Wildvine's eye flashed, and it darted sideways.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, the meteor hammer smashed into the ground, sending mud flying and shaking the entire forest.
"Roar!"
Technorg yanked the meteor hammer free and charged at Wildvine again.
Seeing the murky chaos in Technorg's violet eyes, Wildvine's heart sank.
"Poisoned?"
"Doesn't matter. I'll knock you out first."
With that, Wildvine stopped hesitating and made its move.
Under the charm effect, Technorg's strength had clearly dropped.
There was no technique left in his attacks—just raw, instinctive brutality.
With a furious roar, Technorg barreled forward like a humanoid tank, crashing straight toward Wildvine.
Knowing better than to meet that force head-on, Wildvine shot out its vine-like arms and latched onto a branch, swinging through the forest like it was on a vine.
Technorg chased relentlessly, fists flying, smashing apart any trees that stood in his way.
The commotion stirred up more mutated plants along the path, and they joined the pursuit.
But Technorg couldn't tell friend from foe. Moving at high speed, he trampled a large number of mutated plants underfoot.
Wildvine swung between the trees like a green phantom, elusive and impossible to pin down.
Every so often, it glanced back and hurled a few explosive seeds at Technorg.
The blasts struck his thick hide, slowing him slightly but doing little real damage.
Seeing the limited effect, Wildvine suddenly shot upward, its body stretching like a taut rope as it wrapped tightly around a massive tree trunk.
Using the tree as a pivot, it pulled itself tight like a loaded slingshot, building momentum.
Then it released.
Wildvine launched forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Midair, its palm writhed and twisted, weaving together into a massive green hammer. With fierce momentum, it came crashing down like lightning.
Technorg had no time to react.
Clang!
The enormous hammer slammed into his head with a deafening impact.
Technorg's eyes went wide. His body stiffened, then slowly toppled to the ground.
Beep, beep!
The Omnitrix on Technorg's chest began flashing, glowing crimson as he reverted back to Ben.
Looking at the unconscious Ben, Wildvine let out a quiet sigh.
It extended a slender vine-finger into Ben's mouth, slowly growing downward until it reached his stomach.
After a brief stir inside, Wildvine pulled out chunks of purple mushroom, reeking of foul odor.
"So that's it. Poisonous mushrooms," Wildvine muttered.
It picked up the unconscious Ben and returned to the edge of the pit.
After a moment's hesitation, Wildvine decided to keep Ben with it.
Going down into the pit would likely be dangerous. But leaving Ben alone outside would be even worse—if he ran into mutated plants, he'd be done for.
Besides, Wildvine had plenty of vines. Using one to carry Ben wouldn't slow it down much.
With that decision made, Wildvine wasted no more time.
It extended a vine, grabbed Ben, and leapt straight into the dark abyss.
As it fell, it drove its claws into the cave walls, sparks flying as it scraped downward, slowing its descent.
Moments later, Wildvine landed safely.
The darkness around it was absolute. You couldn't see your own hand in front of your face, and the air was bitterly cold.
After taking just two steps forward, the lamp-flowers lining the sides suddenly lit up.
Brilliant white light gradually illuminated the tunnel ahead, glowing to life one by one, as if welcoming an honored guest before Wildvine.
"Cut the theatrics."
Wildvine snorted and carried Ben deeper inside.
Along the way, quite a few Mushroom Zombies blocked the path.
Not one of them lasted more than a second.
Purple vines silently slipped out of the shadows, creeping up behind them.
But the moment a vine brushed against Ben's shoe, it recoiled in panic, shrinking back like an earthworm doused with saltwater.
After what felt like a long walk, Wildvine reached the end of the cavern.
An old man in a floral shirt hung suspended in midair, eyes closed, his body tightly bound by vines.
"Grandpa!"
Wildvine stepped forward. With a sweep of its green claws, it tore apart the purple vines and freed Grandpa Max.
It was just about to take the two of them and leave the underground—
When a hoarse voice echoed directly in its mind.
"None of you are leaving."
The instant the words faded, hundreds of thick, immensely powerful vines burst from the ground, wrapping tightly around Wildvine.
Ben and Grandpa Max were caught as well, dragged down into the deeper darkness below.
Wildvine opened its eye, gaze sharpening.
The three of them now hung suspended from purple vines.
Below them was a massive purplish-red… demon brain.
It was enormous—at least fifty meters in radius—its entire body glowing with a sinister purple-red light.
Countless tendrils anchored it to the surrounding walls, fixing it firmly in place.
At its center split open a cavernous maw, lined with jagged fangs. Just looking at it made your skin crawl.
This thing definitely wasn't harmless.
Lucian recognized it.
In the original story, this giant demon brain was called "Mycelium," the controller of all mutated plants. Kill it, and the mutated plants would lose their ability to act.
At that moment, Mycelium spoke.
"I didn't expect a plant alien to exist on Earth."
Its mouth moved slightly, but no sound came out.
Mycelium communicated through telepathy, linking directly with plant life.
Wildvine hurled an explosive seed at the fungal mass.
Boom!
The seed detonated, blasting a hole in the surface. Thick pink fluid splattered out and rained down.
"Useless," Mycelium sneered. "Even if you destroy this body, my billions of spores will spread across the entire world. When that happens, it will be the true end of days!"
If one Mycelium died, another would rise. Endless and unbroken.
The explosions seemed to wake Grandpa Max and Ben.
"Oh man, why are we in a place like this?" Ben looked around, alarm flashing across his face.
"What is that thing?" Grandpa Max frowned, staring at the giant demon brain below.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out in rapid succession. Wildvine unleashed its full strength, pulling explosive seeds from its back and spinning them in a spiral barrage that rained down on Mycelium.
Mycelium let out a hoarse, thunderous roar.
Purple-red wounds tore open across its body, pink viscous fluid gushing out.
"Running out of bombs already? Hahaha!" Mycelium laughed instead of raging.
Thick purple vines, each as wide as a bucket, shot out from the cave walls and surged toward Wildvine with overwhelming force.
Wildvine's mouth curved slightly upward as it tapped the Omnitrix on its chest.
Thud!
A slender figure made of fire appeared before them…