Chapter 12 – Lull

July 13, 2010

New Glowerton, Alatraxia

Phil stared out the gaping hole in the wall of the small house and crossed his arms. Outside, at the treeline, was a smear of green blood leading up to a large stain where Chairman Ion's body finally bled out a few days earlier. It was a gruesome sight, and it occurred to the former Plumber that he and Max had fought dozens of super powered alien would-be conquerors. How many times had he gotten a hair's breadth away from such a fate? He shuddered at the thought.

"Hurry up, kid," he said instead using the radio in his rebreather. "I doubt we'll go unnoticed for much longer."

Kevin, sitting at a desk in the ruined living room with Kai hovering at his shoulder, nodded and picked up his Plumber's badge. He carefully placed the device on top of the fractured glass display and pressed on the faceplace. It lit up with green light and began downloading.

"Just a few minutes," said Kevin. "I don't want to go too fast or someone at the Core might notice a dead person's account accessing the databank."

Phil shook his head and stepped through the hole and paced around the small estate, examining the signs of battle. Ion looked to have gotten his geriatric ass handed to him in practically one shot. It wasn't entirely surprising given the power levels of the people involved, but still unsettling. Didn't a man as respected as Ion deserve and end more fitting than being crushed through three walls and left to bleed out?

"Okay, I've got it," said Kevin, standing up. He put his badge back into his pocket. "Everything in the two databases on Brozz, Ion, and Lorbil. Hopefully this wasn't a waste of time." He crossed the room and climbed out he hole to join Phil.

"I can't see how it will help us stop Brozz," said Phil as he looked at the small table that held a teapot and glass mug. "But maybe it'll help us figure out who's to blame for this when it's all over."

"Assuming we're still alive," scoffed Kevin. "I looked up Azmuth too, by the way. There's a footnote about a 'Galvan Mark II' project but no details on where or when."

Phil nodded and then motioned back down the drive to where the Rust Bucket was parked. "It's just as well. Let's go." He jumped down off the porch and started walking.

Kevin followed shortly behind. "Come on, Kai," he said as he jumped. After a few steps he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. Kai was still standing on the porch and looking strangely to the side. "Kai?"

Kai turned her head to stare back at hole in the wall on the porch. "Do you ... feel that?" she asked.

Phil stopped and turned. "Feel what?" he asked.

Kai reached out a hand and moved it slowly through the air in front of her. "It's like a... haze. Or a ghost?"

"A ghost?" asked Kevin. "Like an Ectonurite?"

Kai frowned. "What's an Ectonurite?" She continued to slowly move her hand around.

"They're ... uh, well, they're ghosts," said Kevin, sounding sheepish. "Evil things. They can go intangible at will and possess people."

"I have no idea what that would feel like," said Kai. She raised her other hand and moved her hands together. "I—I can feel something here, but it's just out of sight."

"Feel what?" asked Phil.

"I think its scattered energy," said Kai. "Maybe I can..." She tensed the muscles in her arms slightly and looked to be concentrating. She sighed after a moment. "No. It's more orderly, maybe more like this." She frowned deeply and tilted her head to the side.

A shadowy form appeared in the air in front of her, looking just as ghostly as she implied. But slowly it began to take more definite shape. The amorphous cloud began to coalesce into a large, muscular form.

"Ah!" Kai shouted as she jumped back from the undeniable shape of Brozz standing in front of her.

Phil quickly pulled a gun and Kevin absorbed the stone beneath his feet.

"W-Wait!" said Kai, scrambling back to her feet. "It's not real."

Kevin scowled. "What is that?"

"I—I think it's ... it's like an echo," said Kai. She walked slowly around the shadowy form of Brozz. "It's an impression of Brozz from when he was here. Like a... well, like a hole in a wall. He left a path." She put her hands out to either side of her and closed her eyes. "Ennngh!" she grunted.

A cloud of white light appeared and then swiftly shrunk down into almost a hundred Brozz's in a row, showing a path as he walked through the house and then around the grounds before leaving.

"Woah," said Kevin as he stared.

Kai panted slightly as she leaned on one of the upturned chairs on the patio. "I think that's most of them."

Kevin walked slowly around a parade of Brozz's and moved up to Kai. "How did you know to do that?" he asked directly.

"I... I don't know, it just seemed like the right thing to do," said Kai.

"But you've never done that before?" said Kevin.

Kai shook her head.

Kevin studied her face for another minute before looking at the Brozz trail. He reached out and waved his hand through the ghostly visage. It passed through without any resistance and barely distorted the ghosts. He put his hand to his chin and then walked along the path Brozz took.

When he got around to where the pool of blood once was, he looked at the collision of about a dozen Brozz images all merged together. Phil came up on the opposite side of the ghosts and nodded.

"It's hard to see what happened here," said Phil. "Can you make some of these go away?"

Kai nodded and reached out a hand. With a slight squinting of her eyes she caused the Brozz images she was touching to dissipate again. Phil pointed a few more images and Kai walked around slowly eliminating them from the path until there were three left. One of Brozz staring down at stain from a few paces away, another of him looking off to the side, and a final one where he had his fist up in the air.

Kevin looked at the trio of images carefully. "There was someone else here."

Phil agreed. "He's clearly keeping his distance here, and then looking at someone else here."

Kai walked up to the Brozz with his fist in the air. "What about this one?"

Kevin looked at the arm and then Brozz's face. "He's angry at someone. Whoever it was that was here, I guess."

"How can you tell?" asked Kai.

Phil pointed at the arm. "Look at the fist. Sideways, slightly tilted back, like it's supporting a weight. He picked up his partner by the shirt."

"Or tentacle, or whatever," said Kevin. "Can't tell without seeing whoever he's holding."

Kai focused her attention on the image and reached her fingers out and felt the air in front of Brozz's fist. She grimaced. "There's not much here," she said. Her fingers laced together and she moved them side to side. "Maybe a little."

Slowly Kai worked the air in front of Brozz's fist. First there was just a foggy cloud, but it slowly gained more definition. The blob became a head, and then a bust, and finally earned a face.

"I don't recognize him," said Kevin.

Phil shook his head. "I do," he said. "That's a technodon. I think it's Lorbil."

Kevin pulled out his badge again and called up a record, causing a holographic figure to emerge from the badge. He held it up against the ghostly face. "It could be," he said. "It's pretty close."

"I can't give you any more detail than that," said Kai. "He just doesn't have the same presence as Brozz."

"I doubt very many things in the galaxy do," said Phil. He pulled out a squared device from his pocket and held it up to the two ghostly forms. "I'll take a picture. We can analyze it later."

Kevin nodded. "Yeah, we need to get back to Earth. Gwen is probably back by now."

Kai nodded and turned away from the image as Brozz to follow Kevin away from the house. Behind her the image slowly faded away.

-(X)-

Max paced stiffly around the great room in Hex's – now Charmcaster's – manor. The expanded team of Plumbers and associates had elected to gather there because it was the only place large enough to house their rather entourage. It was rather gothic in decoration on the inside, but spacious, with many places to sit, stand, or as Max would have it, pace.

"I'm worried about how many elements are in motion here," said Max as he circled back towards the front of the room with the unlit fireplace behind him. "We still don't fully understand Brozz' plan; nor why he attacked Gwen; nor whether the people of Ledgerdomain will be ready; nor whether this 'spell' will successfully defeat him, or Adwaita for that matter; or why Chairman Lorbil is involved; and finally where Hex ended up."

"Ooh!" yelled a black haired girl that looked staggeringly identical to Gwen and sitting at one end of a large sofa. "I don't know why I'm here at all, as long as we're making a list."

Verdona stepped up behind the girl and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't be prissy, Sunny, I'll explain everything later."

Sunny crossed her arms. "Could explain things now," she grumbled.

"That's a long list," said Wes. He had been discharged with Max yesterday with instructions to 'take it easy.' It didn't seem that he was going to be able to follow that particular prescription. "Any one of those things could ruin everything."

"Some are less likely to screw everything up than others," said Phil. "Whatever Lorbil wants, we haven't seen his hand in this very prominently. I doubt he will do much during our attack."

"And Brozz attacking us at the Door is a good thing," said Charmcaster, quickly attracting puzzled looks. "We were going to need to lure him to the Door anyway, if he's got a bug out for us or the door, it'll make that task all that much easier."

"Yeah, but why did he do it?" said Kevin. "You said he was waiting for you. How did he even know where to be? And why target you and not me, or Ben, or Max?"

"Time travel, most likely," said Gwen. "He can't cross his own path but he probably could have watched and then travelled back in time to be there when we arrived."

"But why?" asked Kai. "And was he after you, Charmcaster, or the Door?"

Gwen shrugged.

Charmcaster shook her head. "Uncle never said he told Brozz about the Door or anything about Ledgerdomain, so he shouldn't have known about it. Though Uncle could have been lying by omission... or just outright lying." She sighed. "And before you ask, I have no idea where he ended up. He has the ability to summon the Door just as easily as I can, he could have exited anywhere. I don't think he is going to interfere, but I've been wrong about him before."

Gwen reached over and gently patted Charmcaster on the shoulder. Their eyes met for a moment and Charmcaster nodded wearily.

"What about the spell?" asked Julie. "Any way to find out if it will work? Will the three of you be enough?" She motioned towards Verdona, Sunny, and Gwen.

"There's no way to know how much power will be needed," said Gwen, gently removing her hand from Charmcaster's shoulder. "I certainly felt much stronger there, but I could hardly quantify it. Between the three of us we'll probably be able to level a significant amount of power."

"Assuming you don't go out of control like a ten year old," Sunny scoffed. "Maybe you should leave this to the grown ups."

"Don't be mean," Verdona admonished. "You haven't reached mastery of your skills yet either."

"I'm further along than cousin Way Too Uptight over there." Sunny laughed. "She's going to lose her mind."

"I will not!" Gwen shouted angrily.

"You don't have a good track record so far, sweetie," chided Sunny.

"The short of it is," said Charmcaster, trying to move ahead in the conversation. "The spell will break apart anything given enough power and control. I had hoped we would have had the entire might of Anodyne behind us, but if Verdona believes the three of you will be enough, I can't say differently." She leaned back on the sofa and folded her arms. "I will provide the control. My people will reinforce the structure of the spell to be able to withstand the amount of mana you will be pumping through it, but I'll be at the center of it all. If something goes wrong, I'll know right away and we can adapt."

"So everything relies on you instead?" asked Julie. "I'm sorry, but I've heard stories. How can we trust you?"

"You can," said Gwen and Phil simultaneously. They looked at one another in surprise, and then Phil acquiesced.

"This isn't a simple matter of vengeance," continued Gwen. "Her people matter to her and their freedom depends on our success. She wouldn't suggest this plan if she didn't think it would work."

Charmcaster's jaw dropped slightly as she watched Gwen defend her. Then her eyes tracked briefly over at Phil who nodded at her with a warm smile.

"She's right," Charmcaster said softly. "It does matter to me. And I do think it will work. Especially if we can convince my people that Adwaita isn't all powerful, even with the Alpha Rune. If they... believe we have a chance, I hope they will join us, and make the spell that much more powerful."

"But we don't need them?" clarified Wes.

"No. If there are still a few members of Archamada alive, it should work without them."

"Alright then," said Max. "I guess the real question is, do we have any other plans?" He looked around the room slowly. "The variables in this one are significant, but I haven't heard a viable alternative yet, and we're running out of time. The longer we wait, the more time Brozz has initiate whatever his plan is for Earth's destruction. So if there is another option, we need to hear it now."

The room was quiet as minutes passed.

"All right then," said Max quietly. "Then this is it."

-(X)-

Kevin gently pulled Gwen into the hallway outside the great room of the manor. He looked greatly agitated and looked periodically over this shoulder to see if anyone was listening.

"Are you sure we can trust her?" he asked again. "I mean, I don't need to remind you of the times she tried to kill you. Or me. Or control me to kill you. Or take your power. Or put the world at risk."

"And yet, you're reminding me anyway," noted Gwen, sounding a little irritated.

"Gwen..."

"Yes," said Gwen simply. "Yes, we can trust her."

Kevin grimaced, holding his breath for a moment, before relaxing in a burst. "Yeah, you gotta give me more than that. I know what it's like to go against your nature. It's not easy. It doesn't happen overnight."

"I'm not sure if I can give you what you want," said Gwen. "Some of the things she told me... well, she never swore me to secrecy, but I feel like they were personal. Private. I don't feel I should be talking about them."

"Even to me? Your boyfriend?" said Kevin.

"It's not about us," said Gwen.

"No, it's definitely about us," said Kevin. "I'm not going to let you run into that much danger without some understanding of what is going on."

"You don't get to make that decision," said Gwen sharply. "You don't let me do anything. I do things, you do things, we do things together. But I don't need your permission to put my life on the line. You don't own me."

"I know that!" said Kevin.

"Then what are you asking?" Gwen said, exasperated.

"I'm asking you to think about what it would do to me if you died!" shouted Kevin.

Gwen stared, a little surprised. "Kevin..."

"Look, I'm not a fool," he said quickly before she could say more. "I know the Earth is more important than whatever... we have. But what good is it if you go and get killed for no reason? No gain? We need victory, not just so we don't get defeated, but so everyone else on Earth gets ... to... not to be defeated." He paused. "That was awkward."

"It's not just for 'no reason.'" Gwen looked around this time to see if anyone had come looking for them. "I... don't want to get hurt or die. But I really do believe in Charmy. She's not going to let us down this time."

Gwen placed her hand on Kevin's chest. "I know she hurt you once," she said. "I know it is hard to forgive without a reason. But we did it. Ben and I. For you."

Kevin started to look away but Gwen moved to stay in his vision. "We had no idea what to expect from you," she said. "After all our fights, how could believe you weren't our enemy anymore? But Ben felt something, he knew somehow that you had changed, so I trusted him. And look at us now."

Kevin gently reached up and took Gwen's hands into his own. He stared into her eyes. "I am looking," he said. "I'm just not ready to stop."

"We'll be okay," said Gwen quietly. "Trust me."

-(X)-

Sunny stretched beside her grandmother under the sun in the front of the manor. There was a fairly sizable estate around the building leaving them far out of view from any neighbors. Not that Sunny cared at all, but she was told that keeping her 'nature' out of sight from other humans was a strict rule.

Which really just meant she'd have to find some way to break it before leaving.

"I don't get why this is our business," said Sunny. "Let's just go back to Anodyne and let this wacko do his thing."

"Your grandfather lives here," said Verdona. "And many of your cousins, aunts and uncles. They won't be abandoning Earth and neither should we."

"They're being fools, it's just a planet," shrugged Sunny.

"So is Anodyne," said Verdona. "And I know how you feel right now, like your power reduces other people's issues to the squabbles of ants. But that will change, my dear, as you get older. You'll have to take my word for it right now, of course."

"I don't see how," said Sunny. "Why would I care what about a bunch of people I'm distantly related to on a planet in the middle of nowhere? I mean, look at what they're doing to Gwen! She's a pain, of course, but they've stunted her growth. It'll be decades before she even comes close to me."

Verdona smiled. "You might be surprised."

"Sorry!" called a voice from inside the house and shortly after Gwen emerged. She ran up to Sunny and Verdona. "There's a lot going on inside, I ... uh, I had to finish a discussion."

"It's all right, dear," said Verdona.

"Why didn't you just teleport here?" said Sunny accusingly.

Gwen looked awkwardly between Verdona and Sunny. "Uh, because it seemed like a waste of energy for twenty yards. Teleporting is tiring."

"No, it isn't," said Sunny, and she vanished in a flash, before appearing on top of a nearby tree. "You must be doing it wrong!" she yelled.

"Please come down here, Sunny," said Verdona.

"Why did you have to invite her?" asked Gwen, quietly.

"Because beggars can't be choosers," said Verdona.

Sunny appeared in a flash. "Who is a beggar?"

"Nothing," said Gwen. "So, grandma, what did you need to talk about?"

"Training," said Verdona.

"I'm not going to Anodyne!" Gwen said quickly.

Verdona looked amused and patted Gwen's head. "We hardly have time for that. But you do need to practice a bit more control in your natural form if you're going to help with this spell."

"I'm fine in my natural form, I need help with my Anodite form," said Gwen, trying not to be too obvious.

Verdona never missed a beat. "Whichever you'd like to call it, honey."

Gwen sighed. "So what do you need me to do?"

Sunny suddenly shed her body as if it were a rubber mask revealing her magenta Anodite form. "Fight me!" she said loudly, and then smack Gwen across the lawn.

Gwen landed in a heap several yards away. Her body ached and she tasted blood in her mouth. She touched her lips and then looked at her fingers. "What are you doing? I'm bleeding!"

"You wouldn't be if you'd ditch that stupid body," said Sunny, teasingly.

Gwen growled loudly then let her Anodite form consume her body, shoving it beneath the surface to let the magenta energy surge forth. She pushed herself off the ground and rocketed towards Sunny with her hands out.

The two cousins collided and began flying through the air, striking each other with blows, beams of energy, and occasionally a tossed tree.

"Remember, girls!" Verdona called out after a moment. "The lesson is control."

-(X)-

Wes ran into the great room urgently and looked around until his eyes locked on Max.

"What is it? "asked Max, noticing the alarmed expression on his old partner's face.

"I, uh, I think your wife is beating up on your grandchildren," said Wes. He was obviously uncomfortable with almost every word he said.

Max rolled his eyes. "Alright, I'll take care of it," he said. Then he walked past Wes for the door and the two of them exited.

"Kids, huh?" said Phil to the others in the room. Then he noticed that only kids remained in the room with him. "Oh."

Ben looked to Kai. "So it's helped?" he asked.

Kai nodded and held up a hand. "It's not been... well, it's easier than I thought it would be, but tiring." The air above her hand slowly condensed into a foggy cloud. "I don't honestly understand all of it, but I can do it."

Ben looked in amazement at the cloud then poked his finger into it. It left an impression. Then he drew a smiley face in it.

Julie poked him in the side. "Ben," she said.

Ben grinned and nodded. "So, that's good, I guess. As long as I get to keep control of the Ultimatrix, we should be much better off this time."

"You haven't had any problems recently, right?" said Kai.

Ben shook his head. "No, but you were in space for most of that. I just want to make I won't have problems in battle."

"I think I've got it under control now," said Kai. "At least the part I was doing unintentionally."

"Good," said Ben. "You won't have to evacuate the state then."

Kai looked between Ben, Phil, and Julie. "So I can come along, right?"

"To the fight with Brozz?" said Ben. "Why would you want to? It's going to be incredibly dangerous."

"I want to help," said Kai.

"I'm not sure Wes is going to be too happy about that," said Phil, looking over his shoulder.

"He doesn't get to say what I do," said Kai. "I'm sure he expects to be involved."

"I wouldn't be so certain," said Phil.

"What are you going to do in the fight?" said Julie, with a raised eyebrow. "Make clouds around Brozz?"

Kai frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Well what are you going to do? Is he weak to tennis serves?"

Julie laughed, then looked over towards the door. "Ship!" she called out.

Ship hopped into the room and then rushed up over to Julie, quickly jumping onto her back and forming the colossal power armor around her. Ship chirped happily as Julie looked down at the much smaller Kai.

"I have a little more than my back hand to contribute," said Julie with a smirk.

"Okay, no fair," said Kai. "How come she gets a power suit?"

Julie pointed at her chest. "I trained Ship to do this."

"No you didn't," said Ben, a little dubiously. "That crazy doctor with the Forever Knights did."

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" asked Julie.

"I need to pick sides?" asked Ben, surprised.

"Ben!" said Julie.

"Ben!" echoed Kai.

Ben looked threatened and turned towards Phil.

"You're on your own, kid," said Phil as he headed for the door.

"Uh, look, I'd really like it if neither of you came," said Ben. "I don't want to see either of you get hurt."

"Ben, I've been in battle before," said Julie. "There were hundreds of bad guy sat Los Solidad, this is just one."

"One, really, really, really powerful guy," pointed out Ben.

"Then you need all the help you can get," said Julie, conclusively.

"Right, so I should help too," said Kai.

"I said help, not drag down," said Julie.

"I thought you two were starting to get along?" mused Ben.

"She's never fought an alien before," explained Julie.

"There was a time where you hadn't fought an alien before as well," said Kai.

"Yeah, and that time was called Ben and my first date," said Julie. "I've been doing this for a while now."

"So what makes this any different?"

"Well, first, you're not dating Ben," said Julie. "And second, Brozz is way different than Ship, who wasn't really evil, just confused."

"Oh, right, so you fought a good alien for your first experience," said Kai.

"Befriended would be the right word," said Julie.

"Well, who's to say I won't befriend Brozz!"

Ben and Julie looked at Kai for a moment.

"Yeah, that was stupid," admitted Kai.

"Look, I'm not really comfortable with anyone who can't easily take a brick to the face being involved in this battle," said Ben. He looked to both the girls and took a breath. "But I know that it's going to happen anyway. So, please, if you must come, just ... look out for each other. Keep each other safe."

"Look out for her?" said Kai, dubiously.

"Look out for everyone," said Ben. "That's why we're in a team. We have to succeed together. Brozz will just run right over us if we aren't getting along. So please, for the sake of the earth and everyone on this team, please be friends?"

Kai and Julie looked at each other with venomous expressions before finally Julie said, "I'll look out for her... as a member of our team."

Kai seemed unconvinced but nodded. "And I'll look out for her... also as a member of our team."

"There," said Ben. "Good. Much better. Now, if you don't mind, I need to find out where Kevin and Gwen went." He quickly slipped out from between the two glaring girls and fled.

-(X)-

Kevin, Ben, and Gwen stood outside in the back yard of the manor away from the clamor of planning going on inside. Ben sighed and looked at his closest friends and teammates. Gwen seemed to have several scuff marks on her hands, arms, and face. Probably the result of the fight he'd heard about earlier. He hoped things were going better with Sunny than they were with Julie and Kai, but he seriously doubted it.

"So," said Gwen, wincing slightly.

Kevin looked at her with a worried expression. "Are you...?"

"It'll heal soon," said Gwen. "Grandma is teaching me some techniques to speed it along."

"Super healing?" said Ben. "Awesome."

"Not really," said Gwen. "Avoiding getting hurt is still better."

"Ah," said Ben, and nodded. Then looked at Kevin, who just shrugged in return.

"Are we really ready for this?" said Kevin, looking around. "We're hardly at the top of our game."

"Do we have a choice?" asked Ben. "We don't know what Brozz is doing, and it is undoubtedly something we don't want him to be doing. If we wait any longer, we could be toast."

"We'll probably be toast anyway," said Kevin. "But, I guess that's par for the course for us."

Gwen nodded and looked at the manor. "I really wish I knew more about everything."

"So does Grandpa," said Ben. "At some point, though, we can't wait anymore."

"Is that really now?" asked Gwen. "I mean, I believe in Charmcaster's plan, but... there are just so many things that could go wrong."

"We can wait," said Ben experimentally. "You both seem like you want to. But each day is another day we could all be destroyed by Brozz."

Kevin and Gwen looked at each other and had what seemed to be a silent conversation before they both sighed. "No, we should do it," said Kevin.

"Yeah, if we delayed you'd just go by yourself," said Gwen giving an accusing eye to Ben.

Ben looked away slightly and smiled. "That obvious?"

Kevin slapped him on the back. "Don't worry, I would too."

"Me too," said Gwen with a nod. "Too much riding on this to hesitate now."

They all, in the briefest moment, admired each other and what they'd all done and given up to be where they were now.

"Who'd have thought us," said Ben. "Right?"

"Not me," said Kevin.

"Me neither," said Gwen.

Ben nodded. "Tomorrow?"

"We'll lay the bait," said Gwen with a nod. "Only time will tell when Brozz will take it."

"Yeah," said Ben. "Time..."

Then Ben's eyes widened.