After kidnapping animator Dean, Kangaroo Commando headed straight for a chemical plant.
This was the same location being shown on the live broadcast.
At that very moment, the scene was playing out all across Planetary Studios.
The audience gradually recovered from their shock and assumed it had to be part of the park's show. After all, Kangaroo Commando had already put on plenty of stunt performances before this.
Inside the chemical plant, Dean and Kangaroo Commando North were hanging upside down over two vats of boiling chemicals. Their feet were bound in iron chains, leaving them no way to escape, and both of them were terrified.
Whoosh!
A blue blur shot inside.
XLR8 pulled back his mask, swept his gaze across the area, and spotted the two captives.
Since they were hanging in midair by chains, rescuing them as XLR8 would be risky. He simply slapped the Omnitrix and transformed into Wildvine.
"Why are you here? Weren't you the one who kidnapped me?" Dean cried out when he saw that North was tied up across from him too.
"I got captured as well." North let out a sigh.
"So there's someone else behind this." Wildvine spoke slowly.
"Too bad you can't save both of them at once!" a cold voice came from the loudspeaker overhead.
The instant the words fell, the floor ahead collapsed, and the head of a "Tyrannosaurus Rex" rose up from below.
The green mechanical T-Rex head, all fangs and ferocity, looked savage and menacing, like an immovable mountain blocking Wildvine's path.
Whoosh!
The T-Rex spewed a stream of fire. The scorching blaze twisted the air as it rushed straight at Wildvine.
Wildvine shot out a claw and instantly hauled himself up to the ceiling. Then he pulled several explosive fruits from behind his back and hurled them out in one go.
Boom boom boom!
The fearsome mechanical T-Rex head was blasted apart on the spot. Metal shards flew everywhere, and smoke billowed through the room.
After dealing with the "Tyrannosaurus Rex," Wildvine stretched out his flexible green vines like lengths of rubber and reached for Dean and North at the same time.
The person behind the scenes immediately hit a button, trying to drop both of them into the vats of chemicals.
But Wildvine was faster. In a flash, he caught Dean and North, then sharpened his fingers and sliced straight through the iron chains.
Dean and North were saved.
At the same time, Ripjaws and Gwen came running over.
"Phew. It's so hot!" Ripjaws was drenched in sweat, his head drooping. "Water. I need water..."
Wildvine shook his head. This kid should just stay here and rest.
"Thank you for saving me, Plant Man," North said sincerely, looking at Wildvine.
"Same here. Thanks, Big Vine," Dean added.
Wildvine waved a hand. "Please, don't thank me."
Two absolute geniuses at naming people. He'd somehow ended up with two new nicknames.
He definitely did not want to become "Vine Brother Four."
"Alright, time to find the one behind all this." North looked up at the control room on the upper floor, his gaze firm.
...
Bang!
Ripjaws kicked the control room door open with one blow.
Right after that, he hurriedly took another gulp of cold water.
Inside the control room, a figure sat in a chair with his back to the group.
"Cut the act." Wildvine stretched out a claw and spun the chair around.
A man who looked strikingly similar to Kangaroo Commando appeared before them.
The difference was that he was younger, his eyes were sharper, and he wore a reddish-brown combat suit.
Ripjaws smacked his forehead. "Oh. I should've known. He showed up in episode ten of the Kangaroo Commando TV series!"
"Kane. Kangaroo Commando's twin brother!"
"Kane, stop this," North urged.
Hatred blazed in Kane's eyes as he glared at Kangaroo Commando and shouted, "All the equipment and special effects were my work, but you took all the credit for yourself!"
"So that's what happened." The others finally understood.
"But Dean is innocent. Why did you kidnap him?" Ben could not help asking.
"Because he plagiarized my ideas. I'm the true author of The Adventures of the Alien Heroes!" Kane said, enunciating every word so clearly that Dean's face turned bright red.
"So basically, Planetary Studios hardly has any original content at all." Lucian gave a mocking laugh.
To be honest, that was a pretty common mess in today's film, television, and web novel industries too.
Too much imitation, plagiarism of original work, and storylines becoming more and more alike.
Suddenly, Kane pulled out a silver revolver. Pointing the dark barrel at them, he started firing wildly.
Everyone was stunned.
Wildvine thrust both hands forward and grew a natural green barrier. His tough vine-like limbs easily blocked the bullets.
"What? How is that possible..." Kane stared in disbelief.
How could a living creature block bullets?
Wildvine smiled, flicked out a vine, knocked Kane unconscious, and then tied him up tightly.
...
In the end, Kane was sent to prison for attempted murder.
He might have been the original creator, but his actions had gone far too far. For the safety of the public, the law had to deal with him.
As for animator Dean and Kangaroo Commando North, by a strange twist of fate, the two actually became good friends and great partners.
Ben had never seen that coming.
With that, the matter of Kangaroo Commando came to an end for the time being.
By the time Lucian walked out of Planetary Studios, Grandpa Max had already finished repairing the Rustbucket.
The group set off once again, heading for their next destination...
...
At sunset, in the fading evening light, a remote rural area sat dotted with old, run-down wooden houses. Weeds grew wild everywhere, yellowed and withered, as if the environment here was in poor shape.
It looked almost as though the place had been affected by some kind of radiation.
A few kids pushed aside the ranch's wire fencing and slipped into the area where the cattle were kept.
Leading them was a boy with a red exploded hairstyle, tiny eyes, and pierced ears. He carried himself with a loose, cocky air, like some juvenile delinquent.
Beside him was a chubby kid who looked like his little follower.
"Maybe we should go back?"
At the rear, a small, skinny boy with brown hair looked worried, as if he did not want to go in.
After all, the ranch did not belong to them. Barging onto someone else's property was rude.
Todd was holding a piglet in his arms. There was a little manure smeared on him, so he had probably just finished working on the ranch.
"Hey, Todd, don't tell me you're scared?" The red-haired boy curled his lips into a mocking grin.
"Coward. All you have to do is slap a cow on the butt. Little Todd, I think you should go home crying and ask your mommy for milk instead. Hahaha!" the chubby boy chimed in.
Hearing that, the hesitation in Todd's eyes vanished at once, replaced by resolve.
"Fine, let's do it. Who's scared of who?"