"What do I want?" Kevin snorted and clenched his fists. "To beat the crap out of you, obviously!"
The moment the words left his mouth, blazing flames erupted from Kevin's powerful left arm.
Then he threw a heavy punch straight at Vilgax's face.
"You're asking to die!"
Vilgax flew into a rage and answered with a punch of his own.
Boom boom boom!
The two immensely powerful monsters exploded into a fierce battle on the massive rock.
Wave after wave of violent shockwaves burst out from the center of the battlefield, shattering countless floating rocks nearby with deafening force.
Many ferocious beasts were so frightened by the terrifying commotion that they scattered in all directions, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
Kevin had a vicious temper, but Vilgax was no easy opponent either. Both were furious now, and neither was willing to give an inch.
"You worthless genetic hybrid freak. How dare you provoke me? I'll make you regret it!"
Vilgax leaped into the air, lifted his thick leg, and slammed it down onto Kevin's shoulder.
Boom!
A terrifying force crashed down on him, as if ten thousand wild bulls were pressing on his shoulder at once.
Kevin could barely withstand it and dropped to one knee on the rough rock.
"You octopus-head freak, what gives you the right to laugh at me!"
Kevin gritted his teeth, turned his arm into a blade, and slashed at Vilgax's thigh with lightning speed.
But when the crystal blade struck Vilgax's leg, it was like an egg hitting a boulder, laughably fragile.
Clang!
With a crisp sound, the diamond blade shattered into countless green fragments that scattered across the ground.
Vilgax sneered. "Hah. You only inherited one-tenth of the power of the Petrosapiens. With an attack that weak, you think you can hurt me?"
"Shut up!"
Kevin raised his hand and gathered scorching flames, about to unleash a fire dragon.
Screeeech!
Suddenly, a piercing cry rang out from the distant reaches of the Null Void.
Both of them jolted and turned toward the source of the sound at the same time.
Against the blood-red horizon, a dense swarm of figures appeared, their wings beating nonstop. From far away, they looked a little like... bats?
Vilgax's eyes narrowed as if he had realized something. "This is bad. It's the Null Guardians!"
"What are those?" Kevin scratched his head. He had never heard that name before.
But he saw clearly soon enough.
They were a group of monsters that looked like some horrifying cross between bats and octopuses.
They had no eyes and no noses, wings growing from their backs, and gray-white skin. Their terrifying fangs opened and closed like cutting machines, giving off shrill, grating cries.
Their tails were made of writhing tentacles that swayed in the air like an octopus's arms, making anyone who looked at them shiver.
"Hah, they're just a bunch of little rats. Watch me roast them alive!"
Kevin condensed a huge fireball and hurled it savagely into the middle of the swarm.
Boom!
The blazing fireball exploded like a miniature sun.
In a single strike, it wounded several Null Guardians.
But that only scorched their outer skin. The Null Guardians had thick hides and sturdy bodies, and ordinary attacks could not truly injure them.
Otherwise, they would not qualify as the "prison guards" of the Null Void.
Without real strength, they could never keep these vicious alien criminals under control.
Screeeech!
Kevin's fireball had clearly enraged the Null Guardians.
More than fifty massive Null Guardians filled the sky, swarming from all directions as they closed in on the two of them.
"You idiot! These Null Guardians aren't like those little Havoc Beast grunts. You can't take them down with one punch!" Vilgax shot Kevin a glare.
"Hmph. Then what do you suggest?" Kevin snorted and stopped trading insults with him.
Obviously, Vilgax knew the Null Void much better than he did. There was no point fighting him right now.
Of course, once they got out, that would be a different story...
Kevin was already thinking that after they captured Ben Tennyson and Lucian and escaped the Null Void, he would settle the score with Vilgax properly.
At the same time, Vilgax sneered inwardly.
Once he captured Ben Tennyson and got the Omnitrix, he would get rid of that damned Kevin 11 for good and remove the threat once and for all.
The two of them were each making one move with eight hundred schemes behind it, all smiles on the surface while secretly ready to stab the other in the back at any moment.
Looking at the incoming Null Guardians, Vilgax gave a light cough and said seriously, "Actually, there is a way to tame the Null Guardians..."
"Oh? Let's hear it."
...
Southwestern Null Void.
A gigantic earth-brown stone mountain floated in the blood-red sky.
On top of it lay the wreckage of an old spaceship, riddled with holes and covered in rust.
Because the energy passage had been unstable, Four-Armed Humungousaur and Diamondhead had been sent straight here after entering the Null Void.
By now, both of them had returned to normal.
"Oh man~ We got locked up in this godforsaken dump. So how are we supposed to get back?" Ben sat hunched over on the ground, scratching his head in frustration, looking miserable.
"Don't panic, Ben. Grandpa and the others will come save us," Lucian said with a smile.
According to the original storyline, Grandpa would build a transmission passage outside, then send Gwen in to rescue Ben from the Null Void.
But before that, they had to stay on guard against Vilgax and Kevin 11 so the Omnitrix would not be taken from them.
Thankfully, after Ben's random tinkering, his replica Omnitrix could now switch seamlessly between heroes without any time limit.
That was undoubtedly a huge advantage.
Lucian had not messed with his Omnitrix the same way, so he had not gained unrestricted hero switching, but he could use the hero fusion function.
Combined with two hero switches, that was already more than enough.
"Check enhancement data," Lucian said inwardly.
[Transformation Duration: 15 minutes (under normal conditions)]
[Seamless Switch Count: 2]
[Fusion Transformation: After activating the fusion function, two Alien Heroes can be freely combined into one.]
[Diamondhead: Crystal hardness increased by 25%, crystal control enhanced.]
[Four Arms: Strength increased by 20%.]
...
Rustle rustle!
Suddenly, strange noises came from outside the ship.
Ben's eyes shifted, and he quickly looked out the window.
The next second, he froze.
"C-Cuz..." Ben stammered.
"What is it?" Lucian walked over and looked outside.
A group of little red monsters with sharp teeth and astonishing speed were charging into the ship.
"It's the Havoc Beast." Lucian's gaze sharpened.
These alien creatures were small, but incredibly fast and highly destructive. They were experts at wrecking things.
"Looks like they're coming for us." Ben clenched his fists. "Four Arms is up!"
As he spoke, he pressed the Omnitrix and was about to slam it down.
"Wait." Lucian stopped him, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I've got a better idea."
"What idea?"
"Watch."
Lucian pressed the Omnitrix, switched heroes, and slammed it down.
Thunk!
A dark green flash streaked across the blood-red sky.
A terrifying zombie suddenly appeared in front of Ben...