Swiggity Swooty guess who's back. Kinda. It's been a while. THE RETUUUUUUUUURN-

I only own my character and the plot of this fanfiction. Everything else belongs to their original owners.

-ShockScythe

It had been a week since Addex's last and final attempt at...whatever it was he was trying to pull. It had been a week since his ship went up in flames. It had been a week since Zeke disappeared. Normality had come pretty easily, but there had always been this emptiness that followed. The people that knew her asked about her; even Julie, who never really appeared to get along with her for whatever reason, seemed genuinely concerned about her whereabouts. Questionable alien activity continued on and off, and we all drank our smoothies like usual. Perhaps a while ago, it made no difference whether or not it was just the three of us - Kevin, Gwen, and myself - but now there was a strangely void space next to us.

As we sat in the dark, vacant parking lot of Mr. Smoothies, our little trio tried to talk. Well, it was more like Gwen and Kevin were making conversation, occasionally trying to get input out of me that held more than just a yes, no, maybe, or "mhm". I wasn't exactly interested in what they were talking about - either it was something about Gwen's classes or the DNAliens, I really hadn't paid much attention to it. In fact, I was trying to keep from thinking, focusing on a small piece of asphalt that had broken off of the road.

It seemed like such a happy piece of road, too. Just sitting there, completely content with its existence. "Ima name you... Foucault.." I randomly murmured under my breath before stretching my leg out and nudging it with the toe of my shoe. Both Gwen and Kevin's heads swiveled to look at me, concern laced through their features. Surely they were jealous of my new friendship with this little chunk of tar. What else would they be worried about, huh? I saw Gwen's head poke into my sight, brow furrowed tightly enough to knit a sweater.

"Ben?" she asked, putting a gentle hand on my shoulder, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"What is there to talk about?" I quickly countered, lifting my head and arching an eyebrow. "I'm fine, don't worry."

I could feel the looming presence before I physically felt anything, Kevin knocking a hard elbow into the back of my head from the left. My head snapped forward, sudden plain causing my eyes to blur before I whirled around to face him. "What the hell was that for!?" I demanded, covering the growing welt with my hand. Like usual, he wasn't expressing much of anything - except maybe a hint of bitter annoyance.

He clicked his tongue, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the hood of his car. Gwen stepped over to him, and suddenly they seemed to be sharing the same thought process. Which, of course, got me nervous. I did the obvious and took a step away, bringing a hand in front of me. "Um... Is this an intervention?" I asked them bitterly, "Seriously, I don't drink or do drugs. I'm fine."
Depending on one's definition of fine, of course.

Kevin wasn't the greatest at being gentle, so my cousin took the stage, outstretching her arms to emphasize. "Ben," she started to say, "I know it's been tough, we've all been trying to cope, but you have to breathe."

"Coping?" I repeated, gesturing out around us with the raised hand, "I've been coping. I've done everything like I usually do! I've fought the bad aliens, I've gone to school, I've hung out with you guys, I've actually been doing pretty well in physics thanks to Julie.. I've gone on with my life - so what's wrong?"

"Tennyson, you're mopier than a stupid mop," Kevin responded, pointing a finger accusingly at my chest, "We get it. You miss Zeke; we all do, but don't you think she would stab your ass for sulking like this?"

I bit my tongue.

Gwen put a hand on his shoulder, urging him to back off as she took the reigns. Turning to me, I saw so much ache in her green eyes... "What Kevin is saying," she made to translate, "is that this is no way for any of us to be acting. It sucks, but we've come so far without Zeke before. She knew that, too, and I don't think she would want us to suddenly act like children over her being gone. And-" Her attitude suddenly brightened, as if she realized that her super depressing-motivational speech was taking a little too heavy of a turn for me. "-besides, who's to say that she's really gone, right?"

My eyes widened to the size of saucers. While I knew that I couldn't by any means go looking for her - I had nowhere to start - at least I could play with the idea that she was still okay, right? Even Kevin seemed to doubt Gwen's approach to this, giving her this look of disbelief and are-you-kidding-me but keeping his big mouth shut. They were just trying to help, and I understood that... So, I figured I had to swallow it down. It was a waste of energy, wasn't it? God that wasn't what I wanted to call a friend... A waste of energy.

Then, the Omnitrix chirped. A voice followed the high pitched sound, giving a questioning yet equally commanding call. "Benjamin Tennyson, where are you?"

I lifted my arm so fast, turning the alien tech upward so that I could stare, with a very bewildered expression, at the projection of the Great Azmuth. He looked grumpy as ever, but even I could notice the faint twinge of a smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth. Gwen and Kevin both stood much straighter, eyes wide as they gazed upon the glow. "On Earth," I finally responded with a bit of snark, "Where else would I be? What do you want?"

"Watch that tone," the little gray man was sure to warn, raising a scolding finger, "or else I'll have to keep the surprise to myself."

"What kind of surprise?" I questioned, bringing the Omnitrix closer to my face as I squinted, "Are you finally going to tell me some of the secrets to the watch? Maybe give me some kind of medal for all the stuff I've done?"

I heard Gwen mutter something about arrogance, but I ignored her, curiosity swelling in my stomach like a hot fire. Azmuth remained silent, the ghost of a smile now stretching into reality; it even made the corners of his eyes crinkle like an old man's. Kevin had leaned forward, Gwen looked like she was about to come swarm around my arm, and I was about ready to explode into a bunch of tiny Tennyson pieces.

Azmuth pointed to his feet - or, in this case, at the illuminated dial of the Omnitrix below his projection - before asking a singular question. "Does this, perhaps, look familiar to you?"

His image disappeared, a massive galactic map expanding over the watch. Its green glow sent shadows dancing across the parking lot, the collections of constellations and alien planets swirling like a slow-churning whirlpool. As a blip appeared on the surface of one of the planets, growing to the size of one of those MASSIVE beach balls, both Gwen and Kevin's Plumber badges chirped. They pulled them out, looking at the much smaller map that had been transmitted to the devices. All at once, our eyes widened to unholy proportions, the tag on the blip expanding with a very familiar code and name; displayed beneath those was the name of the planet they were attached to.

I just about choked on my own breath.

The map vanished back into the dial, where it was soon replaced with Azmuth's proud form. Our reactions had been exactly what he was hoping for, his hands locked behind his back. He was just waiting with a smug, yet happy expression on his face. "Well, Benjamin?" he asked, "When will you be arriving?"

The planet had been Galvin Prime, home of the Galvin and the sole creator of the Omnitrix.
The name had been a simple four-letters; Zeke.

Her Plumber badge... We had tried to locate it before, but there had been nothing. Nothing. I didn't know why it was just now being broadcasted to us, but what I did know was that I could barely stand. A wave of twisted emotions had me staggering, bringing a hand to my head as I considered the possibility- No, the fact that Zeke was alive. I had so many questions, but Azmuth shook his head before I could ask them.

"It'll have to wait," he told me, "Just get here first, then we'll talk."

Just like that, the projection vanished and we were all left gaping at each other. Kevin was the first to move, yanking the driver's side door of his car open. "Get in," he ordered.

"Why?" Gwen asked him, going over to the passenger's side, "It's not like your car can fly through space."

"But we know someone who has a ship, don't we?" he countered, smirking as he climbed in and started the car.

It took a moment before I could move, practically leaping into the backseat before Gwen could climb in. We were soon ditching Mr. Smoothies and speeding down empty streets, heading towards Julie's house with the goal of taking Ship to Galvin Prime. Again.. She probably wouldn't be too happy about that, huh?

~#~

Kevin's car hadn't even turned off in front of Julie's barely-lit house before I tried climbing over the front seats - and Gwen, who happened to be there too. Of course, this got me a close call with Kevin's fist, the raven barking about how I was gonna scuff the leather with my shoes, and that I was as good as dead if I didn't sit down. Nothing I hadn't heard before. Gwen was quick to get out, letting her seat fold forward so that I could freely escape, stumbling over myself as I ran for the front door. I had made it up the front steps and rang the doorbell twice when I heard a suddenly concerned thought from my cousin;

"Isn't it curfew..?"

Oh god. My face dropped as I was suddenly worried that I would get Julie in trouble, or get in trouble with Mr. Yamamoto. He wasn't super strict if we didn't actually go out after curfew, but since I was already out and about, I'm sure he already had a few choice words up his sleeves. Geez... Mr. Yamamoto already didn't like me all that much, so this was sure to secure that wonderful position in his heart. A lock unbolted before the door swung open, Julie standing in the doorway with a smile. "Hey, Ben," she greeted, leaning to peek around me and wave at the other two who were a little slower in following me up. In the living room, I could hear a commercial for Mr. Smoothie, which only further reminded me of the importance of getting Julie to lend us Ship.

I took a breath, putting on a brief smile before all urgency returned to my veins. "Hey, Julie," I started to say, "Listen, I- We need to borrow Ship."

"Again," Kevin added sarcastically, as if he needed to remind her of all the other times we've needed to use her alien-pet. He was our only way to get into space, and while it didn't happen all that frequently, it was still a bother.

And a bother it was. Her expression turned a little annoyed, the girl crossing her arms over her chest and jutting her hip out to the side. "What on Earth could be so important this time?" she questioned, looking at me expectantly. If the world was at stake, I knew she wouldn't hesitate to lend us Ship. If a different world was, then there would definitely be a touch or two of convincing that we'd need to do. If someone needed saving, then I'm sure that, with her kind heart, Julie would agree.

Problem was that Earth wasn't in danger, a different planet wasn't in danger, and no one really needed saving. It didn't help that there was no a guarantee that- Wait, scratch that. Azmuth wouldn't go so far as to tell us to come to Galvin Prime and be so "giddy" about it if it wasn't true. So, with that being said, Zeke would be okay even if we didn't go to her right away.
But I just couldn't wait.

"I'm sorry we keep needing your pet," I apologized, lifting my hands as I spoke, "but we have no other way to travel across the galaxy. If we did, we wouldn't bother you so much about it."

She said nothing, those sharp brown eyes of hers peering straight through me. It was obvious that she wasn't about to agree to anything willy nilly without knowing the details, tapping her fingers against her bicep impatiently. Nodding a bit, I complied to her gaze yet didn't let my own falter. "We found Zeke," I explained, "and we need to go get her."

For a second, Julie's intimidating stare seemed to waver, eyebrows arching in surprise and lips parting with a small gasp. I watched her look past me, at Kevin and Gwen as if for confirmation. Then, she stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her, cupping a hand around her mouth before letting out a strong, sharp whistle.
You could hear the little blob before you saw him, the little sing-song chirps growing louder and louder as he came barreling out from the side fence. He laid his eye on Julie, and without her saying anything, leapt into the air. It was always something else to watch him morph, to watch him extend and grow into something that seemed just as impossible as his own existence. The back door dropped open, a more bass-toned call coming from Ship's depths. "Shiiiiiiiiiiiip."

Kevin was pleased, pointing back at Julie before heading for the idle Ship ship. "Watch my car!" he told her, "I just got it waxed!" I heard him call the giant ship a 'good boy' before he would board, heading up to the front and out of our immediate sight.

Gwen, of course, was a little more considerate. She turned to Julie with an appreciative smile, taking the girl's hands into her own. "Thank you so much," the redhead said, "I suppose we owe you even more now, huh?"

"You betcha," Julie responded with a softened smile, any mild hostility or annoyance she had now fading with each passing moment.

As my cousin went off to join Kevin, I decided it was my turn to thank our generous friend. Though Julie and Zeke never really got along for whatever reason, it made me relieved that that didn't exactly keep the raven haired girl from helping when it involved the blonde. I turned to her, finding that her piercing gaze was already locked on me. Before I could really speak, she raised her hand to stop me.

She took a breath and sighed, letting the raised hand come to rest on the side of her head. "Had she been anywhere else, had she been on the planet, I still might've helped you," the girl admitted. Lifting her gaze, she moved the hand from her head to my forearm, smiling a bit. "Just promise to come save me when I need it too, okay?"

"Always," I promised, covering her more delicate hand with my own, "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something happened to my friends and I couldn't save them.."

"I know."

As Ship started to take off, Julie remained in her front lawn, arms crossed warmly over her chest.
I settled into my seat behind the other two, strapping myself in with anticipation. Frankly, I didn't know what I was hoping to find.. Maybe a totally 100% Zeke? Maybe a bunch of answers to questions I didn't even know I had? Maybe I'd find a means to ensure that I didn't lose anyone ever again. I knew Julie and Kevin both for a longer amount of time than I had known Zeke, and Gwen was family. I had a hard time trying to move past losing a person that I had fought along side, and I barely made it with Grandpa Max; whatever composure I seemed to have was just a façade, because I was constantly dying inside when he went missing.

We escaped Earth's atmosphere and its gravitational pull, sitting idle in the vast expanse of space as Ship prepared the jump. Up front, both Gwen and Kevin seemed to be anxious as well, tensing in their seats. Or maybe they weren't ready for the jump... I took a breath, clenching my jaw as I stared ahead.

'We're coming, Zeke..'