Chapter 95: Just an Actor Trying to Save His Show
"Uh, let's go ride the Kangaroo Commando Roller Coaster!" Ben blurted out, desperately pivoting the conversation.
Without waiting for a response, the boy bolted toward the towering amusement park attraction, terrified Klein might say another word to burst his bubble.
Klein and Gwen exchanged a long, flat look. They offered each other a synchronized, helpless shrug before trudging after him.
"Hurry up!" Ben yelled over his shoulder, practically vibrating with excitement. "The line for the Kangaroo Commando ride must stretch all the way to the horizon by now!"
...
A few minutes later, the trio sat strapped into the coaster cars.
"Hmm. It seems absolutely no one wants to play with your favorite hero," Gwen remarked dryly. She leaned over the edge of her seat, scanning the completely desolate boarding platform. Aside from the bored-looking operator, they were the only three souls on the entire ride.
Ben sat alone in the very front row, while Klein and Gwen shared the second.
"Uh, serves them right!" Ben crossed his arms, his cheeks flushing a faint pink. "It's their loss!"
Klein leaned back against the hard plastic seat, his eyes narrowing slightly. 'Logically, this shouldn't be the case. Even if Kangaroo Commando's popularity has tanked recently, this is still a massive theme park roller coaster. It shouldn't be a ghost town.'
A faint, nagging premonition tugged at the back of Klein's mind.
Before he could analyze the feeling, the mechanical gears ground loudly. The coaster lurched forward, shooting out of the station and up the steep incline, giving him no time to think.
Soon enough, Klein found out exactly what that premonition was.
Boom!
A deafening explosion ripped through the air. Plumes of thick black smoke and shattered metal erupted from the tracks directly in their path. The massive steel rails twisted and snapped like cheap plastic.
Just as the three of them braced themselves to act, the coaster screeched, the emergency brakes locking up with a horrific metal-on-metal squeal. The cars jerked to a violent halt, dangling precariously near the blown-out section.
"Never fear! Kangaroo Commando is here!"
A booming, overly dramatic voice echoed from below.
Klein, Gwen, and Ben peered over the edge of their seats. Down on the ground stood a grown man in a ridiculous kangaroo-themed spandex suit. He fired a grappling hook from a bulky gadget on his wrist. The metal claw soared through the air and clamped heavily onto the front of their coaster car.
The man gripped the rope, striking a heroic pose.
Klein stared blankly at the scene. 'Can a normal human being physically hold back a multi-ton, high-speed roller coaster with a single rope?'
The physics were completely absurd. It was painfully obvious theatrical nonsense. Anyone with a shred of basic common sense could see the glaring flaws in this rescue.
Klein turned his head to look at Gwen. Sure enough, her brow was furrowed in deep confusion, her lips parted as she tried to process the sheer stupidity of the stunt.
Then, Klein looked at Ben.
"Awesome!" Ben cheered, pumping his fists in the air, his eyes sparkling with pure hero-worship. "Kangaroo Commando is here to save us!"
Klein sighed inwardly. This Dweeb was the sole exception. He had completely bypassed his brain's logic center.
"I am coming to save you now, citizens!" Kangaroo Commando bellowed.
He made a grand show of tying his end of the rope around a nearby stone pillar. Klein's sharp eyes tracked the man's movements. He could easily spot the unnatural tension in the hero's harness. There was definitely a hidden, pre-rigged safety wire securing the coaster from behind, completely out of the public's line of sight.
Suddenly, with a sharp mechanical click, twin-tip skis popped out from the soles of Kangaroo Commando's boots. Using the built-in springs, he launched himself into the air, landing squarely on the nose of the roller coaster with a heavy thud.
"I will help you open the safety bars now," he announced, flashing a blindingly white smile.
But just as he reached for the locking mechanism, a high-pitched scream pierced the air.
Everyone snapped their heads toward the sound. A woman was dangling desperately from a jagged piece of the broken track a short distance away, kicking her legs over the dizzying drop.
"Do not be frightened, citizen! Kangaroo Commando will save everyone!"
Without a second thought, the man in spandex bounded away, leaping across the tracks toward the screaming woman.
Klein's eyes deadpanned. 'What is a random civilian woman doing up there on a closed section of the tracks? She was definitely hired to act.'The pieces clicked together perfectly. Now Klein understood exactly why nobody rode the Kangaroo Commando Roller Coaster anymore.'Does he pull this exact same stunt every single time the ride operates?'
Watching the spandex-clad actor waste time on his staged rescue while they sat trapped in a suspended metal death trap, Klein lost the last shreds of his patience.
"It is always better to rely on yourself than on others," Klein muttered.
He raised his left wrist. The dial of the Another Omnitrix popped up with a crisp mechanical hiss. He slammed his palm down.
A flash of quiet blue light engulfed the coaster car, washing out the afternoon sun.
Where Klein had been sitting, Ghostfreak now floated.
The spectral alien let out a low, raspy hiss. He reached up with his clawed hands, grabbing the raised seams of his own grayish-white skin. With a sickening, tearing sound, he ripped his protective layer open. Several dark, writhing tentacles shot out from his exposed chest cavity, wrapping securely around the heavy metal safety bar.
With a casual flex of his spectral strength, Ghostfreak ripped the locking mechanism completely out of its housing. The metal groaned and snapped.
Ghostfreak's tentacles retracted. He grabbed Ben by the collar and Gwen by the waist, phasing effortlessly through the remaining debris, and floated them gently down to the solid concrete below.
"Hey! That is my job!"
Kangaroo Commando marched over, having just deposited his hired actress on the ground. He pointed an accusing finger at the ghostly alien, his face flushed with indignation.
'Your job?'Ghostfreak's single purple eye narrowed.'You deserve a punch.'
Without a single word, Ghostfreak drew back his fist and delivered a brutally fast, heavy cross directly to Kangaroo Commando's jaw.
Crack.
The actor did not even have time to register the impact. He was sent flying backward, spinning through the air before crashing onto the pavement. He slumped to the ground, out cold.
Ghostfreak did not spare him a second glance. He floated away behind a nearby concession stand. A moment later, the quiet blue light flashed again, and Klein strolled back out, his hands casually stuffed in his pockets.
"Uh, Cousin..." Ben walked over, his voice unusually quiet and cautious. "Was it really necessary to hit Kangaroo Commando?"
Klein stopped and shook his head, letting out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Alright, Ben. You need to face reality." Klein reached out, gripping Ben's shoulders firmly with both hands. He locked eyes with the boy, his expression dead serious. "That guy isn't the superhero you see on television. He is just a desperate actor trying to save his canceled show."
Ben flinched. He looked away, his gaze dropping to his sneakers. A wave of guilt and denial washed over his face, unable to meet his cousin's piercing stare.
Klein softened his tone, explaining patiently. "Think about it carefully. Doesn't everything that just happened feel a little too coincidental? The empty ride, the perfectly timed explosion, the dramatic entrance, the random woman hanging from the tracks... Unless it wasn't a coincidence at all. I bet you anything Kangaroo Commando will miraculously find some evidence in a few minutes. And that evidence will conveniently point directly to the guy who ruined his television ratings."
Ben's head snapped up, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Dean?! Cousin, are you saying Kangaroo Commando is going to frame Dean as the culprit?!"
Ben knew the history. Tim Dean's new hit cartoon, 'Super Alien Hero Buddies,' had caused Kangaroo Commando's ratings to plummet into the dirt.
But Ben still shook his head stubbornly. "Impossible. We already taught Dean a lesson. His terrible animation can't even continue production anymore. He doesn't need to compete with Kangaroo Commando, so he has absolutely no reason to blow up a roller coaster! And Kangaroo Commando is a hero! He has no reason to frame a good person! Well... even though Dean isn't exactly a good person..."
"Just wait and see," Klein said flatly, dropping his hands from Ben's shoulders. He didn't need to argue. The proof would present itself.
Desperate for backup, Ben turned his pleading gaze toward Gwen.
Gwen crossed her arms and shook her head sympathetically. "Sorry, Dweeb. This time, I am completely on Cousin's side."
Ben opened his mouth to argue further, but a loud groan interrupted him.
A few yards away, the unconscious Kangaroo Commando finally stirred.
He sat up slowly, rubbing his jaw with a grimace. "Hiss... so dizzy... Where did that floating freak go?!"
He scrambled to his feet, looking wildly around the plaza. Finding no trace of Ghostfreak, he brushed the dirt off his spandex suit and puffed out his chest. "Never mind. I have more important things to do. I need to resolve this terrible incident."
Kangaroo Commando marched directly over to the wreckage of the broken roller coaster track that had fallen to the ground. He made a grand show of searching through the debris for a few seconds before triumphantly pulling out a pristine white glove.
He spun around, marching straight toward the park security staff who had just arrived to inspect the damage.
"This was no accident, citizens!" Kangaroo Commando declared loudly, holding the glove high in the air. "Someone deliberately placed explosives on this roller coaster! And it was the person wearing this smudge glove I just found at the scene of the crime!"
Under the silent, judging gazes of Klein, Gwen, and Ben, the actor continued his theatrical deduction.
"People who wear this specific kind of anti-fouling glove are usually cartoonists! And there is only one cartoonist in this world who would dare blow up the Kangaroo Commando Roller Coaster: Dean!"
Ben stood frozen. The last pillar of his childhood idol worship crumbled into dust.
He walked forward silently, his head lowered. When he reached the actor, he spoke in a hollow, quiet voice. "Dean is not the culprit."
Kangaroo Commando blinked, looking down at the boy in surprise. "Kid, what did you just say?"
Ben slowly lifted his head. His eyes, usually so full of energy and excitement, were completely dead. "I am very disappointed in you."
Without waiting for a response, Ben turned on his heel and walked away, his shoulders slumped in defeat.
Klein watched his cousin leave, a faint trace of sympathy in his eyes. He strolled forward, casually stepping between the confused actor and the security staff.
"Dean is not the culprit," Klein stated, his voice smooth and authoritative. He pointed a finger at the white fabric in the actor's hand. "Dean uses his left hand when he signs autographs. He is strictly left-handed. But that drawing glove you are holding is clearly tailored for a right hand."
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]