Chapter 22: Battle with Vilgax
Max Tennyson rummaged through the hidden compartments of the Rustbucket, pulling open false panels and sliding drawers until his hands closed around cold, heavy metal. He hauled out a massive, futuristic energy cannon, its core already humming with lethal intent.
"This thing is still keyed to Vilgax's genetic signature," Max muttered, his jaw locked in a grim line. He checked the power cell, the weapon casting a harsh glow over his weathered face. "I hope this time, I can put him in the ground for good."
Gwen hovered nervously behind him, her eyes darting from the terrifying weapon to her grandfather. "Grandpa! Who exactly is Vilgax? What kind of history do you have with a giant alien warlord?" she pressed, desperate to understand the monster her cousins were currently facing down.
"There's no time for a history lesson right now. I'll explain everything once we make sure Vilgax is dealt with." Max racked the cannon, grabbed Gwen by the shoulder, and hauled her into the front seat. He slammed his foot on the gas, sending the Rustbucket tearing down the dirt road toward the battlefield.
...
Back in the forest, the ground shook under the weight of Vilgax's charge. The warlord barreled forward like a runaway freight train, his crimson eyes locked onto his target.
Klein didn't even flinch. He stood perfectly still, a lazy smirk playing on his lips, and casually slapped the dial on his chest.
A blinding flash of ethereal blue light erupted, swallowing him whole. Vilgax plunged straight into the glare, throwing a massive, bone-crushing punch—only to meet a pair of thick, crimson-skinned arms crossed in a defensive block.
A deafening boom echoed through the trees. The sheer kinetic force of the impact launched the newly transformed Four Arms backward. He skidded across the dirt, his heavy boots carving two deep, smoking trenches into the earth for several hundred meters. He smashed through dozens of ancient pine trees, splintering them into kindling before finally grinding to a halt.
Four Arms lowered his guard. His four massive hands trembled slightly, a clear indicator of the sheer, terrifying weight behind Vilgax's strike.
"Heh," Four Arms chuckled, a wide, feral grin splitting his face. Finally, a punching bag that wouldn't break on the first hit.
He bent his knees, the muscles in his thick legs coiling like springs, and launched himself into the air. He shot upward like a ballistic missile, intercepting Vilgax just as the warlord descended.
A sickening crack rang out as Four Arms's upper right fist collided perfectly with Vilgax's counter-punch. The resulting shockwave ripped through the air, instantly flattening every tree and rock within a ten-meter radius into dust.
Without missing a beat, Four Arms threw a vicious left hook aimed straight at the warlord's temple. Vilgax's reflexes were monstrous; he caught the incoming fist with his right hand, his grip like a vice.
But Four Arms had two more arms.
He opened his right hand, seized Vilgax's left wrist, planted his feet, and yanked the warlord forward. With a brutal jerk, he slammed his own forehead directly into Vilgax's tentacled face.
The crunch of the headbutt left Vilgax seeing stars. Before the warlord could even process the dizziness, Four Arms brought his lower two fists driving upward into Vilgax's gut, lifting the massive alien entirely off the ground.
Vilgax doubled over in agony, folding like a shrimp. Four Arms pressed the advantage, pivoting on his heel and delivering a devastating roundhouse kick to the warlord's chest.
Vilgax was sent flying like a ragdoll, crashing through another swathe of timber and plowing a hundred-meter crater into the forest floor.
Gasping for air, Vilgax forced himself up from the dirt. He wiped a smear of glowing blue-purple blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes burning with pure malice.
"Hey, you stinky octopus! Try this on for size!"
A streak of blazing orange shot through the canopy. Heatblast flew circles around Vilgax, leaving a trail of scorching embers in his wake as he unleashed a torrent of concentrated fire pillars.
Vilgax didn't even flinch. He raised his left arm, letting the flames wash harmlessly over his armored gauntlet. With a sudden burst of speed, he leaped into the air, his massive hand snapping out to grab Heatblast by the ankle.
With a vicious roar, Vilgax hurled the fiery alien across the landscape. Heatblast skipped across the ground like a skipped stone, carving deep, molten craters into the earth with every bounce. He plowed a long, smoking trench through the forest before slamming face-first into the sheer rock face of a nearby mountain, embedding himself deep within the stone.
"Oh, man..." Heatblast groaned, grabbing the edges of his own impact crater. He wedged his hands against the rock and pried himself loose with a shower of pebbles, shaking his flaming head to clear the ringing. "This guy plays rough! I'm gonna be feeling that tomorrow!"
"You will not live to see tomorrow!"
Heatblast looked up, his fiery eyes widening in horror. The tentacled face of Vilgax was already looming inches away. Realizing Four Arms was too durable to put down quickly, the warlord had pivoted, deciding to crush the weaker cousin first.
The moment Heatblast pulled himself free, Vilgax drove a brutal punch into his chest, slamming him right back into the mountain. Spiderweb cracks exploded across the cliff face, stretching for dozens of meters.
Vilgax raised his other fist to deliver the killing blow, but a massive red hand clamped around his wrist.
Before Vilgax could react, Four Arms hoisted him over his shoulder and slammed him into the dirt with an devastating suplex. Klein didn't stop there; he straddled the downed warlord, raining down a relentless, four-fisted barrage of heavy blows.
Vilgax's vision swam under the brutal pummeling. Gritting his teeth, he abandoned all defense. He reached up, grabbed Four Arms by the torso, and hurled the Tetramand off him with a desperate surge of strength.
Scrambling to his feet, Vilgax lunged forward, catching Four Arms by the ankles before Klein could fully recover. He spun the heavy alien around like a hammer thrower and launched him deep into the woods.
Vilgax staggered back, his chest heaving as he gasped for breath. His body was battered, oozing blue-purple blood from multiple lacerations, and his twitching muscles indicated that taking Four Arms's punches head-on was taking a severe toll.
A cascade of falling rocks echoed across the clearing as Heatblast finally dragged himself out of the cliff face a second time.
Vilgax instantly locked eyes with the fiery alien and charged. He had completely abandoned the idea of taking Four Arms's Omnitrix. He just needed one.
Seeing the warlord barreling toward him, Heatblast ignored the screaming pain in his rocky joints. He thrust both hands forward, unleashing a blinding inferno in a desperate bid to halt Vilgax's advance.
The warlord didn't even slow down. He waded directly through the white-hot flames, intent on grabbing Heatblast and escaping. If he delayed any longer, he might leave empty-handed.
Realizing his attacks were useless, Heatblast aimed his hands at the ground, blasting a pillar of fire to launch himself into the air. Retreat first! Find his cousin and jump this guy together!
But Vilgax anticipated the move. He leaped with terrifying explosive power, his massive claws reaching for Heatblast's legs.
The distance closed in a fraction of a second. Even pushing his firepower to the absolute maximum wasn't enough to gain altitude in time. Heatblast's eyes narrowed, his panic hardening into pure resolve. If he couldn't run, he was going to fight this overgrown squid to the bitter end.
Cutting his upward thrust, Heatblast angled his flames diagonally, propelling himself downward like a meteor straight into Vilgax's chest!
The fiery tackle connected mid-air, and Heatblast drove the warlord straight down into the earth.
Another massive, ten-meter-deep crater caved into the forest floor.
Heatblast landed on top of Vilgax, his fists igniting as he rained rapid-fire punches down on the warlord's tentacled face.
But the weight class difference was too vast. In a fluid, brutal motion, Vilgax reversed the grapple, flipping Heatblast onto his back and pinning him to the dirt. The warlord raised a fist and brought it down hard, stunning the fiery alien.
Vilgax's hand shot out, his thick fingers closing in on the Omnitrix dial glowing on Heatblast's chest.
Before he could pry the device loose, a blinding beam of concentrated energy slammed into Vilgax's side, blasting him off Heatblast and sending him tumbling across the clearing.
Heatblast snapped his head up, his fiery face lighting up with relief. "Grandpa! Gwen!"
The smoke dispersed, revealing Vilgax slowly rising to his feet. His crimson eyes locked onto the older man holding the smoking energy cannon. "You... Tennyson! You have ruined my plans for the last time!"
Vilgax coiled his muscles, preparing to lunge at Max, but the heavy, rhythmic thud of massive footsteps echoed from the tree line. Four Arms was charging back into the fray.
Realizing he was outgunned, battered, and out of time, Vilgax tapped the communicator on his wrist. "Activate the main cannon!" he roared, his voice dripping with venom. "Flatten this entire sector!"
Enraged by the humiliating beating he'd taken from Four Arms and the constant interference, Vilgax decided to forfeit the Omnitrixes for now. He would just vaporize them all and sift through the ashes.
Four Arms, Heatblast, and Max snapped their heads upward. High above the clouds, Vilgax's massive warship broke through the atmosphere, its colossal hull slowly rotating to aim its primary weapon directly at their coordinates.
When they looked back down, Vilgax was already retreating, grabbing onto a descending mechanical drone that quickly hoisted him into the sky.
Klein watched the warlord flee. He didn't bother chasing. Instead, his four hands moved in unison, slapping the Omnitrix dial on his chest.
An ethereal blue light erupted, washing over the entire forest.
"Way Big!"
High above, dangling from his drone, Vilgax looked down and felt a cold spike of genuine terror pierce his chest. "A To'kustar?!" he gasped, his tactical mind short-circuiting. He frantically punched the controls on his drone, urging it to fly faster.
Down below, Way Big planted his massive feet, the earth groaning under his weight. He slowly raised his arms, crossing them in an 'X' formation, and aimed directly at the descending warship.
High in the sky, the warship's main cannon fired—a devastating, orange-red wave of annihilation meant to wipe the forest off the map.
At the exact same moment, Way Big unleashed his cosmic ray. A blinding, light-blue beam of pure cosmic energy erupted from his crossed forearms.
The two beams collided in mid-air with an apocalyptic roar. The resulting shockwave ripped through the atmosphere, instantly flattening everything within a thousand-meter radius.
Down on the ground, Heatblast quickly grabbed Gwen and Max, throwing up a dome of fire to shield them and the Rustbucket from the sheer concussive force.
The beam struggle lasted for less than a second.
With overwhelming, god-like force, Way Big's light-blue cosmic ray completely crushed the orange-red energy wave, pushing it straight back up the barrel of the warship's cannon. The beam pierced the hull, and a heartbeat later, the giant battleship detonated in a spectacular, blinding explosion, shattering into millions of pieces.
...
"...and then, boom! The whole ship just went up in flames! It's a real pity that octopus-head managed to scurry away in the end, though."
Back inside the safety of the Rustbucket, Ben sat on the dining booth, wrapped in several layers of medical gauze. Despite looking like a mummy, he was animatedly waving his arms, recounting the thrilling climax of his and his cousin's battle against Vilgax to Max and Gwen.
He suddenly stopped, leaning across the table and pointing an accusatory finger at his grandfather. "By the way, Grandpa, you can't dodge the question anymore! You have to tell us everything about Vilgax and what exactly you were doing when you were young!"
Max sighed, setting down a cup of coffee. He looked at the eager faces of his grandchildren. Although Vilgax hadn't been captured, the warlord had lost his ship and taken a severe beating. Judging by his hasty retreat, he wouldn't be showing his face again for a long while.
A rare, nostalgic smile touched Max's lips. He was actually in a rather good mood. "Well, I suppose it's time. It all started back when I was a young man. Back then, I..."
Klein leaned back against the worn leather of the passenger seat, his arms crossed behind his head, listening quietly as Max recounted his glorious past. Gwen sat beside him, completely engrossed in the tale, while Ben interjected every few minutes with an exaggerated gasp or a barrage of questions.
Outside, the tires hummed against the asphalt. The Rustbucket cruised steadily down the highway, leaving the cratered battlefield behind as it headed toward their next stop.
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