Gwen smiled as she returned from her tour in Mt Rushmore's advanced facilities.
Her grandpa was more than happy to teach her the surface of how each room functions, from storage to security.
She wanted to check on Garou since the alien had yet to arrive with the portal gun. She had asked if any of the tourists would discover them atop Mt Rushmore's heads, but Max dismissed it saying that they were cloaked from public eyes.
Gwen was about to knock on the RV until she heard Kevin's voice.
"Seriously?!"
Gwen jumped. She crouched low behind the frame of the RV door as she pressed her ear to the door.
"Shhh. Yeah, one of his old 'friends' is there. The coincidence is so scary that I am starting to think that this family has a weird star over their heads. Or made a deal with some dark god."
"Dark god for me. Should we tell you-know-who?"
"And what? Hear her scream 'I told you so' in every way? We first need to wait for… Enoch sent his email."
Their conversation nurtured a bounty of questions within Gwen. She suspected that they were doing something dumb and risky behind her back, making her scrunch her face in displeasure.
"...He got the package. And… oh, God." Kevin almost wheezed.
She could practically taste his hyperventilation by the volume alone.
"D-Dude. W-W-"
"Shhh."
"B-B-B-Bu-"
"…Oh my God. Oh my God. I… and this is just half of what he paid for."
Before Gwen could barge in, she could hear Vilgax groaning from atop the Rust Bucket. He was stirring.
Gwen immediately took the chance to walk in before her squid face blew her cover.
"Hey, guys!" Gwen cheerfully hopped into the van.
"Ahhh?!"
Both boys immediately closed their laptops.
"Whatcha boys doing?" She coyly asked as she peeked at their laptops.
"Uh, we're…"
"Testing the laptops out." Garou answered.
He sounded more sincere with Ben's voice when he tried to hide something.
"Mind if I take a look?" She probed with a cheerful smile.
"Uh, we're… kinda looking at some stuff." Kevin awkwardly smiled.
The typical half-baked excuses of boys hiding things from girls.
"Oh, come on. It can't be that embarrassing." She rolled her eyes as she walked over to him.
"No, wait, uh-"
Gwen took the laptop and opened it.
Too bad, she wouldn't let him get away with that kind of terrible acting.
She opened it as the screen flashed back on.
Garou pinched the bridge of his nose, while Kevin clenched his gut for the worst, as Gwen meticulously scanned the screen.
The boys waited for the inevitable to happen as they braced their ears for the worst.
"…what did you do?" Gwen asked in a hoarse whisper.
She saw a dollar sign next to a number that shouldn't be in a receipt sent by email.
"We can explain." Kevin spoke out.
"Explain? How can you explain… getting more than one billion dollars from some guy?! What did you do?!"
Gwen began to shake uncontrollably in pure rage and disbelief, her face turning a beat red. There were no words that could express the chaotic mix of emotions.
"Oh boy… you want to go first?" Kevin asked.
"You do it. It was your idea," Garou denied.
"Tsk, fine." Kevin took a deep breath as he explained everything he could to Gwen.
Gwen was somewhat furious at Kevin when he divulged selling the scrap to dangerous individuals from a shady organization.
Her fury dimmed when Kevin explained that he thought that they should earn something from their extraterrestrial gains, and they already need to throw the stuff out.
The scrap was harmless, which Gwen agreed.
Then they told her that they sold a part of Vilgax's ship.
"…what did you sell?" Gwen asked, accusing them with a dangerous tone that threatened to make their lives a living hell.
"A part of a reactor, a motherboard circuit… and some robot parts. We didn't sell any weapons."
"You-! That's not the point! Wait, what robot parts?!" Gwen shouted.
"Computer parts. Kevin has the details. A super processor and… atomic modulators?" Garou struggled to maintain his memory of the foggy details.
Gwen had no idea how to react. She was this close to exploding to lecture their ears off their heads as her face burned red.
"Also!" Kevin raised his hand before she could explode with verbal fury. "...We donated half of what we got to Rapid City."
The word 'donate' paused Gwen's imminent eruption.
"...Donate?" She asked, slowly calming down.
"We donated half of it to the city's reconstruction." Garou explained. "...I requested it. And along the way, I made some… connections with this group… I know what you're thinking, but since we got this far, might as well see how we can handle this."
Gwen's eruption was halted as she stared at the two boys.
"And you thinking making connections to a shady organization is a good idea?!" Gwen hissed.
"No, but we got tabs on Driscoll out of it and a way to earn cash and stuff." Kevin pointed out.
Gwen opened her mouth and closed, thinking about their advantage over the ex-Plumber. If he indeed had the prison gun, then they have a way to get it from him while putting down a dangerously connected criminal.
"...Alright, I'll give you that one, but I'm still against diving this deep into… whatever this is! I don't know, it's bad! This is the side of society that normal people don't deal with, especially…!"
"Kind of a moot argument since we beat up and tied an alien warlord to the RV." Garou pointed at Vilgax chained atop of the Rust Bucket.
"And we're already neck deep in trouble. Alien robots attacked you guys since you got that watch, remember? Why are you worried about shady humans of all things when we faced bigger fish and came out on top?" Kevin pointed at Gwen.
Gwen blanched.
"...Alright, fine, you make a good argument." She never thought that the boys could beat her in an argument on morals and caution… She had no defense when she had fun taking down aliens and supervillains.
Before they could continue, they heard the humming thrum from the sky, their experience informing them that a alien vehicle was approaching.
A large spaceship slowly came in from Earth's upper atmosphere. It was somewhat circular in shape with metallic plating and a green energy core visible in the center. The ship landed some distance away from the Rust Bucket, seemingly parking itself in place.
Gwen and Kevin braced themselves in reflex, their experiences with aliens mostly negative, a precaution.
A small doorway retracted from the spaceships's front, revealing a green alien with white and black armor. He wore a similarly colored helmet that covered most of his face, both orange pupils narrowed in sternness at the sight of the children
"...Hmmm. You must be the kids under Magister Tennyson." The alien gruffly questioned, darting his eyes from Kevin to Gwen to Garou.
"May I ask where the Magister is?" The alien politely inquired as the children relaxed their guard.
"...In the base. If you want Vilgax…" Garou pointed at the wheezing, one-armed alien strapped atop the Rust Bucket.
The Magister followed his line of sight, looking at the alien bearing the face of one most commonly seen on wanted posters across the galaxy.
"Didn't know Max still had it in him…" The Plumber muttered to himself, analyzing the damage done to the tyrant's body.
The Magister walked around the Rust Bucket, inspecting the damage dealt to Vilgax. His respirator mask was detached, he was wheezing, and… he was missing an arm. The blood was freshly coagulated as well. Not only that, Vilgax was sporting bruises all over his body, some of his metal, cybernetic rods were missing from his only intact arm as well.
"What in the stars happened to you?" He muttered.
"Prior Gilhil?" Max asked respectively, coming out from within Mount Rushmore. Said Magister looked at Max with a small grin, giving a salute.
"Max. It's been a long time." Prior Gilhil greeted with a curt nod of his head. Max saluted the same way before getting down to business.
"Yeah it has, old friend. Wish it were under better circumstances, but I had a favor to ask of you." Max stated seriously, frowning to signify his concern with the matter.
"What's the problem?" Prior Gilhil pondered authoritatively.
"The Null Void Projector in Mount Rushmore is missing. I was wondering if we could use yours to imprison Vilgax." Max politely suggested, jerking a thumb towards the famous mountain range.
"Missing? For how long?" Prior Gilhil questioned in shock, curious of what someone on Earth would want with such a weapon.
"I'm not sure myself. They did not leave fingerprints… ." Max informed curiously, trying to decide between two possible suspects.
"Hmm," Prior Gilhil mused in uncertainty, "I'll have to take a closer look, but first…"
The Magister pulled out a weirdly designed weapon from within his suit. It was shaped like a gray handgun, jutting outward in the form of a blue semi-circular glass piece.
"Max, would you help me remove Vilgax from your vehicle? It would be tragic if it follows Vilgax into the Null Void." Gilhil asked, knowing the dangers of sending criminals into the prison dimension.
"Not a problem." Max and Gilhil both marched over to the Rust Bucket, unshackling the tethers from the alien before roughly dragging Vilgax off its top portion. They plopped him down on the ground, causing a grunt of discomfort to warble from Vilgax's breathing mask.
"You… dare… touch me?" Vilgax weakly growled, glaring daggers at the unshaken Max and Gilhil.
"Can it. You're going to the Null Void where you'll have plenty of space to lick your wounds, Vilgax." Max assured as he and Gilhil carried Vilgax further away from the Rust Bucket.
"You… haven't seen… the last of… me. The Omnitrix… will be mine…!" Vilgax choked out, tightly clenching his remaining fist determinedly. Gilhil just grunted at the dictator's cold promises, harshly tossing him on the ground.
"Tell that to the Null Guardians." Prior Gilhil proclaimed, holding up his own Null Void Projector. As he pulled the trigger, a yellow beam of light shot out from the weapon's dome. It completely encased Vilgax's entire body, forcefully transporting him inside of a blood red portal.
"Noooo!" Vilgax screamed furiously, vanishing into thin air in a matter of seconds.
His voice echoed into the fading eternity until it closed, swallowing Vilgax into the void. Now that the villain was gone, Max finally allowed himself the breath of relief.
"Max, be honest with me… Are you sure it is wise to leave the Omnitrix in the hands of a child?" Prior Gilhil questioned with a serious expression, holstering his Null Void Projector as he did so.
He glanced at Gwen, specifically the green and black hourglass device attached to her wrist, knowing the Omnitrix's symbol.
"Well, it could've ended up on someone worse…" Max's gaze drifted to the one beside Gwen, imagining the damage that one could bring. That one was grinning back at him, so wide it reached his ears.
"Does Azmuth know about this?" Prior Gilhil sighed, rubbing his eyes exhaustedly.
"Not yet. At least, I don't think so," Max responded with uncertainty. Prior Gilhil's orange eyes glared at Gwen, not entirely convinced of her abilities.
"I'll have to report this to HQ. The other Plumbers won't be on board with this… at all." Gilhil announced reluctantly, bringing out a communication device from his back compartment. For some reason, it had the same hourglass symbol as the Omnitrix.
"Why is that the same as Gwen's watch?" Garou asked, speaking up upon seeing the glaring similarities.
"That is the galactic symbol for 'peace'. There's a reason the Omnitrix was designed with it. Not that you two brats would understand." Prior Gilhil grumbled to himself, holding out his Plumber Badge to give the three a better look.
"You got a problem with us?" Gwen crossed her arms.
Prior Gilhil was about to answer, but Max intervened.
"Prior. Go easy on them. I understand where you're coming from, but they're from tough stock."
Gilhil pursed his lips. It was clear that Gilhil did not approve of the current wielder of the Omnitrix, it was written all over his face despite being alien.
"Out of respect for you, I suggest you discipline her like we did to rookies in the Plumber Academy. Who knows what she'll do with that watch if you take an eye off of her?" Gilhil headed towards his ship, no longer interested in lecturing an immature youth.
"Take care of yourself, Prior." Max saluted.
"Good luck raising that rookie. I hope you'll prove me wrong, Max." Gilhil nodded at him before the door to the ship closed.
Moments later, they watched the ship ascended back into the skies, shrinking into the expansive blue until it was no longer in sight.
"...Jerk." Gwen pouted.
"It is how Gilhil is, Gwen." Max chuckled. "Don't worry, he'll warm up to you in time."
A awkward atmosphere remained in the silence, followed by a sour mood hanging over Gwen's head.
"...Does this place have a library or something?" Garou asked.
He had an idea on how to cheer Gwen up, and Kevin might find this fun.
"Well, we have the archive data center… Why?" Max asked.
Gwen took a look at the number at Garou's bank account. It had the ten digits of the one billion benchmark. It was the first time she had seen someone's money directly, the overwhelming number too staggering for her miserly side to endure.
Before they left Rushmore, they took a tour around the Plumber base, Gwen having the time of her life devouring the lore of the Plumber Archives, records on alien technology and relics, the hidden side of true history, which cheered her up like Garou planned.
"...No matter how many times I look at it, I still can't get used to this… this…" Gwen felt her moral resolve falter at the prospect of being an instant billionaire, as if all of her education and upbringing on the ways of the world was a lie the more she thought about it.
"Hey, you're not the only one." Kevin called out.
Kevin was reading a Plumber Combat Instruction manual, something he picked up from Rushmore out of curiosity in learning more about his father's alien military life.
"If you look at it this way, no wonder why crime rates are getting out of hand. Honest work isn't what school said it'll be." Garou understood.
"I'm still worried that this will come back to bite us someday." Gwen added, slightly fearful of what alien technology could be used for in the wrong hands.
"Not like you're taking into account the Tennyson curse. It'll happen sooner or later." Garou reminded her.
"Please stop saying that we're cursed, I prefer to not know that our luck is strange…" Gwen pouted.
"If it isn't a curse, I don't know what to call it. If an alien warlord isn't enough, what's next? A bigger supervillain?" Garou pointed out.
"Speaking of alien warlord… where did you keep Vilgax's arm?" Gwen asked upon remembering Garou's newest trophy.
Garou walked to the fridge, composed of the spare cryogenic technologies and welded insulators, very mishmash yet functional and spacious with three drawers, and took the arm out while bracing against the rush of very cold air.
He returned to the table and placed the arm on it, we'll, more like severed hand since the arm was too big.
"...You still grossed that I am keeping it?" Garou remarked.
"...Honestly. No, I kinda want to rub it in his face the next time we see him." Gwen admitted that a part of her wanted to pay Vilgax back for troubling them all this time from day one.
"Didn't know you had it in you." Garou remarked.
Smiling, Gwen poked the hand with her finger, just enough for the Omnitrix to brush against the cold preserved limb.
However, without warning, the Omnitrix began flashing yellow for some reason. The hourglass symbol also slowly spun one full revolution.
[Newfound DNA Sample acquired. Scanning… Chimera Sui Generis DNA Sample, acquired. Updating the Omnitrix now.] The Omnitrix spoke in a synthetic version of her own voice, reaching even the ears of Max in the driver's seat.
"Guys, what's going on?" Gwen gulped nervously, examining the Omnitrix's yellow glow.
Max and Kevin gave Gwen their attention as the alien watch continued its bizarre behavior.
"What's the thing doing by 'updating'?" Garou asked, curious.
"Updating? This thing can update?! Wait, why is it updating?" Gwen was also curious.
"...Do you think…" Garou glanced at his trophy.
"No way…" Gwen understood his body language.
Their epiphany was interrupted by the Omnitrix's spinning hourglass symbol coming to a sudden halt. On the dial, she could see the familiar silhouette of the very same alien that tried to kill her.
[DNA Compiling complete. Returning to charging mode.] The Omnitrix called out, reverting back to its initial programming.
All in the room slowly converged their attention to the girl with the Omnitrix, even Max using his rearview mirror he slowed the Rust Bucket into a stop. He could see Gwen eyeing the form on her watch, the DNA of Vilgax now at her disposal.
"Gwen, I'm only going to say this once. Think before you use that alien." Max warned, gazing at the girl in concern upon noticing that same twinkle in her eye.
She had that inner feeling of wanting to embrace the power of the enemy that nearly wiped them out, a relatable feeling of wanting to give into the temptation.
"But, can't I just… you know… try it out?" Gwen attempted to convince her grandfather, both eyes still glued to the new alien's shadow.
Kevin and Garou both made eye contact before looking back at Gwen.
"Gwen, think smart. Not the right time and place. Wait until it is training time at least." Garou urged.
Garou was worried that she might wreck the new fridge if she did transform.
"Fine. I'm still coming up with a name though. Any suggestions?" Gwen uttered curiously, looking around for any specific ideas.
"Squidbeard?" Kevin suggested.
"I'd be the female version, remember?" Gwen reminded the 11-year-old Osmosian.
"Overkill?" Garou joked, using how Vilgax decimated the two of them in Rapid City.
"Kill, kill... I've got it! How about… Tentakill?!" Gwen beamed confidently, wanting to use the alien even more.
"Isn't that a bit on the nose?" Kevin wondered, unsure if innocent bystanders would be comfortable being saved by a monster with "kill" in their name.
"How about 'Tentacrusher' or something instead?" Garou said suggesting a friendlier name.
"Nah. I'm sticking with Tentakill. Ripjaws is a pretty violent name too, you know? People don't really have a problem with her." Gwen denied their complaints matter-of-factly.
Garou realized something.
"Wait, if you got Vilgax from scanning the blood of my trophy…" Garou held and lifted the hand, "then does it mean that your watch can give you new alien forms as long as you have DNA?"
"I guess so. This is the first time it's ever done it before." Gwen shrugged at the possibility, wondering what else the watch could do.
"You think the more she uses the Omnitrix, the stronger it gets?" Kevin guessed in amazement, picturing his mutant form with the characteristics of Vilgax.
"More like the more features she'll have." Garou corrected. "That watch really is ridiculous now that I see it."
"If you mean ridiculously cool, then I agree~" Gwen chirped happily, still eyeballing the silhouette of Tentakill with naked desire.
Max slowly stepped on the pedal, revving the Rust Bucket's wheels to drive as they moved once again and the scenery slowly walked by outside the windows.
"Nice to see that you still have your maturity, Gwen. How about some nice TV to calm yourself down?" Max suggested as he turned on the wide plasma screen TV, one that Garou bought from Rapid City using Max's money. It cost 10,000 dollars.
A news flash blocked out the original programming, showcasing a tall building surrounded by multiple police cars and fire trucks. Within this facility, reports of a monster wreaking havoc on its employees appeared on the screen. All that could be seen was a blurred silhouette with two muscular arms and clawed feet.
Gwen, seeing this as the golden opportunity she was looking, slyly grinned in anticipation.
"You know what this means?" Gwen smirked from ear to ear, practically hovering her hand over the Omnitrix.
The boys were conflicted with curiosity and braced themselves for the tentacle chaos the girl was about to unleash.
"You go with Gwen. This is something you guys need." He gestured to their lack of bedding, their bunker beds no longer present.
Garou threw something at Kevin, catching him by surprise. Kevin stumbled as it bounced from his hands a few moments before he looked at the sheathed alien metal sword.
"...Dude… are you…"
"Don't lose it."
Kevin stared at the sword for a moment and then to Garou, looking quite surprised by his charity.
"Oh… wow. Thanks dude." Kevin smiled, touched. And excited that he had an actual weapon from space.
"Come on, Kevin! Let's go!" Gwen shouted impatiently, already running out the Rust Bucket's door in a rush.
"Slow your roll, Gwen! I'm coming." Kevin replied, not even bothering to argue with Gwen when she was like this.
The two ran outside of the Rust Bucket, spotting a series of fire trucks driving over to the crime scene across the mountainside. Gwen, unable to wait any longer, popped up the Omnitrix's dial and selected the Chimera Sui Generis silhouette.
"Shouldn't you use XLR8 instead?" Kevin commented in protest of her decision, raising an eyebrow to check if she was listening. However, Gwen was in her own little world at this point.
"Nope!" Gwen refused, pressing down on the Omnitrix symbol anyway. "Tentakill!" She transformed, her heart fluttering as her DNA morphed into that of Vilgax's.
She bore the likeness of Vilgax, but unlike the hulking man squid, her form was more lithe, amazonian. She brimmed with dense muscle as her dark-green tentacles fluttered in accordance to the excitement in her heart. The armor she wore was also a lighter shade of red, practically glued to her body as a skin-tight bodysuit.
"Ahahaha! Bow before my Vilgaxy might!" Tentakill flexed both of her arms in celebration, her mind turning full geek mode as the power rushed through her mind. Kevin merely gave her a blank stare, unimpressed by her display.
Kevin mentally yawned as he waited for Gwen to stop reveling in her own 'glory'.
"Don't give me that look; you'll do the same if you got Vilgax powers," Gwen ordered, her voice deeper and more mature in this form. "You gonna come with me, or you're just gonna stand there?"
The crime scene was a large wooden mansion under the dead of night, white with a row of pediments and a cylindrical tower jutting heavenward, ending in a pointed tip above the entrances. Ambulances and fire trucks surrounded the area, and firefighters and police officers guarded the fort to keep the unknown specimen from escaping. In the distance, the towering form Tentakill jumped from across town. She held Kevin in her arms, holding him tightly as he screamed in absolute horror.
"GAAAAAAAH!"
Kevin held onto the metal sheath of his weapon so tightly for his life to his chest. His heart drummed against the adrenaline, panic striking his nerves and jumpstarting his powers.
"Now, this is an ideal way to travel. Don't you th-"
Mid-flight, Tentakill saw a metallic sheen covering Kevin slowly from his hands, bearing the same bronze-gold color of the sheath he held, from his fingers to his shoulders and still creeping towards his head.
"Woah. How'd you do that?" Gwen asked in stunned shock.
Upon landing, Kevin lurched forward as he hyperventilated, the metallic color stopping when they reached solid ground just several hundred meters away from the crime scene.
"Hah… hah…… hah?" Kevin looked at his hands, seeing bronze instead of beige. "Huh, this is new." Kevin stated, observing every inch of his body for any changes. A portion of his skin shared the sword's metallic color from top to bottom.
"Have you always been able to do that?" Tentakill bellowed in wonder.
"No… but I think I like it." Kevin slowly smiled as he inspected his hands back and forth. He wanted to check something.
He slowly undid some of the transformation, the metallic corruption slowly receding until only the hand holding the sword was metallic.
"It's easier to control… think they're just as hard as his sword?" Kevin asked, clenching and unclenching his hands with growing excitement.
"My Fist can test it for you if you want." Gwen suggested boldly, slamming her enlarged fist against the other.
"Hah!"
Kevin held the pommel, fingers tightening as he assumed the iconic iai stance.
"Careful. You know what this sword did to Vilgax," Kevin replied, giving Tentakill a competitive glare. He finally got something to work with, a power he could control with ease.
And a weapon that could cut down Vilgax.
He was so going to ask Garou to let him keep the sword after this.
"You're so on." Gwen snorted, rushing to the crowd of firemen and police officers surrounding the building's entrance.
Quickly, Kevin started absorbing more from the metal sword, metal sheath and all. He could feel the metallic matter surging through him, covering his child body and strengthening him along the way. He felt as if he was invincible as he ran behind Gwen, catching up to her into the entrance and past the dumbfounded civilians along the way.
"I told you, officer! There's some type of creature tearing-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" The building's owner attempted to explain before jumping in sheer terror at the sight of Gwen's hideous new transformation. The scatter group of firefighters and police officers collectively turned their heads around to gape at the merrily bounding Tentakill.
"Make way for Tentakill!" Tentakill laughed as she busted through the front of the building without regard for the civilians' reactions, breaking down the doors in her excitement.
Kevin ignored the stupored bystanders and followed the Tentakill into the room, seeing her standing before a very…
When they heard the reporter talk about a monster, they expected a monster that could endanger civilians.
But before them was a very small alien. It was red, chubby, with stubby arms and legs. Its mouth was a circular maw and its pure green eyes stared up at the female version of Vilgax with fright.
"You're kidding? Is that reporter blind or something?!" Kevin scowled in disbelief and annoyance, all expectations disappointed.
Meanwhile, Tentakill simply stared down at the tiny thing… she turned to Kevin and decided to ask, "You wanna switch with tiny?" From her tone, she did not feel like this alien was worth her time nor magnificent Vilgax power.
"I…" Kevin no longer felt the motivation. "Just step on it, and let's get out of here." Kevin stuttered, not feeling the energy to even use his sword on it.
The two looked at the red alien in question. It looked quite frightened at the sight of Gwen's alien form. They don't know whether they should just beat it up and leave it for the authorities or just leave the place.
"Alright, little whatever you are. This will only hurt for a second." Tentakill sighed in a bored tone, approaching the miniscule alien with slow, heavy steps. However, much to Gwen's surprise, it swiftly fled before she could kneel down and pick it up, crawling along one of the building's columns in a flash.
Kevin stood there trailing the midget until it left his sight, "...is that an alien cockroach?"
"Why do the small ones always have to make things difficult?" Tentakill grunted irritably, her immense weight making it almost impossible to chase after the thing. She adjusted the position of her head to scan the ceiling, unsure of where it could be.
Kevin felt like this day would end up a chore instead of an awesome battle, prompting him to escape the premises before she dragged him with her.
"Well, looks like I'm just gonna get on and go-"
"You're helping me, Kevin." Tentakill spoke before Kevin could use this excuse to leave her.
"Oh, come on! I want to fight an alien demon thing, not… play cat and mouse!" Kevin whined.
"Well, you have no choice. I don't know what Tentakill is capable of just yet, so we're stuck here for the night unless we do." Gwen snapped back authoritatively, narrowing her red eyes in impatience.
"Awww, this blows!" Kevin groaned.
With one hand on her hips, Tentakill only flicked her finger in the direction of the alien, "Get to it."
Grumbling under his breath, Kevin sauntered over to the column with Garou's sword in his hand. He slowly reformed his fingers into sharp, shining claws, wanting to end it so he could go back to the Rust Bucket and play Sumo Slammers.
However, from around the corner leading to the halls, Kevin spotted a man in full body gray suit entering his sight, his hair gray with age, and he held a two-handed gun of sorts in his hand.
"Eh?" Kevin quickly hid in the shadows.
He seemed to be slowly maneuvering himself around the room, aiming his weapon at the roof and nearby walls. Suddenly, he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of one particular alien.
It reminded him so much of a certain Chimera Sui Generis that he faced long ago.
"Vilgax?! It can't be…" The suited elder muttered to himself with widened eyes. Suspicious and on edge, he then slowly made his way over to the oblivious form of Gwen, or in this case, Tentakill with his arms poised at her.
The elder did not seem to notice Kevin as he was too short, or that the man failed to notice Kevin and was giving Gwen his full, undivided attention. Whatever the case, Kevin wasn't sure if he should attack him or not, but then he pulled the trigger…
Meanwhile, Garou and Max waited inside of the Rust Bucket, the first rapping his fingers on the table with one hand while eating a pizza within another. Max was waiting in the driver's seat, hearing muffled chatter outside the RV and the sound of the martial artist trying to empty the fridge, again, with his mouth and gullet.
Garou paused his chewing, taking a glass of cola and downed the glass in one gulp, exhaling a breath of relief as he licked his lips.
"Hey, old man," Garou called out.
"What now, Garou?" Max sighed tiredly.
"You said you knew Kevin's dad, right? Was he a Plumber, too?" Garou asked.
Max froze in place for a moment, thinking up the proper response.
"Yes, he was. A good one at that." Max recalled fondly, smiling in a melancholic manner.
"How'd he go out?" Garou asked, getting up and returning to the megafridge, a chromium steel exterior and larger than the previous fridge, holding much more space on the inside with two seperate draws at the bottom to hold perishables in perfect preservation and a third at the top, below the freezer. It was something Garou wanted to keep his food at the ready as he took out the rice, celery, and packaged raw meat and placed them on the table. He wanted to cook something in a hot pot that he also bought from Rapid City.
"It's a long story. I don't think it's the type you would want to hear." Max simply replied, his eyes narrowed in a mix of both sadness and pain.
"I get it." Garou looked into the cupboard, taking out a large concave pan to cook the meat in and a bunsen burner.
"What I can tell you, was that Kevin's father had the same abilities as him." Max informed openly.
"You should've told Kevin about that earlier." Garou replied as he proceeded to fill the metal pot with water from the sink.
"He'll find out in time. He's not ready right now." Max remarked sagely, knowing Kevin wouldn't be able to handle the untimely fate of his father.
"I meant his abilities, not his dad." Garou corrected as he placed the pot on the bunsen burner and turned on the flames to boil the water.
"You mean what he is?"
"I mean what he can do. Kevin needs to learn more about his powers first right now if he's not as ready as you think." Garou said as he returned to the cupboard to look for some seasoning, standing atop of the kitchen counter to help himself up.
"I understand that, Garou, but… Osmosians are unusual compared to other species." Max struggled to explain, his head strangely beginning to hurt just thinking of Kevin's race.
"'Unusual' is a weak term." Garou took some garlic powder and salt and placed them around the table. "Tell me something. Did humanity ever form a separate organization to defend against the aliens other than the Plumbers?" Garou asked as the water started to bubble while he looked into the fridge to take out more of the meat.
Max's eyes squinted in curiosity, peering over at Garou through his RV's rear view mirror.
"Where did this come from all of a sudden?" Max asked with uncertainty, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"I've met someone online." Garou said as he took out the packaged lamb and chicken meat. "There's a group that holds Driscoll as their king, one with quite a rich history."
"Driscoll?" Max gasped in shock, formerly believing that he disappeared years ago.
"He is moving up in the world. I want to ask you about something." Garou turned to Max from his seat, peeling off the plastic off the meat. "Can I trust whatever organization here that wants Alien Tech and otherwise?"
"It's difficult to say. The Plumbers aren't the only ones trying to handle extraterrestrial activity. The government wants to as well. Did I ever tell you about Area 51?"
"No, you never did." Garou shook his head as he grabbed the salt shaker and shook some of it into the boiling water.
"It's an American military base that is rumored to house top secret alien experiments. The Plumbers have been trying to shut it down for years with little success." Max grunted in aggravation. "Thanks to the Roswell Incident and their friends up in Washington, they're dug in like ticks."
"Ahhh. Well, there's one thing I would look out for." Garou chuckled as he took some sugar and spread it in the boiling water.
"I'm not entirely certain, but I believe the government has an organization called S.A.C.T. which they utilize for that specific purpose." Max mused off the top of his head.
"That so…" Garou threw the celery sticks and chopped them with his hands, dicing them into evenly thin pieces as they plopped into the hot water. "In any case, I am preparing hot pot if you're wondering. Want something fresh after eating too much packaged food?" Garou informed as Max watched Garou prepare the meat next.
Max wondered where he learned about Driscoll's current status. He had a good hunch how he did it. Before he could ask, the wall in front of the mansion exploded, the walls exploding out and replaced by lingering flame.
It was starting to get noisy inside the complex. What was happening in there?
Gwen was starting to get impatient waiting for Kevin to finish his little game of hide-and-seek. She tapped her foot repeatedly on the floor, both arms folded neatly against her metal chest.
"This sucks. I probably don't have that much time as Tentakill left." Gwen grimaced in boredom, struggling not to yawn right that second.
However, before she could yawn, a laser zipped from the shadows and almost struck her.
"Whoa!" Tentakill ducked just at the last moment before she turned to her attacker in battle mode.
"Vilgax!"
However, turning around, Tentakill saw an elderly man, holding…
"I don't know how you managed to return or what you're doing here, but I don't care. Right now, you're going to get on your knees and place your hands above your head, or…"
The man was holding a gun similar to that of Prior Gilhil's, the same gun that he used to send Vilgax into the prison dimension, and he was aiming it at her. Gwen widened her red eyes in shock.
"Wait, isn't that a Null Void Projector?" Tentakill asked, her amazonian voice spoke with confusion.
"Like it? It's gonna bring you to your new home right this very second, freak!" The man snickered threateningly, hovering his finger over the weapon's trigger.
"Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Time out! Time out!" Gwen shouted, forming a T-form with her hands wanting to pause the surprises for a moment. The man looked at her confused, taken back by her choice of words.
"What? Did you lose your mind the last time we fought?" The man questioned in surprise, never seeing Vilgax act so afraid and defensive before.
"I'm not Vilgax, you idiot! I don't even know you! And where'd you even get that?! I thought Max locked it away in Mount Rushmore before it was… it was…" Gwen was starting to connect the dots together.
"Max? What does my old partner have to do with this?" The man pondered in further obliviousness, steadily lowering the Null Void Project away from Tentakill's body.
"You're… are you grandpa's old partner, Phil?" Tentakill pointed her clawed finger at the old man. Slowly dropping his jaw from shock, Kevin was hiding nearby behind a column, understanding what Gwen was insinuating.
"Grandpa? Wait wait wait… Yeesh. Didn't know Max had a thing for-" Phil's joking quip was interrupted by the intense flashing of scarlet light.
The watch slowly beeped out, signalling her final seconds in flashing red. At the last second, she flashed back to human form, still pointing her finger at Phil with her force contorted in shock.
"Ooohh. That makes more sense." Phil remarked in realization before stroking his chin interestingly.
"Why do you have that?" Gwen asked, pointing at the gun in Phil's hand.
"Should you really be the one asking questions here, Little Miss Vilgax?" Phil mused with an amused smirk.
Gwen looked at Phil very miffed, "Yes! Grandpa told me that the Null Void Projector is supposed to be secure in Mount Rushmore! Why do you have it?!" She asked with eyes narrowing with suspicion.
"Hey, I'm just using it for what it's made for. Letting such advanced technology collect dust in some national monument is such a waste." Phil defended himself, casually shrugging as if he didn't do anything wrong.
His nonchalant, careless words finally hit her. She was starting to understand the picture here with her experienced brain.
"And what use would that be?" Gwen asked, slowly taking a step back.
"Well… It's not something you'll understand until you get older."
"Do you even have the clearance to possess that? What are you using it for?" Gwen demanded, fear increasing in her tone.
A tense silence came between the two.
"Hah… well, looks like Max raised a smarty pants." Phil sighed. "Knowing Max, he'll connect the dots sooner or later, so why not? Rent is hard to make, kid, after my glory days are done, all that's left is a washed up old man trying to get by. So I thought, why not try to move up in the world? I got years of Plumber training under my belt, kid, what do you think I'm doing?" Phil laughed to himself smugly, tapping the Null Void Projector's tip for emphasis.
"That still doesn't explain why you're using that thing unauthorized." Gwen grimaced.
"The Null Void Projector ain't only for trapping baddies, let's just say."
Gwen's concern fell into seriousness as she quickly glanced at Kevin who was already sneaking up on Phil. Max's former partner had turned into a life of crime. He was the one who stole that Null Void Gun in Mount Rushmore, not Driscoll.
"Then I hope you take a bite out of karma from above." Gwen gave Kevin the signal as the boy grinned. He expanded his hand into a hammer behind Phil and readied his overhead swing as he leapt, indenting the ground in loud cracks as he swung down.
"Oooof!" Phil shouted painfully as he was smacked in the back of the head by Kevin's metallic appendage. The old man was rendered unconscious instantly, falling face-down onto the cold, hard ground. He lost his grip on the Null Void Projector, letting it bounce a few times on the floor before lying dormant.
"Whew… man, Garou's right." Kevin pointed at Phil. "You guys really are born under a strange star. Seriously, what are the chances?"
"I think some force in the universe is out to get us or something. It's getting kind of ridiculous at this point." Gwen deadpanned, looking down at Phil's limp form shamefully.
"How are we going to break this to your grandpa?" Kevin wondered aloud, not certain of what Max would feel about his old partner being a dishonest criminal.
"Don't know…" Gwen then caught sight of the alien from before dropping down on Phil from the ceiling.
"Oh yeah. That thing." Kevin murmured distastefully. It then, much to Gwen and Kevin's amazement, scooped up the Null Void Projector into its clawed hands and hissed at both kids. It then ran for dear life, struggling to hold onto the Plumber device.
Gwen and Kevin blinked a few times in astonishment, not expecting the physically insignificant being to pull off such an unprecedented action.
"Didn't see that coming…" Gwen mumbled in puzzlement.
"You're chasing it this time." Kevin proclaimed seriously, not wanting to deal with such a non-threatening creature.
"That's not fair! The Omnitrix isn't recharged yet!" Gwen denied angrily, pointing to the watch's red dial.
"I knock out the old guy, you capture the alien. Sounds pretty even to me." Kevin pointed out with a blank expression.
Gwen's right eye twitched at Kevin who was pointing at the drooling crooked plumber on the floor.
"Fine! But you're breaking the news to Grandpa when we get out!" Gwen growled determinedly, preparing to chase the red dwarf as it jumped from column to column.
"Oh man…"
"Let me get this straight…" Looking at Kevin and Gwen, Garou stood beside the kitchen table where the covered hot pot was simmering the raw materials equidistant between the raw meat lying around it. "Kevin learned a new ability, you two found the old man's former partner, learned that he was the thief who stole the prison gun to rip people off, and the alien escaped with the same gun?"
""Yes.""
Gwen and Kevin confirmed in unison.
"…I just made dinner for us to eat after all this. You know, a break and something to look forward to," Garou sighed as he slapped his face as it slid off.
"How were we supposed to know the Null Void Projector would be there?" Kevin questioned in defense of their actions.
"Why didn't you confiscate it along with that guy in the back?" Garou pointed a thumb in the back where a constricted Phil, tied in rope and with his mouth taped, muffled screams as he squirmed like a chrysalis.
"Hey, that alien may be small, but it sure could climb. It wouldn't get down no matter what we did!" Gwen exclaimed irritably, crossing her arms in a firm pout.
"…I'm teaching you all how to parkour after this. Hah." Garou lifted the metal lid from the hot pot as a steam of aroma arose and filled the RV.
Gwen and Kevin smelled the boiling meat, now feeling hungry as they watched Garou took a piece of fatty meat with his hand and threw it into his mouth.
"Mmm," Garou chewed, filling his stomach in the interim.
"Since when did you know how to cook?" Gwen asked curiously, learning more about Garou almost every single day.
"Hotpot is a special thing back home."
"So, that meat is from…" Kevin trailed off, pointing a finger at the pieces of meat Garou just wolfed down.
"The stuff I bought from Rapid City. All raw," Garou informed.
"Phew for a second there I thought you actually… you know…" Kevin stammered, gesturing to the nearby patch of woods.
"I am tempted to eat Alien Meat. But I don't have the containers for them." Garou scoffed, smirking at Kevin's aversion, giving him the wrong idea.
"Please don't. You have no idea how many diseases that stuff could hold." Gwen squirmed a bit in disgust, gulping down a lump in her throat.
"Hah! Anyways, help yourselves to the hot pot before it burns. I'm off.." Garou replied as he started walking towards the exit, passing by Gwen and Kevin.
Behind Garou, Max solemnly stood above the tie-up Phil in a silent stare. Reaching down, Max ripping the tape his mouth.
"Ahh! Max, what the fff… ahhh." Phil hissed in pain as he smacked his lips to dull the sting.
"Have anything to say for yourself, Phil?" Max scowled in disappointment, his black eyes heavily narrowed.
"Feh. What's there to say? I don't regret what I did." Phil replied bitterly, undeterred by his former partner's glare.
"You released dangerous lifeforms from the Null Void that we helped capture in the first place. What was there to gain with that, Phil?!" Max fumed in outrage, clenching both of his wrinkled fists. Phil turned his head away from Max, a deep frown starting to build.
"I couldn't handle retirement like you did, Max. After the Plumbers were shut down on Earth, I struggled to get by. The money just wasn't coming in." Phil explained with a deep sigh of frustration, returning Max's searing eyes with an emotionless stare. "I missed the good old days where I could fight aliens, explore new worlds, and use advanced weaponry. So, when I found out there was still a Null Void Projector in Mount Rushmore, I used its power to work my way up in the world. I released aliens, sent them back, and then got paid by mayors of the cities I visited. It was a goldmine." Phil sniggered greedily, thinking back to his latest exploits before Kevin and Gwen swiftly put an end to his schemes.
"That's no excuse for what you did, Phil. You're no better than the very criminals we helped defeat all those years ago." Max hummed gravely, shaking his head side-to-side in disgrace. Phil's eyes widened slightly at this statement.
"Don't you see, Max? Together, we can bring the Plumbers back to their former glory. We can be partners again!" Phil attempted to convince Max to join him, slightly wriggling around in his restraints.
"Why would I be the partner of someone who only cares about themselves?" Max shook his head as he turned his back to Phil, walking away and leaving his former partner to his struggles.
Meanwhile, Gwen and Kevin sat around the table beside the window. Looking down, they saw chopsticks alongside their forks and knives, all neatly placed for all four of them.
"You know, Garou told us he's a kung-fu master, but I kinda forgot to ask if he is… uh…" Kevin said as he picked up a chopstick in his hand, trying to figure out how to use it.
"Asian?" Gwen quirked a brow as she clacked her chopstick twice, demonstrating her ability to use foreign utensils, as she reached in and took some meat and vegetables for herself.
"Also, you can put the raw meat in the bowl and cook it." Gwen chimed as she placed more of the raw meat from around the hot pot and into the boiling pot.
"Oh… huh." Kevin took some of the meat to his bowl and took a bite, chewing on it for a moment.
"Oh, sweet. It's good!" Kevin chimed as he started taking more.
Gwen sampled some of the meat herself. The texture was chewy, sweet, and very melty in her mouth. She could feel the tender meat getting chewier and chewier as she closed her eyes and giggled with delight.
"How's it going, you two?" Max asked in a more upbeat tone, getting his mind off of Phil for the time being.
"You need to try this, Grandpa! It's soooo good!" Gwen beamed happily, taking more bites of Garou's meat-based delicacy.
"Really? I never took him for a cook." Max took a seat next to Kevin as he took a look. "Ohhh. Hotpot. Hadn't had those since I went to China. And he set up a bowl for me, too." Grandpa grabbed his bowl and took some more for himself, taking a bite out of the piece. "Oh my," Max stopped and looked at the lamb. "This lamb is quite tender."
The three are together peacefully, half-emptying the contents of the hot pot in a matter of minutes.
As they ate, Garou returned to the Rust Bucket, "We have a problem."
They gave Garou their full attention when they heard 'problem.'
"What is it?" Max asked concernedly.
"Remember that alien thing that took off with the Projector? Watch." Garou said as he went for the remote and turned on the TV, opening the news.
The two Tennysons and Kevin looked over at the television screen, seeing events unfolding chaos in a proportion most unexpected.
"[Tonight, unknown creatures are terrorizing the city. Four monsters had appeared from who knows where and were rampaging through the streets even as we speak. We are recording live at the scene.]"
In the footage, they could see various aliens of many shapes wreaking havoc in the city. A winged, faceless monster with a giant mouth and tentacles for its lower half, Vulpimancers, and plenty more sowing chaos in the streets as screams and explosions filled the RV.
"Dang. We really underestimated that midget, didn't we?" Kevin whispered to Gwen in continual surprise.
"The curse of the Tennysons strikes again, and I might need help tracking it down. How many monsters are in that gun?"
"Haha! It's the Null Void, kid! Those aliens won't stop appearing until the portal's closed for good." Phil revealed, laughing at the four's problematic predicament.
"This is all your fault in the first place!" Gwen accused scornfully, her green eyes glaring at the tied up Phil.
"Hah! Who's the one that lost my 'gun?' Hm?" Phil quipped back.
"Can someone put the tape back on his big mouth, please?" Kevin groaned in annoyance.
"Don't bother, son. I'm already on it." Max said as he grabbed the tape and walked to Phil.
"Wait! Don't you- mmphmh!" Phil mumbled incoherently as Max placed a slab of duct tape over his lips.
Once Phil was silenced, the four returned to the matter at hand at the table as the news continued narrating the events through the television.
"So, anyone has a plan?" Gwen began the discussion with a nervous laugh.
"Like how are we gonna clean all that mess up?" Kevin asked with a hint of sarcasm, pointing his finger at the chaos on the screen.
"Isn't it obvious?" Garou sighed as he clapped his hands together in front of his face. "One team would find the alien with the gun while the other deals with the aliens. I could go to mitigate the damage while Kevin and Gwen find the one with the gun. Questions?" Garou asked.
"How are we supposed to find it? The little twerp could be anywhere!" Kevin attempted to rebuke Garou's idea.
"Wildmutt can track it, I think, but we need a professional's opinion. Old man, what do you know about the alien that took it?" Garou asked, deciding to rely on Max's wisdom.
"Judging by the description, it's probably a Havok Beast. They're small in size, but have a large hunger for metal. In large numbers, they have the potential to devour entire spaceships." Max informed knowledgeably, having prior experience with said creature.
"Well, easy enough. What are you going to do?" Gwen asked Garou, "How are you going to deal with the aliens?"
"Simple. Kill them." Garou got off the table and went to the back, rummaging through the various miscellanies until he found the sword while ignoring the squirming prisoner. He picked it up and unsheathed the blade a few inches, letting the light glimmer off the flat metal surface.
The two words chilled the room, earning surprise from even Phil as he looked at Garou baffled.
"Don't you remember what I said, Garou? You can't just kill extraterrestrial life without consequence. Whether they be intelligent or animalistic." Max snapped sternly, pointing a finger at Garou to show that he meant every word.
Garou looked back at Max, the few inches of the blade reflecting Max's face.
"… are you sure? They're prisoners, unintelligent." Garou asked, wanting to make sure.
"Those creatures aren't the prisoners, son. The Null Void has its own native species that live and breathe just like we do." Max corrected in a calmer tone, slowly shaking his head.
"… Fine." Garou sheathed his blade inside the Techadon sheath. "I'll try, but no promises. But I don't want to blow my cover, too many eyes. Gwen, I need Grey Matter. You think you can hook me up with some robot prosthetics?" Garou asked, gesturing to his collection surrounding Phil.
"Grey Matter coming right up." Gwen announced, twisting the Omnitrix's dial and pushing down on the button. In a flash of green, she transformed into said tiny Galvan. "Step aside, boys." Gwen commanded, cracking her webbed knuckles and walking up to the junk pile determinedly. "It's Arts Crafts time!"
"Lame," Kevin hummed.
"Oh what do you know. When was the last time you were even in a school?" Gwen quipped back as she got to work, intentionally tossing a bolt over her shoulder and into his nose.