Chapter 166: Kevin Gone Bad Again?
'Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?'
A stray beam of morning sunlight pierced the curtains, landing squarely on Klein's eyelids and dragging him from the depths of a heavy slumber. He sat up, pressing the heel of his palm against his throbbing temple.
Beside him lay Gwen, her chest rising and falling in a slow, peaceful rhythm, a soft smile gracing her sleeping features. Memories of the previous night's madness flooded back. They had done this, that, and everything in between. While Klein's physical constitution was leagues beyond that of a normal human, Gwen was an Anodite. That was an entirely different weight class of stamina. He knew this fact intimately now; his lower back had nearly snapped in half.
Still, he had emerged victorious.
A hard-fought, peaceful morning.
Outside, the air was crisp in the quiet park where the Rustbucket was parked. Klein and Gwen lounged in a pair of canvas camping chairs, a worn photo album resting across their laps.
"Cousin, look at this one. These are from when we were little," Gwen said, her voice warm as she affectionately leaned her head against Klein's shoulder.
A few yards away, Ben leaned against the metallic side of the Rustbucket, his face twisted into a spectacular scowl. He watched the sickeningly sweet display, muttering under his breath in a high-pitched, mocking tone. "Oh, Cousin, look at this! Look at me, I'm looking at you! Bleh."
From underneath the RV's chassis, a pair of grease-stained boots shifted. Kevin slid out on a mechanic's creeper, wiping a smudge of motor oil from his cheek. "Ben Tennyson, give it a rest. Your sour grapes are making me want to puke."
Ben's scowl deepened. He crossed his arms, his muttering dropping to an even more petulant whisper. "Sly jerk. He sees a pretty face and completely forgets his bros. What happened to our brotherly bond, huh? I curse you to deal with a daily Shura field from now on."
Klein didn't even turn his head. "Ben, I can hear you."
Ben's posture snapped straight. "Cousin, you're the absolute coolest!" he blurted out, instantly chickening out. He scrambled over, practically tripping over his own feet, and began vigorously massaging Klein's shoulders with an ingratiating grin.
While Klein enjoyed the impromptu massage and Gwen flipped the page of the album, Kevin slipped away. Moving with practiced silence, he stepped into the empty Rustbucket. He slid into the driver's seat, pulling his Plumber badge from his pocket. He pressed the metallic insignia against the top of the dashboard air conditioning unit.
Beep. Beep.
The AC vent slid open with a mechanical hiss, revealing a concealed red ignition button hidden deep within the circuitry.
Kevin's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Sorry, Boss," he murmured softly.
He slammed his palm onto the button. The Rustbucket's engine roared to life, the massive vehicle shuddering as it woke.
Outside, the sudden, deafening rumble of the V8 engine shattered the peaceful morning. Klein, Gwen, and Ben whipped their heads around.
"Kevin?" Klein called out, his voice cutting through the noise.
No response. The RV's tires squealed against the asphalt, kicking up a cloud of dust as it peeled out of the park at breakneck speed.
"Kevin! Get back here! That's Grandpa Max's car!" Ben yelled, his legs already pumping as he sprinted after the receding taillights.
But flesh and bone were no match for four heavy-duty tires. Realizing the futility of a foot race, Ben slapped the dial of his Omnitrix.
"Big Chill!"
A blinding flash of emerald light consumed him. In his place hovered the moth-like Necrofriggian, his breath misting in the air. Big Chill's wings snapped open, and he launched himself high into the sky, tearing through the clouds in pursuit of the stolen RV.
Back at the campsite, Klein stood with his hands tucked casually into his pockets, watching the dust settle. "Kevin, what exactly are you trying to pull?" he muttered softly.
He didn't buy the betrayal act for a second. They hadn't bled together just for Kevin to steal an old camper van. If Kevin truly wanted to betray them, he wouldn't have been able to drive the Rustbucket out of the park so easily under Klein's watch.
"Cousin." Gwen stepped up beside him, her brow furrowed in deep concern. She searched his face, worried the sudden betrayal was tearing him apart.
Klein merely offered a faint, dismissive shake of his head. He wasn't sad. He was curious.
Miles down the interstate, the Rustbucket roared along the asphalt, a silver bullet weaving through the morning traffic. Trees and suburban houses blurred past the windows. High above, Big Chill descended like a predatory hawk, closing the distance.
Kevin glanced at the rearview mirror, catching sight of the winged alien. His jaw tightened. He reached over and flipped a toggle switch on the modified console.
The roof of the Rustbucket split open. A heavy-duty laser cannon elevated from the hidden compartment, swiveling backward to lock onto the target. It unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of searing red energy bolts.
Big Chill banked sharply, barrel-rolling through the air to evade the incoming fire. When a cluster of lasers proved too wide to dodge, he simply phased, turning his body completely intangible. The red beams passed harmlessly through his ghostly form, dissipating into the sky.
The highway began a steep incline, winding up into the mountainous terrain. Big Chill took advantage of the geography, cutting straight across the mountain peaks to bypass the winding road, positioning himself directly ahead of the RV's path.
As the Rustbucket crested the hill and began its descent, Big Chill inhaled deeply and unleashed a torrent of absolute zero vapor onto the asphalt. The road flash-froze in a split second, transforming into a frictionless sheet of solid ice.
The massive RV hit the ice and immediately lost traction, the back end fishtailing violently toward the guardrail. Kevin wrestled with the steering wheel, his muscles straining as he punched another button on the dashboard.
Thick, jagged steel spikes shot out from the treads of the tires. The metal bit viciously into the ice, crushing the frozen surface into powder and instantly stabilizing the vehicle. The Rustbucket surged forward, gripping the road with mechanical claws.
Seeing his trap fail, Big Chill swooped lower, exhaling a concentrated beam of frost directly at the side of the RV. Massive pillars of jagged ice erupted from the ground, forming a frozen barricade that forced the Rustbucket to swerve hard toward the opposite shoulder.
The shoulder offered no safety—only a flimsy wooden fence separating the road from a steep, heavily forested mountain drop. The RV smashed right through the splintering wood, plunging off the road and hurtling down the steep, tree-littered incline.
Kevin spun the wheel frantically, dodging massive pine trunks by mere inches. He slammed his fist onto a third button.
A heavy, shovel-shaped reinforced bumper deployed from the front grill. The steel plow slammed into the remaining trees, uprooting them like weeds and clearing a brutal path down the mountainside until the RV crashed heavily onto a lower access road, its suspension groaning in protest.
Checking the mirror, Kevin saw Big Chill still relentlessly diving toward him. He hit one final switch.
A hidden compartment at the rear popped open, firing a high-tensile capture net backward. The weighted mesh expanded mid-air, wrapping tightly around Big Chill and completely binding his wings. The alien plummeted, crashing into the dirt in a tangled heap.
Kevin watched the struggling alien fade into the distance through his mirror. He adjusted his grip on the wheel and drove the Rustbucket into the horizon.
Night had fully fallen by the time they regrouped.
A flash of emerald light illuminated the dark road as Big Chill reverted back to Ben, who was still hopelessly tangled in the high-tech netting. A moment later, the sky above crackled with pink mana. Gwen, fully immersed in her Anodite form, descended gracefully from the clouds. Beside her flew Jetray, his manta-like wings slicing through the air.
Ben finally kicked the net off his leg and let out a frustrated sigh. "He got away." He kicked a loose pebble, his face twisting with self-blame. "How could I be so careless? He's a deceitful, backstabbing thief!"
A ghostly blue light washed over Jetray as he transformed back into Klein. He landed smoothly, dusting off his sleeves. "Alright, Ben, calm down. I believe Kevin definitely has his reasons for pulling this stunt."
"You're actually defending him?!" Ben threw his hands up, staring at Klein in absolute disbelief. "I can accept losing to Gwen, but Kevin?! Where did I lose to that guy?!"
Klein stepped forward and delivered a swift, precise flick directly to the center of Ben's forehead.
Smack.
"Alright, stop messing around," Klein said, his tone dry but firm.
"Ow! Sorry, Cousin, I was wrong," Ben whined, clutching his forehead and squatting down in exaggerated agony.
Klein ignored the theatrics and turned to Gwen, who had powered down from her Anodite state. "Gwen, can you track him?"
She nodded confidently. "Yes, but I need a physical anchor. Something Kevin has used recently."
"Who would just carry something like that around?" Ben grumbled from the dirt.
Klein tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Come with me. I know a place."
Thirty minutes later, they stood in the dimly lit hallway of a rundown apartment complex. Klein led them up the creaky wooden stairs to the second floor, stopping in front of a battered door. He reached up, feeling along the dusty crack above the doorframe, and retrieved a hidden brass key.
He slid it into the lock and pushed the door open. "This is the apartment Kevin rented. It doubles as his little safehouse."
The trio stepped inside. Surprisingly, the small space was impeccably tidy, completely at odds with Kevin's usual grease-monkey aesthetic.
"There has to be something in here with his residual energy. Gwen, just find anything he's handled," Klein instructed, casually taking a seat on the edge of Kevin's neatly made bed.
Gwen nodded, her eyes scanning the room. She immediately spotted a peculiar, brightly colored pink object tucked away in the corner of the room. She took a step toward it, reaching out.
"No! Gwen, stop!" Ben shrieked, his voice cracking as he lunged forward, throwing his arms out to block her path.
Gwen blinked, startled by the sudden outburst. "What... what is that?" she asked, her curiosity now fully piqued by Ben's panicked reaction.
Ben's face flushed a deep, violent shade of crimson. He stammered, his eyes darting everywhere except the corner. "That is... a man's holy relic." He finally managed to squeeze the words out, looking as though he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.
Gwen raised an eyebrow, her expression deadpan. "And exactly how do you know that?"
Ben froze. It was the ultimate, unanswerable question.
Sensing the atmosphere rapidly deteriorating into unbearable awkwardness, Klein reached over and grabbed a worn leather jacket draped across the foot of the bed. He tossed it directly at Gwen's face.
"Alright, Gwen, just use this to find him," Klein said, his voice a perfect mask of casual indifference.
Though still burning with curiosity about the mysterious 'relic', Gwen knew better than to push it when time was of the essence. She caught the jacket, closed her eyes, and let her mana flare to life. Pink energy rippled over the leather, tracing the invisible threads of Kevin's aura.
Her eyes snapped open, glowing with arcane light. "Found him!"
[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!]