Here comes the finale of this episode! Now, I want you to know that I might not be able to update this story as often as my other Zoids/Ben 10 crossover. Mainly because I need to watch some episodes, and commit it all to memory. But I hope you enjoy this chapter anyway!

Disclaimer: The following is a non profit, fan based story! Zoids is owned by Tomy, while Ben 10 is owned by Man of Action (Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle)!

"..." = Talking

{...} = Talking Through Comm Link

"Italics" = Thinking

"Bold" = Yelling

The Boy From Planet Zi Finale!

Ben was staring into one of the pods in curiosity. He could faintly make out something that looked like a Zoid from within the pod. But one thing that Ben didn't know was what it was for sure. Was it a Liger? Was it a Raptor?

"I'm no expert, but I think that that's a wild Zoid in there!" Ben said to himself. "Which means that if I can somehow open this pod, I'll finally have the Zoid partner of my dreams!"

As Ben moved his hand along the side of the pod, he unknowingly pressed a button on the side of it. The result was the pod lighting up from the inside and giving Ben a clear image of the being inside. Ben gasped as a pair of metallic blue eyes stared back at him.

There was this sound of a deep heartbeat as whatever was in the pod was gearing up to be released. Ben was even more excited than a kid about to open their presents on Christmas day. It was finally gonna happen!

"Come on… You can do it! Come on! Come on!" Ben encouraged.

The heartbeat gradually grew louder and louder as the creature within tried to break out of its glass prison. As the heartbeat got louder and quicker with each passing minute, Ben grew more and more anxious as he awaited for his new friend to come out of the pod. After a few minutes, a crack appeared in the exterior of the pod.

The beat continued to speed up as a few more seconds passed, until it stopped. For a moment, nothing happened. But then, more cracks began to appear in the pod. With a hiss of compressed air and water, the pod burst open releasing the thing that was inside! Ben took a few steps back as the thing that was in the pod fell to the floor. What it was both amazed Ben, and confused him at the same time.

It looked to be a Zoid, but it was a lot smaller than any Zoid Ben had ever seen. It looked like a bipedal dragon with blue lenses for eyes, odd flaps on its back, and an angular face that had a mouth full of sharp teeth. It had small arms with three small claws on each hand, and a long, thick tail that was obviously meant for balance. It was covered in black armor, but it seemed to be unconscious still.

"What is this?" Ben asked himself. "It's like this Zoid was just born! Could it be that this is a wild Zoid, and that they're born out of pods like this?"

Ben's eyes roamed over the strange Zoid as he admired how incredible it looked.

"It's… It's beautiful! This could be the discovery of the century!" Ben said to himself.

He moved his hand to touch the Zoid, but recoiled back as it began to move. Ben watched in awe as the Zoid got to its feet, and roared at him. It wasn't as loud as a roar from a full grown Zoid, but Ben was impressed nonetheless! He just stood there smiling at the Zoid.

When the Zoid saw this, a small sweatdrop appeared on the side of its face. He honestly thought that this person would just run away in fear from his roar, but instead he stood his ground.

"Hey, buddy. Great roar, but you don't have to be afraid! I'm not gonna hurt you, I just want you to be my friend." Ben reassured. "My name is Ben. And you are?"

Ben moved closer to try and pet the strange, black Zoid, and apparently this didn't sit well with the Zoid. It waited for a moment, then turned quickly and smacked Ben in the face with its tail! The force of the blow knocked him to one foot, but he was still standing. The Zoid's sweatdropped slightly increased in size just before Ben righted himself.

"Okay, that wasn't exactly what I would call a friendly thing to do." Ben said, nursing his sore cheek.

His eyes were shadowed from view, but Ben didn't look happy. That quickly changed when a huge smile made its way to his face. The small Zoid tilted its head, and let out a confused growl. This behavior didn't make any sense to it.

"Well in hindsight, I really should've seen that coming! I mean, if you're gonna be my partner, you should at least show that you can stand up for yourself." Ben said. "That settles it! I don't care what anyone else says! I'm gonna take you with me. Come on!"

The Zoid growled in slight confusion before tilting its head again.

"What do you say I call you Shadow?" Ben asked. "Before my dad died, he said that was the name of my mom's Zoid. Sound's pretty tough, am I right?"

Ben was surprised, but smiled when he saw Shadow take a step towards him. He gently extended his hand towards Shadow's snout as the small 'Zoid' continued to close the gap between his snout and Ben's hand. Shadow seemed to be giving the young man his trust with this action.

The moment was ruined when the wall to the room was busted down. Ben gasped as he saw that it was that same Guysak pilot from before! Those two Command Wolf pilots must've dug him out!

"Ha ha ha ha ha! I told you, didn't I? You're nuts if you think you could run from me!" Bhool said arrogantly.

He would've moved in for the kill, but he noticed Shadow standing next to Ben.

{What is that? A wild Zoid?} Bhool asked himself.

His grin grew at the prospect of the profit he could get from selling such an unusual Zoid. He knew that this kid was unarmed, and had no means of escape so he thought this would be an easy job.

"Looks like a good find. I'll sell it, and make a small fortune." Bhool thought out loud. {Hey, kid. A rookie like you doesn't deserve a Zoid like that!}

Ben backed up, growling with a scowl on his face. This guy was after Shadow, and that was not cool!

{Hand it over!} Bhool ordered.

Ben backed up a bit, but his foot touched an electric cable. He gasped as he realized he could use the currents from the wire to defend himself and Shadow.

{I haven't got all day! Now give me the Zoid!} Bhool ordered.

Ben growled as he got ready to put his plan into action. He knew that Zoids were natural electrical conductors. So he grabbed the wire, charged at the Guysak, and touched the exposed part of the wire to the Zoid's armor. The result was a few hundred volts of electricity being sent throughout the Guysak's canopy, and shocking the pilot inside.

Bhool groaned in pain as he was shocked with more electricity than he ever has been shocked with in his lifetime. Ben was also groaning as stray bolts of electricity sparked off in his direction.

"I'll hold him here, Shadow! You just get out of here!" Ben yelled.

Shadow growled in shock. Why was this human trying to risk his life for his own? It didn't make sense to the young 'Zoid'.

"I said get outta here! Don't you understand what I'm saying?!"

Shadow just stood there, still trying to comprehend why Ben was trying to save him. It just didn't make any sense to him. But it seems that Ben wasn't willing to give up on the 'Zoid'.

"Shadow, please! You just have to listen to me this once! If this guy gets ahold of you, there's no telling what he might do to you!"

"You'll pay for this!" Bhool said through his pain.

Bhool used the claw of his Guysak to bat Ben away, and made him slam into a wall. Ben was groaning in pain, but he wasn't out! He tried to get up, but he was in too much pain to do so. Bhool moved his Guysak over to the downed young man, and smirked menacingly.

{Huh! You did a number on me once already! And nobody gets away with humiliating me!} Bhool said cruelly. {I will destroy you!}

Bhool raised one of his Guysak's claws to strike down Ben, but he was rammed out of the way by a black armored missile. It was Shadow! The little Zoid had actually rammed into the Guysak, pushed it back a bit, and was now standing between Bhool and Ben! Shadow roared to try and intimidate his foe, surprising Ben with this action.

"Oh, man! Is Shadow trying to protect me?" Ben asked himself.

Shadow roared again to try and ward off the attacker, but the Guysak merely swatted Shadow to the other side of the room! Shadow was down, but he definitely wasn't out.

"That'll teach you!" Bhool said, licking his lips. "Guess I'm gonna hafta show you the true meaning of pain, ya cocky little punk!"

Bhool made his Guysak move to where Shadow was, and began to repeatedly slam one of his Zoid's pincers into the smaller 'Zoid'. Shadow grunted in pain as he took the abuse, but that grunting was starting to get louder and became more like screams. Ben could only watch in horror as his new friend was being beaten to death.

"Stop it…!" Ben whispered.

But Bhool didn't stop. Shadow screeched in pain as he was repeatedly hit harder and harder by the pincer of the Scorpion Type Zoid.

"Enough…! Stop it!" Ben said a bit louder. "Leave him alone! STOOOOOOOOOP!"

Ben was cut off from his yelling when Shadow was slammed into the wall just next to him. The dragonoid creature seemed to be out of it as Bhool began his cruel laughter.

"I don't mess around! That's what happens when you go up against me!" Bhool declared arrogantly.

"Shadow! You idiot! You're just a baby still, you don't stand a chance against a monster like that!" Ben said, holding the young 'Zoid'. "I'm sorry… It's my fault for breaking you out of the pod in the first place! Please, Shadow. I'm begging you, don't leave me!"

Bhool continued to laugh at what he found to be a touching, but useless sentiment.

"Just leave us alone, would ya!" Ben yelled.

He was pulled out of his sorrow when he heard a familiar growl. Shadow was getting back to his feet, and boy did he look mad!

"Shadow…!"

"Come on. Haven't you learned your lesson yet, Zoid?" Bhool asked arrogantly.

"Stop it, Shadow! You don't stand a chance against this creep! Just let it go!" Ben begged.

But Shadow wasn't having any of it. He just roared in defiance, and Ben was plagued by the horrible memory of how his father died along with his Zoid, Zeek.

"Please, just stop it Shadow! Just forget what I said about being my partner!" Ben begged as tears built up in his eyes. "This is exactly what happened to my dad! ...I never wanna see that happen to anyone again!"

Shadow growled gently as he grabbed Ben by the scruff of his shirt, and put him on his back. Ben instinctively wrapped his arms around the creature's neck.

"Shadow?"

"W-What's going on?" Bhool asked.

"What do you think you're doing, Shadow?! Let me off!" Ben ordered.

But he thought twice about that when he saw a pair of black dragon wings with red membrane grow out of Shadow's back. With a mighty flap, Shadow was moving at high speeds and roared as he rammed into the Guysak and sent it flying with them! Shadow didn't cease his flight even while he was ramming the Guysak through the walls of the ruins.

Ben gritted his teeth as he held on for dear life, and Bhool didn't know what was going on.

"WHAT IS WITH THIS THING?!" Bhool asked in slight fear.

Finally, Shadow burst through the wall and shook off the Guysak. He flapped one more time to pick up speed, and the two passed by Nero and Byonko. The two Command Wolf pilots were astonished by what they just saw.

"What on Earth is that?!" Nero asked.

"Some new type of Zoid?" Byonko guessed.

Shadow kept flying, clearly searching for something. Ben was having a hard time holding on, and an even harder time keeping his eyes open due to the wind.

"WHERE'RE YOU TAKING ME, SHADOW?!" Ben asked.

His eyes went wide as he saw exactly what it was that Shadow was heading for. It was the wreck of a Zoid that Ben could easily recognize due to its reputation in one of the two warring armies.

"Isn't that a Saber Tiger?" Ben asked.

Meanwhile, Byonko and Nero were running after the two in their Command Wolves. It was clear that they too were after Shadow.

{What about Bhool? Are we just gonna leave him?!} Nero asked.

{Forget him! We gotta go after that Zoid!} Byonko replied.

Shadow had stopped flying, and had set Ben down on the chair inside the cockpit of the downed Saber Tiger. Ben looked up to the small 'Zoid' in major confusion.

"What'd ya bring me here for? Now what do you expect me to do?!" Ben asked.

Shadow didn't reply. He merely nudged his head in the direction of the control panel. Ben looked at it, and saw that while the controls were kinda dusty they were still in pretty good condition. Our young hero finally understood what it was that Shadow was trying to say.

"You don't mean…? You want ME to PILOT this thing?!" Ben asked.

Suddenly, huge pillars of sand shot up in front of the downed Saber. Ben grunted from the shockwave caused from the blast, and looked back to see two desert type Command Wolf Zoids charging at them guns blazing.

"Those guys have to be with that Guysak pilot!" Ben said.

He crossed his arms over his head as more shock waves rattled the ground.

"What were you thinking, Shadow?! We're sitting ducks out here!" Ben said.

That's when Ben noticed an odd light coming from Shadow. The small Zoid was now glowing with a pale black light, then shot into the air before coming back down and being absorbed into the downed Saber Tiger. A whirlwind kicked up as something began to happen to the Saber Tiger.

"Huh? Wha? What is…? Ah!" Ben said as the Saber Tiger's armored canopy regenerated. "I think that a translation would be really helpful right now!"

Ben looked back down at the controls of the Saber Tiger, and in a flash of pale black light they were returned to pristine working order. They lit up and hummed as the life returned to the Zoid they belonged to. The wind died down to reveal what used to be a dead Saber Tiger now standing there as if it were brand new!

"Byonko, do you see what I see?!" Nero asked.

"A Saber Tiger…!" Byonko said in awe.

And it was a true sight to behold. Unlike most members of the Saber Tiger Zoids, this one had armor that was mostly black with green shoulder armor, and a green colored tail. Even the eyes of the canopy were a vibrant green with thin slit pupils, and its claws and teeth were colored a stunning silver color.

On it's underbelly was a green colored Anti-Zoid Three Barreled Shock Cannon, and on its back was an Anti-Zoid 30 mm Double-Barreled Beam Cannon. It was also equipped with two AEZ 20 mm Beam Guns, a Laser Machinegun attached to the Shock Cannon, and SSM Pod, and a TEZ 20 mm Linear Laser Gun attached to each shoulder. Its equipment comprised of a Composite Sensor Unit, and an Infra-Red Laser Searcher.

The Saber Tiger reared its head back, and roared in challenge to the Command Wolves. Ben was grinning like a mad man from inside the cockpit.

"I understand. Now I see why you brought me here." Ben said.

The Saber Tiger roared again as Shadow continued to glare at the two bandits in front of him. Nero's Command Wolf took a step back as the pilot started to freak out at the sight of such a powerful Zoid. This was something Byonko wouldn't stand.

"Don't let him psyche you out, Nero! The Saber Tiger is a high performance Zoid. No way could a kid like that pilot one properly." Byonko said.

"We'll see about that!" Ben declared.

The Saber Tiger charged at the Command Wolves, intent on sinking its massive fangs into their armor. Byonko fired a couple of shots at Ben, but the Saber Tiger managed to dodge both shots, and pounced at the enemies.

It ended up going right between them, and in its mouth was a chunk of armor that it bit off of both Command Wolves. The Saber Tiger landed perfectly, and circled around in case of a second attack. Byonko and Nero were shocked by what had just happened.

"How could a kid like that manage to pilot a Saber that well?" Byonko asked himself.

His computer started beeping, and showed flashing warning signs.

{No! My combat system is frozen!} Byonko said.

{Same here!} Nero added.

Neither pilot wanted to stick around and see if this kid could use the weapons of his Zoid yet, so they turned tail and ran away as fast as their wolves could take them! Shadow and the Saber Tiger roared in victory to celebrate the defeat of the enemy.

A little later on, Ben and Shadow had gotten out of the Saber Tiger. Ben looked up at his new Zoid like he had just won a Nobel Prize.

"YEAH! WE DID IT, SHADOW! I actually won my first battle with a Zoi-OOF!"

Ben had hugged Shadow, but ended up face first in the sand. He groaned, but quickly got up with a grin.

"I guess you're not the touchy-feely type, eh Shadow?" Ben asked.

Shadow just growled a bit. He suddenly looked back to the ruins that he was freed from, causing Ben to worry a little bit.

"What's up, Shadow?" Ben asked.

Shadow just wordlessly started walking back to the ruins, while Ben gave chase. They were soon back in that room where Ben had awakened Shadow, where Ben was working at the control pad for the other pod.

"So you wanted to come back here, huh?" Ben asked. "Now I get it. This pod was next to you, so it must be your brother or sister."

The pod began to glow, and Ben's excitement began to increase.

"It's hatching! Oh man, this is it! We're gonna have another newborn!" Ben said in excitement.

Even Shadow seemed to be excited about what was happening. Just like the pod before, this one burst open with a hiss of compressed air and water.

"Here it is! Well, Shadow. Say hello to your little broth-"

The fog from the pod's breaking revealed that it wasn't another 'Zoid' in the other pod. Instead, it was a strange girl that was in there.

"I guess it wasn't your brother. Or sister. Pretty sure about that." Ben said.

Shadow just lightly growled in agreement. Even he didn't see this coming.

Ending Narration: Hey, Ben here! I'm not exactly sure how it all happened, but the mysterious girl, and Shadow and I end up going on a journey. She may be cute, but she doesn't remember her name, or anything.

Well, I guess the least I could do is take her back to my home town. Wait a minute, what do these bandits want with us? Next time on Ben 10: Chaotic Century; The Mysterious Fiona. See you on the battlefield!