Chap 32 Aftermath
"Everyone, hurry up and remove all the egg pods from inside," Four Arms shouted, no longer bothering with the dissolving aliens. He leaped heavily toward the spaceship entrance and addressed the three people inside. "Get them out now."
Max, Ben, Gwen, and Four Arms quickly began moving the remaining special egg pods outside the spaceship. It only took them a minute to haul every pod into the center of the cavern. Even the ones hidden deep inside the crashed ship were dragged out and piled together.
During the process, they also witnessed the remaining aliens, terrified by the water, fleeing in every direction like panicked rats!
When all the pods were finally moved outside and arranged neatly, the remaining aliens saw their opportunity.
as the surviving Limax realized they couldn't fight, they did the only thing left.
They retreated into the ship. While no one guarded the spaceship, they rushed inside frantically.
Four Arms didn't bother chasing down the remaining aliens. They were obviously terrified and just wanted to escape home.
Besides, killing them wasn't necessary, and even if he rushed in to fight them, with so many of them packed into the spaceship, a real battle inside would turn into a chaotic brawl with no guarantee of victory.
He glanced down at the Omnitrix symbol on his chest. The transformation time was almost up. No point continuing this fight.
BOOM!
After all the surviving aliens scrambled aboard their spaceship, the door slowly sealed shut with a hydraulic hiss. The engine roared to life inside with a thunderous rumble!
"Is that spaceship actually taking off?" Gwen stared at the spacecraft with wide, curious eyes. This was the first time she'd witnessed an alien vessel launch!
"Alright, we've driven off the evil aliens again!" Ben patted his chest proudly, a grin spreading across his face.
"Rio, Ben, Gwen, you're all heroes." Max looked at the three of them with genuine approval, his tone filled with affirmation. They had truly rescued this town. They'd earned his recognition!
"Thank you, Grandpa," Rio answered without arrogance, showing only a small smile of satisfaction.
Ben's face lit up with excitement, holding his hands together. This was the first time he'd been recognized like this by others—by his grandfather, no less!
Even Gwen, surprisingly, didn't quarrel with Ben. She simply accepted the praise in silence, a faint blush on her cheeks.
VRRROOOOM!!
At that moment, the spaceship's engines ignited fully. Brilliant rays of light flashed from its hull, and scorching lines of fire erupted from the bottom thrusters, burning the ground and sending up bursts of smoke. The spacecraft lifted from its position, breaking through the rock formations above and creating a massive opening that led straight to the surface!
In moments, the spaceship disappeared into the sky, positioning itself to leave the solar system. The terrified aliens vowed never to return to this "dangerous" place again.
Rio, who had just transformed back into his human form, didn't know yet that in the minds of those aliens, he had become a cosmic gangster.
"Rio, these egg pods are too difficult to move to the surface with just our strength alone!" Max said, assessing the situation. "This cave is a considerable distance from the surface. With so many people down here at once, oxygen could become scarce. More importantly, we can't let everyone know about the existence of aliens."
Max gave Rio a meaningful look.
"Grandpa, give me a few minutes and I bet we won't have to do so much work."
He pulled out his phone, switched to camera mode, and aimed it at the pods. "Help identify the residents and project their home addresses."
A smooth, synthetic voice replied:
> Acknowledged. Mapping identities and residences now.
Names and apartment numbers began popping up on-screen.
"In the meantime, let's move these to the entrance."
After a few minutes, the family of four managed to haul every pod to the entrance of the cavern.
Just as Rio was setting down the last one, the Omnitrix beeped. Its faceplate flickered from yellow to a steady, glowing blue.
Rio's lips curved into a thin grin. "Perfect."
He slammed the dial down.
FLASH!
In a flash of blue light, the Omnitrix sank into his arm. A sharp jolt shot up his spine. His legs snapped backward, black chitin spreading over his skin like armor. His feet split into two sharp talons anchored by a stabilizing ball joint.
Rio's head stretched back as a helmet-like shell formed over it, a visor sliding down over his eyes. A tail extended from his rear, snapping like a whip.
His clothes morphed into a tight black suit with blue streaks cutting along the sides, the Omnitrix symbol glowing on his chest.
When the light faded, XLR8 stood where Rio had been. Wind picked up around his feet before he vanished in a streak of blue.
To Ben and Gwen, it looked like the air itself bent around him as he darted through the tunnels—slicing open pods with his sharp claws, catching unconscious seniors, and racing them back to safety.
Less than five minutes later, he was back, skidding to a stop in a gust of wind.
"All done," Rio said, his voice slightly distorted through XLR8's visor.
He grabbed Gwen and Ben before either could protest, then blurred through the tunnel in a rush of wind. In less than a heartbeat, they were back at the garbage dump where they'd first entered.
WHOOSH!
Then he entered again and brought Max out.
It was still night, around two a.m. The desert air felt cool against the sweat and grime clinging to their skin.
The group quietly returned to Vera's home, autonomously understanding to not talk about the near world-view flipping episode as they each went to rest in their designated rooms.
The next morning soon came and the family started their routines as if nothing happened the night before.
It wasn't that the kid didn't want to talk about it but more that this was not the time and place to talk about it, Ben and Gwen being older then in the original work also played a role as they were a bit more sensible about the situation.
But that still didn't stop them from completely behaving like the kids they were.
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"Authors note"
Well i can understand you have been angry that its been a long time since i uploaded, well i hit the writers block and well couldn't sustain my writing style, you may have noticed from start till now that my writing style had changed multiple times, even I don't know how but it just happened and as a result i am not able to maintain a constant progress in writing.
Till next chapter.