Hot Stretch

Hot Stretch is the seventh episode of the first season of Ben 10: Omniverse, and the seventh episode overall.
==Synopsis==
Ben and Rook encounter a race of elastic, hot-blooded aliens in Undertown who want to use a stolen nuclear fusion engine to activate a volcano!
==Plot==
Bellwood is undergoing a heat wave and the police are chasing Ester, a girl who is carrying a Nuclear Fusion Device through the town. She takes to the roof tops, and Ben with Rook arrive to help. While Rook pursues on foot, Ben transforms into Crashhopper and chases her on the roof tops. Crashhopper corners her and she leaps off a building. Crashhopper follows and falls, while Ester uses her powers to grapple back onto the building.
Crashhopper lands in a rooftop swimming pool and Ester taunts him from above, but the machine releases a ball of energy. Rook tells Crashhopper not to touch it as it melts the floor. Ester grabs it and leaps away. Crashhopper and Rook chase her into Undertown, where Crashhopper transforms back to Ben. Rook tells Ben that Ester seemed to be flirting with him, but Ben simply brushes him off. They enter into Undertown where it is hotter down there than in Bellwood. Rook uses a scanner to search for the machine and Ester, but he discovers space junk instead. However, Ben notices Ester on pipes on the ceiling, and he and Rook grapple up to them. The pair chase after Ester and Rook demands her fusion engine, but Ester leaps onto lower pipes and runs away and Rook collapses a pipe and Ben transforms into Eatle. Eatle eats a piece of metal. Rook and Ester fight on a pipe below. Eatle blasts it and they are cornering Ester, but the pipe collapses and they fall to the floor. Eatle takes the fusion engine as humanoid aliens, the Kraaho, and their leader, Seebik, arrive and demand it. They are freezing, even in the heat. Eatle resists giving them the engine, but he reverts back to Ben and Ester takes it out of his hands and she gives it to Seebik and joins the Kraaho.
Seebik orders the Kraaho to kill Ben and Rook. Ester tries to convince him not to, but he ignores her and the Kraaho surround Ben and Rook. Ben transforms into Gravattack and sends the Kraaho flying with his gravity powers but fails when the Omnitrix times out early. Gravattack reverts back to Ben and the Kraaho fall to the ground. Luckily, Ester turns on some water pipes and hits the Kraaho with water, freezing them. Ester leaps to Ben and Rook in the cloud of mist and tells them to come with her. They run into a tunnel, but Ben doesn't want to leave. Ester forces them to leave, saying that the Kraaho won't be anymore trouble and she explains that the "cold" doesn't bother her because she's only half-Kraaho. Ben is convinced, but Rook is suspicious. A nearby Kineceleran kid notices Ester and calls her over. They are playing a game of hockey and they persuade Ben to play as well. Unable to keep up with them, Ben transforms into XLR8 and XLR8 scores an easy goal before transforming back into Ben. Rook observes them, unhappy, from the shadows. Meanwhile, Ben realizes that the heat is starting to get to the others, and he transforms into Water Hazard and cools off the group, creating a rainbow. and playfully does the same to Ester. A few minutes later, Rook comes to Ben and informs him that Ester likes him. Rook insists that the party is over. Underground, the Kraaho use the fusion engine to power a huge machine. The machine creates spouts of magma that warm the cavern and burst through the ground on the surface of the Earth.
People flee as the lava destroys roads and cars and it reaches the neighborhood and Ester swears that she didn't know what the Kraaho would do after Rook incriminates her. Ben tells Rook that they are past incrimination and transforms into Arctiguana. Arctiguana releases an ice blast that freezes the lava and transforms back into Ben. Rook points out that the lava is still coming. Ben insists that Ester brings him to the Kraaho. Horrified at what her people are doing, Ester reluctantly leads Ben and Rook to the "hot spot", an undeveloped section of Undertown that is naturally hot where the Kraaho lives. Ester attempts to reason with Seebik while Ben secretly transforms into NRG. NRG tells Rook to create a distraction and Rook runs over and tells the Kraaho that he will teach them how to play tag, and they chase him away while NRG scales the machine. The Kraaho shoot at Rook, but he flees. When they surround Rook, he engages in a fight them. Seebik joins the brawl after Rook defeats all of the others. Ester escapes the Kraaho holding her and runs to help Rook, who is outmatched, to defeat Seebik. Seebik notices NRG and the Kraaho pull him down and start tugging on his suit. He tricks them into opening it and releasing NRG's more powerful true form. NRG flies to the machine and eats the fusion engine. Then, he destroys the machine, which causes the lava to stop. NRG then re-enters the suit and transforms back into Ben and Seebik scoffs when Ben and Ester suggest that the Kraaho stay in their cavern and co-exist with Undertown, and Ester reveals that her father was the last leader of the Kraaho, which causes Seebik and the Kraaho then bow to Ester due to having defeated Seebik. Ester is now their leader and she promises to be a good neighbor and hugs Ben. Ben quickly leaves and gets Rook lemonade to cool down after the battle. The Kinecelerans sprint past and tease Ben, who call him Ester's boyfriend. Ben insists that he isn't Ester's boyfriend, but then asks Rook if he believes that he has a shot with her.
==Noteworthy Events==
===Major Events===
*Ben uses NRG's true form for the first time.
====Character Debuts====
*Seebik
*Ester
*Lackno
*K8-E
*N-8
*DJ
*N-D
*E-N
====Omnitrix Alien Debuts====
*Eatle (Omniverse debut)
*XLR8 (Omniverse debut by 16-year-old Ben)
*Arctiguana (Omniverse debut)
==Characters==
*Ben Tennyson
*Rook Blonko
*Gilford Bromley (cameo)
*Blowfeld (cameo)
*Sponge Gorb (cameo)
*Tentacle Vendor (cameo)
*Kinecelerans
**T8-M (cameo)
**ML-E
**K8-E (first appearance)
**N-8 (first appearance)
**DJ (first appearance)
**N-D (first appearance)
**E-N (first appearance)
===Neutrals===
*Ester (first appearance)
*Lackno (first appearance)
===Villains===
*Kraaho
**Seebik (first appearance)
==Aliens Used==
*Crashhopper
*Eatle (first reappearance)
*Gravattack
*XLR8 (first reappearance by 16-year-old Ben)
*Water Hazard
*Arctiguana (first appearance by 16-year-old Ben)
*NRG
==Quotes==
==Naming and Translations==
==Cast==
==Allusions==
*When XLR8 states "It's on like Computron!", it's a parody of the phrase "It's on like Donkey Kong!".
*On the street where the aliens play hockey, a truck with a red cab and grey container with blue and silver lines can be seen parked at the side; this is a homage to Optimus Prime from the Transformers franchise.
==Errors==
*As Crashhopper approaches Ester, his right fingers are segmented.
*In one shot, Crashhopper's Omnitrix symbol has the same green as his skin.
*Gravattack is shorter than usual.
*Arctiguana is drawn with five exposed teeth instead of four.
*In one shot, the "10" on Ben's shirt is colored black.
*Arctiguana is not listed in the end credits.
Hot Stretch (34).png|Segmented right fingers
Hot Stretch (68).png|Omnitrix symbol color error
Hot Stretch (219).png|Size error
Hot Stretch (425).png|Five exposed teeth
Hot Stretch (343).png|Emblem error
Hot Stretch Voice Credits (1).png|Arctiguana not in the credits
==Trivia==
*It is stated by Ben that Ditto is his cutest alien, according to the fan sites.
**In the Latin American dub, Crashhopper is stated to be his cutest alien.
**In the Brazilian Portuguese dub, Echo Echo is stated to be his cutest alien.
*According to their model sheets, 11-year-old Wildmutt and Arctiguana were intended to appear in this episode.
==References==
===Crew Statements===
====Matt Wayne====
====Derrick J. Wyatt====
===Cartoon Network===
es:Punto caliente
it:Ondata di caldo
pl:Ester (odcinek)
pt-br:Beco do Calor
ro:La limită
Category:Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Omniverse Episodes
Category:Ben 10: Omniverse Season 1 Episodes
Category:Episodes Aired Out of Production Order
Category:Episodes Directed by Jae Hong Kim