"I trust your calculation, Carnitrix!"
Tyler suppressed his hesitation and slammed the dial. As the red light erupted, the Great Fungivore's withered tree-whips lashed out, trying to crush the transformation before it could stabilize.
BOOM!
A terrifying pulse of bio-electricity swept outward like an invisible blade, severing every vine and branch in a fifty-meter radius. Out of the smoke stepped The Static-Drake. He stood tall, his corded muscles humming with high-voltage potential, and a series of conductive plugs protruding from his back and fingers.
"Cool! It's the Static-Drake!" Ben cheered from the sidelines, pumping his fist like a fan at a concert. "Among all of Tyler's forms, you're the most metal!"
"He looks too small," one of the alien heralds whispered, judging Tyler by his size. "How can a mere spark fight the Great One?"
The Fungivore didn't care for words. It buried its tentacles deeper into the earth, raising massive boulders and hurling them at Tyler. Tyler moved with preternatural agility, his eyes locked on the glowing purple veins in the ground.
There. The energy transfer lines.
Tyler lunged forward, his feet cracking the parched soil. He didn't punch the monster; he plunged his clawed fingers directly into one of the main pulsating tentacles rooted in the earth.
"ROAR!!!"
The Fungivore let out a sky-shaking shriek of agony. A "Hell of Thorns"—thousands of sharpened, dead branches—burst from the ground to impale Tyler.
"TYLER!" Max and Ben screamed, moving to rush in.
BOOM!!!
Tyler's entire form became a sun of white-hot electricity. The surge didn't just repel the thorns; it vaporized them. Tyler stood his ground, his fingers still buried in the tentacle. He wasn't just shocking the beast—he was reversing the flow.
He was drinking the energy the Fungivore had stolen from the Earth.
The Static-Drake began to glow with a blinding intensity, his power levels spiking beyond the "Super Saiyan" threshold. The Fungivore tilted back, letting out a pitiful wail. It had spent centuries absorbing planets; today, it had met a master who could eat it.
"Land to land... ash to ash," Tyler rasped. He spread his palms apart, a sphere of compressed lightning forming in the gap. "Calamity Cannon!!"
RUMBLE!
The shockwave was a world-ending beam of pure electrical destruction. It washed over the Great Fungivore, reducing its massive, fleshy bulk to grey ash in a heartbeat. The beam continued for miles, carving a trench through the mountains behind the nest.
The three alien heralds stared in dead silence. Then, they fell to their knees. "He... he isn't a messenger. He is the Prime Predator. He is our God!"
As the electricity dissipated, Tyler collapsed to his knees, his arms trembling from the massive energy discharge.
[Ding! Host defeated the Alien Heralds and executed the Great Fungivore. Cultural Conversion: The Heralds now worship the Host. Progress +1%]
[Template Mastery: 31/100. DNA UNLOCKED: THE BOG-STALKER (Swampfire)!]
Tyler's eyes widened. "Swampfire? Already?"
He didn't have time to celebrate before the three aliens rushed him, hoisting him onto their shoulders. "The Prime Predator cannot touch the dirt!" they chanted. "Lead us! We shall conquer the Galaxy! Even Vilgax is a worm compared to You!"
Tyler's mouth twitched. "Vilgax? That old loser is so last week."
He eventually convinced the trio to leave, but not before "confiscating" two of their circular flying disks. He handed one to Ben and one to Gwen. "I don't need these. Consider them early birthday presents."
As they sat in the ruins of the battlefield, Max began poking around the grey ash with a shovel. "You know," Max said, "this 'Great One' might be an ecological disaster, but as a carbon source? Probably very nutritious. Let's see if there are any edible spores left!"
To the bug-aliens of the galaxy, Max Tennyson was truly a Hannibal-level nightmare.
Later that evening, Tyler held up the cooled Carnitrix, his hands shaking with excitement.
CLICK.
[System Notification: Rotate the dial Left-then-Right to toggle the 'Calibrated Library'.]
"Brilliant," Tyler whispered. This meant he could choose between the original "Predator" playlist and the new "Calibrated" playlist whenever he wanted. He performed the sequence, and the green-tinted holographic silhouette of a plant-like warrior appeared.
The first of the new generation had arrived. The Bog-Stalker.
New Transformation Log
The Bog-Stalker (Swampfire Variant)
Traits: A hulking entity made of rotting, black peat and swamp vines. Its "petals" are jagged, serrated leaves that leak a highly flammable methane gas.Ability:Ignition Pulse. Can ignite the methane in its palms to fire high-intensity green flames.Passive:Abyssal Regeneration. Can regrow its entire body from a single vine in seconds. Unlike the original, this version's vines are prehensile and covered in paralyzing neurotoxins.
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