fight. "GYAH-HAHAHA! Wouldn't you like to know? Though, I suppose you WILL know in a matter of moments. You're just in time to see the big event…" He then spotted Doyle and the Cryptids as well, extending a hand towards them. "Ah, excellent! So we DO have representatives from the Saturday Family for this! Good, you can tell them what you've witnessed here…"

Doyle grimaced at the doctor, though his attention was diverted toward Munya when he stood up. "Gotta admit, big man… didn't expect to see you ever again." Munya gave a simple, low grumble in response.

"Wait a second…" Gwen's eyebrows rose at Animo's words. "You're speaking as if you KNEW that the rest of the Saturdays couldn't be here to see this…"

Cinder scoffed and turned her nose up at the Anodite. "Hmph! So you CAN think when you want to. If you must know, Tennyson, we've been keeping tabs on you since our little kerfuffle the other day." She waved her hand toward Neo, who gave a theatrical bow. "You can thank Neo for informing us of the rest of your team's little Italian getaway." Her lips curled into an insidious smirk. "Oh, and before you ask; the rest of our group are with Subdora and Hazel in Rome. They should be engaging your friends right about now…"

"AH! No way!" Kenny exclaimed.

Cooper tightened a fist at his side. "Damn! They were actually a step ahead this time!"

Thunderhog pulled out his Thunder Mace as Exo-Skull lowered his head, preparing to charge. "Ha! You say that like we ain't never done that before!" He and Skull laughed in stereo as they shared a fist bump. "Hahaha! Those fancy medals are gonna be ALL ours!"

"Unlikely!" Winter countered, thrusting her sword out at the gruesome twosome. "The Omni-Hunters will not let those medals go without a fight. You can guarantee that!"

"Oh, we know… but our team has been invigorated after the failure of our last mission." Cinder emphasized, her Maiden Powers activating as a gust of wind propelled her into the air. Neo pulled out her umbrella blade as well, clearly ready for battle. "And to that end, WE will not be going down without a fight either. So, I hope you all are ready…" Her gaze narrowed at Gwen, who glared straight back. "Especially you. We have unfinished business."

Taking a deep breath, Gwen closed her eyes for a moment as her body began glowing. "…I know." In a flash of light, the redhead assumed her Anodite form, floating up to meet Cinder in the air. "Just so you know, though, you'll come to regret this. Especially since you're vastly outnumbered here."

Cinder simply chuckled and shook her head. "Hmhm… I doubt I will regret anything. Thunderhog and Exo-Skull are willing to take on as many adversaries as needed after you took down a majority of their team. Isn't that right, gentlemen?"

With an indignant snort, Exo-Skull confirmed that. "Snrt! No kiddin'! You guys are gonna pay for what you did to the ladies AND our boys!"

"Eh, ya can't say they didn't have it comin'." Kevin shrugged as he absorbed the roof's concrete surface, only to then bring out a Fire Dust crystal and coat his arms with that. "Trust me, you're better off without Fisttrick makin' an annoyance outta himself all the time." On that note, the rest of the team began to gather up, bringing out their own weapons. "And even if you DO take us all on, there's a dozen of us. And you ain't even got HALF of that."

Cinder, however, sent a condescending smirk to the Osmosian. "Oh, don't we?" She raised a hand up to her mouth and called out; "BOYS! Come out and play!"

*KA-BOOM*

All at once, without any warning whatsoever, the ground under the heroes' feet erupted, sending them all flying across the roof and onto their backs. They scrambled to gather their bearings quickly, trying to get back to their feet as quick as possible to confront this unforeseen threat. …Which, as it would happen, was a threat that they probably SHOULD have seen coming. From out of the hole that was blown through the roof, Night Rogue emerged, flying straight up before SLAMMING down directly in front of the two Kamen Riders.

"Build. Cross-Z." Yuma seethed, glaring at them behind his mask. "We meet again."

"Night Rogue…" Cooper snapped to his feet, with Kenny doing his best to do the same. "Gah, I should've known! Of course you'd be here for this!"

The bat-themed super villain raised his hands. "Of course! It's literally my JOB to counter you at every turn! Hmph! And here I thought you were supposed to be the genius of that pathetic team of yours."

Build responded by bringing out his Drill Crusher and immediately taking a swing at Night Rogue, only for him to summon his Steam Blade and match it blow for blow. "Don't you DARE call my team "pathetic"!" He delivered a hard kick to Night Rogue's side, making him stumble back so that he could insert a FullBottle into his weapon. "Kenny! Back me up here!"

"I'm right with you!" Cross-Z got to his feet and summoned his Beat Crosser to aid his partner… only for someone else to come in and push him back at that same moment. "H-Huh?! AH!"

His assailant was obscured in black mist at first, with no one being able to see his face. But once they had smashed Kenny's back into the rail guard at the roof's edge, it dissipated, revealing it to be… "Hahaha! So, we meet again, Kamen Rider Cross-Z!"

"B-Blood Stalk!" With a sudden burst of adrenaline and anger, Kenny shoved his sword against the cobra villain's blade, shoving him back in the process.

But Blood Stalk only seemed to find amusement in this, throwing his head back with a laugh. "Haha! Still haven't lost that spirit, I see. Good, I feed off that kind of hunger!" He took out his Transteam Gun and combined it with the Steam Blade, transforming it into rifle mode. "Now, give me MORE!"

Steam Shot! COBRA!

Pulling the trigger, Blood Stalk unleashed a powerful burst of energy that took the form of a mighty hooded serpent, which almost slithered through the air as it shot its way toward Cross-Z. However… something unexpected happened. Before Kenny could even think to counter, a black glyph appeared in front of him, shielding him from the attack. In fact, it rebounded the attack back toward Blood Stalk, who had to jump out of the way to avoid the resulting explosion. "Huh?! What the—"

"You need to work on your reaction time, dear." Winter advised as she stepped next to him, keeping her sword leveled at Blood Stalk. "You should've had your hand on that handle grip and given it at least one pull to prepare a counterattack."

Kenny rubbed his neck sheepishly. "S-Sorry… I guess I was taken off guard."

Winter shot him a serious look. "I realize you have every reason to be angry with Blood Stalk after what happened, but it's important to not let your emotions take hold of you on the battlefield. Rage can be especially dangerous, understand?"

"Hm, yes, ma'am." Taking a deep breath, Cross-Z steadied himself and took a firm grip on his sword, ready to try again. "Okay, I'm ready…"

"Good. Now, how about we team up on him?" Winter shot her boyfriend a smile. "I may not be angry, but I still wish to exact some payback for what he did to me the other day."

The idea of teaming up with his girlfriend was definitely something that the newer Rider was all for. "Oh, I love that idea. Let's do it!"

As the battle between masked Riders and warriors waged on, the rest of the team had collected themselves and began fighting, with Team CFVY handling Hog and Skull while Gwen and Cinder battled it out in the sky. Kevin, in the meantime, was stuck handling Neo, which left the two uncles and the cryptids to charge directly for Animo and Iron Fan. …However, they were quickly met with resistance as Munya stood in their way. "Ha! Really?" Qrow balked. "An' what're you gonna do? "Buttle" us to death?"

"Don't underestimate him!" Doyle advised, raising his arm-mounted blaster at the butler and shooting at him.

However, Munya simply sidestepped the blast, though it managed to knock off his monocle. And what Qrow saw next was… rather sickening. Beneath the lens wasn't a normal eye, but rather an enlarged, red orb that bulged out of Munya's head. The large man growled and his eye began to glow… before a pair of long, spider-like legs came bursting out of his shoulders. Two more then shot out from his back, and in the process, the musculature of his body began to grow all at once. His purple shirt ripped right off while the hems of his pants were torn up, his feet tearing right through his shoes as they became clawed at the toes. His hands also grew sharp claws at the fingertips, all while his skin changed to a deep shade of burgundy. From his mouth, his teeth grew out longer and sharper, before his lower jaw split right down the middle like an arachnid's fangs. "GRAAAUUUGGHH!"

"…You've gotta be kiddin' me." Qrow muttered.

"See? Told ya." Doyle whacked his Huntsman friend across the shoulder. "Think you can take him now?"

If anything, Qrow only saw that as more of a challenge. "You kiddin' me? I've fought worse-lookin' things in my dreams." He swung Harbinger up and vaulted up to Munya, bringing it down to strike him on the shoulder. But, right as the sword was about to hit… Munya caught it in his hand, not even flinching as the blade hit his toughened skin.

Animo gave a guffaw at the sight. "HA! Try all you wish, Mr. Branwen, but my creation is FAR tougher than any Grimm that you've faced. MUNYA! Show him what I mean…"

The spider man obeyed dutifully, spitting a glob of web out and striking Qrow directly in the chest. "GAH!" *SPLAT* The force of the impact sent him flying through the air and he was stuck directly onto a large satellite dish… completely upside down. "Ugh! Okay, now THIS is just unfair!" Thankfully, he still had his weapon-wielding hand free, so he shifted it into its shotgun mode and took aim. "Eat this, ya son of a bitch!" *BOOM*

"GRAMCH!" As it would happen, Munya took that quite literally, catching the bullet between his teeth.

"…You've gotta be kidding me." Doyle deadpanned.

"Hey! Ya gotta shoot it, ya dumbass!" Qrow exclaimed.

Doyle's eyes widened, but he picked up on the plan immediately. "Oh, yeah!" He did as he was told and blasted Munya right in the mouth. *KA-BAM*

"RAAAAHHH!" Recoiling, Munya's hands flew to his mouth, trying to put out the fire with furious pats and webbing. By the time he put it out, however, he was beset upon by Fiskerton, Komodo, Zon and Smokey, who all piled on top of him and began beating him down.

In the meantime, Doyle went over to free Qrow, using his laser in precision mode to do so. "Hah, nice plan. Coulda told me more about it from the start, though…"

Qrow rolled his eyes, smacking Doyle's shoulder in return. "Psh, you gotta be quicker on the uptake with a Huntsman…" He trailed off, however, when he heard Munya belt out a powerful roar, throwing off the Cryptids as he regained his footing. "Now c'mon, those kids over there need help!" Agreeing without question, Doyle joined him in the charge, ready to take down Munya no matter what.

'I just hope this whole thing isn't related to who I think it is…' the mohawked man thought harrowingly, sparing a brief glance at the pod. 'Cause I don't like the look of that…'

…..

Back in Rome, Yang Xiao Long was furious. Partly at herself for not being on her A-game, but mostly at her assailant. In a way, it was a bit ironic. Three months ago—though it felt like a lifetime since then—she had broken Mercury Black's leg at the Vytal Festival. …Or, at least, she THOUGHT she did. Turns out, they were robotic, and it was all a trick to get her and her team disqualified. So now, all this time later, he had finally gotten his "payback" for that moment. …And she was PISSED about it. Thankfully, between Jaune and Charmcaster, they were able to heal her leg to a point where she could at least stand up… with a bit of help.

"I'm… SO… gonna get him for this." Yang seethed as she hobbled through town, with Jaune and Raven helping her along the way. The former was keeping a steady stream of aura flowing into her, which made it less painful for her to limp on. Hope and Ren were leading the way, just in case of an unexpected attack.

"Easy dear." Raven asserted, furrowing her brows at her daughter. "You will be doing nothing for the rest of the time we're here, is that clear?"

Jaune firmly agreed with the Spring Maiden. "Yeah, Hope said you still need lots of rest until at least tomorrow."

Yang grumbled, lowering her head irritably. "Grr… that damn… dirty… cheetah…"

"…Don't you mean "cheater"?"

"I know what I said, Vomit Boy! Lemme have this…"

The young knight couldn't help but chuckle at his fellow blonde's persistence. "Heh, Yang Xiao Long… making puns even when she's hurt. Never change, please."

His compliment managed to get a smile out of her, and she gave his shoulder a shove with her own. "Heh, don't plan to. Just be careful with the compliments there, Lady Killer. What would Ben or Pyrrha say?"

Jaune's grin swiftly turned sheepish at the implication. "Ah, hehe… fair point."

"Hey, there they are!" Ren spoke up, bringing everyone's attention down the street. Sure enough, the entire team was all gathered into one place, including Nora's new Earth Dragon friend. And, just as well, the Ministry of Monsters were all present, too… as was a certain monkey boy in his new, monstrous form. "…Oh god, is that Sun?"

"Unfortunately." Hope confirmed with a sigh, seeing Blake on the ground with Ben protectively standing in front of her. "And I guess Blake couldn't talk sense into him."

Yang's lips curled back into a frown. "Gah! What the hell was Sun thinking?! Such a dumbass move, I swear—huh?" It was only then did she see that someone was standing between Ben and Blake, separating them further from Sun. In fact, it seemed like the mysterious man had just punched their monstrous friend. "Woah, who's that?"

Narrowing his eyes, it didn't take Jaune long to see that this man was actually someone who he had just recently met. "Ah! Kadoya?!"

"You're familiar with this man?" Raven inquired.

"Yeah, met him just the other day." Seeing Ruby, Penny and Ilia rush up to meet him, the knight added; "Plus, Ruby said she talked to him back in Japan as well. I wonder what he's doing here?"

Ren raised a brow to his leader. "That's what you're wondering about? Not the reason why he's punching our friend?"

Pursing her lips, Raven shook her head. "No matter the reason, I believe it's safe to say that Sun had officially lost his mind. If he was attacking the others… wait, what's he doing now?" The Maiden had just seen Kadoya unbutton his black coat… revealing a black and magenta belt sitting around his waist. He pulled it open, reached for the steel book at his hip… and he pulled out a card before declaring;

"Henshin!" Everyone's eyes widened all at once when they heard that, seeing Kadoya insert the card and close the belt shut.

-KAMEN RIDE-

Decade!

In one of the most dramatic transformations they had ever seen, the group watched with mouths agape as Kadoya transformed into a Kamen Rider, one with colors of magenta, black and white with big, green eyes. Things seemed to stand still for a moment as the shock of the whole thing settled in, only for their trance to be broken when they heard Zak shout; "HE'S THE REAL DEAL!"

Yang snapped out of it first and encouraged them to press forward. "Come on! We've gotta get over there!"

With the others knocked back to their senses, they did as she said, making it over just in time to hear the newcomer speak. "Forgive me for not introducing myself properly. My full name is Tsukasa Kadoya. But most people know me as…" Dusting his hands off, Kadoya reached down to his hip and removed the steel book that stored his cards, pulling back on the black grip at the top to reveal that it was actually a handle. And, as he raised it up, the opposite corner extended out to reveal a gun muzzle. Pointing his blaster weapon at the monsters, he revealed his alias to all of them. "Kamen Rider… Decade." He peered back to gauge the crowd's reaction… and saw Yang's group approaching. "Heh, and it seems the team's all back together again."

"Huh?" Ruby peered back and gasped, seeing her sister limping toward them with Jaune and Raven's help. "AH! YANG!" She rushed over in concern, fretting over Yang's wellbeing. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?! Did you break something?! You really shouldn't be standing if you—hmph!"

"Rubes, I'm good. At least, I should be soon thanks to Jaune and Hope." Yang assured, placing her hand over Ruby's mouth.

Charmcaster wagged her finger at the Blonde Brawler. "Remember; not extraneous activities over the next twenty-four hours." Upon further inspection, however, Hope quickly noticed that Yang wasn't the only one who was suffering from injuries. It wasn't hard to see that Doc was wincing in pain, but unlike Yang, he was trying to hide his injury behind his back. But Hope was standing at just the right angle to catch it. "And what about you, Doc? I see you trying to keep that broken hand out of sight."

Doc flinched, and it didn't take long for Drew's eyes to laser focus directly onto him with a disapproving glare. "Doc, sweetheart, are you really trying to hide an injury? From me?"

"Er, um, ahem…" Doc stammered, trying to find a reason for doing so as he revealed his broken wrist. "W-Well, I wasn't going to hide it for long, just until the end of the—"

"Oh, dear GOD!" Weiss shrieked, covering her face with her hands as she hid in Rex's chest. "It's bent SO backwards! Good lord!"

Zak and Drew's faces contorted in astonishment and repulsion at the injury. "SOLOMON JULIUS SATURDAY!" the matriarch exclaimed.

"Dad, seriously?!" Zak covered his eyes, unable to keep looking at his father's broken hand like that. "You were just gonna leave that till later?!"

The Saturday patriarch used his good hand to sheepishly rub his neck, all while Hope rolled her eyes and ushered him to follow her. "Come on, we're getting you back to the ship so that we can heal those injuries. Drew, you coming with?"

Drew didn't have to be told twice. "Oh, you bet I am. I've got some choice words for you, mister." Before leaving, though, Drew peered toward her son inquisitively. "Zak, I'm guessing you're staying here?"

"Uh, yeah, that goes without saying." Zak affirmed, thrusting his hands over to the real Henshin Hero standing just a few feet away from him. "I mean… Kamen Rider Decade? Here? In the flesh? Not missing that for the freaking world." He glanced over to his dad with a sympathetic gaze. "Best of luck, dad."

"…Thanks, son." Doc replied before the three of them disappeared, knowing full well that he'd have quite a bit to answer for when they got to the ship.

Once they were gone, Zak took a deep breath, turning back to the group. "Now let's see, where were we? …Oh yeah! AAAAAAAAHHH!" His fanboy scream made everyone jump and cover their ears from just how high-pitched it was… aside from Decade himself, who simply stared at Zak as he came up to him like he was used to it. "KAMEN RIDER DECADE! Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, OH MY GOSH! You're freaking REAL!"

Kadoya gave out a small chortle, resting his gun against his shoulder while casually nodding. "Hm! Well, glad someone's quick on the uptake."

"I am such a HUGE fan, you have no idea! I-I've gotta go back home and get my DecaDriver for you to sign when this is all done—"

"Woah, woah, HOLD UP!" Ilia piped up, getting between the two as she raised her hand to stop Zak's rambling. "We're getting WAY off track here." She spun around and pointed right at Decade. "First of all, you! You're… a Kamen Rider? As in… an actual Kamen Rider from the TV shows? The REAL Kamen Rider Decade?"

Kadoya pointed right back at her. "Correct."

"…How is that possible?"

"I knew you were going to ask that." Decade continued, though instead of answering, he stepped back around to face the villains once again. "But, as you can see, there are more pressing matters happening right now. I'd be happy to answer all your questions later, but for right now… who wants to see me beat them up?" As if on cue, several hands raised up all at once, some more excited than others. "…That's what I thought. And I know exactly who to start with." His attention shifted directly to Sun, who was still growling like a cornered animal.

Blake gasped and sprang back to her feet, almost staggering over to take Decade's arm. "Wait, please!" The Rider craned his head back to her, meeting her eyes. "That's my boyfriend under there! He might be a monster right now, but he's not in his right mind! Just… please don't—"

"I won't destroy him, if that's what you're thinking."

The cat girl glared at Decade seriously. "You'd better not. He… he means everything to me."

Tsukasa nodded in understanding, gently taking Blake's hand away from him while giving it a reassuring squeeze. "I promise, I'll make it as quick as I can… though I can't say it won't be painless." His sights focused back to Sun, who seemed ready to lash out at any moment. "Those medals need to be taken out." He began approaching his target, keeping a firm grip on his weapon as he addressed Sun… though not by his real name. "Ozu! Your advent wasn't supposed to be like this. But don't worry… you'll be freed soon enough."

"Grrrr… RAAAHH!" Finally, Sun leapt into the fray, raising his claws with every intention of gutting Decade. But just as he did, the Rider pulled his gun's trigger, unleashed a volley of shots that took Sun out of midair. Closing the distance, Decade and Sun engaged in close-quarters combat, the former often using his gun at close range.

As this went on, however, the Ministry of Monsters discussed things among themselves. "So… what're we gonna do about this guy?" Mercury asked.

"The cryptid kid said he was a real deal Kamen Rider, right?" Emerald added, scratching her head. "How's that even possible?"

Rojo could only shrug. "Search me, I ain't an expert in this sorta crap."

Hazel, however, offered his own thoughts. "Perhaps his is another case like ours, where he jumped from his universe to his."

Red Son hummed ponderously at the theory. "It's certainly possible, but… a fictional character entering our reality? Seems a bit of a stretch, if you ask me."

"Perhaps it is a case such as your own, Red Son." Subdora suggested. "You previously existed in reality before your tale was recounted in a work of fiction, correct?" She nudged her head toward Decade, who was quickly gaining the upper hand on Sun. "Perhaps he has secretly existed just the same, only beyond our reality."

That only made Red Son deliberate more on the matter. And eventually, he came to a realization. "Actually… you may not be far off on that theory. This could be a case of modal realism being more than JUST a theory…"

"I'm sorry, but what kind of realism?" Rojo placed her hands on her hips. "Mind explaining for us who ain't in the know about—"

"Hold on!" Mercury pointed back to the battle. "He's doin' something!" Sure enough, the villains saw that Decade had pulled out another card from his steelbook gun; a card that depicted himself shooting said weapon. He opened his belt and inserted the card, the one from before seemingly disappearing.

-ATTACK RIDE-

Blast!

He raised his weapon and shot Sun at point blank range with rapid-fire shots, ones that were much more potent than the last. "Woo! That is one handy gun." Nora commented while absentmindedly petting her new dragon friend.

"It's called the Ridebooker." Zak explained with heightened enthusiasm. "It's how Decade stores all his cards AND is his main weapon. But that's not even the best part about it. Ruby, pay attention, you'll dig this…"

Ruby didn't have to be told twice. She was already watching intently as Decade battled against their corrupted friend, but now she was doubly fascinated. 'To think, this guy who gave me advice almost two weeks ago is ACTUALLY a Kamen Rider! Who would've thought?!' Right as that passed through her mind, though, she saw Tsukasa pull out another card from the Ridebooker… which depicted himself again wielding the weapon in a much different way.

-ATTACK RIDE-

Slash!

Once inserted into the DecaDriver, Decade straightened out the handle of his weapon so that it ran perfectly straight with the black stripe that ran diagonally across it. And then, from the corner below the gun barrel, a short blade folded out that quickly extended out into a full sword, which made Ruby's smile widen even more. "EEEEEE! YES! It's also a sword!"

"Hm, most Rider weapons are like this, Miss Rose." Decade called out, running his hand up the blade as it began glowing with a vibrant magenta-colored energy. "You'll learn soon enough. Hah!" With incredible precision, Decade began slicing his weapon across Sun's body, blowing out medal after medal with every hit.

Sun nearly fell down then and there, but he wasn't about to give in, it seemed. "GRAAAH! STOP! MY MEDALS!" He leapt in toward Decade, claws fully extended, going for a strike against his head.

But Tsukasa was prepared for that as well, pulling out a card that depicted himself disappearing into thin air. "Time for a little magic trick…"

-ATTACK RIDE-

Invisible!

Right as Sun's claws were about to make contact, Decade vanished from sight completely, much to his confusion. But right at the next second, he reappeared behind him and slashed him right across the back, sending more medals flying. "AAAUUGH! NO! You… CAN'T…" As Sun's anger grew, his body began to glow an intense, red color… and from there, two Via Sun clones of his monstrous form emerged. "…have my… MEDALS!" With that roar, he and his clones bolted forward, instilling fear into the heroes.

"He can still use his Semblance?!" Pyrrha exclaimed.

"Dude! Get outta there before you get blown up!" Neptune advised the Rider.

Decade, however, wasn't too worried. "Hm, an interesting trick…" He pulled out yet another card, this one having multiples of himself on it. "But I can do that, too."

-ATTACK RIDE-

Illusion!

The very second the DecaDriver closed, Decade's entire body began glowing and separated into three of himself, making everyone's jaw drop. The two one either side were holding the Ridebooker in its different configurations while the center one opted for his fists, going into battle to dispose of the clones. One Decade shot straight through one Via Sun clone, blowing it up instantly, while the other one struck his sword across the other clone's chest, sending it careening into a light post where it also exploded upon impact. The two Decade clones then went back to the original, who delivered an incredible leaping punch straight to Sun's head.

Once the monstrous monkey boy staggered far enough away, Decade reached down and pulled out one more card from the Ridebooker, this one having a golden version of his logo. "I think it's about time we wrap this up." He slid the card into his driver and closed it up, wherein ten large golden energy cards were summoned between him and Sun.

-FINAL ATTACK RIDE-

De-De-De-Decade!

From there, Tsukasa jumped to an unbelievable height, with the energy cards following him at an incline before he fell through them all with one leg extended. After disappearing and reappearing between them like portals by the end of his fall, he had built up so much momentum that the impact of his kick sent Sun hurdling through the air… and he exploded when he hit the ground, with medals going all over the place.

"SUN!" Blake screamed, completely horrified… for all of two second before she saw her boyfriend standing in the smoke. His clothes were tattered and almost completely destroyed, as were his arm bracers, but apart from being completely dazed, he seemed alright.

"See? None the worse for wear." Tsukasa stated… right before Sun flopped to the pavement. "…Almost. Almost none the worse for wear."

"Oh god…" Jaune uttered as he, Blake and Neptune went over to check on the monkey boy. Checking his pulse, Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. "Hah, okay, his heartbeat's a bit accelerated, but normal for the most part."

Blake had her ear pressed against Sun's chest, and she too was thankful to hear that he was breathing. "His breathing is normal, too. I think he's alright…" But then, after a moment's pause, she slapped Sun hard across the chest, much to the boys' shock. "Hmph, yeah, out like a light."

Neptune and Jaune shared a nervous glance. "Er… was that—"

"Necessary? No." Blake furrowed her brows at her boyfriend, thinking of all the things she was going to say to him once he woke up. "But I needed to let off a bit of steam, otherwise I'd eviscerate him once he wakes up."

Jaune decided not to argue against her, instead motioning for Neptune to help him. "C'mon, let's get him clear. This fight's not over yet."

As the three of them moved Sun away from the incoming action, Decade, without even so much as peering at the Ministry, offered them an easy out. "So… you're sure you want to fight me after that? You could just willingly give up your medals and be on your way if you so please."

"Ha! So you defeated a guy who devolved into a mindless, greed-happy beast." Rojo balked, waving the offer away. "So what? Just 'cause the kid couldn't handle his medals doesn't mean WE can't. And guess what? We're gonna beat you to a pulp! Right guys?!"

"Correct!" Hazel assured, beating a fist to his chest. "Allow me to have the first strike!"

Mercury gave the bigger homunculus an encouraging pat on the back. "Haha! Yeah, go for it, big guy! Show him who's the top rhino… ape… elephant… thing." The feline homunculus scratched his chin perplexedly. "Gotta work on those inspirational speeches."

Nevertheless, Hazel let out a powerful bellow and charged into battle, though again, Decade didn't immediately turn around. "Hmph, alright, your choice." Instead, he reached down into his Ridebooker and pulled out another card, one which depicted a different Rider entirely. This Rider had a black helmet with large, red eyes, a layered silver mouth plate that resembled an insect's maw, and a pair of golden, stag beetle-like horns with a red gem in between them. "Normally, I'd defeat you all in seconds. But today… I'm feeling a bit more active. Henshin!"

-KAMEN RIDE-

Kuuga!

The sound of mechanical whirring and what could only be described as a "gleaming" noise signaled Decade changing forms… becoming a completely different Rider. The horned Rider wore a black suit with red armor over his chest, shoulders and forearms, all trimmed in gold that had strange symbols etched into them. The gold was also present on his shin bracers and kneepads of his suit as well. The only part that didn't change about him was the Neo DecaDriver itself, which made it stand out all the more. Spinning around, Decade met Hazel's incoming punch with one of his own, taking the heavyweight homunculus off guard.

"W-What the… what's going on now?!" Pyrrha exclaimed.

Zak, however, only cheered harder. "WOO! KUUGA! So freaking cool!"

"I'm sorry if I'm asking a redundant question, but am I simply MISSING something?!" Ren questioned, finding it hard to process everything that was happening before him.

Penny, surprisingly, was the one to answer him, though. "Ah, that's easy!" the chipper redhead beamed as Decade beat back Hazel with surprising strength. "After doing a quick round of online research, I have discovered that, rather than having his own forms, Kamen Rider Decade has the ability to transform into every Hesei Kamen Rider that has come before AND after him, as well as their own distinct forms as well."

Her explanation left everyone astounded, to say the least. "Woah… so he's like…" Ilia's gaze shifted toward Ben. "He's like the Rider version of you, Ben."

The Omnitrix bearer's eyes widened, but Yang couldn't help but smile at the chameleon girl's logic. "Hey, yeah! And he's even got the whole "10" theming going for him! What with the whole "Decade" name and all."

"Plus, he's the tenth Heisei Rider overall." Zak added.

"Heh… well, I guess that's true." Ben shrugged as his sights focused back on the battle. "Still, I wanna see how he handles the Ministry…"

As it happened, though, Decade was thoroughly managing his fight with Hazel, with Kuuga's base Mighty form managing to pack a wallop all on its own. …At least, at first. Eventually, Hazel was able to regain his footing and dug his feet into the pavement, bringing his arms up to SLAM Tsukasa down and crack the road as a result. "Hah… hah… you're good, little man." The heavyweight homunculus huffed, bringing up his wrist spike to stab it through the man's back. "But this ENDS here!"

But right as he brought it down, Decade rolled onto his back, causing the spike to miss and get embedded in the ground. "Was hoping you'd fall for that."

"You little—" Hazel brought his other arm up, aiming the gun barrel-shaped protrusion down at him to blast him at point blank range.

Even so, Decade was quicker, rolling out of the way and letting the concussive force of the blast carry him further from the monster. Once he was up on his feet, Tsukasa raised his hand, revealing yet another card. And this one seemed to depict Kuuga in a different form. "Ah-ah, I don't think so, I'll be taking those weapons of yours…"

-FORM RIDE-

Kuuga! Rising Titan!

The red armor and eyes of Kuuga's suit changed colors, becoming a very royal shade of purple. Even further, the armor itself became much heavier, with more pronounced shoulder pads and the gold accents becoming much more prominent. Now in Rising Titan form, Decade rushed forth and SLAMMED into Hazel, knocking the wind out of him and allowing the Rider to take hold of the monster's wrist weapons… breaking them off with ease. As Hazel roared in pain, however, he also bore witness to Decade bringing the keratin-based weapons together… and transmogrifying them into something entirely new.

In his hand, Decade now held a long sword of deep violet and gold, its blade grand and jagged with a cross guard in the shape of Kuuga's horns. And it was something that Zak was nerding out about in a BIG way. "AAAAAHH! It's the Rising Titan Sword!"

With a grunt of exertion, Decade rushed Hazel and struck his long blade across the monster's body, blowing off several medals with just a single swipe. This process continued at least five more times until all of Hazel's armor was practically gone, which gave Decade the opportunity he wanted. He fished out another Final Attack Ride card from his steel book, inserting it into the DecaDriver without any hesitancy.

-FINAL ATTACK RIDE-

Ku-Ku-Ku-Kuuga!

"Haaaah… YAH!" As the Rising Titan Sword glowed with brilliant purple energy, Decade thrust it forward and stabbed it straight into Hazel, twisting it in the process. And then, with a howl of pain, Hazel was enveloped in an intense explosion… only to then be seen hurdling down the street, back in his human form just like Sun before him. There wasn't even any wound from the stab or anything… though because his clothes were in tatters, the gang could easily see all of the previous wounds he had sustained from earlier battles.

The Ministry were at a loss for words. Their heaviest hitter… out for the count. "W-What just happened?!" Emerald cried out.

Subdora narrowed her eyes at the Rider before them, who dispelled the Rising Titan Sword and brushed off his hands. "It would seem that we have underestimated our opponent." The aquatic homunculus deduced as she crossed her arms in front of her face, concentrating on her abilities. "But rest assured, that will NOT happen again!" Gathering moisture from the air, Subdora created several water tendrils that whipped out at Decade, who didn't even attempt to move.

Instead, he procured another Rider Card. The masked hero on this one seemed very similar in appearance to Kuuga, though there were some key differences. The helmet had longer, sharper horns and slightly smaller eyes, and the silver mouth piece was less insect-like and just more layered. Plus, above the mouth piece, the horns extended down into a pair of gold "mandibles".

"I sincerely doubt that." Decade said as he slipped the card into his driver.

-KAMEN RIDE-

Agito!

With the sound of a motorcycle's engine revving up, Decade took on the appearance of Kamen Rider Agito, his armor becoming silver and gold with shoulder pads that were spiked at the ends. He charged forth and batted the tendrils away, getting right in Subdora's face. "AH!" The aquatic homunculus gasped and jumped up, her legs splitting apart into four tentacles that she went to wrap around her target. But even so, Decade managed to duck out of the way in time to avoid the attack, even grabbing onto one of the tentacles to drag her down to the ground.

"S-Such abhorrent behavior!" Subdora shrieked. "Don't you know it's rude to hit a lady?!"

"Ma'am, when you threaten the lives of others, it shouldn't matter who hits who." Decade insisted, pushing her away with a shoulder shove to give them some distance. "But, if you insist on me NOT hitting you…" He brought up a Form Card, which saw Agito with a blue arm wielding a bladed staff. "Then I can oblige…"

-FORM RIDE-

Agito! Storm!

True to form, the Agito armor changed to have his right arm be almost entirely blue, with a larger, more rounded shoulder pad to go with it. In his hand, Decade now held a double-bladed halberd that he used to whip up a strong wind that sent Subdora flying. "GAAA—UGH!" Slamming back-first into a light pole, Subdora growled angrily, slamming her fist against the street as she summoned all of the water from the air that she could muster. "That is IT! I am done with you!" All at once, she sent a huge wave crashing straight for Decade… who merely pulled out Agito's Final Attack card.

-FINAL ATTACK RIDE-

Ag-Ag-Ag-Agito!

From there, Decade began spinning the Storm Halberd at incredibly high speeds, whipping up a wind so powerful that it not only pushed against the water… but also transformed it into a massive vortex against Subdora. The aquatic homunculus gasped as she saw Decade then come jumping through the vortex, the air propelling him straight toward her. In a desperate move, she leapt straight into the water… but Decade anticipated this, diving in himself to deliver repeated slashes across her body. "GYAAAAAH!"

*BOOSH*

All at once, the vortex collapsed in on itself, with Subdora landing in a heap as medals clattered to the ground around her. She was back to her normal self… and her clothes were just as ripped as Hazels, though thankfully she was still covered in the important places. As Decade landed next to her, she glared up at him weakly. "Y-You… you said you wouldn't—"

"I said I wouldn't hit you." Decade repeated, his weapon dissipating from his hand. "I said nothing about cutting you." On that note, Subdora fell unconscious, leading the Rider to call out; "Alright, who's next?"

At this point, Red Son had seen enough. "GYAAH! Can you ignoramuses do ANYTHING right?" Smashing his hands together, he summoned a multi-colored fire in his palms, stepping up to take on Decade on his own. "Gah, what do I expect? Never send a mortal to do a DEMON'S job. I'll end this myself!" He thrust his arms out and shot dual streams of flame out at Tsukasa, who had to back away at the intense heat.

"Hah! So, you want to play with fire, eh?" He went to reach for another card, but within seconds, Red Son was already directly in his face. "Ah!"

"Oh-ho-ho, no, I'm not letting you do THAT again!" The avian homunculus took the Ridebooker in hand and yanked it off Decade's hip, tossing it as far down the streets of Rome as he could. "Ha! No more tricks from you, Mr—huh?" However, to his shock… the Ridebooker just reappeared on Decade's hip. "WHAT?!"

"Hm, you're not the first person who's ever tried that." Decade pulled out the card that he was going for, nudging his chin to Red Son. "But I commend you for trying. Now, where was I…"

-KAMEN RIDE-

Ryuki!

A bright light reflected off of the Agito suit's form as Decade changed once again, and this time, the Rider he became was completely distinct from the prior two. The base suit was crimson while the armor across his chest, shoulders, forearms and shins was black and silver. The armor itself—mainly the shoulder pauldrons—were very knight-like, which extended up to the helmet. It had the traditional bug-like Rider eyes… but they were behind a curved, silver, vented mask with gold edging near the top. And, rather than the classic antennae, this Rider had a silver dragon head symbol at the top of his helmet. Finally, on his left arm, he had a buckler-type weapon that looked like a flattened-out dragon's head.

Immediately, Rex perked up, recognizing this particular Rider. "Oh, hey! I know this one! …That's Kamen Rider Dragon Kni—" *bonk* "OW!"

"HEY!" Weiss snapped at Zak, who had just chopped Rex upside the head. "What was that for!"

"I will NOT hear such disrespect!" Zak chastised Rex, who was both in pain and confused. "That is Kamen Rider Ryuki, and as far as we should be concerned, that other show doesn't exi—" *bonk* "Ouch!"

Thankfully, Ruby had come in to give Zak a taste of his own medicine, dragging him away by his hoodie. "Alright, alright, reel it back ya freaking weeaboo…"

"…I have no idea what he's talking about." Jaune uttered, his attention shifting back to Decade so he could keep looking at the Ryuki suit. "But I do know one thing; this one's pretty sick!"

-ATTACK RIDE-

Sword Vent!

From out of nowhere, a new weapon entered Decade's hands; a long scimitar with gold and red details in the handle. He immediately began using the weapon to deliver hard slashes across Red Son's chest, which of course sent medals flying everywhere. But even so, the demon prince wasn't about to give in that easily, catching the blade upon its next incoming strike. With a loud growl, he heated the blade up and bent it, forcing Decade to double back. "Fool! I will not go down as easily as the others!" Bringing his hands together, Red Son shot a concentrated blast of flame at Decade, though even still, he was prepared for that…

-ATTACK RIDE-

Strike Vent!

On his right arm appeared… a very different dragon head weapon. Whereas the one of his left forearm was very flat, this one was much more detailed and actually covered his whole right hand. It had an opening maw, long, silver whiskers, and a pair of sharp horns as well. He raised the weapon up and its mouth opened, sucking in the fire that Red Son had just shot out.

"…You must be joking." the prince uttered.

"I don't joke…" Decade said dryly as he pulled out another card. "…often."

-ATTACK RIDE-

Advent!

Raising his arm up, Decade allowed the dragon head to fly off… wherein an entire dragon body took form out from its neck, becoming a full, red and silver serpentine beast that flew around in the air. "GYAAAAGGHH!" With a mighty roar, the dragon struck down and grabbed Red Son in its maw, bringing him high into the air in the process.

Seeing this, the Earth Dragon let out a low snarl, widening its stance as its tail began to whip about. "W-Woah, woah, hold on there, big guy!" Nora stood in front of her new reptilian friend, raising her arms to try and calm it down. "It's okay! It's not a real dragon…" Her eyes shifted over to Penny questioningly. "…It isn't real, right?"

"By my readings… it doesn't appear to be, no." the redheaded android assured. "Merely a construction of solid light. Though I believe it's based on a real dragon."

Up in the air, meanwhile, Red Son was not having a good time, what with the dragon biting into him and all. "AaAaAaHhH!" he screamed as he was thrown about, literally having the medals shaken out of him. "GET ME OFF THIS CRAZY RIDE!"

"If you insist." Decade said, pulling out Ryuki's Final Attack card.

-FINAL ATTACK RIDE-

Ry-Ry-Ry-Ryuki!

The dragon let out a breath of hot fire, propelling Red Son straight out of its mouth. The avian homunculus went to spread his wings immediately, but by then, Decade had already jumped up high above him. The Rider's body rotated through the air as the dragon circled around him, culminating in a Rider Kick that was followed with the dragon biting straight down on the demon prince, resulting in a massive explosion. As medals rained down across the street, Red Son's body went careening into a stoplight, completely unconscious.

…And needless to say, that's when Rojo called it. "Demon Prince down! DEMON PRINCE DOWN!" The reptilian homunculus transformed her legs into her serpentine tail and booked it as fast as she could down the street, urging her friends to do the same. "Em! Merc! We gotta get outta here, NOW!"

"No need to tell me twice!" Emerald followed, bounding after Rojo with her increased jumping ability.

"Right behind ya!" Mercury echoed their sentiments, keeping up with them with his increased speed.

"HEY!" Yang screamed, wanting to go after them herself, but being quickly reminded that she couldn't as her knee almost buckled. "Gah! Get back here, cowards!"

Thankfully, however, Decade was already on top of it, having reverted back to his base form. "Don't worry. They won't be getting away…" He snapped his fingers twice and, much to everyone's astonishment, something appeared directly in front of the villains. It appeared to be some sort of… curtain of aurora-based light, one that shimmered with a silvery glow. And, rolling out from the aurora… was a large, white bike. It was quite sleek for how bulky it was, but its most prominent feature was the black and magenta paintjob near the headlights, which had seven angular protrusions that resembled Decade's helmet.

The villains were brought to a halt, naturally cautious about what could lie beyond the veil. "Augh! What the hell is this?!" Emerald exclaimed.

"I dunno, but it's in our way!" Mercury went to deliver a hard kick to the motorcycle… only for it to ram directly into him, taking him off his feet. "GAAH!"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't damage by Machine Decader, thank you." Decade called out as he approached… all while pulling out another Rider Card. The masked hero that this one depicted had a black helmet with huge, semi-circle-shaped eyes that glowed bright yellow and were edged with red, separated down the middle by a pair of short antennae. The mouth piece on the helmet was also made to resemble a maw of sharp teeth. "Now, let's wrap this up. Henshin!"

-KAMEN RIDE-

Faiz!

*bleep-bleep-bleep*

From the Neo DecaDriver, two red lines passed across Decade's legs and abdomen, the latter coming together to form a single line up through his chest. Then, in a bright red flash, Decade took the form of the Rider in the card, with a black undersuit and smooth, silver armor that was accented by thick red lines all throughout the suit.

"Oh-ho, NOW we're talkin'!" Zak rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Faiz is freaking badass!"

"With a getup like that, I believe it." Ruby agreed.

Rojo grumbled at the sight, knowing that this wouldn't be easy. However, that didn't stop her from trying to at least intimidate the guy a little. "Just so you know, you're the one who's made a mistake this time!" She raised her hands to her teammates, sharing a nod with each of them. "Those three you took down liked working on their own, but us? We're a well-oiled machine!"

"Yeah! We'll take you on all at once!" Emerald stated, electricity crackling between her horns.

Decade didn't seem phased in the least, though. "Hmph, is that so? Well then, maybe I should even the odds a bit…" He pulled out an Attack Ride card from his Ridebooker, one that seemed to have a motorcycle on it, and then inserted it into his Driver.

-ATTACK RIDE-

Auto Vajin!

All at once, the Machine Decader was enveloped in a powerful energy wave, transforming it from a bulky bike with two headlights into a much slimmer, silver and red motorcycle with a single headlight. The Ministry were taken aback by the sudden change, which gave Decade the opportunity to jump up and somersault over their heads. He landed right next to the Auto Vajin and grasped one of its handles, pulling it out entirely to reveal that there was actually a long, red saber attached to it. In the process of unsheathing it, he also struck it across the backs of Rojo, Mercury and Emerald, eliciting cries of pain.

"GAH! Oh, you little!" Rojo clawed her long, blade-like nails, ready to rip out the Rider's throat. "You are SO ganked!" She slithered forward to tear out his jugular… only for the Auto Vajin to get in the way and do something completely unpredicted. It transformed into a large, bipedal robot, with a head that resembled a motorcycle helmet. Naturally, Rojo screamed at the unexpected move and tried to get around it… only for the Auto Vajin to reach down and grab Rojo's serpent tail, spinning her over its head before slinging her down the street.

"AH! Rojo—AGH!" Emerald's shout of concern was cut short when Decade continued slicing into her and Mercury, forcing their attention back to him.

"I'd worry more about yourselves first." the Rider advised.

At this point, though, Mercury was completely fed up, belting out a roar as he caught the next strike from the weapon. "You… you think you can just come in here, swinging your big fancy swords at us and TAKE our medals like some sorta tax collector?! Well… let's see ya try to keep up with THIS!" All at once, Mercury sped up and began hitting Decade with quick-paced punches and kicks, which even he couldn't keep up with. And, on one hit, he snatched the Ridebooker from Decade's hip.

If she could've, Emerald would've smiled when she saw the opportunity. "Haha! Gotcha now, Card Man!" Unleashing a potent electric blast, she sent Decade into a convulsing fit, forcing pained yells from his throat before he careened backwards and fell to the pavement.

"Oh crap!" Ben reached for the Omnitrix, intent on joining the fight. "Come on, we've gotta—"

"Wait." Zak reached for Ben's hand, keeping it from the Omnitrix. "Just keep watching. Trust me, he's been through WAY worse than this." His eyes went back to the fight, watching as Mercury and Emerald closed in on him. "…He can handle this himself."

But, by all intents and purposes, it seemed that Mercury and Emerald had the upper hand, the former opening the Ridebooker to inspect all of Decade's cards. "Haha! Sweet! Where's your power now, Mr. Pink?"

"Yeah, now WE'VE got the winning hand!" Emerald proclaimed proudly… only for Decade to start chuckling. "H-Huh? What's so funny?"

"Hahaha… ah, you really are just a bunch of idiots, aren't you?" Decade stood up and pulled his hand up… revealing one card that he had snagged from the Ridebooker before it had been taken. If their jaws could drop, the villainous duo would be completely agape. "Next time, check the sleeves before you do that."

-FORM RIDE-

Faiz! Axel!

All at once, the red lines across the Faiz suit began to change from red to silver, while the eyes became red instead. Finally, the chest plate pieces shifted out and then rotated up to Decade's shoulders, revealing the circuitry hidden within. Also, on his left wrist appeared a rather high-tech stopwatch, which he brought up to activate. "Ten seconds… go." *bleep* "Start Up" Once the button had been pressed, Decade's entire body sped up to the point where time seemed to stand still. He went over to retrieve his Ridebooker… and then unleashed a series of rapid strikes upon Mercury and Emerald, at a speed that the former couldn't even hope to match. By the end of the ten second limit, Decade was behind the duo and brushed off his hands as he reverted back to normal Faiz, the stopwatch signaling; "Time Out."

*KA-BAM*

"AAAAUUGH!" The result was medals flying everywhere while the twosome were thrown across the street, landing on top of each other in a heap in their human forms. Mercury was still somewhat conscious, though Emerald was clearly out cold. "Ugh… E-Em? EM?!" The assassin's eyes widened in horror, seeing all of the cuts and bruises across her body… which was when he realized that her clothes were nearly completely gone. Namely, her top. "AH!" He quickly took off the remains of his tattered jacket and covered her up, hoping that no one else noticed. 'Please don't look this way, PLEASE don't look this way!' he prayed as his cheeks tinged pink.

Decade was about to go over and check on the duo… when all of a sudden, the ground burst out from under his feet, throwing him up high into the air. From the hole, Rojo emerged, her fangs bared and claws out, ready to resume her attack. "That is IT!" she screamed, slashing across the Faiz suit and sending sparks flying off with every hit. "I've had it with YOU, I've had it with your form changes, I've had it with your stupid BIKE, and I've HAD it with freaking KAMEN RIDERS!" Spinning in midair, she struck her serpent tail down on Decade's body, sending him straight into the road.

Upon impact, the dimensional traveler rolled back onto his feet, trying to catch his breath as Rojo landed across from him. "Hah… you know… hah… you'd be surprised at how many people say that. But guess what?" Decade pulled out one more card, the last one he intended on using in this battle. "We just keep coming back."

-FINAL ATTACK RIDE-

Fa-Fa-Fa-Faiz!

On the right leg of the Faiz suit, a high-tech flashlight of some sort appeared from out of nowhere. Entering a crouch, Decade then leapt into the air and thrust that leg forward, a red laser shooting out of the flashlight as he did. Rojo was about to move, but the laser quickly expanded into a huge, red energy drill that shot straight into her chest, immobilizing her completely. "AAAUUUGH!" As medals were sent flying out in every direction, Decade came careening down, SLAMMING his foot into the back of the energy drill for his finishing Rider Kick. The attack went straight through the screaming Rojo, causing an explosion that reverted her back to normal.

Her armor now in complete disarray and her injuries far too great, the redhead fell to her knees, mumbling; "Cindy… sorry." before passing out altogether.

With the job done, Decade reverted back to his base form, brushed off his hands, and then returned to his normal self in a flash of light. "Hah… all in a day's work." Tsukasa said, taking his Driver off his waist.

"AHAHAHA! WOOOO—YEAH!" Zak's raucous cheers managed to send everyone else into a celebratory uproar as well, the crowd of teens practically swarming Tsukasa. The Rider was understandably taken aback, though a part of him did appreciate the countless number of excited smiles that he had garnered from the team. "Haha! That was AMAZING!" Zak bowed his head in respect. "Mr. Kadoya, sir, I am SUCH a huge fan of your work, I can't even begin to tell you! Without a doubt, you're one of the most legendary Riders EVER!"

"Hah… such kind words." Tsukasa nodded, playing it off with a cool smile.

"I'm sorry, but sir, how are you even here?" Raven questioned.

But Ben brought up another, more prominent question; "Besides that, how are you REAL?"

"You're supposed to be, like, a fictional character in a TV show that Cooper based his tech on, right?" Weiss added, placing her hands on her hips. "So… you shouldn't even be a real person."

Raising his hands, Tsukasa attempted to slow things down a little. "Hold it, hold it, let's pump the breaks a bit, eh? I'd love to answer all of your questions, and believe me, I will. However, at the moment, we've got more important things to—"

*KRA-CHOOM*

A collective gasp rang through the crowd as something SMASHED into the road behind them, leaving a massive crater while medals were flung into the air. Once the dust settled, the Omni-Hunters and Tsukasa were met with the sight of the Monkey King and the Six-Eared Macaque, still struggling against one another in their fight for supremacy. "Would you just GIVE UP?!" Macaque belted out.

"Not a chance!" Wu Kong spat back, kicking out his former brother's legs out from under him only for the Macaque to flip backwards away.

"…Oh, yeah, forgot this was happening." Pyrrha admitted.

Nora's nose scrunched at the sight of the six-eared simian, giving her new dragon friend a pat on the head. "Hey, see that guy? He's the monkey who threw you around earlier!" The Earth Dragon growled upon seeing the monkey, the inside of its mouth glowing bright orange. "You wanna return the favor now?"

"GRRRAAAAOOORRR!" All at once, the Earth Dragon opened its maw and unleashed a beam of intense heat at the Macaque, who only caught it in his peripheral vision at the last second.

"What the—AAAAUUUGH!" With his body driven through the pavement, leaving a trail behind, Macaque was left in a daze for a few seconds before shaking it off. And that's when he saw the carnage that had been wreaked across the city streets, along with the defeated Ministry laying in scattered heaps among the wreckage.

Wu Kong strode up to his former brother, thrusting the Ryui Jingu Bang at his nose. "As you can see, your little team has been beaten. I think it's time you cut your losses and leave."

At first, Macaque clenched his teeth in ire… but then, his lips curled into a smirk, a slight chuckle passing through as he stood and began floating into the air. "Hehe… well, guess you can't win 'em all, eh? It is what it is… besides, this wasn't our main goal today, anyway."

His wording left Ben and the others troubled. "What?! What do you mean?!"

"I'll let you find that out yourself." Macaque shrugged off as he used his dark powers to lift the six beaten Ministry members with him. Before he left, though, he nudged his chin down to Zak. "But I've got a special message for you, Salt n' Pepper Hair! Tell your parents that you all are in for one hell of a reunion soon! Ahahaha!" Before anyone could demand more answers, the Macaque and the Ministry disappeared in a wave of dark energy, leaving the heroes behind.

"…Well, that's ominous." Zak uttered.

Furrowing his brow, Wu Kong gave a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, Macaque's always had a thing for theatrics. But now, let's try and—AH!" But whatever the Monkey King was about to suggest was forgotten about immediately when he saw Sun's unconscious body being cradled in Blake's lap, rushing over to them in a split second. "Oh, gods, KID!" He knelt down next to the couple, reaching a hand out to check his protégé. "W-What happened?! Is he—"

"He's alive, Monkey King." Blake assured, meeting his eyes with a saddened yet serious gaze. "But… he made a pretty dumb decision." Seeing Wu Kong's questioning brow, she explained; "Sun… absorbed some of the medals to try and match the Ministry's strength. It worked… but he lost his mind to greed not long after. …He became a monster."

Just from his expression, Blake could see that Wu Kong wasn't too impressed, though the concern for his pupil was still there. "Gah… kid." the celestial simian shook his head. "What am I gonna do with you?" But then, out the corner of his eye, Wu Kong saw a pair of shoes that didn't belong to the others, and as he craned his head up, he quickly saw the familiar face who owned them. "Oh, hey… you again."

"Been a bit, Monkey Man." Tsukasa greed with a salute.

"H-Hold on, you know each other already?" Yang asked, smacking her forehead. "What the hell, Monkey King?!"

Wu Kong chuckled and stood up, scratching his neck sheepishly. "Ah, hehe… yeah, we kinda met each other already. I sensed his arrival in our dimension when he got here and we had a little chat." He nudged his chin toward the Rider. "So, what brings you here, world traveler?"

"Just thought I'd lend a hand. These kids seemed like they needed it." Tsukasa gestured down to the unconscious Sun. "Especially your protégé who apparently thought he could be like an old friend of mine." He shook his head, wanting to change the subject. "But right now, we should focus on what else is going on. Your doppelganger said something about this not being their main goal… well, I know what their actual directive is." His eyes shifted over to Ben. "There's something going on in your home town as we speak. And the ones you left behind are right in the thick of it."

"Hah! Oh no…" Penny gasped. "We must return to Bellwood, immediately!"

Ben was all too quick to agree. "Took the words right outta my mouth, Penny. Raven, call Ironwood, tell him that we're headed back ASAP!"

As Raven made the call, though, Ruby couldn't help but notice that Zak seemed to be staring off into space, his features etched with… fear? Or was it disbelief? "…Zak?" Ruby reached out and touched his shoulder, bringing him out of his trance. "Is everything okay?"

"I… I'm not sure yet, Ruby." Zak reached up to his head, feeling a slight headache start to come on. "I just… I can't shake the feeling that something bad's about to happen."

Ruby pursed her lips, knowing the reason behind his plight. "It's about what Macaque said, isn't it? About a… reunion happening?"

Zak took a deep breath, trying his best to steady himself. "Yeah… and I hope to the gods it isn't who I think it is—"

*VAARROOOOMM*

A huge flash of light from out of nowhere took all of the heroes by surprise, forcing them to cover their eyes. Once it died down, however, they saw that it was a returning Apollo, who climbed out of his Ferrari-chariot with a bronze brazier in hand. "Alright, alright, alright! Lord Apollo is back with your bra—" But he cut himself off when he saw the carnage that had been perpetrated throughout the town, his eyes wide at the sight of medals strewn across the road. He tightened his lips, placed a hand on his hip, and gave the Omni-Hunters a disapproving glare. "Okay, what did I say about staying put?"

…..

*KRA-CHOOOOWWW*

Doyle had no idea how things could've gone so wrong. Of course, he knew that Munya wouldn't be a walk in the park to beat, and Qrow quickly picked up on that himself. But even with both of them AND the Cryptids helping them, Munya just seemed to fight back four times as hard as he usually did, going so far as to fight through any pain that was inflicted on him. Any wound they inflicted, he just seemed to bear through it, and then proceeded to come at them even harder. And in the end… Princess Iron Fan had successfully performed her ceremony, bringing down the lightning that coursed through the tesla coils and directly into the pod that Animo was so keen on, the scientist cackling like the madman that he was.

"Gah… hah… how is he still goin'?!" Qrow grit his teeth as Munya stalked toward them.

"I dunno! But keep goin'!" Doyle shouted, shooting his arm laser at the spider mutant. "We need to get to that pod!"

Thunderhog and Exo-Skull, meanwhile, were matching Team CFVY at every turn. And the duo were making it no secret as to why. "FOR THE MUTANIMALS!" they shouted as they rammed through the team of four, toppling them all down save for Coco.

The fashionista had planted her feet and was pushing with all her might against Skull, glaring at him behind her sunglasses. "AGH! You two are seriously too stupid to give up!"

The only one who was having any difficulties was Neo, who was only now finding herself outmatched by Kevin's abilities. "HA! Gotcha, ya silent little twerp!" the Osmosian declared, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a good shock to keep her still.

As all of that was happening, though, the more powerful players among them found themselves in a complete stalemate. Up above, Cinder and Gwen's clash continued, with neither one seemingly being able to get a leg up on the other. Meanwhile, Build, Cross-Z and their dark counterparts were also at an impasse, even with Winter's aid. But, on one lucky hit, Cross-Z and Winter had managed to make Blood Stalk stumble back a bit… which only made him laugh even more. "Ahahaha! That's the spirit! Give me more! I want… oh…" It was only then did the cobra villain spot what was happening with the pod, and it wasn't long before everyone's attention was on it as well. "Isn't that just interesting?"

"Wha… What's going on?" Winter asked, cautiously backing away slightly.

"I dunno…" Kenny admitted, keeping his sword raised with hers. "...But I think we're about to find out."

Build and Night Rogue put their fight on hold as well, the former lamenting how they were too late. "Oh no… this is terrible."

"GAHAHAHAHA!" Animo raised his arms as the pod began to open… and from out of it, a large, hulking beast emerged. "Yes! YES! Your moment is at hand, old friend!"

As the creature emerged, many were left stunned and horrified… though no more than Doyle. The mohawked man's jaw fell, seeing the seven-foot-tall creature with snow white fur and skin, its primate-like features and sharp teeth giving him a incongruous appearance. However, what was most frightening about the creature were his gleaming, yellow eyes… ones that Doyle was all too familiar with. This… was a yeti. And not just any ordinary yeti, either. It was the one responsible for the death of his parents, the one responsible for his family's misery… and the one who nearly took his nephew's life. "No… no, i-it can't be!"

But Animo's words all but confirmed it. "Welcome back… Mr. Argost!"

Standing at his full height, V. V. Argost wore a gnarled, insidious grin as he made his own formal salutation. "Ah… Greetings and Bienvenue."

…..

A/N: HA! Two new cast additions in one chapter! Made you think that this was only gonna be Decade's introduction by the beginning Author's Note, didn't I? But nope! It wouldn't be Halloween if I didn't end on something spooky, so here we have the resurrection of an old villain happening before our eyes. V. V. Argost has returned, ladies and gentlemen, and let me just say that I've been eager to get to him for quite a while. …Granted, I do wish that I got to end Ben 10 RWBY Month with a chapter focused on him proper, but unfortunately, some earlier chapter shifting ended up with that not being the case. But eh, what're you gonna do? I promise, though, Argost's proper debut next time is gonna be pretty eventful.

But, onto the main focus of this chapter; Kamen Rider Decade! Just like Monkey King before him, I've been teasing him all throughout this season, though in much less subtle ways. Tsukasa's been around giving advise to the Beacon Team leaders, but now, he gets to really flex his stuff… by beating down the Ministry with very little sweat. Yeah, this guy's been doing what he's doing for about fifteen years, he knows what he's doing.

Also, with Decade comes his signature gimmick; being able to transform into any of the other 20 Heisei Riders! And this go around, we got Kuuga, Agito, Ryuki and Faiz's abilities to see in action. …Though admittedly, I haven't watched a TON of Heisei Phase 1, so if any of the info I have on their powers is inaccurate, please feel free to sound off so I can fix any errors. I'm mostly going off of what I remember from watching Decade itself (along with any ancillary info that I research myself).

But, in any case, Decade's gonna be sticking around for a bit! …Probably not as much as Wu Kong has, but he'll at least be around until the end of the season. On that note, though, as Ben 10 RWBY Month draws to a close, I leave you with a preview for…

NEXT TIME! As Argost gets used to being alive again, our heroes find themselves in need of a quick return home via BUS, something which Decade is more than willing to help them with. Once they get there and see Argost, though… Zak's headaches come back tenfold and… something happens. Something that'll change the course of his path for the foreseeable future. How will our heroes handle this new threat? Find out next time with… Cryptic Revivals. Thanks for reading, everybody, and thank you for joining me with Ben 10 RWBY Month! Have a Happy and safe Halloween and I'll see you all next time! See ya!