Sunder Ground

Sunder Ground is the second episode of the first season of Kevin: The Next Hero.

Synopsis
The episode begins inside a calm bank in Bellwood. The people are leisurely signing papers, reading magazines in the waiting room, and making transactions. Suddenly, the glass double doors at the front shatter as someone barges through them at high speed. It is a Tetramand bearing the Omnitrix symbol on his belt. Unbeknownst to the customers of the bank, it is indeed Kevin Levin. He uses Four Arms' super-strength to break apart the walls and steal many bags full of money. He then runs out of the bank. As Bellwood Police vehicles scream into view, Four Arms hops into the getaway truck (the Junk Spot). As Dr. Animo drives away at top-speed, the police in close pursuit, Psychobos explains about the new Omnitrix-Based Upgrade System he has installed within the controls and programs of the Junk Spot. Just as the police nearly catch them, Psychobos presses one of the multiple Omnitrix symbol buttons on the dashboard of the truck, and the truck teleports back to the junkyard, evading the authorities. Psychobos celebrates the success of the heist, concluding the Omnitrix and the new teleportation feature is the root of the victory. While celebrating, the audience sees the Bellwood Police looking confused, admitting defeat and deciding to go get doughnuts.

The next scene shows us the crashed wreckage of Vilgax's ship, crashed on some unknown world. Inside, all is dark, until a computer monitor flips on, confirming that at least some of the ship's systems are online. The rubble begins to stir, and Bubble Helmet emerges. He sifts through the rock and soon, Fistina, Liam, and Psyphon also emerge. Psyphon claims the crash is a minor setback, and he examines the monitor. He admits to the wreckage, but says that the monitor can still maintain surveillance of Kevin and his team. Psyphon then heads out to see the external damage. He becomes very excited when he notes that they are on Taurica, a planet said to house an ancient secret. He says that the legends claim that an ancient war occured on Taurica thousands of years ago, and it resulted in the secession of hundreds of tribes from Taurica, and they left the planet, eventually giving rise to the rest of the species in the universe. He said, "We will be doing some investigations here on Taurica to find out if those legends are indeed true. For if they are, it means a huge step forward in my plans."

Meanwhile, Psychobos said that the money they procured in the robbery was excellent, and so he said that Kevin, he, and Solid Plugg would head to Undertown to exchange some of the money for Taydenite and buy some things legally in Undertwon. Kevin, Psychobos, and Plugg head to Undertown and encounter a six-eyed green alien (of the same species as the bar-keep from Of Predators and Prey Part 1) who takes their money and trades it for Taydenite. Psychobos then splits the money into thirds, rations it out, and allows Kevin and Plugg to do as they please. Plugg claims he will be going to the Silicon-Based Organism section, and Kevin decides to explore.

Kevin ends up meeting an Astrocetacean who is in charge of a small Champios ring in Undertown. The alien, named Joe Whales, sells Kevin a cheap ticket to see the match. When Kevin admits that he has never heard of Champios, Whales explains the history of the battle-themed sport. While in the crowd, Whales explains that on Deimos, one of the Martian moons, the violent native species, the Deimoni, desired a way to vent their species-wide fury and unrest. They created Champios, a violent no-rules battle game in which the only rules were that the winner wins and the loser loses. Kevin instantly recognizes a loophole and transforms into Crashhopper. He jumps into the ring and quickly defeats the purple Florauna that was battling. Kevin announces himself as Crashhopper, and notices the angry Champios duelist whom he interrupted. He recognizes him as Sunder, and Joe Whales warns Kevin that Sunder is a three-time Champios Tournament Champion. Kevin gladly challenges Sunder, and the two begin to square-off. Kevin used Crashhopper in inventive ways, and nearly gains the upper hand, but Sunder is able to subdue him. Kevin transforms into Humungousaur and continues the duel, again nearly winning. He batters Sunder badly, but is unable to win. Sunder has him pinned, and he transforms quickly into Lodestar. Kevin uses the electromagnetic field to steal all of the armor and weapons from Sunder, leaving him without his assets. Now, it is a battle of brawn. Finally, Kevin transforms into Armodrillo and successfully defeats Sunder. Humbly, Sunder admits defeat, and as he reverts, Kevin is rewarded with money from Joe Whales, whio claims that Kevin has won the Champios tournament of Undertown and deserves to go to the planetwide competition. He turns Whales down and allows Sunder to go in his place. Sunder, too, is unwilling, saying he isn't worthy since he lost. Joe Whales loses interest in Kevin and Sunder, and decided to allow the purple Florauna to go to the planetwide game, and Kevin meets back up with Solid Plugg, accompanied by Sunder. When they rendezvous with Psychobos, the giddy doctor begs Sunder to join the Scrapyard Crew, and he agrees. Back at the Junk Spot, Psychobos shows them that he bought special software and had asked a Galvanic Mechamorph to be his "guinea pig." He used the software to mutate the Mechamorph into a powerful digital guardian for their files, and real guardian for themselves, and thus Malware also joins the Scrapyard Crew as their final member.

The episode ends with Psyphon and company coming upon the gates to an ancient religious druidic compound that Psyphon calls the "Tauric Site ." Psyphon marvels at the druidic symbols and laments, "Now, all we have to is get inside."

Aliens Used

 * Four Arms
 * Crashhopper
 * Humungousaur
 * Lodestar
 * Armodrillo

Antagonists

 * Sunder
 * Psyphon (indirectly)
 * Bubble Helmet (indirectly)
 * Fistina (indirectly)
 * Liam (indirectly)

Major Events

 * The Scrapyard Crew commits a successful bank robbery.
 * Sunder joins the Scrapyard Crew.

Trivia

 * It has been rather confusing as to whether Sunder was a villain, hero, or neutral bounty-hunter. He seemed quite antagonistic towards Ben Tennyson, however, he did aid Azmuth on one occasion. In this episode, he appears in public as a non-villain, and does end up allying with the main characters (although the main characters are criminals, which perhaps confirms his villainy).
 * Including Solid Plugg and Looma Redwind, this episode shows yet another minor character turned major. With only three appearances before now, Sunder still has the most of the minor-turned-major characters.
 * Much like the Contemilia, this episode names an intelligent species and yet never shows them. This is the opposite of a much more common occurence in Ben 10; showing an intelligent species and yet never naming them.