Chapter 186: Why Don't You "Convince" Her?
"Especially Ghostfreak! That thing isn't easy to deal with!"
Manny paced aggressively around the dimly lit room, waving a tracking device in his four-fingered hand. He glared at the readings, his heavy brow furrowing in absolute disbelief. "These two guys were actually able to catch it! Is this real or fake?!"
Trapped inside a humming energy shield a few feet away, Kevin sat cross-legged on the floor, resting his chin in his hand. He watched the four-armed meathead throw a tantrum with a look of utter exhaustion.
Manny shoved the device toward the containment field, pointing an accusatory finger at Kevin. "He must be one of those aliens!"
"Manny, listen to me." Helen stepped forward, her voice calm and pleading. She kept her hands lowered, trying to defuse the tension in the room. "No matter who that guy is, he has a Plumber badge."
"So what?" Manny snapped, turning his heavy gaze toward her. "His Plumber badge must be fake!"
Kevin let out a loud, exaggerated scoff from inside his glowing cage. "Hey! My badge was given to me personally by a real Plumber!"
"If I say it's fake, it's fake!" Manny roared back, spittle flying from his lips. He pointed a thick finger at Kevin's nose. "Your Plumber is fake too! I'll arrest him next!"
Manny was completely consumed by his own stubborn obsession. At this point, even if he were standing trial in a high galactic court, he would probably point right at the presiding judge and scream 'imposter'.
"Manny! Don't be like this!" Helen stepped between him and the cage, her expression hardening with frustration. "What if the badge is real? If it's not real, then why did they save the driver? And why did they prevent the oil tanker from exploding?"
"I don't know, and I don't care." Manny crossed his massive upper arms, completely shutting down her logic.
Hearing those words, Kevin stared blankly at the ceiling. What the hell. Did this guy even have a brain? Was there a single functioning brain cell rattling around in that thick skull? 'I don't care'?! What a damn idiot!
But Kevin also knew he was sitting right in the middle of enemy territory. It was better to just sit tight, wait for his boss to arrive, and then... hehehe...
Meanwhile, miles down the highway.
Klein was tearing down the road in Kevin's prized sports car, the scenery outside the windows blurring into long, indistinct streaks of color. The engine roared like a dying beast as the speedometer needle buried itself past the redline.
Ben and Gwen were plastered to the back seats.
"Um, Cousin," Gwen began, her voice trembling as she gripped the overhead handle with white knuckles. Her face was the color of chalk. "I hope I'm remembering wrong... but you don't actually have a driver's license, do you?"
The car swerved violently around a slow-moving truck, the tires shrieking in protest. Ben clamped a hand over his mouth, his face taking on a distinct shade of green.
"Driver's license?" Klein smirked, his eyes locked on the road ahead with terrifying casualness. He spun the steering wheel with one hand. "You need that thing to drive?"
He slammed his foot down harder. "Ben, Gwen, let me tell you a little secret! To drive, you just have to step on the gas pedal! Leave everything else behind! Woohoo!!!"
Back at the base.
"The aliens are coming this way," Helen announced, her eyes locked onto the blinking red dots on the radar screen.
Hearing this, Manny grunted. He snatched his heavy blaster off the metal table, checking the energy cell with a loud clack. He rolled his shoulders, ready for a fight.
Inside the cage, Kevin's ears perked up. The boss is here!
A slow, wicked grin spread across Kevin's face. This place was about to become his territory.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of loose coins. Closing his fist around the metal, a dull gray sheen rapidly spread up his arm, transforming his flesh and bone into solid, dense steel.
With a grunt of effort, Kevin slammed his metallic hand straight down through the crackling energy shield. The field sparked and hissed, biting at his arm, but the metal absorbed the shock. He grabbed the emitter buried in the floorboards and squeezed.
Metal crunched. Wires snapped. The humming stopped instantly, and the energy shield dissolved into thin air. Kevin rolled his shoulders, stepping out of his confinement. Free at last.
Hearing the noise, Helen and Manny spun around, instantly raising their weapons and aiming right at Kevin's chest.
Kevin didn't even flinch. He casually reached down, touching the steel floor plating to reinforce his armor. "Let me tell you something! My boss is coming right now! You still have a few seconds to surrender!"
Manny growled, his finger tightening on the trigger. Time my ass! He's just buying time to absorb more energy! I'm going to kick his metallic butt!
Kevin's entire body shifted from steel to solid stone, drawing from the foundation beneath the floorboards. He clenched his massive stone fists, bending his knees to leap straight at Manny.
Just then...
CRASH!
The reinforced iron gates of the base exploded inward. A black-green sports car flew through the air in a shower of sparks and twisted metal, slamming hard onto the concrete floor and skidding to a violent halt.
Manny and Helen instantly pivoted, swinging their blasters away from Kevin and aiming them directly at the smoking vehicle.
"My car!!!"
Kevin dropped to his knees, clutching his head in absolute agony. He stared at the crumpled front bumper, the shattered headlights, and the smoking hood. His beautiful, perfect car. Ruined.
Helen and Manny steadied their grips, ready to open fire on the intruders.
But before they could even pull the triggers, their hands were suddenly empty.
A rush of wind blew past them, kicking up dust and debris. Helen blinked, looking down at her empty palms in absolute shock.
So fast!
Even with her enhanced reflexes, she hadn't even seen a blur. Losing in a contest of speed was a first for her.
"Your speed is still way too slow, little lady."
Standing casually a few feet away was Fasttrack, holding a massive pile of confiscated blasters and energy rifles. Klein stood triumphant in his alien form, tossing the weapons onto the ground with a loud clatter.
Behind him, the doors of the ruined sports car popped open. Ben and Gwen practically fell out onto the concrete. Ben was clutching his head, groaning loudly, while Gwen covered her mouth and nose, taking deep, desperate breaths of dusty air.
This was the exact price of riding shotgun with Klein.
"Helen, go activate the Dust Laser Cannon!" Manny yelled, taking a step back as he stared at the blue-suited alien. "There are too many of them! I'll hold them off!"
Manny kept his eyes locked on Fasttrack, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his thick neck. He waited for the hum of the heavy cannon. Nothing happened. He waited another second. Still nothing.
"Helen? Helen!"
Manny risked a glance over his shoulder.
Helen was standing completely still, her weapon forgotten. Her face was flushed a deep, bright red. She was staring directly at Fasttrack, her hands clasped together in front of her chest.
"But he's really handsome..." Helen murmured softly, completely lost in her own world.
Manny's jaw dropped. Aren't you human?! You just became an alien a few months ago and you've already adopted alien aesthetics?!
A fiery rage ignited in Manny's chest. His goddess was swooning over another man! Right in the middle of a fight! How could he possibly accept this?!
A quiet blue light flashed across the room, illuminating the dusty air. The tall, feline alien vanished, and Klein stood in his place, wearing his usual casual clothes.
Klein dusted off his jacket and began to manipulate the dial on the Another Omnitrix. "To deal with a meathead like you, it's better to switch to something with a bit more punch."
"Look! Look at him!" Manny pointed frantically at Klein, a triumphant grin spreading across his face. "He's not handsome now, right?!"
He turned to Helen, fully expecting her to snap out of her daze and agree.
Helen blinked, looking at Klein's human form. She tilted her head, her blush deepening. "Hmm... even more handsome!"
She looked absolutely thrilled.
Good news: her human aesthetic sense was still perfectly intact.
Bad news...
Manny's face shifted from a dark, angry red to a sickly, furious green. The veins on his forehead looked ready to pop.
Just then, Kevin jogged over, his stone armor retracting back into human skin. A sly, wicked grin stretched across his face as he bumped Klein's shoulder. "Boss, I think that little lady is really interested in you. Why don't you... 'convince' her to stand down."
Hearing that, literal steam seemed to rise from the top of Helen's head. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed onto the floor in a dead faint, her face burning red.
Alright. One enemy down.
Manny let out a guttural roar. His green face twisted with pure rage as he clenched all four of his fists and charged directly at Klein like a runaway freight train.
Klein casually waved a hand, gesturing for Kevin to step back. He didn't even look up as he slapped the core of the Another Omnitrix.
"Swampfire!"
A quiet blue light erupted. The smell of burning methane and damp earth flooded the room. Swampfire stood tall, flames licking at his shoulders.
Manny didn't slow down. He threw a massive, haymaker punch straight into Swampfire's chest.
The fist punched clean through the alien's torso, bursting out the back in a shower of mud and vines.
Manny froze, his arm buried up to the elbow in the alien's chest. He looked up, expecting his enemy to fall.
Swampfire just looked down at the hole, completely unbothered. He raised a fist and delivered a brutal uppercut right under Manny's jaw.
Manny flew backward, crashing hard into the concrete floor. As he tumbled away, the gaping hole in Swampfire's chest rapidly knit itself back together, the vines twisting and sealing the wound in a matter of seconds.
Swampfire raised his right hand. A roaring pillar of intense fire erupted from his palm, washing over Manny before he could even stand up.
Manny screamed as the blast launched him completely out of the building, sending him crashing through the exterior wall and out into the dirt. His clothes were charred, his skin smoking.
Swampfire took two slow, deliberate steps forward. He looked through the jagged hole in the wall at Manny, who was groaning on the ground outside.
With a flick of his wrist, Swampfire tossed a handful of small, glowing seeds into the dirt around Manny.
The moment the seeds touched the ground, they violently erupted. Thick, thorny vines shot out of the earth, wrapping tightly around Manny's arms, legs, and torso, pinning him completely to the ground.
Another quiet blue light flashed, and Swampfire reverted back to Klein.
"Tell me, why?"
Gwen stepped forward, kneeling beside the unconscious Helen. She gently shook the girl's shoulder until Helen's eyes fluttered open.
"What why?" Helen mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her head. She still looked a little dazed.
"Why did you attack us?" Gwen asked, crossing her arms.
Ben stood nearby, raising an eyebrow. Are you really asking the obvious? They clearly thought we were the bad guys.
After a brief, tense exchange of explanations...
Everyone walked outside to the dirt lot behind the base.
"No!!! Helen, don't believe them!!!"
Manny was still thrashing wildly on the ground, fighting against the thick vines binding him. The thorns dug into his skin, but he refused to stop struggling. No one paid him any attention.
Helen walked over to a heavy, metallic device sitting on a tripod. She pressed a sequence of buttons, and a swirling, purple portal tore open in the air above it. The Null Void Projector.
Kevin, who had shifted his body back into solid stone just in case, walked right up to the edge of the swirling vortex. He stuck his arm in. Then he pulled it out. He stuck his head in. Then he pulled it out.
"See? I'm in... and I'm out again!" Kevin grinned smugly, looking down at the bound and furious Manny. "In. Out. In. Out."
Seeing Kevin mock him so casually, Manny looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel.
"It really isn't a Dust Laser Cannon!" Helen gasped, looking at the projector, then back at Klein and the others. "So everything you said is true! It's a prison dimension!"
She finally believed them completely.
"So, what you said about one of our parents being an alien... is that also true?" Helen asked, her voice trembling slightly. This was the detail she cared about the most. It meant they weren't freaks. It meant they weren't monsters.
"Yes," Klein nodded simply. "You can change back. It just takes practice."
"If they can change back, why can't we?!" Manny yelled from the dirt, still incredibly annoyed.
Kevin crouched down next to Manny's head, tapping the stone side of his own face. "Think about it this way, tough guy. Your human form might be even uglier than this!"
"What did you say?! I'll kill you!!!" Manny thrashed violently, snapping one of the smaller vines, but the main stalks held him tight.
Seeing Manny act like a rabid dog, Helen helplessly massaged her temples.
"So, everyone we've captured... they were all descendants of other Plumbers?" Helen asked, a look of dawning horror spreading across her face. She suddenly reached into her pocket and pulled out a small holographic device, handing it to Klein.
Klein activated it. A glowing projection of a young man with spikes on his face appeared.
After watching the short video titled 'Pierce's Log', Klein remained silent for a moment. He looked at Helen, then at Manny. With their mediocre strength and complete lack of tactical planning, how the hell did they manage to capture so many aliens in the first place?
Ben leaned over Klein's shoulder to look at the paused hologram. "Maybe some of them are indeed descendants of other Plumbers. We won't know until we check."
"Alright," Helen said, her voice firming with resolve. She looked at the swirling purple portal. "Since that's the case, then we need to enter the Null Void. We have to rescue the people we captured so they can regain their freedom. It's our responsibility."
She turned to look down at Manny.
"I don't want to!" Manny turned his head away, pouting like an overgrown child.
"Alright, Manny, suit yourself," Helen sighed. "I'm going alone anyway."
Manny gritted his teeth.
"Because Pierce would do it," Helen added softly.
Manny's shoulders slumped. "Alright... for Pierce."
Kevin snorted, looking at Manny with a deeply skeptical expression. Saying that out loud, do you even believe yourself?
With a heavy sigh, Kevin and Ben stepped forward, helping to pull the thick vines off Manny's body and hauling him to his feet.
Standing in front of the swirling Null Void Projector, Helen hesitated. She suddenly turned back to look at Klein, a soft blush creeping back onto her cheeks. "Um... will we meet again?"
"No! Never again!"
Gwen instantly stepped right in front of Klein, completely blocking Helen's line of sight. She glared at the alien girl with extremely dangerous, narrowed eyes.
Manny opened his mouth, wanting to say something to defend his pride, but he couldn't find the words. He just scowled and nudged Helen's shoulder, urging her to hurry up and leave.
"Goodbye," Helen smiled softly. She clearly didn't take Gwen's hostility to heart.
With one last glance back, Helen and Manny stepped forward, vanishing into the purple light of the Null Void.
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