At around 5:30 AM, Ben's coffin opened by itself, bright lights underneath the overhead catwalk shining in his face as a wake-up call. The computer voice pinged on the intercom, "Good morning. Today is the Day of the Moon, eighteenth day of the Lunar Month. The time is oh-five-thirty standard hours. Please report to the mess hall for your rations and duty rosters. Have a pleasant day."

One by one, the resistance and Tennysons rose from their caskets, as strangely morbid as it looked to the humans. As the kids joined their grandfather, he stretched his old arms, then asked, "Morning, grandkids. Have a nice sleep?"

"Yeah, it was great," Gwen confirmed while standing.

Ben took a bit more time standing up, groaning from feeling groggy, "Ugh, I had this horrible dream."

"What happened?" Max asked, out of curiosity as they joined the people in line for the mess hall.

Ben dodged it, the memories too painful, "I'll tell you later."

The crew arrived at the mess hall, this time having to stand in line for their food. Like before, the kids were able to understand what they were eating by associating it with similar dishes from Earth. This meal seemed to be a type of simple omlette. As it happened, Ben and Gwen had wished beyond the shadow of a doubt of having something like this all summer, so they dined ravenously on this meal upon sitting down at their tables.

Once breakfast was over, they had to stand in line before a series of monitors where each crewmember was given a particular schedule of duties on a small printed scroll. Ben looked at his shortly after receiving it: "—[TRANSLATED TO HUMAN LANGUAGE VIA SCRIBE DATA #313AK]-"0615: Exercise – Weights and Cardio. 0700: one-on-one battle training session with elite warrior Undyyne, topside training court. 0845: Briefing."

Gwen's schedule mentioned a similar battle training, but included a confidential note from Raht, "I've spoken with some of my colleagues this morning and they have agreed to let you train your magic abilities with one of our mages. At 0700, go to the topside court and ask for a Khufan named 'Worlock'"

Max's training included a target practice session with a number of weapons, down here in the base.

Overall, it seemed everyone in the base was due for some form of combat exercises, and for good reason.

Following the standard exercise workout, which was surprisingly easy to handle given how simple the tools of the trade were, Neferti came to fetch Ben for his combat training. Escorted by the warrior, Ben and Gwen left the base through the entrance lift, and she showed them across the plaza and behind the sphinx to another street leading southwest. Due south was filled by a massive columned building, a temple, though not nearly as large as the one by Rehk'Set's palace. If anything still remained of Egyptian culture here, that would be where the citizens would go every day. Right now, though, it stood silent and empty. For a moment, Gwen thought it interesting that this ancient culture, not practiced whatsoever on Earth, was still alive here, even if not fully practiced like Raht said last night.

The southwest road threaded through Mos Isis like the north one, flanked by a precession of ornate black obelisks; except instead of the various shops and business structures from the north end and entrance, here seemed to be basic apartments and simple houses, stacked in dark, uniform blocks inlaid with circuit-like decorative patterns. She wondered if those places were any more comfortable than those from Earth, thousands of years back.

The street was filled with people today, all of them from the base, and all of them heading in the same direction, with the Tennysons and Neferti at the front. Finally, near the edge of the city, the street split into a T-shape at a very large building with an open courtyard.

"What's this?" Gwen asked with curiosity.

"This is the city's training center. Ours is smaller, more of a backup, if you will." the warrior mummy explained. "We are all training today, I am sure you know why."

She walked the two cousins into a sand-filled courtyard.

Then Neferti pointed to the courtyard and instructed, "I have been told that the both of you are to train out here. You, Ben, with Undyyne, and you with Worlock."

"Sounds good," but as she checked her tunic, Gwen realized she didn't have a crucial item.

Seeing her concerned reaction, Neferti added, "Do not worry, I had a servant bring your equipment for the task. Why don't you wait for him over there?" She pointed towards the right side of the court.

Out of nowhere, a horn sounded, and over a P.A. system, the whole city echoed with the voice of Rehk'Set; Monitors projected his face in flawless resolution. Neferti and Ben saw that evil visage on a pair of screens attached to the building; They heard him speak, "Listen well, citizens. There are three humans and a renegade scribe in Mos Isis," The Tennysons' faces and Elastamun's flashed by for a few seconds each, "If you do not surrender them in three standard hours, Sehkbet will come and wreak havoc upon your city." The message repeated twice, then the screens went black, soon replaced with the benign sights of peaceful environmental backdrops. Ben half-expected some form of TV show, but it seemed those were absent here. As for the message, the boy felt a chill down his spine, asking, "Was that the pharaoh?"

"Yes, it was. It may comfort you to know, however, that our plan will take effect before his forces can attack this city. Plus, very little of the people in this city care about him. Who would with such oppressive methods?"

"Good point," Ben smirked.

"Even so, you would do best to stay hidden here until you meet Undyyne, just in case."

That gave the boy a thought, and he said, "Hang on a second," then hid behind one of the many columns surrounding the perimeter of the court. Watching to make sure no one was moving in his direction, Ben looked down at his watch, then pondered for a moment. He didn't have any way to disguise his very recognizable face, so he had only one option. No wonder they were keeping him underground. Ben tapped the Omnitrix's start switch and rotated the faceplate to a form he'd tried to use several missions back but never did intentionally. "Please play fair," he begged the thing.

By a stroke of luck, Ben became exactly what he planned to be: His mummy form. It had never been named, but if he couldn't find a better one, "Benmummy" was his backup name.

Neferti was impressed at this, remarking "Oh my, that form looks good on you!" Though her thoughts drifted briefly to Elastamun's even more stylish face and body. She had to talk to him sometime during this mission.

"Thanks, never heard that before," Ben's new deep male voice answered.

Hoping to stay undercover as long as the time limit lasted, Neferti walked Ben into the middle of the sandy courtyard. Nothing was tiled or paved, just one big plot of sand.

Ben chuckled at a thought, "You know, I never got enough time to break in this form back on Earth. That evil mummy was a lot better at using their powers than I ever could."

"Maybe you will get that chance now?"

"I hope so. I ended up tossed around like a rag by one of those wolf things last time."

It so happened that Undyyne approached this area from the building ahead, still wearing that protective suit, but this time with a matching helmet. Ben was amazed about how slim everything looked, knowing that even in a climate like this, a water-needing creature like her would still be able to fight. No human technology could make something that lightweight and durable for the military.

"Ah, good morning, Neferti," she greeted the warrior with a politeness Ben didn't think her capable of having. Her voice was slightly tinny due to a speaker conveying her voice like a diver would use underwater, "Er, who's that with you?"

"Look at his shoulder, and you will know," the female warrior pointed to that area on Ben's body.

Seeing the familiar Omnitrix symbol, Undyyne's confident smile faded again. This time, however, she tried to make the most of it, "Well, Ben, it seems you've gained a head start on me by changing forms early. I suppose we'd best start training now, then."

Ben turned to Neferti and asked, "Before I do this, can't you give me some tips on how to use this…uh, body?"

Neferti could barely stifle a giggle, then advised him, "Just remember: Every part of your body is flexible, don't think of it like the four limbs of a humanoid. Once you know that, it becomes second nature."

"I...guess that makes sense?"

"Well, I will leave you two to your training. See you in one hour and thirty minutes!" the cat warrior finished before jogging into the building, probably where all the heavy activity was.

Undyyne summoned another energy spear and used it to carve a circle in the sand about 5 feet wide. After carving a second of the same diameter where Ben stood, she returned to the center and explained, "Here's the goal: You have to push me out of this circle before I do the same to you. That's simple enough I think even someone like you would understand."

Ben studied the two sand rings, nodded, then answered, "I guess that works, but just so's you know, I'm only in this form until the watch runs out of power. Then it has to recharge again."

"Well then, we'll have to make this first round quick, won't we?" She smiled menacingly. Ben flinched as she raised one hand, then she stopped and added, "And to make this interesting, I'll even turn off my targeting systems for you." The alien fish warrior then tapped a keypad on her arm, entering a code that displayed "Targeting System: DEACTIVATED", before her heads-up display cleared itself of tactical readouts.

Holding that blue spear in her right hand, she raised it and screeched, "Think fast, Thep Khufan!"

Instinctively, Ben ducked, the spear disintegrating as it hit the sand. She summoned another one, this time it flew towards Ben's torso, flying at a speed so fast that it tore a hole in his bandages. It hurt, but quickly regenerated. On a third time, she threw two spears, and he weaved in a snake-like manner that ended up making his torso look like a twisted piece of paper.

Undyyne was growing annoyed by this, and she screamed, "What are you?! Fight back! You try that in the field and some life form will be eating your flesh for lunch by the end!"

Feeling a wave of frustration, Ben tried to focus on what move to use. Suddenly flashing back to when Ghostfreak's Thep Khufan showed up on that farm, Ben focused on his left arm, spun 90 degrees counterclockwise, and flung it in the other direction, knowing where it was going to strike. As he hoped, the momentum from that whip-like attack sent Undyyne flying 5 feet sideways, out of the ring and skidding face-first into the sand. If she didn't have her suit on, her gills would have been clogged.

Rising back to her feet and dusting her suit off, Undyyne laughed, "Haha! That's more like it!"

As she jumped back into her ring, Ben asked, "What's with the attitude, lady? You know I'm just a kid, right?"

"That's the problem right there," She snapped her right finger, and all of a sudden, a dozen spears appeared at once, "Children aren't meant to be soldiers! It's immoral!"

If Ben's form could sweat, lines would be running down his face.

"But, since you have the Omnitrix, I have to improvise...and it bites!" Still holding all those spears in the air, she shouted, "Now, if you're going to defend yourself, be ready for it this time!"

She counted down from five, and this time Ben steeled himself for the oncoming attack. The spears flew when she reached one, all aimed at the boy. This time he combined offense and defense. Trying to think up a way to make sure those spears passed through his body without harming it, he concentrated and loosenend the bandages in his torso so that the spears passed through the gaps. He could feel his body growing larger from that. By sheer luck, one spear happened to catch on his right hand in a way that his tapering fingers grabbed it.

Holding the spear, Ben taunted, "Hey, fish lady! You missed one!" then threw it in the direction of her torso.

Undyyne just dodged, with reflexes so fast he thought they came close to XLR8's. This Ripjaws woman had obviously been trained to fight for a reason. What was she?

Abruptly, the Omnitrix timed out, and Ben was back in his human form within seconds. "Wow, I need to try that one again!" he giggled at that exhilarating experience.

She still scowled at him, shouting like a drill instructor, "If there's one thing that I dislike more than you, it's stories made up about people like you! Why, oh why, would anyone think 'whoever owns the Omnitrix is immediately a god'? Just some divine figure who knows combat by heart? Savior, my foot!"

"That has nothing to do with me! People were trying to kill me for this thing!" Ben protested, "Geez, you sound like Vilgax, and I faced off against that guy, TWICE!"

That struck a chord with her, and her expression changed for a moment, "Oh, really? I've been aching to meet him in battle! How did you fare?"

"Last I saw him, my family and I threw him into the Null Void. I almost gave him this watch too, until my cousin got it back."

Undyne's mouth twitched, her sharp teeth grinding together, then she breathed deeply to calm down, knowing that too much anger would burn someone out, "Listen, if you've managed to stop people from ripping that thing off your arm, multiple times, then maybe I am judging you too hard. Maybe you're worth more than just a child with those other forms of yours." Then her tone rose again, "But that doesn't mean I'm through with you yet! If you wanna save the world, you're gonna have to learn how to fight like a real warrior, no matter what form you're in!"

Ben looked at his watch, noticing it was still red. "Well," he sighed, "Looks like it's just me until this thing recharges."

Undyyne stepped closer to the boy, then looked up at a vertical sundial on the temple wall, shaped like the sun held aloft by the head of Horus. It was around 0750. She thought for a moment, then sighed, "Fine, we'll take a fifteen-minute break. After that, let's train in a different environment."

"Like what?"

She tapped her water-filled helmet, "What's say you and me face off in a more...natural location?" Then she turned and pointed to a gate behind her in the colonnade surrounding the courtyard, "Through there, that's where the swimming pool is. Freshwater, too."

Ben knew what that meant, then a smile crossed his face, realizing he'd barely used the form she was thinking of, then he pumped his left fist and shouted, "You're on!"