In the video, Grey Matter was standing there respectfully, brushing Gwen's hair while she sat on the sofa.
She looked completely relaxed, clearly enjoying herself.
"Over here, over here... yeah... gentler, you're hurting me..."
"Mmm, that's it. The pressure's just right."
"Go get me a Coke. Make it ice-cold."
"As you command, Master." Grey Matter obeyed like a robot, following every order without question.
At the end, there was a flash of brilliant light with a thump, and Grey Matter changed back to normal.
"Oh, man, what the heck happened?" Ben said, clutching his head as he slumped onto the floor.
The video ended.
"Well, Doofus, does this prove your head is empty now?" Gwen said with a grin.
Smack!
Ben snatched the camera out of her hands. "I'm deleting all of it!"
"Doofus, give it back!"
Gwen lunged forward to grab it.
And just like that, the two of them were wrestling again, rolling from the sofa to the floor, then from the floor back onto the sofa.
"If you two have that much free time, come help me cut the head off this rice weevil."
Grandpa's voice came from the kitchen area.
The two of them immediately stopped bickering, both letting out a cold snort and pointedly refusing to look at each other.
...
That night, in a secluded residential area.
It was already midnight.
Almost every resident was asleep, and the windows were dark.
But in one dim little house, a faint candle flickered through a broken window, wavering in the night.
Sublimino wore his sunglasses, the eerie candlelight reflected in them. He grinned, showing a row of white teeth.
"Awaken, my servants!"
He pulled out a golden pocket watch and pressed the button on it.
Boom!
A golden shockwave burst from the pocket watch and swept outward in every direction, like a soul-harvesting scythe from hell.
The Rustbucket was within its range too.
Ben, asleep in bed, suddenly opened his eyes. His green eyes were empty and lifeless.
He stood up, pressed the Omnitrix, and slammed it down.
Boom!
In the next instant, he turned into a black-and-green liquid alien.
Upgrade!
"Hey, Ben, where are you going?" Gwen woke with a start.
Upgrade did not answer. He turned into a puddle of liquid, slipped out through the car door, then re-formed outside.
Lucian opened the door and watched Upgrade climbing the giant clock tower, his brow tightening slightly.
"Ben's been hypnotized?"
Upgrade had just gotten his footing atop the tower when a blinding light from above shone down on him.
Whup-whup-whup!
A moment later, the roar of helicopters came from the sky.
"Attention! We're mall security. Put your hands up and surrender!"
Three large helicopters circled near the clock tower, their rotors spinning at high speed with an intimidating presence.
Mounted underneath were machine guns, all of their dark muzzles pointed downward.
"Open fire!"
When the creature failed to respond, the helicopters attacked at once.
Rat-tat-tat!
A torrent of laser rounds forced Upgrade back again and again. He immediately turned into a puddle and spread himself across the top of the tower like syrup poured over ice cream.
"What is that thing?" one helicopter moved closer, trying to get a better look.
Suddenly, the liquid atop the clock tower took humanoid shape again and launched upward.
A mass of black-and-green liquid, like the gaping maw of some monstrous abyss, swallowed the helicopter whole.
The helicopter, once black, was rapidly modified and overlaid with glowing green patterns, giving it a sleek, high-tech look.
Before the other helicopters could react, Upgrade activated the machine guns mounted beneath it.
Rat-tat-tat!
A barrage of green laser fire burst out and instantly shot down the other two helicopters.
This was the middle of the city, with people all over the streets below.
If those helicopters crashed, it would almost certainly cause heavy casualties.
[Alien Hacker mission triggered.]
[Prevent the two helicopters from crashing.]
[Complete successfully to receive a random enhancement.]
A series of notifications sounded in Lucian's mind.
Boom!
A giant towering figure suddenly appeared in the city, standing among the high-rises.
"Way Big!"
With a shout, Way Big strode forward on massive legs, caught the falling helicopters in his hands, and steadied them.
Then he set them down safely in an open plaza, preventing any casualties.
But Way Big's appearance immediately drew a huge crowd of onlookers.
"Oh my God, is that Ultraman?"
"Light. That's light!"
"That giant is huge! So awesome!"
"He saved us. He's a hero!"
"Hero!"
"Hero!"
More and more people gathered beneath Way Big, shouting in amazement and admiration.
Not only that, they pulled out their phones, frantically snapping photos and posting them online, which stirred up even more discussion.
No one knew where this giant had come from, but just from the fact that he had caught the helicopters and saved so many people, he looked just like Ultraman from a tokusatsu show, a symbol of justice and light.
That was why the crowd felt no fear at all.
Way Big stood tall among the city buildings, his long, powerful frame and blade-like red fins at his elbows gleaming with a sharp chill, like a god descending to earth, awe-inspiring and revered.
[Successfully prevented the helicopters from crashing.]
[Way Big enhanced: Flight ability!]
"Hm?" Way Big froze for a second.
Flight? Wasn't that something only Ultimate Way Big was supposed to have?
He had not expected to unlock it this early.
For Way Big, gaining flight was not just a simple boost in combat ability.
It was a complete leap in power.
To put it simply, the old Way Big might have been unbeatable on Earth, but leaving the planet would have been extremely difficult.
But now, with flight and Way Big's ability to survive in the vacuum of space, he could roam the universe freely.
If he wanted, he could blow apart any asteroid with a single punch, and his Cosmic Rays were even more terrifying.
At that point, he could practically run wild across the universe, aside from a handful of ridiculously overpowered races...
Looking around, the streets were already packed solid with spectators.
If he changed back now, he would probably end up being dragged off for experiments.
In that case...
Way Big bent his knees slightly, then shot upward with explosive force, his entire body tearing into the vast night sky.
Within a few breaths, he had vanished from sight.
That only triggered even louder cheers.
"Oh my God, it really must be the legendary Ultraman!"
"It looks just like him, it can fly, and it left the exact same way. It must have gone back to the Land of Light!"
"Ahhh! That was so cool!"
"It sounded like it shouted 'Way Big.' Could that be its name?"
"Way Big, my god!!"
The crowd below grew farther and farther away as Way Big ascended.
Above the clouds, he flew level with the moon, bathed in its pale light.
Then suddenly, he spotted a giant flying clock in the distance.
"That's... Upgrade." Way Big's eyes narrowed.
At that moment, Upgrade had possessed the giant clock, his black-and-green body merged with it.
The clock's two hands were spinning wildly, generating a powerful hurricane that propelled it through the dark sky.
"Ben must be under the hypnotist's control. If he stole that clock, he's probably trying to make some kind of giant hypnosis watch..."
If that was the case, then he might as well follow the trail and catch this so-called hypnosis master.
With that thought, Way Big tapped the Omnitrix, transformed into Big Chill, and chased after the flying clock...