Chapter 170: Confiscating the Tools of Crime
Whatever had drained these schoolgirls—whether it was raw electricity or something far more sinister—had left them with physical capabilities that completely shattered normal human limits. Their sunken eyes and pale skin belied a monstrous strength; any one of them could likely punch a clean hole through solid steel.
Klein watched with mild interest as one of the zombified cheerleaders casually hoisted a heavy industrial generator, easily a cubic meter in volume, and hurled it straight at his head.
Before he even needed to blink, a vibrant pink dome of pure Mana flared to life in front of him. The heavy machinery slammed into the energy barrier with a deafening crash, crumpling like tin foil before bouncing harmlessly to the concrete. Gwen stood firm, her hands glowing with residual pink light.
Hovering in the air above the chaos, Michael Morningstar paused, his eyes widening as he took in the display of magic. He had only seen the boys as threats, but this? This was entirely new.
A predatory smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. 'Very good. Woman, you have successfully captured my attention.'However, a quick glance at the dynamic below soured his mood. Gwen clearly favored the dark-haired anomaly standing beside her. Stealing her away would require finesse. More pressingly, if he tried to make a move on her right now, that Klein guy would probably beat him into a bloody pulp without breaking a sweat. His current power levels simply weren't high enough for a direct confrontation.'Hmm... it is better to drain the Osmosian first,' Michael calculated.
But there was an immediate logistical issue. The mindless girls swarming the area were his personal power banks. He had drained them to fuel his own strength, and if the Tennyson crew captured them, he would lose his reserves. He needed to create an opening for them to scatter.
Putting his plan into motion, Michael began firing golden blasts of energy from his hands, intentionally aiming wide. The explosive impacts kicked up clouds of dust and debris, designed to herd the girls toward the exits.
What he failed to realize was that Klein and the others were already two steps ahead, playing their own game.
Still hovering in mid-air and putting on his little light show, Michael suddenly took a massive, concentrated blast of pink Mana straight to the chest. The impact knocked the wind out of him, sending him spiraling downward.
"Oops! Sorry, I missed!" Gwen called out, her voice dripping with artificial sweetness and absolutely zero sincerity.
Before Michael's descending body could even kiss the pavement, a thick steel rebar whistled through the air. Kevin had thrown it with the precision of a major league pitcher.
CLANG.
The steel bar connected squarely with the back of Michael's skull. His vision exploded into a shower of sparks, and for a brief, dizzying second, he hallucinated his late great-grandmother waving at him from a field of lilies. He hit the ground hard, completely unconscious.
With the annoying golden boy out of the way, Klein casually slapped the dial of the Another Omnitrix. "Swampfire!"
A blinding flash of dark blue light erupted, and in Klein's place stood the towering, plant-like alien, his dark blue and black color scheme radiating a menacing heat.
Beside him, Ben slammed his hand down on his own Omnitrix. "Spidermonkey!"
A brilliant green flash illuminated the alley, revealing the four-eyed, multi-limbed arachnid-simian hybrid.
Swampfire did not waste a second. He dug his clawed fingers into his own body, pulling out a handful of glowing seeds, and scattered them across the cracked pavement. The moment the seeds touched the concrete, they violently took root, shattering the ground as massive, thick vines erupted upward. The thorny tendrils whipped through the air, wrapping securely around the flailing zombie schoolgirls and pinning them in place.
The few who managed to dodge the vines were immediately met with a barrage of thick, sticky webbing shot from Spidermonkey's tail, gluing them firmly to the surrounding walls.
When Michael finally groaned and blinked his eyes open, his head throbbing with a massive lump, he was greeted by a thoroughly depressing sight. Every single one of his power banks had been neatly packaged and confiscated.
A surge of genuine rage boiled in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to drop the nice-guy act, unleash his full power, and vaporize the lot of them. But one look at the heavy-hitting lineup standing over him forced him to swallow his pride. He could not win a straight fight.
Forcing his anger down, Michael rubbed his head and put on a mask of innocent concern. "Hey... how about we let these girls go?"
Kevin crossed his arms, staring down at him with heavy suspicion. "You're awfully eager to let a bunch of super-strong zombies loose, pretty boy. Could they have something to do with you?"
Realizing he had overplayed his hand, Michael quickly backpedaled. "What? How is that possible? I just... I just feel terrible for them. Look at the state they are in."
Gwen stepped forward, her tone pragmatic. "Let's find a secure place to settle them first. Once they are contained, we can figure out how to reverse whatever happened to them."
Michael's golden eyes lit up at the suggestion. "Then let's take them to my place. My family's estate is massive. We have plenty of room to keep them safe."
Instantly, the collective gaze of Klein, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin locked onto Michael. The sheer weight of their deadpan stares made him shift uncomfortably on the ground.
"I mean..." Michael offered a nervous, charming smile. "There is no other good place nearby, right?"
Klein let the silence stretch for a long, agonizing moment. He studied Michael with a look of deep, lazy detachment. Finally, he gave a single, slow nod. "Alright."
Michael exhaled a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Excellent. Then the matter is settled." He dusted himself off and turned his brightest, most winning smile toward the Osmosian. "Kevin, would you do me the honor of joining me for dinner tonight?"
Kevin physically recoiled, his face twisting in absolute horror. "Oh, please let me go! I'm begging you!"
Klein chimed in from the sidelines, his voice completely flat. "Kevin, just go with him."
"No way! Absolutely not!" Kevin shouted, ready to fight his way out of the alley if he had to. But then he caught the subtle, sharp look in Klein's eyes. It was the look of a predator setting a trap.
Kevin's struggles ceased. He swallowed hard, a cold sweat breaking out on the back of his neck. He gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached. "Alright. Fine. I'll go with you."
'It's just my dignity on the line,'Kevin thought, screaming internally.'The boss gave an order. Even if it's a mountain of knives or a sea of fire... or a creepy golden vampire... I will not hesitate! Come on! Take me! Do your worst!'
Kevin squared his shoulders, puffed out his chest, and prepared to march toward his doom, looking entirely like a man walking to the gallows.
"You guys have fun," Klein said, waving a hand dismissively. "We will take these girls to Michael's house first."
With that, Klein, Ben, and Gwen turned and walked away. Gwen's eyes glowed pink once more as she levitated the bound, thrashing schoolgirls behind them in a bubble of Mana.
A short while later, outside the Morningstar estate.
"Gwen. Open the door," Klein ordered, not even bothering to look for a doorbell.
Gwen did not hesitate. She gathered a dense sphere of pink Mana in her right hand and blasted it forward. The heavy, ornate iron gates of the villa were blown off their hinges, crashing onto the manicured lawn with a screech of tearing metal.
They had already stashed the zombified girls in a separate, secure courtyard using the keys Michael had provided. Now, they were back to investigate the main house.
"That Michael guy is definitely the problem," Ben said, his expression unusually serious. "I bet whatever happened to those girls is his doing."
Before anyone could reply, a figure stepped out from the shadows of the grand foyer.
"Is Michael here?"
It was a dark-skinned girl, her clothes slightly disheveled. She was clutching her right arm tightly, her eyes wide and frantic. "He ignored me the second you guys showed up with that other guy."
She stepped into the moonlight, her breathing shallow and erratic. "I know he has his flaws, but I refuse to believe he would just abandon me! Tell me right now! Where is Michael?!"
Corina looked entirely unhinged, her voice cracking with desperation. "I want to see him! Why is he ignoring me?!"
Klein did not offer a comforting word. His gaze dropped directly to her hands. "Where did you get the mark on your arm?"
Corina flinched, glancing down at the strange, glowing pattern etched into her skin. She shook her head rapidly, trying to cover it.
"It was Michael, wasn't it?" Klein stated, his voice cutting through the night air like ice. "He put that mark on you."
"No! Impossible! I don't believe you!" Corina shrieked. Even though the dark-haired boy standing before her was objectively far more handsome than Michael, the brainwashing effect of the energy mark ran deep. Her infatuation was absolute, blinding her to reality.
Klein's patience evaporated. "I don't care if you believe it or not. Get inside right now and stay out of my way."
He pointed a commanding finger toward the blasted-open doorway. The sheer authority and coldness in his voice made Corina freeze. Intimidated, her shoulders slumped, and she obediently shuffled back into the dark villa.
Ben watched her go, his anxiety spiking. "Cousin, Kevin is in serious danger! We need to go save him!"
Klein shoved his hands into his pockets, completely unbothered. "It's fine. He won't die. At most, his butt will be a little sore."
Meanwhile, on the other side of town.
Inside an abandoned church by the lake, the atmosphere was suffocating. There were no lights. The only illumination came from the pale moonlight filtering through the shattered stained-glass windows, casting long, distorted shadows across the pews.
"Oh, Kevin," Michael sighed, his voice echoing in the cavernous space. He looked genuinely heartbroken. "You know how I feel about you. Why won't you just accept me?"
Kevin's skin crawled. "Enough, Michael! You disgust me! We all know you are up to something sick. Cut the crap and tell me what you really want."
Kevin planted his feet, his eyes locked onto the golden boy, ready to fight at a moment's notice.
Hearing the direct challenge, the sorrow melted off Michael's face, replaced by a chilling, arrogant calm. "Heh heh. Fine. I suppose there is no point in hiding it anymore. You cannot escape this place alone anyway."
Michael began to pace, his hands glowing with a faint, greedy light. "I am going to drain every drop of your energy. Once I am done with you, I will find a way to drain Gwen. I just discovered she possesses an incredibly potent source of power... and it will soon belong to me!"
Michael was, for all his cunning, a classic villain. Kevin had only asked a simple question, and the idiot immediately monologued his entire evil master plan.
Kevin's expression hardened. He dropped into a crouch, slamming his hands flat against the stone floor of the church. The Osmosian absorption kicked in instantly. Gray, rocky textures crawled up his arms, encasing his entire body in dense, impenetrable stone.
With a furious roar, Kevin lunged forward, his heavy stone fists raised to crush Michael's skull.
"Heh heh heh. Pathetic."
Michael smiled disdainfully. He raised both hands, aimed directly at the charging stone mass, and unleashed a blinding golden energy cannon.
The sheer kinetic force of the blast caught Kevin off guard. The beam slammed into his chest, lifting him off his feet and blasting him backward over ten meters. He crashed through a row of wooden pews, splintering them into kindling.
"Give up," Michael sneered, slowly walking toward where Kevin lay groaning in the rubble. "When my energy reserves are this abundant, a brute like you cannot even touch me."
He raised his right hand, aiming down at the downed Osmosian. Golden light condensed rapidly in his palm, humming with lethal intent. "Just lie still. It will all be over soon."
He fired the golden energy cannon, intending to end the fight.
Suddenly, a dark silhouette dropped from the rafters, landing squarely between Michael and Kevin.
"Have you had enough fun playing pretend?" a distorted, crackling voice echoed through the church. "Because it is my turn to play."
The newcomer was Feedback.
Klein had transformed. His sleek, dark blue and black body crackled with latent electricity. He casually crossed his arms over his chest and extended the two plug-tipped antennae from his head.
The massive golden energy cannon struck him—and was instantly, effortlessly absorbed into the plugs. The deadly light simply vanished, swallowed by Feedback's body without leaving a single scorch mark.
"This... this is impossible!" Michael gasped, his arrogant facade shattering. He stumbled backward, his eyes wide with disbelief.
Feedback lowered his arms, the golden energy now coursing through his own veins, mixing with his violent blue electricity. "You want to drain Kevin? Fine, whatever. But you actually thought about touching Gwen? You want to lay a hand on my family? Even Vilgax wouldn't be stupid enough to try that."
Lying in the rubble, Kevin blinked. 'Wait... so my virtue means absolutely nothing to you? Boss, what the hell do you mean by "you want to drain Kevin, fine"?!'
Feedback did not care about the Osmosian's internal crisis. He focused entirely on Michael. He raised his right hand, and the absorbed golden energy, now corrupted and amplified by his own power, erupted outward.
Violent, blinding blue lightning burst forth in a torrential wave.
The sheer force of the electrical storm shattered the remaining stained glass. Half of the church's roof was blown clean off, the ancient stone crumbling into dust. The ground beneath their feet split open, the lightning carving a jagged, blackened trench over a hundred meters long right through the center of the nave.
"You like to drain people, right?" Feedback's voice dropped to a lethal, static-laced growl. "Then let's see how you like being drained."
Drain... be drained?!
Michael dropped to his knees, his body convulsing from the residual static in the air. He stared blankly, utterly paralyzed by fear, as the terrifying electric alien closed the distance between them.
Feedback towered over him. He extended the two thick wires from his head, the metal plugs gleaming in the moonlight. Without a second of hesitation, he slammed the plugs directly into Michael's chest.
Michael's mouth opened in a silent scream.
Golden energy violently reversed its flow, ripping out of Michael's body and surging up the wires into Feedback. The process was fast and merciless. Within moments, Michael Morningstar was completely drained dry. His once-perfect skin shriveled, his muscles atrophied, and he collapsed onto the floor, looking exactly like the withered zombies he had created.
Feedback retracted his wires. A flash of dark blue light illuminated the ruined church, and Klein stood in his place, his hands resting casually in his pockets.
He looked down at the pathetic, barely conscious husk of Michael Morningstar. "Don't think this is the end."
Not the end?!
Michael's withered body trembled violently. His mind screamed at him to run, to crawl away, but his dilapidated muscles refused to respond.
A brilliant golden light flashed in Klein's right hand. The air hummed with ancient power as the Divine Sword Aikequwa materialized in his grip, its polished blade reflecting the moonlight.
"You have harmed far too many girls," Klein said, his voice devoid of any warmth. "Isn't it only fair that I confiscate your tools of crime?"
Klein swung the sword. A single, precise arc of gold cut through the air.
Michael Morningstar officially said goodbye to his third leg.
"Ah!!! NO! MY! MY IS GONE!"
Michael shrieked, his voice cracking into a high-pitched wail of absolute agony and despair. He couldn't believe it. He refused to believe it. But the sharp, searing pain radiating from his groin, and the tiny, two-centimeter charred remnant lying on the stone floor, forced reality upon him.
Klein didn't even blink. He dismissed the sword, turned his back on the screaming boy, and walked toward the exit.
"Kevin," Klein called over his shoulder. "Pick him up. We aren't done yet."
Not done yet?!
Michael's eyes rolled back in his head. He genuinely wished for death at this point. He wanted to thrash, to fight back, but he had absolutely zero strength left. He could only sob weakly as Kevin, covered in stone dust and looking highly thoroughly amused, hoisted him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
A short drive later, back at the Morningstar villa.
The roar of Kevin's sports car echoed into the night as it sped away down the mountain road, leaving the grand estate behind.
In the locked courtyard, Michael Morningstar was left entirely alone.
Well, not entirely.
He was surrounded by a horde of zombie schoolgirls. Because his energy reserves were completely empty, the girls, driven by the very hunger he had instilled in them, began to swarm him. They latched onto his withered frame, hungrily draining the only thing he had left: his core life force.
Even if Michael somehow survived the night, the hidden, irreversible damage to his body and soul would be catastrophic.
But as the girls dragged him into the shadows, one thing was certain—he really should have considered the consequences before treating people like disposable batteries.
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