Chapter 162: Plumber's Descendant
After the Plumber magistrate departed from their last chaotic encounter, he had left behind a standard-issue Plumber badge for communication. Naturally, Kevin had his eyes glued to the piece of alien tech the moment it appeared. Seeing the mechanic's obvious interest, Klein simply tossed the badge over to him without a second thought.
Having the device on hand proved incredibly convenient. They used it to contact the Plumbers' cleanup crew, leaving the messy aftermath of the battle entirely in their capable hands. Once the authorities arrived to secure the perimeter, Klein and the others piled into Kevin's car and left the scene in the rearview mirror.
As the engine hummed through the night, Klein leaned against the window, his expression thoroughly unimpressed. He recalled the parting words of the Highbreed Commander. The alien had boasted about their forces, claiming the destroyed vessel was merely a minor supply ship. Klein mentally scoffed. So what if it was? He hadn't even bothered to take the fight seriously. If he had actually stretched his muscles and tapped into his true arsenal, annihilating the entire Highbreed faction would have been as effortless as brushing dust off his shoulder.
Outside the window, the dark night sky stretched endlessly over rural asphalt roads. Endless farm fields rolled by, dotted with scarecrows standing like silent, eerie sentinels in the gloom.
Kevin's muscle car roared down the empty highway, the engine growling into the quiet night.
Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was a mix of exhaustion and teenage impatience.
Ben shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat, glaring at the dashboard. "Can't you go any faster?"
Kevin kept his eyes on the road, his hands casually draped over the steering wheel. "Can't go faster, Tennyson. Do you know there's this magical concept called a speed limit?"
"Oh, this is so annoying!" Ben groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "My mom is going to actually kill me if I get back this late." He slumped lower in his seat, already picturing the grounding of a lifetime waiting for him at the front door.
"Relax," Klein's voice floated from the back row, laced with his usual lazy indifference. He waved a hand dismissively. "It's fine. You guys can just crash at my place tonight."
Gwen, sitting right next to Klein, suddenly perked up. Her eyes practically sparkled in the dim cabin light. "Is that true?!"
Without missing a beat, she whipped out her phone, her thumbs flying across the screen. 'Mom, I'm not coming home tonight,' she texted, hitting send before anyone could say another word.
Ben looked back at them, offering a bitter, defeated smile. He shook his head. "Sorry, Cousin, I can't. I really can't skip going home tonight."
Klein shrugged, completely unbothered. After all, he wasn't the one who was going to get yelled at by his parents.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
A sharp, rhythmic chiming suddenly echoed through the car, originating from Kevin's jacket pocket.
Ben raised an eyebrow, leaning over slightly. "Is your girlfriend calling you?"
"I don't have a girlfriend," Kevin replied flatly.
Ignoring personal boundaries, Ben reached right into Kevin's pocket and fished out the source of the noise. It was the Plumber badge.
"Is he looking for us?" Ben muttered, his mind immediately jumping to the Plumber magistrate they had just dealt with.
As he held the badge, the smooth metal surface suddenly projected a glowing, holographic virtual map into the air between them.
"It's a map," Ben said, squinting at the projection. "What do these two light dots on it mean?"
Klein leaned forward, resting his arms on the back of the front seats to get a better look. "The one that's moving along the road should be us. The one that's completely stationary is..."
"It's Grandpa! He's trying to send us a message!" Ben interrupted, his voice spiking with sudden, desperate excitement. He missed Grandpa Max terribly, and his mind instantly connected any Plumber activity to his missing grandfather.
Hearing this, Klein fell completely silent. He looked at the glowing dot and then at Ben. He really wanted to point out that the statistical probability of that being Max Tennyson was incredibly small. But seeing the raw, unfiltered hope lighting up Ben's face, Klein decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Let's go find Grandpa quickly!" Ben urged, practically bouncing in his seat. He couldn't wait another second.
Klein shifted his gaze to the driver's seat. "Kevin."
"Received!" Kevin smirked.
He yanked the steering wheel hard. The tires screamed against the asphalt, kicking up a cloud of white smoke as the heavy car drifted into a sharp U-turn, tearing off in the direction of the stationary glowing dot on the map.
Meanwhile, miles away in a completely different location.
Inside a freezing, heavily reinforced detention room, the temperature had plummeted well below zero. A thick layer of white frost coated the walls, and the interior was practically a frozen meat locker. Sitting in the center of the room was a handcuffed black teenager, violently shivering on a solid metal chair.
The teenager's name was Alan.
His teeth chattered uncontrollably. Desperate, Alan gathered saliva in his mouth and spat directly onto the heavy metal handcuffs binding his wrists.
Surprisingly, what left his mouth wasn't spit. It was a glob of superheated, glowing lava.
The molten rock hit the metal chains with a violent hiss, instantly melting through the heavy steel links like butter. With a sharp tug, Alan broke free.
He rubbed his wrists, stumbling toward the detention room door. It was unlocked. He pushed it open and easily slipped out of the freezing cell.
Out in the main office, only one police officer was on duty. The man was slumped over his desk, snoring loudly, sound asleep on the night shift.
Alan stood in the hallway. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep, rattling breath. "Hoo... Ah..."
He began to exert himself, clenching his fists. Deep orange light began to crackle under his skin. Suddenly, roaring flames erupted from every pore of Alan's body, engulfing him entirely. In a flash of blinding heat, he transformed into Heatblast!
Or rather, a Pyronite.
This kid wasn't entirely from Earth. Or at the very least, his DNA wasn't just human.
The intense, roaring firelight and the sudden spike in room temperature immediately woke the sleeping police officer. The man jolted upright, blinking against the harsh glare.
"You're out?!" The officer yelled, scrambling backward and knocking his chair over. "No! Get back in that cell right now!"
He shouted, waving his arms in a futile attempt to intimidate the walking bonfire into submission.
Alan ignored him. He raised his hands, shooting a concentrated blast of fire directly at the exterior wall. The brick and mortar exploded outward, leaving a massive, slagged hole exposing the night air. Aiming his hands downward, Alan fired twin streams of flames, using the propulsion to blast himself out of the hole and into the night sky.
"Now I'm really in trouble," the police officer muttered, staring at the glowing edges of the destroyed wall. Panicking, he lunged for his radio, hurriedly contacting his superior, the police chief, to request immediate backup.
Back under the starry night sky.
Kevin's car screeched to a halt in front of a low-rise rural police building. The station was isolated, completely surrounded by swaying farmlands, vast wheat fields, and tall cornstalks rustling in the wind.
Gwen stepped out of the car, looking at the quiet, unassuming building. "Will Grandpa really be here?" she asked, her voice laced with heavy uncertainty.
But Ben was already slamming his door shut, his expression set in stone. "Grandpa is in this building. Let's go in quickly."
Since Ben was so adamant, it would be unreasonable for the rest of them not to at least go in and take a look. The group gathered at the front of the station.
Kevin paused, tugging at the collar of his heavy jacket. "I'll put my jacket back in the car first. It's actually quite hot out here." He peeled the garment off and tossed it through the open car window.
Ben couldn't help but shoot him a teasing look. "Who told you to always wear that heavy jacket just to look cool?"
"Hey, guys, come look at this," Gwen called out, interrupting their banter.
Hearing her tone, Klein, Ben, and Kevin walked over to where she was standing near the side of the building.
There, illuminated by the moonlight, was a massive, jagged hole blown straight through the brick wall. The edges of the masonry were still glowing faintly red, radiating a noticeable wave of heat.
Ben stared at the destruction, his brow furrowing in deep confusion. "A large hole?"
"Let's go in and see," Klein said casually, taking the lead.
He was the first to step through the blasted opening, his shoes crunching over the scorched rubble. The interior of the building was pitch black, the power evidently blown. They could only barely make out the shapes of desks and filing cabinets using the faint ambient light filtering in from the night sky. It looked like a standard precinct office.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Ben called out into the darkness.
Only the echo of his own voice responded. The room was completely empty.
The group began to fan out, observing the wrecked room. Suddenly, a faint, pulsing green light caught their attention. It was resting on top of a cluttered desk.
Ben quickly stepped forward and snatched up the glowing object. He held it up in the dim light. It was another Plumber badge.
"Do you think this is Grandpa's?" Gwen asked softly. Knowing Ben as well as she did, she could already guess exactly what was running through his head.
"If it is, then he must be nearby," Ben said, his grip tightening on the badge. "He's probably out there chasing the guy who made that big hole in the wall."
Just as Gwen expected, Ben's unwavering belief that the badge belonged to Max Tennyson fueled his immediate desire to rush back out and search the area.
"Then let's go look around nearby," Klein agreed, his tone calm but carrying a hint of genuine interest.
Unlike Ben, Klein didn't think for a second that the badge belonged to Grandpa Max. However, it undoubtedly belonged to a Plumber. He was very curious to find out exactly what a Plumber was doing hiding out in a rural farming town.
Out in the fields.
Alan was running desperately, constantly ducking and weaving through the tall crops to evade the pursuing police officers.
It was honestly a miracle he hadn't been caught yet. It was entirely unclear if these local officers just had terrible eyesight, but in the dead of night, Alan was a massive, brightly glowing Pyronite. He was essentially a walking flare. Yet, they had been searching the fields for a long time and still hadn't managed to pin him down.
At this moment, Alan was crouched low, hiding beneath the heavy metal chassis of a massive combine harvester. Through the gaps in the machinery, he could see the sweeping beams of flashlights getting closer and closer. The heavy boots of the officers crunched against the dry earth.
Alan gritted his teeth. He felt that staying pinned under the harvester for much longer was a guaranteed way to get trapped. Making a split-second decision, he scrambled out from under the heavy machinery, intending to sprint toward the thicker cornfields to put more distance between them.
But what he didn't expect was to be spotted the absolute second he broke cover.
A blinding beam of white light hit him squarely in the chest.
"Found him!" an officer shouted, keeping the flashlight trained on the glowing alien.
Within seconds, the surrounding police officers rushed in, forming a tight perimeter and completely surrounding him.
"Will you please just let me go!" Alan shouted, his voice echoing with a mix of anger and panic.
"Sorry, kid. I can't comply with that," a stern voice replied.
The leading police officer stepped forward into the light. He was a tall, imposing black man with a hardened expression. The chief didn't hesitate. He raised a hand, signaling his subordinates to move in and arrest the suspect.
The surrounding officers tightened the circle, their service weapons drawn and aimed directly at Alan.
"Don't come any closer!" Alan screamed, his panic reaching a boiling point.
He threw his arms out. A massive, powerful shockwave of roaring flames erupted from his body in all directions. The sheer force of the blast swept over the fields like a localized hurricane of fire.
When the smoke and flames finally dissipated, the scene was devastating. Every single police officer had been thrown off their feet, lying groaning on the ground. The earth surrounding Alan in a wide radius was completely scorched black, still smoking in the cool night air.
Seeing the destruction he had just caused, the anger drained out of Alan, replaced instantly by horror. He quickly ran over to where the black police chief had fallen.
"I didn't mean to!" Alan pleaded, reaching out, wanting to help the man up. "Are you okay?"
But before his glowing, fiery hand could even touch the fallen officer's uniform, a solid wall of shimmering purple light materialized out of thin air, slamming down right in front of him and completely blocking his path.
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