15 15) Everyone talks about the weather - 1

Kevin tapped the screen of the Plumber's computer, trying to make sense of the signal that was flashing on it. It was a distress call, but not from any Plumber he knew. The badge number was unfamiliar, and the name attached to it was Alex Albright. Kevin had never heard of him before, and neither had the Plumber database.

"Any idea what this is?" Kevin asked to the other man on the screen. Labrid's face frowned as he saw it too.

"That's a distress call, all right," Labrid said with a frown. "What's strange about it?" He asked curiously.

"There's no record on the Earth's Plumber database. But the official Plumber database has it. It's strange." Kevin commented with a frown. His eyes went to the Plumber database as he looked at the profile of a Pyronite.

"I will check on it." Kevin commented. Perhaps it was a Plumber visitor to Earth.

"I shall advise you to take Ben and Gwen with you." Labrid advised with a frown. It was always better to take help. Especially for him. He was too young, besides never had Labrid heard about him in any sort of field works. Even his profile had zero entries in fields and achievements. It clearly indicated his amateurs ship to everyone.

Kevin pondered on the option for a moment. He could use help from Tennyson. If things took a turn to worse, he could always use Tennyson as a back-up. Dying once, he had no wish to die second time so soon. Besides he couldn't trust anyone he hadn't met yet. He had to remain alert for everything thrown on him.

"I will take them." Kevin replied after some moments. He pressed the button on the screen and disconnected the video call with Labrid.

Taking out his phone, he decided to call Tennyson. Finally reaching his number, he pressed the call buton.

The phone ringed for five seconds before Ben picked it up.

"Hey, Kevin, what's up?" Ben's voice came from the phone. He sounded eerily cheerful for some reason.

"Hey, Tennyson. I need your help with something," Kevin said as he tried to sound as casual he could.

"What is it?" Ben asked curiously from other side.

"It's kind of a long story. We have a distress call from some Plumber. I am gonna check it in." Kevin replied calmly. The man wasn't accepting his call through the Plumbers badge. He had tried to reach him for the last three hours and he wasn't replying. There could be some problem there.

Since there were no subordinates below him, he was duty bound to go and check it personally.

Ben gasped from other side. Kevin found it silly though. His tone changing from curiosity to excitement.

"Reckon, it could be Grandpa Max?"

"Don't know." Kevin replied with a frown. He didn't think so. If Max was taken by the aliens, they wouldn't take him lightly. Moreover Max was old, old age takes its toll on one's body. A great Plumber he might be, but there were thousands of modified aliens out there with him.

"His name is Alex Albright. He's around 150 miles away from here." Kevin continued much to the distress of the other side.

"We have to go help him, Kevin. Maybe he's one of Grandpa Max's friends. He could be in trouble." Ben said with a frown.

"I know Tennyson, I know. That's why I'm calling you. I want you to come with me. Maybe we can get lucky and get the DNAliens. It could be a trap, or a hoax, or a glitch. You can back out though?" Kevin asked with a smirk. He knew Tennyson was gonna accept it.

Tennyson didn't hesitate. He was eager to help, and to learn more about his grandfather. He was also confident in his abilities. A good thing for him.

"Of course I want to do this, Kevin. I'm ready for anything. When do we leave?"

"Right now," Kevin said with a frown. "I'm on my way to pick you up. Grab your stuff, and meet me outside. And call your cousin, too. We'll need her help."

"Got it." Ben agreed from the other side. "See you soon, Kevin.

They hung up, and Kevin smiled victoriously. Tennyson was up. He just need to fire up that engine now.

___________

Kevin, Ben and Gwen were in the former's car. They had just reached the highway. Kevin was behind the wheel, Gwen was in the passenger seat, and Ben was in the back.

Gwen yawned. It was around 11 in the night. She hadn't slept well for the past few days. Her body was taking its sweet toll on him.

"Are we going to drive 150 miles?" She asked Kevin with a frown. 150 miles was pretty far away. It would take an hour and more to reach there.

"We're going 60 miles per hour. That means it will take us at least two and a half hours to get there." Ben pointed out unsurely.

"Who says we're gonna drive all the way." Kevin said with a smirk as he pet Tom who was on Gwen's lap and looking around excitedly.

"Tom. Formation 1c." Kevin commanded to the Galvanic Mechamorph.

The alien dog beeped and jumped to the dashboard from Gwen's lap. He immediately covered the entire car while Kevin pressed a button. The whole car turned to blue and white circuit like design. The entire car suddenly formed two aeroplane wings and the silencers were replaced by bigger ones. The steering wheel was replaced by another steering wheel, something more tailored for a plane.

Kevin hit the accelerator and they took off from the road.

"This is insane!" Ben commented excitedly as he looked through the window. They were going through the air now. They were flying in a car.

"You sure can control it?" Gwen asked nervously as she saw them reaching the speed of 190 M/hr limit. And it was still going over.

"Fasten your seatbelts and don't puke." Kevin warner as he pressed the accelerator more.

It was ten minutes later, when they finally reached the location.

Kevin parked their flying car near a wooden fence and got out, shivering in the cold. He immediate took out his jacket from the backseat and wore it. Goddamn, it was too cold here. He looked around and saw nothing but snow-covered fields and a few scattered houses.

Besides him, Gwen and Ben were puking their stomach's out in the open. He looked as the two cousins finally stopped after a minute or two.

He supplied the water bottle to the two of them. Damn! He didn't know that they were gonna puke so badly. He had controlled himself, but Ben and Gwen weren't so good.

"There's a reason pilots wear anti-G suit, Kevin." Gwen said as she drank the water and sighed. The blood flow was returning to normal and she felt a lot better than everyone.

"I am never gonna do that again." Ben commented as he clutched his abdomen.

"This is where the distress call came from," Gwen spoke up looking around. "But I don't see any signs of trouble."

"Maybe it was a false alarm," Ben suggested, as he zipped up his jacket. "Or maybe someone was just messing with us."

Kevin shook his head. "I don't think so. This call sounded serious. And why would anyone prank us in the middle of nowhere?"

He walked towards the fence and scanned the horizon. He noticed a faint smoke rising from a barn in the distance. He pointed at it. "Maybe that's where we need to go."

"Let's check it out," Gwen agreed instantly. "We have to be careful though. We don't know what we're dealing with."

Tom wrapped himself around Kevin as a belt. It's lone eye resembled a buckle as he looked ahead excitedly.

The three of them climbed over the fence and started walking towards the barn. They hoped to find the source of the distress call.

Kevin and the others arrived at the barn which was actually a police station. The whole station looked like it had been hit by a meteor. A huge hole was blasted through the wall, and debris was scattered everywhere.

"What could have happened here?" Gwen asked worriedly. A hole of this size didn't sound good.

"Looks like someone had a party and didn't invite us," Ben joked uneasily.

"There's a Plumbers badge out there." Kevin said as he pointed at the Plumbers badge on the table.