Author's Note: I own nothing. Now we head into the season finale, this will likely be the end of this story though there will be a sequel that much I'm already sure of. Love you guys and all the support you're giving this story.
47 The War Begins
Jen did not sleep well that night. She spent most of it researching techno-organic species on the hookup to the Xternet Kevin had given her. Most of the information she found was on Galvanic Mechamorphs but there were a few articles that classified people with specific kinds of cybernetic enhancements as techno-organics using the term as more of a subspecies classifier than a species in and of itself. Jen wasn't sure if that was better or not. She did manage to catch a few hours of sleep which was a good thing because she was going to Julie's tennis match the next day. The set began later in the day and was about halfway over when someone sat down next to her. Jen paid him no attention for a few moments.
"Gumball?" She froze. Turning quickly, she found herself face to face with Professor Paradox, still looking as he had back in Los Soledad. He selected a gumball from the bag and offered the bag to Jen. She frowned.
"It's time, isn't it?" Paradox nodded, still looking grim.
"I'm afraid so." He stood and she followed him without a backwards glance. Julie would understand. The fate of the world hung in the balance after all. Paradox stopped in the empty hallway and pulled the watch from his pocket. He offered Jen his arm and she took it. He clicked the watch and the two of them vanished in a flash of blue light.
Gwen was reading a very dull book, The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. Despite what the title implied it was actually a philosophical introspection about the author's journey across the United States on his motorcycle. But given that the last time Gwen had taken a trip across the country she'd ended up with powers and her cousin ended up with a device that altered her on a level beyond their comprehension the author's journey wasn't all that exciting. She was just wishing for a distraction when a bright blue light filled her room. She leapt to her feet and blinked as Jen let go of Paradox's arm.
"It's time. You still with me?" Gwen's stomach plummeted at the implication, but she nodded and took her cousin's offered hand. She smiled at the redhead and took Paradox's arm again. The three of them vanished in another flash of light.
Kevin was prepping for the car show. Ed had given him the invite. It wasn't like he'd gotten to go to the last one that had come to town since the Incursions had invaded. This time though he was excited to see what he would find, though it wouldn't be anything like some of the car shows he'd been to off world. He was still looking forward to it. That was until the bright blue light flashed next to his car. When he blinked he found Paradox standing next to him, Jen and Gwen with him, both girls looking grim. He snapped the trunk of the car closed. So much for the car show. But they weren't the only ones Paradox had brought.
The news of the destruction of the majority of the populace of Galvan Prime was nerve wracking. The Galvan's had a much more technologically advanced defense grid than Earth had ever had. Paradox checked his watch. Jen stepped forwards.
"Our only shot is to stop the Highbreed before they can bring the fleet through the jump gate." Azmuth nodded.
"It should be easy enough to find." Jen nodded to him.
"We already know where they are. The arch in Los Soledad." Kevin frowned.
"So, the three of us are going to take on an army?" Jen shook her head.
"No, not just the three of us. We've run across a bunch of Plumbers kids, most of them owe us. It's time we called in our favors. We'll go to Cooper first, hopefully he's finished enough of the guns." Azmuth jumped in front of Jen.
"You will do no such thing. Let your teammates gather the troops. I would speak to the wielder of my Omnitrix alone." Kevin shook his head.
"Heck no I'm not missing this. Have fun talking to Cooper Gwen." Kevin teased. Gwen grabbed his arm and bodily dragged him to Paradox.
"Kevin Ethan Levin you are coming with me!" Jen laughed.
"Your name is Kevin E. Levin? Oh you just lost all trace of cool guy you had left." She chuckled as Kevin and Gwen disappeared with Paradox. Her face fell as she turned back to Azmuth. She held out her hands and he jumped up into them. She frowned at him.
"You lied to me." He took a deep breath.
"So you have been made aware…"
"That the Omnitrix turned me into something non-human even when I'm human yeah." Azmuth nodded slightly as Jen set him on the top of Kevin's car so she could argue with him eye to eye.
"That was not something I foresaw. The Omnitrix has bonded itself to you both on a physical and a metaphysical level. Your life energy has become bound to it, your grandmother and I spoke about this." Jen rolled her eyes, of course Grandma Verdona knew and hadn't told her, she was only interested in Gwen. "You are a part of the Omnitrix and it is part of you, two halves made whole."
"I can't ever take it off again, can I?" Azmuth shook his head.
"I would advise against it. It would be like removing one of your vital organs, it may not result in immediate death but that would be the most likely outcome in the long term." Jen closed her eyes for a moment but shook her head.
"That doesn't matter right now." She couldn't think about this now, she had a war to fight. She couldn't be getting distracted now. "What matters right now is stopping the Highbreed."
"No that is not all that matters. The Highbreed have taken out the population of dozens of worlds, you are what matters now." Jen frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
"In your Earth culture you have a story about a man on a boat with two of every animal riding out an extinction level event." Jen nodded.
"Yeah, Noah's arc."
"The Omnitrix was not merely built as a tool for learning as I told you when you were a child. It is a failsafe for the universe, a Noah's arc, capable of reviving any of the million species within it. You are the only hope those worlds have of being restored, I cannot let you risk that on this war." Jen stared at Azmuth incredulously. She shook her head and picked him up off the roof of the car, opening the door. He protested as she set him down inside the car.
"Wait there, I need a smoothie." She shut the door before he could protest. "Everyone's gotta just completely upend my worldview these days huh?" She muttered as she stepped over to the window. She ordered two smoothies, a large for herself and a kids for Azmuth. It didn't seem right not to get him one, even if he'd been lying to her for years. She stalked back over to the car and opened the driver door setting Azmuth's smoothie down in the cupholder and stabbing the straw into it with a bit more violence that was strictly necessary. The lid of her cup got a similar treatment. She took a long slurp on the frozen concoction before she spoke again.
"So you're telling me that not only am I now stuck to the Omnitrix forever, as it is sort of a new what, heart? Brain? Whatever, vital piece of me. But also that I have the ability to, with the Omnitrix, revive whole species?" Azmuth nodded taking a cautious sip of his smoothie.
"In essence yes. That is why you are too valuable to risk in a fight." Jen shook her head taking another long draw from her straw.
"No."
"No?"
"No. I'm not leaving my friends and family to fight this alone. I may be 'Noah's arc' now," she said it with sarcastic air quotes around the term, "but that doesn't make me more valuable than anyone on my team." Azmuth frowned.
"I will not allow it!" Jen turned on him her glare cold.
"And how exactly do you plan to stop me? You just told me that taking the Omnitrix off me isn't really an option anymore." Azmuth paused as though he hadn't considered that. Then he sighed.
"Fine, if you insist on this foolishness then you should have the full power of the Omnitrix. Access Master Control." Jen felt the power surge through the Omnitrix and blinked as her vision in one eye blurred for a moment. It resolved quickly and Azmuth frowned slightly. "An interesting side effect." Jen ignored him and flipped down Kevin's sunshade, sliding open the mirror within. She blinked and stared at her eye. Her right eye, the one on the same side as the Omnitrix, had changed. The pupal had split in two and spread, leaving her eye identical to the symbol on the Omnitrix itself, a green hourglass. She blinked but it didn't go away. "Has it effected your sight at all?" Azmuth asked sounding curious.
"I don't see a difference. How many aliens can I access?"
"All 1,000,912 DNA samples available." The voice of the Omnitrix echoed in her head and she blinked.
"Neat." Azmuth rolled his eyes but didn't have time to say more as the door to Kevin's car opened making them both jump.
"Get out of my seat Tennyson. What happened to your eye?" Gwen shoved Kevin out of the way.
"We brought backup!" She smiled slightly though concern flashed through her eyes at the sight of Jen's newly altered eye. Jen stepped out of the car and nodded around. Allen Albright stood next to Julie, Ship on the Asian girl's shoulders. Cooper stood in a giant robot suit next to Darkstar, trying his best to look menacing. Paradox stood off to the side, selecting another gumball. Jen took a deep breath.
"Thanks for coming, I know some of you really don't want to be here." She eyed Darkstar. "But as of this moment we are all that stands between Earth and the Highbreed. The plan is simple, we go in we take down the Hyperspace gate. Cooper, did you bring the guns?" The blonde nodded and a compartment on his suit opened. There were seven guns sitting in a neat row there.
"These are something Coop and I developed." Jen explained, handing them out. "They'll cure the DNAliens, which will clear a path for us to the gate. We get there we break it." She handed the last gun to Paradox. Allen frowned.
"Won't you need one?" Cooper frowned.
"I only had enough time to make seven." Jen shook her head.
"No, I shouldn't need one. I have this." She tapped the Omnitrix and Paradox laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Remember timing is everything Jen." She nodded to him despite not having any idea what he was talking about. She turned back to the others.
"Any problems we have with each other, any personal agendas, they get left here. As of this moment we are at war." She nodded to Paradox and the group disappeared in a flash of blue light.