The safe haven's bunker glowed faintly, Lily's fire casting shadows on the patched walls. Bill lay on a Steve-crafted bed, body aching—Four Arms' bulk had strained his joints, SCP-096's rage left his throat raw, and Iron Man's tech flickered in his vision like a glitch. Clara sat beside him, bandaging his hands, her touch steady despite the worry in her eyes. Lily curled nearby, sketching turret upgrades, her glow dim but warm. The comics' toll—Tony's exhaustion, Wolverine's scars—mirrored Bill's, but Trask's antidote loomed, a threat he couldn't outlast on grit alone."You're killing yourself," Clara said softly, tying off a bandage. "These templates—they're too much."Bill winced, SCP-173's stone texture flaking from his skin. "I don't have a choice. They keep coming—Sentinels, SCPs, the cure. I need more."Lily looked up, voice small. "But you're breaking, Dad. We need you, not… pieces."The system chimed, sensing his strain:
"Host emotional state: Depleted. Template overload: Critical. Physical status: Muscle fatigue, neural stress. Recommendation: Adapt new template for efficiency."Bill closed his eyes, comics' heroes adapting—Tony upgrading suits, Ben 10 shifting forms. "Something lighter," he muttered. "Something to fix this." A spark of hope flared—renewal, a need to evolve. The system responded:
"New Template Unlocked: Upgrade (Ben 10). Galvanic Mechamorph—technological fusion and enhancement. Trigger: Desire for renewal."His body shifted—black and green liquid metal flowed over him, replacing flesh with a sleek, malleable form. He stood, lighter, no strain—Upgrade's essence hummed, a living circuit. "Whoa," he said, voice echoing with a digital edge.Clara blinked, awed. "Bill, you're… shiny."Lily grinned. "Like a robot slime! Cool!"Bill flexed—Upgrade stretched, reshaping a hand into a blade, then a tool. He merged with the arc reactor fragment, its glow intensifying—power surged, fatigue fading. "This… fixes things," he said, marveling. "Tech's my strength now."He tested it—flowing into a turret, enhancing its targeting with Iron Man's precision, Steve's arrows firing faster. The haven's systems hummed—moat pumps repaired, walls reinforced with Upgrade's liquid metal. Clara handed him a broken spear—Bill merged, reshaping it into a vibroblade. "For you," he said, grinning.Lily's fire sparked nearby—Bill flowed to a Sentinel scrap, upgrading it into a shield, her flames reflecting off its surface. "Teamwork," she laughed.The system noted:
"Host emotional state: Revitalized. New template mastered: Upgrade. Physical status: Stabilized. Objective: Fortify haven with enhanced tech."Clara hugged him, Upgrade's form cool but solid. "You're back," she said."Not breaking anymore," Bill replied, comics' resilience—Tony's ingenuity, Ben's adaptability—guiding him. Trask loomed, but Upgrade was a lifeline.