Ben 10: Carnitrix Without Downsides?

(Error Ghostfreak)

Zack controlled his alien body, breaking free from Earth's gravity as he soared into the sky toward the five hovering drones.

The drones immediately locked onto him, turrets swiveling into position.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Deep red laser beams cut through the night, blazing with searing heat as they blasted toward Zack!

His mutated, bloated form wasn't exactly built for agile dodging—there was no way to evade that many beams.

"Try this!"

He thrust both arms outward, tearing open the gaping wound in his chest even further. Blood-red tentacles burst forth!

Dozens of crimson tendrils flailed and lashed through the air, violently slamming into the incoming laser blasts.

Each laser beam was shattered into fragments on impact — completely neutralized by the monstrous tentacles.

"Those things are tougher than steel? You've got to be kidding me…" Grandpa Max stood below, staring in disbelief.

"No way… this one's even scarier than the last!"

Ben's jaw dropped as he stared up at Zack, horrified.

Wait a second—The alien that scared me unconscious…

Was the cutest-looking one on your Carnitrix, Zack?!

Zack continued rising into the air, steadily improving his control over the Carnitrix's writhing tentacles.

They no longer flailed about chaotically—instead, they tightened into a coordinated formation, forming a shield that cleanly intercepted the incoming laser blasts.

As a result… Not even the smoke from the beams reached him!!

Every shot was blocked by that blood-red barrier.

Once Zack and the drones reached the same altitude—He suddenly appeared to falter. His tentacles spread wide, and many of them began retracting as if he were losing strength.

The drones immediately seized the opening, launching a full barrage of their remaining laser energy at him!

"Oh, I've got the hang of it! You can't touch me now! Heeh~~"

Zack lifted his head slowly, his eyes cold, and a creepy smile spread across his face.

Whoosh!

His body shimmered—and then suddenly became translucent.

The lasers passed straight through him, flying harmlessly into the distance before erupting in explosions far away.

"Target… vanished?"

One by one, the drones ceased firing.

They could no longer detect Zack's energy signal.

"Game time's over."

Zack floated steadily in front of the drones, completely calm.

Whoosh!

The moment his flickering, semi-transparent form solidified and dematerialization ended, the drones instantly locked onto him—

SPLAT!

Zack suddenly tore open his chest, and a wave of tentacles burst outward, snapping through the air like giant fly swatters, smashing into the drones with brutal force!

The terrifying military drones were swatted away like insects—

Slamming into the ground and trees, exploding into pieces on impact!

The most outrageous part?

One of the drones exploded right in front of Ben, nearly taking him out too!

"Hey, hey! Zack, you almost blew me up too!"

Ben flinched and shouted, still shaken.

"Oh?"

Zack's horrifying ghost-like face turned toward Ben, and he muttered with genuine remorse, "Sorry about that. Heeh~"

"…"

Ben's body trembled slightly as he lowered his head. "N-No. My bad."

Huh? Why you apologizing too?

"Alright, let's finish off the rest of—huh? They're all gone?"

Zack glanced around. The area had gone completely silent—unnaturally quiet. Not a single drone remained in sight.

Just now, in an instant…

Had he really wiped out all the drones?

Damn. Not even swatting five flies is that fast.

"The rest are all over here."

Ben's mouth twitched as he pointed to the scattered remains—robot heads and debris littering the ground around his feet.

He suddenly had a weird feeling…

If he kept running his mouth, his head might end up rolling next.

Ding! Host has defeated five drones and caused Vilgax to become wary — template progress +1!

Template progress: 3 / 100. Physical abilities significantly enhanced.

Significant enhancement of physical functions?

Zack was taken aback."Sounds great… but I don't feel anything different in my body."

Ding! This reward will activate once the host reverts to human form.

Zack nodded in sudden realization. "Got it."

He didn't plan to waste the remaining transformation time. Turning toward XLR8, he smiled as gently as he could manage.

Unfortunately… that demonic grin stretched all the way to his ears.

Ben immediately snapped to attention, instinctively tense.

"Ben, let's try to get more familiar with our alien forms now—so we don't panic when the real fights start."

Zack offered kindly.

"Alright!" Ben shouted—before bolting off at full speed.

After the two spent some time adjusting to their alien bodies, their transformation timers finally ran out.

Zack returned to the ground as red light shimmered around him.

And the moment he reverted back to human form—Ahh~!

He could feel it.

The strength in his limbs surged. His movements became lighter. Every step felt more powerful than before.

Even his muscles had visibly developed—bulging slightly beneath his shirt!

So this is the physical boost from the template? This is awesome!

Zack clenched his fists in excitement, then walked over to Grandpa Max and helped him up—actually managing to lift half of his weight with ease!

"Haha! Grandpa's fine, don't worry about me."

Grandpa Max gave Zack a satisfied look, nodding with approval. "You're getting strong fast—almost as strong as I was back in my prime..."

"That strong?"Zack muttered under his breath, then called out in his mind, "System, open the template!"

_________

Host: Zachary "Zack"

Age: 11

Template: Carnitrix  

[Transformation Duration: 10 minutes] 

[Cooldown Duration: 10 minutes]

Progress: 3 / 100

Skills: None

Items: None

Aliens Unlocked: Initial Ten

Physical Status: Strong Adult Level

_________

Holy crap…

Zack's Physical Status had jumped straight to Strong Adult Level!

Even better—if his base form grew stronger, then his Carnitrix aliens would also become more powerful as a result!

This upgrade wasn't just personal—it was a full team buff. Absolutely satisfying.

But what's this about Vilgax becoming wary? What kind of trouble is that octopus-head going to stir up now?

Zack narrowed his eyes slightly, a sense of alertness rising in his chest.

"Uh… why is Bookworm still unconscious?"

Ben asked with mild concern.

"She… was just scared by all the fighting earlier."

Grandpa Max answered, quickly shifting the topic to avoid hurting Zack's feelings.

"I'll wake her up."

Zack snapped back to the moment, then walked over to Gwen with a determined look on his face.

"I'll use… Artificial respiration!"

...…

Meanwhile, aboard the Highbreed warship…

Inside a bio-cultivation pod aboard the warship, the incomplete Vilgax stared intently at the large electronic display in the command hall, his face twisted in rage.

The screen was replaying the footage on loop—The brutal destruction of all five drones… by Zack.

Five elite drones, completely annihilated.

"What… what kind of monster is this?!"

Vilgax took a deep, shuddering breath, his eyes fixed on Zack's horrifying Ghostfreak form. He couldn't help but mutter the words aloud.

He truly hadn't expected there to be two Omnitrixes—

And especially not one like this… a version he'd never seen before.

A version that was downright terrifying.

Even Vilgax, a monster by anyone's standard, was calling him a monster.

"Send more forces to Earth. I want to test this creature's actual combat capabilities!"

At this point, Vilgax's goal wasn't just to recover the Omnitrix.

Now, he had a new priority: To evaluate the true power of this corrupted alien tech—this Carnitrix.

"Azmuth… you sneaky old bastard," Vilgax growled. "Secretly developing something like this."

"Yeah—and the guy claims to love peace."

"Azmuth… I swear, I really want to curse that smug little genius."

Around him, Vilgax's subordinates all began cursing Azmuth's name, calling him a fraud and a hypocrite.