At the Plumber Base, the place was in a flurry of activity.

The reason for this was because the base was finally getting its new commander in charge. The Magister that would be leading the Earth Branch was just about to arrive and everyone wanted to show their new boss, that they were Plumbers worthy of being commanded.

Shining Armor was in the control room, watching as the other Agents got everything ready. "Are the prisoners fed?"

"Yes sir," an alien Plumber replied as he ran past.

"And everything's clean?" He spotted the cleaning droids, working overtime to get everything spotless. "Good. The new Magister should be arriving any minute. I want every spare second to be used to make sure this place is spic and span."

Flash chose this moment to arrive, the teen eating from a bag of chips as he walked into the room. "Hey," he smirked, "what's up?"

Shining's eyes went wide. "Flash! Will you get rid of those? The new Magister's gonna be here any minute and I don't want his first impressions of you to be negative." Flash frowned before downing all the chips and handing the bag to one of the droids.

Once he swallowed, he sighed and looked back at Shining. "Why couldn't you keep running this place?"

"Plumber rules indicate, that a base must have at least one Magister rank in charge. This guy has years of experience, which will be much more useful than me. Besides, running this place comes with way too much paperwork. I'm not ready to be stuck behind a desk all the time."

"Stuck behind a desk? We just went to Hawaii and stopped a massive eruption."

"And when I got back, there was a ton of paperwork waiting for me. If I ever want to spend time in the field and be home in time to see Flurry before she needs to go to sleep, I need someone to take over running this place. And from what I've heard, this guy is supposed to be really good."

"I'll take your word for it," Flash stated before a Plumber rushed up to them.

"Shining Armor. The Magister's transport ship has just arrived." Shining nodded and he began to head to the teleporter, Flash going with him as they warped down to the landing zone for the Plumber ships.

When they got there, they spotted a bunch of Plumbers waiting for the new arrival.

The pair saw a window and moved over to it, looking through and seeing a large empty room where the ship was supposed to be. And before Flash could say anything, a portal opened up on one of the walls. A portal that had a Plumber ship fly through.

As it landed, the portal began to close and the room's vacuum seal broke. As the room filled with oxygen, Flash and Shining stepped through the door and headed down into the room. As they did, the doors of the ship opened.

This revealed the outline of the alien that would be running the base, Flash and Shining staring at him as he stepped down the ramp.

That outline was crab-like, being a strange crustacean standing at around five feet. They had four legs and as they scuttled closer, their features were revealed. His shell was a mixture of black and green, which covered his entire body. Around its waist was some kind of white belt, with a Plumber Badge on it, whilst a pair of clawed arms could be seen.

His right claw was three times the size of his left one, both claws being green with black lines on it. The top of his shell was green with a black triangle in the centre, the shell having some kind of line running along it. His face was also green, with black around his mouth whilst his main body was black. His four legs were a mixture of black and green, being green between his main body and his knees whilst the rest was black.

The alien reached the bottom of the ramp and looked around, as Shining Armor stepped forward. "Magister Clawcer. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Agent Shining Armor and I officially hand control of this base over to you."

"Good," Clawcer replied with an almost posh accent. "Maybe that means this place will run the way it is supposed to run." Shining and the other Plumbers frowned, as Clawcer turned his attention to them all. "Listen closely. Many of you are new Plumbers, who only just received the honour of having such a title. You might think you know what it means to be a Plumber. But I am here to tell you that you do not."

"Bit harsh," Flash whispered.

"To be a Plumber means that you are responsible for every life on this Planet. Whether it be a highly evolved creature, or even the smallest organism. Your action will have a resounding impact on this world and as a Plumber, you must make sure everything you do results in a net positive. That is why I have been sent here. To make sure this base and all its agents, are as proficient as possible. Is that understood?"

"YES SIR!" The Plumbers all yelled in unison, as Clawcer kept looking them over. Then, his eyes fell upon Flash.

Flash smiled, but Clawcer didn't copy that expression. Instead, he frowned before asking a curious question. "What are you doing here?"

Flash looked confused and the others shared that expression. "I'm...here to meet the new Magister."

"No. What are you doing in this base? Only Plumbers are permitted in this building."

"But I am a Plumber."

"No, you are not. You are a human adolescent, who has been impersonating a Plumber despite holding no rank whatsoever." Flash began to worry now. "It's clear, the previous command has allowed things to slide in the absence of real leadership. To allow a child to fool around, playing hero."

"Hey!" Flash frowned, "I am a hero. I've lost count of the number of people I've saved. I was doing Plumber work, way before anyone else here was."

"Yes. But that stops now. Just because you have a piece of inferior galvin technology strapped to your arm, does not mean you are authorised to dole out justice."

"But the Plumbers were the ones who gave me this honorary Plumber title."

"Yes. Plumbers of inferior intellect and judgement. They allowed you to continue this childish fantasy. But playing around like that, does not make you a Plumber." Flash frowned. "Tell me. Have you undergone any actual Plumber training?"

"No."

"Attended the Plumber Academy?"

"No."

"Even looked at a Plumber handbook?"

"Yes!" Flash stated, remembering Shining giving him one once. "I read...part of it." Shining face-palmed, as Clawcer looked away from him.

"I'm far too busy to have you running around pretending to be a Plumber. From this point on, consider your Plumber membership null and void. You will not attempt to act as a Plumber in any way. If you do, it will be considered a criminal act and you will be arrested."

"You can't be serious!" Flash cried. "So what, I'm never allowed to be a Plumber again?"

"Oh, you can be a Plumber again. Once you've undergone the proper training at the academy. Until that point, I don't want to hear about you playing around." With that, he started scuttling off. "Someone please escort this civilian to the exit." With that, he left the room and the Plumbers all looked over at Flash in shock.

But Flash was even more shocked, the teen staring at the spot Clawcer had just been in with his mouth hanging open.

"What...just happened?"

"I think..." Shining placed a hand on his shoulder, "you just got fired." Flash could hardly believe it. "Listen. Don't go doing anything rash." Flash frowned at him, "I'll try and sort something out. But until then, you've got to stay calm and don't go off half-cocked."

"So what am I supposed to do? Ignore a situation that might need my help?"

"Not entirely. If you see someone in immediate danger, there's nothing stopping you from helping them. Just don't get involved with any criminal situation." Flash frowned, not liking the sound of that at all.

"Fine. But this guy really really needs to get whatever stick he has up his butt removed." The other Plumbers laughed at this, as Flash began to head towards the teleporter. Shining took a few deep breaths, as he thought about what he would need to say.

He had a feeling Clawcer wouldn't be easy to convince.

Clawcer had arrived at his new office, which was a large square room with several machines running along the side of the walls.

The crab alien had several metal boxes, full of everything he had sent to the base for his own use. And as he turned to the box, the top of his head opened to reveal a giant brain within it. A brain that sparked before unleashing a bolt of lightning, which flew into the box before retracting to reveal several books within the energy.

He moved those books over to an empty bookcase, then repeated the process with several more objects within the box.

As he worked to get the office just how he liked it, a knock could be heard. "Enter." The door opened and Shining stepped into the room. "Ah, Agent Armor. Good. I had hoped to talk to you about how the Plumbers will work going forward."

"Before that," Shining replied. "I need to talk to you about Flash."

"What about him?" Clawcer moved over to his desk and jumped up onto a chair behind it. "He was a disruptive influence, that should never have been allowed in this base. Something you should have dealt with when you were put in charge."

"Sir, Flash Sentry is not a disruptive influence. I've been watching him, ever since he first got the Omnitrix. He's made some mistakes along the way, but he's grown into a hero worthy of respect. Everyone in the city owes him their life. Heck, everyone in this dimension, owes him their life. He stopped Vilgax. Something the Plumbers were never able to do."

"There is no need to give me the pitch about all his accomplishments. I have already read the reports about what happened. And whilst I'll admit the boy has been lucky so far, he still lacks the proper training to act as a Plumber. Every time he does something, it's up to the official authorities to clean up the mess."

"That's not true."

"Really?" Clawcer opened up a file with his claw. "Let's see. When he captured the smuggler that brought a dangerous slime creature onto the planet, why was the report not filled out by him? I've seen his handwriting and it does not match the writing on this report."

Shining frowned. "Flash caught the guy by freezing him to the side of a building. He didn't have any choice. The slime was a threat that needed to be stopped, which he did. But by the time he beat it, he was so exhausted he had to let the other Plumbers take the smuggler into custody."

"Well why was he out there alone? Standard procedure indicates that all Plumber agents work with a partner. So where was his partner?" Shining frowned and pointed his thumb at himself, making Clawcer roll his eyes. "So why was he out there whilst you were in here? If you were working in the base, he should have been here to help you."

"I wasn't about to take my best agent off the board, just because I was stuck making sure this place didn't fall apart. But we're getting off topic. Flash is the best person to have on the street. Without him, this city would have been a crater by now. He might not have gone to the academy, but he's learned more doing this than he ever would at the academy."

"Then he'd better remember it whilst he waits to join the academy." Clawcer returned his focus to getting the office how he liked it. "I have spoken. Flash Sentry will not be permitted to act as a Plumber until he's earned that right, the same way we all had to."

Shining sighed, "he has earned it. And you'll regret this, when we come across an opponent that Flash is perfect to deal with. Like Animac and the others."

"You mean the prisoners we currently have under lock and key. Are you expecting them to escape?" Shining was about to answer, but Clawcer spoke up first. "You don't need to worry about that. I've already made arrangements to take them off our hands."

"What?"

"They'll be transferred to a galactic prison. This base might be state of the art, but it seems to have a bad habit of losing power and letting the prisoners escape. Transferring them is the best course of action."

"But Flash-"

"Is no longer your concern. Now leave." Shining frowned, but turned to leave as he thought about what to do. He had to find a way to get Flash's Plumber rank back. If he didn't, it would only be a matter of time before Flash did something that could get him in trouble.

Across town, Flash was walking through the newly constructed Cosmic Town.

Since he was now jobless, he thought he would blow off some steam and look around the newly built alien town. This would be the first time he could really look around the place, since the few times he had been there he had been too busy with Plumber stuff to look around. But he apparently wouldn't have that problem anymore.

The place was really something impressive. As Flash walked down the street, he found shops of multiple kinds in every direction. There were basic stores selling food from different planets, along with clothing stores that were meant for anyone and everyone in the galaxy.

There were also stores that had a bunch of alien technology. Apparently, aliens played video games and listened to music as well. The only problem was all the alien stuff was in the alien language, so one would have zero idea what the worlds or writing they used meant.

Flash suddenly felt himself getting hungry, which was strange since he had eaten a bag of chips not too long ago. "Guess getting fired works up an appetite." He sighed as he looked around and spotted a store that was selling a bunch of different meat.

"Welcome." The store owner smiled. "Come to try fresh meat from across the cosmos?"

"Yeah," Flash nodded. "You got anything that's safe for humans to eat?"

"Of course," the owner replied. "All this meat is safe for humans to eat. I made sure of it when I ordered it. Nothing here should affect your digestive system. Pick anything you like." Flash looked around and saw that all the meat looked just like normal meat.

He had expected it to be blue or something, but it was pretty much the same. "Um...what's this?" He pointed at a random piece of meat, hanging from a hook on the ceiling.

"That's trakodon meat. Your planet apparently had a creature that was similar to it in appearance. You called it a...T-Rex."

"T-Rex meat?" Flash could barely believe it. Was there really a planet out there with a T-Rex on it? But then he remembered he had fought an alien dinosaur before. "Trakodon aren't...sentient, are they?"

"Of course not," the owner looked appalled. "No more sentient than those cows and pigs you humans eat."

"Alright. One piece of trakodon, please. Cooked well." The owner nodded and cut off a piece of the meat to place on his frying pan. He cooked it all the way through before sticking it through with a wooden stick. Once it was done, he handed it to Flash and accepted the payment.

Flash stared at the meat and sighed before taking a bite. And to his amazement, it tasted great. Kind of beefy with a smokey texture and a taste of spice. It was definitely something he wouldn't mind trying again.

"Looks like you like it," the owner laughed. "But just so you know, trakodon has a mouth drying effect. You might wanna get yourself something to drink before you finish that?" Flash gave him a look, wondering if he had just been swindled.

Even so, Flash headed next door and bought an alien juice box.

Sure enough, the trakodon did make his mouth dry. Luckily, the juice box was rather delicious. "Um," he smirked as he walked down the street. "Not bad. It's like a mix of orange and passion fruit. Nice." He sucked the box dry, eventually crushing it with his slurping.

Sighing, he threw the box into a trash can and looked around. Despite still being annoyed about being fired, he was eager to see what the rest of the new town was like. He could only wonder what excitement it had waiting for him.

"STOP! THIEF!" Flash's head shot up, as he turned towards the voice of an alien crying out. As he did, he spotted another alien pushing her way through a large crowd.

The alien's skin was white in colour and she had short green hair on her head, with white fin-like ears coming out the sides of her head. She was wearing a green shoulder-less shirt, white shorts and green boots that went up to her knees. Her shirt also had a hole in the front, where her chest was. And sticking out of that hole, was some kind of red crystal spike. The same spike was also sticking out of her back.

The girl ran and as she did, Flash spotted her stuffing something into a bag she wrapped around her shoulders.

"Oh no you don't!" Forgetting he was no longer a Plumber, Flash activated the Ultimatrix and searched for an alien he could give chase with. Once he found XLR8, he slapped the dial down and transformed. But the alien he got, wasn't the one he wanted. "I say," Molestache frowned. "Well this isn't good!" The girl started to get away and Molestache acted quickly.

Extending his moustache, he grabbed onto part of a building above him and hoisted himself up.

He started swinging, grabbing one part of a building in front of him before reaching out to grab part of one across the street. This allowed him to chase after the escaping criminal, who glanced back and spotted him getting closer. "Young lady! Please cease your attempts at escape and return the contents of that satchel you commandeered."

"Leave me alone!" She cried, but Molestache continued to chase after her and got close to catching up.

Once he was close enough, Molestache dived down and tried to grab her with his stache-hand. But at the last moment, the girl looked up towards the roof before the crystals in her chest and back glowed. And in the blink of an eye, she was gone. "What?" He landed and looked around, fearing he might have lost her.

Then, he heard movement coming from the roof of a building and looked up to see the girl was running along it.

"Oh no, you don't!" He wrapped his moustache around his head and formed a helicopter, which picked him up and lifted him into the air. He flew up to the roof and chased after the alien girl, who glanced back and spotted him.

He approached and was moments away from grabbing her. But then she glanced around as her crystals glowed once more. And again, she disappeared in a red flash and Molestache was unable to get her. And as he looked around, he spotted her on another rooftop.

He chased after her and she kept running, Molestache keeping an eye on the crystals she had.

When he focused, he realised the girl's crystals were filling with light. "So, you can teleport yourself a short distance. And before you can do it again, you have to let those gems recharge." It was only a guess, but he was sure he was right. As such, he chased after her again and she warped away before he got to her.

As she did, Molestache looked around and spotted her. As he did, he realised something and smirked.

"Now I've got you." He chased after her again, the girl rushing to the end of a rooftop and finding herself at the end of a street. There wasn't another building within reach for her to jump to. And as she looked down, she saw the crystal wasn't completely charged up.

As such, all she could do was stand there whilst Molestache leapt at her. "You're mine!" He tackled her and the pair fell over the edge of the roof. As the pair fell, Molestache wrapped his stache around her body. But the girl didn't look worried and glanced towards another building. They fell a few feet before the girl vanished, Molestache turning his gaze in the same direction she was looking. And what he saw made him smile, until he crashed into the ground. "OW!"

Several streets over, the girl jumped down into an alleyway from the roof and sighed.

She took several breaths before taking the bag off her back. She looked inside and frowned at what was inside. She let out a sigh, quickly zipping the bag back up before looking out onto the street of Cosmic Town. She would wait another minute or so before heading out. Long enough for that rat alien to stop looking for her.

But before she could leave, something shot down and tackled her. "GOTCHA!" Molestache pinned her to the ground and quickly extended his stache, wrapping it around the girl's eyes before curling it around the rest of her body.

"HELP!" She cried out, as Molestache lifted her up. She tried to struggle, but she couldn't escape his stache.

"Hush up!" Molestache stated. "I know you can't teleport away. You need line of sight, don't you?" The girl said nothing, as Molestache removed the backpack from her. "Let's take a look at what you stole." He opened the bag up and was shocked by what he saw. "What?"

Inside was a bunch of food. Several sandwiches, packets of crisps, water bottles and a few pieces of fruit.

"This is what you stole?" As he started zipping the bag back up, the Ultimatrix beeped. He frowned and dropped the girl, stepping away from her as he returned to human form.

The girl panted as she looked over and saw him with her bag. "Give that to me!" She suddenly teleported behind him, but Flash was onto her trick and jumped forward before she could grab him. He then spun around and kicked her in the stomach, knocking her backwards and making her cry out as she hit the ground.

"Not until you tell me why you stole all this. It's nothing too expensive, so why did you take it without paying?" The girl glared up at him, as he gave her an almost sympathetic look. "Okay. Let's start over. What's your name. Mine's Flash."

The girl panted and let out a sigh. "Telsa. My name is Telsa."

"Okay, Telsa. Why did you steal this food?"

"I'm hungry," she stated. As if to verify her story, her stomach groaned. "I haven't...I haven't eaten in so long."

"That still doesn't explain why you stole. Unless...you don't have any money, do you?" Telsa nodded. "Nothing?" She nodded again. "What, did you spend every last...whatever it is on getting a ship here?"

"I didn't pay for a ticket to come here," Telsa stated. "I...I..."

"You stowed away," Flash realised. Telsa flinched as he said that, making Flash sigh. He felt like there was something more to this. "Can you come with me?" Telsa looked scared. "I'm not gonna turn you in. Just show me where you got this stuff from and tell me what happened to you. Do that and not only will I not turn you in, but I'll buy you something to eat."

Telsa gave him a shocked look. "Why would you do that?"

Flash smirked. "I'm a human. A lot of us have this annoying habit, of showing kindness to those in need." He held a hand out. "What do you say?" The girl looked him over, as if trying to figure out if he was tricking her or not. But then she smiled and took the hand, letting Flash pull her up to her feet.

"Okay."

A few minutes later, Flash was at the store Telsa had gotten the food from. The teen handed the bag back to the alien store owner and told him Telsa got away, the store alien not happy about the thief escaping. But he was grateful for Flash getting his stuff back and let him buy some of the stolen food at half price.

Once he had the food, Flash returned to the bench he had left Telsa on.

He half expected her to be gone, but she stayed behind and looked hopeful when he returned with the food. So Flash tossed her a sandwich and she eagerly started eating it, Flash placing a water bottle next to her as he sat down and enjoyed his food.

"So," Flash asked, "what's your story? Why'd you come here?"

Telsa stopped eating and sighed, as she looked up at the sky. "My planet's dying. Our sun's entered a state of instability. It's unleashing a bunch of heat and roasting our planet. The plants are dying and the water is evaporating. It's only a matter of time before it shoots out a blast of fire that'll roast our planet. So my friends and I realised we had to get off the planet."

"So you stowed away on a ship?" Telsa nodded. "Why didn't you contact the Plumbers? They would have helped you?"

"What's a Plumber?" Telsa asked, clearly not knowing what that is. "And how would I have contacted them?"

Flash frowned. "What tech level is your planet at?"

"Before the ships came, my people knew nothing of technology. We were using simple tools made of rock and iron. It wasn't until a hundred years ago, that ships started showing up and our people learned there was life on other planets. But even after learning all that stuff, we were a hundred years away from making something like it. None of the ships coming to our planet, ever let us even look at their technology. They were too busy, mining ore from my planet to tell us anything."

"So you couldn't call for help or build a ship to escape from your planet."

"Exactly. If we didn't sneak onto the ship, we'd probably be dead by now. But..."

"But?"

"But the ship we snuck onto wasn't exactly the most...law abiding. They kept talking about sneaking their contraband past the stupid Earthlings." She gave him a sheepish look, "not my words."

"It's fine." Flash leaned back. "Sounds like they're smuggling something." It was then that he realised something Telsa said. "Wait. We? You weren't alone on that ship?"

"No. My friends all snuck onboard with me. They're all younger than me and none of them can teleport yet." She began to sniff, as tears formed in her eyes. "It's all my fault. I'm the one that picked the ship we snuck onto. When we got to Earth, those guys found us and caught everyone else. I was the only one able to escape. I left them behind."

Flash frowned, as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure they're okay."

"Those creeps probably threw them out of an airlock the moment they got into space. If they didn't, there's no telling what they're gonna do to them. They're just kids and now they might be sold off as slave on another planet." Her tears began to weep in full force and Flash couldn't bear to see her like that.

"No, they won't. I'm going to save them. I promise I will."

"What?" Telsa asked. "But...they could be anywhere in the galaxy by now?"

"When did the ship arrive?"

"About two days ago. Why?" Flash thought about this and remembered what he had heard about the ship coming to and leaving the planet. Once the ship arrived, it had to wait to be inspected before anything could be done. No refuelling or moving cargo. And with the space port still newly opened, the time it took to get inspected was at least a full day. Maybe two.

"Because there's a chance your friends are still on this planet." He took out his phone and began to make a call.

At the ship docks, a large ship was parked in one of the landing zones.

Inside that ship, there was a large metal box that was bolted shut with several locks keeping the lid from being pushed off. And within that box, a bunch of alien children were huddled inside. Five in total, which all shared Telsa's body style of having white skin, green hair and gemstones in the chests and backs.

They were all cramped and scared, as they had been trapped inside the box for days and were starving.

But suddenly, the sound of the locks being undone caught their attention and made them look up. The lid was then lifted, though only by a few inches on one side. Enough for something to be pushed through. "Eat," a voice stated as it pushed some unwrapped protein bars through the gap. "Can't have you dying before we can sell you. I'm sure whoever buys you, wants you at least strong enough to work."

The young aliens each took a bar and started eating, but were soon dropped back into darkness as the lid was closed again.

The youngest of the group, began to cry as she held another one. "Why did Telsa leave us here?"

The oldest of the ground frowned. "I know she didn't do it because she wanted to. There's no telling what they would have done to her. I'm sure she'll be back. She'll find a way to save us." The others hoped he was right. But how could she hopefully save them from those brutes?

Back at the Plumber Base, Shining was standing behind the monitors like he had done before.

He had hoped we would be back out in the field, but it seemed Clawcer had other ideas. And as he stared at the many monitors, his phone rang and he quickly answered it. "Hello?" The voice on the other end shocked him.

"Hey," Flash stated. "How's work under the new management going?"

Shining sighed. "If you're calling to ask if I was able to get your job back, I've only got bad news."

"This isn't about that. Well...it kind of is. I might not be a Plumber anymore. But there's someone who needs my help. I'm just giving you a heads up about something."

"What is it?" Shining asked, with Flash explaining all he had learned about Telsa and the ship she was on. "Any idea what they're smuggling?"

"No, I do not. But if the ship's still there, I have to find the ones they're holding captive. I promised Telsa I'd save them. But these guys could be dangerous. So I might need some Plumber assistance."

Shining sighed. "Well as much as I'd like to help you, it's not up to me."

Back in his office, Clawcer was busy writing something on a sheet of paper.

As he finished writing and placed the pen down on the table, having been held in his electrical hold, a knock could be heard at the door. "Enter." The door opened and Shining stepped inside. "If this is about Sentry again, you won't be getting a different answer."

"This is about Flash, but it's not about him returning. He may have uncovered a group of smugglers in Cosmic Town." Clawcer looked up in shock, as Shining took a deep breath. "A group of kids apparently stowed away on their ship and overheard them talking about hiding something. They were discovered and all but one were apparently captured. Flash met the one that got away and has promised to help save her friends."

"I see," Clawcer frowned. "So even though he's not a Plumber, he continues to act as if he is one."

"Flash isn't doing this as a Plumber. He's doing it as the hero he is. He was saving people with his abilities, way before he was given the clearance as a Plumber."

"There's a word for that," Clawcer stated. "Vigilantism. Something that isn't permitted on this planet or by the Plumbers."

"Maybe," Shining nodded. "But Flash just wants to make sure those kids are safe. Isn't that why you became a Plumber? To help those in need?" Clawcer hummed at this. "And what if these aliens really are smugglers. Do you really want to let a bunch of them escape, the very first day you took over? That might not look good on your record."

Clawcer sighed. "There's no need to try and coax me into this. I will allow this sting operation. But if it turns out that Sentry is wrong and we end up wasting resources for nothing, I'll have that boy in a cell for impersonating a Plumber." Shining gulped, hoping Flash was right about all this. "So, what's the plan?"

Shining took out his badge and brought up a map, showing the Ultimatrix signal. "I've got Flash's signal. We follow it to the ship and wait to see if anything happens."

Flash and Telsa were currently running through the streets of Cosmic Town, heading towards the space port.

They finally arrived at the large area, which was currently fenced off so the public wouldn't wander onto the landing zones and get in trouble. But that was no trouble for Flash and Telsa, Flash transforming into Kagenobi whilst Telsa just warped past the fence.

The pair moved in a zigzag formation, both moving to hide behind crates and vehicles that were scattered about the place.

Telsa was keeping her eye out, trying to find the ship she had escaped from. She was starting to fear it had already left, when she spotted it not too far away. "There it is!" She pointed at the ship in question, which was a large gray cylindrical cube with wings. As they moved towards the ship, they spotted one of the aliens that were working on said ship.

It was a tall alien, around twelve feet in height. Its skin was ash gray and it was rather bulky, with two fingers and a thumb on its hands. It was wearing a white shirt and black pants, with no shoes showing off its three toed feet. It had small ears and two eyes on its head, which was hairless but had some kind of metal blade on the top that looked like a shark's dorsal fin. The same fins could be seen on the sides of his arms.

The alien was pushing a hover dolly, with a large metal crate on it, up the ramp into the ship. "That's where they're keeping your friends?" Telsa nodded, as they got closer and closer to the ship. Kagenobi turned to Telsa. "I'm going to go have a look around. Hopefully, I can find your friends and get them out before those guys notice me."

"Are you sure?" Telsa asked. "What if they spot you?"

"Relax. I've faced tougher opponents than them." With that, Kagenobi morphed into a shadow and flew along the ground. He quickly reached the ramp and flew up it, moving into the cargo hold and keeping to the shadows. As he did, he spotted several more of the blade-headed aliens moving the cargo around.

"That's the last of it," one alien said. "We can finally get off this dump." Kagenobi panicked, as the aliens headed for the exit out of the cargo bay. As he did, the ramp began to rise.

"Not good." He looked at all the cargo containers and realised he couldn't fit them all into his shadow space. He was either going to have to leave without the kids, or get stuck inside the ship going who knows where.

But before he could make a decision, a flash of light caught his attention and he looked around to see Telsa appear.

"What are you doing?" He stepped out of the shadows, as the door completely closed. "Now we're both stuck in here."

"I saw the ship was closing its ramp," Telsa explained. "I panicked and warped in at the last moment." Flash wondered how good her eyesight was, if she was able to warp into the ship from such a distance away. "What do we do?"

"First, we've gotta stop this ship from taking off. Then, we find your friends." Telsa nodded and Kagenobi hit the Ultimatrix, transforming in a flash of light that blind Telsa. "Grey Matter!" The tiny frog alien looked around, instantly understanding how the ship worked and how he could stop the ship from powering up. "Search for your friends. I'll keep us on terrafirma."

Telsa nodded and ran through the cargo haul, whilst Grey Matter leapt up onto a beam connected to one of the walls.

He ran along it until he reached a box on the side of the wall, which he quickly pulled open to reveal a bunch of wires. As he did, the engines started powering up. He didn't have much time. "Okay. Start by realigning these two power distributors, pull that out entirely and switch these two wires. That should send a warning to the ship's coms and prevent them from taking off."

Telsa began looking through the many different crates that she could find. She pulled the lid off of one and when she looked inside, her eyes went wide seeing some kind of strange cylinder device. Something similar to what she had seen some individuals use, in those TV shows she managed to spot in the days she had been there.

And then, she spotted a crate that was different from the others. One that was covered in locks and chains.

She rushed over to it and knocked on the side. "Is there anyone in there?"

"Telsa?" A voice called back, making her gasp as she realised it was her friend.

"Hold on. I'm getting you out of there!" But as she said that, she heard movement coming from behind the doors leading out of the cargo haul. She looked around and spotted where Grey Matter was and grabbed the crate before warping over to him. "They're coming!"

"Hold on!" Grey Matter worked quickly, disconnecting a few more wires and finally placing two together. When he did, the cargo doors suddenly began to open and the ramp lowered. "Get out of here!"

"What about you?"

"I've gotta keep them busy until the Plumbers arrive!" At that moment, the doors opened and the aliens rushed into the room. When they spotted them, they growled as Telsa grabbed the crate.

"Be careful!" Grey Matter nodded, as she looked out of the ship and teleported herself and the crate away. Grey Matter then turned to the smugglers and smirked before leaping over to one of the crates, then onto another and another until he reached them.

"Get that shrimp!" One alien yelled, as another charged forward and tried to grab him. But Grey Matter dodged his hand and jumped over him, landing on his back out of reach.

Another ran forward and tried to punch the small alien, but Grey Matter leapt up and his fist hit his fellow smuggler. "GYAH!" He turned towards the shipmate, who flinched at the mistake before getting a pair of galvin feet slamming into his eyes.

"AUGH!" He staggered back, as Grey Matter escaped. He kept leaping around, the aliens unable to grab him and looking like idiots as they tried.

Telsa had gotten the box somewhere far from the ship and once she was safe, she found a bunch of tools that she used to break through the locks.

Using a pair of bolt cutters, she snapped the last padlock off and opened the lid. Looking inside, she found her friends all crammed inside the metal cube and sighed seeing they were all there. "Are you okay?" They nodded, as Telsa helped them out of the box. "Are any of you hurt?"

"No," another replied, "just really hungry. We've been eating nothing but small bars of gross stuff for three days."

Telsa nodded. "Don't worry. I'm going to get you something to eat as soon as I can. But first, I have to go back."

"Go back?" Another asked. "We just got away from that place. Why would you wanna go back and possibly get captured again?"

"I have to," she cried. "Someone's fighting those aliens and if I don't go and help him, he might end up even worse than us. It's thanks to him I was able to save you all. I won't leave him to fight against those crooks on his own." She turned and teleported away before they could argue.

Grey Matter continued to bounce around the ship's cargo hold, doing his best to avoid the grabby hands and sharp blades.

He once again slammed one in the head and bounced away, as the alien tried to grab him but slammed his own face. The alien frog laughed at this, as he flipped through the air and landed on one of the crates near the exit. But as he did, one alien managed to reach out and grab him before Grey Matter noticed him.

"Gotcha!" He laughed, squeezing the little alien tightly

"Hey!" He groaned, feeling the squeeze on his body. He reached down and bit the alien's hand, but the guy's skin was so hard it did nothing to him.

The alien squeezed him harder, then smirked before pulling his arm back. "Time for you to be roadkill!" With that, he threw Grey Matter as hard as he could out of the ship. The alien was strong, so the speed Grey Matter picked up was something insane. If he hit something, he would go splat.

"Come on!" Grey Matter reached for the Ultimatrix and tried to focus on Goop. "Change!" He slapped the dial and in a flash, he was suddenly transformed. But it wasn't into the alien slime creature.

The aliens were in for quite a shock, when a green flash suddenly transformed the galvin into a solarhino. Riot-Horn flew through the air and crashed into the ground, still moving at the speed he had been going at as Grey Matter.

As such, the impact with the ground caused a small earthquake. The ground was ripped apart, as Riot-Horn carved a trench into the ground a good ten meters long. When he finally came to a stop, he moaned before picking himself up and turning towards the ship.

The mild earthquake was loud enough to catch the attention of everyone in the area, who all looked away from their own ships to see what had happened. And as they did, the smugglers leapt out of the ship and began to charge towards Riot-Horn.

The alien hero saw them coming and with a roar, ran forwards and threw his own punch towards the closest alien. That alien threw his own punch and the pair's attacks collided, creating a shockwave that knocked every weaker individual away.

Riot-Horn found the force of his opponent's punch was on par with his own, making him realise this species' strength was equal to Riot-Horn's. As such, he and the smuggler leapt away from one another. But the others ran in and threw their own punches. Riot-Horn tried to block and counter their attacks, but found there were too many of them to block at once.

One managed to punch him in the side and knock him off balance, allowing another to get in close and slash at Riot-Horn with his blade. This resulted in a cut on his shoulder, making him cry out as he jumped back. Two more ran at him and slashed at his chest, Riot-Horn pulling back but still getting a pair of cuts down his body.

"Gyah!" He staggered back, thinking about going Diamondhead. But then he had another idea. "Time to go, Ultimate!" He slapped the Ultimatrix and in a flash, his body began to change.

Within seconds, he was taller and his body was almost entirely encased within green armor. Only his head was left uncovered, though his horn was transformed into a metal tube whilst two tusk-like extensions grew out from under his arm.

The aliens were shocked by this sudden transformation, as the Ultimate Alien let out a mighty roar. "ULTIMATE RIOT-HORN!"

They all staggered back, clearly terrified that they had just come up against an opponent they couldn't hope to defeat. The hyper-evolved solarhino smirked, as he cracked his robotic knuckles. But one decided that the new look meant nothing and charged, leaping at him with his fist pulled back.

Ultimate Riot-Horn pulled his own fist back and as he threw it forward, his jack-hammer arms extended to add more power behind the punch. So when the two fists collided, the smuggler was completely overpowered and set flying backwards with tremendous force.

The alien smashed into the side of his ship and ripped right through the hull, whilst the other aliens charged at Ultimate Riot-Horn. However, the armored alien quickly responded by firing lasers from his horn and the tusks on his chest. These attacks smashed into the aliens and knocked them backwards, whilst U-R-H spun around and backhanded a few more.

Telsa chose this moment to arrive on the scene and when she saw the fight, she gasped realising Flash had to be the alien that was currently winning. "YES!" She cheered, seeing the smugglers try to cut his armor with little success. "GO FLASH!"

Ultimate Riot-Horn grabbed one of them in his oversized robotic hand and lifted him up, the smuggler screaming as he kicked and punched at him. Ultimate Riot-Horn then threw him into the ground, making a crater whilst two others leapt at him from behind.

But the Ultimate Alien smirked at them and ignited the thrusters on his back, the energy unleashed pushing the pair back and giving them a few burns.

They hit the ground and Ultimate Riot-Horn smirked, only to hear the sound of an energy blaster powering up. "FREEZE!" He spun around and spotted the first guy he sent flying, who was now holding the aforementioned energy weapon in his hands. "One wrong move and this thing will blast you to smithereens."

Ultimate Riot-Horn wasn't sure if he should be worried. He knew his Ultimate Form was powerful and could handle a lot of damage. However, these guys were trying to smuggle that weapon somewhere. And in his experience, weapons that needed to be smuggled tended to pack a punch. Did he dare risk it?

But before he could decide what to do, Telsa suddenly teleported next to the alien.

Before they could react, she spun through the air and slammed her foot into his face. "GYAH!" He was knocked backwards, allowing Telsa to land and grab the weapon. She pulled it from his grasp and as the alien staggered back, Riot-Horn's three metal horns powered up.

"Telsa, get away!" She heard this and leapt as far as she could, praying her gem charged up before he fired.

Ultimate Riot-Horn spent ten seconds charging and as the alien picked himself up, all three horns fired and the lasers combined into a single powerful beam. And as the smuggler recovered, he saw the attack flying towards him and gasped before leaping out of the way.

Moments later, the laser flew into the ship's cargo and hit the crates, blowing them and part of the ship up The shockwave sent the smuggler flying forward, eventually crashing to the ground at Ultimate Riot-Horn's feet. The alien smirked, as he heard a bunch of sirens.

Looking around, he spotted a bunch of Plumber ships and cars heading their way. The first ship flew down and landed besides them, as Telsa warped to Ultimate Riot-Horn's side and placed the blaster down next to the criminal.

The ship's back opened and Clawcer could be seen at the top of the ramp, Shining and several more Plumbers being there with him. The Magister stared at the Ultimate Alien, who quickly returned to normal Riot-Horn before reverting back to human.

Flash gulped, as he watched Clawcer walk down the ramp and look over everything that happened. "You did this?" He asked, pointing towards Flash. The teen nodded, sweating a bit. "It was my understanding, that you were only planning to rescue a bunch of hostages. Not take out the entire smuggling ring."

"That was the plan," Flash nodded. "I only fought them because I needed to give Telsa time to get her friends away."

"That's right," Telsa nodded. "It was self-defence. They attacked him and when he defended himself, one pulled out a weapon and tried to shoot him." She pointed at the villain on the ground, who looked like he was about to come around.

Clawcer spotted the weapon and used his electrical power to grab it, pulling it over to him and taking it apart to determine its design. "High penetration rating and an illegal power core. This type of weapon is banned in twenty-seven sectors of the galaxy. Including this one."

"There were more," Flash pointed at the destroyed ship. "But...I might have gotten a little excited."

"I see." Clawcer put the weapon back together and handed it to Shining, "get these criminals in capture cubes." The Plumbers nodded and got to work, as Clawcer turned to Flash. "I guess we owe you both a debt of gratitude. Had you not done this, they might have been on the other side of the galaxy by now with those illegal weapons."

"No problem," Flash nodded.

"However. Don't expect to get some kind of prize for this. What you did here could be considered vigilantism and I don't allow that kind of thing in the city I'm charged to protect." Flash frowned. "However, I am not so heartless that I can't agree to a favour or two. Is there anything you might want, in exchange for keeping what happened here under wraps? The last thing we need, is for people to know it's possible to get contraband past us."

Flash's eyes widened, as he caught Shining's smile.

He realised what Clawcer was saying. If Flash wanted, he could ask Clawcer to make him a Plumber again. He could be the hero he loved being again.

He was about to say that, but then caught sight of Telsa's worried expression. He looked over at her, as she glanced in a direction he assumed had her friends in. She and her friends might have been victims in this, but they were also stowaways that had come to Earth illegally. What would Clawcer do to them? Would he send them away? And even if he didn't, Telsa had no means of providing for herself or her friends.

Flash frowned, as he remembered the promise he had made to her. He might have helped her save them, but he wasn't done yet.

He sighed before turning to Clawcer. "Can you give Telsa and her friends visas to stay on Earth and work here?" This request shocked them. "They came here illegally, but they would have died if they hadn't. They're not criminals. Just scared. Can you please make it so they can stay on Earth and get jobs to support themselves?"

Clawcer looked at him in shock. "Are you sure you want to use this favour on that? You won't get another."

"Yes," Flash nodded. "If I threw them under the bus to make things better for myself, then what kind of hero would I be?" Telsa gasped, as Clawcer simply stared at them. "I want to be a Plumber again. But if I have to wait until I get through the academy, then so be it."

"Very well," Clawcer nodded as he turned to Shining Armor. "Take Ms. Telsa and her friends back to the base and fill out all the necessary documents needed, for them to become visaed residents of this planet."

"Yes sir," Shining nodded.

Telsa turned to Flash. "You don't have to do this. If there's something you want-"

"What I want, is for you and your friends to feel safe." Flash placed a hand on her shoulder. "Once you get this visa, the world will be your oyster. You'll be able to make a life for yourselves and learn everything you need to learn to survive. That's what matters."

Telsa began to tear up and hugged Flash, only to almost stab him with the gem in her chest.

Once she said sorry, they pulled away and Telsa went with Shining to go get her friends. That left Clawcer with Flash, the teen sighing as he expected to be told to leave. And Clawcer looked like he was about to do that, only for another agent to rush out of the ship.

"Magister Clawcer." He held up a piece of paper for the alien. "We just got an official message from Plumber High Command. It's a priority one message for you." The cerebrocrustacean raised an eyebrow, but took the paper in his claws.

He started reading it and when he did, his eyes went wide. "What?" He kept reading and a low growl escaped his lips. "It seems you won't have to wait to become a Plumber once again." He turned to Flash, who looked rather confused. "Plumber High Command has apparently gotten word of my dismissal of you and has vetoed the decision."

"Really?" Flash could barely believe it.

"Yes. I have been given orders to allow you to continue working as a Plumber. You will report to me and be once again given authority to act as a Plumber." Flash smiled at this. "However. As only an honorary Plumber, you'll still hold a rank of acting agent. This'll mean that any Plumber in our ranks can give you an order and you have to follow it. And if you do anything a fully ranked Plumber disapproves of, it'll be reported to me and I will be giving you an official reprimand. Get too many of those..."

"And I can say goodbye to getting into the academy and becoming a fully fledged Plumber," Flash realised.

"Exactly." Clawcer handed the note to Flash and turned towards the ship. "I'd suggest spending the rest of the day getting as much rest as you can. As soon as your Earth school gets out, I expect you to be at the base ready to receive orders."

"Yes sir," Flash gave him a salute and the alien crab disappeared into the ship. As soon as the criminals were in the ship, it took off and Flash found himself unable to hold back any more. "ALRIGHT!"

Several days later.

Flash, Shining, Trixie, the Rainbooms, Cadance and Flurry were all excited, as they walked down the street. The large group had decided to check out Cosmic Town themselves, especially after hearing Flash talk about how great it was.

"Trakodon on a stick, please!" Flash, Rainbow, Applejack and Shining all accepted the grilled meat and after buying themselves a juice box next door, they chowed down whilst the others bought their own interesting food choices.

Sunset and Twilight were having some kind of noodle dish, whilst Fluttershy, Rarity and Cadance were enjoying an alien salad. Pinkie was sampling everything she could find, wanting to try as many alien foods as possible. Even Flurry was enjoying an alien lollipop, the baby laughing as she watched all the aliens walk past.

"This place is great," Rainbow laughed. "We've gotta hang out here more often." The others agreed, as they continued down the street.

At the back of the group, Flash and Shining were walking side by side as they enjoyed their kebab. And as they did, Flash turned to Shining. "Thanks, for getting me my Plumber rank back."

Shining smirked, "I didn't do anything. It was the high command that wanted you back on the force."

"Yeah, but how did the high command find out about it so quickly? Someone had to have told them and I get the feeling it wasn't Clawcer." Shining smiled, as he finished off his meat.

"I...might have sent them a message after I realised Clawcer wasn't gonna listen to reason." Flash smirked. "But like I said, I didn't say anything to them. All I said was that you had been relieved of duty. I honestly didn't expect them to get back to us so quickly. That just means they realise the same thing I've known since the day we met." He slapped his hand on his back. "That you belong on the street, protecting the world."

Flash smiled, as they came across a particular store. "Welcome." They heard a voice call out, making them all look to see Telsa.

She was dressed in the same clothes she wore when she met Flash, but was now looking much less scruffy. She was also wearing an apron and a hat on her head to keep her hair out of the way. She and Flash smiled at one another, as the alien hero stepped up to her.

"Of all the places to work, you managed to land a job with the guy you tried to steal from?"

Telsa chuckled, as she looked back at the store she had robbed several days ago. "I was a little shocked he agreed to hire me as well. But after he learned why I stole from him, he seemed to feel sympathetic for me and agreed to let me work here. And it's really fun. The pay is great and he's helping me learn a bunch of new skills."

"That's cool," Flash smirked. "I'm glad of you. You deserved to have this chance."

"I never would have gotten any of this, if you hadn't agreed to help me." She smiled at him, "you really are a hero." Flash smiled back, scratching the back of his head as he did so.

The rest of Flash's friends then introduced themselves, as Telsa had to get back to work. They looked around the store and were impressed by it. After a while, they headed out to continue their exploration of the new town. They all promised Telsa they would be back and as she waved them goodbye, her focus was on Flash and how amazing he was.

As she watched them leave, she started feeling something strange in her chest. For some reason, she couldn't look away from Flash.

Author's Note

Well that was an interesting chapter. Flash has a new boss and he got a new friend, who's an alien. How will Clawcer and Telsa affect the story? Only time will tell.