NOTE: This chapter was difficult to get out mostly due to how much I actually had to scrap as I was planning it out. There are a lot of plans that I had for this season that I pretty much either had to scrap or push back further. Which honestly may have been for the best.

Though, I will be switching some episodes around and I think you guys will understand what my plan is once you see which episodes are getting switched. Also, I had already said that I'm not doing Gwen 10 since I don't like how that episode was handled and I'd rather not torture myself.

Enjoy and Reivew!

Chapter 22: PersonaL Truth

Multiple nukes were pulled out of silos by a tractor beam. Each one being pulled towards a familiar alien ship.

Inside of the military base, a skinnier Vilgax and his drones attacked the soldiers mercilessly. As the warlord was ready to take the missiles for himself a blue beam of energy destroyed one of the drones. Another blast shot Vilgax, pushing him back from the missiles.

"You..!" Vilgax spat.

Three men dressed in blue space-like suits stood in the doorway. Blasters evident in their hands. These men were Plumbers. "It's over, Vilgax!" The one in the middle yelled.

"You're going down!" The other one declared.

"Today marks the end of your crimes!" The third one pointed his laser-rifle at Vilgax.

The warlord glared at the Plumbers. "Many have tried, none have succeeded!

"Until now, slimeball!" The rowdy one charged forward.

"Phil, wait!"

Phil didn't listen and attacked Vilgax with his blaster. Vilgax dodged each of the shots and kicked Phil's helmet off of his head. He held Phil hostage, pointing the blaster at the Plumber's head. The Plumbers and Vilgax were at a standstill as a drone activated the launch sequence.

"Back away or watch one of your cities be destroyed!" Vilgax warned them. The two Plumbers watched in shock as the missile was about to be launched.

"Put the weapons down. NOW!" Vilgax ordered. Both men dropped their guns to the ground.

"You can't just let him get away!" Phil exclaimed.

"Never said we would," Both Plumbers raised their arms to reveal wrist blasters. They shot a Vilgax, knocking the blaster out of his hand, and blasting him in the face. The Warlord released Phil as he gripped his face in pain. With his regained freedom, Phil punched Vilgax away.

The Warlord staggered back but laughed anyway. "You're too late!"

"Wrong, my timing's perfect," The leader kicked his rifle into his grasp. He shot a sticky bullet at Vilgax and the drone, trapping them in the goo.

"NOOO!" Vilgax cried as the missile he was stuck on launched into the air.

"What are you doing!?" Phil yelled.

"Just watch Phil, Max knows what he's doing," The smart Plumber and the leader took off their helmets.

The leader revealed himself to be a younger Max Tennyson and the other was a man with dark blue hair with equally dark blue eyes.

"Vilgax is about to go out with a bang," Max quipped.

"TENNYSOOOOON!" Vilgax roared as he was blasted into his ship, blowing it up with him along with it.

"And then Ka-blamo. No more Vilgax," Present-day Max finished his tale. The ex-Plumber had finished retelling his Plumber history with his Grandkids, more specifically his history with Vilgax.

Ben was on the edge of his seat as he listened to the tale with an unusual hyper focus. Gwen was paying an extra amount of attention as well, but not with the exact same interest as Ben.

Yukiko, who was now dressed in a black long-sleeved blouse and red skirt with black leggings, was just as mesmerized by her Grandfather's history. The heiress couldn't believe that her own family history went this deep. This entire summer trip so far continued to surpass her previous year in Inaba constantly.

"Or so I thought, until a few days ago," Max looked at Ben.

"Woah! You were a hero!?" Ben grinned, excitedly.

"I was just a guy doing his job," Max said, humbly.

"I guess you could say that you really flushed all the evil away, huh Grandpa? Snrk! Pfft! HAHAHAHAHA!" Yukiko laughed at her own joke. The other three sweat dropped at Yukiko's sense of humor.

"That was terrible…" Ben muttered.

"Ignoring Yukiko's terrible puns, can you explain a little more about your job?" Gwen requested.

Nodding his head, Max began to explain his old profession. "We called ourselves the Plumbers. Officially we didn't exist, we were the guys who fixed the problems that no one else could. Extraterrestrial, extrasensory, extra ordinary," Max explained.

Ben's grin continued to grow wider at every turn. "So, every time I've been going hero, I've really been following in your footsteps? I'm a Plumber in training!" Ben exclaimed.

"And you knew about the watch the whole time," Gwen added.

"There's also the fact that you weren't too surprised about my Persona once I explained it. As if you knew something more," Yukiko tacked on.

"To answer Gwen, I didn't really know about the watch. Mostly just rumor and scuttlebutt. I was just as surprised as you guys when it turned up on Ben's wrist," Max explained.

"For Yukiko, I wasn't exactly sure about your powers at first. However, I felt as if I knew something like it from before. It wasn't until you explained it that I was able to piece the puzzle together. That I've seen something like a Persona during a trip to Japan I made, a couple of years ago," Max continued to explain.

"A couple of years ago?" Yukiko asked.

"Yeah, there was a group of people who wielded power just like yours. Though, I'm not exactly sure what happened to them after I ran into them," Max answered.

"A group of people who could also use Personas…? I thought that we were the only ones. Maybe, I should contact the others about this," Yukiko decided to contact her friends about what her Grandfather had just revealed.

"Why were you in Japan?" Ben asked.

"Just visiting an old friend, nothing too crazy," Max answered.

Gwen, who was pretty silent up to this point, decided to speak her mind. "You know, Grandpa, you always told us we could tell you everything. Guess you didn't feel the same."

As her words entered his ears, Max gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter as if he's heard those words before. Yukiko noticed his body grow a bit tense, making her curious about his reaction. "Grandpa, what's-"

She was cut off by the sounds of Police sirens behind them. Max pulled over so that the cops could drive past them, this sight excited Ben immensely.

"Alright! Could be a chance for the Plumbers to get back to work!" He exclaimed. Yukiko giggled, finding his enthusiasm adorable.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Ugh, you should start by unclogging that brain, Mr. Plumber."

"You're just jealous, because you're not a part of the family business," Ben taunted.

Max gave his grandson a small glare. "There is no family business. My hero days were over a long time ago," He said.

"Well…technically, I do have a family business that I will have to take over," Yukiko interjected, reminding them of her Inn.

"Yeah, but that's boring compared to Plumber stuff," Ben said, uncaringly. Yukiko was tempted to smack him with her fan again.

"You just found out about this Plumber business a couple of seconds ago, doofus. Like Grandpa said, you're not a Plumber," Gwen glared at him. The boy tuned her out, already rushing out of the RV.

"Oh yeah? Just watch my career take off!" Ben exclaimed.

Max looked back at the door. "Ben, wait!"

The words fell on deaf ears, because the boy didn't wait. "Time to XLR8!" He dialed up the Kineceleran and slammed down the dial.

However, much to his displeasure he didn't get XLR8. "RipJaws!? What a rip-off!" He grumbled; his mood grew even more sour as he heard Yukiko's mocking laughter from inside the RV. The Piscciss Volann jumped on a moving fire truck to get to the crime scene.

"That boy can never just wait!" Max huffed, annoyed.

Yukiko understood the frustration of having to deal with Ben's unwillingness to listen. "It wouldn't be Ben if he did listen," She said as her face shifted into a dangerous smile. Gwen scooted away from Yukiko, terrified of the aura radiating off of her cousin.

When they arrived at the crime scene, the three stepped out of the RV, and approached the detective. "Anyone happened to see a giant talking fish come by here?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, it just went inside. Why would you want to know?" He asked them.

"Oh, we just need something to cook for dinner! You see that was our meal, but it decided to be a little nuisance and run off on its own. I'll go get it!" Yukiko sprinted into the building before the detective could question them further. She could hear Max and Gwen preventing him from following her.

As she entered, she saw RipJaws chasing after a tiny red creature with long black claws. "Ben!" She exclaimed as she chased after him.

RipJaws turned around to see Yukiko closing in on him, under normal circumstances he'd probably be happy to see her. However, judging by the dangerous smile plastered on her face and the rising temperature in the building, that wasn't the case. In times like these, RipJaws knew exactly what he needed to do…

He needed to run like hell.

"Sorry, got an alien to catch! Bye!" Ripjaws increased his speed to get away from his angry cousin.

"Don't you know better than to run away from your punishments!?" Yukiko's speed also increased. The heiress putting all that dungeon running and Chie's(Forceful) morning jogging exercises to good use.

As the two were running through the building there was another person besides them chasing after the rogue alien. He was dressed in a blue and black jumpsuit with a high-tech rifle in his hands. His ear twitched when he heard the sound of clattering feet against the tile floors. Raising his rifle in preparation for his target.

Though, he didn't expect a large fire ball to appear out of the shadows of the darkened building. "Woah!" He ducked underneath it as the flames dissipated right after passing over him. Picking himself back off the floor he questioned what the hell was going on.

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!?"

"Just stand still! It won't hurt at all!"

"It's definitely going to hurt!"

The man pointed his rifle back at the direction the fire ball came from, only to see a Piscciss Volann running for his life and a teenage girl chasing after him. "What the hell-"

BAM!

He was unceremoniously flung into the air by the two, who were two busy with their own business to have even noticed him. He crashed into the ground with zero grace, groaning in pain he crawled to his knees. Turning around he could see the two running around in circles, with the teenager trying to smack the Piscciss Volann with the pink fan in her hands.

Honestly, if he wasn't so annoyed, he'd find the sight comical, that an 8-foot alien was cowering in fear of a regular teenage girl. Grabbing his rifle off the ground he aimed it at RipJaws and fired it with accurate precision.

Too occupied with trying to avoid his furious elder cousin, RipJaws failed to see the blue beam coming at him. He was nailed right in the chest and was sent flying into a nearby desk counter. Seeing that her cousin had just gotten randomly shot, Yukiko rounded on the cause of the attack.

Pointing her fan dangerously at the man, Yukiko glared at him. "Who are you!?"

The man pointed his rifle at RipJaws, before addressing her. "I'm gonna need you to step away from the alien, little girl. That thing is dangerous," He warned her.

"Hmph, trust me, I'm a lot more dangerous than him," Yukiko opened up her fan. A breeze seemed to have entered the building as her hair started to flap gracefully. To her eyes, her tarot card appeared in a bright white glow, and shattered with the wave of her fan. "Sumeo-Okami! Agilao!"

"The hell!?" He gasped as he rolled out of the way of the fireball. He realized that the fireball from earlier must've come from this girl somehow. "I don't know how you did that, but-"

"SCRRREEEECCCHHHH!"

Their attention turned to the cause of the loud screech. Behind the man was the small alien that RipJaws had been chasing earlier, it was rolling on the ground with burn marks on its stomach. Seems that Yukiko's attack had hit it instead.

"There you are!" The man's attention immediately went back to his prey. He fired on it, but the creature regained some sense to roll out of the way. It crawled on the ground as the man continued to shoot at it.

Behind them RipJaws poured a vase of water over his head. "Ah, you gotta love room service."

Yukiko turned around to her cousin. "Come on, Ben. No more fooling around!" Yukiko ordered.

A tick mark appeared on RipJaws' forehead. "And who's fault is that, huh?" He glared at her.

The two looked over to see the man was stuck underneath a bookcase with the creature standing in front of him, celebrating its victory. RipJaws grabbed a case and slammed it on top of the creature, trapping it. "And that's how a Plumber does it," He grinned. The Omnitrix started beeping, turning him back into Ben.

SMACK!

"OW!" Ben gripped the back of his head.

"And that's how I punish my troublesome little cousin," Yukiko giggled. The two scurried away from the struggling man on the ground, hurrying over to their family.

Max looked down at his grandkids. "Are you two alright?"

"If you want to count Yukiko smacking me in the head, then no," Ben was still rubbing the spot she had hit.

"And there was some weirdo chasing Ben around over there," Yukiko added.

"That was you!" Ben yelled at her. His cries went unheard since his family was more focused on the man.

He got to his feet and looked at the Tennysons. His eyes widened at the sight of Max. "Max?"

"Phil!"

The two hugged one another like old time buddies, much to his grandkids' confusion. "You know this guy, Grandpa?" Ben asked.

Phil looked down at Ben. "Oh, you could say that. We used to be partners," Phil revealed.

His words just left the three grandkids a bit more confused, they looked at one another with a bit of uncertainty.

The Tennysons now stood outside after the police and fire department had left. In front of them was Phil, who was putting his gun back into his car. "Yeah, she's not much to look at but it's better than that old Rustbucket of an RV you used to have," He jokes.

Yukiko pouted after hearing that. "I think the Rustbucket is pretty cool," She muttered.

"It smells like old burnt batteries," Ben replied.

"Why would you know what that smells like?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.

Ignoring his Grandkids for the moment, Max continued to talk to his old friend. "So, how are ya?"

"Pretty good considering I just bagged a havoc beast. Seems like old times," Phil smiled.

His words caught Ben's attention pretty quickly. "You bagged it!? As if! It was Rip-" Yukiko covered his mouth before the boy could give away his secret.

Max approached his old partner. "Havoc beast huh? I haven't seen one since the one we caught terrorizing Denvor years ago," Max said.

"Yeah, good thing I was around. Once a Plumber, always a Plumber. Though, that reminds me, have you talked to 'ol Grumpy Face in a while?" Phil asked.

"I have actually, he's pretty busy with his work. He has a granddaughter too, ya know," Max told him.

"Really now? Man…hearing that and seeing the three behind you. Time really has flown by for us, huh?" Phil smiled, reminiscing. His face turned a bit serious as he looked back at Max. "You ever thought about getting back into the business? Relive our glory days?"

Max shook his head. "No thanks, I'm retired. And so are the Plumbers."

"Yeah, thanks to you when you took Vilgax out of the picture," Phil sighed. Yukiko raised an eyebrow, noticing the small hint of disdain in Phil's voice.

"Ah, just doing my job," Max replied.

"Yeah…seems that things are starting to pick up again. In fact, I'm starting my own freelance Plumber business…" His eyes trail down to Ben's wrist, staring directly at the Omnitrix. "Woah, cool watch." Yukiko instinctively shifted herself closer to Ben, not trusting the look in Phil's eyes.

"That watch looks pretty familiar," Phil said.

Ben raised his arm, smirking. "Well, you ought to. It's the Omni-" He was cut off by Max gently pushing him away.

"Well, look at the time. We need to go. It was nice catching up with you, Phil. Happy plumbing," Max gave his goodbye. Yukiko turned her head to glance at the old Plumber, feeling suspicious of him.

The Rustbucket drove down the road with no issue, continuing their journey as Ben started to complain to Max again. "I don't get it! How come you didn't tell Phil about the Omnitrix?"

"That's on a need-to-know basis only, Ben. The less people that know the better," Max answered.

"Guess, that's your answer to everything, huh Grandpa?" Gwen said.

Yukiko decided to speak up, not liking the tension. "W-Well, I haven't told any of my friends about the Omnitrix. Even after everything we went through last year, telling them just didn't feel right."

"You also kept secrets from us until recently. It seems to be a secret-loving party within this family," Gwen snarked, keeping her eyes on her computer. Yukiko winced a tiny bit, it seemed Gwen was still sore over the secret stuff.

A light bulb turned on above Ben's head. "Hey, why don't we start up the Plumbers again! You, me, and Phil! We'd be super alien butt-kickers!"

"What about us?" Yukiko asked, pointing to herself and Gwen.

"You have your Inn, right? And Gwen…eh."

"What do you mean 'eh'!?" Gwen yelled, offended.

"Look, Ben, I'm flattered you appreciate what I did, but you can't bring back the past. Suddenly a monitor in the RV's dashboard appears with Phil on the screen.

"Max! If you're out there I need help! Two Vulpimancers tearing up a meat processing plant on Highway 44!" The transmission cut out.

"Vulpimancers?" Max gasped; his face grew serious. He made a sudden U-turn, almost knocking over Yukiko and Gwen in the back.

Ben pumped his fists. "Alright! The Tennysons are back in Plumbing business!" Max looked a bit concerned before turning back to the road.

They pulled up to the meat processing plant and got out of the RV. Inside of the building they could hear the roaring of the Vulpimancers.

"I don't like the sound of that…" Gwen didn't want to enter the place. To her misfortune Ben, Max, and Yukiko walked into the plant. She quickly hurried behind them, with a scowl on her face.

As they entered the warehouse of the plant, they found Phil struggling to get off of the ground. Max hurried over to his friend.

"Phil!" Max helped him up.

"Max, thank goodness you showed up. Two aliens, nasty. We're gonna need a little of that old magic," He smirked.

"No worries! We're on it," Ben grinned. They turned around when the growling got closer, to see two Vulpimancers walk out of the freezer.

Yukiko visibly cringed at the sight of them. "They look like hideous versions of Wildmutt," She commented, much to Phil's confusion.

"Friends of yours?" Gwen asked Ben.

"Wildmutts! Maybe, I could talk with them!" Ben figured and activated the watch.

"Ben!" Max tried to stop him but was too late as the green light blinded them all. When it died down, Ben had finished transforming into Wildmutt. Yukiko was a lot happier to see Ben's version of the Vulpimancers.

"That's why it looked familiar, it's the Omnitrix!" Phil exclaimed.

"Wait, Grandpa said it was just a rumor. How does he even know what it looked like?" Yukiko questioned, mentally.

Wildmutt jumped over to his fellow Vulpimancers and tried to communicate with them. Yukiko couldn't contain herself as she watched Wildmutt trying to talk. "Snrk! Pffft! It looks so silly!"

"Is she always like this?" Phil asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," Gwen sighed.

It seemed that Wildmutt's negotiations didn't work, because the Vulpimancers roared at him and attacked.

"What did you say?" Gwen asked.

"Vulpimancers were never big on small talk. Even with their own kind," Max explained. Wildmutt jumped back over to his family and Phil. He then ran away as the Vulpimancers gave chase.

Wildmutt's senses prevented him from getting tackled by the wild beasts. He grabbed a chain to escape to air as one of the Vulpimancers crashed into a tower of canned worms.

"Gross!" Yukiko and Gwen yelled.

The beasts tried to attack Wildmutt but before they could try and knock him down, a fireball crashed into them.

Yukiko marched forward with Sumeo-Okami shining above her. "You two have been beary bad dogs!" Yukiko made a Teddie pun.

One of the two charged at her as the other continued after Wildmutt. The lighter Vulpimancer tried to bite her, but instead its teeth made contact with invisible metal.

Sumeo-Okami's sword was blocking it with her blade. Yukiko whipped her arm, commanding her Persona to toss the beast aside. The creature went flying but used one of the hanging meats to rebound back at her. "Agilao!" The fireball smashed the Vulpimancer in the face and sent it flying across the warehouse.

"Yukiko!"

The heiress turned around to see her family and Phil heading towards the exit, she dismissed her Persona and hurried to follow them. As they approached the exit, both Vulpimancers recovered quickly to block their escape.

"I-I don't consider either of you have considered becoming vegetarians?" Gwen suggested, nervously. Yukiko summoned Sumo-Okami once more to battle, but before she could usher a spell something happened.

Phil was using a device to transmit sonic sound waves to disrupt the Vulpimancer's senses, unfortunately it also affected Ben.

"Turn that off!" Yukiko hissed, trying to comfort Wildmutt. Her arms were wrapped around Wildmutt's head. Gwen was also trying to help sooth Wildmutt's pain by rubbing his head.

Phil raised an arm in defense. "Hey hey! Sorry about that, but it was the only way to stop the Vulpimancers."

"Yeah, lucky for us you have a sonic pitch whistle with you," Max gave Phil a suspicious look.

The Omnitrix started to beep, with a red flash of light, Ben turned back to normal.

"Are you okay, Ben?" Yukiko asked as she still had him enveloped in a hug.

"Y-yeah…I think I'm fine now. Thanks," He appreciated the gesture.

Phil gave no concern to the boy's discomfort. "So, all the rumors were true. The Omnitrix really does exist. Hey, Ben, pretty good moves out there. You remind me of your Grandfather back in the day."

Those words were music to Ben's ears as he gazed up at his Grandfather with admiration. "Really!?"

"You were also pretty good out there, girly," Phil complimented Yukiko.

"My name is Yukiko. But you can just call me Amagi," She corrected him with a glare.

"Just Amagi? What are you, Japanese?" He raised an eyebrow. Before she could answer, Max shouted at Phil.

"Phil, look out!"

The old Plumber turned around to see the darker Vulpimancer getting ready to attack. Everyone ducked down under the beast's swipe. Phil dropped the sonic pitch whistle; it was crushed by the Vulpimancer before he could grab it. The creatures were now ready to fight again until Max hopped on a forklift.

"Why don't you pick on someone with more meat on his bones!" Max shouted as he crashed into them with the forklift. He jumped off of it just before it drove into one of the storages. Max shut the automatic metal doors before the Vulpimancers could escape.

Phil walked over to congratulate Max. "Just like good times, eh? I think this is gonna be the beginning of a new partnership," Phil extended his hand for a handshake. Max looked more uncertain than anything else.

Yukiko watched the exchange with her own uncertainty, continuing to analyze Phil's actions. Everything about the situation looked suspicious to her, which was something she picked up from last year. Even though she and her family have met some bizarre enemies so far, why were sudden wild aliens just popping up out of the blue?

And why was Phil the center of it?

"It's fate that we all met up," Phil said as he leaned back in his chair. The Tennysons and Phil were now chilling inside of Phil's suite. Gwen sat on one of the chairs distracting herself with a book while Ben and Yukiko devoured a bowl of shrimp. Though, the heiress would deny that the shrimp was tasty, only because it would mean complimenting Phil.

The heiress kept her eyes glued on Phil as she bit another piece of shrimp.

"Pretty nice suite you got here. Must've cost a hefty penny," Max said.

"Just a little thank you I negotiated with the manager after helping him with his alien problem. And trust me, this is just the tip of the old alien iceberg." He looked over at Ben and Yukiko. "You know, Ben, you'd make a great Plumber. You too, Amagi."

"Really?" Ben asked, mouth full of shrimp.

"No thanks," Yukiko rejected without hesitation. "I have responsibilities at home that I have to attend to."

"Oh come on! You were like a female version of your Grandfather out there. If we put our skills together, we'd be a great team!" Phil jumped out of his chair. "We have you two with your powers, Max's experience, and my instincts. We'd be an unstoppable force!" Phil exclaimed.

Gwen looked up from her book, knowing that she wasn't mentioned for a reason. "I miss my powers," She mentally sighed before turning back to her book.

"What do you think, Partner?" He asked Max.

"I'm thinking what an odd coincidence for a hyper weasel and two mega mutts to turn up on the same day," Max revealed his suspicions.

"So, Grandpa realized the same thing that I did," Yukiko bit into another shrimp.

"Aliens, go figure," Phil shrugged.

"I…uh, need some fresh air," Max left the suite, much to Phil's chargin. He then smirked, turning his attention to the kids and Yukiko.

"Hey, kids. Order whatever you like off the room service menu," He said before walking out of the suite.

That was music to Ben's ears. "Now we're talking!"

After he left Gwen quickly got up from her seat. "Something's going on that Grandpa's not telling us about."

"No, I think it's more of Phil who isn't telling us, Gwen," Yukiko defended their Grandfather.

"Even so, we need to follow them," Gwen said. Yukiko nodded her head, and the girls made their way to exit. However, the two forgot about one thing.

"And pass up free room service? No way, I'm staying here," Ben continued to eat the food.

Pinching their noses in exasperation, Yukiko grabbed Ben by the back of his shirt and dragged him away. "Hey! What gives!?"

"Come on, Ben. You don't want to miss a super-secret Plumber mission, do you?" Gwen laid the bait. He stopped protesting and broke out of Yukiko's grip.

"What are we waiting around for!? Let's go!" He hurried out of the room. The girls followed after him outside of the hotel. Only for them to see both Phil's car and the Rustbucket were gone.

"No Grandpa!" Gwen gasped.

"And no Phil," Ben added. "But where would they go?"

"If Grandpa thought that the space weasel and those space mutts were connected, then there's only one place to check out around here," Gwen said just as Ben transformed into XLR8. He picked up Gwen and placed her on his back, then scooped up Yukiko into his arms, holding her bridal style.

"Hang on, you two! Pedal to the metal!"

"But I don't see any met-AAAAALLLLL!" Yukiko screamed as XLR8 took off without warning.

When they arrived back at Mount Rushmore, the trio saw their Grandfather about to be attacked by an Org Beast. XLR8 zoomed in on time to save Max from getting killed. XLR8 removed his visor to glare at Phil. "You're no Plumber, you're nothing but a big drip!"

"Ben, listen to me. We don't need your Grandpa, we can start back up the Plumbers again. Just you and me," Phil grinned.

"How about you burn in hell."

"Wha-GYAH!" Phil screamed as a fireball was hurtled towards him. The ex-Plumber ducked under it in time, allowing it to hit the Org Beast. Phil got up to see Yukiko walking into the base, a heated glare found on her face.

"Heh, how could I forget about you, Yukiko? You could be our cover girl to help us advertise," Phil grinned.

"In your dreams, pervert!" Yukiko spat, preparing to incinerate him. Before she could, the Org Beast behind Phil recovered from the surprise attack. Phil grinned and ran past the beast to escape.

"I'd love to continue our chat, but I got places to be," He said as he escaped the base. Yukiko summoned Sumeo-Okami once more to battle the beast.

"Agilao!" She blasts the beast with a medium fire blast. It staggered back from the hit, leaving it open for XLR8 to kick its face in with speedy attacks. As the two battled Max continued to search for something to handle the Org Beast.

XLR8 turned to his Grandfather. "Grandpa, could you pick up the pace!?" Just then the Omnitrix started to beep. He turned back to normal just as the Org Beast tossed a piece of the floor at him, Ben rolled across the floor in pain. "Because I sure don't…"

"Ben!" Yukiko shouted. Glaring at the beast with intense rage, Yukiko built up a large amount of fire and smashed her tarot card. "AGIDYNE!"

The beast was shocked by the ferocity of the fireball that was smashed into its face, its head was quickly incinerated by the heat of the attack. Leaving the creature's headless corpse to collapse to the ground. Yukiko dispelled her Persona before rushing over to check on Ben.

Max glanced at the ball in his hands. "W-well, guess I'll just save this for later then," He said as he hurried over to his Grandkids.

Yukiko had helped Ben to his feet as Max made his way over. "Where's Gwen!?" He asked the two of them.

The girl in question was examining Phil's car, when she heard the elevator behind her, she quickly hid inside of his car.

Phil exited the elevator, satisfied with himself. "And who says crime doesn't pay?" He laughed to himself as he sat in his car. He exited the base of Mount Rushmore with the Null Void Projector and Gwen, who was still hiding in his car.

The Rustbucket quickly exited the base as well. Inside of the RV, Max activated the ignition for something. The outside of the RV began to change, rocket boosters appearing on the back of the Rustbucket. "Buckle up, you two!"

The Rustbucket took off with speed that Yukiko nor Ben was prepared for, the two held on tight as the rocket powered RV followed after Phil. "So, how many aliens did you store in that Null Void thingy?" Ben asked.

"At least a couple hundred. But it's a portal to an alternate dimension, in theory it could have millions inside of it!" Max answered.

"Why does that sound so familiar!?" Yukiko yelled.

Back over with Phil, Gwen saw the Null Void projector in the passenger seat. She quietly reached for it, but Phil could see her in the rear-view mirror. "Oh no you don't," He tried to pry the gun away from Gwen. He was forced to release the projector to prevent the two of them from crashing into a truck.

Using some quick thinking, Gwen rolled down the window. "Better start thinking of a new line of work. Because this thing is going bye-bye," She prepared to toss it out of the window. Sadly, for her, Phil stepped on the gas to stop her. He then activated the autopilot, so that he would freely be able to take the gun from Gwen.

The two of them ended up accidentally opening up a portal just as the Rustbucket finally caught up with the two of them. Phil grinned at Gwen. "Good idea, we could use a distraction." Suddenly, a Null Guardian flew out of the portal.

"Something tells me that's not the bird of South Dakota," Ben quipped.

"It doesn't even look like a bird," Yukiko pointed out.

"I was just-you know what, correcting you is Gwen's thing. Not mine," Ben said. Just then the Null Guardian crashed into the windshield, blocking their view. "We need some muscle to stop this thing! Four Arms of muscle!" Ben slapped the dial.

"Gray Matter!?" Ben whined as he realized who he became. "I said muscle, not miniscule!"

"No, this could work," Yukiko grinned. She grabbed Gray Matter and stuck her upper body out of the window. She summoned Sumeo-Okami and gave Gray Matter to her Persona.

"Uh…Yukiko?"

"Hold tight, Ben."

"W-What are you-WHHHAAAAAAAA!" Gray Matter screamed for dear life as he was tossed like a baseball. The Null Guardian saw the tiny Galvin fly past and chased after it.

Yukiko whipped out her fan and took careful consideration with her aim. "AGIDYNE!" The massive fireball made contact with the Null Guardian. The creature's body was burned like it was the food on a barbecue, its burnt corpse was knocked further ahead past Gray Matter. The Galvin grabbed a hold of the creature's burnt tentacles as it sailed directly into Phil's car.

The vehicle was sent off course, almost falling off of the highway, Phil fell out of his car with the projector in his hands, Gray Matter landed right by him on the highway. "Back off, small-fry or I'll release every alien in this thing."

"Then, you'll be out of a job," Gray Matter said.

"It doesn't have to be this way. We can all work together," Phil tried to convince them.

"No way! This is one hero who is not for sale!" Gray Matter refused.

Phil started to power up the Null Void projector. "Well, then you're all gonna be very busy!"

"No."

A pink fan spun like a boomerang and smacked Phil in the back of his head, the projector fell out of his grasp. Gwen made a reach for it, grasping it and turning it on Phil. "Just you."

She wasted no time in pulling the trigger and trapping Phil into the Null Void. Gwen grinned at their success. "Oh yeah! Who's bad!?" She celebrated.

Below her Gray Matter held Yukiko's fan in his hands and sighed at Gwen's little cheer. Well, not like he wouldn't have done the same.

Back inside of the base, Max had decided to send the dead bodies of the Null Guardian and Org back into the Null Void. "Sorry, I had to keep all of this a secret for so long. Maybe, if I had been truthful from the start…our family wouldn't have as many issues as it does now."

"It's fine, Grandpa," Gwen said.

"Yes, our family may not be whole now. But I know that we'll be able to get through everything together," Yukiko smiled.

"Right, thank you. And Ben?"

"Hm?" Ben looked up at him.

"You would've made a great Plumber. All three of you," Max said.

"We're your Grandkids, what do you expect?" Gwen replied, smirking. Her words brought a smile to Max's face.

He placed the Null Void Projector back onto its podium. "Hey, what about Phil?" Gwen asked.

"Some things about this job we're better off not knowing," Max shook his head.

"Eh, I hope he's being torn to pieces right now," Yukiko said, nonchalantly.

"YUKIKO!" They all gasped.

"What? The guy tried to kill us all. He gets no sympathy from me," The heiress skipped out of the base with her family following her with a bit of hesitation.

Chapter End

NOTE: Fuck Phil, he most definitely died in the Null Void. Yukiko was not going any sympathy for him at all after the massive dick move that he pulled. Anyway, let's talk about somethings.

Yes, Max was alluding to S.E.E.S from Persona 3, he didn't outright say anything because his meeting with them was very brief. Which is why he could barely make a connection between them and Yukiko. Will she eventually ask more about how Max met them? Yes, she will. That will be revealed later.

Yukiko was pretty suspicious of Phil, because the guy's entire attitude was just off. He was so dead set on reviving the Plumbers, and aliens conveniently kept popping up around him. She also just doesn't trust creeps with weird faces.

Something unrelated to this chapter that I wanted to answer, so that this doesn't get asked again is that Ben will meet the Phantom Thieves during Ultimate Alien. I'm going to have the main story of Persona 5 take place during Alien Force, because I don't want to interfere with the formation of the Phantom Thieves. So, Ben and others will meet them during Persona 5: Strikers.

Hope that cleared somethings up. Anyway, have a great weekend!

Next Chapter - The Big Tick