Future Bound

by G O G E T A 9 0 0 0

It's been three years since Ben and Gwen had their Summer vacation across the country but, as the years pass they find themselves resembling the bleak future timeline they visited on that trip; is it possible to change your own destiny? How will the duo react to the growing feelings betwixt them? Follow Ben and Gwen into adulthood as they explore their relationship! Bwen! Season 5!

47. When Heroes Are Away

I don't own Ben 10

Chapter 47 – When Heroes Are Away

A/N: I'd just like to point out, as far as intelligence and technology goes, I would say Cooper is this Universe's Reed Richards while Billy Billions is more like the Tony Stark. Both of them are unparalleled geniuses in their own right with Reed being only slightly smarter at times. As far as technology goes, Reed builds and experiments with more practical science and doesn't necessarily enjoy the fighting. Tony was known for being a weapons contractor who builds armors for everything and loves to show off while saving the day. At least, that's my interpretation and the mindset you should have while reading their characters.

Season 1 The Alien Force - Chapter 1 (Family Reunion) - Chapter 22 (Epilogue S1)
Season 2 Future Found - Chapter 23 (Future Found) - Chapter 31 (Mazel Tov?)
Season 3 Timeless Generation - Chapter 32 (Whether You Like It Or Not) - Chapter 42 (Fluffy)
Season 4 The Ultimate Alien - Chapter 43 (Warning Pt 1) - Chapter 54 (Aftermath)
Season 5 Hero Generation - Chapter 55 (?) - Chapter ? (TBA)

…

Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 23rd, 2024; 7:20AM

Gwendolyn's eyes slowly fluttered open noticing the bright florescent lights of the medical suite glaring down above her, the air was stale and had a lingering scent of sanitizing products. At first she was dazed and didn't recall how she got here, the last thing she remembered was being in her home with her daughter, quickly the moments before she was possessed hit her like a speeding truck, her eyes snapping open, shooting upright in the customized hospital bed with a gasp. Gwen glanced around, noticing she was alone in the all-white, exceptionally large hospital room; the beeping from her heart monitor caught her attention first before she scanned the rest of her surroundings slowly. Her fingers felt out her clothes first being that she no longer had on civilian wear and was instead dressed in a long white-blue hospital gown; she lifted her left hand up to eye level finding a clipped sensor attached to her index finger reading her heart's BPM.

Across the room on a full-mattress sized pullout couch laid Albedo with his arms tucked behind his head and Jennifer casually asleep lying her head over his chest. They were both sleeping soundly causing the first thought that crossed her mind as she held her right hand up to her short orange-red hair being, how long had she been unconscious? As a moment or two passed, she noticed how calm and peacefully Jen had been sleeping, realizing how comfortable she was with Albedo, never having expected that from him when they first met. Now he was like a brother to her, one she could clearly trust; Gwendolyn pulled a latch on the side of her bed lowering the guard rail, allowing her to swing her legs over and place her bare feet on the cold tile floor.

Still finding it difficult to remember the specifics of what happened after she had been possessed, she could only recall bits and pieces, having her consciousness forcibly suppressed by another darker entity brought familiar chills to the back of her neck just as they did when she was ten-years-old. Gwen shook her head and dispelled the uneasy feeling, pulling the adhesive wires from above her chest and the clip from her finger, causing the monitor on the other side of the bed to flat-line with a single loud beep.

Albedo woke suddenly, startled by the relentless alarm, he only relaxed once he made eye contact with Gwendolyn upright in her bed and smiling at him from across the room, "You make a cute Uncle, ya know that?" the doppelganger glanced down at Jennifer's splayed-out strawberry brunet hair, her face still tucked into his abdomen, sound asleep.

"Well, someone needed to watch your offspring with both of her parents otherwise occupied," Albedo snarked, slowly shifting Jen off his stomach, replacing himself with the pillow he was using as neck support as he stood up, "How do you feel?" he asked, turning to face her.

"Like I've been asleep for days…" she rubbed her head again, still a-tad cloudy.

Albedo cleared his throat, looking away from her nervously before addressing that, "It has been a few days, you've been unconscious for nearly a full forty-eight hours." Gwen's stare shifted to Jennifer lying next to him, surprised, and concerned for her daughter considering how long she spent out cold. Albedo spoke up again, catching her worried motherly gaze, "No need to be distressed, I've been taking care of Jennifer and making sure she had been fed, remained hydrated, and done regular bowel movements…" this last part prompted a long judgmental stare from Gwendolyn, defending himself before she spoke up, "I do not know what children do, I looked up 'taking care of offspring' on the internet and it specifically told me those things were essential."

His explanation changed her expression immediately forcing her to giggle, standing up to put a hand on his shoulder, "I'm pretty sure that was a dog-training website, Albedo."

He responded with his fingers caressing his chin in deep thought, "Hm, yes that does explain a few things," the Galvan quickly changed the subject, getting back to what was important, "The Ectonurite that attacked you will no longer be a problem, I handled it during your rescue."

Gwendolyn's eyes widened a bit, remembering now her battle with him and another stranger, "You saved me? Albedo, I don't know what to say…" she was flabbergasted, while she knew he had a change of heart in the last few years she didn't really expect him to go so far for her.

Albedo, confused by her shocked expression, shrugged his shoulders, "I know we haven't been the closest since you left active duty but, you are still my… friend," it seemed like he had very little experience using the word, "I would never willingly allow you to fall into harm's way."

"You took care of Jennifer, and you saved my life, that's more than friendship... as far as I'm concerned you're part of the Tennyson family," Gwen pulled him into a hug as he returned the embrace, placing his hands on her back as she felt the warmth from his torso through her thin gown. "I can't thank you enough."

"Well I didn't exactly do it on my own," He answered over her shoulder as she pulled back to look up at him. He gestured for her to sit down on the bed again, raising her brow in response before complying, "When Cooper and I landed on the planet you were taken to, we met a woman slightly older than you who seems to be a distanced-relative of yours, stranded there for several years."

Gwen's eyes widened in shock once again, sifting through her memories on who it could be, "H-How do you know? I mean, is she here in the building?" she turned her head to look back at the door out into the hall, "I should go meet her-" as she tried to stand back up, a painful headache struck causing her to become disorientated and fall back onto the hospital bed, almost feinting as Albedo positioned himself to catch her if he needed to.

"You shouldn't push yourself; I'll call Cooper and Julie down to look at you before you go off stressing yourself, physically or emotionally," Albedo helped her by the shoulders back into the bed, lying her back so she could catch her breath before tapping the red 'nurse' button on the medical cart where her heart monitor was hooked up.

As she was laid down and the soothing hum told them that the nurse on duty was being alerted to her condition, she tilted her head to the side noticing how peaceful Jennifer looked, now hugging the pillow the silver-haired twin had propped her head with. "I really can't tell you how grateful I am for your help, Albedo, it means the world to me."

He gave a lighthearted chuckle, folding his arms over his chest, "You may repay me by not overexerting yourself, at least not for a few more days…" as the door slid open beside them, Gwendolyn finished off their conversation by agreeing with a happy and reassuring nod.

Julie poked her head in the high-tech hospital room, announcing herself, "Hey everyone, I heard someone was awake," she sung unintentionally waking Jennifer who finally noticed her Mother was up again.

"Mom!" the young ten-year-old girl unexpectedly dashed into her Mother's arms at super speed leaving a blur behind her from the white and black t-shirt reminiscent of her father's when he was her age, which she was currently using as a pajama of sorts. "You're okay!" she announced cuddling into Gwen's abdomen while she laid in bed.

The Mother giggled as a lighthearted bubbly feeling erupted into soothing comfort to have her daughter hugging her so tightly, wrapping her own arms around her to return the favor, "Awe, of course I am, monkey; you know nothing is gonna take me from you," the mage finished, kissing the top of Jennifer's head.

Julie approached with a clipboard, visually examining her top patient while she reunited with her daughter, "I see you're feeling much better, huh?" she smiled up at Gwendolyn for a response.

"Still a little lightheaded but, overall I think I should be fine," Gwen responded taking her eyes off her daughter for a few moments. "My muscles feel like they have fifty-pound weights attached."

Julie looked up from her clipboard with a nervous look in her eyes, glancing between the three of them, before clearing her throat… she had certainly trained for this many times before, it shouldn't be too hard. Taking a deep breath she started the awkward conversation, "You're probably going to need some pain relief medication, would you like to talk options in private?"

Gwendolyn paused, thinking on why it would need to be private, internally thanking Julie for having discretion with her pervious history of opioid and painkiller addiction; "Uh, no… it's fine really, just give me the regular stuff."

Julie raised her brow at this, glancing back down at the information on the sheet she was holding, "Are you sure? I mean, it says here-"

Gwendolyn cleared her throat with a very obvious intentional interruption, "Ahem, heh, I have a pretty good idea on what it says… I can handle it."

"Alright, if you say so," scribbling something on the clipboard, she folded the next sheet over it as the hospital door slid open once again, allowing a metallic thumping heard faintly down the hall on approach, to step through into the room with them.

Cooper greeted them all with an optimistic smile, spite having his entire right leg harnessed with some sort of electronic battery powering a hydraulic assist, "Good morning, Tennysons," he stepped slowly into the middle of the room, smiling at Julie who leaned for him, "Love of mine," he practically sung as he too bent forward to kiss her on the cheek.

"W-What happened to your leg?!" Gwendolyn almost shouted, slightly startling Jennifer who had already been told the basics of why he wore the brace.

Cooper sighed loudly, prompted to glance down at his right leg, "Yea… the atmosphere is so toxic on the planet we rescued from that even two-minutes with a small crack on my armor totally decayed the nerves and cells in my leg," he reached his arm down so the tips of his fingers could graze against the metallic apparatus he designed, "I hardly felt it and my brain is more than big enough to compensate but, I don't really know if I'll ever be able to walk normally again."

"I'm so sorry, everyone went to such lengths to save me… and now I find out I might even have a long lost cousin to meet too?" Gwendolyn raised her right hand back up to her head, combing her slightly frizzled hair down with her fingers.

Cooper approached slowly, placing his hand on her shoulder, "I have a good feeling that if it came down to it, you'd take the same risk for me- or anyone else on this team."

Gwen responded with another heartfelt smile, placing her hand from her head to his hand on her shoulder, reciprocating the sentiment. She turned her head when she felt her gown being tugged on by the adolescent lying with her in the hospital bed, "Do you get to leave today?" her eyes were wide and full of excitement, eager for her Mother to finally come home with her again so that everything could go back to normal.

Gwendolyn into her daughters eyes, brushing one of her strawberry-brunette bangs from in front of them before turning to face the professionals, "What's the prognosis, docs?"

Cooper scoffed with a joking manner, "Oh, she's the doctor… I just build everything, control the whole building, and make everyone look cooler," he shrugged with a smile as he referred Gwen to his steady girlfriend standing beside him. The technopath instead took it upon himself to check the radiation levels with special sensors built into the room to detect Corrodium or any other deadly energies from the Anur-System.

Julie approached with a chuckle from Cooper's joke, "You should be fine to leave in just a few hours, I'll get the prescription ready and you'll be discharged before noon," she continued to scribble into the pad, writing down information for the room and assigned patient.

Gwen raised her brow for a moment as she noted something, "That sounds great, hey, why aren't you using one of the special touch-pads we got for the medical department?"

"Hm?" she looked down at the pencil and paper clipped to the wooden board in her hand, "Oh, the other nurses use them all the time but, sometimes it's refreshing to just work off memory, especially for my magic-powered patients…" ending the sentence with a sly wink, she turned towards the door and made her way out. "I'll be right back with some discharge forms and then you'll just have to wait for pharmaceuticals to process the medication."

As she left the room, Albedo watched as Jennifer shifted her weight prompting Gwendolyn to nudge her, "Hey, why don't you see if Uncle Albedo will give you money for the vending machine?" being right in front of him, as soon Jen turned her head to look up at him, Gwen winked at him as he reached into his pocket.

Sighing loudly, "I suppose I have some change in here-" he took out his wallet from the back pocket of his black cargo-pants but, before he could open it, Jennifer flew from her place on the bed with such controlled speed that she didn't at all disturb her still healing Mother. Grabbing the wallet in a blur of speed he almost couldn't track, she appeared behind him looking through the leather billfold with a happy grin, "Sweet!"

"What do we say?" she almost shouted as the quickly maturing ten-year-old girl responded back over her shoulder, her long auburn-brown hair swaying evenly with the turn of her head.

"Thank you!" she vanished into the hall leaving the adults to talk.

Albedo sighed in defeat leaving her to giggle at him as he sat back on the edge of the pulled-out couch-bed, "That had seventy-five dollars in it," he mentioned nonchalantly.

"Pfft, we pay you and don't charge rent, I think my daughter deserves seventy bucks in snack-foods…"

Albedo turned to a more serious note, "Ever since the incident with Ho- Charmcaster," he quickly stopped himself trying his best to acknowledge that the women he loved was dead and only the villain they were forced to leave trapped in her crumbling castle had remained, "She's gotten far better at controlling her powers."

She nodded, glancing back at the door where he daughter had just stepped out, "they come and they go, sometimes she's just as normal as any other little girl and next thing I know she's lifting her dresser off the ground just to vacuum underneath it."

This prompted Albedo to stroke his silver-haired goatee as a pensive stare set in, "It could be triggered by her emotions, I would keep a close eye on her progression until she learns to better control them."

"Ben and I were talking and we think it might be time to give her the Omnitrix you guys had built a year or two ago…" without looking back at him yet, she narrowed her eyes with concern, "I just don't know if she's ready for that kind of commitment."

"There are certainly less risks now than there were when Azmuth first finished his prototype, for instance our new device will never fuse with its wearer and can be removed at a moment's notice by its user," Albedo was proud of the work he and Ben had put into the watch they developed, using a newfound ability they now had access to. Ben and Albedo used their Ultimatricies to not only become Galvan but, go further beyond into Negative and Positive versions of an Evolved Galvan being Ultimate GreyMatter. They took full scans of both their watches and perfected the design to every conceivable degree, both of them collaborating with Azmuth via holographic video feeds, it was clear the First Thinker alone was just as, if not smarter, than both evolved watch users even still. It was truly the Perfected Omnitrix, "The life-preservation function is also far more effective… to ensure she stays safe it may be the best possible option?" he posed as less of a statement and more of a question.

"You think if we teach her to master the abilities of some of the aliens, it'll translate over to her natural abilities?"

Albedo shrugged, "It is possible though hard to say for certain."

They sat in silence for another minute or two before Gwen spoke up once again with a valid question, "So, I have another cousin, what's she like?"

A smile crossed the doppelganger Galvan's face, thinking back on the cool toned raven-haired woman he'd met only a few days prior and already felt very close to, "She's actually quite fascinating: she's intelligent, free spirited, but most importantly pure of heart…"

"You build a device to pick that up?" Gwendolyn giggled, amused by his enthusiasm.

Albedo simply shook his head, "It is just a feeling."

"And she looks like me?"

He nodded, elaborating a bit, "The similarities are uncanny, and she appears to be only a year or two older than you; spite the properties of her energy form, her human side has enough DNA to test and it is most definitely a match to yours."

"Well, once I get discharged I plan to head back to the loft at home, I wanna take a second look at the masterpiece you designed with my husband before we attach it to my ten-year-old daughter," Gwendolyn put emphasis on her skepticism of the new device, always having hated how the watch put Ben through so much pain as it fused to his body. "You can tell Sunny to meet us there and I can meet her that way."

As he was just about to agree with her, nodding with a smile, Jennifer sauntered back in with all ten of her fingers adorned with glistening multi-colored Joly-Rancher Ring-Pops, even dressing some fingers with more than one, "I am the Ring-Pop Queen!" she proudly announced with a sugar rush induced shout, pumping her fists into the air one at a time as she periodically licked one of her candied knuckles.

Albedo glanced back at Gwendolyn who only seemed slightly concerned by the amount of sugar her daughter was consuming at once, mock clapping as she wondered how she'd ever calm her down.

…

Omnitrix City; Billions Tower; March 23rd, 2024; 11:22AM

While Billy usually spent the majority of his time on the top levels of his building where his laboratory and pent-house were situated; he relied solely on the multi-million-dollar security system, which he designed himself, to protect the private armory which was locked up and guarded on the second floor above the lobby.

Since said security was automated, it was completely unexpected when a thin crimson energy beam the width of a standard needle cut through the wall from outside. The beam quickly and with one movement sliced a perfectly circular hole in two feet of concrete, instead of removing the large slab out of the way it was hit with a follow up beam with a turquoise hue. The circular slab was completely vaporized and in seconds the wall was breached; a humanoid, green skinned, white hazmat suited figure stepped through the hole in the wall and visually scanned the room.

"Scanners indicate lowest Omnimatrix energy signature emanating from current location," the creature narrowed his snake-like red eyes beneath cybernetic implants that clearly enhanced his vision, examining the room from every angle.

Suddenly, the security system activated around them summoning the offline drones around the intruder already; the regular droids were simply automated versions of Billy's own armor, or at least its design, while the larger bulkier, stronger drones were stockpiled with weapons and offensive measures. Each of them shifted their robotic arms into cylindrical cannons lighting up with blue ionic energy pulsating within the barrel, aiming said cannons at the single intruder, "You are under arrest for trespassing, the police have been notified, surrender yourself," each one of them announced all in unison.

The man standing between them all seemed unimpressed, glancing around at the enemies and possibly counting them in his head. "Deploy transient electromagnetic field," from the metal-plating implanted in the torso of the mans white hazmat suit, several blinking lights flickered before a single blue wave of energy encompassed the entire building. Six regular humanoid drones and three juggernaut sized droids began short circuiting before collapsing to the ground at his feet. He knelt down to analyze the wreckage of the security robots, gliding his reptilian fingers over the orange-plated armor, "Poor quality androids are useless in battle and on the market," he observed before quickly changing the subject as if he got an alert of some kind in his mind, "New energy signature detected, similarities to Omnimatrix match ninety-two percent, Inspector 13 tracking…" he turned his head and walked back towards the hole in the wall he created, walking off into the morning air for a moment before his suit began to camouflage his entire being. The Inspector's body shimmered before turning completely invisible to the naked eye, disappearing around the block.

…

Omnitrix City Suburbs; March 23rd, 2024; 12:04PM

After being discharged from the hospital by Julie and Cooper, and finally able to change back into her regular clothes which she was wearing before she was possessed, Albedo approached the door to the suburban two-story loft Gwen owned alongside her husband, opening the door for Jennifer to run through the house at a regular human's pace to make it to her bed where she plopped out of exhaustion. Having spent the last two days sleeping in the hospital with Albedo and her Mom, she was very happy to finally crash from the sugar in her own bed surrounded by her few beloved stuffed animals.

Gwendolyn led the former Galvan through the living area and toward her bedroom, passing her bed and pulling on the latch embedded on the ceiling above them, "Even though I moved my Charms to the vault in the Tower I still thought this space could be used for something important," she climbed up the ladder which extended to her feet once the compartment opened.

They both made their way into the dusty space, about as large as a partial third floor with wooden beams splayed across the room with a pure cement flooring. As they passed the old wooden armoire against the wall, they came upon a pedestal with a spherical object beneath a cloak and three-months-worth of dust.

"So, you've been keeping it here?"

Gwendolyn nodded, gripping the cloak between her fingers for a second, taking a breath and yanking it off the silver, shuttered sphere beneath. Taking a step back, she watched Albedo reach out and tap the pod which unraveled with plating that receded into its shell to reveal the glowing, powerful device within. The entire room was encompassed in a bright emerald light that danced off their eyes with a majesty and radiance unlike even Ben's own energy.

Gwendolyn gulped as he stepped aside for her allowing her to once again examine the device that was made for her only daughter, "It's not gonna like… leap out and grab hold of my wrist, is it?" her eyes uneasily glanced to the side at him.

"No, the original was preprogrammed for Maxwell and when Ben approached it, his readings were close enough of a match for it to bond with him," he placed a hand on her shoulder as she reached into the pod to touch it. "Aside from basic programming? This device is a blank slate."

Gwendolyn ran her index and middle fingers across the pearl-white metallic frame lined with a green trim; the hourglass was now represented as two glowing, emerald lines within a black thin-squared unit. It hummed and almost vibrated beneath her touch, pulsating with unfathomable power, "It's certainly sleeker than the one Ben found all those years ago…" she said, pulling her hand out of the pod to continue her pensive stare. It was more akin to an actual wristwatch than a gauntlet that took up the entire forearm, even in its formative years let alone what Ben used now.

Albedo commented, "It no longer uses a slideshow function either, instead the faceplate acts as a touch-interface which summons holographic-light selection instead."

"Like yours?"

"Yes, only the technology here is perfected and streamlined," he glanced in opposition to his armored prosthetic, clutching his robotic fingers and feeling nothing, "Unlike my own Ultimatrix, we also found no reason to include an evolutionary function so, she will be limited to only base transformations."

Gwendolyn nodded in agreement, clearly happy about this, not wanting her daughter being put in unnecessary dangerous situations if it can be helped, "What about a timer?"

"We haven't had an opportunity to beta-test it but, I would assume she gets about five-minutes per transformation and three or four different forms before it requires a recharge," Albedo explained thoroughly, leaning over beside the pod to also stare at the device with her.

Gwendolyn squinted her eyes down at the watch, thinking carefully on her options, anytime she thought against giving her daughter the device she's taunted with flashbacks to the afternoon that Charmcaster kidnapped Jennifer from right outside their home, "You think that if people know she has this that they'll be less likely to attack her, I mean, they won't think she's some helpless little girl, right?"

"It would stand to reason that would be the case but, on the other hand, it makes her officially apart of our world…" this prompted her to look over at Albedo, both of them leaning back and away from the pod, "That point works for and against you simultaneously, if she wields this, the argument can't be made that she has no business in her Father's work."

"Ugh," Gwendolyn turned around and paced around the room hopelessly, "So, it's a double-edged sword? I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't?" holding her hand to her forehead just to feel the texture of her own skin, fighting off the headache she could feel coming, her entire body felt like she could just fall apart. She sighed and held her hand out, a bright blue spark of lightning shot from her wrist to the tips of her middle finger and thumb as she snapped summoning an orange pill bottle in an instant.

She looked down at it once it was in her hands, noticing Albedo looking back down into the pod in her peripheral, she stared at the instructions telling her to only take two per day and not to do so with alcohol. Realizing that she had been staring far too long, she twisted open the white plastic cap with conviction shaking loose two blue orbs even though she knew one was enough. Taking into account her usage from the years prior, she figured she could handle it, popping them into her mouth and gulping them down. "If it were my child, I would refer to the old English proverb of having it and not needing it rather than needing it and not having it," he stepped aside as Gwendolyn approached and looked back down into the pod holding the specialized device, resolving to swipe her hand in front of it prompting it to shutter closed again sending the watch back into a pseudo hibernation.

"I have to think on it some more," She responded before turning around and making her way back towards the exit on the floor leading down and out of the third-story attic. While Albedo was climbing down the ladder after Gwendolyn, they heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

Albedo stepped down off the ladder and pulled on the latch prompting it to recede back into the attic forming the barrier between rooms in the ceiling once again. Gwen adjusted the emerald eyed kitten emblem on the blue belt around her waist, turning her attention to the stairs, "That must be Sunny, I can't wait to meet her," though she was too busy walking down the carpeted steps to notice, Albedo had a grin on his face the moment he heard the doorbell, not having had much time to talk with her since they returned what with Jennifer needing supervision.

…

Omnitrix City; Tennyson Tower; March 23rd, 2023; 12:40PM

Manny and Helene were lingering around the command deck on floor fifty-five in their on-duty Plumber armor while Cooper was closely observing the Danger Alert scanning satellites, police bandwidths, and popular social media to locate possible threats or emergencies almost anywhere on the globe. The two hybrid Plumbers in training and members of Team Ten Thousand weren't yet off-duty but, were awaiting their next assignment while things seemed to be relatively calm at the moment.

Helene held a folded-up piece of paper, shaped into a tiny triangle no bigger than a human thumb, aiming it with her claw and ready to flick at a moments notice; Manny was on the opposite end of the holodeck with two of his hands held together in the shape of a football goal. As they played this pass-time game out of boredom, they were actually quite relieved to hear Cooper announce to them that he needed their attention.

They both stood and surrounded his large white desk, standing behind the line of forty-inch holoscreens floating in front of him, "We've got a security breach on floor twelve, but that doesn't make any sense…"

Manny scratched the back of his bald Tetramand head, "Why not?"

"Because there's nothing on that level, just an entrance to the… Rushmore… base…" once he'd said it aloud, Cooper realized that someone must obviously be trying to get into the Plumber Base hidden within the national monument. "You guys head to the main entrance and cut him off, I'll keep an eye on things from here and contact Albedo if we need help."

Helene turned toward the door before stopping and looking back, facing Cooper again, "What about Lucy and Rook?"

"On a rescue mission at a wildfire in Belize, I can have Alan and Pierce finish their training sessions early and meet you there if you need back up," Cooper answered clearly, pulling up a security feed of the camouflaged shimmer walking the long corridor shaped bridge between the tower and the monument, "Go now."

"Maneuver three?"

"How about two?"

"Alright, fine," she surrendered.

Manny and Helene nodded before turning to leave, the latter dashed off with a blackish-blue blur of motion trailing behind her, zipping out of the building and up through the main entrance to the base from outside in only fifteen-seconds. The Tetramand sprinted his way down through the base, making his way to the elevator where he was taken down to floor twelve.

Helene arrived at the entrance, from Tennyson Tower into the Plumber base, glancing around at the empty corridor stretching thirty-feet across to the building in front of her, "I don't see anyone." The tower was built only forty-feet away from Rushmore, having constructed a massive bridge leading from their heroic base and landmark directly into the main hall of the Plumber facility.

Cooper chuckled at this, talking through her earpiece, "He's using some pretty advanced tech to stay hidden only, I'm afraid nobody uses camouflage in my tower but me," his fingers flew across the holographic keyboard floating inches over his desk, activating a grid across the bridge revealing radiation arrays underneath floor tiles. The technopath flooded the hall with non-lethal radiations that bombarded the intruder with waves of energy which revealed his advanced hazmat suited body in seconds.

Inspector 13 was only slightly surprised to find that his stealth technology was being foiled though, it didn't seem to bother him to any significant degree. "Analysis: hybrid Kinceleran and," he turned around as if knowing Manny was approaching before he even stepped into view, "hybrid Tetramand defending local Plumber base, proceeding with minimal caution."

"Coop, what species is he? Do we pull our punches or what?" Helene asked into her ear as the Inspector refused to stop his confident strut spite being in full view now.

The technopath couldn't find anything on whichever species Thirteen came from, at least not through simple facial recognition from a security feed, "I've got nothing for now, take him down but, don't go overboard," he took a breath and finished his sentence as he was hoping his computer would provide an answer in that briefest of pauses, "And watch your backs."

Helene gave a slight nod, cornering this intruder from either side was a good maneuver but, considering his skill set was completely unknown they didn't want to rush into a fight too quickly, "Halt, this is a restricted area, authorized personnel only, buddy." She waited for a response but, never received one, glancing over his shoulder to look at Manny on the other side of the bridge who shrugged being no help. "Look, if you don't leave peacefully, we'll have to detain you and take you to holding, so-" placing her hand on his shoulder as he approached, he didn't stop and instead spoke simply.

"Activate: stun," Inspector 13's entire full body suit became electrified with hundred-of-thousand of volts being channeled through the fibers, shocking Helene as she recoiled and stumbled back.

"Why you robotic son of a b-" Helene didn't finish her sentence, running at the Inspector who had passed her only, he somehow calculated exactly when to turn leading her to completely miss him, running passed him and almost slamming into Manny headfirst, skating to a stop in front of him at the last possible second.

Manny stared down at her as she scoffed and shook her head, "He's slippery…" they watched him continue to walk as if nothing was going on around him.

"Should I be helping or is this one of those things you wanna do on your own?"

"Pfft, I got this," Helene turned around and knelt down on one knee, placing both claws on the floor to brace as she took off forwards in an instant at nearly mach-ten.

At the same instant in which all of the glass windows lining the bridge were passively cracked in unison, Inspector 13 turned around and aimed his arm out at her incoming direction. "Deploy: kinetic disruptor," before she could close the distance between them he managed to shift his hand into a cannon-like device, a barrel consuming his palm and firing a condensed violet beam which struck Helene in the chest.

As soon as it hit her, the speedster felt her entire body slow down, from her legs to her heartbeat which usually beat three or four times per second; as she slowed, she tripped and tumbled to the floor, rolling onto her back with a groan. Cooper was taken aback, this guy had the perfect weapon handy to defeat someone exactly like Helene, "You've been hit with a kinetic disruptor, your entire molecular structure has been slowed, you won't be running around for a few hours…" the technopath explained as he watched Manny comfort her and the intruder continued towards the entrance to the base's main hall.

Helene reached up and grabbed Manny's wrist, "Ugh, I'm… so dumb… just finish… this already…" it sounded like she was more frustrated than she'd ever been being forced to slow down for the first time since her speed kicked in when she was six, even her speech pattern which she usually had to monitor in order to not speak too quickly, was now a bit sluggish.

Manny sighed and stood up straight, stepping in front of Helene while pretending to dust off his porcelain white Plumber's armor with two hands and drawing his ion pistols with his remaining two, "C'mon man, lets not drag this out, I can't just let you go in there."

Inspector 13 stopped in his tracks, turning around to face him though he was only five or so feet from the entrance, "Query: how do you intend to stop me?" he asked in his raspy monotone voice.

"By doing this!" Manny being as cocky as ever decided it was best to shout his attack as he was about to execute it spite seeing the intruder literally out react a speedster not even five minutes prior.

Pulling the trigger he fired his ion pistols at the Inspector who too announced his counter, "Deploy: electron diffuser," from the left forearm of his white hazmat suit projected a bright yellow spherical bubble around his entire body, blocking each energy bolt and dissipating them before they could do any damage. "Deploy: concussive swarm," switching arms, he aimed his right hand at Manny who took a step back when a swarm of tiny silver spheres emerged from the Inspector's sleeve and flew towards the two Plumber helpers.

Easily four dozen miniature drones spread out through the hall, exploding with the capacity of a small grenade, forcing the Tetramand to dive forth and protect his injured partner with his bulkier body. The explosions littered the corridor with smoke as the Inspector didn't seem too interested in the outcome, "Analysis: Omnimatrix energy signature has increased however, signal still appears to be stronger elsewhere, continue tracking with no further interference," Thirteen turned around, stepping over the two unconscious bodies in the middle of the hall, and walking back toward the entrance into the Tower, seeming to forget entirely about the base.

Cooper watching all of this also witnessed the alien intruder teleport away via unknown means, the level of technology being used shook him to his core; this enemy disassembled two previously trained expert mercenaries without so much as exerting himself.

"I'd better call Albedo."

…

Omnitrix City Suburbs; March 23rd, 2024; 1:00PM

"So, you're made completely out of energy? Like, everything?" Jennifer asked with a cheeky tone, having woken up from her short nap, she joined Sunny, Albedo, and her Mother on the couch in the living room. The adolescent changed clothes into a black t-shirt with purple trim and the number '10' emblazoned on the torso in bold letters outlined with violet colors. That coupled with a pair of short denim cut-offs and white sneakers, she sat next to her Mom while getting to know her new Cousin/Aunt.

Sunny gave a light chuckle, raising her right hand up to eye level, keeping her attention on Jen, "Yup, I'm still pretty young for my species so, I haven't really fully mastered my powers yet," still showing off how her Caucasian skin only on her forearm melded away revealing the bright, hot-pink, and dark magenta shaded complexion. "Sweet," Jennifer announced watching her energy glow in her face, sitting next to her on the couch.

Sunny was relieved when she felt the ease in her transformation, for so many endless nights it was a hardship and struggle just to use her powers. Now that they were out of the Anur System and away from the lifeforce draining atmosphere of Vladias, she was easily a thousand times more powerful than she had been before, now easily shifting between her human and Anodite forms at will. She manifested some new clothes now that she was finally back and a part of society, dressed in a long-sleeved grey blouse beneath a violet sleeveless top matched with leggings and a black skirt cut off just below the mid-thigh.

After getting to know the basics about one another, they started chatting more personally, "So, it's a shame I didn't get to meet your- our grandmother but, is there anyone else in your life? Boyfriend? Traveling companion?" Gwendolyn was slightly slurring though it was almost unnoticeable to an untrained eye but, Albedo noticed it quite a few times throughout their conversations. He narrowed his eyes at her from behind, she didn't notice his suspicion even a little as she was too involved with Sunny at the time.

The young Anodite chuckled a bit, "No, I've been on my own for years, even before I was stranded, always moving from planet to planet; I never really had a home before," she finished with a solemn half-smile, glancing down at her hands in her lap. Sunny must have noticed the silence and felt their stares considering she spoke up without looking from her skirt, "Not all of us can be married billionaires living in a giant shiny tower and a million-dollar house at the same time," she giggled her way back up looking into their eyes having buried the sorrow deep and continued their conversation.

Jennifer shifted herself on the couch as Albedo and Gwen tried to think of a proper response, the pure hearted child scooted closer to Sunny and gently locked their arms, "This could be your new home if you want, well maybe not here but, the tower has plenty of space!" her innocence was heartwarming, seeing the optimism glistening in her emerald pupils, "Awe," Sunny leaned in embracing Jen by pulling her arm back and wrapping both of them around her torso, pulling her in for a close hug. "You're so sweet, I don't know for sure how long I plan to stick around but, now that I know I have family here," she glanced up at Gwendolyn and Albedo with a smile, making eye contact, "I'll be sure to never go far."

Albedo and Gwendolyn reciprocated her gesture with smiles of their own, noticing how happy Jen was having another feminine role model around since Hope vanished into Ledger Domain without saying goodbye before becoming a raging homicidal psychopath. It was good having Sunny around especially with Ben off world for the time being.

"So, I have another two cousins, right? You gotta tell me about them!" she insisted excitedly, shifting in her seat as Jennifer laid back on the couch again leaving Sunny to sit with her legs crossed waiting to hear about a family she never knew.

Gwen could feel her excitement vividly through the air prompting her to giggle a bit, crossing her legs on the couch as well; they were so identical that it was a bit disorienting to watch them talk so closely, Albedo had to rub his eyes at one point to ensure he wasn't seeing double. "Lucy is our cousin through marriage but, she's awesome and very reliable plus a lot of fun too," Gwen explained reminiscing inwardly on all the time she'd spent with Lucy in the recent years since she joined their team.

"Alright, she sounds interesting, she's Lenopan, isn't she?"

Gwen nodded, "Yep."

"Well, don't be shy, tell me about our other cousin… your husband?" Sunny teased her with a wink, still prompting for an answer.

Gwendolyn looked down at her legs crisscrossed on the couch, a short smile emerging over her lips as the heat rose from her chest up into her chest, "Oh right, Ben, I almost forgot with him being gone…" she took a deep breath, waiting to find the right words to explain just how she felt about him at this point, "He's funny, and sweet but, also super passionate about helping people, to the point where its really admirable. We take care of each other, we always have," pausing only for a second, she glanced back up into Sunny's violet eyes, "Marrying him was the best decision I ever made, I'm sure you two will get along great."

She noticed how the red-head played with the glistening diamond hanging off her ring finger happily, already assuming that it must be a part of some sort of courting ritual for Earthling couples; Albedo started to tune them out, standing up and making his way into the kitchen for a glass of water.

As he was waiting for the refrigerator to automatically pour his water through the dispenser built into the door, he noticed an opened bottle of wine on the kitchen countertop. He noticed it was already almost half empty and glanced back at the two women catching up in the room behind him. He was only informed once by Cooper that Gwendolyn had once had an addiction problem but, he hadn't been given details. That didn't make him blind though, he was putting two and two together very fast, he wouldn't wait much longer to confront her.

Albedo grabbed his glass of water from the door and took a sip, turning around to face the sink and the window perched just above it. Mid swallow he peaked his eyes open with his mouth still full of water seeing a light-green skinned alien staring back at him through the window before vanishing through his camouflage. He did a spit take as he shot the water out of his mouth quickly and put down the glass on the counter, he turned and grabbed the handle leading into the backyard.

Stepping into the grass while he could still hear Gwen and Sunny chatting in the house, he looked around the yard in several different visual spectrums but, found nothing. It almost startled him when his cellphone rang in his pocket, prompting him to reach into his pocket to grab it.

"Cooper?" Albedo muttered to himself as he read the caller I.D. out loud to himself, he shook off the surprise and answered the call, "Hello?"

"Albedo be on your toes, there was an attack here at the tower… whoever it is was looking for Omnitrix energy and right now, you're the only one on the planet using one."

The former Galvan looked around suspiciously once again, holding the phone closer to his face, "That intruder wouldn't happen to have green skin, would he? Wearing some kind of protective suit?" he couldn't shake the familiar feeling he was getting, like he'd seen that face somewhere before only, he'd barely gotten a look at it and needed a better look to be sure.

"Oh boy, so you've met?"

Albedo quickly looked back at the door he'd left open, "I have to go, Cooper," he hung up and dashed back into the loft at the speed of sound, arriving in the middle of the living room in front of Jennifer, Gwendolyn, and Sunny. Frantically looking around the room, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary though he already knew the intruder had some kind of stealth technology.

"What's wrong?" Jennifer asked, looking up at the worried look on her Uncle's face, "Are we being attacked?" the ten-year-old got to her feet and brandished a fierce expression.

"There was a break in at the tower earlier today, the same perpetrator is approaching now in search of an Omnitrix," Albedo explained out loud in basic terms for the sake of saving time.

"Correction: he has already arrived," As soon as Inspector 13 shimmered into view before them; Sunny and Gwendolyn stood alongside Jennifer whom her Mother stepped in front of quickly. They were all stunned, even Albedo had never been more caught off guard; he now recalled where he knew this person's face from, "Analysis: several targets wield super-human attributes through methods of crossbreeding; human female adult appears to have some connection to mysticism, human-Galvan hybrid appears to be fused to a form of medical prosthesis, human female adolescent-"

Gwendolyn interrupted his raspy monotone observation by igniting both of her fists in vibrant blue flames, assuming a fighting stance, "-Will stay out of your filthy mechanical mouth."

Albedo took a step back, "Why have you come to Earth?!"

"You know this guy?" Sunny shifted her head to look passed Gwen at the silver-haired Galvan.

Albedo responded as he stared into the cold lifeless eyes of the cyborg creature standing before them, "I've only ever seen images… they have never been known to leave their home world."

"Who?" Jennifer chimed in with her boundless curiosity being gnawed at.

"He's a Weapon Master of Techadon, the smartest engineers among the third most intelligent race in the known Universe," though he wasn't necessarily afraid of just the man before them, due to their usual habits, it would stand to reason that whatever the Inspector was doing here could lead to interplanetary conflict on a massive scale. "What are you searching for here?" he asked boldly.

Inspector 13 was analyzing the room closely, scanning for defense measures which there were none in this building, "Query accepted, formulating response: I am in search of the source to Omnimatrix energy signatures detected on this planet."

Albedo raised a brow, glancing between the girls and the intruder, resolving to approach with his prosthetic hand out, "I have an Ultimatrix right here, what do you intend to do with it?" without warning, Thirteen reached out and grabbed his forearm.

"Deploy: scanalysis array," from the four nodes atop the Inspector's head sprouted silver metallic tools that extended out around Albedo's prosthetic Ultimatrix, "Multiple code variants extant, energy patterns deviate from known exemplars."

Tugging on his arm a bit with a frown, Albedo reiterated himself to make sure his question was clear, "What do you intend to do with my Ultimatrix data should you get it?"

"Query accepted, formulating response: all Galvan technology will be studied and applied to Techadonian weapons market," after this the Inspector reached to continue analyzing the Ultimatrix but, was unhappy to have Albedo pull away from him entirely.

"I am afraid not, the Ultimatrix is not a weapon," he insisted taking a step back to stand with the women behind him once again.

Inspector 13 paused for a moment, it was then that an uncomfortably wide grin spread across his face before letting loose a sinister cackling laugh, obviously finding the prospect hilarious.

Jennifer cringed behind her Mother's back, wincing at the way his raspy voice screeched, "Okay, never do that again, thanks."

"The Omnimatrix is the most sophisticated and powerful weapon system ever devised; the study and application of this technology will yield tremendous profit," Inspector 13 stood motionless explaining himself, "Though I do not recall your cooperation being a relevant factor in my calculations."

Gwen spoke over her shoulder to her daughter standing behind her at just the right height for her mother to whisper into her ear, "In a few seconds, things are going to get dangerous, I need you to duck out of here and leave the house. Call Cooper and tell him to sen-" she was interrupted by the dime metaphorically dropping, Albedo summoned a hologram and quickly transformed into Negative Wildmutt before attempting to pounce atop the Inspector with his razor-sharp claws ready cleave him apart. "Run!" Gwendolyn shouted but, before she could help fight, she suddenly felt lightheaded and fell back as Sunny formed a pink energy dome around them while catching her by the lower-back.

Inspector 13 physically held the Vulpimancer back for only a few seconds before announcing, "Deploy: molecular vise," from the utility belt around his waist spawned high-tensile wire which sprung out and wrapped itself around Negative Wildmutt's jaw as well as his midsection.

Jennifer stayed beside her Mother at all times, not understanding why she fell unconscious all of a sudden; "C'mon, Mom, Uncle Albedo needs help…"

"I've watched this go on long enough, I'm starting to get peeved," Sunny's entire body was engulfed suddenly in an intense, flaming violet aura which shrouded her skin and hair in a darker purple hue revealing her true pure energy form. Her clothes melted into her aura dissembling at the molecular level leaving her in the nude but, also glowing with raw magenta colored electricity surging through a visible aura around her. "Put him down!" she announced with a frustrated tone of voice, aiming her open palm at the Inspector as a threat.

Waiting for his response gave the genius homicidal inventor time to think, "Deploy: anti-matter cage," Thirteen pulled a small metallic box from his belt before lightly tossing it at Sunny's feet where it automatically opened and expanded into a white transparent energy cube prison only six-feet by six-feet. "Analysis: hybrid Anodite, female," he approached the soundproof cube with Wildmutt, still trapped above him within the vise, where they could see Sunny using a powerful mana beam in an attempt to crack open the side of the box.

Negative Wildmutt was entirely subdued, the molecular vise tightened its squeeze until his Ultimatrix was forced to revert him back into his human form, "Conclusion, you will all be subdued and made part of the Techadonian empire; you Anodite will be capable of powering entire worlds in our vast empire, this inferior Omnimatrix copy will be studied and attributed to our Techadon soldiers, and you two female Terrans shall be…" the Inspector turned his head toward the Mother and Daughter not yet captured but, also the most helpless of their group. Jennifer stood over her Mother's unconscious body, protecting her from his perverse glare, "Entertainment."

Jennifer's eyes slowly glanced to the side where Albedo was bound and dangling in the air above the solid energy cage holding Sunny captive; even their abilities were useless against this psychopath. She backed away in fear but, never allowed a tear to roll down her cheek; instead, she spread her arms out in front of her downed mother ensuring to maintain a fearless expression.

As the Inspector approached and stood over her, Jennifer shut her eyes without moving an inch only to find herself saved by a blue energy orb hitting him in the torso, forcing him back on his boots digging through the hardwood. Gwendolyn put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, relieving her of her duty defending them, "I'll take it from here, monkey, when you get the chance you need to get out of the house, okay?" she looked into her matching emerald eyes, glistening with a layer of tears that she refused to release.

Jennifer nodded prompting Gwendolyn to turn on a dime with her eyes and pupils consumed by turquoise energy, "Eradiko!" she shouted, firing a bolt of bright-blue lightning from the palms of her hands. She took this as her opportunity to run, however, she hadn't noticed through the sheer of light and sparks that the Inspector had summoned some type of energy shield on his right forearm. He then noticed the girl fleeing towards the door, attempting to capture her as well, he commanded the molecular vise still deployed to strike at her. Jen ducked as it struck the wooden door, clawing it off the frame instead, with the exit blocked she booked it upstairs in a burst of speed that sent a gust of wind through the room.

"Deploy: close-range disruptor," while still shielding himself from the lightning blast, which was extremely weak in comparison to her full strength considering her condition, Thirteen still managed to form his opposing forearm into an energy cannon, firing a crimson beam which struck her in the chest. Gwendolyn collapsed to her knees groaning in pain, her clothes singed and smoking, she fell flat on her face unconscious in just seconds.

Jennifer was unsure of where to go next, standing in her mother's bedroom against the wall in the corner, she looked down and considered hiding under the bed but, that felt too obvious. It was then that she heard Gwendolyn fall, the crackling lightning she was using vanished and suddenly the house fell silent. Quickly, she looked up just barely having remembered that there was an attic in this room conveniently only a few feet away on the ceiling.

She jumped once or twice trying to reach the wire that hung from the latch used to summon the descending stairs, finally she grabbed hold using her weight to bring down the steps for her. Climbing up into the attic as fast as she could, she pulled the retractable staircase back up into the ceiling where it shut the ceiling tile. Jennifer was breathing heavily, the sweat causing her hair to cling to her neck and forehead, the beat of her hear in her ears… all she could do was quiet herself as much as possible and wait to hear if this psychopath would find her. Her thoughts were racing like wondering how after they just had to rescue her Mother from space are they already dealing with a hostile alien? It was madness.

As the ten-year-old backed away from the attic exit situated in the floor, she bumped into a pedestal which shook a spherical object lying atop it. She quickly fumbled to stop it from moving or falling and alerting her attacker to her location, just barely having stopped it, her bare hand was flat on the metallic surface of the pod where it gave her menial zap. "Ow, dang it!" she shouted in her loudest whisper, quickly slapping her hands over her face, hoping that she wasn't heard. Her attention was split when the pod opened up and revealed a vibrant emerald glow lighting up the entire attic. "Woah," she whispered to herself, under her breath.

Jennifer saw the sleek, pearl-white, pristine watch sitting in the capsule and while she never heard a voice, she could swear something about it called out to her. With no other options, she looked once over her shoulder before reaching her hand into the pod, grabbing hold of the cold, metal device. It was a bit big but, this didn't stop her from trying it on either way, slowly slinking it over her wrist. Now that it was in place and detected her DNA, the bottom latches swung shut and connected on their own, the emerald outline was flooded with an amethyst purple energy, followed by the dimensions of the device shrinking to fit her dainty wrist.

"No way, no way, no way," Jennifer brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes and behind her ear before slowly looking for the activation button. She had been dreaming about receiving her own watch at some point but, wasn't sure that the right time would never come. After she fiddled with the Omnitrix enough, she found within minutes that it was touch interface that summons a ring display of the available transformation heads, of which right now were ten.

Downstairs, Inspector 13 had used the molecular vise to render Albedo unconscious, even against his enhanced strength, and was now using the extension nodes on his head to study the Negative Ultimatrix. Thirteen abruptly stopped his examination when he was alerted through his cybernetics to another Omni-Energy signal, much more powerful than the one he was currently analyzing, in his exact location just upstairs.

Sunny was still trying to get out of the energy-cage, finding that not even her ability to teleport could get her out; helplessly watching as the Inspector turned and made his way up the flight of stairs without a word.

Jennifer was enamored by the power of the watch now clasped to her wrist, staring down at it as she looked through each of the available forms and tried to recall everything she'd seen them do. The sound of heavy footsteps coming up the stairs snapped her out of her daze, hearing him nonchalantly stomp his way into her mother's bedroom only feet from the attic entrance. The look of fear in her eye quickly faded away being immediately replaced with courageous fire; a confident smile crossed her face and her pupils begun to glow with bright purple energy.

Inspector 13 only needed a few seconds to confirm that there was not only a partial third level being hidden but, also that the girl who'd fled earlier was hiding up there as well. "Deploy: plasma cannon," he aimed his right hand up at the ceiling where the hatch was located, balling his hand up into a fist as a silver barrel pultruded out from his suit. He open fired without another word blasting the hatch apart and opening up a massive hole in the ceiling with a beam of white energy.

The Inspector waited for the girl to scream or cry which were logical responses to the danger situated virtually right in front of her though, instead a bright flash of amethyst light engulfed the attic for a moment also alerting him to her usage of the Omnitrix. As soon as he glanced back up at the large hole he made in the ceiling, a torrent of flames engulfed his vision just barely getting out of the way long enough to deploy his basic energy shield from his forearm.

Jennifer leaped down from the darkness landing with a forceful stomp, looking up from the ground as a female Methanosian, lifting her vine-green arm up to stare into the node in the palm of her hand, igniting a small orb of bright purple flames with a thought, "You so lost!" she turned her head, which was the shape of a seed adorned by blue and yellow petals. It seems that spite Eon corroding the slot in Ben's own codon stream making it impossible to reinsert the Methanosian DNA for himself, it wouldn't stop him from providing it for his daughter. "I think I'll call this gal, Pyrofume!" she launched another sphere of vibrant purple flames slamming against the Inspector's energy shield, forcing him back again tearing through the singed bedroom carpet. Thirteen swung his arm and launched half a dozen silver marbles which exploded on contact with the ground at Pyrofume's feet, releasing a plume of tear-gas to shroud the battlefield.

Within the smoke, a rhythmic beeping sound began to ring out slowly before resulting in another flash of bright purple energy consumed her body, reverting her to normal within the smoke screen. Thirteen tightened his jaw with a low, unamused growl, "Surrender is the most logical choice," he announced into the fog, accidently bumping into Gwendolyn's dresser, startling him for a moment.

Jennifer could clearly see her magenta ring of heroes glowing over her wrist as she scrolled through them, "Eh, my Mom has never called me logical before so, you'll have to take it up with her!" she retorted before making a decision, prompting the display to disappear followed by the faceplate retracting revealing the core. With another vibrant smile, she slapped the exposed core down transforming with yet another flash of amethyst light.

The smoke was split by a blur of speed rushing through the bedroom, tackling the Inspector at mach two, and stopping on a dime in the hall allowing the momentum to carry Thirteen through the air, shattering the banister, and landing on the ground beside Sunny's impenetrable cube. Speaking of whom, she watched as a speedster appeared suddenly at the edge of the upstairs hall, peering over the destroyed banister at the downed intruder. "And I just gotta name this one Kinetica!" she announced with her clawed hands on the hips of her black and purple trimmed skin suit.

"D-Deploy: kinetic disruptor," he slowly got to his feet as his hand shifted into a cannon once again, a barrel consuming his palm, ready to take aim. He fired up at her but, missed as Kinetica dashed to the right avoiding the beam which struck the ceiling dropping, carving a hole with an explosion loud enough that it woke Gwendolyn and Albedo, the latter of whom was still bound by the vise. They could still watch, however as Jennifer fought her first villain on her own with the Omnitrix they weren't even sure she was ready for. "Remain… still…" the inspector practically shouted firing again and missing again, shattering the kitchen table behind her.

It was then that the familiar chime went off, unexpectedly exploding in a flash of purple light and leaving Jennifer exposed in her human form. Thirteen didn't hesitate to switch weapons, "Deploy: cellular disconnector," this time his right glove transformed, wrapping around his wrist, forming a handheld blaster in the palm of his hand, "This device will only need a single shot to end this futile game," when he pulled the trigger at her, everyone present watched as she summersaulted out of the way perfectly, landing behind the couch where the following shot couldn't hurt her.

"Is that really the same little girl?" Sunny questioned to herself, already realizing the cube was soundproof.

Jennifer was on her hands-and-knees scrolling through her newfound playlist of alien forms, unsure of which would be best suited to finish this creep off. Finding a classic even her Father still enjoyed using from the time he was her age, summoning the core with a swipe, and slapping the faceplate. Inspector 13 slowly approached the other side of the couch, feeling something grabbing at his ankle, he glanced down to find Gwendolyn trying her best to stop him weakly. "This effort is futile, none of you possess the ability to stop me," he didn't even bother using his weapons on her, granting pity on her, and kicking her in the face instead forcing her to recoil.

"I beg to differ!" a female Petrosapien stood upright at almost six-foot-three, taller than the cube holding Sunny captive, from behind the couch. Looking down on Thirteen, she was leaner and thinner than Diamondhead but, still just as physically intimidating. Having been considering this moment ever since she could remember, she couldn't help but to announce her transformations' names, "I've been thinking about this one for a long time so, you can just call me Crystalline," punching the palm of her hand with her opposing fist, she could tell he was about to aim his weapon so, she quickly backhanded it out of his grip so hard that she shattered it before it even hit the wall beside them.

"D-Deploy-" the inspector was cut off swiftly by the brand-new heroine.

"Yea-Yea, deploy this!" Crystalline right hooked Thirteen in the jaw, followed by a left hook, and finished with a right straight jab to the nose that knocked the Techadonian across the room, slamming against the entertainment center against the wall and breaking it in half. Glancing around at the destroyed living room and up at the wrecked upstairs bedroom; she sighed and realized that the fight was over when the Inspector didn't get back up after the last strike.

Crystalline took a few steps forwards, kneeling down in front of her Mother whose nose was clearly busted, still clutched between her hands on her face, "Mom?" the chime slowly went off again bringing Gwendolyn back to her senses, followed by the bright flash of purple light that consumed them for the briefest of seconds. "Mom, are you okay?" Jennifer asked now back in her human form, Gwen could recognize her voice again and responded instinctively to it.

"Jen? W-What happened?" her daughter helped the mage sit back up, looking around at the absolutely demolished loft interior, her gaze stopped on the watch now situated on her daughter's wrist, "Where did you find this?!" she suddenly snapped back to reality grabbing her forearm as they both stood up.

Jennifer yanked her arm back with a frown, "It was in the attic where I was hiding before I saved all of your lives! I thought you'd be proud of me?" she questioned with slightly disappointed tone, folding her arms over her chest in protest.

Gwen sighed aloud, rolling her eyes as she looked back down at her daughter, "Look, Your Father and were always going to give this to you, we just didn't know when the right moment would be… you have no idea how much I want to just keep you as my little girl but," a slight tear formed in the corner of her eye, "You're growing up and I have to accept that but, this isn't a free-for-all, there are going to be rules to using this, got it?" Gwendolyn tapped the purple faceplate with her index finger a few times for emphasis.

Jennifer's frown quickly became a smile, knowing she'd taken it without permission, she was unsure this entire time if she'd be allowed to keep it but, knowing her Mother understood her need to follow in her Father's footsteps meant the world to her.

"Thanks mom, so…" the Mother-Daughter duo looked to their left where Albedo remained bound and gagged by the molecular vise, and Sunny stood impatiently tapping her foot with an unamused glare in her eyes, "Maybe we should help the rest of the family out now?" Jen asked nonchalantly, nervously chuckling while scratching her head.

…

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