12: Play Fights With Krakken For Template Progress!

"If I wanted to join the Plumbers now… wouldn't it be as easy as flipping my hand?"

Zack muttered to himself with a grin, a trace of smugness tugging at the corners of his lips.

"E-Extraterrestrial Sir!!"

At that moment, a battered poacher lying on the deck suddenly called out to him, his voice weak and trembling.

Zack turned to look at him. "What? Haven't had enough of a beating? Or are you trying to beg for mercy to dodge your jail time?"

The poacher shook his head feebly. "N-No… the ship… it's still drifting. If no one takes the helm, it might crash! Please—just let us dock it…"

"Shut up. I'll handle it."

Zack cut him off, then reached for the Carnitrix on his chest. With a twist of the dial and a flash of crimson light, he transformed once more.

This time, a small black-and-white alien appeared—short, sinister-looking, with narrowed eyes and a permanent V-shaped grin that made him look like he was always scheming.

"They say the ones who smile are luckier..."

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Crack!

Without delay, Zack split into multiple Ditto clones—each one instantly moving to a different part of the large ship, taking over navigation and system controls like a perfectly trained crew.

Despite the chaos, the entire vessel was now under complete control, smoothly adjusting course toward the dock without a hitch.

The large vessel quickly docked. Nearby, panicked tourists had already begun calling for help, so the police had arrived early on the scene.

One by one, the officers escorted the captured poachers away in custody.

On the deck of the ship, Zack's figure had long since vanished—something that actually made the authorities breathe a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, back at the smaller boat—

As Captain Shaw's vessel reached the shore, Zack and Ben stood up and gave each other a triumphant high five, both of them grinning.

"That was awesome. Our teamwork was on point this time," Ben said with a proud smile, then added with a sigh, "It's just a shame I didn't get to take down a powerful enemy like the lake monster myself."

Zack nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah… a strong enemy…"

"Wait! Zack, when did you learn how to drive a boat? And that smoothly, too?" Grandpa Max asked, clearly impressed.

"This watch gave me the skills," Zack replied seriously, raising the Carnitrix on his wrist.

"What the heck! My watch doesn't teach me anything—it's just a regular busted old watch!" Ben protested.

"Maybe someone's just too much of a blockhead to figure out how to use their own gear properly," Gwen remarked with a smirk.

And just like always, Ben and Gwen were back to bickering within seconds.

It wasn't until Captain Shaw finally woke up that the lake had long since returned to its peaceful state, and everyone could resume their original fishing plans.

Of course, Captain Shaw was still troubled by one thing: how exactly had he been scared unconscious in the first place?

…

That night, the stars sparkled brilliantly across the sky.

Zack quietly stepped out of the Rustbucket and made his way to the lakeshore.

He inhaled a deep breath of the cool night air, and suddenly, a thought struck him."I'm leaving tomorrow… I might as well take this chance to challenge the lake monster! If Ben's right, that thing is definitely a strong opponent!"

Just following the original plot and fighting small-time villains wasn't going to cut it anymore. His template progression would only get slower.

That meant one thing: take the initiative—seek out stronger enemies and speed things up!

"Big lake monster… where are you?"

Zack stared out over the still, moonlit lake, preparing to transform and begin his search.

Bang!!

A flash of green light suddenly burst beside him, and a sleek, fast-moving figure zipped to his side!

"XLR8?! Ben, why are you transformed right now?" Zack looked over in surprise, recognizing the alien instantly.

"Zack!" Ben's mask slid back as he deactivated his transformation, his voice full of determination. "I got wrecked too badly today… I want a rematch with that lake monster!"

Zack gave him a skeptical look. "You sure XLR8 is the right choice for this?"

Ben grinned confidently. "Come on, I believe in XLR8! What, you gonna start calling me a meathead like Gwen does? You don't think I know how to use my aliens properly?"

Eight minutes later—

"Zaaaack!!"

Ben tore across the lake's surface at full speed, and behind him… was the furious Kraken, giving chase like a sea-bound missile.

"I'm almost out of time—help me!!"

Zack sighed, annoyed. "Seriously? You went after a lake monster without a plan? Fine—this is what you should use to fight something in the water!"

With that, Zack leapt onto the lake's surface. The moment his body hit the water, the Carnitrix Watch flared with red light!

A towering, blood-red figure erupted from the lake!

Massive. Muscular. Monstrous.

His jaw was filled with razor-sharp teeth, and his four sinister eyes gleamed—each with twin pupils staring in different directions.

His entire body was a wall of raw, bulging muscle—stronger and more grotesque than even Four Arms himself. This wasn't just a brute force alien.

This was Zack's terrifying new evolution:

"Tetra-Terror, ready to brawl!"

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Ben jumped behind Zack in a panic. "I thought using XLR8 would mean the Kraken couldn't hit me—but turns out I can't land a hit on her either! So frustrating!"

Zack stood tall, planting all four feet solidly on the lake's surface."Leave it to me. I've been wanting a proper match with this lake monster anyway."

He flexed all four of his massive arms, spreading them wide, ready to meet the Kraken head-on.

BOOM!!

The Kraken slammed into Zack's chest with tremendous force—but Zack only staggered slightly before regaining balance, holding his ground with ease.

His strength… surpassed the Kraken's!

Agitated by the failed impact, the Kraken roared and began thrashing harder, launching into a relentless close-range assault, trying to overpower Zack through brute force.

Zack grinned. "If it's just a test of strength… that's boring."

But then—Images began flashing through his mind: combat maneuvers, wrestling takedowns, techniques from the Apprentice Plumbers training archive. His body moved instinctively, guided by muscle memory and perfect precision.

With a sudden pivot, Zack wrapped two arms around the Kraken's body and twisted.

WHAM!!

With explosive strength, he hurled the twenty-meter beast clean off the water's surface—sending it sailing through the air!

The Kraken flailed mid-flight, eyes wide with disbelief as it stared back at Zack.

Wait… they were just supposed to be pushing each other, weren't they?

"Oh my.. Why the heck are you pulling off advanced moves like this now?!"

Ben stood on the water, wide-eyed.

Zack grinned, four powerful arms extended as he cracked his knuckles. "What's the matter, lake monster? Never seen wrestling before?"

With fluid precision and overwhelming strength, he grabbed the Kraken once more and hurled her over his shoulder.

Then again.

And again.

He moved like a seasoned pro, every throw clean and calculated—turning the Kraken into a ragdoll.

Human close-combat techniques, combined with monstrous alien strength—Bam Bam Boom Smack!

It made Zack an absolute menace in hand-to-hand combat.

The Kraken, despite her massive size, spent most of the fight airborne, flailing helplessly through the sky like an oversized fish trying to learn how to fly.

Zack wasn't even trying to seriously injure her—it was all pure grappling skill and overwhelming dominance.

Not very damaging…

But utterly, utterly humiliating.

"Uhh… I thought Fourarms was just supposed to smash stuff, or lift enemies and throw them once or twice…"

Ben scratched his cheek awkwardly as he watched Zack flip the Kraken like a WWE champion. "You can do this kinda stuff? Where the heck can I learn that? Hey watch! Teach me too!"

BOOM!!

Zack hurled the Kraken into the air for what must've been the eighteenth time, then calmly stepped back a few meters.

With a loud splash, the Kraken crashed into the lake again—this time her expression pale and miserable.

She rolled onto her side in the water…And then—hurk!!—started vomiting uncontrollably, clearly shaken and dizzy from the repeated suplexes.

"Zack, you're way too strong… you even made the lake monster puke."

Ben had already reverted to his normal form, staring at Zack with admiration—and a hint of envy.

Ding! The host has defeated the Kraken and successfully made her throw up. Progress +1!

Template Progress: 9 / 100. Another Error Variant Unlocked!

Zack heard the System notification, but his expression didn't brighten.

"Seriously? That's the achievement? 'Made the Kraken throw up'? Couldn't they have worded that better…"

He muttered, looking exasperated, then awkwardly reached over to the Kraken and gave her a few gentle pats on the back—like helping a drunk friend at a party.

"You're good, right? No hard feelings."

With that, he and Ben quietly left the scene.

Thus, the brief battle between alien and lake monster came to an odd but peaceful conclusion.

Later that night—

Captain Shaw, finally sound asleep after a chaotic day, was jolted awake by strange noises outside.

Groaning in frustration, he grabbed his flashlight and stomped out of his cabin.

"I swear, this day has been nothing but nonsense! First I fainted out of nowhere, now someone's messing around in the middle of the night?! WHO'S OUT THERE?!"

He swung the flashlight toward the source of the noise.

The beam landed on a massive, hulking figure.

"Evening, Captain Shaw. Heeh~~"

Zack turned around with a grin—revealing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.

"G-G-GHOST!!"

Captain Shaw's eyes rolled back.

Thud.

Out cold again.