Chapter 70: TNT (I'm Dynamite)

Like I said guys, action chapter...mainly in the last fourth though. Well, at least it's something. And it's been a while since I've had to write fight scenes for this story, so hopefully it's up to snuff.

Not gonna lie, not much in the way of plot happens here, but it was fun to write. And I enjoyed rewatching the episode; it made me go "What." at different times, and I found certain things about it funny. I hope you guys have as much fun reading this chapter as I did writing it.

Also, I tried to portray the sign language used in this chapter as accurately as I could. Sign language is very curt and to the point, so the short, blunt sentences Evan and Sam 'say' is the norm.

Now, on with the chapter!

Newt peered down at the seemingly endless tunnel and wondered, "Do you think the Slayer network goes all the way out here?"

Evan, who was right next to him, pondered that. "Normally, I'd say yes, but considering alien cattle was done here, I'll have to go with no on this one."

Newt raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought the original network in Italy went all the way to the farmlands. There were plenty of weird, creepy stuff down there in ancient times."

He snorted. "Yeah, but not dinosaur cows."

"I'm pretty sure we found some sort of alien life over there. Like wolf-human hybrid cubs or something."

"Like Romulus and Remus?"

"No, those twins were normal humans raised by wolves."

Evan furrowed his brow. "I thought they were Loboan hybrids."

"Hey, guys," Gwen called to them. "You need to listen to this."

Evan and Newt stopped their conversation and walked towards the car. A transmitter was hooked to the hood, and a holographic version of Max Tennyson was talking to the kids. Max looked fairly healthy; according to Isaac, he made a decent recovery after his tangle with Vilgax, though he did suffer from a cold after he was released from the hospital. It was to be expected, given his old age and the fact that hospitals were breeding grounds for new diseases due to how clean they were. Still, Max looked better now, much to the relief of his grandchildren.

"Those are Pyroxivors," Max was saying. "I haven't seen one in years."

"How come we never heard of 'em?" Kevin asked petulantly.

"Kid, there's tons of species here on Earth that you won't find in any book," Max pointed out. "That's where fairy tales come from: unicorns, trolls, pixies… They're all real."

"Even Bigfoot?" Kevin asked hopefully.

Max laughed derisively. "Don't be ridiculous. That's just a guy in a suit."

"Well there goes my chance of making a Bigfoot documentary," Newt said, smiling sardonically.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Like you have the guts to actually go camping and look for a cryptid."

"Hey, you never know!"

"Anyway," Gwen interjected, glaring at them, "do you know what drove them to the surface?"

Max frowned. "I don't know. Something scared them, or made it too uncomfortable to stay underground."

"They're walking tanks," Kevin complained. "What could make them uncomfortable?"

"Let's go find out," Ben declared, suddenly in a better mood. Sam eyed him suspiciously.

"I call shot gun!" Newt cried out happily.

"Just this once," Sam said, smiling slightly.

The five of them piled into the car and drove into the tunnel. It was dark and dry, with jagged pieces of rock jutting out from the ceiling and looming threatening over them. The ground was coarse and bumpy, the tires not meant for such terrain. What little light there was came from the entrance of the tunnel, or from the meager brightness of Sam's cellphone in the backseat.

Evan noticed how she quickly lit up the screen and darkened it, and how she pursed her lips in thought. He nudged her and, once he got her attention, signed with his hands: Something wrong?

She signed back: I texted Carter. She hasn't answered. No reception underground.

Important?

Sort of. Involves Ben.

Evan raised an eyebrow. About scars?

That, and his behavior.

He thought for a moment. He's been sullen. Not like himself. Lover's spat?

Sam slightly shook her head, making sure no one noticed the gesture. They argue a lot at school, but its harmless stuff. They make up minutes later. This is…

Something worse?

I'm afraid so.

Does Newt know?

She rolled her eyes, not that Evan could see at this point. With the light nearly gone, Sam quickly signed: Probably. If not, he will.

"How long do you think this tunnel goes for?" Newt asked over the sounds of the car riding over the lumpy ground. He peered over the dashboard, looking into the void.

"I don't know, but this is as far as we go," Kevin announced. "End of the road."

Indeed it was. Instead of a tunnel, rock sediments had accumulated, creating a wall blocking their path. Ben leaned over and asked, "Now what?"

And then they heard it, the sounds of earth breaking apart from underneath them. "You had to ask," Kevin hissed through gritted teeth.

"With my last breath, I curse Ben!" Evan cried out as a hole opened up in the floor, swallowing the car and the people in it.

As they were falling through the seemingly bottomless pit, Newt shouted, "Ben! Use your stupid air powers to lift the car out of here!"

"Or I can use Jetray to slow us down!" One hand already hovered over the Omnitrix. And then Kevin clamped his own hand over the watch.

"You'll dent the roof!"

"Because that totally matters right now!" Gwen snapped.

"It does!" Pressing something on his console, a parachute erupted out of the exhaust pipe. It seemed to slow them down a bit, but since the cloth was trying to slow down a car, it didn't help much. Add in the fact that it snapped against a rock and ripped apart, and it was basically a useless endeavor.

"Plan B?" Sam asked Kevin in a monotone.

"I got one…or two." The tires of the Dodge Challenger suddenly elongated, rockets appearing out of the rims and somehow slowing the car down. The car then righted itself in midair, slowly descending to the bottom of the pit.

"In hindsight, you probably should have used this plan first," Gwen told Kevin promptly.

Kevin gave her a nod. "Admittedly, yes."

The car then hit the floor, jerking everyone around in their seats. Evan cried out as he hit his head against the window for the second time that day. Kevin roughly drove around the cavern, trying to regain control of his car and hitting stalagmites from the side. And then he swerved, nearly hitting yet another wall of rock sediment. He finally stopped just feet away from the dead end.

As everyone slowly got their bearings, Newt said in a quavering voice, "Also in hindsight: going on this mission was a bad idea, for all of us."

"We wouldn't be superheroes if all we did was stay home and be scared," Ben pointed out, giving him half a smile.

Sam suddenly leaned over and eyed the tricked out console approvingly. "Cool gadgets you got there."

"Yeah," Kevin agreed, "but that last one couldn't be good for the suspension." Everyone exited the car at that, since they couldn't use it any further.

The car had conveniently parked right in front of a narrow opening in the wall. Said opening was only slightly taller than Kevin, and barely as wide. "The car won't fit through there," Evan noted, holding his aching head. "We'll have to go on foot."

Gwen stood back, holding her arm. "There must be another way," she said. She seemed to curl up into herself, or at least tried to make herself as small as possible in the giant room.

Kevin gave a short, derisive laugh. "What are you, claustrophobic?"

Gwen's nostrils flared, and she balled her fists. "I am so not claustrophobic! I-I just can't stand being in tight, closed spaces, okay?"

"That means you have claustrophobia," Newt pointed out guilelessly.

"You got a problem with that?!" she yelled out at the two boys. Newt at least had the decency to shake his head and put his hands up in surrender.

"Not at all, it's a serious situation," Evan said, placating her. He turned to Sam. "Doesn't Charlie have claustrophobia?"

"Yeah, but it's not too bad," Sam answered. "But, if it makes everyone feel better, I'll go first." She clapped her hands together and instantly her head was wreathed in flames.

Newt blinked, at the sudden brightness and at the sudden act. "Cool trick," he said happily. Then he looked puzzled. "But won't that be a hazard in such a tight space?"

Sam pursed her lips. "Not too much, I think. I don't smoke, so…"

"In that case, you can go first." Ben gave an over the top gesture with his arms, pointing to the fissure. Sam rolled her eyes, but did so anyway.

The tunnel was surprisingly bigger than expected; it was only the entrance that was small. It had been rounded out neatly, almost like it had been man made. Sam's glowing head cast long shadows down the tunnel, distorting the darkness but revealing that everyone could easily stretch out their arms and barely touch the walls.

The tunnel fed into some sort of storeroom. Sam looked up and down and noted that it was packed wall to wall with wooden crates, stacked until they reached the ceiling. Wooden barrels were situated in between some of them, taking up most of the leftover space.

"It's still pretty dark," Ben noted as he tried to look at the ceiling. "Is there any way of making your light bigger?"

"Not without burning us all," Sam said, shrugging.

"No need for that." Kevin held out a wooden torch and let the flames around Sam's head light it up. He then walked away from the group, going up towards one of the crates. He read aloud the words stamped across it: "T-N-T. Hmm."

"Oh shit!" Sam cried out, panicking. Her head of fire suddenly went out, not even leaving behind smoldering embers. She beat at her hair frantically anyway, making sure it was completely out.

"What?" Kevin asked, looking up. Newt suddenly blew out his torch before he could do any damage. "Hey, what'd you do that for?" he complained, lighting it back up. This time Evan blew out the torch. "Cut it out!"

"You cut it out!" Evan snapped at him. "This room is filled with dynamite! You almost blew us up!"

"…How was I supposed to know?"

"Oh, gee, I don't know, reading?!"

Gwen's hands suddenly glowed pink, and the room slowly brightened so everyone could easily see each other. "I'll handle the lighting," she told them pointedly. Though, considering how the room had a lack of pink tinge, it was odd how she did so. Perhaps a magic spell?

Pebbles fell down the side of the cavern. Ben looked up in time to see a boulder headed straight at them.

"MOVE!" he shouted, running from the incoming stone. "Find some cover!"

Evan snorted. "You guys need cover, I don't." The boulder suddenly stopped in midair, along with the others sent their way. With two flicks of his hand he sent them back, up the wall towards where they came. Underneath the rapid crashing sounds, Evan could detect scurrying footsteps.

"Someone's up there," he said aloud, looking up. Sam stepped up next to him.

"Should we grab him?"

"Probably." With a stomping motion, the ground moved as Evan launched the two of them high in the air, far enough so that they could grab onto the cliff. With ease they clamped their hands onto jutted rocks and threw themselves up, half-heaving and half-jumping up the cliff. Once they reached the top, they chased the rotund figure down the side of the cliff, past the cavern and out of sight.

Kevin whistled. "They know parkour?"

"I'm pretty sure that was rock climbing," Newt told him.

"True, but the way they moved sort of reminds me of parkour," Kevin insisted. Newt just shrugged.

"Hey Newt, what's that?" Gwen pointed to the abnormally long shadow that was darting between the stacked crates.

"Is that how it looks like when Slayers shadow travel?" Newt asked, sounding disgusted.

She raised an eyebrow. "You've never seen it?"

He scratched at his neck. "Ah, well, I don't hang around enough Slayers who actually know how to shadow travel. And, to be honest, I think it's really creepy, so I never learned how to do it."

"We can relate," Gwen said, an involuntary shudder rippling through her. The other two boys gave scared nods of agreement.

Once the shadow reached them, Evan and Sam melted out of it. In between them was a rotund, alien man, with a rat-like face and liver spots and long white hair. His eyes were filmy and looked like they were looking in two separate directions at once. Over-sized, rat-like teeth hung over his lower lip. He was wearing a filthy white shirt that had burn marks all over it, ragged jeans with mud spattered on hem, and a brown belt with what looked like sticks of red dynamite strapped to the side.

"Let me go or I'll blow you up!" the strange little man shouted in a slow drawl.

Sam rolled her eyes. "You already said that." Nevertheless, she and Evan let go of his arms. He ran towards the crates, then turned and glared.

"It's possible!"

"Considering all the dynamite in the room, it could be," Evan admitted.

"What's your name, ol' timer?" Kevin asked, his arms crossed.

"Moldywarp."

"Sounds like something out a bad fanfic," Sam pointed out, smirking. She and Evan turned towards the readers and smiled. They even gave little waves.

"Is... that what your friends call you?" Ben asked, an eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"Friends?" Moldywarp gave a loud, wheezing guffaw. "I don't got no friends!"

"You're the last of your kind," Gwen whispered, her eyes wide.

"No such luck," he retorted. "The underworld is crawling with folks like me. I just don't like 'em much. And they don't like me!" He jerked a thumb at himself.

"You don't say," Kevin said dryly.

"What are you doing with all the explosives?" Ben asked curiously.

"D'aww, I've been stealing that stuff from the surface dwellers for years." Moldywarp turned to the side to pick up a remote. Pressing one of the red buttons, light suddenly flooded the place, revealing just how much the old man had stolen.

"Some of this stuff looks pretty old," Gwen noticed, taking in the sheer amount of crates.

"It is," Moldywarp affirmed. He started to point at different crates. "TNT, blast and caps, nitroglycerin. Primitive, but they sure gets the job done." He laughed his weird wheezing laugh again.

"…What job is that?" Ben asked nervously.

"Protectin' my herd."

"…What."

"He said it was to protect his herd," Newt told him helpfully.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard, I just didn't believe it."

"The Pyroxivors," Moldywarp explained, clasping his hands together. "Real beauties, ain't they."

"They almost killed me in a stampede!" Newt cried out angrily.

"You shouldn't let them do that," he said, unconcerned.

"Uh-huh." Newt leaned over towards Ben. "He's a whack job," he whispered.

Kevin also leaned over to Ben's other side. "He doesn't know anything," he said just as quietly. "Let's ditch."

Suddenly Moldywarp appeared behind them, singing, "I heard you!"

"Jesus fuck, don't do that!" Kevin shouted, hopping away from him. The other boys stepped away from the old man as well.

"Why were you were throwing rocks at us, Moldy? Can I call you Moldy?" Sam added, hand on her hip.

"No!"

"I'm gonna call you Moldy anyway, it's faster."

Moldywarp grumbled, but he answered her earlier question anyway. "I couldn't get to my explosives. That's what I mostly use on the other fella." He started to walk away from them, heading for the back of the cavern. They all stared after him, some alarm etched on their faces.

"What other fella, exactly?" Evan asked nervously.

"The clean jumper! Don't you know nothin'?" Moldywarp lifted the aluminum garage hatch to reveal yet another tunnel.

Gwen shook her head. "No, not so far."

Evan piped up, "And I usually know less than nothing!"

"Yeah, he's kind of an idiot," Kevin agreed.

"Hey!"

Moldywarp actually had an old mining elevator hidden down that tunnel. That actually made a lot of sense, considering that the Pyroxivors had recently upended an oil rig. Or, considering the explosives the old man had squirreled away, perhaps the area had been a regular mining field. It was something to look into.

While the light rattled around the tiny space as the elevator descended downward, Gwen said, "No wonder the Pyroxivors came to the surface, it's like a furnace down here!" Considering she was wearing rather heavy clothing, it would have been worse for her. As well as Newt, who was wiping sweat off of his forehead.

"Is it always this hot?" Ben asked, also feeling the heat.

"Naw, that's what I've been tryin' to fix," Moldywarp told them. "Ever since all that magma started seeping up."

"Magma?" Sam said nervously.

Once off the elevator, the group made their way to the source of the problem. It was a cavern with recently added in alien bits. Magma in tubes was seeping up towards the surface, and there was an ominous hole in the ground with an equally ominous device hovering over it. A metal station had been slapped over the natural carvings of the cavern, with stairs and slabs of metal built into it.

Angry little miner things looked down at them with pick axes in hand. And then a familiar voice shouted through the room: "Who dares intrude on the lair of the-aw, not you again!" Vulcanus face palmed when he saw just who had wandered into his hide-out.

"Oh, so you do know him!" Moldywarp said cheerfully.

"Vulcanus, yes," Evan noted.

"I don't know him," Newt pointed out helpfully.

"Either way, we don't like him," Kevin growled.

"The feeling is mutual," Vulcanus shot back. "Destroy them!" The little miner things ran at them with their pick axes.

"I picked a bad day to join your group," Newt pointed out as they all prepared for battle.

"Oh come on, we hammered these losers last time," Ben pointed out flippantly.

"You did. We didn't," Sam pointed out, gesturing to herself and Newt and Evan.

"…Good point," Ben conceded. He then turned to Vulcanus. "Still, I expected you to have upgraded by now."

That was when giant, automatic bulldozers came running in. One was normal, the other had a drill for a head.

"…Huh," Ben said dumbly. He quickly regained his wits, lucky him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He made a time-out sign with his hands. "We didn't even know you were here, okay?!"

"And by the way, why are you here?" Gwen narrowed her eyes at Vulcanus.

"Remember all that tadenite I took off of you?"

"Yeah, I remember." Kevin quickly felt his shoulder, as if he could still feel Vulcanus ripping precious stone from his body. He didn't notice the looks of concern that were sent his way.

"Well," Vulcanus chuckled, "it was worth a fortune. And you'll be glad to know I spent it wisely. See, this is my planet now." A hologram appeared right in front of Ben, just centimeters from his nose. Startled, he stepped back, right into Newt, accidentally hitting his nose. They all ignored his hiss of pain as they stared at the deed to planet Earth.

"I filed a claim, paid the fees, the whole bit," Vulcanus continued. "Completely legal."

Evan peered over Ben's shoulder and quickly scanned the article, trying to make sure it was legit. Ben, who could read alien all of a sudden, asked tentatively, "What does that mean, 'planetary renovation permit'?"

"Exactly what it says," Vulcanus replied cheerfully. "I can change the atmosphere, the terrain, the oceans, any way I want."

"That's what the bomb's for," Gwen realized. Sam looked up at the device dangling precariously above them.

"Yep. I drop it down the shaft, it explodes into magma at the center of the Earth, and before you know it, I have all the comforts of home," the evil alien said promptly.

"Wait, home?" Kevin asked, startled. "Where you come from, a cool day is eight hundred fifty degrees."

"Uh-huh."

Moldywarp laughed. "And you thought I was crazy!"

"You still are," Evan said, standing straight. He had read the document during the entire exchange, and cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "This deed is illegal."

"…What," went Vulcanus.

"You can only own an uninhabited planet," he explained. "Earth has a human population of 7 billion, with 8.74 million animal species. Your transaction is invalid, and you can't legally change the Earth to make it homey." Once he was done, everyone stared at him. He stared back. "What? My stepmom's a lawyer."

"Are you kidding me?!" Vulcanus cried out indignantly. "Do you have any idea how much I put into this?"

"Considering how much tadenite is, yeah, we have a pretty good idea," Sam snarled, fists on her hips.

"In that case, you understand why I have to go through with my plan anyway."

Ben pointed dramatically at him. "You can't do that!"

"Of course I can! Watch!" Pressing his drill hand on the clock, the countdown began.

"You handle the runts and the robots, I'll take Vulcanus," Ben ordered the others right before the drill head tried to impale them. They all dodged in time, and it was chaos from that point on.

Gwen was shooting mana blasts at the miners trying to kill Moldywarp; the old man seemed pretty useless, though he was enthusiastic. Taking up a fighting pose, he shouted, "I was hopin' we'd be gettin' to some fightin'!" Gwen just smiled.

Ben was trying to get to Vulcanus, but a giant drill kept trying to kill him, with him dodging left and right and ultimately farther away from the villain. Thankfully, Newt intervened, whipping up a quick shield right in front of them both. The drill hit the shield instead, sending sparks flying upon impact.

"Go! I can do this at least," Newt told him as the drill sent cracks running though the honey-gold energy.

Ben ran, and the other bulldozer would have gotten him instead, when suddenly a sinkhole appeared underneath it. In a matter of seconds, only the top half of the machine could be seen. Evan jumped onto it, peeling off sheets of metal with his bare hands.

He smirked. "I'm the earth guy. Did you all seriously forget that?"

Kevin was pounding miner minions into the ground- he had absorbed some of the earth earlier and was now wearing it as armor. Sam was nearby, tearing other bad guys apart by ripping their limbs off, or taking their weapons and throwing them into the heads of other enemies. Kevin took the easier route and just bashed their heads in, if not their entire bodies into the pavement.

Satisfied that the two of them had it under control, Gwen went after Vulcanus herself. Her hands glowing, she sent mana blasts his way, forcing him to duck behind a control panel. "Somebody do something about her!" the villain shouted rather petulantly.

That was when more miner baddies went after her, chattering angrily and holding up pickaxes. Moldywarp, who had been gleefully breaking limbs, suddenly threw something into the fray. There was a great big flash, and they all flew backwards, screaming.

"Harsh," was all Gwen said.

Throwing another timed bomb into the battle, Moldy replied, "Nah, I blows them up all the time." Another flash, forcing Gwen to blink. She couldn't stop from hearing the screams though. Moldy smiled. "I think they likes it."

The drill suddenly ignored Newt and went after Gwen. The miner weapon tried to kill her, but Gwen was able to put up a shield just before it hit. Unfortunately, the drill head was relentless, and there was only so much energy she could spare.

Newt suddenly appeared beside her, his own arms up, gold energy blending into her pink. The shield grew larger, expanding around them to create a half-hearted dome.

Through gritted teeth, Newt said, "Gwen! Say resilio with me and put everything you got into it!"

"Will it work?!"

"I really hope so!"

"Resilio!" the two of them said in unison, pouring their power into the attack. The gold and pink dome recoiled against the drill head, wrapping around it and the rest of the body. And then it imploded, metal shattering apart and pieces being flung about.

"Oh fuck!" Newt said as he tackled Gwen and Moldy to the floor. The metal pieces flew over them, hitting Vulcanus' minions instead. Dust blew over them, filling up the cavern. The sounds of metal hitting the ground and the strangled screams of victims filled the air. Once it all cleared, a fire shield appeared, protecting three people. The miner minions had, for the most part, been completely struck down.

The dome disappeared, revealing Sam and Evan and Kevin. Newt, Gwen, and Moldy slowly picked themselves up from the floor, all three of them coughing up dust. Ben, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

And then they heard the sounds that only a monkey could make. Sam and Evan spared each other amused glances as they heard the hyperactive sounds of Spidermonkey beating the crap out of Vulcanus.

"Stop the countdown!" Spidermonkey ordered.

"Make me!" was Vulcanus' petulant reply. And then he activated his drill for a hand and tried to kill Ben.

As Spidermonkey tried to strangle Vulcanus, Newt called out, "Hey Evan, you think you can destroy some of this joint?"

The brunet eyed the bomb still dangling above them. "Without disturbing that thing? Doubtful."

And then they heard the sounds of the control panel being smashed. Apparently, Vulcanus had tried to run at Ben, only to have Spidermonkey jump away at the last possible second. Ergo, the bad guy had destroyed his own countdown in what could only be described as a typical bad guy move.

…or so they all thought.

Apparently, Vulcanus was much smarter than he acted, because upon the threat of destruction, the countdown clock sped up. They now only had thirty seconds.

"Oh come on!" Spidermonkey griped.

"Your problem, not mine," Vulcanus told him.

"When that bomb goes off, the magma will go right up into this chamber! It'll kill you too! Are you crazy?"

"That would be crazy," Vulcanus agreed. He pressed a button on the console and a hole appeared in the ceiling, revealing a metallic escape tube. A second later, and Vulcanus' infantile body ejected out of his suit, with him sitting in a rocket chair. He flew through the air and went through the hole. It quickly snapped shut, and he was gone.

An alarm sounded through the cavern, and the minions that were still standing ran away. "That doesn't sound good," Kevin said worriedly.

Spidermonkey ran on all six limbs towards the shaft where the bomb was due to drop through. And then he stopped and stared at it, thinking.

"Dude, we need to come up with a plan," Newt called out.

"We don't have time for a plan," Spidermonkey called out. "If I change into Humungousaur, I can catch it before it drops."

"How do you know you'll even change into the right alien?" Sam pointed out. "Despite recent events, your Omnitrix has a track record of giving you the wrong alien."

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Spidermonkey snapped.

Sam stopped, her eyes wide. She turned to Evan, who just sighed. "We'll have to do that," he said.

"I hate having to do that," Sam groaned.

"Yeah, me too," Evan replied as the two of them ran towards the shaft.

"Wait! What are you two doing?!" Spidermonkey cried out. They ignored him, jumping upwards, flipping, and falling right down the tube in one smooth motion.

"No!" Spidermonkey instantly changed into Ben, who was about to turn into Jetray to catch them.

And then the bomb dropped.

So, thoughts anyone?