Chapter 2: Friction

It was rough, bumpy ride through the wormhole. The ship tumbled all the way through. Eventually, the ship started to descend, and it smashed into the ground, plunging a good hundred meters across the ground before coming to a full stop.

Ben couldn't be more uncomfortable than he was then. He pushed the taller Revonnahgander off of him. Ben tried to get up, but the pain in his abdomen prevented him from moving at all.

He heard a groan. He saw Rook rubbing his head and getting on his feet. When Rook regained his bearings, he looked confused. But after a few seconds, his eyes widened, as if he had realized something. He quickly scanned the ship, his eyes finally landing on Ben.

"Ben!" Rook ran straight to him.

"If you think that'll work for a second time, you're a bigger idiot than I thought," said Ben apprehensively.

Rook was startled. "Ben, it — it is me, Rook."

"Dude, I'm not falling for that one again. How dumb do you think I am?"

Ben started to push himself up, albeit with much difficulty. Rook immediately bent down and tried to help him up, but Ben slapped his hands away.

"Don't make me go all Humungousaur on your butt."

"Please allow me to help you," Rook pleaded. "I promise I will not harm you."

Ben narrowed his eyes at the Revonnahgander. Then, he smiled.

"Yeah, okay. I guess Dr. Psychobos wouldn't have said 'please'," he joked with a small chuckle.

Rook smiled back, but it was only a passing one. He helped the boy up, and Ben was grateful to be sitting upright again. He leaned against the wall and let out a small sigh.

"Thanks," said Ben. But he did not get a response. Instead, Rook stared at the bruise forming on his cheek and his hold on his stomach. Ben was about to wave it off, tell the Revonnahgander that it wasn't his fault, but Rook was already ahead of him.

"I... I have no recollection of what had transpired," Rook's voice was no more than a whisper. "But I... I am sorry. I was about to—"

"Psh," Ben cut him off, dismissing his concerns. "I was totally kicking your butt. Well, your and Dr. Psychobos' butts. Two birds with one stone and all that."

Rook gave him a look, one that showed he didn't believe him. But then he felt a sting on his own cheek. He moved a hand to touch it, only to cringe when his hand stung too. He looked at his hand and saw what looked like teeth marks between all the fur.

"Er, heh," Ben smiled. "Sorry about that."

Rook merely frowned, part of him wondered how Ben, in his human form, managed to even land a hit on him. He shook his head, deciding they had more important matters to discuss.

"What happened?" Rook finally asked.

"Y'know, I'm not entirely sure myself." Ben thought for a moment before continuing. "You remember flying off to fight the Incurseans?"

Rook nodded. "Yes. I was shooting at the flagship. An Incursean had managed to board my ship, and then..." Rook's face crunched as he tried to remember. "... and then I... was about to punch you in the head."

"Yeah," Ben only briefly acknowledged that fact. "Dr. Psychobos must be doing his mind control thing again. You guys came back to Plumber HQ and started to go all Psychobos on me."

"But we destroyed the bulk of his Amber Ogia concentrate. He should not be able to mind control everyone on Earth." Then Rook's eyes went wide with realization. "Unless... he is not controlling everyone. He could control key members of Earth's populace instead. Presidents, Prime Ministers... even the Plumbers."

Ben's face immediately became one of horror. "We gotta go stop him."

He immediately got up, and pressed a button on a nearby panel. The back cargo door of the ship slowly opened. They were greeted by a warm breeze. Before them was a golden desert of sands and odd, spherical-shaped cacti. There was nothing else for miles and miles that they could see. There were outlines of mountains in the horizon—and even those looked just as bare.

Ben stepped out, looking around in disbelief at the unknown environment. When he turned his head upwards, all doubts vanished as he stared at the vividly fulvous sky.

"Rook, I've a feeling we're not on Earth anymore."

Rook jumped onto the ground next to him. Rook took out his scanning device and moved it slowly around him.

"In the future, please do not leave the ship without first determining the suitability of a planet's atmosphere," said Rook with a slight frown. He paused in moving the device. "But you are correct. This is not any planet in the Solar System. There are also signs of life in this direction. It seems that it may be intelligent life, which means there may be some form of municipality."

"Meaning..."

"If we go this way, we might come across a town," Rook pointed at a direction in the distance. Ben squinted his eyes, and saw the silhouette of buildings and structures.

"Oh, cool," was all Ben said. He turned around to the ship. "Can your ship still move?"

Rook took a look at his ship. The Proto-TRUK was in bad shape. The dents on its body weren't so bad, but the cracks and damage to the hull as well as the wings effectively disabled flight and travel across vacuum space. The front window's glass, however, fared far better than any other part of the ship.

"I do not think it is space worthy anymore," Rook said sadly as he looked at his beloved ship.

"Sorry," Ben apologized. Then he patted him on the back and added with a smile. "Maybe we can repair it in town. I can help!"

"I... appreciate the offer," replied Rook, unsure if he'd like Ben fiddling with the parts of his ship. He gave his ship a long, hard stare. "Perhaps its other form functions better."

Rook climbed back into the ship and went to the front cabin. He pressed a button and the ship began to transform into the ever familiar truck. The dented and partially scratched wording on the sides barely even read as 'Max's Plumbing' anymore.

"It is working relatively well," Rook called from the driver's seat. "Hop in."

Ben walked around the truck and entered from the passenger's door. He sat down and put on a seatbelt. Rook tried to get the truck to move, but for a few seconds all it did was shake. Rook tried again, and the truck finally gave in and moved. It made various noises that no healthy vehicle should make.

"It appears that numerous conflicting functions had been carelessly activated," Rook commented to himself, agitation just barely detectable in his voice.

"Excuse me for trying to escape the mind controlled zombie horde," Ben replied sarcastically.

"I did not mean to offend."

"Yeah, well, I'm not offended," Ben replied, crossing his arms as he looked out the window. But Rook looked at Ben from the corner of his eye, and Ben looked like nothing if not offended. Rook still didn't quite understand the human emotional cues.

Before Rook could probe further, Ben suddenly asked, "What happened to grandpa Max? He wasn't with you guys when you came back."

Rook tensed. He knew Ben saw it. Ben immediately sat up straight and gave Rook a hard look.

"What happened to grandpa?" he asked again, slowly this time.

Rook kept his gaze forward. He anxiously bit his lip.

"Dude, tell me," Ben angrily told him.

But Rook said nothing. He wasn't going to risk saying anything stupid without giving proper thought to it first. But his silence only made Ben angrier.

"Rook, you're not hiding anything, are you?"

"No!" Rook quickly answered. Rook's head scrambled for the right words. "No, I — I think this is not the right time—"

"Does it matter? Something happened to him! How is there a 'right time' to tell me that kind of thing? I need to know!"

Rook kept quiet. He tried his best to keep his eyes straight ahead. Ben was having none of it. He refused to be ignored. Something happened to grandpa Max and Ben had to know.

"You can't try to keep something like this from me, Rook!"

"I am not trying to keep anything from you!" Rook snapped at him. "How do you want me to tell you that Magister Tennyson had crashed directly into the Incursean flagship? That Magister Tennyson's ship exploded upon impact? That Max Tennyson is—"

When he realized what he was saying, Rook almost wanted to slap himself. He really did meant to tell Ben eventually, but he didn't mean to blurt it out like that. He wanted to lay the news gently, comfortably. He braced himself for the verbal onslaught from Ben, who Rook expected to be outright furious... and rightly so. He expected Ben to yell at him for trying to keep such a thing hidden. But he received no such thing. Curious at the lack of retaliation, Rook carefully glanced at his partner.

Ben stared at him, his expression unreadable. The boy then leaned into his seat and turned away to look out the other window. Rook should have been relieved that Ben wasn't angry, but really he was even more worried because Ben wasn't angry... Or at least he didn't seem to be.

After that, it was silent in the truck. After almost an hour, they arrived in front of a large arch that greeted them into the city. The arch looked old, dusty and rusted. The city's walls spanned as far as their eyes could see. Its tall, towering metal walls were anything but welcoming. The walls were nothing to look at, designed with only practicality in mind to keep people from sneaking in, or out. There were no gates to speak of, but the hinges that hung uselessly from the sides were telltale signs that one used to be there.

When they entered the city, it was empty. There were many concrete buildings built far too close to each other. Darker shades of dirt and gravel made the roads of the city. The streets were small and narrow, and it twisted and turned as though they had been designed without any foresight. Clothesline hung from wall to wall, even across houses, but they were empty. Wooden planks had boarded up most if not all of the windows of the buildings in the city.

"It's deserted," Ben muttered, looking out the window with disinterest.

Rook sighed. He wasn't going to get his ship repaired after all. Then he made small grin while he attempted to lighten the mood.

"At least it could not get any worse."

Ben's head instantly snapped at him, his eyes wide open in shock as if Rook had just uttered the most offensive profanity in the whole galaxy.

As if on cue, a group of humanoid, white-skinned aliens jumped from hiding. Some landed on top of the truck, and several were ramming against it. Some of them were hitting the glass, trying to break it. Ben immediately readied his hand on his Omnitrix, only to remember that it was still inactive. He jumped when a loud blow dented the door next to him.

Rook had opened the way to the back of the truck. He grabbed Ben and pulled him away from the front window, earning a surprised cry from the latter. He activated a panel on a wall. After inputting a certain code on the panel, he inserted a pod into the barrel of his Proto-Tool pod launcher.

"Get ready to run."

Rook aimed his weapon at the back of the truck. He shot. The pod exploded against the truck's back doors, destroying it and knocking back their attackers. Without hesitation, Rook and Ben sprinted out of the truck. They had barely managed to run for more than a couple of meters, when the truck – the whole truck – exploded. The impact and shockwave that resulted sent everyone in proximity flying. Rook recovered quickly. He immediately got up and pulled Ben up by the arm with him.

"Warn me next time," Ben groaned, holding his head in a hand and snatching his arm from Rook.

Before Rook had a chance to even open his mouth, a round of blasters were already shooting at them. The two of them quickly started running again. The streets were small, so it was reasonable to assume that the number of people chasing them would be limited by the space. But they had no such luck. The white-skinned human-like aliens sometimes jumped in their path from above or even from corners, but so far the duo managed to kick, punch, and headbutt their way through. Rook was surprised, if not impressed, that Ben actually had skill with unarmed combat.

Alas, luck was a finite matter. They ran into a dead end, a tall, looming wall stood mockingly before them. They whipped around, and saw the group of white aliens approaching them slowly. Rook stood readily, ready to fight his way through, but Ben was not. He wasn't going to last without his Omnitrix, not against the horde of aggressive alien thugs.

Suddenly, the horde gave way to a passing figure. A man emerged in front of the crowd. He was also white-skinned, with features that resembled the average human. But he was tall—as were the rest of his species. His clothing were blue—as were the rest of his followers. They all had black markings on their faces, but the one in front had the most prominent one.

"You, blue guy," the humanoid man spoke roughly to Rook. "Hand us the human and we'll forget you tried to blow up my men."

"No," Rook answered without missing a beat, but Ben also answered just as quick.

"That depends. What do you want with me?"

Rook turned to Ben. Ben gave him a look that conveyed 'I know what I'm doing.' Rook frowned, but decided to let Ben handle it for now.

The humanoid huffed. "The boss'll like you. He likes humans."

"So, what, he wants to have a chat with me?"

"Sure, why not," the humanoid shrugged. "He'll also wants you on a plate. As a meal. For him to eat. Do you want me to keep spelling it out for you?"

Ben paled upon realizing what his species meant to the aliens before him. Rook stepped in front of him. "I believe this deal is off."

The humanoid smirked, smacking his fist into his palm. "We don't need no deals to get what we want anyway."

Just as the alien was about to signal for his gang to attack, numerous pellets dropped between them and the duo. In a split second the alley was filled with smoke. His vision was clouded, but Rook saw an hand appear from behind, grabbing Ben by the wrist.

"Come with me," he heard the figure speak. Ben was then pulled away. Rook quickly followed, trying his best to keep Ben within sight among all the smoke.

They ran past the horde, knocking down some of them down as they tried to make way. Rook had to make every effort to keep up. It was as if whoever it was pulling Ben away didn't care if Rook followed, or, rather, didn't want him to follow. This made Rook even more determined to catch up to the nabber. When they emerged from the smoky screen, Rook saw that the nabber was also the same species as their earlier attackers—A tall, white-skinned humanoid with short dark hair.

Rook waited for them to turn a few corners. When they arrived at a relatively deserted alley, Rook sprinted and jumped in front of the man. He readied his blaster at him.

"Let go of him and put your hands in the air," Rook ordered threateningly.

"Whoa, dude," Ben said, easily shaking his wrist away from the alien. "He just saved us."

"He and them are of the same species. We must be aware that they find your species to be a delicacy."

Ben blanched. The alien did not put up his hands. Instead, he shrugged.

"I recognize the wielder of the Omnitrix when I see him," the alien said, glancing at Ben. Then he looked at Rook. "And while I am a Lefconian, not all of us are interested in consuming meat that comes from intelligent, sentient beings."

Rook gave him a good look. He soon put away his weapon, but that didn't mean he was convinced. "What do you want with 'the wielder of the Omnitrix', then?"

"He's the savior of the Universe," the alien replied as if it was the most obvious answer ever. "Of course I had to save him. And you, I suppose."

"Well, thanks, then," Ben thanked the alien with a smile.

"You're quite welcome," the alien smiled back.

The two of them stood smiling at each other for a few seconds until Rook coughed, snapping them out of it.

"My name is Rook," he introduced, though it had none of his usual politeness. "I expect our savior has a name."

"Brant," the alien smiled, extending a hand. "Avel Brant."

Rook took the hand, shook it, and then immediately let go. Rook wasn't sure what was it about Brant that made him so distrustful. He just... was. Rook took a good look at the alien. He looked just like their attackers earlier, except the markings on his face were more angular and less rounded.

"And I'm Ben," Ben introduced himself. Then he put a hand behind his neck in embarrassment as he grinned. "But, er, you know that already."

"That I do," again Brant replied with that smile of his. "What I don't know is what you two are doing here."

"Our ship sort of crashed here..."

"Oh? You have a ship?"

"I destroyed it," Rook told him.

"Pity. But a clever move nevertheless. It would be bad if it fell into the hands of the Orano."

"Or any other hands for that matter," Rook said, keeping a calculating gaze on Brant. "Who were those people? Why did they attack us?"

"Let's walk and talk," Brant said, walking ahead and gesturing for them to follow. Ben was quick to follow, while Rook lagged slightly behind. Brant continued, "You were attacked by a group attached to the Orano faction. Orano's people are an aggressive bunch. Up until recently, their turf covers the entrance, so they'll get anything that passes by there... for now, anyway. I assume you were attacked on your way in?"

"Yes. They had laid an ambush for us," Rook replied.

Brant nodded. "It's what they do. I am curious, though," Brant turned to Ben. "Why didn't you use your Omnitrix?"

"Uh, well..." Ben slowly and embarrassedly spoke up. "My... Omnitrix isn't working."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. It just won't respond to anything I do right now," Ben showed the grayed-out Omnitrix to Brant. Rook thought it suspicious that Brant was a bit too interested to know that Ben's Omnitrix was malfunctioning. Ben asked, "So I guess you're not on their side?"

"No, I am one of the Anamo," he gestured to the yellow band on his arm. "You see this color, you're in friendly company." Then Brant looked at Rook. "Am I not in friendly company as well?"

Rook had less than pleasant words for Brant, but he knew when to be grateful.

"I appreciate your aid in getting us out of that situation," Rook told him politely. Brant gave him a thin smile in response.

They arrived at what looked like to be a whole other city within the city. There was a large gate, and it was closed. Behind the gate was a watchtower. Brant whistled and clapped his hands. A head popped out from a tower. The watchman waved and Brant waved back. The watchman pulled his head back inside and in mere seconds the gate slowly started to give way.

"This is Anamo's turf," Brant told them as they walked in. "We have our own farmland and several substantial locations, and none of the other factions have dared to cross our turf."

"It sounds like you have a lot of enemies," Rook said.

"Indeed. But it's a long story. I won't bore you with it."

As they walked through, Ben and Rook noticed that the looks they were getting from the yellow-clad people within the base were not at all friendly. In fact Rook was pretty sure most of them were scowls.

"Don't worry," Brant assured them, already sensing their discomfort. "They're wary because the colors you wear are the ones our enemies wear. I will let word out that you are my guests."

They walked through a doorless cottage, and inside was one simple room with a table and some chairs. Brant gestured for them to take a seat as he took one himself.

As they seated themselves, Rook said, "I do not mean to be rude, seeing as you had just saved us and have brought us into your care, but we have an urgent need for a space-worthy vessel."

Ben chimed in, "Yeah. We got to get to Earth as soon as possible."

"A ship, eh," Brant thought for a moment. "We do have a ship that happened to crash into our lands, but the pilot seems to have disappeared."

"Maybe Rook can pilot it," Ben said excitedly. He then looked at Rook. "Right?"

"I may be able to," Rook replied with a nod.

"I doubt it," Brant said dismissively.

Rook gave him a look, but said nothing. But Ben incredulously told Brant, "Dude, Rook's piloted his ship through so many explosions it's not even funny."

"You don't understand," Brant defended himself. He sighed. "It's easier to show it to you. Follow me."


"NotlittEnduUUu. WahhRAhnnirnraaAd. WeeEresrAad. NotitnyyYYythengtillnnissEdnnirnrAaaAd. IrnrAaaAd. IrnraaaAd. IrnrAAAad—"

Ben and Rook stared at the horizontal strip of screen above the door of the ship. The pink rectangle in the middle of the screen bounced and its expression was furious.

"You guys try getting past that," Brant sighed.

"Pyxi!" Ben and Rook exclaimed at once.

"IrnrAaDd! IrnRAAhDdd!" The AI continued to cry in its strange language.

"You know this thing?" Brant questioned, surprised. The two nodded at him.

"Pyxi, remember me? Ben?" Ben tried to talk to the AI. "We delivered that Gracklflint? And then that hippie alien stowed on board? Remember?"

Suddenly Pyxi was quiet. The rectangular box had a neutral expression. Thinking he had gotten through to the AI, Ben asked, "Where's Rad?"

Then Pyxi started yelling things again. Pyxi continued to shout various gibberish while Ben tried to reason with the furious AI. Rook knew it was futile to try to persuade Pyxi, but he decided to let Ben do it anyway, knowing full well that the human wouldn't be satisfied until he tried.

"We know where the pilot is being held," Brant said to Rook. "The Orano have him. They're waiting for us to give up the ship, but as you can see we're still holding on to it."

Rook gave him a suspicious look. "Why would the Orano expect you to give up this ship?"

"They... have their ways. But that is not your concern," Brant's gaze on Rook was almost a glare. "I can retrieve the necessary resources to rescue this pilot from the Orano. It will take time, so I'll arrange for some accommodation for the two of you."

"That is... very generous of you," Rook said slowly.

Brant shrugged. "Least I can do for the savior of the Universe. And you, I suppose."

Brant walked towards Ben, who was just about to give up trying to talk to Pyxi. Rook's stare on the Lefconian was so intense that if Brant so much as shed a single hair, Rook would notice it. Rook did not trust Avel Brant. Not one bit.