This should've been a much longer chapter, but it's honestly been hell to write it, hahaha. So, I apologize, but I'm at least putting this out and taking a little break from this story - probably not even longer than it already took me to write this chapter, hopefully?

"Through here." -Claire says, leading them into a smaller cavern that connects with the base of the massive crystal at Trollmarket's heart - presumably, the Heartstone it is named for. Inside, it's almost hard to breathe; the magic is so intensely present, emanating from the crystal ahead, that Gwen can almost pluck the arcane energies out of the air without even trying.

The interior is equal parts forge, workshop, and apothecary; there's a sizable stone forge, blazing with heat, shelves filled with all sorts of herbs, gemstones, and multicolored fluids, as well as a cauldron, next to a whetstone and several workbenches upon which masonry and stone-cutting equipment is strewn about. There's two Trolls already inside; one, the largest, a limestone colored Troll sporting goat-like horns at either side of their head, eyes nearly white with evident age, and a shorter one, cobalt-skinned and...oddly proportioned - their head seemingly abnormally large and unwieldy, and sporting three pairs of eyes, complimented by a second pair of arms just above their hips. The pair seems to be in the middle of some kind of heated argument.

"Need I remind you what happened the last time Trollmarket suffered such an intrusion?" -the short, blue one says. "We lost friends! We lost family! We must discover the whereabouts of this extraterrestrial interloper at once!"

"I am well aware of the lasting effects of Angor Rot's visit, Blinkous - as you should be, of the magical properties of Trollmarket's reinforced wards. No ill-intending outsider may enter our domain, not even with a Horngazel - and though our Trollhunters allowed this creature to slip into one of the entry tunnels, the wards would have still detained him outside the city if he intended us harm." -the elder Troll dictates. "Until such a time as he demonstrates a will to harm our citizens, the bounty hunter is - yes, much to my chagrin - welcome to stay. Such are our laws and customs."

Gwen raises an eyebrow at Claire, who shrugs. "I let them in on the whole thing on the way down."

The Trolls turn toward them, not at all surprised to see them. "Trollhunters." -the one Gwen assumes to be Vendel says, tilting his head in deference. "And...more guests, I see."

"Julie and Gwen." -Claire says, gesturing at each of them. "They were fighting the bounty hunter under the bridge - cornered him right against the exit wall, just in time for us to open the way."

"How...fortuitous." -Vendel says, narrowing his eyes at the newcomers. "Of course, I bid you welcome to our Trollmarket, humans. It is exceedingly rare for one of your kind to visit our realm, but I understand that there are...extenuating circumstances at play."

"Thank you." -Gwen says. "We, uh...promise to keep this place a secret."

"The gesture is appreciated." -Vendel says. "Though unnecessary. Few would believe you, should you choose to divulge our location - and without the aid of a Horngazel, the exceptions would find themselves rather frustrated, trying to find our home."

Claire clears her throat. "Vendel, we were hoping you might be able to point us in the direction of the bounty hunter."

The ancient Troll hums, and looks at Gwen and Julie. "And what would your intentions be, should you find him?"

"Take him down, hard." -Julie grinds out.

Gwen gives the brunette a concerned look. "Sixsix - the bounty hunter - is a criminal, sir. Trying to claim the bounty on my cousin, he harmed an innocent, betraying the rules of his craft." -she explains trying to sound as diplomatic as possible. "He must be brought to justice - and taken off the streets, to keep the people of Arcadia safe."

"As Elder of Trollmarket, the safety of the humans of Arcadia is not my concern." -he says, firmly. There's no venom to it, but it definitely tells Gwen that there's quite a bit more to Troll-human relations than it appears. "But...I suppose, as a friend and ally to the Trollhunters, it would perhaps be in my best interest to aid you in your quest."

"...and here's the catch." -Blinkous says, rolling his eyes.

"However," -Vendel glares at the six-eyed Troll, "as I told Blinkous before, this...Sixsix character is just as welcome in Trollmarket as you are, so long as he keeps the peace. Furthermore, no blood may be spilled and no lives may be taken outside of the Heroes' Forge, else you would risk being cursed for the rest of your short, mortal lives."

"Vendel tells the unfortunate truth; Troll law dictates that all violent feuds must be resolved upon the sacred field of the Forge." -Blinkous grudgingly admits. "Even if Vendel agrees to lead you towards the bounty hunter, you would not be able to engage him in open combat."

"Well...what if we lure the guy to the Forge?" -Claire suggests. "You guys seemed to almost beat him before, you think you could do it again?"

Julie clenches her fists. "We can do it."

"I'm not so sure, Julie." -Gwen says, worried. "I already pulled out the 'big guns', so to speak, and all I could manage was keeping him in place. We should call Ben and Kevin, figure things out together."

"Sixsix might escape if we wait that long." -Julie says, crossing her arms.

"Well...I mean, you have us." -Toby says. "We may not be...bounty hunter-hunters, but we've seen some fights."

Gwen purses her lips. "We can't ask you to do that. This is our fight."

"We kinda made it our fight, too, letting him into Trollmarket." -Claire points out. "If this guy is as bad as you say, him being around is just trouble waiting to happen."

The redhead frowns, then gets an idea. "Oh, your portals! Could you bring Ben and Kevin to us, instead?"

Claire winces. "I could, but I shouldn't. Trollmarket's reinforced wards interfere with my ability to make portals here. Without an emotional anchor, they'll be unstable, possibly even leaving them stranded in the void - and, no offense, but I have zero attachment to your friends."

Julie places her hand on Gwen's shoulder. "We'll let Ben and Kevin know, but we need to catch Sixsix now." -she says, taking charge. She turns to Vendel. "Where can we find the guy?"

Vendel hums, planting the crystalline scepter he wields on the ground, where it stays, somehow perfectly balanced despite its imperfect design. He begins chanting, in a strange language that sounds like a combination of pained moaning and clucking. The amber-like staff starts tilting to one side or another, in a drunkenly fashion, until it settles and snaps to a direction. Vendel's expression turns grave. "I fear the interloper has decided to preempt your conflict. He already is at the Hero's Forge."

"We've got a problem." -Abigail says, scaring the shit out of Ben, Kevin, and Stuart. The Director of S.W.O.R.D. seems to have sprung out of thin air, coming up right behind them without making a sound. She looks at the alien in their midst, mildly smirking. "Hello, Stuart."

Stuart gives her a half-hearted wave, while Ben shakes his head. "Where the heck did you come from!?"

"Oh, I'm not actually here." -she says, then puts her hand through his chest - or tries to, anyway, revealing herself to be a holographic projection, the image breaking apart before reforming as she moves her hand back. She points at several spots on the ceiling. "Projectors everywhere around here. Max had them installed in case he needed a quick distraction, paranoid as he was. I hijacked them from our HQ."

"What's the problem?" -Kevin asks, suspicious. "And how do you know Stuart?"

"Stuart here is a naturalized citizen of Earth. Went through the process with our agency, all above board." -she explains. "It doesn't happen often, but we have given asylum to a handful of extraterrestrials in the past. Which I wished you'd asked us about, before putting on a reenactment of Fast and the Furious, Omnitrix edition."

She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "The problem, Mr. Levin, is that our sister agency has finally taken notice of you, despite my best efforts to keep your...activities hidden. S.H.I.E.L.D. is dispatching a team to assess and resolve the situation here in Arcadia."

"Isn't that good, though?" -Ben wonders. "Maybe they can help us deal with Vilgax's drones."

"Seeing as the public is largely unaware of the specifics of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s role in the defense of New York, I'll forgive the naivety." -Abigail says. "But the truth is, the missile Stark valiantly carried into the Tesseract's portal wasn't meant for the alien mothership; it was meant for New York. Faced with the prospect of the Avengers being overrun, the World Security Council - S.H.I.E.L.D.'s bosses - decided to nuke the city."

They all balk at the thought - Ben especially, who'd assumed the whole thing had been a daring, 'Hail Mary' kind of plan conceived by the Avengers. "S-surely they wouldn't blast little ol' Arcadia, would they?" -Stuart asks, afraid.

Abigail shakes her head. "Honestly? I don't know." -she says. "But the mere fact that they were willing to destroy New York means we have to consider the possibility of something of the sort happening to Arcadia. Especially with Vilgax making his way here."

Ben drops on the couch, baffled. "He's coming? Already?"

"Has been, ever since you picked up the Omnitrix." -Abigail admits. "We were able to pinpoint the drones' point of origin to somewhere in the vicinity of Mars, but the Azure Lance's more advanced sensors have confirmed that even as a broken shell of the mighty dreadnought it once was, Vilgax's flagship, the Chimeran Hammer, is making a beeline towards Earth."

"Why would you keep this from me?" -Ben demands, exasperated. "I could've at least tried to prepare - I don't know, trained maybe, set up traps or whatever."

S.W.O.R.D.'s director leans on her cane. "All of us thought Vilgax was dead, Ben. Even your grandfather." -she says. "And yes, you deserved to know he was coming, once we figured it out. But the last thing we want you to do is face this monster. I was hoping - I still hope, in fact - we could stop him ourselves."

Kevin scoffs. "You people can't even stop his drones from landing in Arcadia. How do you expect to stop a warship?"

"The drones are too small, too quick for Excalibur's experimental defense systems." -she grudgingly admits, referring to S.W.O.R.D.'s secret orbital space station and headquarters, which she revealed to Ben and the gang on the way down from their short stay on the Azure Lance. "The Chimeran Hammer poses no such issue. And, if push comes to shove...Hala and her people have agreed to break rank and use the full might of the Kree blockade to stop the bastard, once and for all."

"W-wouldn't they be...I dunno, required to stop Vilgax from reaching Earth in the first place? Isn't that the point of their blockade?" -Stuart sheepishly wonders.

"Unfortunately, Kree leadership has apparently deemed Vilgax potentially taking over and/or destroying our planet as a rather convenient way to rid themselves of the embarrassing bit of Kree history that is their involvement with Earth." -she explains. "The truth of their tampering with ancient humans' genomes can't go out if there's no one around to tell it, after all. I'm starting to suspect that that's the unspoken reason behind their non-involvement at the Battle of New York, too." -Abigail surmises.

Ben crosses his arms. "But...Abigail, Vilgax wants the Omnitrix. He's coming after me, right? It doesn't sit right with me that other people should fight my battles."

"And it doesn't sit right with me that a fifteen year-old kid should have to face a centuries-old warlord through no fault of his own."

"You're the one who told me to stand my ground!" -Ben reminds her. "To 'become the hero', remember?"

"That was before I knew Vilgax was alive and well, Ben - when I thought a couple bounty hunters were the worst you'd be facing for a long, long time. And even then, I was wrong to let that kind of weight sit on your shoulders." -Abigail admits. "I wouldn't take the Omnitrix from you, even if I wanted to - it is yours, and you wield it well. But you're not the only one who needs to stand your ground - and it's high time that we adults do our part."

As always, thank you for your attention! Make sure to comment or message me if you have any questions about this story. Look me up on Twitter as Darthkvzn or Tumblr as darthkvznblogs if you'd like - and on Ko-fi, as Darthkvzn, if you like what I do and have a coffee's worth of money to spare.

The series this fic is a part of has expanded since the last chapter, so I recommend giving You and Me, and the Woman that is We (a Dragon Ball fic following two awkward lesbian Saiyans accidentally fusing) a shot! They're all corners of the same universe and they're bound to interact eventually.