"I was thinking of becoming Four Arms..." Ripjaws scratched his head.
"Forget it. Let's head inside," Grandpa said, pushing the door open and stepping in.
The others followed close behind.
The villa was cloaked in darkness. The floor was a mess of shattered debris and scattered trash, as though torn apart by razor-sharp claws.
Ripjaws led the way. The green lantern on his head gave off a faint glow, just enough to light the floor beneath his feet.
Rustle... rustle...
Suddenly, a strange sound came from the side.
"Not a chance you're getting away!" Ripjaws shouted, sprinting toward the noise and vanishing into the shadows.
"Ben, wait!" Grandpa reached out to stop him, but Ripjaws' slick, eel-like arms slipped right through his grasp.
Without the glow from Ripjaws' lantern, the darkness swallowed the room whole. The air turned heavy and eerie, the silence broken only by the occasional creak. No one could tell what might come lunging out of the shadows next.
Gwen instinctively gripped Lucian's arm, glancing around nervously, her face pale.
Lucian was about to speak when Grandpa's expression shifted sharply. He shoved them both aside.
"Roar!"
A black shadow shot past Lucian's ear, claws glinting in the dim light—missing him by barely a few centimeters.
The slicing wind grazed his cheek like a knife. Without hesitation, Lucian wrapped his arm around Gwen and used the momentum to roll backward, distancing them from the attacker.
When he looked again, the shadow had already vanished, melting seamlessly into the surrounding darkness.
The enemy was hidden, while they were exposed. Not a good position to be in.
Lucian raised the Omnitrix, switched to the light-based hologram form, and slammed his hand down.
Thud!
A flash of green light burst forth, fleeting and sharp.
Buzzshock appeared as a streak of green lightning, darting upward into the ornate chandelier.
Click! Instantly, the villa's grand hall was flooded with light.
Returning to Grandpa Max's side, Buzzshock asked, "Grandpa, did you see what that thing was?"
"The lighting was too dim—I couldn't make it out," Grandpa Max said, shaking his head. "But that roar... it sounded familiar. If I'm right, that species was supposed to have gone extinct on Earth long ago."
"What kind of monster was it?" Gwen clutched her sleeve, her voice trembling slightly. Just moments ago, she and Lucian had narrowly escaped an ambush.
"Let's find Ben first," Grandpa said firmly. His tone carried a weight of concern. Something about this situation didn't feel simple.
Suddenly, a powerful gust of wind swept down from above.
Buzzshock's body tensed. Without hesitation, he lifted his hand and fired a surge of crackling green electricity into the air.
Crackle!
A red creature was struck midair, convulsing violently before tumbling to the floor with a thud.
In a flash, Buzzshock appeared beside it, studying the creature carefully.
It stood barely half a meter tall, its skin a deep crimson. Sharp fangs jutted from its mouth, claws glimmering faintly under the light. For an alien creature, it wasn't large—small, almost pitifully so.
"It's the Havoc Beast. I didn't expect it to really be this one," Grandpa said as he approached.
"Grandpa, you know this kind of monster?" Gwen asked in surprise.
"Yes. Back when I was a plumber, I caught one of these creatures before." Grandpa Max's eyes reflected a trace of nostalgia. "Though it looks small, its destructive power is tremendous. It poses an extremely high threat to civilians."
"But I thought we already captured all of them? And this Havoc Beast looks... familiar."
"Huh? Could it have escaped again?" Gwen asked nervously.
"Impossible." Grandpa shook his head firmly. "I locked it inside the Null Void. There's no way it could have escaped."
Aside from a handful of unbelievably powerful aliens, almost no one could break free from the prison of the Null Void.
As they spoke, the Havoc Beast lying on the floor suddenly opened its eyes, glowing with a violent, blood-red light.
It leapt up, ignoring the burns and injuries covering its body, and lunged straight at Gwen with a vicious snarl.
"Ah!" Gwen's face went pale. She tried to summon her Water Magic, but it was already too late.
Buzzshock had been ready all along, keeping a close eye on the Havoc Beast.
Crackle!
A dazzling bolt of green lightning, as thick as a bowl, burst from Buzzshock's palm, crackling with terrifying energy as it slammed into the creature.
The strike roasted the Havoc Beast inside and out. It hit the ground hard, twitching violently as smoke rose from its scorched body.
"Phew!" Gwen exhaled in relief. "Thanks, Cuz."
Grandpa Max grabbed a coil of rope from somewhere, quickly tying the creature up tight before pulling out his communicator to call for backup.
Just as they finished securing it, a loud crash echoed from the stairwell.
Boom!
Ripjaws came tumbling down the stairs, battered and covered in claw marks, landing in a heap at the bottom.
Grandpa Max hurried forward to catch him. "What happened, Ben?"
"Oh man~ There's a Four Arms up there! I turned into Ripjaws and still couldn't take it down!" Ripjaws said, clearly frustrated.
"What? A Four Arms? Upstairs?" Grandpa Max froze, thinking he'd misheard.
"Your brain must be overheated," Gwen muttered, grabbing a nearby water jug and pouring it over Ripjaws's head to help him "recharge."
"I'm serious!" Ripjaws gulped down some of the water, still trying to explain.
"I'll check it out. Stay alert," Buzzshock said sharply.
In a flash of blue-green light, he shot upward like a streak of lightning.
The moment he reached the second floor, Buzzshock stopped dead in his tracks.
A massive figure sat in the corner, silently chewing on a loaf of bread.
The creature had four arms and four eyes, its pale-blue skin covered in knife scars and bullet holes. It looked like a monster born from battle itself, a beast that had clawed its way out of a sea of blood and corpses.
Aside from its skin color, its features were almost identical to Four Arms.
"Hm?" The blue creature sensed the presence of an intruder and turned its head, glaring with feral intensity.
It let out a bone-shaking roar, the ground splintering beneath its feet as it charged straight at Buzzshock...
...
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