Chapter 188: I Take It Back. Repair the Dam.
"He will cause a massive panic if he actually goes through with that. Everyone on Earth will be in mortal danger." Ben frowned, his hands gripping the edge of the console. The anxiety in his voice was clear.
Kevin just waved a hand, leaning back with a scoff. "Relax, Dweeb. He is broadcasting on a light-speed communication frequency. Earth's tech is way too primitive to even pick up signals transmitting at that kind of velocity."
How to put it? Sometimes, being a backwater planet had its own unique sense of security.
Ben opened his mouth to argue, then slowly closed it, falling into a stunned silence.
"Tell that overgrown toad that I couldn't care less if he is looking for his runaway daughter. But if he dares to cause trouble in my backyard..." Klein stepped forward, clapping a hand heavily onto Raff's shoulder. A dangerously ambiguous smile curved his lips.
Raff stiffened. Beads of cold sweat broke out across his warty, green forehead. "Please do not worry, sir! I will immediately report back to Emperor Milleous and have him recall the Planet-Destroying Death Ray!"
The smile vanished from Klein's face in an instant, replaced by a flat, deadpan stare.
Raff froze, his heart dropping into his stomach. 'Did I say something wrong?'"Are you genuinely this dense, or just pretending to be?" Klein sighed, rubbing his temples as if dealing with a particularly slow toddler. "If he is going to throw a tantrum, let him make it a big one. The grander the spectacle, the more entertaining it is for me. Once I have had my fill of the show, I will naturally step in and end the farce."'It is not just the farce that will end, is it?' Raff screamed internally. He swallowed hard, terrified that their entire species' existence would be ended right alongside it.
Nearby, Ben and Gwen exchanged a look, the corners of their mouths twitching in unison. Only their cousin could treat a planetary extinction threat like a premium cable subscription.
Still, neither of them bothered to voice a complaint. For one, arguing with Klein was an exercise in futility. Not only would he ignore them, but he might just cut them out of the fun entirely out of spite. For another, Earth was going to be perfectly fine regardless of the theatrics. If the planet actually blew up, Grandpa Max would nag Klein to death, and Klein hated being nagged more than anything in the multiverse.
As for Kevin, he simply crossed his arms and nodded sagely. The boss had his reasons. As the designated muscle, his only job was to keep pace with the boss's chaotic rhythm.
"Understood, sir. I will go report to Emperor Milleous immediately." Raff bowed hastily before vanishing in a flash of teleportation light.
Barely a minute passed before the communication console inside Kevin's car crackled to life again. Emperor Milleous's booming, arrogant voice echoed through the speakers.
"Earthlings! I take back what I just declared! I will not blow up your miserable little Earth..." A muffled pause followed, filled with the sound of frantic whispering in the background. "What? That guy actually said that? Fine... Ahem! If you do not return my daughter to me within one standard hour, I will annihilate your entire Solar System!"
Then, the microphone picked up a very faint, nervous whisper. "Hey... help me ask him if that is a big enough threat."
"This toad is incredibly lame," Klein complained, clicking his tongue in sheer disappointment. He leaned toward the console. "If you are going to play the villain, play it big! Threaten to blow up the entire universe, you coward!"
Ben, Gwen, and Kevin did not even blink. They were entirely desensitized to Klein's brand of madness.
The Incursean soldiers left behind, however, lacked that vital immunity. One of the amphibian troopers shuffled forward, his knees knocking together. "Um, excuse me, sir. Our empire's technology has not quite reached the point where we can destroy the universe."
"Oh? Is that so?" Klein blinked, looking genuinely surprised by this limitation. "What about the Milky Way Galaxy, then?"
"...That will not work either, sir. Our Planet-Destroying Death Ray can strictly only destroy planets."
'Do you think everyone is a walking cosmic anomaly like you?' the Incursean soldier screamed in his head. Outwardly, he kept his mouth firmly shut, terrified of being vaporized.
"You guys are completely useless." Klein's gaze dripped with such deep disdain that the Incursean soldier shrank back, lowering his head until his chin hit his chest.
"Alright, get out of my sight." Klein waved a hand dismissively, shooing the trooper away like a pesky fly.
A bright flash illuminated the area as Raff teleported back into the clearing. "Um, sir... do you think that revised threat will suffice?"
"Hmm... barely passable." Klein stroked his chin, nodding slowly before shifting his gaze back to the ambassador. "Now, what about the reward? How much are we talking? If the bounty is high enough, I will officially accept this retrieval mission."
Raff swallowed hard and held up a specific number of fingers, indicating a staggering sum of galactic credits.
Klein's eyes lit up. He nodded, his demeanor instantly shifting to that of a cheerful mercenary. "Excellent. Consider the mission accepted. Now, hand over the quest item."
'Are you seriously treating a galactic hostage crisis like a video game?!' Raff's eye twitched. He desperately wanted to yell, but survival instincts won out. Reaching into his uniform, he pulled out the only clue they had, a torn piece of the princess's clothing.
Klein took the scrap of purple fabric. He held it up to the light, turning it over a few times, completely unable to determine which part of a garment it was supposed to be. Losing interest immediately, he tossed it over his shoulder toward Gwen.
"Hey, Dork. Can you track the princess's location with this?"
Gwen caught the fabric effortlessly. Her eyes instantly flared with a brilliant magenta glow. Mana surged around her fingertips, enveloping the torn purple cloth in a matching aura of energy until it floated gently above her palms.
She closed her eyes, letting the magical current guide her senses across the continent. A moment later, they snapped open.
"Got her. She is at the Damocles Dam, and it looks like she is actively fighting back against someone."
Miles away, the roaring waters of the Damocles Dam echoed through the canyon.
High above the concrete structure, a fully armed, cybernetic humanoid soared through the air, relentlessly pursuing a sleek, single-man escape pod. Inside the cockpit sat a petite, green-skinned girl. Despite her amphibious Incursean traits, she carried a distinct, sharp-featured prettiness.
This was Princess Attea.
Attea yanked the control stick hard to the left, her piloting skills nothing short of exceptional as she wove through a barrage of laser fire. However, the bulky escape pod simply could not match the raw, erratic agility of a jetpack-equipped bounty hunter.
A well-placed plasma blast clipped the pod's thruster. The ship spiraled out of control, trailing thick black smoke before crashing violently onto the rocky riverbank at the base of the massive dam.
The cockpit hatch blew open. Attea vaulted out of the wreckage with feline grace. Landing smoothly on the gravel, she did not waste a single second. As the cybernetic bounty hunter, Sevenseven, swooped down to apprehend her, she planted her boots into the dirt and launched herself upward, delivering a vicious flying kick straight at his armored chest.
High above them, a blinding pillar of teleportation light struck the crest of the dam. Klein and his crew materialized on the concrete walkway.
Rushing to the metal railing, they peered over the edge just in time to witness Attea pivot in mid-air, chaining her assault into a brutal reverse sidekick that sent Sevenseven skidding backward across the rocks.
"Down there!" Klein called out. Without a moment's hesitation, he planted one hand on the railing and vaulted himself over the sheer drop.
Plummeting through the open air, the wind roaring in his ears, Klein slammed his palm onto the dial of the Another Omnitrix.
"Big Chill!"
A spectral, icy blue flash erupted in the sky. The plunging human form vanished, replaced by a towering, moth-like phantom draped in a dark, starry cloak.
Big Chill's cloak unfurled into four massive, frosty wings. He banked sharply, diving straight toward the rocky bank where Sevenseven was currently locked in a fierce melee with Attea.
However, Sevenseven was a professional bounty hunter, which meant he had zero interest in playing fair. Realizing he was losing the hand-to-hand exchange against the surprisingly lethal princess, he opted for a more direct approach.
The cyborg raised his left gauntlet. A heavy-duty laser cannon slid out of the armor plating and opened fire.
Attea reacted instantly, executing a series of rapid backflips to evade the scorching red beams. The lethal energy blasts missed her entirely, sailing past her to strike the reinforced concrete face of the dam.
Explosions rocked the structure. The structural integrity of the dam, already strained by the immense weight of the reservoir, shattered under the plasma bombardment. A deafening crack echoed through the canyon as a massive section of the concrete wall gave way.
Millions of gallons of pressurized water roared through the breach. A terrifying, fifty-foot-high tidal wave surged outward, threatening to drown the entire valley below.
Seeing the impending catastrophe, Big Chill slammed on the aerial brakes. He twisted mid-flight, placing himself directly in the path of the apocalyptic flood. Taking a deep breath, his chest expanded, and he unleashed a howling blizzard of absolute zero vapor from his jaws.
The freezing tempest slammed into the rushing water. In a matter of seconds, the towering tidal wave crystallized, transforming into a magnificent, jagged glacier suspended in time.
Up on the walkway, everyone was just about to breathe a sigh of relief.
Crack... crack...
The relief was short-lived. Ominous spiderweb fractures spread across the frozen wall. The sheer kinetic force of the entire reservoir pressing against the ice was too much. With a thunderous shatter, the glacier exploded outward, and the raging torrent broke free once more.
"Oh, come on!" Kevin cursed. He immediately dropped to one knee, slamming his hands against the remaining concrete of the walkway. Gray matter crept up his arms as he absorbed the material properties of the dam, turning his entire body into solid, reinforced stone.
Without waiting for the others, he leaped off the ledge. He plummeted like a meteor, crashing heavily onto the riverbank below. The impact cratered the earth right between Sevenseven and Attea.
Sevenseven raised his arm cannon, his glowing optics locking onto this new, rocky threat. He braced for combat.
But to the bounty hunter's utter bewilderment, Kevin did not even throw a punch. Instead, the Osmosian scooped the startled Princess Attea over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, spun on his heel, and sprinted away from the collapsing dam as fast as his heavy stone legs could carry him.
Back up top, Gwen's body dissolved into pure, radiant magenta energy. Entering her Anodite form, she soared down to Big Chill's side, determined to help him patch the breach.
She thrust her hands forward, manipulating the ambient Mana to telekinetically rip massive boulders and earth from the canyon walls. She hurled the debris into the gaping hole, trying to plug the leak. But the water pressure was simply too immense. Just like Big Chill's ice, the makeshift earthen plug crumbled and washed away in seconds.
Ben, meanwhile, was sprinting down the metal maintenance stairs bolted to the side of the cliff, taking them three at a time.
"We have to stop that wall from collapsing completely!" Ben yelled over the roar of the water. He slapped his hand against the Omnitrix dial, twisting the faceplate frantically. "Alright, time to bring out the big guns. Let's try Alien X! I have been dying to take this guy for a spin!"
With a grin of pure excitement, Ben slammed his palm down onto the popped-up core.
"Alien X!"
A blinding emerald flash engulfed the canyon. When the light faded, a humanoid figure made of the cosmos itself stood on the stairs. His body was a silhouette of deep space, filled with twinkling stars, and three distinct horns protruded from his head.
"Agreed. Motion to prevent the dam from bursting has been passed!" Ben's voice echoed with a strange, multi-layered cosmic resonance.
Alien X calmly raised his left hand, extending a single finger to trace a slow circle in the air toward the crumbling structure. A translucent, gray ring of temporal energy rippled outward, expanding until it washed completely over the dam.
The very fabric of reality shuddered. The rushing water froze mid-air, then violently sucked itself backward. Chunks of shattered concrete flew up from the riverbank, slotting perfectly back into place. In the blink of an eye, time rewound itself, returning the Damocles Dam to its original, pristine state.
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