Tyler twisted the doorknob with a polite click, but the heavy blast door remained sealed. He began knocking rhythmically, his voice muffled but eerily calm. "Can the person inside please open the door? We need to talk."
Inside the bridge, Slagel and his remaining mechanical cadres huddled in the corner, shaking. They wouldn't have opened that door if the universe depended on it.
BOOM!
The steel door buckled and flew inward as Tyler, in his Quad-Sunderer form, drove an elbow through the center. The flying metal slab pinned a droid to the wall, crushing it instantly.
"Don't come any closer!" Slagel shrieked, cowering as Tyler stepped into the room with a manic, toothy grin.
Tyler's head suddenly jerked to the side. A laser bolt from a hidden droid grazed his neck. Without even looking, Tyler reached out, his hand piercing through the droid's chest cavity. He pulled out the mechanical core and crushed it. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he hurled the metallic scrap like a bullet, let it pierce through the remaining droids until the room was silent.
"Hehe... it's time for the 'main course'," Tyler whispered, walking toward Slagel.
"I'll send you back! I'll use the teleporter!" Slagel begged, his voice cracking. "Please, just spare my life!"
"Alright," Tyler smiled gently. "Let's part ways as friends."
Slagel, desperate for hope, frantically operated the controls. Tyler stood by, watching with predatory interest as the teleportation coordinates were locked onto Earth.
"Okay, I'm sending you—"
Tyler's hand clamped over Slagel's. "I've learned it now."
Before Slagel could scream, Tyler morphed into The Glitch-Worm. His liquid-metal form consumed the console, hijacking the ship's logic. A beam of teleportation light descended, but it wasn't aimed at Earth. It enveloped Slagel.
"You love teleporting people for fun, don't you?" Tyler's voice echoed through the ship's speakers. "Let's see how you like the Sun."
WHOOSH!
Slagel vanished. Millions of miles away, the Arena Master was instantly vaporized in the heart of a star. "Cremation at its finest," Tyler laughed.
At the escape pods, Technorg and the other gladiators were scrambling into ships. "Ben, come on! We have to go!" Technorg urged.
"I'm waiting for Tyler," Ben insisted, though his legs were shaking.
Eventually, the gladiators fled, leaving only one pod behind. When Tyler finally emerged, his aura of Slaughter Protocol was so thick that Ben couldn't even look him in the eye.
"Why didn't you leave?" Tyler growled, his face twisted with killing intent.
"We... we have to go together!" Ben stammered. "Even if you scare me, I'm taking you back to Earth!"
Tyler paused. For a single heartbeat, his humanity flickered through the madness. He turned his back to Ben. "Get in the pod. Now."
"But—"
"GO!!" Tyler transformed into The Velocity Wraith, his roar shaking the hangar.
Ben scrambled into the pod and initiated the launch. As he drifted into the void, he looked back at the massive cruiser. A heaven-piercing light erupted from the center of the ship.
CRUNCH.
The entire Slagel Arena was torn apart from the inside out as a 100-meter-tall demonic titan broke through the hull. Standing proudly in the vacuum of space, The Cosmic Horror loomed over the wreckage.
"He's... he's going to jump back?" Ben whispered.
Tyler, in his Way Big form, spread his limbs. Under the Full Calibration of the Carnitrix, his DNA was evolving. He tapped into the hidden potential of the To'kustar race—the ability to manipulate cosmic currents.
WHOOSH!!!
Tyler didn't just jump; he flew. He became a red-and-black streak across the stars, catching up to Ben's escape pod in seconds. He reached out and gently caught the ship in his massive palm, carrying Ben toward the blue marble of Earth.
Through the glass, Ben looked up at the giant's face. Tyler glanced back, his golden eyes still burning with the remnants of the Slaughter Protocol. Ben immediately sat down and stayed very, very still.
Back at the Rustbucket, Max was pacing the dirt, sweating. "They've been gone too long, Gwen. What if they're in trouble?"
"Grandpa," Gwen smiled, though her hands were trembling as she clutched her Lucky Charm. "The people who caught them are the ones in trouble. Just wait."
The door pushed open. Tyler walked in, smelling of ozone and blood, looking utterly exhausted. Ben followed behind him, looking like he'd seen the end of the world.
"We're back," Tyler said simply.
Ben looked at Tyler, then at Max, his voice a whisper. "Grandpa... I finally know how he beat Vilgax. And I'm never... ever... telling anyone."
New Transformation Logs
The Arachno-Simian (Spider Monkey Variant)
Traits: Six-eyed, blue-furred primate with four arms and a spiked tail.
Ability: Corrosive Silk. Tyler's version spits webs that aren't just strong; they are coated in an acid that dissolves organic matter on contact.
The Hurricane-Grave (Terraspin Variant)
Traits: A Geochelone Aerio with a shell made of graveyard-cold stone.
Ability: Vacuum Vortex. Instead of just blowing air, it sucks the oxygen out of the surrounding area, suffocating enemies before shredding them with gale-force winds.
30+ chapters are available now and daily updates! @patreon.com/Authorzero