Bahrvad and Xylene were supposed to be… Tetrax didn't know. He'd only met the two twice: once on Revonnah and once while signing Rook up for the Plumber Academy. Neither interaction was very long and both were centered around Rook. Not a very good opportunity to get to know either of them. Everything he knew about the pair could be counted on one hand and that wasn't even an exaggeration. He counted.

1) Bahvard was a Tetramand.

2) Xylene was a Uxorite.

3) They were both Plumbers.

4) Their mission was to protect the Omnitrix.

He'd thought that would be enough to find them. He probably should've known better than to just assume that they'd be on their homeworlds or at the Academy. Of course someone tasked with such a dangerous mission wouldn't hang around the literal most obvious places people would look for them. They'd spent decades dodging Vilgax. They had to be good at hiding. Or rather, relocating.

They could be anywhere, Tetrax realized with a start. He said he'd find them and meet his, uh, apprentices on Earth but there was no guarantee he'd find them, let alone in a reasonable amount of time. What the hell was he supposed to do?

Not say that out loud, apparently. Ship seemed to take that as a sign he was open to suggestions and took off without even a beep of his own name.

"Ship!" Tetrax protested, stumbling and grabbing onto the back of the empty pilot's chair as the vessel launched forward. He wasn't quite quick enough, tipping over and hitting the ground with a loud thud, but he recovered quickly and took his place at the controls. "What are you doing?"

"Ship ship!" Ship barked and Tetrax could've sworn he was being smug. He had to know Tetrax didn't understand a word he said and Tetrax couldn't do a damn thing to stop Ship even if he could. The world around him shook as Ship shifted into warp speed and the universe became nothing more than streaks of light behind him. Ship was in total control and Tetrax was just along for the ride.

When Ship began slowing and came to a halt, Tetrax found himself in an entirely different part of the galaxy but he couldn't say he was surprised. Before him sat the marbled Galvan Prime and glowing Galvan B, presumably Ship's homeworld. "You think we'll find Xylene and Bahrad here?"

"Ship…"

Even if he couldn't understand the Mechamorph envoy's words, Tetrax knew tone well enough to know that was a negative. "But there's someone else here who'll be able to help?"

Ship titled himself from side to side, just gentle enough to not send Tetrax flying, giving a more or less motion with his body.

"Someone just as good?" Tetrax guessed. "Someone else Blonko will want to see if we can't find Bahrad and Xylene?"

"Ship!" That was definitely an affirmative if Tetrax had ever heard one. "Ship ship!"

"Alright then." There wasn't much he could do. Tetrax wasn't familiar with this area and Ship was his only ticket out. He didn't have much choice but to follow his lead. "I'm trusting you on this one."

"Ship!"

Ship began drifting down towards Galvan Prime's surface, sinking through the thick layer of clouds and entering Galvan airspace. There were other aircraft in the air around them. Tetrax eyed them nervously but no weapons were drawn on them and there were no alarms blaring. Did they recognize Ship? Or did they just trust that a Galvanic Mechamorph vessel was friendly?

Tetrax peered out the window as they got closer to the ground. He'd never seen Galvan homes, they were interesting, but it seemed Ship was more interesting in the district with the larger buildings. He circled the area a bit like an Apoplexian ready to settle down for a nap in the sun before landing and shifting back into his smaller form, barking for Tetrax to catch him as they both fell to the ground. "Ship!"

Now Tetrax was pretty sure alarms could be blaring and weapons would be drawn on them. Before any of the Galvans and Mechamorphs milling around him could react, he shouted, "We're friendly! This guy just brought me here! I'm a, uh, friend of the Plumbers."

A few figures relaxed, more remained tense but didn't move to apprehend them which was just about all Tetrax could hope for. Ship began wiggling in Tetrax's arms and hopped down to the ground, bouncing down the road excitedly. "Ship!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Tetrax murmured as he headed after the little creature. He hoped Ship really was here to see someone, not just using this as a chance to visit home. Tetrax couldn't read any of the signs. He really was totally reliant on Ship here. And it wasn't like Ship could talk his way out of any trouble he found himself in. There was a lot of potential for trouble.

But Ship looked like he knew exactly what he was doing as he wormed his way into a museum and then began bouncing down the halls towards the facilities in the back, vocalizing loudly the entire time. "Ship!"

"Ship, keep it d-" Tetrax started before a Galvan suddenly stepped out from behind a corner, expression shifting with surprise upon spotting Tetrax. "Um, hi?"

"You're not Scout," the Galvan said slowly. His eyes narrowed. "What are you doing with Ship?"

"Uh…" Wait, why was he panicking? It wasn't like he'd stolen Ship. Geez, old habits died harder than he thought. "I'm an old friend of Blonko. He and Scout are planning on taking up residence on Earth. They wanted me and Ship to find Xylene and Bahrvad."

"They're going to Earth without Xylene and Bahrvad?" the Galvan repeated in surprise before turning to call over his shoulder. "Malware! Gather your things! We are going to Earth with Ship and this Petrosapien!"

"Wait, what?" a voice sounded from a few doors down the hall. Tetrax heard a clatter and then hurried footsteps. A moment later, a red Mechamorph poked his head into the hallway. "Hi, Ship. But what?"

"Yes, what?" Tetrax hadn't been prepared to… He wasn't even sure what was happening. Have guests? "I'm looking for Bahrvad and Xylene. I don't need-"

"A Rook and Scout without a Xylene and Bahrvad are not a combination I want Earth to see. Malware and I are fully capable of fulfilling the role until the Plumbers locate the two of them."

The Plumbers were looking for Bahrvad and Xylene too? Weren't the two of them Magisters? Wasn't it the Plumbers job to know where they were? Sure, Xylene and Bahrvad's literal job was to go off the radar for a couple decades but it wasn't anymore. Where could they possibly be? He'd really been counting on tracking those two down. But that didn't mean he wanted this Galvan and Galvanic Mechamorph to hitch a ride with him and Ship all the way to Earth. "I trust that between the Plumbers on Earth and myself, we'll be able to keep an eye on Blonko and Scout."

"Nuh-uh. Knowing those two, they got into heaps of trouble the moment they were left alone."

Tetrax opened his mouth, wanting to argue, but found he couldn't think of a single thing to say in response. He was probably right.


"So everyone know how the teleporter works?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Okay. Cool."

"I could test it as Warp," Rook offered. "He teleports himself so he must be resilient to transporting on a molecular level, plus I will be able to get out of danger if something goes wrong."

"Wait, you've been able to teleport this whole time?" Ben screeched, looking affronted. "So we built this whole machine for nothing?"

"Gwen can teleport too and we're not asking her to teleport all of us all the way to Earth," Kevin said, nudging Ben with his elbow. His gaze shifted to Rook. "You go first then. Send us some kind of signal to let us know it's all clear. If we don't hear anything within a day, we'll assume something went wrong."

Rook nodded as Kevin and Scout took their places at the teleportation pad's controls and began dialing up Warp in his Omnitrix. Warp was a useful alien but not one he used much. His primary ability was teleportation and Rook wasn't quite skilled enough with it to use in combat or for long range teleportation, not to mention looking at him unsettled his friends quite a bit. This might have been the first time a situation called for Warp where another alien wouldn't do.

Rook pushed down on the button of his watch and let the familiar feeling of transformation consume him, ignoring his human friends' surprise at the sight of his newly formed wrinkly tan skin and freakishly wide eyes. Maybe there was a reason Warp's species gained the ability to flee with a mere thought. "Warp!"

Thankfully, there wasn't much of a reaction beyond a couple facial expressions. His friends had to be used to alien weirdness by now. And if they weren't, there were bigger things to worry about than his appearance. Warp reached forward, digging his knife-like hands into the floor, and dragged the rest of his body into the teleportation zone. "Give me a countdown when you're ready."

"Uh-huh," Kevin responded distractedly, attention still on the control panel. Gwen and Ben took a few steps back, watching the scene cautiously. Warp hoped there would be no reason for them to step in. "Alright. Teleportation in three… two… one… and go!"

Teleporting felt familiar. Not as familiar as transformation but still familiar. Natural. But this time, it didn't feel anything like it usually did. Warp's power came from within. This power enveloped him. The word became distorted around him, Warp's friends becoming blurry and reality melting into a blend of colors. Foreign energy tickled his particles. Warp could feel each and every one latching onto his particles before carrying them off into the beyond.

In the back of his mind, Warp knew the teleportation was near instantaneous but the universe seemed to slow around him and he felt each and every piece of him torn apart and reconstructed halfway across the galaxy. Hopefully other life forms would not be as sensitive to the process as Warp was. He didn't know if their minds would be able to handle such a sensation.

But when the sensation died down and he blinked his eyes open to a new sight, Warp felt refreshed. He took a deep breath, letting the air fill his lungs. Oxygen, this was definitely Earth. He let a small smile slip into his face. What a relief this thing worked.

Someone screamed. Apparently they didn't share his joy.

Warp cranked the upper half of his body, rotating himself to see where the voice came from and both pairs of his eyes falling on a humanoid rodent in a… Oh colors were weird right now. Was that a Warp thing or a side effect of the teleportation? He blinked a few times. He was pretty sure the creature's jacket was orange? Warp didn't think it looked particularly good on him.

There were two other voices, ones Warp found far more annoying. Another turn showed him it was two Galvans. All three of them were screaming. Warp wondered if there was a chance he teleported somewhere he shouldn't have. He rotated again, cranking his body to angle two of his eyes towards the ground. No, that was a teleportation pad. No reason these three should be panicking as much as they were. Maybe they'd miscalculated how far Earth was? There were plenty of worlds with exclusively intraplanet teleportation that their signal might've accidentally caught onto.

"Why does it keep doing that?" the rodent shrieked, scooting back on the floor to press against the wall. Warp frowned and rightened himself to get a better look at him but that just made the rodent scream more. "That's so freaky!"

"Blukic! Sound the alarm!" one of the Galvans yelped, abandoning his workstation to run for the exit.

"Nuh-uh!" the other Galvan responded. "You do it!"

"You do it!"

"You do it!"

"You're closer!"

"Only because you ran away! You were closer when that thing came in!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

If this was a Plumber base, Warp prayed for this planet's state of being. There was no way they were faring well if these were the aliens they had manning the lab.

"Oh for the love of- I'll just do it." The rodent got up abruptly and slammed his tail down on some control panel Warp couldn't quite see, sending an alarm blaring through the building, and leaned into a microphone. "Hey everyone, Argit here. Y'know, your favorite Plumber. Yeah, we got a freaky alien in here with knives for hands and I think he's going to steal our souls or something so, uh, help?"

Warp couldn't hear the rodent's voice– Argit, apparently– over the intercom but the alarm did its job. Footsteps sounded outside, all thundering towards him. He sighed and teleported out of the lab. He sensed a long fight ahead of him before anyone gave him the chance to explain. Well, nothing he could to about it but do what he did best. His saggy mouth curled up into a smile as he raised his blades. These Plumbers would not like what Warp did best but he certainly would. He hadn't had a proper fight in years. Oh, this was going to be fun.


Author's Note: I am very excited to bring Rook and Scout to Earth but I am getting surgery July 2022 and will be on hiatus for an unknown amount of time. There will be one or two more updates and then I will disappear for a bit. For status updates, keep an eye on my secondary tumblr account which is linked on my profile here on FFN. That account serves as a way to keep readers updated on the statuses on various fics.