Chapter 196: Plumber Magistrate
Kevin's muscle car rolled to a halt, the engine purring to silence a discreet distance away from a sprawling, rusted warehouse. Klein pushed the passenger door open, stepping out into the cool night air, followed closely by the rest of the crew.
Kevin chased after Ben, his heavy boots crunching loudly on the gravel. "Ben, are you absolutely sure this is the place?"
"That is what the informant said," Ben replied, shrugging his shoulders as if the matter was entirely settled.
Kevin threw his hands up in exasperation. "That is exactly the problem, okay?! You do not have informants! I have informants. The boss might have informants." He shot a quick glance at Klein, though in truth, he had never actually seen Klein interact with any shady underworld contacts.
'Is there anyone in this universe I cannot find myself?'Klein thought, catching the look.'Why would I ever need to rely on an informant?'
Ben, completely oblivious to the fact that he was breaking his own established character setting, puffed out his chest. "I can have underworld connections too, you know!"
Kevin stopped walking. He just stared. "Name one."
Ben froze. His eyes darted left, then right. "Uh... Cousin? Gwen?" he offered weakly.
Kevin's expression flattened into a deadpan, dead-fish stare. The silence stretched, heavy with judgment.
"Alright, alright, let us just go inside. We are already here anyway," Gwen interjected, stepping between the two boys to diffuse the mounting awkwardness.
Her words worked. Ben and Kevin dropped the argument, mostly because they suddenly realized something important: Klein was no longer standing next to them. They looked up to find him already perched casually on the very top of the towering warehouse roof.
Gwen sighed, her hands flaring with pink mana. She formed a glowing staircase of solid energy, leading Kevin and Ben up the side of the corrugated metal building. As they climbed, the same question echoed in all three of their minds: how did he get up there so fast?
Before they could dwell on it, Klein's voice drifted over. "Hey, come take a look at this."
Klein was lying flat on his stomach next to a grimy skylight, peering down into the cavernous interior. He waved a hand lazily, gesturing for the trio to hurry up.
They crouched beside him, wiping away the grime on the glass.
"Forever Knights?!" Ben hissed in surprise.
Down below on the warehouse floor, a squad of armored Forever Knights was busy loading heavy crates of advanced alien technology into the back of a massive transport truck.
"Let us go down there and bust some heads!" Ben grinned, immediately popping up to his feet. He slammed his hand down on the Omnitrix dial. A flash of emerald light illuminated the rooftop, leaving the crystalline, broad-shouldered form of Diamondhead in his place.
Kevin did not even bother with a battle cry. He simply reached down, pressing his palm against the concrete rim of the roof. Gray matter crawled up his arm, encasing his entire body in solid stone. Without a second thought, he stomped straight through the glass skylight, plummeting into the warehouse like a meteor.
Diamondhead leaped right into the jagged hole after him.
Gwen prepared to follow suit, but a hand clamped down on her shoulder. Klein shook his head, his eyes narrowed in mild suspicion. "Hold on. Something is not right here. Let Ben and Kevin scout the situation first."
He knew for a fact that Ben could not possibly have secured a reliable informant. That meant this entire setup reeked of a trap.
Down below, Kevin and Diamondhead hit the concrete floor with a deafening crash, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
"Nobody move!" Diamondhead bellowed, morphing his hands into sharp crystalline blades.
The Forever Knights did not even flinch. They continued loading the crates, completely ignoring the two superpowered intruders standing right in the middle of their operation.
"Hey! Did you not hear the Dweeb?" Kevin growled. He lunged forward, swinging a massive stone fist directly at the nearest knight's helmet.
Instead of the satisfying crunch of metal, Kevin's fist passed cleanly through the knight's head, hitting nothing but empty air. He stumbled forward, off-balance.
A sudden beep echoed through the room. A green light flashed, and Diamondhead reverted back to Ben, looking thoroughly confused.
"They are projected images," Ben realized aloud, waving a hand through one of the flickering crates.
"Smart kid."
The holographic Forever Knights and their cargo instantly vanished into thin air. From the deep shadows of the warehouse, a tall, imposing figure stepped forward. He wore the crisp, unmistakable white and red armor of the Plumbers.
"I am Magistrate Gilhil of the Plumbers, First-Class Security Officer, and the sector commander for this entire quadrant," the alien declared. He held up his official Plumber badge, his face set in a stern, uncompromising scowl. "And you are all under arrest for impersonating law enforcement officers."
Before Gilhil could take another step, his eyes darted upward. He barely had time to react, hastily stumbling two steps backward.
A gleaming golden sword plummeted from the shadows above, burying its blade deep into the concrete floor right where he had just been standing.
Gilhil had not even regained his balance when a shadow blotted out the overhead lights. Klein dropped from the shattered skylight, twisting in mid-air to deliver a brutal, pinpoint flying kick straight into the Magistrate's chest.
Son of a—! Assaulting an officer!
That was the only coherent thought that flashed through Gilhil's mind before the impact sent him crashing hard into the dirt.
Klein landed lightly on his feet, dusting off his hands. He clearly had no intention of actually beating the Plumber to a pulp; after that initial dropkick, he simply stood there, hands tucked into his pockets, waiting.
Gilhil groaned, pushing himself up from the floor. He glared at the teenager with intense displeasure. "It is you!"
Klein tilted his head, genuinely curious. "You know me?"
"As a Plumber, it is incredibly difficult not to know who you are," Gilhil sneered, brushing the dust off his pristine uniform.
"So, are you planning to arrest me too?" Klein asked, a faint, mocking smirk playing on his lips. He really wanted to see this guy try.
"No. I do not currently possess the authority to arrest you..." Gilhil admitted through gritted teeth. "However, if you commit a serious intergalactic crime, I will personally ensure you are thrown into the Null Void!"
It was an empty threat, a desperate bluff to save face. Gilhil knew perfectly well he lacked the firepower to take on this particular anomaly. He might have been a rigid, by-the-book Plumber, but he was not completely brain-dead. He was not like the cowardly thugs Klein usually dealt with, but he certainly was not suicidal either.
"The Null Void cannot hold me," Klein stated flatly.
Gilhil swallowed hard. The intelligence reports confirmed exactly that. This kid possessed an absurd ability to tear through space and time at will. Throwing him into the Null Void would be like locking a door with a wet paper towel.
"We are not impersonating Plumbers," Gwen called out as she floated down from the ceiling, landing gracefully beside Klein. "We are just trying to expel aliens who want to invade our planet."
"I manage three hundred sentient planets in this sector," Gilhil replied, crossing his arms. "I have not received a single report of any related activity, nor have I seen any evidence of an invading alien force on this backwater world."
"Our Grandpa is a Plumber," Ben chimed in, hoping to play the family card.
"Max Tennyson. Yes, I am aware of him. He is a highly decorated, legendary Plumber." Gilhil's tone softened significantly when addressing Ben. After all, the boy wore the Omnitrix. He was a legitimate hero in the making—unlike a certain chaotic, disobedient menace who only left destruction in his wake!
Klein suddenly felt a strange prickle at the back of his neck. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at the Magistrate. "Why do I get the distinct feeling you are cursing me out in your head?"
"No. That is absolutely your imagination," Gilhil replied stiffly.
I cannot beat him, so I just have to endure this brat for now, Gilhil thought, forcing his expression to remain perfectly neutral and devoid of any ill will.
Klein continued to stare at him with heavy suspicion, making the silence stretch into a deeply uncomfortable territory for the Plumber.
Desperate to shift the focus, Gilhil turned his attention back to the others. "Regardless of your intentions, you are not official Plumbers. Especially you..." He pointed a rigid finger at Kevin. "You do not even possess a drop of Plumber bloodline."
Gilhil deliberately targeted Kevin. He knew better than to direct his lectures at Klein. Saying anything to that unreasonable kid would not only be entirely useless, but it would also likely result in another flying kick to the face. So, he picked the softest target available.
"Who says I do not?!" Kevin bristled, his fists clenching at his sides. "My father... my biological father was..." He choked on the words, his jaw locking tight as he abruptly cut himself off.
"The point remains," Gilhil continued, adjusting his collar. "There was a very specific reason why the Plumbers withdrew our presence from Earth five years ago. Due to the sudden appearance of a certain highly unreasonable, excessively powerful individual... coupled with Vilgax's subsequent departure, Earth simply no longer faced any major intergalactic threats. The Plumbers will not waste valuable resources monitoring a backward, secondary planet."
"You were definitely cursing me out just now, were you not!" Klein snapped, now absolutely certain this old man was holding a petty grudge over the dropkick.
"No, I was merely stating..." Gilhil tried to argue, taking a cautious step back.
"Get out of the way. We are leaving," Klein interrupted, waving a hand dismissively. He had zero patience for this bureaucratic nonsense. "If you want to arrest someone, then do it. Stop talking in circles."
"You impersonated law enforcement officers! That is a serious felony!" Gilhil shouted, falling back into his habitual, authoritative bark.
Klein stepped right into his personal space, his eyes cold. "Then have the guts to drag me to an intergalactic court. Let us see if I have actually committed a crime or not."
Gilhil's eye twitched. Do you think I am stupid?! Have you not abused the Tetramand Trial by Combat loophole enough times over the years?!
Defeated and completely out of options, Gilhil had no choice but to drop his authoritative posture, his shoulders slumping in resignation.
In truth, if it were not out of respect for Max Tennyson, and the fact that Gilhil was technically on the side of the law, Klein would have already tossed him through a wall. There was no reason to waste any more breath on a glorified traffic cop.
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