"How are the energy cuffs?" "Comfortable?" "His name's trombipulor." "Whatever." "I forgot." "He wouldn't." "It was too funny." "Anyway, your ride's here." "He's wanted for level 3 weapons-dealing." "He's all yours, officer." "Tennyson, Tennyson, and" "Levin, right?" "That doesn't look like a medal." ""Because you received"" "your plumber commendations during a field engagement, your required training is incomplete." "Please report to academy 2814 for field-certification" ""courses."" "Wait." "We have to go to school?" "What is the plumber academy gonna teach us?" "It's not like we haven't saved the whole entire universe already." "Give it a rest," "Tennyson." "If this is what it takes to keep our plumbers badges, then this is what we'll do." "Tennyson?" "You are Ben Tennyson, hero of the Highbreed wars, conqueror of" "Vilgax?" "Yeah." "Hi." "It is because of you that I go to plumber academy." "My name is tack." "Um, what are you doing?" "Greeting you reverentially." "I thought it was a really slow head butt." "Head..." "Butt?" "This is awesome!" "Look at the classes we get to take!" "Weapons and tactics, interstellar law, cultural sensitivity." "Started strong, but then you lost me." "Starship maintenance." "And you got him right back." "I wouldn't mind learning about those sweet foldspace engines they're putting in the new cruisers." "Classes... too much like school." "This is like no school any of us has ever attended." "I heard that our drill instructor is the meanest, toughest plumber in the service." "Except for my grandpa." "All due respect to your grandfather, magister Hulka is the most decorated officer in plumber history, and he expects no less than excellence from his students." "But surely he has never had a pupil like the great" "Ben Tennyson." "Surely." "I think our barracks are this way." "I can't get a signal." "Plumber badges don't work on campus." "It's against the rules to use them." "Good thing they're not grading on following directions, huh, tack?" "You are funny, Ben Tennyson." "Eyes forward, you larval dipteroid!" ""Larval dipteroid"?" "Did cadet no-neck just call my new buddy a..." "Maggot?" "Yeah... insulting." "Technically, he implied he was sort of a space maggot, so there's that." "Are you plebes giving me attitude?" "N-no, that is the great" "Ben Tennyson." "He's new here, but he's hardly a lowly ple..." "I don't care who he is." "I'm senior cadet Brannigan, commander of Alpha squad." "You are a larval dipteroid who's here to learn plumber work, so shut it!" "We got off to a bad start." "How about I buy you and tack whatever passes for a smoothie here, and we all start over?" "There's been a null-void breakout, so magister Hulka wants all new recruits in their bunks and accounted for." "You don't want to make him and me mad on the same day." "Do we understand each other, larval dipteroid?" "Ooh." "Big mistake." "Brannigan, you just bought yourself a nose full of" "Humongousaur." "We're going, Tennyson." "You're not getting us thrown out of here on the first day." "Wait." "You're holding me back?" "Any time, any place." "I'm in Alpha squadron!" ""Look at me!"" "I should've gone all Armodrillo on him." "No..." "Fourarms!" "You should have walked away, which you did, thanks to" "Kevin." "Yeah, way to have my back, Kevin!" "Keeping your plumber's badge may not matter to you, but it does to me." "Don't mess this up for him." "Youladiessettlinginokay ?" "You must be magister Hulka." "I'm Ben Tennyson." "Maybe you've heard of..." "Idon'tcarewho you were before you came here!" "Now you are a larval dipteroid." "You aren't fit to shine my boots!" "But maybe, just maybe, if you shut your hole and learn everything I teach you, you might become a plumber!" "Any questions?" "Sir, I wanted to ask about the null-void breakout." "I was thinking we could help..." ""thinking"?" "!" "Did I order you to think?" "!" "No, sir!" "Then your mind is a blank" "Slate!" "Is that clear?" "!" "Yes, sir!" "Listen up." "This is the plumber academy." "You are here to learn how to do your job, not to help me do mine." "So while you're under my instruction, you will study hard, shoot straight, fight to win, and above all, follow orders." "Got it?" "Yes, sir!" "I can't hear you!" "Probably busted his eardrums with all the shouting." "Test me again, Tennyson, and" "I will wear you like an overcoat." "Sorry, sir." "One question, sir?" "I heard you've got more medals than anybody." "I notice you only wear one." "Reporttome on thefiring range at 0500!" "Every second you are late will equal an eternity of suffering!" "He needs to cut back on the caffeine." "Thisisatop-of-the-line" "Mark 12 Techadorian" "Multiblaster." "It is capable of delivering a maximum energy burst of three petawatts." "Youwilllearntoassembleit blindfolded with one hand behind your back." "You will keep it cleaned and maintained." "Used properly, it will save your life and the lives of those you've sworn to protect." "A plumber's blaster is his best and only friend." "Hello, old friend." "Did you hear that?" "Yourbestandonlyfriendis in pieces!" "What are you waiting for?" "!" "Assemble your best friend!" "Go!" "Go!" "Go!" "Fourarms!" "Whatdoyouthinkyou're doing?" "Helping my squad mate, sir." "His power pack fell under the... didyoureadthe general orders in your orientation materials on your flight in?" "Skimmed them, sir." "Thisisalearningfacility." "There is to be no use of superpowers during training... none." "You should know that." "I've got bad reading habits, sir!" "Swampfire!" "S-sir." "I should probably practice with the blaster more, huh?" "I'll go do that." "Thekeyto usingfusion grenades is to reverse the polarity of the magno-catch." "So instead of being attracted to your hand, it repels." "You first, cadet." "What's the glitch?" "We've been studying this all week." "Reverse polarity and get rid of it!" "Itwillnotcome off!" "It's on overload!" "Get back!" "That's an order!" "Ben!" "You saved us!" "You are the greatest plumber of all!" "He's a larval dipteroid!" "He disobeyed orders!" "I was supposed to let the grenade get you?" "!" "You were supposed to do what" "I tell you!" "You'd know that if you were ever listening in class." "You don't think this was an accident, do you, sir?" "Tack's glove was tampered with to stay magnetized, wasn't it?" "I get it." "This is some kind of test to get us to solve the mystery, right?" "This is no test." "Is someone trying to hurt tack?" "W-whowouldwanttohurt me?" "Get real, you guys." "It was just a bad grenade." "What, the magna-lock went bad and it was set on" ""overload" instead of "stun"?" "Gwen's right." "Go back to your barracks." "Someone's out to get you, sir, aren't they?" "Or you wouldn't let tack be out of your sight, would you?" "Mind..." "Your own..." "Business." "Someone tampered with that grenade." "Hulka knows who it was." "He doesn't want our help." "Let's take the night off, explore a little." "We've been stuck in these barracks all week." "Whole place is on lockdown." "Breaking curfew is against orders." "It's like I don't even know you anymore." "Being a plumber isn't something you mess around with." "If you screw this up, you and I are gonna get into it." "Come on, tack." "Let's see what this place is all about." "We'll bring you a souvenir." "Y-yeah, I'm not sure this is such a good..." "I can't help it." "I'm exhausted." "Relax." "We can sleep in until 0800 tomorrow." "Or not." "On your feet, cadets!" "Let's go, let's go, let's go!" "Late night?" "How did he know?" "Full gear and ready for dust-off in 10 minutes." "Your inability to follow orders yesterday and last night bought you a combat exercise." "Nice." "Way to go, Tennyson." "You are the plumbers on duty." "Alpha squadron has taken a hostage." "Your mission is to rescue that hostage using your plumber training and not your powers!" "All multiblasters are set on" ""stun."" "Go!" "Bad news, plebes... the alphas never lose." "They may be jerks, but they're good." "Not as good as us." "Ben, no powers." "We have to do this the right way." "Whatistherightway?" "Kevin, advance to that" "Boulder." "I'll cover you, then follow as tack covers me, et cetera." "Ben, you stay here as backup." "Why do I have to stay?" "Because you're a lousy shot." "No offense." "Or I turn into big chill, phase into the ground, and come out behind them." "I hate this!" "Kevin!" "Hang on!" "What did I say?" "The alphas never lose." "Okay, that's it." "Alpha!" "What's the matter with you?" "!" "Take him down!" "You gonna handle these clowns, or should I?" "Don't blame yourselves." "She's devious." "Diamondhead!" "Nice try, but you still lose." "Stay back!" "In case you were wondering, this is what it's like to lose." "The exercise is over." "Stand down." "How could you let yourself be taken down?" "You're supposed to be the elite squad." "Maybe you guys should add my moves to the lesson plan." "Not only did you disobey a direct order and use your powers, look what your smart moves did for the hostage." "Oh, come on." "If the hostage had been real, I wouldn't have... you failed." "Case closed." "It doesn't matter how you handle a situation, as long as it gets handled!" "If you can't see that, you're crazy!" "Perhaps you should not have called him crazy." "What are you complaining about?" "I have to use this tomorrow." "Anyone know if he was in there?" "Who?" "Magister Hulka!" "These are his quarters." "If Hulka is in there, he doesn't stand a chance!" "Yes, he does!" "Terraspin!" "All clear." "No sign of magister Hulka." "Somebody likes fusion grenades." "And doesn't like magister Hulka." "So, where is grouchy McRulebook, anyway?" "What's happening here?" "Plumber-issue." "You know who it is, don't you?" "When your quarters are clean, you can get started on mine." "Plumber weapons and tactics, someone with a grudge against Hulka." "Long list." "But brannigan looked pretty ticked when Hulka called him out." "That's not proof." "So,whatdo we do ?" "Stakeout." "Hulkasurehasn'ttaughtyou much about surveillance." "He did, actually." "We sort of put our own spin on it." "Where is he?" "Why are you trying to hurt him?" "What are you talking about?" "I'm shadowing him because he doesn't want a guard." "I knew it was you all along." "I see you didn't learn anything in the null void." "I learned enough to break out and come here to pay you back!" "But not enough to avoid getting lured into attacking me in an equipment depot." "You ruined my life!" "You ruined it yourself," "Kolar." "Plumbers have honor." "You've got nothing." "I may not have gotten smarter..." "But I'm a lot stronger!" "Stronger than fourarms?" "Oh, yes!" "Let's try that again." "Nobody move, or I'll tear him in half." "Hands off my cadet!" "Happily, magister." "But first, you're gonna do something for me." "You're gonna step into this space warp." "Andtheotherend letsout where?" "Asmallsuninthenullvoid." "You won't feel a thing." "Tack, greet Kolar." "What?" "You know... "with great respect."" "Ah!" "Headbutt!" "You..." "Pushed him into a sun?" "Ididnot." "I changed the arrival address to a null-void penitentiary." "Plumbers are law enforcement, not judges." "Don't ever forget that." "Not bad." "We saved our instructor's life and used plumber tactics and weapons." "But you still used your powers." "You just can't resist improvising, can you?" "I hope this class is pass/fail." "I can't believe I only scored a 98!" "Out of 100, Gwen." "Try and unclench." "It only takes a 72 to pass, which I exceeded." "How about you, Ben?" "95." "People think I'm not paying attention, but I am." "My 98 is starting to feel really weak." "This is me not paying attention." "Tomyconsiderableamazement, you all completed the course, so it's official." "You're plumbers." "But we knew that already." "So what you really came here for was to thank me for saving your life, didn't you?" "Go on." "It won't hurt." "Your shuttle home leaves in five." "Wait." "What's this for?" ""For demonstration of a"" "plumber's most essential attribute... the ability to exercise latitude and creativity" ""in problem-solving."" "Sounds like a thank-you to me."