Happy birthween to Ruby Rose, this is a part of a double upload. Second part should be up soon.
Ben didn't know whether to cry or scream.
Ruby was… Ruby was gone. Her house was empty of everything that made it home. She and her sister had already transferred out of their schools. They were already well on their way back to Oregon.
Ben changed his shirt- his left shoulder was soaked with Ruby's tears- and glared at his phone. There was a message from Grandpa Max, telling him to meet him at Plumber HQ. Ben didn't want to- he wanted to rage and break things and sob and curl up in his blankets… but that wasn't what Ruby would have wanted him to do. (She had cried enough for the both of them already.)
Forcing his emotions back before they could overwhelm him, Ben biked to the diner as fast as he could- he felt ready to lash out at anyone who got in his way, and he couldn't do that to Grandpa, so being physically exhausted was the better alternative.
The diner itself was unassuming- it was a small one-storey building tucked away in a small, peaceful neighborhood. It's dark blue paint didn't match the cheery vibrant tones of the buildings around it, but it had tasteful white timmings, and the modest sign above the door said Max's Diner in a vivid red. The restaurant was frequented by college kids and the elderly; the neighborhood had cheap rent, which made it perfect for anyone with tight budgets. Add in the mom-and-pop stores and the weekly farmer's market, and it was one of the most charming and idyllic areas in Bellwood. Even Ben, in his tumultuous state, felt more relaxed once he was there.
Stepping inside the diner reminded Ben of those malt shops from the 1950s. Black and white checkered floor, black chairs and blue square tables, black booths and white and blue walls. There was a bar near the back for the adults and a longer, much busier bar for people to sit at. There was no jukebox and the cash register was extremely up to date, but other than that it looked like something out of a picture. Construction had only finished within the last year, but it was already a highly popular restaurant among the locals and nearby college. Ben and Ruby liked to come here every so often-
Ben closed his eyes and sucked in a breath, already feeling the pinpricks of tears. He took a few calming breaths and felt his anger and sadness bleed into a barely there calm. He forced his legs to keep moving- people weren't staring at him yet, and he wanted to keep it that way.
Then again, maybe no one would stare at Ben anyway, since he was just dressed in stone-washed jeans and a soft green t-shirt. The elderly sitting in the booths were either dressed primly or strangely, wearing outfits that wouldn't look out of place in the disco era, while the college students were wearing outlandishly bright colors or looked ready to have a stress-induced meltdown. The diner always did draw in an eccentric crowd, which made it easier for extraterrestrials new to the planet to fit in.
Ben managed to make it to the backroom without anyone noticing him. He dodged one of the busy kitchen entrances and hid behind some heavy wine crates. He crouched down and removed the loose flooring in front of him, revealing a wide steel door with a keypad on the bottom. Ben took a moment to remember his code- like all secret Plumber doors, the keypad had thousands of passwords memorized, and each Plumber agent got their own specialized code. Add in the handprint signature, and it was nigh impossible to get into the Plumber base without special authorization.
The door slid open, and Ben walked down the earthen steps into the brightly lit, metal plated underground tunnel, making his way to the meeting site. Already he could hear the hum of hundreds of Plumber agents running around, working on missions and paperwork and other tasks. Ben looked into a meeting room window and saw Sienna addressing a small crowd, a powerpoint presentation behind her. Ben smiled to himself- he rarely interacted with Sienna, but she always smiled at him and gave him updates on what Kevin was doing, even if the two of them couldn't meet. School made them both busy, and with Plumber training being what is was, there was no way for the two of them to talk or even see each other.
Which made it surreal when Ben walked into another meeting room and saw Kevin sitting at the table.
He had filled out considerably- he was no longer a skinny, half-starved boy but a well-built, athletic teen. His hair was longer and shinier, hanging in a loose ponytail over his shoulder. His face was angular and sharp, his dark eyes focused intently on his book. He was dressed in a black t-shirt, a purple and black plaid button, and ripped up jeans, black Converses adorning his feet. Kevin's eyes briefly flitted to Ben before settling back on his book, but then he jerked up and stared at him.
"Ben?"
"Kevin?"
Both boys staggered to each other and did and awkwardly shook hands. Ben noticed that Kevin was at least a head taller than him, maybe more- clearly Anna and Sienna were feeding him well. "Sienna told me you were training with the Plumbers, but I didn't know you were nearby," Ben admitted sheepishly.
"My parents live near Miskatonic, and that's not always a short trip," Kevin said. "I've been mainly hanging out over there."
Both boys sat down at the table, and Kevin put his book aside- Rebecca, Ben noticed. "Anna and Sienna told me you've been doing well, but I couldn't be completely sure," he said. "I wanted to get in contact with you, but I wasn't sure how, and it's not like I can just ask Sienna when she's working." And Anna was rarely at this base anyway, so that made asking her pointless.
"I regained human form within a few months, and this has looked better ever since." Kevin pulled up his sleeve to reveal the Antitrix; the skin around it no longer looked inflamed, and while it was clear that it was rudely imbedded in Kevin's wrist, how it was all meshed together looked much more organic. "That being said, I haven't been in a state of mind to talk to many people over the last few years."
"What do you mean?"
Kevin scratched the back of his head. "I've been doing well, but let's face it, getting tortured to near death did not help my already deep-seated issues. And having unstable powers definitely didn't help. My therapist is great, and my new family is incredibly supportive… but relapses happen, and when they do, it's bad. It's just… this is the longest I've felt like I've been in a good place, and I wasn't ready to talk to you or Ruby until now."
Ben's heart clenched painfully at the thought of Ruby, but he pushed it aside to help Kevin. "Dude, don't blame yourself. You needed to focus on yourself first, I completely understand. Ruby would too, if she were still here."
Kevin looked at him, alarmed. "What happened to her?"
Ben realized what he just said and immediately backtracked. "Nothing bad, sorry, poor word choice. She moved to Bellwood for a few years because of her dad's work, and she just moved away today. You just missed her."
Kevin's eyes narrowed in concern. He seemed to be searching for something on Ben's face. "And how are you? You doing okay?"
Ben swallowed the lump in his throat and forced a lilt in his voice. "Kind of? I feel emotionally drained, naturally, but it's like… I don't know. I don't really wanna talk about it."
Kevin immediately backed off. "Alright then. Do you know why your grandpa wanted us here?"
Ben furrowed his brow. "No idea. His instructions were vague."
The older boy made a slight humming noise. "When I told Sienna about it, she looked kind of mad? Not at me, but at Max. I think something's going down."
The door burst open, and a girl walked in, bright green streaks in her dark hair. She was short and heavy-looking, with thick arms and legs and a noticeable stomach. She had light makeup around her warm brown eyes and wore shiny lip gloss. She wore tan shorts and a green and white raglan shirt, clean hiking boots on her feet.
"Okay, so, I just talked to Amma and apparently Magister Tennyson is plotting something-!" Kylie babbled until she saw Ben, shutting her mouth with an audible click. She smiled nervously and said, "Hi Ben, please ignore what I just said."
Ben racked his brain, trying to place this girl, until… "Oh wait, you're Anna's kid!" he exclaimed, remembering the girl from the camp. "I didn't know you were in the Plumber program."
"Yep!" she chirped, sitting down next to Kevin. "I switched over here a while back. Aliens, you know?"
"I do," Ben agreed. "But what's this about my grandpa plotting something?"
Kylie huffed, and Kevin gave her a sly look. "Why did you think he was going to drop that?"
"I was hoping," she whined, but she quickly became serious. "Okay, so, I wasn't able to get much from Amma- Sienna- since she was about to enter a meeting. And I couldn't dig up anything from the computers since I don't have enough clearance, but it looks like the magister is gathering a bunch of kids for something?"
"Might be a new training regime," Kevin mused. "We've all been training separately, but that's not how Plumbers tend to work in the field. Huntsmen too, for that matter."
"I would think so," Kylie admitted, "but that doesn't explain why Amma was so mad."
"That is weird," Ben agreed. "Sienna's usually pretty calm."
"Which makes it that much weirder-!" Kylie was cut off when the door opened again. A tall, purple alien walked through, his ears pointed and orange eyes bright. He had black markings on his face, and his hair was trimmed neatly on his head. He was lean and athletic, a black, standard issue Plumber uniform covering him from neck to foot. A weapon was strapped to his back- a gun of some sort- but Ben couldn't get a good enough look.
The alien smiled at them and said, "Oh, are you all also hear on Magister Tennyson's request?"
Ben blinked at the formal wording, and he could see that the others were also mystified. Kevin easily shook it off and stood up, shaking the alien's hand. "Yeah, we are. I'm Kevin, and this is my sister Kylie, and my friend Ben."
Kylie and Ben said their greetings and shook hands with him as well. "Lovely to meet you all," the alien said brightly as he sat down. "I am Rook Blonko, of Revonnah."
Kevin looked surprised. "Wait, Revonnah? Aren't you mainly peaceful farm folk? I didn't think any of you would join the Plumber Corps."
Rook shrugged sheepishly. "While my people certainly enjoy the benefits of the Plumber alliance, they stay away from any sort of violence. I am the first to actually join the Corps."
"Okay, that's pretty cool," Ben admitted, smiling at Rook. The guy was clearly new- new to the planet, to the Plumbers, to interacting with others who thought like him. He was eager and earnest and was probably a little uptight, but he seemed alright.
Kylie was already asking Rook about his home, something the alien was happy to explain, when the door creaked open. It was fairly silent, and if Ben and Kevin hadn't been paying attention, they would have kept silently listening to Rook and Kylie's conversation. But they hadn't been, and soon all four of the room's occupants were openly staring.
She couldn't have been older than Ben, but she was tall for her age. She had thick black hair that shone blue in the lighting, cut into a stylish pixie cut. Thick black eyebrows were set firmly over glacial blue eyes, her pupils slitted like a snake's. Cat-like horns protruded out of her head, further proof of her alien nature. Bronze skin stretched over sinewy muscle, her biceps flexing unconsciously. She wore ripped up jeans and a gray tank top, a slender, blue, personalized tool belt strapped to her waist.
Her cold blue eyes looked over them all. Ben gulped; she was beautiful but terrifying, like the eye of a hurricane. Her dark blue lips were in a thin line, and in the silence her footsteps thundered as she pulled up a chair.
"So." Her voice was like a gunshot, startling everyone. It was deep for a teenage girl- what was she, fourteen years old? Fifteen? She couldn't be that much older, could she? "Magister Tennyson brought you all here?"
Everyone nodded jerkily. Kylie wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and tried to stop drooling.
"And no one knows why?"
Rook cleared his throat. "Do you?"
The beautiful girl shook her head. "I wish. I'm Ceres, by the way," she said suddenly, furrowing her brow. "Probably should have led with that."
Everyone introduced themselves, and Ceres took them all in once more. They must have passed some sort of test, because she relaxed her broad shoulders and said, "Well, the magister will be here in a few. I say relax while we still can."
Kevin snorted. "Paranoid much?"
"Genre savvy much," Ceres countered. "If I'm not in the lab, I'm being run ragged somewhere else. That's just how it goes."
"Do you work in the Plumber labs, then?" Rook asked tentatively. Ceres's entrance had clearly thrown him for a loop; Ben and the others had been openly friendly, and Ceres… well, she wasn't mean, but she was reluctantly interacting with them. Ben was surprised that she was answering Kylie's question so affably.
"Some of my work impressed the Corps, so they hired me on right away," Ceres explained. "Archimedean education is way above the universal standard, so I'm already working on my bachelor's in engineering."
Rook visibly started. "Wait, you are Archimedean? What are you doing so far from the empire?"
Ceres eyed him. "I could ask you the same thing, farm boy."
Kevin looked ready to intervene- Ben was already leaning across the table- but then Grandpa Max walked in. "Alright, looks like you're all here," he said without preamble.
"Can you tell us what we're here for?" Kylie asked politely yet pointedly. Max was passing out packets for them all, sitting down at the head of the conference table.
"You're all part of the newly instated Zeta Squadron," Max announced. "You'll be going out into active field work effective immediately."
A moment of silence.
"Are you serious?" Ceres seethed incredulously. "My therapist hasn't cleared me for active duty! You know damn well how badly the Archimedean military screwed me over, you-you literally only hired me to work in your lab, not to go out into the field!"
"I know, and I fought to keep you off the team until Vivian cleared you," Max said calmingly. "But the higher-ups had already decided about your placement, and the Archimedean military had already signed full custody to us. My hands are tied."
Ceres still looked thunderous, but she seemed placated for the moment. That was when Rook hesitantly asked, "Um, sir? I have not finished my training yet. Is it wise to put us out of the field this soon?"
"Yeah, I'm with Rook," Kevin said. "All of us are still in training. We're not supposed to be out on our own yet."
Kylie, who had been looking through her packet, said, "This has the potential of going very wrong. Do we have a team leader? Who's our superior officer? What kind of missions will we even be doing?"
"Your missions will be on a case by case basis," Max explained, leaning back in his chair. "Drug busts, illegal shipment of alien weaponry, hints of conspiracy, basically anything a Plumber would normally do. You will answer to me unless stated otherwise. As for your team leader…" Max once again looked at Ceres apologetically.
"Ceres North came to us with glowing recommendations from all her professors. She was unanimously chosen to lead the Zeta Initiative."
Blue flames flickered underneath Ceres's palms, but she took a slow, deep breath and let it out. Smoke curled out of her hands as she glared at Max. "This isn't some school project. These missions have the potential to be life or death situations. You really wanna put that in the hands of a fifteen year old girl?"
"I don't want to, but for the initiative, you're the most qualified," Max said. He looked at each and every one of them. "Despite your age, all of you have proven to be excellent in your chosen fields. All of you are resourceful, cunning, and have gone above and beyond to help those in need. Most of you already have field experience, and those that don't have the training to keep up. Out of a pool of thousands of candidates, the five of you were exemplary, and therefore you were chosen to be part of the new Initiative."
"What even is the Zeta Initiative?" Ben asked hesitantly. He had been silent the entire time, his shock keeping him from speaking. But now that he was calmer, he could see that everyone around him was as nervous and worried as he was.
"Well, you're not the first teenagers to join the Plumbers," Max admitted. "Normally we'd have you all wait until adulthood before you did missions on your own, but there's always a select group of people who can easily go above and beyond. People distrust the police and therefore the Plumbers, but having a squadron of young people acts as a beacon of hope. That the youth of today can become the defenders of tomorrow."
The air became solemn. Ben looked at the others and saw, in their expressions, what he was feeling: fear; anxiety; shock; frustration. This was… this was a lot to take in. It was the beginning of a huge responsibility, of becoming young diplomats and heroes in training. It was-
"In that case, why not bring in the Huntsmen?" Kylie asked. "This sounds like right up their alley. Isn't Ruby still in town?"
A scream nearly erupted from Ben's mouth, and he pushed against the table and ran to the door, barely hearing the cries of shock and Ceres's concerned, "Is he okay?"
He ran down hallways, his feet pounding against the metal. There might have been someone running after him, but he couldn't tell, the pounding in his ears even louder. He ran until he was in the supply sector of the headquarters, dimly lit and with few people around.
He sagged against one of the boxes, the door closing behind him. He had a hand over his mouth, trying to stifle his sobs, but they were coming in too fast, his tears burning his skin. Spots swam in his vision-
The door slid open, but Ben didn't look up to see. He heard someone kneel right beside him. Ben gulped and quieted down a bit, but didn't-couldn't- stop completely.
"Hey," Kevin whispered. "You need a hug?"
Ben didn't say anything, but he slowly inched his way forward, resting his head against Kevin's shoulder and fisting his shirt. The older boy put a hand over Ben's back and ran another through his hair, gently carding through messy brown hair. He let Ben cry for five, ten, who knows how many minutes?
When Ben finally stopped, he looked up at Kevin's concerned gaze. "Thanks," he said hoarsely, letting go of Kevin's shirt but not leaving his embrace.
"Don't mention it," the older boy answered gently. "Do you feel better?"
"No," Ben said bluntly.
"Yeah, I never feel any better after I cry either," Kevin answered. "But I think you need some water. There's a bathroom close by, let's get you cleaned up."
Kevin let Ben piggy back off him and let him sag against one of the bathroom sinks. Kevin had stopped by the vending machine to get Ben a bottle of water, and now he watched patiently as Ben washed his face, giving him tips on how to cover up the signs that he'd been crying.
"Take some slow, deep breaths and put a cold rag to your face," Kevin advised. "Or a wet paper towel, that works too. You need the extra oxygen and the cold will help with the redness on your face. Do you have any concealer or eye drops?"
"No," Ben said, his voice less hoarse.
"In that case, we'll have to wait until the redness in your eyes is down," Kevin said. "Though you may want to carry some makeup around anyway, contouring can make anyone look fantastic."
Ben chuckled weakly. "I'll have to look into that." Especially the concealer part; he didn't have much in the way of acne- he had copied some of Yang's moisturizing routine, which helped keep his skin clean and soft, but he wasn't always faithful to it. Cover-up would be beneficial.
Ben took a look at his face. His eyes were still bloodshot, but the redness under them were steadily going away. He took a long drink of water and felt a little better.
"So, you wanna talk about?" Kevin asked awkwardly.
"There's not much to tell," Ben admitted. "My best friend moved away and I don't know if I'll ever see her again. Social media can only do so much, and there's always the chance that we just… drift apart."
"Those are valid fears, Ben," Kevin told him gently. "And I always thought you and Ruby were, like, the dream team. Seeing you two apart just feels wrong."
"Believe me, I know," Ben muttered.
"And because you're the dream team, I doubt you'll let each other go that easily," Kevin went on. "It's gonna be hard, and you'll miss her all the time, but… our factions have worked together before. I don't see why you two can't see each other again."
Ben smiled, despite himself. "Therapy really did a number on you, huh?"
"Kwarrel's great at what he does," Kevin snarked back.
He took another sip of water. "But there's another thing that's bothering me: Max knew that Ruby was moving today. Why'd he spring up this 'Zeta Initiative' now?"
Kevin frowned. "I'm starting to understand why Amma was so mad at Max earlier. Like, it's not just you needing time to cope. Rook, Kylie, and I haven't finished Plumber training yet, and Rook especially seems too green. And you heard Ceres, she hasn't been cleared for active duty. Pretty sure there's a law against that."
"But since when do the people in charge care about us little people?" Ben said bitterly. "And this is the first time I'm hearing about these 'initiatives,' what's that about?"
"Think of them as army youth groups," Kevin answered. "Lots of Plumbers start young, and even then the initiatives are full of college-aged people. The oldest of us is Kylie, and she's sixteen."
Ben blinked. "Wait, she's older than you?"
Kevin snorted. "I know, it throws everyone off."
"So, what now?" Ben asked hesitantly.
He took a look at Ben's face. "Well, you look a lot better now. Wanna rejoin society?"
"Might as well." The two walked out of the bathroom and down towards brightly lit hallways. People were milling about and ignoring them- good, Ben didn't want any more attention to himself. They soon found Kylie in the commons, who nervously waved them over. The kitchen nearby was starting to work on dinner, and the dining hall was bustling with workers.
Rook and Ceres were sitting around a coffee table, pouring over their packets. "All of this seems legit," Rook said cautiously, eyeing Ceres.
The girl in question harrumphed. "It's the fact that we're all minors by Earth standards that really worries me. Who in their right mind would hire unstable teenagers with attitude for missions like these?"
"Ones who get results," Kevin said, announcing their presence. They all looked concerned at Ben, and he bristled under their gaze.
"You alright, man?" Ceres asked sincerely. "You ran out of there like your life depended on it."
Ben considered lying, but he decided against it. "I said goodbye to my old partner today," he said. "So this squadron is bringing up some nasty feelings."
Ceres winced in sympathy. "I feel you. If I were in your shoes, I would have set fire to something."
"You almost did earlier," Rook admonished.
"Hey, you try telling someone with severe PTSD that their mental health isn't important," Ceres shot back.
"Ah, right," Rook said guiltily. "My apologies."
In any case, we're being strong armed into this," Ceres continued. "None of our feelings matter on this."
"Maybe we could try talking to Grandpa Max?" Ben asked hopefully. "I know he said his hands were tied, but he's got connections. Maybe he can pull a few strings for us."
"We already tried that," Kylie revealed. "After you left, we sort of… ganged up on the magister. Tried to find loopholes and everything. He told us straight up that he can't do anything, that the decision was final, and all loopholes have been plugged."
"And he was right," Rook agreed. "We have been looking through the packets and we cannot find anything that would guarantee us getting out of the Initiative."
"They've done this for a long time," Ceres said. "We're just the youngest squadron in Plumber history, so the agreements are are tight."
"Kylie was right, this has the potential of becoming an absolute shitshow," Kevin griped. "What do we do now?"
"Play it by ear?" Ceres said, confused. Everyone turned to look at her. "I'm not happy about this either, but it doesn't look like there's any way out of it. I say play along for now."
"Who knows? It might not be so bad?" Ben said, but it was clear he was pessimistic about the chances.
Kevin groaned and tiredly scrubbed at his face. "Alright then, what's the first mission?"
"For now? Mandatory fun," Rook said disdainfully. Everyone groaned at that.
"What are we, toddlers?" Kylie spat, glaring at her packet like it offended her.
"Oh god, it's like those get-to-know-you games at school," Ben said with a shudder. "I hate those things."
"Same." Ceres held up a card. "Max gave me a card with a high credit limit, I say we blow it on laser tag and pizza. Who wants in?"
"Me," three out of the four chorused.
"That is tax-payer money!" Rook exclaimed.
"And people's taxes have funded more ridiculous things than this," Kylie pointed out. "If we're gonna be stuck together, we might as well stick it to the man when we can."
Rook was about to protest further, but Ceres elbowed him gently. "Dude, lighten up. Life's hard on it's own, you don't need to make it worse for yourself."
Rook let out a long sigh. "Very well," he said reluctantly. "But I will smoke you all at laser tag, just you watch."
"Bring it, farm boy!" Kevin taunted.
