Chapter 2

The Breakout

A rude awakening came in the form of loud beeps from the two circular, palm-sized badges they kept inside their bags. Gwendolyn was the first to respond, groaning as she jumped out of bed to retrieve her badge. Kevin stirred next to her, growling into his pillow. They'd had maybe four hours of sleep at this point.

"Agents Levin and Tennyson-Levin, what's the situation?" She spoke into the badge. She sat down on the edge of the bed as Kevin crawled toward her, resting his head on her shoulder.

"I am sorry to bother the two of you on your, um, sticky-sugary-lunar-cycle," Came Rook Blonko's voice.

"Honeymoon," Gwendolyn corrected. "It's okay, our leave doesn't start until Monday, technically."

"It's so not," Kevin grunted against her shoulder. Gwendolyn elbowed him lightly.

"We have received news of a massive breakout at Incarcercon, in the Null-Void. Security cameras were disabled at the time of breakout and agents on the field found no signs of the prisoners anywhere. We were hoping—"

"That with my mana-tracking abilities and Kevin's knowledge of the Null-Void, we'll be able to help." Gwendolyn concluded. "We're on our way." She stood up abruptly, the loss of support letting Kevin's face fall into the sheets. She understood perfectly how Kevin felt, as it was exactly how she was feeling as well. She had been looking forward to another day off, lounging around with her new husband, getting started early on baby-making, perhaps. They hadn't been particularly careful with protection ever since Kevin made his reluctant proposal. With earth officially joining the intergalactic alliance and more humans, mutants, and alien-hybrids joining the Plumbers and making it stronger and safer, Gwendolyn felt that it was high time for them to get started on a family. But this was occupational hazard; she knew what she was getting into the moment she accepted Magister Patelliday's offer to get her badge back after she graduated from college; so, she gathered her underwear and donned them before reaching for her Proto-Tech armor.

Kevin dutifully followed her example, putting on his boxers and tank top before stepping into his Proto-Tech armor. He gave her a grave look, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her on the lips. "Let's get this over with," He sighed. They stepped out of their room and stumbled across Kai, clad in her own armor. Kai was a reluctant recruit, more interested in her archaeological digs and findings than fighting bad guys, but she was a skilled and resourceful member of the team when it came down to it.

"Mr. Big Hero already left without you. He thinks he can handle it by himself," Kai scoffed. "Tried to remind him the last time he tried to navigate the Null-Void without you, but…" She shrugged. Gwendolyn and Kevin rolled their eyes—Ben was notoriously stubborn and they knew it all too well.

"Blonko wouldn't let him." Kevin grunted. "Come on, I'll drive." The three made their way into the parking lot and into Kevin's, er, what used to be a green 1976 Dodge Challenger but was now a virtually indestructible, heavily customized, muscle-car-slash-mini-war-tank with black racing stripes. There probably was nothing left of the original car

Gwendolyn activated the car communication system. "Ben? Come in, Ben. Are you at the base yet?"

"Gwen—what are you—Kai woke you guys up, didn't she?" Ben's voice came from the speakers.

"No, Blonko did. But just as well, you do need us," She snapped. "Can you update us on the situation? Blonko just covered the basics."

"You guys just got married! I wanted to be considerate."

Kevin huffed. "Tennyson, we know you can turn into, what is it, 10,000 different aliens now? But you are hopeless when it comes to investigations, navigations, or explorations, so tell us what we need to know and calm your dangly bits until we get there."

"I thought you'd stop being mean to me now that you're officially family." Ben whined. "Fine. A majority of the escapees, about thirty of them, are smaller-scale criminals, but there are some high-profile jerks on there as well. A few dishonorably discharged ex-Plumbers, that corrupt ex-warden Morgg, Blonko's old teacher Kundo, and… Mike Morningstar."

Kevin and Kai glanced at Gwendolyn, who tensed up at the mention of the latter. She had battled numerous psychopathic killers, rogue robot assassins, and various all-powerful beings from many worlds and dimensions, and yet the one that struck the most fear in her heart was a human male—granted, a mutant human male. Because as much as those other villains were capable of torture and murder, Michael Morningstar had violated her at her core. He took her trust and betrayed her, made her vulnerable, and assaulted her. He would never be forgiven, nor forgotten.

Ben was about to say more, but Kevin interrupted. "Okay, pause right there, Tennyson. We'll see you at the base." Suddenly Kevin wished he and Gwendolyn had ignored the badges. Whenever Morningstar was involved, Gwendolyn always got hurt. Badly. He took hold of her hand and squeezed it lightly.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence. As soon as they arrived at the base—through a chute in the parking lot of what was known as Grandpa Max's plumbing equipment store—Rook Blonko appeared to welcome them.

"Gwendolyn and Kevin, thank you for coming in. And thank you for inviting me to your festivities last night. Terran customs are most fascinating." Blonko smiled politely. Despite having been based on earth for nearly ten years, he was still not used to many human customs. It probably didn't help that his social life on earth consisted mostly of the Tennysons, Kevin, and Kai—not exactly the most conventional people around. "And Rayona enjoyed the cake very much." Back on their home planet, Revonnah, the Rooks' diet consisted solely of a fruit called amber-ogia. Even though they were basically omnivores, the pair were suckers for anything vegan, organic, and gluten-free—basically, anything recommended by Sandra Tennyson.

"No problem," Gwendolyn replied. "Did my mom give you guys enough of it?"

"She gave us plenty," Blonko nodded. "Now, Ben has been waiting rather impatiently for the three of you. I believe he has relayed to you all the details?" He led them into the command center, where Ben was leaning back on his chair, playing on the latest model of his favorite handheld gaming console, with feet up on the big round table in the middle of the room.

Kevin smacked Ben's feet off the tabletop before taking a seat next to him. "Not all, but we've got the important bit. I don't like that Morningstar is involved—that selfish bastard always finds a way to get what he wants somehow, and I don't want Gwendolyn anywhere near him." He shot a defiant look at Blonko and Ben, ready to counter any argument they were going to raise.

Instead, Blonko sighed. "We could not agree more." He declared. "This is why it has been decided that the five of us will be staying back to work behind the scenes, giving instructions to agents on the field. Some of them are currently scouring Incarcercon for any belongings the escapees might have left behind so that Gwendolyn could track them. And this," He passed a small disc, slightly thinner than their badges, to Kevin. He pressed the top of the disc, and instantly a rotating holographic image of a slightly dented globe appeared, floating above the disc. "Is a four-dimensional map of the Null-Void. It is still in Beta mode, but it is better than nothing."

The newly-wedded couple looked at each other, silently asking the other what they thought of the arrangement. Kevin held Gwendolyn's hand again. "Sounds good," He said, huskily.

"But… but… I can't miss the action!" Ben whined. "I'm Ben 10,000! I got a rep to keep!" This earned him a dangerous look from Kai. "Uh, okay. Working in the background. Cool."

Blonko handed Ben, Gwendolyn, and Kai a tablet each. "I have pulled up the files on all of the escaped convicts. I would recommend you peruse them until we hear from the field agent."

Gwendolyn got herself a head start. "Former agent Carmen Swift, formerly Terran but was mutated into an Aerophibian hybrid post-return from a mission in the Null-Void. Displayed increased hostility and defiance, dishonorably discharged after causing three deaths due to defying instructions on a subsequent mission. Incarcerated after discovered to be conspiring with others to conduct unauthorized illegal experiments using Plumber facilities and equipment." She paused as she scrolled to the bottom of the screen. "No explanations on the experiment." She looked up from her tablet and looked at Kai, who picked up where she left off.

"Former agent Phil Billings, former partner of Max Tennyson, former partner of Wes Green. Those are our grandfathers," She frowned. Ben and Gwendolyn had met Billings as children, but Kai had never met him. "Received a badge of honor after assisting Max Tennyson in defeating Vilgax. He had a good run as an agent, but was dishonorably discharged after he was discovered to conduct illegal business dealings by releasing and recapturing extraterrestrial felons and trading them for bounty. Incarcerated for the first time after said business dealings were discovered by Max Tennyson… escaped not long after. Showed symptoms of severe illness upon recapture, which medical professionals could not diagnose. Mutated into a Terroranchula hybrid and was put in solitary for the remainder of his time due to tendency for uncontrollable violence."

"Former magister Scott Leander, formerly Terran, currently a Psypiatosian-B. That's the same species as NRG." Gwendolyn looked up at Ben. "He began showing radioactivity after an explosion due to a failed illegal experiment. Nature of participation in said experiment was never established, but he was dishonorably discharged upon recovery due to noncompliance in investigation. Incarcerated for attempted murder on a proctor." She exhaled. "Again, no further explanation on the experiment or the proctor. I thought Plumber files are meant to be super-detailed!"

Blonko shrugged. "It looks like the files of the first three have not been updated for about fourteen or fifteen years. The other files are very up-to-date, however."

Gwendolyn paused, her emerald eyes betraying worry. "Grandpa sent Billings to the Null-Void when we were ten years old. Sudden mutations and involvement in illegal experiments? This doesn't sound like a coincidence."

Kevin's dark eyes met hers. "Morgg have extensive knowledge of the Null-Void and Kundo definitely still has it out for us. And who the fuck knows how Morningstar got himself involved in all of this, but that's how leeches are, I guess. Pretty suspicious if you ask me."

"Very," Gwen added, darkly. She had a bad feeling about this.