The midday sun was unusually harsh, making the desert beside the highway extremely stuffy, and the ground surface had become like a steamer.
An old RV stopped on the open highway.
"Oh wow, Grandpa."
Gwen sat under the RV's sunshade awning, drinking an iced beverage to cool down. "Those two are way too hardworking."
"Haha, we got lucky too. After leaving Aunt Vera's place and driving into the no-man's-land, we ran into an abandoned training base not long after. Just enough for the two of them to train in."
Max stood under the sunshade awning, wiping sweat with a cold damp towel, watching the desert with a face full of anticipation.
Out in the desert, there was actually an abandoned training base, and a large amount of equipment was still well preserved despite years of wind and sun exposure!
Diamond Darkfreak and a diamond-armored warrior's figures moved back and forth through the base, one in front of the other, continuously training!
The two pushed themselves to the limit, bravely completing every challenge!
Ben stood with one hand on his hip and one hand raised above his head to block the sun. "Done! Ethan, training alongside you is pretty demoralizing! I fall short in every single thing!"
At the same shooting distance, he was not as accurate as Ethan.
Hitting the punching bag, climbing the rope, Ethan's physical condition was stronger!
The most infuriating part was close combat...
Ethan fought in a way that Ben could not even touch him!!
"Ben." Ethan comforted Ben. "Comparing yourself to others never ends. We should compare ourselves to who we were before."
"That's true... compared to ten minutes ago, I've improved a lot!"
Ben stretched lazily, then mischievously raised his hand and aimed it at Gwen's drink. "And it's gotten easier to mess with Bookworm."
"Let it go, Ben. Gwen gave up her air conditioning and came out here specifically to keep us company."
Ethan, in a rare move, stopped Ben's prank and said it seriously.
"Oh? I hadn't noticed that at all. Fine, I'll listen to you this once."
Ben also realized this, and only then did he leave Gwen alone.
A few seconds later, with a flash of light, he returned to his normal form.
"Let's head back."
Ethan smiled and lightly patted Ben's shoulder. Ben's body gave a shiver, then he sprinted at full speed toward the old beat-up car.
After transforming, Ben was no longer afraid of the Error aliens.
But before transforming, Ben was still pretty scared of them.
The kind that gave you nightmares if you looked too long.
A moment later, everyone got back into the old beat-up car, and it continued moving forward.
Ethan sat in the lower bunk like a passenger.
...
At the training ground, a massive golden mechanical alien dropped from the sky, kicking up a large cloud of sand and dust.
It waved its crab claws to disperse the sand dust, holding a detector in hand.
"Kraab, what's the rush!"
The heavily armored alien flew over on a hoverboard, staring at the crystalline residue on the training ground. "Can two transformers just disappear?"
"There's only one Omnitrix signal left! Diamondhead, if you want to wait for the combat robots, then wait. I'm going hunting first."
Kraab spoke with a bloodthirsty tone. The four crab legs beneath him suddenly began spinning at high speed!
His entire body lifted off the ground and he flew along the highway at extreme speed, launching the pursuit first.
After Diamondhead waited for a moment, the samurai armor alien led a large number of small robots and flew onto the training ground!
"Sixsix."
Diamondhead looked at Sixsix and said calmly. "With your level of power, do you still need to bring these robots?"
"%$!"
Sixsix let out a burst of strange cries, with a hint of alertness in his tone.
"The other transformer has a longer transformation duration and stronger control over the Omnitrix. Worth being cautious about."
Diamondhead listened to Sixsix's words, and a barely noticeable flicker of anticipation crossed his eyes.
He and Sixsix, along with the small robots, also began their pursuit.
...
The old beat-up car was still moving forward.
Ethan was completely bored, fiddling with the alien images on the Error Watch. "Way too boring. Let me switch to a more interesting alien."
"Ethan, let me give you some suggestions!"
Ben immediately broke into a smile and turned to look at Ethan.
The next moment, his smile froze. He nervously raised his hand. "Ethan, behind us!!"
"Hm?"
Ethan's hand stopped. He turned and looked back.
Through the slightly grimy rear window of the car, he could vaguely make out...
A terrifying crab mechanical alien, flying toward them from a distance like a helicopter!!
Its silhouette was gradually growing larger. It was slowly catching up to the old beat-up car!
This was...
A bounty hunter had arrived!!
Ethan was startled, and immediately thought, 'In the original story, the bounty hunters didn't arrive this fast. It must be because my transformation duration is longer, which let the bounty hunters lock onto the target earlier!'
Right now, he didn't have much transformation time left!
Thinking this, he shouted out loud. "Grandpa, floor it!"
Max glanced at the rear view mirror, spotted Kraab, and immediately shouted. "Seatbelts!"
Click!
Gwen and Ben both buckled their seatbelts at the same time.
Max immediately slammed his foot on the accelerator. The car speed shot up sharply, and the surrounding scenery even began to blur...
Ethan, the only one without a seatbelt fastened, happened to slam into the cabinet at the front of the bunk.
The alien image on his chest happened to smash right into it.
A terrifying blood-red light flickered inside the old beat-up car!
"Don't think about running, mice."
Kraab saw this, his eyes flashing with cold killing intent, and he began picking up speed.
As the terrifying blood-red light slowly spread outward.
A tall alien covered in circuit board patterns squeezed into the entire lower bunk.
Looking at the body alone, this was Upgrade.
Looking at the face, that eerie single eye, a mouth full of brilliantly white fangs... a completely villain-like appearance.
Kids, are my teeth white?
"Upgrade."
Ben looked at Ethan with a frightened expression and said.
"This is what I turned into?"
Ethan looked at his own body, then looked back at Kraab growing closer behind the car.
His eyes hardened, and he made up his mind. "Grandpa, I'll drive!"
"What?"
Max was startled. "Now is not a good time to be learning to drive! Ethan!"
Bang!
Ethan's body spread apart like loose mud and covered the entire old beat-up car.
The interior of the old beat-up car instantly transformed into a cool deep black, filled with all kinds of circuit board patterns.
And the exterior of the old beat-up car was also covered in this cool layer of skin.
"Turned black? Whatever you turn into, you're still going to die."
Kraab sped up and charged forward, swinging his massive claws.
Whoosh!
Ethan controlled the old beat-up car and stopped as well!
He sharply turned the car around, aimed the front of the car at Kraab, and the front rapidly transformed into a massive armored ram.
Boom!
The armored old beat-up car accelerated madly and charged head-on into the oncoming Kraab.
"Can't stop anymore... doesn't matter, I'll blow the whole car apart!"
Kraab was fearless, not caring at all that he might end up in another world because of this.
One alien and one car rapidly closed the distance.
With a thunderous crash, one alien and one car both stopped at the same moment.
The armored front of the old beat-up car rapidly transformed, and the entire car was forcibly brought to a halt!
Kraab was also stopped by the impact. His massive claws trembled slightly, but they held.
His tone was smug as he stared at the armored car front. "That's all? You think you can knock me flying with that?"
Click!
The transformed armored car front extended a segment of armor and placed it on top of Kraab's head.
"How dare you humiliate me!"
Kraab flew into a rage.
But that armor produced a mouth. The mouth opened, and terrifying fangs snapped down hard on top of Kraab's head!!
Crack!
The top of Kraab's skull flew half off. Chaotic electrical arcs burst from his entire body, and he fled in a battered and sorry state toward the distance. "Damn it! Why does this alien also have a mouth... fine, it has a mouth, but it also has teeth?!"
Whose Upgrade comes with built-in fangs??
"Heh heh."
That mouth revealed a grin, the fangs as white as if polished with the best toothpaste. "For an Error Watch alien, the teeth are the main feature!"
Ethan won a small victory!
[Ding, Host's extended transformation duration caused Kraab to attack early, but Host bravely repelled Kraab. Progress +1!]