The Rust Bucket approached a large colorful planet. The yellow and green colors swirled around the planet's surface in opposing directions. The clouds spiraled together where they collided making multicolored patterns across the planet. Julie stared awestruck by the beautiful sight from her seat on the Rust Bucket. She thought that space travel was exciting, but this was straight up breathtaking.
"It's so beautiful." She observed as Gwen walked up behind her.
"It is isn't it. Having gone into space so much before you tend to forget how majestic the universe really is." She added.
"It sure is." Kevin said dreamlike staring out the cockpit. Gwen and Julie turned to see him staring awestruck not at the enormous gas giant below them but the desolate rocky moon that was their destination.
"Uh we were talking about the planet Kev." Gwen chastised. Kevin sputtered out a laugh.
"What that old thing? The real marvel here is the Vault!" He said excitedly. "It's positioned in orbit around that gas giant so there's no easy way out of the bank. It's got it's own orbital defense grid. You need to have triple identity verification and special pass codes to even land and set foot inside! Man, Argit and I had dreams of breaking into this place as kids." Kevin finished with a nostalgic smile on his face. He snapped out of his reverie as he noticed the other occupants of the ship staring at him with mixed expressions.
Kevin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Not that I would ever dream of doing something like that now. Hehe." He chuckled. Their discussion was interrupted as a messenger popped up on their HUD.
"Unidentified vessel you are approaching secure and sovereign borders. Identify yourselves and state your intentions or prepare to be obliterated." The stern alien demanded. Without missing a beat Rook spoke up, curt and professional as always.
"We are a Plumber vessel." Rook explained flashing his badge. The alien on screen scrutinized the badge and continued to scowl.
"Your ship does not match any known plumber vessel designation." He came back pointedly.
"It's uh, been commandeered for an important mission." Kevin was quick to speak up.
"If you really are Plumbers then state the intergalactic security passcodes and authenticator." The alien demanded again.
"Omega dash 4 dash 72 dash 18." Rook barked out. The alien was seen typing on the console in front of him. A positive sounding ding rang out from his side of the communicator but the alien's stern expression did not seem to waver.
"Alright I've confirmed you as Plumbers, weapons have been powered down, for now. Now state your intentions. We did not call for Plumber assistance nor are we due for inspections." The alien continued rudely.
"Please we are on a top priority mission seeking Ben 10. We believe he left something here for us." Rook pulled out the vault key and held it up to the camera. "We have a key for a secure deposit box in your facility." Rook explained. The alien scrutinized the key, his already thin eyes narrowing even further.
"Read the account number off the back of the key." The guard demanded. Rook flipped the key over.
"2 – 5 – 14." Rook read aloud. The guard typed more on his keyboard and nodded, seemingly satisfied with his line of inquiry.
"Very well. You may procede to landing bay 3 for further verification. Do not leave your vessel until instructed or you will be remanded into custody." The alien instructed and with a blink the screen disappeared. A collective sigh of relief was let out. Kevin began to steer the Rust Bucket for landing.
"Was it just me or did he seem really paranoid?" Julie asked.
"It's his job to be paranoid. I wasn't kidding when I said they take their security seriously at this place." Kevin replied.
The Rust Bucket drew closer to the moon. Below them a large super structure became apparent. It was gun-metal gray in the shape of an enormous pyramid. High walls surrounded its perimeter and a large faintly orange forcefield encompassed the entire complex. The Rust Bucket circled around the structure until an opening appeared in the forcefield. Kevin carefully maneuvered the ship through the opening and approached a large circular landing pad where he set the ship down.
"And now we wait." Kevin said. Rook frowned and looked over to him.
"Wait for how long?" He asked. Kevin leaned back in his chair and put his arms behind his head.
"For however long they say. Normally you aren't even allowed to land on the surface without an appointment. We should consider ourselves lucky they're letting us do this much." Kevin said coolly.
The group settled in for their wait. All in all it was only 45 minutes before a representative of the bank came to gather them. The group exited the ship and moved to stand in front of the banker. The banker was a small thin alien wearing the equivalent of a black suit. His head was wider at the top then at the base and he had pink skin and two sets of eyes. On either side of him stood two taller guards that appeared to be the same species as the one they had spoken to earlier. The banker brought out a handheld device and held it up to each of them. A red beam emitted from the device scanning them top to bottom.
"Uh sorry, what are they doing?" Gwen asked as the first to be scanned.
"This is a simple DNA scan to confirm your identities are what they claim." The banker spoke up hearing her question. "The owner of your account has left very specific instructions on who can access his deposit box." He continued to explain. Another ding was heard from the device.
"Gwen Tennyson confirmed. You're on the list." The banker noted with no fanfare.
The banker went down the line, scanning each of them in turn. Both Kevin and Rook were on the list as well. The little device blinking green with each successful scan. The banker finally came to Julie. He scanned her from top to bottom just as he did the others. However at the end the device did not blink green but red instead. Julie quirked an eyebrow.
"What does that mean?" She asked.
"It means you're not on the approved list." The banker said. The two guards raised their weapons slightly at Julie. The young woman raised her hands up in fear and trepidation. Gwen jumped in front of her.
"Woah woah woah. We can vouch for her!" Gwen yelled, her arms spread wide to block the guards from aiming at her. Kevin tensed, his fingers nervously tapping one of his chain wallets, prepared to absorb its steel if necessary. Rook stood prepared as well, proto-tool at the ready.
"It does not matter. If she isn't on the list she isn't allowed inside the Vault." The banker stated matter of factly. "She will have to wait on your vessel." The banker pointed. The guards lowered their weapons again and the group collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
Gwen was about to raise a fuss with the banker but Julie's hand on her shoulder restrained her.
"It's okay Gwen. I'm fine with waiting on the ship. Anyways this place seems a little too intense for me." She said eyeing the guards with their plasma blasters. Gwen looked between her, the banker and the rest of their group. She sighed.
"Ok, we'll be back as soon as we can." Gwen assured her. With a nod Julie and Ship went to return to the Rust Bucket. Gwen turned back around to face the banker.
"Well lead the way I guess." She said.
"Right this way." The banker stated and began to lead them inside the pyramid.
The inside of the Vault was mostly a white interior with gold trimming and columns interspersed along winding hallways. A few alien plants were potted along the way. Some landscape paintings lined the corridors every now and again. It was clear they were in the client presenting part of the facility. There was a stark contrast once they ascended into the actual secure wing of the Vault. They rode in a spacious elevator, the ride was smooth, obviously running on antigrav levitation rather than pulleys. They stepped out into a dark grey space with the walls lined by gates, boxes, and vault doors.
In some of the rooms and halls they walked by were piles of Tadenite. Others had collections of weapons, or assorted alien tech. A few others were stacked high with piles of coins. A few others had carved marble like statues depicting various alien species. Each hall and vault room they passed was filled with greater and greater treasures. Gwen had to keep a tight grip on Kevin as they passed each, the boy's drooling expression not endearing any trust to the guards escorting them.
Finally they arrived at the end of the hall to another large vault. The banker typed on his device a few more times and with a hiss of air the vault door unlocked and slid slowly open. Gwen, Kevin, and Rook eagerly looked inside, wondering what Ben could possibly have stored here. They were disappointed though as all that laid in side were rows upon rows of deposit boxes set into the walls. The doors varied in size and were seemingly placed at random. The banker lead them inside Ben's vault. He herded them to the far wall and pointed out a single slot in the wall with accompanying key hole.
"This is your matching deposit box. I will await outside the vault to give you three some privacy." The banker stated curtly. He turned and left, leaving the group to stare at the unassuming lock box.
"So who wants to do the honors?" Kevin asked. The three looked amongst themselves before Gwen finally took the key and gently inserted it into the keyhole. She twisted and the lock came undone easily. She pulled out a drawer, it's interior covered with red velvet. Inside laid another data cube and beside it a slip of paper. Gwen took out the cube and handed it over to Rook.
"It looks like another one of those datacubes." Gwen observed. Rook scrutinized the cube.
"Agreed, however this one appears to be Spatio-coordinate locked." Rook stated.
"Meaning?" Gwen asked.
"Meaning that the information inside will not be accessible until we go to a specific location." Rook explained. Gwen turned back to the small velvet drawer and withdrew the paper. The small strip seemed to have a set of numbers on there.
"These look like they'd do?" Gwen asked. Rook examined the paper and his eyes widened slightly.
"Something wrong?" Kevin asked. Rook shook his head no.
"No it is just, these coordinates are for Plumber Base Leerix. It is the largest base in its sector and is located strategically near Incursean space. I am just, surpised that Ben would direct us there next." Rook mused.
"I'm not sure what Ben has got planned. But at least we're one step closer to finding him." Gwen replied. Gwen locked the deposit box closed and the three of them left the vault. The large vault door swung shut behind them, its loud clang echoing through the rest of the bank.
Back on board the Rust Bucket, Julie was bored. It had only been about 10 minutes since the others had left to be led inside the Vault. But Julie never thought that she would be bored on what was supposed to be a high stakes outer space adventure. Well, actually she wasn't sure what she had expected coming on this trip. She still wasn't certain herself why she came in the first place. But the one thing she did know was that she definitely wasn't expecting to be bored. She sighed, sitting curled up on her chair. A flash of light from behind her broke her musings however and she turned back to investigate its source.
"Hello there my dear. Care for a jelly baby?" The familiar voice of Professor Paradox spoke up. He wore a pristine white lab coat over brown trousers and a button up shirt. A mechanical hand clutched an ornate cane with a clock affixed at its handle.
"Wait I know you. Professor Paradox, right? What are you doing here?" Julie asked surprised.
"Because I come with a dire warning. You must not disrupt Ben's training." He said with a serious tone.
"What? Why not?" Julie asked confused.
"I can't tell you everything, but suffice to say that the timeline is not progressing as it should. Ben is currently in a very precarious and unstable state right now." Paradox explained. Julie looked at him concerned, her brow furrowed with worry as Ship knelt near her legs, looking between her and Paradox.
"If Ben is in trouble then doesn't that mean we should be helping him?" She reasoned.
"No, precisely the opposite. Ben needs to go through these trials to grow stronger. If you interrupt this process, then the consequences could be catastrophic." Paradox warned. Julie frowned again.
"I don't understand. How is us helping Ben a bad thing? And why are you only telling me this? The others should be back in just a few minutes." Julie asked perplexed.
"Unfortunately my dear the others certainly wouldn't listen to me. You, however, may be able to change their minds." Paradox explained taking a seat in one of the chairs. He folded his leg over the other and clutched his cane in the other.
"But you do know about Vilgax right? And the hammer? Don't you think that's worth finding Ben?" Julie questioned.
"Oh it's far worse than that. Both Ghostfreak and Aggregor are searching for the hammer too." Paradox informed her. Julie gasped. Those were two of the worst names he could possibly have said. Vilgax alone was bad enough, but to put Ben's next two greatest enemies on the list was worrying to say the least.
"So what, we're supposed to give up on Ben then? Just let his enemies go rogue out there?" Julie asked incredulously. Paradox shook his head.
"No, I would advise you and your little group to focus your efforts on stopping them." Paradox stated.
"What will you do then?" She asked.
"What I do best of course. Try to figure out who or what is throwing the timeline all out of whack as you might put it." Paradox stood to leave, his cane gripped in his hand. Julie stood up to follow after him.
"Wait," She called out. Paradox paused and half turned back to her. "I still don't understand why you're telling me all this." Julie said concerned. Paradox looked her over and gave her that knowing smile that said he knew far too much. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Because, Miss Yamamoto. You are far more important than you realize." He said cryptically. Paradox stepped away and with another flash he was gone, leaving Julie alone to contemplate his words. She did not have to wait long for her friends to return though. She did her best to tell them of Paradox's warning and their discussion.
"Oh man, that's bad news." Kevin said, after Julie finished telling them her tale.
"So what do we do now?" Julie asked.
"We stick to the plan. Continue to look for Ben." Gwen stated matter-of-factly.
"Are you sure that is wise Gwendolyn?" Rook asked. Gwen stared at the alien levelly. "According to plumber files, the being known as Professor Paradox has extensive knowledge of the space-time continuum. I believe his warning warrants consideration." Rook stated logically.
"I'll give you that Paradox definitely knows his stuff, but on the other hand…" Gwen trailed off.
"He rarely tells you the whole story." Kevin finished.
"Still for a being that knowledgeable to warn us off our pursuit? I do not think it is something we should ignore lightly." Rook insisted.
"I… I'm with Rook on this one." Julie spoke up. Shock was evident on Gwen and Kevin's faces. Until now Julie was content to follow their lead. Clearly Paradox's warning had more of a profound effect on her.
"If what he said is true and two more of Ben's enemies are searching for this weapon than we need to find him first." Gwen tried to reason.
"Yeah, Aggregor isn't someone to take lightly." Kevin agreed.
"I concur, however if Ben is truly at some kind of turning point we should leave him be. After all, the reason he left in the first place was to be alone." Rook pointed out, crossing his arms.
Gwen and Kevin returned Rook's level stare with glares of their own. Rook crossed his arms as well, unwilling to back down from his position. Julie looked between the three individuals. It was one thing to see them fight against enemies. She didn't think she'd seen any of them against each other like this before. Finally with a sigh Gwen seemed to relent. She held up her hands in a placating gesture.
"Look, even if Paradox is right, this plumber base is on the way back to earth anyway. There's no reason not to stop and check it out right?" Gwen tried to reason.
Rook and Julie looked between each other, their hesitation written plainly on their faces.
"Fine, we will stop at Base Leerix, but only to ascertain Ben's whereabouts." Rook tried to compromise.
The group of four nodded to each other. A tense but cordial agreement made between them.