A boiling orange light surged from Ethen's body, forcing the old Plumber to step back and raise his laser rifle cautiously.
Before him stood Feedback, towering nearly two meters tall.
The energy plugs on his hands gleamed like metal gauntlets, his head-tentacles crackled like electric whips, and every inch of his muscular body radiated power.
His fierce, glowing orange eyes locked onto Phil, the Plumber veteran.
Phil swallowed hard, suddenly feeling like prey before a primeval predator.
He hastily reloaded and pulled the trigger—
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A barrage of laser blasts shot toward Feedback!
"Yeah! It's Feedback!" Ben yelled excitedly from the side. "He's gonna absorb the energy and counterattack!"
"Oh no—he can absorb energy?!"
Phil froze, panic flashing across his face as he watched.
But Feedback didn't move to absorb the energy at all. Instead, he simply crossed his arms—
BOOM!
The blasts struck his body harmlessly as his head-tentacles lashed out, slicing through the lasers like lightning!
With another flick, he shattered several more laser bolts.
"...What the—?" Phil's eyes widened in disbelief. "He broke them?!"
"The energy's too weak," Feedback said coldly. "It's not even worth absorbing."
"I'll just crush it instead!"
He tilted his chin upward arrogantly, electricity crackling around his arms as his tone grew bold and commanding.
He was above it all. Too proud to even absorb trash energy!
"Waaah!!!"
Stinkfly burst free from the net that had trapped him earlier, flying straight to Feedback's side, eyes shining.
"You're so awesome, Feedback!! I'm your biggest fan!"
Ding! New Mission: "Old Plumber Phil's Unreasonable Demands."
Objective: Old Plumber Phil has attacked a mysterious alien without reason. Teach him a lesson!
Reward: 5 reward points.
Feedback smirked and took a step forward. "Listen up, old man. I won't even use my hands or feet. If you can stop me—then I'll let you go."
"Are… you kidding me?!" Phil roared, reloading again and firing a flurry of laser blasts.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Feedback's tentacles whipped out, slicing the blasts apart.
The plugs on his tentacles gleamed like blades as they shredded every energy wave with ease.
He kept walking forward, effortlessly dodging split laser beams as if they were nothing.
"That all you got?" His tone dripped with arrogance.
Phil frantically swapped parts and energy cells on his gun, firing every kind of round he had—but none of it made a dent.
He couldn't even scratch the alien.
This was absolute dominance.
"I feel like even Vilgax back in the day wasn't this terrifying!" Phil muttered, drenched in sweat, backing up against the wall.
Bang!
Feedback stood right in front of him, grinning darkly.
BOOM!
He lifted one hand and drove a charged plug straight into Phil's chest plate.
The impact shattered the old Plumber's uniform, and the remaining force sent Phil flying across the room.
"Ding! Mission complete. Reward +5 points."
Feedback lowered his arm and said calmly, "You calm now?"
Phil groaned from the ground. "Who hits someone first and then asks if they're calm?!"
"Forget it, Ethen," Stinkfly said, landing beside him. "Besides, this old guy's acting weird. He might be a Plumber too."
Feedback shrugged. "You got ambushed, but if you say stop, I'll stop. Your call."
When standing up for someone, you had to respect their decision—otherwise, it just made things worse.
Just then, Grandpa Max entered the warehouse, saying as he walked, "Ethen, Ben, I heard there was an alien here. Should I contact Plumber HQ to apprehend him—"
"Max?!" Phil's head shot up.
Max blinked, then smiled in recognition. "Phil! Hah, long time no see! What's going on here?"
Ethen blinked. Oh no… they knew each other.
Outside in the parking lot, Phil put on a new Plumber suit and sealed Megawatt into his trunk.
He turned to Max with a stiff smile. "Max, I won't stay and chat. I need to call HQ and send Megawatt back to the Null Void."
"Alright," Max said with a laugh. "Seems you and Ethen got to know each other the hard way."
Phil's expression twitched. He turned toward Ethen, muttering, "Kid, you might be strong, but you're still just a probationary Plumber. Show some respect next time!"
Ethen ignored him completely.
Phil's eye twitched, but he said nothing more and climbed into his vehicle.
As the Rustbucket rolled out, Phil chuckled to himself.
"Max, you're still driving this old thing? You know we senior Plumbers can afford luxury cars now."
"Haha, I'm used to it," Max said casually.
Phil's smirk faded once they were gone. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, muttering under his breath.
"I don't get it. Two kids, both with Omnitrixes… what is this, a two-for-one sale at Walmart?"
He winced at the pain from Feedback's punch, anger burning in his chest.
"Even if you're a probationary Plumber, you should show respect to your elders! Brats these days!"
Inside the Rustbucket, Ben fumed. "Ethen caught Megawatt! And what's wrong with being a probationary Plumber? He's saved tons of people already!"
Ethen leaned back in his seat, calm as ever. "Ben, if someone badmouths you, either ignore them and move on—like I did—or tell them off and forget about it. No point dwelling on it."
"Keep remembering it, and you're just letting them live rent-free in your head."
Ben nodded slowly, trying to take it in.
But Grandpa Max's expression turned serious. "More importantly, I'm worried about how Megawatt escaped. He was imprisoned in the Null Void by the Plumbers. Someone must've released him."
Ethen frowned, remembering pieces of the old storyline—Kevin, Vilgax, and the others. But Phil's part… that was blurry.
The car fell silent for a long moment.
Then suddenly—
Bzzzzt!
The radio crackled to life.
"Max!" Phil's panicked voice came through.
"Two massive Vulpimancer creatures just showed up at a food plant! I can't handle them alone—I need backup!"
Ethen smirked. "That old guy's definitely up to something."
No doubt about it.
...
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