[52] Threads of Ancient Power

Chapter 52: Threads of Ancient Power

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The scream cut through the darkness like a knife through butter, and I was moving before my brain caught up. "Stay here!" Gwen shouted at Todd, already rushing for the door.

The kid clutched his journal tighter, eyes wide with terror. "But my mom–"

"We'll help her," I promised, walking out the door. "Lock the door behind us."

My hand pressed down on the Omnitrix, the familiar green glow washing over me as my body ignited into living flame. The hallway was pitch black except for the orange glow emanating from my body. Shadows danced wildly on the walls as we thundered down the stairs, Gwen right behind me. Another scream echoed from the kitchen, this time mixed with the sound of breaking dishes.

We burst through the doorway to find chaos. Joan was backed against the counter, a cast-iron skillet raised like a weapon. But what she was swinging at made my flames flicker in surprise.

A rat. But not just any rat.

This thing was the size of a German Shepherd, its fur matted with some kind of purple ooze that pulsed with its own sick light. Its eyes glowed the same violet color, and when it opened its mouth, I saw way too many teeth for any normal rodent.

"What in the hell–!" Joan's voice broke as she saw me, her eyes going even wider. The skillet slipped from her fingers, clattering on the floor.

The rat-thing lunged at her, and I moved on instinct. A stream of fire erupted from my palm, engulfing the creature mid-leap. It shrieked, a sound no rat had the right to make, and hit the ground as a smoldering pile of ash and purple goo.

Joan's eyes rolled back, and she crumpled. Gwen barely caught her before she hit the floor.

"Nice catch," I said, then winced at how casual that sounded. "Is she alright?"

"Fainted," Gwen confirmed, checking Joan's pulse. "Can't blame her. First the zombie in her field, now this."

Footsteps thundered down the stairs, and Grandpa Max appeared with a flashlight and what looked like a Plumber weapon. He took in the scene, unconscious woman, alien rat corpse, me on fire, with the calm of someone who'd seen way worse.

"Looks like a Corrodium mutation?" he asked, kneeling beside the remains.

"A what?" Gwen looked up sharply.

Corrodium… where have I heard that before? It took me a long moment to recall that it was the name of the purple alien mineral that the Mummy Alien used to corrupt cows, back in the cartoon. Ah, so that’s why the walking dead outside had those weird tendrils floating around it. It’s a mummy. This is the Mummy Episode.

It was strange. We were headed to the Ultimate Weapon episode in Texas, and from there to Mexico. But somehow, we encountered a different episode on the way. Were these two connected in this world…?

"Grandpa, Gwen," I said, knowing I wasn't supposed to know alien species names so I had to propose a hypothesis. "That purple stuff on the rat... doesn't it remind you of something? Like that alien werewolf from Arizona? Purple lightning."

Max's eyes narrowed as he examined the residue. "This is Corrodium, Ben, so usually the answer would be no. But this time… you're right. Same energy signature, different application." He looked between us. "Where's the source?"

"Outside," Gwen said. "We saw someone… something… in the cornfield. Looked like a mummy from an old horror movie."

"It's still out there," I added. "We need to—"

"Go," Max said, already moving. "I'll secure Joan and Todd. You two track that thing before it gets too far."

We rushed outside into the air thick with horror, tension and the smell of burnt corn. Purple lightning continued to arc between the field markers, casting everything in a surreal strobe effect. In the distance, I could see a trail of destruction through the crops. A path of withered stalks and disturbed earth.

"This way," I said, following the trail. My flames cast dancing shadows that made everything look alive and hungry. Gwen walked close to me.

“Maybe change into something else? We’re in the field, you might cause a fire…” Gwen said, a little creeped out by this horror-themed adventure.

I laughed, “If I transform into something else, you’ll lose the light source and be even more scared. Don’t worry, I can control all flames as Heatblast, no chance of a fire spreading.”

“I’m not scared!”

We found it about a hundred yards from the house, standing over a freshly dug hole. The figure was exactly what Todd had described. Wrapped in ancient bandages that seemed to move independently, like each strip had its own intelligence. But I saw what the others couldn't.

This wasn't just some mummy.

This was Thep Khufan, a Xenocyte species alien from the Anur star system. The same species as Snare-oh, one of the aliens I'd get from the Omnitrix eventually. Except this one looked wrong and corrupted. The bandages were stained with that same purple energy, and beneath them, I could glimpse something that wasn't quite solid.

It sensed us and turned. Where its face should have been was just more bandages, but somehow it still managed to convey surprise. Then it bolted, moving with an unnatural grace through the corn.

"Oh no you don't!" I started after it, but the thing was fast. Really fast.

"Ben, wait!" Gwen called. "We need a plan!"

She was right. I skidded to a stop, looking back at her. "Any ideas?"

"Let's check what it was digging for first," she suggested. "Maybe that'll tell us what it wants."

Smart girl. We approached the hole cautiously. It was about six feet deep, carved through soil and bedrock with surgical precision. At the bottom, traces of purple crystal glowed faintly.

"Corrodium," I muttered, then caught myself. "I mean, uh, that purple stuff. This must be what grandpa was talking about."

Gwen gave me a look that said she'd noticed my slip, but before she could comment, Grandpa's voice crackled from the communicator he'd given us.

"Kids, I'm picking up some interesting readings. That creature isn't just digging randomly. It's following a very specific energy pattern."

"Looking for more purple crystals?" I guessed.

"Partially. But my scanners are picking up something else. Something that matches the Mayan energy signature we've been tracking. Kind of…" His voice grew serious. "I think our friend is searching for artifacts. Gwen, Ben, I need you to track it down while I triangulate the source. Be careful, if it's collecting both Corrodium and Mayan relics, it's planning something big."

"On it, Grandpa," Gwen said.

I pressed down on the Omnitrix symbol on my chest and reverted to my human form. I was already cycling through new options next. Heatblast was good, but for tracking? I needed something with better senses.

"Going Blitzwolfer," I announced, slamming down on the watch face.

The transformation washed over me in a wave of sensation. My spine elongated, vertebrae popping and stretching as I grew to nearly ten feet tall. Thick silver fur sprouted across my body as my face pushed forward into a snout filled with fangs. My hands became claws, my legs restructured into something built for both speed and power. The Omnitrix symbol settled on my chest like a badge of honor.

When it was done, I threw my head back and howled. The sound echoed across the Texas plains, primal and challenging.

"Show off," Gwen muttered, and I shrugged.

“The howl wasn’t intentional. More like instinct,” I said, dropping to all fours, nose to the ground. The scent hit me immediately.

It was decay and wind, ancient dust and alien biology. But underneath it all was something else. Fear. The Xenocyte was afraid.

"This way," I growled, the words coming out rough through my transformed throat.

We ran through the night, me leading with Gwen close behind. Her charms glowed softly, providing just enough light to navigate by. The trail led us deeper into the farm, past the cultivated fields and into an area that looked like it hadn't been touched in decades.

Old equipment rusted under the stars. A barn that was more collapse than structure loomed ahead. And there, silhouetted against the purple lightning, was our target.

The Xenocyte stood over another hole, but this time it wasn't alone. Three more of those mutated rats circled the excavation, their purple eyes scanning for threats. When they saw us, they chittered in unison. A sound that made my fur stand on end.

"Ben," Gwen whispered, "look at the hole."

I did, and my enhanced vision picked up details human eyes would miss. This wasn't just a random dig like the previous hole. The Xenocyte had carved symbols into the earth. Mayan glyphs mixed with Egyptian ones that seemed to pulse with their own power.

The mummy turned to face us, and I saw confusion in its body language. It must be perplexed to see me in Blitzwolfer form. It tilted its head, bandages rustling, trying to figure out what a Loboan was doing on Earth.

Then it attacked.

The rats came first, purple energy crackling around them as they charged. I met them with claws and fangs, my Blitzwolfer form making short work of the corrupted rodents. But they were just a distraction.

The Xenocyte's bandages shot out like tentacles, wrapping around my limbs. I tried to tear through them, but they just parted around my claws, reforming instantly. More bandages came, and soon I was wrapped up like the world's angriest Christmas present.

"Ben!" Gwen's hands glowed with magical energy as she tried to help, but the Xenocyte was already moving toward her. I noticed something terrifying. Purple energy was seeping from its bandages, reaching for Gwen like hungry fingers. It wasn't trying to capture her, trying to change her. To make her like those rats.

"No!" I roared, straining against my bonds. But the bandages held firm.

Gwen's charms flared to life, creating a barrier between her and the corruption. The purple energy hit her shield and dissipated, but the Xenocyte kept pressing forward.

"Can't... hold it..." Gwen gasped, sweat beading on her forehead.

Rage flooded through me. Nobody touched my Gwen.

I hit the Omnitrix symbol on my chest, forcibly ending the transformation. The bandages, designed to hold a ten-foot werewolf, suddenly had nothing to grip as I shrank back to human size. I dropped free, already slamming my hand down for another change.

Physical damage seemed useless against it, so I just had to burn it to a crisp. Going hot! The familiar heat of transformation washed over me. Heatblast reformed just as the Xenocyte reached Gwen's failing barrier.

This time, I didn't hold back.

Fire erupted from every part of my body, turning the immediate area into an inferno. The Xenocyte reeled back, its bandages catching fire. But instead of retreating, it pressed forward, bandages peeling away and regenerating in an endless cycle.

"Even your attacks don't work!" Gwen shouted over the roar of flames. "It just keeps healing!"

She was right. This thing could probably take anything I threw at it, except for one thing. I extended one hand and used the other to make a circle on my outstretched palm. Then I shot flames through the circle, concentrating them into a single line, focusing them into a white-hot stream that hit the Xenocyte center mass.

This time, it couldn't regenerate fast enough.

The bandages turned to ash faster than they could reform. The creature let out a sound that was part scream, part static, as its form began to collapse.

"The core!" Gwen pointed. "There's something inside it!"

She was right. As the bandages burned away, I saw a purple crystal embedded where its heart should be. Corrodium, corrupted and weaponized. I poured on more heat, and the crystal cracked, then shattered.

The Xenocyte let out a deathly screech and collapsed into a pile of smoking bandages and purple residue. It was dead. I was beginning to kill people lately, be it human or alien, but I didn’t really feel any remorse.

Rather, I wasn't done. Moving quickly, I grabbed one of the intact bandage strips that had fallen away earlier when cut off by Blitzwolfer. It was still twitching, trying to return to its host.

"What are you doing?" Gwen asked.

"Science experiment," I said, pressing the bandage against the Omnitrix.

Nothing happened. I held my breath, not sure if it would work with the creature dead. Then the device chirped, and yellow light scanned the organic material. The Omnitrix beeped affirmatively, and I felt the familiar sensation of new DNA being catalogued. Unlike last time, this was instant. The silhouette of a Mummy appeared. Snare Oh.

Score one for Ben Tennyson!

"Did you just..." Gwen stared at me. "Did you just add that thing to your watch? Ew."

"What?" I grinned sheepishly. "Could come in handy later."

She shook her head. "Smelly dweeb now has a smelly corpse transformation, how fitting. Come on, let's see what it was digging for."

We approached the hole carefully. Unlike the others, this one had something at the bottom. A stone tablet covered in Mayan glyphs, glowing faintly with its own inner light.

"That's it," I breathed. "That's what Grandpa was looking for."

Gwen climbed down carefully, using her telekinesis to lift the tablet without touching it directly. As soon as it was free from the earth, the purple lightning stopped. The sudden silence was almost oppressive.

"Ben! Gwen!" Grandpa's voice came from behind us. He was running toward us, scanner in hand, a huge grin on his face. "You found it!"

"Found what, exactly?" Gwen asked, floating the tablet between us.

Grandpa's scanner went crazy as he waved it over the artifact. "A piece of the puzzle. This tablet, it's not just a relic. It's a key, or part of one." His expression grew serious. "And according to these readings, someone's been activating similar artifacts all across the Southwest."

"What do you mean?" I asked, though I had a sinking feeling I already knew.

"I've been monitoring Plumber channels. In the last 48 hours, we've had reports of incidents from here to the Mexican border. Mummies in Arizona, electromagnetic anomalies in New Mexico, and get this… living stone statues in Colorado."

"All heading south?" Gwen asked quietly. "Toward Mexico..."

"Toward the Mask of Ah Puch," Grandpa confirmed. "But here's the troubling part. My equipment is picking up a massive energy buildup at the border. Whatever's happening, it's not just about finding the Mask. Someone's preparing to use it."

Gwen's face went pale. "The Convergence of Five Realms."

We both turned to stare at her.

"I've been reading Hex's spellbook," she explained. "There's a whole section on Mayan death magic. The Convergence is a ritual that requires five anchor points of power spread across a massive area. If someone's awakening these sites in a specific pattern..."

"They're creating a ritual circle hundreds of miles wide," Grandpa finished. "But for what?"

I thought about the Xenocyte, about how it had been corrupted with Corrodium. About how it was searching for this specific artifact rather than just the Corrodium, like in the original. This wasn't the episode I remembered from the show. This was something bigger and more coordinated.

"The sword," I said suddenly. "The energy signature you detected. The Sword of Ek Chuaj. What if someone already has it? What if they're using these artifacts to power it up?"

Grandpa's scanner beeped urgently. He looked at the screen, and his face went grim.

"Probably not. Instead, I think they’re activating these artifacts to restore any damage that the sword might have experienced in the last five thousand years of nonuse. We need to move quickly. According to this, three additional sites have gone active. Whoever's behind this is accelerating their timeline. We need to reach Texas."

"But who?" Gwen asked. "Who would even know about all this?"

I had my suspicions, but I kept them to myself. In the show, it had been the Forever Knights seeking the sword. But maybe this was different. Or maybe more people than just the Knights were involved?

As we headed back to the house to check on Joan and Todd, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were walking into something much bigger than any of us realized.

The Xenocyte hadn't been working alone. It had been part of a plan, a piece on a chessboard we couldn't even see yet. Marvel was bigger than Ben 10, and powerful entities like Dormammu roamed right outside the dark sky.

Who could tell for sure which entity all these rituals pointed to?

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