Chapter 192: Young Max Tennyson, I am Vilgax
Seeing Azmuth slip away, the young female Galvan and Myaxx paused for a fraction of a second before quickly scrambling after him.
That left only young Max Tennyson standing alone in the center of the command room.
A deafening explosion from the artillery fire outside violently yanked Max's consciousness back to the grim reality of their situation. The walls shook, raining dust from the ceiling.
Max unholstered his heavy laser blaster, his grip white-knuckled. "I'm going to fight you to the death!" he roared at the empty doorway.
With a battle cry tearing from his throat, he charged out of the command room into the chaos.
Meanwhile, a world away from the immediate gunfire.
Atop a densely vegetated mountain ridge overlooking the battlefield, a swirling blue portal tore open the air. Klein stepped out, followed closely by Professor Paradox and Vilgax.
"Whoa, how did you change clothes?!"
Vilgax stared at Paradox with wide, unblinking eyes. The time-walker had somehow swapped his previous attire back into his pristine, signature suit and crisp white lab coat the moment they crossed the threshold.
"Oh, please don't mind such trivial matters." Paradox waved a hand dismissively, smoothing his lapel. "You have watched Klein pull playing cards out of a four-dimensional pocket space. Is a simple wardrobe change truly where you draw the line of disbelief?"
Vilgax blinked. 'Huh. He makes a fair point.'
Deciding it was too much effort to care about the eccentricities of a time traveler, the warlord simply grunted and let it go.
"Hey, get over here and look at this!"
Klein was already crouching behind a thick cluster of bushes near the edge of the ridge, waving them over enthusiastically.
Seeing this, Paradox and Vilgax jogged over, lowering their massive frames to squat quietly beside the young anomaly.
Through the parted foliage, the trio had a perfect bird's-eye view of the invasion raging in the ruined city below.
"Hmm... those mechanical monstrosities look rather familiar." Paradox stroked his chin thoughtfully, casting a sideways, entirely unreadable glance at the towering Chimera Sui Generis beside him.
Vilgax remained completely silent, his tentacles twitching slightly.
"Of course they're Vilgax's," Klein chimed in, recognizing the drone designs instantly. After all, he had smashed these exact models into scrap metal more times than he could count. "Except, these belong to this universe's Vilgax."
"Then let us go down there and crush... I mean, punish evil and promote good!"
Vilgax began to stand up, his massive muscles tensing. As a universal conqueror, he possessed zero soft-heartedness when it came to eliminating another version of himself, let alone a bunch of alternate-reality grunts.
"Whoa, hold your horses. Why are you in such a rush? You clearly have absolutely no experience in this field." Klein reached up and slapped Vilgax's armored shoulder, forcing the warlord back into a squat.
Paradox nodded sagely, taking over the lecture. "Quite right. A true hero requires a sufficiently spectacular and dramatic entrance! Otherwise, what is the point of being a hero at all?"
"Come closer, listen to me..." Klein gestured for the two towering figures to lean in. "We are going to do this... and then that..."
He began to outline his master plan in excruciating, theatrical detail.
Down in the city, the scene was a picture of absolute devastation.
Smoking craters and collapsed buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, the streets crawling with relentless mechanical drones.
Max Tennyson gripped a laser blaster in each hand, occasionally hurling a high-explosive grenade into the swarms. He had been fighting a brutal, running battle all the way from the eastern district to the western edge of the city. His eyes were bloodshot and bone-dry, but he didn't dare blink.
With a desperate throw, Max lobbed a high-tech grenade right into the chassis of a towering mechanical walker. The resulting blast ripped the machine to shreds, showering the street in burning shrapnel.
Max dove behind a pile of concrete rubble, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. Sweat stung his eyes.
After forcing his breathing under control, he readied his blasters and prepared to sprint out to hunt the next wave of drones.
But just then...
A massive shadow blotted out the light, landing with a heavy, earth-shaking thud directly in his path.
The figure stood over ten feet tall, boasting thick green skin, heavy red and black armor, and a terrifying, octopus-like head.
"Vilgax?!"
Max recognized the newcomer instantly. A suffocating wave of oppressive dread washed over him. He could physically feel the cold sweat soaking through his undershirt.
The only reason he noticed it so clearly was because his standard-issue Plumber uniform was highly waterproof on the outside, trapping the nervous perspiration against his skin.
"Plumber! Hand over that device!"
Alpha Vilgax extended a massive, clawed hand toward Max, his voice a deep, menacing rumble that vibrated in the young man's chest.
"Heh. You want it? Come and pry it from my cold, dead hands if you dare!"
Max had absolutely no idea what device the warlord was talking about, but he knew his job was to stall this monster at all costs.
"You have spirit. I will grant you the mercy of a quick death!"
Alpha Vilgax bent his thick legs and launched himself into the air, clearing the dozens of meters between them in a single, terrifying leap.
Max reacted on pure instinct. He threw himself backward, firing both blasters wildly as he retreated.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
The crimson laser bolts struck Alpha Vilgax squarely in the chest, but they barely left scorch marks. The warlord's natural physical durability was simply too much for standard Plumber sidearms.
Fortunately for Max, the Vilgax of this era had not yet undergone his extensive cybernetic enhancements and genetic modifications. He was nowhere near the unstoppable juggernaut that currently traveled with Klein.
So, while Alpha Vilgax was undeniably stronger than Max, the gap was not entirely impossible.
Relying on his peak agility, tactical rolls, and sheer stubbornness, Max managed to keep the warlord entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse.
Time bled away in a blur of near-misses and shattered concrete.
Eventually, Alpha Vilgax stood panting, sporting several minor burns and shallow cuts across his armored hide. Max, however, was completely spent. His arms trembled so violently he could no longer even lift his blasters.
"You fight well, Plumber. Tell me your name, and I shall honor my promise of a swift end."
Alpha Vilgax slowly straightened up, his heavy boots crunching over the debris as he advanced on his cornered prey.
"Heh... it's truly an honor to have the great Vilgax remember my name..." Max forced a bloody grin, his hand weakly fumbling for the last grenade on his belt. "My name is Max Tennyson! Remember it! Because it's the name of the man who took you straight to hell!"
He laboriously raised the explosive, fully intending to take the warlord down with him.
But right at that climax of tension...
BOOM!
A massive explosion suddenly erupted just a few yards away, instantly swallowing the ruined street in a thick, dramatic cloud of black smoke.
"Who goes there?!"
Alpha Vilgax and Max simultaneously snapped their heads toward the billowing smoke, completely thrown off guard.
"Since you asked so sincerely."
A heavy, red-armored boot stepped forward into the edge of the smoke.
"Then we will mercifully tell you."
A flash of a pristine white lab coat cut through the dark haze.
"For the justice of the multiverse."
Vilgax strode fully out of the smoke, striking a pose.
"For the peace of the racial planets."
Professor Paradox stepped out beside him, adjusting his lapels with dramatic flair.
"Heroes who uphold love and justice!"
Klein walked out from between them, his face completely sullen. His lips were pressed tightly together, trembling as he fought a losing battle against his own amusement.
"Vilgax!"
"Professor Paradox!"
"And me! Klein Azeroth!"
BANG!
Another explosion detonated directly behind the trio, sending a shower of colorful sparks into the air.
Paradox stumbled forward, coughing as he turned to glare at the giant alien beside him. "Your pyrotechnics are of exceedingly poor quality!"
"Why don't you supply the explosives next time, old man?" Vilgax retorted without missing a beat.
Klein could no longer hold it in. He doubled over, clutching his stomach. "Hahahahaha!"
He had wanted to pull off this ridiculous Team Rocket entrance for ages. He had been genuinely worried that Paradox and Vilgax would refuse to participate, but to his utter delight, the two massive chuunibyos actually thought the routine was incredibly cool.
"You three..."
Alpha Vilgax ground his teeth together, his furious gaze sweeping over Klein and Paradox before locking onto the towering figure of Vilgax. Even though this newcomer's biceps were literally larger than his own head, he recognized the facial structure instantly. It was him.
"And you! Who exactly are you?!" Alpha Vilgax roared.
"I already told you. I am Vilgax."
Vilgax stared down at his past, unmodified self with complete, unimpressed calm.
'Another Vilgax?!'Max watched the exchange in utter bewilderment.'And it seems this new one doesn't even recognize him... Are they twins?'
Given the situation, Max assumed the larger alien was Beta Vilgax, a brother to the one he had been fighting.
"You spout absolute nonsense! I am Vilgax!"
Enraged by the mockery, Alpha Vilgax let out a furious battle cry and lunged directly at the trio.
Watching his younger, weaker self charge forward in a blind rage, Vilgax actually felt a strange twinge of schadenfreude. It seemed Klein's trollish nature was highly contagious.
Without even shifting his stance, Vilgax casually threw a single, devastating punch.
CRACK.
Alpha Vilgax was swatted out of the air like a bothersome insect, crashing hard into the pavement and instantly losing consciousness.
Staring down at the crumpled, groaning form of the planetary conqueror, Paradox shook his head and sighed. "Why insist on acting so tough when you lack the strength to back it up?"
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