Outside the convention hall, the atmosphere was bizarrely festive despite the lingering dust. A crowd of fans had cornered Ben, snapping selfies with the towering, jagged form of Crystal-Fist.
"Thanks for the pic, Crystal-Fist! You're the best!" a teenager shouted, high-fiving Ben's diamond-hard palm.
"Anytime, citizen!" Ben replied, leaning into the hero persona.
"Ahem."
Tyler, still in the form of The Gourmand-Fiend, waddled out of the exhibition ruins and stood behind Ben. The reaction was instantaneous.
"AHH! A MONSTER!"
"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"
The crowd scattered in a blind panic, leaving Ben standing there with his hand still raised for a high-five.
"Man," Ben sighed, looking at Tyler. "If I knew they were that shallow, I wouldn't have wasted the storage on their phones. Anyway, where did you and Gwen disappear to?"
"I'll make it quick," Tyler said, his three tongues flickering as he summarized the encounter with Hex and Charmcaster.
"What? Gwen actually messed up?" Ben's face lit up with a mischievous, mocking grin. He turned to find his cousin, but she was already gone.
Inside the Rust Bucket, Gwen was a whirlwind of focus. She was surrounded by the stone pebbles she'd recovered, her nose buried deep in the Archane Grimoire. The studious, "straight-A" Gwen was back, fueled by a desperate need to redeem her earlier failure.
Tyler hopped onto the RV's step, nudging Ben's knee. "Drop the mocking, Ben. We have a bigger problem. We need to figure out what Hex is planning for tonight."
"I think I've got it!" Gwen shouted from the back, her eyes wide with realization.
The towering spire was surrounded by thousands of tourists. Even under the sweltering desert sun, the crowd was impenetrable, all waiting for the main event: a total solar eclipse.
"I found a passage in the Grimoire," Gwen explained as the Rust Bucket idled nearby. "The artifact they stole contains the Keystone of Bezel. During a total solar eclipse, at the highest point possible... a sorcerer can use the Keystone to summon Bezel the Arch-Demon."
Tyler stared up at the tower. "And that tower is the closest point to the sky in this city. They'll be at the top when the sun goes dark."
Ben rubbed his chin. "Arch-Demon Bezel? Is he a heavy hitter?"
Gwen's expression darkened. She glanced at Tyler, her voice trembling slightly. "It's hard to say. The legends say he's a world-breaker."
Tyler felt a familiar, dark itch in his mind. If I let the ritual happen... if Bezel appears and I kill him... the Template Progress would skyrocket. He suppressed the thought instantly, but the temptation of the Carnitrix was a constant, low-frequency hum in his soul.
Evening fell. The moon began its slow crawl across the sun, devouring the light until the desert was plunged into a premature, eerie twilight. The tower officially opened, and hundreds of people flooded into the elevators, eager for the view from the top.
Tyler and Ben stepped out of the RV, both gripping the high-tech hoverboards Tyler had "requisitioned" from the street-gang weeks ago.
"Let's go, Tyler," Ben said, his voice dropping into a serious register. "Let's stop Hex before he rings the dinner bell for a demon."
Just as they prepared to launch, a sickening SNAP echoed from the tower. The elevator cables groaned and severed. Dozens of people began screaming as the lift cars entered a terminal freefall.
"NO!" Ben didn't hesitate. He slammed his hand onto the Omnitrix.
FLASH!
Techno-Parasite (Upgrade) surged forward, his liquid-metal body stretching toward the elevator shafts. "Sorry, watch, I know I hit you hard! Thanks for not giving me a pacifist this time!"
Tyler watched Ben dive into the tower to save the civilians. He turned his hoverboard toward the exterior, ready to fly—but a second board pulled up beside him.
Gwen stood there, her knuckles white as she gripped the edges of the board. Her legs were shaking, and she refused to look down at the hundreds of feet of empty air, but her eyes were burning with mana. "Ben's saving the people. I'm not letting you face those two alone, Tyler."
"Then let's move!" Tyler nodded, and the two rocketed up the side of the spire.
The observation deck was ghost-quiet. The tourists had either fled or been trapped below.
"It's empty," Gwen whispered, her staff held ready.
CLICK.
The Carnitrix dial on Tyler's wrist popped up, glowing a violent, bloody red. Tyler rotated the error-screen. "They're here. I can smell the rot."
WHOOSH!!
As Tyler slammed the dial, a storm of red light erupted. In the corner of the deck, the shadows bled black mist as Hex and Charmcaster materialized.
"Curse him! He can see through the veil!" Hex roared, gripping his staves.
"Uncle! I need more power!" Charmcaster cried, clutching the Keystone.
"Later! Kill the girl first!"
In the center of the bloody light, a massive shadow expanded. The Shred-Shell (Terraspin Variant) emerged. Unlike the peaceful sea-turtle version, this was a nightmare—a gargantuan, black-shelled Alligator Snapping Turtle. Spikes jutted from its head, and its beak was lined with teeth that could shear through tank armor.
Hex paused. He looked at the massive turtle and burst into a mocking laugh. "A turtle? You turned into a turtle to fight a god? You're going to fall and shatter like a dinner plate!"
"It's... it's not scary," Charmcaster whispered, trying to convince herself as her knees knocked together.
"Hehe..."
Tyler didn't waste words. He retracted his limbs into his spiked shell and began to spin. Within seconds, he was a high-speed, razor-edged boomerang of death, screaming across the deck directly at Hex's throat!
New Transformation Log
The Shred-Shell (Terraspin Variant)
Traits: An apex predator Snapping Turtle with a reinforced, spiked obsidian shell. Its internal fans are replaced with high-pressure bio-turbines.Ability: Bone-Crushing Vacuum. By spinning at high speeds, it creates a centrifugal force that doesn't just push air—it creates a vacuum that pulls enemies into its jagged, spinning shell.
Techno-Parasite (Upgrade Variant)
Traits: A violet-and-black liquid-metal entity that can merge with and "corrupt" any technology.Ability: Terminal Overclock. When merged with a machine, it can force the hardware past its physical limits, manifesting weapons or speed that the original design shouldn't support.