Chapter 28: The Supreme King Exits
"Supreme King?" Klein raised an eyebrow, his lazy gaze shifting from the trio of bizarre extraterrestrials to the colossal, pale-purple insect looming behind them. "You are talking about this overgrown tick?"
"Unenlightened, low-level Earthlings!" The three aliens whipped around, their faces contorting with a fury usually reserved for blood feuds. "How dare you show such insolence to the great and incomparable Supreme King! You court your own destruction!"
Without warning, pale-purple lasers erupted from the foreheads of the tall, blue-eyed alien and his short, six-armed companion. The lethal beams carved through the air straight toward Klein's face.
They never reached him. A shimmering, magenta-colored dome of Anodite mana flared to life, absorbing the impact with a sharp hiss.
"I won't let you lay a finger on him!" Gwen stepped forward, her eyes glowing with raw power. She thrust her hands out, manifesting tendrils of dense pink mana that coiled around the three zealots. With a sharp flick of her wrists, she hurled them backward. They crashed into the dirt in a tangled, groaning heap.
A sickening squelch echoed across the clearing. The colossal purple bug had ignored the scuffle entirely. Its grotesque, octopus-like mouthparts plunged deep into the soil, anchoring itself to the planet's crust. Almost instantly, a wave of desolation rippled outward from the creature. The vibrant green grass turned a sickly gray, towering pines withered into brittle husks, and the nearby riverbed began to crack and dry as the water simply evaporated.
"It has begun!" The tall, blue-eyed alien scrambled to his feet, ignoring the dirt clinging to his robes. He stared up at the giant tick with unhinged, fanatical devotion. "Behold! The Supreme King's ultimate purification!"
"Supreme power, my foot!" Cannonbolt roared. He curled his bulky, armored frame into a tight sphere and revved up, tearing up the dying grass as he launched himself at the giant bug like a runaway freight train.
The heavy impact echoed like a thunderclap, but the momentum completely backfired. Cannonbolt ricocheted off the creature's pale-purple carapace, spinning wildly out of control before crashing into a boulder. He had not left so much as a scratch on the beast's shell.
"What a foolish Arburian Pelarota," the tall alien sneered, dusting off his shoulders as he watched Cannonbolt uncurl. "I do not know why one of your kind is here. Have you wandered too far from your home world? No matter. The great Supreme King is beyond the reach of your pathetic attacks!"
"My home is right here, you freak," Cannonbolt shot back, completely unfazed by the zealot's mockery. He shook his heavy head to clear the dizziness. "But the ugly guy got one thing right. I can't even dent this overgrown roach. Maybe Four Arms could crack it open."
"Cease your pointless struggles!" The short, six-armed alien scurried to stand beside his tall companion, his eyes wide with the same deranged fervor. "The great Supreme King will cleanse this world! To be purified by His majesty is the highest honor this miserable rock could ever achieve!"
"A purified planet is a beautiful thing!" the tall alien preached, throwing his arms wide toward the sky. "The mountains will crumble to dust! The oceans will boil away! The very core of this world will be scorched into carbon, and finally, it will shatter into glorious cosmic debris! This is the Supreme King's ultimate blessing! Rejoice! Celebrate!"
The six-armed alien and the hulking, burly enforcer who had finally staggered upright joined in the manic chanting. "Rejoice! Celebrate!"
Klein pinched the bridge of his nose, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. The chanting was giving him a headache. "Ben, shut them up."
"You hear that?" Cannonbolt cracked his massive knuckles, a wide, toothy grin spreading across his face as he lumbered toward the trio of zealots. "My cousin just gave me the green light to kick your butts." He had zero patience left for these lunatics. They were cheering for the destruction of his planet, after all.
Dropping back into a ball, Cannonbolt revved his armored shell against the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust before rocketing straight at the cultists.
Thwack!
Instead of bowling them over, Cannonbolt was abruptly swatted out of the air. The burly alien had drawn a massive, heavy-duty energy axe, swinging it like a baseball bat and sending the rolling Arburian Pelarota flying into the brush.
"Oh, man! So annoying!" Cannonbolt groaned, uncurling in the bushes. He rubbed his thick, armored head, his eyes spinning slightly. "I take back what I said. This guy hits like a truck."
Seeing that his cousin was merely dazed and not actually hurt, Klein shifted his lazy gaze over to Gwen. He gave her a subtle nod.
Gwen caught the cue instantly. Her hands flared with brilliant pink mana once more. She did not bother with projectiles this time; she simply manifested three solid constructs of Anodite energy, wrapping them tightly around the zealots like magical straightjackets.
The aliens thrashed wildly, screaming curses. Realizing physical strength was useless, the tall and short ones fired their forehead lasers again, aiming directly at Gwen. The beams splashed harmlessly against her auto-deploying mana shield.
Before the cultists could try another trick, Gwen clenched her fists. The mana constructs yanked the three aliens inward, slamming their heads together with a sickening, hollow crackle. Their eyes rolled back into their skulls, and they crumpled to the dead grass in a synchronized heap.
"Trash taken out, Cousin," Gwen said, dusting off her hands. She looked over at Klein, a hint of pride in her posture.
"Not bad, Dork," Klein replied, his tone dry but carrying a rare note of genuine approval. "Very efficient."
"Well, that handles the cheering section," Grandpa Max said, stepping forward. He stroked his chin, his brow furrowed in deep concern as he stared up at the colossal tick. The creature was visibly swelling, its pale-purple abdomen pulsing and expanding as it gorged itself on the Earth's life force. "Now we need to figure out how to deal with the main event."
"Gwen, Klein, any ideas?" Max asked, his voice tight. He was out of his depth here. The Rustbucket's heavy artillery and his Plumber gear were miles away at Mount Rushmore. Even if they made a mad dash to retrieve the weapons, it would be too late. The planet was dying by the second. And Ben's Omnitrix was already flashing red. By the time the watch recharged, there might not be an Earth left to save.
"Hmm..." Gwen bit her lower lip, mentally scrolling through her grimoire of spells. She could project shields, fire mana bolts, and bind human-sized targets, but against a beast the size of a skyscraper? Her magic would be like throwing pebbles at a tank.
"I could try—" Cannonbolt started to suggest, but a shrill, high-pitched beeping cut him off. The Omnitrix dial on his chest flashed a rapid, angry red. A burst of crimson light washed over the clearing, and the heavy-armored alien vanished, leaving a scrawny ten-year-old boy in his place.
"Oh, come on! Annoying!" Ben kicked the dirt, glaring at the smoking watch on his wrist.
"Hahahaha! The Supreme King is absolute! He is unconquerable!" A grating, fanatical voice broke the silence.
The three cultists had somehow regained consciousness. Despite being bound and nursing massive concussions, their arrogance remained entirely intact. "How could you pathetic, low-level Earthlings possibly hope to stop the Supreme King's feast?!"
Klein cracked his knuckles, taking a slow, deliberate step toward them.
The aliens flinched, their bravado evaporating instantly. "Wait! Don't hit us again! We won't interfere!" they squeaked, choosing to back down. After all, they could not do anything to protect the Supreme King anyway; the beast was entirely self-sufficient.
Klein rolled his eyes, thoroughly exhausted by the theatrics. "Forget it. I will handle the bug."
He raised his left arm. The faceplate of the Another Omnitrix slid open with a sharp, mechanical hiss. Without a second thought, Klein slammed his palm down onto the core.
A blinding, quiet blue light erupted, swallowing the entire clearing in an oceanic glow.
"Way Big!"
The ground trembled violently as a colossal shadow fell over the dying forest. Standing at a staggering height, dwarfing even the bloated, skyscraper-sized tick, was a towering titan of red and white armor. The crest on his head scraped the low-hanging clouds.
Way Big stepped forward, the earth quaking under his immense weight. He reached down, his massive hands gripping the sides of the bloated Supreme King. The giant tick let out a deafening, defiant screech, thrashing its bulbous body.
But Way Big's strength was absolute. With a single, brutal heave, he ripped the creature upward. The grotesque, tentacle-like mouthparts anchored deep in the planet's crust snapped and tore loose one by one, spraying alien ichor across the ruined soil.
Planting his massive feet firmly into the bedrock, Way Big pivoted his torso. He spun once, twice, building up terrifying kinetic momentum, before releasing his grip.
With a shockwave that flattened the surrounding trees, Way Big hurled the Supreme King into the sky.
Propelled by the To'kustar's apocalyptic physical strength, the gargantuan tick breached the atmosphere in seconds. It shot out of Earth's orbit, hurtling into the cold vacuum of outer space without losing a fraction of its momentum.
Way Big did not stop there. He planted his feet wide, raising his arms and crossing them in an X formation. Energy crackled along the fins on his forearms, gathering into a blinding singularity.
A massive, pale-blue cosmic ray erupted from his crossed arms. The beam tore through the sky, a pillar of pure destructive energy that chased the Supreme King straight into the void of space.
BOOM!
A silent but brilliant flash of light illuminated the upper atmosphere. The sheer force of the cosmic ray's backdraft blew the cloud cover apart, leaving a perfectly circular, gaping hole in the sky. Down on the surface, the shockwave hit like a hurricane. Trees bent double, their trunks groaning under the pressure. Ben, Gwen, and Max threw their arms over their faces, digging their heels into the dirt to keep from being blown away by the gale-force winds.
"Supreme King!!!" The three fanatic aliens shrieked, their eyes bulging as they stared up at the sky. Their invincible, world-devouring deity had just been vaporized into cosmic dust.
The silence that followed was heavy. Then, the tall, blue-eyed alien slowly turned his gaze from the sky to the towering, red-and-white titan standing before them. Without a moment's hesitation, he dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead into the dirt.
"Long live the new Supreme King!" he bellowed, his fanatical devotion instantly transferring to the bigger, stronger entity.
The six-armed alien and the burly enforcer blinked, quickly catching on. They threw themselves to the ground, groveling in the dirt. "Long live the new Supreme King! All hail!"
"Awesome!" Ben pumped his fist, his sour mood instantly evaporating. Watching the arrogant, doom-preaching aliens groveling at his cousin's massive feet was the highlight of his day. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled up at the titan. "How's the view up there, Cousin? Feeling like royalty yet?"
Way Big looked down at the three specks worshipping him. He let out a low, rumbling sigh that vibrated through the ground. He had zero interest in leading a cult.
Reaching down with two massive fingers, he pinched the three kneeling aliens by their robes. Ignoring their confused yelps, he casually flicked his wrist, tossing them directly into the stratosphere to join their beloved deity in the vacuum of space.
Dusting off his colossal hands, Way Big tapped the Omnitrix dial on his chest. A flash of quiet blue light washed over the forest once more, and the towering titan vanished, leaving Klein standing casually in the center of the crater.
Gwen lowered her arms, looking around at the devastated clearing. Slowly, the sickly gray soil was beginning to regain its color, the residual mana of the earth stabilizing now that the parasite was gone. She let out a long, exhausted breath. "Finally. Everything is back to normal."
"You're wrong about that, Dork," Ben said, flashing a wide, cheeky grin as he planted his hands on his hips. "Our lives are supposed to be abnormal all the time."
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