Chapter 30: The Admiral Ackbar Trap

Glad to see no one took offense to Newt last chapter. Then again, in the future someone might, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Once again, a warning about Newt. I won't tell you what it is-spoiler alert- but please don't take offense to anything he says. It's only, like, one blurb, but still.

"What do you mean, I'm finally one of you?" Ben snarled through his tears. "I've always been one of you!"

"Yeah, but your teeth never turned into fangs," Newt said, his own pearly whites retracting into their normal form.

"Haven't you ever noticed how our faces changed when we're fighting?" Evan asked. Ben looked at the others, who were sill staring at him, horrified. Ben flinched and quickly shook his head.

"Seriously?" Evan raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't like we were trying to hide it." Newt gave him a look. "Okay, maybe we were trying to hide it a little, but mainly from Gwen and Kevin. They weren't supposed to know everything before now. But you-" Evan pointed at Ben- "you should have realized before now."

"Oh, would you look at that, I didn't," Ben said caustically as he finally stood up. His eyes were red but dry. He turned to his cousin and said, "Will you say something?"

Gwen snapped out of her reverie and said, "What am I supposed to say? This is beyond freaky!"

"You've seen me change forms with the Omnitrix; what's so different now?"

"Because now you change, but you still look like you," Kevin said quietly. "Before, it was just turnin' completely into different aliens. Give us some time, dude." Ben threw up his hands in frustration.

"This isn't exactly easy for me either, you know! My god, my mouth feels like I got shot with a needle full of Novocain."

"Oh god," Evan murmured as he fell to the floor in a heap. Every stared at him strangely.

"Um, Evan has some bad memories with Novocain," Newt explained sheepishly. Evan was now turning himself into a ball, holding both of his hands over his mouth as he scrunched up his face.

And to make matters worse, the sounds of fighting could be heard from upstairs. "Shit," Newt muttered.

One of the couches had been overturned and the balcony doors were smashed to bits when Newt and the others ran into Carter's room. Sam and Carter were nowhere to be seen.

"They're outside!" Evan was the first to run through the broken glass and onto the small white balcony. The others followed suit, cramming together as they watched the two girls duke it out.

Sam aimed for a roundhouse kick at Carter's head. She dodged and aimed for Sam's gut. She blocked and twisted Carter's arm. She somersaulted over Sam's head and kicked her in the back.

Aquaria's Tai chi ch'uan versus Kirche's Northern Shaolin kung fu; this was gonna be good.

Sam breathed deeply and punched a fire blast at Carter. The Goth drew the water out of the grass and used it as a shield. The fire burst into steam.

"Haven't seen Carter do that in a while," Evan noted from the balcony.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Gwen asked the others.

Newt scoffed. "And get in the middle of that? I don't think so."

Down below, Carter turned the steam back into liquid water and whipped it at Sam. The redhead ducked down and aimed another fire blast at the feet. Carter dodged to the side.

Sam jumped up and blew fire out of her feet. Carter fell to the ground as the fire hit a tree instead. Sam twirled in the air, fire shooting out of her hands and feet. Carter cart wheeled out of the way just as the fire hit the ground with a loud explosion.

"Damn, Sam can kick butt!" Kevin commented. Ben gripped the side railing and chanted under his breath, "Come on, come on…"

Water shot out of the grass again, leaving behind dried up brown patches on the lawn. It swirled around Carter in a protective ring before growing giant octopus tentacles.

Sam scowled and aimed fire at her. Carter moved her arms, and three of the tentacles blocked the attack. Steam was converted back to water, and two tentacles made their way towards Sam.

Sam jumped in the air, fire bursting from her soles like a rocket. She flew high up in the air and propelled herself towards Carter from the top, where she was weakest.

Carter smirked and the octopus form disintegrated. She jumped back just in time for Sam to crash into the ground, leaving a small, smoking crater behind. She stood up from the smoke just as the leftover steam began to crystallize.

Thick ice covered Sam's arms and feet. She was stuck there unless she could melt it. But Carter wasn't having any of that.

More water shot out of the plants and trees and Carter waved her arms around so the collection was around Sam. The droplets glistened beautifully in the sunlight until they turned into icicles.

"Clever girl," Ben noted from the balcony.

"Last chance, Sam," Carter warned her. "Say you have my subspace card."

"I don't fucking have it!" Sam snapped.

Carter shrugged. The icicles zoomed towards Sam, ready to impale her. She could hear Kevin screaming her name-

Fire burst past Sam's lips, a great roar of flame that destroyed the ice, the rest of the brown grass and a few trees. Carter jumped far back from the heat with narrowed eyes. Gwen whipped up a mana shield to protect her and the others from the intense flames.

When Sam stopped, the ground below her was charred a dark gray. Smoke rose from the ashes of the dead garden. It was a giant crater of blackness.

Sam's hair was now smothered in flames. Carter willed ice to cover herself like one of Kevin's armors. They eyed each other for a moment.

Gwen dropped the shield. "They're still at it?" she asked horrified.

Newt shrugged nonchalantly. "They won't stop until one of them admits they were wrong."

With a battle cry Sam and Carter launched themselves at each other.

"ENOUGH!"

Instantly Carter's ice armor was gone and Sam's hair was back to normal. They looked at each other, terrified, as silver cobras shot up from the dead grass. They wrapped themselves around their waists and arms like ropes.

Kevin and Ben yelled out their names and was about to go save them when Evan yelled out, "DON'T!"

"Why the hell not? Kevin snarled.

Evan gulped as he began to sweat bullets. "Cordelia's coming."

Hissing sounds could be heard as Cordelia made her way towards the two girls in her black corset dress. Everyone gasped and flinched in horror as every single lock on Cordelia's head turned into silver snakes, writhing around as she glared at them.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Oh no. Cordelia's pupils turned into slits and the whites of her eyes turned black, while her gray iris' glowed gray. Sam and Carter dropped on their knees, too terrified to look away.

Cordelia couldn't turn them to stone, but the glare was even worse.

"Seriously?" she roared at them. She waved an arm across the devastated garden. "Can't you two settle your differences without destroying something? Do you have any idea how much of a pain it'll be to fix this?" She face palmed. "You're worse than Evan and Newt when they fight, and that's saying something."

"Hey," the two boys muttered, too terrified to voice their opinions any louder.

Cordelia knelt down in front of the two girls and put a finger to their foreheads. Then she bent them back and covered them with her thumbs. Sam and Carter's eyes widened.

The forehead flick created the sound of a sonic boom. Both girls were sent back thirty feet, flying through the air before loudly crash landing on the other side of the fence.

Cordelia stood up and snapped her fingers. A flash of bright light and the garden was restored to its former glory. Her hair no longer had snakes in it, and her eyes returned to normal.

Evan waited a beat, and then turned to Gwen. "And that's why we're terrified of Cordelia."

"You took my subspace card?" Carter exclaimed indignantly back in Isaac's study. Cordelia was sitting in Isaac's chair for once. It looked weird.

Cordelia slapped the green card with the angel-and-devil wings print on the desk. "You left it on your desk while you were in the shower. You should have been more careful."

"I'm sorry for accusing you of taking it," Carter said to Sam, who was beside her.

"I'm sorry for saying you lost it," Sam said. "You're right when you say you don't lose things. You're way too organized for that."

Cordelia nodded her approval. "I think we all learned something today."

"Yeah, you're a snoop."

"Ah, ah, ah." Cordelia wagged a finger at her granddaughter. "It's not snooping; it's testing you for your future as a Slayer operative."

"That's just a fancy way of saying you want to get under my skin."

Cordelia got out of the chair and stood in front of the desk. "I'm a parent, it's what I do. Now, Sam, could you leave the two of us for a private talk?"

Sam raised an eyebrow as she said, "Sure." She softly closed the door behind her.

Cordelia leaned against the desk, arms crossed. "How are things between you and Ben? Do I have to talk some sense into him?"

"No!" Carter said vehemently. 'Talk some sense into him was really code for 'beat the shit out of him until he cries blood'. There was no way Carter would do that to Ben. The High Breeds, on the other hand…

Cordelia's cold expression softened somewhat. "Is everything okay?"

"It's great."

"It better be." Cordelia stood up and awkwardly wrapped her arms around her granddaughter, patting her on the head.

"…What are you doing?"

"Hugging you. Last time I checked parents did that."

"But why? You're not a hugger."

"Because something good happened to you. And while you usually go to Isaac for all your hugs, I don't think he'll be too happy to hear you and Ben have a stronger relationship now."

They broke apart and Carter smirked. "He doesn't want his precious little girl getting a boyfriend, does he now?"

Cordelia smirked. "You know it. Where is he anyway?"

"I thought he was playing with Ship."

"Who's Ship?"

"Alchemy labs?" Gwen asked excitedly when Carter joined the rest in the living room.

"You're not thinking about leading them down there, are you?" Carter asked Newt, who was clearly trying to impress Gwen.

"I don't see why not." He shrugged. "No one's going to be there this time of day and even if we get caught you can just go all 'I am the vessel of Aquaria, hear me roar' on them."

Carter rolled her eyes. "It doesn't work that way."

"Yes it does," Sam corrected her. "How do you think I got the Alchemy Master to let me back in after last year's science project?"

"You mean when you blew up half the labs for trying to recreate an ancient Greek portable sun bomb?" Evan asked blithely.

"You really did that?" Kevin asked. Sam nodded sheepishly. "Did you ever recreate it? Successfully, I mean."

"No, but I did create a new shade of red."

"What you'll find if you don't mind/I'll be there not far behind/Side by side every step of the way/And if you find yourself on low/I'll be there tomorrow/You're like my favorite film on repeat through the night..."

Kevin and Gwen's jaws dropped when they heard the silky smooth sound of Newt's voice resonate inside the tunnel. The dark steel doors to the alchemy labs creaked open, and medieval style torches lit up the interior.

"You're amazing," Gwen gushed as Newt finished.

"I'm not the vessel for the art god for nothing."

"So are there ranks for this god stuff?" Kevin asked Ben.

"Yeah, it's kind of like Roman mythology, except the guy playing Ventus isn't the leader," Ben said as he followed the others through the doors. "Oh, and there are four main gods instead of three."

First was the library, a large room full of giant dusty spell books on shelves that reached the ever-reaching ceiling. The ceiling was domed with a skylight that lit up with multicolored lights from the outside. The torches lined the walls and gave the room a harsh, medieval feeling.

Gwen was in heaven.

As she gathered books in her arms, Evan said, "Don't you want to see the alchemy labs?" Gwen absentmindedly put the books down and followed the others into the next room.

It wasn't a room at all; it was a drafty hallway with a stone floor that led to hundreds of wooden doors. Evan opened one and revealed an ordinary school appropriate science lab with all the lab equipment put away.

Gwen visibly deflated. "I thought the alchemy labs would be more, I don't know, medieval-looking."

"It kind of was until last year's generous donation." Evan pointedly looked at Sam.

She gave him an innocent look. "It might have helped with smoothing things over with the Alchemy Master."

"Hey, guys, check this out!" Newt had found a small plastic tub and was filling it up with water from the sink. On the desk beside it he was quickly sketching out an transmutation circle with some chalk. When it was finished he put the filled tub on the chalk drawing and put his head in the water.

"What is he doing?" Ben asked.

"Alchemy," said Carter.

The symbol suddenly lit up and the water shimmered. And just as soon as it brightened the light died down. Newt lifted his dripping head up to reveal his new black hair color.

"DUDE!" Ben shouted gleefully. "That is so cool!"

"I know right?" Newt shouted back.

"How'd you do that?" Kevin asked surprised.

"All Slayers learn basic alchemy," Newt explained as he shook his head like a dripping dog. "It's part of the curriculum."

"Can you do anything else?" Ben asked hopefully.

"I can do anything as long as it follows the Law of Equivalent Exchange."

"Which is…?"

"The Law of Equivalent Exchange is the main rule of alchemy," Gwen quickly explained. "Basically, you can only transmute a substance into something completely different if it's of equal value. And the only way to achieve it is by sacrificing something."

"Newt sacrificed his original hair color to convert it into something different," Carter further explained. "He had to transmute the properties of water so he could do it. That's also something of equal value."

"In a nutshell," Newt sang.

"But man, do we look alike," Carter noted. "No wonder people think we're twins."

"Wouldn't it be funny if I dressed up as you? Then we'd really be twins."

"Please don't," Ben pleaded. "As much as I would love two Carters, I don't really like the idea of you wearing her clothes."

"You're just saying that because you don't want to confuse the two of us," Newt said childishly before sticking his head in the tub again.

Gwen was back in the library skimming a book from the stack she picked out earlier. She would have been in the lab with the others, but after a few transmutations, it got a little old for her. Gwen never thought she would consider something magical-slash-scientific to be annoying, but the way Newt and Evan and the others carried on…it got on her nerves a little.

So Gwen was sitting by herself, reading the giant spell books to calm her nerves. It was so soothing; the feel of the library, the musty smell of the giant book, the quiet-

"Hey, Gwen, you in here?" Gwen looked up to see Newt walking into the library, his hair damp but back to normal. A little annoyed, she glared at him. He tried again. "Why aren't you with the others?"

"Transmuting stuff is fun at first, but after a while of watching tables turn into chairs, it gets kind of old."

Newt nodded his agreement. "Yeah, but now I think Evan's trying to turn Kevin's hair green or something. I don't think you want to miss that."

"I wouldn't want to be in the same room as an angry Kevin."

"Good point; better warn Sam about that." Newt eyes widened for a moment and he got something out of his back pocket. "By the way, is this yours?"

Gwen took it and saw that it was a flier for the dance her school was hosting. "Where'd you find this?"

"I found it on the ground on my way to the living room," Newt explained. "I know the others don't go to that school, so I figured it belonged to you. I was going to give it to you earlier, but with the whole Ship thing…"

Gwen softened, just a little. "You're surprising perceptive."

"It's a gift," Newt said with a shrug. He gestured to the flier still in Gwen's hands. "So, are you going to that?"

She looked at the spring formal flier. "I don't know, I need a date and I don't know who to ask."

"Got any guys you know at school?"

"Well, yes, but they either have girlfriends or I just like them as friends."

"Why do you need to need to have an actual date for these things?" Newt asked, genuinely curious. "Why not just go as friends?"

"Because it's not done that way," Gwen said gently, since it was obvious to her that Newt never went to a formal party before.

"And just so you know, I've been to formal parties before," Newt snapped at her. Gwen gasped and stared at him. How did he know?

"I'm psychic."

Gwen had thought he was telepathic.

"I'm that too."

"Okay, stop!" she cried, now really freaked out. The book slid off her lap and to the floor as she stood up. "This is too freaky!"

"Really, I think it's awesome," Newt said, all serious like. "And I know I don't look like it, but I've been forced to go to a lot of these stupid formal dances and stuff. I know what to expect."

Gwen settled back in her chair. "Really? How so?"

"Both of my parents are social climbing politicians," Newt explained. "I grew up learning how to talk to successful and powerful people and all the etiquette that comes with it. A spring formal at your school shouldn't be that different."

"I don't think the kids at my school are at the same level as politicians," Gwen pointed out.

"No, but they're still rich and snobby and think they're better than everybody else."

"Does that include me?" Gwen narrowed her eyes at Newt.

"No, you're the exception," Newt said with a casual smile on his face. "I'm just saying that even though their parents may not be as rich or powerful as mine, the kids will still think of themselves as better than everyone else because mommy and daddy can pull some strings. I know the type, Gwen. I'm technically one of them."

"So you're saying you can handle these people?" Gwen held up the flier.

"Sure, and to prove it, I'll take you to the dance."

Gwen blinked. "As a real date or just as friends?"

"Just as friends," Newt promised.

"I don't know…"

"Is it because of the whole Slayer thing?" Newt asked suddenly.

Gwen stared at him. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, you saw what happened to Ben earlier..." Gwen gave an involuntary shudder. "See, you're not okay with it!"

"I'm not okay with it happening to my cousin," she corrected him. "It has nothing to do with you."

"Doesn't sound like it," he muttered under his breath. Gwen gave an annoyed sigh and gently grabbed Newt's hand.

"It's gonna take me a while to get used to this whole Slayer thing, I admit it," she said. "It'll take a while for Kevin to get over it too. But that doesn't mean you're any different because your face looks strange." Newt was staring at her, expressionless. Gwen held up the flyer. "Newt, will you take me the dance?"

"Isn't the guy supposed to ask?"

She snorted. "We're just going as friends, remember?"

Suddenly the doors to the library burst open. Gwen and Newt quickly retracted their hands just as Evan ran into the room.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" he screamed as he ran through the library. Just then Kevin ran into the room, his hair bright flamingo pink.

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Kevin roared as he chased Evan through the tunnels in all his pink-haired glory.

Newt and Gwen started laughing as soon as the library doors slammed shut. When they stopped rolling on the floor, Newt said, "I'll take you to the dance. What's your favorite flower?"

"Yellow roses."

"I'll make sure to get you that as a corsage. Oh, and Gwen?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Monday Night

Newt had left with Ship the night before. After helping to explain what Ship was and how they got him, Cordelia and Isaac let them keep him (not without extreme amounts of teasing, of course). They had also promised not to mention Ship to anyone, especially Ben. Carter was vaguely worried about how Ben would react if he ever found out about Ship-or if he ever figured out everyone else knew before he did-but there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"Ben, you sure this is the place?" Kevin asked worriedly as he and the others neared the warehouse.

"That's what the tip said."

"Yeah, that's what worries me. You don't get tips. I get tips. You got no connections."

"Guy's got a point," Evan added unhelpfully.

"I got connections!" Ben protested childishly.

"Like who?" Kevin asked incredulously.

"…Carter gives me tips!"

"And he does know me," Carter said with a smirk.

"Oh, you're so supportive," Ben said sarcastically.

"You wouldn't be dating her if she wasn't," Sam shot back.

"If you're so worried, we could just take a look and see what's up," Gwen said, not wanting to stall any longer. She created some big pink mana steps for the others to climb to the top of the warehouse. Ben and Kevin chose that route while the Pride opted for shadow travel.

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Kevin asked Sam as he walked up the steps.

"Not that I don't trust Gwen; it's just I prefer more stealthy methods," Sam answered as she disappeared into the dark with the others.

"What's so great about…what'd she call it?"

"Shadow travel," Ben said to Kevin. "Basically you turn yourself into a shadow and travel through space. It's probably better if you didn't try it."

"Why not?" Gwen asked.

"It's creepy."

Ben's team was now on top of the warehouse, looking in through the horizontal windows placed strategically on the roof. Forever Knights were hard at work placing cargo into giant trucks and using carts to load the crates. A few of them were standing on platforms, checking things off from their clipboards. Illegal alien things were clearly afoot.

Kevin placed a hand on the rooftop and quickly absorbed it. Completely covered in armor, he growled, "Forever Knights!"

"Up to no good, as usual," Gwen said, glowering at their forms.

Ben turned the Omnitrix dial to Chromastone and said, "Showtime." He slammed down the dial and the metamorphosis began.

"Chromastone!" he yelled before jumping in the air. He crashed through the windows, littering glass everywhere. He plummeted to the ground below with a large BOOM. Kevin landed right next to him while Gwen quickly used her mana staircase to get herself down.

"All right, nobody move!" Chromastone ordered the Forever Knights. The Knights ignored him and continued loading more crates into trucks.

"Hey! Did you guys hear us?" Kevin snarled at them.

"I don't think so." Gwen walked up to a Forever Knight moving a heavy crate and put her hand through the box. Her hand went right through the hologram like it was air.

Evan suddenly appeared behind the Forever Knight and said, in his best Admiral Ackbar imitation, "IT'S A TRAP!"

"Hate to say it, but he's right," Sam said as she and Carter appeared out of seemingly nowhere.

"Looks like whoever gave Ben that tip knew what kind of people we were after," Carter noted. "Question is who's been spying on us?" She jerked her head to the right. "I know you're over there. Come out!"

"The Valentine spawn always were smart," a masculine voice said as the Forever Knight holograms began to disappear. The trucks phased out and the Knights stopped moving as they vanished.

"Magister Ghilhil of the Plumbers," the voice said from behind a pillar. He got out of the shadows to reveal the signature white suit with black pants and silver detail. His green head wasn't covered by a fishbowl, but he did have a white helmet covering his cranium and half of his face. Only his mouth was uncovered.

As Magister Ghilhil walked toward them, he corrected himself. "Magister Prior Ghilhil. I'm the commanding officer of this entire quadrant. You're all under arrest for impersonating officers of the law."

"Dude, you just said you recognized me," Carter pointed out. "You can't arrest a Valentine without prior knowledge. And besides, why would you arrest them?" She jerked her thumb at Ben's team.

Chromastone walked up the magister just as he turned back into Ben. "Why are you arresting us for stopping crime?"

"I'm arresting you for impersonating a Plumber," Ghilhil explained again. "We're the only law enforcement organization recognized by all signatories in the Milky Way treaty."

"You're not the only cops recognized," Sam blithely said under her breath.

Ghilhil glared daggers her way. "The Slayers are regretfully a part of the Plumber organization, so technically we're the only one." He turned back to Ben. "That makes what you've done an interstellar-class felony."

"Sounds bad," Kevin said mockingly.

"If I were you I'd keep my big mouth in check," the magister scolded him. Ben couldn't suppress the immature grin spreading across his face.

"If I were you, I wouldn't threaten a guy who could kick your can halfway up the street and back," Kevin shot back.

"You feelin' froggy, son?" the magister asked quietly. "Then jump."

Sam grabbed Kevin's arm. "Don't listen, he's baiting you."

"Listen to the Slayer," the Magister said sardonically. "They know how to save their own hides."

"Don't do it," Gwen said, narrowing her eyes at Kevin. He looked between the two girls and smirked at the magister.

"Ribbit." Kevin ran up to him and aimed a punch at his face. Ghilhil grabbed the fist and twisted it painfully. He took the scruff of Kevin's shirt and threw him over his head. Kevin crashed through the wooden crates before landing painfully on his back.

Kevin slowly sat up, and the magister loomed over him. "Stay down, son."

Kevin put his hand on some new metal and absorbed it, covering up the old armor. He threw another punch at Ghilhil's face, actually connecting this time. His head went back, and Kevin punched him again, this time in the chest.

The magister staggered back and got his footing again. Massaging his jaw, he said, "As much as I would love a few more rounds with you, I don't have the time." He got out a standard Plumber weapon and shot a red ball at Kevin. The ball split in two, connected by a thin red string. They encircled him in a tight bind.

And to make matters worse, the two red balls lifted Kevin up in the air feet first so all the blood rushed to his head.

Ben immediately set the dial on his Omnitrix to Goop. Evan got out his guns. Sam's eyes glowed red.

The magister aimed his gun at them. "Don't."

Gwen glared at him. "Do."

Ghilhil shot at them, and Gwen used her powers to deflect it. As Ben changed into Goop, Evan shot at the magister, just barely hitting him. Carter and Sam ran up to him and socked him the jaw with one powerful punch.

The magister fell to the floor, but not without aiming his gun at the two girls. And then green slime rushed over him like a tidal wave, constricting his movements and throwing the gun out of his hand. Ghilhil tried punching through Goop, only to get more stuck.

Goop put the Magister into a tight body bind and made him fall to the floor. The slimy alien got all up in his face and he hissed, "Wanna talk? Let's talk."

Up on the roof, Kevin and Ben were back to normal and Ghilhil was standing sternly before them. Gwen was right next to Ben, Kevin was behind the magister, and the Pride was huddled in the corner from them.

"I don't see why we gotta talk to him!" Kevin said as the wind began to pick up. Magister Ghilhil glared at him.

"Because I'm the Plumber officer in charge of this whole section of space."

"Then you know we're the good guys," Ben said.

"What I know is over the last couple of months I've gotten several reports of you kids passing yourselves off as Plumbers," the Magister explained.

"Our grandfather was a Plumber," Gwen said sharply.

"Max Tennyson," he said solemnly. "He was a good man, but that doesn't make you Plumbers." He turned to Kevin. "And you. You don't even have a claim by blood."

"Yes I do," Kevin hissed. "My father-my real father…" His voice broke and his eyes widened before looking away.

"Kevin…?" Sam said softly.

"Nothing," he said harshly. He crossed his arms. "Never mind."

"The point is we shut down Plumber operations five years ago for a reason," Magister Ghilhil continued. "Though the Slayers refused to listen to that order."

"That's because you never listen to us," Evan said casually. "What comes around goes around."

"Anyway, after Vilgax was destroyed-"

"After I destroyed him," Ben corrected him.

"Credit due," Ghilhil allowed. "But Earth is a backwater level two planet. Without an imminent threat I can't allow Plumber resources to be wasted here. I've got over three hundred inhabited planets under my watch."

"Look, Magister," Ben began. "Can I call you Magister?"

"The other Plumber we met was named Magister too," Gwen suddenly said. "Magister Labrid."

"Magister is a rank, not a name," Ghilhil said with a hint of humor in his voice. "You pretend to be Plumbers but you know nothing about the job."

"I never pretended to be anything!" Gwen said hotly.

"Aliens are attacking our planet!" Ben cried. "We're just fighting to keep it safe."

"I read a number of reports on your activities," the magister said. "There is no evidence of significant alien activity here."

"Of course not, that's where we come in," Carter piped up. "We'd send you the reports, but you might accidently-on-purpose delete it as spam."

"Besides, we've seen them. I wrecked one of their ships," Ben said.

"I've assigned a new magister to this region," Ghilhil said. "He'll check in on Earth sometime in the next few months. If you have proof, present it to him and let him take care of business."

"A few months?!" Ben cried out in disbelief.

"I'm inclined to give you kids a break. Ben, you wear the Omnitrix, so you already have special dispensation. The Galvan have requested that you not be interfered with in minor matters." Ghilhil turned to Gwen. "And the reports I've read that indicate, as you say, you've never impersonated a Plumber."

He turned to the Pride. "I have no idea why a bunch of Slayers are helping you out, but since I can't do anything with them without special clearance, I'll let them off the hook as long as they adhere to the agreement."

"You mean you're too afraid of Cordelia to do anything about it," Sam mocked.

Ghilhil ignored her and set his sights on Kevin. "But you…"

"Yeah? What?"

"You've got a record. You've done time in the Null Void for a variety of crimes."

"He's changed," Gwen said passionately.

"He did his time," Ben elaborated. "He's been helping us."

"He's been impersonating a Plumber." Ghilhil walked over to Kevin and held out his hand. "Give me the badge you stole."

For the first time, everyone heard Kevin plead. "Don't take my badge, man. Please."

"Now! Or you're going back to the Null Void."

Kevin begrudgingly got the Plumber badge out of his pocket. Looking at it for a long moment, he gave it to the magister.

"Thank you," the magister said. "You're free to go. But if you ever get involved in Plumbers' business again, I don't care what Azmuth says, you're all going to the Null Void." He glared at the Pride. "All of you."

The magister pressed a button on his suit and a white light enveloped him. The transport teleported him off the rooftop and left the kids alone.

Horror began to dawn on Ben's face. "Is that it? Is this the end?"

The song is "Standing Still" by Orange, if you were wondering.

So, review? Please?