THUD.
As the two crystalline giants stepped into the inferno, the heat shimmered off their faceted skins. Ben looked at the massive, orange-armored robot on the left, then back at Cian.
"Cian, the one on the left is mine. You take the right!"
"No arguments here."
The obsidian spikes on Cian's shoulders tilted forward, twitching with kinetic energy.
BOOM!
They lunged. Cian moved with such explosive force that he left a faint afterimage in the smoke. The giant robot hummed, its logic processors struggling to track the black blur. It raised its massive mechanical claw and saturated the area in front of it with a high-intensity laser wave.
The explosion was deafening. A wall of fire and black smoke swallowed Cian instantly.
"Cian!!" Ben yelled, momentarily distracted. He had to throw himself into a roll to avoid a counter-blast from his own opponent. Please be okay, man!
The giant robot stepped forward, heavy hydraulic thumps shaking the earth. It reached into the settling soot, its sensors indicating a stationary target. It found a crystalline form lying motionless and gripped it, lifting the "corpse" toward its optical lens for confirmation.
"Heh..."
Cian's golden pupils suddenly flared within their blood-red sockets. A jagged, predatory grin split his obsidian face.
[PROXIMITY ALERT: CRITICAL ENERGY LEVELS DETECTED—]
The robot's processors screamed, but it was too late.
SHINK!!
Thousands of jagged obsidian spikes erupted from every inch of Cian's body simultaneously. They functioned like armor-piercing harpoons, punching through the robot's reinforced alloy hands, skewering its head-unit, and shredding its central power core in the torso.
With a single, devastating reactive burst, the ten-story machine was neutralized.
Cian dropped to the ground as the machine's grip failed. He retracted the spikes, his dark body unscratched. He didn't rush; he walked toward the twitching wreck with the casual air of someone strolling through a park. His hands shifted, molding into massive, jagged diamond-cleavers.
The robot, its internal systems hemorrhaging oil and sparks, could only watch as the "Glitch Diamondhead" systematically hacked it into scrap metal.
"That thing... it was slaughtering us," a survivor whispered, clutching a child. "And he just... dismantled it like a toy."
"He's a hero. A scary one, but a hero."
The onlookers, who had been paralyzed by fear of Cian's face, now watched with a budding sense of awe.
"Cian! I mean, Crystal-Guy!" Max shouted from the perimeter. "You could have deflected that laser instead of taking it head-on!"
"I know!" Cian shouted back over the roar of the fire. "But there are too many people hidden in the brush. If I reflected that energy, I'd be firing blindly into the crowd!"
The realization hit Max and Gwen like a physical blow. Cian hadn't been "hit"—he had chosen to be a shield.
"He's always like this," Max murmured, a proud smile touching his lips. "Gentle on the inside, even if he looks like a nightmare."
The survivors who had insulted him earlier bowed their heads in shame. They had judged the savior by the shadow he cast.
Meanwhile, Ben was locked in a fierce, technical duel with the second robot. He was holding his own, but it was a slow grind.
"Since you're taking all day, Ben..."
Cian's voice rasped through the air. He retracted his spikes and stood in a wide stance. "Get clear!"
"Huh?" Ben looked back and saw Cian's chest plates shifting. He didn't ask questions—he hit the dirt.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!
Cian didn't just throw shards; he unleashed a continuous, Gatling-gun barrage of obsidian needles from his chest and shoulders. The projectiles hissed through the air, puncturing the second robot's armor until it looked like a pincushion. The machine groaned, its leg joints failing as it sagged toward the earth.
"Hey! Don't steal my kill!" Ben scrambled up, desperate to land the final blow.
Cian was faster. He charged, his hand condensing into a massive crystal hammer. With one overhead swing, he brought the weight of his "Peak Human" boosted strength down on the robot's head.
CRUNCH.
The head-unit flattened into a pancake of sparking wires. Silence fell over the camp, broken only by the crackle of the dying fires.
"Wooo! Glitch Diamondhead is the man!"
"Both Diamond Brothers are awesome! One's the muscle, the other's the looks!"
The crowd cheered. Ben, despite being "robbed" of the final hit, basked in the applause, his chest puffing out.
[Ding! Host has neutralized two Giant Robots and secured 100% civilian survival. Progress +1!]
[Template Progress: 4/100. DNA UNLOCKED: Snare-oh (The Mummy), Blitzwolfer (The Werewolf), Frankenstrike (The Lightning Giant).]
Cian's heart skipped a beat. The Dark Four... I have the full Anur System set already? This was becoming much more than just a "Ben 10" story. This was becoming a monster squad.
Back at the Rustbucket, the lights were out. Cian and Gwen were squeezed into the upper bunks. Below, Ben quietly sat up, his eyes gleaming with mischief.
"Those two bullies from earlier today... it's payback time," Ben whispered.
"Ben," Cian whispered back, leaning his head over the edge of the bunk. "Need a hand?"
"Nah, Cian. If they see your face, they'll actually die of fright. I'm just gonna use Ghostfreak to give 'em a little nightmare."
Cian watched him sneak out, then settled back against his pillow. He thought about the road ahead. Vilgax would be sending hunters soon—Tetrax, SixSix, Kraab. But as long as he kept feeding the Error Watch, he'd be ready.
Someday, he might even see the "Legendary" Error forms—the ones that shouldn't exist.
Deep Space
Vilgax watched the high-definition replay of the battle. He focused on the moment Cian fired the crystal barrage.
"This anomaly... his combat instinct is far beyond the other one. Standard drones are a waste of resources."
He turned to his mechanical adjutants. "Authorized a massive budget increase. Recruit the best bounty hunters in the galaxy. Tell them I want the shapeshifters—dead or alive. But especially the black one."
Should we skip to the arrival of the Bounty Hunters, or play out the "scaring the bullies" scene?