Ben yawned again and leaned back in his seat only to be jolted awake but a sharp bump in the road that made him hit the back of his head against his seat. He groaned and groggily turned to face his cousin as she turned on the radio to start jamming out to some tunes. "This isn't helping me, Lucy." He was still tired, still grumpy at his lack of sleep and he was trying to get some ob the ride. He should've known better.

Lucy took a slip of her slushy before cheerfully saying, "Oh Ben, you just don't have the right attitude. Right, Rook?"

Rook poked his head from the back seat to look directly at Ben with an apologetic smile. "Not to sound rude but I'm inclined to agree with Lucy. You had four hours of sleep. That should be sufficient for someone of your age and profession."

"Yeah, I'm still a growing young man." Ben rubbed his eyes and adjusted his seat. "Sleep is extremely important to my growth." He may be a hero but he still needed long periods of rest to recharge his batteries. Doesn't mean he couldn't go long hours without sleep but he sure as hell didn't want to.

"And someone's still gotta lot growing to do, don't they?" Lucy cooed, using her free hand pinch Ben's cheek to add on to the teasing.

She snickered when Ben slapped it away, clearly unamused by Lucy's little height barb. "Both hands on the wheel, "World's Best Driver". He taunted only for Lucy gleefully laugh it off.

After the debriefing the team was sent out to do some digging and see if anything would pop up on Ben's mysterious hunter in Undertown, the shantytown cesspool of alien fast food, farmers markets and cheap nick knacks with the occasional black market dealings. They were bound to find something there, even if was just a clue and nothing else. Undertown was a huge hub for alien activity on Earth.

Lucy parked the truck near the sewer and just on the edge of Undertown. "So, you have any idea who we're gonna visit first?"

Ben nodded, an idea having already come to mind on the possibility of finding some remotely useful information. "I got an idea. He's a kind of a prick but he can useful."

"Will meeting him require armor?" Rook asked, feeling a tad under prepared yet again.

"No Rook, he's the annoying, a figurative type of prick." Ben clarified before remembering some important info as he put on a different, black hoody to hide himself from the populace, "But watch his fur. If he did decide to be a literal prick, only Lucy and some of my aliens would be fine. Your outfit wouldn't cut it."

Rook saluted and put on his old cowl. "Understood."

XXXXX

The group followed Ben to some bar filled with numerous aliens drinking and eating all sorts relatively odd things while they played games, chatted, or just listened to the music the local band of rather large black eyed, gray aliens who were playing with their foreign instruments. It was a good jovial atmosphere despite the seedy area they were in. But the one thing that gripped Ben's attention was the one small alien in an orange jumpsuit with numerous pockets, one alien that seemed to be a fusion of a opossum and a porcupine.

Argit, the great con rodent of space. Sitting there, drinking his fizzy whatever it was as he fiddled around with some tech pad. Probably setting up another deal, a double cross of some sort. He was always up to something incredibly shifty that could earn him some choice stuff, money, and/or especially both.

Ben smirked, excited to freak the guy out but knew better than to frighten too hard him lest he be put to sleep... actually, that thought kinda pleased him. But he had work to do. He causally walked up the bar and pulled up a stool beside the rodent, Lucy and Rook following his lead, and then said, "Sup, Argit."

Argit twitched and turned to Ben with a startled gaze, squeaking out, "What, Tenny -"

"Ah, yeah, shush." Ben interrupted him and spoke again, "We're trying to be covert here."

"We?" Argit questioned. He looked behind Ben to see Rook, looking back at him with a stern gaze, and Lucy, who smiled and waved. He didn't like either of them, one was clearly a typical cop type and the other had to have a quirk that wouldn't bode well for him. "What, you decided to replace Kevin and your scary as hell cousin?"

"Oh, you think Gwen is scary?" Ben questioned with a quirked brow. "You're just meeting Lucy and you don't wanna meet Sunny." Behind him, Lucy playfully growled and he ignored it, "Besides, the old team's off to college."

"Kevin? Education?" Argit had to hold back a condescending chortle, moving on to the big question he wanted answered. "How'd you find me anyway, we haven't seen each other in months, maybe a year!"

"Dude, Undertown spreads word of A - holes fast and you're literally the only Skaven on the planet. Face it, you're sloppy when it comes to avoiding notice." Ben smirked at the con man's clear agitation. It always fun getting under bad guy's skin, even in more subtle ways. "So, pick up on anything interesting around here?"

Argit's nose twitched and he folded his arms. "If I did, why would I tell you?"

Lucy spoke up. "Because we asked nicely?" She was far too sweet for Argit's liking. He made a note to watch her.

"If you don't, we could take you in for questioning." Rook apathetically yet sternly added, making Argit tense up some more. He hated cops.

"Yeah, basically both those things and I'll glue your quills together again," Argit shook but he didn't seem to be budging as much as Ben would like so he added, "and I'll mix in Stinkfly's gunk."

That got Argit to fidget more noticeably, glue was one thing but his nose was sensitive, and he nervously spoke, "Well... I do hear some things now and again."

"Such as?" Ben urged him on.

"Okay, but you gotta promise me that this conversation never happened. I haven't done anything wrong either except sell safe snake oil. Legally, mind you."

Ben checked up on Rook who looked towards him to clarify. "He sells useless crap to gullible people thanks to his lies." The Plumber seemed practically ready shake down the Skaven, making Argit nearly jump, and Ben explained further. "No, that itself isn't illegal, unfortunately."

His partner begrudgingly sat down and Argit let out a quick sigh of relief. "Anyway, word on the streets is a few of the low level scum dwelling here are layin' low and rounding up. Sayin' something about a big score." That info dump definitely gained the interest of the Plumbers as it brought to light another issue but that didn't really offer them much, if anything, on the target of interest now. "What?"

Ben narrowed his eyes. "And?"

Argit twitched and he quickly stated. "That's pretty much it."

"No, there's gotta be more than that. Come on, I know you." Ben pried on, clearly skeptical on Argit's lack on info. He didn't want to outright say why they were here in the first place and merely insisted on more information. There had to be something Argit could tell them on that mystery assassin or possibly linked to him. "Tell me what you really know."

"Hey back off, man. That's literally all I know, those goons got nothing I want this time." Argit's response was a mixture of angry and fearful at Ben's persistence. Judging from the way he reacted, Ben had a feeling there may be truth to his words.

That wasn't good enough when it came to Argit though.

"That can't be, wait." Ben halted mid sentence as the bar went silent. Everyone stopped talking and the musicians stopped playing mid song. "Did anyone else hear a distant boom?"

As if on cue, a loud boom was heard outside the bar, sending most of the occupants into panic save for the bartender, the Plumbers, and Argit... sort of. The bartender armed himself while behind the counter and the Plumbers raced outside, Argit close behind. Never a good idea to stay in a building during explosion based attacks. Not enough escape routes in his opinion.

The moment Ben immediately open the bar doors and set foot outside, he jumped back and knocked his companions on the floor, all of them narrowly avoiding the broadside of a hovercraft to the craniums. Argit, who was further behind, swore he felt some of his quils get taken off.

Ben brought his head up to see what appeared to be three high tech bikers racing off in the distance. He knew exactly who the speeding biker was based off her color scheme alone. "Guess Rojo's back in town."

"Oh, is she that red biker chick!?" Lucy shot, beaming at the prospect of finally meeting one of Ben's prime enemies. She was even more eager at the prospect of kicking their evil butts into the nearest cell. "This will be so cool!"

"I've read her files. Quite the dangerous earth female." Rook said he grabbed Argit before he could scurry away and the shaven nervously chuckled, whittling under Rook's glare. "Do you think I'm ready?"

"If you manage to take away her toys and her bike, she ain't much. More so can be said for her old croonies if they're around." Ben explained as he quickly went through the watch to turn into the blue reptilian speedster known as, "XLR8! Try to keep up, gang and don't lose Argit!" He told them in his raspy voice before shooting off in hot pursuit of the criminals in a light blue and black blur.

Meanwhile, Rojo, the redhead biker woman decked out in black and red armor, speed off on her hover bike, holstering her laser rifle as she muttered distastefully. "Crumby bastards nearly scuffed up my ride."

A raspy, clicky voice said next to her, "Shame I'm about to straight up trash it." She turned towards the side and saw a Kincceleran speed up next to her and said Kincceleran had the Omnirix symbol on his chest. "Been a while, Rojo."

"Not long enough!" Rather than try to blast the speedy alien, she turned up her bike's throttle and blast off into the air while knocking Ben away with force of her propulsion. She planned on flying out into the open through one of the pipes above Undertown but suddenly felt herself weighed down by another person with a large backpack hanging on the side via grappling hook. That person was Rook.

"Cease your actions and come down at once!" He yelled both in order to sound authoritative and be heard over the sound of Rojo's thrusters.

Rojo pulled out her rifle and aimed it at Rook's face. "And if I don't!?"

She nearly did a double take when Rook's backpack jiggled and, before she could even blink, spawned purple tendrils that restrained her hands, holding the gun away from Rook, and turned the steering on her hover bike. It spawned a face, purple eyes and a mouth the spoke, "Time for you to pull over!"

"What the hell!?" Rojo was both perplexed and feeling her rage grow as that Lenopan was hijacking her ride and making them plummet to the streets below. "At least ease the damn thing down!"

"Don't worry, your ride's gonna crash into one of the pipes, far away from the populace! As for me and Rook!" Lucy suddenly pulled back some tendrils, releasing her grip on Rojo, but not before she jerked the hover bike hard and threw Rojo off balance.

"Ha! Take that evil doer!" Lucy shouted as she formed a ball Rook. Her face was on the outside of it and her mocking smile turned upside down. Rojo actually managed to balance herself before she hit one of the pipes below and used her hovercraft's thrusters to push back. "Guess I'm not the only capable driver in these parts. Neat!"

She landed with a loud and messy splat but remained unaffected. Rook, who was cushioned from the fall, shook some mud off of his body. "I do not see how this would be something praise, Lucy."

"Yeah, Don't sound so excited to get torched!" Rojo roared, pulling out a compact rectangular object that that transformed into a weapon that required her to rest the back of it on her shoulders. "Nobody steers my girl except me!"

She was going to blast the Plumbers had the Kincceleran Ben not shoulder charged her off her ride. She was sprawled out on the dirt, weapon out of her hand, and looked up to glared at the now unmasked XLR8. "You're not much of a threat without your bike."

She swiftly pulled out laser pistol from her hip holster and blasted at nothing but air before she felt a hard blow not the gun from her hand and she felt the weight of a black ball on reptilian leg press on on her wrist. "Really Rojo?"

"Like I'll go down like one of your groupies." She spat back, furious at letting herself get taken down so easily by Ben and his new crew.

"Yeah, you go down easier than them." Ben retorted as he returned to his normal form. Lucy immediately lashed out and bound Rojo's arms in her mud arms, much to Rojo's disgust and discomfort. Ben turned to his companions and worriedly asked, "Guys, where's Argit?"

"We had to let him go but I subtly placed a tracking device into his fur." Rook said with the utmost confidence. It faded upon seeing Ben smile in way one would when I child made a mistake out of ignorance.

"Ah okay, we'll go over why that was a bad idea after we chat with Rojo." Ben turned to the pinned woman who thrashed and cursed at her predicament. Her glare didn't faze Ben one bit but she didn't seemed too worried herself though disgusted. "First things first, what was that all about? Someone look at you funny again?"

"Ass hats try to make off with my ride behind my back." She told him plainly. "What? I'm supposed to let them do that?"

"No, but lashing out like that was ridiculous. Thought you actually got smarter." Rojo, despite the years that had passed, was still an unhinged anarchist and bounty hunter with a crazy arsenal behind her with some damn fine motor skills. However, she wasn't the type to cause random mayhem anymore. She was smart enough to not stir up trouble so randomly like that and she usually wasn't so sloppy. Granted, new partners, new tricks probably made this easier and all thanks to the first time effect but still.

"Didn't know we were on such good terms you could thinks so highly of me, shrimp." She sniped back unamusedly. She snorted, looking to the side before looking back at Ben. "Got carried away. Sue me. Been on edge lately."

"Oh yeah," Ben got closer and said in a lower, more edged tone, "what for? Last I checked, you're not easily spooked."

"Why not go take a look for yourself, smart guy." She gestured with a nod to the east side of Undertown. "Some goons have been plundering goods left and right. Would've snagged my stuff too if I didn't blast 'em. Couldn't sent a message if you hadn't got in my way."

Where inconvenience crept up, convince possibly pulled up. Goons into plundering, like Argit said and to the point they'd try to screw with Rojo, was definitely something to look into. On the other hand, it could be just another "Big Time Heist" nonsense that would get in the way of the investigation though this was a more serious problem since it was on a wider scale. Maybe they'd get lucky enough that the sniper and that beast would come out again. This time Ben would have some back up and could track the guy down this time. Maybe they'd get lucky and could kill two birds with one stone.

Either way, the Plumbers would be getting all up in this mess.

But first, there was Rojo who squirmed in Lucy's mud, "Hey Lucy, make sure you've got a good grip on her. She's as slippery as she looks."

"Ha! She faces a being twice her slipperiness." Lucy cackled like a madwoman, which Ben knew was for show, and was no doubt getting a kick out of making Rojo less than comfy. Seems as though Ben was gonna have to be the good cop out of the three.

"Where the hell did you find this one?" Lucy's little front must've been working, judging from the way Rojo subtly recoiled.

"She was a gift from the little shop of oddities. They had another discount on weird alien cousins." Ben nonchalantly explained. He secretly planned to use that line at some point the moment he got out of the Proto - Truck.

Rojo blanched. "Ugh, another one." She wondered just how odd the hero's family could get.

"Ben, Lucy." Rook gained their attention. He had his proto - tool out in blaster mode and pointed at the way they came. "We have a crowd approaching and they do not look welcoming."

"Oh?" Ben then saw an approaching mob of various aliens, about a dozen of them, that held a variety of weapons in their hand. "Alright, Lucy, think you can take Rojo back to the truck?"

Lucy twisted her arms around and brought Rojo to her back, carrying the bounty huntress in a cocoon of her mud. "Of course! You and Rook got this motley crew?"

Rook started firing off a few shots that knocked the guns from a few of the goon's appendages. "I believe I'm capable of assisting Ben."

"That's the spirit!" Ben said as he changed into, "Humungousaur! Time for some crowd control!" The dino - like alien jumped into the crowd, throwing them this way and that from the power of his landing, and his fists began to fly as Rook kept his distance to blast some thugs here and there. Lucy had bolted from the scene as fast as her mud made legs could go.

"Rather odd for them to do this!" Rook yelled as he ducked under a blaster bolt and returned fire.

"Not really!" Ben grabbed a goon and tossed him atop another while using his tail to swat another away. "People can attack over the dumbest things!"

His proto - tool was now in close combat mode and used it to parry a switch blade strike. "But all this for Rojo's motor vehicle!?" He asked as he spun kicked the goon in one of his faces. "It's finely made but hardly worth this!"

"We'll interrogate them later!" Ben brought up two goons and smashed them together. He yelped when felt a decent blast hit him across one of his cheeks and turned to the nervously sweating alien who clearly shot him there. "RRAAAARGH!"

That goon, now sweating bullets, in particular felt as though he and his companions had thrown themselves to the Loboans.

While Ben and Rook thrashed some baddies, Lucy Used her body clear the distance as quick as she could. It didn't take her long to reach the Proto - Truck but what surprised her was what she found. Three unconscious guys were tied up and gagged next to the vehicle. In front of them stood a pink skinned alien young woman in a coat. "I take it you guys aren't friends."

"Oh, hello!" The woman said, somewhat caught off guard by Lucy's sudden appearance and the fact she was carrying someone on her back. "I saw you guys fly in and these guys approached rather suspiciously. And in case you were wondering, they were up to more than just stealing your tires." She said gesturing to a laid out bunch of tools next to her.

" I see." Lucy said slowly as she checked her out. "Welp, Thanks for helping, I gotta go!" Lucy rushed to the truck, eager to toss Rojo inside the haul but the women hastily grabbed onto her wrist.

"Wait." The woman immediately let go and coughed into her hand. "Can I come?"

Lucy cocked her head and raised a brow as she asked, "Why?"

"I know a guy and I think you work with him." The woman answered cheerfully.

Said guy transformed into his human form and stretched out his neck. "Well, now we just gotta wait for Lucy." Ben turned to one of the few goons still awake if greatly in pain and asked, "So, anyone wanna tell me what that was about? You guys were awfully desperate to try and take on Rojo then me and my squad."

"Urgh... get... shucked." The alien croaked out.

Rook regarded that goon curiously. "Ben, I'm not familiar with that term."

"Yeah, that goon might be too busted." "Ben sighed and turned to another goon trying to crawl away, shrimp man. "How about you?"

"Zassif... ack min ik." It said through it's mandibles.

"Did not understand a lick of that." He replied dully.

Rook shook his head and put a hand on Ben's shoulder. "He was insulting your hair. Quite harshly too"

"Noted. Screw you too, shrimp guy."Ben nonchalantly kicked the crawling alien's butt which caused him to fall over in a painful heap. It was petty, sure, but the alien did shoot at him. "Well, I guess it's off to the official interrogation station for you lot! The the slammer!" Any of the aliens awake groaned in both pain and frustration. "Hey, guys got in our way today, quit griping."

Rook decided to offer an optimistic outlook on what they did. "At the very least, Undertown will be safer."

Ben shrugged. "Eh, not majorly but it's a step in the right direction." He heard the sound of ship engine approaching and turned to see Lucy in the Proto - Truck. She landed a few yards away, less reckless than when she made her first appearance. "Heh, about time."

Lucy popped her head out of the window with a wide smile. "I'm back! And Ben, I brought your other friend!"

"Hey Ben!" Came the voice of Ester. Lucy moved her head to reveal the alien girl waving. "This isn't a bad time is it?"

"Not at all, we just finished cleaning up."

"No we didn't." Rook was confused by Ben's wording until it clicked after a second. "Oh, you meant by beating the criminals. Yes, we are cleaner."

"There ya go." Ben jovially chortled and turned back to the approaching Kraaho. "So, not that I mind but why are you here?"

"I originally spotted you guys come when I was just going out to buy some food."

"She saw some strangers approach my baby and promptly handed them their butts." Lucy interrupted, pumping her fist in the air. She liked this /ester girl already.

"Yep and then she brought me here." She nervously chuckled before her lips curled into a frown. "Ben, you know anything about some alien named Psyphon?"

Ben's eyes widened at that name which he hadn't heard of for awhile now. "Psyphon? Yeah, Vilgax was his sugar daddy up until I beat him and Psyphon got desperate for revenge then went off to parts unknown. Why?"

"Some guys were out recruiting the more useful and troublesome of Undertown. They happened to mention the name of their boss and I figured what better guy to talk to a potential crime boss other than you." Ester explained. It's not like she knew a lot of Plumbers anyway.

"And you know this because they just so happened to try and talk to you or your people about joining?" She nodded. Ben snorted and spoke with a dry tone. "That figures. We got a lead now at least."

"Does this mean we need Rojo?" Lucy gestured to said captive now cuffed and sitting in the back of the Proto - Truck.

"No, but she might be up to more stuff and she did use unnecessary force." Ben reasoned.

Lucy rolled her eyes and chimed in with, "Also you don't like her."

Ben shamelessly nodded. "That too."

"All of my hatred, runt!" Said criminal screamed from the back of the ship.

Ben was never one to throw away a moment for sarcasm. "Love you too, Rojo!"

Anything more that was going to be said was interrupted by a call all the Plumbers received. "Alpha squad, can you hear me!?" Came a southern accented female voice.

"Loud and clear./ Affirmative./ Yep!" The Plumbers responded.

"Return to base immediately, we have a data breach! I repeat, return to base immediately!"

XXXXX

Several minutes before...

"I could have easily done this on my own."

"Quit complaining. Remember who's got more to give here. Now go. Time is of the essence, hunter."

Without another word, Khyber planted the alien flash drive into the data network of the Plumber Base and began working his way into the data files of Ben, his watch, and his partners. He didn't show it, but Khyber was amazed and fascinated by what he saw and realized just how little he knew. The word of his exploits alone did Ben little justice. All of these struggles against numerous foes, all the allies he had at his back, the power of the prototype Omnitrix alone. It made him giddy but him aware of just how much his arsenal needed expansion. He needed more DNA to win.

While Khyber contemplated on the situation of his prey, one file in particular stuck out to the man who was given a live feed of the downloads... "Malware?" The voice in Khyber's comm muttered with interest. "That's new to me."

XXXXX

AN: The artist who made the art I'm using is Promsien! Go check out her Tumblr, she's amazing! Do it now! Yes, I got her permission to use it. I literally couldn't find her at first when I used the artwork and thank goodness I did. I asked her anonymously and bam!

Another chapter and the next one will give us a blast into the past. Hopefully, you and you're families are healthy. And, none of you are going stir crazy from being bound indoors. Hope this provides some entertainment at least.

You know, I watched some more of Ben 10 2016 and I must say, it doesn't deserve to be hated. It's one of the better reboots in comparison to stuff like TTG, shit like Powerpuff Girls 2016, and that new Thundercats pile of shit that I refuse to acknowledge any further. Calling old fan's opinions poop and THEN making malicious fun of a dead VA... they can go fuck themselves with iron rods for that last one.

Anyway, moving on from the negativity, remember the original Ben 10 and his fights? Comparing that to the Omniverse, Ben used to go hard, like damn, I felt some of those, and he was frickin' 10 years old. The fights seemed so tone down compared to what it was and Ben, to me at least, seemed way cooler in the original and Alien Force, especially when he brawled. As always, feel free to disagree.

Stay alive and stay well! Love you guys and again, shout to Promsien!