Fasttrack charged forward, swinging the Proto-Tool toward Hex with enough force to tear through the sand beneath his feet, but Anubis suddenly leaped in front of the magician and crossed both of its massive khopeshes against the warglaive, stopping Fasttrack's attack before it could reach its target. The clash sent sparks of energy scattering between them, and Anubis immediately pushed forward with one blade before swinging the other toward Fasttrack's side.
Fasttrack quickly pulled his weapon back and dashed away, narrowly avoiding the slash as the khopesh cut through the space where he had been standing only a moment ago. He planted one foot into the sand, flipped backward through the air, and landed several feet away before immediately charging forward again, this time rushing straight toward both Anubis and Ah Puch.
As he approached, the speedster suddenly dropped his free hand toward the ground and dragged it across the sand, kicking up a large wave of it and sending the grains flying toward the two creatures at high speed. The sand struck them directly in the face, forcing both of them to stagger backward as they let out angry, pained roars and tried to clear their eyes.
Fasttrack took advantage of the opening, kicking off the ground and launching himself upward before flying straight between the two creatures. He twisted his body in midair, spinning around as he passed them, and brought the Proto-Tool down toward Hex with a powerful overhead swing.
Hex reacted quickly, raising his staff just in time to block the blade, but the impact still forced him backward. His arms shook from the force of the attack as his feet were lifted off the ground, and the magician was sent crashing into the sand several meters away.
Fasttrack landed lightly and immediately turned around, only to see Ah Puch recovering from the sand in its eyes. The creature slammed both feet into the ground and charged toward him, forcing the speedster to leap backward as the creature brought its weapon down where he had been standing.
The attack smashed into the ground, sending sand flying in every direction, but Fasttrack was already moving. He stepped onto the air beneath him and pushed off as if it were solid ground, launching himself upward before performing another jump in midair to avoid Anubis, who had followed up with a sweeping slash.
The blue speedster twisted around the blade and landed safely behind the two creatures, but he barely had time to straighten himself before Anubis turned around and came after him again. He blocked the first swing with the Proto-Tool, then ducked beneath the second and kicked Anubis in the stomach, forcing the creature to stumble backward.
Ah Puch immediately charged in from the side, forcing Fasttrack to spin away as the creature's weapon narrowly missed his head. He continued moving without stopping, running several steps across the sand before suddenly changing direction and rushing straight back toward them.
"Come on," Fasttrack muttered with a grin. "You guys can do better than that."
He activated [Quicksilver Style], and the world around him immediately slowed to a crawl.
In the brief window where everything else seemed almost frozen, Fasttrack dashed forward, weaving between the two creatures before changing direction and rushing straight toward Hex. The magician had barely managed to look up when his greatest nemesis appeared directly in front of him, his fist already pulled back.
The punch crashed into Hex's face, sending the magician stumbling backward as his nose began to bleed, and the moment Fasttrack's attack connected, time around them returned to normal. Hex's body was sent flying across the sand from the force of the blow, rolling once before he quickly forced himself back onto his feet.
Fasttrack didn't give him a chance to recover, immediately dashing after him with the Proto-Tool in hand, but Anubis and Ah Puch suddenly closed in from both sides. He caught the movement from the corner of his eye and quickly changed direction, sliding across the sand as the two creatures attacked at the same time.
Their weapons slammed into the ground where he had been standing, narrowly missing him as Fasttrack pushed himself back onto his feet and sprinted away.
He glanced over his shoulder toward Hex, who was already recovering, before looking back at the creatures standing between them.
"Having fun yet?" Fasttrack said, with a smirk, while stretching his right shoulder.
Without waiting for a response, he charged straight back into the fight.
From a distance, after catching up with the others, Ben led Max and the rest of their family toward the location where he and his cousin had last fought Hex, and it didn't take long before the sound of the battle reached them.
Gold Ship narrowed her eyes as she watched the fight ahead, seeing Fasttrack darting around the battlefield while Hex, Anubis, and Ah Puch struggled to keep up with him.
"Uhh, is it just me, or is Big Bro having a bit too much fun with this?" Gold Ship asked, scratching the side of her head as she stared at the fight.
Evan was still fighting Hex, Anubis, and Ah Puch all at the same time, yet instead of switching into another form and trying to end the fight as quickly as possible, he was quite literally messing around with them. He had already created several openings where he could have landed a much more serious attack on Hex, but every time he did, he deliberately pulled back or changed his approach, almost as if he were more interested in seeing how long he could keep the fight going.
Fasttrack laughed as he dodged another swing from Anubis, ducking beneath the massive khopesh before spinning around and kicking the creature in the side. Anubis staggered from the impact, but Ah Puch immediately rushed in from behind, forcing him to leap over its attack before landing on Anubis's shoulders.
"Too slow," Fasttrack teased, jumping away as Anubis tried to grab him.
He landed several meters away, only for Hex to immediately fire a magical blast toward him. Fasttrack tilted his body to the side and let the spell pass by, then casually waved toward Hex before sprinting toward him again.
Seeing this, Gwen's expression slowly became more confused.
"Now that you mention it... this does seem odd," she admitted, finally noticing what Gold Ship was talking about. "Shouldn't he be more mature and finish the fight as soon as possible?"
There was something strange about the way Evan was fighting.
He was showing far more emotion than usual, constantly smiling, laughing, and taunting his opponents, but somehow that was what made the whole thing feel wrong. It wasn't simply that he was enjoying the fight. It was the fact that he seemed to be enjoying it far more than Evan normally would.
The family watched as Fasttrack suddenly rushed toward Hex, only for Anubis to intercept him once again.
Fasttrack blocked one of the khopeshs with the Proto-Tool, then ducked beneath the second blade before twisting his body and sweeping Anubis's legs out from under him. The massive creature stumbled, giving him enough time to rush past it and head straight for Hex.
Hex quickly raised his staff and fired a magical blast at point-blank range.
Fasttrack simply grinned.
He ducked underneath the spell and swung his warglaive toward Hex's side, forcing the magician to jump backward. Before Hex could recover, Fasttrack kicked off the ground and shot forward again, appearing directly in front of him and throwing a punch.
Hex barely managed to block with his staff, but the force still sent him sliding backward across the sand.
The blue speedster laughed and chased after him.
However, his attention was so focused on Hex that he failed to notice Anubis approaching from behind.
The khopesh swung through the air.
Crimson blood suddenly flew from Fasttrack's left shoulder as the blade caught him, forcing him to stumble forward for a moment.
"Ah."
Even after being cut, Fasttrack didn't look particularly bothered.
He glanced over his shoulder at Anubis, doing a quick spin and punching it directly into the guts, sending it flying backward.
"Guess I got a little careless."
The crimson blood that had spilled from the wound suddenly moved back toward his body, flowing into the injury and beginning to repair the damage. He then activated [X-Ten Mode], directly targeting his recovery speed and forcing the cells within his body to work faster than normal.
The wound began closing almost immediately, with his body rapidly repairing itself until the damage was almost completely gone.
Fasttrack rolled his shoulder a few times to make sure it was working properly before turning back toward his opponents.
Then he smiled. A much wider smile than before.
He brought both palms together, forming a small amount of crimson blood between them before compressing it into a thin, concentrated projectile.
"Piercing Blood!"
The blood arrow shot forward at incredible speed, but halfway toward Hex, it suddenly split apart into multiple smaller arrows that curved through the air and began homing in on the magician from different directions.
Hex's eyes widened. He quickly slammed his staff against the ground and summoned a magical barrier around himself, just as the blood arrows began raining down around him.
Most of the attacks struck the barrier, splashing against the magical surface, but one arrow managed to slip through a small opening and struck Hex in the shoulder.
Hex cried out and staggered backward, immediately grabbing the injured area as the acidic blood began eating through his clothing and damaging the tissue beneath it, leaving his right arm weakened and difficult to move.
He gritted his teeth as cold sweat ran down his face, his eyes filled with both anger and disbelief as he looked toward Fasttrack.
The blue speedster was floating several meters above the ground, his arms casually spread apart as the damage to his own shoulder had already finished healing, with his fur beginning to grow back over the repaired area.
Fasttrack looked down at Hex with a wild grin.
"Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the honored one..."
There was a long silence.
Everyone stared at him.
"...Yup," Orfevre said slowly. "Something is definitely wrong with him."
"Definitely," Gwen agreed.
Ben scratched his head as he continued watching his cousin.
"What happened to him? It's like he went through a 180-degree personality change."
He couldn't help but feel confused and worried by what he was seeing.
This was supposed to be the same Evan who rarely spoke to anyone outside of his family, the same Evan who usually kept his emotions under control and approached fights with a calm and practical mindset. Yet the person fighting Hex right now was laughing, taunting his opponent, and seemingly having the time of his life.
Max quietly repeated Ben's words.
"180-degree..."
His eyes widened slightly as a thought suddenly crossed his mind, but that realization quickly turned into confusion.
As Stay Gold's father, Max knew better than anyone about his daughter's unusual genes and the strange effects they could have on her children. It wasn't uncommon for certain aspects of their personalities to suddenly shift in ways that seemed almost impossible.
Dream Journey had once been a very rule-abiding child before she developed a craving for chaos.
Nakayama Festa had been level-headed and cautious, rarely wanting to take unnecessary risks, before she somehow became addicted to gambling.
Ever Gold had once been rude, rebellious, and difficult to handle, only to suddenly become extremely caring and overprotective toward anyone he considered family.
Orfevre had once been shy and antisocial, to the point where she didn't even want to leave the house without a face mask, yet now she wasn't afraid to raise her voice and intimidate someone when necessary, and she certainly wasn't afraid to throw a punch at anyone who managed to anger her.
And then there was Gold Ship. Well... Gold Ship used to be cute and well-behaved. Before becoming the oddball currently standing beside them who seemed to actively look for new ways to cause trouble.
It could be said that Stay Gold's genes were truly something special, with each of her children experiencing some kind of drastic change that seemed to flip an important part of their personality completely around.
But there was one problem.
"Shouldn't father's genes already be active in Ever?" Orfevre asked, her expression becoming troubled as she looked toward Fasttrack. "Isn't this already happening to him? Why is this happening again?"
Gold Ship's usual smile faded slightly.
"Does this mean... Big Bro might return to his old self?"
There was genuine fear in her voice as she remembered the Evan they had known before.
Max scratched his head, still trying to make sense of it.
"This doesn't make much sense..."
"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" Ben asked, looking between them.
"Yeah, you all started acting really worried all of a sudden," Gwen added.
Neither of them understood what Max, Orfevre, and Gold Ship were talking about. They had no idea about Stay Gold's genes causing the strange personality changes that had happened to each of her children.
Fasttrack quickly rubbed his palms together, generating electricity between his hands as small sparks began jumping across his fur. The electricity spread throughout his body, running across his arms and legs as he lowered his stance and prepared to move.
He suddenly charged forward, Ah Puch raised its hands to intercept him, but Fasttrack was already too close. He pulled his fist back and slammed it directly into the creature's chest, releasing a powerful burst of electricity at the moment of impact.
The shockwave sent Ah Puch flying backward, crashing directly into Anubis and knocking both creatures off balance.
Fasttrack was about to rush after them when something suddenly came from above, dropping from the sky.
The strange figure landed several meters away, kicking up a large cloud of sand as she touched down.
She was a green reptilian alien with a long tail and two tentacles protruding from her head, while three glowing purple eyes stared across the battlefield with an intense and almost unnatural focus. Stripes ran down from each of her eyes, and her hands ended in four sharp claws, while her long legs and unusual feet gave her an almost bird-like appearance. She wore a blue one-piece bodysuit that covered most of her body, and despite her strange appearance, there was something distinctly familiar about her to Max.
The alien quickly looked around, taking in the destruction surrounding her before her glowing purple eyes suddenly focused on the Omnitrix dial on Fasttrack's chest.
Hex noticed the distraction immediately. He raised his staff and quickly cast a portal spell, creating a swirling purple gateway behind himself.
Anubis and Ah Puch immediately moved toward him, both creatures looking battered from the fight as Hex hurried through the portal with them. Fasttrack turned around just in time to see the three disappear into the gateway before it closed behind them.
"Hey! Get back here!"
Fasttrack took a step forward, but before he could chase after them, a strange purple energy suddenly wrapped around his body.
"What the? Heh!?"
The energy lifted him off the ground, leaving him suspended in the air as he struggled against the strange force.
The female alien stepped forward, glaring directly at him.
"The Omnitrix!" she shouted angrily. "Where did you get it?! Answer me!"
Fasttrack looked down at the glowing device on his chest, then back at the alien.
"You mean this?" he asked, pointing toward the dial with a casual smirk. "It was always with me."
Her expression immediately darkened. That answer clearly wasn't what she wanted to hear.
With an angry motion of her hand, the purple energy suddenly threw Fasttrack downward.
He crashed into the sand, kicking up a large cloud around himself as the female alien continued glaring at him. Then golden light suddenly exploded from the sand cloud.
The female alien raised an arm to shield her face from the bright flash, and when the light finally began to fade, a much larger figure emerged from the dust.
"Well, Miss Uxorites, how about we calm down for a bit?"
Brainstorm stepped out of the fading light, his massive shell opening as his brain became exposed, and before she could react, he raised both claws toward her.
A powerful electrical blast erupted from his body and shot directly toward her. The attack struck the female alien and sent her flying backward across the sand. She quickly recovered in midair, twisting her body before landing on her feet, and immediately raised one hand toward Brainstorm. Purple energy wrapped around his body.
Brainstorm looked down at the energy surrounding him. The purple energy tightened around him. Golden electricity suddenly exploded from Brainstorm's body, shattering the energy surrounding him in an instant.
Brainstorm immediately surrounded the female alien with an electrical barrier, trapping her inside it. Instead of using the barrier to contain her, he suddenly swung both claws downward. The entire electrical field moved with his motion, slamming her into the ground and sending another cloud of sand into the air.
Brainstorm looked down at her before tapping the Omnitrix dial on his chest once again.
Golden light exploded outward.
"Subwolfer!"
The alien's body changed, and when the light faded, Subwolfer stood in Brainstorm's place.
His mouth suddenly split open as he released a powerful sonic howl.
The soundwave blasted across the battlefield and struck the female head-on, forcing her to cover her ears as she cried out and struggled to remain standing.
Subwolfer immediately charged forward, his claws raised as he closed the distance in an instant, and swung one claw across her shoulder before she could recover. The attack knocked her off balance and sent her crashing back onto the ground.
He landed a short distance away and looked toward the blood left on his claws. He then moved one hand toward the Omnitrix dial on his chest.
The device absorbed the sample.
[New DNA sample acquired!]
Subwolfer's ears perked up slightly. He raised his claws again and stepped toward the female alien, ready to continue the fight.
"Evan, wait!" Max's voice suddenly rang across the battlefield.
Subwolfer stopped in the middle of his movement and turned his head toward the approaching group. Max was running toward them, with Ben, Gwen, Gold Ship, and Orfevre following close behind.
The female alien also turned toward the familiar voice. Her three purple eyes widened.
"Max!?"
Max slowed down as he approached, a relieved smile appearing on his face.
"It really is you, Xylene."
Subwolfer lowered his claws slightly, his expression becoming confused as he looked between the two of them.
Xylene slowly got back onto her feet, still looking at Max in disbelief.
"You know this person?" Subwolfer asked.
Max glanced toward him.
"Yeah, Evan. She's an old friend."
Xylene's attention suddenly shifted away from Max. Her eyes had landed on Ben. More specifically, the Omnitrix on his wrist.
She stared at it for several seconds before slowly looking back toward Subwolfer and the Omnitrix on his chest. Then she looked at Ben again. Her expression became increasingly confused.
"There is... two Omnitrixes?"
"Yeah, about that..." Max stepped forward and reached out to take Xylene's hands. "It's... a bit complicated."