"Hahaha! I'll squash you now with one punch!"
Clancy let out a beast-like roar, swinging his massive, cockroach-formed fist toward a glowing red light on the ground. As the red mist dispersed, it revealed a terrifying sight.
Instead of a small hero, out stepped a monstrosity clad in rusted, crimson armor covered in sharp barnacles. His head was a massive, pulsating barnacle with multiple black eyes peering through a shattered metallic visor.
The Deluge-Titan.
"W-what kind of horror is that?" Gwen whispered, gripping her staff. "It looks like something that crawled out of a deep-sea trench."
"Another monster?" Clancy grinned, his cockroach-swarmed fist looming over Tyler. "Looks like you just gave me a bigger target!"
He swung his heavy punch, but Tyler didn't dodge. He simply tilted his head, aiming the "mouth" of the massive barnacle on his shoulder directly at the incoming fist.
BOOM!
A high-pressure stream of water erupted with the force of a hydraulic cutter, instantly piercing through Clancy's arm. Thousands of cockroaches were pulverized into paste; others, drenched and heavy, fell helplessly to the ground, unable to fly.
"No! Fly! Get up!" Clancy screamed in shock as his giant limb disintegrated.
BANG!
Tyler raised his palm, and the barnacle-nozzle in his wrist fired a second jet. It tore through the giant insectoid head of the roach-man like a hot knife through butter.
"Wow... the pressure in this form is insane," Tyler noted, feeling the surging power. "One casual shot is basically a naval cannon."
"Damn it, I need more bugs!" Clancy scrambled toward the nearest sewer manhole.
PSSSSHT!
Water jets erupted from the barnacles on Tyler's feet, acting like hydro-thrusters and launching him into the air. He rained down high-pressure fire as he hovered, punching holes through Clancy's retreating form.
The battle shifted instantly from a city-wide threat to a one-sided execution. Passersby watched in awe as a fifty-foot bug-man was hunted through the streets by a single, red-armored alien.
"Is this a movie?"
"I don't care, that red guy is metal as hell!"
The Final Flood
Clancy stumbled into the outskirts, his will to fight completely broken. "Why... why is he so strong?!"
"Game over," Tyler's voice rumbled. Every barnacle on his body began to vibrate with pressure.
RUMBLE!
He unleashed a synchronized blast. The individual jets fused into a massive, roaring Water Dragon that crashed into Clancy. A localized flood swept through the suburbs, washing away tens of thousands of insects in a drowning river of filth.
Tyler walked through the receding water, standing over a shivering, human-sized Clancy. "Any more tricks? Or are we done?"
"How can a mortal fight a god...?" Clancy whispered, his antisocial spirit shattered. He collapsed into the mud, surrendering on the spot.
[Ding! Host defeated Clancy and dismantled his villainous ego. Progress +1%]
[Template Mastery: 23/100. DNA Unlocked: THE MIND-MIRE & THE AERO-SHELL!]
Tyler smirked. He had four of the Andromeda Five now. If he could unlock The Fallout-Forge (NRG), Vilgax wouldn't stand a chance.
The Shadows of Space
Deep in the void, the Chimerian Hammer drifted. Inside the central hall, a massive cultivation pod hissed, releasing clouds of cryogenic steam.
A panoramic display showed grainy footage of Tyler's battle with Clancy and Ben's antics as XLR8.
"The Omnitrix... they treat it like a toy for their hero games," a deep, domineering voice boomed.
"Lord Vilgax," a mechanical drone knelt. "Shall we hire more mercenaries? Or send the robotic infiltrators?"
The pod door slid open, and a titan emerged. He was several meters tall, his arms as thick as tree trunks, bulging with cybernetic enhancements and raw, green muscle. His face, a mass of squid-like tentacles, twitched with malice.
"No!" Vilgax roared, clenching a fist that could crush a tank. "I will personally execute the boy who carries Azmuth's secret weapon. He is the true threat."
He looked at the image of the red Carnitrix on Tyler's wrist.
"Dispatch the mechanical hunter-units to restrain the weaker one," Vilgax commanded, referring to Ben. "Capture them both in one strike. The era of the Tennyson family ends now!"
The hunt was on.