"The Sanguine Spark."
Tyler whispered the name to himself as he charged out of the shack. Inside the amusement park, chaos reigned. The Buzz-Shocks were living up to their reputation as intergalactic pranksters, short-circuiting rides and using terrified tourists as literal lightning rods. The park owner lay on the ground, seemingly resigned to the destruction as the tiny batteries trampled him.
"Asking for it!" Tyler let out a static-filled roar. His tiny, skeletal body flickered with red light as he shot forward like a crimson meteor.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
He slammed into the Buzz-Shocks one by one, his jagged form hitting them with the weight of a lead pipe. As they tumbled painfully to the ground, a massive shadow loomed over them. Ben, transformed into The Quad-Crusher, scooped them up and hurled them back toward the giant yarn ball.
"Traitor!" the Buzz-Shocks shrieked in unison. "The scary one is a traitor!"
Enraged, the remaining dozen creatures surrounded Tyler, their bodies crackling with high-voltage yellow electricity. "Just try it," Tyler growled, a sinister grin splitting his skull-like face.
The Buzz-Shocks dove in at high speeds, using their numbers to wear Tyler down. Every time he knocked one back, another took its place. Slowly, the red glow on Tyler's body began to fade as his energy reserves were depleted.
"Hehe... once you're out of juice, we're going to tear that mask off!" a Buzz-Shock cackled.
Ben tried to help, his massive four arms swatting at the air, but the creatures were too fast. Tyler's glow finally winked out. He reached for the Carnitrix dial. "Fine. If you won't listen to the small guy, let's see how you handle The Volt-Siphon."
CLICK.
As Tyler's fingers brushed the dial, every Buzz-Shock in the air froze. Their mischievous smiles vanished. Their limbs went numb.
Tyler looked up, confused. He hadn't even pushed the button yet. His terrifying, skeletal face stared directly into the eyes of the lead Buzz-Shock.
"G-G-GHOST!"
"He's a nightmare! Run for your lives!"
The Buzz-Shocks broke. They didn't just flee; they collapsed in terror. Several even tried to burrow into the fur of Ben's Quad-Crusher form just to hide. It was the second time Tyler's horrific appearance had won a battle for him without firing a single shot.
"I'm starting to think I should charge for the trauma I cause," Tyler muttered.
With the "Ghost Spark" scaring them into submission, the Buzz-Shocks were easily herded back into the yarn ball. The incident was over, but Tyler's mind was racing. He noticed the System remained silent—the Buzz-Shocks were too low-level to grant progress through combat alone.
"Mr. Ghost... thank you," the park owner said, walking over.
"Call me The Sanguine Spark," Tyler corrected him, still in his tiny form. "What's the deal with these things?"
"They've been here for years," the owner sighed. "Locked up, escaping, destroying... it never ends."
Tyler looked at the yarn ball and then remembered the empty underground base he had cleared out during the Sludgepuppy encounter. A plan formed—a way to be a hero and satisfy the watch.
Half an hour later, Max and Gwen watched in awe as The Volt-Siphon flew across the sunset, trailed by a long line of obedient Buzz-Shocks. They followed Tyler out of the city and into the deep desert garbage dump.
Tyler opened the hidden hatch to the former Sludgepuppy base. The Buzz-Shocks gasped as they saw the vast, high-tech underground playground.
"Is this... for us?" one asked, tears of electricity forming in its eyes.
"It's your new home," Tyler said, his voice deep and resonant. "I'm sealing the entrance. No humans to bother you, and you don't bother the town. Deal?"
"DEAL!" they cheered.
Tyler, switching to Diamondhead, moved a massive slab of reinforced steel over the entrance, fusing the edges with crystalline heat. The Buzz-Shocks were safe, and so was Sparksville.
[Ding! Host has relocated the Megawhatts and altered their fate. Progress: +1%]
[Template Mastery: 16/100. DNA Unlocked: The Sludgepuppy!]
"The Sludgepuppy?" Tyler leaned against the dumpster, watching the stars. "I guess I'm starting to collect the 'villain' DNAs now." He felt a rare sense of genuine pride. For once, he hadn't just survived a nightmare—he had made someone's life better.
The next morning, as the Rustbucket pulled away from the park, Max took a long look in the rearview mirror. "That anomaly in the warehouse yesterday... it wasn't fate, Tyler. It was greed."
"Insurance fraud?" Tyler asked, catching on.
Max nodded. "The owner knew those creatures would break things. Every time they 'escaped,' he got a massive payout from the insurance company. He kept them as slaves for his bank account."
Tyler reclined in his chair, a small smile on his face. "Then I didn't just find them a home. I emancipated them."
"You did good, Tyler," Max said.
Tyler closed his eyes. Being a hero occasionally didn't feel bad at all—even if he looked like a monster while doing it.