Glitch hadn't lived a long life before the summer ended. He didn't even totally understand what the summer ending even met until the Tennysons were back in Bellwood, the younger two back in school and Max spending his time at the RV lot. Glitch was welcome with either party, provided no family or neighbors spotted him, but a life in hiding wasn't one he wanted.
He spent hours driving around Bellwood, a deep desire to find a place he belonged pushing him to leave the Rustbucket but even deeper loyalty keeping him from wandering far. It was during one of these outings that he found Kevin. And the Cockroach Brothers. And La Grange. And Zombozo. And the Freaks. And Billy Billions. Villains, as Ben would call them.
Kevin was the important one here, it was his camp he stayed at, but with all these villains around, it was like summer all over again. Only, not quite as mean-spirited. Glitch loved his human family but their foes were a lot more docile without any Tennysons around. They could even be kind of fun when they came by, though they never did for long. Most of the time, it was just Glitch and Kevin. When Kevin wasn't at school or spending time at his parents' house, that is.
In reality, it was just Glitch most of the time. Sometimes that was okay but a lot of the time it got pretty lonely. Today, however, he was pretty grateful that there were no Tennysons or Levins around.
He wasn't alone today. LaGrange was visiting some family in the next town over and became interested in a race once he learned Glitch didn't have anything better to do. Nothing fancy but in a clean race, Glitch was the only one who could beat LaGrange's ride and the man wasn't looking to get arrested right now. Besides, it was fun for them both. Hard, but fun.
LaGrange always pushed his car hard. That meant Glitch had to push just as hard. Problem was that Glitch was the car. Pushing the car meant pushing himself hard. Normally that wasn't an issue but without Ben's aliens to give him a boost, today felt particularly rough. Nothing he couldn't handle though. He just hadn't been expecting his need for speed to literally launch himself out of his usual physical form and into… into…
He didn't even know but it felt amazing.
Glitch liked being a car but it was restrictive. He often dreamed of regaining his original form, one more closely resembling the one Ben had met him in. He didn't particularly love the human form but he had to admit he had some fondness for it. There was a freedom to it that his usual form lacked. Humans just had so much more movement and expression to them. Sure, he was fast now and he took pride in that speed but racing was nothing on human dexterity and flexibility.
But right now, he felt even freer than he ever had in any of his forms. He knew he was vaguely humanoid but that was just about the last thing in Glitch's mind. It- gosh, it was just like being surrounded by the power of the Omnitrix again only this time, it was inside him. And it let him soar.
He could see the whole race track he and LaGrange had set up. He could see the cities that sandwiched the empty fields and open roads between them. More than that, he could feel them. The whole world around him, he could feel it. And it felt amazing.
But also scary. It was very, very scary. In a heartbeat, all of his wonder was replaced by rapidly oncoming panic. He wasn't- He wasn't supposed to do that. He wasn't supposed to be feeling all these things. He wasn't supposed to fly. Why was he flying?
Panicking was also, apparently, something he wasn't supposed to do because he was suddenly plummeting toward the earth. Which wasn't as bad for Glitch, not as bad as it would for a full-blooded human, but it still hurt. Quite a bit. All that lightness was gone and he was left feeling tired and heavy.
"Glitch!"
Oh right. LaGrange was still here. Glitch sat up and pulled himself together, shifting back into his vehicular form. He wasn't quite sure what form he'd taken when he'd spattered across the road but whatever it was, he didn't want LaGrange to see. Until he figured out what new form he'd discovered, any shapeshifting would be kept private.
"Ay!" LaGrange snapped, hanging out of his car window. His tone was angry but Glitch knew him well enough to pick up on the lightheartedness behind it. "We said no cheating! Flying is cheating."
"Like you weren't planning on cheating," Glitch snarked, reversing his wheelsto scoot back as LaGrange's car approached. He'd crossed the finish line. Huh. How about that. He hadn't noticed. "It's not like I can't see all your modifications."
"Eh, we'll call it a draw and have a rematch." LaGrange waved him off. "But no more flying! Cars aren't supposed to fly!"
The rest of their afternoon went off without a hitch, save LaGrange's usual antics in the following races. But Glitch didn't shift again. No limbs made an appearance, none of that weird energy came back. Glitch had to say he was disappointed but he wasn't complaining. This was probably for the better. He had a routine and he liked it. He didn't want anything to change right now, save perhaps a few more visits from the Tennysons thrown into the mix. That energy that made him change and fly must've been a fluke.
It still happened though and Glitch couldn't pretend it hadn't. It affected his performance the rest of the afternoon with LaGrange and plagued his mind the rest of the drive home. Had that been some residual effect of the Omnitrix's reboot? Some power Upgrade never unlocked before Ben lost access to that form? Something unique to Glitch? He couldn't figure it out. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to know.
No, he wanted to know. Glitch was desperately curious. He just didn't know if he wanted his friends to know and what a dilemma that was. What would the Tennysons think of this development? Should he contact Phil? What if Kevin found out? Would this change things? For better or for worse? What if this new transformation was something bad? A sign he was unstable? A sign his techno-organic components were changing?
Pulling into the junkyard he called home, Glitch realized he didn't have to worry about telling the Tennysons about what happened. They were already here. They had to know. Why else would they be here?
He tried to approach stealthily. Admittedly, that was pretty hard with Glitch's bulk and wheels instead of feet. Coming up from behind the garage his friends had set up for him all those months ago, he thought he did pretty good, all things considered. He'd gotten close enough to see that a couple cars had pulled up to Kevin's camp and the boy was talking to Glitch's three favorite Tennysons, plus three extra. It was one of the extras that noticed him.
Glitch had never seen her before. The other two he recognized as Carl and Frank, Ben and Gwen's fathers. He'd seen them in pictures. Ben and Gwen had talked about them. But this woman? Glitch didn't have the faintest clue. She had to be their grandmother, right? But Max had never said anything about a woman in his life, in the past or in the present.
When she turned, she looked right at him. It was a bit unnerving. If she'd heard him, there would've been at least a moment of roaming eyes as she tried to pinpoint where he was. There hadn't been though. Her eyes locked on him peeking out from behind the garage like she'd known exactly where she was.
Glitch pulled back a bit instinctively, hiding, before mentally slapping himself. She definitely saw him. Ducking away wouldn't do anything. It just made him look like a little kid. Way to make a first impression, Glitch. But when he poked back out, she didn't look disappointed or uninterested. She was grinning. She looked thrilled. No, delighted.
"It's you."
Glitch rolled the rest of the way out, peering at her curiously, ignoring the surprised gasps of Carl and Frank. This strange woman was all he cared about right now. "Who are you?"
"I'm your Grandma Verdona."
His…? "My grandma?"
She stiffened ever so slightly and Glitch wondered if he'd said something wrong. "You were created from Ben's genetic material, yes?"
Glitch tried to nod, only to remember he didn't have a neck anymore. "Yeah."
"Wait, hold on," one of the unfamiliar men– Carl, Glitch was pretty sure– spoke up, waving his hands. "My other kid's a car?"
Kid? Glitch felt a swell of hope before squashing it down. Could he…? No, he'd tried before and failed. But he'd done it earlier today and it worked. Part of him was scared to try again but he desperately wanted to- to-... He didn't know. Be accepted? And if he needed his old body to do that, he'd try like he'd never tried before. So without another word, he pulled inward.
"I didn't know you could do that," Gwen said aloud and Glitch blinked. Blinked. He had eyes again! He moved his arms, looking down at them, relishing the feeling of being able to properly move again. Oh how he'd missed this.
"You didn't have to do that for me," Carl said and Glitch wasn't sure if he quite believed it but Carl was getting down on his knees to properly look Glitch in the eye so he didn't say anything about it. "I'm Carl. I'm your, uh, dad? I don't really know how this alien genetics stuff works."
Glitch offered a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Tennyson."
Carl smiled and accepted it. "Call me Carl. Wow, Ben could really learn something about manners from you."
"Hey!"
"You know it's true," Gwen responded smugly as Kevin poked his friend in the face. Ben opened his mouth to respond before closing it and settling on just crossing his arms and pouting. Glitch covered his mouth with one hand and laughed as quietly as he could. He'd missed this.
"Alright, settle down there." Max nudged Kevin and Ben apart before the poke could turn into a full on slap war, smiling softly before his expression grew serious. "Glitch, Verdona is here with a… proposition for you."
For him? Glitch blinked owlishly, taking a moment to process what Max just said. Why would Verdona be there for him? She had three other grandkids to spend her time and energy with. Three human grandkids, not unnatural half-breed creatures like him. He didn't really get it. But, like many other thoughts, he didn't voice this. He knew saying anything of that sort would upset everyone and he knew better than to just go blabbing his mouth. He wasn't Ben, regardless of what his DNA said.
"You see, kid," Verdona began, raising one cupped hand, "this branch of the Tennyson family isn't exactly human."
A royal pink light flickered to life in the elderly woman's hand, catching Glitch by surprise. He jumped back a bit, startled at first, before leaning forward in wonder. That energy… it felt so right. He wanted to touch it. So bad. "Can I…?"
Verdona seemed to read his mind and nodded. "Go ahead. My energy is yours."
"What do you mean?" Glitch asked but didn't pass up the opportunity once offered. Cautiously, he reached out with one hand and began pawing the sphere of power floating before him. He half expected energy to crackle at his fingertips, the technological nature of his body clashing with this organic light, but it remained calm. The energy surged upward ever so gently, brushing his palm like a kitten butting its furry head into his hand for pats. Not that he knew what that was like, of course.
"You see, I'm what's called an Anodite. We're energy beings," Verdona explained and Glitch nodded sagely. He didn't really get it so far but he was sure Verdona was about to explain. "It's rare for an Anodite to take the form of another species and bear young but when we do… Well, we don't have DNA. Our traits don't pass like humans do. To inherit Anodite traits, you must have the spark. And I think you have that spark, Glitch."
Glitch's gazed at her, eyes wide and ears not quite believing what he was hearing. "R-Really? Me? Are you sure? It's not Ben? Or Gwen?"
Verdona nodded. "I felt one of my grandchildren spark and I'm fairly certain it wasn't Ben, Gwen, or Ken. That leaves you, Glitch. Have you ever felt energy like mine before?"
Glitch resisted the urge to look in Ben, Gwen, and Max's direction. If he turned to them for answers, he was pretty sure Verdona would block his path and tell him she was asking him, not them. He'd be annoyed but she'd be right. The Tennysons didn't play the same role in his life that they had over the summer. He was becoming his own individual. He could speak for himself. "I think so. This morning, when I was racing, something weird happened."
Verdona looked interested. "Oh?"
Man, Glitch really wanted to look away. He knew Ben, Gwen, Max, or even Kevin wouldn't be able to help him answer these questions but he felt weird talking about it without checking with anyone first. "I… I flew. I think. I felt like I was flying at least. I was racing and then I was in the sky and my body didn't feel like it usually does but then I fell and I turned back into the buggy."
"What did it feel like? When you changed?"
Glitch's eyes flickered down to the glowing ball of energy before him, letting its aura wash over him. "It felt like this."
Verdona looked pleased. "You found your energy form. And so soon! You'll grow to be a powerful Anodite, Glitch. I can't wait to take you to Anodyne."
Powerful? Him? Wait. "Take me?"
Verdona's face shifted. "To Anodyne."
Glitch's face must've reflected his panic because before he could say anything, Carl was stepping between him and his mother. "Can I have him for a moment? Maybe some one- on- one will be a bit less overwhelming."
Verdona clearly wanted to protest but she lowered her gaze, resigned. Carl nodded his head ever so slightly and put a hand on Glitch's shoulder, leading him away from the group and out of earshot. "I wish we'd met under better circumstances. I'd like to get to know you a bit before telling you about, uh, our family history."
Glitch shrugged half-heartedly. He never really thought he'd ever meet Carl. He imagined any human would be pretty freaked out to find out his son spliced his DNA with an alien. Only Carl wasn't just any human, apparently. He wasn't even totally human. Sort of like Glitch, he supposed. "S'alright."
Carl frowned but didn't explain why. Crouching down, he settled down on the ground beside the half-Mechamorph. "You're half-alien, right?"
If what he'd learned today was true, Glitch was a bit more than half alien but he nodded anyway. "Uh-huh."
"And you have technological powers."
"That's right."
"What if you couldn't use them?"
"What?" What kind of question was that?
"What if you couldn't use those powers? Or if you couldn't access any technology?"
Glitch stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out why Carl would ask such a question. Or why he needed to pull him away from the others to ask it. Was he expecting Glitch to say something Carl didn't want the others to hear? Or- oh. Oh! Carl was half alien too. This was personal.
Anodites were energy beings but Carl wasn't. What must that feel like? As a Galvanic Mechmorph, Glitch could feel the pull of technology around him. But even if he couldn't merge with it or modify it like a true Mechamorph, he could still interact with it. He could still use it to alter his form. Carl couldn't do anything like that, could he? Did Carl feel that need to merge with energy like Glitch felt with tech? But he was all skin, muscle, and bone. At least Glitch was techno-organic. Carl was an Anodite but he couldn't act like one.
Glitch couldn't imagine that. He'd always been surrounded by tech and free to touch it as he pleased but he still felt that Mechamorph urge to augment it with his body. Not being able to was uncomfortable, physically. How much worse would that be for an Anodite? For Carl?
He really had to work on his facial expressions. Carl knew the moment he put two and two together. "I… I'd love Earth. I love my family, I love my job, I love my friends and my hobbies and the plants and animals here and just about everything about my life. But, it still feels like something's missing. Ever since I was a kid, it felt like there was something out there waiting for me. When my mom left, I realized that thing was Anodyne. It was part of her so it became part of me. I can never go though. However much of this feeling I have, I don't have the spark. I can't go to Anodyne. Even if I hopped on a spaceship and flew all the way there, I don't think I'd survive stepping foot on the planet if I tried."
That was… geez. He didn't know where Galvanic Mechamorphs came from, no one ever told him, and he never really spent time thinking about it but there was always the knowledge that there were others like him out there. He probably wouldn't see them anytime soon but he was okay with that. He'd have a long life. It'd happen one day. But Carl was human. He didn't have that luxury.
"I want to get to know you. I want you to meet my wife, I want you to play in the yard with Ben and the dog, I want you to grow up and I want to watch you do it," Carl confessed, "but being away from Anodyne hurts. It only gets worse, Glitch. My mom might not wait until you're ready to leave. This may be your only chance to leave Earth."
Glitch frowned. "Will I ever come back?"
"I mean, I think so? Anodites are very free beings. And they can fly. Through space. Nothing can keep you anywhere you don't want to be."
Glitch resigned. "Then maybe… I think you're right. This is too big of an opportunity to pass up."
Carl smiled but he didn't look particularly happy. He showed no teeth, no excitement, but the look was still warm. "Let's go tell my mother then."
Glitch nodded and let Carl take him by the hand and lead him back to the rest of the group. "I think I want to go with Grandma Verdona."
"Oh goodie!" she beamed and then stepped out of her skin. A red violet light lit up the scene, illuminating the scrapyard and bathing Kevin and the gathered Tennysons in a gentle light. Glitch thought it was beautiful. Could he do that? He wanted to try.
The moment he made the decision, he felt a lightness overtake him and a deep purple joined Verfona's light. He jumped up, trying to join her in the sky, only for gravity to pull him back down. Verdona took his hand before he could fall too far. She pulled him up and up until his feet were totally off the ground. Glitch thought she'd carry him all the way into the night sky if Carl wasn't still holding onto his other hand. Was he worried she'd carry him off? Would that be such a bad thing?
Verdona guided him back down and Carl let go of his hand. Glitch sort of wished they'd held on. Just one of them. It was nice, even if he didn't know why. Maybe he'd figure it out during his time offworld. He hoped he would. There was a lot he wanted to learn about himself and this was going to be an excellent chance to do it.
"Man, you look wicked cool," Kevin commented, catching Glitch's attention and pulling his attention to the three youngest humans present. "Wish I had a Bootleg Anodite in my Antitrix."
"He came out of my Omnitrix. If anything, I should have an Upgrade Anodite in my watch," Ben complained before pausing. He put his hands on his hips, trying to look casual. "But I guess it's pretty cool you can transform too, Glitch. All your purple ropey things look almost as cool as Grandma Verdona's awesome hair."
Ropey things? Had he gained extra limbs? Glitch looked down at his hands but the energy had faded, leaving him in his Ben-shaped form. He'd have to figure it out later, he supposed. Besides, that wasn't important right now. Ben didn't compliment him much. He wasn't about to waste the instance. "Thanks, Ben."
"I imagine you would like some time to gather your things and say your goodbyes?" Verdona asked and Glitch nodded. She sighed. "You've picked up on the ways of the humans, I see, but I won't deny you these moments. I'll come for you when the sun begins to rise. Don't worry about location. You have the spark. We'll be able to find each other."
Without even a final wave goodbye, Verdona took off into the sky.
"I'm sure she's just going to the Rustbucket," Max explained once she disappeared from sight. "She likes acting all aloof but she's got a human heart if I've ever seen one. She'll want to catch up a bit more before she leaves again."
"I should get over there. I don't want her scaring Ken," Frank said, glancing between his father and brother. "I guess you want to come, Dad. You okay keeping an eye on the kids, Carl?"
Carl nodded. "You go ahead. I'll bring Gwen home when we're done here."
"Thanks!" Frank called, already heading for the car with Max in tow. "I'll call Sandra and let her know you'll be out late!"
Glitch felt a stab of an emotion he couldn't identify. Was it jealousy? Longing? He wanted what those two had. Well, not exactly. Their relationship had clearly evolved with maturity. But he wanted that closeness, a closeness Ben and Gwen never included him in and he didn't quite find in Kevin. But maybe on Anodyne? That was an exciting prospect. He hoped he made friends there.
"I'll give you kids some space," Carl told them as he began heading toward where his own car was parked. "Don't go running off without telling me where you're going. Or, uh, driving I guess. Glitch, if you need to pick anything up or anything like that, let me know and we'll go with you."
Was this what having a father was like?
"Thanks, Dad," Ben responded but his voice didn't reflect the gratitude warming Glitch's chest. He sounded almost annoyed. Not rude, surprisingly. Glitch didn't think ungrateful was the right word either. Tired? Like he was taking Carl's parental worry for granted. Or he thought it was unnecessary. Maybe it was. Ben was a superhero afterall. He could take care of himself. But a little worrying was nice. Or at least Glitch thought so.
"Can't believe you're leaving," Kevin grumbled, "after freeloading off me for months. You better tell me all about alien planets when you get back. Consider it my payment."
Glitch wasn't totally sure if he was kidding or not but he nodded earnestly anyway. Even if he was just poking fun, it sounded like a fair exchange. Glitch would want to tell his friends all about space anyway. They deserved to know what lay above the stars.
"It'll be weird not having you around," Ben spoke up, toeing the ground with his sneaker. Glitch didn't protest. He didn't really want his goodbye to turn ugly. A good memory would do him good. "But what Kevin said. Totally unfair you're the only one who gets to go to space but that just means you have to have an extra good time so you can tell us some awesome stories when you get back."
Glitch nodded and turned to Gwen. "Gwen? Do you have any requests? I imagine you have something more substantial than just stories in mind."
Gwen didn't say anything.
"Gwen?"
"I… I need a minute," Gwen said slowly before quickly turning around and sprinting out of sight, leaving the three boys blinking after her in surprise.
"Wha-? Hey!" Ben called after her. "Gwen! What are you doing?"
Glitch supposed he shouldn't have expected less of Ben but being left alone in the dark with Kevin, both Tennysons running out of sight, hurt more than Glitch wanted to admit. "Did I say something wrong?"