Chapter 31: Decimator's Debut
After the chaos subsided, Klein and the others regrouped on the street, the lingering scent of ozone still hanging in the air.
"It was all Kevin!" Ben blurted out, his voice a torrent of frantic explanation. He recounted everything that had just transpired, desperate to clear his name and prove the recent alien-related crimes weren't his doing.
"Alright, Ben, we know," Klein said, his tone calm and steadying. He casually took hold of Ben's left wrist, turning the dial of the Omnitrix a few times with practiced ease. "This one's for you. Consider it an apology for Gwen and Grandpa jumping to conclusions, and a little something for helping them out."
Ben's tirade cut off abruptly. He stared at his cousin, then lifted his arm, his eyes glued to the Omnitrix's glowing faceplate as he cycled through the holographic icons. "Diamondhead… Heatblast… Upgrade… and this guy is!"
A new silhouette appeared, one he'd never seen before. A wide, incredulous grin split his face.
"Awesome! Cousin, thanks!" Ben cheered, launching himself at Klein for a bone-crushing bear hug.
Klein sidestepped with a look of mild distaste, leaving Ben to stumble. Ben, however, was too elated to care.
"Aaaah!"
A familiar, high-pitched scream sliced through the air. The group spun around just in time to see a city bus careening down the road at an impossible speed. What truly caught their attention was its color—a sickly, pulsating black and green, the unmistakable texture of Upgrade's living metal stretched taut over its frame.
The bus roared past them, the displaced air whipping at their clothes.
"It's Kevin!" Ben was the first to recognize the parasitic alien's signature.
Grandpa Max's voice was a sharp command. "Quick, we have to save those people!"
Without another word, Ben and Klein darted into a nearby alley. A moment later, a hulking, orange-furred creature burst from the shadows—Wildmutt. He let out a guttural roar and sprinted after the runaway bus, his claws scrabbling for purchase on the asphalt.
What none of them noticed was a figure perched on a nearby rooftop, binoculars trained on the scene below. "Captain, I have eyes on the targets. An unidentified extraterrestrial just emerged from an alley moments after the two boys entered."
A clipped voice crackled over his earpiece. "Understood. Maintain your position. I'm on my way."
"Where's Klein?" Gwen asked, her head whipping around in confusion.
"Gwen! Grandpa! Get in!"
A sleek, dark blue sports car screeched to a halt beside them. Gwen and Max stared, momentarily stunned. The hood ornament wasn't a leaping jaguar or a silver star; it was the unmistakable hourglass symbol of the Another Omnitrix.
They didn't hesitate. Wrenching the doors open, they scrambled inside, Max taking the driver's seat and Gwen the passenger's.
Settling behind the wheel, Grandpa Max let out a low whistle. "Automatic driving, huh? You know, my Rustbucket has that feature too."
"Cousin, what's the name of this alien?" Gwen asked, her eyes wide with a mixture of fear and fascination.
"Decimator," a synthesized voice replied from the car's speakers, the emblem on the steering wheel flashing in time with the words. "You can think of him as… a Transformer."
"Grandpa! Gwen! Buckle up!"
The engine roared to life with the sound of a jet turbine, and Decimator shot forward, pressing them deep into their seats.
Further down the road, Wildmutt had managed to leap onto the roof of the corrupted bus. He clung on tightly as Kevin's consciousness, in the form of Upgrade's single green eye, emerged from the metal. The eye swiveled to look at him, and after a garbled, electronic taunt, countless black-and-green spikes erupted from the roof. Wildmutt yelped, his instincts forcing him to let go.
He hit the pavement with a heavy thud, tumbling end over end before crashing through a fruit stand, the cascade of apples and oranges finally bringing his momentum to a halt. As expected of any good car chase.
Wildmutt shook his head, clearing the daze. His enhanced senses told him the bus was already pulling away, disappearing into the city traffic.
Whoosh!
A dark blue blur streaked past him. "Ben! Get back to the Rustbucket and wait for us!"
Wildmutt could only stare, dumbfounded, as the sports car vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Hmm?"
Upgrade's head once again pushed through the bus's roof, his single, round eye swiveling to focus on the rapidly approaching vehicle in the rearview mirror.
"No tailgating! Looks like someone doesn't respect the rules of the road!"
A volley of green energy beams shot from Upgrade's eye, lashing out at Decimator. The sports car weaved left and right, dodging each blast with impossible agility. Frustrated, Kevin changed his target, firing at the buildings lining the street.
BOOM!
A massive chunk of concrete and rebar crashed down onto the road, creating an impassable barricade.
"Hmm… I was under the impression that alleys were also considered roads, were they not?" Decimator's mechanical voice mused calmly.
Grandpa Max and Gwen exchanged a shocked glance, their eyes fixed on the flashing Omnitrix symbol on the steering wheel.
"Klein, you're not going to…" Gwen's voice trembled.
"Grandpa! Gwen! Hold on tight!"
The dark blue sports car accelerated violently. Just as it seemed destined to smash into the pile of rubble, it executed a perfect, tire-squealing drift, whipping its rear end around and rocketing into the adjacent alley.
Seeing no pursuit, the top half of Upgrade's eye drooped downwards, forming the electronic equivalent of a smug grin.
"Fools."
His victory was short-lived. A moment later, the dark blue sports car burst from another alley just ahead, broadsiding the corrupted bus.
BANG!
The two vehicles collided with a deafening shriek of tortured metal. The bus swayed violently, its speed dropping significantly. Now driving side-by-side, they repeatedly slammed into one another.
Grandpa Max rolled down his window, aimed a Plumber-issue energy pistol, and fired several precise shots at the bus's tires. They burst in showers of rubber, but just as quickly, Upgrade's living metal flowed over the damage, repairing them instantly.
"Damn it!" Max cursed.
The mass of Upgrade writhed, and with a sickening squelch, long, sharp spikes erupted from the center of the bus's wheels. Seeing the new threat, Decimator could no longer risk a direct collision.
Sensing his advantage, Kevin pushed the bus's engine to its limit. Once at top speed, the black-and-green slime pulled away from the vehicle, coalescing into Upgrade's humanoid form on the roof.
"Bye-bye, fools!" he cackled, leaping from the bus and disappearing into the urban maze. He'd sabotaged the brakes, confident they would be too busy saving the passengers to chase him.
The out-of-control bus was now careening straight towards the waterfront.
The Another Omnitrix emblem on the steering wheel flashed urgently. "Grandpa! Gwen! You two go after him! I'll save the people on the bus!"
Decimator slammed on its brakes. As soon as the car was slow enough, Max and Gwen bailed out, hitting the ground running in the direction Kevin had fled.
The moment they were clear, Decimator accelerated again. The sports car closed the distance to the runaway bus in seconds, easily overtaking it. Spotting a slight incline in the road ahead, Decimator floored it, using the uneven ground as a ramp to launch itself into the air.
Mid-flight, a stunning transformation began. Panels shifted, the chassis unfolded, and the sleek sports car morphed into a towering robot, well over five meters tall.
THUD!
Decimator landed on two massive feet, facing the oncoming bus. The robot braced itself, lowering its center of gravity and raising its hands.
The impact was cataclysmic.
The bus's immense inertia drove Decimator backward, the robot's feet gouging deep trenches in the asphalt. A piercing shriek of metal on pavement filled the air as sparks flew like fireworks, the friction leaving long, black scorch marks on the road.
After one final, violent shudder, both the bus and the giant robot ground to a halt, mere feet from the edge of the pier.
A moment of stunned silence, and then the bus erupted with cheers.
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]