"Something's wrong. Why does Zombozo look so terrified?"
XLR8 stood among countless afterimages, observing the villain in the distance. Zombozo's body had swollen to grotesque proportions, his face bloated beyond recognition, his features twisted into an expression of pure terror. He kept staring at XLR8 with pleading, desperate eyes.
"Please... save me! You're a hero who saves people, right? I, I need your help!"
XLR8's afterimages began disappearing one by one until only his real body remained. He walked slowly toward Zombozo, his expression cold and silent.
Zombozo's heart surged with excitement, his fists clenching tightly. 'I didn't expect him to actually come save me! Once I'm rescued, I'll make sure he dies quickly, very quickly!'
WHOOSH!
XLR8 stopped a safe distance from Zombozo. He reached out with his claws and grabbed two hypnotized puppets standing nearby!
ZOOM!
He vanished instantly, carrying both puppets back to the town at supersonic speed. The Psyclown's destruction had freed everyone from mental control, but they were still dangerously close to the imminent explosion. XLR8 returned in a flash!
"Ben, you need to come with me too. It's not safe here!"
For the second time, XLR8 completely ignored Zombozo's pleas. Instead, he grabbed Ben and dashed out of the warehouse!
"Wait, wait! You're evacuating everyone to avoid the explosion? What about me?! Are you just going to leave me here?!"
Zombozo's emotions crashed from excited hope to rock bottom in an instant. He roared hoarsely, questioning XLR8 with everything he had left. But the speedster remained silent, rapidly moving people out of the danger zone.
The atmosphere grew increasingly oppressive.
Zombozo's fear intensified with each passing second. Eventually, he lost even the strength to shout.
After everyone had been evacuated, XLR8 returned to the scene one final time. He looked at Zombozo, now occupying nearly half the warehouse, and coldly repeated his earlier words.
"I told you before: if you'd just stayed down and pretended to be unconscious, you would've gotten through this. But you chose to stand up, didn't you?"
One decision.
One wrong choice.
And now Zombozo would pay the price.
As for the Circus Freak Trio, Thumbskull, Frightwig, and Acid Breath? XLR8 didn't even consider helping them. They could pray for themselves.
Ignoring Zombozo's increasingly frantic pleas for mercy, XLR8 left the warehouse without a trace of regret. The villain's wailing echoed behind him as he rushed toward the town entrance, covering hundreds of meters in seconds.
BOOOOOOM!!!
An explosion like a nuclear detonation erupted behind him. A mushroom cloud of terrifying smoke instantly rose from the suburban warehouse. The explosive force swept through the entire area, obliterating the warehouse and leveling every tree within a kilometer radius into bare, scorched ground!
XLR8 turned back, gazing at the distant smoke. "Unfortunately, Zombozo's strength was on the same level as those low-tier villains. If he doesn't work out..."
He paused thoughtfully.
'The Wind God Leg still has three ultimate techniques I haven't used yet. This martial art's combat intensity exceeds everything I've learned so far. Maybe I should save them for Vilgax to enjoy...'
He turned away as his visor retracted, then flew back toward the town.
On his way, strands of transparent material, like wisps of souls, passed by him at incredible speed, flowing back into the bodies of the townspeople!
One by one, the puppets stopped their eerie smiling. Their souls returned, and they looked around in confusion. They only remembered being in the audience one moment, how did they end up here the next?
"What happened? Where's Asher?"
Max rubbed his head, looking dazed.
"Grandpa, both you and Gwen were being controlled by that damn clown..." Only Ben had remained conscious. He began explaining everything that happened, though when he reached the part about fighting Zombozo himself, he deliberately exaggerated his own role to avoid looking too embarrassed.
"I didn't expect you to actually fight Zombozo for a while to cover for Asher, Ben! Really? I remember you being terrified of clowns." Gwen looked at Ben suspiciously when he finished.
Ben was about to defend himself when a voice came from beside him.
"He's right. I can vouch for him. Ben isn't afraid of clowns anymore!"
XLR8 appeared before everyone like a ghost. He reached out and patted Ben's shoulder, giving him an approving look. "You're both heroes."
Max smiled warmly. "Well said."
Biiiip! Biiiip!
With the Omnitrix timing out, the four of them checked into a motel in town and spent the evening as if nothing unusual had happened.
Meanwhile, back at the suburban warehouse...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thumbskull emerged from the thick smoke first, his expression terrified. He collapsed to his knees, looking completely shell-shocked.
"What are we going to do? The boss died without even a body left... and now we don't have anyone to follow." Acid Breath stumbled out next, coughing violently several times as if the smoke had gotten into his lungs.
"Since we don't have a boss anymore, we'll be our own masters. Just don't draw too much attention, grab some money when we need it and maintain a low profile. That's enough."
Frightwig walked out last. Her pale skin remained completely clean, not a speck of dust on her. Her crimson hair fell gracefully beside her cheeks, framing her delicate features.
The three unanimously agreed with Frightwig's plan.
After all, that child, no, that man, and his death-like power had left them trembling even now!
They would never cross paths with him again. Never.
The three of them left the suburbs under the moonlight, disappearing as if they'd never been there at all.
The sun rose the next morning.
Asher, Max, and the others had slept well and woke up refreshed. Among them, Ben and Asher had both developed the habit of getting up early to exercise, a routine that strengthened their bodies and prepared them for increasingly intense training.
After breakfast, everyone climbed into the Rust Bucket and drove toward their next destination.
Inside the RV, Asher leaned back with his hands behind his head. "Grandpa, where are we going this time?"
"We're heading to a museum where you'll learn things you can't find in any textbook." Max spoke with a teaching tone, clearly proud of this educational opportunity.
"A museum? Sounds interesting." Asher didn't feel strongly about it one way or another.
Gwen looked excited while Ben sighed dramatically, two completely opposite reactions.
None of them knew yet.
The museum they were about to visit housed something extraordinary: a collection of genuine magic books!
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