By the time the heroes got back to Plumber HQ, Vilgax had escaped to parts unknown once again. They looked around the place. “Man, Khan really did a number on this place,” muttered Ben.
“We better tidy things up before we go,” said Megumi.
“Ben, you don’t mind the extra help, do you?” asked Optimus.
“Well, it WOULD make the work go faster,” replied Ben. He then turned to his Phury. ‘All right, you’re the one who memorized everything about this place. What needs doing?”
“Well, the power core needs a magnetic charge, for a start,” answered Phury.
“A magnetic charge, huh? Then Lodestar’s the alien for the job!” Ben selected his alien and pressed the Omnitrix core down. He turned into what looked like a gorilla made of red, yellow, and blue Lego bricks. “BLOXX!” he called. His face turned sour. “Bloxx can be used for hauling things, Omnitrix. Let’s go with the magnet guy, all right?” He slapped the Omnitrix symbol on his chest and became a gray, six-inch-tall, humanoid frog. “GRAY MATTER!” Gray Matter looked a little more frustrated. “Galvans don’t HAVE magnetic powers!” He slapped the Omnitrix symbol again and became a humanoid Japanese Rhinoceros beetle with a huge underbite. “EATLE!” he announced. That was it! “NOW YOU’RE JUST BEING STUPID!” he shouted at the Omnitrix symbol. “Now look, I want Lodestar, you hear?! I don’t want Humungousaur, I don’t want Four-Arms, I don’t want Way Big! LODESTAR!” He slapped the Omnitrix symbol once more and became a brownish-black and yellow alien with pincer claws and a metal head floating between his large, pointed shoulders. “LODESTAR!” He then folded his arms. “There. Was that so much to ask?” Lodestar then floated off to the power core. Phury was snickering at the schadenfreude.
“I’m surprised you didn’t get irritated,” remarked Arsha.
“Oh, I did,” replied Phury, “but seeing Ben get annoyed at the Omnitrix’s screwups is always funny.”
“…Yeah, they always get a chuckle,” mused Megumi. “It happened a couple of times during the Vortech Wars.”
Once everything was fixed, it was time to go. Life joined the heroes as they were gathering for their ride home. “You sure you wanna go?” Ben asked Life.
“Ben, it’s been fun being part of the Plumbers,” replied Life, “but I’m afraid my sisters need me. Besides, I want to see the new Chaos. It’s time for me to resign from the Plumbers.”
“Well, if you ever wanna come back,” offered Phury, “you need merely come find us.” Life then shook hands with Ben and Phury.
“You keep me in the loop on your relationship, you hear?” directed Life.
“Loud and clear,” replied Ben. Life then turned to Megumi and her team.
“Let’s go,” she said. Megumi then made a call.
“Megumi to Vorton, one rift directly to After Academy,” she requested.
“On its way,” answered Rusty. The rift then appeared.
“So, you’ve got control of the Vortonian Gateways, hm?” mused Life.
“Even THE Gateway itself,” answered Megumi. “You might remember it, the one with the Keystones.”
“The Main Gateway survived?!” Life whistled in amazement. “I thought Vortech smashed it!”
“Oh, we’ve got a lot to tell you!” Megumi then turned to her team. “To the Academy!” Everyone then jumped into the rift, and it closed behind them. Ben and Phury looked at where the rift was, and Phury looked a little concerned.
“…Stripes?” asked Ben. No response. “…Phury?”
“That woman was me if I went down a darker path,” muttered Phury.
“But you didn’t go down that path, that’s important.”
“Yeah, but I made a Royal Bid. You know, where I declare my intentions to be Appoplexia’s Queen? Given how similar she is to me…I’m not so sure I’m not gonna be like her.”
“She’s totally opposite of you. If your Bid IS successful, you’d rule Appoplexia with the dignity it deserves. You’re not cowardly like her.” Phury smiled.
“True that.”
Everyone made it back to After Academy. Richard was nearby when the rift opened. He rushed to Megumi and Kaede and hugged them. “It’s all right, Richard,” assured Megumi. “We’re both fine.”
“Mom DID get help this time, I promise,” said Kaede.
“And look who we found,” Megumi broke the embrace to reveal Batman and his family.
“Bruce?” asked Richard.
“How’s the Shift Keystone working for you?” quizzed Batman.
“It’s working fine, but what are you doing here? …Megumi, did you use the Locate Keystone?”
“Batman was assimilated by the Lords,” replied Megumi. “I only used my Keystone to bring the Batmobile and its passengers to Bellwood.”
“Bellwood?”
“And it’s the Bellwood our Ben came from.”
“Awesome! How’s he doing?”
“Dating his universe’s Phury, one that I wish I faced in the 3V2R as she’s far and away more honorable than the one we know. In fact, the Phury we know became a Red Lantern Kamen Rider.”
“She was there?”
“And others. Get everyone here. We need to talk about who the Author recruited.”
“HIRO’S BACK?!” yelped Hiroki as Megumi gathered her immediate friends and family.
“And according to Batman, so’s Igura,” replied Megumi. “From what else I’ve heard, Igura gave birth to their daughter while they were in Hell.”
“And Metaltron’s got our Phury on her side?” asked Jandro.
“Not just her, it looks like,” said Batman. “She has a council, but I don’t know the rest of them.”
“In any case, this makes our job harder,” continued Megumi. “The Author has enemies that know our moves.” While Megumi talked, Hiroki stood up and headed to Sora.
“A word in private, please,” he said. Sora got up and followed him out of the meeting room.
“Otōsan, I know this isn’t-”
“I’m proud of you,” interrupted Hiroki.
“…Eh?”
“I’m proud of you, my son. You found an aspect of good to fight for.”
“…B…But I have a ring instead of a belt.”
“…Your point is?”
“Well, you and Mama are Kamen Riders and I felt that you would be disappointed if both me and Gabriella refused a belt and-”
“Sora, I never cared about that! Is that what was holding you back?”
“…Well…yes, it…it was.” Hiroki then hugged his son.
“My son, I’m sorry for not making what I really wanted for you clear. All I cared about was if you and Gabriella would fight for good. I didn’t care about if you two used a belt or a ring or a wand or dance moves! All I cared about was if you would fight for good and you’ve fulfilled my hope by being a Blue Lantern. If that’s what you feel is your path, then go on it! I will help you however I can.” Sora’s eyes misted, then he hugged Hiroki back and cried happy tears, a great weight being lifted from his shoulders.
“You can’t be serious!” pleaded Malnar.
“I don’t joke about that, Bonfire,” replied Arsha as she and her fellow Realmers gathered. “Dr. Borg is back and, according to Batman, so are her colleagues and spouses.”
“Great, after all the trouble we went through putting them in the ground!” grunted Foresna.
“Well, from what Batman said, Oyed’s not involved. However, Intrag is.”
“Intrag?” gulped Malnar.
“Lovely,” muttered Yufantel.
“The Terrorcons?” asked Megatron.
“All seven, according to Batman,” replied Optimus as he and his friends and family met. “The Author’s not playing around.”
“We need to form plans for the other teams,” said Blackarachnia. As everyone planned, Sky Runner got up and headed to Glyph.
“Walk with me,” she said. Glyph followed the young Autobot Seeker. They went into an empty courtyard.
“I see why you seek that next thrill hit,” chuckled Glyph. “Fighting Nemesis was fun!”
“You think you were thrill-seeking?!” snarled Sky Runner. “Take it from me, that was WAY too reckless, even for me!”
“…I thought you’d be proud!”
“There’s a fine line between thrill-seeking and suicide and taunting someone like Nemesis Prime is a good example of crossing it!”
“Oh, come on! Your dad beat him easily!”
“You didn’t listen to him all that much when he talked about his battles! While I may have been bored during his long history lessons, I still knew how dangerous Nemesis was back then when we fought him today! Dad had to wear him down by using the Chaos Emeralds! He had to resort to trickery later! I expected Dad’s successor to be better than that.” Glyph arched an eyebrow.
“What do you mean your dad’s successor?” Sky Runner’s optics went wide, and she took off, transforming into her jet mode in the process. “Don’t just fly off after a bombshell like that, Sky Runner!” called Glyph. “Sky Runner!! SKY RUNNER!!!” No response came to her.
Back on the Imperium, the Author sat in the throne room with his teammates. He drummed his fingers on the armrest. “That…could have gone better,” he grunted.
“Calling me the b-lister of Optimus’ Rogues Gallery!” growled Nemesis. “I ought to slaughter that green midget!”
“Never mind what she said!” snapped Dr. Borg. “Our enemies have a Source of Flourishment!” Hiro remained silent.
“…Nothing to contribute?” asked Metaltron.
“I went through something like this with the Sources of the Apocalypse,” replied Hiro. “When the Sources were gathered, their energy signatures acted as a beacon and guided my organization to Vorton’s new coordinates. Yes, they beat me, but-”
“Author, what are you doing?” interrupted Phury. Khan finished writing a new passage in the Tome. He then read it aloud.
“‘Once Khan shouted ‘Happy Birthday’, party decorations appeared and a plate with a slice of cake and a fork appeared in everyone’s hands and a party hat appeared on everyone’s heads.’” He then shut the Tome.
“Nani?” asked Hiro.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” Once Khan shouted “Happy Birthday”, party decorations appeared and a plate with a slice of cake and a fork appeared in everyone’s hands and a party hat appeared on everyone’s heads. “To our backup plan,” explained the Author. “I had completely forgotten that them gathering the Sources of the Apocalypse was a detriment to our enemies in the long run! I shall let the other teams know that we have a backup plan! Of course, they should still try their hardest in their goals, but we have other means! Once you lot are done with your cake, head on over to 5-P-L-4-T-0-0-N to get Death’s Source and Jason Ikamesh. I have a plan.” The team looked at each other, then simply ate their cake, concerned about the Author’s mental state.