Hey so a little wait for this one but I have a lot of coursework due in the upcoming months so the multiple uploads over Christmas was a treat. I have no idea how frequently it'll be for a while.
Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10
There had been an unspoken panic among us since we rescued Ripjaws from the Forever Knights dive team. It was highly possible that they were able to track the aliens from the watch the same way we could. The only way we were safe was we were able to disable the tracking once they were at the mansion. In Ripjaws' case, the chemicals that needed to be used to cancel the tracking were administered by Grey Matter on the ship. Everything seemed to be going downhill.
"Hey man, need anything while I'm up?" I looked at the Piscciss Volann lying peacefully on a bed of his own. Mist trickled down from the ceiling above him thanks to Grey Matter playing around with some plumbing and extraction fans so the room would stay moist without the need to worry about possible damp and mould. It was almost like a tropical rainforest with the mist and humidifiers.
"No thank you Abigail. Your company has been plenty." I nodded before lifting myself out of my chair and slipping out the room for a moment. Ripjaws had regained consciousness in the middle of his first night at the mansion and caused a stir. After taking the first watch with Buzzshock, I had been sent to bed by Wildmutt and Ditto who relieved us. I had slipped into my bed, unable to sleep. I spent my night compartmentalising everything I knew about the species that my cousin could turn into, determined to factor in all information that could help with finding and helping them. I was only a few hours into researching Kinecelerans when there was screaming from down the hall growing closer. Multiple Dittos had burst into my room before slamming the door just as quickly and hiding in my bed. They squished up against me as my notes slid off the bed into piles on the floor. It had been a challenge to get enough information out of the terror triplets to realise Ripjaws hadn't awoken in the friendliest of moods. Trying to leave the room was even more difficult as they desperately tried to keep me in my room. Echoes of it 'not being safe' was the extension of their vocabulary.
With a group effort we were able to explain what happened and where he was. Like Ditto and XLR8, Ripjaws knew of my existence somewhat but hadn't known it was me as I was not physically at the Titanic. Thankfully he didn't want to attack me and was grateful for our help. It had been a huge weight off everyone's shoulders when Ripjaws was awake and aware as it was a definite sign that he was going to be just fine despite the blood loss.
As soon as I stepped out of the room, I could feel the vapours on my skin evaporating with the air being so much drier. Ripjaws' room was in the far east wing near Ditto's room. The rooms themselves were pretty sparse but the hallways were a dark varnished oak with a red rug running along the entire hallway that would get between my toes. The decor gave an entirely different atmosphere to downstairs which was much brighter and open. It could be argued that two different people designed each floor. The top floor would definitely feel cosier in the winter months when it's colder.
The kitchen downstairs blinded me with its spotlights reflecting on the gloss white cabinets. I saw the fruit bowl on the island counter was looking a bit ripe. The bananas were more black than yellow so I quickly grabbed them by the stalks and trapped them in the bin. I couldn't be bothered making something for lunch as it was long past a suitable time. I made a mental note to have an earlier, larger dinner to make up for missing lunch. I still needed a drink though. As I was grabbing a glass from the top cupboard, I saw someone enter from the same doorway I did.
"Hey Abi, we think you need to see this." Wildmutt said, his collar lights blinking as he spoke.
"What is it?" I frowned, leaving the glass on the counter and wiping my hands on my jeans. He tilted his head in a 'follow me' gesture before retreating out the kitchen again. I followed him to the main living area where everyone but Ripjaws was and the television was paused on the news channel. The living room was more colourful than the kitchen with cream walls instead of white and the curtains being blue. "Alright what do I need to see? Is everyone okay?" I looked over everyone to see if any of them were hurt in any way. While Four Arms was looking better than when he first arrived, the clear lack of muscle was concerning. It had been nearly two weeks since his recovery started and he was still closer to a husk than his normal size. He had more colour to him now, closer to the deep red I was used to seeing on Ben during his transformation.
The television played.
A man was facing the camera, corresponding from outside of whatever studio this news program is wind made some interference noise before settling down but it was obvious there was still a slight breeze with the sparse amount of trees dancing about in the wind. Yellow tape was behind the man going from one side of the screen to the other. The tape was fairly far back from where the man was standing so the area cut off was extremely large. Among the tape was an unidentifiable amount of barriers.
"Experts are still unsure on who exactly committed this crime, however there is clearly a blatant disrespect of this country's culture and history. Until the area can be successfully cleared safety-wise, the tourist attraction will remain closed which will most definitely have a negative impact on the tourism and profit of nearby businesses." the man was speaking into the microphone he was holding.
"Wait, what happened?" I wasn't sure what I was watching as no places were mentioned and the headline underneath had already disappeared. It seems awfully sandy where the man was. Ditto held up a finger in a 'wait' gesture before looking at the screen again.
"Experts and police are continuing to investigate the damage and find those responsible. We are unable to show you the damage to my left as it is still under investigation but we can show you an image of some of the vandalism." An image appeared in the top right of the screen showing stone matching the colour of the sand in the background. The large bricks were chipped and some even sliced in half. Others looked like they'd been torn apart like play-dough.
"The pyramids!? This is not good."
"So you think you know which one of us decided the pyramids needed a remodel?" Heatblast asked me as I browsed through my files on the large screen. I had plugged my laptop into the television so the group could see what I was looking at. After the news article I ran back upstairs to let Ripjaws know something had come up and he insisted on coming downstairs as well so it was now a full house. The rebreather around his neck was working well enough that he was sitting comfortably.
"Well I have no idea if this is just being really offensive on my part, but with it being the pyramids, only one species from the watch so far comes to mind - Thep Khufan." I pulled up the biography I had piled together on said species from plumber resources and what I knew from my own encounters with them. "They're a humanoid-like species originating from the Anur system, specifically Anur Khufos and look like Earth's mummies." I broke it down. An image of the mummy we fought earlier in the Summer was to the right while details about it were on the left.
"Woah woah woah. Woah. Human mothers look like Thep Khufans!?" Ditto exclaimed, seeming even paler than normal. The others were all very nervous-looking as well.
"Huh? No. Not that kind of mummy. This kind of mummy is from ancient egyptian times where they would wrap dead bodies in fabric and place them in coffins so the bodies wouldn't decompose and would mummify instead. Some beliefs they had about the undead back then I don't know why really. But over time there's been ghost stories about mummies rising if their coffins are disturbed and unleashing things like plagues and world disasters if it happened." I explained the difference. "And surprise surprise, the richest kings and queens would have their coffins in a pyramid."
"And I thought the Anur species were weird enough. This is a whole new level." Wildmutt grumbled. My head tilted as I tried to comprehend what he said.
"The Anur species?"
"Well yeah the aliens who come from the Anur system. Thep Khufans, Ectonurites, Transylians and Loboans." I wrote this down as Four Arms spoke.
"Don't forget the Vladats." Grey Matter mentioned making most of the others wince.
"They're extinct. They don't matter now." Diamondhead growled, stopping all conversation regarding them. It was strange to hear any entire alien species was extinct. It was a shame, I was interested to know what they were like. Depending on when they went extinct, it was possible that the DNA was one of the 10,000 aliens in the omnitrix. I hummed, thinking over the new information.
"Seems easy enough to just go and get him then." Four Arms shrugged. If only it was that easy.
"Not easy enough. This is all over the news. The entire world knows about the pyramids being damaged. If anyone else finds him- oh crap." Things kept getting worse the longer I looked at it.
"What is wrong Abigail? You are in distress." Ripjaws frowned in concern.
"The entire world saw that news piece. How much of a jump do you think it would be for the Forever Knights to connect the dots like we have? We don't just have the local law enforcement to worry about. We have alien poachers to worry about - or whatever they are now." I sighed. I looked at the screen. "I need to make a call to Grandpa. But… Heatblast, Diamondhead, feel like a tourist trip? We leave in an hour." I stood up to get a weekend bag together and some emergency supplies.
"I wish to assist you Abigail." Ripjaws halted me leaving. "If my attempted hunters are after another of our kin, I must help in every way I can." I smiled before hugging the Piscciss Volann. When I pulled away I looked up at him.
"Thank you Ripjaws but I don't think your… biology is the best suited for the middle of a desert-based country, even in the colder night hours. And you're still recovering - you can't form a tail yet. Until then you're needed here. Resting." I told him firmly. "And the others will be here as well. It's not just you on the bench this time." With that I left the living room and made my way back to my room.
Silently begging not all Thep Khufans were the same.
And why were the guys all so afraid of the aliens from Anur?
I hope to hear your opinions on this all. And to all those who have been asking for Snare-Oh and other Anur System aliens to appear, well you're getting your wish :)
Reviews are encouraged :)
