West Alley.
A group of thugs lingered at the entrance of the spacious alley, some squatting with lit cigarettes while others leaned against the graffiti-covered walls. Their faces were masks of barely contained fear and anxiety.
"How the hell has that serial killer not been caught yet?" one gangster growled, throwing his cigarette to the ground and crushing it beneath his boot. He ground it back and forth with agitated movements, his expression twisted with irritation. "What a bunch of incompetent wastes! What are our tax dollars even paying for?!"
"H-he won't find us... right?" another thug stammered nervously, his voice cracking with terror. "I mean, the dead guys were just like us, small-time punks, but still..."
The moment those words left his mouth, the atmosphere seemed to freeze.
Every gangster's hands trembled. They all turned to glare daggers at the speaker. "Don't talk like that!" one snapped. "This has nothing to do with us!"
"Y-yeah, exactly! We just roughed up some random kid once or twice!" another added desperately. "How could that connect us to some dangerous serial killer?"
But despite their protests, they couldn't stop thinking about him.
Kevin.
That seemingly polite kid who'd hidden such madness and darkness beneath his surface demeanor. That monster with abilities they'd pushed too far.
The silence that followed was thick with restlessness, unease, and bone-deep fear. None of them wanted to voice what they were all thinking, as if speaking it aloud would somehow make the nightmare real.
On the road near the alley entrance, the Rust Bucket slowly rolled to a stop.
"Ugh..." Asher unfastened his seatbelt and leaned weakly against the vehicle's interior, his face slightly pale. "Thank goodness I didn't eat much this morning, otherwise I would've lost it for sure."
"You'll get used to it eventually, Asher," Max said from the driver's seat. His attempt at comfort somehow made things worse.
After resting for a moment to let his stomach settle, Asher climbed out of the RV first. He moved cautiously to the corner of a nearby building and peered carefully toward West Alley.
The group of gangsters remained there, talking among themselves. Everything seemed calm, nothing out of the ordinary yet.
"Looks like the serial killer hasn't shown up," Ben whispered, keeping his voice low as he joined Asher at the corner.
"Doesn't matter," Asher replied quietly, glancing down at his Omnitrix. "We stay here, and he'll show up eventually."
The device's faceplate still glowed red, charging, but not yet fully ready. It wouldn't be much longer now.
WHOOOOSH!!
A sudden roar split the air above them!
Asher, Ben, Max, and all the gangsters, without exception, looked up toward the sky in unison!
Flying overhead was a figure that resembled some kind of mechanical falcon. Like Iron Man, his body was covered in integrated armor plating, though his face remained exposed and clearly visible beneath the morning sun!
Kevin!!
Asher's eyes widened suddenly, his fists clenching at his sides. Confusion flickered through his mind. 'Why? I already absorbed his electrical abilities with Buzzshock. How does it feel like he's become even stronger?'
There was something disturbingly familiar about that armor covering Kevin's body...
Kevin flew directly over Asher and the others' position, soaring straight toward the group of gangsters. He descended rapidly, his integrated thrusters adjusting for a precise landing!
THOOM!
He touched down in a dramatic superhero pose, bent low with arms outstretched and fists planted against the pavement.
But those eyes burning in his exposed face were filled with nothing but ferocity and murderous intent!!
"K-Kevin...?" one of the gangsters stammered.
The thugs stared at Kevin's armored form as if witnessing a god descending from the heavens. They were completely dumbfounded, unable to process what they were seeing. Not one of them could reconcile this mechanical monster with the thin, gloomy Kevin they remembered!
"Long time no see, friends," Kevin said slowly, his lips curling into a smile that displayed far too many teeth. "Did you miss me? I certainly missed all of you. This is the last face you'll ever see in your pathetic lives, so please, take a good look. Memorize it. You can call my name when you're screaming in hell."
The words dripped with madness and cruelty!
It wasn't just the gang of thugs whose legs went weak.
Ben's scalp prickled with instinctive dread. "He... he really is the serial murderer. We're not dealing with the same person at all anymore. This is terrifying."
"Asher!!" Max turned urgently toward his grandson, his hands clasped tight with tension. "The transformation time, how close are we?!"
"Not yet!" Asher looked down at the Omnitrix on his wrist. Still glowing red. Still charging.
A wave of anxiety surged through him. He wanted nothing more than to rush out there immediately and stop Kevin before more blood was shed!
"K-Kevin, listen," one of the gangsters dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he begged for mercy. "What we did before, that was wrong, okay? We're sorry! We were total jerks to you! If you're still mad, you can beat us up! Break our arms, our legs, whatever! Just please... Please don't kill us! We have parents at home depending on us!!"
But Kevin's expression twisted into something truly disturbing. "Parents? Parents?!" His voice dropped to a venomous hiss. "I never had that luxury, and I never wanted it. Don't try to disgust me with your pathetic family sentiments!"
CRACK!!
His armored fist flew out faster than the eye could follow, slamming into the kneeling gangster's body. The man seemed to be made of paper, he flew backward through the air and crashed heavily into the alley wall before crumpling to the ground, unconscious!
"You know what?" Kevin mused aloud, flexing his mechanical fingers with obvious satisfaction. "I've been thinking about this. Just killing you all quickly would be too easy, too boring. I'd only get a brief moment of satisfaction at the beginning. So instead..."
The blood-red glow in Kevin's face intensified, and his pupils gleamed with the cruel, calculating madness of a predatory snake.
"I'm going to torture you slowly. Make it last."
WHAM! CRASH! THUD!!
A series of dull impacts rang out in rapid succession!
Kevin moved with terrifying speed, systematically beating every single gangster in mere moments! His enhanced strength and integrated weapon systems made the fight completely one-sided.
He clapped his palms together casually, satisfaction written across his features. Then he bent down, grabbed the unconscious thugs by their clothes, and began dragging them deeper into the alley,
Asher, still hiding at the corner, poked his head out slightly to observe the scene. His jaw was clenched tight with the desperate desire to intervene.
BEEP.
"Detected Omnitrix shapeshifter."
At that moment, a sensor chip embedded in Kevin's wrist registered the presence of the Omnitrix nearby. It sent a specialized biological signal directly to his enhanced nervous system.
His head twisted around mechanically.
Time seemed to freeze.
The air crystallized.
Asher and Kevin locked eyes across the distance.
Kevin's gaze was filled with darkness and viciousness, the empty stare of someone who'd completely abandoned his humanity!
But Asher's eyes blazed with unwavering determination, carrying the weight of everything he believed in. Everything he fought to protect!
When their gazes collided, neither one took a step back. The silent confrontation felt evenly matched, two opposing forces meeting at equal strength!
And Asher wasn't even transformed yet. He was just a twelve-year-old boy standing his ground!
"Well, well, well... look who it is," Kevin said, his voice dripping with suppressed fury. He released the gangsters' clothing, letting their bodies slump to the ground. His armored feet stepped forward with an overwhelming aura of murderous intent! "My old friend Asher Tennyson."
That presence, that killing intent, surpassed anything Asher had encountered from previous enemies!
DING.
At that exact moment, the Omnitrix on Asher's wrist chimed softly.
Fully charged.
But just as Asher moved his arm slightly, preparing to press the Omnitrix's activation screen,
WHIRRRR.
Kevin's palm cannon snapped up, pointing directly at Asher's forehead with deadly precision. A cruel sneer spread across Kevin's face. "Don't move. If you even twitch, you're dead. I can see your shoulder muscles tensing from here!"
'Damn it!' Asher cursed internally, his expression darkening.
"Did you really think I was stupid?" Kevin continued advancing, his movements deliberate and controlled. "That I'd just stand here and watch you pull off some fancy trick? Not happening, Asher. Not this time."
Asher, with no opportunity to transform, was seconds away from death!
"I'll help you."
Gwen's soft, warm hand suddenly rested on Asher's wrist. Her voice was steady despite the danger. "Together."
Asher snapped back to awareness, and the sense of immediate crisis faded slightly from his face.
He wasn't alone in this fight.
He had teammates, his family!!