Author's Note: I own nothing. This will be the last chapter I think. Sequel is already in the works though.
49 A Change of Pace
Jen came too all too quickly. Her head was spinning, she groaned.
"You're still recovering from the hyperspace jump. I should have anticipated that it would have an adverse effect on you due to your altered physiology."
"Azmuth, buddy, science babble and scrambled brain don't really mix." She managed to blink her eyes open after another minute, grateful that the cell they were all in was dim. "What happened?"
"We crashed into the main control tower, and you got thrown from Ship. Don't think he liked your flying much, he's somewhere around here, melted when the Highbreed captured us." Jen rolled her eyes at Kevin. Ship was probably just hiding. She took a deep breath, then another.
"Are you ok?" Gwen asked her eyebrows knit together in concern.
"No time for me not to be." Jen stated and transformed. In a moment Humungousaur was ripping their shackles off the wall. She handed Azmuth to Kevin who had already armored up. Jen paused at the door, listening. Then she slammed it off its hinges into the Highbreed that was passing by.
"Take us to your leader." Gwen demanded, her hands glowing menacingly as Jen cracked Humungousaur's knuckles. She did frown at her cousin though.
"You beat me to that by like half a second Gwen." The redhead held back a chuckle as the Highbreed led them down the hall. Azmuth frowned at the girls.
"Are they always like this?" Kevin shrugged and Azmuth had to catch hold of the teens currently metal hair to keep his balance.
"More or less. Gotta find humor where you can when you live like us." They arrived and the Highbreed that had led them here bowed to the ones sitting in what appeared to be thrones in a semicircle.
"I am sorry Master, they took me by surprise." One of the giant Highbreed waved the other off. He bowed and walked out of the room.
"I have read reports of your tenacity, Jen Ten, but you truly are a thorn in my side, vermin." Jen shrugged.
"Yeah, I get that a lot. But now that I have your attention, call off the attack."
"Just like that?"
"Yep, just like that. You call off the attack against the universe, I leave. Simple as that. You have nothing to gain from this, call it off." The Highbreed with the frilled collar that sort of mimicked a crown, presumably the Highbreed Supreme, laughed.
"We have everything to gain! Any being that is not a Highbreed is a mongrel! An affront to our purity." Azmuth shook his head.
"Don't believe a word he says, they're not doing this for some devotion to purity. They're dying, that's why they're doing this. " Jen glanced at Azmuth.
"How could you possible know that?"
"Because, for the host's safety, the Omnitrix will not accept damaged DNA." Jen's eyes went wide as Gwen and Kevin shot each other confused looks. Azmuth kept speaking. " After listening to your entry about the Highbreed it wasn't difficult to put two and two together. Their backwards obsession with racial purity led to inbreeding, genetic diseases and sterility. This is the last generation of Highbreed, a self inflicted extinction, though not on purpose." The Highbreed Supreme hissed lowly.
"You are correct, pond scum. When we die we will take the universe with us. All worlds will fall before we do. Witness your own world's destruction, the fleet is nearly ready to uncloak." Holo-screens popped up all around them. Azmuth closed his eyes.
"All is lost. There's no way to stop them."
"We don't need to stop them." Everyone looked at Jen like she'd grown a second head in human form. "I can save them. Omnitrix, can we repair the genetic damage to the Highbreed? All of them." The symbol on Humungousaur's chest glowed and the Omnitrix spoke.
"Genetic manipulation on that scale will require all available power. Do you wish to continue?"
"Yes!" Green lights flashed and Jen stood before them the Omnitrix on her wrist whirring.
"What are you doing Mongrel?" Jen grinned as lines of code spread over her skin, though not just from the Watch this time but also from her right eye which still bore the symbol of the Omnitrix.
"Genetic recombination sequences ready."
"Do it!" Jen raised her hand as green flooded her eyes, the Omnitrix held high on the wrist of a triumphant fist. Pulses of bright green lights blossomed from the Watch, washing out through the room, the whole planet and out through the Hyperspace gate.
Gwen stared at her cousin, frozen like a statue as power literally rolled off of her. Kevin reached out and took Gwen's hand. She glanced at him, he looked a little scared though she couldn't tell if she was afraid of Jen or for her. Gwen wasn't sure what she was feeling either. Azmuth looked caught between two emotions, incredulity and wonder.
All at once the surges of power stopped and the green faded from Jen's eyes and skin. Gwen and Kevin stepped forward together as Jen fell forward barely conscious.
"Did it work?" The question was weak but coherent.
"Program complete. All Highbreed in range of transmission are now fused with random samples from Omnitrix database." Kevin was the first to look around as Gwen steadied her cousin on her feet. She seemed to be recovering quickly. The scene around them was quite different, the Highbreed no longer looked the same, all were different colors and combinations of shades. Though their physiology hadn't visibly changed much, no extra limbs or new heads, it was clear something was different. Even their voices were stronger.
"What have you done to us!" One of them shrieked as the Highbreed Supreme, now bright red and blue, shook his head.
"Within range of transmission… With the Hyperspace gate open of the attack!" Azmuth smiled.
"Every Highbreed is now… How did you put it?" Gwen smirked slightly as she turned to the First Thinker, keeping a hand on her cousin's shoulder in case her legs decided to go out again.
"He called us mongrels."
"Welcome to the Kennel Club!" Kevin grinned, his hand on Jen's other shoulder.
"You have made us impure!" The Highbreed Supreme shrieked. "There is but one honorable act left to us!" The implication was not missed by any in the room. The hands on Jen's shoulders tightened as her eyes widened with devastation, realizing that she may have just pushed a whole species to suicide. Then a new voice rang from the doorway.
"No!" Jen spun on her heel, knocking both hands from her shoulders with the motion, her face going from abject horror to glee in a moment. Standing in the doorway was a Highbreed. He would have been identical to the one's they had been fighting for months now except for the green arm.
"Reiny!" Gwen and Kevin blinked at Jen's excited statement.
"You know him?" Kevin's question was almost accusatory, but Gwen's brain was working a mile a minute.
"The teleporter?" Jen nodded cutting off her cousin's question.
"I know lots of people." Reiny nodded to them and stepped forwards.
"There is another way. This human once saved me by altering my DNA. At first I believed it to be a curse, an impurity but I have since learned otherwise. Because of her we can not only survive but thrive!" The Highbreed council chittered at each other. Jen's face fell into a confused expression, how had Reiny even gotten here? Then she glanced at the doorway and spotted the edge of a white lab coat disappearing around the corner and her smile returned. It grew only wider as the council turned and bowed their heads to Reiny.
"The council has come to a decision. New leadership is needed, therefor we elect you Highbreed Supreme. May you lead us wisely." Reiny bowed to them. Jen turned to him, face going grim.
"Will you call off the invasion." There was tense silence for a moment.
"Consider it done, JenJen Tennyson." Jen grinned.
Calling off the invasion was ridiculously simple. Reiny stepped into a room that allowed his voice to echo across the world and through the Hyperspace gate. With a simple order the fleet began to pull back Reiny stepped over to the small group.
"You have saved not only me but my people for generations to come. I cannot thank you enough JenJen Tennyson." He held out his green hand and a blossom bloomed there. It was white, and red shot through with veins of green. "May this small token serve as a symbol of peace between our worlds. He plucked it from his palm. "Of peace between the Highbreed and the Universe." He handed the blossom to her and she smiled.
"Thank you Reiny. I just hope the peace lasts." Reiny bowed to her.
"I will see to it. Do you require transport back to your world?" Jen shook her head and stuck two fingers in her mouth, letting out a loud whistle. In moments Ship leaked from the walls and jumped onto Jen's shoulders, panting happily.
"I think we'll be ok." Reiny nodded and bowed again, ordering two Highbreed to escort them outside the tower. Jen managed to convince ship to turn back into his battleship form and they climbed aboard. Jen buckled in and handed Gwen the flower.
"You seem ok with Hyperspace jumps. I don't want to lose that." Azmuth nodded and Ship took back off through the gate, Jen squeezing her eyes shut as the world blurred around them.
Max held his breath as the ships retreated back through the gate from whence they had come. There was no sign of Ship. The Max Force and Jen's team were celebrating around him. Manny had pulled Hellen up onto his shoulder cheering and waving his fists at the retreating ships.
Max's face only broke into a smile when the black and green ship that was the Galvanic Mechamorph flew through the arch and landed, in front of the team. The ramp unfolded and Max's smile nearly split his face as he heard voices from within.
"I do not like Hyperspace gates. You'll plant that for me right Gwen?" It was Jen and the laughter that followed her was Gwen and Kevin.
"I would recommend you stick to more conventional types of space travel." The First Thinker's voice was almost amused. Max couldn't stop smiling as the four of them made their way down the steps.
"That or Dramamine, works wonders for motion sickness, even in space." He said and both of his granddaughters laughed and raced into his arms. He smiled and pulled Kevin into the hug as the boy tried to step away. The Osmosian tensed for half a second before relaxing into the hug. Manny spotted them and laughed.
"Group hug!" He cried out and wrapped all four arms around the group, squishing Hellen's legs against Jen's shoulder and back. A soft prickle and a quick rise in temperature told the people in the middle that Pierce and Allen had joined in. Laughter from two different throats let them know that Julie and Cooper were there too. Ship chirruped and beeped, winding around the whole group and beeping happily. They stayed like that for a moment revaling in their victory before Manny laughed and managed to free himself from Ship's grip. Fresh giggles passed around the group as they looked up to see the last Highbreed ship making its exit. The arch flickered for a second then went dead.
"It's sort of beautiful isn't it?" Max asked, pulling a metal cylinder from his pocket. He flicked the top off of it and threw it hard. It struck true and the arch crumbled to dust that fell around them, mixing with the snow. "So how'd you do it? Way Big?" He asked and Jen shook her head pointing to a white, red and green flower in Gwen's hands, luckily not squished by the impromptu group hug.
"Nope. Peace won today." Manny shook his head and looked like he was going to say something but Hellen elbowed him in the head from her spot still sitting on his shoulder. Julie checked her watch.
"Well since the world isn't ending today, I have to make curfew. I'll see you later Jen." The two girls hugged and Jen scratched Ship under what passed for his chin.
"Thank you for your help today Julie."
"Anytime." Ship transformed back into his battleship form and Julie boarded.
"Wait for us!" Kevin called out, he and Gwen raced up the ramp together hand in hand. "Drop us at Jen's house? We have one more thing to do, then we're gonna head to the Auto Show, I need a new car." Julie nodded and Jen waved as Ship took off. Max grinned.
"Looks like I'm gonna need a bigger motor home." He said looking around at the teens who were left. Jen smiled but shook her head.
"You won't need a bunk for me, at least not for a bit." Max frowned. Jen stepped over to Azmuth and Paradox.
"I'm going with Azmuth. We have some work to do." Max raised an eyebrow. Paradox checked his watch.
"We won't be long. Time is on our side." Azmuth hopped onto Jen's shoulder and Jen took Paradox's offered arm. The unusual trio vanished in a bright blue light.
~*~*~*~Epilogue~*~*~*~
It had been a week since Max had seen his granddaughter. He was starting to worry, but he didn't have too much time to think about it right now. His team was doing well, integrating Cooper and Allen had been easy even with Allen's flippant sense of humor and Cooper's introverted nature. Right now they were camping under the stars at Max's secret fishing spot. Not such a secret anymore but he really didn't mind. The Rustbucket wasn't made to sleep more than three people so Manny was setting up the tents, he'd insisted on doing it even though Hellen could get it done so much faster. Pierce was grilling burgers as the rest of the group laughed and joked and told stories about their various adventures.
Max smiled at them through the windshield of his RV as he made some adjustments to a few of the instruments. He'd be sending them off to the Plumber Academy soon, those who wanted to go anyway. Cooper was already on board with the idea, knowing his tech abilities would be far more useful, and he'd be far more comfortable, in a lab. Max frowned as a sound caught his attention. It sounded like someone was sawing logs. He glanced back out at the team but nothing had changed. Then he realized that the noise was coming from behind him. He whirled going for his gun before he spotted a familiar bright green jacket, even through the dimly lit RV.
Jen was sprawled out on the bunk she'd claimed as hers so many years ago on that fateful summer trip. But she wasn't alone. Paradox stood next to her Azmuth on his shoulder. The Galvan nodded to Max.
"Magister Tennyson." Max stepped over to them. He pulled the blanket off the top bunk and tossed it over his snoring granddaughter, he smiled.
"She'll be ok?" Azmuth nodded. Max spotted an unfamiliar bag next to the bunk, it was bright green so he had to assume it was Jen's. "What did you three even do, you were gone a full week." Paradox checked his watch.
"I'll let Azmuth explain. May I borrow your cellphone? There's an important call I need to have already made." Max shook his head at the confusing verb tense and handed the man his phone. Paradox set Azmuth on the top bunk so he was more or less eye level with Max and vanished in a blue flash.
"She did what she does best. She saved worlds, those devastated by the war with the Highbreed if you want specifics." Azmuth smiled a bit nostalgically. "It was good to see the Omnitrix used for its original purpose." Both of them glanced at the sleeping teen as she mumbled in her sleep, yanking the blanket nearly over her head before going back to snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Max held back a laugh.
"She'll likely sleep well into tomorrow. She needs the rest. She overworked the Omnitrix until if forcefully reset. In doing so she lost Master Control. I won't give it back, she can work it out on her own in her own time." Max nodded as Paradox reappeared and handed him back his phone.
"It's time I took you back home Azmuth. There are more trials ahead." The Galvan nodded and stepped onto the Time Walker's hand.
"I never said it but she did good work." Azmuth said looking down at the sleeping human from his perch. "Wouldn't want her to get too cocky." With that the two vanished in another flash of light. The door to the RV burst open, Manny came in wielding guns in two hands and tent spikes in the other two.
"We saw the lights! What's going on!?" Jen grumbled in her sleep, tugging the blanket over her head. Max shushed the Tetramand trying to keep from laughing as he ushered the teen back outside where the others were waiting tense by the door. He shook his head and smiled as they went back to their spots around the campfire.
"Everything's fine." He smiled looking up into the stars and for the first time in a long time he knew that yes. Everything would be fine.