Chapter 198: Are You Cheating?
"Ben Tennyson!!!"
Kevin's roar echoed through the area as he lunged forward, his hands fully prepared to wrap around Ben's throat and squeeze.
"Cousin, save me!" Ben shrieked, instantly diving behind Klein and using him as a human shield.
Klein pinched the bridge of his nose, thoroughly unimpressed by the chaotic display. "Alright, enough. Both of you knock it off." He shot a side-glance at Kevin, silently urging him to get back to the point. "Hurry up and tell us the rest."
"Alright, Boss." Kevin shot one last venomous glare at Ben before hopping backward, settling his weight onto the hood of a nearby car. His shoulders slumped slightly, the anger bleeding out of his posture.
"When I was a kid, my mom used to tell me stories about my old man," Kevin muttered, staring down at his hands. "She said he was proud to be a Plumber. That he did really incredible, heroic things out there in the galaxy." He let out a heavy sigh, the sound carrying a rare vulnerability. "I still want to be like him. I really want to become a Plumber."
Kevin lifted his head, meeting Klein's gaze with absolute seriousness. "Boss, I want my badge back."
Klein held his stare for a moment before giving a single, firm nod. "We've got your back."
Later that night, the sharp scent of motor oil and ozone filled Kevin's private garage. Sparks rained down as Kevin lay flat on a creeper, sliding under the chassis of his prized green muscle car, wrench in hand.
Without warning, the reinforced garage wall exploded inward.
Cinderblocks and plaster rained across the concrete floor. Through the settling dust, a towering, pale-skinned figure with plant-like appendages stepped into the light. A Highbreed.
"Filthy, inferior lifeforms!" the alien boomed, its voice dripping with absolute disgust. "I have come to cleanse this mudball of your stench!"
Hearing the crash, Kevin scrambled out from under the chassis, coughing through the dust. His eyes widened as he took in the towering intruder. "A Highbreed!"
Instinct took over. Knowing exactly how outclassed he was in a baseline brawl, Kevin immediately dropped to a crouch, slamming his palm against the garage floor. The gray texture of solid concrete washed up his arm, rapidly encasing his entire body in a dense, stone-like armor.
Pushing off the ground, Kevin vaulted toward the Highbreed, pulling his arm back to deliver a devastating right hook.
The Highbreed didn't even blink. With a casual, dismissive flick of its wrist, it backhanded Kevin out of the air.
Kevin flew backward, crashing violently onto the hood of his beloved sports car. The metal buckled and groaned under the impact, leaving a massive crater in the pristine paint job.
"You repulsive pest! Perish!" The Highbreed stomped forward, raising a massive foot to crush him.
Trapped in the dented metal, Kevin's mind raced. He suddenly threw his hand out, pointing frantically over the alien's shoulder. "Hey! Boss, you're here!"
"What?!" The Highbreed whipped its head around, fully expecting an ambush.
There was nothing but empty air.
By the time the arrogant alien realized it had been played, it was already too late. Kevin drove his stone-coated boot upward with brutal, unforgiving force, planting a direct hit squarely between the Highbreed's thighs.
A sickening impact echoed through the garage. The Highbreed's eyes bulged, and it let out a high-pitched, strangled shriek of pure agony.
"Disgusting insect!" the Highbreed roared through the pain. It spun around violently, grabbing Kevin by the torso and hurling him across the room like a discarded ragdoll. Furious, the alien raised a massive fist, fully intending to smash the boy into paste.
But as the fist descended, a massive, scaly hand shot out from the shadows, catching the strike mid-air. The impact sent a shockwave of displaced air through the garage.
The Highbreed jerked its head up, coming face-to-face with the towering, dinosaur-like visage of Humungousaur.
"You really like picking on the little guys, don't you?!" Humungousaur growled. With a twist of his hips, he hoisted the massive alien off the ground and hurled it violently through the gaping hole in the wall.
Across the room, Kevin staggered to his feet, rubbing his bruised jaw. He glared at the giant Vaxasaurian. "Ben Tennyson, who exactly are you calling little?!"
Humungousaur blinked, realizing his poor choice of words, and awkwardly scratched the back of his scaly head.
Outside in the cool night air, the Highbreed groaned, pushing itself up from the dirt. Before it could even find its footing, glowing pink mana rings materialized out of thin air, snapping tightly around its wrists and ankles, binding it to the ground.
"You really enjoy looking for trouble, don't you?"
The Highbreed snapped its head up. Standing just a few yards away, illuminated by the moonlight, were Klein and Gwen.
"Skip the monologue. Just die," Klein said casually, raising his left hand as deadly energy began to pool in his palm.
"Wait! So fast?!" The Highbreed thrashed against the mana restraints, pure panic bleeding into its voice. "Aren't you going to interrogate me?! Ask me about my plans?!" This completely broke the standard protocol of Earth's so-called heroes!
Klein tilted his head, his expression entirely bored. "Not really. I don't feel like asking questions right now. I just want to finish you off and go to sleep."
Seeing the absolute, chilling indifference in Klein's eyes, the Highbreed knew it was out of time. Desperate, it began rapidly chanting in a harsh, guttural alien dialect.
A blinding flash of light erupted in the center of the yard. When it faded, Magister Gilhil stood before them, his Plumber uniform crisp and his expression stern.
"What is the meaning of this?" Gilhil demanded, scanning the ruined yard before locking eyes with the bound alien.
"They attacked me unprovoked!" The Highbreed instantly pointed a trembling finger directly at Klein. "Arrest him!"
Gilhil followed the finger, his eyes landing on Klein. The Magister's rigid posture faltered for a fraction of a second. He cleared his throat, looking away. "The one you are pointing at... is not under my jurisdiction."
Gilhil then turned his strict gaze toward Ben and Kevin, who had just rushed out of the garage, Ben having timed out of his transformation. "You two, however. I warned you that if you interfered with official Plumber duties again, I would personally throw you into the Null Void."
"Not just them! Those two as well!" The Highbreed thrashed wildly, desperate to correct the Plumber's gross oversight. "They attacked me! And they claim to be Plumbers!"
Gilhil rubbed his temples, a headache already forming. "Are you genuinely incapable of understanding basic words, or are you just pretending to be stupid?! I cannot control that guy!"
The Highbreed froze. Its jaw dropped. "You can't control him?! How can you not control him?! I already offended him! I filed a formal complaint! I am relying on you to arrest him, and you're telling me you can't control him?!"
The alien's grand plan had completely derailed. It was so furious it wanted to scream. If the space cops couldn't arrest this maniac, wasn't it going to be slaughtered right here in the dirt?!
Tears of sheer frustration pricked the corners of the Highbreed's eyes. It looked up, only to see Klein staring down at it. Klein's lips were curled into a dark, predatory smirk—the kind of smile a slasher villain gave right before the screen cut to black.
I'm finished! The Highbreed wailed internally. The glorious Highbreed empire is going to lose a warrior to a psychopath! This was not part of the deal! It began mentally cursing the mysterious benefactor who had roped it into this suicidal trap.
But just as all hope seemed lost, a figure descended from the night sky, landing silently on the grass.
"Hohoho..."
A wave of suffocating, pitch-black energy swept outward in a massive shockwave, engulfing the entire yard. Gwen reacted instantly, throwing her hands up and projecting a glowing fuchsia mana dome to shield herself.
The Highbreed, caught completely off guard, was swallowed by the dark mist. It felt its life force being violently ripped away. "Wait! Aren't we on the same side?!" it gasped, collapsing weakly to its knees. "Why?! You promised that if I helped you..."
Ben gritted his teeth, fighting the heavy, draining pressure in the air. "Who exactly are you?!"
Magister Gilhil dropped to one knee, his Plumber armor doing nothing to stop the energy drain. "He... he is the one who tipped me off about you impersonating Plumbers. But I don't understand..."
"With your room-temperature IQ, I'm amazed you can even comprehend that one plus one equals two," Klein retorted dryly, not even bothering to look at the struggling Magister.
Strangely, despite standing at the absolute epicenter of the dark energy vortex, Klein wasn't kneeling. He wasn't sweating. He wasn't even breathing heavily. He just stood there, completely unaffected.
"Why? Why can't I absorb anything from you?" a slightly effeminate, raspy voice echoed from the shadows. The mysterious figure stepped forward, staring at Klein in utter bewilderment. "Is your energy signature so pathetic that I can't even feel it?"
Klein merely stared back, his face a mask of absolute apathy. He clearly had zero intention of explaining his unique soul to a dead man walking.
"Heh heh. It matters little. Whether your energy is too small to notice or you have some trick, once my darkness touches you, you won't have the strength to resist for long. I will drain every last drop from all of you! This is my revenge!" The figure's voice pitched up, trembling with twisted excitement. "But I must thank you. Because of what you did to me, I have discovered true joy."
The figure turned his gaze toward Kevin. Even through the shadows, the sheer, obsessive hunger in his eyes was visible. "Kevin. You strong, sturdy man. I won't drain you all at once. Oh no. After this, I'll take you away. I'll do this and that to you... and then I'll let you do this and that to me... Ah~ I think we are going to get along beautifully."
A violent shudder ran down Kevin's spine. His stomach churned. "That disgusting voice..." Kevin gagged, his face twisting in absolute horror. "Are you Michael Morningstar?!"
"Heh heh. You recognized me, strong Kevin."
Michael reached up and unlatched his iron helmet, pulling it free. The face beneath was a nightmare. His skin was gray, desiccated, and stretched tight over his skull like a rotting zombie. His once-golden hair was reduced to a few sparse, dead strands clinging to his scalp.
"Ever since you drained my powers that day, I evolved. I tapped into an even greater, darker well of energy. I am no longer Michael. I am Darkstar!" He threw his arms wide, fully embracing his theatrical delusions. "But this power comes with a price. I am always so hungry. You must all feed me. Especially you, Kevin."
Darkstar slowly licked his dry, cracked lips.
Kevin's blood ran cold. Pure panic seized him, and he began thrashing wildly against the oppressive gravity of the dark energy, desperate to put distance between himself and the creep.
Beside him, Ben stood perfectly still, his hands resting on his knees, looking completely at peace with the universe. "Don't fight it, Kevin."
Kevin whipped his head around, his eyes bulging out of his skull. "Ben Tennyson! Are you seriously telling me to willingly let him do that to me?!"
"What are you complaining about?" Ben shot back, a highly mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Look over there. Cousin Klein is perfectly fine. He's got this handled. But honestly, what Darkstar offered didn't sound too bad. Why don't you just close your eyes and go along with it?"
Ben was having the time of his life. Was it finally his turn to sit back and watch someone else suffer a traumatizing, humiliating joke? He still vividly remembered the '9527' incident.
Hearing Ben's absolute lack of concern, everyone turned their attention back to Klein.
Klein was casually strolling through the suffocating dark energy, his hands tucked into his pockets, walking directly toward Darkstar.
"How is this possible?!" Darkstar took a step back, his theatrical confidence shattering. "I really can't absorb a single drop of your energy! How are you doing this?! You must be cheating!"
Realizing his drain was useless, Darkstar raised his hands, preparing to switch from absorption to a lethal kinetic blast.
He never got the chance.
Klein pulled his hand from his pocket and casually slapped the faceplate of the Another Omnitrix.
"Humungousaur!"
A blinding, shimmering blue light erupted, washing away the shadows. When the light faded, Humungousaur stood in Klein's place. But he didn't stop there. The Vaxasaurian's muscles bulged, his armor plating shifting and expanding as he instantly triggered his size-alteration ability.
Ten meters. Fifteen meters.
Humungousaur grew until he towered over twenty meters tall, a literal prehistoric kaiju blotting out the moonlight. His massive, shadow-casting figure completely engulfed Darkstar in darkness.
Darkstar froze. He slowly tilted his head back, his neck craning as he stared up at the mountain of muscle and scales looming over him. He swallowed hard. After a long, agonizing silence, he forced a twitchy, awkward smile.
"Would you believe me if I said this was all just a joke?"
Humungousaur's fist, which was currently larger than a commercial dump truck, answered the question for him.
The punch broke the sound barrier. It slammed down with the force of a meteor strike, cratering the earth and driving Darkstar so deep into the bedrock that he couldn't even be seen from the surface.
A shimmering blue light flashed once more, and the giant dinosaur vanished, leaving Klein standing calmly at the edge of the massive crater.
Under the quiet night sky, the dust finally settled outside Kevin's ruined garage.
Magister Gilhil stood near the crater, holding a pair of heavy-duty, Level 6 Plumber tech energy cuffs. Inside them was a heavily bruised, groaning Darkstar, who had been unceremoniously dug out of the dirt.
As for the Highbreed, the arrogant alien's survival instincts were truly top-tier. The moment Klein had turned into a twenty-meter dinosaur to paste Darkstar, the Highbreed had quietly slipped away into the night, vanishing without a trace.
Gilhil glanced down at the battered, gloomy-faced Darkstar. "I will be transporting him directly to the Null Void."
Kevin stood nearby, shifting his weight awkwardly. He looked at the Magister, opening his mouth to speak, but hesitating.
Gilhil sighed, adjusting his uniform. "... given the circumstances, perhaps I no longer need to assign a supervising Plumber to this sector."
Kevin's head snapped up, his eyes widening in pure excitement. "Are you saying—?!"
A rare, faint smile crossed Gilhil's strict face. He reached into his coat, pulled out a gleaming Plumber badge, and tossed it to Kevin. "This is your badge."
He then pulled out a second one, handing it respectfully to Gwen. "And this is yours."
Ben immediately stepped forward, holding his hand out expectantly. Gilhil merely glanced at his wrist. "You already possess the Omnitrix. That is more than enough."
As for Klein, Gilhil didn't even bother offering. It was universally understood at this point that whether Klein considered himself a Plumber or not was entirely up to him, and no galactic law was going to stop him either way.
"From this moment on, you are recognized law enforcement officers," Gilhil stated formally.
With those final words, the Magister tapped his own badge, and he and Darkstar vanished in a flash of teleportation light.
Kevin stood frozen in the ruined yard, staring down at the silver Plumber badge resting in his palm. His thumb brushed over the red hourglass symbol.
"Where are you going, Kevin?" Ben asked, noticing his friend turning toward the street.
Kevin didn't even look back, a massive, genuine grin splitting his face. "To show off to my mom!"
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