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)

105. Roman Rampage

A/N: Morning, everybody! Well, we're already in the home stretch of Ben 10 RWBY Month it seems, and we've got a DOOZY of a chapter to start that off with. And since we've got a lot to go through, I'm not gonna stand on ceremony up here. Gonna leave most of the discussion for the END of the chapter, so let's get to it, shall we? This is…

Chapter 104: Roman Rampage

…..

Ken Tennyson was exhausted. Since he had become a Kamen Rider, he had imagined that it'd be nothing but fighting villains, saving the day and becoming a beacon of hope for those in need. …Unfortunately, things hadn't turned out that way, at least not at first. For the past few days, he had done pretty much nothing but chores and training, bouncing back and forth between his parent's place and his uncle's house to take care of everything. And by the afternoon, he'd come back to his girlfriend, his sister AND his grandmother, all ready to get him into fighting shape. And then he had to make regular visits to the Plumber Base in order to get the paperwork straightened out for his imminent deputization. But of course, on top of ALL of that… it had been relatively quiet in terms of criminal activity in Bellwood since the massive battle.

So, in short, he hadn't been able to really test out his new abilities much at all outside of training. He hadn't even transformed since that day, with Winter insisting that he just use the Beat Crosser as a normal sword during their sparring sessions. "After all, if you were transformed, we would not be on even footing." She had reasoned.

"I mean… couldn't you summon Grimm for me to fight?" he had questioned.

"Yes, but those exercises will come later. First, we'll need to teach you some proper sword play. …Right after your mana lessons, of course."

Those had been the lessons that Kenny dreaded most. Obviously, he was WAY behind his sister when it came to mana manipulation, so if he wanted to get as good as her, he'd have to step up his game. However, Grandma Verdona had promised to whip him into shape… thankfully WITHOUT an actual whip. But even so, the process had been arduous, especially since she had encouraged him to try using the Dragon FullBottle less and less.

"You need to be able to naturally summon your inner strength, Kenny." the Anodite elder had reiterated several times over. "Becoming reliant on an outside source is good for starters, but there could become a time when you don't HAVE that source for whatever reason."

"Hah… easier said than done." Kenny panted, having only just achieved bringing up his mana claws… though they were comparatively weaker than when he used the Dragon bottle. "You two can actually take on Anodite forms. I can't."

Gwen came forward, placing a hand on her brother's shoulders. "Maybe not, but you're already showing signs of great potential, Kenny. Who knows? Soon enough, you'll probably be able to change into an Anodite form yourself."

"And without destroying your physical body to boot!" Verdona proclaimed, earning her an incredulous stare from her grandson.

"…Yeah, let's try to avoid that as much as possible and go the more natural way." Gwen agreed with a nervous grin.

After nearly three days of nothing but training, chores and paperwork, though, Kenny had just about had it. He was tired, frustrated, and nearly worn out from all of it. As he laid flat on his back in his front yard, surrounded by his tutors, he could only think to himself; 'I need SOME sort of pick-me-up, and SOON.'

Gwen let out a short sigh as she stretched her arms up, ready to take a breather herself. "Okay, I'd say this is a good place to take a break for a while."

Winter was quick to agree. "Indeed. I'll head inside and fetch us some drinks."

"Oh, why thank you, Winter, dear. How nice of you." Verdona smiled to the young woman, who reciprocated in kind before turning toward the house. As she left, though, Verdona also saw Winter clench a victorious fist, almost as if she were proud of herself from earning such praise. 'Hah, kids these days…' She knelt down next to her grandson as he sat up, offering to help him to his feet. "How're you feeling, Ken? Strong? Powerful?"

"Hah… exhausted is more like it." Ken emphasized, wiping sweat from his brow. "With everything I've been doing these past few days, I'm hoping to the gods that I can survive until I can officially join the team."

Verdona gave him a slight nudge to the shoulder. "Oh, don't be so dramatic. You will, I promise. But I must say, you are progressing VERY well."

"Ah, I don't know about that—"

However, Gwen was insistent on what their grandmother said. "No, Kenny, you ARE." She pointed down to his hands. "When you first summoned that claw of yours, it was massive. But then the second time, it wasn't, even when you were holding the bottle. But now?"

Pursing his lips, Kenny eyed his hand and balled it into a fist, focusing his power into it and summoning the dragon energy claw again. It was certainly sizeable, for sure. Not as big as it had been the first time, but it was getting close. "…Gwen?" His sister nodded, urging him to go on. "Do you… think I can really be as good at manipulating mana as you? I know for sure I probably won't be able to handle magic, but…"

"Kenny." Gwen placed a firm had on his shoulder, staring directly into her brother's eyes. "You keep this up, and I think that you'll be able to manipulate mana in a way that even I can't."

"All Anodites control mana in their own way." Verdona said, stepping between the two. "Even if some styles are similar to others. For instance, the way Gwen, Sunny and I control energy is very similar, but we all have our distinct flair." Her attention went straight to her grandson again. "But you, Kenny… I think that your exposure to dragon energy has given you something incredibly unique. Something that only few Anodites could hope to match. You master it… and you'll be the envy of SEVERAL people on Anodyne."

That managed to perk Kenny back up a bit. "Y-You think so?"

"I know so." Verdona peered past his shoulder, seeing Winter coming out with a tray full of lemonade and cookies in hand. "Ah, and there would be our refreshments! Thank you again, dear."

"Thank Natalie." Winter said. "She's the one that made everything here, after all."

"Oh, I'll be sure to." However, not soon after the group began digging into the confectionaries, a certain horn sounded off, bringing their sights to the street where the Rustbucket pulled up to the curb. "…Oh, my lord." Verdona smiled cheekily. "I can never get used to that."

Gwen tilted her head, though she also wore a small smirk. "Not a fan of the Rustbucket, huh?"

Clearing her throat, the elder Anodite explained; "It's not awful by any means, but… let's just say that there's a reason I wanted to stay here rather than in there." However, once the RV's driver stepped out, Verdona's smile became much brighter. "Ah, there he is…"

Max beamed back to her as he walked up the sidewalk meeting the group and embracing his beloved. "Haha, afternoon, everyone." The old Plumber pecked Verdona on the lips before going on. "How is everything today?"

"Oh, you know… tired beyond belief." Ken replied, his voice breaking slightly and making the girls giggle in the process.

"That so? Well, I think I've got just the thing to wake you back up, sport." Max peered over his shoulder. "Or rather, he does."

The sound of an approaching motorcycle caught the group's attention, and at the curb, they saw a certain genius dismounting his Machine Builder before transforming it back into its Build Phone mode. "Ah, I was hoping you guys were still here!" Cooper said as he approached, his eyes going straight to his new partner. "Ken, have I got some big news for you."

All at once, Kenny's exhaustion was forgotten about, excitement coursing through his veins while his fists tightened in anticipation. "I-Is it finally time? Did the submission go through?!"

"Hehe…" Cooper reached behind his back and pulled something out, tossing it over to the redhead. With a gasp, Kenny managed to salvage the catch… though what he saw in his hands wasn't what he expected. Rather than a Plumber's badge… he held a dark blue version of the Build Phone, very much identical to Cooper's. The blonde genius winked and gave a thumbs up. "Congrats, my friend. Welcome to the force."

Kenny's mouth hung open, completely caught off guard. "W-Wait… I get my OWN Build Phone?!"

"Yep… and it works just the same as mine. Try putting in a FullBottle, would ya?"

Kenny followed Cooper's instructions hastily, taking out the Lock FullBottle from his back pocket. He inserted it into the underside slot and, all at once, the phone began to transform. Giving it a toss, Kenny and the others watched as it grew and unfurled into his own Machine Builder, though unlike Cooper's version, there WERE key differences. Of course, the dark blue coloration was one, but the front of the bike had a large dragon head molded on it rather than a gear. And along its sides, there was golden flame detailing that matched the ones on Cross-Z's own suit

All at once, Kenny's face broke out into a wide smile. "Haha! No way!" He went up to the bike—HIS bike—and ran his hands across the leather seat. "Hah… this is so cool! Even the real Cross-Z didn't get his own bike!"

"Yeah, well, you know, American custom motorcycle laws are a LOT more lenient than Japanese ones, so I figured; "why not?"." Cooper went up and clasped a hand on his partner's shoulder. "Congrats, man. Welcome to the team."

"Hah, Coop, thanks… thanks a lot—huh?" Just then, however, Kenny found that Cooper was holding something else up in front of his face… a pair of FullBottles that seemed oddly familiar. He grabbed them and, upon second glance, realized that they were the red Pheonix FullBottle and the cyan Unicorn FullBottle, with the respective creatures molded on the front. "W-Woah, where did these—"

"Just finished them up this morning." Cooper answered. "They're yours, dude."

Gwen leaned into her brother's peripheral vision, drawing his attention to her. "I myself helped concoct the liquid just yesterday. I think you'll find them VERY useful in your arsenal."

Kenny, though, was still perplexed. "W-Wait, why? I don't really need more bottles than the standard two that I get. One for my Driver, one for my sword."

"Well, yeah… normally, that'd be the case." Cooper winked as the Cross-Z Dragon came flying in over his shoulder. "But remember; we're not constrained to the limitations of the show here." He reached into his pocket, pulling out the Elephant and Barbell FullBottles. "Heck, I made my own original Best Match, and I plan on bringing out more. So for you…" He nudged his head toward the mecha dragon as it landed on Kenny's shoulder. "Well, I'd suggest using those bottles with him the next time you enter a fight. See what happens."

His eyes darting between the bottles in his hand and his little dragon partner, Kenny was both speechless and excited at what Cooper was implying. "Wait… are you saying you made me—"

*HONK-HONK*

But before he could finish, most of the group were suddenly startled when a loud horn sounded off down the street, signaling the arrival of Kevin and his car. He was approaching fast, only to abruptly slam on the breaks, screeching to a halt near the sidewalk. It was so loud that everyone covered their ears, though not for long as Kevin practically came sprinting toward them. "GUYS! Hah, c'mon, there's BIG trouble!"

"K-Kevin Ethan Levin, what are you doing?!" Gwen snapped, pointing directly at her boyfriend's nose. "How many times do I have to tell you? NO speeding around my house!"

"S-Sorry, Gwen, but there's a huge emergency." The Osmosian explained as his backup arrived in the form of a certain black bird.

Landing nearby, the corvid transformed into Qrow, the Huntsman wearing a very serious expression. "The kid's right. Trouble's brewin' and we need all the help we can get."

"Qrow? What is it?" Max inquired.

Raising Harbinger toward the city, Qrow explained himself. "I was on patrol earlier when I saw Animo and his flunkies haulin' some pretty heavy equipment up to the roof of a pretty tall building. Here, lemme show ya…" He took out his scroll and began flipping through the pictures he had taken, showing the mad scientist along with Exo-Skull and Thunderhog setting up a miniature lab at the top of an old office building. …However, there was one other with them as well. He was a rather wrinkly man wearing a purple and gold bellhop uniform, his appearance leaving the group quite uneased.

"Ew… who's the Lurch wannabe?" Cooper asked.

The grizzled huntsman shook his head. "No clue. But when I sent the picture to Doyle, he seemed pretty shaken. He told me that he'd explain as soon as the team meets up. Says he's got a bad feeling with that butler guy there."

"Maybe another one of his old enemies, like that cyborg scorpion fellow?" Winter guessed.

"Only one way to find out, right?" Cooper smirked as he procured the Rabbit and Tank FullBottles with one hand, while bringing out his Build Driver with the other. "Time to begin the experiment." Kenny responded with a full smile as he too brought out his own Driver, with the Cross-Z Dragon belting out a rhythmic roar as it folded into its adapter mode. Standing side-by-side, the two boys set their Drivers upon their wastes, shaking their bottles before inserting them into the devices.

Rabbit! Tank! Best Match!

WAKE UP! Cross-Z Dragon!

ARE YOU READY?!

With the Drivers cranked up and the Snap Ride Builders ready to go, the duo struck their respective poses and shouted; "HENSHIN!", allowing their suits to snap over them.

Hagane no Moonsault! RabbitTank!

Wake Up Burning! Get Cross-Z Dragon!

YEAH!

With both Kamen Riders armored up and ready to go, Build brought out his own Machine Builder once again while Cross-Z mounted his, the latter giving the throttle a good pumping. "Oh-ho, yeah… I could get used to this." Kenny approved.

"Glad to hear it." Cooper said as he too revved his bike's engine. "Now… the law of victory…" He and Kenny shared a fist bump as they proclaimed; "Is OURS!"

…..

Back in Rome, things were looking… a bit less hopeful.

The very earth beneath the city began to shake, driving several cars and trucks off the road and forcing their occupants to abandon them as a wide fissure opened in the middle of the street. The sight sent a wave of panic and confusion through those who witnessed it, while others stared in stunned silence while capturing it on their phones. …But the cause behind the fissure soon became known, and that's when everyone was sent into screaming terror. From out of the hole emerged a massive, black dragon that ROARED in rage and defiance, having used its long, curved horns to bore its way out of the cave system beneath the city.

GRRAAAAOOOOOOORRR!

Using its small wings as a boost, it jumped straight out and landed with a mighty THOOM in the street, effortlessly barreling through the abandoned vehicles all the while. Those who chose to flee on the spot did so as fast as they could… though there were still some who chose to stay and film everything. …That is, until the next round of dread showed up.

From the hole emerged the Ministry of Monsters, the six homunculi laughing in delight as they watched the dragon's rampage. "Ahahaha! Now THIS is what I call a good show!" Red Son cackled, a pair of vibrant red wings extending from his back. With a single beat, he was airborne, unleashing a powerful gust of red wind all the while. "Ah… mastery over fire AND wind! Mother will surely be proud of this!"

"Dude, is that just your thing?" Mercury asked indignantly, waving his new paw-like hands at his teammate. "Constantly seeking approval from your parents?"

"Hmph! Well, at least I HAVE parents!" That comment made Mercury lash out, attempting to leap up and take him down with fiery fists… only for Emerald to jump as well and bring him back down to the surface. "AGH! W-What the—"

She pointed between the two, chastising their behavior. "You! And you! STOP fighting amongst yourselves and FOCUS!" She brought her hands up and clutched her fingers, summoning green lightning that bounced across her arms like a hypnotizing dance. "Why use these new powers against each other when we can easily just take what we want with them?"

Crawling out of the hole next came Hazel, Subdora and Rojo, the former acting as the other voice of reason. "Emerald is correct. With these new abilities and immense strength, we will not need Salem to get what we want anymore…" He balled one of his mighty hands into a fist. "Revenge upon Ozpin…"

"The greatest valuables the world has to offer!" Subdora added, raising her fishy hand for additional flare.

"Retirement in the city with a smoking hot wif—" Rojo cut herself off when everyone's eyes snapped directly to her, leading the scaley bounty hunter to cough and correct herself. "Ahem—er, I mean… FINALLY getting rid of those heroic brats!"

Emerald, however, placed her hands firmly on her hips. "Girl, why try to hide it anymore? We all know you like Cinder."

"Indeed, probably the most poorly kept secret of all time." Red Son affirmed. "And I'm the new guy around here!"

Rojo's hand went to the back of her head sheepishly, keeping mindful of her blade-like nails. "Y-Yeah, I guess. …You think she'll like my new look?"

"Probably… so long as we can turn back." Mercury said, only for a subsequent thought to pop in his head. "Wait… CAN we change back?" The six monsters all eyed one another silently, none of them knowing the answer. "…Oh damn."

"O-Okay, I LOVE the upgrade and all, but I'd rather not be like this for the REST of my life." Emerald emphasized, bringing her hands up to her insectoid face.

Red Son, being the most level-headed, spoke as the voice of reason. "Alright, let's not panic. I'm sure that there has to be SOME form of transformation technique we could use to—ERK!" All of a sudden, from out of nowhere, a certain monkey Faunus came out of the hole from behind and WHACKED him upside the head, bringing him down to the asphalt. "AGH! NOODLE BOY!"

Spinning his staff around and separating it into its gunchuck mode, Sun flexed his neck, popping some muscles in the process. "Did someone mention me?" Not two seconds later, the rest of the Omni-Hunters came climbing out… or, more accurately, they were flown out on powerful gusts of wind thanks to Raven's Maiden powers. They were all armed and ready to fight, though Zak, Ironwood and Charmcaster broke off to escort Juliette and other citizens away from the conflict. Also conspicuous by their absence, though, were Ben and Team JNPR. "Sorry there, gang, but ya'll aren't getting away THAT easily."

"Oh-ho-ho! So, the monkey wants to be rebellious." Subdora scoffed. "How predictable. That "sage" you hang around with is a bad influence, you know."

It was Sun's turn to scoff as he gave a whistle… revealing how he had gotten out of the cave system so fast. He jumped up and landed on his personal cloud, which left the monsters taken aback for a moment. "Anybody who can teach me how to do THIS is far from a bad influence, lizard… fish… lady… thing."

Before any fighting could start, though, Hazel noticed the absent heroes. "Wait… where is Tennyson?"

"Hey yeah, the blonde larper and his team aren't here either!" Rojo added, searching around for the five of them. "Where are they?"

"Oh, they're around. But enough talk!" Yang bashed her fists together, glaring at the six Ministry members. "It's time to FIGHT!"

"I couldn't agree more!" Mercury scraped his claws together, igniting them into golden flames once more. "Let's see what these babies can REALLY do! YAH!" With that, he lunged toward Yang, though Blake quickly joined her partner in the fight.

Emerald, on the other hand, began to crackle with green lightning all over as she faced off against Ilia and Penny. "The two of you are in for the shock of your lives." she warned.

Neither the chameleon girl nor her android friend were the least bit intimidated, though. "Bring it on, bug eyes." Ilia accepted the challenge.

"We will pluck off those legs. One…" As Penny spoke, she brought out a set of Flying Array blades. "…by…" And another… and another. "…one."

"GRRAAAAHH!" Hazel bellowed, charging head first toward Rex. The EVO responded in kind by bringing out his Smack Hands, catching the Heavyweight Homunculus by the front horn. "You will not stand in my way, boy! I finally have the power to take my vengeance upon Ozpin properly, and you will NOT take it away from me!"

Rex could feel himself getting pushed back, his heels digging into the road from the sheer force behind Hazel's charge. However, he thankfully had the support of Doc behind him, who used his Power Glove to give some more oomph. "Gah… sorry, pal." Doc rebuked. "I don't know this Ozpin fellow personally, but that's STILL not happening!"

"Hah, thanks for the support!" Rex said gratefully, to which Doc gave a thumbs up.

Across the way, Rojo cracked her knuckles and scraped her blade nails along their edges, making sure they were nice and sharp as she approached her targets; Ruby and Weiss. "Well, Little Red, here we find ourselves again! Shall we pick up where we left off?"

"Yeah." Ruby accepted, spinning Crescent Rose around while Weiss took her battle stance with Myrtenaster. "But you're not gonna be one the winning end this time around."

"Hehe… we'll see about THAT!" Slamming her heels against the ground, Rojo made the very earth beneath her feet bend to her will, making it propel her at astonishing speed. She closed the gap between herself and the girls in a split second, only to then SLAM her foot down between them and create a massive pillar of rock that forced them away from one another.

"Ah! No!" Weiss exclaimed. "Ruby!"

With a sinister cackle, Rojo proceeded toward Ruby with nefarious intent. "Hehe, there we go… always liked it better one-on-one."

As Weiss worked on getting the blockade down, Raven and Drew joined up with Sun and Neptune, intent on facing off with Subdora and Red Son. "Are you prepared to do everything and anything to make sure these monsters don't get away with this?" Raven asked, sending the monkey boy a raised brow.

"Sure am." Sun affirmed.

Drew unsheathed her Fire Sword, cranking it up to its most intense heat levels. "Good, because this won't be easy."

"No doubt." Neptune agreed, keeping a strong grip on Tri-Hard. "Only hope that Ben and Team JNPR will have good luck with what they're doing…"

…..

A bit further into the city, the Earth Dragon's rampage was still going strong, the beast plowing its way through cars, street signs and traffic lights without even thinking to stop. It simply kept charging ahead, almost as if that were the only thing it knew how to do. However, as it bulldozed through Rome, it failed to notice the slight tremor beneath its feet, along with the cracks that formed in the pavement below. The fractures in the ground managed to even speed ahead of the beast… before culminating in a MASSIVE wall that resembled a pair of hands. The Earth Dragon was brought to a halt, eyes wide at the new obstacle in front of it… before giving a defiant roar and continuing its charge.

But, to its surprise, it was met with resistance when the wall actually PUSHED it back, sending it toppling head over tail back to where it came. And then… the wall spoke. "Oh-ho, no ya don't, big guy." Popping his body out of the ground, Bloxx returned his hands and arms to normal size, standing boldly in the creature's way. "You've come far enough."

From below, Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren joined him, the quartet all armed and ready for battle. "Alright, so how do you wanna do this, Ben?" The blonde knight asked.

"Okay, here's what I was thinking; I'll serve as the distraction for the big guy, while you four wear him down. Then, for the big final attack, Nora and I will knock some sense into him."

"I like this plan!" Nora raised her hammer eagerly. "I'm excited to be a part of it!"

Ren, however, was a bit more critical of it. "…Wait, Ben, don't you have a literal dragon transformation in your arsenal? Why don't you just use that?" He saw Segmentisapien's eyes widen, only to then wince sheepishly. "…Don't tell me you forgot you unlocked that form a while back." Ren deadpanned.

"W-Well, hey, to be fair, I haven't needed to USE it much until this point." Bloxx reasoned.

Unfortunately, Pyrrha wasn't about to let him get away with such an excuse. "Oh? So then where was the dragon when we were fighting Malware in space?" Bloxx was about to reply, only for her to continue listing off; "Or when you were trapped in Breach's pocket dimension? Or even the day before when you were dealing with Albedo, OR—"

"Okay, okay, I get it! I haven't used him in a bit!" the hero admitted, visibly deflating in shame. "And honestly, I should use him more… it's just… I wanted to make sure I got the name right."

*thump-thump* *Thump-Thump* *THUMP-THUMP*

"GRRRAAAAAOOOOORRR!"

The conversation was cut short when the Earth Dragon reentered the scene, roaring once again as it charged straight at them. "AH!" Nora and the others gasped, diving out of the way of its long, curved horns. "Well, I hope you've come up with a good one!" the Pink Dynamo encouraged. "Because I think this is the perfect opportunity to let him loose!"

Taking the hint, Bloxx inhaled deeply and accepted the hand fate had dealt him. "Hah, right, right! Got it… let's go for it." He hit the Omnitrix symbol on his chest, transforming into the colossal beast. The emerald green dragon with two large, golden horns upon its head easily towered over the Earth Dragon, who was left utterly stunned by its sudden appearance. What's more, though, the Alien Dragon also had some new accessory to his person; a set of heavy, black armor that covered his upper chest and shoulders, with green detailing along the edges, as well as a pair of foreleg gauntlets to match. And, of course, the Omnitrix symbol was still in the center of his chest, as always.

The Earth Dragon was completely stunned as it took several steps back, though it still growled at the appearance of the new challenger. "I hope you're ready, big—er, little guy." Ben said, correcting himself when he remembered the new size difference between he and it. "Because now you have to deal with…" Spreading out his wings and raising his head high, the Omnitrix bearer declared his name to the heavens; "GALACTIGON!"

"Ooh!" Nora gave a thumbs up in approval. "I'd say you stuck the landing there, Ben!"

"R-Really? You think it's a good one?"

Jaune, Pyrrha and Ren made their own endorsement known as well. "Yeah, pretty good one, I'd say!" Unsheathing Crocea Mors, Jaune urged the Alien Dragon to continue onward. "Now c'mon, Galactigon! Let's show 'em what we're made of!"

Feeling a surge of confidence, Galactigon smiled eagerly and turned back to the Earth Dragon, right as it was about to close the distance between them. "Right! It's HERO TIME!" With that declarative roar, Galactigon raised his claws and took hold of the Earth Dragon by the horns, pushing back against it with all his might. "Gyah! Pretty eager one, aren't ya?"

Team JNPR split off into pairs, with Jaune and Nora flanking on the dragon's left while Ren and Pyrrha went to the right side. "You can say that again…" Ren concurred, inspecting the dragon's hide for any sign of weakness. "Its scales are so thick, I don't see a single chink in its armor."

"Not from this angle!" Pyrrha called out, seeing that the scales on its orange belly were a lot thinner. "I think we could only harm it from its underside!"

Nora, however, wasn't so sure about that. "H-Hold on, I'm all for brawling and knocking it around a bit, but you guys aren't thinking of treating this guy like a Grimm, are you?"

"There are people's lives at stake here, Nora." Jaune asserted, loading his sword up with three vials of Ice Dust off the bat. "We need to at least subdue this thing before it brings any harm to the populace."

"Correct! Now come on, we've gotta bring this thing down!" Galactigon said as he went to flip the dragon on its back… only to find that it suddenly got a LOT heavier. "W-Woah! What the—AH!" At that moment, the orange cracks in the Earth Dragon's body began to glow with much more intensity… and the ground beneath its feet began to cave in on itself. "W-What's going on?! Can't… pick… up!"

Upon closer inspection, however, Jaune saw that it was more like the Earth Dragon had planted its feet firmly on the pavement while controlling the surface around Galactigon. And the Earth Dragon was purposefully giving itself the higher ground. "Ben! It's controlling the earth around you! It's trying to bring you down to its level!"

"Thanks for the tip!" Spreading his wings, Galactigon changed his strategy up and took to the skies, making the Earth Dragon growl in frustration. "Let's see how he likes a little bit of THIS then!" Rearing his head back, Galactigon opened his maw, letting loose a blast of green energy upon his opponent and successfully dislodging it from the pavement, forcing it to tumble to its back. "Now guys, NOW!"

Pumping the lever on his sword, Jaune charged it up, with icy energy quickly building up within the blade. "You heard him, team! Take it down!" Ren first went in with several slashes across the dragon's belly, leaving visible notches in its orange scales. Then, Pyrrha leapt over the beast and transformed Milo into its bow form, shooting two arrows directly into the points where her teammate had cut. They exploded soon after, causing the dragon to bellow out in pain.

That sound made Nora gasp a little, seeing the creature writhe upon the street until Jaune came in with his blade, striking it in the chest and freezing most of its body in an instant. And finally… it was her turn. "Go, Nora!" Ren encouraged. "Finish it!"

"I… I-I…" Nora clenched her hammer's handle, taking a deep breath and preparing herself to finish the job. 'Just gotta knock it out. Nothing else…' She belted out a loud, unhinged scream, hoping that it'd distract her from her indecision… only to find it had an unintended effect. She came to a screeching halt when the anger and pain in the Earth Dragon's eyes… was replaced by fear. …And it began whimpering like a trapped dog. All at once, Nora's arms began shaking and the twisted grimace she had placed upon her features gave way to complete and utter regret.

"I… I CAN'T DO IT!" The group were left stunned as the normally violence-craving redhead fell to her knees in front of the dragon's face. She began to sob as she reached out and hugged the beast's muzzle… which even left IT equally confused. "Hic—I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to scare you, little guy!"

"…Little guy?" Pyrrha repeated.

Jaune's eye twitched in disbelief, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. "N-Nora, what're you doing?! You were excited to take this thing on just a minute ago!"

"Yeah, but in a FUN way, Jaune!" Nora insisted, patting the dragon's nose with a kind, reassuring smile. "I've always wanted to fight a dragon… but as equals." She shot her friends a soft glare. "Not like it's some wild animal that needs to be hunted down like some Grimm!"

At this point, even Galactigon wasn't sure what to make of this. "I… cannot believe this is happening."

Ren came forward and knelt next to his best friend… all while trying to avoid the Earth Dragon's glare. "N-Nora, I understand how you must feel about this, but once we get the dragon taken care of, I promise that we'll get Apollo to put it in a safe, secluded place where no harm will come to it."

The redhead took a deep breath and shouldered her hammer, moving around toward the dragon's side. "I like the sound of that, Ren… but I've got an even better idea." She felt around the ice that encased the beast until finding the exact point she was looking for. "Brace yourself, little guy! This won't hurt a bit!"

"W-Wait, Nora!" Jaune cried out, knowing exactly what she was going to do. "Don't crack the—"

*tink*

With but a delicate tap of her hammer against the frozen casing, Nora broke the imprisoned dragon out, the beast falling to its back and rolling onto its side in an instant. The rest of the team backed away, bracing themselves for the inevitable attack… only for it to never come. Instead, the Earth Dragon merely shook the remaining ice off of itself before turning to Nora, confused and surprised, but seemingly grateful as it lowered its head down to hers. "Rrrrr…"

"There ya go!" Nora reached up, fearlessly petting the beast's nose. "Now, after spending hundreds of years in that cocoon, I bet you're hungry, huh?"

"Nora… what are you doing?" Pyrrha uttered in absolute shock, watching as Nora casually pulled off her carry-on bag and began rummaging through it. "It could eat you if you're not careful!"

The Pink Dynamo shifted her gaze up to her friends, shaking her head while rolling her eyes. "Oh my god, you guys aren't giving his intelligence enough credit."

"Ah, right, giving the destructive eight-ton, earthshaking lizard credit for how smart it is. Sure." Jaune said with fearful sarcasm.

"Listen!" Nora thrust a finger directly up to Galactigon. "If Ben's dragon form—and therefore OTHER alien dragons—are smart enough to be in the Omnitrix, who says these dragons aren't?" She narrowed her eyes at the hero as well. "That IS how it works, right?"

Hesitantly, Galactigon answered; "W-Well, yeah, but… hah, hang on." Reaching up to the Omnitrix, Ben transformed back to normal and input a vocal command for the watch. "Omnitrix, scan for compatible life forms." The core of the Omnitrix popped up and began scanning the immediate area. And, to his surprise…

*beep-beep*

"Compatible Life Form Found. Draconic Subspecies Detected."

"…HUH?!" they all exclaimed.

Nora smirked at her moral victory as she pulled out a Tupperware case. "See? Knew it."

"…Maybe it's NORA who we should be giving more credit to, honestly." Pyrrha noted.

Jaune cleared his throat, having to get over the shock of such a revelation. "A-Ahem, okay, so… now that we've established that this Earth Dragon IS pretty intelligent… what do we do?"

Opening the lid of her plastic container, Nora revealed a stack of three pre-made pancakes… and from out of nowhere, she procured a bottle of maple syrup. "Well, first, we get this guy to eat something." Once the flapjacks were all layered with the sweet condiment, she laid the pancakes out on the ground, encouraging the beast to eat. "Go ahead! They're all yours!"

"…Nora's giving up pancakes to a dragon she only just met." Ren placed a hand on his forehead in disbelief. "Now I really HAVE seen everything."

Taking a cautionary sniff, the Earth Dragon's eyes widened before immediately going; "NOM!" and devouring the stack of pancakes in an instant. Within seconds, its eyes lit up, incredibly happy with the meal as its tongue lolled out of is mouth.

"EEEEE! Yay!" Nora cheered. "You like it?"

"GRAAAOORR!" The dragon bellowed as it wagged its tail in approval.

"Great! Because there's gonna be more in it for ya if you help us out with those nasty monsters that so rudely woke you up!" The Earth Dragon let out a low growl and nodded its head in approval, to which Nora gave its muzzle a hug. "Yay! Dragon Ally; acquired!"

As the others stared on, Ren raised a single finger. "Correction; NOW I've truly seen everything."

Running a hand through his hair, Ben could barely comprehend it himself. "Nora… how did you do that? For that matter, how'd you KNOW how to do that?"

"Hmm…" Nora hummed thoughtfully before giving a shrug. "What else can I say, except… Friendship is Magic?"

Ben's expression morphed into a deadpan grimace upon hearing that. He pointed at her and opened his mouth… only to retract his statement. "You know what? No. I'm not gonna say a goddamn thing, because apparently, that show's lessons SOMEHOW worked out in our favor for this scenario. Not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth."

"…That was completely intentional, wasn't it?" Pyrrha asked dryly.

"Only if you want it to be." Ben grinned knowingly. "Besides, we don't have much time for horseplay right now." That made ALL of Team JNPR collectively groan and Ben raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'll cut the jokes. C'mon, let's take our new dragon pal and put an end to this dog and pony show."

"FOR THE LOVE OF—"

*CHA-KOOM*

Jaune's exclamation was cut off when the road suddenly exploded from under their feet, blowing the humans away as the Earth Dragon was suddenly hoisted up into the air. The beast wasn't even able to let out a surprised roar before its assailant, the Six-Eared Macaque, swung it around and then hurdled it straight back to the pavement below… right as the Monkey King was about to fly out from the same hole. "Hey! What goin' on he—AGH!" *CRASH* In that moment, the mighty Sun Wu Kong found himself embedded in the ground under the back of a writhing dragon, much to Nora's dismay.

"AH! No!" She went up to her new scaley companion, trying to calm him down. "D-Don't worry, big guy! Everything's gonna be okay!"

"Hahahaha!" Macaque threw his head back and laughed at his little trick, spinning his bludgeoned cudgel in his hand before resting it against his shoulder. "Ah… who ever said dragons were a waste of space? They're GREAT for throwing, especially at things you hate! Hahaha!"

Her jaw clenched in ire, Nora whipped her head up and screamed; "You monkey BITCH! How dare you do this to this sweet boy?!"

"Er, okay, that was a terrible thing to do." Ren admitted in hushed tones. "But I think Nora might be getting a little too attached."

Unfortunately for him… "I HEARD that, Ren!"

As the green ninja tried to save face, Macaque simply scoffed at the hyper red head's reprimanding. "Psh, please. As if I care about what any mortals think of my tactics. I used something heavy to crush Wu Kong… therefore, I'm satisfied."

"Grrr… might… wanna think again!" Everyone was startled as the Earth Dragon was raised off the ground, not of its own volition, but thanks to the strength of the Monkey King himself. Setting the beast back down on all fours, Wu Kong brushed his armor off and picked his staff back up, flexing his neck to loosen himself up. "'Cause lemme tell ya, I've been crushed by worse." In a flash, he was back up in the air clashing with Macaque, the two dueling it out with their heavy sticks.

"Hah, well… what should we do from here?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Probably go back and help the others, like Ben suggested." Jaune advised. "Dealing with… whatever the Ministry's changed into, I'm betting they could use the backup."

Ben quickly dialed up the Omnitrix, transforming into Fasttrack in a flash. "No doubt about that. Nora, you've got the dragon?"

"Oh, I don't got him." Nora, once again leaving the group stunned, fearlessly climbed up onto the Earth Dragon's back, holding onto the spikey protrusions as if they were reigns on a saddle. "He's got me! Now… CHARGE!" The black and orange beast reared onto its hind legs before breaking out into a gallop down the road, leaving the other four behind.

"…Only Nora, right?" Ren's statement was met with many murmurs of agreement.

…..

Back across the city, things were going…

*SMASH*

…less than ideally for the heroes. While the Ministry of Monsters were less in numbers, they more than made up for it with their raw, untamed strength. And that didn't just apply to Hazel, it was on full display even with the likes of Emerald and Mercury, the latter cackling like a mad man after sending Blake and Yang hurdling through a pane glass window and into a bank. "AHAHAHA! Oh, HELL yeah! Time to make a big payday!"

The two partners staggered to their feet, having been run ragged by the fight. They hadn't expected to be so winded by this point, but…

*SHOOM*

*shink* "AH!" *shank* "AUGH!" *SLASH* "AAAAAAHH!" Mercury's new powers were putting them on the back foot. His speed had increased several times over, to the point where he was probably just as fast as any of Ben's speed aliens. Combine that with his sharp claws and enhanced senses, and he was a hard one to deal with. It was getting to the point that both of them could feel their aura begin to deplete, and Yang had just about had enough of it.

"GRAH! That's IT!" The Blonde Brawler raised her fists up and SLAMMED them upon the tile floor, her aura exploding to life in a brilliant red flame as her eyes lit up the same color. "You're gonna regret putting me into overdrive, Merc!" The sound of quick footsteps managed to catch Yang's attention, her head snapping to the right before she brought up a fist to intercept the cat-like monster.

…However, that would prove ineffective as Mercury simply caught her hand and ignited his own into a golden flame, overpowering her and snapping her wrist backward. "GYAAAAH!"

"YANG!" Blake screamed as she rushed in, only for Merc to whip his head up… and have his dreads stand up on end, launching out projectiles from their tips that sent her flying away.

"Ah-ah-ah… our cat fight can wait, Blakey-poo." Mercury teased before glowering down at Yang. He then mercilessly kicked her in the side of her knee, which gave out a sickening CRACK as she crumpled to the floor

"AUGH!" All at once, Yang's aura broke, intense pain overcoming her as her head hit the cold tile. She could only barely hear Blake's desperate calls, her hearing turning fuzzy while all she could see was Mercury looming over her.

"Hmhmhm… now, for the finishing touch." Mercury brandished his claws and raised them above his head, ready to bring about the finishing blow… but then…

*SHOOM*

*chink* "H-Huh?! What?!" Mercury's claws scraped against the floor harmlessly, Yang being nowhere in sight. "What happened?! Where did she—" *BAM* *CRACK* *WHAM* "WAAGH!" Within a split second, a certain blue blur came back around and punched him right back out the window, coming to a stop directly next to Blake and the barely conscious Yang.

The cat Faunus was absolutely relieved to see him as she hobbled over to the two. "Ben! Hah, thank the gods you're here!"

Fasttrack nodded curtly to her. "Sorry I'm late. We… got caught up with some things…" He shook his head, dismissing that for now as he focused on what was really important; the state of his girlfriend. "Yang? Yang!" He lightly shook her by the shoulders, trying to make sure she didn't lose consciousness. "Please, can you hear me?"

"B-Ben… ugh… did I break something again?" Yang sneered. "That'd be twice in one month…"

"Guys!" Jogging into the scene, Jaune and Ren came into the bank, the former immediately getting to work pouring his aura into Yang, healing her injuries. "Oh god… Yang, your leg is—"

"DON'T… say anything about it." Yang ordered her fellow blonde. "Trust me… I don't wanna know. Just… work your magic, Vomit Boy." Following her orders, Jaune hummed and continued to heal her, making sure to gently straighten out her leg as it healed.

The very next moment, though, Mercury came rushing back in, jumping through the window and straight at Ben. "GRAH! TENNYSON!" Fasttrack reacted accordingly and dodged the homunculus' claws, backflipping away as if to taunt him. "You're gonna pay for that!"

With his lips curled into a sneer, Fasttrack went in to intercept Mercury with several quick punches and kicks, culminating in a final roundhouse that sent him right back to where he came. "That's MY line, asshole!" he shouted before craning his head back to the knight, ninja and cat girl "Jaune, Ren, Blake, when Yang's healed enough, move her outta here safely. I'll handle the pathetic puma."

"We will." Blake affirmed. "Good luck, Ben."

"G-Green Boy…" The hero's attention went straight to his girlfriend, seeing her shakily raise a fist at him. "…Beat his ass EXTRA hard for me." Giving her a smile and one last nod, Fasttrack zoomed out of the bank and back to beating down Mercury. But, right as he left, Yang caught sight of something on the ground. Something that made her eyes widen. "Hey… is that…"

The others caught sight of it as well, and they were just as surprised to see… a medal. One with a yellow tiger on it. "…Did that fall out of Mercury?" Ren asked.

"Maybe…" Blake put a finger to her chin in thought. "But how?"

…..

Through the streets, meanwhile, carnage was being wreaked in high fashion as the rest of the Omni-Hunters did battle with the Ministry. Unfortunately, though, just like Blake and Yang, most found themselves on the losing end of the conflict. Weiss had managed to break through and joined Ruby in her fight against Rojo… but the cobra homunculus quickly proved to be a match for both as her hard scales prevented any sort of blade from slicing into her. Weiss had attempted to overwhelm her with her Beowolf and Boarbatusk summons while Ruby sped around to her from behind, but once again, Rojo's enhanced senses proved to be superior.

Using her long claws, she easily battered the snow-white Grimm and stabbed both of them through their heads, dissipating them immediately. And, if that weren't enough, her legs then fused together into a long, serpentine tail that she used to swat Ruby out of the air, right as she was about to attack. "Gah!"

"Ruby!" Weiss brought up a glyph to catch her partner, though she quickly saw that their situation was quickly going south. She could feel her aura starting to weaken already, which came as a shock to her. "H-How… how are is our aura draining this quickly?"

Rojo laughed at the question, raising her new elongated body up above the two girls. "Haha! So THAT'S what it is!" She began to literally snake herself around the two, causing them to huddle together defensively. "I've been wonderin' why I've constantly been feeling my power increase over the course of this fight, but now I get it! These medals must give us some sorta passive draining ability! We're so greedy that we're taking your power just by bein' around ya! Hahaha!"

Even as she could feel her strength being sapped, Ruby wasn't about to give in. "Y-You… won't win!" she spat in denial.

"Oh, I dunno about that, Little Red…" Rojo coiled her body around the girls, spreading out her knife-like claws. "You two seem as good as beat to me. Now… let's see what's inside—"

Lightning Arrow Victory!

"H-Huh—AAAAAHH!" From out of nowhere, two crackling arrows made of pure electricity came down and struck Rojo in the back, sending out shockwaves throughout her body and making her writhe in pain. And, in addition… something shot out from her chest, landing on the pavement with a *ding*. The girls didn't seem to notice at first, though, both taken aback when Pyrrha came vaulting over the snake monster and aimed her bow at her.

"That's quite enough, Rojo!" the Invincible Girl snapped. "Now let's how you fight when it's three on one!"

Ruby and Weiss were elated to see her there. "Pyrrha!" Turning to her partner, the Hooded Huntress encouraged her to keep going with her. "Come on, this isn't over yet!" While tired, Weiss nodded in agreement, and the two took to either side of their comrade.

As the shocks stopped, Rojo shook her head, her anger spiking and teeth clenching at the redhead's arrival. "GRAH! Oh, you picked the WRONG time to do this, Little Miss Champion." Once more, Rojo scraped her nails together, making certain they were extra sharp. "Just for that, your death will be slow and painf—AH!" All of a sudden, Rojo gasped as she spotted something on the ground, leading the other three to see it as well.

There, right between them, was a medal with an orange turtle on it. None of the girls were sure where that came from, but Rojo was sure that was one that she had absorbed. She let out a carnal scream and went to dive for it, but Pyrrha proved to be quicker. Using her Semblance, she made the medal fly off down the street, much to Rojo's dismay. "NOOO! That was MINE!"

*CLANG*

Pyrrha brought her shield up just in time to block the snake woman's attack, the two struggling against one another. "Urgh! Those medals are NOT yours!" Shifting Milo into its javelin mode, she struck Rojo across the jaw and doubled back, urging her friends to follow. "Girls, come on! We need to regroup with the others! I think I have an idea!"

Not far away, Rex, Doc, Penny and Ilia were having some similar troubles with Hazel and Emerald… though things were looking far less hopeful. Ilia was currently pinned beneath Emerald's foot as the insectoid monster held Penny by the neck, keeping a constant stream of green lightning flowing into the android to keep her paralyzed. Doc and Rex, meanwhile… were currently getting steamrolled by Hazel, the heavily armored homunculus SMASHING them through building after building before tossing them away with a deep bellow. "GRAAAAUUUGGHH!"

"ACH! Ugh…" Doc groaned, hitting his rear end upon impact while his vision was in a complete haze. "R-Rex… are you there?!"

"Right here!" Rex called back, trying to keep his frustration under wraps. He had so far tried his Smack Hands, Punk Busters, Bad Axes and even the Block Party, but each and every time, Hazel managed to wreck his builds, quickly overpowering him and Doc with his immense strength. "Alright, time to break out the big guns!" With his arms glowing blue, Rex built up the Blast Caster and whipped it out toward Hazel… who didn't seem phased by it in the least.

"HA! Pathetic!" All at once, the small trunk on Hazel's face grew to at least TWELVE TIMES its size and he smacked Rex's weapon away, raising his right gauntlet to fire a concussive energy blast at the EVO.

Rex was sent hurdling back about twenty feet, only to tumble backward and dig his heels into the street to stop himself. "GAH! Not yet!" He slung his whip forward and slammed it into the road, using it as a makeshift vault to propel himself back to Hazel. Once there, he and his opponent bashed their respective appendages against one another, nose against arm, relentlessly attempting to get one over on the other. But even so, it seemed that Rex's crackling energy whip didn't seem to affect Hazel one bit.

The heavy weight monster scoffed, bringing his right hand up for a punch. "Enough of this!" He SMASHED the spike on his wrist into Rex's arm, cutting the build off with but a single strike. Rex didn't even get a chance to react as Hazel kicked him in the chest, spinning him around so that he could RIP the power dynamo off his back… and then SMASH it over the EVO's head.

"No!" Doc charged up his Power Glove as high as it could possibly go and charged in, intent on helping Rex… only for his fist to get caught by Hazel. "Gah—" *SNAP* "AAAGGH!"

"DOC!" Rex screamed, only to be forced to the ground under Hazel's hefty foot.

Tossing Doc away without an ounce of care, Hazel lowered his head down so that he was right in front of Rex's face, his dark eyes gazing into the helpless hero's. "You know… I remember when you first arrived in Remnant. You made a fool out of Thaddeus, Farkas, and myself that night."

"Guh, yeah… and I'd do it again, pendejo! Ptui!"

Hazel didn't flinch as Rex literally spat in his face, merely taking a moment to wipe it off before pulling back. He raised his left arm, aiming its gun-like protrusion directly at Rex's chest. "Not likely. My guess is that, at this range, a concussive blast will do MUCH more than just blow you back a little. I suggest you say your prayers…"

Back with Emerald, she began cackling as she poured on the lightning, upping the intensity on Penny while putting more pressure on Ilia's arm, which was pinned to her back. The girls screamed in agony while Rex was forced to watch, his features twisted in horror. "AHAHA! And ya might wanna say goodbye to these girls while you're at it! Because they're gonna be HISTORY—"

"GRRRAAAAAOOOOORRR!"

"W-Wait, what was—AAAH!"

The loud roar and sound of trampling feet heralded the arrival of the Earth Dragon, which made a beeline straight for Hazel and RAMMED right into him. Then, with a swing of its tail, it launched Nora straight at Emerald, hammer in hand and already screaming her head off. "LET GO OF MY FRIENDS!" Smacking Emerald upside the head, she freed both Penny and Ilia in one fell swoop… while knocking out a certain shiny bauble from Emerald's body in the process. But Nora was focused on more important matters. "Are you two okay?!"

"Ooooohh… I will be." Penny assured, only for a green spark to shoot out from her ear as her body twitched. "O-Once I get my bearings…"

"I'll live… ow…" Ilia flexed her arm and regretted it immediately, bringing it back close to her side. "Agh… I think she sprained my arm, though. More importantly…" She thrust her good arm up toward the black dragon as it approached them. "How in the WORLD did you tame that thing, Nora?!"

The hyper redhead gave a cheeky smile and a wink. "That's easy! Pancakes and friendship!" Ilia and Penny shared a quiet glance, silently agreeing not to question it.

"DOC!" The girls all whipped their heads up as Rex went straight for the downed Secret Scientist, who himself was keeping his own hand close to his body. "Oh god, your wrist…" Rex winced, with the girls following suit as they saw it bent at an unnatural angle.

Even so, Doc raised a hand, stopping them from coming any closer. "J-Just… hang on a second, kids…" Taking a deep breath Doc steadied himself… before swinging his hand at a nearby street lamp, snapping it back into place. "GAAAHH!"

"Hm… there is no question about it. Your hand is broken." Penny stated.

"Ugh, thanks, Penny." Doc grinned through the pain. "Never would've guessed."

Ilia staggered to her feet, ushering Doc to do the same. "We need to get you out of here. More importantly, we need to regroup with the others…"

"Everyone!" To their surprise, though, they didn't have to go anywhere as Pyrrha, Ruby and Weiss all came running up to them, only to stop when they saw their condition. "Oh gods, are you all—"

"We're beat up, but okay… aside from Doc." Rex said regretfully.

Using his good hand, Doc gave the young man a pat on the shoulder. "Hah… don't beat yourself up about it, Rex. Trust me, this ain't my first rodeo." Slowly but surely, he stood up with help from the EVO, making sure to keep his arm tucked in close to his body. "What's most important now, though, is that we need to find a way to take these monsters down, permanently."

"Oh, Pyrrha actually figured out a way to do that just now!" Ruby happily proclaimed.

Weiss nodded affirmably. "Yes, after she hit Rojo with some explosive arrows, we saw that a medal had fallen out of her."

Ilia knit her brows together. "Wait, so what you're saying is that if we want to beat them, we just have to…"

"Hit them really hard." Pyrrha confirmed.

"…That sounds like something that Yang would say." Rex deduced.

"Exactly. Ah!" A gasp escaped the Invincible Girl as their foes all came back around, with Rojo slithering her way closer while Emerald and Hazel got back up. "And I suggest we do it fast, because I doubt they're done with us!"

The three monstrous Ministry members all growled at the heroes, with Rojo hissing out; "You've got that right, missy. You just got lucky with those first couple of hits. Next time, you won't be so—HUH?!" But the snake woman cut herself off when she noticed the massive dragon that had lumbered up behind their opponents, making her slither back a little. "WHAT THE FUCK?! When the hell did you tame that thing?!"

Ruby and Weiss did a doubletake themselves, only now noticing the beast's presence. "Ah! Nora!" Weiss screamed. "You were supposed to defeat the dragon, not befriend it!"

"Ah, what can I say?" Nora shrugged as she pat the Earth Dragon's nose, which earned a happy growl from it. "Beating up dragons is overrated. Now, having dragons help you beat OTHER things up, that's actually fun."

"…Eh, sounds good to me." Rex admitted with a shrug.

"Heck yeah!" Ruby cheered as she unsheathed Crescent Rose again. "Now c'mon guys, let's kick their butts properly this time!" Despite the bizarreness of the situation, Weiss simply gave a sigh and agreed with her partner's declaration, with Penny, Rex, Nora and Pyrrha following suit. Together, they charged back into battle against the Ministry… while completely unaware of Fasttrack and Mercury's own speed-driven conflict literally happening right next to them.

The feline homunculus briefly stopped, blowing a raspberry at the Omnitrix bearer as he waggled his fingers tauntingly. "Pbbbt! Can't catch me, Tennyson! Oh, and your girlfriend deserved it!"

Fasttrack's jaw clenched with rage, increasing his speed to sock Mercury right in the gut. And, incidentally, another medal came flying out of his back. "You're gonna pay for EVERYTHING here today, Black!" the hero shouted. "I swear it!"

…..

As all of that was happening, another part of the battle had broken off even further into the city, where Neptune was currently fending for his life against a woman… threatening him with tentacles. 'Really wish I wasn't in this situation right now, but here I am.' Indeed, Subdora had backed him into a corner… well, not entirely so, admittedly. More like she had backed him up against the one thing he was hoping NOT to deal with on this trip; water. Of course, he HAD gotten better with the substance quite a fair bit since that Undertown excursion, but he still got a bit squeamish whenever he had to.

Thankfully, though, it wasn't a HUGE body of water. It was a fountain, and quite an immaculate one at that. It was multilayered and had large, craggy rocks toward the back, set in front of a very old-looking building, with statues of what he could only assume were gods carved into it. Unfortunately, just by instinct alone, he could tell that none of them were his patron god. 'If any of them were Poseidon, I think I'd know right away. …Eh, at this point, couldn't hurt to pray anyway.'

Thankfully, he didn't HAVE to pray much as Drew came in from his right and sliced right through Subdora's incoming tentacles, making the aquatic homunculus recoil in shock. "Keep your nasty tentacles to yourself, woman!" the Secret Scientist lambasted.

"Ah! You will pay for that dearly!" Subdora extended a hand and began drawing water from the fountain and over to her, creating multiple water whips from her hands. "Let us see how you enjoy THIS!" Swinging her arms, she intended on battering the two as hard as she could, only for them to dodge at the last second.

"Gah! Neptune!" Drew called out, pointing to the fountain. "Your Semblance has to do with water, right? Could you try and counter her?"

"I-I mean, maybe?" Neptune hesitantly glanced between Drew, Subdora and the fountain, knowing that if they had any chance at winning, he'd have to take a chance. '…Poseidon, give me strength.' he prayed silently before charging to the fountain's edge and sticking his hand in it. All at once, he felt it, the same surge in power he had felt before in Undertown. It was a bit weaker, but he had a feeling it was because he was still on dry land. Even so, energy from the water came crashing into him like a wave, and all at once, he felt very powerful.

So powerful, in fact, that he didn't even realize it when he sent practically ALL of the water SMASHING into Subdora. And if that weren't enough, the little coins that were at the bottom of the well went with all of the water, which pelted against her as well. "GAAAAH!"

Drew, thankfully, had climbed up on top of the fountain's rocks just in time to avoid all of that. "Phew… good job, kid."

"Hey! Drew!" The Secret Scientist whipped her head up to see Sun come flying down to her on his cloud, his features etched with concern. "Have you seen any sign of Charmcaster? Or Zak, maybe Ironwood, too?"

"No, not since the fight started." Drew shook her head. "I'm pretty sure they went to evacuate the citizens. Why, what's wrong?"

Holding up his scroll, Sun explained; "Just got a text from Blake. Yang's hurt pretty bad and Jaune's aura healing can only do so much. She was hoping that Hope could help out and—"

"Uh, guys?!" Neptune called out, his eyes widening at what he was seeing. "Bad news!" Drew and Sun turned their attention forward… and their jaws dropped as they the water being collected into a gigantic sphere, which Subdora was holding just above her head. The aquatic homunculus was breathing hard and glaring at the three as she used her hydrokenesis to gather moisture from the air, increasing the size of the giant water bubble.

"…Bigger." *FWOOM* "Bigger!" *FWOOSH* "BIGGER!" *SWUSH* "…Perfect." Once the sphere was about as big as the building itself, Subdora sent it CRASHING straight down, intent on destroying her enemies in one fell swoop.

Thankfully, Sun was faster, flying in on his cloud to scoop Drew and Neptune up. "Leaving! NOW!" As the water made impact and washed over the whole area, Sun flew high enough to where it couldn't reach them, zooming through the air while keeping an eye out for the silver-haired mage. "We need to regroup with the others! These guys are just way too strong to take on by ourselves!"

Neptune stared down in horror as the streets were flooded, hoping that no one was getting caught up in it. "Man, hope Ironwood and those guys got everyone out of here…"

"Don't worry, Neptune, I'm sure they did." Drew reassured. "But keep an eye out for them, because they may have come back around here. I just hope they didn't run into any—"

"NOODLE BOY!"

"…Oh crap." Sun peered behind his shoulder to see Red Son come flying in at max speed, his hands ignited with colorful flames as he closed in. And, with a person in each hand, Sun was left completely defenseless. "Crap, crap, crap!"

Right as Red Son was about to close the gap, though, a certain Spring Maiden came in and slashed her sword across his arms, the Dust blade absorbing the fire and igniting it instantly. "Thought you could get away from me, could you?!" Raven snapped, striking the sword against Red Son's shoulder and stopping him in midair.

"Gah! Woman, you are INCREDIBLY stubborn!"

Raven wasn't bothered in the least by that. "Thanks, I try." She delivered a sharp kick to his midsection and whipped her head around to the others. "Go! Find Charmcaster and help my girl! I'll keep them busy for as long as I can!"

As much as Sun wanted to argue that she needed SOME help, he knew that there wasn't much time to waste. They needed to make a new strategy and they needed to do it NOW. So, he continued on his way, flying over the city streets until catching sight of a certain girl in extremely noticeable purple clothing. "HOPE!"

"Hah! Sun!" Hope gasped as she, Ironwood, Zak and Juliette saw the three of them come in for a landing. Thankfully, they were on high enough ground where the flood waters couldn't reach them. "Oh… good god, you guys look terrible."

"Yeah, these Ministry monsters are running us ragged." Neptune breathed out, relieved to be touching solid ground again.

Drew wasted no time in greeting her son with a hug before asking him; "Did you manage to evacuate the locals?"

"As best we could." Zak sighed. "But what's the story with the Greeed—er, I mean, the Ministry?"

Running a hand through his hair, Sun did his best to summarize things. "Well, Raven's holding off Red and Subdora, but as for the others, we don't know." His brow furrowed to Charmcaster as he broke the other piece of bad news to her. "But Hope, Yang's hurt really bad. Mercury messed her knee up and Jaune could use some healing magic to supplement his Aura Amp."

Hope didn't need to be told twice. "Right, I'm on it. You know where they are?"

"Blake said that they're in a wrecked bank back around where the hole is." Sun jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "You can't miss it." His sights went to the general, his serious expression still firmly upon his face. "General… the Ministry are kicking our asses out there. I think that they're sapping the strength from our aura and using it to fuel their own."

Ironwood nodded, seeing the state of the boys. "I'd say that's a fair assumption. You boys look like you've been through the wringer." He placed a finger upon his chin. "If these monsters are as powerful as you say they are, then we're going to need a plan of attack. And perhaps a way to match their strength, somehow…"

"I was just thinking about that, actually. But the idea I've come up with… it's a bit risky." Sun craned his head toward Juliette, stepping closer to her. "Dr. Garnier… you still have those medals?"

Juliette reached down to her bag, the box containing the medals visible in its side pocket. "I-I do, but… sacre bleu, Sun, no! You cannot possibly be thinking—"

"I am."

It didn't take long for the others to realize what Sun intended on doing as well. "What?! Dude, no way! Not happening!" Neptune denied. "You're not changing yourself into a big, greedy monster for our sake! We'll find another way."

Zak nodded vehemently "Right! Raven can always call in Gwen and the others to—"

"By the time they get here, it could be too late!" Sun insisted, taking them all off guard. "Besides, Raven's already giving it her all fighting Red Son, so we can't just—" *CRASH* "AH!" All at once, everybody shouted in astonishment as they saw Raven's body careen straight into the building they were standing in front of, the Spring Maiden falling to the sidewalk next to them immediately after.

"Gah… everyone…" Using Omen to steady herself, Raven slowly took a knee, though she briefly buckled as the power in her eyes flickered. "G-Get back, they—AH!"

"Raven, stay still!" Ironwood knelt down, trying to keep her steady. "You're hurt!"

Clenching her teeth, Raven pushed the general away, determined to stand on her own two feet. "I'm fine! I HAVE to be fine or else—INCOMING!" All at once, the group were forced to scatter as a powerful dual blast of fire and water came their way, followed by the arrival of a chortling Red Son and Subdora.

"Ahaha! The Spring Maiden… not even HER powers could compare to this!" the Demon Bull Prince declared.

Subdora placed a hand over her chest, raising the other up to the sky. "Indeed! And as the gods as our witnesses, WE shall finally rid the world of her and bring her Maiden Powers to their rightful place; with US." She leaned forward eagerly. "Hmhmhm… I would make for quite the stunning Spring Maiden, would I not?"

Even in her weakened state, Raven wasn't having any of it. "N-Not on your LIFE!" Just as she was about to stand up, though… the monkey boy beat her to the punch. "W-Wha—SUN! What're you…" She trailed off, however, when she saw the lockbox in Sun's hand. "Oh gods…"

Realizing that he had snatched the box from her bag, Juliette screamed for Sun to rethink his actions. "NO! Sun, do not do this! Think about what you are doing!"

"I am!" Sun asserted, peering to the others over his shoulder. "And what I'm thinking about is all of you… my team. My friends. …And Blake." He opened the box, revealing the six medals that Nicolas Flamel had hidden away. Specifically, he was eyeing the ones on the top row; the Hawk, the Tiger, and the Grasshopper.

Seeing the medals, Subdora cooed yearningly. "Ooh! More medals!"

"Hmph! Well, someone's certainly grown a conscience." Red Son held out his hand. "Well, come on, Noodle Boy, hand them over!"

"Oh, they're not for you, Bird Brain." Sun denied, taking the three medals in hand before tossing the box back to Juliette. "They're what I'm gonna use to BEAT YOU DOWN." Before going through with it, though, he sent Drew, Zak and Neptune one last look. "…If I go off the deep end… or worse, if I hurt Blake… tell Ben to take me down. Understand?" He sent them one last smile as he brought the medals up to his chest. "I'll see you guys on the other side."

"SUN! DON'T!" Neptune shouted, moving to sprint and stop his best friend…

…But it was too late. Shoving the medals straight into his chest, Sun absorbed them all at once. His body hitched up as the surge in power came instantly, his body glowing in bright red, yellow and green colors as it reshaped itself. His eyes rolled back into his head as they changed from blue to green, and, in a blinding flash of light… his new form revealed itself.

His appearance had been changed completely from what they had once known, his typical, dopey smile having been pulled into a permanent, sharp-toothed grimace as sharp, red feathers had sprouted all over his head. Two longer, jagged feathers hung down from the top of his head while the tips of his lips had hardened into a beak-like protrusion, his green eyes having grown much larger and insectoid-like. Around his neck was a furry white collar, while his shoulder pads were spikey and edged with yellow details.

His arms and the sides of his body along his ribcage were mostly yellow with zig-zag patterns resembling tiger stripes, while his forearms had morphed into massive tiger paws that were separate from his normal hands. These paws were armed with long, curved claws that seemed sharp enough to slice open anything. His legs, meanwhile, wee entirely green from the waist down, with sharp spikes going down the shins while two longer ones stuck out near his toes.

His center chest, meanwhile, had a big, circular chest plate that appeared to have large rivets attaching it to his body, the outer rim edged with gold detailing. Inside this plate were three images, including a red hawk near the top and a green grasshopper along the bottom. In the middle were three more silver rings, and inside the center ring was the image of a yellow tiger. Along his waist was a black, studded belt that had a lopsided buckle, which showed off the medals he had absorbed glowing their respective colors.

Ironwood, Raven, Drew, Zak and Neptune felt their stomachs sink seeing what their friend had become. Sun, however… had never felt better in his life. Any pain he had experienced had gone away immediately upon the transformation's conclusion, and he could FEEL the power of the medals coursing through him by that point. But most importantly… he sensed the fear and hesitancy emanating from Red Son and Subdora, the duo backing away from him. '…This is it. THIS is what will defeat them!' With that last round of self-assurance, Sun lifted his head, bent his legs and raised his arms, ready to pounce. But before that, he just had one thing left to say;

"…TaToBa."

*CRA-CHOOM*

Shooting off faster than the eye could blink Sun plowed into his enemies, hooking them with his claws as he practically blasted off into the sky and back toward the main battle. The others, however, could only watch on in concern for their friend as he eventually vanished from view. "…We need to tell the others." Charmcaster stated firmly. "Now."

…..

Back across town, things were thankfully starting to fair better for the Omni-Hunters after regrouping with one another. Astonishingly enough, Pyrrha's new strategy of "hit them really hard" was actually working out rather well, especially since the heroes had been given such a boost in morale. It helped that they now had a giant, colossal reptile on their side, as well, meaning that every strike it made with its head, tail or any other part meant medals went flying EVERYWHERE. "Ahahaha! Take THAT, lug heads!" Nora laughed victoriously as the Earth Dragon sent the Ministry flying.

"Yeah! Let's see how YOU like being the ones tossed around!" Ruby insulted further, having joined in Fasttrack's fight with Mercury. The duo took satisfaction in uppercutting the feline monster at the same time, needless to say. "THAT'S for hurting my sister! And THIS is for—" *ring-ring-ring-ring* Before she could even get the chance to shoot at Mercury, though, Ruby's scroll went off, leading her to groan at the interruption. "Uuuugh!"

"Hm? Who is it?" Fasttrack asked.

Ruby rolled her eyes and sarcastically replied; "The boy who keeps calling at the most inconvenient times." Nevertheless, she picked up and answered him. "Yes, Zak, what's going on no—woah! Woah, woah, Zak, please, calm down!" Hearing the distress over the line, Fasttrack perked his ears up, his interest piqued. "Start again, please. What's going on?" As Zak clarified what got him so riled up, both Ruby and Fasttrack were left wide-eyed and astonished by what they heard. "I'm sorry, Sun did WHAT now—"

*CRA-SMASH*

As if to confirm Ruby's question, the object of their curiosity came falling from the sky and slammed his two opponents into the street. The rest of the Ministry and the Omni-Hunters gasped at the sudden interruption, covering their eyes as dust was sent flying upon impact. Once it settled, however, they were met with the sight of the new homunculus—Sun—standing atop Red Son and Subdora with his claws right up against their necks. Needless to say, no one could believe what they were seeing. "…Uh, who's the new guy?" Nora inquired.

Penny glared at the Ministry of Monsters. "Friend of yours, perhaps?"

Rojo shook her head in denial. "Never seen him before in my life."

"Uh, yeah, about that…" Fasttrack spoke up, wincing as he saw the red, yellow and green monster lift the villains by their necks. "…that might be Sun."

"…That's Sun?!" Ilia shouted, completely baffled.

Hearing his name, the homunculus snapped his head down to the group… and gave a rather cheery greeting for someone with such grotesque features. "Hey, guys! Check it out!" With a swing of his arms, he tossed Red Son and Subdora toward the rest of the Ministry, toppling them all down. "Pretty sweet, huh?"

"Depends on your definition of "sweet"!" Pyrrha reprimanded. "Sun, what did you do to yourself?!"

Flexing his shoulders and neck, Sun loosened himself up before answering; "I'll tell ya what I did. I made myself better so that we could BEAT these losers."

Hearing this, Ben transformed back to his human form and marched up to his friend-turned-monster, fearlessly stopping just a few centimeters in front of him. "Dude, I don't know HOW you got this idea in your head, but you need to spit those medals out. The dangers of using them are too—"

"Hey, I know how great the danger is, dude." Sun rebutted, lurching forward so that they were eye-to-eye. "But sometimes, you gotta know when to fight fire with fire." He thrust his arm over to the team. "Look at them over there. They're exhausted, and it's because those freaks have been sapping our aura throughout this whole fight. It's how Yang got hurt! If the same thing would've happened to Blake and I wasn't around to help her, I'd never forgive myself!"

"Well how do you think I feel, huh?!" Ben snapped back. "I was off dealing with the dragon problem while all of this was going down! And guess what? I feel freaking horrible that I wasn't there to help Yang sooner! But this?!" He gestured at Sun up and down. "I never would've gone this far!"

"Yeah, because YOU don't have to, Mr. Watch Man!"

"But you shouldn't have had to, Mr. Great Sage Disciple! How Wu Kong didn't teach you not to do something like THIS I'll never—urk!"

The team gasped as Sun grabbed Ben by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him up, threateningly bringing the claws on his other arm up to his neck. As that was happening, though, the Ministry couldn't help but watch in amusement and intrigue. "Ooh, I love me some spicy teen drama." Rojo giggled.

Sun, however, wasn't laughing in the slightest. "You don't know WHAT Monkey King taught me, Ben! So don't even THINK about playing that card with me!"

"A-Alright… I'll play this one, then." Ben shakily raised his arm, pointing to the other end of the street.

Right at that moment… a familiar voice screamed the monkey boy's name. "SUN!" He whipped his head around and there, having arrived with Zak, Drew and Neptune… was Blake. "Put him down RIGHT now!"

Within a single second, Sun's grip loosened and he dropped Ben, his focus shifting directly to his girlfriend. "B-Blake… you guys… h-how did you get here so fast?"

"We had Hope teleport us to the bank with her." Neptune answered. "We filled Blake in on the situation and she insisted on coming with."

Blake strode up to her boyfriend, with evert step she took making Sun grow all the more anxious. Once she was directly in front of him, her lips pursed with disgust. "…What is this? What the hell did you do to yourself?"

"I-I can explain—"

"CAN you now?!" Blake snapped, cutting Sun off entirely. "Because from what they've told me, this has to be one of the most bull-headed ideas that I've ever HEARD from you, Sun!" Her ears picked up a snicker and she whipped her hand up toward Red Son. "And YOU shut your damn mouth! You're not involved in this!"

"Blake, I just wanted to stop them before they could hurt you guys more than they already have!" Sun tried to justify his actions, putting as much confidence in his voice as he could. "When I got that message about Yang, you have no idea how worried I was for you!"

The cat girl's brow furrowed at the once monkey Faunus. "And that gives you an excuse to pull a move like this? Become what we're fighting and risk becoming a greedy beast?!" She raised her hands and pushed against Sun's chest, making him stumble back a little. "Think about what you're DOING, Sun! You didn't have to do this!" She thrust a hand back over to the main team. "We have a freaking DRAGON on our side here! We could've handled things without resorting to… whatever this is!"

Peering over his shoulder, Sun spotted said dragon, which was currently keeping by Nora's side. It locked eyes with him and growled with uncertainty, stepping in front of the redhead to keep her safe. Quickly lowering his head, Sun stared down at the ground, feeling immense shame under everyone's disapproving stares. "I… I'm sorry… I just… just…" But then, there on the ground… he noticed something. Something that made his voice hitch in his throat.

…The street was practically covered in medals, all having been beaten out of the Ministry just moments before. It didn't take long for Blake to notice as well, and just from his change in demeanor… she knew that something was wrong with her boyfriend. "…Sun? Sun, don't!" Blake went to push against his shoulders and get him away from that spot. "Don't you dare—AH!"

But it was all for nothing as Sun effortlessly shoved her to the side and dove right down to the ground, ravenously and hungrily scooping up medals by the handful and absorbing them into his own being. "GRRRAAAH! AAGGH! MEDALS! Must have MEDALS!" he shouted.

"Ahahahah!" The Ministry all laughed as the scene played out before them, with Mercury pointing at the act of desperation. "Well, whaddya know! Monkey Boy's got a greedy tooth in his body after all! Haha!"

"SUN!" Ben sprinted up to the homunculus that was once his friend, taking him by the arm and yanking him to his feet. "Don't lose yourself, man! Fight it! Fight the greed and—AH!" Ben's eyes widened when he saw Sun round about on him, raising his right arm to gut him with his deadly tiger claws. However, right at that moment…

*BAM*

Ben could only watch with stunned silence as a closed fist came flying in out of his peripheral vision and struck Sun in the head, causing the multi-colored monster to reel back in shock. On the ground, Blake was equally as surprised, because if this new arrival hadn't done it, she probably would've. Because indeed, the one who punched her boyfriend was someone whom neither of them had ever seen before; a rather handsome Japanese man with disheveled brown hair wearing a black suit with a magenta undershirt, complete with a matching camera hanging from his neck. The man drew his fist back, giving it a shake to get the numbness to subside. "Gah, idiot. Pulling a stunt like this…"

"Uh, excuse me, sir." Ben blinked in confusion. "But who're you supposed to be?"

Nobody else knew who the man was either… aside from a certain Hooded Huntress. "Ah! Kadoya-san!" Ruby happily waved, jogging her way over to them.

"…You've gotta be kidding me." Ilia brought her hand to her forehead in disbelief. "What are the odds?"

Penny, however, wasn't about to question their luck. "I believe calculating the odds would take a while, so instead, let's go over and greet him, shall we?"

As the girls followed their friend, though, Zak had to do a doubletake after he heard that name. And, upon a second look, he realized that the mysterious man did have a VERY familiar face. "…Kadoya-san?" he uttered, completely bewildered.

Kadoya himself smiled as Ruby and the girls came over, nodding to her friendlily. "Ruby Rose. We meet again." He nodded to Ilia and Penny as well. "Good to see that you're all doing…" He trailed off as he saw their disheveled appearances, wincing as he reconsidered his words. "…well, I suppose "fine" might be a stretch, but…"

"Er, yeah, sorry about that." Ruby apologized, wiping the grime off her cheek. "It's been a bit of a day. But what the heck are you doing here?!"

"Ah, well… that'll take some time to explain." Kadoya replied, his eyes moving back to the homunculus that was once Sun. He was already in a widened stance, as if ready to pounce at any moment. "…Time that we don't have right now. But everything will be cleared up soon enough, I promise."

Ilia raised a brow, giving Kadoya a knowing look. "You know… I had a feeling that you were more than JUST a photographer when we first met. I take it that you have some idea of what's going on here, don't you?"

"A little, yes." Kadoya raised his hand, ushering Ben to help Blake. "Go, help your friend get away. …I'll free your other friend from the influence of those medals." At that point, he saw the Ministry of Monsters come strolling back onto the scene, clearly confident considering the situation. "…Along with THOSE fiends as well."

"HA! Now that's a laugh!" Rojo guffawed, clashing her blade-like nails together as she and the Ministry prepared themselves for battle. "And just who're you to be saying, so, pretty boy?"

"Huh, who am I?" Kadoya reached down to the lower most button on his jacket—the only one that WAS buttoned—and loosened it… revealing a sight that made everyone's jaw drop. Strapped to his waist… was a transformation belt. Its base and the side handles of it were completely black, with the central part being a vibrant magenta. On this center piece was a lens-like core inside a silver ring with a green crystal above it. And, printed around the core, were eighteen different symbols, with Build's Rider symbol being among them. At the top of the device, the word "DECADE" was emblazoned in blocky letters.

The man pulled the handles of the Driver, causing the center piece to rotate up and reveal a thin slot on its side. He then reached down to the steel book that was hanging from his waist, opening it briefly to pull out… a trading card. One which depicted the helmet of a masked hero on the front. "…I'm just a passing through Kamen Rider. Remember that." Kadoya flipped the card around, revealing his own symbol; a bar code that incorporated the hero's helmet. "Henshin!" He inserted the card into the Driver, which declared in a robotic voice;

-KAMEN RIDE-

…And then he pushed the handles back in, closing it up.

Decade!

Out of the Driver's central lens, the man's symbol was projected via a red hologram, and around him, he was surrounded by nine of the other symbols that decorated his driver. The symbols then took the form of blurry afterimages that converged over his body, coating him in a suit of monochrome armor.

The center of the suit, the outer parts of the arms, the gloves, boots, and the sides of his helmet, were all black, while the inner arms, legs and the bracelets and anklets were stark white. He had silver detailing on the underside of his helmet, which was rather smooth and completely dull grey. The grey color extended to a majority of his chest plate, as well as his shoulder pads and the outer parts of his leg armor.

Across the aforementioned chest plate was an asymmetrical cross that was made with white and black stripes, which resulted in a protrusion coming out of his left shoulder pad. The same protrusion was on the other side as well, but it matched the shoulder pad's grey color. The only part of the suit that wasn't completely monochrome were the large, bug-like eyes, which were emerald green.

However, that all changed when the red hologram that projected out from the belt took the form of seven energy beams that went up and then came back down onto the warrior's helmet. The energy then solidified into seven black ridges that made it appear as if a 3D barcode had been printed across the helmet, with the center most ridge having a yellow crystal at its tip. And, even further, the energy coursed through the rest of the suit, resulting in the grey parts all changing into a lively magenta hue.

Once the transformation was finished, everyone was left completely silent, all of them utterly dumbfounded by what they had just seen. …Aside from Zak, who was screaming his head off after falling onto his butt in shock. "AAAAAAAHH! NO WAY! NO WAY! NO FREAKING WAY!"

"Woah, dude, chill!" Neptune advised, kneeling down to help his friend. "I know that Cooper works super-fast, but you don't gotta—"

"DUDE! Don't you SEE?!" Zak exclaimed, his voice incredibly high-pitched as he thrust his hand out at the new Rider. "HE'S THE REAL DEAL!"

"…Huh?" Ruby became slack-jawed at the revelation, seeing Kadoya peer at her over his shoulder. "Is… Is that true?"

With a short chuckle, Kadoya turned to her and gave a nod, seeing as his enemies were all just as speechless as they were. 'No harm in a short introduction.' he figured. "Heh, it is. Forgive me for not introducing myself properly. My full name is Tsukasa Kadoya. But most people know me as…" He brushed his hands off and pulled the steel book off his hip… revealing that it was actually a gun in disguise. Aiming it at the villains, he revealed his alias to them all;

"Kamen Rider… Decade."

…..

A/N: And thus… our friendly photographer finally reveals his true identity. The Destroyer of Worlds, the Tenth Heisei Rider, the Magenta Man HIMSELF! Kamen Rider Decade… has arrived. And yes, he's using the Neo DecaDriver, so this takes place AFTER Zi-O (as well as an unspecified amount of time after the Zi-O vs Decade special, for obvious reasons).

But of course, Tsukasa's involvement was only at the END of the chapter, so let's see how the rest of it went, eh? First off… our heroes got their butts kicked this go around for the most part, no ifs, ands or buts about it. But hey, if I had the Ministry get beaten after getting their new powers, then they wouldn't come off as a credible threat, now would they? Of course, there WERE exceptions, like when Ben rejoined the fight, he managed to go toe-to-toe with Mercury without much issue.

Then, there was the OTHER great equalizer; the Earth Dragon! …Which Nora managed to tame. Because of course. Eh, it's not like befriending a dragon is the CRAZIEST thing that Nora's ever done, right? And speaking of, we've FINALLY got the return of Ben's Dragon transformation! …And yes, he now officially has a name; "Galactigon"! I will say, I've had plenty of suggestions for names since the Dragon's first appearance, and I thank everyone who's put theirs into the ring. However, I felt like I needed to go with my gut on what to name him, so I hope you like my personal name for him. Plus, I added a few extra details to his body to make him more unique from just being a generic dragon… details that were inspired by Lloyd's Legendary Dragon from the Ninjago line. You can probably sense a pattern forming.

But, on that note… we've gotta talk about Sun. Because if this isn't a big hint to what I've got planned for him, then nothing else will be as obvious. His monstrous appearance here IS indeed based off of "Another OOO", which is a monstrous variant of a certain Rider that was mentioned in the last chapter. You guys will have to stay tuned to what happens with him, because I've got BIG plans, for sure.

But speaking of Riders, it seems that Kenny and Cooper are seeing some action back in Bellwood, which we'll be catching up with NEXT TIME! Also, interesting that Cooper gave Kenny those additional bottles… hm… But will they be able to stop whatever Animo's up to? We'll have to wait and see. But in the meantime, it's time for Decade to clean house! Next Time, Ben 10 RWBY Month's Finale; "Journey Through the Decade". Thanks for reading, everyone, and I'll see you all on Halloween! And of course, as always, stay safe out there!