1970's...
{"Security Breach! Red alert!"}
Somewhere in the woods at night, an army base of operations rests. A small control building overlooks three large platforms, each with a big sealed hatch. As of right now, they were experiencing some minor questions.
"What the hell's going on?", a man questioned, he currently wore the standard Army Combat uniform and had currently pulled out his M1911. "What the hell happened to everyone?"
"Not sure.", another man, this one being tanned answered with unease. "All we know is that some of our guys were found unconscious outside and that the intruders are still in the base."
"Do we know if its a group?", the first man inquired.
"Nothing definitive yet, but its best not to play it safe.", the second man nodded as he was suddenly met with a dropkick that sent him flying headfirst and right through a wall on their left.
The first man quickly aimed his M1911 at the mysterious figure but was immediately met with... nothing, the figure that just attacked his friend had just vanished. "What the hell is happening?!", he pulled out his radio and pressed its button. "I'm in need of immediate support at the southeast wing!"
... silence.
"What?! No way they would've gone dark like this. Something must've happened.", the man seethed. "Dammit! Who the hell are you! Who sent you!"
"We are the ones who will help guide this planet into a new era.", the man quickly turned only to be knocked into the ground by a fist. Though this wasn't the origin of the voice, it did grant him the capability of getting their attackers appearance.
The person in front of him wore a form fitting black suits, their arms and legs were decorated with golden bracers that extended into sharp talons, wore a red kilt secured by a golden belt and a red scarf. His face was concealed by a strange, yellow and black mask that almost looked like a strange mockery of a creature.
"Wh-What-", the man was swiftly rendered immobile by someone standing behind him.
"We are the Esoterica, we hope this experience was enlightening.", the actual origin of the voice wore a similar outfit to the other one, however, his was decorated with a red cloak-like cape rather than a scarf, a fire-shaped emblem on his chest and most importantly, his mask. Unlike the one before him, this particular mask was detailed, possessing a different and sharper structure along with a pair of glowing eyes. "Is that all of them?"
"From the other agents in the vicinity, the ones residing within this building have been dealt with.", the soldier nodded as others seemed to just... appear, almost as if they just walked behind a space that didn't exist. "Only a small handful are still concious in the hangar."
"Leave them. They will be dealt with soon enough.", It was impossible to tell what the Conduit was feeling of course, but he simply modded. "Now to the next phase... hmm?"
At the end of the hall, they saw a man cloaked in shadow standing there completely unbothered by their presence. "Ah, a straggler hmm? How unfortunate. If only you played dead."
"Targets identified.", the man said as he pulled out some sort of weapon, it wasn't structured like any firearm from earth.
A decorated man bursts into a control room. A light is flashing red; his less-decorated colleague is sitting at a console, worried. "What's going on?! Wait-", his eyes widened as missiles were being pulled out from their silos by some sort of tractor beam. "I-I didn't authorize a launch!"
"We're not doing anything! Something's pulling the missiles out of their silos!", his colleague exclaimed in distress.
"Be not afraid.", the Conduit's voice came from behind, the army general spun around as he quickly pulled out his gun but was immediately met with energy whips wrapping around his leading hand before dragging him forward
The colleague stood very still, he didnt dare to make a muscle with him directly behind. "You have outstanding privilege to be apart of the new world our Lord is creating!",
"Huh...?", the colleague asked confused.
Down within the bases hanger where they held missiles and rockets, two men had their M4's trained at the door before it was immediately grabbed by something from the outside and torn off its hinges. This startles the two men into opening fire before being immediately shot back by red blasts and right into the metal walls.
Heavy foot steps were heard as Vilgax himself stepped in... though he looked different from his modern day self. His armor was entirely dark red with spiked shoulder pads, parts of bus abdomen were exposed to show off his green skin with a bizarre circuitry pattern. "Humans truly are a barbaric species. Creating weapons of mass destruction instead of focusing on leaving this clump of rock, its almost admirable."
The two combat-type drones that were with him spun around sensing something before being shot down by a barrage of energy beams. "The vermin came crawling back, huh? And here I believed our ambush on the Centauri Base was enough of a deterrent.", despite all of that, Vilgax remained unphazed.
The figures that fired at him wore identical uniforms, the uniform itself was form fitting and consisted of a teal color. Adorned with a utility belt, black gloves, keepads and boots along with a section of the collar being completely black up to the neck. Their teal helmets had a very dark visor with a cord connected to their chin that reached towards the back of the suit. The insignia of a rocket launching was located on the right sleeve, with a grey and red badge located on the left pectoral region.
These were Plumbers.
"Show's over, Vilgax!", one of the agents exclaimed with a familar voice.
"You're going down today!", the second Plumber trained his blaster on Vilgax who stared at them blankly.
Something about that declaration enraged Vilgax, he hissed as veins buldged on his head. "I severely doubt either of you are in the situation for making such baseless accusations!"
"We'll see about that!", the plumber charged in with a determined tone in his voice.
"Phil! Wait!"
The Plumber named Phil ignored this and pulled out a bizarre looking disc that suddenly transformed into a three pronged blaster. Phil blinked... and Vilgax was right in front of him and attempted to punch him with all his strength, Phil threw himself to the ground as his momentum carried him underneath. The Agent started shooting out a barrage of bright balls of energy.
"Chac'Ulpt.", Vilgax hissed in his native tongue as Phil suddenly found himself face to face with Vilgax's heel as he kicked Phil's helmet off and knocked him to the ground. Blood leaking from his head, before he could make a quick retreat Phil was restrained by his powerful green tentacles.
Vilgax turned to see the remaining Plumber holding out his arm as a wrist mounted blaster built itself out of a bizzare cuff on his wrist. "Put him down, Vilgax!"
The destroyer grinned as he held Phil in the air. "I'll give you a choice.", he gestured towards a console with one of his drones hooked themselves onto it. "If you surrender, I'll be sure to leave this planet... but, if you even think to attack, I'll rip him apart."
"Take the shot!", Phil exclaimed as he was immediately silenced by the tentacles tightening around him. "You can't just let him get away!"
"I never said I would, kid.", the Agent nodded as he suddenly felt something... wet. His eyes widened as Vilgax managed to close the distance between them and... his head had folded back, displaying a nightmarish maw with rows of needle-like teeth.
"TAKE IT!", Phil exclaimed with distress as the Plumber attempted to shoot him... instead he was met a sickening crunch. Skin, muscle and bone parted ways violently as the agent stumbled back and screamed in pain, blood spilling from his stump. Some of the blood staining Phil's uniform.
Phil gagged as he heard the sickening snaps and crunches from Vilgax devouring his severed arm, the tentacles around his face wiping away the blood. "Humans are such a weak race. You're not even worth the trouble to conquer anymore, I'll do this Universe a favor and make it so you never existed."
Phil seethed as Max howled in pain, Vilgax grinning at the pain and misery... before being met with a hand jabbing itself into one of his eyes. Vilgax threw Phil away as he grabbed at his face, roaring in frustration and pain. "TYRAAAAAAH!!"
Vilgax was met with a black glove jabbing the same eye causing him to stumbled back. The armless plumber managed to stand up thanks to Phil's assistance, he lifted his remaining arm and unleashed a concussive blast that knocked Vilgax into a missile that began to rise from the hangar.
Phil finished this by throwing a sort of marble at Vilgax's chest, once it made contact it exploded into a viscous green net that secured the warlord in place. "HUMAN BASTARDS! ONCE I ESCAPE, I'LL EAT YOU ALIVE!"
"What're you doing?", Phil asked as he took off his partner's helmet, revealing it to be a youthful Max with short, reddish hair. He said nothing as Vilgax thrashed around, unleashing inhuman screams of rage.
Another Plumber watched as the missile soared high into the sky, colliding with The Merciless and erupting into a powerful explosion. This particular Plumber held one of the golden gauntlets of the Esoterica... a large number of the soldiers on the ground.
This third Plumber tapped the side of his helmet to activate his communicatoon system. "This is Oscar of Team Bravo reporting. Targets Neutralized."
"And then, kablamo. No more Vilgax.", Max had recited the story from his past in the present day as he drove the fully repaired Rust Bucket away from the Plumber Base. "Or at least... thats what we thought."
"Woah! You were a hero?!", Ben exclaimed as he held that same weapon from yesterday in his lap, it seemingly on standby due to its switch being flicked down. "Thats awesome!"
"Not a hero, just a guy doing a job no one else would take.", Max stated matter-of-factly.
Gwen sat in the booth with a stern look in her face, Alex on the otherhand was sitting further in the back. "Excuse me, but what was that job anyways?"
This question made Max paused for a second before looking on. "We were called the Plumbers, but we also went by different names. Officially we didn't exist, We were the guys who fixed the problems no one else could. Extraterrestrial. Extrasensory. Extraordinary.", Max grimaced as he felt a sting in what's left of his arm at the sheer thought of his past.
"My gramps was also a Plumber back around the same time as Max, which is how I already knew about all this shit.", Alex casually stated.
"So all this time we've been saving people from the werido stuff thats been goin on, I've really been following in your footsteps! I'm a Plumber in training!", Ben exclaimed estatic by this... revelation of sorts.
Gwen on the other hand did not take this information well. "So you knew about the watch this whole time?"
"Not entirely, Oscar was of a higher rank so he was the one who told me about it. Otherwise all I heard was rumors.", Max stated as he had a strong feeling that Alex wasn't entirely willing to acknowledge his own grandfather.
"You always told us we could tell you anything, Grandpa. Guess you didn't feel the same...", the red haired ten year old remarked with a frown.
Alex was going to retort but was immediately stopped before opening his mouth as sirens blared. Max pulled the Rust Bucket on the side of the road to allow police cars and a set of ambulances to pass right by.
"All right! Could be a chance for the Plumbers to go 'back to work'!", that was Ben's reaction to the sign of trouble.
"FUCK!", and that was Alex's, having a pair of cracked ribs is a big deterrent on moving for him.
"There's no family business, I retired a long time ago.", Max said towards Ben's reaction to this wjole situation before turning in his seat to look at Alex. "You don't have to go this time, you gotta rest up."
"Yeah but it'll annoy me later.", Alex yawned as he forced himself to get up and walk out of the Rust Bucket. "I'll be in and out, easy.", he had primed the Omnitrix and already had selected Bugbreath's icon before slamming down...
Alex looked at his clawed hands before looking at his reflection through the window, unfortunately, he had turned into Lakelurker. "Nice. Real nice.", he remarked with clear annoyance.
The fire truck had arrived at a rather large hotel which had been swarmed with police cars, along with those staying at the hotel having been evacuated. The driver quickly hopped out of the truck and walked up to who he assumed was the manager. "The hell's goin on?"
"Some... T-THING is inside the hotel! S-some creature broke in and started tearing up the place.", the manager stammered with an horrified look in his eyes. "It didn't look like any animal, there's no way!"
Before the fire fighter could really say anything, it just suddenly started raining, it wasn't light at all and was more like a heavy downpour. The driver of the fire truck looked up to see Lakelurker was just holding the hose up and letting it rain.
Lakelurker looked over at him and narrowed his eyes. "The fuck you lookin at?", considering it was a towering fish man with hands that look big enough to crush a watermelon... he and many others averted their gaze. "Can't a guy moisturize in peace? People these days..."
The large fish man dropped the hose after throughly moosturizing his scales and leapt towards the hotel entrance and kicked the door down. Beyond a water fountain in the middle of the room, everything was torn apart and tossed onto the floor.
"C'mon out, I swear I wont hurt you... well, thats a lie. But still you should come out.", Lakelurker stepped in and closed the door benind him just to make sure it couldn't escape.
Thats when he saw it, the culprit to this whole mess was this fat, burgandy colored creature with beady red eyes, a mouth that looked similar to a lamprey and dangerously sharped claws. In response to him, it let out a terrifying roar that sounded similar to a screaming cat.
It was two feet tall and didn't look very intimidating.
Alex looked at it, they stared at each other awkwardly for what felt like a minute straight before Lakelurker just began cackling at the tiny creature. He laughed, and laughed, and laughed... so in response to this, the tiny peat threw a rock at hi
Rather than dodge, he just stood there and let the rock just bounce off. As a quick response to that, Lakelurker lunged at it, the beast easily dodged a punch that went straight into the floor which took no time at all to pull out. Lakelurker ran up and kicked it like a soccerball into the fountain, it emerged from the water and spat out a torrent of liquid that Lakelurker happily accepted.
He didn't say anything but roared at the creature, it leapt away and onto a pillar, chittering away as Lakelurker lunged at it again. The red critter leapt off and into the darkness to leave Lakelurker punching right through the pillar, once he landed he let out a frustrated growl.
"I was gonna go easy on ya but since you threw a goddamn rock at me, I'm taking your fucking arm!", Lakelurker muttered to himself in an annoyed tone.
Considering the rest of the room was pitch black, Lakelurker tapped his chin before an idea popped in his head and in response to such an idea, his lure began glowing. "This works."
Now with a source of light, Lakelurker just searched around the room quietly in case the creature made any sudden noises. He wasn't sure how long he did this but the moment he felt something bump into him, the giant fish spun around and attempted to claw at the object but was immediately knocked back by some sort of blast of air.
The object itself was actually a man who was rather well built, he wore a navy blue suit with noticable stitches, black boots paired with black gloves, a utility belt yet the rest of the suit was concealed by a leather jacket. His face was fully exposed to showcase a roughly middled aged with well maintained greying hairs and a trimmed beard.
"A Pisciss Volann? Where the hell did you come from? Ah whatever, just means my check is gonna be REAL hefty tonight!", the man chuckled as he kept a tight grip on some sort of rifle, it was bulkier and more complex looking compared to the average rifle. "Hang tight fish face, I'll be right back."
"God I HATE elderly white men.", Lakelurker muttered to himslef as he managed to stand up, he looked over at a nearby pitcher of water and quickly poured it over himself.
The man had went back to looking for the creature with his firearm primed, he quickly spun towards a corner once he heard scurrying and fired, the red beast scurried along quickly as the man kept firing. "Hold still you goddamn rat!"
"Sit the fuck down.", the man was quickly met wirh a backhand that knocked him into a table with enough force to split it in two. Lakelurker quickly lunged at the red beast, quickly shattering the pitcher against the creature.
Once it stopped moving around, Lakelurker began stomping on it agressively, quickly backing up before finishing it off with an elbow drop. The giant fish man stood up and lightly kicked the creature, which was alive but didnt move thankfully, so he decided to just wrap up the creature in the curtains and shoved it into a box.
"That was pretty quick.", Lakelurker looked at the man he had backhanded before flipping him off. "Get fucked.", he hissed before erupting in a red flash, leaving Alex standing there awkwardly. "That's my cue."
Alex looked down and just kicked the box before walking away and slipped right out the door, but he was pleasantly surprised to see the Tennysons outside. "Took you long enough, alright lets go."
"Are you okay?", Gwen asked as Alex just slowly turned to her.
"I mean, there was this old fuck that looks like hes not allowed within a certain distance of a schoolyard and some short, fat... thing, but besides that, I'm good.", Alex simply gave a thumbs up and tried to nudge them forward. "Alright, lets go-"
The man had finally got up and walked over towards the door, his eyes immediately lit up once he saw them. "Max?!"
"Phil!", Max and the older Phil ran up to each other, the two elderly men embracing and laughing.
Ben cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Do you know this guy, grandpa?"
"You could say that, we used to be partners!", Phil said as he held his arm around Max, pointing his free arm to the former Plumber. He went over to the box and lifted it up. "C'mon, I'm leavin in a bit anyways.", he nudged his head and walked out.
The Tennysons and their guest followed Phil to a sleek yet very dated blue cadelliac parked outfront of the hotel. "Yeah she's not much to look at, better than that old Rust Bucket you used to drive.", Phil stated as he struggled with his keys but managed to pop open his trunk. "But goddamn... Ozzy's old truck was a nightmare."
"Yeah I was never sure if it should've been making noises like that.", Max remembered the many conversations it took to convince Alex's grandfather to exchange his older truck. "So! How the hell are you?"
"Pretty good considering I bagged a Havoc Beast! Annoying little shit but hey, reminded me of the good times.", Phil said with a smile as he shut rhe trunk.
"Why did it smell like car oil?", was a question Alex had considering he was the closest to it, Ben and Gwen just remained quiet.
Phil shrugged at this. "Good question, still have no clue."
Max stepped forward a bit. "Havoc Beast, huh? I haven't seen one of those since the one we caught terrorizing Denver years ago."
Phil slowly took off his leather jacket and fetched out some glasses from one of its pockets and slipped them on. "Yeah, well, good thing I was around. You know, 'once a Plumber, always a Plumber'. You ever think about getting back in the game, Max? You know, relive the glory days?"
Max shook his head at this. "No thanks, I'm retired. And so are the Plumbers."
"Partially thanks to you, y'know after we took out Vilgax work just dried up.", the Plumber stated with a smile but was quickly replaced with an annoyed frown. "Don't even get me started on those big wigs shutting us down."
"Eh, we had a job and we did that well. You and I included.", the elderly man remarks casually.
Phil shrugged his shoulders and tossed his jacket into his back seat. "Unfortunately, looks like shit is picking back up again. In fact, I'm starting a freelance Plumber business!"
Phil's gaze drifted towards Alex, more specifically his left arm, to which Alex immediately noticed. "Can you not look at me like that?"
"What? Oh sorry, I just noticed that cool lookin watch you got there.", Phil narrowed his gaze as if he was trying to scan the Omnitrix. "I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."
"You ought to, its the Omni-!", Ben's bold declaration was immediately cut off by Alex smacking him hard on the back of his head.
"Well, looks like we need to get going. Happy plumbing, Phil!", Max steered Ben away as Alex and Gwen followed him into the Rust Bucket. Phil just looked at them driving off with a raised brow.
Of course the moment they pulled put of the Hotel parking lot, Ben immediately piped up after the few moments of silence. "I don't get it! How come you didn't tell Phil about the Omnitrix?"
"Yeah I'd rather not have everyone and their mother know about for now... espcially Phil.", the way Alex said Phil's name was nothing short of just pure disdain. "Somethin about the way he looked at me was really gross."
Max was taken aback by that last remark but shrugged it off. "Alex's right, it's on a need-to-know basis only, Ben. The less people know, the better."
"Guess that's your answer to everything, isn't it, Grandpa?", Gwen said with an irritated tone, still very upset about this major secret.
"Hey... Why don't we start up the Plumbers again? You, me, and Phil! We'd be super alien butt-kickers!", Ben looked behind and at Alex who was just laying on the floor. "Oh and you too, I guess."
"Go fuck youself."
"Ben, I'm flattered you appreciate what I did, but you can't bring back the past.", Max says in a somber tone.
That was when the drink compartment suddenly folden in on itself, allowing a small monitor to rise up from the center before buzzing to life to showcase a broadcast from... Phil, strangely enough. {"Max! If you're out there, I need help! Two Vulpimancers, tearing up a meat processing plant on Highway 44!"}
"NAAAAAH.", Alex groaned as he used his feet to push himself back. "Fuck South Dakota, never coming here again."
"Sorry Alex, but we have no choice.", Max remarked as he made a sudden U-turn with the Rust Bucket and sped off.
"Alright! The Tennysons are back in plumbing business!", Ben exclaimed excitedly, Alex choosing to not say anything this time. Max on the other hand looks at him worriedly but didn't bother to correct him.
The Rust Bucket parked a few spaces over from the blue cadelliac, both were parked outfront of the Meat Processing Plant. Which wasn't in very poor condition due to being still in use, though the entrance was wide open already... considering it was torn apart, bits of metal scattered the floor.
"You'll need this.", Max handed Ben the weapon he had kept from Rushmore. "Lets go."
The sound of roaring from deeper into the plant reverberated off of the metal walls, Gwen took note of this and immediately went back inside and came back out with her charm of luck. "Okay now we can go."
They ventured into the Meat Processing Plant, passing by piles of meat that was torn apart. Claw marks littered the floor as well, they followed it to a curtain to which Max slid it open to reveal a conveyer belt and multiple hung up carcasses, some of them being chewed through.
The only piece of meat that wasn't too damaged was Phil, who layed on the floor. "Phil!", Max quickly ran over and helped his old partner onto his feet.
"Ugh, thank god you came! Two mega mutts, way nastier than the ones we caught all those years ago.", Phil bent down and put his glasses back in his jacket pocket. "We're gonna need some of that ol magic again!"
"No problem, we're on it!", Ben exclaimed with a smile as a thunderous roar that sounded a mixture of a tiger's roar and a scream came from a door.
What exited were two very large, canine-like creatures that were of the same species as Watchdog. Though they were of course significantly bigger and possessed some differences, they both had mouths that were unearthly with worm-like tongue, chapped lips, and four large fangs. The one on the right was a vibrant orange with brown tiger stripes and a pattern around its arms, the one on the right bared neither but possessed a spot on its forehead and a dark red tail.
"Friends of yours?", Gwen slipped on her charm as she and the others backed away the moment rhe two vulpinmancers started hissing at them.
Although Alex wasn't too thrilled to see two massive creatures, he did have one question... "Why do they look like that? They look diseased."
"No they're just old.", Phil answered plainly.
"THAT'S EVEN WORST!", Alex exclaimed looking at the two vulpinmancers that snarled at them.
"Maybe you can talk to them?", Ben looked up at the older boy pointing at the Omnitrix.
"I- huh, y'know what? Yeah.", Alex shrugged before activating the Omnitrix and scrolling through his arsenal.
"Alex, hang on a second-", Max attempted to halt Alex in his tracks but wasn't quick enough as the teenager erupting in a green flash, Watchdog quickly slamming his clawed hand down with a roar. The two vulpinmancer's tilting their heads curiously.
"Now I remember where I've seen that symbol, that's the Omnitrix aint it?", Phil looked over to Max with a curious expression. "But I thought it was a myth, an urban legend that gained its own document."
"It's... a really, really long story.", Max stated with a sigh.
Watchdog stood in front of the two Vulpinmancers, he let out a series of snarls and grunts at them, to which they actually seemed to respond with their own. Watchdog scratched his chin before letting out another series of growls, after that bit of growling the one on the right let out a snarl before roaring and shaking its head before slamming its hand into the ground.
"... I don't think that went well.", Ben remarks as he could tell the bigger Vulpinmancer didn't seem at all happy with whatever Alex said.
"Vulpinmancers were never really keen on small talk, espcially with their own kind.", Max says calmly as Watchdog and the bright orange Vulpinmancer began roaring at each other.
The two elderly vulpinmancers exchanged a few snarls and grunts before both of them roared at Watchdog who once again growled before the brighter of the two leapt at him and pinned him to the ground only to be immediately met with a claw being jammed into its neck. The megamutt screeched in pain before being knocked off and tackled by Watchdog through several shelves.
"Looks like we'll have to handle this one.", Max scowled as Ben pulled out the weapon from the Rushmore base.
"The Proto-Tool too? Well I'll be damned.", Phil grinned as they got into a stanced the moment the pale Megamutt crouched before rushing at them with surprising speed for its size.
"Move!", Max and Phil quickly slid to the side as Gwen and Ben ran off but instead of going after them, the pale Megamutt growled before planting its feet into the ground and slamming itself against Max suddenly, knocking him to the ground before roaring and slamming one of its large hands on him.
"Paws off him fido!", Gwen exclaimed as she swung from a chain, her charm of luck glowing blue once more as she managed to dodge it's advance of trying to bite her foot, sinking its teeth in one of the carcasses.
On Alex's end of things was... unpleasant. Watchdog and the other Megamutt lunged at each other, they locked into place for just enough time for Watchdog to slam the larger one to the floor with a suplex. Within an instant the elder Vulpin got back up and attempted to slam down on Watchdog.
His gills flared the moment it was going to hit, he quickly rolled away and began sprinting around and deeper into the factory. The elder roared before turning around and shooting out quills from his back.
Once again his gills flared as the sound they produced alerted him instantly. "Wait, they can do that?! I can do that?! Questions for later.", Watchdog thought to himself as he quickly spun around and charged at the vulpin who had began pursuit, it tilted its head in surprise before attempting to swipe at him.
Rather than clawing at the teenager, the Megamutt's razor sharp claws ripped through the metal as its tail was caught in between Watchdog's teeth as he began to yank on it hard. The Megamutt let out a distress roar that echoced off the walls of the meat factory.
The pale Megamutt perked up and let out a roar in response but was immediately met with its mouth being slammed shut by a glowing orange net. "Nice shot kid! Youre really gettin the hang of it!", Phil exclaimed as Ben smirked confidently.
"Not to brag but, I'm just really that good.", Ben flexed his skinny arms as the Vulpinmancer let out a muffled scream before unleashing a barrage of quills.
Gwen swung around the quills as Ben, Phil and Max took cover. Her charm glowed again as the chain snapped off and allowed Gwen to wrap it around the pale megamutt's throat as Ben started shooting. "Ben look out!", Gwen exclaimed as Ben looked to his left and jumped back as Watchdog was sent soaring back and slamming into a conveyer belt.
Watchdog wined as the vibrant Megamutt roared and swiped Gwen off its comrade, using its claws to rip off the net around its mouth. The pale mutt whined as its gills were covered in burn marks which essentially rendered it unable to see.
That was when the two megamutts began seizing violently, grabbing their heada and rolling around on the ground in pain from... something. The source came from Phil holding up a strange device that looked very similar to a radio in terms of shape.
"Only way to bring down a Vulpinmancer... sorry bout that kid.", Phil looked over as Watchdog was also reeling, grabbing his head as the Omnitrix began beeping before covering him in a red flash, relieving Alex of the piercing noise.
"Y'know maybe warn me next time, you piece of shit.", Alex groaned as he rubbed his ears.
"What did you even say to them anyways?", Ben asked curious as it had to he something he said... like usual.
"Uh... don't worry about it.", Alex patted Ben's shoulder as along with Gwen and Max, gathered with Phil.
While still catching his breath, Max looked at Phil with a hardened gaze remembering what Oscar had told him a while back. "It's pretty great luck that you have a Sonic Pitch Whistle on you."
"Yeah, lucky aint it?", Phil smiled as he looked at Ben. "Gotta say Ben, you got quite the knack for that Proto-Tool. Kinda glad you don't know how to turn off stun mode."
Ben looked at him with wide eyes. "...stun mode?"
"Not sure how I like him staring at that ten year old.", Alex remarked casually as Gwen lightly jabbed him in the arm.
"Y'know... when Xylene mentioned that bio weapon I didn't think it'd be real.", Phil remarked as he looked at the Omnitrix, which was glowing red. "Say kid... what's your name again?"
"Uh, Alex. Why? You gonna pull up to my house in a white van or somethin?", Alex bluntly said which recieved another jab from Gwen.
Max perked up as he saw something move in his peripheral vision. "Phil look out!", he extended his robotic arm to push Phil out of the way of one of vibrant Megamutts attack. It still reeled from the ringing along with the pale megamutt comrade also getting back up.
However, with a whip of its tail, the megamutt slapped the pitch whistle out of his hand and crushed it under its massive foot. The two now recovered let out a syncronized roar before their attention was caught by something approaching quickky.
"Why don't you pick on someone with more meat on his bones?!", Max exclaimed as he rammed a forklift into them, jumping out as it sped into another room. He quickly used extended his arm and grabbed rhe Proto-Took from Ben roughly before firing another glowing orange net to pin them down completely before closing the door. "... sorry bout that, Ben."
"Even after all these years, you still got it. Looks like this is gonna be the dawn of a great partnership.", Phil extended his hand, which Max looked at hesitantly.
Even within that short span of time, the hotel was already back in business. The sign was lit up as several people were either coming or going already, though Phil particularly was just relaxing in his room with the Tennysons and their guest.
"It's all fate that we met up really.", Phil casually said as he cleaned his glasses.
Ben was devouring a bowl of shrimp as Alex was also devouring a crab like he hadn't eaten in days, Gwen was simply sitting on one of the nice looking chairs with her feet propped up yet Max was the only one standing and looking around. "Wow, ritzy suite. Had to had cost a pretty penny."
"Eh, just a little 'thank you' I negotiated for helping the manager out with his alien problem.", Phil just shrugged as he slipped on his glasses. "And trust me, this is just the tip of the old alien iceberg! Y'know Ben, youd make a great plumber"
"Really?!", Ben muffled out with his mouth full of shrimp before swallowing.
"I really don't like the way youre looking at this ten year old.", Alex, once again, abruptly remarked.
Phil clicked his tongue at this. "I'm going to ignore that, but you'd be a pretty good plumber too. Maybe with a bit of an attitude adjustment..."
"Maybe if you stopped looking like you go up to random kids in a Walmart and tell them to follow you, then maybe.", Alex shot back without hesitation as he started eating the shell of the crab.
"... Anyways. With your powers, Ben's adaptability with weapons, Max's experience and my instinct, I'd say we'd make a pretty solid team.", Phil said with a closed fist.
"I'm here too but, whatever i guess.", Gwen just shrugged this off even though she was clearly annoyed.
"I'm thinking "what an odd coincidence for a 'hyper weasel' and two 'megamutts' to turn up on the same day", Max remarked as he scratched the back of his head.
Phil just shrugged. "Aliens...go figure!"
Max frowned at this as he rubbed his head. "Uh huh, I need some fresh air.", the elder Tennyson muttered as he exited the room.
Phil followed each of Max's movements closely, glaring daggers at him as he also stood up. "Hey, order whatefer you guys want off the room service menu. Its on me!", he exclaimed with a smile on his old face.
"Now we're talking!", Ben chirped happily as Gwen kept her eyes on Phil as he left the room. "Oooooh, I wonder if they have chili fries!"
"Lets go.", Alex stood up and popped his neck, spitting put a piece of the crab shell. "We need to go right now."
"Something's going on that Grandpa's not telling us about.", Gwen remarked.
"Yeah, because Phil is up to something.", Alex remembered what he could vaguely make out from the Vulpins earlier. "Those mutts said something about Phil just releasing them."
"Wait... seriously?", Gwen cocked her head surprised. "Then lets go!"
"And pass up free room service? No way, I'm sittin this one out.", Ben remarked as he tore through a piece of bread.
Alex and Gwen looked at each other with equal frowns before the younger of the two looked at Ben again. "Yeaahhh... it could be some secret Plumber buisness. We should stay out of it."
Ben had immediately perked up and dropped what he had in his hands. "What're we waiting for?! Lets go!"
"God, you are so simple.", Alex shook his head before just walking out with the two ten year olds following, and to the surprise of only Ben and Gwen, both the RV and Phil's car were gone.
"If those mutts and that that weasel alien are connected, that means we only have one place to check.", Gwen stated as Alex popped his neck.
"Yeah no shit.", Alex frowned as he activated the Omnitrix before slamming it down, transforming into his intended alien TopGear finally. "Hah! Hell yeah.", he quickly placed Ben on his back and picked up Gwen before his visor slid down. "Hold on tight.", he says before disappearing in a black and blue blur.
Back in the abandoned Plumber base at Mount Rushmore, Max walked through desolate base, what was once bustling with business and life was just... gone. The silence beyond his footsteps made it almost eerie.
Max finally stopped at a smaller corridor with a reinforced blast door in front of him, he opened a panel to his left and placed his hand on a black screen. A machine whirred to life which caused the sounds of locks clicking and the blast door sliding into the ceiling.
All he saw was just an empty pedestal.
"Stop hiding, stealth was never your strong suit.", Max stated blankly as he heard Phil chuckling from behind.
"Even at your old age, nothing ever gets past you.", Phil smirked as he held out a small machine in his hand, it was shaped similar to a semi-automatic pistol yet was colored grey and black, it had a large orb attached to it... the orb had a bizzarely similar patterns to a Vilgax drone strangley enough.
"Oscar told me about the projector being stolen a while back, but he must've missed out on the fact that the security measures were installed after Driscoll went rouge.", Max shook his head and looked at Phil. "Why are you doing this? Sending all those aliens we captured prior out into the world?"
"To be honest Max, I tried to live a normal life after we got shut down, really tried it.", Phil shook his head. "But I just couldn't, we gave up so much of our LIVES for nothing just for those fucking dickheads uptop to just shut us down?! I couldn't stand it! They don't even bother telling you just how hard it was to maintain a normal life after all that, everyday just dragged on and on like a fucking slog, it was horrible! So I decided to do something about it, I set an alien free, then get some hotel manager or mayor or whoever to pay me to catch it! Easy money! Whats so bad about that?!"
Max looked at Phil for a moment and rubbed his prosthetic arm, a reminder of one of the worst pains in his life. He wasn't sure how anyone could ever miss that job. "People could get hurt, or worse, dead. I'm not gonna let you keep doing this!"
"I know, its why I tried reasoning with you first. Don't say I never tried.", Phil pointed the Null Void Projector and shot a straight orange colored energy beam at Max who quickly leapt out the way.
However... this instead opened a portal that surged with yellow and orange energy as a giant green hand reached out. A grotqeuse green beast exited the portal as it vanished behind it, the creature resembling a frog's and three black claws on each hand. They have black lips, black crystal-shaped spikes on their shoulders, and have four bacteriophage-like legs.
"And don't worry, I'll be sure to tell Ben and Alex how your last words to me were how you wanted him to follow in your footsteps as my partner!", Phil stated confidently as Max looked at the giant beasts' massive teeth.
The giant beast attempted to swipe at Max before being shot in the face by an energy blast as a black and blue blur rushed in, Max seemingly vanishing.
"What the hell?!", Phil cocked a brow as the beast started roaring in pain, a sharp object now lodged in its arm.
"You're no Plumber! You're nothing but a liar!", Ben exclaimed with the Proto-Tool in its blaster mode.
"And Max isn't my grandpa dude.", TopGear said as he was wiping his claws of the green flesh from the beast.
"Ugh, such a damn shame.", Phil shook his head as the beast walked by him and roared at the trio. "Say hello to the Wigzellian Orc Beast! Have fun with this.", Phil smiled and ran away as fast as his legs could carry.
"You two distract it, I have just the thing for this freak!", Max exclaimed as he ran towards the containers as TopGear popped his neck.
"Ready for some more target practice?", TopGear asked as Ben nodded eagerly. "Good.", his mask slid down before he rushed at the Orc Beast with a stream of punches at its stomach, the beast roared and attempted to stab him with its claws before being shot again by Ben.
This shot threw it off balance as TopGear circled around it at incredible speeds, the Orc Beast roared as it sent a shockwave into the ground with a punch. This knocked Alex back but he was immediately back on it, the beast roared and attempted another swing but missed completely before being shot again, this time in the stomach.
Max had been pulling out compartments displaying a multitude of very bizarre weaponry. "Dammit! Where is it?!", he pulled out a cube that immediately attempted to slither around his skin but he immediately smacked it back in the compartment.
"Grandpa! Hurry up!", Ben urged as he dropped to the floor the moment TopGear was backhanded right towards him, the speedster corrected himself in mid air and slid across the ground.
"Tough piece of shit.", TopGear rubbed his shoulder considering colliding with the Orc Beast's hand felt like running into a truck. "Seriously though, hurry up!"
TopGear hissed before rushing at the Orc Beast again, rushing so fast it looked like he simply teleported behind it as the Orc Beast was suddenly knocked side to side by a delayed attack. "That's something straight out of Sumo Slammers!", Ben exclaimed as he fiddled with the Proto Tool a bit before shooting out a cord that stabbed into the beast before electrocuting it.
"Nice one, Ben!", Max remarked as his mechanical arm clicked and shifted around in places to make a sort of cannon shape. He slid in a small orb in the hole before shooting it at the Orc Beast.
The giant green creature roared as it exploded on contact with its chest, the explosion caused plumes of green smoke to surround the creature. The beast started stumbling the moment it inhaled the smoke before falling flat on its back unconcious.
"Huh, nice.", TopGear gave a thumbs up, his visor sliding back up. "Ugh... smells horrible."
"Yeaaahhhh, but if it works it works.", Max stated as his mechanical arm shifted and locked back into its regular shape. "Wait... wheres Gwen?!"
"Oh- shit, you're right. I got this-", TopGear was cur off as the Omnitrix immediately timed out, the red flash returning him into his regular form. "Fuck me I guess."
In the facility, parked next to the Rustbucket, is of course, Phil's car.
Gwen starts looking at it, but notices a nearby elevator door blink and quickly scrambled inside the car and shut the door just as the elevator opened and Phil walked out.
Phil rubbed his eyes as he took his glasses out of the jacket, slipping in his car and tossing it in the back. Because of his poor eyesight, Gwen was just barely able to hide herself underneath his jacket.
The car was lifted out of the base by the platform below, once it was outside the car drove off. Around a minute later, the Rust Bucket also rose out. Ben fastening his seat belt as Alex gripped onto the booth seat for dear life
Max nodded as he pressed a button on the cup holders, a lever suddenly unfolding out and was quickly pulled back. The satelitte equipment ontop folded up and retracted to allow for two big jet exhausts with extendable fins take its place. The hung-up wheel in back splits open and reveals a main thruster, and some other fins and thrusters extend on the sides. The entire affair spews out flames, as the Rustbucket goes races off at high speed. Ben and Max are stuck to their seats...
Alex on the other hand was sent hurdling into the back. "FUCK! I knew we should've gotten more seats but NOOOO you didn't want to!"
"Sorry, Alex...", Max frowned as he realized he definitely should've at least added a third seat.
Ben strained against his seat. "So, how many aliens did you store in that Null Void thingy?"
"At least a couple hundred. But it's a portal to an alternate dimension! In theory, it could have millions inside of it!", Max stated as he attempted to sit up but physically couldn't. "Even I don't know much about it still."
As the Rust Bucket managed to uproot a speed limit sign as it flew by, Phil on the other hand was calmly driving his car and tapping his steering wheel to Take on Me by a-ha. Lightly humming the tune as it played on his radio.
Gwen peeked up from her hiding spot, looking around before her eyes landed on the Null Void Projector being in the passanger seat. She alowly slid the jacket off, careful to not make noise as she stared at Phil who was just absorbed in the music. Gwen reached over to the projector and even managed to get a grip on its handle but quickly was met with the tight grip of Phil.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!", Phil hissed as he wrestled for the projector, his hand becoming unsteady as the car veered into the lane next over. Suddenly, a truck, coming right in front, honks at them. Phil is forced to let go and steer the car out of the way. Gwen tumbles back in her seat, the projector in hand.
Gwen rolled down the window and held out the Null Void Projector. "Better start thinking about a new line of work, because this thing is going 'bye-bye'!"
Phill just rolled eyes before slamming on the brakes, causing the car to sputter and for Gwen to drop the projector back inside. He lightly presses the horn, which flashes white.
{Autopilot mode engaged.}, a computerized voice stated.
Now free from driving, Phil unbuckled and turns to the backseat. He grabs the projector right as Gwen does. As they tug back and forth, the projector is accidentally triggered. A yellow beam shoots out of the open window and creates a portal outside the moving car. Something out the back window catches Phil's eye: the Rust Buckst catching up to them with Max angrily driving at the wheel.
Phil grinned at this. "Good idea! We could use a distraction?",
Gwen cocked an eyebrow at him as the portal completed its formation and allowed a grey blur to fly through. The creature let out a scream, it was a dark grey beast with a long body consisting of just a mouth, a pair of wings, and a mess of around 7 tentacles at the base. It had no eyes or ears with a row of needle like teeth with spikes on its dorsal sides trailing into its tentacles.
"Oh NAH.", Alex grimaced at the creature as it flew alongside them before latching onto the Rust Bucket.
"Something tells me that's not the state bird of South Dakota!", Ben remarked as it unleashed a scream that sounded like someone scratching a fork against a porcelain plate against a giant speaker.
"Void Screamers! Nasty things I tell ya!", Max stated as he shivered at the very... disgusting memories he had of them.
"Alex! We need some muscle!", Ben exclaimed as Alex managed to stand up, nodding as he activated the Omnitrix.
"I have a better idea.", Alex scrolled past Pummel's icon before stopping at Overclocks, erupting in a green flash... only to get Deepcut. "This can work too."
His visor clamped down on his face as he extended an arm to push open the sun roof, lifting himself outside and firmly planting his feet against the RV. The Void Screamer turned its head and lunged at him, screamimg loudly which annoyed him.
Deepcut, rather than getting tackled, he slammed the winged squid onto the roof before beating on it. It let out a distressed scream before rocketing into the air, Deepcut grabbing onto one of its tentacles.
"Oh ew, why do you feel so greasy?", Deepcut grimaced before he began climbing along using the tentacle, the creature thrashed about in an attempt to throw it off it. "Hold still dipshit!", Deepcut hissed and dug his fingers into its back, mounting it and digging his feet into the side of its head before forcing it to fly towards Phil's car.
Within Phil's car, he managed to bat Gwen away and regain the Null Void Projector, hopping back into his seat upfront he managed to miss the crash landing of the Void Screamer but wasn't able to stop his car from ramming right into a sudden crystal pillar, the airbag exploding into Phil's face and knocking him against his seat.
"Ugh...", Phil managed to pull himself out of the car and sit on the asphalt, rubbing his head as footsteps approached him. He aimed the projector ar Deepcut as he stood right in front of him, his visor sliding away. "Back off or else you'll be real busy this summer!"
Before he could pull the trigger, Deepcut grabbed his wrist and snapped it out of place. Phil screamed as he dropped the projector to cradle his broken wrist.
Deepcut bent down and picked it up himself, his finger over the trigger. "Y'know... I'm in a really bad mood after getting my ass thrown around a city earlier. Then theres this whole bullshit with you and kidnapping a little girl, I mean c'mon!"
"I DIDN'T-!", Phil's mouth was immediately clamped shut by Deepcut's hand.
"Shut up.", Deepcut pulled his hand away before wiping on his suit. "Im gonna let you go, but if I ever see your face anywhere AGAIN, I'm going to bury you. Doesn't matter where you are."
Phil looked up in relief. "Y-You're just gonna let me go?", Phil stammered at the prospect of being able to leave.
"Oh of course I am!", Deepcut smiled as he pointed the projector at Phil, who's eyes widened. "But not on Earth."
Phil grits his teeth in anger. "You slimy little bastard!", he attempted to lunge at him but Deepcut pulled the trigger, blasting him with a yellow energy and sending him right into the bowels of the Null Void.
Deepcut scowled as the Omnitrix let out its warning sound and enveloped him in a red flash, leaving Alex standing there. "Fucking piece of trash.", he muttered as the Rust Bucket finally arrived.
They had returned to the Rushmore Base once again, the Wigzilliean Orc Beast being sucked right back into the Null Void by Max, with Ben, Gwen and Alex standing with him. "I'm sorry I had to keep my past a secret from you too... I should've trusted you."
Gwen smiled before patting her grandfather's arm. "Its okay."
Max nodded before looking at Ben. "And for what its worth, you'd make a mighty fine Plumber. Both of you."
"We're you're grandkids, what do you expect?", Gwen asked with a smile on her face.
Max nodded before leading them back into the room with the pedalstal, placing the Projector in there as it was quickly covered with an energy field. Max turned around and shut the blast doors. "What about Phil?", Ben asked as even though he did horrible things... was it really right to leave him there.
"Bastard deserves to rot in there.", Alex muttered as Max frowned.
Max lightly patted Ben's head. "There are certain things that you're better off not knowing.", Max says as he pushes the three of them along before taking a final look at the room that held the Null Void Projector...
/End/