When he transformed back, Rook would be a bit alarmed about how much fun he had as Warp. Was Warp like Rath? Or Terrorsaur? Could he trust himself to be in control as him? But no, he figured that was not the case. It'd just been a long time since he'd been able to cut loose like this. And if there was something dangerous about transforming into Warp, there wasn't much he could do about it.
In the moment, he found he didn't care in the slightest. When even was the last time he transformed into Warp, let alone used him in combat? Wait, no. This wasn't supposed to be combat. This was a Plumber base. These were supposed to be his allies, though he couldn't blame them for their wariness or alarm at his appearance.
The Galvans and that Argit creature were still screaming when armed, uniformed Plumbers charged into the lab but Warp was long gone. The teleportation was instantaneous but just long enough for Warp to realize he didn't know where he was going. Silently, he prayed he didn't end up inside a wall. He was sure he'd be fine but now wasn't really the time to find out.
A girl shrieked and Warp felt something light hit his head. He cranked his head around, angling his monocular eyes toward the ground and the other pair toward his attacker. There was a human girl and a… hairbrush? Oh, he must've teleported into the dormitory wing. Whoops. Not exactly where he wanted to go but he wasn't complaining. Hopefully this Plumber would listen to him one-on-one before any fighting broke out.
"Sorry," Warp croaked, righting his head back to its usual position and leaning forward on his hands. "I-"
A hand connected with his tentacles and Warp teleported on instinct, reappearing beside a Tetramand. And to his surprise, the girl appeared shortly after him. Maybe she wasn't quite as human as Warp thought.
"Wha- Eunice!" The Tetramand looked surprised, glancing between the girl and Warp before fixing his attention on the latter. "You must be the intruder."
"It's a teleporter," the girl– Eunice– warned. "I got its powers but I don't think I can beat it on my own. We'll need Helen to corner it and Pierce or Argit to keep it down."
"Radio them in," the Tetramand told her. "I'll keep it busy."
Warp blinked at them curiously, too intrigued to disappear into the depths of the base like he probably should. These Plumbers were different than the ones he encountered previously. A team, perhaps? It was uncommon for Plumbers to work in dedicated squads. Unless they had particularly niche skulls, they were usually shuffled around as needed. Still, it wasn't unheard of. Afterall, Xylene and Bahrvad were in a squad back in the day and Ben, Kevin, and Gwen would probably count as a team. If this maybe-human and Tetramand were part of a team, that meant they had to be something special, right? Warp wanted to see what that was.
The Tetramand came at him, all four hands clenched into a fist. Warp ducked under the first swing then transported himself to the other side of the room, grinning at the Tetramand's frustration. Oh this was fun. He was always the one getting his tail kicked, whether it be an enemy like Vilgax or training with a friend like Dr. Viktor. It always frustrated him but now that he was starting to see the other side, he understood why everyone was always so hard on him.
The Tetramand came at him again, telegraphing his actions clearly enough for Warp to dodge without issue. Was he this obvious when he was Four Arms? He'd fought Bahrvad loads of times and it was always so much harder than this. Not that this Tetramand was unskilled or weak by any means. It was probably just a reflection of how experienced Bahrvad was and how much his training with Rook had paid off. That being said, even if the Tetramand's offense wasn't working, Warp still had no way to attack himself. He had to get close to use his scythes and close meant being in range of those wild arms. He did not want to get hit with one of those.
"Hold still!" the Tetramand growled as Warp dodged yet another strike. This time, however, Eunice joined in, teleporting behind him and landing a solid kick on the back of Warp's head. Rhythm thrown off, Warp hit the ground but managed to get control again and move before the Tetramand came thundering down on him.
Warp scooted himself to the opposite side of the room, getting Eunice and the Tetramand into view as he tried to think of a plan to take them down. He could keep dodging until they wore down enough to talk but that would take awhile. Backup was already on its way and Warp didn't want to have to flee if the situation became too hot to handle.
Warp felt wind slam into him before a flurry of blows, which he escaped quickly by beaming up onto the Tetramand's shoulders. Eyes scanning the room, he spotted a Kinceleran and two humans, though Warp doubted either ofthem were truly human after seeing Eunice teleport. One of them had spikes instead of hair and the other, well, he looked normal for now but Warp had no doubt that would change. Maybe he'd bitten off more than he could chew here.
"Manny!" the Kinceleran yelled as the Tetramand swatted over his head, prompting Warp to teleport away again. The Kinceleran's speed was going to be a problem and he didn't even know the other two's abilities yet.
The smallest human suddenly burst into flames and a volley of fireballs were sent his way. Again, Warp dodged those only to teleport directly into a shower of spikes that he was forced to swat away with his scythes. This was starting to look bad. Ranged attackers, plus two people who could keep up with him, and a heavy-hitting Tetramand? Not good for him.
The ranged attackers were easy enough to take down. Or, well, not easy but doable. With some clever planning, he could trick them into hitting each other, or at least teleport behind one and take him out himself without fear of the other attacking him depending on which opportunity presented itself first. It was a strategy he'd practiced dozens of times with every teacher he'd ever trained under and it took no time flat to execute. Eunice and the Kinceleran, on the other hand, were a bit harder to deal with. Plus, they only got more aggressive when Warp tossed their unconscious allies out of the room.
The girls had the advantage of strategy and familiarity. Like Warps trickery with the spikey one and the fireball thrower, these two knew how to box him in and cut off his path long enough for the Tetramand to get close. Warp wove around his fists every time but it was only a matter of time before he got hit and he never got long enough of a break to make a plan.
Should he take about the teleporter and speedster first? He had a hard enough time with the Tetramand without those to covering him. Or should he knock down the Tetramand first so he didn't have to worry about getting hit when dealing with the girls' cunning? Could he even take out one without the other two getting a chance to hit him? They worked like a well oiled-machine. They made up for each other's weaknesses but, like any machine, new weakness opened up when a piece was missing.
Warp dodged a hit from the Tetramand and teleported, only to be cut off by Eunice. The Kincleran would come next, he knew. This was his chance. Two of his eyes spotted a blur of blue and he blipped immediately, reappearing behind her. Leaning his weight forward, he managed to pin her under him, digging his sharp hands into the ground so she couldn't wiggle her way out from under him.
"Hey!" she shouted as she tried to slap him with her tail. Warp winced. It didn't exactly hurt but it didn't feel good either. "Get off me!"
Warp responded by blinking out of the room, the Kinceleran still firmly in his grasp, and dropping her in some far corner of the base before blinking back to the fight.
"What did you do with Helen?" Manny shouted, looking far more angry than Warp had seen him thus far. Warp opened his mouth to respond only to sense Eunice appearing beside him and a sudden wave of exhaustion overtook him.
Confused, he looked around to see what she could possibly be doing but she was just standing there. A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around his torso, dipping under his arms and locking the unseen figure to him, and the drain suddenly intensified, leaving Warp's vision hazy.
"Ormerowon?" Warp murmured in question. There was no way an Ormerowon found its way into the Plumber ranks but he had no idea who else could be draining his power. He tried to teleport out of this newcomer's grasp but found he couldn't muster the energy. A Conductoid, maybe? But they mainly absorbed electricity. Warp's powers relied on energy. Could that be absorbed as well?
Whatever it was, it was just draining his teleportation energy, not his strength. Warp wasn't the strongest alien physically but he wasn't exactly weak. Whoever the figure behind him was stronger through, it seemed. As much as he struggled, the figure's grip didn't slacken.
"Manny!" the man barked.
"Right!" the Tetramand responded and took a step toward him. All Warp saw was a red fist and then darkness.
The alarm blaring through the headquarters had been a surprise. The brown, snake-like creature appearing in her room had been even more so. Eunice was never one to let surprise stop her though and she reacted in an instant, copying the alien's powers and following him out into one of the larger rooms of the base.
As far as she could tell, the alien's only power was teleportation but it was tricky enough to be more than a handful for Manny, Alan, Helen, Pierce, and herself. It took out Pierce and Alan fairly easily and was smart enough to teleport Helen away. It was then that Eunice realized she could use her own teleportation to get help.
"Keep that thing busy when it comes back," she told Manny, gearing up for a transport. The powers were new but she thought she had a decent enough grasp on them. Quick learning came with being the Unitrix, she knew. "I'm going to go get a magister!"
She didn't wait for Manny to respond before teleporting into the Cortex. Silently, she hoped it wasn't just Patelliday on duty. She loved him, she really did, but he wasn't exactly the best back up.
"Eunice?"
"Magister Levin!" Oh thank whatever gods or aliens responded to wishes. "Manny's fighting the intruder alone right now. He's a teleporter. We need help, come on!"
Magister Levin responded quickly, nodding along before offering a hand. Eunice took it and teleported back to Manny just as the creature reappeared. Manny looked just about ready to start clashing with it again but Magister Levin was quicker, reaching out a hand and beginning to drain its powers before it could do a thing. The alien looked confused, looking around, and Magister Levin reacted quickly. Taking advantage of its pause, he got it into an armlock and kept draining its power, preventing its escape. "Manny!"
"Right!" Manny responded and brought a fist down quickly, knocking out the alien without resistance. Eunice let herself relax. She hadn't been expecting a fight today, let alone such a hard one. "What is that thing anyway?"
"I don't recognize its species," Levin answered as he released the alien, laying it down on the floor to inspect it. He paused for a moment before continuing. "...But apparently it's one of ours."
"What?" Eunice came closer, crouching down to see what the Magister was looking at. A green and black symbol sat proudly on the alien's abdomen. Upright, the creature's hunched form covered it with its rib cage but sprawled out and relaxed like this, it was clear as day. Oops.
"It was Argit who sounded the alarm," Helen said, reentering the room. She stopped beside Piece and Alan, poking them each with her tail to rouse them awake. "If the alien just teleported in and scared them, they might've not known it was a Plumber. The rest of us just reacted."
"Great," Manny muttered. "With our luck, this guy's a higher up and we're about to get a talking to for not stopping to listen."
"I don't recognize him," Levin repeated, looking up at the group. "It may have stolen a Plumber badge."
That was a good point, Eunice realized. Here they were jumping to conclusions again. "Can we check the badge for data? If it's his– er, or hers? If it's the aliens, we'll be able to tell, right?"
"That's what I was thinking," Levin responded, reaching to take the badge. Or he tried at least. His fingers clasped around the edges but when he pulled, nothing happened. Frowning, he tried again. Eunice could tell he was pulling harder but it didn't do anything except tug at the skin around the badge. "That's odd."
"What is?" Pierce asked, making his way over. He was rubbing his head but looked fine overall. Alan too. He was lucky that he hadn't been hit with any of Pierce's spikes or he'd still be out cold. Or out hot, Eunice giggled to herself.
"It's stuck," Levin responded, frowning. "I don't think it's any adhesive. It's almost like-"
Levin was interrupted as the device began beeping. Immediately, he let go and all the Plumbers scooted away from it as quickly as possible. Eunice grabbed Levin's shoulder and tried to teleport away but the duration of her copied abilities had worn off. Silently, she prayed the red light flooding the room wasn't a warning of an oncoming explosion. If this was how her team was taken out, that'd be pretty embarrassing.
But the red light died down without any harm to Eunice or her friends. None to the room either. As far as she could tell, it hadn't done anything but… Wait, did the alien look different? "Um, who is that?"
Helen zipped over and prodded the new figure with her tail, peering at it curiously. The brown snake-like alien was gone, replaced with… this. Whatever it was. An alien, definitely. Male, she could tell. Humanoid, furred, and somewhat catlike. Far less intimidating. She didn't recognize the species though.
"That's a Revonnahgander," Levin told them. "You don't see them offworld much. There aren't any in the Plumber Union as far as I'm aware, but I haven't checked Academy records in awhile. They're from a farming planet and aren't very receptive of offworlders."
"Did that brown thing teleport him here?" Alan asked, approaching with the rest of the team. Eunice was vaguely aware that one of them should probably tell the rest of the base that the threat was over but she couldn't bring herself to care. This mystery was far too interesting to get caught up on anything else.
"Maybe it's actually a sludge," Manny suggested and Eunice thought that was a pretty good idea. The brown alien was definitely knocked out so no way it'd be able to teleport away to make the swap. Though wouldn't a Lenopan switch back to its true form, not another fabrication?
"These aren't Revonnahgander clothes," Levin murmured, looking over the unconscious alien. "Everything on Revonnah's made of amber ogia. It's what their planet is known for. This is… I don't recognize the style but it's definitely another species' clothing."
"So is he a Plumber or not?" Pierce asked somewhat impatiently. "If he isn't, we need to lock him up before he wakes up."
Levin nodded in agreement. "Pierce, you and Eunice help me look for a badge. Helen, go tell someone to shut off that alarm and get a med bay ready. We might need it."
"I didn't think I hit him that hard," Manny murmured, watching carefully as Pierce, Levin, and Eunice rooted around the Revonnahgander's pockets. There was nothing on Eunice's side as far as she could tell but she was nothing if not thorough and it was pretty hard to miss the faint green glow coming from the alien's sleeve. Was he holding the badge? Would be weird but everything considered, it wouldn't be the weirdest thing.
He was not holding a badge.
"The Omnitrix," Eunice murmured, eyes wide. Everyone's heads snapped in her direction, Pierce dropping the badge he'd found in the other pocket in the process, and gaped.
"I guess the search for the Omnitrix bearer has come to an end," Levin said, rising to his feet. "And I think we should probably use that spot in the medbay now."
When he awoke, Rook knew he wasn't Warp anymore. He could also tell he was in a bed. The Plumbers must've figured out he wasn't an enemy when he timed out. That was good. Preferably, he wouldn't have been knocked out at all but at least now there was a bit less to explain, however small that amount might be.
He felt fine, Warp having absorbed all of the Tetramand's blow. Sitting up, he soaked in the sights around him. The team he'd fought before, plus the Galvans, that Argit alien, and a man he'd never seen were in the room, talking idly among themselves. The man, Rook assumed, was probably the one who'd knocked him out. Human then, not Ormerowon. That was a relief but Rook's expectations for humans were being rocked lately. He thought they were like Revonnahganders. Humans didn't have special abilities as far as he knew. Maybe the files at the Academy had been wrong, or maybe there were aliens that just looked like humans.
If he unlocked the DNA for a human and transformed, would he have powers? Or would he be like Ben, skilled in his own right but otherwise normal? He wanted to know but didn't think Azmuth would appreciate it much if he asked these Earth Galvans to mess with his Omnitrix. At least he assumed this was Earth and these were humans. Brallada, what if he hadn't teleported to Earth?
"You're awake!" the girl he'd fought before exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention. She looked like she did before except she was wearing standard white Plumber armor now instead of the civilian clothes she'd been wearing before. Abruptly, Rook realized he was still wearing his Loboan garb. Maybe he should've asked to borrow Kevin's Plumber armor so they'd recognize him or at least put on some Transylian clothes. Not that he didn't like Loboan robes. Transylians were more ones for first impressions and their fashion reflected it, that was all.
The man who'd defeated Rook waved the others back and approached with Rook's Plumber badge in hand. "This is yours?"
"I- yes." Rook swallowed. "I apologize for the, um, conflict. I did not know how to explain my presence."
"It was more our fault than yours." The man seemed amused. "Some of our newer recruits have an itchy trigger finger."
Argit crossed his arms while Manny looked away, apparently embarrassed.
"If their fingers are itching, they should scratch them instead of fighting," Rook responded, receiving a series of blank stares. That probably wasn't the right thing to say then, was it? "Or, forgive me, was that an Earth expression? I am not terribly familiar with them and you have so many."
"Don't worry about it," the man said as Rook swung his legs out of the bed. It felt weird to have a conversation with only one person lying down. "I'm Magister Devin Levin."
Rook felt the gears working in his head. That name sounded familiar. "Oh! You must be related to Kevin."
Recognition flashed in his eyes. "You know Kevin?"
Rook nodded. "He and his team crashed on my ho- er, not my homeworld but the planet I have been living on. Their ship was damaged so they built a teleporter to attempt to return to Earth. I was sent ahead to ensure it worked."
"Aw man!" Argit whined, tugging at his ears. "Kev's going to be so pissed I sicced the Plumbers on his buddy!"
Rook ignored him and looked at the Galvans. "Are you able to identify which teleportation system connected to your own? I need to send a signal that it is safe to follow."
"Ben's coming back?" one of the humanlike beings, the one who lit himself on fire, questioned. He turned to face Rook. "How is he? And Kevin and Gwen?"
"They are well," Rook responded, pleased to learn he'd managed to find some of the trio's friends. "Tetrax was briefly captured by a hostile race in the system but we recovered him and he is doing well."
The group look considerably less thrilled to hear about Tetrax. "Oh. Tetrax is still with them?"
Rook titled his head ever so slightly. "Yes? But not at the moment. He took our Galvanic Mechamorph envoy to search for some friends of mine so they could meet us on Earth. We are old friends. I have known Tetrax for quite some time."
The others took that as a signal not to badmouth Tetrax in front of Rook and let the subject go. Magister Levin turned to the Galvans and repeated Rook's question as orders. "You two let Kevin it's alright to follow up the teleportation. Helen, Manny, go get someone to prepare a room in the dorm wing for- sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"Rook Blonko. And there is one other coming along."
"-Rook and his friend. Alan, Pierce, go inform Max and Patelliday of the situation. Argit, go… do something somewhere else."
The names Max and Patelliday sounded familiar but Rook was more focused on Argit's lazy salute as he sauntered out of the room. Levin had ordered everyone out of the room except Eunice. Was there a reason for that? He glanced in her direction with a questioning look that she seemed to understand immediately. With a warm smile, she said, "How about we go for a walk?"
Eunice remembered her own wonder when she arrived on Earth. It was really something else to see those same feelings etched across someone else's face. Granted, they were in the city, not the forest like she had been, but Magister Levin had said Rook was from a farming planet. The concrete and chaos of a city had to be new for him.
She let him take in the sights. They weren't going to be out long before returning to the base to welcome their friends to the planet but she wasn't going to deprive him of this chance to see a new world for the first time. Earth was a special place to her and she wanted Rook to see it just like she did.
"Why is it…?" Rook trailed off, pointing to the road. "I have never seen vehicles behave like that."
There probably weren't a lot of vehicles on Rook's homeworld but he'd been to the Academy, right? There weren't a ton of vehicles there either but that was something to go on at least. "On Earth, a lot of humans rely on cars for transportation. A lot of countries are covered on these black paths connecting important locations so the humans can travel between them easily. There are a lot of strict rules that the cars follow so if you know them, you can avoid getting hit by them. You'll have to learn them if you're going to be on Earth but stay off the black part for now, yeah?"
Rook was wide eyed. "They hit people?"
Oh, maybe not the best thing to start with. "Sometimes, usually by accident. But that's not why I took you outside. Ask Kevin about cars later if you want to know more."
Rook nodded, tearing his eyes off the road. He still looked a bit distracted by them. Eunice knew he'd be asking Kevin about cars later. She had no doubt about that. "I did find it odd that Magister Levin singled you off to speak with me. Is there any particular reason?"
Eunice nodded and turned, placing a hand on the back of her head to lift her blonde hair up, showing Rook the back of her neck. She felt his gaze linger on her, taking in the metallic markings. Once she thought he'd seen enough, she dropped her hand and turned back around. "I'm a prototype Omnitrix."
"You are- what?"
Okay, she deserved that. That wasn't much of an explanation. "Before making the Omnitrix, Azmuth created something he calls the Unitrix. I'm very similar to the device on your wrist but where the Omnitrix can hold a library of DNA, I can only hold one sample. As you can see, I'm a human right now."
She spun around a bit, showing off her human form. It really wasn't necessary but she liked it and it kind of drove the point in, if Rook's pensive nodding was any indicator. "I see. And when you teleported before?"
"I can copy other life forms' abilities," Eunice confirmed, "like the alien you transformed into before. What was it anyway? Magister Levin didn't recognize it."
Rook shrugged. "I am not sure. I call him Warp though. I have always assumed that, due to their ability to teleport, Warp's species do not stay in one place long enough for anyone to record them. Azmuth added Warp to my Omnitrix when I visited Galvan Prime but he did not tell me anything about any of the new forms."
"Sounds like Azmuth," Eunice grumbled. "I'm guessing the Omnitrix being his greatest creation didn't make him any warmer towards you?"
Rook shook his head. "Was he… unkind toward you?"
Eunice shrugged. "He's not awful or anything but it took him awhile to realize I'm, y'know, a person. Took me awhile too but Azmuth didn't really help."
Rook made a sympathetic noise and opened his mouth to continue but Eunice decided she didn't really want to talk about Azmuth anymore.
"Let's head back down. I'm sure the teleporter's ready. I just wanted to tell you I'm… Well, I'm not really like you but you're probably the closest thing like me."
Rook, perhaps wisely, didn't comment and the two headed back into the Max's Plumbing shop and back down into the base below.
The Omnitrix. The all matrix.
The Unitrix. The one matrix.
Rook didn't really know how he was supposed to feel about the existence of Eunice but he supposed he'd gone through this before, hadn't he? And Eunice had brought up their connection in a much calmer way than Malware had. They'd fought, sure, but not badly. That'd been a misunderstanding and neither of them were the one who initiated it. Rook hoped they could be friends. He could use a friend on this new world.
His other friends were arriving though and so Rook had to shove aside thoughts about Eunice and curiosities about Earth for a moment. It'd only been a couple hours since he'd been on Anur Transyl but it felt like far longer. There was a lot to catch up on.
When Eunice and Rook arrived at the lab containing the teleportation pad, most of Eunice's friends were gone. That was good, in Rook's opinion. They didn't want too many people in the room. He didn't recognize everyone present though. There were the Galvans, of course, and Magister Levin but there were two others he didn't recognize: a human and a Piscciss Volann, both elderly. The other magisters of Earth, perhaps? At their age, they had to be.
"Rook Blonko," the human greeted, offering a hand. Rook took it and shook, familiar with the greeting. "It is good to finally have you here on Earth. I'm Magister Max Tennyson and this is my partner Magister Patelliday."
"Nice to meet you!" Patelliday greeted but, hunched over the teleportation control panel, he didn't offer a hand to shake. "I'll have your friends here in a jiffy, don't you worry!"
Rook nodded somewhat absentmindedly and focused on Magister Tennyson. "What do you mean it is good to have me on Earth? Were you expecting me?"
"In a way," Max answered as the teleportation pad began firing up. "I'm sure Ben told you but we've been trying to recapture Vilgax and anyone who's been able to tell us anything about him told us to get the Omnitrix bearer on our side. You've got quite the reputation, Rook."
He did? It made sense, he supposed. He wanted to ask what the universe thought of him, what he'd missed during his time in the Anur System, but the roar of the teleporter distracted him and he found himself anxiously watching for any sign of his friends.
"Ugh, that felt weird. Don't want to do that again anytime soon," Scout complained as he stepped through, brightening upon the sight of Rook. "Hey, looks like you made it just fine. No trouble?"
Rook exchanged a glance with Eunice before shrugging at Scout, mirth in his eyes. Scout flattened his ears and glared somewhat playfully before stepping forward to give room for the human trio to follow, first Gwen and then each of the boys. Like Scout, they didn't seem particularly comfortable with the teleportation but they all arrived in one piece so Rook couldn't complain.
"Grandpa!"
"Dad!"
Ben and Gwen hurried over to Magister Tennyson while Magister Levin clapped Kevin on the shoulder before drawing him into a hug. Idly, Rook wondered how long they'd been apart but that quickly barreled into thoughts of how long he'd been away from home and he didn't really want to go down that spiral right now. Instead, he focused on Scout and whispered, "I wish we had not lost our Plumber gear."
Scout curled his tail. "Hey, I still have mine back at the castle. But you're right, I feel underdressed."
Magister Patelliday cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "Rook Blonko. Scout Alazraqui. Benjamin Tennyson. Gwendolyn Tennyson. Kevin Levin."
All of them snapped to attention. "Yes, Magister?"
"We need to debrief on the status of your mission but you three can submit a report later," Patelliday said, directing his words at Ben, Gwen, and Kevin before focusing on Rook and Scout. "I'm sure you're aware that a number of prisoners escaped from the Null Void, including Vilgax, and we have been attempting to locate you in order to enlist your assistance. I trust your presence on Earth means that you want to help us?"
"I- yes, sir," Rook uttered, Scout nodding in agreement. "We will do what we can."
"Glad to hear it," Patelliday responded as he pulled out a tablet. "Now, I understand neither of you completed your apprenticeships so I've gathered a list of Plumbers on the base that you can choose to work under if–"
"Wait, what?" Ben interrupted. "Why would they need to work under other Plumbers? Aren't they already Plumbers? We've seen their badges and everything."
Scout and Rook toed the ground. Rook had forgotten about this part.
"Remember how you two had to spend some time taking missions with me before you could go out on the field on your own? And Kevin had to watch what Devin did here at the base?" Max asked, the three nodding along. "Rook and Scout here never finished that part of their training so they aren't ranking Plumbers. It's technicality but it is Plumber policy to have recent graduates work with a more experienced Plumber."
"But Rook has the Omnitrix," Ben protested, though he seemed to understand that wouldn't do anything.
"Guess we're all higher ranked than you," Kevin said with a snarky grin aimed in Rook and Scout's direction. Rook had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.
"I appreciate your efforts to find us mentors, Magister Patelliday," Rook started amicably, "but Scout and I already have mentors. I believe you are familiar with my friend Tetrax Shard? He is out with our Galvanic Mechamorph envoy attempting to locate them for us. They were the ones who ordered us to, um, disappear for so long."
"He mentioned it earlier. Sorry no one told you, Patty," Devin apologized. "Didn't think it'd be important."
"Helen mentioned it but there was nothing on file," Patelliday responded, waving him off. He turned to Rook and Scout. "Do you know anything about that?"
Scout shook his head. "Not why there's no record, no, but they're kind of secretive. It's- I was training under Magister Bahrvad and Rook was training under Magister Xylene."
Max, Patelliday, and Devin exchanged a surprised look. "We haven't heard from them in a very long time."
"Yeah, well, they were worried Vilgax would come after Rook so they told us to hide out and they'd get into contact with us but they never did."
"For two years," Rook added.
"Right. It's been awhile. That's why we had Tetrax go out and look for them."
"Do you think he'll be successful?"
"Why would he not be?" Rook responded easily.
"I appreciate your faith in me, Blonko, but I'm afraid I've got some bad news for you," a new voice boomed, deep and familiar. Rook broke into a grin and turned to see Tetrax leaning on the doorframe. He returned the smile, looking equally happy to see him. "Good to see you again, Blonko."
"How did you get in here?" Max demanded, looking half ready to draw a weapon. Rook would have to ask why the Plumbers hated Tetrax so much. Later though. Far more important things were happening.
"You can get a lot of places with two Mechamorphs and a Galvan," Tetrax responded almost cheekily and Rook couldn't believe his ears.
"Ship!"
"Ship! It's good to see you, buddy!" Scout exclaimed as Ship bounced into his arms, Albedo complaining loudly as he was thrown off the larger creature's back. Rook would get a similar greeting from Ship and a proper hello from Albedo later but for now he was more focused on the Mechamorph standing in the doorway.
"Brother! Sister!" Malware bellowed, drawing Rook and Eunice up in his arms. "I never thought I'd see you two together in one place!"
