Chapter 74: Four Arms vs. Four Arms, Resurrected Vilgax
"Four Arms!"
A brilliant, quiet blue light erupted, washing over the battlefield. As the glare faded, Klein's towering Tetramand form materialized, his muscular crimson physique accented by the signature blue Another Omnitrix symbol gleaming on his chest.
He caught the dumbfounded look on Ben's face—who was currently stuck in his own green-clad Four Arms form—and a wave of smug satisfaction washed over Klein. There really was no better feeling than flexing on your own cousin.
"Even if another one of you freaks shows up, I'm not afraid!" Dr. Animo shrieked. He thumped his mutated gorilla chest, trying to drum up his own courage. Even though this new, blue-eyed Tetramand radiated a far more intimidating aura than the first one, the mad scientist let out a feral roar and charged blindly forward.
Animo launched his massive, hairy frame into the air. He locked his oversized fists together, bringing them down in a brutal double-hammer strike aimed squarely at Klein's head.
Klein didn't even flinch. He simply raised his upper set of arms, catching Animo's descending fists with effortless precision. The kinetic force of the blow died instantly in his grip. With the doctor now suspended helplessly in mid-air, Klein's lower pair of arms went to work, delivering a blistering flurry of heavy punches straight into Animo's exposed midsection.
Before the mad scientist could even gasp for air, Klein tightened his upper grip, pivoting his hips and swinging Animo's massive body downward like a ragdoll. The mutated gorilla slammed into the concrete with a deafening crunch, spiderwebbing the pavement.
Ben, snapping out of his daze, immediately seized the opening. He stomped forward, pinning the groaning Dr. Animo beneath his heavy boots. With a few quick yanks, Ben tore several thick steel rebars from the shattered street and twisted them around the villain's limbs, hogtying him securely.
"Alright, Ben. We need to have a little chat." Klein cracked his four knuckles, flashing a wide, toothy grin at his cousin. It was a smile that practically dripped with malicious intent.
"I don't have time to mess around with you," Ben grunted, rolling his four eyes. He turned on his heel, fully intending to walk away.
A heavy, crimson hand clamped down on his shoulder, halting him in his tracks.
Ben's temper flared. "You want to go, huh?! Fine! I'll fight you right here, right now!" He violently slapped Klein's hand away, pivoting sharply to throw a massive right hook straight at Klein's jaw.
Smack.
Klein caught the incoming fist with a single palm. He didn't budge an inch. Instead, he clamped his fingers down, squeezing with terrifying, bone-grinding force. Ben's eyes widened, a sharp hiss of pain escaping his teeth as the sheer disparity in their physical strength left him momentarily paralyzed.
Using the use, Klein yanked his cousin forward, throwing off his center of gravity. At the exact same moment, Klein drew back his lower right fist and buried it deep into Ben's chest. The impact sounded like a cannon firing. Ben was launched backward, hurtling through the air for dozens of meters.
He crashed violently through the reinforced glass window of an adjacent skyscraper, his massive frame tumbling out of sight into the shadowy interior of the high-rise.
Not one to let up, Klein bent his knees and launched himself into the sky, vaulting right through the shattered window frame in pursuit.
BOOM!
Ben plummeted through the floors, finally slamming into the ground level and carving out a massive, dust-choked crater in the concrete.
Groaning, Ben used his lower arms to prop himself up, rubbing his throbbing head with an upper hand.
A sudden shadow fell over him. He blinked, noticing the sudden lack of sunlight. "Hmm? Why did it get so dark?" He tilted his head upward.
A massive, blue-clad silhouette was rapidly descending right toward his face.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me—"
BOOM!
Klein crashed down feet-first, planting his boots squarely into Ben's chest. The sheer force of the landing deepened the crater by another three feet, sending a shockwave of debris flying in all directions.
Ben coughed violently, his four eyes squeezing shut as the wind was completely knocked out of his lungs.
Pinning Ben down by the shoulders with his upper arms, Klein raised his lower fists and began a relentless, rapid-fire drum solo right on top of his cousin's head.
"Quit it!" Ben roared, gritting his teeth against the stinging blows. Planting all four of his hands against the ground, he coiled his leg muscles and kicked upward with explosive force, finally bucking Klein off and sending him flying backward.
Klein skidded across the ruined floor, his boots tearing deep trenches into the stone for over ten meters before he plunged his hands into the concrete to brake his momentum.
Seizing the brief opening, Ben scrambled to his feet. He clenched all four fists and charged like a raging bull, letting out a furious battle cry.
Klein calmly stood up, dusting off his shoulder. As Ben closed the distance and threw a synchronized four-fist barrage, Klein simply mirrored the stance. He opened all four of his palms, accurately catching every single one of Ben's incoming punches.
And then, he squeezed. Hard.
"Agh!" Ben cried out. The monstrous, overwhelming grip strength—somehow vastly superior to his own despite being the exact same species—forced his eyes shut in pure agony.
Without missing a beat, Klein yanked Ben forward by his trapped fists and delivered a brutal, skull-rattling headbutt straight to his cousin's forehead.
CRACK.
Stars exploded in Ben's vision. The moment Klein released his grip, Ben swayed on his feet, his knees buckling as he teetered on the verge of unconsciousness.
But Klein wasn't about to let him take a nap just yet. He snapped a vicious left hook across Ben's jaw, followed instantly by a heavy right cross. Grabbing the back of Ben's thick neck with his upper hands, Klein yanked him downward while driving his right knee upward, smashing it squarely into Ben's face with a sickening crunch.
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of a towering skyscraper in Sector 15D.
Verdine paced near the edge, peering down at the dust clouds billowing from the streets below. Seeing that the two cousins hadn't returned for quite some time, anxiety gnawed at her. "He... he won't be in trouble, will he?"
"Relax! I'm quite confident in his ability to take a beating," Gwen said casually. She had never believed Ben could actually beat his cousin, and honestly, neither did Ben. Their previous fusion experiment had already cemented the massive gap between them.
Verdine pursed her lips. In truth, she wasn't worried about Ben at all—she was worried about Klein.
Just then, a massive figure vaulted over the edge of the rooftop. Klein landed with a heavy thud, casually carrying a limp, groaning Ben under one arm.
Under Verdine's astonished gaze, Klein unceremoniously tossed his cousin onto the concrete floor like a sack of potatoes.
A flash of emerald light washed over the rooftop, and the towering Tetramand reverted into a bruised, battered, and thoroughly exhausted Ben.
Seeing the deeply resentful glare Ben was shooting her way, Verdine snapped out of her daze. A triumphant, teasing smile spread across her face. "Hey, you were the one who said you didn't need my help earlier."
Ben winced. He knew exactly what she was referring to—all those times she or the others had offered backup, only for him to stubbornly brush them off in an attempt to play the lone hero. Faced with the painful consequences of his own ego, Ben wisely decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Is assistance required in this sector? The Galactic Enforcers, reporting for duty!"
A brilliant beam of teleportation light struck the rooftop, and the three-member squad of the Galactic Enforcers materialized in heroic poses.
"Ben?" Ultimos blinked, his heroic smile faltering as he took in the scene. He glanced at the towering blue Tetramand, then down at the battered boy groaning at his feet. "Oh, you're here... Great galaxies, what happened to you? Was the enemy that formidable? Where is the villain?!"
Ben groaned, struggling to push himself up from the floor. For a fleeting, vindictive second, he genuinely considered rallying the Galactic Enforcers to jump Klein and give him a taste of his own medicine. But one look at his cousin's passive, unbothered expression quickly killed that thought. It wasn't worth the risk.
"It's... already handled, guys," Ben muttered, rubbing his bruised cheek.
Ultimos sighed, bringing up the same suggestion he had pitched a dozen times before. "The galaxy is vast, Ben. You really ought to leave a few evildoers for us to handle. We are heroes, after all."
Ben subconsciously began to brush him off. "Why bother when I can—"
He stopped dead. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Klein staring at him. The sheer weight of that deadpan, slightly menacing gaze sent a chill down Ben's spine. A terrible premonition washed over him, and he instantly swallowed his pride.
"—When you are absolutely right!" Ben quickly corrected himself, forcing a bright smile.
Ultimos, fully expecting to be rejected yet again, blinked in sheer disbelief. His face quickly lit up with absolute delight. "Really?! Ah—I mean, excellent! You can rest assured, citizen! Leave the rest to us!"
"Yeah, well, I have other things to do," Ben said. "Since you guys are here, do me a favor and haul Dr. Animo back to the Null Void."
"Not a problem at all!" Ultimos declared, puffing out his chest in high spirits. He turned and marched proudly toward the edge of the roof to retrieve the hogtied gorilla form of Dr. Animo from the streets below.
But as he peered over the ledge, the hero suddenly froze. "Uh... Ben? I think you might want to come over and see this."
Ben walked over to the ledge, peering down at the cratered street. "Animo... escaped?!"
He stared in disbelief. The massive, mutated gorilla body was still securely bound by the steel rebars, exactly where Ben had left it. But the head—Animo's actual head—was completely gone. He must have detached himself and slipped away during the chaotic brawl between the two Tetramands.
"He couldn't have gone far. Let us pursue him!" Ultimos declared heroically. With a swift hand signal, he, Synaptak, and Tini took to the skies, blasting off to search the perimeter.
Ben turned back to Klein, who was still in his towering Tetramand form. "Didn't you say you wanted to talk? Keep up."
Klein raised an eyebrow, perfectly understanding the challenge in his cousin's tone. Without a word, he raised a massive hand and slapped the glowing blue dial on his chest.
A quiet blue light flared, and Klein's own version of Fasttrack materialized, his sleek, feline-like speedster form accented by deep blue highlights.
"I'm coming too!" Ben slapped his own Omnitrix. A flash of emerald light erupted, and Ben's version of Fasttrack appeared.
"Ha! For once, this stupid watch actually gave me the right alien!" Ben cheered, looking down at his clawed hands in pleasant surprise.
The two speedsters vanished, leaving behind nothing but blurred afterimages.
Left behind on the rooftop, Verdine and Gwen exchanged a long, exasperated glance before shrugging helplessly.
Verdine turned to the red-haired girl. "Do you want me to carry you?"
"No need," Gwen replied smoothly. A brilliant magenta aura flared around her body as she shifted into her pure-energy Anodite form, her hair flaring into ethereal flames. "I can fly myself."
Verdine's jaw dropped in genuine shock. Flight was an advanced mana manipulation technique—something even she hadn't managed to master yet.
Down below, long after the heroes had evacuated the area, a subtle shifting of rubble echoed from the ruined crater left by the battle.
Dr. Animo's head slowly peeked out from beneath a slab of shattered concrete. That's right—he had never actually left the building.
His severed head was fully encased in a reinforced glass jar, supported by a cluster of writhing, metallic tentacles. Moving much like a mechanical octopus, the bizarre contraption allowed Animo's disembodied head to scuttle silently through the debris.
Scuttling over to his hogtied gorilla body, the mechanical tentacles perfectly reattached the jar to the severed neck stump, locking back into place with a sharp hiss of pressurized air.
Once whole again, Animo easily snapped the steel rebars binding him. He lumbered over to the hidden corner of his ruined laboratory, brushing aside the rubble to reveal a massive, yellow cylindrical stasis tank.
With a single, brutal punch from his gorilla arm, he shattered the glass. Thick, viscous preservation fluid spilled out across the floor in a foul-smelling wave. As the liquid drained away, the horrifying contents of the tank were finally revealed: the dismembered, mangled corpse of the galactic conqueror, Vilgax.
The metallic collar at the base of Animo's head-jar—a highly advanced piece of tech heavily modified from his original genetic mutator—began to hum with power. A concentrated beam of crimson energy shot out from the device, sweeping over Vilgax's scattered remains.
"Mr. Vilgax," Animo rasped, his voice echoing with a manic, grating edge. "I am so very glad you could come back to support my endeavors once again."
As the mad doctor's voice faded into the shadows, the lifeless eyes of the conqueror suddenly flared with a piercing, demonic red light. The resurrection protocol had begun. Cybernetic tendrils and bio-organic fibers erupted from the dismembered chunks of flesh, knitting together at a terrifying speed. Bones snapped back into place, muscles rewove themselves, and within moments, Vilgax's massive, imposing body was completely and flawlessly restored.
"BEN TENNYSON!"
The very first words to tear from Vilgax's throat upon his revival were a deafening, earth-shaking roar of pure hatred. He immediately began thrashing about, demanding the boy's head. It was, in a twisted, psychotic way, the ultimate proof of his absolute obsession.
"I know exactly where Ben Tennyson is, Mr. Vilgax," Animo purred, a wicked glint in his eye. He fully intended to manipulate the resurrected warlord into doing his heavy lifting. Though, to be fair, it wasn't a complete lie—he really did have a way to track the boy down.
"WHERE IS HE?!" Vilgax snarled, grabbing Animo by the throat and lifting him off the ground.
The galactic conqueror wasn't an idiot. He knew full well that this pathetic Earthling scientist had ulterior motives. But right now? It didn't matter in the slightest. The only thing that mattered in the entire universe was finding Ben Tennyson and ripping him to shreds!
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