Ding!
Template progress: 2 / 100. Unlocking Carnitrix variant: Error Ghostfreak!
A glint of excitement appeared in Zack's eyes, his smile twisting with anticipation.
"I can even unlock Ghostfreak? As expected of the Carnitrix template!"
Perfect control over the Carnitrix…
Meant doing what the original Omnitrix never could.
"Also," Zack muttered to himself, "I remember that all Carnitrix aliens are supposed to be weaker than the originals due to corrupted or incomplete DNA. So… is Ghostfreak also a bit weaker?"
He asked silently in his mind.
Affirmative, the system replied coldly. But the Carnitrix variant of Ghostfreak is an exception.
"Wait… so it's just as strong?"
Error Ghostfreak — stronger.
Zack inhaled sharply, resisting the urge to jump again on the spot. Instead, he turned and quietly walked over to wake Ben.
Ben slowly opened his eyes… only to find Zack's ghostly alien face just inches from his own.
He let out a piercing scream. His eyes rolled back, and he nearly fainted again.
The monster in front of him looked even scarier than the clown he feared most.
"…"
Zack looked at Ben, paused for a moment, and said slowly, "Heeh~~ Get up in three seconds, or I'll tear up your precious Sumo Slammers cards… and then touch your controller with potato chip–covered fingers."
"Monster…"
Ben muttered, but he slowly stood up, flames still flickering around his body.
His face was filled with fear, but his tone had become resolute. "I'll never let you lay a hand on my two-dimensional friends!"
The wrath of the 2D world!
Boom!
Boom !
With a strange sound, two beams of light shot through the trees, and the silhouettes of two kids emerged from the glow.
Zack and Ben exchanged a glance.
"I told you it was me. Do you believe me now?" Zack waved casually, sounding exasperated.
"Oh my goodness…"
Ben took a deep breath, stunned. "Your alien is like some kind of Demon King from the Sumo Slamers game!"
Compared to Zack's alien, his own transformation seemed like a well-behaved kid!
"Alright, let's go tell Grandpa about this."
Zack patted Ben's shoulder and started walking him back toward the campsite.
Judging by the timing… Vilgax's drone bots should be arriving soon.
———
At the campsite.
An adult and three children sat around the campfire as one of the boys animatedly recounted the events with dramatic flair.
"So that's what happened! I got scared unconscious by Zack's alien — total Demon King vibes — and then I realized it was him and walked back with him."
Ben spoke with lingering fear, wiping cold sweat from his forehead.
He was genuinely afraid he'd have nightmares tonight.
"Haha, Dweeb, the watches you and Zack picked up are definitely cool… and your imagination's even cooler~"
Gwen teased him, clearly not taking any of it seriously. "If there really was an alien Demon King, I'd love to see it for myself!"
"Don't go crying and wetting your pants when you do!"
Ben shot back immediately, puffing up as his competitive streak kicked in.
And just like that, the familiar rivalry between them reignited into playful bickering.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the fire…
A burly old man in a Hawaiian shirt — Grandpa Max — muttered in disbelief, "Did my two grandkids just take a casual stroll to Azmuth's place or something? They both ended up with Omnitrixes?! That's insane!"
And then…
Grandpa Max looked at the seemingly harmless Zack in surprise. "What exactly do you mean by 'Demon King'?"
"Haha, it just… looked a bit intimidating, that's all."
Zack laughed awkwardly. He had just made his debut — and he was already being called a Demon King?
Not long after—
To prove Gwen wrong, Ben raised his wrist and activated the "little broken watch," which had just finished cooling down. "I'll transform right now! Still don't believe me?"
"Ben, how about you transform into the same alien I used earlier?"
Zack grinned and pointed at the Omnitrix, clearly having some fun with it.
Besides, altering the plot like this would help him earn more template progress anyway.
"Alright… that guy's called XLR8! Yours was like… MonXTR or something!"
Ben's naming sense was still as creative as ever. He twisted the Omnitrix dial until he found XLR8.
With a confident slap—Fwoosh!
A green light burst out.
A tall alien with a sleek, streamlined build and a sharp, serious expression rose from the glow beside the campfire.
He looked at Gwen… and gave her a calm smile.
Gwen immediately screamed, grabbed a wooden stick from the ground, and swung it toward Ben's head!
"You actually dare to hit an alien?!" Ben was stunned, raising his arm to block the blow."It's me! Ben, you nerd!"
"I… I didn't think what you said was actually true…"
At that moment, Gwen finally and fully accepted the reality — aliens really did exist.
But now…
Both Gwen and Grandpa Max turned their attention to Zack, curiosity deepening in their eyes.
They had seen an aliens now, and honestly, it wasn't that scary.
But this so-called Alien Demon King Zack had transformed into…
What on earth would that look like?
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Suddenly, in the sky above, the sound of high-speed aircraft roared overhead!
Beams of red infrared light dropped from above, targeting the foreheads of Grandpa Max, Zack, and the others.
In an instant, Grandpa Max moved on instinct — he lunged forward, tackling Gwen and Zack to the ground!
Ben, meanwhile, looked up at the night sky—his expression suddenly shifted.
There were no stars in the darkness above.
Instead, five octopus-like drones hovered overhead.
Each drone was armed with military-grade turrets, their infrared sensors locking onto Ben in an instant.
"Omnitrix signal detected."
"Hey, tin cans,"
Ben muttered as he slowly stood, staring at the drones."This is private property. No drones allowed!"
Zoom! Zooom! Zooooom!
The turrets on the drones began glowing red, laser cannons humming with energy.
Ben's playful expression vanished. With a sharp twist of his feet, he slid sideways and bolted for cover!
BOOM!!
Five beams of laser fire ripped through the air, exploding just behind him. The blasts tore apart trees and lit up the night with violent shockwaves.
The firepower was intense — enough to make his skin crawl.
There were way too many of them!
"I'm still here, Ben."
Zack stood up calmly, already prepared. He raised the Carnitrix, its surface glowing ominously.
Zack tapped the Carnitrix screen, twisted the dial to Ghostfreak, and slammed it down without hesitation!
At that exact moment—"???"
The drones suddenly halted their attack. For a second, they seemed confused, their sensors locked onto Zack.
How could there be…
Two Omnitrix energy signals?
Wait—this one's signal was even stronger than the other!
"That's what Ben called.. Demon King?"
Grandpa Max and Gwen both looked up at Zack in disbelief.
As the red light washed over the area, a massive Ghostfreak slowly floated into view.
His form towered nearly two meters tall. His claws, shaped like grim reaper scythes, radiated a sense of raw destruction.
But the most horrifying part…
Zack's chest looked torn open — a massive hole from which dozens of crimson-red tentacles and bone-like spikes writhed and pulsed outward.
His entire presence…
Looked like something pulled straight from a Cthulhuian nightmare.
"Gwen, Grandpa… it's alright now. Heeh~"
Zack slowly lifted his distorted, monstrous face — his skull still twitching and rotating slightly as he spoke.
Thud!
Gwen dropped to the ground, completely unconscious.
Grandpa Max caught her in his arms, then turned his head away without a word. "Zack… go handle it."
Ben was far too optimistic.
This wasn't some Demon King.
This was a Demon God.
"Alright then," Zack murmured, looking up at the drones overhead."Let's see just how strong Error Ghostfreak really is."
He could feel the terrifying energy pulsing through his alien form — it surged in his chest and limbs like liquid power.
To him, those five drones floating in the sky… Were nothing more than scrap metal!