A/N: How's it going, everybody? Well, it's Friday once again, and you all know what that means! Yep, once again time for Ben 10/RWBY, and with this, we head back into adapting some Omniverse episodes. And this is a pretty significant one, too, because it marks the introduction of a pretty popular supporting character. And I will admit, I did like Ester, even if her crush on Ben didn't exactly amount to anything (thanks, Kai). But that's all beside the point. How will THIS story's introduction to Ester go? Well, only one way to find out! This is…

Chapter 38: Hot Stretch

…..

As he rushed along the roofs of Bellwood in the dark of night, Rook kept himself focused and on high alert despite exhaustion beginning to take effect. It had been a long day, and finishing if off with a dangerous chase didn't help matters. He HAD to stay focused. One false step, and he was going to plummet to the hard asphalt below. Still, at least the moon was only waning slightly. If it had only been a quarter full or not there at all, he wouldn't have ANY light at all. Plus, it helped him see his target all the better, too.

He was in pursuit of a young woman with extendable limbs, which helped her jump from rooftop to rooftop without issue. She had pinkish-purple skin, pointed ears, and had magenta-colored hair that came up at a peak near the top of her head, with a long lock of hair coming down either side of her face. She wore a purple headband that was pointed near the middle and had a blue gem in it, and her parka and boots matched the accessory perfectly. She also had black gloves and magenta leggings as well, tying together her whole ensemble. However, she also wore a purple visor over her eyes, obscuring most of her features.

'Whoever this woman is, she is quite cunning.' Rook thought to himself. All throughout this chase, she had used her extendable limbs to try and outpace Rook significantly, but the Plumber was able to make do with his Proto-Tool. 'She must be a dangerous individual, especially since she stole something so powerful.'

BOING! Just then, Rook slid to a halt the moment he heard a sound, one that was very familiar. He snapped his head up just in time to see a dark figure come shooting up from the street below, only to land directly next to him with a big grin. "Hiya, Rook!"

"Ben!" Rook exclaimed, taken aback slightly, but happy all the same. "You are a sight for irritated retinas."

"I'm not even gonna begin to correct that one." Crashhopper deadpanned.

"What are you doing here, though?" The Revonnahgander raised a curious brow. "I thought you and the team were investigating the museum and Charmcaster?"

Crashhopper gave a small shrug. "Eh, been there, done that, got it handled. …Kinda. …Well, okay, not really, but we can talk about that later! Right now, I'm here to help you bring her down." He pointed off toward where the young woman ran off to. "That way, I can at least try to salvage SOMETHING from this night."

Rook smiled and bowed his head gratefully. "The help is much appreciated, Ben. I—" But then, Rook cut himself off the moment he turned back to his target… only to see that she had stopped in her tracks. She was keeping her gaze trained on them, he could feel it, and what's more, she could see her smile glistening in the moonlight, as if something had just piqued her interest. "…Ben, do you know why she stopped?"

The insectoid alien craned his head around and saw the young woman, her smile widening as his eyes landed on her. She giggled a little bit and gave him a little wave with her fingers, before then dashing off once again. Crashhopper's eyes narrowed as he recognized her behavior. "…She wants to play a game of cat and mouse."

"I do not follow. What does this have to do with the natural animosity between felines and rodents?"

Crashhopper pumped his legs, ready to jump. "I'll tell ya later! Right now, let's go!" BOING!

"Be careful!" Rook shouted after the hero as he went jumping along the roofs after the girl. "She has stolen a very powerful fusion device! One wrong move, and it could end very badly for everyone in Bellwood!"

'Oh great.' Crashhopper thought sarcastically. 'As if we didn't have MORE to worry about.' As he bounced across the buildings, though, Crashhopper took note of every move the girl made; all very calculated and intentional. It was as if she was leading him somewhere, and after a moment or two, he found out exactly WHERE she was going. It was a large construction site, one that was currently setting up the massive girders of a new building.

As he bounced along the structure, Crashhopper suddenly got an idea, and quickly dove down to a lower level before rebounding back up, bursting through the beam that the young woman was on. "Gotcha—huh?"

But as it happened, he DIDN'T get her. In fact, she had anticipated his move and dove down to where he once was before swinging along the steel girders. "Sorry, not quite!" she shouted back. She swung herself up and landed on a girder, one that stuck out over quite a large precipice to the street below. The moment she landed, though, Crashhopper met up with her, making her step back.

"Hmhm, how about now?" the hero chuckled as he closed in. "I'd say that you're at the end of your rope."

The girl took note of her situation, her gaze shifting between Crashhopper and the street below as a plan formed in her mind. She made a "come at me" motion with her hand at the insect. "Hmhm, not ever."

Taking the challenge, Crashhopper lunged at the girl… only for her to jump and do a flip over him in midair, causing her visor to fall off. The Omnitrix bearer snapped his head around to see his adversary… only to find that she was a fairly attractive alien girl. She had purple markings on her face, accentuating her soft features. Her eyes were bright blue, and… she had very strange eyebrows that almost looked like icy antlers.

'…Because of COURSE the thief has to be cute.' he thought to himself. 'Thank goodness I'm taken, or else this'd be SO cliché.' But the hero didn't have time to linger on that thought… as a familiar beeping graced his ears. '…And THIS is so bad!'

FLASH! In a red flash of light, Ben was back to his normal human self… and still in mid-jump over the street that was at least eighty or so feet below. "…Crapbas—KEEEEETTS!" Like a ton of bricks, he began to tumble down to his doom, all while his Omnitrix faceplate glowed red. "Dammit! Why do you ALWAYS have to time out at the worst possible—HRK!"

But right as he reached the half-way point between the top of the structure and the unforgiving pavement, Ben felt a sudden tug at his midsection, causing his limbs and head to lurch forward due to the momentum. An uneasy feeling entered his stomach as he was suddenly yanked right back up… and then slammed down hard onto the steel girders, knocking the wind out of him. His eyesight was blurry after that, but he could just barely make out the form of the young woman standing in front of him, still wearing a smile. "You… you saved me..." Ben spoke breathlessly.

"Well sure, I might've stole something, but I'm not about to let you die." she said with a wink.

"Who… who ARE you?" The girl's smirk increased as she stretched her arm down and slipped her hand into Ben's back pocket, making him gasp as she took his phone. "AH! H-Hey, what're you—"

"Shh, for prosperity." She turned Ben's phone on and activated the camera function, turning it toward herself and the hero as she winked again and stuck her tongue out for a picture. After taking the selfie with the fatigued hero, she slipped the phone back and gave the pocket a little pat. "You might have the power, Ben 10… but I've got the reach." she whispered into his ear.

Ben took a few irritated breaths, narrowing his eyes at her. "If you're trying to hit on me… sorry, I'm taken… you Mrs. Incredible wannabe."

The girl chuckled and stood up, cocking her hip to the side. "Ooh, creative. Well, you might be spoken for, but you're still a flatterer, Ben Tennyson…" She trailed off as she saw Rook running toward them out the corner of her eye, taking that as her cue to leave. "It's been real, Ben, but I've gotta run." She spun around to leave, but gave him one last wink before leaving. "Catch me if you can."

And with that, she leapt off the side of the building, stretching her arms out across the buildings to swing away. Ben's lips curled into a slight sneer as Rook came up to help him out. "Ben, are you alright?"

"Fine… for the most part." Ben held his gut as he stood up, still somewhat motion sick from the sudden save. "Ugh, did you see which way she went?"

"Negative." Rook shook his head. "She has disappeared into the darkness."

"Dammit." The hero grumbled. "And of course, she got away with the fusion device. Fantastic. Just what sort of "fusion device" did she steal, anyway?"

Rook brought out his Proto-Tool and shifted it into a display mode, one that showed a glowing, red orb. "A fusion engine. One used to power extremely effective machinery. Whatever she needs it for… well, that is still uncertain."

Ben folded his arms over his chest with a huff. "Great, fantastic. So, we've got no idea who she is or why she stole that thing." The hero set his sights off to where the girl disappeared, debating on going after her right then and there. But he did promise that he'd be back home soon, plus it'd be hard to find her in the darkness. "Jeez, this day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?"

"I fail to see how this situation can be described as "better"." Rook admitted as he shifted his Proto-Tool again, this time putting it into its scanner mode. "I will try to pin point where she went by adjusting to the unique frequency that the fusion engine gives off."

A yawn escaped Ben's throat as he scratched the back of his head tiredly. "Good idea, but after the museum thing and now this, I'm beat. Let's pick this up tomorrow, bright and early."

"Are you certain that is wise? If we wait, the perp could get away."

"Trust me, I doubt she'll have gone far. I bet she's probably headed down to Undertown anyway." He gave Rook a reassuring smile. "Besides, with that outfit she's wearing, she'll likely stick out in a crowd. Plus…" Ben pulled out his phone, going straight to the picture the girl took of herself posing over him. "She's left us with quite a damning piece of evidence."

Rook peered down at the selfie, noting her cocky grin. "I would assume that this is the human concept of "hubris" at work."

Ben gave him a thumbs up. "You bet! …Now, uh, could I ask you something?" He wore a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. "Think I could get a lift to Gwen's place? I lent her my car and I've gotta pick it up." Thankfully, Rook was more than happy to oblige, and with that, the two were off, both of them determined to bring whoever this was to justice.

…..

The next morning was a pretty eventful one, where pretty much everyone had to scramble their way up and put themselves together quickly. The Levin and Tennyson households had all been informed about what Ben went through after the museum mission bright and early as expected, and the team was quick to respond… but the moment they stepped outside, they were greated with an awful surprise.

"UUUUGH, So HOT!" Nora whined as she fanned herself in the back seat of their ride. Indeed, the weather had called for a massive heatwave that day and for the rest of the week, though it was obvious that today was gonna be the worst of it. Even the air conditioning in the vehicle wasn't cutting it for Nora, who was already sweating. "God, why couldn't we have done this on a different day?!"

"Because this situation is critical, Nora." Winter replied, even though she was sweating bullets as well. The elder Schnee was in the driver's seat of Natalie's mini-van, which she had requested to borrow to drive them to the Plumber base. 'She must really trust me to do this, I'm a bit surprised honestly.' But she didn't let that thought linger as she went back to the more important topic at hand. "Whoever this girl is, she's stolen a dangerous device that could have cataclysmic results if something were to happen to it."

"Winter's right." Pyrrha concurred. "Fusion energy is not to be trifled with at all. It might be rare in Remnant given our usage of Dust, but I imagine it's just as dangerous here as it is there."

Jaune tapped a finger against his knee, a bit of anxiety rising in the pit of his stomach. "Man… who knows what she could need that thing for, then?"

Gwen shook her head as they approached the Plumber base, where the rest of the team was already waiting for them, with Vernal and Qrow in tow. "Well, whatever it is, we'll have to stop her. No way is she getting away with this, and we're not gonna let a little heat stop us, right?" Gwen went to unbuckle her seatbelt, but then caught sight of Ren and Nora giving her a skeptical eye, putting her off a little bit. "Uh… guys?"

"Funny how you mention someone not getting away when you let a DIFFERENT perp go last night." Ren commented.

"Yeah, you're not suddenly gonna get all friendly with THIS girl and let her off the hook, too, are ya?" Nora added.

Gwen flinched at the accusations as suddenly, Jaune, Pyrrha, and especially Winter all gave her scrutinizing eyes. A guilty feeling began to wash over her and she raised her hands up to them. "H-Hey, this situation is WAY different than—"

"How so?" Winter pressed. "Simply because this unknown perp has stolen something far more dangerous?" The military specialist closed her eyes and faced away from the redhead. "From what I heard, you simply let Charmcaster go in exchange for her assistance with the Creepers, but given that she had no leverage over you in the situation, I can safely say that wasn't the wisest decision." She went to open the door while glancing to Gwen out the corner of her eye. "You musn't let your own personal feelings cloud your judgement like that, Gwendolyn. I understand that you and her have a history, but costing the whole mission like that does not make for a good look… especially with them."

The Anodite's eyes went out the front window, only to be met by the rest of her team staring right at her. None of them were angry, thankfully, more so disappointed, upset, and even a little worried. Qrow and Vernal were a bit more skeptical… but then she caught the eye of Agent Six, who had just walked out with her grandfather and Holiday. The usually stoic man had his brow furrowed at her, making her shrink back.

'So THIS is how Rex feels…' Gwen swallowed hard and took a deep breath, opening the door to face the music. Team JNPR followed after, and she gave the team a meek wave. "M-Morning everyone."

There was a short silence, but that didn't last as Blake came up to express her concern. "Gwen… is everything alright?"

"We… heard about last night." Weiss muttered awkwardly. "And, well, it's just—"

"It isn't really like you to do what you did." Penny stated bluntly.

Sun winced at how direct the android was, but couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, I mean, you're usually the most rational one here, but… well, letting Charmcaster get away—"

"She's NOT an enemy." Gwen interrupted, taking everyone aback. "Charm… Hope is just misunderstood. Her people were all wiped out and only she and her uncle were the sole survivors. And since she was essentially raised by Hex, I can only imagine she was brought up in a very vengeful environment." She craned her head down and closed her eyes tight. "But… when she asked us to come to Ledgerdomain to help free it from Adwaitia, I could see something change inside of her. Something happened between myself and her that changed both of our outlooks on one another on that day. She's not the same person from before, I just know it!"

Neptune raised a skeptical brow at her. "Okay… so that automatically makes her breaking and entering museums to search for runes okay?"

"W-Well, no, but she has good reason to—"

"A reason that we can't be sure is real or not, Gwen." Ben stated firmly, an audible edge in his voice as he stepped toward his cousin. "Remember, this is Charmcaster we're talking about. A master manipulator, someone who'll lie as much as she needs to so she can get what she wants. Who knows WHAT these runes she's searching for can do! They could be the key to the world's fate like she implied, OR she just wants them all to herself so she can make HERSELF more powerful."

"But Hope isn't like that anymore—"

"Stop." Ben interrupted, leaving everyone stunned by how serious he was being. "Stop trying to separate Hope from Charmcaster. They're the same person, Gwen and you KNOW that. Just because you and she were buddy-buddy at one point doesn't make you the best of friends." Seeing the disheartened gaze of his cousin, Ben sighed and put a hand to his head. "Listen, I know that you WANT to be her friend. And I will admit, I do think there IS good in her. But until she proves that she does want to be on the good guy side of things, I can't trust her as much as you do right now."

Gwen pursed her lips in frustration, her hand reaching up to her arm for some form of comfort. Ben hadn't been this straightforward with her since Kevin's third mutation, where her boyfriend had gone on a rampage. In that time, Ben had resolved to put Kevin down if necessary. And while it sounded like he didn't plan on doing the same with Charmcaster, he was definitely in a similar mindset as he was back then. "…I understand, Ben." she nodded solemnly. "But I would hope that you'd at least be able to hear her out if she IS telling the truth."

Ben nodded back to her affirmably. "Of course, so long as she's willing to cooperate with us next time. …Which might take some convincing. So if you're intent on being her friend…"

"I'll try to appeal to her, yes." Gwen smiled, remembering the conversation she had with the sorceress last night. 'Which will probably be easier than you think.'

"Just be sure NOT to let her go until we're absolutely sure of her motives, okay?"

Gwen raised her right hand, vowing to do so. "Of course. I can promise that what happened last night won't be repeated."

Ben's smile returned and he went up to his cousin, giving her a hug. "Great. Glad to know we're on the same page. …Love you, cous."

"Same to you… doofus."

"Dweeb." Ben chuckled, with the rest of the team laughing lightly at the banter as well.

"Alright, now that we ARE all on the same page here… can we get into the base?" Yang asked as she pulled off her Hunter's jacket. "I'm sweating my ass off out here."

Just then, however, Six made his way up to the two Tennysons, his expression still as serious as when he came out. "Not so fast. This is all fine and good in terms of team dynamic, but I'm afraid I can't be as forgiving." He faced Gwen head-on, making her flinch under his unyielding gaze. "Gwen, you effectively jeopardized the mission last night, so I'm afraid that you will have to be reprimanded appropriately."

This didn't sit as well with the others, though. "Say WHAT?!" Yang exclaimed, getting between Six and Gwen. "But that's not fair! We just cleared all of this crap up! We told Gwen how we felt about all of this and she said that it won't happen again."

Ruby was quick to agree with her sister. "Yeah, I mean, it was one slip-up. And Gwen's someone who makes sure she doesn't repeat the same mistake."

"Is that so?" Six questioned, moving his sights to the two sisters. "Well then, would you think it fair if I punished everyone on that mission for what happened, then? After all, everyone there held responsibility for the collateral damage that occurred."

"But we didn't EXPECT the Creepers to just come in like that!" Nora contended. "We had to think on the spot, so SOME damages were unavoidable!"

"I will grant you that. But still, the fact remains that the mission we assigned you didn't go as planned for a multitude of reasons." Six scanned his eyes across those who went to the museum, making sure that they were all paying attention. "The Collective sending their monsters may have proved to be the wild card…" He stopped at Gwen once again. "But your primary objective was to capture Charmcaster for interrogation, which only one of you is responsible for jeopardizing. So, the entire squad can take the fall and endure the punishment… or just one of you. Take your pick."

Gwen was immediately about to offer herself up, but Ben put the kibosh on that before she could even think about it. "Six, I'm willing to take the hit here." The rest of the museum squad stepped forward as well. "We ALL are. Again, it's not fair if Gwen has to endure a punishment on her own."

"So if you're going to punish her, you punish the rest of us." Ilia affirmed. "Simple as that."

Six stared at the eight teens and even Vernal as they offered themselves up. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was hoping he'd get that answer. Not that he desired to punish them, but so he could be reassured that these kids weren't about to leave a single teammate in the dust. They were willing to take responsibility, and he was definitely thankful for that. He saw Max and Holiday smiling proudly at them out the corner of his eye, taking that as his cue to get back to business.

"We'll discuss the terms of your punishment later." Six said stoically. "Right now, we have a thief to find." At his word the teens made a break for the hardware store entrance, eager to get out of the heat. However, Six stopped Gwen to address her once more. "But Gwen, I must still ask that you sit out this mission. There's something I want to discuss with you that's very important in regards to what you did last night."

The Omni-Hunters were surprised… and a bit curious as to what Six might've wanted to talk about, but all the same, Gwen wasn't about to refuse. If she had to sit out a mission because of the mistake she made, then so be it. "Alright, I understand. I'm not afraid to be lectured, so I'll listen to whatever you have to say."

"Excellent." Six nodded. "Now come on, it's time to get things started."

"Thank god." Yang groaned as she rushed into the store. "We can finally get outta this DAMN HEAT!"

…..

A few minutes later, the team had gathered 'round inside the main hub of the Plumber's base, congregating in front of the main computer where Max stood in front of all of them. The old Plumber cleared his throat, ready to begin the debriefing. "Okay, now that we're all here, let's get started on what happened last night, shall we?"

Rook, who was also at the forefront of the group, pressed a button on the console and brought of an image of a large power plant, an image that had been taken the night before. "Late last night, during the museum incident, an unknown perpetrator had broken into the Bellwood power plant and stole an experimental fusion engine, one with enough power to run a Commander Class starship."

"No foolin'?!" Kevin shouted, surprised at the news.

"Okay, so how bad is that?" Blake asked.

"Very." Holiday asserted, bringing up an image of the fusion engine. "If that engine were to come into contact with anything that could possibly destabilize it, then the explosion it'd make would effectively level the entire city." The doctor's brow furrowed as she brought up the perp's only image. "And she is the one who stole it."

Yang soured at the image immediately. The fact that this girl actually took a selfie of herself over Ben's defeated form was not only disrespectful to him, but it was also downright insulting to her on a personal level. It was almost like an invitation, especially since she was sticking her tongue out. Like she was saying; "Hey girl, I just bashed your boytoy into this beam, whatcha gonna do about it?" Yang's fists balled up and her eyes flashed red briefly, already irritated.

'Oh, you're SO gonna get it you little hussy.' She took a breath to calm herself for the time being and set her sights over to Max. "So, what exactly are we dealing with here? What kind of alien IS she?"

The old Plumber entered a command on the console and brought up an image, one of a very similar creature. This being had more of a male build, however, and it had much bigger antler-brows as well. And in terms of its face… well, it was very different. It had a much stronger jaw line, and its nose was much bigger and had a ridge that curved outward rather than in. What's more, it had more hair, especially around the jawline.

"By all accounts, we believe we're dealing with a Kraaho." Max explained. "Which would line up well since we received word that a tribe of Kraaho recently moved into Undertown not too long ago." He brought up a map of the underground city, where a certain location started blinking red. "They've taken up residence in a place they call "The Hot Spot", which is said to be directly above a magma pocket."

The teens were understandably flabbergasted by that. "Wait, WHAT?!" Neptune exclaimed. "Why the hell would a race of aliens move in somewhere ON TOP of a pocket of magma?! That makes no sense!"

"Not if you're a warm-blooded creature." Holiday explained. "But going by their description, the Kraaho are extremely cold-blooded. So much so that, in the heatwave that's happening right now, they'd STILL be freezing cold."

Six picked it up from there. "Apparently, they need extreme-heated conditions in order to survive, so it would only make sense for them to steal something that can generate a significant amount of heat given the right machine."

Sun tilted his head and tapped his finger against his chin. "Hm… so I guess that means that they've already got the fusion engine AT the Hot Spot now, right? I mean, it's been at least ten hours since the heist, so the girl could've just gone straight there, no problem."

"Well… that is actually the more curious point I have yet to make." Rook interjected as he pressed yet another button on the console. Within moments, several blips showed themselves all over the map. "We have run some scans through Undertown via drones in an attempt to pinpoint where our perp has fled… and while there are many signatures that match the fusion engine, only one has stuck out from the rest." He reached up and pointed to a particular blip on the screen, one that was moving quickly and was on the opposite side of the map from the Hot Spot. "This one."

Pyrrha's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "But… that is nowhere near the Hot Spot at all."

"Which means she hasn't returned home, for some reason." Ren added.

"Why do you think that is?" Ruby wondered, though a small hope did start to rise up inside of her. "Maybe… she regrets stealing the engine?"

Penny analyzed the map and compared the locations, making her own deduction. "Perhaps… or she could be trying to throw us off her trail. Maybe she saw the Plumber drones and is trying to lose them."

Vernal could only give a shrug. "Well, either way, she's in our sights." She pulled off her Ver Laminae in preparation. "So I say we head out and put a stop to her before she finally decides to head back to her hole in the wall."

But Qrow had other plans in mind. "Woah, slow yourself down there, girlie. We need to come up with a plan of attack first." He set his sights out to the team, gesturing toward all of them. "After all, with this many kids, we'd stick out like a sore thumb down there if we ALL headed down to corner her."

"As much as I despise agreeing with him, Qrow is correct." Winter admitted, much to her chagrin. "It would be best if we all separate into two different groups. One will head down into Undertown to attempt and apprehend the perp, while the other will remain up here in case she somehow tries to escape up here once again."

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Ben agreed. "Alright, let's get these teams formed and split up. We've got a Kraaho girl to find."

Ruby pumped a fist excitedly. "Alright! Back to Undertown! This should be awesome!"

…..

"I REGRET EVERYTHING!"

Ruby's sentiments were echoed with a collective groan from the rest of her team, the four girls all practically drowning in perspiration. When they had agreed to join Ben, Rex, Rook and Penny for the Undertown squad, they didn't think that the underground city would actually be HOTTER than Bellwood above. It was all they could do to prevent dying from heatstroke as they persevered throughout the crowded market. "Thank god I didn't bring my jacket." Blake muttered. "This place is neat and all, but it's WAY hotter than above ground."

"Good for you, Blake." Yang rolled her eyes. "Because I think I need to change my hunting gear AGAIN." She stopped and gestured down to herself. "I made this in mind for FALL weather, remember?"

Weiss smiled as she sent a reassuring wave to her friend. "And you look fabulous, Yang. But you're right, you do need something different. Ooh, why don't we hit the mall tomorrow when it's cooler and we can pick out something nice for you, hm?" She pulled out her scroll, taking a peek at her own personal list. "Besides, there were some cute accessories I've been wanting to check out lately."

"Hey, if it gets me into shorter sleeves, I'll allow you to drag me around ANY store you want, Weiss-Cream." Yang concurred… only to suddenly start salivating at a certain thought. "Mmm… ice cream."

The rest of Team RWBY groaned as the thought occurred to them, too, and Ben couldn't help but laugh a little. "Haha! Okay, okay, after the mission, we'll all head out for ice cream, how does that sound?" The collective "YES!" he got for that was all the answer he needed. "Hah, alright, it's a plan then." His attention went to Rook, ready to ask him to join them later… only to notice something odd. "Uh, Rook, how're you not boiling with all that fur?"

Rex cocked his head to the side curiously, too. "Hey yeah, and I can't imagine that Proto Armor breathes too good."

"Well, you would be surprised, then." Rook answered, though he kept his eyes on his scanner as it beeped and showed several blips. He spared a glance at the two and grinned at them. "Proto-Tech Armor is actually insulated and helps to regulate body temperature. Even in the harshest of environments, my body stays at a comfortable temperature."

"Huh, I see." Ben nodded before looking at Penny, who also seemed fine. "What about you, Penny? Surprised you're not overheating."

"Hehe, well, my father DID think of everything in designing me, remember." Penny giggled as her eyes flashed blue. "I have an internal cooling system that allows me to regulate my own temperature as well. Add the fact that everything has been Glavanically upgraded since you rebuilt me, and I feel fine all around." Just then, however, Penny felt an odd chill go up her back, and she slowly craned her head around to see Team RWBY giving her quite the intimidating wide-eyed glare, as if they were annoyed with her. "Um… is something wrong, girls?"

"…No, we're just FINE Penny." Ruby insisted as her eye twitched. "Forget the fact that we're roasting alive and let's just keep searching for that engine thingy…" At that moment, though, Rook's scanner started beeping faster and everyone stopped in their tracks, their heads whipping around to find what it had detected.

Eventually, Weiss caught sight of something and pointed to their right. "Hey, over there! Is that it?" She led them over to a merchant's stand and, right on the counter, was a huge engine-shaped gizmo that had several pipes, knobs and levers on it. And while the scanner WAS beeping at it, it ultimately didn't match.

"I am afraid not, Weiss." Rook shook his head. "This is just an old thermos-electric generator. Space junk."

"'Ey! Not junk!" The group gasped and jumped back at the arrival of the stand's vendor, a rather large, red alien with tentacles, four big eyes, huge tusks and wearing a black hood. "This beauty 'ere is a bargain! Twelve taydens, whaddya say?"

"O-Oh, that's fine, thank you." Blake bowed her head. "We're actually looking for something a bit less… rusty."

The teens stepped away from the stand and went off into a different part of the market place. But at that point, Ben and Rex needed SOME sort of reprieve. "Dude, I think we should've followed Blake's lead." Rex asserted as he took off his jacket and wrapped the sleeves around his waist. "Better to leave the jackets at home."

Ben mimicked Rex's actions as both boys purchased a bottle of water from another stand. "I know, right?" The duo took a swig from the bottles… and then immediately dumped the rest onto their heads. However, it was so hot that the liquid immediately started to steam off their bodies. "For god's sake, are you serious?! How does water evaporate THIS fast?!"

But what the boys DIDN'T realize… was that they were inadvertently giving a certain couple of girls a show. Yang and Weiss felt their jaws drop the second they saw their boyfriends dump the water on themselves, and the fact that it had turned into steam so fast just made it all the worse for them. "…God, I want to jump him RIGHT now." Yang whispered, zeroes directly in on Ben.

"Same." Weiss remarked about Rex. "Same all the way, girlfriend."

Blake rolled her eyes while Ruby and Penny snickered off to the side. "Alright, ladies, let's curb your lust for a bit until we actually find the fusion engine, huh?"

"Ah, you're just jealous because Sun's not here to do the same thing." Weiss teased, making Yang laugh as Blake's face contorted in shock.

"I… I-I don't—MRPH!" The cat girl huffed frustratedly as her cheeks flushed red, spinning away to hide her embarrassment. "Would you girls just stick with the program?"

"I do not understand…" Rook scratched his head before inputting some commands into his Proto-Tool. "We should have found the engine by now. Perhaps if I recalibrate the scanner we can—"

"Uh, Rook?" Ruby interrupted, tapping on his shoulder before pointing upward. "I wouldn't bother." The rest of the team craned their heads up and immediately saw the young Kraaho girl go rushing by up on the pipework that went over the entire town. The group were surprised by the sudden appearance, but Ruby wasn't about to let that deter her. "C'mon! We gotta get after here!" Using her Semblance, Ruby rushed up to the pipes, giving chase.

Yang cocked her weapons and blasted off after her sister soon after. "You heard her! Let's get after that thief!" After that, Blake took out Gambol Shroud and tossed the weapon up to the pipes, using its ribbon to swing up after her partner. Weiss, meanwhile, created an ice path with a single wave of Myrtenaster, rushing up as Rex boosted himself up with his Boogie Pack. Penny did the same as well, while Rook used his Proto-Tool to grapple himself up.

Finally, Ben… actually decided to hoof it instead, parkouring up to the pipes by leaping up on top of the various stands. 'Gotta be more conservative about the energy the Omnitrix uses. I'm cutting it too close lately.' With that, all eight of them were in pursuit of the parka-wearing alien, and before long, they managed to corner her at a dead end where construction of the pipe was still ongoing. "Hold it right there, lady." Ben called out, making her spin back toward them. "We've got a bone to pick with you."

The team aimed their weapons at the girl right as Rex gave a warning, bringing his Smack Hands at the ready. "Alright, nowhere to go, so it's probably best you give up."

"Ah, so it's you again!" The Kraaho girl smiled at Ben, seemingly ignoring Rex all together. "And you've brought playmates… interesting." She bit her lip as her eyes trailed up and down his form. "And you're human. My preferred Ben Tennyson, if you care to know—" BANG! "AH! Hey!"

The girl whipped her head up and glared at Yang… only to falter the second she saw her bright red eyes. "That was your only warning shot, girl. Stop flirting with my boyfriend!"

"…Oh right, Ben Tennyson's taken." The Kraaho frowned, giving a disappointed sigh. "Well, guess I can't exactly say I'm surprised. The boy's quite the catch."

"Indeed, and so are you." Rook added. "In that WE caught YOU. Hand over the fusion engine, if you would please."

"Getting better with the quips!" Rex said with a thumbs up. "Nice!"

However, the girl was resolute in her stance. "What if I told you I couldn't?"

"Oh, don't worry, we've got a plan for that, too." Yang assured, setting her eyes over to her sister and her robotic best friend. "Ruby! Penny! Do your thing!"

Suddenly, the two girls put their weapons away and jumped between Ben and the Kraaho, the duo facing away from her initially. But, after gathering themselves, they turned toward her… and she was greeted by the most heart-wrenching sight she had ever seen. Ruby and Penny's eyes were now glistening brightly, almost as if they were about to tear up. Their lips were pouting sadly, their lower lips quivering for good measure as their hands were laced together pleadingly.

"Please, Miss Kraaho Lady, don't do this!" Ruby begged. "We don't have to fight, you know. We can all be friends here!"

"If you return the fusion engine, we can put in a good word for you with the Plumbers, and maybe you won't HAVE to go to jail!" Penny furthered. "Please?"

The girl was at a loss for words. Never in her lifetime would she have ever thought two people could be THIS adorable. She was certain she'd probably die from a heart attack with this much saccharine, but she was stronger than that. She had to be given what was at stake. "MMM! Gah, I'm sorry, but I can't!" She bowed her head apologetically. "There's just too much riding on me getting this to my people. Trust me, if you knew what I was stealing this for, you'd understand."

All at once, Ruby and Penny's quickly went from sad to dissapointed in one fell swoop. "Oh, dang it! That usually works!" The Hooded Huntress' gaze was sympathetic as she looked the Kraaho again, though. "And we were serious about helping you avoid jailtime and being friends, too!"

Penny activated her Block Busters, the mechanized boots appearing first. "Well, if you truly wish to do this the hard way…" In a split second, the massive spikes of the Block Busters pushed themselves out of the bottoms, making the Kraaho's eyes widen in terror. "Then I suppose we have no choice."

"Guess so, later!" The girl fell backward off the pipe and onto another one below, quickly rushing off to get away.

"After her, quickly!" Weiss created a time dilation glyph, and within a single moment, she was off like a rocket down the pipes as well. Blake, Penny, Ruby, Rex and Ben followed her example as well, while Yang held Rook back for a second.

"Rook, up there!" The Blonde Brawler pointed out a large pipe that was situated just above the one that the Kraaho girl was running on, an idea sparking in her head. "Let's try and throw her off her game, huh?"

"Agreed." Rook nodded as he took up his Proto-Tool, shifting it into blaster mode. "Ready?"

Yang took aim with Ember Celica and punched forward. "Now!" BAM! PEW! The duo fired their shots at the pipe and brought it down, making water gush out of it and blocking off the Kraaho's means of escape. She gasped and slid to a halt, but then swiftly dropped down to another pipe that was just below her. "Agh! Dammit!"

The rest of the team did a sharp turn to follow the girl, but Ben came to a stop at the now destroyed pipe, getting an idea of his own. He activated the Omnitrix and transformed into… "EATLE!" With that, the big robotic-insectoid was munching down on the broken metal that had collapsed on top of each other, collecting energy in his horn.

Rex also saw this and went down as well, activating his Slam Cannon. "Hey, not a bad idea!"

Meanwhile, though, the Kraaho girl was fairly certain she'd be in the clear if she stayed on this path… but she immediately found that not to be the case. A scream escaped her as she suddenly found Blake standing in front of her, almost as if she had appeared from out of nowhere. The girl extended her arm and threw a punch… only for her fist to pass clean through Blake and make her disperse in a black cloud. "W-Wait, wha—AH!"

"Hmhm, like that trick?" Blake asked after delivering a roundhouse kick to the Kraaho's back, making her stumble and drop the canister containing the fusion engine. The two girls whipped their heads down to see the cannister's strap catch onto a smaller pipe, and their eyes narrowed at one another. Both were determined to get to the canister, but they knew a fight was inevitable. Still, that didn't stop Blake from at least trying the peaceful route. "Last chance, er… what's your name by the way?"

"Ester."

"Hm, nice name." Blake smiled before getting serious again. "But really, this IS your last chance. Just let us take the canister and we'll make sure your punishment isn't too harsh."

But Ester just shook her head. "Sorry, but I can't take that chance. Too much is riding on this, so… hyah!" She stretched her arm and punched at Blake, the cat girl just barely dodging the hit before flipping through the air and landing closer to Ester. The Kraaho girl was slightly caught off guard, but threw another punch, which Blake blocked.

Blake delivered another roundhouse, but Ester ducked out of the way, bringing up her own leg to kick her. But, using her Semblance once more, Blake disappeared and left a shadow clone in her place, which dissipated the second Ester's leg hit it. Blake reappeared soon after behind Ester… but the girl quickly whipped around and stretched her arm out, slamming Blake into the side of another pipe. "AGH!"

Ester reached down and went for the canister, but Blake shot up and reached for it the second it was brought in. "Ah! H-Hey, let go!"

"Not happening!" Blake insisted. "Guys!"

From out of nowhere, Rook, Yang and the others aside from Eatle all came in, surrounding the two and aiming at Ester as they struggled for the cannister. Ester's eyes widened as she saw Rex's Slam Cannon aimed at her, already locked and loaded. "Do not attempt to move, or we'll be shooting ourselves!" the EVO advised. "Now let go of the bag and put your hands up."

Ester gasped as Blake brought out Gambol Shroud, putting it into katana form and lowering right at the tip of Ester's nose. "I suggest you do as he says. Otherwise, this could get ugly."

"I… see your point." Ester resigned with a sigh, loosening her grip on the canister. …For a split second before she stretched her leg at curve, bringing her boot up in a sort-of uppercut to Blake's chin, knocking her back. "But I like a good challenge!" Almost immediately, everyone began firing Dust rounds and blasts of energy at Ester, who actually sprang up into the air to avoid them all with ease. She chuckled at how well her plan worked, but the moment she looked up, her demeanor changed drastically. "Oh, crap!"

"Yep! Special delivery!" Eatle announced as he came falling down at her, having jumped from a higher pipe. His horn glowed bright green and a powerful laser burst out from its slit, hitting Ester straight on and sending her straight back down into the pipe. The impact and force from the blast actually made the pipe and those surrounding it burst all at once a split second later, however, making everyone fall down to the ground below.

"AGH! Ben, seriously?!" Weiss shouted after she and Rex emerged from the rubble. "What the heck was THAT?!"

Penny threw off the rubble over her by activating her Mechano-Crushers, revealing that she had protected Ruby and Blake on the way down. "Indeed, I would say that wasn't the wisest plan."

As the smoke cleared, Eatle himself came into view, now carrying Yang and Rook on his shoulders. "Well, maybe not…" He craned his head down to Ester, who was now firmly underneath his foot. "But you can't deny that it got results, right?"

Yang smirked and jumped off of her boyfriend, reaching down and procuring the cannister. "Hehe, nope! Can't deny it one bit." She raised an eyebrow up to her boyfriend knowingly. "But, uh… a little warning next time would be appreciated."

Eatle scratched his head sheepishly. "Ah, right. Heh, sorry 'bout that, Goldie Locks." Everyone gathered around their leader as they focused onto Ester, the young Kraaho desperately trying to get out from under Eatle's foot. "Now, time to bring you in for questioning."

"GET OFF HER!" Before anyone could do anything, though, a new voice belted through the air, catching their attention. The heroes snapped their attention off down the street and saw a large group of parka-wearing aliens approaching them from a nearby tunnel, and just by their horn-like eyebrows, they knew it had to be more Kraaho. All of them seemed to be male, given their buff builds and strong chins. The one in the middle appeared to be the strongest out of all of them, his hair coming down in a widow's peak as he glared at the heroes.

"Uh oh, we've got trouble." Ruby said as everyone brandished their weapons again, preparing for anything."

"Give us the fusion engine." The lead Kraaho demanded, speaking in an accent that none of them could place. Oddly enough, they could actually see his breath as well.

Eatle wasn't about to be so easily intimidated, though. "And who exactly are you?"

"I am Sebik!" the Kraaho answered firmly. "Leader of this Kraaho tribe."

From his vantage point, Eatle noticed that Ester seemed annoyed by that comment. But he didn't have long to ponder that as another Kraaho, one that was significantly plumper than the others, came up to Sebik with a request; "C-Cant we do this quickly, Sebik? I-I can s-see my breath!"

The Omni-Hunters were incredulous at that statement. "Geez, just how cold-blooded ARE you guys?" Rex asked.

"Very." Sebik replied. "Which is why we require that fusion engine. Now!"

Penny brandished her Mechano-Crushers, bashing the fists together. "Well, our apologies, but that device is far too dangerous to leave in your hands. you aren't getting it."

"Not without a fight." Eatle said with narrowed eyes… only for the Omnitrix to flash once again, reverting him back into human form. "…NOW?!" Ben yelled at his watch. "Are you SERIOUS?!" But just then, he saw Ester out the corner of his eye, smirking up at him. "Crap! No you don't—" CRACK! "ACK!"

The hero had meant to tackle her, but Ester just stretched her leg up and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to stumble back and off of her. Swiftly, she stretched her arm out and punched Yang right in the arm, forcing her to let go of the cannister. "Augh! Why you little—get her!"

Everyone started scrambling to catch Ester again, but she simply stretched her way out, slinking away with the cannister back in her hands. But only for a little while as she tossed it over to Sebik, who caught it by stretching his own arm. "Oh for—are you KIDDING me?!" Ruby exclaimed. "Is EVERYONE here made of rubber?!"

"Hm, only the winners." Ester chuckled as her limbs went back to their normal length, standing between the Omni-Hunters and her tribe.

"You are all tungsten-based lifeforms, if I am to hazard a guess." Rook deduced.

"Yep, right on the money." Ester confirmed with a wink. "We should do this again sometime. Really, it was a blast."

Back over with the Kraaho, the fat one was desperately pleading with Sebik now that they had the engine. "C-Can we please get going now, Sebik?! Two more minutes, and I'll be an ice sculpture!"

"Bah, alright, Lakno." Sebik grumbled, handing him the canister. "If you are freezing that much, then take this and head back. There is still business here we must attend to."

Lakno graciously accepted the task and quickly made off with the canister, but Ruby wasn't about to let that happen so easily. "Hey! Get back here, big guy!" She rushed off with her Semblance once again, making straight for Lakno… only for Ester to stretch herself in front of her. The young Kraaho's body expanded while her arms and legs wrapped around nearby light poles, acting as a slingshot that shot Ruby back toward her team. "AAAH!"

"Ruby!" Weiss waved Myrtenaster and created a glyph to catch her partner, who landed on the ground on her hands and knees. The former heiress rushed up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?"

"Fine… I think." Ruby muttered. "That felt SUPER weird."

Ester let out a little chuckle as her body went back to normal. "Sorry, but we can't have you going off all willy-nilly, you know?"

"Ester! Stop fraternizing with those Cold Cuts!" Sebik ordered. "We are leaving!"

Weiss' brow furrowed at the tribe as Ester ran toward them. "Cold Cuts? Is that seriously an insult? Because I've heard far worse."

"Well, let's not stoop to their level, then." Ben said as Yang helped him up. "Let's just focus on getting that engine back. Things are bad, but maybe we can still negotiate some kind of deal here."

Just as Ester rejoined her tribe, though, Sebik glowered at the team before pointing his men in their direction. "But first… FINISH them off!"

The Omni-Hunters all did a double take at that, some even giving Ben a wary eye. "…Okay, maybe peace is out of the question, then."

For her part, Ester was just as flabbergasted by Sebik's decision. "WHAT?! Sebik, no! Those are the good guys!" She thrust her arm at Ben in particular. "They're Plumbers led by Ben Tennyson! They're just doing their jobs, you can't execute them!" Her eyes narrowed at her superior. "This isn't the Kraaho way!"

"The Kraaho way is what I say it is!" Sebik sneered, not even sparing a glance down at her as he and the tribe started closing in on the heroes. "So get BACK to the Hot Spot, NOW!" He didn't see it, but Ester clenched her teeth in ire at him as he and his tribesmen drew closer to the team, before collectively stomping their feet in a form of intimidation. Then, they all stretched their arms out and linked their hands with one another, forming a chain that kept the heroes fenced in.

"They seem to want to "off" us with some sort of ritualized… "offing"." Rook noted.

"Yeah, seems that way." Ben agreed before hearing the Omnitrix beep, the device ready to be used again. "Thankfully, I've got a plan." The hero activated his watch and found the alien he wanted rather quickly, transforming into the massive planetoid being that was… "GRAVATTACK!" The Gallilean raised his hands up and they started glowing with gravitational energy, which began affecting all of the Kraaho at once and lifted them up weightlessly into the air. "First, I make you weightless, and then… WHAM!" With a flick of his wrist, Gravattack sent the tribesmen flying backward into the far wall next to the tunnel they came from, leaving a big indent in it. "Had enough?!"

Sebik stood up, growling in frustration. "Hardly… weapons UP!" At his word, the Kraaho men pulled out some strange weaponry from their hips; bulbous guns that had blades attached to their sides. "FIRE!"

The moment they let loose, Gravattack raised his foot up. "Hold on guys, things're about to get weightless!" The team braced themselves as Gravattack stomped the earth beneath them, sending up various pieces of it into the air to act as a form of shielding from the lasers. "Alright, we don't have much time! Aim for their weapons and take 'em out!"

"RIGHT!" The team collectively acknowledged before jumping up, taking advantage of the low gravity. Ruby, Yang and Blake all fired their respective weapons down at the Kraaho, blasting their space guns out of their hands one by one. Penny did the same as well, shifting to her Floating Array arm blasters and making the weapons blow up with every shot that hit.

Weiss, however, had a different method of attack. She created a gravity glyph in midair and stuck to it, the black platform helping her stand firmly in the low gravity. "They want to feel the heat?!" She spun Myrtenaster's barrel until it landed on the Fire Dust setting, and with a wave of her weapon, created several burning red glyphs in the air. "Then I'll give it to them!"

The glyphs all blasted out burning beams of energy that struck both the Kraahos' weapons and the ground in front of them, causing many to be sent flying from the force of the blast. With several of his men lying in a heap, Sebik grit his teeth and barked at them to keep fighting. "Get up, all of you! We cannot allow these cold-lovers to beat—AAH!"

"Sebik, what's happen—AH!" All of the Kraaho men were suddenly all yelling out in pain as, they were drenched in a wave of water from a pipe just above them. The team were taken off guard as steam began to evaporate from their bodies, all while they writhed in discomfort.

But what took everyone off guard all the more… was who had opened the pipe. Ester glared down to her tribemates and shouted; "I thought Sebik was diluted, but all of you are even more blind if you're following his orders!" Using herself like a spring, Ester leaped over and crossed the boundary that Gravattack had made, the gravity having returned to normal. Before anyone on the team could ask, she ushered for them to follow her. "Come on, that water won't hold them back for long!"

"Wait, now you're helping us?!" Yang exclaimed, utterly baffled at what was happening. "Just what the hell is going on here?!"

"Quickest face turn in history, I know." Ester affirmed, offering a small smile. "But I'm not in the market for killing people who have good intentions." She craned her head up to Gravattack, her gaze serious. "I know a place where the Kraaho won't follow. We can head there for now and you guys can make a plan from there."

The group were wary of the young Kraaho, to be sure, with Rook, Rex and Gravattack all sharing a look. "So, what do we do, amigo?" Rex asked the Gallilean. "She did give us some cover there."

"But we probably should not fully trust her." Rook advised. "…Though, this DOES present a tactical opportunity."

"Right, so we take it." Gravattack affirmed before pointing his big, rocky finger at Ester. "Fine, we'll follow. But no funny business. Understand?"

Ester nodded to him. "Of course. Follow me, I know a short cut."

The alien reached up and slapped the Omnitrix, transforming back into his human form. "Okay team. We follow Ester… for now. Tactical retreat!" Team RWBY and Penny were hesitant to be sure, but they recognized it was probably the best shot they had at getting away. Using the steam as a cover, they rushed away while the Kraaho shouted at them in ire.

By the time the steam cleared and Sebik stepped out of it, the teens were gone, leaving him to grumble to himself. 'Ester… your Cold Cut half makes you WEAK.'

…..

Minutes later, the team found themselves inside of a sewer line, which was actually thankfully quite a bit cooler than Undertown. Granted, the smell wasn't the best, but getting out of the heat for just a little bit was better than nothing. The group stopped to take a breather, with Ester breathlessly laughing as she set her eyes on them. "Hah… hah… you know, you guys are quite the group to be around."

"So we've been told." Rex recognized.

"Okay… so what do we do now?" Penny asked. "Do we call Team JNPR and the others?"

"That'll be part of the plan, yes." Ben confirmed. "The other part is getting into that Hot Spot place and getting the fusion engine back."

Rook folded his arms in contemplation. "And taking all factors into consideration, that part will be significantly more difficult, I imagine."

Weiss let out an exasperated sigh. "Yeah, always is."

"I doubt we can just walk in there without a problem." Penny pointed out. "They'll have guards on duty after what just went down, more than likely."

Blake nudged her chin over to Ester, making everyone shift their focus over to her. "Hey, Ester, there any other entrances to the Hot Spot that we should know about?"

Ester tapped her chin and hummed while shrugging her shoulders. "Hm, a few. Most of them are direct entrances, though, so they'll likely have plenty of guards set up all around. There IS a smaller, less used entrance… but I doubt any of you would fit." She extended her midsection to emphasize. "Ya kinda gotta stretch your way through it."

"…So me." Ben said with a smirk, showing off the Omnitrix. "I can probably fit through there."

"Which just leaves the rest of us." Ruby rolled her eyes. "And unless anyone's suddenly got the power to rubberize themselves, we'll probably HAVE to take the direct approach."

Ester raised a single finger at her. "Or, and this is just my thought, you guys can pack it in early and go home?" She wore a cheery smile and batted her eyelashes, hopeful that the heroes would follow her advice. Unfortunately for her, they didn't seem all that eager to do so. Their collective scowls said it all. "Ugh, okay, probably a bit too hopeful there, but listen, my people have what they wanted. And they NEED that fusion engine to survive down here, otherwise they'll freeze."

Ben sighed and shook his head. "Listen, Ester, I get it. They're your tribe and you don't want to see anything bad happen to them." He approached her as he placed a hand to his chest. "But you said it yourself, I'm the hero here. A duly deputized member of the Plumbers. It IS my job to bring bad guys down. Doesn't matter if they're made of tungsten or tuna fish, we gotta get that fusion engine back."

"Pfft! Okay, I know you were pretty serious saying that, but nice one, Green Boy." Yang snickered.

"Thanks, Goldie Locks." Ben smiled back.

Ester had to resist the urge to gag before making her argument again. "Listen, after this, I swear, they won't be anymore trouble. But if you make it a point to bother them again about this, I can't guarantee I'll be able to stop Sebik." She furrowed her brow at the Omnitrix bearer. "Trust me, Ben, you don't want to start this much trouble."

Ben was about to respond, but Yang beat him to the punch. "Listen… Ester, was it? In case you haven't noticed everything about this is trouble." The Blonde Brawler got right in Ester's face, the two locking eyes with resolve. "Including you, if I'm being honest. You might've saved us, but that doesn't automatically mean we fully trust you. That is a two-way street." She thrust her arm out to the rest of her team. "You want us to trust you? Then tell us anything useful we can use against the Kraaho, and then maybe we'll be on better terms here."

Ester pursed her lips, her irritation growing by the second. First, this blonde somehow steals her crush away from her, and now she's forcing her to make one tough decision. This was just not her day. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to relax herself and take hold of the situation. "You want information? Okay, fine. But first, let's get topside. The Kraaho won't follow us there."

"Alright, lead the way." Yang obliged, allowing Ester to lead them to the nearest manhole cover.

As they walked along, though, Ruby whispered to Ben; "You can see the obvious tension here, right?"

"Kinda caught on the moment I met Ester, Rubes." Ben replied.

"So, you think we can trust her?"

"For now, we will, but Yang's right. She wants to have our trust? She's gonna have to earn that."

…..

Meanwhile, up in Bellwood, Team JNPR, Team SN, Ilia and Vernal were all hanging out in the more suburban part of town, simultaneously out on patrol AND on the mission all at once. They had been assigned to the topside team, and were told to stay on standby should the others need them to come down and help. So far, no one had called in, so they decided to head out on a small patrol. They were going on foot, however, since Kevin had elected to stay back at base for moral support for Gwen, just in case she needed it. "Trust me, Six can make anyone cry if he wants to." Rex had noted.

"Ugh, I'm kinda jealous of Ruby and the others, not gonna lie." Nora groaned as she sat down at the base of a tree, stretching her legs out to relieve the stress. "It's gotta at least be a BIT cooler down in Undertown, right?"

"Considering it's underground, that's a fair assumption to make." Ren agreed. "But who knows? It could be hotter, too."

Jaune leaned up against the trunk with Pyrrha by his side. "Well, no matter if it's cold or hot, we can't lose sight of the mission we're on." He scanned his sights across his team, making sure they were all at the ready. "If Ben or any of the others calls in, we're down there in minutes."

"Hm, I do hope that the situation doesn't get too out of hand, though." Pyrrha said, voicing her concerns. "After all, we're talking about a device that could easily grow unstable without us knowing. Bellwood could very well be the epicenter of an unexpected meltdown, so… what then?"

Sun put his hands behind his head with a shrug. "Honestly, not the foggiest. Hopefully we can just stop whatever it is that girl and her tribe want to do before then."

"Yeah, and besides, if Ben and the others were in trouble, they'd have called us by now." Neptune pointed out. "So, I think it's safe to say that things are going well so far… at least, hopefully they are."

Ilia shrugged at that. "You know, Neptune, I honestly can't argue with that logic. No news is good news, as the old saying goes." She came to a halt and then went over to a nearby tree, taking shelter underneath its branches. "Right now, I'm honestly more worried about dying from all this heat than a total meltdown, so let's try to keep calm heads and take things as they come for now."

"Right there with ya." Vernal agreed as she joined Ilia, the duo sitting down against the trunk of the tree, with Sun and Neptune joining them as well. "Let's not sweat the small stuff and try to keep it that way, huh?"

Team JNPR were a bit more hesitant, their leader giving the four a skeptical eye. "You guys are WAY too chill."

"Nah, if they were chill, they wouldn't be sweating." Nora joked, laughing as the rest of her team deadpanned at her. However, as she was laughing, more laughter suddenly reached her ears, making her perk up in intrigue. "Wait, you hear that?"

Ren and the others definitely heard it as well, scanning the area to try and find the source. "I do. It sounds like… kids laughing?"

Pyrrha nodded, coming to the same conclusion. "Yes, well, it IS summer vacation after all. I'd assume that it's just a group of friends out trying to enjoy themselv—" FWOOOSH! "AAAAAH!" Team JNPR collectively shouted in surprise as a gust of wind blew past them, which while admittedly felt refreshing, it also made them spin in place, taking them off guard. Pyrrha stopped first and tried to steady herself, her hand going to her weapon. "Woah, what in the world?!"

Jaune planted his feet firmly and took up his sword, while Ilia, Vernal, and Team SN stood at the ready as well. "Be on guard! We could be dealing with… huh?" But just as his vision stopped spinning, he and the others were met with a strange sight. There were several blue and black blurs rushing through the street they were on, and the laughing had gotten even louder as well. The group darted their eyes around to try and see what these blurs were… but then they heard an audible gasp before one of them came to a stop in front of them.

Needless to say, most of the group were quite surprised. It was a young Kineceleran, or as they knew it better; an "XLR8". However, the shape of its helmet was much different than Ben's transformation, resembling a bob cut somewhat. The young alien was female and she wore a pink and white sweater with a white neckerchief, along with a matching pink skirt. She also held a large, metal stick in her hand, one that had some sort of metal coil at the end of it. The girl beamed happily up to a certain redhead and green ninja as she waved at them. "Nora! Ren! I thought that was you!"

The duo were left completely surprised, but Nora quickly smiled back at the young girl and went up to her. "ML-E! Oh my gosh, it's you!"

Ren smiled as well and bowed his head to her. "How've you been, ML-E? It's been a while."

"I've been doing great!" ML-E rolled up and met with Nora, who had crouched down to her level. She pointed over to the other blue blurs on the street. "I'm just out here with my friends playing some Magna Street Hockey. Wanna play?"

Nora was about to give an immediate "Yes!", but was stopped when Pyrrha cleared her throat. "Ahem, Nora? Who is this small, incredibly cute, alien child?"

"More importantly, how do you know her?" Sun questioned as well.

"Oh! Pfft, that's right, I forgot!" Nora smacked her forehead as she stood back up, facing her friends as she extended a hand to ML-E. "I can't believe I didn't mention her to you guys. Everyone, this is ML-E, a Kineceleran that Renny and I met in Undertown last week." She craned her head back over to the younger girl as she introduced her friends back. "And ML-E, these are my and Ren's friends and teammates; Jaune, Pyrrha, Sun, Neptune, Ilia and Vernal!"

ML-E happily waved up to all of them. "Hiya! It's nice to meet all of you!"

Ilia couldn't stop herself from bending down to meet the alien girl's gaze, bowing her head to her. "And it's so nice to meet you! I was actually with Nora and Ren in Undertown that day, but I didn't get the chance to see you then." She glanced up to the road, seeing the other Kinecelerans still running. "But I have to say, you guys are pretty brave to play out here today. Aren't you hot?"

"A little, but compared to Undertown, this is only mildly balmy."

Nora lowered her head, disappointed to hear that. "Well, there goes my "underground is cooler" theory…"

"So, I'm… guessing your friends REALLY like to run, eh?" Neptune questioned.

"Oh! Ha, sorry about that." ML-E apologized. "Hang on, just a sec." She zoomed out to the middle of the street and raised her arms as she called to the others; "Hey guys! Put on the breaks! I want ya to meet some friends of mine!"

Right as she said that, all of the Kinecelerans came to an abrupt stop in front of the team, revealing themselves. The tallest of the group was actually another girl, whose helmet most resembled XLR8's. But in terms of her clothing… she definitely seemed to like showing what she had. All she wore was a cyan tube tope with matching short-shorts, which were thankfully brighter than her own skin tone. She also had a naval piercing, which took the teens off guard. 'Kinecelerans have belly buttons?' they all thought.

The rest of the group consisted of boys, the tallest of which wore no shirt at all, but wore a pair of orange trunks with a matching cap, and he had a prominent chin. There was also a shorter one who wore, much to everyone's bafflement, a knitted pink wool cap, a black and red striped sweater, and a pair of yellow shorts. It was any wonder how he wasn't boiling. The last two were about average height, with one sporting a purple and black striped shirt under a white jersey, along with black shorts. The other one had a green shirt and matching pointed cap, along with a pair of goggles on his head and brown cargo shorts.

"Guys, meet my squad!" ML-E pointed to all of them one by one, introducing them all. "This is K8-E, N-8, DJ, N-D, and E-N."

The team all looked to "Katie", "Nate", DJ, "Ned", and "Ian", who all waved at them. "Hey there, topsiders!" K8-E greeted first, zooming up to them as she held an extra one of those fancy metal sticks up to them. "You guys up for some Magna Street Hockey? We've got some extra Magna Sticks!"

Jaune smiled to her, but held his hand up in refusal. "Thanks, but no thanks. We're actually kind of on an important mission here, so—" Klang! "Huh?" The blonde's head whirled around at the sound of a manhole cover being jostled around in the middle of the street, which caught everybody's attention. They saw several heavy screws undoing themselves from the cover before a familiar scythe bashed the metal disk off entirely, leaving it to roll away. "Uh… hold that thought for a sec."

The Kinecelerans stayed put as the team moved closer, only to see Ruby hoist herself up and out of the hole. "And THAT, my friends, is how you remove a manhole from underneath! You have NO idea how long it took me to—oh! Hi Jaune!"

"Wait, Jaune is up there?!" Weiss exclaimed from down below.

"Huh, what're the odds." They heard Yang comment as well.

"…Ruby, what the heck are you guys all doing down there?" Jaune asked with a raised brow.

The Hooded Huntress pulled herself out, followed by Yang, Weiss, Blake and Penny, with Ben, Rook and Rex taking up the rear. "Ah, nothin' much. It's been pretty hectic down there, though. You should've seen the crazy chase we got into with Ester. We followed her everywhere down there, hehe."

The others all glanced toward one another in confusion. "And WHO is Ester, exactly?" Vernal asked.

"That'd be me, actually!" Everyone's sights went back to the manhole… and were left stunned by the sight of their perp crawling out, offering them a friendly grin. "Hey! So you guys must be the rest of the Omni-Hunters, eh? Nice to—" SHING! Chk-CHK! Ester was cut off by the sound of weapons being unsheathed and cocked, all of them taking aim at her. "…Meet you?"

"Woah, woah, guys, hold on!" Ruby and Penny rushed in front of Ester, crossing their arms into X shapes to try and stop anything before it could start. "It's okay, we've got a truce going on!"

"Oh no, not you too, Ruby." Ilia denied, pointing her Lightning Lash directly at Ester's nose. "Gwen might've let Charmcaster get away, but like hell we're gonna let THIS girl do the same. Now put your hands in the air and—"

But Ben stepped up, putting his hand gently onto the Lightning Lash to slowly lower it down. "At ease, Ilia. And that goes for the rest of you." The hero nodded over to Jaune, letting him know it was alright. "Ester actually helped us get away from her tribe when they attacked all of us. For now, we've formed a truce."

Jaune raised a skeptical brow. "Okay, then what about the engine?"

Yang pursed her lips in frustration. "Unfortunately, the tribe got away with it…" She glanced over to Ester as she climbed her way out of the hole. "BUT, if Miss Stretchy's good on her word, she's agreed to help us get it back. Right?"

"Oh why yes, of course." Ester said as her voice dripped with sarcasm, narrowing her eyes right back at Yang. "I wouldn't dream of denying the Blonde Bombshell her request." The two ladies growled as they glared at one another, almost as if they were trying to pierce their way into one another's soul.

As the others watched the scene, feeling all too awkward, Pyrrha leaned over to Ben and asked; "Alright, what's the deal with those two?"

Ben pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. "Well, I get the feeling that Yang thinks Ester might've been a bit too flirty with me. And, well, you know Yang."

"Ah, right, that makes sense."

Just then, however, ML-E piped up from across the way. "ESTER!" The Kraaho teen was brought out of her glaring contest and set her attention over to the Kinecelerans, who were cheering at her arrival. "Haha, alright! NOW it's a party! C'mon over and play with us!" She noticed the other new arrivals as well and offered them to join in as well. "You guys, too! We've got plenty of extra Magna Sticks!"

"Wait, so you know them, too?" Neptune asked.

"Sure do!" Ester affirmed. "They're some good friends of mine." She set her sights onto Ruby, Penny and Nora, ushering them to join her. "Hey, you gals look like you love to have fun. So, before we get started on this whole operation you've got going, how 'bout a round of Magna Street Hockey, huh?"

The three eyed one another momentarily… but were all for it the very next second. "Hey, yeah! Sounds like fun!" Nora affirmed, putting her hammer away as Ruby and Penny followed her. "Hand me one of those stick-thingies!"

At this point, the rest of the Omni-Hunters were left utterly baffled. "H-Hold on a second!" Rex reached out to them, hoping to change their minds quickly. "Have you guys just forgotten why the heck we're even here?! There's a dangerous fusion device underground that we NEED to get! We don't have time to—"

"Rex, don't worry about it!" Ruby raised her hand, giving him a reassuring grin. "Think of this as a little trust exercise. Like Ester said, we'll get to forming that plan soon, but for now, a little partying on a hot day won't hurt, will it?" She and the girls went over to the Kinecelerans after that, leaving the team somewhat irritated.

"…Are you as frustrated as I am?" Rook asked the Omnitrix bearer.

Ben huffed and gave a shrug. "Honestly? I'm kinda past that point and have just come to accept that this is one of the weirder missions I've been on."

Rook furrowed his brow as he pointed to Ester. "We were chasing a theif, and there she is."

"Well, yeah, but she DID help us." Weiss pointed out. "We can't exactly lump her in with the rest of the tribe since they actively tried to kill us."

"Maybe so, but at the same time, she is not innocent." Rook asserted, watching as Ester taught Nora, Ruby and Penny the ropes of Magna Street Hockey. "We must stop this "party" before it even begins and be up front with Ester about this before it is too late." He faced Ben with a serious expression. "Be the hero here, Ben… before I am forced to poop this party."

Several facepalms later, Yang wagged her finger at the Revonnahgander. "I ain't even gonna ATTEMPT to correct that one."

…..

Back down below, in the sweltering cavern known as the Hot Spot, the Kraaho were hard at work, preparing a rather huge machine of some sort. It had several holes along the outside of it and its main power source was made to be at the very top of the device itself, however, the glass containment unit FOR said power source was currently empty. But that wouldn't be the case for long as one of the Kraaho stretched themselves up there, holding the yellow cannister procured by Ester. He tribesman opened it up and inserted the fusion engine into it, giving Lakno down below a thumbs up.

The chubby Kraaho went over to his leader and gave him the good news. "It's ready."

Sebik simply nodded before giving his order to the machine operators. "Fire the laser!" A few seconds later, the fusion engine began glowing brighter, and directly below its containment unit, a laser began powering up before firing straight into the ground, boring straight through the dirt and rock.

"H-How long will this take?" Lakno asked as he kept shivering. "I've been cold for so long, I've got frostbite on my—"

"Lakno! Enough with the "how cold is it?" jokes." Sebik snapped.

Just then, one of the Kraaho took note of the screen on the control console for the massive device, delivering some good news to Sebik. "The laser has just struck magma, Sebik!"

This made the Kraaho leader smile. "Ah, here we go! Valves open, pumps on!" The Kraaho did as instructed and opened the valves, allowing the device to start pumping magma up through the ground, making it break as the molten substance pushed through. Sebik took off his parka, allowing himself to take in the significantly warmer air. "Haha, yes, finally! Now, let's clear some room for… what do they call it topside?"

"Bellwood." Lakno answered, just as more magma began to spout off from the ground, overflowing into the Hot Spot.

Sebik wore a sinister grin as he watched it all unfold. "Well then, make way… for New Bellwood."

…..

A/N: To be continued… yep, Omniverse continues to vex me with how much content one episode has versus how much I'm able to write in a week. Honestly, though, I kind of like the format of Omniverse episodes being at least one or two chapters. Helps me focus on what needs to be adapted and what probably shouldn't. And in this case, it was Ben being FAR too chill in the original episode. The girl stole a FUSION DEVICE and you're not gonna worry about it? Sheesh, Omniverse Ben was just all over the place in terms of characterization. Hence why I've given the role of "friendlies" to Ruby, Nora and Penny, as ya do. Meanwhile, everyone's still hesitant about trusting Ester or not, especially given what happened last night.

Speaking of, would ya look at that! Gwen's receiving repercussions for her actions! Indeed, never let it be said that Agent Six never deals out punishments whenever its necessary, and since the operation they had planned with the museum went WAY off plan, he focused in on Gwen, since she WAS the one who freed Charmcaster. Granted, the others all stepped in to take a punishment as well for the damages they caused during the Creeper attack, but still, Six isn't about to just let freeing a prisoner fly.

Other items of note; Rook getting in more action, the reappearance of ML-E and the debut of her Kineceleran friend group, and the appearance of the Kraaho… who seem to want to turn Bellwood into a molten crater to satiate their need for heat. Hoo boy, just how the heck will THIS go?

Well, we'll just have to find out… NEXT TIME! We catch up with Gwen and Six back at base first as they have their little conversation, the agent trying to get a hit on the young mage's true motive for letting Charmcaster go. However, as the very foundation of Bellwood shakes beneath them, back up is dispatched to help the team in stopping the magma from rising. And thus, the team journeys to the Hot Spot, where Ester finally confronts Sebik on what he's done. Next time; Near Meltdown. Thanks for reading everyone, and I'll see you all next week! And of course, as always, stay safe out there!