"Mouth-to-mouth? With this dweeb? Cian, you're colder than I thought."
Ben looked down at Gwen with a mix of disgust and disbelief. Cian smirked, his finger hovering over the Error Watch. "I wasn't just going to do it as a human. I was thinking of transforming first. One of these aliens has gotta have massive lung capacity; it'd jumpstart her heart in no time."
"Ugh, I'm fine!"
Gwen's eyes snapped open. She scrambled backward, putting distance between herself and Cian. "You're back to normal? Good. Please stay away from me with that... thing on your wrist."
"I knew you were faking," Cian said, rolling his eyes.
He knew her game. Gwen wasn't hurt; she was just terrified of the Error Watch's transformations. The moment she'd glimpsed that corrupted Ectonurite, her brain had opted for a "system shutdown" to avoid the trauma.
"It's still an error," Gwen muttered, her cheeks flushing as she realized she'd been caught. "And it's still terrifying."
"Hmph." Surprisingly, Ben didn't tease her. He looked at the jagged device on Cian's arm and shuddered. "For once, I'm with the dweeb."
"Enough," Max interrupted, his voice heavy with gravity. "Cian, Ben—don't get overconfident. Those mechanical freaks are hunting these watches. This is just the beginning."
Cian clenched his fist, feeling the hum of power beneath his skin. "Don't worry, Grandpa. Ben and I know what we have to do."
"If those scrap-heaps show up again, I'm grinding them into dust!" Ben vowed. "I mean, how scary can a robot be compared to what Cian turns into?"
Max offered a silent, weary look before turning to the campfire. "Right. Well, you'll need your strength. I've prepared a nutritional feast!"
He presented a bowl filled with wriggling, translucent grey worms.
"Is that dinner?" Ben and Gwen immediately huddled behind Cian, faces pale.
"Relax. Watch a pro at work."
Cian calmly grabbed a roasting pan from the Rustbucket. He spread the worms out over the flames, searing them until the moisture evaporated and the "meat" turned golden brown. He drizzled a savory sauce over the tray, and suddenly, the air was filled with a rich, smoky aroma.
"Wait... that actually smells incredible!" Ben's nose twitched.
Gwen swallowed hard. "Cian, I didn't know you could make larvae smell like a five-star steakhouse."
"Anything is edible if you grill it right," Cian said simply, digging in.
It was a small but significant change to the timeline—one that kept their morale high and their stomachs full.
The Burning Camp
Later that night, the peace was shattered. Gwen pointed toward the horizon where thick, black smoke choked the moonlight.
"Smoke?"
"Something's wrong. Everyone, in the van! Seatbelts on!" Max shouted.
"Yeah! Hero time!"
The Rustbucket roared to life, tearing through the forest paths. But when they arrived at the large public campsite, the "heroic" excitement died instantly.
Two massive robots, each over thirty feet tall, were wading through a sea of fire. They were clad in scorched orange armor, their mechanical claws equipped with high-output laser cannons. They weren't just searching; they were annihilating. Cars were being tossed like toys, and the screams of survivors were being cut short by localized explosions.
In this timeline, the destruction was doubled. Two robots meant zero survivors would have made it to the radio to call for help.
"They'll do anything to get these watches," Max hissed, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.
"Ben, let's go."
Cian tapped Ben's shoulder. The younger boy was shaking—partly from anger, partly from the sheer scale of the carnage. They stepped out of the van into the biting cold wind.
"Cian... how do we handle two of them?"
"We don't just handle them," Cian said, his voice dropping an octave as he raised the Error Watch. A Petrosapien silhouette flickered on the red screen. "We crush them."
"Right... HERO TIME!"
They slammed their watches simultaneously.
FLASH.
A collision of emerald and blood-red light illuminated the clearing before spiraling into two distinct forms.
Ben stood as a classic Petrosapien: powerful, crystalline, and wearing the iconic black-and-white uniform. He looked like a guardian. He was Diamondhead.
Cian, however, was a mutation of the species. He was broader, his "skin" a deep, midnight-obsidian. His entire body was covered in jagged, crystalline spikes like a prehistoric predator. His face was a mask of shadow, dominated by deep-set red sockets where golden pupils burned like dying stars.
[Physique Upgrade: Detected. Error-Petrosapien strength: +40% over baseline.]
Cian felt the surge. He wasn't just a Diamondhead; he was a walking fortress of sharpened glass.
"Cian, I'm Diamondhead! You... you're a Glitch Diamondhead!" Ben shouted, naming the horror beside him.
The duo turned toward the fires.
The giant robots froze. Their head-sensors pulsed with a frantic rhythm.
[MULTIPLE OMNITRIX SIGNALS DETECTED. PRIORITY TARGET: BLACK CRYSTALLINE ANOMALY. THREAT LEVEL: CATASTROPHIC.]
The survivors huddled in the shadows, watching the two crystalline giants approach. But as Cian's "Glitch Diamondhead" drew closer, the hope in their eyes turned back to terror.
"Oh god... a Demon King has come to finish us off..." one man whimpered, paralyzed by the sheer predatory aura radiating from Cian. They didn't see a hero; they saw a monster that made the robots look like toys.
Cian didn't care. He raised a spiked, obsidian arm, and the air began to hum with lethal intent.