"Breaking news! The armored car hijacked by the gang is a Federal Reserve transport! High-speed pursuit in progress!"
On the highway, a GTA-style chase was reaching its climax. Police cruisers were being systematically neutralized by robbers leaning out of the back of the armored truck, firing high-tech laser rifles.
"Ha! We're rich! After this, I'm retiring to a private island!" the lead robber laughed.
CLANG!
Before the rear doors could shut, a blue-and-black streak blurred inside.
"What the—?! Some kind of bug-monster?"
"Everyone who doesn't want a broken jaw, jump now," Ben, as XLR8, said calmly. "Oh, I see you've chosen the hard way."
In a blur of afterimages, the robbers were neutralized and tossed onto the asphalt. Ben brought the truck to a screeching halt and posed for the news helicopter circling overhead.
"He's getting a real ego," Gwen muttered from the Rustbucket, which was trailing behind.
Tyler smiled, glancing at his Carnitrix. "I was going to step in, but Ben's actually getting the hang of that watch."
CLICK.
The Carnitrix screen popped up on its own, displaying The Deluge-Titan. Tyler's brow furrowed. This isn't for the robbers. Something else is coming.
BOOM!
The news helicopter above exploded into a ball of fire, struck by a concentrated beam of energy from the sky.
"Who did that?!" Ben snarled, looking at the falling wreckage.
Seven or eight Bio-Mechanical Drones hissed out of the smoke, diving toward the highway. Inside his command ship, Vilgax's subordinate watched the feed. "The weaker shapeshifter is isolated. Deploy the parasitic units."
The drones didn't attack Ben directly. Instead, they latched onto the unconscious robbers on the ground. Within seconds, the criminals' bodies were encased in crimson armor, their eyes glowing with a mindless, cybernetic fury.
"I feel... powerful!" one robber roared, his arm morphing into a heavy cannon. "The voice says I can kill the alien now!"
The Bio-Mechanical Robbers lunged, and Ben, caught off guard, was quickly overwhelmed and pinned to the pavement.
"Grandpa, stay back!" Tyler shouted, leaping from the Rustbucket. He slammed the Carnitrix.
WHOOSH!
The red light of the Carnitrix was blinding. The Deluge-Titan emerged, his barnacled armor dripping with a viscous, crimson liquid. He didn't fire hot water; he fired a pressurized chemical solvent—a unique, corrosive mutation of the Pyronite/Orishan DNA mix.
A single jet struck one of the mechanical robbers. The man didn't just fly back—his cybernetic armor dissolved instantly, and he collapsed, withered and neutralized.
"One down," Tyler's voice rumbled through his barnacle-head. "Who's next?"
The remaining five drones froze. Even in their programmed rage, they felt the predatory aura radiating from the red-armored giant.
"Cough—thanks for the save, Blood-Siphon..." Ben groaned from the ground, still trying to name Tyler's terrifying forms.
Suddenly, a shadow the size of a mountain blotted out the sun. A massive, oval-shaped drop-pod slammed into the highway right on top of Tyler.
The impact shattered the concrete for fifty yards. Tyler was buried instantly under tons of rubble and the weight of the spacecraft.
"TYLER!" Ben screamed.
"Worry about yourself, boy," the mechanical robbers sneered, closing in on Ben.
CRACK!
The pod's hatch hissed open. A titan stepped out. He was a mountain of augmented muscle, his breathing heavy and mechanical. His crimson eyes scanned the destruction.
"Has the second shapeshifter been crushed?" Vilgax rasped.
Inside the Rustbucket, Max's face went pale. "Vilgax... he's here personally. And he's ten times more powerful than the last time we met."
Max turned to grab Gwen, but his seat was empty. "Gwen? GWEN!"
On the highway, Gwen stood alone before the conqueror. She wore the red cloak, her staff glowing with a fierce light. Her teeth were gritted in fury. "You... where is Tyler?!"
Vilgax looked at her with indifferent malice. "I am looking for him myself. Do you wish to join him in the rubble, ant?"
"Go to hell!" Gwen screamed, unleashing a barrage of mystic fireballs.
Vilgax didn't even flinch. The flames washed over his skin like a light breeze. He swiped his hand, and the force of the air alone sent Gwen tumbling back. He reached out a massive, tree-trunk-sized hand to seize her. "If I hold you, the mouse will come out to play, won't he?"
RUMBLE!!!
A geyser of red, lava-like water erupted from beneath the crashed drop-pod! The pressurized stream hit Vilgax square in the chest with the force of a tidal wave.
The galactic tyrant was caught completely off guard. His feet left the ground, and he was sent skidding back across the highway like a stone skipped across a pond.
Tyler crawled out of the crater, his barnacled armor steaming but intact. "Gwen, get back to the car."
Gwen wiped a tear from her eye, smiling despite the chaos. "I knew you were fine... I just needed to buy you a second to regroup."
Tyler turned his four eyes toward Vilgax, who was slowly standing back up, a look of genuine shock on his face.
"Now then," Tyler growled, his barnacles vibrating with lethal pressure. "Let's see how many worlds you've actually conquered, 'Lord' Vilgax."
The Deluge-Titan (Carnitrix Water Hazard)
Unique Ability: Acid-Pressure. Unlike the standard form's hot water, Tyler's version shoots a red, chemically-altered liquid that acts as a universal solvent, melting through high-tech alien alloys.Tactical Update: Tyler is the first being in the series to physically move Vilgax in a 1-on-1 encounter.