Chapter Eleven!
Camp Fear - Part 2 (From Season 2 Episode 7)
As they entered one of the sleeping cabins Max placed Gilbert onto the lower bunk bed and began checking him over to make sure he was still okay. While he was doing this Harry powdered his feet again with more of the athletes powder he'd been keeping in his pocket. Mandy popped up next to him and noticed what he was doing, "Athlete's Foot…"
"…Everyone gets it here." Andy nodded, shuffling his feet as they began to itch in remembrance of his own common outbreaks of the foot fungus.
Once Max was sure that Gilbert was fine he stood up and announced, "You kids stay put and keep an eye on Gilbert, I'll go to the kitchen and see if I can't rustle up something to eat."
"Grandpa, rustling up a meal?" A fearful Gwen said as she realized what kind of food he like to eat.
"Now that's a scary thought..." Harry agreed.
"There must be a care package somewhere!" Gwen said in a hurry.
"I'll go to the Rust Bucket and see what food I have left..." Harry sighed at the loss his stash was taking. He wasn't happy that he would be sharing more of his food with three other people, but he wasn't about to leave them to suffer through Grandpa Max's food. No one deserved that kind of punishment.
With a mad dash there and back Harry returned with the last of his chips, drinks, and some other bits and pieces he had left from the Rust Bucket. He would need to buy some more when they got to the next pitstop with any kind of grocery store. When he got back to the cabin he found that Gwen was able to find some cookies from under the bed that Gilbert was sleeping on.
In the middle of their meal Gilbert sprang up, wide eyed, and screamed, "They're here, all around us!"
"Who's here?" Gwen asked, only to be interrupted by a scream outside.
"That sounded like Grandpa." Harry blurted, genuinely surprised something had happened to their seemingly infallible grandfather, a feeling that quickly gave way to fear and worry for his safety.
Before he could leave Gilbert tickled him to the ground, "Don't go out there, they'll find you!"
"Don't worry, I've got animal instinct." Harry said with a smirk, repressing the urge to shove the pudgy boy off of him. His declaration left the confused kids confused, but Gwen knew what he was talking about and gave him a supportive look as he opened the door and sprinted outside once more.
Once he was sure the door was closed and he was out of sight Harry clicked the dial of the Omnitrix to the right form, Wildmutt, and pressed it down. In a flash of light his footsteps grew louder as another pair of feet joined the first.
o0OoO0o
As Wildmutt Harry followed his grandpa's scent to a nearby dig site. The whole place was covered with fungus, strange plants and huge mushroom like trees around it. Harry had to wonder what was going on as he cautiously approached. As he got to the dig site he spotted what he thought was huge blue roots, which lead towards a hole. Inching over to 'look' into the hole he pushed a rock into the hole, which lit up better than his human vision would have allowed, giving him a brief look at everything. Unfortunately 'everything' was so far down he couldn't see the end of it.
So distracted by peering into the earth he never detected the roots behind him raising up before they lashed out and grabbed him, pulling him down into the hole.
Struggling without much success, Harry suddenly perked up as he saw his Grandpa, but before he could do anything the blue roots dragged him away. Filled with a burst of energy Harry ripped and claws at the vines, freeing himself before he took off after Max.
He barely made it ten feet before the watch began beeping. "Damn it, not now!" Harry said angrily as he became human again and slid to a stop. "Grandpa, where are you?!" He called into the tunnel.
Harry froze and looked around as he heard a low growl. He thought he was seeing things at first as the red mushroom a little taller than him began opening green eyes, but knew better when they started raising themselves out of the ground on stubby legs, their slanted mouths filled with sharp teeth.
Knowing he was outmatched he ran, only for a strange bulb to burst out of the ground in front of him, halting his progress. He grunted as one of the red mushroom tackled him, the rest piling on top of him. This turned out to be a blessing for him, because they were so busy trying to hop onto the pile to restrain him they never saw him squirm out from under the pile and make a run for it, the only mushrooms that knew he escaped her stuck at the bottom of the pile.
Quickly finding an exit and climbing up and out, Harry saw the bulldozer from before and an idea came to mind.
Unfortunately after climbing into the Bulldozer his plan hit a road block as he looked at the controls and had no idea how to even start the thing. It was after turning and hitting a few button that he got it started somehow, and with another blessing of pure luck managed to find the right lever to make it move forward. The vine and mushrooms were pushed back into the hole, but it barely lasted a few seconds before the vines burst out of the hole again and began wrapping themselves around the piece of machinery. Harry was able to quickly jump out of the bulldozer before the vines got too tight around him. He didn't look back and began running back to camp.
His running got significantly faster as, with a groan of metal, the vines picked up the bulldozer and threw it at him. He was lucky he'd already entered the tree line, because even with the trees blocking it the massive yellow vehicle still almost squashed him.
o0OoO0o
He barged into the cabin and Gwen, the twins and Gilbert looked up as Harry he slammed the door behind him, before slumping back against it, panting hard. "You won't... believe what I found!" He panted.
Gwen was quick to correct him though, "Killer mushrooms, yeah we know, they turned the camp upside down before heading into the woods."
"They were here?! Is everyone alright?" Harry blurted. He calmed as they told him they were fine, the mushrooms didn't get into their cabin. He shook his head free of his first thoughts, the mushrooms were everywhere, they didn't beat him back, they were just already here. "They've got Grandpa." He said grimly.
Gilbert started freaking out, "They must be a dormant species that came back to life when the camp started digging! The hubris of man has caused our downfall! We're all doomed! We need to get out of here!" He squealed.
Harry blinked in surprised, about to interrupt, as Gwen slapped the chubby boy. "We're not going anywhere without finding our Grandpa."
"That's right." Harry agreed firmly, only to catch sight of Gilbert's arm; the fungi on his arm had spread down from his bicep, and was turning greyish like the mushrooms from earlier. Harry then realized that Gilbert wasn't telling them everything, so he glared at him demanded, "What aren't you telling us Gilbert's, what are you hiding?"
"I don't know what you mean..." A panicked Gilbert said.
"Yeah Harry, what are you talking about?" Gwen asked her cousin in confusion.
"Look at his arm," Harry pointed out, "the fungus is spreading. Now I know I'm no expert, I don't think that should be doing that, and it is the same colour as the mushrooms that I faced. So, Gilbert, what aren't you telling us?"
Upon realizing this, Gwen and the twins quickly moved away from Gilbert.
"I-I'm becoming one of those things out there." Gilbert explained fearfully, "I don't know how or why, but when they began digging at the dig site a few days ago, spores shot out of the ground and the workers were covered in them. And when the fungus appeared, they went to the Camp Nurse to get some anti-fungus powder. I don't know what happened, it could be when the Camp Nurse treated them, she caught something and it spread to others she treated and went on from there. Whatever the case, the workers began to change into those mushrooms monsters and slowly everyone else began to change too. Just before you arrived everyone else changed all at once."
"So you're telling us that all those Living Mushroom are humans?" Gwen asked in shock.
"No, not all of them, I don't think?" Gilbert admitted, "Before the workers began to change, at night I saw those mushrooms appear around the dig site moving about, spreading the spores around."
"So what about you and the twins?" Harry asked.
"We thought we were immune to it, we didn't get the fungi." He explained, "But when one the mushrooms touched me I got the fungus mark. T-There were others too, who seemed to be immune, but they were dragged away by the mushrooms, I don't know what happened to them, if they were turned or not. I don't know if the twins are really immune or not though, only time will tell, and if they are I don't know what'll happen. I didn't say anything because I wanted to get away from it all."
Both Gwen and Harry looked worried, but one thing was certain, Harry wasn't going to give up without a fight, "Okay, we'll deal with this later, for now we need to get Grandpa and then we deal with this problem next." He said as Gwen and the twins followed, a few moments later they were followed by a frightened Gilbert.
"What do you think they're after?" Harry questioned Gwen.
"I have no idea!" Gwen admitted "But I took an advanced Herbology Class last year and I think they're trying to-"
She was interrupted by a massive grey stalk with a white bulb at the top tore itself out of the ground.
"Spread..." She finished, looking at the stalk in horror, and then they began to run as more and more of the bulbs burst from the ground.
"And I think they're trying to transform humans as well to boost their numbers easily." Gwen added as they froze in place.
"And those who don't transform?" asked Harry, "You don't think they want us as planet food do you?"
"It's possible." Gwen admitted as she paled at the thought.
"That looks like a dandelion before it dried out and throws all its seeds around." Harry pointed out as more and more bulbs joined the others, splitting the ground. When they finally stopped there wasn't ten square feet of ground left undisturbed in the entire camp.
"Because that's exactly what they are Harry. I bet when these things open they're going to spread spores as far as the wind can take them." Gwen said, imagining the process in her head. "But it won't stop there though." She went on to explain.
"Your friend is right." Gilbert said sadly, "The spores will repeat the process in every spot they land until every part of the globe they can grow is covered in fungus and everyone is turned into Living Mushrooms or whatever else these spores can turn people into."
Harry grabbed the shell shocked Gwen's wrist to get her attention. He held up the Omnitrix to show its green face. "I'm going to go XLR8 and chop these things down, and then I'm going to search for Grandpa."
While the other three kids looked at them in confusion, Gwen shook her head. "It won't work Harry. You can chop as many of these down as you want, but not only do you risk them opening early, they'll also just grow back. You need to take out it's mycelium."
Harry looked at her blankly. He turned to look at the stalks for several long moments before turning back to her. "And what part is that?" He asked flatly.
It was Gilbert who answered. "It's brain."
"Mushrooms have brains?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Not the same way we do." Gwen answered. "There is a brain at work in all this." She explained, "I don't know if these things are aliens or what, but the mushrooms are too organized, they don't seem to be talking to each other but they still share information somehow, so try and find white veins and follow them back to the source. It sounds crazy but I think they have some kind of hive mind core that's sending messages to them." She said hesitantly.
"Like the Thorian from Mass Effect?" Harry replied, not doubting her for a second as the signs certainly pointed that way. And it would be awesome if such a creature really did exist. Horrifying, but awesome.
Gwen paused as she tried to remember her brief stint playing the game. "...Yeah, that would fit." Then hesitantly she added, "Listen Harry, I want to come with you, he's my Grandpa too you know."
"I know that that Gwen, but you have to stay here." Harry told her softly, "I've got the Omnitrix to help and protect me. You also need to help protect the twins, Gilbert could turn at any time and they'll need you."
As much as she hated to admit, Gwen knew he was right, so she sighed and said, "Just be careful, okay?"
Harry hesitated before he gave her a quick hug. Pulling back he nodded, "I'll be careful. Stay safe until I get back, who knows when those red mushrooms will come back."
She looked around, "I'm sure we'll find something to defend ourselves with. Go, quickly. Who knows how much longer these pods are going to take before they mature."
Harry just nodded before running off so he could transform into XLR8 and find their Grandpa.
Once Harry left, Andy asked, "Will your friend be alright…"
"…Against those mushroom creatures?" Mandy finished.
"If it was anyone else, I would say I don't know." Gwen said, "But my cousin will be fine. He'll find a way to stop this. Now let's find somewhere to hide." She instructed as she ushered them away, looking over we shoulder to watch her cousin duck into the tree line, followed by a flash of green light.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Author's Notes: Here ends the second part of Camp Fear arc of Harry Tennyson, as I said before this one is canon but is brought forward. In this chapter I altered some bits from the show that weren't explained, like what happened to the Campers and the adults there. I hope you like what I came up with.
Now that you spent the time to read this story, could you spend a few minutes to review and let me know what you think of the story? Positive or negative, I would like to hear what you think and what you would like to see happen next.
I would like to ask what episodes you would like to see and not see within this story, and ideas for new aliens, what they look like, powers, where they come and things like that to make it easier to write them in. I'm planning to use a few aliens from Star Wars.
If it's not obvious already, I won't be following the same episode timeline as the show, they'll be all over the place to fit into this story, so if you think of an episode that could be shown sooner than it did in Ben 10 let me know and I'll add it if I is it fits with my timeline.
Omake's are also welcome, or even just suggestions for scenes you'd like written out if they're funny but you don't feel confident you can write them out yourself.