The air in the mine rippled with the heat of the transformation!
A short, round, and strangely adorable Upchuck appeared on Ben's side, blinking his large eyes. "Wait... am I the frog? Tyler, look at me! I'm a gourmet!"
"And I'm your chef," Tyler rasped. In his Static-Drake form, he looked like a demonic conductor of lightning, his fangs glinting in the dark.
One stood tall and jagged, the other short and round—both masters of energy manipulation. Ben's tactical growth was evident; he wasn't just slapping the watch and hoping for the best anymore; he was picking the counter-play.
"It's them!" Vulkanus roared, his alloy-reinforced armor clanking. "The brats actually came to us!"
Sixsix clicked his mandibles in a sneer. "As long as he doesn't use that invisible ghost form, we can crack them open like eggs!"
BOOM!
Sixsix raised his modified laser carbine, firing a deep blue shockwave of Element X energy. It was enough to level a skyscraper.
"Feeding time!" Tyler strode forward, thrusting his hands into the beam.
BANG!!
The shockwave didn't explode; it hissed as Tyler's fingers acted like lightning rods, frantically devouring the radioactive blue energy.
"He can absorb raw Element X?!" Sixsix shrieked, his sensors red-lining in shock.
"Kill the toad first!" Vulkanus punched the ground, sending a blue energy fissure tearing toward Ben.
"Toad?" Ben's cheeks puffed out with indignation. He leaped into the path of the blast, opening his mouth wide. He swallowed the entire fissure in one gulp. His belly distended for a second, glowing blue, before he let out a satisfied belch.
"Ben, let's finish this," Tyler rumbled. His body began to glow with a golden intensity that rivaled the sun.
"Together!" Ben shouted, opening his maw.
RUMBLE!
A golden solar beam and a toxic green energy wave collided with the villains. Sixsix and Vulkanus fired back with everything their Element X weapons had, but they were barely holding the line. Tyler clenched his fists, twisting the golden current into a high-speed drill that pierced through their defenses and sent Sixsix spiraling into the rock wall. Ben's "unleashed" blast shattered Vulkanus's plating, tossing the giant like a ragdoll.
"When it comes to energy," Tyler said calmly, "we are your masters."
"Hmph," Ben pouted, de-transforming. "I was a few seconds slower than you. Again."
"You celebrate too early!" Vulkanus walked out of the dust, his armor shimmered with a metallic luster. Thanks to the Vibranium-Grade Alloy, they were functionally invincible to standard attacks.
"Their defense is too high," Tyler noted. "How do we crack that shell?"
"Forget weakening them!" Ben yelled, a gamer's grin on his face. "If we just skyrocket our attack power, their defense becomes zero by default! Buff me, Tyler!"
Sixsix and Vulkanus began spamming long-range Element X bolts, trying to exhaust the boys. Tyler and Ben stood back-to-back, absorbing every drop of power.
Suddenly, Ben waddled over to Tyler. He didn't fire his stored energy at the enemies; he spat the entire concentrated blue-green mass into the large copper-colored plugs on Tyler's tail!
"Holy crap, Ben! You're trying to overclock me!"
Tyler's body became so bright he was indistinguishable from a star. He had entered an Energy-Singularity Form.
"FIRE!!"
"CALAMITY CANNON!!"
RUMBLE!
The sky-cannon erupted, a flood of white-hot lightning that engulfed the mine. Sixsix and Vulkanus didn't even have time to scream before their "invincible" armor and their bodies were reduced to atoms.
Tyler collapsed onto the ground, his skin cooling as he reverted to human form.
[Ding! Host defeated Vulkanus and Sixsix and neutralized the Element X weapon. Progress +1%]
[Template Mastery: 38/100. REWARD: ELITE VANGUARD COMBAT MASTERY (Legendary Plumber Skills)!]
A flood of data surged into Tyler's brain. He saw visions of a thousand battlefields across the galaxy. He learned the pressure points of a hundred alien species, the internal mechanics of every Plumber weapon, and the survival tactics for extreme planetary environments.
"With this..." Tyler whispered, clenching his human fist. "I don't even need the watch to take down a high-tier threat."
He was now an Elite Vanguard—the peak of Plumber combat capability.
As the sun set, casting a bloody hue over the mine, the Galactic Enforcers approached. Ultimos handed two shimmering medals to the boys.
"Tyler, Ben," Ultimos said, giving them a sharp salute. "You are the true heroes of this sector."
"Heh," Tyler murmured, looking at the medal. "I feel like I've heard those words from a guy in a red-and-blue suit before."
"We'll meet again," Ultimos promised, as the Enforcer ship ascended into the stars.
Ben looked at his medal, then at Tyler. "Next time, I'm the one giving the buff."
Tyler just laughed. "We'll see, Ben. We'll see."
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