Author's Note: I own nothing!
41 Void
Jen had been to the Null Void a few times, though never for long periods of time. It was true that Kevin knew the place better and would be a more logically sound choice for this mission but Jen could see the fear in his eyes at the thought of setting foot in that place again. Gwen needed to be here to open and close the portal so the one who went in after Manny and Hellen could get back, hopefully with the two teens. But Jen objected strenuously to the tether.
"I can't fight free with this! Hell, it might break when I transform!" Gwen had insisted though, but as Jen hung caught by the tether as Animo laughed in the distance at Hellen and Manny she couldn't just do nothing.
"Ok, fuck this." She pulled off her jetpack and uncoupled the tether. "Sorry Gwen." She debated for a moment before slipping the jetpack back on and spinning the dial on the Omnitrix.
Zapping Animo held a certain amount of nostalgia for her. It was almost like she was ten years old again and for a moment she wished that she could go Stinkfly again and wrap him up in goo. Just for old times sake. But times had changed quite a bit it seemed, as the blast from Brainstorm that should have knocked Animo out only disoriented the now overly buff scientist. Hellen dropped from his grip and zipped to Manny, grabbing him and Jen and taking off at top speeds. Jen had missed the speed of a Kineceleran. She only got to enjoy it for a moment though, too soon they were pulling up hard in a cave.
They were greeted by a tall thin blue man and his son. The two of them ushered the teens inside and back behind a false wall. As Jen peeked out from behind the façade she saw why as she watched the Null Guardians take most of the crops from the alien who'd hidden them, along with his son. She moved to help but a metal hand around her arm stopped her.
"There's nothing you can do for him now. We need to get you to the Wrench." Jen stared at Manny. One of his hands had been replaced with a simplistic metal claw.
"What happened?" She asked it almost under her breath. Hellen shook her head.
"Devoid is too strong. We need to get you to the Wrench. He thinks you might be the key to stopping him." Jen shrugged.
"I can figure out how to beat Animo. I've done it before." Manny scoffed.
"Yeah cause I believe that she can beat him." Jen glared at the Tetramand, her eyes unconsciously dropping to his missing limb.
"He didn't used to be invulnerable, or quite that strong. He was actually pretty scrawny. He relied on the animals he mutated and controlled. Seems like he's still controlling animals, but I wanna know what kind of steroids he's been on since last time I saw him. Take me to this Wrench, he seems to be the guy in charge." Hellen nodded and took them the rest of the way at full speed. When they arrived Jen shivered slightly. The atmosphere here in the Null Void was breathable but unpredictable. This spot seemed to be trapped in a perpetual and unusually cold sandstorm. They were stopped before they could go farther by a boy Jen had only seen in a short video back when they had first met Hellen and Manny.
"Your brother?" Jen asked, smiling slightly. She remembered that Hellen had implied that Pierce had been killed during their exploits dumping random aliens into the Null Void. But that had been back when they believed their Null Void projector to be a disintegrator.
"Yeah." She smiled. "Jen this is Pierce Wheels, Pierce this is Jen Tennyson." Pierce looked her over frowning.
"Is it? Or is it a shapeshifter showing you what you want to see?" Pierce used his own jetpack to leap over them and land on the bridge that was the only way forward. "No one sees the Wrench without getting through me first." Jen nodded and removed her jetpack, Pierce following her lead.
"Not exactly a fair fight, since you're quite sharp and I'm just me." Pierce raised his arm and one of the spines on his arm grew. He snapped it off when it reached about three and a half feet, a short staff but a workable weapon none the less. He smiled as he tossed it to her.
"Be my guest." Jen caught the makeshift staff and tested its weight, spinning it in her hand.
Jen had been in her fair share of fights in her life. Probably more than most people her age if she thought about it. She tended to be able to spot the difference between the ones she could win on her own and the ones she would likely need help with. She just didn't often ask for help with her own fights, preferring to sort them out herself and push herself to be better. Pierce was a fighter but not traditionally trained, he fought with gorilla tactics, strike hard and get out fast. She could take him down easily, especially if she transformed. But that would get her nowhere. So she threw the fight, letting Pierce pin her to the bridge after a few minutes of fighting as the staff he'd given her spun off into the void. There was a tense moment before Pierce smiled.
"She's legit." He helped her to her feet. "One of Devoid's spies would have wiped the floor with me." Jen glanced over at Manny and Hellen and was unsurprised to see Manny lowering two of his guns.
"Wouldn't have lasted long after though." Pierce gave Jen a calculating look.
"Still not sure she's gonna be much help against Devoid. But we'll let the Wrench decide." Jen shook her head and followed Pierce. He was quiet until they reached a house-like construction built into the rocks. Pierce turned to her, looking completely serious.
"Don't eat anything he offers you." Jen frowned.
"Why?"
"Trust me. Just don't eat it." He motioned her into the house and she took a deep breath before stepping inside.
The interior of the hut was dark, dimly lit only by the fire burning in a fireplace that seemed to serve as a makeshift stove. A figure sat before it stirring a pot of something over the coals. It smelled sort of familiar actually but Jen brushed the thought aside for the moment. She did notice Manny, Hellen and Pierce watching from a crack in the curtain.
"So you're the Wrench? My friends say you need my help." The figure stood and reached up to a shelf above the fireplace made of the same stone as the walls. He was tall and large but Jen couldn't tell much more about him as he was covered head to toe in a cloak. He pulled down two bowls. A quick glance at the doorway caught the three teens there flinching. Jen frowned and cleared her throat. "Look it took a lot to get here…"
"Oh I know." Jen froze, going stock still as the man in front of her filled both bowls and set them down on the mantle. She knew that voice, but there was no way. He had sacrificed himself. He was gone, wasn't he?
"Why don't you tell me all about it over a bowl of my famous caterpillar casserole?" He turned his hood falling. Jen stared.
There before her stood her Grandpa Max, a man she though gone forever. She took a slight step back.
"He's gone. Who are you?" Her question was both accusatory and had her close to tears. The pain in his eyes was almost palpable.
"I understand why you'd think that. But it's really me Jen. I can prove it too. When you were eleven you asked me to take you to Galvan Prime to have Azmuth take off the Watch. I asked you why. You told me never to tell anyone what you said." His eyes flicked to the door and the curtain quickly closed completely. Jen could hear Hellen ushering Manny and Pierce away.
"You told me that you didn't want any of the other aliens in the Watch to be taken from you like Malware took Feedback. You said it was safer for them if you took the Watch off. You called me three times over the next five years, to talk you out of putting it back on. I told you the same thing every time."
"You said it was my choice and always would be." Jen said, tears lacing her voice. They were both silent for a moment before Jen ran full pelt into her grandfather's arms. "I missed you so much!" She muttered it into his chest as he held on.
"I missed you too kiddo!" His explanation as to how he'd come to be living in the Null Void for the past few months, leading a resistance movement against Animo was quick, even he wasn't sure why he'd ended up here instead of being vaporized like the Highbreed and the egg machine.
Jen's story was a bit longer, though she gave him the simple CliffsNotes version, leaving out a lot of the things that didn't relate to the DNAliens and the Highbreed. She also skipped over her time alone with Riney, that was a long story that she really didn't have time to get into. The fact that according to the equipment Kevin had used to help Gwen scan the void for Hellen had showed that the Void itself was breaking down wasn't something she left out though. Grandpa Max nodded, his face going grim.
"Then it's happening faster than I anticipated." He stood and stepped over to the door pulling the curtain open. "Pierce, gather your team, we have an assault to plan."