The Exchange

Story
John’s car pulls up to Kevin’s garage, and John and Gwen get out.

John: It’s the middle of the night. This better be good.

Kevin: It is. I keep in contact with some of my, more questionable friends, to keep an eye on the underworld. Well, stolen Plumber information is on the black market.

Gwen: What? How could someone steal from the database? They’d have to get into a Plumbers’ base.

Kevin: Well, this person did. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any other info, except that the asking price was $10 million in Earth currency. And if multiple people bid for this, its price could escalate fairly quickly.

John: Well, it’s a good thing we know someone who’s filthy rich. I say we give Vulkanus a visit, see what he knows.

Kevin: For once, I like where your going with this. End Scene

Vulkanus is at an alien bar in space. He takes a big drink, and is sulking.

Vulkanus: Urgh! I can’t believe those little twerps stopped me. I mean sure, that’s what they’re supposed to do, but everything I was doing was legal.

John: Either way, you weren’t going to destroy our home. (Vulkanus turns, and sees John, Gwen, and Kevin.)

Vulkanus: Oh, not you guys! I’m not even doing anything this time.

Kevin: Either way, you’re coming with us. Unless you tell us about a deal involving stolen Plumber material.

Vulkanus: I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, I’m not in the mood. (Vulkanus starts to walk off, when he’s caught in a mana rope.)

Gwen: Not until we get what we need.

Vulkanus breaks free from the mana, and John turns into Articguana. Vulkanus charges forward, and Articguana fires his freeze ray, freezing Vulkanus in place.

Kevin: Now talk. The stolen data.

Vulkanus: Alright! It’s apparently a copy of a DNA database, with the DNA structure of all the different species in the galaxy. I was thinking about purchasing it, but after purchasing Earth, and the fact that I got robbed recently, I’m not interested in it.

Gwen: Where’s the meet?

Vulkanus: Some underground alien bar in Bellwood.

Kevin: Hm. I think I know just the place.

Gwen: What? You been there before?

Kevin: (Slightly guilty) What? No? Argit mentioned it once.

Vulkanus: The meet for the buyer is in a few hours. So go beat them up, and leave me alone!

Articguana: Chillax, Vulkanus. Come on guys, time’s short. End Scene

They arrive at the alien bar, which was empty.

John: Where is everyone?

Kevin: Don’t know. A drop like this is usually done in a private place, so maybe that’s what they were going for.

Gwen: Well, there’s someone in the corner. (She points to the corner table, where someone was sitting in the shadows. Gwen fires a mana blast, hitting the ceiling, and forcing Argit to run out.)

Argit: Whoa, whoa! Peace! Peace!

John: Argit? You stole the Plumber database?

Argit: Ha! And what an easy task. I actually thought I’d have a problem, but it was the easiest $10 million I ever made.

Kevin: You made money off it already?

Argit: Yeah. This guy paid me the money to steal it in the first place. Then, I just stole the list back of course.

Gwen: That’s low, even for you.

Argit: Hey, this list is easily the asking price, if not more. And my buyer offered $18 million.

John: And who’s your buyer? (Then, the four of them are hit by stun guns, knocking them all out. A group of Forever Knights enter and secure the room, when Enoch enters.)

Enoch: Well, alien scum. (Goes over to Argit, and takes the flash drive off of him.) Thank you for your time. Goodbye. (The Knights then pull out.)

Sometime later, John wakes up, Gwen and Kevin already awake.

Gwen: Morning, sleepy face.

John: Ugh. Where’s Argit?

Kevin: Gone. But it doesn’t matter. The Knights got the list.

John: I thought they disbanded.

Kevin: No, just went underground. After George’s death, they went into hiding, split back into their separate factions.

Gwen: Well, one of them drop their handkerchief. If he’s with them, I can track them.

John: Then let’s go. End Scene

Kevin’s car pulls up to a miniature castle outside of town. The three get out.

Gwen: Wow. The Knights must be hurting to have such a pathetic castle.

Kevin: So, what’s the plan? (John turns into Armodrillo, and punches the wall, destroying it.)

Armodrillo: Break in, beat them up, get the list.

Kevin: I like tonight’s John.

Armodrillo: The sooner this is finished, the sooner I can go to sleep.

The three walk inside, when Knights appear and fire at them. Armodrillo punches the ground, creating a shockwave to knock them all down. Gwen uses her mana to take all of their weapons away, and Armodrillo catches them. The Knights retreat down a set of stairs, and the three follow. Downstairs, they find a laboratory, filled with Knights aiming their weapons at them, and Enoch.

Enoch: Hello, John Smith. It’s been a while.

Armodrillo: I remember you. You’re the one who tried to dissect me.

Kevin: Why do you need a list of alien DNA?

Enoch: You don’t realize that I’m part of the science and research department. It’s my job to figure out the weaknesses of you filth, so weapons can be made to fight them. And if I can use this database to find a weakness to the Dragons, then I’ll become one of the most distinguished Knights ever. Now, surrender. We have you outnumbered. (Armodrillo shifts to Eatle.)

Eatle: Never stopped us before. (Eatle eats the weapons in his hands, and fires a large laser blast from his fin, hitting the ceiling. It crumbles, falling onto the Knights.) Goldface is mine.

Eatle jumps down, and he lands in front of Enoch. He fires another laser at Enoch, who raises his hand, absorbing the laser.

Enoch: Ha! This armor of mine is designed to absorb laser attacks. (Enoch fires his own laser at Eatle, who takes it.) Eatle: Then it’s a good thing that your lasers are pretty weak. (The two charge forward, and their fists collide. Enoch goes flying back. Eatle charges forward again, turning into Upgrade. He then merges with Enoch’s armor, and causes him to hit himself.)

Upgrade: Stop hitting yourself. Now, where’s the list?

Enoch: (After taking a big beating) The computer. (Upgrade comes off of Enoch, the armor exploding.)

Upgrade: Oh. Of course it is. (Upgrade accesses the computer, and pulls up the list.) Here’s the list. Now, to get this on a flash drive. End Scene

The group is waiting outside the castle, when a Plumber ship comes and lands. A lone Plumber comes off.

Plumber: Hello. I was sent to retrieve the list.

John: Sorry to call at this late hour, but it’s top priority that this gets back to the Plumbers now.

Plumber: Understood. (Takes the flash drive.) I’ll get their right away.

The Plumbers then gets back on the ship, and it takes off. Once in the air, the Plumber removes his helmet, revealing it to be Aggregor. He then turns a jamming signal off, to allow the Plumbers to retrieve communications again.

Characters

 * John Smith
 * Gwen Tennyson
 * Kevin Levin

Villains

 * Forever Knights (Main villain)
 * Enoch
 * Vulkanus
 * Argit
 * Aggregor

Aliens

 * Articguana
 * Armodrillo
 * Eatle
 * Upgrade

Trivia

 * It's revealed that the Forever Knights survived the battle with Diagon and the death of George. However, they've gone underground, having split up into factions again.
 * Aggregor gets the list back, despite having lost it before. He also got the Plumbers' ship he obtained to work.