Ethen, Ben, Gwen, and Grandpa Max stood before the fallen bounty hunter, SixSix.
The alien lay twitching on the ground, barely conscious.
"Ethen…"
Grandpa Max placed a hand on his shoulder and lowered his voice. "My suggestion is there's no need to kill SixSix. I'll contact the Plumbers to arrest him—and you'll get full credit for the capture."
"Hmm…"
Ethen glanced at Max, pretending to hesitate, then nodded. "Alright, Grandpa. I'll listen to you."
"Good! Ethen!"
Grandpa Max smiled proudly. "I'm glad you listened to me."
Finally, it seemed his words were getting through.
Maybe Ethen wasn't as reckless as before.
SixSix coughed weakly, daring to speak now that the tension had lifted.
Ethen's eyes narrowed, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
You think you're safe just because I promised Grandpa?
Fine—I won't kill you directly… but an 'accident' can always happen.
The group turned and headed over to where Diamondhead was lying, still injured but conscious.
"You can still talk, right?" Ethen asked calmly. "Who sent you here? What was your mission?"
Diamondhead took a deep breath and replied without hesitation, "Vilgax… Asmuth… they want to seize… the Omnitrix…"
He revealed everything he knew without resistance, handing over every detail and even the bounty credits he'd earned.
Ben and Gwen were left speechless by the amount of information.
Ethen and Grandpa Max, however, stayed calm. They had already suspected as much.
"So Vilgax really is the so-called Overlord of the Galaxy…" Ben muttered.
"Ahem." Diamondhead glanced at Ethen and said firmly, "Vilgax was the overlord—because he's never faced Ethen before!"
Ethen chuckled softly. "You're exaggerating. I don't care about being any kind of overlord."
"Huh?" Diamondhead blinked.
You sure didn't look so humble when you were beating the life out of us…
"But," Ethen added casually, "if Vilgax comes looking for trouble, I'll deal with him."
Diamondhead smiled in admiration. "To show my sincerity, I've decided to give you something."
He handed over his hoverboard. "This is yours now."
"Thanks," Ethen said with a nod, then looked at Ben, who was practically glowing with excitement. "Ben, I'm not really good with hoverboards. Why don't you test it out for me—and keep it once you've got the hang of it?"
"Really?! Awesome!" Ben jumped up, taking the hoverboard eagerly.
After explaining everything, Diamondhead stood to leave.
Before going, he gave Ethen a meaningful glance.
Ethen met his gaze and subtly nodded—then flicked his eyes toward SixSix.
SHHK!
A crystal blade shot through the air, piercing SixSix cleanly through the head.
The alien's limbs went limp.
Dead. Completely dead.
And in a rather comical pose, too.
Grandpa Max's jaw dropped. "Diamondhead! What on Earth are you doing!?"
"Uh—!" Diamondhead stammered, glancing between Ethen and Max before blurting, "He and I… had a grudge! So, I, uh, took care of it!"
Max groaned, rubbing his temples. "Diamondhead, you can't just go around executing people! That's not how we do things!"
"You're right, you're right," Diamondhead said quickly. "Anyway—I'll be going now!"
Before Max could say another word, Diamondhead bolted into the distance.
Max sighed helplessly, glancing down at SixSix's body. "Unbelievable…"
"Come on," he muttered. "Let's go home."
Ben hopped on the hoverboard and wobbled his way toward the Rustbucket, nearly falling several times—much to Gwen's amusement.
Ethen chuckled quietly. "Guess he's still learning."
Back at the RV, the group had dinner, cleaned up, and turned in for the night.
Only Grandpa Max stayed up, sitting in the driver's seat and typing on his Plumber's PDA, reporting Ethen's recent missions.
After some thought, he decided to leave out the more… questionable parts.
He only wrote about Ethen's heroics.
"I believe he can change," Max murmured. "At least today, he listened."
Meanwhile, at Plumber HQ, the officers reviewing Ethen's battle records were completely stunned.
"This kid's supposed to be a trainee?" one of them exclaimed.
"Are you sure this isn't young Max Tennyson from fifty years ago?!"
The whole department was in disbelief.
Midnight.
Ethen woke up on schedule, yawning and stretching.
Ding!
The "War God" template has expired. Would you like to store it permanently in the ability pool?
"Nope!" Ethen replied instantly. "Just give me today's new template!"
The system chimed again.
Ding! Congratulations! You've unlocked a new Omnitrix template…
Template obtained: Love Watch (Prototype Version)!
Love Watch (First Edition): Contains ten female alien DNAs. Each one is a unique warrior who may either fight beside you—or fall in love with you.
"Huh?!" Ethen's eyes widened. "System, what are you doing?! I'm only twelve!!"
Still, the watch itself was stunning.
A sleek heart design shimmered where the War Watch had been.
"The Error Watch, the Demon Watch, the War Watch… and now, the Love Watch," Ethen sighed. "What a lineup."
He checked his reward points—145 total.
Not a bad haul for one day.
Suddenly, his backpack buzzed.
He pulled out his phone, squinting at the bright screen.
New message received:
Payment from: Plumber Federation (International Hydroelectric Organization)
Amount: $100,000 USD
Deposited into: Ethen's personal account
Ethen smiled. "Looks like I won't be short on cash anytime soon."
He put the phone away, lay back down, and drifted off to sleep.
...
Author's Note:
Here comes the Love Watch! Your favorite arc is about to begin! If you're enjoying it, keep supporting and urging for updates—your enthusiasm keeps this story alive!