Wind and rain raged together, with thunder and lightning flashing across the sky.
Whether it was because of the lightning or because it had been influenced by its master's desires, Sam had become abnormally violent, savage, and bloodthirsty.
A massive thundercloud churned violently in the sky, pitch-black from end to end, threaded with strands of purple lightning and constantly rumbling like rolling explosions.
"My God, what kind of monster is that?" On the ground, Gwen stared blankly at the darkened sky. That terrifying storm cloud looked like some demonic beast from another world, as if it wanted to swallow everything on earth.
Grandpa Max, with all his experience, guessed, "I've seen plenty of supernatural phenomena. Some alien species can transform into elemental beings. Maybe this is some kind of alien life-form?"
"I don't know." Gwen shook her head, looking discouraged.
She had already tried attacking the cloud with water magic, but it had done nothing.
The sharp aqua arrows vanished into the thundercloud like mud oxen sinking into the sea, without causing even the slightest ripple.
"Thunder freak, take this!"
Heatblast refused to believe it. Two pillars of fire burst from beneath his feet, and he shot into the sky like Iron Man.
Boom!
Heatblast clasped his hands together and unleashed a blazing pillar of fire, carrying surging waves of flame as it transformed into a roaring fire dragon that opened its jaws and bit at the thunder monster.
"Useless," a hoarse roar came from the dark cloud.
A thick pillar of lightning slammed down, and its terrifying power instantly reduced the fire dragon to ashes.
Right after that, several strange streaks of purple lightning intertwined and formed a violet cage that rapidly closed in on Heatblast.
Heatblast was startled and tried to run.
But a thunderbolt struck first, blasting him so hard he nearly fell out of the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the lightning cage had trapped Heatblast inside and began releasing terrifying currents, stabbing into him over and over.
"Ah!" Heatblast cried out in pain. He didn't fear high heat, but he did fear the devastating force of lightning.
Big Chill quietly slipped into the thundercloud monster's body, beating his icy-blue wings as he swiftly approached the monster's head.
That purple head was glowing brilliantly.
It was Sam's true body.
As if sensing something closing in, Sam's purple bulb-like head suddenly flashed and erupted with endless lightning, fierce enough to turn the whole sky purple.
Big Chill immediately phased. His blue humanoid outline stood within the sea of lightning without suffering a scratch.
But Sam had already vanished.
It seemed he had hidden himself within the roiling black clouds, layering them over one another to conceal that distinctive purple glow.
"Hmph. Pretty clever," Big Chill said with a cold laugh as he flew out of the lightning field.
"But trying to use a trick like that to fool me is just naive."
With that, Big Chill slapped the Omnitrix on his chest.
Boom!
"Heatstar!"
With XLR8's build and Heatblast's skin, Heatstar radiated scorching heat from head to toe. His body glowed red like molten lava, and his tail whipped through the air like a flaming lash.
Before he even landed, Heatstar spun rapidly. His incredible speed, combined with Heatblast's flames, instantly created a towering tornado that reached into the clouds.
The black clouds filling the sky were helplessly dragged into the fire tornado and completely evaporated into steam, melting away as quickly as snow hitting flame.
That included Heatblast, who was still trapped in the lightning cage. Of course, once Heatblast got sucked into the fire tornado, Heatstar kicked him right back out.
"Oh, man..."
Heatblast crashed into the lawn below and blasted out a crater. Lying flat at the bottom, he could not help complaining.
Beep. Beep!
The Omnitrix on his chest began flashing and burst with crimson light.
At that moment, Grandpa Max and Gwen ran over.
"Ben, are you okay?" Grandpa helped Ben up.
"I'm fine. That freak can't hurt me," Ben said stubbornly.
"Doofus, quit acting tough. If Cuz hadn't saved you, you'd already have been eaten by that lightning freak," Gwen snorted, then looked back up at the sky.
The thunderclouds that had covered the sky gradually dispersed, revealing clear blue above.
The sun shone brightly again, and gentle sunlight returned to the world.
Heatstar stopped spinning.
The terrifying fire tornado slowly died down.
Heatstar looked around. "Weird. Did my flames burn it to ashes?"
It meant the weather robot.
There was no sign of Sam anywhere. It seemed he had been torn apart in the endless flames just like the storm clouds.
Once the battle ended, Heatstar changed back.
"What exactly was that thing, and where did it come from?" Gwen wondered.
"No clue, but at least it's not coming back!" Ben cheered loudly. "I've decided, I'm going to the Sumo Slammers anime expo. Anybody coming with me?"
"No, we're going to the Chicago music carnival." Grandpa's tone was firm.
"Oh, man, who wants to watch those old fossils?" Ben protested immediately.
"You know perfectly well how badly I want to see the Wildvine Band."
Grandpa Max pulled out a record album with the portraits of four rock singers on it. They all had huge beards and outrageous hairstyles, and they looked pretty old.
Ben rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. Even Wildvine doesn't look as weird as they do..."
"I don't care. I'm going to see the Wildvine Band." Grandpa started acting childish too.
"That's not fair!"
"What do you mean, not fair? Haven't you been the one deciding where we go all summer, Ben?"
For a moment, grandfather and grandson argued back and forth, both full of gunpowder.
Lucian stood to the side, helpless.
"That's enough, Ben. Grandpa wants to go, so we're going with him," Gwen said.
Ben was just about to refuse when he suddenly seemed to think of something, and immediately agreed. "No problem."
Then he lowered his head, and a sly smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
...
Meanwhile, inside a blue van.
Vance looked at the half-dead Sam lying in front of him.
Sam's head was badly damaged. The bulbs on the surface had already shattered, and the filaments inside were burned black, with faint streaks of purple electricity still flickering through them.
"I created you with my own hands, and now... I'm going to destroy you." Vance raised a shovel, ready to get rid of this menace.
Not long ago, Sam had been blown away by the tornado and had landed on a rooftop. Vance happened to spot him, climbed up there at great risk, and brought him back.
The moment he thought about what Sam had done at the music festival, he felt furious, and then deeply afraid.
He had almost caused a disaster.
"No, Vance, you can't do that." Sam lit up with purple light, which reflected across Vance's pale face.
"The lightning altered my circuitry and gave me the power to create weather. Without me, you're just a useless moldy idiot."
Vance froze on the spot.
"But I don't want to hurt anyone else."
Sam smiled. "Relax. No one will get hurt because of this. I'll create the weather, and you'll become the greatest weather forecaster of all."
When Vance heard that, it actually sounded reasonable.
Sam had the power to change the weather. That meant he could manipulate the forecast and humiliate those TV stations that had wronged him.
Not only that, he could become the greatest and most brilliant weather prophet of all, admired by everyone, with no one able to shake his position in meteorology.
"You're right, Sam."
Vance grinned and slowly lowered the shovel...