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(Opening Theme: Power Quest - "Time to Burn" - 0:00 to 2:05)

Codename: Warriors Next Dimension

Season 2: Cosmic Alliance - Episode 4: Extinction Event! Rise of the Alliance

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(Xenomorph Prime, Main Hive Entrance, Barrier Defense Force Base Camp)

"I told you we should have nuked this damn planet when we had the chance!"

"Settle down, Colonel, please!" pleaded Lt. Sa'rai.

"Don't you dare command me, Lieutenant, or should I use less than savory means to remind you who calls the shots on this mission?"

"Remember, Colonel, the High-Council of the Keepers wants the Queen-Mother captured alive!" said Lt. Sa'rai, glaring at Colonel Ikaan, who simply held an annoyed expression on his face.

"Col. Ikaan, sir, we have an urgent message from HQ!" shouted a young male Ilumari who had just entered the large tent.

"Well? Out with it, Sergeant!" growled Ikaan.

"Sir, our spies within the Royal Military have just gotten word that General Alken has authorized the dispatch of a Planet Buster Unit to our location. Estimated ETA is six hours!"

"Six hours?! There's no way we can get our men out by then!" cried Lt. Sa'rai, "I can't believe that senile bastard is actually planning to kill us!"

"Then this mission was simply a ploy to preoccupy us. He wants to knock out two birds with one stone," said Ikaan, smirking, "To think that I've angered the good General to such an extent. Oh how I can't wait to see his smoking carcass at my feet!"

"Colonel, we need to send in an extraction team now!" said Sa'rai, worriedly.

"They'll never make it on time, Lieutenant. We'd do best just to leave now while we can."

"I'm sorry, sir, but I will not abandon my comrades!"

"Then how do you propose it can be done?" he asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"I took the liberty of enlisting the WND. I was going to have them assist in destroying the main nest after capturing the Queen-Mother. But instead, I'm going to send them in after our men. They should be arriving any moment now."

"Hmph! A bunch of weak rejects are coming to assist us? I thought the fall of the RND meant the end of their pathetic attempts to police this miserable multiverse!" groaned Ikaan.

"Oh, how pleasantly surprised you're going to be, Colonel…"

(Esperanza Observation Deck)

Alejandro started awake with a jolt and sat up on the floor. He was half dressed and his mind seemed to be in a thick haze as he glanced around the observation deck. Silencing the musical alarm he had set on his communicator, he suddenly remembered the previous night's events. His heart raced as the memories flooded back to him, bringing along an immeasurable sense of guilt.

Damn it, what was I thinking?! I'm such an idiot!

He moved to stand when the door to his right opened, revealing Numbuh 1.

"Oh, um… good morning. Did you actually sleep up here?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Embarrassed and not knowing what else to say, Alejandro nervously scratched behind his head and replied with: "Yeah, hahaha, I guess I just felt like sleeping under the stars, you know? Uh, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I saw you come up here last night. Then Jack and I noticed you never showed up to the room, and your bed was still empty this morning. I just didn't expect-"

"-That I'd fallen asleep up here? Oh well. Anyways, I'm starving! Is Sanji cooking anything up yet?" Alejandro tried desperately to deter the conversation from the previous subject, hoping that Numbuh 1 wouldn't inquire any further.

"Not yet. He's barely waking up, I believe," replied Numbuh 1.

"I see, well in that case, I'm gonna be in the training room. Could you please grab me when breakfast is ready?"

"No problem."

As soon as Numbuh 1 was gone, Alejandro stood up and quickly got dressed before anyone else got curious, and hastily made his way to the training room for his intensive morning routine, hoping not to run into anyone else on the way there.

(Down in the Crew Quarters)

Toph quietly made her way down the dimly lit hallway until she arrived at the room that she shared with both Katara and Ty Lee, which she stood in front of for a good while, trying desperately to listen in and sense if they were still fast asleep. She knew that at any moment now, the ship's morning alarm would go off, waking everyone, so she had to move fast. Finally deciding it was most likely safe, she manually slid the door open just enough to slip through and tried sneaking into her own bed, when she suddenly sensed movement to her left and froze.

Katara had turned the lights on and crossed her arms as she asked, "Good morning, Toph. And just where did you sneak off to last night?"

"I was just… in the training room," replied Toph, caught off-guard. She had been absolutely positive that everyone in the room was still asleep.

"Toph, I may not have your abilities, but I can at least tell when you are lying," stated Katara, sternly, "You spent the night with him, didn't you?"

"What?!" whispered Toph, angrily. Katara may have been awake, but she was certain Ty Lee wasn't, and judging by where the conversation was headed, she meant to keep it that way. "Katara, do you realize what it is you're asking me?!"

"Do you realize the jeopardy that an unexpected pregnancy could put our mission in? Not to mention you?!"

"Katara, I don't want to talk about this!"

"Do you realize what you were risking?!"

"Seriously, stop!"

"Then just answer the question!"

"Now's not the time!"

"Just answer me!"

"Ugh! Fine! Of course I know! That's why I feel so terrible and confused right now that I could just die! Are you happy now?!" she snapped. Realizing what she'd just said, she immediately facepalmed.

"Toph, I…" Katara was unsure of how to respond. In all honesty, she didn't think Toph would outright admit it, as per usual with how stubborn she was. The night before, she had been aware that Alejandro hadn't returned to his room, and when Toph snuck off in the middle of the night, her suspicions only grew. She didn't try to stop her because she trusted in Toph's judgment, but now, she kicked herself for it.

"Huh? What's going on?" mumbled Ty Lee, suddenly waking up.

"Nothing, go back to bed," said Toph, angrily storming out of the room.

Katara sighed heavily as Ty Lee began lightly snoring again.

(Training Room)

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" shouted Alejandro as he collapsed on the ground. I've gotten so much stronger, so why is it still not working?! What am I doing differently?!

He strenuously stood up and cloaked himself in a white aura of pure energy as he continued powering up for what seemed like an eternity when Numbuh 1 popped his head into the room. "Hey man, Sanji's just about done making breakfast."

"Cool… I'll… be… right… there!"

"What is it you're trying to do? You're gonna give yourself a hernia if you keep that up."

Alejandro finally reached his limit and collapsed to his knees, "Damn it! I'm trying to power up enough to become a super saiyan on command, but nothing's working! I don't know what's wrong!" He didn't want to tell Numbuh 1 that it was probably a lack of concentration or he would just inquire why.

"Well, every time it's happened, you were either cornered or super angry, weren't you? Maybe it's just a saiyan defense mechanism for getting out of tight jams."

"No, it has to be something more. I can't quite put my finger on it, but every time it's happened, I felt… complete. As if my saiyan blood was at its most pure. I believe that form is the very expression of a Saiyan's true potential."

"Well either way, you're not getting anywhere on an empty stomach, so are you coming or not?"

"Yeah, just give me a moment. I'm gonna hit the shower first real quick, and then I'll go stuff my face."

They both left the training room and headed down to the crew-quarters, where they parted ways as Alejandro headed into the men's bathing area, selected a shower-stall, and contemplated everything that had been clouding his mind as he basked in the heat of the water. Then, he ate a large breakfast, making sure no one else was in the dining hall beforehand.

It was at that moment that the ship's navigation system finally alerted everyone that they were approaching their destination.

A meeting was immediately called just as Xenomorph Prime came into view, prompting everyone to gather on the command deck.

Alejandro looked around from his chair and noticed Toph was still nowhere to be found, which worried him, but was also a relief at the moment. Right now, he needed to stay focused, which he still found to be incredibly difficult.

"Numbuh 1, we have an incoming video transmission from the BDF," said Double D.

"Good. Put it on-screen," said Numbuh 1 from the Captain's chair.

There was a moment of darkness and silence on the screen, before Lt. Sa'rai's face suddenly appeared. "You're all late!" she yelled.

"Sorry about that, Lieutenant. We came as soon as we could," clarified Numbuh 1.

"Well move faster! I need your asses down here ASAP! The mission's been aborted, but we still have a team within the Xenomorph Hive. I need you to lead an extraction crew now!"

"Whoa, whoa, why was the mission aborted?" asked Alejandro, running up beside Numbuh 1 to get in on the conversation.

"That son of a bitch, General Alken, authorized a Planet Buster Unit to our location! He wants us dead, and we have less than six hours to evac!"

"That's messed up!" yelled Alejandro. "Was it because of the Colonel's psychotic ass?"

"I'll have you know that I heard that, SeñorEx-Captain Numbuh 529," sounded Ikaan from off-screen. "And to answer your idiotic question… yes. I did things my way and now the General seems to be throwing a tantrum like an undisciplined child. A child that desperately needs to be taught a permanent lesson, no less!"

"It's not just because of Ikaan," said Sa'rai, "The General himself has always been drunk with power and ambition. His entire family's a cancer within the Ilumari people."

"We're entering the planet's highly unfriendly atmosphere!" announced Numbuh 2476, "We should be touching down in less than a minute!"

"Good to hear. I'm sending you the coordinates to both our base-camp and the rendezvous point now. Our base-camp personnel have been significantly diminished, so we're gonna need some assistance holding down our camp as well." said Lt. Sa'rai, "We have to do this quick!"

Numbuh 1 nodded in accordance, prompting Double D to cut the video feed. "You heard the lady, everyone! Let's get ourselves prepped!"

(At the Rendezvous Point)

Numbuh 1 lead the extraction team through a thick marsh as they came upon the rendezvous point just before the enormous mouth of an organic-looking cave that made up the entrance to the hive, with Alejandro bringing up the rear.

Besides those two, the team consisted of Luffy, Zoro, Samurai Jack, Aang, Ed, Finn, Jake, Usopp, and Numbuh 4. The rest of the WND was assisting at the BDF's base-camp.

"Numbuh 1, over here!" sounded the Lieutenant's voice from afar. She and her team were gathered around a large bonfire, trying to warm themselves up due to the planet's frigid climate, although it also helped to keep any lurking xenomorphs at bay.

Running over to them, Numbuh 1 and his group also huddled by the fire.

"Glad you could all make it," she said, shifting to her left to let Numbuh 1 in near the fire.

"No problem. Besides, we owed you big time for that senzu… uh, I mean, for that sensible advice about joining forces!" replied Alejandro, laughing nervously when she shot him a deadly glare.

"This place gives me the heebie-jeebies!" said Jake, feeling a few hairs on his back stand on end.

"I know, right?" exclaimed Finn, still amazed by his dark and twisted surroundings, and even more so when several bolts of lightning flashed across the black clouds above. "This world is totally bonkers!"

"Freezing balls is more like it, mate!" yelled Numbuh 4, shivering.

"Better get used to it, kid, cause the inside of the hive is even worse," remarked Lt. Sa'rai, "So is everyone ready?"

"Let's do this," said Alejandro, holding his hands out near the flames to ward away the numbness, "We need to be out of here before that damn unit arrives. Fortunately, we brought Ed with us. He's relatively familiar with this universe, and said he knows the Hive inside and out. This should be a breeze."

Ed merely smiled and stared blankly, looking as clueless as ever.

The whole group quickly put out the bonfire, but not before taking multiple torches from it, and began making their approach to the entrance when a loud, shrieking roar echoed from deep within the hive, stopping everyone dead in their tracks.

"Th-that sounded r-really big!" stammered Usopp, before finally losing his nerve, "Guys, why am I even here, again?!"

"Your Fire and Exploding Stars will come in handy here, Usopp. Don't worry, just stick close and we'll make sure nothing happens to you," replied Alejandro, gently pushing him along when the group started moving again.

"Yeah, Usopp, and remember, you've got me and Zoro here!" exclaimed Luffy, barely able to contain his excitement, "I just hope these aliens are even stronger than the ones from before!"

"I was afraid you'd say that…" whimpered Usopp, trudging along.

"That shriek… I've heard it before," said Alejandro.

"Yeah, it sounds familiar… any clue as to what that was, Ed?" asked Numbuh 1.

"Praetorian…" said Ed, sounding grim and serious for once.

"Well, crap," said Numbuh 1, in an annoyed tone.

"Mind filling us in?" asked Zoro.

"Three times bigger than regular aliens, just as fast and agile, lots of metallic teeth, thick crest on their heads, bulletproof hide, and they like to charge and crush their prey before tearing into them," answered Numbuh 1. "They're basically just smaller versions of the Queens. In fact, they later molt into Queens if they live long enough."

"Sounds like fun," replied Zoro, grinning.

"Alright! That's what I'm talking about!" laughed Luffy, giddy as a schoolboy.

With Ed as their guide, they started moving at a brisk pace forward into the dark depths of the nest.

(Meanwhile, at the BDF Base Camp)

The rest of the WND, with the exceptions of Dee Dee, Numbuh 2476, and Toph, all who stayed back in the ship, made their way out from the dead and wilted forest into a clearing, spotting the base-camp just a stone's throw away. It wasn't long before a trio of guards ran over to them.

"Are you all with the WND?" asked one of the young Ilumari.

"Yeah, we're here to help you guys fight those creatures off," replied Sanji.

"Oh, thank God!" he said, sighing with great relief, "We didn't think any help was coming! Please, make yourselves comfortable."

"Don't mind if I do!" said Crystal, resting her hands up behind her head as she walked over to the camp, followed by the others.

The camp was made up primarily of large tents and light metal structures, acting as temporary barracks, though there were also a few which served for storing rations and the ammunition for non-solar based weaponry. But what they noticed most of all was the large amount of wounded soldiers. This especially affected Chopper, who noticed that most of them weren't getting the proper treatments.

"Pardon me, but who's the doctor around here?" he asked.

The young soldier seemed to tense up at the question, but after a deep breath, finally answered, "We had a moderately sized medical staff, but they split into two teams. One went in with the extermination team, and the other stayed out here. It was horrible. We were attacked by a horde of xenomorphs in the middle of the night and were nearly overrun. Our entire medical team was slaughtered. I only hope the others are alright."

"I see. I'm sorry," said Chopper, trying to think of some sort of way to efficiently help.

"So who's in charge of this whole operation?" asked Crystal.

"Ah, that would unfortunately be Colonel Ikaan, Miss. He's just ahead in the main tent. And just as a warning, he can be extremely difficult."

"Oh, goodie," she said, holding a mock smile as they were lead into the largest tent in the center of the camp.

"Wait out here, the rest of you, and stay vigilant," said Crystal, just before she, Sanji, Dexter, and Katara entered.

"Colonel Ikaan, sir, the WND have arrived," announced one of their escorts.

"Have they now?" replied Ikaan, not even bothering to turn and face them. "I thought I caught the scent of weaklings in the air."

Sanji was about to retort when Dexter suddenly stepped forward to speak.

"Ahem, Colonel Ikaan, sir," he said, taking the diplomatic approach and doing his best to ignore the previous comment. "We've come to assist you in any way that we can. Just give the word, and we'll get right on it."

"You can all leave and butt out of this war. How about that, hmm?"

"You're not very good with basic social interactions, are you?" replied Crystal, being careful not to come off as anything more than annoyed. She didn't know who this particular Ilumari was, but she could sense that he was highly dangerous, and the last thing they needed at the moment was another powerful adversary to deal with.

Amused, Ikaan finally turned and faced them, scanning over each of their features. "So you're the rag-tag group of rejects that we've decided to turn to in our most desperate hour? How disappointing."

"Listen, pal," said Sanji, walking up to the Colonel and blowing smoke in his face, "like it or not, we're here to make sure everyone gets off of this rock alive, you hear me?"

Ikaan smirked in response and then started laughing, turning away from Sanji. "Do as you like! I really don't give a single damn. But if any of you die, don't blame me."

"In any case, shouldn't we start packing everything up?" asked Katara, attempting to break the air of hostility in the room. "That way, we'll be ready to leave as soon as they're back out."

"That's actually a good suggestion. I guess you're not all good for nothing. Take note, men! And get to it!" said Ikaan, directing that at his underlings, who merely rolled their eyes and proceeded to pack up their equipment, save for a group of soldiers in the corner.

"Colonel, sir, we can't pack up our transmission equipment yet! We have yet to hear from the scouting party in the southern woods!"

"I'm just surrounded by idiots, aren't I? If they were alive, they'd have reported in by now. Assume they're KIA, and get packing, Corporal!"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on! We can go looking for them!" interjected Sanji, "You can't just abandon your own men like that!"

"Can't I?" scoffed Ikaan, barely holding back a laugh. "Just as I won't get in the way of your highly unnecessary heroics, Mr. Dandy Eyebrows, I strongly suggest you don't get in the way of how I run things around here. Now do as you will outthere. Go on, out with you! The very sight of you all makes me sick!"

They promptly exited the tent, each nearly at their boiling point.

"How'd it go?" asked Sokka, sharpening his blade.

"Man, what a complete sociopath!" whispered Crystal, rather loudly.

"Tell me about it," sighed Sanji, lighting up another smoke.

"Well, that answers that," said Sokka.

"Remember, guys, we're doing this for Lt. Sa'rai, not that… barbarian," said Dexter.

They turned as someone behind them opened the tent and came running out. It was the Corporal who had spoken out against packing up his equipment.

"Oh, good, I thought you guys were long-gone! Listen, you have to find that scouting party! My little brother's with them! Please!"

"Would you have any idea on where to start looking?" asked Sanji.

"Of course! They headed south to search for one of our ships that crash-landed after it lost control. There's a fork in the clearing. The right side takes you to a dangerous marsh, but the left should lead you to a path through the adjacent woods. I would've gone, but nobody would accompany me. It's much too dangerous out there to go alone!"

"Don't worry about it. We'll take it from here," said Sanji.

"Bless you all! Thank you!" he said before retreating back into the tent.

"So who's coming with me?" asked Sanji.

"You'll need me for sure," said Sokka, "My tracking skills aren't what I'd call professional, but they're better than nothing."

"Using my remote-controlled drones, I can provide us a detailed layout of the land from the sky, but since these things have lousy range, I shall have to accompany you as well," said Dexter.

"And I suppose, I should come along for security purposes," said Crystal.

"Thank you for fearing for my safety, Crystal-Rose! You're so considerate!" exclaimed Sanji, going completely wobbly with hearts over his eyes, that is, until Sokka grabbed him.

"Come on, man! Focus! Focus!" he yelled, comically shaking Sanji by the shoulders. Sanji snapped out of it and proceeded to push him away by bringing his foot up to Sokka's face, yelling "You'll never stamp out my passion!" and initiated a cartoonishly frantic and comical back and forth struggle between the two, causing everyone in the vicinity to laugh hysterically until Katara bended a snowball right at Sokka's face, immediately snapping them both out of it.

"Oh come on, Sis! Againwith the snowballs?" he groaned.

"I'll come along too," said Katara, giggling, "Someone needs to keep my idiot brother in check."

"Yeah! Hey, wait…" whined Sokka, catching her words.

"I know your pain…" said Crystal, holding a grin as she fist-bumped with Katara.

"What do you say I come along too?" said Eddy.

"Sorry, Eddy, but we've got enough people. You should hang back and watch over the group," said Sanji.

"But… but…"

"That settles it, then. Double D, you're in charge. The rest of you, hang tight, scope the place out, and don't do anything stupid."

"Especially stay away from any military vehicles!" joked Dexter as they went on their way.

"Man, are they ever gonna let that go?" wondered Kevin.

"Not in our lifetime, at least," said Double D.

"Why does the little man remind Rolf of his shame?" yelled Rolf, angrily, "Does he have no respect for the Son of a Shepherd?!"

"This sucks!" whined Eddy, "It's like they suddenly don't think we're capable!"

"Eddy, you must comprehend that our comrades only care about what's best for our physical safety and mental-health. We're not hardened warriors like them –At least, not yet– Our little stunt with the Doom-Buggy certainly pointed to such a conclusion," said Double D, "It's going to take some time to prove ourselves and attain their confidence in us once more, but not to worry, Eddy, I'm certain we'll achieve just that in the days to come!"

"We better! I don't wanna be a benchwarmer for long, Sock-Head. And I can't believe the Lump gets to be in the action without us!"

"Oh, come now, Eddy! Do recall that Ed's familiar with this planet from all those comics and films that he consumes, though I have to admit it's really quite humorous to ponder the fact that his vast knowledge of extraterrestrial realms and their inhabitants has actually been quite the blessing since our adventure commenced."

Eddy remembered that fateful day all too well, "Yeah, no foolin'. If it hadn't been for Ed, who knows if we would have been… never mind. You're right. I need to focus on making myself useful too. I just really hope Ed's okay."

(Deep within the Hive)

"Praetorian bad for Ed!" screamed Ed, running for his life just ahead of Numbuh 1, who continuously fired his solar-rifle into a group of incoming xenomorphs.

"Ed, you've gotta stay close! I can't protect you if you keep running like that!"

The large alien that chased them down the slimy, organic hallway quickly began to gain on them when suddenly, Jack pounced on it from behind, driving his blade down into its spine, and slashing upward through its head with minimal effort, instantly killing it.

Farther back, another pair of Praetorians charged at the rest of the group, but were immediately stopped when Luffy wound up his Elephant Gun attack, followed by Zoro's "Tatsu MakiDragon Twister" technique, instantly putting down both beasts.

Aang, along with Lt. Sa'rai and her team of soldiers soon caught up, having just burned through another several dozen of the infernal creatures who had swarmed when the first Praetorian had shrieked for reinforcements.

"Oi, those ugly things came out of nowhere!" exclaimed Numbuh 4, "How're you holdin' up, mates?"

"We're good, Numbuh 4. Just a little surprised, is all," assured Numbuh 1.

"Ed, please be more careful!" said Alejandro.

"Sorry about that!" laughed Ed in his oafish manner. "But we're super close to the Queen-Mother's Chamber, guys, come on!"

"What is she? Is she their brood-mother?" asked Aang, suspending a ball of flames over his palm.

"Yeah! She's huge!" exclaimed Ed.

"How do we even know if the extermination team actually made it this far?" asked Lt. Sa'rai, annoyed. "They could just as easily have gotten trapped or lost down each one of those paths that we passed!"

"We may not know for sure, but this will at least give us a starting point. If they're not up ahead with the Queen-Mother, we'll turn back and check the other paths," said Numbuh 1.

They continued into the dark passageway, being extra careful to keep quiet, when they saw an ominous glow emanating around a bend in he path. The sounds of growling and heavy breathing could now be heard, and the walls almost seemed to shake as something massive shifted deeper within the hive.

"Oh my God, look!" whispered Lt. Sa'rai loudly, pointing ahead.

Just about twenty feet ahead of them, barely visible in the faint glow of their few remaining torches was a shredded BDF uniform.

"They made it, after all… God, I only hope they're still alive!" she said, walking over with Alejandro to inspect their find.

The heavy breathing shook the walls once more, bringing with it a cacophony of horrible shrieks.

"Sounds like the buggers just tipped her off," said Numbuh 4.

The entire nest began to rumble as an ominous voice was suddenly projected into each of their minds.

On the contrary, foolish beings, I've been aware of your presence from the very beginning!

"Whoa, what the hell?!" yelled Numbuh 4, "Please tell me you all heard that!"

"Yeah. Looks like our little Queen Mama's quite the intelligent telepath," said Alejandro, "Damn, this really complicates things!"

I have those whom you seek, but you must earn them! Retreat, and they will perish…

"She has the team!" cried Sa'rai, "What are we gonna do?!"

"The bitch really has us by the balls…" said Numbuh 4, through grit teeth.

"Then there's no use in coming up with any sort of plan," said Aang, "She's only gonna know. I mean, she's already in our heads, right?"

"You're right," agreed Zoro, "I say we see what she wants, and if things get sticky, we just do the usual and slaughter our way out of there!"

"Yeah! Let's do it!" exclaimed Luffy, excitedly.

Alejandro took point this time and lead them to the end of the passage, which opened into a long hallway that curved around a massive central chamber.

I've instructed my personal guard not to attack… Step out from the shadows… reveal yourselves to me!

"This is it, guys. There's no turning back now," said Alejandro, leading them across, "Keep your eyes peeled, and your ears tuned… Here we go."

To Be Continued...

(Closing theme: Maon Kurosaki - "The Place of Hope" - 0:00 to 1:22)

Next Episode: Alien: Endgame