Chapter 173: Have You Heard of My Grandson's Name?
"Who said we're swimming in from here? You guys are swimming in. Don't worry, I checked with the Omnitrix. This water won't mutate your genes or anything. At most, it's just a little filthy."
Klein stood at the edge of the wastewater pool, staring down at the opaque, sludge-green liquid. The pungent stench of rotting algae and chemical runoff hit his nose, prompting him to take two immediate steps back in sheer disgust.
"Then what about you, Cousin?" Ben asked, voicing the exact question lingering in everyone's mind.
"Me? I'll just turn into Ghostfreak and fly over." Klein offered a triumphant, thoroughly punchable smirk. "Don't even think about suggesting Big Chill. Even when intangible, Big Chill leaves a visible outline of frost, and anything he passes through freezes solid. Not exactly great for a stealth infiltration."
My foolish little cousin, Klein thought, his amusement entirely internal. I, your elder brother, absolutely refuse to suffer this indignity with you.
Hearing Klein's flawless logic, Ben suddenly missed his own Ghostfreak transformation. That water looked genuinely vile. The smell alone was enough to make his eyes water.
Klein suddenly snapped his fingers, as if recalling a minor detail. "Oh, right, Dork. You should probably just go home and sleep for the next few days."
"You are absolutely infuriating!" Gwen snapped. She raised a hand, fully intending to smack that smug look off Klein's face, but ultimately couldn't bring herself to strike him. Frustrated, she spun around and delivered a sharp slap to the backs of Ben and Kevin's heads instead.
"Hey!" Ben yelped.
"What was that for?!" Kevin grumbled, rubbing his neck.
Slapped for absolutely no reason, the two boys could only grimace, pinch their noses, and plunge into the murky green depths.
Gwen's face darkened with a storm of annoyance. Grumbling under her breath about unfair family dynamics, she waded into the sludge right behind them.
Only after watching all three of them submerge into the foul water did Klein finally tap the dial of his Another Omnitrix.
A brilliant flash of quietblue light illuminated the dim tunnel, and Ghostfreak materialized in his place.
Letting out a hollow, echoing chuckle, Ghostfreak faded into invisibility and drifted effortlessly toward the hatchery.
Deep within the bowels of the facility, two hulking DNAliens shoved Grandpa Max forward. The walls around them pulsed with organic, fleshy veins, resembling the grotesque interior of a massive insect nest.
The heavy metal doors hissed open, revealing a towering Highbreed standing with his back turned.
"Max Tennyson. You claim to be retired, yet you remain so persistently meddlesome."
The Highbreed turned slowly, glaring down at Max with undisguised contempt. Though the alien's rigid facial features made it difficult to read precise emotions, the sheer hostility radiating from his posture was unmistakable.
"Consider it a retirement hobby," Max replied smoothly, his tone as casual as if discussing a weekend fishing trip. "You know how it is. At my age, a man needs to stay active to keep the joints from rusting."
"You have caused us endless complications, you filthy mongrel! You have delayed our grand design!" The Highbreed's voice boomed, his anger flaring at the old man's brazen disrespect.
Max ignored the outburst, his sharp eyes scanning the room. He noted the rows of metallic containment crates stacked against the walls. The faint, sickening squelch of movement echoed from within them. "Clearly, you're manufacturing those parasites here. Xenocytes. Turning innocent humans into your ugly little foot soldiers."
"The Xenocytes, yes. One can hardly blame them for their grotesque appearance when their human hosts are of such inferior genetic stock," the Highbreed sneered, reaching into a nearby crate and lifting a writhing, spider-like Xenocyte into the light.
"Do you honestly believe you can conquer Earth with these parlor tricks?" Max stood tall, a knowing glint in his eye. "Tell me, have you ever heard of my grandson's name?"
Ah, so this is what it feels like to throw someone else's weight around, Max thought, a hidden smirk tugging at his lips. It felt fantastic. Having an overwhelmingly powerful grandson certainly had its perks. A grandfather could walk into an alien warlord's lair and speak with absolute arrogance!
For a brief, fleeting moment, Max decided that Klein wandering the universe looking for things to punch wasn't such a bad hobby after all.
"Klein Tennyson?" The Highbreed scoffed, though a slight twitch in his posture betrayed his bravado. "Yes, he is a nuisance. But what can he possibly do once we convert every last Earthling into a DNAlien? Kill us all?"
The Highbreed forced a confident sneer. By the time that boy realized what was happening, the human race would be extinct. At worst, they would let Klein smash a few thousand DNAliens to vent his childish rage, while the noble Highbreed simply laid low and waited out the storm.
Max tilted his head, his voice dropping to a conversational, almost pitying tone. "Aren't you afraid he'll just take the fight to your homeworld? I hear quite a few planets with civilizations far more advanced than yours have surrendered to him out of sheer terror."
The Highbreed's internal monologue screeched to a halt.
Damn it! I was planning to retreat to the homeworld if things went south, but I completely forgot the homeworld isn't safe from that monster either!
"That is none of your concern!" the Highbreed snapped, waving a massive hand dismissively. He barked an order at the DNAlien guards. "Take this decrepit creature away!"
This old geezer was entirely too aggravating to look at. Why did he have to bring that up?
The Highbreed watched them drag Max away, a heavy sense of dread settling in his chest. Before that terrifying boy arrives, I need to request a transfer. This sector is entirely too hazardous. At worst, I'll accept a demotion and go guard the newly constructed weather tower in the middle of nowhere. Surely, I won't get murdered out there, right?
A truce was out of the question. They had crossed the point of no return. As for Klein... damn it all, they had just kidnapped his grandfather! What else could they do now?! They could only pray to whatever cosmic forces existed that the boy didn't come knocking on this exact door.
Slumping down onto a nearby webbed organic structure, the Highbreed let out a long, ragged sigh, suddenly feeling as though he had aged a thousand years.
"Jie jie jie!"
Back at the edge of the wastewater pool, a chilling, hollow laugh echoed through the damp cavern.
"Ah!!! A ghost!!!"
Watching his fellow guards drop to the floor one by one in absolute silence, the last remaining DNAlien panicked, spinning around in a desperate bid to flee.
Suddenly, a pair of pale, spectral hands materialized out of thin air, wrapping firmly around the creature's thick neck. An overwhelming, icy suffocation gripped the DNAlien, and its eyes rolled back as it slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Ghostfreak fully materialized, hovering over the pile of bodies. "They really are too slow."
Upon entering the facility, Klein had immediately realized the entire perimeter was crawling with DNAliens. Even if Ben and the others managed to swim in quietly, there was zero chance of them sneaking past this many guards. It was far more efficient to just slaughter their way through the front door.
So, Ghostfreak had simply taken the initiative.
With a loud splash, Ben, Kevin, and Gwen finally broke the surface of the sludge pool. Gasping for clean air, they wiped the foul-smelling grime from their eyes, only to see Ghostfreak casually waving at them from the dry walkway.
Ben spat out a mouthful of gross water, his face twisting in revulsion. "This entire place is a Xenocyte hatching ground! Ugh, Omnitrix, even if you gave me Ripjaws right now, it would be an improvement!"
"Get out of the water quickly," Ghostfreak warned, his single purple eye narrowing. "Company is coming."
Dragging themselves onto the metal grating, the trio finally noticed the dozens of unconscious DNAliens scattered around Ghostfreak's floating form. They exchanged deadpan looks, suddenly realizing their disgusting swim had been entirely unnecessary.
Before they could complain, the heavy steel doors at the far end of the corridor hissed open, and a fresh swarm of DNAliens poured into the room, weapons raised.
"What did I just say?" Ghostfreak sighed, his voice dripping with dry amusement. "Move!"
Reaching up, Ghostfreak grabbed the seam of his own chest and ripped the protective skin wide open. A terrifying mass of black and white tentacles erupted from the void within, shooting forward like a barrage of whips. The appendages wrapped tightly around a dozen DNAliens, lifting them high into the air before slamming them brutally against the reinforced concrete floor.
Ben didn't hesitate. He slammed his hand down on the Omnitrix dial. "Big Chill!"
A brilliant flash of emerald light illuminated the cavern, and the moth-like alien took flight. Big Chill's body phased into a translucent, icy blue. He swooped straight through the charging ranks of DNAliens. The moment his spectral form passed through their bodies, the creatures froze solid, turning into grotesque ice sculptures that shattered upon hitting the ground.
Kevin slapped his hands against the concrete edge of the pool. The rough, gray texture rapidly crawled up his arms, encasing his entire body in solid stone. With a heavy grunt, he vaulted onto the walkway and charged headlong into the fray, his stone fists cracking against alien armor with bone-shattering force.
Gwen levitated into the air, her eyes glowing with vibrant pink light. She thrust her hands forward, unleashing a rapid-fire barrage of pure mana blasts. The bright pink energy bolts tore through the dim room, striking down one DNAlien after another with explosive precision.
Amidst the chaos, Gwen's glowing eyes locked onto a peculiar DNAlien cowering near a stack of crates. Unlike the fully mutated monsters, this one still retained half of its human face.
Curiosity overriding her combat instincts, Gwen floated closer to inspect the poor victim. As the shadows shifted, revealing the boy's features, her breath hitched. Her eyes widened in absolute horror.
It was Ken!
"How... how could this happen?! They turned you..."
Gwen's voice cracked, a wave of sickening grief washing over her. Panic setting in, she instinctively called out for the one person who could fix anything. "Cousin!"
"What is it?"
Ghostfreak's upside-down head suddenly phased through the wall right beside Gwen's shoulder.
Under any normal circumstance, the sudden appearance of a terrifying phantom would have scared anyone half to death. But right now, his dry, echoing voice made Gwen feel an overwhelming sense of relief.
"Cousin, it's Ken! He..." Gwen pointed a trembling finger at the half-mutated boy, whom she had carefully restrained with a glowing mana construct.
Ghostfreak floated closer, inspecting the squirming creature. Oh. Ken had been slapped with a Xenocyte.
However...
"Relax, Dork. He hasn't fully mutated yet. It's fine."
A flash of quietblue light washed over the phantom, and Klein stood in his place, his expression calm and unbothered.
Klein stepped forward and placed his left hand directly onto the writhing Xenocyte attached to Ken's head. "Omnitrix. Initiate genetic repair."
[Gene repair sequence engaged,] the mechanical female voice of the system chimed from his wrist.
A brilliant, soothing wave of quietblue energy bloomed from the watch face, washing over Ken's convulsing body. The grotesque alien flesh rapidly receded, melting away like snow under a blazing sun. When the light finally faded, Ken was completely restored to his human form, and the shriveled, lifeless Xenocyte dropped harmlessly into Klein's waiting hand.
"Ugh... what happened to me?" Ken groaned, collapsing to his knees and clutching his pounding head.
Klein tossed the dead parasite aside, a faint smile touching his lips. He crouched down and offered Ken a hand, pulling the dazed boy to his feet. "Nothing to worry about. Just consider it a really bad nap."
Ken blinked, his vision clearing. Then, the memories hit him like a freight train. "Oh no! Grandpa! They took Grandpa Max!"
Panic seized Ken's features, his voice rising in hysteria. "I brought him right to them! I... I couldn't stop myself! It was like being trapped in the passenger seat of my own body while someone else drove! It was a nightmare!"
"Grandpa is here? In their hands?"
The casual amusement vanished from Klein's face instantly. His eyes darkened, a chilling, absolute coldness settling over his features.
"I was just the bait," Ken gasped, shivering violently as the residual trauma wracked his body. "They knew he would come looking for me. They want to execute him so he can't interfere with their invasion."
At that moment, Ben and Kevin jogged over, having finished mopping up the last of the frozen and battered DNAliens. They had caught the tail end of the conversation, having already noticed Klein curing Ken's mutation.
"You know exactly what we have to do now, right?" Klein said quietly, releasing Ken's arm and letting the boy stand on his own two feet.
"We're going to tear this place apart and save Grandpa," Ben finished, his jaw set in fierce determination.
"I'm coming with you," Ken stated, looking at Klein with a fiery, unyielding resolve.
Deep within the central hatchery, inside the massive, pulsating bug nest.
Grandpa Max sat on the fleshy floor, his wrists bound tightly with thick, organic resin.
Suddenly, the heavy blast doors at the far end of the chamber were violently blown off their hinges, crashing to the floor in a cloud of smoke and twisted metal. Klein, Ben, Gwen, Kevin, and Ken strode through the wreckage.
"Grandpa!"
Ben sprinted forward, his hands glowing as he quickly shattered the resin bindings. He pulled the old man into a tight embrace. "I missed you so much!"
"I'm happy to see you too, Ben!" Max laughed warmly, patting his grandson heavily on the back.
Klein and the others watched the heartwarming reunion, the tension in their shoulders finally easing.
Ken, however, hung his head in shame. He approached Max slowly, his voice thick with guilt. "Grandpa... I don't know what I did. I couldn't stop it, I..."
Max reached out and pulled Ken into the hug as well. "It's alright, son. It wasn't your fault."
Klein casually strolled over, his hands tucked into his pockets. "Grandpa, do you remember that little promise you made me?"
"Ah." Max looked up, a knowing twinkle returning to his eyes. He immediately understood what Klein was asking. It was exactly what the old man wanted, too.
"If I make an absolute mess of this place, you aren't going to ground me, right?" Klein drawled, a dangerous smirk playing on his lips.
Max threw his head back and laughed, pushing himself to his feet. "Alright, you little rascal! Let these ugly bastards see exactly what you can do!"
Klein's eyes gleamed. "Gwen! Shield everyone!"
Without hesitation, Klein slammed his hand down on the core of the Another Omnitrix.
"Atomix!"
A blinding pillar of quietblue light erupted through the cavern. When it cleared, a towering, mechanical titan stood in Klein's place.
Standing nearly five meters tall, Atomix possessed a gleaming white armored chassis accented with sleek black plating. His arms, shoulders, chest, and head resembled transparent containment cylinders, filled to the brim with volatile, bubbling green nuclear energy. The sheer ambient heat radiating from his body warped the air around him.
Reacting instantly to Klein's command, Gwen thrust her hands outward. A massive, shimmering pink sphere of solid mana expanded around her, Ben, Kevin, Ken, and Max, sealing them safely inside.
Atomix casually drew back his massive, metallic leg and delivered a devastating kick to the mana sphere. The indestructible bubble launched backward like a cannonball, smashing straight through the reinforced walls of the hatchery, tearing through layers of earth and steel, and flying miles away into the safety of the horizon.
Meanwhile, on the far side of the facility...
The Highbreed commander was humming a surprisingly upbeat tune as he hastily packed his personal belongings into a metallic crate. A priority notice had just come down from High Command: his transfer request was approved! He was officially reassigned to guard the newly built weather tower in the middle of nowhere! He would never have to worry about being brutally murdered by Klein Tennyson ever again!
Just as he hoisted his luggage onto his shoulder, preparing to issue his final order for the DNAliens to evacuate the remaining Xenocyte eggs, a booming, synthesized voice echoed through the entire underground complex.
"ATOMIC BLAST!"
A fraction of a second later, a blinding, apocalyptic flash of light erased the shadows.
A colossal, glowing green mushroom cloud violently erupted from the earth, tearing the ground apart and piercing the heavens. The shockwave pulverized the facility, reducing everything within a ten-mile radius to absolute, smoldering ash.
And the most terrifying part?
This was merely the fraction of power Atomix had unleashed while actively holding back, purely out of fear of vaporizing the distant residential suburbs.
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