5 years later…

"Steady… steady…"

A glasslike structure arced from Anodyne's surface, creating a pink pocket of energy around a hovering figure. Glowing hands outstretched, features scrunched in concentration, the walls stretched upward, trying to connect, before they slowed and flickered out of existence. "Damn it!"

"You're pushing too hard, Sunny," Glitch said, floating to his cousin's side now that it was all clear. Sunny didn't turn to face him and plopped herself down on Anodyne's surface angrily. "Spells require a gentle touch."

"And blasting requires force and you don't see me trying to correct your technique," Sunny snapped. Glitch reeled back ever so slightly but Sunny reacted before he could. "Sorry, sorry. I know you're just trying to help. It's just- gah! Not fair that you're the one that's good with spells and I'm the one good with throwing mana around. It should be the other way around."

Glitch frowned. "It makes sense to me. I'm more of a thinker so I'm better at the more intricate stuff. You're bolder and stronger so you're better at the more power-based stuff."

"That's not what I-" Sunny cut herself off and Glitch was glad she did. As much as Glitch cherished her, comments about what Glitch should and should not be able to do as a Mechamorph had grown tiresome over the years. Glitch just didn't want to hear it anymore and Sunny knew it. "Oh! Grandma!"

Glitch whipped around to see another Anodite approaching and mentally chastised himself for not sensing her. Sunny's spell interfering maybe? Perhaps he was just too caught up in his feelings to notice. Either way, that was something he had to work on. "Hi Grandma!"

"Hello to you too." Verdona sounded faintly amused but she was always quick to business. "Have you mastered the teleportation spell yet?"

Glitch nodded while Sunny shook her head. "Glitch was just helping me with that."

Verdona frowned. "Well, I suppose that can't be helped. I would've liked to send you both off but I suppose just Glitch will do."

Glitch blinked a few times. "What?"

"Your old friends are visiting Galvan Prime," Verdona told him, sending Glitch's head spinning. Old friends? That could only mean so many people. "Earth is much too far to teleport to but Galvan Prime might just be doable. I think it would do you some good to see them again, and for you to see the other half of your heritage."

That was right. Galvan Prime was the planet Mechamorphs were created on, and the one their current home orbited. Glitch would be lying if he hadn't fantasized about seeing it one day but right now, the prospect sent paralyzing terror through his nanites. "But Sunny…?"

Sunny crossed her arms, looking away ever so slightly. "It's my own fault I can't teleport yet and Grandma's right. You should go."

Glitch's brow furrowed. "But I'd be leaving you."

"I have friends outside of you," Sunny responded, tone light but Glitch knew better. She didn't have anyone other than him, and the same went for him. They tried, of course, but being a young Anodite wasn't anything like being a young human. It was harder to make friends than Glitch expected. "I don't want you blowing this chance for me."

Verdona's mana reached out for Glitch, giving a comforting touch. "Are you ready?"

Glitch's mind whirled. Already? The news had only been dropped on him a moment ago. He'd hardly had time to think! But that was the way of Anodites and he had to get used to it. He'd like to have some time to prepare but he knew Verdona wouldn't be happy about that. So, he nodded. "Yes."

Verdona smiled and the touch of her mana intensified. "Begin the teleportation. I will guide the spell. Remain true and the spell will carry you there."

Glitch gulped, suddenly nervous, but did as he was told. Gathering up his mana and whatever else Verdona offered him, he pulsed it outward into the spell and he was off. "Abaeo Exorior!"

Glitch had teleported before, of course. It was hard at first, painful even, and it still could be but normally it left him with a light rush that stayed with him the rest of the day. He didn't know if he'd describe it as good but it wasn't necessarily bad either. This time, however, he'd definitely call it good. Verdona's mana pulsed through him, lighting his circuits up with energy, and carried him all the way to… Oh. He could feel it.

It felt like the first time he went to Anodyne. Then, he'd felt the mana swimming deep in the core of the planet. Now, he wasn't quite sure what it was. It was totally different yet eerily similar at the same time. Something inside him was screaming for him to reach out for it, to grab whatever energy he felt crackling before him. The closer he got, the stronger the feeling got and the more right it felt. Glitch hadn't even realized he'd been missing this feeling until he got it and now it was nearly within his grasp.

But the teleportation didn't bring him toward that alluring power In the fraction of a moment, Glitch realized he was materializing elsewhere. Part of him wanted to struggle, to wrestle control of the teleportation spell away from whatever force was guiding him and launch himself toward that delectable energy source. He didn't though. Glitch was nothing if not patient. He had enough self control to wait a bit. Whatever it was, it wasn't going anywhere.

Arms were suddenly around him. In his disorientation, Glitch hadn't quite taken in who and what was around him. The back of his mind urged him to fly upward and out of this grip but a more conscious part of his brain melted into the embrace. Blinking a few times, Glitch spotted a familiar face watching him with an amused smirk on his face. "Kevin?"

"You notice Kevin first? Really?" a voice so like his own complained.

Glitch switched his attention to what was directly in front of him, jaw dropping as he took in the sight of the boy and girl before him. "Ben! Gwen! Oh wow, I almost didn't recognize you. You look so different."

"Puberty," Kevin said tonelessly. Glitch expected Ben to complain or at least sour his face but he just rolled his eyes and withdrew from Glitch, seeming little more than amused by the whole thing. Gwen, on the other hand, seemed a bit more miffed.

"You went through puberty too, Kevin." Gwen stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to Glitch. "You look so different too, Glitch! You're all… glowy. Like Grandma Verdona."

Glitch looked down at himself then immediately regretted it. That was embarrassing. He knew what he looked like. Still, Gwen was right. His body was more energy than solid now. Not as much as Verdona or Sunny, it never would be with his Mechamorph roots. Speaking of Mechamorph roots… "What are you guys doing on Galvan Prime?"

"Ongoing villain battle," Ben said nonchalantly. "There's some rogue Mechamorph… It's a long story. But since you're not around, we figured Azmuth would be a good way to learn about Mechamorphs then we got talking about mutations and hybrids and Azmuth got kind of mad that we never told him about you…"

Oh. Ben's words felt like a physical blow. "I don't know why I thought anything would be different."

Ben titled his head. "What?"

Whoops. Had he said that out loud? He hadn't meant to. But since he had… Glitch took a deep breath. "You just- You never really treated me like- like one of you? Like a Tennyson. Or even a friend. I was just your ride, even though I wasn't even a car to start with."

Ben frowned and Glitch braced himself, expecting Ben's usual screeching but instead found a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry." Ben shrugged. "I didn't realize we'd been doing that. I'll- I- I don't think of you like just a car. I'll make sure you know that, Glitch."

"Why aren't you…" Glitch trailed off. He wanted to ask why Ben wasn't arguing. Ben always argued when someone criticized him. He complained, he got defensive. He learned his lesson eventually but it usually took some kind of beating or mistake on his part to knock the sense into him. But Glitch hadn't seen Ben in five years. He'd changed. It made sense that Ben had outgrown the behavior Glitch knew, that he'd matured.

Glitch felt a pang of sorrow from deep within him. Part of him grieved that he'd missed the chance to watch that growth. How else had Ben changed? And Gwen? Or Kevin for that matter? What about Max? And Carl, and Frank, and Ken? He'd barely known them. He wished that he'd been able to change that. Maybe one day.

"Want to go to Galvan B?" Kevin asked almost conversationally, even though Glitch knew he had to know the weight of his words. He was giving Glitch a chance to feel human. Or Mechamorph? Glitch didn't even know what he was anymore. "Azmuth kind of sucks. I don't really want to see him again if I can help it."

Glitch grinned and floated upward, pooling his mana in his hands. Gently, it reached up and tugged his friends upward. "You guys have no idea how much I've wanted this."

Gwen and Kevin yelped, scrambling a bit as their feet left the ground. They were perfectly balanced, Glitch knew, but the sight was amusing. Ben, on the other hand, looked totally fine, raising an eyebrow up at Glitch. "You know I can fly, right?"

"Let me have this," Glitch responded good naturedly and flew up off Galvan Prime's surface right toward its moon, toward the other half of his heritage. He'd mastered his Anodite abilities better than some Anodites ever did. It was about time he set Anodyne aside and explored what it meant to be a Galvanic Mechamorph.

The flight wasn't a long one, not for an Anodite. But Glitch didn't feel much like an Anodite right now. That feeling was back. That one that felt like coming home, like coming to Anodyne but it wasn't. This one was electric and metallic, yet just as alive as the planet they were leaving. Something pulled at Glitch's body and it felt nothing like mana. It was dark and inhuman but it didn't frighten him. Setting his friends down gently, Glitch let the invisible tendrils pull him along, ignoring the questioning calls of his friends behind him. His mind was focused on one thing and one thing only right now.

The moment his feet hit the ground, Glitch felt something inside him light up. A Galvanic Mechamorph stepped out in front of him. And then another. And another. Still, Glitch didn't feel frightened.

They touched him, their massive paws running along the purple markings spread across his body. There was something curious about the motion yet urgent at the same time. Glitch watched them, trying to make sense of what they were doing. They were trying to tell him something, he knew that much. Just not what.

One of the Mechamorphs stepped back and crouched down. Glitch titled his head, watching intently. The Mechamorph raised his arms and then plunged them deep into the world beneath their feet. The glowing lines across her body twitched and twisted, stretching downward before pulling the rest of the Mechamorph down, down into the planet until nothing remained.

Then another Mechamorph did it. And then another. And another. And soon it was time for Glitch to follow.

There was a pit of something in his stomach but he didn't feel nervous. He was nervous when he went to Anodyne but things were different now. He'd come home before. This wasn't new. He knew what to do.

Glitch let the technological streaks on his body fill with mana and lift from his metallic skin. The others hadn't done this but this was something Glitch knew he could do. Without the long hair of other Anodites, this was something he'd become well practiced in. Letting the tendrils drift downward, he let them sink into the planet like roots until a surging overtook him and his body liquified, pulling him below the surface.

Mana and tech fused, extending his senses beyond anything Glitch had ever felt before. He could feel every Galvanic Mechamorph inside the planet around him. He could feel his friends on the surface. But more importantly, Glitch could feel himself.

He didn't know if he'd ever felt himself before. He'd felt something before, something incomplete and broken, but he could feel none of that now. Mechamorph, Andoite, human… There was no distinction anymore. He could feel all parts of him yet none of them at the same time. Maybe he always had. Maybe he just couldn't understand it until now, until he'd gotten the chance to connect with every piece of him.

Now, it was all just Glitch.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading everyone! I enjoyed writing this but lost steam for these past two chapters and just wanted to finish it. Hope you enjoyed!