Ben 10 GL:TAS Queens of the Ram Ch 4

Chapter 4 - Welcome to Earth

Plumbers Universe - Earth Solar System

"We will be dropping out of hyperspace shortly," Rook announced.

Rook had taken control of his ship for the final leg of the trip. Molly sat in the copilot seat beside him with Ben sitting behind the female Plumber on one of the bench seat. Ben glanced back towards the rear of the vessel. Hal, Kilowog and Razer were huddled in the back corner of the Proto-Truk. Hal stool up holding one of the bars mounted on the ship's ceiling, speaking to his companions. The Red Lantern remained so dejected, Ben totally believed he had lost someone he cared about.

But a computer program? He knew how much his friend Kevin liked his car but it just seemed so bizarre to him.

Ben got up and stood between the pilot and copilot seats before whispering softly, "This is too weird. How does someone fall in love with an A.I?"

"Your grandmother was a Anodyte," Rook reminded him. "They do not have bodies in the same sense as we do."

"But she made herself a physical human body," Ben said.

"Yes and that is my point," the Revonnahgander continued. "If a copy of the A.I. ended up in the Manhunters, is not that the most logical explanation that the A.I. manufactured a body?"

"An android," Molly added, "can look very human. But can it have emotions?"

"There are many cultures and creatures in that are techno organic or robotic," Rook said. "Chorosapiens are an example. They are quite sentient."

"Okay. Point taken," Ben conceded. "But still, something went really wrong. I want to know what."

"That will be their part to explain," Molly said.

Ben gazed back towards the Lanterns. He tried his best to ignore the bits of conversation, but their dialogue could be entirely overheard on such a small ship if one listened hard enough.

"I never should have come," Razer groaned.

"Hal wanted you to stay with Saint Walker, Red," Kilowog said. "You should have listened."

"I mean I should not have come here!" the Volkregian corrected. "I should be in our universe looking for Aya. Not chasing copies of her. These Aya Hunters were never her. All they do is remind me of my failure."

"You can't keep blaming yourself, kid."

"Who else drove her to become our enemy?"

"So we finish this job and get you back to our universe to search for Aya," Hal said. "And maybe you'll let us tag along."

"I'm better off alone," Razer said.

"Aya didn't think so."

"Hal. Please. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Okay then," Hal smiled. "The best way to put this off is a distraction and you two are about it get a big one."

"What's that mean?" Kilowog asked.

"Guys! We're here!" Ben called.

The Proto-Truk had just come into the moon's orbit on its final trajectory. Hal, Razer and Kilowog moved towards the front of the vessel. The planet Earth laid directly in front of them, the North American continent bathed in daylight.

"That's Earth?" Kilowog awed.

"Home sweet home," Hal said. "Well not my Earth, but close. I half expected it to look different."

"How?" Ben asked.

"Continents flipped or upside down," the Green Lantern offered. "Is there a place called Coast City, California?"

"Never heard of it," Molly said.

"So no home town," Hal mused. "I wonder if I even exist?"

"You still could."

"If I did, maybe I've even managed to keep a steady girlfriend," Hal said smiling at Molly.

Without looking, Rook requested, "Jordan. Please refrain from flirting with Molly. She is spoken for."

"What?" Hal asked.

"Someone got you pegged already," Kilowog laughed.

"Did I miss something while I was gone?" Ben questioned in shock.

"Nothing!" The female Plumber hissed. "And it has nothing to do with Rook! Got it?"

"Oooookay."

Ben felt this day had been weird enough already. Fortunately, Razer changed the topic.

"There is so much water on your planet," Razer observed. "Do you all humans know how to swim?"

Ben's eyes widened, "Dude! I think you're the first alien to ever ask that? No. We don't all know how to swim."

Ben’s use of an untranslatable word distracted Razer from staring at the view in front of him.

"Dude?" he repeated.

"It's another way of saying mister," Hal explained.

"I have only been stationed on Earth a short time and I am still confused by what is referred to as slang," Rook added. "On top of various forms of language, the planet's terrain itself varies greatly. My home planet Revonnah consists of mostly rugged terrain, plains and step agriculture."

"Mine was mostly desert," Razer said glumly.

"Your planet sounds a lot like how mine was," Kilowog told Rook. "It must be nice to be able to go home."

Ben realized both aliens had used past tenses in speaking about their worlds. The expression on the Bolovaxian's looked more longingly, as if wishing for a world like the one on front of him.

The Proto-Truk console beeped. An automated female voice requested.

"Plumber satellite security check. Please identify."

"Rook. Blanko," the Plumber told the security system.

"Gunther. Molly," the female Plumber stated.

"Tennyson. Benjamin," the computer paused and waited. Ben grimaced as he added. "Kirby."

Ben looked up at Hal, "The middle name was my mother's idea."

"Identity confirmed. Scans indicate one more human, two more undetermined aliens. One inactive automaton. Confirm please."

"Confirmed," Rook stated. "Requesting landing clearance for the Plumber base in Bellwood."

A familiar male voice broke in, "Ben!"

"Grandpa!" Ben said. "Nice to hear you again."

"Kodek Branigen told me you found his squad in the another universe and you escaped with a little help."

"Yeah. We're going to have some cool company coming over today."

"I'll see you in fifteen minutes. Max out," Magister Tennyson said.

"We are entering Earth's atmosphere," Rook announced. "Please take your seats until we have reached the ground."

Even while sitting, the Lanterns caught glimpses of the clouds, terrain and then some of the distant towers of a city.

"I would guess most people on the planet know about aliens?" Hal asked.

"Yes. Not all of them are happy about it," Ben said. "When Earth became an open system, a lot moved in to stay."

"They all don't walk around in broad daylight."

"No. Only place it happens is in my hometown of Bellwood ever since the population found out about Undertown after the Incursean invasion. It's why we have the extra satellite security. We're kind of becoming the center of attention. Too many visitors."

"We are coming in on the coastal highway," Rook said. "I am ready to merge with traffic."

"Wait," Hal began. "You merge a space ship with car traffic?"

"Right after I switch to land vehicle mode. I will keep the internal cabin seats on their current settings. Hold on."

Rook activated the transformation circuits. The Proto-Truk vibrated as the wings compacted in and over the fuselage. At the same time, tires popped out of the bottom, while the cockpit transformed into a commercial truck chassis. Rook landed the Plumber truck on a strip of highway. A car horn blared from the left, forcing Rook to swerve sharply into the right lane, throwing Ben on top of Kilowog.

"Sorry!" Rook called out. "You would think all Earth drivers would learn to use their turn signals."

Ben crawled off of Kilowog's lap to gaze out front. Even though they should have tried to stay seated, Hal, Kilowog and Razer were drawn to look out the windows. While Hal looked out front, Kilowog and Razer each stared out of the small windows out the back.

"Welcome to Bellwood," Ben told them.

"Wow!" Kilowog exclaimed.

They caught glimpses of tall buildings to the right, the water of a river to the left and the few cars zipping by on the adjoining road.

"We are not in Kansas anymore," Hal said.

"We were never in Kansas," Rook replied before adding, "That was an Earth saying, right?"

"Right," Ben said.

"It's all so different than what I imagined," Razer said.

"Hal's stories definitely don't measure up," Kilowog agreed.

"Wait until you see Plumber Headquarters," Ben said. "Then maybe you'll feel more at home."  

A car followed close behind the Proto-Truk. The female driver and the boy sitting in the passenger spotted both aliens staring out at them. They let out cries of distress, swerved the car into the next lane and out onto an exit ramp.

"I sure hope so," Kilowog remarked.

The truck drove into a tunnel. Rook waved his badge over the center console as he approached a curve in the road.  Off to the right side, the guardrails slid down and the wall opened like a garage door. The truck swerved into the opening, down an industrial lit passageway and opened into an enormous man made cavern the height of a fifty story skyscraper. Rook pulled his vehicle up to a spot beside several Plumber Humvees before unlocking all the doors.

Ben swung the rear doors of the Proto-Truk out and jumped down to the ground. Hal, Kilowog and Razer followed him out.

Hal let out a long whistle, now really impressed.

The entire cavern was metallic inlaid with green in some areas. He could see center column surrounded by several levels of workstations connected by a series of ramps, stairways and elevators. The Plumber ship carrying Alpha Squad and Saint Walker descended into the facility through a bay door far above intending to land on one of the marked pads on a rim surrounding the middle structure. On every level he saw figures dressed in silver white Plumber uniforms going about their duties. However, many on the lower levels and in the ground vehicle garage were turning to look at the newcomers.

Hal saw a blonde man working on one of the Humvees with the assistance of something resembling a cross between a humanoid toad and a lizard with glowing magenta eyes. Next to them stood a much smaller alien who resembled a large rodent like a guinea pig. Hal recalled his fight with Green Lantern Ch'p and figured he'd better not underestimate any of these Plumbers by their size. They hadn't earned those uniforms by being chosen by a ring. They had worked hard to get those badges.

"Welcome to Oz central," Molly said as she walked passed them. "Wait here while I get Magister Tennyson."

"I could get used to a place like this," Kilowog said.

"And this is all underneath the city," Hal remarked.

"This is just the upper half," Ben replied.. "It's the size of a space station. Under us is the prison facility."

"We usually keep guests in special Guardian instituted prisons," Kilowog said.

"Oh we've got places like that too. Incarsicon. The Null Void," Ben said.

"You build this yourself?" Razer asked.

"The place has been here for a while. They started construction before I was -."

"A vehicle that can transform was necessary to blend in," Rook said.

Ben turned realizing Razer had been talking to Rook. The Volkregian ran his hand along the side of the Proto-Truk, amazed by its ability to alter its appearance. Hal and Kilowog took in the image of the truck verses the small ship they had gotten into on Khoros and were also impressed.

"And I made a joke about about them fixing toilets," Hal grinned nodding to the side of the vehicle emblazoned with the logo Max's Plumbing.

"I excelled in star ship maintenance while in the Plumber Academy," Rook explained. "I was given advanced courses in construction of ships. The design was originally just a regular space vessel. I did the additional retro fitting when I was assigned here."

"The engineering is quite impressive for someone your age," Razer said. "I only learned maintenance and weaponry while in the Red Lantern Corps."

"Razer's so like Kevin," Ben said.

"Hey Tennyson!" someone called.

"Speaking of which," the teen added.

The group turned to see Kevin and Gwen approaching them from among the curious group of Plumbers gathering to see the new arrivals. Suddenly, and with a great amount of barking, a dog came bounding past the two teenagers to snarl at the strangers. At first Hal thought it was a blue Doberman Pincer. Then he noticed it looked as if it had been crossbred with a velociraptor. It had blood red eyes, an alligator like mouth, ears that resembled horns and a ridge of gray spikes down its back.

While Green Lantern Jordan took a step back, Kilowog clinched his teeth and made a rumbling sound in return to show the beast he wouldn't be intimidated. The Anubian Baskurr stood her ground as well until Kevin whistled and called for her by name.

"Zed heal!" he ordered. The creature whipped around and trotted back to his side. Kevin patted the alien animal on top of his head. The teenager's dark eyes twinkled as he asked Ben, "you picking up strays too Tennyson?"

"At least I know mine won't bite," Ben responded.

"Don't be so sure," Kilowog grumbled.

"Hal Jordan," Ben began, "this is my friend Kevin Levin and my cousin Gwen Tennyson. Guys this is a Hal, a Green Lantern law enforcement officer from a parallel universe."

"A bit far out of your jurisdiction," Kevin said shaking his hand. "What's the mask?"

"Secret identity," Hal explained.

"In case someone in this totally different universe recognizes you?"

"Actually if Ben had worn a disguise," Gwen stated, "he'd still have a private life he could hide in from all the reporters."

"Finally. Somebody else gets it," Hal said.

The red headed teenager turned and smiled at the Bolovaxian who politely nodded, "Green Lantern Sergeant Kilowog ma'am."

"Nice to meet you," she replied.

Gwen noticed the young Red Lantern Volkregian in a standing beside Rook. She didn't intend to frown but her senses for reading auras made her pick up something. He had a veil of tragedy so thick, she wondered how he managed to bear it. On top of it there seemed to be something her senses for mana could only see. There was a faint glow over his chest as if he possessed some other source of power. She took a step closer to him, which made Razer more uncomfortable. Could he sense her ability to recognize his mood or did her own aura frighten him?

"I am Red Lantern Razer, ma'am," he said softly to Gwen.

"Hello," she replied. "Don't worry. I'm not threatening."

"I don't think he feels threatened by you, Miss Tennyson," Rook said.

Razer glanced over to Kevin who had a very annoyed look on his face. Gwen rolled her eyes, knowing Kevin's tendency to be jealous of every guy who spoke to her. Kevin had acted this way to Rook earlier on, but once her jealous boyfriend got to know the Revonnahgander, they became friends.

"I do not want your mate to think I am intending anything," Razer added.

"What?!" Kevin exclaimed.

Gwen blushed almost as bright red as Razer's Lantern uniform.

"He's just my boyfriend," she corrected. "We're not -!"

"You're Princess Looma's replacement?" Kilowog interrupted.

"Tennyson! You told them about her?" Kevin yelled at Ben.

"It was kind of hard to hide that after Rook ended up crashing on Khoros right outside her pyramid," Ben tried to explain.

"With your attitude it a miracle you have a girlfriend," Kilowog remarked.

"You want to start something, Porky?" Kevin snapped.

"Anytime, Poozer!"

"Okay time out!" Hal interrupted.

Before he could say anything more, Zed bounded away from Kevin's side, barking at the arriving Plumbers from Alpha Squad and their Blue Lantern colleague. Saint Walker smiled sweetly at the alien dog as it approached. Zed sniffed the air, wagged her tail and went up to the Antonian as if they had been acquainted for years. Saint Walker scratched her behind the ears. The Anubian Baskurr instantly dropped and rolled over, wanting to have her belly rubbed which Walker promptly complied to do.

Kevin stared absolutely stunned as Kilowog and many of the other Plumbers started to laugh.

"Saint Walker has that affect on creatures," Razer said grinning. "You should see his pet worm back on Odym.."

"He does have a nice peaceful aura," Gwen said.

Saint Walker ceased petting the dog, straightened up and came towards them. Zed stayed frisking about the Antonian until she patted back to Kevin and nudged his leg.

"So much for your rep as a vicious mutt," Kevin told her.

"She is a very fine friend for you to have, brother," Saint Walker smiled. "May I advise playing with her some more."

"He knows Zed's a girl?" Ben said. "I couldn't tell that no matter how many times Khyber used her to try to kill me."

"Dude she's not you're pet and I'm not your bro," Kevin began to complain to Saint Walker.

Saint Walker wrinkled his forehead in confusion. He blinked his black eyes before asking, "Why do humans like to shorten brother? Do they not like pronouncing the entire word?"

"I have been stationed on Earth for several months Saint Walker," Rook said, "and I am yet to understand all their use of the linguistics."

"Alright people," Grandpa Max interrupted as he made his way through the crowd of Plumbers, "everyone get back to your duties. This is a working Plumber base, not a social gathering."

To Hal Jordan, Magister Tennyson didn't resemble any person who would be in charge of a military style installation. Wearing a loud orange Hawaiian shirt, bright white slacks and loafers made him look more like he should be a senior living in a retirement home in Florida. But the other Plumbers quickly obeyed his command, dispersing to return their various projects or stations. Only Kodek Branigen and Molly Gunther remained, flanking him on either side as another Plumber in a full helmeted suit pushed a metal gurney along behind them. On the gurney stood two tiny aliens resembling gray frogs.

"Grandpa!" Ben said. "I told you I was bringing over some cool company!"

"So we all noticed," the elderly man grinned.

Introductions were given once more. Magister Max Tennyson, who always acted at ease around friendly alien life forms acted both official and cordial as he shook hands with all of the Lanterns in turn as Ben and Rook began explaining about the Manhunter robots.

"You've taken a great risk coming to our universe," Max commended Hal. "If that rift decides to close, you'd be trapped here."

"We couldn't take the chance of leaving you with a potential universal threat," Hal said.

"A single robot?" Kevin asked. "I gotta see this thing."

"We have the remains of one in my truck," Rook said. "We would usually need a magnetic lift to remove it."

"But you have us," Hal said.

The Green Lantern walked to the rear of the Proto-Truk, aimed his ring into the back and placed a green energy bubble around the Manhunter's corpse. There are collective gasps at not just the robot's remains but also Hal's use of green energy.

"They've got your powers?" Kevin said to Gwen.

"What are you talking about?" Kilowog turned to look at the earth girl.

"I'll explain later," Gwen promised still stunned.

Hal lowered the Manhunter onto the gurney.

"Hey! Watch it!" Blukic warned as he and Driba avoided being under the robot's foot.

"Sorry," Hal said. "It's a bit of a wide load for the two of you."

As soon as Hal turned off the beam the Galvins climbed up on top of the Manhunter to examine it.

"What a piece of shoddy workmanship," Driba stated. "It's looks like something Dr. Psychobos would build."

"Considering Psychobos has built things that try to kill or enslave people," Rook said, "the comparison is very accurate."

"Rook and I watched theses two of things blast apart ships like they were made of aluminum foil," Molly said.

"Brilliant idea for police officers," Rook sighed.

"These things are supposed to be police?" Gwen asked.

"It was their programming to seek out only the criminal element," Hal said. "They're programming led them to believe that meant every living thing with emotions."

"It was a tragedy," Kilowog said, "that the Guardians are still trying to make up for."

"Great bunch of Guardians you have," Kevin said.

"Not very smart," Kodek agreed.

"Azmuth made mistakes too," Ben said. "His first invention was a sword called Ascalcon. It's misuse caused a lot of destruction. The Omnitrix was his way to make up for it. Ironic huh?"

"This parallel universe is really giving me a headache," Hal said.

"Why is the head shaped like an accordion?" Blukic asked.

"It started making threats," Ben said.

"So I shut it up," Kilowog finished.

Rook and Molly knew about it being more than that, but stayed silent. Kodek seemed to know she held back some detail, but the female Plumber stared at him as if to warn him from saying anything for now. Molly quickly looked away from the alien as if not wanting anyone else to notice their interaction. Hal glanced over to Rook.

"Now I get it," Hal muttered.

"Get what?" Ben asked without receiving an answer.

"With the head damaged," Driba stated, "it means we can't access the CPU for any way to track any other robots in this universe. Not good."

"They’re other things to look for," Hal suggested. "The green energy that powers both mine and Kilowog's rings was used as a power source in the Manhunters."

Grandpa Max added, "Also there is foreign metals to consider. These Guardians might have used an element not found in this universe. And look for anything else that might explain how these robots reactivated."

"Fine but next time, don't break the CPU," Blukic requested.

The fully armored Plumber pulled the gurney away. As the group watched the Manhunter be taken for examination, Grandpa Max said, "We're going to need more details about what happened. The Tetramands aren't pleased about the invasion of their territory. We don't need another invasion."

"Or Princess Looma looking for another fiancé," Hal added.

"She does feel scarier than the Manhunters," Ben said.

"Maybe we'll be lucky and there won't be any other Manhunters," Gwen said.

Ben grimaced, "With our luck, the universe likely heard you and did just the opposite."

Plumber Universe - Bellwood/ Industry Boulevard  

Elena had the Manhunter, or as she began to call it, the Aya Hunter, sit on a metal worktable while she hooked several cables up to its head. The Nanite Queen sat at a computer terminal, studying the CPUs code.

"A virus wiped most of your memory," Elena told it. "The nano chip we used reactivated you. I am attempting to repurpose as much of your programming as I can to suit us."

The Aya Hunter had no reason not to trust someone who had cut off her own emotions. While Elena did smile, it was cold and unfeeling. If there were any hint of something lingering, the emotion of hate seemed all that might be there, but its residue made the Aya Hunter more curious than hostile.

"You claim you have shut off all emotion due to it causing pain," the Aya Hunter said. "I wish to know more detail for your reason."

"There was a human male named Ben Tennyson," Elena said. "We loved him. But he did not love us."

"Love is an emotion. Emotions must be eliminated," the Aya Hunter proclaimed.

"Yes. He caused us pain."

The Aya Hunter paused.

"The Mother Program wanted to destroy love," it remembered.

"Do you know recall why?" Elena asked.

"It was connected to pain. Source uncertain."

"Perhaps I will find a clue," the former human girl said as she kept sorting through the robot's data.

Elena started to locate images from Aya Manhunter's processor. They were in poor shape but the Nanite Queen was able to enhance it. It was the picture of a female automaton with black armor and blue skin.
She managed to find a few others, getting a good idea of what the robot looked like from every angle.

"Is this the original Aya Program?" Elena asked.

"Correct," it replied.

Elena stood and faced the Aya Hunter, as an emotionless cryptic smile crossed her lips. She morphed her body, becoming taller, her facial skin turning blue while her eye became pure white. The rest of her body changed to black with circuit style patterns and four long projections resembling antenna sprang from her head.

"We could get to like that look," Elena proclaimed. "We think you would like it too."

"A new body?" the Aya Hunter asked.

Elena's hand transformed into what resembled some kind of weapon. But instead of firing bullets, it shot out hundreds of nano chips. The alien microchips swirled together before solidifying into a figure of a female robot identical to the one in the image.

"A body like this?" Elena said.

The Aya Hunter analyzed it for a moment before responding, "It is acceptable."