The group was headed back to the desert landscape. The way there was uncomfortably quiet. Nobody said a word as the ship landed in near a canyon. "Look, sorry about what happened back there." Ben said. Elena looked at him.
"You don't have to apologize, I'm just here to follow my father's orders." Elena said. Ben leaned back in his seat, knowing that keeping the team together would be no walk in the park.
The others turned to look at Elena, but she was in no mood for discussion. She didn't want their sympathy right now. When they landed, their stop was a little abrupt. "Everyone hang on tight!" Julie called back. They all grabbed onto something as they came in for a landing.
Once they had landed, they all walked out one-by-one. "What happened?" Ben asked. Once everyone was out, Ship changed back to his regular size.
"Are you okay, Ship?" Julie asked, checking to see if he was injured.
"Ship!"
"Okay, so what are we doing back here?" Kevin asked.
"We have to find the person who watches this place. She needs to know about what's happening." Ben said.
"But this place is huge. We don't even know what cave she's in." Gwen pointed out.
"Look, it's the only lead we have." Ben said.
"Guys, are we seriously doing this again?" Elena asked, recalling her last adventure with them.
"Look, arguing isn't going to get us anywhere." Julie said. "We've gotta start somewhere."
"Ship!" Everyone turned around seeing the little symboite near a puddle.
"Ship!" Julie picked him up, wondering how he managed to get away from them in the time she'd put him on the ground.
"What is that?"
"It's not like any puddle I've seen before." Elena said. She was right, the puddle was a strange color and had bubbles popping out of it.
"I don't even want to know, let's get back to finding the cave." Ben said.
"Wow, you are such a girl sometimes." Gwen said.
"Well, he did…" Kevin began.
"Guys, not now!" Julie said. "I'm tired of hearing this story and I'm pretty sure Elena doesn't want to hear it."
"Thanks, Julie." Elena said, a little confused and relieved at the same time. Not knowing what the group was talking about drove her nuts sometimes.
The group looked around. Julie noticed that Elena was distancing herself from the others.
"Hey, guys." Julie said, trying to come up with a plan. "Wouldn't it go a lot faster if we split up?"
"With this war to annihilate any species that lives here? It's best if we don't." Ben said. "Besides, we have to try and stop these guys. If we don't, then who knows what else they might try to do?" Julie glanced over at Elena again. She looked so lonely.
She walked over to her. "What are you doing?" Elena turned, surprised.
"Taking a sample of that puddle. You never know what's hiding around here, you know." She held out a slide with the residue and slid it back into her pocket.
"Yeah." Julie said, wondering how she got them out of the base.
"Over here!" Everyone rushed over to where Gwen was. "This is it. This is the cave we were at yesterday."
"Nice job, Gwen." Ben said. "Now all we need to do is go in and…"
"I wouldn't do that just yet." Gwen said. "I sense something in there, but I can't tell what it is."
"So whatever it is, we'll just kick it's butt." Kevin pointed out. Gwen hit him on the shoulder.
"Ready, guys?" Ben asked. Everyone nodded. They all walked inside. Gwen used her energy for a light source. They didn't too deep into the cave, though.
"So, are you okay, Elena?" Julie asked. "It just seems like you're alone."
"It's nothing, I'm fine." Elena said.
Gwen suddenly stopped, startled by something. Her light went out and she nearly tripped. "Gwen, are you okay?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah, just a bit on edge." Gwen said.
"It's going to be okay." Ben said, trying to calm her down. "We're all here."
"Who dares enter the mistress' cave?" A voice asked. Everyone froze. Ship ran and hid behind Julie.
"Ship, it's okay." Julie said, trying to hide her own fear.
"Who are you? Where are you?" Ben asked. It was a little dark, but still very hard to see.
"I am the mistress' personal guardian. No one enters this cave." Suddenly, Ben could see what looked like a light for a second. Then he realized it was a beam.
"Everyone, duck and run!" They all ran out of the cave as the beam fired and luckily, no one was hit. "Is everyone okay?" Ben asked as they all got up.
"Yeah, but that thing's not going to be." Kevin said.
"You must leave immediately." The voice said.
"Look, we don't mean any harm." Ben said. "We just want to talk to her."
"The only way to get to her is through me." The voice said.
"Why don't you come out here and show yourself?" Kevin asked, absorbing the rock he was standing near. The figure stepped out of the cave and they could see it clearly.
"No wonder that beam looked so familiar." Ben said.
"In order to see her, you have to defeat me in battle." The Crystalsapien said. (For those of you who don't know, that's Chromastone's race.)
"Looks like we have no choice." Ben said.