Chapter 25: Plumber Phil
The midnight breeze swept across the glassy surface of the lake, sending gentle ripples through the reflected moonlight. Without a sound, the fabric of space warped along the shoreline. A humanoid cosmic entity materialized, its silhouette filled with the swirling expanse of distant galaxies.
A faint, brilliant blue light pulsed through the clearing. When the illumination faded, the cosmic god was gone. Only Klein remained, standing casually by the water's edge.
He was back. Alien X possessed true omnipotence, allowing him to slip back into reality the exact second he had left it. No time lost. No alarms raised.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Klein quietly made his way back to the Rustbucket, slipping through the door and climbing into his bunk. As he closed his eyes to resume his sleep, the corners of his mouth curled upward. Before tonight, he had known he was strong. Now, he possessed the absolute authority to rewrite reality itself. He could create anything he desired.
...
By the time evening rolled around the following day, the Rustbucket was parked outside a local museum.
"I already took care of that weird thing inside!" Ben jogged over to Klein and Gwen, a massive, self-satisfied grin plastered across his face. "But there was this strange old guy in there who almost turned me into fried fish sticks while I was doing it."
He jerked his thumb toward the museum's main entrance.
Right on cue, an older man wearing a strange, dark uniform strode out of the building. He carried a heavy metal safe tucked under one arm.
"Max!" The uniformed man stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes locking onto Grandpa Max.
Hearing the voice, Max turned around. His eyes widened in recognition. "Phil!"
"Phil?" Gwen blinked, glancing up at her grandfather. "Is that the old partner you told us about, Grandpa?"
"Yeah. We used to take down a lot of alien creeps together back in the day," Max said, a nostalgic smile touching his features.
Phil closed the distance between them, dropping the safe to pull Max into a tight embrace. "It really has been a long time, Max!"
"I just finished dealing with a Destroyer," Phil boasted, pulling back and hauling the safe toward the trunk of his parked car. "Still got the magic touch."
"Hey! That was clearly a Steel—" Ben's eyes widened in outrage, furious that his hard-earned credit was being stolen. He marched forward, ready to argue the technicalities of the alien he had just beaten, but Max quickly placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"A Destroyer?" Max frowned, the nostalgia fading into sharp professional curiosity. "I haven't seen one of those in years."
"Yeah," Phil said, flashing a smug, self-important grin. "Good thing I was here to handle it."
Phil leaned against his car, his gaze turning earnest. "By the way, Max, have you ever thought about coming out of retirement? You and I... we'd definitely make a killer team again."
"No, Phil." Max shook his head firmly. "I'm retired. And I'm staying that way."
Ben, however, practically vibrated with excitement. The idea of his grandfather teaming up with another alien hunter was too cool to pass up. He opened his mouth, fully prepared to beg Max to reconsider, but Phil's eyes darted downward, cutting him off.
"What's that?" Phil pointed at the bulky, watch-like device strapped to Ben's left wrist. "I feel like I've seen that somewhere before."
"Oh, this? Of course! This is the Omni—Ow!"
Ben shook his wrist proudly, but before he could finish the word, Klein's hand snapped out like a viper. A sharp, stinging flick landed squarely on Ben's forehead.
Ben stumbled back, clutching his head with a yelp.
Klein withdrew his hand, his expression entirely blank. It wasn't that he feared Phil discovering the truth. Even if the old man knew everything, Klein highly doubted a washed-up Plumber had the capability to pose any real threat. No, Klein acted purely out of sheer frustration at his cousin's terminal lack of brain cells.
'Can you ever use your head?'Klein thought, eyeing Ben with dry exasperation.'Can't you tell this guy is obviously bad news?'
The sudden movement drew Phil's attention. He finally noticed the older, quiet teenager standing in the background. His eyes narrowed as they locked onto the sleek, dark metal of the Another Omnitrix secured to Klein's wrist.
It looked extraordinary, radiating a quiet, dangerous energy. Yet, after a brief moment of scrutiny, Phil's greedy gaze drifted back to the device on Ben's arm. To his trained eye, Ben's watch looked far more remarkable, matching the legendary descriptions he had memorized.
Max caught Klein's eye, offering a subtle, approving nod for shutting Ben up. Turning back to his old partner, Max offered a polite but firm dismissal. Within minutes, he had corralled his grandchildren back into the RV and fired up the engine.
As the Rustbucket pulled away from the curb, Phil stood on the sidewalk. The friendly smile vanished from his face, replaced by a cold, calculating stare as he watched the taillights fade into the distance.
...
Inside the Rustbucket, the atmosphere was tense.
"Sorry, man," Ben muttered, rubbing the red mark on his forehead. He looked genuinely apologetic. "I won't do it next time."
But his curiosity quickly overrode his guilt. He leaned over the passenger seat, looking at Max. "Grandpa, why won't you come out of retirement? It sounds awesome."
Max kept his eyes glued to the road, his grip tight on the steering wheel. "Ben, being a Plumber isn't a game. It's not for fun. There are some things out there I hope you never have to know about."
Before Ben could argue, the RV's emergency radio crackled to life. Static hissed through the cabin, followed by Phil's frantic voice.
"Max! Come save me! I'm pinned down by two Vulpimancers at the—"
The transmission cut off in a burst of static.
Max's jaw locked. Without a word, he spun the steering wheel, throwing the heavy RV into a sharp U-turn. The tires squealed against the asphalt as he gunned the engine, speeding directly toward the coordinates Phil had broadcasted.
...
The Rustbucket slammed to a halt outside a massive, industrial meat processing plant.
Klein, Gwen, Ben, and Max piled out, pushing open the heavy iron gates. The interior was dark, smelling strongly of frozen blood and raw beef. It was eerily quiet, save for the distant hum of refrigeration units.
Then, a violent crash echoed through the facility.
The group sprinted toward the noise, shoving open a set of reinforced double doors.
Inside a sprawling processing room, Phil was backed against a wall, desperately firing an energy rifle at two massive, eyeless, orange-furred beasts. Adult Vulpimancers.
Ben glanced back at Klein. Klein gave him a single, lazy nod.
"Let me talk to them!" Ben yelled, slapping his hand down on the Omnitrix dial.
A flash of emerald light illuminated the bloody floor. Where Ben had stood, a massive, dog-like alien with sharp quills and no eyes crouched on all fours. Wildmutt.
"Roar!" Wildmutt barked, stepping forward to negotiate.
The two adult Vulpimancers stopped their assault on Phil and turned their blind, slavering maws toward the newcomer.
"Roar, roar, roar!" Wildmutt growled, gesturing with a heavy paw.
"Roar, roar!"
"Roar, roar, roar!"
Whatever Wildmutt said, it was a spectacular diplomatic failure. The two adult Vulpimancers bristled, their lips peeling back to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth. They lunged.
"What did you say to them?!" Gwen shouted. Her hands flared with bright pink Anodite energy, projecting a glowing mana shield just in time to block the first beast's pounce. The Vulpimancer bounced off the barrier with a heavy thud.
Wildmutt barked a frantic reply, but unfortunately, all anyone heard was a series of aggressive grunts.
Realizing negotiations had broken down, Wildmutt leaped forward to fight. Three seconds later, he was knocked flat on his back, trampled, and forced to scramble away as the two furious adults chased him in circles around the processing vats.
Klein leaned against the doorframe, making zero effort to intervene. If someone was in actual mortal danger, he would step in. But right now? Watching Ben get chased around a meat locker by two giant alien dogs was premium entertainment.
"Vulpimancers are incredibly difficult to reason with," Max explained calmly, watching the chaotic chase. "Sometimes, they'll even attack their own kind without provocation."
Phil, who had been staring in shock at the glowing green symbol on Wildmutt's chest, finally snapped out of his daze. "So the rumors are true," he muttered under his breath. "It really is the Omnitrix."
Reaching into his belt, Phil pulled out a specialized metallic device. He struck it against a steel table.
A high-frequency sonic wave blasted through the room.
Wildmutt and the two adult Vulpimancers instantly collapsed, clutching their sensitive ears and whining in agony.
"Sorry, Ben!" Phil shouted over the ringing noise. "This is the only way to subdue a Vulpimancer!"
A flash of red light pulsed through the room, and Wildmutt reverted back to Ben. The boy groaned, pushing himself up from the cold floor and shaking his ringing head.
Suddenly, one of the adult Vulpimancers fought through the pain. Driven by pure rage, it launched itself directly at Phil, desperate to destroy the source of the noise.
Phil froze, panic flashing across his face as the massive jaws snapped toward his throat.
Before the beast could connect, Gwen thrust her hands forward. A thick tendril of pink mana wrapped around the Vulpimancer's torso. With a sharp flick of her wrists, she hurled the heavy creature through the air, sending it crashing into a reinforced food storage locker alongside its partner.
Max slammed his hand onto a nearby control panel. The heavy steel blast doors dropped like a guillotine, sealing the two beasts inside.
Silence returned to the room, broken only by the heavy breathing of the group.
Phil dusted off his jacket and walked over to Max, his eyes gleaming with renewed greed. "Max!" he said, his voice dripping with forced sincerity. "Let's partner up! Think about it. Your experience, my talent, and Ben's superpowers! We'll make an absolute fortune!"
Phil had noticed Gwen's glowing pink magic, of course. But having been a Plumber for decades, he had encountered plenty of humans with mutant abilities or magical affinities. To him, she was just a parlor trick. His true obsession lay with the legendary Omnitrix.
Before Max could even formulate a response, Klein let out a short, dry laugh. The sound echoed loudly in the quiet room.
'Talent?'Klein thought, eyeing the gray-haired man with open amusement.'You're talking about talent, and you've got one foot in the grave.'
This time, however, Max didn't immediately refuse.
His expression hardened into an unreadable mask. He gestured for his grandchildren to follow, walking alongside Phil toward the exit. He wasn't agreeing to the partnership. He was simply keeping his enemy close, determined to ensure Phil kept his mouth shut about the Omnitrix—one way or another.
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