+1 extra chapter because you surpassed the goal
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"Gwen, you're coming with us since you can fight. Lala, you stay here."
"Understood," both replied in unison.
"Last time, we didn't know Alien X could travel through time, which is why we didn't go all out from the start. This time, we won't make that mistake. Also," he looked at Gwen and Charmcaster seriously, "I'll take the front. You two will support if necessary. Follow me."
Both nodded, and soon Charmcaster conjured a massive stone gate that opened wide. Without hesitation, Kaito crossed the threshold.
This time, they found themselves in the middle of a city. However, there were no signs of life. The streets were covered in rubble and dust, the buildings collapsed, and the vehicles reduced to scrap metal. It was a scene similar to the first city Kaito had encountered upon arriving in this world, though these ruins looked more recent.
He climbed to the top of a building in the center of the city and expanded his senses to detect activity.
It didn't take long before he heard explosions and the sounds of battle nearby, so he headed there immediately.
Upon arriving, he saw a group of people armed with special equipment fighting against a large red four-armed creature.
Four Arms was holding four men, one in each arm, and smashed them together with brutal strength. Their heads exploded on the first hit, but the alien didn't release them. Instead, he used their bodies as weapons, throwing them against the others. With his power, a single swing was enough to wipe out an entire squad, especially at such a short distance.
At that moment, a black-haired boy appeared and struck him with a flaming arm. Four Arms had to use two of his own to block the impact, and before he could counterattack, the boy took the opportunity to reach for and touch the Omnitrix on his body.
A sharp pain shot through the alien's body, making him tremble instantly. Recognizing the danger, Four Arms punched the boy with all his strength to push him away. However, the boy, who now also had four muscular arms, grabbed his and began to beat him mercilessly.
In response, Four Arms changed form, transforming into an alien completely made of tadenite, the one Ben originally called "Diamondhead."
Kaito watched the scene and understood why the Plumbers hadn't been able to stop him. The Carnitrix already had access to the master control function, which allowed him to switch between aliens freely without having to revert to human form. Still, the time limit remained, so it wasn't a perfect master control.
Diamondhead turned his arms into something like crystal machine guns and began firing wildly, wiping out several soldiers in seconds.
The boy with four arms, enraged, charged at him again for close combat. But despite both being aliens, the difference was clear. Without Ben in control, the enemy's fighting style was colder, more tactical, and more efficient. Kaito noticed that the boy in front of him was trying to protect someone, but Diamondhead noticed too.
Diamondhead raised huge crystal pillars that burst from the ground, surrounding the man Kevin was protecting, and crushed him without mercy. The person inside was surely dead, and Kevin knew it.
"Max!" he roared in fury. "He was the only one who didn't treat me like an experiment! I'll kill you!"
Consumed by rage, his attacks became more violent with each strike.
Meanwhile, Kaito had rescued the man trapped inside the tadenite material. When he saw who it was, he was shocked.
"Grandpa Max?" he said without thinking.
"You know me, kid?" Max asked, puzzled by the young man's words. However, as a veteran Plumber, he was used to strange things. His hand morphed into a cannon, and he returned to the fight, knowing that was what mattered most right now.
At the same time, Kaito analyzed the situation. According to the data Charmcaster had given him, Ben would revert to his human form in less than ten seconds. That was the best moment to remove the watch. By his calculations, there were still over thirty seconds before Alien X appeared.
While he thought, a familiar sound echoed in his ears.
The distinctive noise of the Omnitrix deactivating when it ran out of power. The sound Ben hated so much, but which now made Kaito smile.
In that brief moment, Max didn't make it back to Ben, so Kevin still thought he was dead. He turned his arm into a sharp crystal blade and lunged to stab the boy's human body.
But Kaito wasn't going to allow it.
Maybe it was a miscalculation, or maybe Alien X sensed the danger, because he appeared earlier than expected. Kaito felt that same oppressive presence when Alien X began to materialize behind him.
Even so, he didn't stop. He knew this was his only chance. He ran with everything he had. He was less than a meter away from reaching Ben, just as he was beginning to transform into Alien X and his arm turned black.
At that speed, Kaito saw his own body start to disintegrate from behind, but he kept going. He used every ounce of strength he had left, pure physical power.
Since Ben was already transforming, there was no need to hold back. With all the energy left in his arm, while his leg, left arm, and half of his torso vanished, he grabbed Ben's arm and tore it off completely.
In those milliseconds that no one could perceive, Kaito surpassed his own speed limits for the first time, reaching a level beyond his current state.
His body, which had been fading, reappeared. Kaito returned to normal.
The people around watched in astonishment at the strange sight. No one dared to shoot. Instead, they all looked at the boy in front of them, the one missing an arm, tears streaming down his face.
Despite the pain, Ben didn't scream. He had remained conscious through all his transformations, feeling every atrocity his own hands had committed. Now he cried, not only from relief but also from guilt.
"First aid! Hurry, before he loses more blood!" a voice shouted.
"Grandpa…" Ben looked tearfully at the man before him, the one he thought was dead.
Max hugged him tightly.
"Grandpa, I… I…"
"It's alright," he said in a calm voice. "It wasn't your fault, it was that thing."
He held him for a few seconds until Ben passed out, and the medics took him away.
Max watched as the stranger who had saved them picked up Ben's arm. Before the Carnitrix could react, Kaito sealed it inside a sphere of shadows.
The soldiers immediately tensed and aimed their weapons, but Max raised his hand.
"Lower your weapons."
He approached Kaito and asked, more out of curiosity than suspicion, "What are you going to do with that?"
"I'll take it far away," Kaito replied without elaborating.
Max chuckled.
"Ha ha ha. The farther, the better."
Kaito smiled and prepared to leave.
"Ah, finished already?" asked a familiar voice. "We didn't even get to do anything."
"Something like last time?" Kaito replied, recognizing Charmcaster's voice.
Curiously, he wasn't the only one who recognized it.
"You're the girl who hacked us last time and stole our data," said Max, looking at Charmcaster, but he didn't pursue the topic because someone else spoke.
"Where's Ben?" asked Gwen, looking around.
When she saw Max, her eyes filled with tears. She ran to him and hugged him tightly.
"Grandpa! I thought you were…"
Max was surprised by the teenage girl hugging him until he recognized her.
"Gwen? What happened to you?"
"Ah, it's a long story. What about Ben?" she asked worriedly.
"He'll be fine, let him rest. He needs it."
"That idiot, always making everyone worry," Gwen said, wiping her tears.
"I suppose we have a lot to talk about. Come on, young lady," Max said with a smile, and Gwen obediently followed him.
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In Legerdomain.
"Ugh, finally over," Charmcaster sighed.
"So then…" she said, walking up to Kaito with a playful smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck, "how about we celebrate in a fun way?"
Kaito let her do as she pleased while pulling out an object from his inventory, sealed inside a sphere of shadows that prevented any interaction with the outside.
"The Carnitrix," he said seriously. "An extremely dangerous device, level twenty technology created by the greatest villain in the galaxy. It forces the user to transform into failed versions of various aliens, creatures driven only by the desire to kill. During the transformation, the alien takes complete control of the body, but the user's consciousness remains awake, watching every massacre without being able to stop it."
Kaito looked at the artifact with disdain.
"It's not only torture for those it kills, but also for its own bearer. It's a horrible device. No one should ever use something like this."
Then he looked at Lala in front of him and asked, "So… how long will it take you to make it usable?"
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)