"Perfect!" Upgrade was just about to take control of the Rustbucket when it suddenly seemed to remember something. It rushed over to the spaceship's control console and started smashing buttons at random.
After that, Upgrade returned to the Rustbucket and completely enveloped it, transforming the vehicle into a sleek, black-and-green high-tech car.
Buzz!
Green exhaust flames burst from the rear as the Rustbucket shot out of the spaceship, soaring over the valley like a gigantic bird.
...
Elsewhere, Vilgax slowly came to his senses. Staring at the wreckage and scattered debris covering the floor, he let out a thunderous roar.
"Tennyson! I will never let you get away with this!"
Suddenly, the control room was flooded with blinding red light as alarms blared.
"Self-destruct sequence initiated. Countdown: five, four, three…"
Vilgax froze in place, eyes wide, unable to believe what he was hearing.
Boom!
The massive spaceship exploded in midair, erupting into an overwhelming sea of flames. Rolling firestorms lit up the entire sky.
Standing atop Mount Rushmore, everyone looked up at the blazing spectacle, relaxed smiles spreading across their faces.
"Awesome! Vilgax is gone again!" Ben cheered excitedly.
"Heh, we owe this one to Lucian," Grandpa said warmly. The bleeding on his forehead had already stopped. With some rest, he would recover completely.
"Cuz is seriously amazing, right? Totally badass," Gwen said with a wide grin.
With everything finally over, the group soon left Mount Rushmore and headed toward their next destination.
.....
The next day, Lucian slowly opened his eyes.
"Hm?" He noticed Gwen sitting beside him, propping her chin up with her hand, looking like she was about to nod off.
Lucian then glanced at his watch. He had just gotten the first-generation Omnitrix back. There was no way it could disappear again… right?
But the next sight made his eyes widen in shock.
This wasn't the first-generation Omnitrix.
It was the recalibrated Omnitrix.
Had he returned to his own timeline?
"System?" Lucian tried calling out.
[Present]
The system was back too.
Suppressing the excitement surging in his chest, Lucian quickly asked, "System, what exactly happened? Why did you disappear before?"
[Due to a temporal disturbance, your soul consciousness resonated with another parallel-universe version of Lucian. By coincidence, you temporarily inhabited his body.]
[Because only your soul traveled, and this system exists within your physical body, it was unable to accompany you to the other timeline.]
"So that's how it was…" Lucian murmured.
It seemed this had only been a journey of the soul through time and space. Everything ended without real danger.
Just then, Gwen seemed to sense something. Her eyelashes fluttered as she slowly opened her eyes.
"C-Cuz?" She rubbed her eyes, afraid she might be mistaken.
"It's me."
Gwen jolted upright and immediately threw herself into Lucian's arms.
"That's great, Cuz! You're finally awake! You were unconscious all day yesterday. Grandpa and the others were really worried about you!"
What?
I was out for a whole day?
Lucian took a deep breath and gently patted Gwen on the back.
"I'm fine. Don't worry. I just had a really long dream, that's all. Look at me. I'm perfectly okay now, aren't I?"
"Mhm." Gwen nodded, her eyes still fixed on Lucian, clearly afraid he might fall unconscious again.
"Alright, I'm going to take a walk and loosen up a bit."
Lucian stood up and pressed the Recalibrated Omnitrix. A holographic projection of the alien heroes popped up, and he quickly cycled through them.
Wildmutt, Diamondhead, Heatblast, XLR8, Four Arms, Ripjaws, Stinkfly, Grey Matter, Upgrade, Ghostfreak. The ten original aliens were all there, not a single one missing.
Then came the later additions: Swampfire, Humungousaur, Buzzshock, Snare-Oh, Big Chill, Cannonbolt, Ditto, Rath, Blitzwolfer, Feedback, Sandbox.
Next, Lucian checked the enhancement data for the alien heroes.
[Current Transformation Duration: 15 minutes]
[Seamless Switches Available: 2]
[Diamondhead: Crystal hardness increased by 25%, control enhanced, capable of forming various weapons]
[XLR8: Speed increased by 10%]
[Four Arms: Strength increased by 20%]
[Heatblast: Flame power increased by 10%]
[Big Chill: Greatly enhanced cold control, capable of transforming into various animals and plants to strike targets]
[Swampfire: Physical flexibility increased by 10%, flame power increased by 5%]
[Humungousaur: Defense increased by 10%]
All the enhancement data was intact, which left Lucian very satisfied.
But the next notification caught him completely off guard, filling him with surprise and excitement.
[Due to traveling through a parallel timeline and beating that stinky squid… Vilgax once again]
[You have been rewarded with a Time-type Hero Chest. It can be opened at any time]
"Time-type? Could it be Clockwork?"
That was the first name that came to Lucian's mind. As far as he knew, only Clockwork fit that description.
"Open the chest."
[Chest opened successfully. Obtained scrapped hero: Jak the Freeze]
"Jak the Freeze? What's that?"
[Jak the Freeze: One of the original scrapped heroes, possessing time-control abilities]
[Freezes time within a five-meter radius without affecting the user, allowing free movement within the field with high agility]
[Each freeze lasts 5 seconds. Cooldown: 2 seconds]
A time-based hero. Not bad at all.
As for how strong he was in actual combat… that would have to wait.
Lucian shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
He then took out the hoverboard Diamondhead had given him, jumped onto it, and shot straight out of the Rustbucket to get some fresh air.
Surrounded by familiar sights and sensations, Lucian felt deeply content. Riding the hoverboard, he cut through the cool breeze, wind rushing past him.
Everything had finally returned to the right track…