One
Along These Silent Walls
The abandoned prison was quiet as Janet Moss-Page read the surveillance report. She puts the report down on her desk. "So, Winston has been travelling between parallel universes. Did the surveillance team pick anything else up?" she asked.
"No, it's been quiet for the last few weeks. I guess the Dark God incident must've got him spooked if he's not revealing any secrets," the army colonel said.
"Interesting, Eli has his Guardians, while I have the Shadow Guard. Begin the recruitment drive. First, head to the Plumber Deportation Centre, there's a prisoner that needs to be released," she said.
She gives him a dossier and he reads it. "According to out intel, the guy is currently depowered," he said.
"Which is why I went through the trouble to acquire the Chaos Amulet," she said.
"I see, do you think it'll work?" he asked.
"It'll work, trust me," she said.
The colonel leaves the prison, gets into his car and drives over to the Plumber Deportation Centre. At the centre, I walked up the line and a Plumber gets my file out and reads it. "All right, let's see. You must be Michael Morningstar; my superiors did mention you were coming. According to the scanners, you're currently depowered," the Plumber said.
"The information you got there must be outdated," I said.
"Uh-huh, it says you committed multiple offences, from raising the dead, theft and fraud. You're currently scheduled to be deported to the Null Void. You'll resume your current prison sentence there. Have a nice trip." The phone rang and he answers. "Hello? Oh hi sir. Is there a problem? Oh I see, I'll tell him." He puts the phone. "There's someone who wants to talk to you. Head up to the manager's office, he'll meet you there," he said.
I left the queue and headed upstairs to the manager's office. I entered the manager's office to find a army colonel sitting at the desk. "You're not the manager," I said.
"What was your first clue? I'm clearly not a Plumber. I've spoken to the manager, the warden at the prison you were supposed to be heading to about your situation. Release him," he ordered.
The manager removes the handcuffs. "You're being released. Normally I won't be too thrilled about it, but my hands are tied behind my back about this," the manager said.
"Here." He places holdall on the desk. "There's a set of clothes in there. You don't want to walk around in prison garbs. Get dressed and meet me in the parking lot. I'll explain everything," he said.
Minutes later, I walked out of the building, I got into the car and we drove to the prison. "You haven't explained who you are and what you want or at least your name?" I said.
"My name is Col. Jeremy Springfield," he answered.
"Springfield, I've heard of you. You spent three years in al-Qaeda prison camp. During your time, you were able to gathered key intel regarding targets and sleeper agents," I said.
"True and true, but it also made me a target. I was lucky to get transferred to a project which my boss is currently recruiting. And you're the first recruit," he said.
"What is this project you're working on?" I asked.
"You've seen the news lately about the Guardians. Well, that's what we're aiming, except we're recruiting super villains. My boss can explain all the details once we arrive at the Old Bellwood Penitentiary," Jeremy said.
"Wasn't the penitentiary destroyed in a fire back in 1976?" I asked.
"It did, but it's safe enough to use as a base of operations. Tell me, how was your last meal before arriving at the deportation centre?" he asked.
"That steak was delicious. I haven't had anything good like that in a long time." I then realise what's going. "What did you put in the steak?" I asked.
"An insertion of nanites. It's an insurance policy we arranged to keep you lot in line. If you as much step out of line, we'll trigger the nanites and you'll be dead in a matter of seconds. We're here," he answered.
We entered the prison and got out of the car. We entered the main cell block and I met Jeremy's boss. "You look a lot like Eli Jamieson Moss," I said.
"I'm his twin sister, Michael. I'm Janet Moss-Page and welcome to the Shadow Guard," she said.
"I don't any of the other team members," I said.
"You'll meet them eventually." We heard a truck entering the prison. "I guess that must be Len Cho," Len enters the prison as the truck leaves the area. "Michael, meet Len Cho. He's one of the world's deadliest assassins," she said.
"If this is your idea of a joke, lady, you got another thing coming," Len said.
She twists his right arm. "First, show some respect for the woman who arranged your early release. Second, I have a name, its Janet Moss-Page and don't you forget it. And third, if you as much as speak to me in that tone of voice again, I'll have Alexi activate the nanites in your body," she said.
"All right, let me go, please," Len said.
She lets go. "At least you have some manners. Alexi, how are we doing with the Universal Gate assembly?" she asked.
"It's not easy as I thought it would be. I need a top of the line engineer who knows astrophysics and quantum mechanics," Alexi said.
"Oh, this is Alexi, he'll be the team's technician and gadget man," she said.
"And I'm also the one who designed the nanites," he said.
"That's comforting," Len said sarcastically.
A group of mercenaries enter the prison and bring in a stasis chamber. "Ah, I see team member number three has arrived. What's with the bullet holes?" she asked.
"Sorry, the prison received the paperwork after the chamber left the prison. We had to ambush them on the roadside to secure the chamber and there was a misunderstanding. Hence the bullet holes," the mercenary leader answered.
Alexi walks over to the chamber and inspects it. "Hmm, the outer hull hasn't been breached and her vital signs are stable," he said.
"Open it," she ordered.
Alexi opens the stasis chamber and Elena Validus comes out of the chamber. She's gone on the offensive. "Simmer down, kiddo. We're not here to fight," Janet said.
"This is not the Outreach Facility?" Elena asked.
"No, I've arranged to have you released so you can join our little team," she answered.
"What team would that be?" Elena asked.
"The Shadow Guard, by working for me. You lot get a full pardon and your criminal records will be expunged," Janet answered.
"Wow, at least that answers that question," Len said.
"It does, Alexi, bring Elena up to speed. Who knows, she may help you get the Universal Gate," she said.
Alexi shows Elena around, Janet's cell phone rang and she answers it. "Hello? Oh hey, we better discuss in the warden's office," she said.
She leaves the cell block and heads into the warden's office. "Where do I fit into this team? Both you and Len are the expert sharpshooters and Elena is the tech head," I said.
"That's easy, with this." Jeremy shows him the Chaos Amulet. "The Chaos Amulet allows anyone to become the Chaos Mage, the opposite of Dr. Nexus. Only it's powered from chaos magic. Janet meant for you to have it since you don't have your powers anymore," he answered.
Jeremy gives me the Chaos Amulet and I transformed into the Chaos Mage. "This user is worthy to possess the Chaos Amulet. It's been years since it had a user who understands magic. He will do," the Chaos Mage said.
Janet leaves the office and she is disappointed. "Is something wrong?" Jeremy asked.
"Well, it could've gone better. Both the government, the Plumber Corp and the Galvans have said no," she answered.
"This could complicate things," he said
"Who're we talking about?" Len asked.
"There's a recruit I'm after. Like you lot, I had to call in some favours and broke a lot of deals to get you lot out. I was hoping they would play ball, but they wouldn't. I wasn't hoping it would come to this, but I have no choice. Michael, Len, I'm sending you on a mission," she answered.
"What kind of mission?" I asked.
"Prison break," she answered.
"You got to be kidding me? You're sending us to break someone out of prison?" Len asked.
"I am. It's for the mission briefing. Your target is Albedo," she answered.
She places a tablet PC on the table with the mission details. Len picks it up, reads it and is surprised. "This has got to be a mistake. We're busting Ben 10 out of prison," Len said.
Len passes the table over to me. "He's different," I said.
"That's because it's not his true from. He's actually a Galvan, a former assistant to Azmuth, the creator of the Omnitrix and someone with a score to settle with Ben. His intellect and access to any Omnitrix blueprint will be vital to the team," she said.
"So where's he incarcerated?" Jeremy asked.
"St. Bastions, he's currently waiting to be deported to the Null Void," she answered.
"Isn't that the super villain prison that's been recently opened? The one Special Projects have said to be escape proof and break-in proof?" Len asked.
"That's the one. The prison is armed with the latest security countermeasures, courtesy of Mason Industries. It has six levels, with the bottom three reserved for super powered criminal criminals," she said.
"Our best guess is Albedo is in one of the bottom three levels. Getting through the main gate should be cakewalk. Getting down is going to be a challenge," Jeremy said.
"What we need is to find a alternative way in. Isn't the prison connected to a sewer line or something?" Len asked.
"Doubtful because the schematics say the prison has its own water supply which is monitored at all times," I said.
"It's most likely to prevent water based villains from breaking out. It looks like we're going through the front," Jeremy said.
Sometime later outside St. Bastions, we drove a truck up to the prison gates when the guards stopped us. "Sorry, its standard procedure, we got to check your vehicle. What's inside?" the guard asked.
"Some supplies, including toiletries, cleaning material and other supplies," he answered.
The other guard gets a scanner out, scans the truck and the results are positive. "He's telling the truth. You may proceed," the other guard said.
We drove into the prison and parked the truck around the back. We got out and snuck into the prison and we head into the control room. Jeremy sits down at the console and plugs a USB key into the port. "Alexi, I've plugged the key into the port. Get ready," he said.
"Okay, I'm getting the data now. Got it, Albedo is being held in cell B2-06. The area is secured tight, whatever you're going to do, think carefully," Alexi said over the radio.
"Thanks, let's move," he said. We made our way to the cell. Over on level B1, Argit is being escorted to the deportation room.
"Remind me, who's the midget again?" the guard asked.
"Argit, the man makes me sick. He's got fourteen arrest warrants. All of them for fraud and war profiteering," the other guard said.
"War profiteering, are they really charging me with war profiteering?" Argit asked.
"The incident involving selling weapons to the red and blue teams says otherwise. We're almost at the deportation room. Hopefully we should send this guy to the Null Void." We encountered the guards and they recognised us. "Morningstar, Cho? Hold it right there," he said.
Len gets his bow out and takes both the guards out using a trick arrow. "Hello Argit," Len said.
"Long time, no see, Len. You're still not mad about the Bangkok job?" he asked.
"More than that, we need your help. We're looking for a prisoner, he's a Ben Tennyson lookalike," Len said.
"Oh yeah, I know that guy. Albedo, he's being held on a level below us. Getting to him is going to be a problem. This level is patrolled by light security. Levels B2 and B3 are patrolled and maintained by high security. Those two levels are reserved for very dangerous super criminals," he said.
"Alexi, are you getting this?" Jeremy asked.
"Argit is telling the truth. The guards on those levels are armed with the latest guns and security mechs. Making an escape attempt or a break in impossible," Alexi said over the radio.
The alarms go off. "We got intruders on level B1. I repeat we got intruders on level B1," the tannoy announcer said.
"This is Warden Payton, to all guards in the area. Capture and arrest the intruders. No one breaks into St. Bastions and gets away," he said.
"Well, that didn't last long," I said.
"We need to get to level B2. Which is the best way to get there?" Jeremy asked.
"There's an elevator that goes up and down between the levels," Argit answered.
"They already sent guards to guard the elevator," I said.
"Well, that leaves us with one option," Len asked.
Len climbs over the rail and drops into the second level. We followed him to the level. We made our way over to Cell 60. "We made it," I said.
"Well, let's blow it up." Jeremy puts up C4 on the door. He places the electric charge, detonates it and the door is still standing. "Okay, what gives?" Jeremy asked.
"The doors are blast proof. The door is a foot thick and it has a electronic lock. Hold on, Len, have you got an EMP arrow? By using it, we can create a dead zone around the door," Argit said.
Len gets a EMP arrow out, sticks it in the door and the EMP blast shuts the lock down. We opened the door. "I can't believe it actually worked," he said.
"Albedo?" I asked.
"Who wants to know?" Albedo asked.
"It's your lucky day. We're here to get you out," I answered.
Albedo steps out of his cell as the guards surround us. "We got confirmation on the intruders. Len Cho and Michael Morningstar and some guy are breaking Albedo and Argit out of prison, over," a guard said on his radio.
"Roger, we got visual on our end," the control centre operator said.
"Not so tough, aren't you?" another guard said.
They aimed their guns at us. "Jeremy, bring Argit back with you. He's hired," Janet said over the radio.
"You might want to shield your eyes," I said. I used my new power to teleport us out of the prison. Leaving the guard perplexed and confused. Back at the Old Bellwood Penitentiary, we arrived at the prison.
"I can't believe it worked," Len said.
"It's going to take a while to master the Chaos Amulet's power. But now, I need a rest," I said.
"You earned it, now go and rest up." I head into a cell block and took a nap. "Now then, I'm going to off you both a deal. Work for me and you two will get a full pardon and your criminals will be expunged," Janet said.
"In return, we be doing what?" Argit asked.
"A series of assignments, but I'll get to that once our final recruit arrives," she answered.
"Speaking of that, we got the Universal Gate fully operational," Alexi said.
"Right, punch in the coordinates and we'll see if this'll pay off." Alexi keys in the coordinate and turns the Universal Gate on. A group of mercenaries walked through with a prisoner. "Did Providence and Special Projects give you any trouble?" she asked.
"We had a close with a Guardian. I think his name was Rex, but we evaded them. Here she is: Breach," the mercenary leader said.
He shows her Breach. "Excellent, the payment is already in your account. Look forward to doing business again in the future," she said.
The mercenaries walked back through the portal and Alexi powers it down. "Where am I?" Breach asked.
"On a parallel Earth, you do know what a parallel Earth is, don't you?" she asked.
"Van Kleiss once told me there're a number of parallel Earths. Each Earth is different and with a set of different possibilities," Breach answered.
"Correct, I'm offering you a deal. Work for me and I'll see to it you get a full pardon and your criminal expunged. I offered everyone the same deal, but there are some conditions. Jeremy," she said.
Jeremy inserts syringes into Albedo and Argit's arms. "Ow," they both said.
"What did you put into us?" Argit asked.
"Nanites, it's to make sure you lot stay in line," Jeremy said.
"It's brutal, I know," Len said.
"I knew it wouldn't work on you and Elena due to the fact your nanites can override those. Anyway, you might want to take a deep breath." She inserts a syringe into Breach's arm. "As for what I put in you. Well, you should start to feel the effects. It's something the lab boys came up. It's a cocktail containing nanites. It should remove any side effects your mutation has and your powers should remain," Janet said.
In a instant, Breach's extra arms began to disappear and it restored her to normal. "What did you do?" Breach asked.
"I gave your life back. You might want to try out your powers," she answered.
Breach opens a portal and she is ecstatic. "I don't believe it. I need a mirror." Janet gives her a mirror. Breach is amazed by what she looks like. "Not only did you give me a life back. But you also gave me my humanity back. You helped and I'll be happy to return the favour," Breach said.
She puts the mirror down. "I thought so, there's a set of clothes in the gym bag. I don't want you to go around in those rags." Breach picks up the bag, heads into a cell and gets changed. "As for the rest and the same goes to Breach, you earned the night off. Meet back here tomorrow morning and I'll brief you on your first official mission. Dismiss," she said.
We left the prison and called it a night. Morning came and we met up back at the prison. Len didn't feel so good. "What happened to you?" I asked.
Janet enters the prison. "He tried to leave town, but I triggered his nanites, I nearly caused his liver to go into overload," she answered.
"You can be one mean woman," Len said.
"I know, it's part of the job. Now that we're all here, let's get started. Your first mission as the Shadow Guard will be a snatch and bag job," she said.
"Snatch and bag?" Breach asked.
"What she means is we'll snatch the target and bag the target. Speaking of that, who's the target?" Len asked.
"I'm glad you asked. Your target is Winston Pearce, former CIA spook, business and a great information broker," she answered.
She places his file on the table. Argit picks it up and reads it. "Hmm, typical ex-CIA agent, has some shady dealings with a lot of dangerous characters and he's rich," he said.
"Why the sudden interest?" Len asked.
"Two weeks after the Dark God invasion incident. A call girl in Thailand accidentally picked up a thumb drive containing a lot of information. The thumb drive belonged to Winston. What she found on the thumb drive was more than she bargained for. Days later, she was found dead in a hotel room and the drive back in Winston's possession," she answered.
"Did the coroner determine the cause of death?" Elena asked.
"He did, but he was forced to doctor his report. Fortunately, I sent someone I know in to do the autopsy. The cause of death was cyanide poisoning, not a drug overdose as the media said," Alexi answered.
"What else do you know about the target? Or better yet, do you know what's on that thumb drive?" I asked.
"That's your mission. Your mission is to find and recover the thumb drive. If you have sufficient evidence to prove Winston is involved something bigger. Bring him here, I want to question him personally," Janet answered.
"So, we got the mission parameters, but we still don't know where he is or more importantly where he's heading," Albedo said.
"For the last several weeks, we've sent surveillance teams to monitor Winston's movements. Recently, we caught a break. As of now, he's flying to Miami to attend a conference. Also, he has a office there," Jeremy answered.
"It's apparent that the office should be bugged. Both Alexi and Elena can monitor all communications between Winston and the Miami branch of his company," she said.
"I don't want to sound like a party pooper, but I and Len are fugitives since we busted both Albedo and Argit out of prison," I said.
"Oh, I'll think of something. You'll have everything you need for this mission. Just come back in one piece. I don't want to spend millions of dollars recruiting another Shadow Guard. I only get the one team," she said.
We left Bellwood, boarded a plane and headed over to Miami. We arrived at the airfield and got out of the plane. "That's the last time I'm travelling onboard a plane with Argit," Len said.
"Hey, I wasn't the one complaining," Argit said.
"Can it, both of you. We successfully arrived in Miami without causing any trouble. Our contact here is." Their contact walks up to them. "What's the situation in Miami?" Jeremy asked.
"Winston arrived here a couple of days ago. He's been in and out of his apartment and office a few times. Nothing new, also two Plumbers have arrived for a vacation," he answered.
"Have you got ID's on those two Plumbers?" Jeremy asked.
"I took a picture of the couple and I'm waiting for brass to come through," he answered.
"All right, thanks. We better head over to the safe house," Jeremy said.
We head over to the safe house. Argit inspects the photos laid on the table. "Hmm, something's off, Winston has been back and forth from the apartment and his office. But it's the timing that's off. The journey between his apartment and the office block should take five minutes, not half an hour," Argit said.
"You're right. So where does he go between now and then?" Jeremy checks his emails and receives some new information. "We got ID's on those two Plumbers and you won't like it," Jeremy said.
He shows them a image of Gwen Tennyson and Kevin Levin. "You have got to be kidding me?" Len asked.
"No we're not," he answered.
"Forget this; we're aborting the mission now. It's too dangerous," Len said.
"I think we can handle two kids," Breach said.
"You don't get it, Gwen is the cousin to one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy," Albedo said.
"Not to mention that he's the leader of the Guardians. If we cause an incident, they'll catch on. This mission requires a lot of careful planning," Argit said.
"I agree, we need a workaround to solve this. Have we got access to blueprints of the apartment building and the office block?" I asked.
"Of course, it's on the table right next to the intel," he answered.
I picked up the blueprints and placed them somewhere on the table. "Hmm, there's a building opposite the office block. If we place one of us on that rooftop, we should get a good look of the surrounding area," I said.
"I can do that. Also, we're going to need someone on the ground to keep an eye on things," Len said.
"All right I and Jeremy can do that, observation has been taken care of. We need someone to make a bug and plant it in Winston's office," Argit said.
"Leave that to me, I'm going to need to find a way in without being detected," Albedo said.
"I can get you in and out before they suspect something," Breach said.
Okay, good, but we still need a distraction," I pointed out.
Elena takes a look at the blueprint to the office block. "I can hack into the computer system. Triggering a fire alarm in the server room," she said.
"They'll respond to the alarm, while Albedo and Breach plant the bug. We got a plan, let's get to work," Jeremy said. A day later, Argit and Jeremy are in a yellow Camaro, observing the entrance to the office block.
"I don't understand why you picked this car? It's a heap of junk," Argit said.
"What? You don't like being in an American classic. It's a great car. Len, how are we doing from up there?" Jeremy asked.
"I got a visual of your lot and the view from up here is fantastic," Len answered through the radio.
"Right, Michael?" he asked.
"The beachfront is covered and the hot dogs are delicious. Hold on, Gwen and Kevin are coming onto the beach. It's a good thing I'm wearing the Chaos Amulet. It can create effective disguises. I'll carry on observing things from the beach," I answered through the radio.
"Okay, folks, its show time. Elena, you're up," Jeremy said.
Elena is in a cafe, using her laptop to hack into the office's mainframe. "Okay, I'm bypassing the firewall. I'm in, they haven't detected me yet. I'm triggering the fire alarm in the server room. Got it," she said.
"Okay, Albedo, Breach, you're up. Get in there and plant that bug," Jeremy ordered through the radio.
Breach and Albedo entered the office through a portal. Albedo gets to work planting the bug. "The bug is planted. I just need to calibrate it and it should be good to go. Got it," Albedo said.
Back in the Camaro, Jeremy gets his cell phone out and rings Alexi up. "Alexi, are you getting the data?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes I am. The bug Albedo has designed is effective. We can listen in on all communication from in and out of the office block on every floor. Hold on, Winston is making a call to his assistant. I'll patch you through," Alexi said.
Alexi puts the call through and they listened in. "Hey Pete, I got a problem. I tore a muscle while I was out jogging last night and I can't make it today. Are we still on scheduled for the armoured truck delivery?" Winston asked.
"Yes we are. The truck should leave the depot within one hour," Pete answered.
"Good, give me a progress report as soon as it arrives," Winston said.
They hang up. Elena, Breach and Albedo got into the car. "So what's our next course of action?" Breach asked.
"Simple, we got a armoured truck to catch," Jeremy answered.
"Luckily, the bug Albedo placed traced the call Winston made to a depot in the industrial district," Elena said.
"Well then, let's going. Michael, Len, head back to the safe house. We got a heist to pull off," Jeremy said. We drove the Camaro over to the depot. The armoured truck leaves the depot.
"Ah man, the truck is leaving the depot. Floor it," Elena yelled.
Jeremy pushes the pedal hard and rams the Camaro into the truck. We got out of the car, Elena uses her powers to open the back door. Armed guards burst out of truck and opened fire. Argit opens fire on the guards, putting them to sleep. "That has got to be the shortest fire fight I've been in," Argit said.
Jeremy walks up to the driver side of the truck and holds the driver at gunpoint. "Don't even think about it." He inspects the driver's uniform. "Something tells me you don't work at that depot you lot left. You must work for a private contractor, Kry-Sec, man, Winston is really pulling out all of the stops to employ the world's top security company. How are we doing back there?" Jeremy yelled.
Albedo enters the truck, picks up a box and leaves the truck. "There were transporting something. But not anymore," he said.
"Let's get out of here before the cops show up," Jeremy said. They fled the scene before the cops show up. Sometime later at the safe house, Albedo picks the lock on the box and opens it up to find a hard drive.
"How about that. Those guys were actually transporting a hard drive," Albedo said.
"According to the truck's GPS I hacked. They were heading over to the train depot. The train was scheduled to leave the depot with the drive and the train was meant to head over to Boston, Massachusetts," Elena said.
"Does Winston have any connections in Boston?" I asked.
"He does have another home there, nothing more," Jeremy answered.
"It's going to take a day or so to hack into the hard drive. Maybe the contents on the drive should give us a clear indication about what Winston is up to," she said.
"Okay then, I think we're done in Miami. Let's head back to Bellwood and see where this goes," Jeremy said.