A/N: Hey there, guys! Welcome back to the story and… well, after a week of thinking it over, I've come to the conclusion that we'll be riding out the rest of December on Ben 10 RWBY. Turns out things with the finale are gonna take longer than expected (as you can probably guess since this chapter's a day late), so I wanna get in an extra chapter so that we can at least wrap this up as cleanly as possible.

Oh, but before I forget, something to note from last time; yes, the Iron Bull Tanks and the Inferno Truck ARE directly based on the Lego sets from the Monkie Kid line. So if you've seen those sets, you can get an idea of what the heroes are going up against in this chapter. That said, we've got a lengthy one today, so let's get started, shall we? This is…

Chapter 109: Bull Family Ties

…..

"So, things seem to be going exactly as planned."

"Indeed." Eon affirmed Salem's statement, the two of them gazing through a small portal that the former had conjured up. Along with them were Viktor, Argost and Munya, all of them watching as the battle at Mt. Yotei commenced. The Iron Bull Militia were steadily advancing toward the mountain, though they were met with heavy resistance from the Storm Gods and Amaterasu. Even so, all three deities were splitting their attention between the tanks and their respective opponents.

Princess Iron Fan was testing her metal against Fujin, the two of them summoning gale force winds high in the sky in an attempt to blow each other away. Raijin, meanwhile, was trading blows with Macaque, his hammers striking down upon the celestial simian with literal lightning strikes to punctuate the blows. Even so, Macaque stood his ground, using his bludgeoned cudgel to deflect the bolts.

And as for Amaterasu herself, she was preoccupied with Albedo, in his Ultimate Humongosaur form. The evolved Vaxasaurian's strength seemed to be proving a surprising challenge for her, which was evident just from her astonished facial expression. Even so, she managed to match him in that regard, using her tri-pointed spear to deflect his barrage of missiles whenever he fired upon her. Often, she'd send these missiles straight down to the line of Iron Bull Tanks, taking some off their wheels. But even so, that didn't remain the case for long as the Bull Robots would just set them right back up again and keep going.

Exo-Skull and Thunderhog led the charge in their tank, with Night Rogue and Blood Stalk not far behind. But even so, ahead of ALL of them was Red Son, who was practically plowing through the battlefield at high speed in his Inferno Truck. His destination; Mt. Yotei itself. And Cinder was proving to be an invaluable asset in that endeavor, often deflecting stray shots from the gods above so that he'd have a straight shot.

"Oh my…" Argost admired with a nefarious smirk. "It seems that your forces are making quite the statement with this charge, Lady Salem."

"Without a doubt." the witch acknowledged. "After all, they know exactly what the stakes are. The Demon Bull King must be freed if we want to get one up on those heroes."

Viktor's expression tightened as a thought crept into his mind. "Hm… it's curious, though. You would think that we would've seen the Omni-Hunters arrive by this point."

Salem peered up to her partner, though she didn't seem too worried. "Oh, I'm certain that they will, Viktor. But rest assured, I have a plan for when they do." Her lips curled into a conniving grin. "After all, I'm not about to let them steal the victory. Not THIS time—"

*WHAM*

All of a sudden, the door to the meeting hall was slammed open, startling the group as their eyes snapped up. There, with panic etched across their features, were none other than Dr. Animo and Dr. Watts, the duo practically sprinting into the room. "M-Miss Salem! Come quickly!" Watts exclaimed. "We have an emergency!"

Upon hearing that, Eon dismissed the viewing portal and Salem stood up, her attention now fully on them. "Gentlemen, what is it?" She narrowed her eyes at them. "And please, explain it calm and normally."

"Hah… hah…" Animo huffed, gathering his breath before doing just that; "L-Lady Salem… I apologize, but there is bad news." He clenched his teeth and bowed his head in shame. "Doctor Psychobos has escaped!"

"…WHAT?" Salem raised her voice, her eyes shining bright red as multiple Grimm arms threatened to spawn from the ground.

She would've lost her cool completely if it weren't for Viktor stepping in. "But that's impossible! He was under heavy surveillance!"

"Um, yes… about that…" Watts uttered fearfully. "That surveillance was… done away with. I-It's really best if you come down and see for your—"

"Eon! Dungeon! NOW!" Salem shouted, her teeth grit with rage.

The dimension traveler wasted no time in snapping his fingers, summoning a portal right in the middle of the room. "O-Of course, Salem. Come, this wa—AH!" But Salem just shoved right past him and went through the portal, her glare growing all the more threatening by the minute. Everyone followed after her into the dark, dingy passageways of the dungeon beneath her castle, marching their way to Psychobos' holding cell lab. …And what they found made them gawk in complete stunned silence.

The cell had been completely overturned, wracked with carnage from top to bottom. There was some sort of strange, purple goo that coated the walls… and inside that goo were the ones who were assigned to watch over the Cerebrocrustacean. Mercury, Emerald and Rojo were all strung up, completely unconscious, their arms above their heads with their legs bound together. From what they could see, the trios' bodies were covered in electrical burn marks, no doubt dealt by Psychobos himself. At present, Hazel and Subdora were working on getting the three down, though they paused for a moment when they saw the group ender.

"L-Lady Salem!" Subora cried, obviously distraught. "It's awful! Just look at what that awful Head Crab has DONE to them!"

The sight of this only made Salem's fury rise even higher. "…How? How did he DO this?!"

"We have no idea, Salem." Hazel shook his head, only to kneel down and pick something up. "But we found this amongst the wreckage." Lifting the object up, he revealed it to be a broken Seer, somehow still alive.

"Give me that!" Salem swiped the Grimm away from her subordinate, staring down into its broken crystal head. She reached her hand out, summoning the remaining smoke from within its dome so that she could salvage what it had last observed. Casting the Grimm corpse away, she waved her hand, spreading the black smoke out before her so she could watch the scene play out.

Soon enough, the image of the cell prior to the accident was seen, with Rojo, Mercury and Emerald all fully conscious and watching as Psychobos gave an Iron Bull Robot some parts for the tank. "This must have been right before the Iron Bull Militia left for Japan." Argost concluded, scratching his chin. "But how did—"

Just then, the box that Psychobos had handed the robot exploded, coating nearly the entire room in the purple goo. Mercury, Emerald and Rojo were thrown up onto the wall, while the Seer and Iron Bull were sent sprawling onto the floor. The only one who remained untouched was, predictably, Psychobos, having activated an electromagnetic shield over his head with his own electricity. He then proceeded to severely electrocute the trio of humans before quickly repairing the Iron Bull, allowing it to escort him out like it was no big deal. …But before he left, he also shot his lightning upon the wall, leaving the group confused.

"What was that about?" Viktor inquired.

"Um… I believe it would be that." Animo pointed up to that very wall—the only one that didn't have goo on it. As it happened, Psychobos had scrawled a message onto it with his lightning, and what it said made Salem's blood boil;

"Shouldn't have kept me caged, witch."

That did it. Salem belted out an ear-peircing scream that made everyone flinch away from her, with Viktor being the sole exception. Even Argost and Munya were put off by just how terrifying she had become, her eyes glowing and the veins along her body becoming even darker than they already were as several Grimm arms erupted from the walls. The limbs ripped through the goo like they were nothing, cutting Rojo and the others down with ease. But even so, everyone's blood went cold as the witch bellowed with unbridled fury.

"GYAAAAAAAHHH! PSYCHOBOS!"

…..

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, one of the Iron Bull Tanks had been toppled over again, though this one was rather special. Once it had been knocked down, a hidden compartment in the back opened up, allowing the escaped brain crab to tumble out. Once he was on all six of his legs, Psychobos raised his disproportionate arms victoriously. "Mwahahaha! And THAT is what I like to call—and I use the term loosely—a c-c-clean get away—huh? GAH!" But his victory was short-lived as he just managed to jump out of the way of an incoming missile, one that had been cast aside by Amaterasu in her fight against Albedo. Psychobos quickly scuttled away from the scene, and once he got to a safe distance, he turned back around, allowing him to see the full scope of the great battle.

His eyes widened upon seeing gods clash, barrages of tank ammo being unloaded upon the mountain, and at the center of it all, Albedo and Amaterasu going at it in a battle of superiority. And all of that made for only one logical conclusion; "…I should leave. Now." Psychobos reached into his carapace, pulling out what appeared to be a communication device that had a… rather interesting color scheme. Green and purple with accents of gold. He pressed the central button and, within seconds, someone on the other end picked up;

"'Yello?" spoke a rather sassy female voice.

"This is Psychobos. I'm ready for you."

"Ha! 'Bout time, Crab Legs." the lady said in amusement, her city accent chiming through. "What took ya so long?"

Glancing back to the battle, Psychobos nearly yelped when a particularly potent lightning strike hit the ground. His planet was no stranger to storms, but this sort of lightning was MUCH more powerful than anything his species could generate. "I will explain later. Right now, I need to be picked up. As soon as p-p-possible, you hear?"

He could hear the dismissiveness in the woman's voice, even as she accepted his request. "Yeah, yeah, we'll come an' getcha, don't lose yer claws or nothin'. See ya soon."

"Alright, but please hurry!" Psychobos pleaded hastily. "I'm literally in the middle of a warzone!"

"Gotcha. Over and out." With that, the female voice hung up the call, leaving Psychobos to do nothing but wait until she arrived. On that note, the Cerebrocrustacean scanned the area until he found a small, rocky alcove, one that he knew he'd fit perfectly inside of.

After scuttling over and hopping into the small recess, Psychobos turned his attention back toward the battle, watching it unfold. Every rumble through the ground sent a small wave of fear through him, but he knew that this was still a safe distance. "…Unless any of them decide to fly over here, that is." He mused to himself. "But the chances of that happening are unlikely. Mmph… I just hope she gets here soon…"

…..

As that was happening, a golden light suddenly exploded along the side of Mt. Yotei, signaling the arrival of the Monkey King and Omni-Hunters. The group immediately fanned out, weapons drawn and ready to start kicking Iron Bull skid plates… only to find that none were there. No robots, no Ministry members, nothing. "Huh?" Yang glanced around, seeing nothing but trees. "They're not here yet?"

"Must not be." Wu Kong concluded, hearing the sounds of battle just past the trees. "Seems Amaterasu's been holding them off pretty well so far. But that doesn't mean we can relax."

"Well then, what're we waitin' for?!" Nora questioned, hopping onto Titan's back as she raised her hammer up. "Let's get out there and bash some heads!" Titan gave out a loud roar of agreement, his tail wagging in anticipation.

But Ben curbed the redhead's enthusiasm before she could fly off the handle. "Woah, woah, I get that you're excited, Nora, but we should give it a few seconds. Remember, we still got everyone else coming, too."

However, right as the hero said that, a flash of silvery light appeared in front of the team, taking them all aback. Sure enough, it was an Aurora Curtain, and stepping through it first were Tsukasa, Cooper and Kenny, followed by Winter, Six, Ironwood. Qrow, Raven and Team CFVY. Even Caesar had hopped through the portal at the very back before it closed entirely. "Don't worry." Tsukasa said with a smile. "We're not gonna be late."

"Kadoya-san!" Ruby beamed, waving him down.

"Decade!" Zak bowed in respect. "Glad you guys could all make it!" He scanned his gaze across the group, nodding in amazement. "And man, you did NOT skimp out on the backup."

Coco made her way through the crowd, giving the other group a wink as she lowered her sunglasses. "Heh, we weren't about to miss out on THIS action, Mr. Two-in-One." The new nickname made Zak cough a little, all while a certain demon laughed in his mind. "Besides, with the stakes this high, there's no way we can let those idiots win." She slung her bag over her shoulder, ready to go. "So, point us to where they're at and we'll handle the rest."

"Heh, now THAT'S what we wanna hear." Rex approved as he stepped over to his mentor and his brother. "Glad you could make it, Six."

"Wouldn't miss it." the agent assured, raising his hand to clasp it with Rex's. "Like Coco said, this situation is critical, so we gathered as many as we could on short notice."

The young EVO eyed his older brother confusedly. "I can see that. You packin', hermano?"

Caesar grinned and reached down to his hip, indicating the laser pistol strapped to it. "Heh, strictly for defense, Rex. I'm mostly just here as an observer." He nudged his head over to the three Riders. "Collecting data on not just Cooper and Kenny, but also our new dimension-hopping friend here."

Overhearing that, Weiss tilted her head and raised a brow to Caesar. "And what's this data gonna be used for, exactly?"

"Our next Driver that's currently in the production stage." Cooper answered, him and Kenny walking into the conversation. "The next step in Project Build's advancement. And this battle data is gonna be used to hopefully enhance the next Rider's combat prowess."

"Definitely something to look forward to." Kenny concurred, clapping his hands together. "I know I am. Now c'mon!" He rubbed his palms together eagerly. "I'm itching to get into the fight. The Ministry's gonna wish they'd never come around here."

Winter reached up, firmly gripping her boyfriend's shoulder. "Now, Kenny, don't be so quick to rush into the fight. After all, we're still not all gathered yet." Her gaze went to the Omni-Hunters with concern. "I know that Sun is currently barred from combat, but do you know how Ilia and the others are doing? We couldn't reach them from headquarters."

Yang shook her head. "We don't know. Swift tried calling Ilia before we left, but she couldn't get through to her either."

"Charmcaster took her and Rook to get them." Blake finished, pursing her lips in concern. "I… only hope that they're alright."

"Well then, I suppose we'll just have to proceed into the battle without them for the moment." Raven concluded, glancing toward her brother and Ironwood. "You boys ready for this?"

"'Bout as ready as I'll ever be." Qrow shrugged, converting Harbinger into its scythe mode. "How 'bout you, Jim?"

With a resolute nod, Ironwood put on a large, bulky backpack covered in blue metal plating, pressing a button on one of the straps. Within moments, the entire thing began shifting and converting around his body, until it was covered in metallic cobalt armor with golden accents. Now armed with the Centurion Armor, the general clenched his fists, practically feeling the power course through the suit itself. "I am. Salem will NOT succeed here."

Cooper smiled at the sight of his old armor on the general's body. "Hah, man, that suit looks damn good on ya, general. Now, time to get into ours." He nodded to Kenny and Tsukasa, pulling out his Fullbottles while attaching his Driver in the process. "Gentlemen, shall we?"

Rabbit! Tank! BEST MATCH!

"Already on it." Kenny assured, doing the same as the Cross-Z Dragon flew around his head. He reached up to grab it, giving the Dragon Fullbottle a good shake before inserting it into its back.

WAKE UP! Cross-Z Dragon!

Reaching behind him, Tsukasa took out the Neo DecaDriver, placing it upon his waist and opening it up. "Don't underestimate your opponents, boys." he stated as he reached into the Ride Booker, taking out his signature card. "I've been in battles this big, and doing so can cost you big time. Now… let's do this." All at once, the three men called out; "HENSHIN!" before Tsukasa inserted his Rider Card into his open Driver.

-KAMEN RIDE-

Decade!

All at once, the trio transformed into their Rider forms, their respective weapons appearing in their hands almost immediately. Running his fingers along the blade of his Ride Booker, Decade called out to the others; "Ikuze. We can't afford to waste any more time here." Build and Cross-Z agreed before following him down the mountain, which prompted Wu Kong to summon his cloud and take to the air.

"He's right. Everyone, arm yourselves!" At his declaration, the group of combatants did just that, brandishing their weapons as they followed the Riders as well.

As they charged through the woods, Ben was busy dialing up a transformation that'd be useful for the occasion. "This is probably the biggest battle we've ever had to fight in. So I'm gonna need something appropriately big!" He sent a wink over to his girlfriend. "I'll see you guys out in the field!"

Yang winked back without hesitation. "Give 'em hell, Green Boy!"

With his selection made, Ben pressed down on the Omnitrix core, enveloping him in a bright flash of green light. Once it died down, an immense, armored foot was now where he once stood. And high above everyone's heads, the hero now towered in his To'kustar form, taking long, heavy strides out to the battlefield. "WAY BIG!"

…..

Predictably, this didn't go unnoticed. With Ben now almost the size as the mountain itself, he was bound to be seen by the Ministry and the Iron Bull Army. Hog, Skull, Night Rogue and Blood Stalk were the first to spot him, the mutants screaming out to the rest of their battalion; "WOAH, WOAH! Slow down!" At their behest, the tanks came to a halt, and Hog thrust a finger up toward the To'kustar. "Concentrate all fire on the big guy! Don't let 'im get to Albedo!"

The order was met with compliance as the Iron Bulls all aimed their gatling guns at Way Big, unleashed a volley of burning rounds up at him. However, the bright orange volley was easily noticeable in the nighttime atmosphere, sticking out enough for Way Big to see it coming. 'Time to see if that new trick I've been workin' on can come in handy…' The hero focused on the infinite well of energy within him, much in the same way he would if he were preparing a normal laser blast. But instead of focusing it between his hands, he instead willed it into only his left while straightening his fingers.

The results were immediate as his hand began to glow, only to then shoot out as a massive energy blade from below his wrist. With a swipe of his arm, Way Big dismissed the incoming barrage, creating a brilliant explosion that lit up the entire area around them. "…Oh crap." Exo-Skull uttered. "That's not good."

With an exerting yell, Way Big trapsed his way over to the battle between Albedo and Amaterasu, catching them both off guard as he punt-kicked the former. The Ultimate Vaxasaurian was sent hurdling away as Way Big circled back around to the Sun Goddess, being at eye level with her and giving a nod. "Gomen nasai, Ojou-sama. But I'm afraid I'll have to take it from here."

Needless to say, the goddess was stunned. "…Uruturaman?" The To'kustar simply smiled and pointed to the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, which Amatersu recognized immediately. "Ah! Ben Tennyson! Quite the impeccable timing. Thank you for coming to our aid."

"Don't just thank me." Way Big pointed past her. "Thank him, too."

"Ama!" Wu Kong shouted out, catching her attention as he and Raven flew up beside her. "Sorry that I'm late! Would've gotten here sooner if this didn't just suddenly crop up outta the blue."

"Son Goku…" Amaterasu sighed with relief. "Good, perhaps we have a chance here after all."

Way Big's eyes widened slightly. "W-Wait, she actually calls you Son Goku?"

A groan passed Wu Kong's lips as he shook his head. "Ugh, we don't have time to discuss that, kid! It's time for action!" He shifted his attention toward the Spring Maiden. "Raven, as much as I'd like to take Macaque, I don't know how well you'd fare against Iron Fan's wind…"

"I understand." Raven nodded. "Go, deal with the demon bitch…" She scanned her eyes around until she saw Macaque, unsheathing Omen and igniting the blade into flames. "I'll go deal with the six-eared menace."

"Great, thanks." Wu Kong's focus shifted back to the Sun Goddess. "And Ama, we'll need you back at the cave. If any of these guys get past us, it's up to you to defend the Heavenly Staff."

"Hm, you're right. Arigato gozaimasu, Sun Goku." On that note, Amaterasu flew off, intent on guarding the cave with everything she had.

Gripping his staff tightly, Wu Kong shot off toward Iron Fan, ready to fight with her despite his hesitancy. 'You chose this fight, princess. I'm sorry.' Along the way, though, he caught a flash of red in the corner of his eye, and before he could even process what was going on, a huge body was stomping its way past him, fists raised and ready to fight.

"TENNYSON!" Socking the hero right in the gut was yet another To'kustar, though of course, this one was differently colored than Way Big. Most of the white of the main body was instead dark grey, while the red armored pieces were a deep purple instead. The only parts of his body that were still white were his hands and face, which contrasted against the red of his eyes. Clenching his hands around his opponent's throat, Negative Way Big slammed his heroic counterpart into the ground below. "I am going to ENJOY choking the life out of you!" Albedo screamed.

Way Big let out a hacking laugh as he kicked his legs up, throwing Albedo off of him. "Hak-hak-hahahah! Fat chance, fat head!" From there, the two To'kustars began punching at one another, their blows causing massive ripples that reverberated across the entire battlefield.

…..

And down below, a certain pair of masked villains were beginning to weigh their options. "…I think we may be severely outclassed here." Blood Stalk concluded, watching the giants slug it out with one another.

"You think?!" Night Rogue exclaimed, thrusting his arms upward. "How in the world are we supposed to do damage to something like THAT?!"

"Well, in any case, I think it'd be best to not worry about that right now." Blood Stalk said as he pointed out across the field. "As you can see… we have OTHER problems to deal with."

The bat-themed villain set his gaze out toward the mountain… where he saw Build and Cross-Z coming at them on their motorcycles. But they weren't alone, either, as Kamen Rider Decade was also driving straight toward them on his own machine, while a whole horde of heroes came running toward the battle on foot behind them. "Gah! Of course!" Night Rogue spat. "It's always gotta be them, doesn't it?"

Blood Stalk didn't seem too bothered by the situation, though, combining his Steam Blade and Transteam Gun into its rifle mode. "Aw, don't be such a stick in the mud! I'm quite eager to test our strength again, aren't you?" Night Rogue responded with a grumble as he stood up, opting to use his two weapons separately. His wings then unfurled, taking to the air as he and Blood Stalk abandoned their tank. However, that didn't stop two extra Iron Bull soldiers who'd lost their tank in the scuffle from commandeering it.

It didn't take long for the Riders to spot their adversaries, with Cooper shouting; "Here they come!" while pointing his Drill Crusher at them. "Kenny!"

"Right!" As the bikes still rolled on, Build and Cross-Z stood atop them and then vaulted off, allowing the vehicles to transform back into their phone modes. The two careened through the air and met their opponents with dual strikes, though Blood Stalk and Night Rogue managed to counter them all the same. "Don't you two have anything BETTER to do than irritate us?!" Kenny blasted right in Blood Stalk's face.

"Ah, but what better way IS there to spend a Sunday?" Blood Stalk shoved Cross-Z away, making the warrior tumble to the ground before twisting the valve on his weapon. "Besides, you should be thrilled! A king is about to take his rightful place BACK from whence he left it! I know I can get behind that."

Elek Steam! COBRA!

Upon pulling both triggers on his weapon, Blood Stalk unleashed a cobra made of electrical energy toward Cross-Z, which slithered through the air toward him. Beneath his helmet, Kenny's eyes widened, quickly grasping the pommel of his sword to pump it a couple times. "Crap, crap, CRAP!" he shouted

Hit Para—Hit Parade!

MILLION HIT!

With a hard swing, Kenny unleashed a cacophony of sonic energy waves toward the electric snake, creating a massive explosion that separated him and Blood Stalk. "Hahaha! Good reflexes! But not as impressive as mi—huh?" But upon trying to move, the cobra-themed villain found himself unable, leading him to whip his head down to his feet. To his chagrin, he saw that his ankles were trapped by a black glyph. And, not far away, he could see Winter's piercing blue glare, her sword aimed directly at him. …And she was backed by an icy blue Manticore Grimm. "…Oh, shit."

"Yeah, "oh shit"." Winter repeated as she sicked her beast upon the masked warrior. She took her smaller blade out of the larger one, allowing her to dual wield as she went in as well. "Kenny! With me!"

"Already on ya!" Cross-Z announced, leaping his way through the fire and flames from the explosion.

As the Manticore mauled Blood Stalk, however, that also caused the Gravity Glyph to disperse, allowing him some semblance of movement again even as he was attacked. He let out an angry grunt, kicking the oversized, winged cat in the face to get some space between him and it. But then, he was met with a voracious volley of sword strikes from Winter and Cross-Z, the couple coming at him from both sides. …But even then, Blood Stalk had a plan. He flicked his wrists, allowing the stinger tendrils in his gauntlets to come out and lash at the duo's swords. Then, once he saw an opportunity, he wrapped them around the duo and flung them away, finally giving him room to breath.

"Gah! Oh, of course you'd pull out the classic couple bullcrap!" Blood Stalk balked in distaste. "Trying to gang up on the single guy with your pet kitty cat?!" He gave the valve on his rifle another turn, a sinister smirk forming beneath his mask. "Well, guess what? You wanna make this a trios match? I can oblige!"

Devil Steam! COBRA!

Pointing his gun toward the ground, Blood Stalk unleashed a dark black smoke from it, which then coagulated into a thick, black goop as it hit the ground. But then… it began to expand and take shape, with half of it becoming stark white. It formed a long, slender tail and a thick upper body, though it didn't have any arms or legs. But what it DID have was a head… or rather, two heads. Sprouting from the base of the neck came two huge, serpentine heads, one black, one white, both with huge hoods and long, curved fangs. The fearsomeness of their bone-like heads was only accentuated by their glowing red eyes and the different red face-like patterns they had on their necks; one resembling a jagged grin while the other was a despondent frown.

The twin-headed cobra Grimm let out a loud "HIIISSSSSS!" as it lunged at the couple. And while Kenny and Winter immediately leapt out of the way, it managed to bore its way underground instead, leaving them with no way to tell where it'd come up.

"W-What the heck WAS that?!" Cross-Z exclaimed.

"An Emperor Taijitu!" Winter shouted in disgust. "They're native to Vacuo! Be careful, they can sense movement from undergrou—AH!" The young woman had to react fast as Blood Stalk came in again, smashing his weapon against hers.

"Oh-hoho, yes, DO be cautious, dear boy!" Blood Stalk laughed insidiously, watching as the Emperor Taijitu emerged from behind the Rider. "Any move could be your last…"

Not far away, Cooper and Yuma were slashing their blades against one another, sending sparks flying every which way. The latter took every opportunity he could to try and get some close-range shots in with his Transteam gun, but Build was keen on staying as far away from that muzzle as he could. "Hah! Like we'll let that happen!" the young Rider scoffed as he took out the Vacuum Fullbottle and inserted it into the Drill Crusher.

Soujeki! VORTEX BREAK!

A wild whirlwind was whipped up as Cooper's drill spun, sending Night Rogue hurtling through the air as he swung his weapon. But while airborne, Yuma simply spread his wings out, floating upon the updraft as it carried him. "Ha! Nice try! Now try this on for size!" He aimed his Transteam Gun down, holding the trigger to charge up his next attack.

Steam Break! BAT!

The weapon shot out a blast of purple energy that took the form of a large bat, which flew down through the whirlwind and struck Cooper straight on. The blast was enough to kill the wind, allowing Night Rogue to glide toward the ground while laughing. "Hahaha! You didn't even move! What a fool!"

"Not a fool." Cooper corrected as the smoke drifted away, revealing that he had transformed into GorillaMond form in just the nick of time. He had created a shield of pure diamonds to shield him from the blast, and he was currently using his other hand to crank his Driver. "Just waiting for you to slip up."

Ready—GO! Vortex Finish!

YEAH!

Pulling back his Gorilla gauntlet, Cooper delivered a hard punch to the gemstone shield, breaking it into tiny pieces which pelted Night Rogue relentlessly. "Gah! Ooch! Ach! OUCH!" Eventually, the bat-themed villain staggered back, holding up one of his wings in an attempt to shield himself… but he failed to notice a massive, incoming fist in the process. *WHUP-PANG* "AAAAAUUGGGHH!"

A confident smirk came to Rex as he watched Yuma limply soar through the air, landing halfway across the battlefield. "Heh, guess he didn't consider us ganging up on him, huh?"

"Probably not. Thanks for the assist!" Cooper saluted, only for his attention to shift again once he felt a strong rumbling beneath his feet. "Uh… pretty sure that's not an earthquake." Just then, the rumbling was accompanied by the sound of a loud engine, causing his head to snap up to see an approaching Iron Bull Tank. "Oh… not good."

"I've got it!" Rex assured, exchanging his Smack Hands for his BFS and shifting that further into its Battle Saw mode. "Time to start dismantling some tanks!" As Rex leapt into the fray to do so, however, Night Rogue came flying right back like a shot, slamming straight into Build before the Rider could do anything.

"GAH! Do you ever just GIVE UP?!" Cooper exclaimed.

Yuma responded by slamming him directly through several trees, snapping limbs and even trunks in the process. "I don't know the MEANING of the word!" Punctuating his next move with a midair spin, Night Rogue flung Build toward the ground, his body leaving a long rut in the dirt. He then combined his weapons into their rifle mode, giving the valve a few twists as he prepared his next shot. "And let me tell you, things are only going to get a WHOLE lot more difficult!"

Devil Steam! BAT!

Pulling both triggers of his weapon, Yuma unleashed an oppressive black smoke upon Build, which quickly coagulated into black goo that then solidified into the form of an Alpha Ravager Grimm. The beast let out an ear-piercing screech as it spread its wings, diving down at the Rider with its fangs barred. "Oh crud… time to take flight!" Producing the Hawk and Gatling Fullbottles, Cooper rolled out of the way and inserted them into his Driver, hastily cranking it before shouting; "BUILD UP!"

Tenkuu no Abarenbuo! HawkGatling!

YEAH!

Now in his orange and gunmetal grey form, the wings on Cooper's back spread out as the HawkGatlinger appeared in his hand, taking straight to the air like a shot. Yuma and the Ravager, however, were keen on following their prey. "GET BACK HERE!"

…..

Whilst the other Riders fought against their dark counterparts, Teams RWBY, JNPR and CFVY were busying themselves with taking out the tanks, a burden they shared with Kevin, Gwen and Rex. The young EVO had already gotten to work slicing and dicing his way through several tanks, taking out many Iron Bull robots along the way. Kevin and Gwen, meanwhile, took a less direct approach, instead going straight for the exposed cockpits of the tanks.

*PING* Kevin's arm smashed straight through one of the bull's heads, reducing it to scrap before it exploded around his Fire Dust-coated appendage. He quickly manned the gatling cannon as Gwen decapitated the other one, allowing her to take the controls of the tank. "Any idea how to drive one of these?!" she asked her boyfriend.

"Nope, but I damn sure know how to shoot!" Taking a quick glance at the controls, Kevin could see that they were pretty standard, so he rotated the cannon around toward the other tanks across the field. It didn't take long for him to unload everything into the opposing vehicles, though he noted that one of them was MUCH faster than the others. "What the hell is that truck out there?!"

Gwen spotted it as well, seeing that it was driving straight toward Mt. Yotei. "I'm willing to bet that's Red Son!" She continued to inspect the controls, trying to figure out how to drive the tank. "Gah, but this thing will never catch up to—" *SMASH* "GYAH!"

Just then, a high-heeled foot came down and destroyed the controls, leading Gwen to crane her head up and see Cinder standing before her. "Gwendolyn! I was hoping you'd join the fun!" she said with an insidious grin, only for it to fall into a scowl. "We have some catching up to do—AUGH!" But then, a blur of black and red kicked the Fall Maiden away, sending her tumbling across the grass. "GYAAAH! EVERY TIME! WHY do you ALWAYS—wait, what?"

However, it wasn't who Cinder expected it to be. Where she expected to see Raven was instead Kamen Rider Decade, who had just changed out of his Kuuga form. Glancing back to couple, Tsukasa called out; "Go! Stay focused on taking Red Son out! I'll handle Cinder!"

"Thank you, Kadoya-san!" Gwen called back. "Kevin, let's—" *CRASH* "UGH!"

No sooner had that happened that Hog and Skull rammed straight into their tank, the two mutants hopping out to greet the duo personally. "Ah-ah, we can't let ya do that!" Thunderhog chastised, waving his finger while taking out his Thunder Mace.

Exo-Skull confronted Kevin straight on, tackling him out of the gunner's seat and back to terra firma. "Yeah, Red's goin' to pick up his dad, so we gotta make sure he don't get interrupted."

"Agh!" Kevin swung up and punched Skull in the belly, making him stagger back just enough for the Osmosian to get to his feet. "You wanna play, then? Fine!" Kevin formed a mace and hammer from his arms, slamming them together to make the flames more intense. "Let's play!"

Cinder, meanwhile, had just gotten back to her feet, wearing an amused grin. "Hmhm… hahaha! Oh, now THIS is just the opportunity I've wanted!" She summoned a pair of obsidian swords to match Decade's Ride Booker blade. "I've been eager to fight you since Eon told me about your history, Mr. Decade. Also to get back at you for what you did to my team."

"Hmph, revenge." Tsukasa rolled his eyes behind his helmet. "As if I hadn't heard that one before." Without standing on ceremony any longer, Decade leapt into the fray, cleaving down upon Cinder who crossed her own swords in front of her to block it. "And that would make you the Fall Maiden I've heard so much about."

"Quite the guess. How'd you figure it out?"

"Gwen told me you had a fiery personality and a temper to match." Decade swung his leg up, kicking the blades away before shifting the Ride Booker into its gun mode. "Bit of an easy guess, really." Quick as a flash, he pulled out the corresponding Attack Ride card and inserted it into his Driver.

-ATTACK RIDE-

Shoot!

Letting off multiple shots at the Fall Maiden, Cinder had managed to ricochet most of them away, though some parts of her body were still struck. "Gah! Oh, so that redheaded bitch continues to slander me, then! Well, I'll deal with her once I'm done with you!" Combining her swords, Cinder transformed them into a long bow, pulling back the string to summon three fiery arrows. "Now FALL!" She unleashed her volley of arrows upon Tsukasa… but even so, he was prepared.

-ATTACK RIDE-

Illusion!

Multiplying into three of himself, Decade avoided the incoming arrows and dashed off, taking Cinder aback as he surrounded her in an instant.

-FINAL ATTACK RIDE-

De-De-De-Decade!

Rather than going for a finishing Rider Kick, however, all three Decades instead raised their Rider Bookers, with multiple spinning energy card rings appearing in front of their muzzles. When the Decades pulled the triggers, Cinder's eyes widened as her vision was engulfed in three bright energy blasts that struck her dead on, eliciting an agonizing scream from her throat. "GYAAAAAHHH!"

Culminating in a large explosion, the Decade clones rejoined into one, with Tsukasa brushing his hands off afterward. "Hmph, not as impressive as she made herself out to be… huh?" In less than two seconds, though, he was proven wrong. He watched on while the flames of the explosion were drawn back inward, Cinder emerging from the site none the worse for wear as she reshaped the flames into a giant sword that she held with both hands.

"…You were saying, Pink Man?"

Beneath his mask, Tsukasa's eye twitched. Not much got under his skin, but that… that always managed to irritate him. "Grr… it's not pink, it's MAGENTA!" He reached into his Ride Booker again, this time taking out a different Rider Card. "And I'm going to make you remember that."

-KAMEN RIDE-

Ex-Aid!

Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Mighty-Mighty Action X!

Cinder doubled back and her jaw dropped upon seeing the Rider that Decade had transformed into. She could really only describe it as a pink and black tracksuit with hints of bright green and silver strewn throughout, making for a garish color scheme. He even appeared to be wearing bright pink boots that were designed to look like track shoes. In his chest appeared to be… a health bar of sorts? As well as several buttons that were laid out like the ones on a video game controller.

And then, there was the helmet. It had a bright green crystal in the forehead and the visor was… different. Rather than appearing like a pair of insect eyes, they resembled big, digital anime-like eyes, and the top of the helmet only matched the aesthetic by being molded to resembled spikey, pink hair. The silver face plate somehow only made it even more… cute. Gesturing to himself, Tsukasa proclaimed; "You see? THIS is pink. Pink has more yellow in it, but my suit is one-hundred percent ma-gen-ta."

"You… look absolutely ridiculous." Cinder uttered, missing the point of the lesson entirely. "Did you REALLY just change into that form just to make your stupid point?"

"Oh, no." Decade assured, pulling out another card. "I'm going to defeat you… with no continues."

-FORM RIDE-

Ex-Aid Level 99!

MAXIMUM POWER X!

If Cinder thought the suit looked silly before… she had no idea what she was in for. Especially since this form managed to cast a shadow over her entire body. "Oh… my… go—AUGH!" She was silenced when a big, pink fist sent her careening across the field, much to her chagrin. "This is SO STUPIIIIID!"

…..

As that was happening, Nora was practically plowing through tanks left and right, both with Titan's help and with Jaune boosting her power with both his sword AND his Aura. Meanwhile, Pyrrha had been using her own Semblance to slow the tanks down, if only by a little, which allowed her and Ren to get up close and personal, shooting the tank's drivers with arrows and beheading them respectively. And of course, Team CFVY had probably some of the heaviest hitters, so taking out the Iron Bull Tanks was no problem for them. Yatsu was practically bench pressing them while Coco's Hype-powered bullets tore through them like a hot knife through butter. And along the way, Fox and Velvet were slicing and dicing through the Iron Bull pilots.

Team RWBY, though, were probably the most productive ones out of the entire Omni-Hunter team. Weiss had skewered several of the Iron Bull Tanks with spires of ice, which enabled her Arma Gigas to cleave through them with relative ease. Ruby was deftly flying through the air with her Semblance, stopping every once and a while to either slice through Iron Bull pilots or take headshots on them with Crescent Rose. And Blake and Yang were doing much of the same, only they got much more up close and personal.

"Hyah! Hah! Hacha!" The Blonde Brawler exclaimed as she punched and kicked her way through many robots, blowing holes through their bodies and taking off limbs with them. She often used those limbs for extra damage, too, bludgeoning them over their heads repeatedly. "Hah! Gyah! C'mon, is that all you got?!"

Blake cleanly and precisely sliced through many of the Iron Bulls as well, thoroughly unimpressed. "Gotta say, it's like Red Son built these just to be disposable."

"Well yeah, that's kinda the point!" Weiss thrust her finger out, indicating where said demon prince was. "He's just using these as a distraction to get to the mountain! We need to follow after him!"

"Great idea!" Jaune piped up across the way as his team did away with another tank. "Anyone know an easy way how?!"

As the others debated, Zak, Six, Ironwood and Qrow were taking down any stragglers at ground level, resulting in a pile of robot limbs strewn around their feet. "Gah! Ugh! How many of these damned things are there?!" Qrow snapped, noticing how they just seemed to keep coming.

"You've got a point, it's like they're endless!" James concurred, putting a pause on his gunfire to reload. "We might have to rethink our—"

*CRA-CHAM*

All at once, a powerful surge of lightning came down, surging through the Iron Bull clones and making them explode all at once. What's more, a strong wind then picked up the remaining tanks and flung them high into the air, disappearing into the night. The three men were taken aback, shielding their eyes at the blinding light until it died down. But once it did, it revealed a pair of rather imposing figures floating before them, one that towered over any regular human by at least ten feet.

One had skin that was of a brilliant crimson while the other one's was a deep shade of green, the former having stark white hair that stood up on end and a matching beard framing his rather gnarled, ogre-like features. The green one's hair was, by contrast, bright red, and he had a large, white bag slung over his shoulders. By proxy, the red one had a ring of drums attached to his back, which the trio could only figure was why he was holding a pair of hammers. The pair of deities gazed down toward the mortals, who all stared up at them in awe.

"Are you alright, humans?" the red one asked.

"Uh… yeah, we are now." Zak uttered in amazement.

Six narrowed his eyes up at the deities. "And who exactly are you two?"

"I go by Raijin, the God of Storms!" said the red one before extending his hand toward his counterpart. "And this is my brother, Fujin."

"The God of Wind." Fujin clarified. "And with Wu Kong's timely arrival, we've come to help you."

"Ooh, awesome timing!" Nora exclaimed as the rest of the team joined them, eyeing Raijin in particular. "I especially liked your light show! It might be my bias speaking, but you could probably give Thor a run for his money!"

Thankfully, Raijin didn't seem to take offense to that. In fact, it managed to get a laugh out of him. "Ha! So you've met the Thunderer before, eh? Interesting." Even so, he chose to go back to the topic at hand. "But we couldn't help but overhear; you people need to get after Red Boy, yes?"

Fujin floated forward, bringing with him his bag of winds. "If so, I could probably help with that. Anyone who's willing, hop onto my wind bag and we'll be off in a flash!"

Yang pounded her fist into her palm eagerly. "Ooh, sounds fun! I'm in!"

"So am I!" Ruby cheered as well, strolling up to the green god with her sister. "C'mon, Team RWBY! Let's do this!"

"Hah… I suppose if it's the easiest way." Weiss sighed with a shrug.

Rex came up and nudged her with his arm. "Don't worry, I'll come along. Keep ya company on this wild ride."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Weiss cooed, planting a smooch on the EVO's cheek. "Thank you, Rex."

As Blake joined the rest of them as well, she peered back to the rest of the team. "We'll count on you to keep fighting out here, okay? If any more Iron Bulls come after us, you'll be holding the line with Ben."

"Of course." Pyrrha affirmed, placing a hand over her chest as the others agreed. "Best of luck to all of you."

Coco jerked her thumb up toward Raijin. "And besides, I'm sure having THIS dude around is gonna make things a LOT easier. Let's see what those drums can do, big man!"

Once again, Raijin laughed as he took to the air. "Hahaha! It would be my pleasure!" With a burst of speed, he shot straight up into the storm clouds above, which immediately ignited into flashes of light as rumbles of thunder echoed throughout the land.

Team RWBY and Rex, meanwhile, had all gathered on Fujin's bag of winds, though before he left, the god made one last call. "There's room for one more! Any takers?"

"Uh, yo! Over here!" Fujin's attention was successfully garnered when Kaz popped out from Zak's body, the inner demon clasping his host by the shoulders. "You got yourself another volunteer, Your Windiness!"

"D-Dude, what the heck?" Zak asked as he was pushed forward by Kaz's invisible force.

"C'mon, man, I want a front row seat to all the action! And where the Red Boy's goin', I get the sense that's where I wanna be!" Kaz leaned in next to Zak's ear and whispered; "And be honest; you wanna go wherever Ruby goes, doncha?"

Zak's cheeks flushed red at the insinuation. "Th-That's not—AIEE!"

Without any warning, Fujin hoisted Zak up and into the wind bag, securing it back to his back afterward. "Good! And the boy with the pushy inner demon makes an even six. Let's be off then, shall we?"

"H-Hold on, I'm not read—AH!" But it was too late. Fujin already blasted off after the Inferno Truck, and Zak was pretty sure he had left his stomach behind. "Urp! Ugh, why does crap like this always happen? This can't get any worse…"

"Eh, I dunno." Ruby shrugged… which was when Zak finally noticed just how close they were. "I think it's kinda fun! Hehe!"

Hastily lowering his head, Zak hid his blush as best he could, even though the rest of Team RWBY had already seen it. "Er—um, s-sure… I guess." he sheepishly agreed.

"Stay sharp, guys!" Rex said as they closed in on the Inferno Truck. "We're almost there!"

As the distance between them grew ever shorter, though, the approach of the heroes' and the Wind God didn't go unnoticed. Because up on the battle platform, General Ironclad had already spotted them coming. "Gah, slag it all!" the Iron Bull robot grumbled. "Men! Ready the bombs!" As the two robots at the rear of the truck loaded ammo into the bomb launchers, Ironclad radioed Red Son in the driver's seat. "Sire, we have a problem approaching us from behind!"

Upon hearing that, Red Son's focus was brought to his side view mirror, his eyes widening upon seeing the approaching Fujin with Team RWBY, Rex and Zak in tow. "WHAT?! I thought my mother and Macaque were dealing with those two!"

"It seems that Wu Kong and the Spring Maiden have engaged them instead!" Ironclad informed, peering up into the sky to see the two battled being waged. "Fujin and Raijin will wipe out our forces in an instant if we're not careful! And as for you…"

A scoff passed the prince's lips. He'd made it this far… he'd be damned if he wasn't going to finish what he started. "Very well. Prepare for imminent separation!"

"Yessir!" Ironclad affirmed, taking back to his seat upon the order. Inside the cab of the truck, Red Son flicked a large switch next to the ignition, causing part of the truck's cab and grill to separate from the front bumper and wheels. It shifted up and back, settling over General Ironclad's body so that HE was now in direct control of the vehicle. Red Son then reached down to the center console, hinging open a clear cover for a big, red button that was surrounded by black and yellow hazard stripes.

"Catch me if you can, SUCKERS! AHAHAHAHAA!" Slamming his fist down on the button, Red Son essentially shot himself and the remainder of the cab section out from the front of the Inferno Truck, revealing it to be a heavily armored tricycle vehicle with flames along the sides. A set of booster rockets shifted out from the trike's rear and it blasted straight off into the mountain, the front bumpers plowing a path while the rockets themselves burned what was left behind.

Yang's eyes flashed red at the sight. "Oh you've GOT to be kidding me! Get back here you little TWERP!"

Weiss gasped as the Inferno Truck took a sudden sharp turn, the now very bulky vehicle spinning around toward them. "Ah! Watch out!" Fujin heeded her words and maneuvered around the truck, instead flying straight after Red Son up the mountain.

"General! Should we go after them?!" One of the Iron Bull clones asked.

"No, let them go. Even at their speed, they'll be far too late to stop the prince." Ironclad dismissed, setting his sights back out toward the battlefield. "For now, let's see if we can turn the tide of this fight!" Pressing down on another button, Ironclad activated a rather massive gatling cannon that extended out from the Inferno Truck's undercarriage, sticking out directly underneath the cockpit area. "FOR THE DEMON BULL CLAN!"

It didn't take long for the Team RWBY and the boys to hear the cannon go off, raising their concerns as flew after Red Son. Pursing her lips, Blake couldn't help but think to herself; '…I REALLY hope Ilia and the others get here soon. We could use the backup.' Her brows furrowed with worry as she thought about what could've possibly happened to them. 'Sun… Ilia… everyone. Please be okay.'

…..

Little did the cat girl know that things were FAR from okay back home. The mountains near Bellwood had practically been turned into a battleground as well, with lightning crackling down from the heavens even with the clear, sunny sky. It had been like this since Swift, Rook and Charmcaster had arrived, in fact, with little to no explanation being given from their friends aside from; "Giant Dragon Lady go "BRRRZZZZZZT!"." And from there, they just joined in the fight… the long, agonizing, seemingly futile fight.

It was then and there that Ilia counted their lucky stars that Nora had tamed Titan. Because, as she found out, fighting a dragon was HARD. Fengbao Long was NOT letting up in the least, often switching between her draconic and humanoid forms in order to fight different styles while still matching them blow for blow. Granted, they were thankful for their backup arriving soon after the demoness had transformed, but even so, she didn't seem to be taking much, if any damage whatsoever.

Of course, two out of their nine team members were mainly lightning users, so herself and Neptune weren't the least bit affective against the dragon. And because of her tough, scaley exterior, bullets—normal or otherwise-weren't doing much either, which left Sun and Rook out. Then, of course, Helen couldn't exactly reach the dragon while it was airborne… though thankfully, a certain group could, and they were the ones currently keeping the she-beast busy while the others formulated a plan.

Swift was darting through the air, narrowly avoiding blasts of lightning while peppering the dragon with neuroshock blasts from her eyes and tail. And while they weren't as affective as she'd hoped, she found that aiming right for Fengbao Long's face yielded the best results. Then, of course, Penny and Vados were up in the air as well, using more physical shows of force against the dragon.

"GRAH!" the redheaded android shouted as she smashed into Fengbao with her Mechano-Crushers, attempting to bring her closer to the ground. "Sister!"

"Affirmative! HYAH!" Having inserted the Hedgehog Fullbottle into her elbow, Vados wielded a spiked mace on her right arm, which she swung directly into Fengbao's chin. And thankfully, her attacks were doing damage as multiple scales were sent flying upon impact.

"RAAAAAOOOORRR! You insolent little—I'll make you pay DEARLY for that!" Fengbao went to bit down on Vados' head, only for her to dematerialize and reform further away from her. "W-What?! What is this trickery?!"

Vados shook her head with a sly grin. "Not trickery, nanomachines!" Reaching down into her hip holsters, she produced a pair of Fullbottles this time, ejecting the Hedgehog one from her elbow. "Now, let's see how YOU like being on the other end of the electrical discharge!" She inserted the bottles; "Octopus! Light! Best Match!" and her body began to transform, the nanomachines reshaping themselves… into a giant, mechanical cephalopod that floated in the air. One with magenta tentacles and a bright yellow lightbulb for a head.

"The Lightning Technician! OctopusLight!"

Fengbao was even more taken aback by what she'd just seen. "Witchcraft—GAH!" No sooner did that word leave her mouth did Vados ensnare her, securing one tentacle around her muzzle while the other eight wrapped around the length of her body. She attempted to conjure a lightning bolt to counter, but the entire electrical charge was absorbed by the tentacles immediately. And, to her further detriment, it made Vados' lightbulb head flash directly into her eyes, blinding her in an instant. "GYAAAAOOOORR!"

"Excellent job, sister!" Penny complimented as she went in for repeated strikes upon the draconic demoness. "Keep her stead! Hope has an idea!"

"Really hope it works!" Swift called out, joining in on the attacks as she aimed her neuroshocks at Fengbao's blinded eyes. "Otherwise, we're gonna be here all day!"

From a distance, the silver-haired girl in question was preparing a fairly large-scale spell, one that involved the use of several magic circles. She was sat beneath the giant cymbals that loomed over the battle, with the rest of the team gathered there as well. As Charmcaster focused her energies on eventually casting the spell, though, she also served as deliberator amongst the others, formulating a plan. "Alright, so to recap;" the mage reiterated, "we need to get that dragon back down to Earth in the most efficient way possible so that my spell can work. Any suggestions?"

Neptune raised his hand. "We could always make fun of her. That usually works with the Ministry, ya know?"

Ilia sent a deadpan glance to her blue-haired friend. "Neptune, I doubt that'll work. Sure, it's easy to get under Cinder's skin, but I get the feeling that a dragon like her is gonna have thicker scales than that."

"Eh, fair point." Neptune shrugged. "Uh… maybe Penny and Vados could just drag her back down here?"

"We do not know how much punishment those two can take, though." Rook pointed out, taking a moment to observe the chaos happening in the air. "However, we COULD take advantage of them immobilizing Fengbao Long at the moment…"

Just then, a familiar muffled voice piped up from above. "Ah, so it's a plan of attack you need then, eh?" Hope and Rook were both startled as they whipped their heads up to the cymbals, which Sun, Neptune and Ilia regarded with irritation. "Then perhaps I could be of service!"

Sun grimaced up at the cymbals, placing his hands on his hips. "Dude, whoever you are, no offence, but you're not exactly on our good list at the moment."

"Yeah, you're basically the reason why we were discovered by that dragon lady in the first place." Ilia bit back as well. "Ever heard of "the element of surprise"?"

But the man in the cymbals scoffed and brushed it off. "Bah, youngin's these days… can't even stomach the idea of the direct approach anymore."

Charmcaster eyed the trio in confusion. "Uh… who is this?"

"Dunno." Neptune shrugged. "He was in there when we got here. But the dragon lady called him an "admiral"."

"Who I am or what my rank is isn't important right now." the gruff yet articulate-sounding man replied. "What IS important is that you all need a way to get that draconic wench back down here, and I need a way out. I believe that we can kill two birds with one stone, as it were."

The others were more dismissive of the claim, but Helen was willing to hear him out. "We're listening."

"You see this seam between the two cymbals?"

It was at that point that Sun noticed just how close together the enormous instruments were, with nary a crack to be seen between them. "Yeah… they're pressed against each other pretty tightly. Doesn't look like there's any easy way to break 'em either.'

"Not easy indeed, but not impossible either." the admiral continued. "Because you see, Wu Kong was trapped within these cymbals before, and he had the aid of a dragon to get him out." By this point, the teens' interest was piqued. "She used her horn to pierce through the seam, separating the cymbals with one mighty cleave! I believe that we can make something similar happen here… though I can certainly tell you that our lovely dragon woman won't like it."

"Lemme guess, it involves crashing her headlong into the cymbals."

"Precisely, lad!" the Aadmiral commended. "Now you're getting it!"

Neptune was still skeptical, though. "Okay, but how? It's not like we can force her to do that."

With a short chortle, the man in the cymbals corrected the blue-haired boy. "Haha, ah, but that's the fun part; we CAN! You may not know this, but she has a vulnerable weak spot near her horn. A small patch of skin that, when puncture, causes excruciating pain."

"And you believe we can make her crash into those cymbals just by exploiting that?" Rook inquired.

"Let me put it this way; you'd be taking the dragon by the horn." the Admiral explained. "So, what say you?"

There was a short pause as the group thought over this plan, only for Charmcaster to give a shrug. "Honestly, it's probably the best option we got." Her gaze directed upward toward the cymbals. "But before we do this, I have to ask… can we trust you?"

Once again, the Admiral laughed a little. "Haha… young lady, I've known the Monkey King far longer than any of you have. If he were here, I guarantee that he'd vouch for me without a second thought. And you, boy!" Somehow, Sun knew that he was referring to him. "You are his student, are you not?"

"Uh… yeah." The monkey Faunus affirmed.

"Then trust me when I say that all will be explained when I am freed from this accursed prison. I promise."

Strange as it may have seemed, the man's rough yet gentle tone was enough to convince Sun of his honesty. He wasn't sure why exactly, but it felt like he was speaking to an old friend, and it made him smile involuntarily. "…Okay. We'll give it a shot!" Letting out a loud whistle, Sun summoned his magic cloud and hopped into it, inviting Neptune to do the same. "Dude, you with me? I could use your help up there."

As much as Neptune didn't want to go, he knew that his partner was right. With a long, hesitant sigh, he took out his weapon, loading a vial of Ice Dust into its cartridge. "Hah… yeah, I guess." He reached over and gave Helen's hand a squeeze. "…This is gonna suck, isn't it?"

Helen couldn't help but giggle at her boyfriend's remark, leaning in to smooch him on the cheek. "Hehe, probably. But I know you'll be back. Now go give that dragon bitch what for." With a resolute nod and a deep breath, Neptune hopped on the cloud, holding onto Sun's back to make sure he didn't fall off.

Back at the battle itself, Vados was continuing to drain the electrical energy from Fengbao, while Penny and Swift kept peppering the dragon with lasers aplenty. And with each passing moment, the constriction of Vados' tentacles became tighter and tighter, though Fengbao continued to thrash around regardless. That is, until Sun and Neptune flew into the robot octopus' line of sight. "Oh! Greetings Sun, Neptune!" Vados cheerily greeted.

"Huh?!" Swift shouted, doing a double take. "What're you two doing up here?"

"We've got a plan!" Sun raised his staff while Neptune brought out Tri-Hard in guandao form. "Trust us, we can take it from here!"

"Are ya sure?!" Swift said incredulously. "This lady's one tough customer!"

Penny, however, didn't seem too worried. "Ah, I'm certain they'll be fine, Swift! Besides, Vados has already drained a considerable amount of energy from this dragon. Let's fall back!" At her word, Vados loosened her grip on Fengbao… which was all she needed to thrash about and free herself completely, knocking the group away all at once with a single swipe of her tail.

"GRAAAAAOOOOORR! Insolent WORMS!" she roared indignantly before going straight into a dive toward Vados. "You will PAY for that!" As she went to charge up another electrical breath from her maw, however, she failed to notice Sun and Neptune flying down parallel to her back, the duo arriving at her head before they both dropped down onto it. "Ach! Who goes there?!"

Clinging to her mane, the two boys raised their weapons, locating the exposed skin near her horn. "You'll find out soon enough, Scale Belly!" Sun called out. "Ready?!"

"Not really, but sure!" Neptune said uncertainly. "Three…

"Two…"

"ONE!" On both boys' mark, they plunged their weapons into the weak spot, with Neptune's blade freezing over in an instant while Sun unloaded a shot of Fire Dust at the same time. The result was a reverberating cry of pain and anguish from the dragoness, who writhed in the air before she plunged toward the ground straight on. But, of course, this wasn't what they needed. "Crap, crap, CRAP!" Sun exclaimed. "GIRLS! We need to crash into those cymbals!"

The mechanoid sisters nodded and flew downward, with Penny going right under Fengbao's chin while Vados wrapped her tentacles around the dragon's neck. "On it!" they said in unison. Penny pushed upward with all her might as Vados pulled back, changing Fengbao's course straight for the cymbals… and the gigantic stone golem that had appeared just beyond them. "Oh my! Hope has been busy!" Penny remarked.

Neptune started to feel better about their chances at this point. "Hahaha! Alright, keep the pressure on!"

"No… NO! STOP—GYAH!" But despite her protests, Fengbao Long was only met with another neuroshock to the eye, courtesy of a flyby Swift.

"Quiet, bitch! Here comes the pain!" And just as she said, the pain DID come as Fengbao careened straight through the cymbals, breaking them apart with her horn. "Jump! NOW!" Swift's words were heeded immediately as the four dragon riders leapt away, just in time to avoid the incoming stone golem's massive fist smashing into Fengboa's head. The summoned beast then grabbed her by the tail and started walloping her upon the ground, kicking up dirt and rock all over the place until her body went limp.

Sun, Neptune, Penny and Vados came in for a landing along with Swift, the five of them met with cheers and congratulations from their team. "Haha! Way to go, guys!" Ilia commended, moving over to a certain Aerophibian. "Including you, obviously, hehe…"

Swift saw how bashful her girlfriend was being and slung her arm over her shoulder. "Ah, I didn't do much. Just enough to make sure that dragon bitch didn't do too much damage." She extended her hand over toward the others. "Those guys, though, they're the ones who really did the heavy lifting."

Nodding down to them, Rook heralded Swift's words. "Indeed. Excellent work, everyone."

"All in a day's work for heroes, am I right?" Sun shrugged… only to remember something. "…Wait, I'm supposed to be benched, aren't I?"

"Ah, I think Ben will let this slide." Neptune assured with a jab to the shoulder. "Besides, this was basically out of your control, so he'll understand, I bet." He directed his attention over to Hope with a thumbs up. "By the way, nice call there with that golem, Charmcaster! Really gave her a good thrashing!"

The sorceress merely gave a shrug. "Eh, it's what I'm good at. But now that that's done, we can get back on track." Her gaze moved back to the two cymbal halves, scanning the area for whoever was held inside. "…Did anyone see the Admiral—"

"GYAAAOOOOOORRR!"

The whole group let out a yell as Fengbao Long's motionless body suddenly sprang to life, smashing one of her claws through the head of Charmcaster's golem while snatching up the sorceress herself. The team regrouped and armed themselves once again, but Fengbao was prepared with an ultimatum; "STAY BACK! Or the girl DIES!"

"Let us not be hasty!" Rook raised his arms, hoping to negotiate. "We can work this out—"

"The only think that'll be "worked out" is the lot of YOU when the Demon Bull King rises once agai—" *FWOOM* But then, right at that moment, Fengbao's enhanced hearing caught wind of something flying through the air, leading her to look up… just in time to see something get tossed out from one of the cymbals. Through the air flew an ornate, golden, nine-toothed rake with a long, black iron handle… which fell straight into her head as it came down.

All at once, Hope was freed from the clutches of the dragon demoness, all while the beast let out an agonizing, almost unnatural screech. In no time at all, Fengbao Long's body fell limp once again… and the team had a suspicion that this time, it was very permanent. As her head crashed to the dirt, the rake was dislodged from her forehead, landing straight into the ground with nary a drop of blood on it. The group all stared at it in stunned silence, only for Helen to mutter; "So… d-did that just…"

"Yeah, pretty sure it did." Sun said breathlessly, craning his head up toward the cymbal behind them. "…And I think that rake belongs to him." There was a long, suspenseful pause as they could hear the Admiral making his way out of the cymbal, the team keeping baited breath as they wondered what sort of being was powerful enough to end that dragon's life with a single blow to the head.

They didn't have to wait long, though, as they saw someone… or something peak over the side of the upside-down cymbal. The chortling man was actually NOT a man at all… at least, not completely. Rather, he was a pig man, one who was rather small, somewhere between three and four feet tall. He was covered from head to toe in dark, bristly hairs that were thicker over his head, arms and legs, and he wore azure robes that were edged with golden seams. His arms were covered in dark wrappings, leaving his three-fingered hands exposed. His pot-belly was also exposed, along with his hooved feet. His porcine head was also a bit larger in proportion to the rest of his body, complete with tusks, pointy ears, and a flat snout. Around his neck, he wore a dark blue scarf and a bead necklace.

As he went to go over the side, the pig man attempted to gently lower himself down… even though he was essentially twenty feet off the ground. The others merely watched before he lost his balance entirely, causing him to slip and fall straight to the earth below. "Ach! Oof! Augh!" Sun took point as he and the others approached the Admiral with intrigue, watching as he dusted himself off before turning around to meet them. "Bah! About time! I was nearly cooked alive in there!"

Everyone blinked at him in silent astonishment, only for Swift to ask the most obvious question. "So… you're a pig?"

"Pfft, what? And you've seen stranger?" the pig man rebutted, nudging his head toward the girl as he made his way over and plucked his rake from the ground. "Now move! Let me see…" The pig man made his way past the crowd and over to the dying dragoness, trepidatiously kicking his foot against her nose. She reacted with a slight lunge, and while the pig flinched, it didn't take long for the rest of the dragon's life to drain from her eyes. …To which the pig promptly spat on the corpse. "Ptui! Blasted eyesore. Really thought she could get away with it."

"…Dude. What the hell?" Neptune uttered.

The pig man rolled his eyes. "Oh come now, don't tell me none of you have ever taken a life. You're in the middle of a war, aren't you?" He glanced around skeptically, only to see that most of the group were uncomfortably fidgeting in place. "…Are you serious? NONE of you have ever taken a life before?"

Ilia cleared her throat, slowly raising her hand. "Ahem, um… I have. Though not since I joined the team."

Swift couldn't help but do a doubletake upon hearing that. "Woah, babe, you've killed people before?"

"Yeah, mostly Schnee Dust Company guards. …And some Faunus hate group members." Ilia wore a worried look as she glanced up to her girlfriend. "Does… that bother you?"

"I mean, babe, I'm an ex-criminal. Far be it from me to judge." Swift pulled Ilia under her arm, giving her a reassuring hug. "You're a different person than you were back then, after all. We BOTH are, so I think it's best to try and move on from that and focus on the future, right?"

Clearing her throat, Charmcaster piped up. "Erm, yeah… funny you should mention that." she raised her hand shamefacedly. "I've also taken a life. …MANY lives, as a matter of fact. Some of which were resurrected soon after, admittedly, but…"

"Oh yeah, we know about that already." Penny affirmed, taking the sorceress aback. "Gwen told us ALL about how you took her and the others' souls to try and resurrect your father." The redheaded android waved it off like it was no big deal. "But in the end, no harm was done, so best to forgive and forget, right?"

"…You lot are certainly a strange bunch." spoke the pig man, only to shake his head dismissively. "But enough about that! You there, boy!" Sun was startled the moment the pig pointed at him, making his way over with an intimidating yet oddly cute waddle. "Let me get a good look at you…" He narrowed his eyes up at Sun, inspecting the monkey boy's features. "Hmph, just as I suspected, you've got that same look! A furry head and a pinched face. You're definitely Wu Kong's disciple…" the pig's gaze moved down, grimacing at Sun's attire. "Urgh, even if you aren't dressed the part."

Sun winced at the reminder. With his old clothes in tatters, he had to make due with what he had for this hiking trip; a simple white t-shirt—with NO open chest—a pair of khaki shorts, some brown, fingerless gloves, and a matching set of hiking boots. He felt like he was naked, and NOT in the fun way. "Trust me, I know. …But wait." It was Sun's turn to narrow his sights at the pig, finding something familiar about him.

"What's up?" Neptune questioned. "You know this guy?"

It didn't take long for the young Faunus to put two and two together. "…Oh my gods, I do. A pig dude with a nine-toothed rake!" His smile widened as he pointed at the short individual. "You're Master Wu Kong's travelling buddy!"

"Haha! So you DO get it!" the pig man raised his head proudly. "It's good to know that Wu Kong still shares the old stories…"

"Yeah! You're Zhu Bajie, the Celestial Swine!"

At that, the admiral promptly fell on his face again. "Gah! Jade Emperor's Beard! Damn that Wu Kong and his absurd nicknames!" Much to his chagrin, that got a short giggle out of the group. But, with a heavy sigh, Zhu Bajie knew that this was no time to be fooling around. "Hah, but yes, I am Bajie… and I am here on a matter of great importance. To warn Wu Kong that the Demon Bull King's resting place is under siege…"

"Uh, yeah, you kinda missed him." Swift said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. "He already took most of the team and left for Japan already."

A growl passed Bajie's lips as he scratched his head in frustration. "Gah, of COURSE he did! Always leaping before thinking, he is!" With his grip tightening upon his rake, the pig man resolved to proceed at any rate. "Well, either way, we must go there ourselves! I cannot explain why, but I get the feeling that Wu Kong may be in more danger than even HE realizes. You there, witch! Can you teleport us there?"

"I can, yes." Concentrating on her magic again, Charmcaster summoned a new magic circle beneath everyone's feet, ready to transport them all to Japan. "Be ready for anything, people." She spared Sun a short glance, to which he gave a single nod. "And whether Ben likes it or not, it's all hands on deck with this one."

"Hm, let's do it." With that final word from Sun, the group disappeared in a flash of pink light, leaving the giant cymbals and the dead draconic body behind.

…..

As that was happening, Amaterasu stood diligently in the cave containing the Heavenly Pillar that kept the Demon Bull King sealed, knowing full well what was coming. She knew from the moment she heard a loud, revving engine that the blasted boy had gotten through the heroes' line of defense, but even so, she didn't blame them. After all, the villains' forces WERE incredibly overwhelming for mere mortals… though even she wasn't sure what would've happened if they hadn't arrived. 'Would Red Boy have gotten past anyway? Questions for later. Right now, I have a duty to uphold.'

Taking a defensive stance, Amaterasu took up her spear for battle as the engine got louder until… *CRASH* the three-wheeled vehicle rammed straight through one of the cave walls, skidding across the rocky floor until it came to a halt. Climbing out of the cockpit, Red Son wore a victorious smirk, wordlessly hopping out to confront the goddess himself.

"So it has come to this." Amaterasu lamented, leveling her spear with the demon prince's chest. "You know… I had hoped that Guanyin was right about you, Red Boy. That her teachings would've helped you along a more enlightened path. It's not too late to turn back. Forget about your father, take your mother away from here, and this can all end in an instant." Without saying anything, Red Son tapped his chin ponderously… only for his grin to come back and his hands to ignite into flame. "…So be it. HYAAAAHH!"

The Sun Goddess flew straight ahead, dodging several bursts of flame from the prince before striking down with her tri-pointed spear. Red Son deftly dodged, though, ducking out of the way while nimbly somersaulting backward. "Do you have ANYTHING to say for yourself?!" Amaterasu yelled, again stabbing at him with her spear. "Usually you're so boisterous, but does battling a god truly make you THIS speechless?"

Red Son seemed ready to retort with another burst of flame… but then, something happened. He was knocked off his feet by a powerful gust of wind, one that sent him straight into a wall. Amaterasu was taken aback until the perpetrator of the wind came flying through the same hole, and she broke out into a full smile when she saw who it was. "Then perhaps TWO gods will make you think twice!" Fujin bellowed, letting out Team RWBY, Rex and Zak as he landed.

"Sorry we're late, your highness!" Blake bowed respectfully, followed by the rest of her friends. "Things are extremely chaotic out there."

"Hah, I am well aware." Amaterasu sighed happily. "But I am glad that you're here nonetheless." She and the team shifted their sights back to Red Son, who was slumped against the wall, rubbing his head. "Now, let's take care of this one…"

Yang smacked her fist into her palm as they closed in on the redheaded demon. "Gladly. Sorry, dude, but your reunion with daddy ain't gonna happen any time soon."

"Any last words before we bring you in?" Weiss stated, leveling Myrtenaster at him. Eventually, Red Son raised his head back up… revealing a rather arrogant smirk. Immediately, this set off several red flags in her head. "…He's smiling. And he's not saying a thing."

Rex saw through that as well. "Yeah, that's not normal for him. He's usually really big on gloating." He brought out his BFS and thrust it toward Red Son, who silently flinched as its tip stopped just short of his chin. "…Not a peep."

Ruby's eyes widened in realization. "…Neo." As if in response, "Red Son's" smirk increased into a toothy grin, his blazing red eyes shifting to brown and pink. Neo dispelled her disguise entirely as she stood up, revealing that she was wearing a pair of gloves that had Fire Dust crystals sewn into them. "CRAP BASKETS!" Ruby belted out.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Maniacal laughter echoed through the chamber, causing everyone's heads to whip around toward the Heavenly Pillar. And atop its resting place, with a gauntlet-covered hand clenched around it, was the real Red Son. "You FELL for it! You actually fell for the old bait and switch!" The mechanical gauntlet began to course with powerful energy as he pulled on the staff. "Now, with this specially built gauntlet, I, RED SON, will finally free my father, and there's NOTHING you can do about it!"

"Oh, this ain't good." Kaz deduced, his ghostly form hopping out of Zak's body.

"YA THINK?!" Zak pulled out his Claw and thrust it out, launching it to try and grapple the gauntlet. "We gotta stop him!" Team RWBY, Rex, Fujin and Amaterasu followed his lead, barreling toward Red Son with that intent…

…But it was too late. *TONG* With a loud scream, Red Son summoned all his strength, exerting a force unlike any he had done before… and pulled the staff from the buried mountain peak. "NO!" Amaterasu cried out in horror.

Holding the staff aloft, Red Son jumped down from the peak, avoiding the do-gooders just as Neo joined him. "GAH! Hah… hah… YES! I did it!" the demon prince gloated. "The gauntlet was a success! Now… now, uh…" As the seconds passed, Red Son—and everyone, for that matter—were left befuddled when nothing seemed to happen. "…W-What's going on?! Why is nothing happening?! Did I get the right mountain?! I hope I got the right mount—AIIIIN!"

*CRA-CHOOOM*

Finally, though, something DID eventually happen; a swell of green energy suddenly BURST out from beneath the buried peak, causing it to explode as a fissure split open in the cave. Everyone was sent flying as a result, but Red Son managed to land on his feet. He kept a firm hold of the staff as his focus went to the glowing fissure… where a huge, imposing figure with long, curved horns began to emerge. Red Son's smile grew a mile wide in that moment. "AHAHAHA! Yes, Father! Rise! RISE! HAHAHAHA!"

"…No." Ruby said fearfully, with Zak sticking close by her. Yang and Blake stood side-by-side as well, while Rex reached down to take Weiss' hand. "We… failed."

The best way they could've described the Demon Bull King was "minotaur, but scarier", with his clawed hands and feet, his curved, black horns—one of which had been partially sliced off—and strong, barrel-chested build. He was a fifteen-foot behemoth of a demon, covered in thick fur that had once been a pearlescent white. However, over time, it had been stained with blood that seeped from the several open, rotting wounds across his body, leaving it a deep purple instead. His sunken in eyes were also yellow with red irises, making him even more frightening. And, of course, he had a golden nose ring, completing his bullish appearance. All at once, the Demon Bull King gave a mighty roar, his eyes beginning to glow the same green color as the energy that surrounded him. Then, in a deep, guttural voice, he uttered;

"I… am… back."

…..

A/N: And, with that… the Demon Bull King has risen once more. …And just like in Lego Monkie Kid, he's voiced by Steve Blum. Yes, that means Steve's pulling double duty on big-time bad guys, but at least his cadence for DBK is a bit lower and gruffer than Vilgax, so there IS a noticeable difference. Also, yes, he DOES still have the purple fur like in LMK, but here, it's explained that it was once white like in the original novel, but was stained by the endless bleeding from his wounds. I dunno about you, but I think that's pretty metal.

But man, talk about a HUGE chapter in terms of developments… though let's face it, this was a big battle chapter first and foremost. Ministry vs Omni-Hunters in probably the biggest scale fight we've seen since the second Battle for Vale, for sure. Granted, not EVERYONE from the Ministry is present, but the numbers of the Iron Bull Army definitely make up for that. And then, of course, you have to have Way Big vs Negative Way Big in Japan. It only makes sense, and yes, that transformation for Albedo is lifted directly from the Ultimate Alien video game.

That said, while the fight in Japan isn't going so smooth, things went relatively well for the squad back in Bellwood. They defeated a dragon demon, freed the Admiral from the cymbals… and then that very same pig man got the last-minute kill! All is well again for Zhu Bajie, who yes, has his same exact appearance and voice from Black Myth Wukong. I was really debating on how to portray the rest of the Pilgrims from Journey to the West in this story, but that game has definitely helped me out quite a bit. So now, in the next chapter, they'll be off to help the gang in Japan! Let's just hope they get there before anything gets worse…

But what's this? Psychobos has made a daring escape from Salem's castle! Guess he wasn't keen on staying, to say the least. But who is that he's contacted? Well, guess we'll have to wait and find out… NEXT TIME! The battle continues as the gang learn of the Demon Bull King's awakening, to which Wu Kong and Iron Fan rush onto the scene… followed by Bajie and the others dropping in unannounced. Next Time: The Sage Who Pacifies Heaven. It's time for the Bull to stretch his legs… Thanks for reading, everybody, and I'll catch you all next time! And of course, as always, stay safe out there!