Chapter Text
Inside the cockpit of the ship, all of space seemed to stare down at the crew. Distant stars twinkled at some secret joke, and red and blue quasars danced all around them, just out of reach. The distant light of stars and the near low light of the buttons of the ship’s console threw a soft glow on the features of the five passengers.
At the helm, Kevin and Rook sat with their hands upon the controls, pilot and co-pilot. Gwendolyn was intently reading some dauntingly thick book, having decided that her first week of summer vacation would be set on self-studying for the next semester of college. Her legs rested upon Zed, who on the whole seemed quite happy with the arrangement, her tongue lolled out in idle content like any dog might do. Zed was no dog in truth, but an Anubian Baskurr, honed over millions of evolutionary pressures to be the perfect beast of hunt, with the patience and ruthlessness to prowl its prey for days before finally swooping in for the kill. Red-eyed and scaled with dark blue scales that gave her all the appearance of a dragon, Zed used those skills now to snap at her tail, biting and yelping but never getting any closer, her tail outwitting her every time.
Opposite Gwendolyn, Ben yawned, stretching out in his chair like an overgrown cat. “It’s been a while.”
“It has,” agreed Gwendolyn, without looking up from her book.
“It feels like we’ve been planning this road trip for years and years, I can’t believe we’re actually doing it.”
“Seven months, Ben.”
“Felt like a lot longer.”
“Yes,” agreed Rook. “Especially with Ben talking about the road trip every one of those days.”
“Hey, I thought that a road trip was just what the four of us needed.” Zed’s ears perked up, and she whined in a low rattle. “Sorry, the five of us. I guess Gwen thought Advanced Art History was just that interesting.”
“It’s Gwendolyn,” said Gwendolyn. “And I told you Ben, I can’t afford to be behind on my classes. I’m already a solid two years younger than my peers, I don’t need to be behind on schoolwork too. Besides, now that it’s summer we have all the time in the world.”
"All the time in the world to relax! Seriously, Rook and I've been planning this trip since forever."
"Seven months."
"I even made a whole color-coordinated schedule and everything." In his hand flapped the mentioned schedule, a-dazzle with a dozen different colors.
That gave Gwendolyn pause. Ben had never been much of a planner, had never cared much about anything to plan. The fact that he had made this...
She took the paper from his hands. "You really planned all this?"
"Well, I had a little help for Brainstorming. Same difference though."
"Yeah," said Kevin from his cockpit seat, "all the more reason for us to kick this puppy into turbo. Better buckle up, you two, 'cuz this Tetramand engine's not showing any signs of slowing down."
"Indeed," agreed Rook from the seat beside him. "This 'puppy' is quite awesome in its capabilities. If we are to make it to our first spaceport by Ben's schedule, we must make the jump into hyperspace soon."
"Didn't you hear?" roared Kevin. "Chop, chop, seatbelts ladies! We're burning daylight."
"Alright, alright," grumbled Ben, as he strapped into his seat. "Kevin," said Gwendolyn mildly, without looking up from her book.
"Sorry, G."
Rook gave a quizzical frown, that seemed surprisingly in place on his striped alien face. “Daylight? We are in outer space.” He looked at Ben. “Another earth expression?”
“You need a book of idioms or something, dude.”
“I have read several. One day you will all make one up simply to fool me. Perhaps it has already happened.”
“Rooky, partner, would we ever do that?”
“Yes,” he said.
The cockpit hummed and whirred with the sounds of a hundred different components working, hidden, with some secret clockwork. Ben had jumped into hyperspace many times before. Never before had it been as smooth as this. One moment they were surrounded by stars, the next moment all the universe was a great smear as the ship kicked into faster-than-light with admirable fluidity.
Ben whistled, impressed, as he took in the ship's capability. He ran a hand over the sleek paneling that lined the interior of the walls, a grey-blue metal that shimmered like a stream of water. “Did you really build this whole thing yourself, Kev? I mean, I know you said you did. But be honest.”
Kevin could not help but look proud of himself. “Can't say I made it piece by piece, but all the important workings are my own design. With some help from Rook, of course. It took us most of the year, but we pulled through.”
“How’d you afford all this?”
“Remember that car show on Khoros where we saved Chief Gar Red Wind’s hide? And he gave me a car made of pure taydenite as a reward?”
“You mean the car show where you had to call me to come and save you guys? I think I remember.”
Kevin looked over his shoulder at Ben. Through his long dark hair, his black eyes glared at Ben. But despite his best efforts to look stern, the smirk on his lips gave him away. “Yeah…well I’ve been chipping off parts to fund this ship. That car’s almost hollowed out now, but it’s worth it for a vehicle like this. She’s the most beautiful thing in this arm of the Milky Way.” He glanced at Gwendolyn sheepishly, who was now looking at him intently over the brim of her book. “The second most beautiful,” he amended. Gwendolyn returned to her book.
“Indeed,” said Rook, “I have given suggestions wherever I could, and made some special modifications myself. This ship is quite equipped to handle anything one can throw at it. It is remarkably proofed to fire, electrical damage, explosions up to twelve oogle-pyrons, and even—is something the matter, Kevin?”
Kevin, who had buried his head in his hands now said through his fingers, “No. Absolutely nothing. Keep telling Ben about how nothing could possibly go wrong.”
“Alright. The ship is designed to be resistant to electric shocks, laser blasts, temperatures up to the surface of the sun, and even magic—”
“—I was kidding! Every time we talk about this kind of stuff, something goes wrong. I don’t wanna tempt fate. Again.”
For a moment, Rook was taken aback. Then he smiled. “Kevin, I did not take you for a superstitious man.”
“Superstition’s what we unlucky people have instead of security. At this point, I’d take anything.”
“So, whatcha calling the ship?” said Ben, pulling something from his pocket as he spoke.
“The Rustbucket IV,” said Kevin.
“The Omnitruk,” said Rook at the same time. They looked at each other.
Ben rose from his chair in a deft motion. “Gwen and I’ll let you two figure it out.” He gestured to her to follow.
***
“In the lounging chamber, Gwendolyn frowned as Ben fiddled with the grey disc in his hands.
“What’d you get me here for?”
“I wanted to call someone special, and Kev’s already warned me once about taking calls in the cockpit while he’s driving.”
“Who you calling?”
Ben pressed a button on the side of the disk, and it flattened out to a wide disc as wide as his arm. He grinned. “Grandpa Max.”
There in his red Hawaii shirt blooming with white poinsettias, Max Tennyson looked the same as he ever did: ageless, though he was nearing sixty-eight. His full-sized hologram flickered like a candle, but otherwise appeared remarkably life-like. If one didn’t look carefully, they might be forgiven for thinking that he was actually there in the room with them, save for the way he hovered a solid inch above the Holo-Viewer disc beneath the base of his feet.
“We miss you, Grandpa Max,” said Gwendolyn.
“Wish you were here,” added Ben.
“Miss you too, kiddos. I’d join you, but there’s too much Plumber business here to take care of. Someday soon I really ought to be retiring, for real this time. Besides, my galaxy-hopping days are long gone.”
“I’m sure you still have it in you,” said Gwendolyn.
“If you say so. But I’m so glad you two are road tripping together, just like old times.” Grandpa Max’s small dark eyes grew wistful. “I remember when I took you on that road trip seven years ago, and you two couldn’t stop arguing. Could you imagine telling your younger selves where you’d go on another road trip together, without anyone else making you do it?”
“I’d probably think I got clonked on the noggin,” Ben admitted.
“Hey!” Gwendolyn said.
In the background of Max's audio, the faint sound of Magister Patelliday's voice could be heard ringing over the speakers of Plumber Headquarters. “How're the Plumbers holding up without the dynamic duo?” asked Ben.
“It’s been harder,” Max admitted, “but fortunately we’re handling alright. Undertown is quiet these days, and no one’s threatened to conquer Earth or blow up the Sun so far. Pakmar says business has never been better.” Grandpa Max eyebrows perked up, as if he had remembered something else. “We’re actually planning on sub-contracting the Galactic Enforcers to pick up some work here and there—” A sudden jolt rattled through the ship, sending Ben and Gwendolyn reeling on their feet. The ghostly hologram of Max Tennyson flickered and crackled with the impact.
“Talk to you later, Grandpa,” Ben said hurriedly. He pressed the button on the side of the Holo-Viewer, and it deftly folded back into its compact form. The two of them rushed back to the cockpit, where Kevin and Rook were frantically maneuvering the controls to no avail. They were out of hyperspace now--Ben had not felt the jump out of hyperspace either. In the front window, the view of a dark pitted rock grew larger and larger in their view.
“Uh, guys? Why are we going towards the asteroid?”
“Great question, Tennyson. You always have a knack for the obvious.”
Rook pulled the joystick in his left hand so far back Ben thought it was going to pop off, until a panel slid back to reveal a dozen secret buttons. One by one, Rook's fingers danced over them, delicate as a lover. “The controls are unresponsive. Both regular and override.”
I can work on pitch and yaw," Kevin said, “but I can’t seem to change the momentum on this thing.”
Ben fiddled with his Omnitrix, cycling through all his aliens. "Maybe Jetray could help push this ship back? Or Juryrigg could fix the controls."
"There's nothing to be fixed, and if you wreck my ride on the first day, I'm turning this ship around!"
For a brief moment, Gwendolyn’s eyes glowed pink, and her hands gleamed with a brilliant aura. “There’s too much pull on our vessel. I can’t seem to use my manna to bring it out of the way.”
“I would imagine not,” said Rook. “It would seem we are caught in a tractor beam.”
Kevin gritted his teeth. “This ship is supposed to be resistant to tractor beams.”
Rook pulled up a viewing port, revealing an outer view of the ship and the asteroid rendered in an orange-tinted holographic interface. “Yes, but is it resistant to ten of them at once?”
Kevin sighed. “Probably not.”
“Ben,” said Gwendolyn. “I don’t think we’re gonna make it to that spaceport soon.”