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XXXXX

"So… you had a bad childhood or something?" Ben asked as his fingers hung on to the sides of his seat behind her. He didn't even want to even think about holding onto Rojo herself. And to pass the time, he wanted to get some background info on one of his old enemies.

Said woman shook her head, her eyes locked to the path ahead in the sewer, "Nope. Suburbs. Dad was a preacher. Mom a lawyer."

Ben nodded and closed his eyes in thought, "Okay, so it wasn't parental… bad school?"

"Nope. Private and all preps to boot," She immediately replied before a tiny smirk developed on her face, "Go ahead and take one more. This is almost kind of funny."

"Okay," Ben grunted as his eyes narrowed, "You're just a complete bitch."

"Wow, you're steaming today," Rojo chortled after a whistle. She shrugged her shoulders, "but yeah, pretty much."

"Ugh," Ben grunted and briefly stared off to the side, "there's always something about girls like you that get under my skin."

"Feelings mutual, boy scout," Rojo grunted back as they reached the Undertown. The feeling of unease and disgust was strong in Rojo, but obviously not from coming back here. But she was doing this for a reason, a good one, "Now look alive, we're almost where we need to be. Then you can get the hell off my baby."

"Good, for a hot second, I think I was actually starting to feel comfy," Ben coolly replied as he rolled down his sleeve, wanting to be off just as much as Rojo.

She slowly slowed down her engine and picked a shady spot between two buildings. It was nice and crowded with junk just around it too. And a lot of bystanders didn't pay attention to vehicles coming in and out of Undertown, along with the fact this particular part of it was more… cut off. No one is around to notice them.

Ben immediately hopped off first while Rojo checked for anything left over after he moved, "Wow, you didn't leave any grease or slurpee splatter behind."

"Well, I wouldn't want to mess up your blood stains," Ben snarked.

"Let's go," Rojo told him as she picked up her rifle and sidearm, "Turn into one of your quiet aliens."

"We're spying on them," Ben asked as he looked for a good one.

"Yeah," Rojo drawled. In truth, she didn't think it would matter, this was a sabotage job anyway and he's added muscle. But this was her best opportunity to get Ben to shut up and away from her.

A green flash, a dazzling radiance, and Ben was, "Chromastone… wait, this is not what I wanted… at all."

Rojo balked before her eyes narrowed and she stomped up to Ben, "How in the flying ham hawk fuck is that stealthy!"

"To answer your question, he is not," Ben scratched the top of his rocky helm, "Uh… hold on, let me try something…"

A few seconds later, he was starting to sparkle up. It quickly grew into a series of flashes and after that he was practically a flare being held right in Rojo's eyes. She covered her eyes and growled, "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Trying to reflect light and make myself invisible!" Ben explained as he concentrated some more. He explained, "I saw it once in this bizarre anime! If I just concentrate hard enough, I'll blend in-"

"Blend in!? At an EDM concert, maybe!" Rojo grabbed a piece of junk and immediately threw it towards Ben's head only to hit his chest, "Turn it off!"

Ben complied but argued back, "At least I'm trying to get ingenuitive!"

"Try less!" Rojo hissed before she turned on her heels and stalked off, "how in the hell are people worried about your dumbass? How did you even make it this far?"

Ben clicked his tongue as he trudged behind the criminal, or it could be called that, and grunted out, "My personality and charm. Jerk."

XXXXX

"Are they setting up another EDM concert back there," grunted a slug like goon in a robotic body, "I swear, this is getting more trashy and trashy every space cycle."

"I like 'em, I think you're just getting old, Bubblehead," Liam clucked out from the right, Suemongosaur nodding on the left.

"Don't call me that, it's-"

The grunt of their boss immediately made them turn around and he hissed, "I'm sorry, is my meeting interrupting yours?"

"No/Not at all," Liam and Bubblehead immediately blurted, Suemongosaur immediately holding up her hands and nodded.

Psyphon narrowed his eyes at them, a silent dare to do that again, before he turned back to a big, burly boar alien with red eyes, purple and red armor, and one mean mug, "Now… Thunderpig, we're getting a nice party together to take down Ben once and for all."

Sunder immediately slammed his large fist on the desk, cracking it, "Thunderpig is in!"

"Now… wait, just like that?" Psyphon froze up.

"Yes! I want his head on my wall next to farmer joe!"

"No haggling or anything like that?"

Thunderpig nodded his head and bared his fangs, "The money will come, I want Ben Tennyson to pay for his misdeeds."

"A-alright, excellent!" Psyphon nearly sputtered as he clapped his hands together. He thought it would take some bribing, intimidating, persuasion, or a combination of all of the above to get him to agree, "Liam, be useful and break out the fancy wine!"

Thunderpig flared his nostrils and snorted, "Thunderpig prefers manly and hearty mead."

"Get that!" Psyphon ordered and Liam immediately ran out of the room, "Thunderpig, my burly ally, you won't be disappointed…"

Neither had any idea they were being watched by the crimson bounty hunter through a scope.

"See anything?" Ben piped up on the comms and made her grimace, "Rojo?"

Rojo bit back a curse and answered as nicely as she could, "Shut up, I'm spying on them now… Psyphon and some big brown boar guy in a purple gimp outfit."

Ben thought of that description, muttering to himself, "That doesn't quite… wait, Thunderpig again."

That definitely wasn't the guy they were after. Just another gang leader like Psyphon. Though, teaming up was a problem that needed to be solved at least. Just not as urgent as the guy sending a beast and shooting at Ben.

"That guy, huh," Rojo muttered back with the comms still on.

"You work with him at all?" Ben asked as he shifted to the side of a wall, narrowly avoiding a few passing goons. He sucked in his breath as a slime with eyes in it seemed to glance his way.

"No, I heard about him from your anonymous hate group online," Rojo evilly smirked as she heard Ben fumble a little.

"Wait, that's real?" He hissed before immediately shutting up. He thought the alien spotted him but it was just watching a passing flying.

Rojo immediately switched the topic, to be professional and to fuck with him further, "See anything useful on your end?"

"Yeah, a few goons trudging around, both Psyphon and Thunderpig's extra muscle… hold, I hear something," He tried to focus in on it, but the sound quickly passed over. But Ben swore it sounded familiar. It was high pitched and he barely heard it through the hustle and bustle.

"Huh," Ben muttered, "must've been the wind-"

A blast of earth and debris erupted around him, knocking Ben into the air until he caught himself and floated over the alley until he was forced to strafe to the side to avoid a mysterious goo. Goo that melted through a building like nothing.

Ben turned to see a giant alien worm glaring at him before it let out a deep, bellowing roar. With a familiar collar on, "You again!"

"You again!" Shouted one of the goons as they pulled out blasters, "Waste that piece of shraak!"

"Shraak?" Ben put that aside as he began absorbing blaster fire, a lot of it pretty much being laser bolts, "Thanks! But you should get some too!"

Like a light show of death, he sent the bolts right back into every direction, forcing goons to take cover or get taken down from the bolts. The only one completely unbothered by this was the slam worm that quickly dug itself back into the earth.

Ben narrowed his green eye and growled, "Oh no you don't!"

Only to get a ring from his watch. He acknowledged it, but quickly paid for it when he heard Rojo roar, "What the fuck are you doing over there!?"

"Easy, sheesh!" Ben shouted back, offended that she was dogging on him as he tried to listen out for the whistle, "I got jumped by an acid worm!"

"Oh of course you did," Rojo hissed back. Whether she was being sarcastic or begrudging he couldn't tell, but it mattered little to him.

"Yell at me later," He bit back as he heard another rumble, "In fact, come over actually."

From the ground burst forth a creature that seemed both rat and lizard-like. A smooth black underbelly with opal colored gems atop it's back. It didn't have any visible eyes either.

"What is that now?" Ben groaned as he flipped over a nasty bite attack and landed on its back as he charged up another light show blast, "Whatever you are, chew on this!"

Only for nothing to happen. Ben only had a moment to blink before the beast rolled over, intent on crushing and skewering Ben with its stalactite back, rocketing back to the ground as it made the light shimmer. Only a split second of Rojo's rocket launcher saved him, blasting its side.

Though, he didn't see it that way, "Friendly fire, friendly fire!"

"Yeah, you're welcome - gah!" Something immensely painful happened in a split second. A blaster bolt had lodged itself into Rojo's hand, searing the top of it and forcing her to drop her gun. She turned towards where the bolt came from and immediately ducked before another could hit her right between the eyes.

Khyber, from his position a few houses away, huffed in frustration, "I won't allow another interference in my hunt."

Just as he said that, he noticed another flash of green and checked out what Ben had made himself this time.

"Cannonbolt! Oh yeah, let's see if you're hard enough for this!" Ben roared as he went into ball mode and rushed at the beast. He slammed into its side and sent it reeling, ricocheting to another high building and knocking it face first into the dirt before it could recover, "Where's your master, huh!"

"You won't live long enough to know," Khyber whistled but had to duck from a red laser sent his way, this cutting his tune short, "undisciplined amateurs getting in my way again."

That tune made the beast transform into something else just as Ben was about to clobber it again. This time, it transformed into a huge animal that was an amalgamation of tyrannosaurus and centipede. A dark purple carapace body, save for its lighter underside, and a giant red skull. With a long protrusion from it.

Ben pretty much bounced off its head and landed on the ground, unrolling to take a good look. He blinked and gulped, "Uh… I don't think you're my weight class."

"Raaaaaaargh!" A powerful, deep bellowing a roar that sent Ben and retreating goons tumbling back. Ben rolled back and decided it was time to even up the odds.

"Humungosaur!" Ben roared and grew to his full size… which was still dwarfed by the insectoid dinosaur, "Now let's see what you - graaargh!"

It charged without a second though, slamming into Ben head first and knocking the air from his guy. He clung on as best as he could as the beast barreled straight into Pysphon's building. That briefly brought Ben face to face with Psyphon and his main goons, all parties wide eyed, until the beast pulled back and began thrashing Ben around.

Psyphon's lips quivered for a second until he clenched his teeth together and roared, "Everyone to the goddamn tunnels, Suemongosaur, go handle that, and I will make a call!"

XXXX

Rojo and the Khyber were caught in their own little showdown with a good old fashioned rooftop gunfight, bolts and blasters trading bullets as they each shifted from cover to cover that didn't leave them in the open. No wounds had been made save for Rojo's hand, and that woman was eager to rectify that, all while Ben, obviously, handled his own little problem.

But Khyber was pleased to see that Ben, in his ignorance, chose the exact prey of the beast his loyal hound transformed into. Ben's lack of experience would be his undoing while Khyber bided his time and waited for Rojo to make another misstep.

"Come out and I won't bust into your nest to beat you to a paste!" Rojo roared as she unloaded a magazine into one of the windows, "You're just dragging this out!"

Khyber leered at hearing that with absolute disgust. This woman had no patience. And she called herself a bounty hunter? "Revolting."

This time, he popped a pin on a spherical grenade and tossed it into the air. Rojo saw it and opened fire the moment it ducked out. She assumed it was a frag. It was a flashbang.

She grit her teeth and pulled down a visor to help, but the light was still strong. By the time it cleared out and she could see, she had no doubt the shooter hightailed it to another spot. She'd give chase if it wasn't for the rumbling coming towards her, "woah, woah!"

She turned and immediately spotted Ben, in his ultimate form along with Suemongosaur holding his tail, tackling what she could only describe as a big ass monster. Coming towards her, "Woah!"

She jumped off the roof and ran as fast her legs could carry her, not even bothering to look back and see them crash through the buildings her and her enemy was in. She could hear the struggle and even feel them crashing towards her still.

Had she not ducked, she would've been masked right in the head by Ben's spoke club tail as he smashed the animal's head into a building, only to get nearly tugged down by a now enlarged Suemongosaur, forcing him to roll back and miss a chomp from the monster, forcing Rojo to jump out of the way as the jaws nearly clamped down on her.

She could smell and feel it's disgustingly hot, humid breath too. She would've squirmed if she weren't running for her life.

And it was a good thing she jumped too, because Ben and Suemongosaur immediately jumped on its head and forced it to go skidding down. Both Sue and Ben sighed as they got atop of it before turning towards each other.

"Sue."

"Tennyson," she immediately heard the shifting of his hands to cannons and glared hard, "you wouldn't dare -"

And Ben immediately shot her in the chest with one of his grenades, blasting her back, before he turned it towards the growling behemoth, his breath a little ragged, "Okay, Tyrannopede… now I gotta handle you until the other plumbers get here… Ben to base-"

And that's when the sound came back and the now dubbed Tyrannopede began shapeshifting. Ben latched onto the beast's head as it turned into the worm again and grunted, "No, no, no, no-"

It spat out that acid again and burned Ben's fingers, forcing him to let go, and it dig underground, out of his reach. It wouldn't have mattered anyway as his watch timed out and he was forced back into his regular self, "Ah, goddamn it."

Raargh!" And Suemongosaur burst back up from the rubble, glared down at Ben with slitted eyes, "Ben! I will bash your head into a pancake!"

"Ah, double goddamnit!" Ben cursed as he backed away from the approaching Suemongosaur. His savior came in the form of Rojo running in and grabbed Ben, making Suemongosaur roar in frustration and give chase, "Rojo! I'm actually glad to see you!"

"Don't be!" Rojo growled at him and he actually reeled back a bit from the hate in her eyes, "I should've let your ass get flattened like you nearly did to me!"

Ben folded his arms and groused out, "What did I do!?"

"Grr!" Was the only response Rojo could give him and he decided to just leave in favor of her keeping him alive at the moment. She immediately threw him in the air and ducked as Suemongosaur tried to spear them by throwing a large piece of rebar.

The Vaxasaurian roared at them, "Get back here!"

Rojo made a weave into a tight alley space and Suemongosaur, being the intelligent and wild alien she was, tried to squeeze through with all her might. Even when shrunken, all she did was serve to get herself stuck and could only vent her frustration with another roar. And that's when the sirens were coming.

Rojo didn't stop running until they reached her bike and got him on. The moment she knew the coast was clear, she plopped down and let out a big sigh, before glaring down at the now relaxing Ben, "Kid, you are a magnet for the shittiest luck."

"You and me both, sister," Ben breathed out as he leaned back, starting to wallow in some of his frustration, "Great, awesome, we managed to learn nothing from this. Job well-freakin-done."

Rojo snorted as she checked out the burn on her hand, pain starting to come back after the adrenaline rush, and asked, "You got someone hunting you, right?"

Ben nodded.

"Know what he looks like?"

"No, and I know it isn't Thunderpig," Ben almost chuckled at the thought of Thunderpig being that smart, "dude mistook me eating a sandwich as me eating his father and started a blood feud."

Rojo blinked. She didn't have a proper response to that and continued on with the more important issue, "I think, think mind you, I have a little lead for you now," she held up her hand and asked him, "see this?"

Ben leaned in and, out of concern, asked, "Oh, you alright?"

"Drop that mushy crap and listen," Rojo blurted, not used to that kind of talk from him of all people, "the guy trying to pop my head off was wearing some type of bone armor. Red eyes and green skin too. And I swear I heard whistling coming from him when I could make it out between the gun fire."

"Whistling, huh?" Ben muttered as he tapped his chin, "Okay, so this wasn't a near total waste like I thought… still, I've got a few questions left over."

"Meh, not my problem," Rojo said as she shoved him off and got on her bike, "get home and go to bed before mommy calls you back. I did my job."

Ben groaned and gestured to his watch, "What, but my watch is timed out."

"Not. My. Problem," Rojo said before smirking in his face and revving her engine, "See ya!"

Rojo blasted off and Ben was nearly thrown back. He readjusted himself and wiped off the dust, "Jeez, what a… ah, whatever."

For now, until his watch came back on, he could hoof it. He'd have a lot to explain tomorrow and investigate to be done. He was just glad to be a step closer.

XXXXX

"Khyber, explain yourself!" Psychobos yelled at the communicator, "my c-c-client said you nearly flattened his g-g-goons! May I remind you we-"

"You wanted their assistance," Khyber narrowed his eyes as he massaged his hound's head, "I don't need it. In fact, one of their Vaxasaurians got in my pet's way."

"Y-you have been trying my p-p-patience," Psychobos warned him but he paid it little mind, "That has been t-t-twice now you failed to capture Ben T-T-Tennyson!"

"Failures? Perhaps in your eyes, but it's progress, more data," Khyber told him as he turned to pick up his knife, "I have information on his aliens, his habits, his allies… the cretins were only good for distraction and they did as such. Now? They would get in the way."

Psychobos was silent for a long minute. There was an audible clicking before he spoke again, "Get it done, Khyber. If you have what you need, g-g-get it done!"

Khyber smirked. Three. Three was always when his hunt ended. Always. And with the rest out of his way, he was free to tinker with his "hunting grounds" the way he liked.

XXXXX

"Lucy, I said I'm sorry," Ben groaned as he trailed behind his displeased cousin. She kept her arms folded and and her head upturned away from him, huffing when he tried to talk.

"An adventure without your team, Ben?" Lucy shook her head and wiped away a fake tear, "I'm hurt."

Ben was about to speak until he was grabbed from behind and hugged towards the Tetramand's chest as she sounded like she was nearly on the verge of tears, "Beloved, why didn't you call me?"

"I had no choice! It was short notice!" Ben croaked out as he tried to wiggle out of her grip. Looma relented a dn Ben immediately pointed at her, "And you! This is way too important Plumber business for you! Oh, and we literally just met!"

"So!?" Looma incredulously asked as she let Ben flop down, "We are betrothed and, thus, must share battles. All our battles"

Rook, watching the scene, couldn't help but make a note, "Women are very interesting on Earth."

"Yeah, that's a way of putting it," Ben muttered as he got back up, Lucy quickly pulling him in a one armed hug, "woah."

"Eh, it's all good," Lucy giggled before cuddling his hair and getting an annoyed glance out of him, "So, what did you learn from your little date with big bad Rojo?"

"Aside from the fact she's a bitch just because?" Ben shrugged, "Apparently, the guy hunting me with his transforming dog or whatever is some dude in bone armor. A huntsman I guess."

"Like the Yautja?" Rook hummed out.

"Like I said, I guess? He has red eyes and green skin supposedly" Ben shrugged again, not too familiar with that alien, "Rojo managed to get a look at him during their firefight. And she said she heard a whistling sound. And that thing transforms every time he makes that sound."

"Given all the times it has attacked, it seems you were isolated or vulnerable in some way," Rook surmised as he thought about it, "first when you slept and again later in the day when you were essentially alone."

"Ha!" Looma guffawed, "and you've proven yourself to be all but ready for this so-called huntsman! A true warrior would be out right here, right now, out to kill you! And they would fail!"

"Thanks for the pep talk," Ben groused, "but considering what I'm dealing with, I better start making plans of my own. Next time the guy might hit me while I'm trying to take a friggin' shower."

"Then I will shower with you," Looma casually told him while behind her, Lucy was giving her a deadpan stare and rook clearly shocked, "No need to worry about such a minor thing."

Ben's brow twitched and he sighed. He put on his best smirk and walked up to her, "look, if you behave, I might let you wait outside the shower for me. But that? We have a long ways to go before I let you do that."

"Oh, an Earth trail then!?" She asked excitedly before she went on one knee, "Ben, as a woman, let me prove my unsurpassed strength to you!"

Ben blinked and had to put his thinking cap on. On one hand, she was most likely going to be a chaotic force of destruction. He could already see it. But on the other hand, she was a Tetramand on his side. And it's not like she was all bad. There had to be some positivity in there. Somewhere.

Then it clicked. And he smirked.

He puffed out his chest and turned on his heels, smirking as he bellowed, "Rise, Looma Red Wind and fiance of Ben Tennyson!"

Looma, seemingly taking in a serious aura, stood to her full height and her eyes were covered with shadows. The hammer was gripped tight in her hands.

"For your trail, I wish for you to monitor the Undertown for any suspicious gangster activity! It is of the utmost importance to find my enemy and invoke justice," Ben's eyes, in Looma's view, seemed to shine. A sign of power to her, "Can you do this!"

"I am Princess of the Tetramand," Looma growled as thumped her chest, "A proud warrior of Khoros… of course I can! In fact, were it not for you, I'd scoff at this so-called trail!" She crashed her lower fists together, "But if this is for love and war, then so be it!" She even dramatically posed as the sun glared off her helm. She then bent down to peck Ben on the cheek and giggled, "I'll see you at home, beloved."

With a twirl, she jumped and bound off to Undertown. Once she was out of sight, Lucy mumbled under her breath, "That woman is the whole fruit basket of crazy."

"Must be if that's coming from you, Lucy," Ben agreed before he sighed, "I feel like what I did might come to either bite my ass or work spectacularly."

"Are there not any in between?" Rook asked him.

Ben shook his head, "No. Also, contractions."

"What are those?"

"Enough with the Grammar lessons," Lucy gave Ben a rough pat on the back and smiled, "We gotta make up plans on dealing with this mystery admirer of yours before something sidetracks us again!"

"And here I thought we'd make a picnic," Ben chuckled as he leaned on a wall.

"If I may," Rook began as he pulled out some notes from a data pad, "I believe I have an idea on how we can handle this with minimal casualty."

"I'm all ears," Ben told him, Lucy forming multiple ears to jokingly prod at Ben's wording.

"On my home planet, this is how we deal with certain, as your kind may say, varmints of the smarter variety…"