Truth
In the middle of the woods at night was a military base. A control building overlooked three large platforms, each with large sealed hatches.
Suddenly, yellow beams shot down on these hatches, electrifying them to open up and missiles were lifted out, travelling up the beams.
Two military men were in the control room as the alarms and flashing red lights went off, both looking worried.
"Security breach! Red alert!" The intercom said.
"I didn't authorise a launch. Abort! Abort!" One of them said.
"We're not launching the nuke, sir! Something's pulling them out of their silos!" The other pointed out.
The missiles floated up towards what turned out to be Vilgax's ship.
In the base's hangar with various missiles and rockets, an explosion startled the three armed men inside.
Among the smoke, a couple of mechadroids fired at them, knocking them out.
As they entered, Vilgax himself entered as well, but he wasn't as Dan saw him. He lacked his mouthpiece, his tentacles were shorter and physically resembled how he was before his ship exploded when chasing after the Omnitrix.
He observed the room and when his back was turned, one of the droids was destroyed by a laser blast. He then blocked another aimed at him with his arms, pushing him back.
He then lowered his arms and saw who shot at him.
"You…." He squinted.
Facing him were two men wearing blue and black suits with helmets and what looked like the Omnitrix symbol over their hearts. Both of them carried serious looking weapons.
"It's over Vilgax, you're going down!" The one with a pistol said while the other aimed a rifle at Vilgax.
"Many have tried, none have succeeded!" Vilgax sneered.
"Until now, slimeball!" The man with the pistol said before charging at Vilgax.
"Phil, stop!" The one with the rifle called out.
As Phil charged, Vilgax leapt in the air. Phil stopped and fired some shots, which missed and Vilgax soon kicked him in the head, ripping his helmet off.
Phil's partner looked to see that Vilgax had now trapped Phil in a headlock, putting his own gun to his head. Phil was a youthful man with jet black hair.
As the standoff happened, Vilgax's remaining droid hacked a small console on a missile and the words 'LAUNCH READY' were displayed, an alarm going off as well.
"Back away, or watch one of your cities be destroyed!" Vilgax threatened as the ceiling opened up directly over the missile.
"Put the weapon down, NOW!" Vilgax then demanded, aiming Phil's gun at his partner, who dropped his rifle.
"You can't just let him get away!" Phil said.
"I'm not." His partner replied before activating a small blaster that formed out of his glove, firing it at Phil's gun, ripping it out of Vilgax's hand, which allowed Phil to get out of Vilgax's grasp and shove him away.
Vilgax steadied himself as his droid finished hacking the missile, the console now reading 'LAUNCH' and the missile was spewing smoke.
"You're too late." Vilgax smugly pointed out.
"Not even close, you moron." Phil's partner said before kicking his rifle to his hands and fired a projectile that unleashed a net that pinned both Vilgax and his droid to the missile right before it launched.
"NOOOO!" Vilgax screamed as he was shot out into the sky.
"What are you doing?" Phil questioned his partner, who was taking off his helmet, revealing that he was a younger Grant with black hair as well.
"Sending Vilgax out on a big bang, that's what." Grant smirked.
"TENNANT!" Vilgax raged right before the missile struck his ship, causing it to explode.
"...then boom, no more Vilgax." Grant said, the whole thing being a story he told Dan, Ash and Kiera as they drove away from Mount Rushmore at night. "At least until the summer started."
"So, what, you were some kind of cop?" Dan asked, sounding bitter as he sat in the passenger seat.
"I was just a guy doing his job, nothing more." Grant replied.
"And what kind of job was it, exactly?" Ash asked with a raised eyebrow as she sat at the table with Kiera.
"I was part of an intergalactic police force called the Plumbers. We fixed problems no one else could, especially on Earth." Grant explained, which made Kiera sit up straight.
"Did that mean my dad was one of these Plumbers?" She asked.
"Yes. He was my last partner before he died, which was the last straw for me to retire." Grant replied.
"Did you know of the Omntrix this whole time?" Dan asked, still sounding bitter.
"I only heard rumours. I was just as surprised as you when it clamped onto your wrist." Grant said, sensing Dan's emotions.
"Then did you know who my dad was as well?"
There was an awkward silence for a while until Grant broke it by saying "Yes, I did."
Dan's face scrunched up in anger before he looked out the window, avoiding eye contact with Grant.
"Looks like there's one thing you're a natural at: keeping secrets from your family." Dan spat in contempt as sirens were heard.
Grant pulled the Star Angel to the side and let ambulances and police cars pass.
"Whatever's going on, looks like they might need my help." Dan coolly said as he got out of the passenger's seat and exited the RV.
"Dan, wait -"
"Don't talk to me, Grant." Dan spat, leaving Grant a bit hurt as Dan activated the Omnitrix and slammed down on Velociraptor's outline, but instead turned into Ripadon, as he noticed when looking in the side mirror.
"Why am I not surprised?" He groaned.
But then he heard a fire truck approaching and as it neared, he jumped onto it to hitch a ride.
"Looks like you'll have to make a huge apology, Grant." Kiera said, Grant sighing as he was unsure if Dan could forgive him.
The fire truck eventually arrived at a hotel, where people stood outside. The driver got out of the truck and approached the manager.
"There's s-some kind of creature inside, tearing up the place -" The manager said, stopping when water started trickling down the truck. He and the driver looked to see Dan on top of the truck, using the hose to drench himself in water.
"Sorry, need to keep hydrated." Dan apologised before he leapt to the hotel entrance.
Upon entering, he saw that everything was tossed and turned over, excluding the fountain in the middle of the room.
"Alright, who's the jerk that gives us aliens a bad name?" Dan called out to whatever made this mess.
In response, a burgundy coloured alien with red eyes and a drooling mouth with prominent teeth appeared in front of Dan, roaring ferociously. It would've been threatening if it weren't for the fact that the creature was two feet tall.
"Really? You gotta do better than that to scare me, you little bugger." Dan said.
The creature then picked up a rock and threw it, but Dan dodged it with ease.
"You gotta do better than that to take me down." Dan said before he leapt at it, but it dodged and Dan found himself sliding across the floor, crashing into the fountain.
He got back on his feet and saw the alien on a pillar, where it snarled at him before leaping into the fountain. It then spat water at Dan, who let himself be sprayed.
"That's just a breath of fresh air for me, mister." Dan shrugged.
Outside, the Star Angel arrived at the hotel and the three approached the manager.
"Have you seen a humanoid fish arrive here?" Ash asked.
Back inside, the alien was now climbing up a pillar and snarled at Dan before leaping into the darkness.
Dan kept his eyes and ears open as he slowly made his way around the room to find the alien.
However, he didn't realise there was someone else in the room, carrying a rifle.
The two unknowingly approached each other back to back until they crashed into each other, making them be face to face and gasp.
"Ahh! Who are you?" They said in unison. "Who am I? Who are you?"
The man then simply blasted Dan with his rifle and landed in the room service desk.
"Looks like today's my lucky day. Two aliens for the price of one." The man grinned, looking down at a groaning Dan. "Just sit tight, fish sticks. I'll be back in a minute."
The man walked a few steps until the alien appeared and shot at it, but it moved to avoid being shot. As this happened, Dan grabbed a pitcher of ice cold water and poured it on his head, making him sigh with relief.
"Room service is truly a blessing." He said.
The man stopped by a bookshelf as he looked around for the alien, unaware that it watched him from on top of the shelf before kicking it down on him, incapacitating him. It then jumped to the ground and hollered in victory before Dan crept up behind it quietly and then trapped it in a small safe.
"Not bad for a fish stick, eh?" Dan told the man right before the Omnitrix timed out.
"Gotta go." Dan said, doing his best imitation of Ripadon before running off as the man was lifting the bookcase off of him.
He met up with Grant, Ash and Kiera at the front doors.
"You alright?" Kiera asked.
"I am now. Some loon with a gun planned on roasting me." Dan replied looking over at the man, who got up and looked over at them, his eyes lighting up upon seeing Grant.
"Grant?"
Grant recognised him right away.
"Phil!"
They grinned and embraced each other.
"You two know each other?" Dan asked.
"Well, you could say that. We used to be partners." Phil replied, making Dan, Ash and Kiera look at each other.
Outside, now that the situation was handled, the police, ambulances and fire truck were all gone and Phil showed off his sleek yet outdated blue car.
"Yeah, she's not much to look at, but it's better than the RV you used to drive." Phil told Grant.
"So… how have you been?" Grant asked.
"Pretty good, considering I just bagged a Havoc Beast. Seems like old times." Phil replied, making Dan snort and glance away.
"A Havoc Beast? The last time I saw one was when we caught the one terrorising Denver years ago." Grant said as Phil closed the trunk that had the safe with the Havoc Beast inside it.
"Yeah, well, good thing I was around. You know, once a Plumber, always a Plumber. You ever think about getting back in the game, Grant? You know, relieve the glory days?"
"No thanks, I retired, along with all the other remaining Plumbers on Earth." Grant replied, which told Dan that there's active Plumbers throughout the galaxy right now.
"Yeah, thanks to you. Once you took Vilgax out of the picture and handled everything else afterwards, the work just seemed to dry up." Phil replied.
"I just simply did my job, nothing more." Grant pointed out.
"Yeah, anyway, looks like things are picking back up again. In fact, I'm starting my own freelance Plumber business." Phil said before he glanced over at the Omnitrix on Dan's wrist.
"Wow, cool watch. Looks so familiar."
"Well, it's the Omni-"
"Oh, look at the time. We need to get going." Grant cut Dan off and steered him away with Ash and Kiera following, the three glaring at Grant. "It was nice catching up with you Phil."
Phil raised an eyebrow as they all left.
"What excuse do you have for not letting me tell Phil about the Omnitrix this time?" Dan asked coolly as they were driving along a road in the Star Angel.
"It's on a need to know basis. The less people know, the better." Grant replied, making Dan snort.
"That's your excuse for everything, even with your own family. No wonder mom doesn't get along with you." Dan said, remembering all those times his mother would interact with Grant, seeing how bitter and cold she'd act towards him.
"Face it Grant, the more you keep secrets, the more problems will be formed." Kiera said.
A monitor then opened up from the drink compartment, showing Phil.
"Grant, if you're out there, I need help! Two Vulpimancers, tearing up a meat processing plant on Highway 44!" The feed then went to static.
"Crap." Grant muttered before making a U-turn towards where Phil was.
They soon arrived at the plant and found the front doors torn open. As they got out of the Star Angel, they all heard roaring from inside.
"That doesn't sound good." Ash said before they entered.
They made their way through the plant and when Grant opened a curtain to a large room full of conveyor belts and hung up meat, they saw Phil on the ground.
"Phil!"
They all ran over to him and helped him on his feet.
"Grant. Thank goodness you showed up. Two aliens, nasty. We're gonna need a little of that old magic." Phil said.
"We're on it." Dan replied.
They all heard a snarl and looked over at a door where steam was billowing out and then two large orange mutt-like aliens appeared,
They approached and Dan examined their orange fur, one darker than the other, and one of them having stripes down its back, long tails and saw that they had no eyes and gill-like nostrils on both sides of their necks, making him realise that Vulpimancers are the race that Kanine comes from.
"That's it, time to give them a little chat." He then said, activating the Omnitrix.
"Dan…."
Dan ignored Grant and turned into Kanine.
"That's why I recognised that watch… it's the Omnitrix." Phil said in realisation.
Dan then leapt in front of the Vulpimancers and they exchanged snarls and roars, one of them extending their slobbering mouth, shaking its head and extending again. It then slammed the ground, ending the conversation.
"What just happened?" Ash asked.
"Vulpimancers aren't usually fans of conversation, especially among their own." Grant explained.
Dan was now being chased by the Vulpimancers.
One of them leapt at Dan, who sensed it and leapt away, catching a chain suspended in the air.
Missing Dan, the Vulpimancer crashed into a metal crate, causing a barrel full of guts to fall on top of it.
"Disgusting." Ash cringed.
Dan looked down at the base of the chain he's holding onto, seeing that it was hooked to some meat, which the other Vulpimancer bit into and pulled, causing the chain to snap off.
Dan was able to grab another in midair, but the Vulpimancer did the same thing to this chain and so Dan grabbed another chain and then another.
Eventually, he landed on a conveyor belt where the Vulpimancer climbed to face him.
It pinned him down and ahead of them was the end of the conveyor belt, where two spiked rollers crushed and tenderised the meat.
Dan tried fighting against the Vulpimancer to flee, but it was too strong for him.
Phil ran over to the controls for the conveyor belt and pressed a button, making it stop in time. He then pulled a lever and a piece of chained meat swung at the Vulpimancer, knocking it off of Dan, who then leapt down next to Phil.
"What are partners for?" He said before he and Dan ran to join back up with the others and run for the curtain door.
But then the two Vulpimancers blocked them in their front and back, trapping them.
They were about to leap in for the kill when a piercing soundwave filled the whole room. They fell to the floor, covering their nostrils in pain.
The cause of this was a device that Phil pulled out.
Of course, because Kanine's a Vulpimancer as well, Dan was writhing in agony.
"Sorry about that, Dan. Only way to bring down a Vulpimancer." Phil apologised.
"Yeah, lucky you had a sonic pitch whistle with you." Grant said, though suspiciously.
The Omnitrix timed out and Dan was back to normal.
"So… all the stories are true. The Omnitrix really does exist. I gotta say, those were some pretty good moves out there. You remind me of your grandfather back in the day." Phil said.
"Is that so?" Dan said with a raised eyebrow.
Grant then saw movement from the corner of his eye.
"Phil, move!"
Behind them, one of the Vulpimancers got up and batted them to the ground.
The sonic pitch whistle dropped to the floor and was instantly crushed by one of the Vulpimancers. They then roared at Phil until their attention was drawn elsewhere by Grant driving a forklift.
"Pick on someone that packs more meat on their bones!" He shouted angrily as he drove into them and jumped off before it crashed into another room, where Kiera closed with a button, lowering a blast door, trapping the Vulpimancers inside.
"Just like old times, eh?" Phil said to Grant. "I think this is gonna be the beginning of a new partnership."
He held his hand out for Grant, who looked down at it hesitantly.
Afterwards, they all made it back to the hotel, where Phil took the Tennants and Kiera to his room and sat down to relax.
"It's fate that we all met up." Phil said as both Dan and Kiera helped themselves to some shrimp, Ash read a book and Grant looked around the room.
"Nice set up. Must've cost a pretty penny." Grant commented.
"Just a little thank you I negotiated for helping the manager out with his alien problem. And trust me, this is just the tip of the old alien iceberg. You know, Dan…" He turned to Dan, who was now eating a bread roll. "...you'd make a great Plumber.
"Really?" Dan asked.
"Sure. A real chip off the old block. We'd all make a great team. With your powers, Grant's experience and my instincts, we'd make an unstoppable team. What do you think?"
"I just can't help but think it's a coincidence that both a Havoc Beast and two Vulpimancers show up on the same night." Grant said.
This made Dan, Ash and Kiera look at each other. It was in fact a coincidence, especially with how Phil conveniently had a sonic pitch whistle for the Vulpimancers.
"Aliens… go figure." Phil shrugged.
"If you don't mind, I need some fresh air." Grant frowned as he walked out of the room. Phil glared for a moment before he looked pleasant.
"Hey, kids, order whatever you'd like off the room service menu." He said before leaving the room as well.
"I feel like we shouldn't trust Phil." Ash said.
"Yeah, he's clearly keeping a secret of some kind, even keeping it from Grant." Kiera added.
"In that case, let's follow them." Dan said as he finished the bread roll.
The three exited the hotel to find both the Star Angel and Phil's car gone.
"Well, there's only one place they'll go to." Dan said before turning into Velociraptor. "Hang on, you two."
The two girls got on his back and then he sped off after Grant and Phil.
Grant arrived at the Plumber facility at Mount Rushmore and opened large doors into a dark room where in the middle was an empty pedestal.
"I knew it." He snarled.
"Looking for this?" Phil's voice said behind him. He turned to see Phil, who held a device that looked like a handgun with a large lens at the end.
"The Null Void Projector. That was why those aliens looked familiar." Grant said as Phil grinned smugly. "You stole it and released the aliens we caught back in the old days."
"You always were too smart for your own good, Grant. But not wanting to join up with me was just plain dumb." Phil noted.
"Why are you even doing all this?" Grant asked.
"Job security. I realise an alien, then get some hotel manager or mayor or whoever to pay me to catch it. Easy money." Phil explained.
"I'm not gonna let you get away with this any longer." Grant spat in contempt, seeing how low his former partner sunk.
"Yeah, I figured you might say that. Too bad, we could've made quite a team again." Phil said before firing the projector at Grant.
Grant ducked to avoid the yellow beam. Behind him, the beam turned into a circular portal and a large green alien with spiked legs stepped out of the portal and roared at Grant.
"And don't worry, I'll be sure to tell Dan how your last words to me were how you wanted him to follow in your footsteps as my partner." Phil said as Grant looked up at the alien's jagged teeth.
It then raised its claws to kill Grant, but then when it swiped at him, Grant disappeared and instead it hit the ground, it's claws stuck.
"What the -?"
A black and blue blur rushed past him and he looked behind him to see Grant with Dan and Kiera, who formed a stone shell around her by absorbing the floor.
"You're no Plumber, you're just a money hungry slimeball!" Dan hissed angrily.
"Dan! Listen to me, we don't need your grandpa. We could start back up the Plumbers on Earth again. Just you and me." Phil tried tempting Dan.
"If you're stupid enough to think I'll turn on my family, you can think again!" Dan hissed again.
"Sorry to hear that." Phil said in disappointment.
The alien finally ripped its claws out of the ground and roared.
"Say hello to an old friend, a Wigzelian Org Beast." Phil said before he ran away. The Org Beast watched him run past as it continued on after Dan, Grant and Kiera, who angrily looked at Phil, who opened a door.
"I'd love to stay, but I've got lots of work to do." He said before he ran away, the door shutting behind him.
The Org Beast swiped at the three, who were rushed away thanks to Dan.
Dan put Grant down before he and Kiera went back to deal with the Beast. They dodged its attacks and whenever they had the chance, they'd attack with punches or kicks.
Meanwhile, Grant ran over to the wall of shelves and opened several, groaning as he was looking for something that can help take the Org Beast down.
"Grandpa, hurry up!" Dan said after he dodged an attack that caused the Org Beast's claws to be stuck in the ground again until it ripped them back out a second later. It then threw a slab of floor at Dan as he was distracted, knocking him down right before the Omnitrix timed out and he turned back to normal.
"DAN!" Kiera screamed before she was launched into a wall.
"Finally!" Grant shouted as he pulled out a circular device and threw it at the Org Beast. It spewed out plumes of green gas, knocking it out in a second.
Kiera, now shedding her stone shell, and Grant ran over to Dan, moving the slab off of him and helped him up.
"Wait, where's Ash?" Grant asked the two.
Elsewhere in the facility, where both the Star Angel and Phil's car were parked, Ash was waiting for the others. But when she saw the elevator door blink, guessing it was Phil, she entered his car in the back and hid under a cloth right before the elevator doors opened and Phil walked out.
He got in the car and put the Null Void Projector on the passenger seat.
"Ha ha. And who said crime doesn't pay." Phil said to himself.
The car then rose on the lifting platform and drove off, totally unaware of Ash in the car.
Grant, Dan and Kiera got back to the Star Angel and realised that Ash was in Phil's car, so they rose out as well and as Dan put the passenger seat on and Kiera held onto the table, Grant pressed a button on the cup holder, flipping over to reveal a panel with a lever.
When he pulled it down, all of the satellite equipment on top of the RV folded up and retracted as two big jet exhausts with extendable fins took their place. The hung up wheel on the back then split open and revealed a main thruster with other fins and thrusters extending out on the sides.
Everything spewed out flames as the Star Angel sped down the road so fast that Grant and Dan were stuck on their seats and Kiera was literally hanging for dear life.
"How many other aliens did you put inside the Null Void?" Dan asked.
"A couple of hundred, at least. But it's a whole pocket dimension, so there could be millions inside it!" Grant replied.
The Star Angel soon uprooted a speed limit sign as it zoomed past.
Meanwhile, Phil was calmly driving. Ash moved the cloth carefully and saw the Null Void Projector on the seat in front. Holding her breath and moving carefully, also trying to make sure Phil couldn't see her in the rear view mirror, she reached for the projector.
However, Phil did see her in the rear view mirror.
She grabbed the projector a moment before Phil gripped her arm.
"Oh no, you don't." He said, the two now wrestling for the projector.
Ash moved so that she pressed her foot against the driver seat and pulled, making Phil's one hand on the wheel shake and making the car out of control.
A trunk driving right at them honked their horn, making Phil let go of the projector and steer the car out of the way.
Ash tumbled back in her seat with the projector in her hands. She then rolled down the window and held the projector out.
"You should think of a new line of work, because this will go bye bye!" She told Phil, who frowned before pressing on the brakes, making the car sputter and Ash to drop the projector inside the car, but was able to grab it again within seconds.
Phil then lightly pressed the horn, which flashed white.
"Autopilot mode engaged." A computerised voice said.
Phil unbuckled himself and grabbed for the projector. Ash hissed as she used all her strength to pull it towards her.
As they wrestled, it accidentally went off and a yellow beam shot out through the open window, creating a portal.
Phil then noticed the Star Angel catching up to them through the back window.
"Good idea, we could use a distraction." He said to Ash.
They looked at the portal, which finished forming and a large winged creature with no eyes and tentacles came out.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Dan shouted.
"It's a Null Guardian, they're like guards in the Null Void!" Grant replied.
"Well, that thing would definitely not work as the state bird of South Dakota." Kiera said as it flew right into the windshield, blocking their view and used one of its tentacles to shatter it and fling around.
"Time to tame this thing." Dan said as he activated the Omnitrix and turned into Brainiac.
Dan ran up on one of the tentacles and got on top of the Null Guardian, observing the quills on its back.
"Triggering the correct sequence of synapses should allow me some rudimentary motor control." He said to himself. "Thank goodness I know what I'm talking about."
He then grabbed two of the quills and pulled them back, making the Null Guardian shriek before flying off the Star Angel.
Dan was able to steer the creature right for Phil's car.
Inside said car, Phil was barely able to yank the projector out of Ash's hands and turned to face the front, where he saw the creature fly right into the windshield, snapping the rear view mirror off, which Ash noticed, and the car spun out of control before it crashed right into a side railing of a bridge, jerking Dan and Phil out of the car and onto perilously bent railings.
The two then locked eyes.
"Back off, small fry, or I'll release every alien in this thing!" Phil warned him.
"Then you'd be out of a questionable job." Dan pointed out.
"It doesn't have to be this way. We could all work together." Phil tried one last time to tempt Dan to be his partner.
"No, unlike you, I have actual morals." Dan shook his head.
Ash grabbed the rear view mirror, knowing Dan will need it as Phil warmed up the Null Void Projector.
"Well, then, you're all gonna be very busy." He spat.
"I'm on summer vacation, you jerk!" Dan reminded him.
"Dan!" Ash cried out, throwing the mirror to him as Phil pulled the trigger.
The beam was reflected off and struck Phil, who got sucked into the Null Void, screaming as he did so.
"See ya." Ash said as she caught the projector.
"Definitely wouldn't want to be ya!" Dan grinned as the Star Angel arrived.
After sending the Null Guardian back into the Null Void, they made it back to the facility at Mount Rushmore and sent the Org Beast back to the Null Void as well.
"And that's the last of them." Grant said, holding the projector. He then sighed and looked at Dan, knowing what he must do.
"I'm sorry about keeping my past and your father a secret for so long." He said, getting Dan's attention. "I was just so used to it that I didn't realise that it would hurt our bond as a family. And I should've known I could trust you guys."
Dan was silent for a moment before he sighed.
"Thanks. I do hope you'll tell mom as such." Dan said, accepting his apology.
"I will. And for what it's worth, all three of you would've made great Plumbers." Grant said before looking at Kiera. "Your father hoped you'd follow in his footsteps, you know."
Kiera smiled as her eyes welled up, getting a side hug from Dan and Ash.
"What will you do with the Null Void Projector?" Ash then asked.
"I think it'll be best if we take it with us, in case those that know of this place try to take it for themselves." Grant replied before they all headed to leave the facility.
"Do you think Phil will survive the Null Void?" Dan then asked.
"I think he might. Of course, after what he did, going against Plumber code, it's fitting he should be sent there as punishment." Grant replied.
On that note, Dan thought about the Plumbers, wondering if they'll meet any of them, even retired ones.
Some of you might think that Dan was being too harsh, but for him, keeping secrets from your own family is just unjustifiable, so it would make sense for him to be bitter towards Grant.