Chapter 124: A Normal Infiltration, Until It Wasn't
"Oh, right. To prevent them from discovering that you are Earthlings, it's best if you change your appearance." Tetrax, the battle-hardened Petrosapien mercenary, glanced back at Ben with a serious expression.
"Is that so?" Gwen crossed her arms, looking a bit confused. "Do aliens really dislike Earthlings that much?" After all, humanity's greatest space achievement at present was merely landing on the moon. Most people on Earth didn't even believe extraterrestrials existed.
"Uh, no. Actually, most of them quite like Earthlings..." Tetrax paused, his crystalline features unreadable. "They think Earthlings are delicious."
Gwen's mouth clicked shut. She stared at him, utterly speechless.
"Alright. But..." Gwen muttered, her body suddenly igniting with vibrant, crackling magenta energy. Her human form melted away, replaced by the glowing, ethereal silhouette of an Anodite. "I don't need a disguise. I can just choose not to be an Earthling for a while."
"Same here. This will save us some trouble." Klein lazily flicked his wrist, tapping the face of the Another Omnitrix strapped to his left arm. A flash of brilliant light washed over the area, and he shifted effortlessly into his own Anodite form, radiating a deep, pulsing purple aura. Unlike Ben's watch, Klein's transformation had absolutely no time limit—at least, none that anyone had discovered yet.
"Me too! Wait..." Ben pumped his fist, excited to join in, before his face suddenly fell. He remembered the glaring flaw in his own hardware: the dreaded time-out limit. His expression twisted into a constipated scowl as he glared down at his wrist. "You crappy watch. It's not the first time I've been sick of you... but seriously, why are you so much worse when you're supposedly the same device?"
[Omnitrix AI: Alright, alright! Is that what you're saying?! From now on, Four Arms and Humungousaur are banned!]
"Alright, Ben, stop complaining. We grandfather and grandson can stick together, right?" Grandpa Max chuckled, effortlessly lifting the grumbling boy and hoisting him onto his broad shoulders.
Stepping into the depths of Incarcecon felt like walking into the worst alien black market in the galaxy. It was chaotic, deafeningly noisy, and suffocatingly crowded.
The interior space was massive, boasting towering, jagged buildings and interconnected metal bridges. Dark, gaping passages led further underground, hiding unknown horrors in the depths.
Above the sprawling architecture hung an endless, oppressive ceiling of black-gray material, mimicking a dead sky. The floor beneath their feet was forged from the exact same indestructible alloy, a grim reminder that despite the illusion of a city, Incarcecon was an inescapable prison.
Order was completely nonexistent. Random outbreaks of violence and chaos flared up in the alleys, proving that the law of the jungle ruled supreme here. A thick, stomach-churning stench of sweat, grime, and alien blood permeated the dark air, clinging to the countless extraterrestrials of every shape and size that prowled the streets.
On the packed thoroughfare, Tetrax took the lead. Clad in his heavy battle suit, the Petrosapien carved a path through the throng of criminals. Floating just behind him were two glowing Anodites—Gwen radiating a bright magenta, and Klein pulsing with a deep, lazy purple.
Trailing them was a towering, hulking figure completely shrouded in a heavy black cloak. Vilgax had been forced to wrap himself up; his infamous face would have triggered a riot the second he was recognized.
Bringing up the rear was a bizarre, wobbly green alien bug. This was the makeshift disguise hiding Max and Ben. Sitting atop his grandfather's shoulders, Ben peered out nervously through the bug suit's mesh mouth.
To his right, Ben watched a massive, hulking brute stomp down hard on a much smaller, rat-like alien. The larger creature's jaw unhinged, shooting out a grotesque, prehensile tongue that wrapped around the freshly crushed corpse. With a wet slurp, it dragged the body into its maw. The sickening crunch of bones and wet chewing sounds echoed in the alley. The beast looked thoroughly delighted with its meal.
Ben gagged, his stomach doing somersaults.
Beneath him, Max felt the boy tense up. The veteran Plumber knew exactly what kind of nightmare this place was, and he guessed Ben had just witnessed something gruesome. But trapped inside the disguise, Max couldn't speak to comfort him. He could only keep walking in grim silence, forcing Ben to adapt to the harsh reality of the universe.
Their silent, stiff march made their "green alien bug" costume look incredibly awkward, its oversized head and clumsy feet completely disproportionate.
Klein and his group didn't pick fights, didn't scavenge for food, and didn't kill. They simply marched forward with singular purpose. In a place like Incarcecon, such disciplined, strange behavior acted like a beacon.
The surrounding alien prisoners quickly realized these strangers were outsiders. And in this brutal ecosystem, unadapted newcomers were nothing more than easy prey.
A massive, blubbery alien—standing nearly five meters tall and reeking of rancid grease—stepped directly into Tetrax's path. The creature sneered, assuming the Petrosapien was the leader of this pathetic little troupe.
Tetrax didn't even break his stride. He saw right through the brute's intentions. His hand dropped to the heavy energy gun holstered at his waist.
"Get lost if you don't want to die," Tetrax growled, his voice carrying the chilling, absolute certainty of a veteran killer.
The fat alien blinked, feeling the genuine, freezing killing intent radiating off the mercenary. Deciding his life was worth more than an easy meal, the brute grunted and hastily stepped aside to clear the way.
Tetrax marched past without a second glance. Klein and Gwen floated right behind him.
The fat alien, however, wasn't particularly bright. He didn't recognize the Anodite species. Seeing these two glowing, slender figures drifting by, he assumed they were fragile energy beings—easy targets to snatch and bully.
Drooling, the brute lunged forward, his massive, meaty hands reaching out to grab them.
"Get lost."
Klein didn't even turn his head. He casually waved a hand.
A concentrated burst of pure, terrifying celestial energy erupted from his palm. The sheer force of the mana slammed into the massive alien, instantly vaporizing his upper half and blasting the rest of his blubbery body into a spectacular, gruesome shower of blood and gore.
Gwen reacted instantly, throwing up a shimmering purple barrier that deflected the tidal wave of viscera, keeping herself and Klein completely spotless.
The surrounding prisoners, who had been watching with greedy eyes, collectively froze. They scrambled backward, desperately clearing a wide path. The message was received loud and clear: those glowing blue and purple figures were probably the most dangerous monsters in the sector.
Vilgax trudged straight through the raining blood. He glanced down at the pulverized remains with utter disdain, his deep voice rumbling from beneath his hood. "Trash."
But in a place like this, the unexpected was always waiting just around the corner.
Grandpa Max, his vision severely limited by the thick fabric of the bug disguise, stepped directly into the slick, expanding puddle of alien blood. The costume's oversized, clumsy feet offered zero traction.
His boot slipped.
Gravity did the rest. Max went down hard, taking Ben with him. The cheap fabric of the disguise caught on a piece of jagged metal debris and ripped wide open with a loud tear.
Both grandfather and grandson tumbled out into the open air, crying out in pain as they rubbed their bruised backsides against the cold, filthy floor.
The entire street went dead silent.
Then, the whispers started.
"Earthlings?!"
"Wait! Is that... Max Tennyson?!"
"Look at his wrist! That kid is wearing the Omnitrix!"
Greed ignited in the eyes of the surrounding prisoners. The whispers exploded into a deafening roar. In a matter of seconds, a tidal wave of criminals surged forward, completely encircling them. No less than a thousand hardened killers closed in, their eyes locked hungrily on the watch.
Ben swallowed hard, his eyes darting around the sea of hostile faces. "Oh, this is bad."
"Ben, get behind Grandpa!" Max barked, his grandfatherly warmth vanishing in an instant. He shoved Ben behind his broad back and drew his heavy energy blaster, his eyes sweeping the encroaching mob with lethal precision.
He knew the Omnitrix was currently locked in a volatile self-destruct mode. Even though Klein had tinkered with it to suppress the immediate danger, Max wasn't willing to risk it. Transforming right now was out of the question.
A hulking Tetramand shoved his way to the front of the pack, his four muscular arms flexing aggressively. "Max Tennyson. We don't want to make this messy. Just hand over the Omnitrix, and we'll let you leave."
"That's right, Tennyson!" hissed a Lepidopterran, hovering above the crowd and dripping foul-smelling slime from its eyestalks. "You alone can't stop so many of us!"
Max's grip on his blaster tightened, his jaw set like stone. "Is that so? Then come and try!"
If these scum thought he would ever hand over his grandson, they were completely delusional.
"Hey! Stay away from them!"
"They are with us! Be smart and get out of here!"
Twin streaks of purple and magenta light crashed down from the sky. Klein and Gwen landed hard on either side of Max and Ben, their Anodite auras flaring with dangerous intensity.
A few desperate prisoners tried to rush them from behind, hoping for a blind spot. They barely made it two steps before a massive shadow blotted out the artificial lights above.
A towering figure plummeted from the sky, slamming into the ground with the force of a meteor. A massive shockwave of dust and cracked metal exploded outward, tearing the black cloak to shreds.
As the dust cleared, the terrifying, tentacled visage of Vilgax was revealed in all its tyrannical glory.
The prisoners shrieked in absolute terror, stumbling over each other in a frantic bid to retreat.
"Vilgax!!!"
"How is Vilgax here?!"
Panic rippled through the mob. They backed away, their weapons trembling as they stared at the conqueror of ten worlds.
Before the crowd could even process the shock, a sleek hoverboard sliced through the air, violently knocking aside several retreating aliens. Tetrax leaped off the board, landing smoothly shoulder-to-shoulder with Vilgax, his crystalline fists clenched and ready.
Ben peeked out from behind Max, blinking at the surreal sight of his greatest enemy defending him. "Uh... I know this sounds a bit strange, but... thanks."
Vilgax didn't even look at him, his red eyes glaring daggers at the terrified mob. "Hmph! The Omnitrix is mine! How could I let it be taken by these worthless scums?!"
He wasn't joking. He meant every single word.
"Uh, alright then," Ben muttered, shaking off the weirdness. He slapped his hand over the watch dial. "But right now, I'm gonna beat them up! Please welcome... Four Arms!"
Just as Ben was about to slam the dial down, a heavy, crystalline hand clamped over his wrist.
Tetrax looked down at him, his expression grave. "Ben, we are here to get you out. It is highly advised that you do not transform right now."
Ben groaned, his shoulders slumping. "Oh, this is annoying!"
He desperately wanted to tell them the truth—that he literally couldn't use the watch properly without blowing up the universe—but he had absolutely no idea how to explain it without causing a panic.
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