Certain And Uncertain
Author's Note: This is a sequel, if you don't read Hero Time first nothing will make sense. That said to those who did read Hero Time welcome back! Love you guys I own nothing.
1 Back on Track
Jen had been back on Earth for five days after her week on her own with Azmuth and Paradox. To the Max Force, Manny Armstrong's name for the Plumber's kids currently spending their summer with Grandpa Max, she didn't say much about what had happened just that she'd bounced around the cosmos setting things right. Gwen and Kevin got more of an explanation. She told them the truth about how Azmuth had made the Omnitrix to be a sort of Noah's arc for the universe. Using it and a piece of tech Azmuth called the Genisis Cradle which Paradox had rescued prior to the destruction of Galvan Prime the three of them had managed to restore all two dozen worlds devastated by the Highbreed in just a week. Truth be told Jen didn't remember most of the process as she'd spent most of it inside the Cradle.
While Jen was gone Gwen had planted the flower Reiny, the new Highbreed Supreme, had given Jen as a sign of the peace between them. It was currently flourishing in Jen's backyard, already small buds were bursting forth. All told things were going well. Jen had been contacted by the new Magister in their sector, the last one had apparently been transferred after it was discovered he'd threatened to toss Jen and her team into the Null Void. Jen didn't blame him though, he'd been misinformed. But he'd been transferred regardless, replaced by a Piscciss Volann by the name of Patelliday. He'd thanked her for her service and apologized for his predecessor's treatment of her and her team. He had quite a bit of work to do off planet but there was talk of moving the quadrant's Plumber Headquarters to Earth within the next year or so. Jen wasn't sure how she felt about that.
Max thought it was a good idea. He'd been fielding requests to meet with the Great Jen Ten since the day after the Highbreed War ended. Most were content with his explanation that, as one of the few Plumber's on Earth, Jen was honored by the adulation but had a job to do and could not take time out of saving worlds to go to every celebration and meet with every delegate. Some insisted they would return later when the hero had time.
Jen was settling back into her regular routine. Well regular was a strong word.
"So what are we doing again?" She asked as Kevin drove them out to the outskirts of Bellwood.
"Got a tip from an old buddy of mine."
"Please tell me it's not Argit, he never stops flirting." Kevin laughed at Jen.
"You shouldn't have told him you'd be into alien boys." Jen shrugged.
"Or girls. Kevin I can turn into pretty much anything, I guarantee if it's alive and Azmuth knows about it it's in the watch. I'm not picky based on gender or alien race." Gwen snorted at her cousin.
"Nope, you just tend to fall for the wrong beings in general." Jen pouted in the backseat, crossing her arms over her signature green jacket. Gwen glanced at her. "You can't even tell me I'm wrong Jen. First Kai wants JenWolf more than you, then that thing you had with Ethan for like half a minute before he and his dad skipped town. Albrasix had to go home when you ended his war with the Incursions. Simian was a criminal, you have the worst luck when it comes to relationships."
"Yeah and you're dating Kevin Levin who has on multiple occasions tried to kill me. Who's got worst taste here Gwen, at least mine were cute." Kevin rolled his eyes at Jen and Gwen. After thwarting an invasion with them over the course of nearly three months he'd gotten used to their bickering. They didn't do it all the time but it was best to just tune them out when they did or interrupt them with Plumber work.
"I'm plenty cute, and I haven't tried to kill anyone in a long time. No it's not Argit, this guy's human. He's got a great aunt who's got some alien blood but it's a distant relation. He makes contacts for the human's trying to sell alien tech. The weirder the better. His name's Frisk, bit of a coward."
"Why'd he call you though?" Jen asked frowning. "Thought you got blacklisted by with the illegal tech dealers since you're a Plumber now." Kevin's dark eyes flicked up to the rear view mirror to look at the brunette in the backseat.
"Argit tell you that?" She nodded. "He's so full of shit. Most don't believe I went straight. The one's who just run on Earth don't know." He pulled his car into the warehouse. "Wait in the car until I signal you." Both girls nodded and Kevin stepped out of the car to meet the shifty eyed mousey looking man currently standing there. Both Tennyson's tensed when two people on motorcycles pulled into the warehouse, both were men, one dressing in yellow and the other in red. The one in yellow stepped off the bike and Gwen went for her door. Jen caught her cousin's shoulder.
"Not yet. Kevin knows what he's doing." Just because she liked teasing Kevin and Gwen the slightly older boy had grown to be one of Jen's closest friends with everything they had gone through since they had met again. She was right too, Kevin stayed cool in spite of supposedly being out numbered. The figure in red didn't bother getting off his bike, which made Jen feel a little better. The one in yellow pulled off his helmet revealing dark skin and dreadlocks. He pulled two suitcases from the bags on his bike and stepped over to the car. He set one of the cases down on the ground and made to put the other on the hood.
"Watch the paint, that's new." Truth be told almost the whole car was new, the old one having been destroyed during the final battle with the Highbreed. The only thing that survived had been the original engine block. It had been towed back to Ed's mechanic shop by Ed himself, Kevin's boss and the man who kept an eye on the entrance to the Hole, the only currently operational Plumber base on Earth. The biker rolled his eyes. He carefully set the case down on the car and popped it open. He stepped back and let Kevin examine the contents. The Osmosian pulled a canister free from the foam inside and looked it over with a critical eye.
"What is it?" That was never a good sign. Kevin could be said to have the most on the ground experience of the three of them, having spent several years in the Null Void then bouncing around the galaxy taking what work he could find to get by, most of them were less than honest too. Him not knowing what the tech was did not bode well. The biker in yellow smirked. The one in red still hadn't moved at all, either to get off his bike or remove his helmet.
"You don't know?" The question was meant to sound condescending and it worked up to a point but there was disappointment in the boys eyes. Kevin smirked right back.
"You don't know do you? Is it a weapon? Does it fire, can it blow things up? These are important things for a buyer to know." Jen snorted at Kevin giving these amateurs lessons in crime. Gwen rolled her eyes at her boyfriends words.
"It's alien tech man! It's got to be worth something, you want it or not?" Kevin raised his hands.
"Chill, let me talk to my partners." Frisk flinched as Jen nodded to Gwen.
"You didn't say anything about partners." Kevin's eyes narrowed.
"Neither did you." Gwen stepped out of the car first, red hair flowing out behind her in the high ponytail she'd started wearing while Jen was out in space. She stepped up next to Kevin as Jen stepped out of the car. Frisk tensed.
"You're working with her!?" Kevin grinned, Jen shook her head.
"Technically I'm working with her." She pointed to her cousin on Kevin's other side. "Kevin doesn't really work, he just stands around flexing." Gwen held back a snort but only just. Kevin was grinning slightly.
"How about I flex my fist in your face?" Not so long ago that would have sounded like a threat. But these days Jen recognized the teasing tone behind the words. She laughed lightly as she looked at the canister in his hand, ignoring the shifty looks Frisk was sending her and the confusion in the biker's eyes.
"What do we have?" Her voice dropped in volume as she got serious, not wanting the suspicious biker still on his bike to hear her. The one in yellow was too close not to. Kevin handed her the canister and she held it up to the light. They didn't look too special.
"I haven't seen these before. But they've got to be level eight, maybe level nine tech." It was then that the Omnitrix on Jen's right wrist began to chirp and whirr, the normally green face going yellow. She flinched and tossed the canister back to Kevin. The whirring slowed but took nearly a full minute to stop.
"Whatever they are the Omnitrix doesn't like them." It was then that the biker in yellow grew impatient.
"Who are you people? I've never met buyers like you before." He was interrupted by his friend in red.
"You've never met anyone like them. These aren't your average black market lowlifes." Jen frowned, that voice sounded really familiar. "They're Plumbers." Gwen tensed, the first biker raised his eyebrows.
"They make enough money fixing toilets to afford this shit?" The biker in red swung his leg off his bike.
"The Plumbers are an intergalactic police force, Helios." Kevin laughed as the biker in yellow, Helios apparently, shook his head.
"Yeah we're cops from space! Hands up!" Kevin laughed again but neither of the bikers seemed to notice that at the mention of Plumber's Frisk had made himself scarce. Gwen eyed the biker in red.
"Where'd you hear a silly story like that?" The boy scoffed.
"Same way you did Gwen." All three of them tensed, the girls had never introduced themselves. The biker in red reached up and pulled off his helmet. Jen's jaw dropped.
"No way!" Gwen sounded incredulous.
"Ethan?" Jen nearly stumbled over the single word. Kevin frowned, he hadn't heard Jen flustered like that since she'd dated Albrasix, the youngest prince of Apollo I.
"Running on confused here guys." Gwen glanced at Kevin before refocusing on the teen in front of them.
"Kevin Levin, this is Ethan Valadis. He used to live around here, he's a Plumber's kid like us." Ethan was a little shorter than Kevin, still a good six inches taller than Jen though, with dark hair, bright brown eyes and dusky skin. Ethan set his helmet down on his bike and looked a bit bitter as he spoke.
"Not like you Gwen, I didn't get any special powers." Jen stepped forward.
"Ethan what the hell happened to you!? Your dad up and quits out of nowhere and you skip town without even saying goodbye!" Ethan's face softened slightly.
"Is that what they told you?" Kevin looked from the wielder of the Omnitrix to the biker boy in front of them.
"Yeah. Then I found your dad's number in Grandpa Max's old contact list and it had been blacked out! I tried calling you cause yours was still legible but all I got was your voicemail." Ethan's scowl had turned into a frown of sheer despair.
"I haven't checked my messages in ages Jen." The brunette shook her head.
"Why are you selling alien tech Ethan, this isn't like you!" Ethan stepped forward.
"It was the only way I knew to get the Plumber's attention. I knew your grandpa wouldn't talk to me. I need your help Jen. It's my dad he's missing." Ethan shot a hateful look at the canister in Kevin's hand.
"Call the Cops." Kevin advised looking down at the chips in his hand. Ethan shot him a dirty look.
"They can't help. He's missing because of those chips." The first biker, Helios, snatched the canister back from Kevin.
"Look are you people gonna pay for these or not!" Kevin glared but Jen ignored them both.
"Ethan all you ever had to do was ask!" She would have said more, and Gwen looked about ready to put in her two cents but the chips in the cannisters began to glow and scuttle in their containers. And it wasn't just the one in Helios's hand either, the second case was shaking, the canisters sill in the open case were doing it too.
"What's going on?" Gwen had to call out over the ever loudening whirr of the chips. Kevin laid his hand on the metal of his car, absorbing the green cast iron until he was covered in it.
"It's a double cross, a trap!" Ethan stepped forward grabbing Jen's hand.
"It's not I swear. You have to believe me Jen, please." The brunette pulled her hand away from him and twisted the dial on the Omnitrix as the cannisters exploded. Gwen tossed up a shield around them as the chips began to take off and swarm around. Jen made a frustrated noise as Helios screamed and ran for his bike.
"Fuck this!" He stated loudly as he pulled on his helmet. "You freaks are on your own!" He took off, gunning his bike's engine and racing away trailed by a small swarm of chips. Gwen glanced over at Jen who was fiddling with the dial on the Omnitrix which was yellow, never a good sign.
"Jen?"
"Need a minute!" Kevin vaulted up a support beam and swung his metallic feet into the swarming chips sending a large clump of them crashing to the ground. The Watched beeped and Gwen stepped over to Jen, one hand maintaining the shield over them the other throwing bolts of mana at the swarm which was gathering together in a mini tornado.
"This is way too organized. There has to be some kind of intelligence behind it." Gwen had to shout over the whirr of the chips. Jen looked up and spotted a glimpse of someone standing on the ceiling beams.
"Leave him to me!" She said slapping the dial down and shifting. Her skin darkened to a deep blue and she stretched about two feet taller than she had been, wings pulling from her back and wrapping around her like a cloak.
"Big Chill!" Fully transformed she unfurled her wings and took off going intangible and sailing straight through Gwen's shield. She spun and glided around the tornado of chips going solid and breathing out, a mist flowing from her lungs ice chasing the mist.
She missed Gwen's shield crack and shatter. Ethan ran for his bike and grabbed his helmet shoving it on his head. He straddled his bike and shot a look over his shoulder as Jen blasted more of her ice breath at the figure in the trench coat. He dove to the side tossing a rain of the chips at Gwen. Kevin got there first the chips pinging off his metal form. Ethan took off in the confusion, wishing he could stay behind and explain. Jen landed next to Gwen and changed back to normal in a flash of green light.
"Are you ok?" Gwen nodded as Kevin scooped up a handful of the chips. Jen looked around and frowned.
"If you're looking for your loverboy he took off. Think your sparkling personality may have been a bit much for him." Jen frowned at Kevin and took the chips from him.
"We need to get these back to the Hole. Someone has a lot of explaining to do."