Chapter 226: You Said This Thing is a Baby?
Kevin slammed the brakes, skidding his prized muscle car into a secluded alley well out of the collateral damage zone. "Hey! How could I miss out on a fight?!" he shouted, hopping out. He gave the pristine hood a loving, protective pat before sprinting toward the chaos, fists clenching as he prepared to absorb whatever material he could find.
The massive green behemoth found itself completely surrounded. Standing over three meters tall, the creature shifted its weight nervously, its emerald skin rippling with thick, corded muscle. Clearly flustered by the sudden ambush, it puffed out its chest and unleashed a deafening, guttural roar. The shockwave rattled nearby streetlamps—a desperate, blustering attempt to intimidate the group closing in on it.
"Stop yelling! I don't understand a word you're saying!" Ben bellowed, his voice booming through the heavy, dinosaur-like vocal cords of Humungousaur. He planted his massive feet, charged forward with earth-shaking strides, and threw a devastating right hook.
He wasn't exaggerating about the language barrier. Theoretically, the Omnitrix's universal translator could decipher nearly any intelligent alien dialect in the galaxy. Yet, against this particular creature, the advanced piece of extraterrestrial tech was drawing a complete blank.
Ben figured the green giant's species might just communicate through primal grunts and roars, similar to a Vulpimancer like Wildmutt. If the Vaxasaurian-morphed teen had realized he was actually wailing on a literal infant, his confusion would have cleared up instantly. After all, universal translator or not, babies simply didn't know how to speak yet.
But in the heat of the moment, diplomacy was off the table. Humungousaur closed the distance in three massive bounds. He pulled his right arm back, muscles bulging beneath his thick, armored hide, and unleashed a haymaker.
A dull, heavy shockwave echoed through the air as the fist connected with the creature's jaw. Unable to react in time, the green behemoth was launched off its feet, skidding backward across the dirt for a solid thirty meters.
"Ow... Roar!" it wailed, tumbling into a heap. It rubbed its jaw, wincing in obvious discomfort, yet the thick green skin didn't show a single bruise. It was completely unharmed.
Shaking off the blow, the giant scrambled back to its feet. It let out two frustrated, high-pitched cries before digging its massive hands into the earth. With a terrifying display of raw strength, it ripped a boulder the size of a two-story house straight out of the ground, hoisting it high above its head to crush the brown dinosaur.
Before it could throw the massive projectile, a sharp, crackling zap split the air. The green creature, entirely focused on Humungousaur, never even noticed the shadow eclipsing the sun.
Klein, fully transformed into Shocksquatch, was plummeting from the sky like a furry, electrified meteor.
Shocksquatch clenched his right fist. Arcs of intense, golden electricity coiled tightly around his thick, muscular arm, crackling with millions of volts. His rapid descent tore through the air, leaving a blinding golden trail that sliced the sky in half.
The dazzling, electrified fist slammed directly into the center of the hoisted boulder.
The massive chunk of rock instantly detonated into a shower of harmless gravel and dust. The sheer kinetic force of the aerial strike, combined with the blinding flash of golden lightning cascading downward, left the green behemoth completely stunned. Its wide eyes stared upward in pure disbelief. Paralyzed by the sudden destruction of its weapon, the creature could do nothing but watch helplessly as that same golden fist continued its downward trajectory, planting itself squarely into its face.
The impact cratered the earth. Shocksquatch's punch drove the giant face-first into the dirt with the force of a localized earthquake. Brilliant golden lightning exploded outward, covering a radius of dozens of meters. The electrical currents whipped and snapped across the ground like a nest of golden pythons, scorching the earth and leaving trails of rising smoke.
At this moment, several hundred meters away, safely hidden behind a ridge, a completely different group was watching the chaotic spectacle unfold.
"What should we do, Commander?" one of the DNAliens hissed, its grotesque, misshapen face twitching with indecision as it lurked in the deep shadows.
This green behemoth had brazenly stolen their primary mining power core. The DNAliens had tracked the beast down, fully intending to slaughter it and reclaim their stolen tech. What they hadn't anticipated was running face-first into Klein, Ben, and their heavily armed entourage. Judging by the absolute beatdown currently taking place in the crater, stepping out of the shadows now wouldn't just result in a beating—it would be a guaranteed death sentence.
Honestly, the DNAliens were thoroughly sick of these meddling kids. Why aren't they out hunting the squads committing actual murder and arson? the commander thought bitterly. Why are they always bothering us honest, hard-working miners?!
The DNAlien commander slumped his shoulders, looking utterly depressed. He vividly recalled the strict orders handed down by the Highbreed: 'You will quietly complete your work. Do not draw attention.' This subterranean mining operation was critical to the Highbreed's grand design. It absolutely could not be discovered, let alone destroyed by a bunch of super-powered teenagers.
There was no other choice. Without the power core, their heavy electric drills were useless, but resorting to pure, manual labor with steel pickaxes wasn't entirely impossible. It would just be agonizingly slow.
Sensing their commander's resignation, the rest of the DNAlien squad didn't feel an ounce of shame in retreating. Survival took priority. Under the commander's silent gesture, the grotesque mutants turned their backs on the battlefield and slinked away into the darkness, heading back to the mines to swing pickaxes.
Back in the crater, the green giant lay flat on its back. After taking the full brunt of Shocksquatch's electrified punch, its massive limbs twitched sporadically. It kicked its thick legs in the air a few times, entirely overwhelmed by the lingering static shock.
Then, its lower lip quivered.
"Ooh... Waaaaah! Ah ah ah... Woohoohoo!"
A deafening, ear-splitting wail erupted from the creature's throat. It wasn't a roar of anger; it was the unmistakable, high-pitched sobbing of a toddler throwing a massive tantrum. The sound was anything but pleasant. It echoed across the landscape, grating against the eardrums like a siren.
"What the hell is wrong with this guy?!" Kevin yelled, clamping both hands tightly over his ears to block out the piercing wails. He cautiously stepped closer to the edge of the crater to inspect the crying behemoth.
The moment Kevin entered its reach, the green giant's massive hand shot out. It casually grabbed the Osmosian by the ankle and hoisted him into the air like a ragdoll.
It slammed Kevin face-first into the compacted dirt.
"Ow! Son of a—that hurts!" Kevin groaned, his vision swimming with stars. Before he could even attempt to absorb the earth beneath him to armor up, the giant began thrashing him around. Left, right, up, down—Kevin was repeatedly smashed into the ground like a chew toy in the jaws of a hyperactive dog.
"Kevin!" Ben shouted.
Fortunately, Humungousaur wasn't about to let his buddy be tenderized into a fine paste. He charged back into the fray, his heavy footsteps shaking the ground as he prepared to tackle the green giant and force it to drop his friend.
With a mighty roar, Humungousaur launched his massive, dinosaur-like frame through the air, pouncing directly at the creature.
Seeing the incoming threat, the green giant panicked. Acting on pure, childish instinct, it pulled its 'toy' close to its chest, subconsciously using Kevin as a makeshift human shield.
Humungousaur collided with the giant, and Kevin took the absolute brunt of the impact, violently sandwiched between several tons of alien muscle and thick, armored hide.
Watching from the sidelines, Shocksquatch winced, his furry face scrunching up in sympathy. He couldn't even begin to imagine the sheer, bone-crushing agony of being caught in the middle of that collision.
"Ben... you... idiot..." Kevin wheezed, his voice barely a strained whisper as the air was forcefully expelled from his lungs.
Miraculously, the Osmosian hadn't breathed his last. His strained gasp finally made Humungousaur realize the catastrophic error in his rescue tactic.
"Oh, crap! My bad, man, I'll get off right—"
Before Humungousaur could finish his apology, the green giant recovered. It pulled back a massive fist and clocked the Vaxasaurian squarely between the eyes. The sheer force of the blow sent Humungousaur tumbling backward, flipping head over heels until he crashed into a nearby rock formation.
Bored with its toy, the giant casually tossed Kevin aside, letting him flop onto the dirt like a discarded sack of potatoes.
Seeing his team getting tossed around like bowling pins, Shocksquatch sighed. He couldn't just stand by and watch this farce continue. Crackling with fresh arcs of golden lightning, the massive Gimlinopithecus took a slow, deliberate step forward.
The moment the green giant saw the electrified yeti approaching, its eyes went wide with sheer terror. Its primitive mind instantly recalled the devastating pain of that aerial punch, along with the terrifying, tingling agony of millions of volts surging through its nervous system.
All the fight drained out of the creature in an instant. It immediately dropped to the ground, curled into a tight ball, and wrapped its massive arms protectively over its head.
"Waaaaah!" The constant, pathetic sobbing resumed, echoing from beneath its thick arms.
"What's wrong with it now?" Shocksquatch muttered, his deep voice rumbling with confusion. He powered down the electricity coursing through his arm, halting the punch he had been preparing to throw.
A soft hum of pink mana filled the air. Gwen descended gracefully from the sky, her glowing energy platforms dissipating as her boots touched the ground. She stepped up beside Shocksquatch, tilting her head as she carefully examined the cowering, weeping behemoth.
"Klein," Gwen said softly, her brow furrowing in realization. "I think... I think it's acting like a baby."
"You're telling me this thing is a baby?" Shocksquatch deadpanned. He pointed a thick, furry finger at the three-meter-tall mountain of green muscle currently bawling its eyes out in the dirt. He looked at Gwen, his expression dripping with absolute disbelief.
"I think she's right," Gwen insisted, gesturing to the creature's erratic, tantrum-like behavior. "Think about it. That perfectly explains why neither your Omnitrix nor Ben's could translate its language. It's not speaking an obscure alien dialect. It's just babbling because it literally hasn't learned how to talk yet."
Shocksquatch stared at the crying giant, utterly silent for a long moment as he processed this absurd revelation. "Alright," he sighed heavily. "Then what do you suggest we do with it?"
"How about... we try to send it back home?" Gwen offered, her tone laced with sympathy.
"I'd rather just leave it here and make it someone else's problem," Shocksquatch replied dryly. He took a heavy step toward the green giant, causing the massive creature to flinch and shiver in absolute terror.
Satisfied that the overgrown toddler was thoroughly cowed and wouldn't dare try another attack, Shocksquatch tapped the Omnitrix dial on his chest. A brilliant flash of blue light washed over the area, and the towering electric yeti instantly morphed back into Klein's relaxed, human form.
Klein dusted off his jacket, a sudden, calculating glint flashing in his dark eyes. "However... maybe we can squeeze some benefits out of this situation."
He crossed his arms, his mind racing. If this three-meter-tall wrecking ball was genuinely just an infant, it definitely hadn't traveled to Earth alone. Its parents had to be somewhere nearby. In that brief second, a flurry of highly questionable, villainous concepts—kidnapping, extortion, ransom demands, and maybe a little light robbery—flashed through Klein's pragmatic brain.
He quickly waved off the darker thoughts. He was just mentally trolling himself. Still, extracting a hefty 'finder's fee' or some rare alien tech from the giant's parents wasn't entirely out of the question. After all, he would be doing them a massive favor by returning their lost child in one piece.
A faint, amused smirk tugged at the corner of Klein's mouth. He turned back to Gwen, his lazy demeanor returning in full force. "I changed my mind. I suppose it wouldn't kill us to play babysitter and send it back while we're at it."
Just as he agreed, a flash of green light illuminated the background. Ben, having timed out of his Humungousaur form, limped over to the group. One of his arms was draped over Kevin's shoulder, supporting the battered, bruised Osmosian who looked like he had just gone ten rounds with a freight train.
Both boys stared blankly at the crying three-meter giant, then at Klein and Gwen.
"Uh," Ben muttered, blinking in confusion. "What exactly did we miss?"
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