A/N: Hey there, guys! Welcome back to Ben 10 RWBY and I'm just gonna keep the Author's Notes very brief for this one. We've got a HUGE chapter ahead of us. Like, I'm pretty sure this is one of the LONGEST chapters that I've written for this or ANY of my stories, so we're just gonna dive right in! This is…

Chapter 118: Every Which Way but Brains

…..

The first thing Raven was aware of upon waking up was the fact that her head was practically pulsating with pain, and it only increased as she opened her eyes. At first, her vision was blurry and shaky, though as she blinked, it cleared up more and more. …And that's when she realized that she was trapped. Her arms and legs were restrained, clasped in heavy metal cuffs that were being held up by energy tethers on the wall, leaving her arms outstretched and her legs in an A-stance. Also, her sword was gone, and she was behind some sort of energy fence.

The rest of her surroundings were… very much NOT Bellwood. She was inside of a laboratory filled with hi-tech equipment, its blood red walls making her feel uncomfortable. If she hadn't known better, she would've guessed she had been kidnapped by a mad scientist. …But she DID know better, because as her eyes refocused, she could see her abductor standing right on the other side of her cell.

"Oh, good, you're awake." Princess Iron Fan grinned, with condescending sarcasm practically dripping from her voice. "Did you have a nice nap, sweetie pie?"

"Augh!" Raven made an attempt to struggle, but it was no use. The restraints weren't budging in the least. "Where did you bring me, you bull-horned bitch?!"

Iron Fan wasn't the least bit perturbed as she paced back and forth in front of the cell. "Hmhm, oh just a few hundred thousand lightyears away from Earth. We're practically in uncharted space, it's quite beautiful… too bad you don't have a window to see it."

"Let me loose and I'll MAKE one!" Raven belted out… but then…

*ZZZZZZZZZAAAPPPP*

"GYAAAAAAAHH!" All at once, Raven was shocked with a few hundred volts of electricity, forcing her to stop her attempt at escaping.

Just then, another voice piped up from outside of the cell. "Ah-ah, I wouldn't be too hasty if I were you." Raven's jaw clenched at the sight of not just Albedo, but also Cinder and Red Son approaching, the three of them wearing the same, damned smirk. "After all, your Aura still hasn't replenished yet… I have made certain of that." Albedo stated.

"Hah… w-what?" Raven uttered. "H-How…"

"Your restraints are draining your Aura about as fast as it replenishes." Red Son revealed with a wave of his hand, holding his head up high with pride. "A design thought up by myself and perfected with the aid of Albedo's ingenious technology. He even thought of how to repurpose your Aura energy so that it hurts YOURSELF! AHAHA!"

Cinder strolled up, her face mere inches away from the energy field as she taunted Raven. "Oh, how much it must suck to be you right now, Spring Maiden…"

Raven sneered down to Cinder for the comment. "Psh, I'm more surprised that you haven't already taken my powers for yourself."

"Oh, I would happily do so… but unfortunately, I do not have the necessary tools for that." Cinder rolled her eyes with a slight grimace. "The Grimm that Salem gave to me to acquire the previous Fall Maiden's powers was… unique. So, until she can make another, we'll just have to keep you like this for now."

The dark-haired woman hung her head low as her situation sunk in. "Hah… I have to admit, you've thought of everything. No aura means I can't use my Semblance." She peeked out at the group of four through her hair. "…Because if I could, I'd just bring Ben or Yang right here right now to beat the FUCK out of you."

"Ah, yes… shame that your precious daughter won't be here to witness your final moments." Cinder shook her head. "But, hey, have to keep you as FAR away from her as possible, otherwise there's a good chance that you'll pass the Spring Maiden powers onto HER instead."

"Once again, you've thought of everything." Raven deadpanned. "But more to the point… what IS your actual plan? Going through all this effort just to kidnap me? I don't believe it."

On that note, Albedo grinned and brought out a remote, hitting a button that caused five large screens to come lowering down from the ceiling inside of Raven's cell. "I was hoping you'd ask… because now, you'll be having a front row seat to the greatest exhibition ever!" The five screens switched on… and Raven was aghast at what she saw.

Each screen showed a different perspective, and on each, she saw the Omni-Hunters fending off members of the Ministry. Ben and Ilia were being confronted by Khyber and some new predator in a dense jungle. Zak, Penny, the Cryptids and some green-haired boy were fighting Argost, Munya and an armored Hazel on a mountain top. Rex, Helen and Bobo were fighting Hog, Skull and Subdora in an icy landscape. The Riders were battling against the Kamen Warriors along the edge of a canyon. And Team JNPR and Titan were fighting off Deathstalkers and…

"…TYRIAN?!" Raven exclaimed, seeing the mutant cyborg for the first time. "He's ALIVE?!"

"More than alive… he's been made better." Cinder snickered. "Now, be a dear and keep an eye on things down there, would you? We're quite eager to know how the hunt progresses…"

…..

"The game begins… now."

And it was a game that Ben Tennyson was eager to get started. Of all the things that could've happened to him, of course THIS had to be it. Taken from his home planet along with half of his team and forced into a "Most Deadliest Game" scenario with Khyber. …Definitely not the way he wanted to spend his Wednesday. But he wasn't worried. He had a plan to get out of this, and it involved the same method that the Ministry was using against them; divide and conquer. He leaned over and whispered to Ilia; "When I give the signal, we split off in separate directions."

"What?" the chameleon girl muttered back. "Why? Won't we just get lost?"

"Trust me, you'll be able to keep sight of me." Ben grinned as he activated the Omnitrix, dialing up the alien of his choice. "Alright, Khyber… bring it!" Pressing the core of the device down, he was enveloped in a bright flash of green light, and when it died down, Ilia was met with quite the surprising choice of an alien.

There, standing in his all of his black and white glory was; "Ditto!"

"…Ditto?" Ilia questioned.

With a conniving smirk, the Splixon winked and waved up at her. "Don't worry, don't worry, this is where it gets good!" He rolled his neck and swung his arms, preparing himself for what came next; that being splitting into four exact copies of himself. With all the confidence in the world, the short alien laughed in Khyber's face. "HA! Good luck…"

"Chasing all of us…"

"At once!"

Once the first three Ditto were done insulting the Huntsman, the fourth Ditto… blew a raspberry at him, something which Khyber wasn't all that impressed by. He responded by dismounting his Crabdozer, approaching his Panuncian with a grin of his own. "Fascinating creature, the Panuncian." He pat the creature's bristled fur. "Native to the planet Hathor…"

The Dittos' eyes all collectively widened. "Hey, that's Ditto's home planet!" one of them shouted.

"…Where it's the natural predator of the Splixon." Khyber continued.

"Hey! That's Ditto's species!" another Ditto said, now feeling more nervous.

Khyber's grin grew hearing that fear. "Is it, now? Ah, fancy that." He reached down to the Nemetrix on the Panuncian's collar and pressed down on it, encompassing the creature in a flash of red light. Once it dissipated… Ilia and the Dittos now found themselves surrounded by FOUR Panuncians, growling at them all at once.

With pursed lips, Ilia sent a sour look down to the Dittos. "…You just HAD to open your big, fat mouths, didn't you?"

"What can we say?" a Ditto shrugged.

"We're gluttons for punishment." another added. After a short pause, all of the Dittos belted out; "NOW RUUUUN!" Ilia didn't have to be told twice as she sprinted out into the woods, with the Dittos all bounding between the trees after her.

Khyber waved his hand out, ordering the four Panuncian; "Hunt them down! Leave Tennyson injured enough, but do NOT kill him. I shall have the honor of landing the finishing blow. As for the girl… do with her as you wish." With that, the four identical beasts bolted through the forest, chasing their marks down with intense, unfettered focus.

It didn't take long before Ilia and the Dittos were forced to run straight off of a cliff, though thankfully it was a short fall that they were able to land. Even so, that didn't deter the Panuncians, who all climbed down after them without difficulty. From there, the Dittos split off, though Ilia made sure to follow at least one of them. She wound of swinging her way through a bunch of vines in the process, and once they got past the trees… they noticed the environment change drastically.

What was once a humid jungle became a snow-covered trail in a matter of moments, and they were forced to come to a halt at the edge of a frozen river. "Brr… are you k-k-kidding me?" Ilia's spots changed to an icy blue as an undeniable chill ran down her spine. Granted, her fur-lined jacket helped, but she still had short sleeves, so it wasn't much. "Now where are we?"

"D-D-Don't know…" Ditto shivered. *kr-krack* "…Uh, but I think we're about to go on a little ride." His head craned down to see the ice sheet break off from the main shore and start floating down the river, taking them with it. Even worse, the ice sheet broke in half right where ditto was standing, forcing him to go into a split… before literally splitting in half. "GYAH!"

While Ilia and the first Ditto were able to stay balanced on their ice sheet, the other Ditto wasn't, his legs sinking into the water as the ice leaned over. Thinking fast, that Ditto created yet another, who swiftly ran up and slammed himself down on the ice sheet, balancing it back down so it could keep floating. "Dude! What's with the winter wonder land?!" the Ditto asked.

"Don't ask me!" the other Ditto declared, pointing to their originator. "HE was here first!"

"Well, we'd better get OUT of here fast!" Ilia advised, pointing directly behind them. "Look!" Sure enough, the Panuncian was closing in fast, jumping into the icy cold water without even a hint of hesitation.

All three Ditto yelped and hastily began paddling… and arguing at the same time. "Wah! Help me paddle!" "No, YOU help ME paddle!" "Help ME help YOU help ME!"

Ilia's eye twitched as the banter went on, facepalming as it did. "…Now I'm starting to see why Sienna couldn't stand Rath. Only instead of dealing with the rage tiger, I'm stuck with the alien who's a living cartoon character…" As the river's current picked up, though, it lead them down into a much larger body of water… and from there, Ilia caught sight of something else happening further out over the lake. "Hey… is that…"

"HA! It is!" Ditto exclaimed, pointing in the same direction. "It's Rex!"

"And Bobo!" "And Helen, too!" the other Dittos added. "And they're… oh boy."

Indeed, off in the distance, the two EVOs and Kineceleran girl were preoccupied, fighting against Exo-Skull, Thunderhog and… Subdora in a wetsuit. The Merlinisapien was deftly dodging as Bobo shot at her with his pistols, only to then try and get in close and shank him with her blade, Queen's Ransom. "Gah! Jeez, lady!" the chimp snapped, using his foot to grab her by the arm and then swing up onto her shoulders. "Watch where yer pointin' that thing!"

Subdora was immediately disgusted by even the slightest physical touch from the ape. "AUGH! Get off of me, you flea-carrying PEST!"

But even as she thrashed about, Bobo refused to let go, and he took great offense to her insult. "HEY! I keep my fur flea an' tick FREE!" He reached around and, much to her disgust, stuck his hand in her mouth, getting a good grip so that he could throw her up and over himself. She wound up sliding across the ice and into the water, where Bobo immediately took aim. "Eat this, ya crazy bitch!"

*POW-POW-POW*

"SUBDORA!" Exo-Skull hollered, changing his course mid-charge to try and help his beloved. "Hang on! I'll get that monkey off yer ba—ACK!" But he was stopped right in his tracks as Rex came down and SLAMMED into his back with his Punk Busters, face first right into the snow.

"Hey! Pay attention!" the EVO scolded as he brought out his BFS as a follow up. "You're fighting ME, remember?! HYAH!" He brought his sword straight down, but Exo-Skull rolled onto his back, flinging Rex off in the process. The rhino mutant roared in rage before charging at his opponent, his laser horn charging up. "That's it…" Rex smirked. "Come to papa…" In a flash, he exchanged his BFS for his Block Party right as Skull fired off his laser, making the blast rebound…

Meanwhile, Helen was having a far less easy time with Thunderhog. The pig mutant wasn't hindered in his movement like she was, easily gliding along the ice on his hooves while swinging his mace around. All she could really do was blast at him with her sidearm and hope that he'd get in close enough to get in a lucky hit or two. …All while trying to avoid the lightning blasts from his mace. "AHAHAHA! What'sa matter, little girl?! Gettin' tired yet?!" Hog taunted.

"Hah, are you kidding?!" Helen laughed off. "Kinecelerans don't DO tired… FRUSTRATED on the other hand!" *PEW-PEW-PEW* She attempted to blast at him again, but he simply skated around the shots, doing a dainty pirouette just to show off. "GAH! Are you KIDDING me?! You're a PIG, how're you moving like this?!"

"I took ice skating when I was sixteen, kid!" Hog boasted as he continued on his way, spinning in place without so much as a stumble. "An' this pig body is surprisingly well balanced! Ain't NOTHIN' that can' throw me off—" *BWEEEEEM* "GYOWCH!"

All of a sudden, a blue beam came in from out of nowhere and threw Hog off the ice, sending him directly into the snowbank. Helen did a doubletake, where she saw Rex having just redirected the shot from Exo-Skull. "Hah, thanks for the help, Rex!" she waved.

"No problema." Rex saluted back before quickly shifting back to his Smack Hands, just in time to intercept Exo-Skull's charge. "Now let's take these dudes down!"

"GRAH! Not happenin'!" Skull asserted, pounding the ground to dig into his push. "We're DONE bein' made the laughin' stock, now we're gonna be gettin' serious with yous guys—" *ZZZZZZAAPPP* "GYAAAAAUUUUGHH!" Without warning, the rhino man suddenly found himself on the bad end of an electrocution, making him stagger enough to where Rex could punch him square in the jaw. The blow was so hard that it ended up sending Skull right into the drink, joining his beloved Subdora down in the icy cold depths.

Even so, Rex himself was just as stunned. "W-What the—AH! Ilia?!" he wore an ear-to-ear smile at the sight of the chameleon girl once Skull was out of the way, retracting her Lightning Lash in the process.

She nudged her chin at him, returning the grin. "Hey, Rex. Did we miss anything?"

"Haha! You have awesome timing!" Rex went up and gave her a high-five, only to then realize what she said. "Wait… "we"?"

"'Scuse us!" "Comin' through!" "Watch your back!"

Rex gasped, suddenly finding himself doing an awkward jig as he avoided the stampede of three Ditto making their way past him and over toward Helen and Thunderhog. "Gah! Ooh! Jeez! Dude, what the heck?!"

One of the Ditto turned back and sent him a salute. "Sorry for the rush, Rex, but we've got work to do!" He pointed out toward the lake. "But while we're at it, think you guys can take care of Cleo over there?"

"Huh? What're you—WOAH!"

"GROOAAARR!" Rex was pulled out of the way just in time to avoid getting pounced on by the Panuncian, with Ilia leading him back toward a snowier area closer to the shore.

And when Rex saw the beast, he was astonished to see what was around his neck. "Ah, man… Khyber's already got a new pet?!"

"Unfortunately." Ilia lamented as it stalked toward them. "And apparently, it's Ditto's natural predator, so…" Just as she said that, the Panuncian began to glow and it split into two, confronting each of them and startling Rex even more. "…It can do that."

While Rex was surprised by the sudden move, he quickly regained his composure and took a deep breath. "Heh, alright. So Kitty Cat can make clones of himself. Not a problem… right, Bobo?!"

On his cue, the EVO chimp came leaping in from behind the beasts, landing on one of them and grabbing a fistful of its bristly fur to cling onto. The Panuncian roared and shock and began bucking its way across the ice, but Bobo didn't allow his grip to slip. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit. "AHAHAHA! That's it, pussy cat, keep it goin'!" He pulled out one of his pistols… and shoved it right in the back of its head. "Boom Time!"

*POW*

The result of that single shot was… unexpected. Rather than falling over dead, the Panuncian clone simply vanished into thin air, causing Bobo to fall right onto the ice again. "Gah! Oof! Okay, not what I was goin' for, but…" Just then, a shadow loomed over him, causing Bobo to lift his head up and see the other Panuncian growling over him. "Ah… heh, sorry, but this chimp ain't about to be yer mouse. Kid!"

The Panuncian's eyes widened and it whipped around to attack… but it was too late. Rex came in and swung at it with his Funchucks, sending it careening back out into the lake for the time being. "Haha! That's three for three!"

"Nice!" Ilia commended. "Now let's regroup!"

Across the ice sheet, meanwhile, Ditto was closing in on the fight between Helen and Thunderhog, with two of him sliding their way across the ice and managed to take the latter off guard. Right as the warthog man had just found his balance, the Dittos slid into his legs and brought him right back down again. "Gah! Tennyson?! Why you little—huh?" The boar mutant brought his fist down to clobber the Splixons, only for them to dive into the snow. "Oh no ya don't! Get back here!"

Helen was slackjawed by the sudden arrival, but was more than happy to greet her friend with a happy smile. "Hah, Ben!" she greeted the third remaining Splixon. "Hah, am I glad to see you!"

"Feeling's mutual, Helen." Ditto agreed. "Sorry you had to get caught up in all this."

"Ah, don't worry. Not my first rodeo…" The Kineceleran girl winced as she tried to keep her balance on the ice, her wheels threatening to spin out underneath her. "Ugh, I just hate that THIS is where I got stuck. I'm REALLY no good with ice."

"That so?"

"Yeah, I just end up spinning out and eating it whenever I try to use my speed. It's really annoying."

Her words made Ditto ponder for a few moments… and that's when he got an idea. "Oh-ho-ho! Lightbulb!" He motioned for Helen to get closer, and when she did, he whispered his plan into her ear, which made her eyes light up in intrigue.

"Oh… you think that'll work?"

"'Course it will!" Ditto assured with exuberant confidence. "When've I ever been wrong on anything?" He received a deadpan stare in response. "…Don't answer that. Point is, I'm sure it'll do the job! I've been a Kineceleran a LOT, so trust me when I say YOU can pull this off!"

Helen took a deep breath, hoping to steel her own confidence. "Hah, if you say so. Alright, let's do it!"

Ditto gave her a thumbs up and called out to his clones; "Hey guys! Get over here! It's time for Operation: Merry-Go-SPLAT! Heeheehehehe!" The clones followed his instructions, popping out of the snow after having gone a few rounds of Whack-A-Mole with Thunderhog.

"H-Hey! What're you—" But by the time Hog turned around, he wound up seeing exactly what their plan was… and it left him baffled. "…Wut?"

The same could be said for Rex, Ilia, and Bobo, who had just rejoined the fray. "What in the goddamn…" the chameleon girl uttered.

The two Ditto he had been trying to pulverize latched themselves onto Helen's arms, to which she took hold of them by their arms. And then the main Ditto took hold of her tail, wearing an eager smirk all the while. "Ready?!"

Helen lowered her visor and nodded. "Ready!"

"CONTACT!" On the hero's word, Helen began to spin around at incredibly high speeds, becoming like a top as black, blue and white streaks blurred around her and Ditto. "WOOOO-HOOHOOHOO!" the clones all hollered as Helen leaned forward, allowing the propulsion that her speed provided to carry her forward on the ice.

"…I don't know WHAT the hell you're doin', but I ain't gonna let it happen!" Raising his mace into the air, he called out his catchphrase as he spun it around; "Thunder! THUNDER! THUNDERHOG!" *WHOO—BAM* He smashed his weapon straight into the ground, causing the ice sheet to start breaking off. While Rex was able to get the others to safety, Helen just kept on spinning, even as the ice she was on began to capsize.

Unbelievably, however, this actually proved to be an advantage, as the frozen sheet actually made for a makeshift ramp that Helen managed to launch herself off of, much to Hog's astonishment. "EAT THIS!" she screamed, letting go of the three Ditto to launch THEM at the mutant.

"Woah-woah-woah-NOOOOO—" *BANG—CRASH—WHAM* Within moments, Hog found himself struck hard and fast by three laughing projectiles, who all dogpiled him to make sure he didn't move. And it didn't take long for him to figure out why as Helen herself came smashing down into him, slamming her tail against him so hard that he was sent flying out over the lake. "GYAAAAAAA—" *SPLASH*

"Hahaha!" "Sweet!" "Freakin' YEAH, baby!" the Dittos cheered as they all gave each other high-fives. "Helen, that was great, I—huh?" But when the Dittos turned around, they saw that the Kineceleran girl wasn't exactly in the best state. The upper half of her body was planted right in the snow, her tail lolling off to the side as her legs dangled in the air. "…Oh boy. I've got her right leg." "I've got her left!" "I've got her middle!"

Once the Dittos grabbed her legs and tail, they all pulled at once and plucked Helen out of the snowbank, allowing her to sprawl across the ground as her eyes rolled inside her head. "WooooOOOooo… I wanna get off the ride now, please…"

The three Dittos reunited into one and he leapt down to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Ya did great, champ! Ya earned a rest." Helen promptly fell flat on her back, right as Rex, Bobo and Ilia came over. "Nice work, guys."

"Hah, yeah, glad we could pull it off." Rex agreed. "But I doubt they'll stay under for long."

"Which is why we'd better get outta here ASAP." Ilia advised, craning her head around searching for a path… only to not see any. "…Gah, but which way do we even GO?"

"Hehe… actually, I've got a plan for that, too." Ditto said, tapping the side of his head. "In fact, as of right now, EVERYTHING is going exactly how I planned it."

The three sent equally confused stares at the Splixon, with Bobo folding his arms over his chest. "Alright, Tennyson, I'll bite. What exactly IS the play-by-play 'ere?"

Ditto spread his arms out as he explained; "Isn't it obvious? Khyber and the Ministry wanna play the "Divide and Conquer" game with us, so to counter 'em, we're gonna play "Divide and Unite"!" He sent a wink up to Ilia. "Why'd ya think I transformed into Ditto in the first place?"

Ilia gasped in realization. "Ah! Oh my gosh… you split yourself up on purpose so that you could find EVERYON and relay a message to them, didn't you?"

"Yep! And that message is…" Ditto pointed toward the direction they came in. "Meet up in the exact MIDDLE of this terrarium of terrors!"

"A "Terror-arium", if you will! Ahahaha…" Once he realized no one was laughing at his joke, Rex cleared his throat and got back on track. "Okay, yeah, better to leave the puns to Yang." In a flash, he activated his Rex Ride and ushered everyone to get on. "Well then, what're we waiting for? Let's get outta here before—"

"TENNYSOOOOONN!"

The group whipped their heads around as a united shout of anger came out from over the water, and they were immediately met with Exo-Skull, Thunderhog, Subdora and the Panuncian all swimming toward them at high speeds, the latter three clinging to Skull as he uses his boosters to jet them across the water. "YOU'RE DEAD MEAT!" Hog belted out.

"And YOU will PAY for sticking your grubby fingers in my MOUTH, you SICK little monkey!" Subdora screamed, wagging her finger at Bobo with rage.

Everyone's eyes all glued onto Bobo in a mixture of surprise and disgust. "…Gross, dude." Rex grimaced.

"Yeah, I wouldn't even do that." Ditto added.

"'Ey, what can I say? Lil' Miss Scale Belly wouldn't gimme a break." Bobo scooped Helen up and placed her on the back of Rex's Ride before hopping on himself. "Now c'mon, what're we waitin' for, Lunar New Year?! Let's go, go, GO!"

…..

Far off in another biome, meanwhile, a lone Ditto was sprinting his way across a dry, scorching dessert, going as fast as his little legs could carry him. He dared not look back, for fear of realizing just how close his natural predator was. However, he'd soon find himself gaining some ground… as he tripped overtop a dune and went rolling down into a divot. "GAH! Wo-wo-wo-WOAH—OOF!" He rolled onto his hands and knees, shaking the sand off his head. "What the… ugh, I knew we shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque!"

"GROOOAAR!"

The Splixon gasped as his pursuer came bounding in over the dune as well, leading him to make a split-second decision; he dove into the sand. The Panuncian pulled to a halt in front of the hole Ditto left behind and started digging… though it didn't really have to as Ditto popped out of the ground further away a moment later. "Yoooo-hooo! Heeheeheeheeheeee!"

Hearing the annoying laugh, the beast immediately ran to pounce at the hero, only for him to pull back into the ground and then pop back up in the opposite direction. "Too slow! Ahahaha!" This pattern repeated several times over, with the Panuncian only just getting within reach before Ditto would go back underground. Once he saw the beast getting winded, his confidence began to skyrocket. "Hehehe, I could do this AAAAAALL day, heh! …Eh, but not for the rest of my life. Gotta find a way outta—"

"GRYAAAAAAOOOOORRR!"

"Huh?!" Ditto and the Panuncian's heads snapped in the same direction as something came over the dunes… something that soared over their heads and landed in a heap not too far away. The hero was taken aback when he saw that it was none other than a dead Deathstalker, which immediately dissipated into black mist upon impact. "…What the—AH!"

The next thing that came flying in, however, wasn't dead. In fact, Tyran Callows was feeling VERY much alive, his frustration and total madness fueling his combative spirit. "AHAHAHA! Yes, YES! I LOVE it when my prey give me a challenge!" he said as he snapped his metal claw, not immediately noticing either Ditto or the Panunician as he stared out over the dune. "It'll make it MUCH more satisfying when I finally EAT you!"

"Uh, I think you mean "beat" there, Sonny-Jim."

"NO, I mean EAT—wait." Tyrian's sights darted down, his red, cybernetic eye zooming in on Ditto threateningly.

Realizing his predicament, Ditto sheepishly waved. "Uh, hehe… hiya."

Tyrian grit his teeth and reared his tail back. "Grah! TENNYSON!" *WHRRP* He struck down with his stinger, only for Ditto to yelp and duck back down into the sand once more. "Why you little—"

"GRROOOOOAAAAARRR!"

*THOOM* Without warning, another Deathstalker was thrown right over the dunes and into the divot with Tyrian and the Panuncian, only this one was very much still alive. It wasted no time getting back only its legs, letting out a shriek as it snapped its pincers at its approaching foe. From over the hill, Titan and Team JNPR came, glaring down at their enemies with their horns down and weapons drawn respectively.

"Only one left!" Nora called out, rolling her neck to loosen herself up.

"And then we can finally focus on Tyr—hold on." Ren paused, noticing the wild beast that was with their opponents. "What the heck is THAT thing?"

Pyrrha furrowed her brow curiously, taking note of the beast's threatening build. "I don't know…" As it raised its head at her, though, it became apparent that this wasn't just some random beast. Because it had the Nemetrix secured around its neck. "…But now I have a better idea as to who this land belongs to."

"Khyber!" Jaune spat, his grip tightening on his sword. "Gah, I should've guessed he'd be a part of this. It feels too much like a hunt NOT to."

*POP* "Sucks, doesn't it?"

"Yes, Ben, it do—AAH!" Jaune let out a scream, as did the rest of his team, when they noticed the Splixon at their feet. "B-BEN!"

Nora lifted her hammer in celebration. "HAHA! I KNEW it! I knew you had to be around here SOMEWHERE!"

Ditto chuckled and rubbed his nose knowingly. "Hehe, well, if ya wanna get technical, I'm basically everywhere right now. But let's save the chummy reunion for later, eh?" He pointed down to their enemies at the bottom of the dunes... where the Deathstalkler was approaching fast. "We've got some unfinished business to take care of, and I've got a plan!"

"Let's hear it." Pyrrha nodded.

"Alright, first up; Pyrrha, you, Nora and Ren are gonna have to handle that Deathstalker." The redheaded warrior nodded in understanding before the hero diverted his attention toward the Pink Dynamo. "And Nora, I'm gonna have to ask you to let Titan keep Khyber's new pet busy. If anyone can give that walking dental nightmare a hard time, it's him."

With a salute, Nora followed the command without question. "Gotcha, Ben!" she spun on her heel and reached out, gently petting one of Titan's horns. "You hear that, buddy? Keep Mr. Bad Kitty busy for a while, okie-dokie?"

"Grgrow!" Titan heeded her words before trampling around, letting out a loud bellow as he charged at the Panuncian… while also throwing the Deathstalker off for good measure. Needless to say, the beast was taken aback, but it was light on its feet as it deftly dodged the Earth Dragon's charge. But even so, that didn't stop Titan from swinging his tail around, clobbering the beast with his thagomizer and flinging it into the sand.

"Now! While the Deathstalker is disoriented!" Pyrrha thrust her javelin toward the giant scorpion. "Let's move in!"

On her command, three fourths of Team JNPR went in to make the kill, and Jaune was about to go with them… until Ditto grabbed him by the ankle. "Ah-ah, not so fast there, hot shot. I'm gonna need YOU to help me out with Dr. Claw down there." Just as Jaune's gaze shifted toward Tyrian, though… "WATCH OUT!" *BWEEEEEEM* Ditto yanked him down into the dirt, narrowly avoiding the incoming heat beam.

"YOW! Jeez!" Jaune was about to get up when he saw a shadow suddenly cast itself over them, leading him to gasp and shout; "MOVE!" He quickly tackled Ditto out of his hole, just in time to avoid Tyrian's incoming stinger.

"GYAHAHAHA! Oh, so THIS is how you're gonna play, eh?" the scorpion mutant mocked. "A little game of cat and mouse?"

With Ditto in his arms, Jaune spun around to glare at their pursuer… only for Ditto to wiggle his way free and shake his fist in retribution. "We'll just see who's the cat and who's the mouse here, smart guy! HUP!" He jumped back into the dirt, much to Jaune's surprise. "Jaune! On my signal, zap him with the strongest bolt ya got, okay?!"

"O-Okay! Got it!" Reaching into his pocket, Jaune procured three vials of Lightning Dust, sheathing Crocea Mors to shift it into its great sword mode. He opened up the blade and placed the three vials inside, clasping it shut with a hard slam.

Triple Dust Loaded!

Pumping the grip on the sword, he began charging it up for his attack, though Tyrian didn't seem all too concerned. "HAHAHA! Planning a little shock to my systems, boy? Well, let's see how well you do once I take away your aura aga—ugh!" But right as he took a step, Tyrian found himself tripped up and his face buried in the sand, much to his aggravation. "BAH! What the—hey!" He peered down, seeing Ditto clinging to his ankle.

"Not today, ya ugly mug!" the hero declared.

"Get OFF!" Tyrian kicked Ditto in the face several times, but he just wouldn't let go… and it only got worse once ANOTHER Ditto popped out of the dirt and grabbed that other leg. …And then another. And another. And yet ANOTHER until he was covered on all sides by Dittos. "GRR! Why you little—FINE! You bastards wanna play like that?!" He lifted his claw and stinger, ready to blast and slice them all into oblivion. "THEN I'LL JUST HAVE TO KILL ALL OF—"

ZANDAR—THUNDER!

*ZAZAZAZAZAAAAAAPPPP*

But Tyrian wouldn't get to unleash his fury. Instead, his metallic body parts acted as a lightning rod for Jaune's immense electrical attack, sending a powerful jolt through his whole body. "YAYAYAYABLBLBLBLBL!" By the time it ended, Tyrian's carapace was smoking and all of his cybernetic body parts were wigging out, leading him to start spasming across the sand. …And yet somehow, he was still clearly alive.

Thankfully, the Dittos had all let go before they got shocked themselves, and they all bounced up out of the dirt to reunite into one. "Haha! Top THAT, freakshow!"

"Ha! Wow, it really worked!" Jaune said, sharing a high five with the Omnitrix bearer. "How'd you know it would?"

"Eh, I just figured making an annoyance outta myself would get him riled up enough to distract him." Ditto shrugged, giving Jaune a little nudge. "But hey, I was just the distraction. You and that sword of yours are the REAL MVPs here."

Jaune rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish chuckle. "Hehe, thanks… hey, let's check in on the others, eh?"

"Oh, I think they're doin' just fine." Ditto pointed over toward the action, where things were getting pretty intense.

The three remaining Team JNPR members had all circled around the Deathstalker, all of them peppering it with their respective weapons. …Well, Ren and Pyrrha were doing the peppering. Nora's blasts were more like immense seasonings, with each grenade forcing the beast back further and further. Eventually, though, Pyrrha saw the opportunity to take her shot. "Nora! Send me up!"

"Right!" Shifting Magnhild into its hammer mode, Nora held her weapon out, allowing Pyrrha to jump on. "Ready?!"

Pyrrha quickly changed Milo into its bow mode, loading an Ice Dust vial into it. "Launch me!" On her word, Nora let out a grunt of exertion, sending her fellow redhead straight up and over the Deathstalker. Pyrrha had used her Semblance to increase the height of her leap as well, making sure that she was out of range of the Deathstalker's tail. She pulled back on her bow string, charging it up as she carefully aimed down at the beast's stinger. She waited… *bleep* and waited… *bleep* and waited… *bleep* until finally… *BLEEP* …letting go.

ICE ARROW VICTORY

Raining down from above, a volley of icy arrows was unleashed upon the Deathstalker, the Grimm shrieking in agony as the cold burned the inner parts of its tail. The whole appendage eventually froze up, and by then, Pyrrha had landed. "REN!"

"On it!" Speeding forward, the green ninja used Stormflower to slice through the tail right at its base, making the creature wail even more. "Nora, finish it!"

The Pink Dynamo didn't have to be told twice, bounding around the beast's thrashing claws to strike down upon its head. "Nighty… NIGHT!" *WHA—BOOOM* With an explosive impact, the Grimm was destroyed on the spot, with Nora lifting her hammer high above its dissipating corpse. "AHAHAHA! YEAH, baby! That's what I like to see!" she shouted, sharing victorious high fives with her friends.

"Yes, very well performed!" Pyrrha concurred. Out the corner of her eye, she saw Jaune and Ditto approaching, beaming toward her boyfriend happily. "Hah, and I see that you two were successful as well."

Jaune grinned back at her and gave a shrug. "Heh, yeah, it was surprisingly easy if you can believe it."

Ditto puffed out his chest. "Dude didn't stand a chance against THIS tag team! Now, c'mon, we've gotta make a break for the center of this place."

Ren and the others eyed him curiously. "And why is that?"

"'Cause that's where we're gonna meet up with the others." Ditto explained. "When Khyber sicked his cat-mutt on me, I split myself up so that I could find everyone and bring 'em back together. Pretty smart idea, right?"

"I'd say so." Jaune nodded. "Speaking of that, though… Titan! How's it go—WOAH!" However, when they all turned to find the dragon, what they saw left them all slack-jawed. Titan was okay… but he was also being confronted with an entire LINE of nine Panuncian, all of them growling in hopes of intimidating the larger creature. "W-What the…"

Ditto cleared his throat and muttered; "Y-Yeah, I might've forgot to mention that the cat is Ditto's natural predator…"

"Ya probably should've LED with that, Tennyson!" Nora shouted before picking Ditto up by the scruff of his neck.

"W-Woah, hey! Put me do—OWN!" The hero got his wish when he was suddenly slung onto Titan's back, which Nora followed up with… by flinging the rest of her team on as well. Thankfully, Titan was able to support them all, but the group were still stunned by Nora's actions. "N-Nora, what're you—"

Without answering, Nora did a midair flip onto her usual seated position among Titan's back spikes, reaching down to give him a pat on the head. "It's okay, big fella. Everything's gonna be okay. We just gotta get to the middle of this gods-forsaken place, okay?" Titan nodded in understanding. "Good! Now don't let these putty-tats scare you! Eruption!"

"GRRROOOAAAARR!" The very next second, Titan's chest and eyes began to glow, his insides heating up by the second until he opened his mouth. From his throat, magma spewed out at the Panuncians, making them scatter in shock and fear before he plowed through them all in one go. "Graoroar!"

"WOOO-HOO-HOO! YEAH!" Nora pumped a fist into the air. "We're home free, baby!"

As they barreled out of the sand dunes, though, the others weren't exactly having a fun time, desperately clinging onto the Earth Dragon's back as tight as they could. "GAH! OOF! UGH! NORA! You NEED to make a freaking SADDLE for this guy!" Jaune shouted.

Ditto, who was gripping the blonde knight's armor, was looking more on the bright side. "H-Hey, so long as it gets us away from those things, it's alright by—GYAAAAH!" Just then, however, the hero let out a bloody scream, clenching his chest without warning.

"B-Ben!" Pyrrha reached out, placing a hand on his back. "Are you hurt?!"

"N-No… not much, anyway." Ditto said through steady breaths, trying to regain his composure. "I… I think one of my clones just got eighty-sixed. We gotta hurry!"

As the group left, however, they failed to notice a certain mutant cyborg starting to come down from his sudden electrocution, his cybernetic optic readjusting itself. "…Reboot complete." Tyrian growled, slamming his metal pincer into the sand. "…You're not getting away THAT easily, children, hehehehe…"

…..

As that was happening, two Ditto clones had managed to find their way into an underground cavern, intent on making their way out to a different biome all together. …However, they would be forced to a halt when they wound up at a fork in the road; two tunnels splitting off from the main path. "Hah, of course." The first Ditto rolled his eyes before pointing between the two tunnels. "Eenie-meenie-minnie… gah, no, I mean… Out is Y-O-U!"

"Gah, forget it!" the other Ditto rebuked. "Let's just split here. With any luck, one of us will end up SOMEWHERE that the others are!"

"Nice deduction there, genius." Despite the sarcastic remark, the Dittos went down separate paths… wherein they were followed not long after by a pair of Panuncians. The first Ditto had found himself running through craggy passages and into a wide-open cave, and it didn't take him long to see that there was an opening not that far away "Ah-ha! Light at the end of the tunnel!"

"Groarrr!"

The heroes' eyes widened and he whipped his head back, seeing the Panuncian in hot pursuit. "Gah, man! Course you're not giving up THAT easily!" He went into a mad sprint to get to the cave exit… but when he emerged, he was met with a sight that he did NOT want to see. On all sides, he was surrounded by high canyon walls, which towered over him as if to taunt him. "…Oh, you've gotta be KIDDING ME!"

*KIDDING ME… KIDDING ME… KIDDING ME…*

Little did he know, his echoing voice would prove to be his salvation, as it wound up catching the attention of two masked heroes and their opponents high above. Kamen Rider Build and Kamen Rider Cross-Z were still in the middle of their duels with Blood Stalk and Night Rogue respectively, but Ditto's voice was enough to shift their focus, if for just a second, back to the canyon. "W-What the…" Kenny muttered.

"Focus up!" Yuma hollered, swinging his hammer up to bring it straight down on Cross-Z's head. Kenny gasped and quickly brought the Beat Crosser up, blocking the blow by only just a few seconds.

"Gah! Jeez!" Cross-Z muttered, pushing back as hard has he could. "Do you just NEVER give up?!" He moved his hand down to the pommel of his sword and pulled it twice.

Hit Parade—Hit Parade!

Pushing with all his might, he made Night Rogue stagger back, allowing him to press the trigger on his sword's handle. With a mighty swing, he unleashed a swathe of concussive soundwaves that blew the bat villain back.

Million Hit!

"AAAUUGH!" Night Rogue was promptly thrown back several feet… and fell straight into the canyon. "Gah, not YET!" Half way down the drop, however, he unfurled his wings and pulled up, flying straight through the gorge and intent on flying straight back out. …But then, something caught his eye. Down below him, he spotted a small, black and white alien running away from what he recognized as Khyber's pet, and it didn't take him long to figure out who it was. "Ha! Tennyson!" Night Rogue reached down, taking his Transteam Gun in one hand to fire at the Splixon. "Glad you could join the party!"

*POW-POW-POW*

"Gah! Jeez! D'oh!" While Ditto was able to avoid most of the blasts, he ended up tripping over a rock that he didn't see, sending him tumbling across the stoney ground. "Yowch! Uh… oh no." He backed up as the Panuncian approached, with Night Rogue flying in and landing next to it. "Ah man… talk about getting caught between a rock and a hard place…" He put on a sheepish smile, hoping to bargain for his freedom. "Don't suppose you guys have a price for lettin' me go free, do ya?"

Behind his mask, Yuma's eyes narrowed. "Um, no." *BANG* The Ditto clone didn't even get a chance to yell before he was shot straight in the chest… wherein he dissipated in a green flash of light. Needless to say, Night Rogue was taken aback. "Huh… that was surprisingly easy—" *SHINK* "W-What the—" *CRACK* "GYAGH!"

All of a sudden, from high above, Cooper came crashing down and plunged his Drill Crusher into the Panuncian's back, causing it to disappear of a flash of red light. He then delivered a straight punch to Night Rogue's jaw, sending him crashing into the dirt. "How's THAT for easy?!"

"Hey!" Back up on the canyon's ledge, Blood Stalk wasn't particularly happy that his sparring partner had just left. "What're you doing?! We were just getting started!"

Cooper pointed his Drill Crusher up at the masked menace. "I'm not playing your games, Blood Stalk! The fact that Ben was here proves to me that you've got the others here, too!" He pulled out the Tank Full Bottle from his Driver and switched his weapon into its gun mode, inserting the bottle to bring about his finisher. "And I'm going to get out of here to find them AND the rest of our bottles!"

Blood Stalk was about ready to jump down there himself. "Not on MY watch, Build! You're history—"

Ready—GO!

Draconic Finish!

"Wha—AAAGH!" Suddenly, Cross-Z literally came flying out over the canyon using his own final attack, striking Blood Stalk right in the chest before the energy dragon that carried him across came down and bit straight into him. Blood Stalk was forced to his knees as energy pulsed all throughout his body… but he kept himself up with his wrench blade, gritting through the pain. "Hah… hah… impressive as always… Cross-Z."

Kenny himself was astonished by the fact that he hadn't gone down. "W-What?! How'd you… you just shrugged off my attack?!"

Slowly, Blood Stalk flexed his arms and dispersed the energy, standing up shakily. "Hah, yeah, but only just barely. …Your real name was Kenny, wasn't it?" Kenny didn't respond, instead taking a battle-ready stance. Blood Stalk let out a chortle as he picked up his sword and started walking forward. "You see, Kenny, for a long time, I considered myself a weak individual. Never could find my place in the world. …But then, I learned something one day. Something that would forever change my outlook on the world."

"…Oh yeah?" Cross-Z questioned, unwavering in his stance. "And what's that?"

Slinging the Spade Blade against his shoulder, Blood Stalk slowly turned his head so that he and Kenny's sights locked. "…That I was destined for greatness. There's an insurgency about to happen, my friend, and I'll be the one spearheading it."

His statement only left Cross-Z puzzled. "What? Against Salem?"

"Oh-ho, no, no… I NEED Salem's gracious gifts if I'm to successfully pull off my plan, after all. No, my goals are a bit more… focused on one place, if you will." Raising his blade, Blood Stalk pointed it at his draconic opponent, ushering him to bring it on. "But enough chit-chat! I want to keep fighting, and you're the perfect sparring partner!"

Behind his mask, Kenny's expression hardened as he reached down to his holster, taking up the Lock Fullbottle to insert it into his sword. Special Tune! "Alright, then, bozo. You asked for it!"

Hit Para—Hit Parade!

Million Slash!

"HRAAAAHH!" Charging in, Kenny struck his fiery blade against Blood Stalk's the duo clashing with a concussive wave of blue energy.

Down below, Build had his own weapon trained directly onto Night Rogue, who had managed to regain his footing. Holding his Giga Hammer with both hands, the Bat Faunus snapped at his rival; "So you wanna stress test this, Build?! Fine, then!" Spreading his wings, Yuma flew forward at staggering speeds, rearing his weapon up for a big swing. "BRING IT ON!"

Cooper was more than willing to oblige. "…Make my day."

TANK! Vortex Break!

The moment he pulled the trigger, a massive energy burst in the shape of a tank shell came blasting straight out of the Drill Crusher, flying toward Night Rogue just as fast as he was coming in. …However, the bat villain then weaved out of the way with a barrel roll, swinging his hammer around to strike the blast and redirect it towards the canyon wall. In a massive blast, part of the stone outcropping gave way and collapsed, causing an avalanche that blocked off the canyon path and forced Build to leap out of the way. "Ga—AAGH!"

*BAM*

…And right into Night Rogue's hammer, sending him right back into the rubble. As he was buried, Yuma threw his head back with a crazed yet victorious laugh. "GYAHAHAHA! YES! Finally, proof positive that I am the superior fighter! THIS shall be your final resting place, Kamen Rider Bui—"

Ready—GO!

"…Oh, you've gotta be kidding me—AUGH!" All at once, the rubble was blown away as a hard light energy graph came bursting out and clamped down onto Night Rogue, with a diagonal line trapping him in midair. "Gah! N-No! Not again!"

"See if you can hammer your way out of THIS!" Cooper bellowed as he leapt onto the diagonal line and was propelled straight up, his foot aimed right for Yuma's chest.

Vortex Finish! YEAH!

"HRAAAAHH!" Belting out a loud, vengeful scream, Night Rogue managed to force his arms out of their imprisonment and raise his Giga Hammer high above his head, much to Build's shock. He swung his weapon down and SLAMMED it right into the Rider's foot, resulting in a blow that sent both of them reeling back after a potent explosion. "Gah! ACH!"

"Ugh!" Build managed to roll onto his stomach and quickly stand up, taking his Drill Crusher back in hand and changing it back into drill mode. "Hah… hah… you've gotten tougher."

Using his hammer to balance himself, Night Rogue hoisted himself up, spitting back; "And you're just as stupidly determined as ever." He picked up the Giga Hammer and instantly took to the air again, zooming straight for Cooper. "IT MAKES ME MAD! RAAAGGH!" The pair's weapons clashed again, but Night Rogue managed to drive Build straight into the canyon wall, wailing on him with his free fist. "WHY! WON'T! YOU! FALL?!"

On that final punch, Build caught Yuma's fist and pushed back, all while cranking away on his Driver once again. "Because I'm NOT about to give up! Even if it's the last thing I ever do, I'll make SURE the two of you don't EVER go to the next level!" As he went for another Rider Kick, though, Cooper prayed to himself that they'd get out of this situation soon. 'Ben, if you're getting the others, PLEASE hurry. I don't know how much longer we can hold out here!'

…..

Far off in the Mountain Biome, the final Ditto was currently in a staggering hustle up to the highest peak, having seen a commotion of energy attacks firing off when he emerged on the mountainside. It wasn't an easy trek, though, what with the rugged terrain and the debris that was constantly falling from above that he had to avoid. And to top that all off… he'd just gotten over a piercing pain in his chest, which he could only deduce was from a Panuncian managing to actually get to one of his clones. "All the more reason to keep going, Tennyson…" Ditto panted to himself, peering back to see his own Panuncian clone still coming after him. "You can do it! You can do it! You can—"

"JYAAAABABABAAAH!"

"H-Huh—AH!" Ditto dove out of the way as several figures came crashing onto the mountain path from above, which, as it happened, was actually none other than Fiskerton and Smokey… and they had brought Munya down with them. The Panuncian was forced to dodge as well, the beast now zeroing in on Smokey who growled right back at it.

Emerging from a bush, Ditto shook the leaves off his head before brightening up at the sight of the cryptids. "Haha! Fiskerton! Smokey!"

"Ruh? Bebe?!" Fiskerton did a doubletake when he saw the little alien, recognizing the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. He smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Rajabee bahgah!"

Ditto hopped out and joined the duo, stepping between them for extra security. "It's good to see you, too, big guy. Is Zak up there?"

"Yah-yah! Burbahguh…" the Lemurian babbled back ominously.

"Eh, yeah, guess Argost would be here, too…" Seeing the relatively short distance between the peak and the path, an idea suddenly struck the Splixon. "Hey, I've gotta get to Zak and tell him my plan. Can ya hold off those bozos over there?" He got a nod from the cryptid, to which Ditto nodded in approval. "Great! We'll be back to get ya soon. For now, though… I'll need a boost up to that peak."

"Gracha!" Fisk stated, picking Ditto up and then reeling him back, aiming for the top of the mountain. "GROOH!"

With that, Fisk threw Ditto straight to the top, the hero rolling into a landing upon impact. "Haha! Yes! Now, time to get the others and… oh boy." Hastily, Ditto hid behind a tree before he could get absolutely smeared by an ice beam attack, which ended up freezing over another bush just behind him.

As it would happen, Zak and Francis were both busy battling Argost, while across the way, Penny was fighting… a heavily armored Hazel. In fact, it was probably the most absurd armor he had ever seen. A rhino horn, gorilla fists and elephant feet-like boots was certainly… a fashion statement, to be sure. But more concerningly, it appeared that Hazel actually had a bit of an upper hand on the redheaded android, using Gravity Dust to keep her grounded as he pummeled on her with his massive gauntlets. She wasn't even allowed a single second to try and catch her breath, which Ditto deemed completely unfair.

Seeing as the boys had themselves covered, Ditto's next decision came fairly easy. "Alright, Operation: Dog on Hazel is a go…" With that, he began scurrying quietly across the edge of the mountain peak, ducking and moving between trees, stones and bushes so that neither villain would notice him.

"Come now, Zak… is all of this opposition really necessary?" Argost questioned as he continuously parried the boys' attacks. "Given your current situation, it would simply be easier for you to forfeit. Perhaps then you and your friends stand a chance of getting home!"

Zak, however, was unrelenting in his strikes. "As if, Argost! You've fooled me WAY too many times in the past for me to fall for that crap!"

While Zak had Argost's attention, Francis came in from the side to plunge his blade into the yeti's stomach. But Argost was much quicker, leaping into the air and over Zak's head in a single bound. "Hah… and besides, even if you WERE true to your word in getting us back home, we STILL wouldn't surrender to you!"

Argost huffed and shifted his Bizarre Blade into its gun mode. "Hmph, very well. But you cannot blame me for trying." Pulling the trigger, he sent an icy blast at the boys, which they leapt away from with ease. "But know this! I WILL still send you boys back home… only in BODY BAGS!"

"Hah, now THAT I can believe." Zak admitted.

From behind him, Kaz popped out and started pleading with him, a trend that had been going on since the battle started. "C'MON, man! You gotta lemme out! We can beat him easy if ya just let me go nuts!"

"Dude, even if I KNEW a way to let you out, I still wouldn't!" Zak bit back, making Kaz float back a bit. "You think I trust you enough to just let you go ham on someone else? No way!"

"Pssh, fine, be that way." Kaz grumbled, folding his arms with a pout. "Well then, maybe I WON'T tell ya that Argost's comin' straight for your head."

Zak's eyes widened as a loud roar met his ears. "HRYAAAAGGH!" The young Secret Scientist gasped and immediately ducked under the Bizarre Blade right before it could cleave off his head, using the Claw's tether to wrap it around Argost's leg and take him off balance.

"Hah… hah… um…"

"Yeah, you're WELCOME."

With a heavy sigh, Zak conceded to Kaz's point. "Alright, alright… you can be my wingman in this fight. HYAH!" He went in to strike Argost while he was still down, only to get batted away by the yeti as he stood back up. Zak slid into a landing, however, reuniting with Francis in the process. "Keep an eye on my blind spots."

Kaz gave a thumb's up... only for Francis to respond. "Can do."

"Uh, no! He means ME ya idiot!"

Zak rolled his eyes and explained it to his corporeal friend. "Francis, I'm talking to Kaz… but maybe he can watch BOTH our backs."

"I'm uncertain how I feel about a demon having my back." the young agent contended.

Waving his comment off, Kaz scoffed and rebuked; "Bah, fine! Didn't wanna help YOUR sorry ass anyway…"

"FOCUS! GRAAAH!" With another roar, Argost brought his Bizzare Blade in for another strike, this time hitting the ground in front of the two boys and causing massive ice spires to pierce up from the ground. Zak and Francis recoiled and rolled away, a sudden chill spreading throughout their bodies. "If you boys wish to stand a fraction of a chance, then perhaps cease your senseless prattle!"

"Ah, you're just grumpy 'cause it annoys you." Zak quipped smarmily, which only enraged Argost even more. Even so, the boys wasted no time going back in, this time completely focused on bringing down their adversary.

Not far away, Hazel was still absolutely pummeling Penny into the ground, his Gravity Dust-fueled punches making it so that she couldn't even get the slightest bit airborne. *WHAM* "GAH!" *BAM* "YAH!" *CRASH* "AAAAUUGH!" It took a lot to make Penny's pain receptors actually feel something, and Hazel's heavy blows were doing exactly that. Even so, she held herself together, waiting for SOME kind of opening.

But Hazel just kept his foot firmly placed on her lower half, his power practically radiating off his body. "Yes… YES! I can feel it now… my strength grows with every strike!" He peered down to Penny, a hint of sympathy behind his gaze. "I'm sorry, Miss Polendina, but if reacquiring this monstrous form will aid me in my pursuit to FINALLY end Ozpin, then yours is a sacrifice that I'm willing to make."

Coughing hard, Penny struggled to try and stay up. With how much force was being exerted on her, she couldn't focus enough to bring out any of her weapons. 'I have to get out of this somehow. I just… huh?' Just then, she spotted something moving through the nearby tree… and when Ditto poked his head out, her eyes widened. However, the Splixon placed a finger to his lips, silently telling her to not bring attention to him. He then pointed toward Hazel's shoudlers, where the Gravity Dust crystals were plunged.

Understanding immediately, Penny got right to work serving as a distraction as Ditto climbed out onto the longest branch. "Hak… is… that all you really care about, Mr. Rainart?" Penny asked, spitting out some green fluid from her mouth. "Killing Ozpin? Because I can tell you that your endeavor is fruitless. He'll just keep reincarnating over and over again!"

"And I'll destroy him as MANY times as I have to!" Hazel roared back.

"I understand that your sister died a horrible death, and that Ozpin WAS her overseer as Headmaster of Beacon…" Penny's gaze hardened up at the larger man. "But look at what you've become. A man wearing a suit that seeks to become a monster!" She saw Hazel's brow furrow, but she pressed on. "Would she be proud to see what her brother has become? And besides, if your sister was a Huntress, wouldn't you have a grudge against SALEM as well? It must've been a Grimm that killed her, right?!"

Hazel grit his teeth as his scowl deepened. "Girl, you should know that there's more to being a Hunter than simply killing Grimm. In their line of work, they do FAR more than that." He clenched his fist in ire. "My sister… she fell to her doom while on the heels of dangerous criminals. Shot in the chest and cast down the side of a mountain, caving her head on a rock on the way down." He raised his fists up, ready to continue his onslaught. "She was not ready… and clearly, neither are YOU! RAAAA—AUGH!"

At that moment, Ditto took his opportunity to swing down and nab the Dust crystals from Hazel's shoulders, ripping them out rather forcibly before landing beside Penny. From there, the gravitational force stopped radiating off of Hazel's body, and a relieved Penny instantly activated her Block Buster boots, shoving Hazel off. "Ah, a touching story there, Hazel, but you'll forgive me if I have to cut your monologue short." Ditto taunted.

"GRAH! TENNYSON!" Hazel immediately charged forward, but Penny quickly shifted to her Mechano Crushers, taking him by the horn on his helmet and using his momentum to instead throw him off the peak entirely. "YYAAAUUUGHH!"

"And exit, stage right!" Ditto taunted.

The move managed to catch Argost's attention, taking him aback. "W-What?! How did—GAH!" Zak promptly took the opportunity to strike Argost in his shin, which Francis followed up with a blow to the back.

"NOW who's not focused?" the green-haired boy quipped.

"Haha! Ben!" Zak ran over and gave the Splixon a high five. "Nice sneak attack there!"

Tossing the Dust away, Ditto winked and gave a thumbs up. "Heh, and most people say I have trouble keepin' quiet! I'm practically a master of stealth!"

Francis bowed his head toward Penny regretfully. "Penny! I apologize. We were so caught up with Argost that we were unable to get to you in time."

"Oh, it's alright." Penny assured, nodding back to him. "I've been in far worse scenarios, I can guarantee you that."

"Yeah, she probably woulda found a way out without me." Ditto shrugged. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. …Speakin' of which, though, we gotta get movin'. I'm wrangling the others up as we speak and we gotta make a break for the center of this place!"

Francis furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wait… what do you mean you're gathering the others? You're right here."

Penny was the one to explain; "The alien he is now, Ditto, can duplicate himself in great numbers." She smiled down to him knowingly. "And it would seem that he's using that to find us all and reunite us, right Ben?"

"Correctomundo! …But we've still got a bit of a problem." Ditto pointed out. "That." The other three whipped around just in time to see Argost approaching… as well as Hazel climbing his way back up the cliff. Ditto then redirected his finger down the mountain. "…And that." Everyone shifted their sights over the short cliff, seeing Fiskerton and Smokey still fending off Munya and the Panuncian respectively.

"What the heck is that thing?" Zak asked of the pantherine beast.

"Simply put; Khyber's new pet." Ditto replied as his brain wracked with ideas… before eventually striking one once more. "…And I think I just figured out how we're gonna get outta this. Penny, grab the boys and get airborne! I'm gonna help Fisk and Smokey out."

The redheaded android looked to him in concern. "You're sure?" With a wave of his hand and a confident grin, the hero assured her that he knew what he was doing, and with that, she activated her Air Heart jetpack. "Alright, but be safe, alright?" Without any warning, she grabbed Zak and Francis by the backs of their shirts. "Hold on tight, boys!" The duo had barely any time to grip onto Penny's arms before she blasted off, the boys letting out surprises cries as they ascended.

Needless to say, Argost was NOT happy. "GRAH! Curse you, Ben Tennyson!"

"Hey, no stealing other villains' catchphrases, V. V.!" Ditto quipped, placing his hands on his hips. "Animo would be SO offended."

"It doesn't matter!" Hazel roared, slamming his fists together as he and Argost approached. "In rescuing them, you've just sealed your fate!"

Ditto's smirk increased and he shook his head. "Oh, I don't plan on stickin' around. Just gotta get my other buds outta here with me. On that note…" All at once, Ditto began multiplying himself, taking Hazel and Argost by surprise a little until there were at least four dozen of him crowded up across the peak. "WE'LL SEE YA LATER!" they all said at once before jumping off the side. "FISK! SMOKEY! MOVE!"

"Raja? AAAAAHH!" Fiskerton yelled as he narrowly got out of the way of the Ditto avalanche, the little aliens all dogpiling onto Munya and the Panuncian.

Smokey took several steps back as well, only to then feel something land on his back. "RAWR! Grrrr… mph?" But when he snapped his head back to see who it was, he discovered that it was a single Ditto clone, who was gently petting his grey fur.

"It's alright, big guy. We're gonna get outta here now!" The hero pointed up to the sky, where they saw Penny, Zak and Francis flying their way down the face of the mountain. "Follow them! To the center of the terrarium!" Fisk babbled out an affirmative noise as Smokey bounded down after the three, leaving the villains behind.

"…Do we follow them?" Hazel asked.

Argost pondered on that for a moment before coming to a conclusion. "We shall, but perhaps not too hastily." Down below, the Panuncian had just broken free of the Ditto pile, destroying several of them in the process before it gave chase itself. "After all… I suspect that Khyber has his own plan up his sleeve to deal with our multiplying adversary."

…..

"Gah! Ooch! D'OW! GYAHAHAHOW!"

"Ben, seriously, what the heck is going on with you?!" Rex called out, peering over his shoulder toward the Splixon in the back. Ilia and Helen were looking at the hero in concern as well as he writhed on the back of the hoverbike, with Bobo glaring at him in annoyance.

"I'll tell ya what he's doin'. Makin' a fool of himself." the EVO chimp muttered.

Ditto opened one eye to glower back at him. "Gee, thanks for the concern." Ditto took some steady breaths, trying to calm himself down. "But—GAH! Ugh, I'm pretty sure—OUCH! Th-That my clones are—AUGH! …Getting destroyed."

Ilia pursed her lips, coming to a quick conclusion; "That means one of your other clones must've made a whole bunch of them, right?"

"Probably. But hopefully—GRAH! …The REALLY important ones are getting the gang back together."

Helen craned her head around, seeing that Subdora, the Panuncian and the Mutants weren't chasing them any longer. "Well, the good news is that we seem to be in the clear. Once we meet up with the others we should—ACH! Hey!" All of a sudden, Rex brought his Ride to a halt, leading everyone to bump into one another. "Rex! Why'd you—huh?" Seeing the EVO point outward, Helen's eyes lit up when she saw something plowing its way through the jungle ahead. "HA! No way!"

"GROOOOOAAAARR!"

Beaming widely, Ilia immediately hopped off the hoverbike with Ditto in her arms, with the others following suit as the black Earth Dragon smashed his way through the trees. "It's Titan! And Team JNPR! Guys! Over here!"

At the sound of Ilia's call, Nora gasped and reached down to her dragon's neck. "Titan! Bear right!" Titan growled in response and pulled a sharp turn, taking them toward the clearing where the rest of their friends were. "GUYS! There you are!"

"Oh, thank the gods!" Pyrrha hopped down, as well as Jaune and Ren. The two redheaded girls immediately went up to Ilia and Helen, exchanging relieved embraces. "I was worried that it'd take forever to find you all."

Ren and Rex exchanged a fist bump, the green ninja's shoulders slumping slightly. "No kidding. It's been so tense I was wondering if there'd ever be an end to this in sight."

"Hah, well, we all had a good guide, so that's a plus." Rex peered down to Ditto, who merged back with his clone almost instantly.

"Yeah, it's pretty handy having Ben in lots of places at once." Jaune concurred, kneeling down next to the hero. "Thanks, dude. We all owe ya one."

With a short sigh, Ditto waved him off. "Ah, don't thank me just yet. We've still got the other half of the gang to find."

Right at that moment, however, the sound of loud engines could be heard overhead, causing everyone to crane their heads toward the sky. "…I don't think we'll have any problems with that." Helen remarked as a green streak of light came shooting across their heads from up above, only to then come back around and immediately land in the clearing.

Once the dust had settled, it revealed to them Penny, Zak and Francis, the latter two visibly rattled while the android was a-okay. From out of Zak's body, a frazzled Kaz emerged, his head rolling in a dizzying daze. "UuUuUugh… is the ride over?"

"LAND!" Zak shouted, falling to his knees to hug the turf beneath him. "Sweet, solid ground, I'll never leave you again!"

"Oh, please." Francis rolled his eyes. "You're being overly dramatic…" He cleared his throat before leaning over and whispering to Penny; "Ahem, although… a better warning next time would be much appreciated."

Penny was unfazed as she smiled and nodded to him. "Of course! But on the bright side!" She extended her arms out toward the others, rushing up to them happily. "Everyone! Salutations!"

"PENNY!" the group shouted happily, bringing her into a group hug as the boys approached behind her, Francis having pried Zak up from the ground. "Haha, are we glad to see you guys okay!" Ilia laughed in celebration, only to notice that there were still a few left missing. "Wait, were Fiskerton and Smokey with you guys?"

As if to answer her question, though, a certain babbling voice came from beyond the trees. "YAAYAAIEOOO!" The team all turned to see Fisk and Smokey bounding out from the underbrush, with the final Ditto riding on the smoke wolf's back.

"Huh, never mind then." the chameleon girl said.

On that note, the last Ditto gave a victorious laugh as he launched himself off Smokey's back, reuniting with his other self. Then, in a bright flash of green light, Ben transformed back into his human form, much to the joy of everyone. "Hah… and with that, I'm back in one piece." the Omnitrix bearer brushed off his jacket, getting reacquainted with his own skin. "…Barring a few mishaps along the way. That Panuncian is no joke."

"Hold on… where's Cooper and Kenny?" Pyrrha asked, scanning her sights across the forest.

"Hmph, that was actually the first Ditto clone that was killed." Ben grimaced. "Night Rogue found me and shot me before I could do anything. Let me tell ya, NOT pleasant. But if HE noticed me, then there's a good chance that the guys saw me, too, so we should head to the canyon biome and—"

*KA-POW*

"AAAHH!" The team simultaneously screamed as a quartet of multi-colored lasers shot the ground around them, causing a blast that sent them all reeling backward. And once the dust settled, they were met with a very unwelcoming sight. Standing before them were Subdora, Thunderhog, Exo-Skull, Tyrian, and about nine Panuncians all crouched down and growling, ready to strike at any moment. "Oh come ON!" Helen bemoaned, I thought we ditched—"

"AAH!" Zak let out a sudden yell and thrust his finger toward Tyrian, stepping back fearfully. "I-It's him! Th-That's the guy who took you all out before!"

"Aye, dios mio!" Rex recoiled in disgust. "What the hell IS that thing?!"

"If you can believe it… it's Tyrian." Jaune uttered.

Rex's eyes widened in horror, the revelation finally hitting him as he took a second, hesitant glance. "…Holy crap, it IS him! Jeez, Ruby sure did a number on HIM, huh?"

Behind his glasses, Francis' eyes widened in disbelief. "Ruby Rose… did THAT to him?"

"Well, it was more her Silver Eyes, really." Penny clarified. "But yes." She furrowed her brows at the mutant cyborg. "We were all hoping that it was enough to kill him."

Tyrian opened his mouth and hissed in response. "HSSS, wishful thinking on your part, cyber girl! I've missed a lot while I was in a coma, but mark my words, I'll make sure that ALL of you bite it, just to see the misery on Little Miss Rose's face!" He whipped his head around toward the Panuncians, yelling at them; "Now, all of you! ATTACK!" …But none of the beasts moved an inch, instead continuing to keep their eyes on their targets. "…What?! I said ATTACK! Why won't any of you MAUL them already—GAAAHH!"

Just then, the teen recoiled when Tyrian suddenly received a potent shock, one that left him on his knees. "Because they await MY orders, Callows!" From behind the group of mutants, Khyber came riding in on his Crabdozer, the Huntsman holding a control remote that was pointed at the cyborg scorpion. "I would suggest you not forget that."

"Oh hey, the guy who's finally behind this whole thing finally shows himself." Nora sneered as Titan took a defensive stance, growling at the Crabdozer. "You DO know it's rude to leave your guests hanging without a formal greeting, right?"

"My apologies…" Khyber replied, dismounting the Crabdozer as he took center stage. "But I DID send you a welcoming party each, did I not?"

Helen narrowed her eyes at the villains. "Yeah, and would ya look at how THAT turned out?"

"Oh, shut it!" Skull rebuked with a jut of his chin, his nose already sounding stuffy. "We're all gonna get colds because of you, so we don't wanna hear ANY of it!"

"Ah, boo-hoo, cry us a river." Ben snapped back sarcastically, his focused going back mainly on Khyber. "Let's just get this little "game" over with. Because now that we're all together, for the most part, we can take on as many of these Predators as you can throw at us! Right guys?!" In response, the Omni-Hunters all raised their weapons, with Rex bringing out his Blast Caster while Penny activated her Big Freaking Chainsaw.

"Same goes for you Ministry goons, too." Ilia added, whipping her Lightning Lash to intimidate them. "We won't stop fighting until we wipe the floor with you. All Ben has to do is not transform into any of the predator's natural prey and we're good."

Khyber, however, kept his confident grin about him. "Perhaps… but can you take on ALL of the Nemetrix predators… at once?" He lifted his head and whistled, his pitch changing frequencies for each Panuncian to hear. What came next made the group's jaws all drop at the same time. Just as the Huntsman said, the nine beasts all transformed into the Nemetrix's arsenal of predators; The Mucilator, the Slamworm, the Buglizard, the Hypnotick, the Omnivoracious, the Terroranchula, the Vicetopus and the Tyrannopede, with the Crabdozer stomping forward to join them.

The team now found themselves surrounded by nine alien beasts, all of them growling in anticipation. "…Crab baskets." Pyrrha muttered.

"Hmhm, what say I let them play with the children for a while?" Khyber suggested, earning sinister chuckles from Hog, Skull and Subdora. "They've earned it! Then, when they're done… we grant them a merciful end?"

"NO! No mercy!" Tyrian snapped, having recovered from his controlled shock. "The last thing I want for THEM is mercy after the humiliation I've suffer—AUGH!" He was promptly grabbed by the neck by Khyber, who didn't even flinch as Tyrian's stinger bounced off his thick skin.

"Keep your cool, Callows." Khyber warned. "Remember who's in charge here, or should I tell your Queen that you're being disobedient?"

While Tyrian struggled in the hunter's grasp, Ben quickly decided that enough was enough. "Alright, time to get serious here." He activated the Omnitrix, searching for his trump card. 'Way Big's gotten a lot of use recently, but if there's any time that I need him, it's NOW.'

At the same time, Khyber grinned at him in amusement. "Choose wisely, Tennyson. Because whichever alien you pick… will be your last."

"Oh, I intend to." Ben said, finally finding Way Big's icon. "It's Hero Time!" He raise his hand and pressed down on the Omnitrix's core, enveloping him in a flash of light…

…And when that light faded, he was NOT Way Big. Instead, Ben had transformed into a tall, bipedal avianoid alien covered in reddish-brown scales, the talons on his hands and feet being a light tan color, same as his beak. He wore a black chest piece with a green harness, the Omnitrix symbol displayed in the center as always. There were ridged plates over small portholes in his forearms, and on his back was a large pack-like structure that had two openings near the bottom, as well as an intake of sorts near the top. Finally, his head featured three crests; a large, primary one that swept back on his head and two smaller ones above his green eyes that resembled brows.

Once the transformation was complete, the first instinct he had was… to let out a loud screech at his enemies. "RAAAAAWWWK!" The cry was palpable enough that all of his enemies took a step back, surprised by the transformation.

"What?!" The Omni-Hunters exclaimed before Nora shouted; "Who the HECK is this guy?!"

"A Pturbosaurian…" Khyber concluded with a smirk. "From the planet of Terradino."

Jaune's eyes widened in horror. "Crap, that's Humungousaur's home planet." All eyes immediately darted toward the Tyrannopede, the giant beast already letting out an eager rumble from its throat. "That can't be good."

"Attack!" Khyber ordered, whistling for the Tyrannopede to charge toward its new pray.

"Rawk! Aw, man!" Ben crowed in a high-pitched voice, looking around his own body to find any indication of what he could do. "Now would be a GREAT time for some really awesome powers to show themselves! PLEASE!" As if on cue, a pair of four-foot wings suddenly sprouted from the backpack, taking him off guard. …And then the pack started spewing green flames from the ports on the underside. "…Rawk?" *BWOOOOM* "RAAAAAAWWWK!" Without any warning, Ben was propelled straight into the air, the Tyrannopede narrowly missing its mark.

The others were left completely astonished, yet excited nonetheless. "He can fly!" Ilia cheered… as Ben was still trying to get control of himself in midair. "Ben! Focus up! You've got the high ground now!"

Hearing that, Ben's senses heightened and he immediately locked in, balancing himself out in the air before swooping down to kick the Tyrannopede in the nose. "Rawk! Haha! He stoops to conquer!" the hero proclaimed, puffing out his chest with his hands firmly on his hips. He peered over his shoulder down to his natural jetpack, seeing the green energy blasting out of the thrusters. Seeing as he had similar ports on his arms, an idea occurred to him. "Hmm… wonder if I can use that energy out the OTHER end?"

Clenching his fists, he brought his arms out and focused his power through them… and the result was a pair of green energy tethers bursting out from his forearms. "Rawk! There we go!" Diving down again, Ben swooped through from behind the Tyrannopede, the lumbering beast too slow to follow his movements. He then lashed the energy whips around the beast's legs and brought it crashing down, much to everyone's excitement.

However, the Tyrannopede still wasn't done, opening its mouth to let loose a string of web so it could stop Ben in the air. "Not today, rawk!" Opening his beak, the Pturbosaurian shifted the focus of the energy within him into his mouth, resulting in a green laser beam that struck the webbing, melting it into a gelatinous blob of molten hot material that went right back into the Tyrannopede's mouth.

…The result wasn't pretty. With its orifice now clogged and Ben continuing his beam attack into its maw, the beast almost instantly exploded, vanishing in a red flash of light soon after. "…Well, THAT was somethin'." Bobo uttered.

"What just happened?" Skull said, astonished by what he'd just seen.

"I think he just exploded its throat." Hog concluded, taking note of Khyber's galled expression. "Gruesome."

While the villains were stunned, however, the Omni-Hunters were getting a much-needed boost in morale. "WOO! Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Rex hollered, his confidence returning as he grinned eagerly at their enemies. "C'mon guys! We can take these clowns!" Almost immediately, the others agreed, charging in to combat the Ministry.

Before she charged in, however, Penny flew up to meet Ben in the sky. "Ben, that was sensational! What do you call this one?"

"Rawk, no idea. This guy's new…" Inspecting himself once more, though, the hero came to a pretty quick conclusion. "But I think I'm gonna go with… Astrodactyl!"

"I approve!" Penny nodded, only for her features to take on a more serious countenance. "But more to the point, I think it's important for you to know; this whole area is fake." She pointed upward. "Especially the sky. According to my analysis, it's a dome-like structure and the ceiling is weak. If there's any possible way we can get out of here, it's through there."

Astrodactyl set his sights up above and let loose another beam attack toward the sky. And, sure enough, a section of it was blown off instantly, revealing a set of pipework underneath. "Huh, well whaddya know! C'mon, let's grab the others and—"

"No, you should go yourself." Penny asserted. "If you can sabotage whatever this operation is, then we'll all have a better chance of escaping."

"RAWK! But Penny—"

"We don't have time to argue!" Just then, the sound of a piercing screech cried out from behind the two, leading them to see the Hypnotic and Omnivoracious come flying up toward them. "Go! We can handle this!"

Astrodactyl grimaced, knowing that there was really no other choice. If they wanted to get out of here, he had to make a tough decision, and Penny was pressing him to make it. "…Alright. But contact me if anything goes wrong! Rawk!"

Penny smiled and nodded to him. "I will. But don't worry, we will be fine. Now go!" With her encouragement, Astrodactyle jetted straight up toward the sky ceiling, piercing through the façade and into a series of large pipes, flying right into who-knows-where. Penny, meanwhile, spun around in midair as she activated her Upgrade Form once more, bringing out her Floating Array. The Hypnotick immediately tried to hypnotize her, but its effects didn't take. "Sorry, but I'm not affected by your hypnosis…"

"SCREEE—AWK!"

However, the alien insect's ploy was little more than a distraction so that the Omnivoracious could swoop up and skewer her. …Which was unsuccessful, as IT was skewered by the Floating Array instead. The ancient bird vanished in a red flash, leaving the Hypnotick feeling much more hesitant to attack. "The thing is… we are not trapped in here with you…" From there, Penny began multiplying her Floating Array Blades until there was a hundred of them, all taking aim at the predators and villains down below. "YOU are trapped in here with US! Dollar… SPECIAL!"

…..

As the redheaded android rained vengeance upon their enemies, Astrodactyl continued flying onward through the series of tubes until finally breaking through to… somewhere. Just from single glance, he could tell that it was a laboratory of sorts, the walls and floors all dark red. In the center of the room there was a large device of some sort, the purpose of which he didn't know. But one thing was for certain; he saw a big computer terminal, and he just knew that HAD to be the main controls for this base of operations. "Rawk! Jackpot!"

"…Ben?!"

"H-Huh?!" The Pturbosaurian spun around and, to his astonishment, saw someone who he was NOT expecting to be there. "Raven?!" The Spring Maiden was trapped behind an energy field, keeping her caged while hung up by her arms and legs against a large slab of metal. "What're you doing here?!"

"It's a long story…" Raven sighed. "I'm just glad to see you're safe."

Spreading his wings out, Astrodactyl flew straight toward her. "Hang on! I'll get you—RAWK!"

But he wasn't allowed to get any closer as a literal wall of fire burst forth in front of him, causing him to stop on a dime. "Ah-ah-ah!" From either side of the containment field, Cinder and Red Son emerged, the duo wearing matching smirks. "That'll be far enough, Tennyson." said the Fall Maiden.

"One step further…" Red Son lifted a remote control, wiggling it tauntingly at the hero. "And your beloved Raven gets the shock of her life! Ahahaha!"

"Rawk! Why am I not surprised?" Astrodactly crowed, only to then see someone come lowering down from the ceiling. Surrounded by whipping winds was none other than Princess Iron Fan herself, the demoness pursing her lips at the Pturbosaurian. "Aw, and would ya look at that…" he glanced over toward Red Son. "Mommy's here to hold your hand."

The demon prince clenched his teeth, his hair burning in anger… only to have it put out by a light wave of his mother's fan. "Now, now, boy, there's absolutely no need to be upset." Iron Fan scolded as her sights went back to Astrodactyl. "After all, we won't have to worry about Tennyson for long with what HE has planned."

Right then, another voice piped up from behind the hero; "That's "He" with a capital "H", by the way…" Astrodactyl spun around… and saw nothing… until he craned his head down to the floor. There, standing before him like the biggest hot shot in the world, was Albedo himself, back in his Galvan form. "Considering the new lot in life I will be attaining, I'd say that's more than appropriate."

"Albedo!" Astrodactyl opened his beak and fired a laser at the evil genius… who, in a surprising display of acrobatics, actually backflipped out of the way.

"Haha! If there is one thing I will give my human form credit for, it is that it allowed me to enhance my agility."

Astrodactyl gave an indignant squawk. "Rawk! Okay, so you've got your Galvan form back, that's nice. Now would ya just get out of my life already?!"

Albedo's grin transformed into a malicious scowl after that. "And what? I'm supposed to forget the imprisonment? The humiliation? The… ugh… chili fries?" he shuddered in disgust.

"Hey! Chili fries are AWESOME, rawk! Get over it!" Astrodactyl went to whip the little Galvan with his energy tethers… only for them to be deflected by Cinder and Red Son, who rushed in from behind and blasted him with fire. The Pturbosaurian staggered back, but was relatively unharmed, his scales only slightly charred.

"Oh, I AM over it." Albedo proclaimed, reaching to the Ultimatrix on his back. "And I think you'll really enjoy what comes next, Tennyson…" He pressed the device with his hand and, in a flash of red light, he transformed into his Ultimate form, leaving Ben and Raven slack-jawed. Before them now was what they could only describe as a floating brain frog in a red hoverchair. He had to be about a foot tall and his now tiny limbs simply hung out from the chair, unable to keep his massive head up on their own. He also had a third eye coming out of his forehead, and the Ultimatrix had moved from his back to the top of his now veiny head.

"…Rawk, okay, now that's just wrong." Astrodactyl deadpanned.

Raven concurred immediately. "VERY wrong."

Albedo lifted his tiny arms, flailing his hands around as he continued his monologue; "Joke all you want, but I am BEYOND you now! Beyond ALL mere mortal Galvan, beyond any other species in the universe! Ahahaha!" His central eye began glowing as he flashed a sharp-toothed grin at the hero. "Let me show you just how powerful I am!"

"Like I'm gonna be intimidated by some MODOK wannabe! Rawk!" Astrodactyl took to the air and flew straight for Albedo, unleashing yet another laser beam when he was close enough not to miss. However, to his astonishment, Albedo unleashed an energy beam from his eye that actually spiraled around his, which then made direct contact and sent Astrodactyl sprawling back. "RAAAAAWW—"

*FLASH*

"—AAAAGH!" Collapsing on the lab floor, Ben was both in pain and stunned, the Omnitrix beeping and flashing red on his wrist. "W-Wha… you shorted me out!"

"Indeed! My mental blasts are quite potent, wouldn't you say?" Ultimate Albedo floated his way over, flanked by Cinder and Red Son. Ben was about to stand up… when Princess Iron Fan came in and stamped the floor with her fan, leaving him completely surrounded. "You see, Tennyson, because of this new form, I've essentially already won! My superior intellect has anticipated any move you could possibly make against me. Even now, the remainder of your companions are likely on a fool's errand across the galaxy searching for you."

Ben sneered up at the floating brain frog, clenching his fists at his sides. "What did you do?!"

A smug grin took over Albedo's features. "Oh, not much. Just spread my—oh, I mean, your DNA around the galaxy with my human form. Any Plumbers that detect your DNA will likely report it in and your friends will be sent on a… how do you put it… "wild goose chase" searching for you."

"So in layman's terms… there is no way out for you, Tennyson." Cinder snickered, followed by the rest of the villains all laughing in unison.

Ben peered over his shoulder, seeing Raven helplessly trapped in her cell. "And I'm guessing that's why you snagged Raven, too. So that they wouldn't have any easy way of finding me."

Raising a finger, Albedo affirmed that. "Correct! Look at the simple human using his deduction skills for once."

"That's cool and all… but you DO know that they have more than ONE way of tracking me, right?" Ben smirked. "Any minute now, we're gonna get saved. I guarantee it."

Floating down, the evolved Galvan got right up close to his arch enemy's face. "Is that so? If you're referring to your cousin, then I've already ruled her out. She doesn't have NEARLY the amount of power needed to—"

*BWOOOM*

"GAH!" All at once, a bright pink light blanked the red room, blinding all of the villains at once. "W-What?! Impossible! There's no way she could've…" However, once the light died down… Albedo was left stunned to see that it wasn't Gwen. Rather, it was a much more mature Anodite, one whose glare pierced through his very soul.

Standing up, Ben chuckled as he brushed himself off. "Heh, this might be a bit too far out of Gwen's league… but Grandma Verdona on the other hand?"

With her energy hair lashing out in all directions, Verdona sent out an energy pulse form her body, one which shorted out nearly everything in the room. Raven's cell opened up and she was instantly freed, falling to her feet from the cold steel slab. The only light left in the room was Verdona herself, who floated high above them all as her glare deepened. "So, tell me… which one of you thought it was such a bright idea to STEAL AWAY MY GRANDSON?!"

…..

A/N: And on that note, I think we can call it a day with this one. Like I said, HUGE chapter this time around, but I honestly expected it with this one. After all, I recreated the Ditto chase, which in the show, had a HUGE scope to it… only unlike what happened in canon, there was actually a POINT to the cartoony antics; to get everyone back together. And Ben's efforts were… mostly successful. The Riders are still fighting their counterparts, but for the most part, the Omni-Hunters are all back together. …And now comes the hard part; actually escaping.

And that'll lead into… NEXT TIME! As the rest of the team arrives and crashes the party, Albedo take the opportunity to reveal his trump card. He's got a familiar little friend with him and his intentions are sinister. Will the heroes be able to stop his ULTIMATE plan? Find out next time with "A Few Brains More". Thanks for reading, everybody and as always, stay safe out there!