The next destination on the Tennyson adventure tour was a Navajo village in the heart of Arizona. Max had been visibly excited to get to Arizona owing to the fact that a longtime friend of his lived in the Navajo village. Ben, Gwen, and Trixie all suspected that this "old friend" was related to the Plumbers. When asked if there was any truth to these suspicions, Max just smirked smugly and kept driving.
When they arrived in the village, they were greeted by an elderly Native American man named Wes Green. Wes welcomed them warmly to his village and offered to show them around, regaling them with the history and culture of his people.
"Navajo legend says the web of the dream catcher protects the dreamer by hold the nightmares in the center," Wes explained to Max as they examined a swaying dreamcatcher hanging from a stall. "While good dreams travel down the feathers to bless the person sleeping."
Max and Wes moved on to the next stall where the latter explained the history of the Navajo's medicine wheel, leaving the children behind. As to be expected from Ben, the Wielder of the Omnitrix openly yawned while the girls had been looking over beaded bracelets and turquoise necklaces. Gwen shot an annoyed look at her annoyed cousin and punched him in the arm.
"Speaking of sleeping," she said.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Ben apologized as the girls moved on and he reluctantly followed. "I'm just so bored. I know Mr. Green is grandpa's old buddy, but could this trip get any more…."
Ben's words were cut off when the trio stumbled upon a show taking place in the middle of the street. Several men were banging drums and shaking rattles, chanting in the ancient Navajo language, while young girl around his age performed a native dance in the center. All at once, Ben's mind and body came to a screeching stop, staring open mouthed at the dancing girl.
"…cooler," Ben finished, grinning like an idiot.
"That's my granddaughter, Kai," Wes informed them proudly.
Oh, Wes, last time I saw her, she was barely walking," said Max reminiscently. "Now look at her."
"What's she doing?" asked Trixie curiously.
"She's performing a ceremonial Navajo dance," Wes informed her. "It is a ritual to summon rain and bless our land with a prosperous bounty."
"Is there any scientific proof of that?" said Trixie.
"It's more a matter of faith than science," said Wes with an understanding tone of amusement.
"You know, I was hoping to see one of these before the summer ended," said Ben brightly, his eyes never leaving Kai for a moment.
"Since when have you been interested in Native American spiritual dance?" Gwen questioned disbelievingly.
"Only forever, dweeb," said Ben defensively. "It rocks!"
"And yet, this is the first time I've ever heard you mention it," Trixie pointed out.
Gwen did not believe him in the slightest. In a matter of moments, the dance was done and Kai bowed graciously to the clapping audience. As she walked toward them, Gwen quirked her brow as she watched her doofus cousin trying to fix his hair in a desperate attempt to get Kai to notice him. Naturally, Kai ignored his existence and went straight for her grandfather, but Ben didn't seem to mind, sighing as he watched her from afar. Gwen couldn't resist rolling her eyes.
A clap of thunder drew Gwen's attention to the sky as black storm clouds suddenly rolled over the village without the people being aware until they had completely blanketed the sky.
"I think your rain dance might have worked a little too well," Gwen commented as she pointed to the sky, drawing everyone's attention to the dark thunderclouds.
"That's never happened before…," said Kai, dumbfounded.
Within seconds, they were drenched in a heavy shower of rain as lightning struck the ground. What was odd was that the lightning was purple and the ground exploded when it made contact instead of grounding the electricity, nearly taking out a couple of tourists.
"I don't think this is normal!" Trixie yelled over the clapping thunder.
"What gave you that idea?" Gwen shouted sarcastically.
"Take cover in the Rust Bucket!" Max instructed, pushing the girls towards the Plumber protected RV…and completely forgetting about his grandson, who was standing in the middle of the street just watching Kai, somehow obvious to the destruction going on around him.
One bolt of lightning finally got his attention when it struck the ground around him. When he twisted around to face the area where it hit, the wielder of the Omnitrix found himself faced with a massive shadowed beast three times his size with bright purple eyes piercing through the darkness.
"Uh, anyone want to ask that thing for an umbrella?" Ben audibly gulped.
The bipedal beast stood at its full imposing height, staring down the young boy as if deciding what to do with this small creature. Ultimately, the beast turned tail and fled just as Max and Wes finally remembered Ben existed and came back to get him. But they had little time to relax as a powerful rumbling could be heard surging from down the street, just moments before a tidal wave rolled around the corner.
"Flash flood!" cried Wes. "Everyone, get to higher ground!"
The Tennysons and Greens scattered. Max and Wes climbed up to the rooftops of the building on one side of the street while Ben pulled himself up on the opposite. Gwen was the first to climb up the ladder to the Rust Bucket's roof, followed by Trixie, then by Kai. Unfortunately, Wes's granddaughter only managed to make it up halfway before the flood slammed against the RV, ripping Kai off the ladder and carrying her with the stream.
"Help!" Kai screamed, struggling to keep her head above water.
"Going Arctiguana!" said Ben as he activated the Omnitrix, turning the ring to hi desired alien. But when he slammed down the faceplant, the transformation sequence didn't activate and instead the Omnitrix crackled with purple static. "Aw man, the lightning must've shorted it out! Guess I'm doing this by myself…."
Ben dashed across the rooftops, following Kai's path along the street, when he spotted a metal barrel floating amidst the debris in the water. He made a daring jump and successfully managed to saddle himself on the barrel, gripping the edges to stop himself from slipping off. Ben reached down and paddled, gradually closing the distance between him and Kai.
"Grab my hand!" Ben yelled, stretching his arm out.
Kai reached out, her fingers slipping through Ben's once before the Wielder of the Omnitrix managed to get a firm grasp on her hand. Ben managed to pull Kai up on the barrel behind him with a little effort and saddled themselves to ride out the waves. But when they looked ahead, they realized that they were heading to a solid brick wall, and a wooden crate perfectly demonstrated what they were in for as it smashed into tiny pieces.
"We need to jump!" said Ben.
He grabbed Kai's hand and together they managed to hop to a wooden overhang, hanging by the bars as they watched the barrel be torn in half…which really didn't make sense because it was made of metal, but whatever. Ben and Kai exhaled mutual sighes of relief.
"Thank you," Kai said gratefully to Ben. "But can I – "
"Repay me?" Ben interrupted haughtily. "Forget it. I'm one of those 'leap-first-think-second' kind of guys."
"That's nice," said Kai, not really sure what to make of that statement. "But what I meant was, can I have my hand back now?"
Ben looked down and realized that he was still holding a firm grip on Kai's hand. The boy immediately let go like he had been electrocuted, his face flushed with embarrassment. Now with both hands on the overhead bars, the kids had little more to do that wait until the flood died down.
No one ever realized that the bipedal beast that had arrived with the purple lightning had scoured its way to the radio tower on the cliff overlooking the village, pilfering the satellite dish in one flash of lightning and disappearing the next.
Later that night, once the flood levels had finally died down, Wes had dragged his granddaughter and the Tennysons to the Navajo Historical Museum where he claims to have made a huge discovery on the identity of the giant beast that had appeared during the storm. He brought them all to an ancient tapestry hanging on the wall that depicted a crude image of what seemed to be a wolf-like creature on two legs.
"I never thought I'd ever see one," said Wes cryptically.
"One what?" asked Ben.
"A Yenaldooshi – Navajo werewolf," said Wes. "I thought they only existed in folklore. Their presence is a sign of pure evil. I must find it. I will tranquilize and bag it."
"This seems like something best left for the Saturdays," said Trixie pointedly.
"Unfortunately, the Saturdays have gone underground after Kurr's identity was discovered," said Max, frowning. "I'll go with you, Wes. You'll need my help."
"Count me in!" said Ben, making a heroic pose to show off to Kai.
"Me too, grandpa," said Kai.
"You know only Braves can be trackers, Kai," said Wes, shaking his head.
"Who made up that rule," said Gwen, glowering with fists on her hips.
"It's been that way for centuries," said Wes. "Times change, but traditions don't."
"I'm sure the Woke community would disagree," said Trixie blandly.
"You girls will remain behind," said Wes in a firm tone that left no room for arguments.
"You've got to be kidding me!" said Gwen, outraged. "That's such a load of sexist – "
"Their land, their rules, Gwen," said Max, holding Gwen in place before she could approach Wes.
Gwen huffed, shrugging off her grandfather's shoulder and walking away with Kai following behind, her arms crossed and her head hanging in despair
"Kai seems bummed," Ben said to Trixie, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Maybe I can cheer her up."
"Since when are you considerate of a girl's – ooh, now I get it," said Trixie as a revelation dawned on her, a teasing smirk stretching across her lips. "You're infatuated with Kai."
"W-what?!" Ben sputtered out loud.
"It's true, isn't it?" said Trixie with an amused cackle. "You have a – what was the word that Gwen used? A crush? Yeah, you have a crush on Kai!"
"No way!" Ben denied.
"Oh, I cannot wait to tell this to Gwendolyn!" Trixie guffawed, holding her stomach. "She's going to hold this over you until the end of time!"
"Oh yeah, what about your crush on Charmcaster, huh?" Ben retorted.
"I am comfortable with expressing my feelings about Charmcaster," said Trixie confidently. "Expressing them to her is another obstacle altogether. But that is neither here nor there." She leaned closer to Ben with a smug smirk. "Just admit that you like her already, Benjamin."
"I so don't," said Ben, crossing his arms with a huff. "But…if you're hanging around Kai or something, could you do me a favor?"
"That depends on what it is," said Trixie.
"Can you sorta…let it slip how cool I am," said Ben nervously. "You know, that you're lucky to have me for a best friend."
"My best friend is Kevin," said Trixie bluntly.
"Just…can you do this for me? Please?" Ben pleaded.
Trixie exhaled an exasperated sigh, and said, "I'll see what I can do."
"Thanks, Trix, you're the best!" Ben said cheerfully, chasing after his grandpa and Wes as they exited the museum.
Ben, Max, and Wes followed the Yenaldooshi's trail to a steep canyon out in the wastelands. As it turned out, Wes was an expert tracker, able to spot the Yenaldooshi's dark fur even in the middle of the night, while occasionally catching hints of claw marks and broken sticks that indicated the direction it had gone.
"You know, this reminds me of when you, me, and Doc went after the Yeti in the Himalayas that time," Max told Wes reminiscently.
"You're a Plumber?" asked Ben, surprised.
"Extradimensional control division," Wes confirmed. "I was in charge of making sure the bad guys stayed out of our dimension. But I'm retired now. And it appears our Yenaldooshi friend has gone this way," he added, pointing ahead deeper into the canyon.
Back at the village, Gwen, Trixie, and Kai were sitting together on the edge of the roof of Kai's house, waiting for the boys to return. Gwen was still miffed about being excluded and laid herself flat on the roof, resting her head on her hands and staring up at the starry sky. Trixie had been writing some new details on her Biomnitrix project in her laptop when she glanced in Kai's direction, who had been staring off into the distance for some time now. Remembering her promise to Ben, Trixie coughed awkwardly before engaging conversation with the Navajo girl.
"So…," said Trixie clumsily. "I suppose Benjamin saved you."
"Yeah, he seems okay," said Kai.
"By 'okay', do you mean like as a person or – " said Trixie, having no clue where she was going with this.
"Why're you bringing up Ben now?" Gwen asked curiously, sitting up and staring at her friend.
"Oh, no reason, I just uh – " Trixie sputtered cluelessly.
Thankfully she was spared when they heard the distant howling of a wolf. Distracted with concern for the safety of their grandfathers (and Ben), the girls were left to wonder if they had encountered the Yenaldooshi yet….
Ben, Max, and Wes climbed to the top of a mountainous outcropping and looked down, discovering what appeared to be a scrapyard in the middle of the desert for some reason. They could see the sparks of electricity coming from within the scrapheap and the shadow of the wolf-like beast flashing across the rocks. It appeared to be daggering through the piles of metal and electronics, looking for something. But Ben couldn't help wondering what an ancient Navajo werewolf would want with a bunch of electronics.
Either way, it hardly mattered to Wes as he loaded the tranquilizer round in his rifle and steadied his aim on the Yenaldooshi. He slowly pressed his finger down on the trigger…not noticing how the Yenaldooshi's ears suddenly perked up, catching the tiny clicking of the gun's mechanism. So when the tranq dart fired, the Yenaldooshi ducked underneath without even looking. It spun around on all fours and sprinted towards the humans.
Wes shot another tranquilizer, but the Yenaldooshi tilted its head sideways in an effortless dodge and lunged forward, snapping its teeth in between the group. Ben, Max, and Wes backed away to avoid the Yenaldooshi's teeth, but lost their foot and fell off the edge of the cliff, taking a forty-foot plunge toward the ground. Ben desperately jabbed the Omnitrix's activation switch a dozen times until the faceplate popped up and quickly scrolled through the options.
"If you give me Gray Matter, I am so tossing you out in the desert," Ben threatened the Omnitrix before slamming down the faceplate. Wes covered his eyes when he was nearly blinded by the transformation flash, letting out a startled gasp when he found a cowboy-themed alien instead of Max's grandson.
"Rifter?" Rifter sound surprised in his thick sourthern accent. "Not exactly what is was goin' fer, but I'll take it!"
The alien desperado fired three balls of green energy from his fingers below, which expanded into special portals in midair. Max, Wes, and Rifter fell through each portal, which closed behind them, and another portal opened up at the bottom of the canyon, safely depositing the trio on the ground. Wes stared, shocked and dumbfounded, as Rifter got to his feet and shot another portal before disappearing through it. The Navajo man stared, slack jawed, at Max, who scratched the back of his neck with a sheepish laugh.
"Yeah, I know, I have some explaining to do," said Max.
Rifter reappeared at the top of the cliff where the Yenaldooshi had been moments prior, only the Navajo werewolf had already fled. The teleporting alien scanned the area until he spotted a dark shadow moving the side of the canyon walls. It was the Yenaldooshi; it was stabbing its claws into the rock to climb. Rifter shot another portal from his finger and jumped through –
The Yenaldooshi clawed his way over the edge of the cliff and decided to make a break for it, when a portal appeared directly beside it. Rifter jumped out and tackled the werewolf from the side, knocking the beast flat on the ground. The Yenaldooshi snapped and flailed at Rifter, who sat on the werewolf to pin it down, twisting one of its arms behind its back. If only this alien came equipped with a lasso, Rifter thought.
"Tag!" said Rifter. "And you're it, fang face!"
But the Yenaldooshi managed to twist itself around and took a bite of Rifter's leg, causing the alien desperado to shout out in pain. Luckily, Rifter managed to maintain his hold over the beast.
"So you wanna fight dirty, huh?" said Rifter challengingly.
Rifter pointed at the ground below him and the Yenaldooshi and opened up a portal beneath them, falling through into the void. The emerged nearby where the Yenaldooshi was dropped on a large rock, which was smashed to pebbles after Rifter slammed the Yenaldooshi's face into the stone. He created another portal beneath them and smashed the Navajo werewolf on another rock nearby. Rifter repeated this a third time on another group of rocks nearby.
He pointed his finger at the ground for a fourth round when the emblem on his chest beeped and exploded in a flash of red light, reverting Ben back to his human self.
"No, not now!" Ben cried in a panic. The Yenaldooshi slowly looked over its shoulder, snarling viciously at the boy; Ben laughed nervously. "Uh, that 'fang face' nickname, I meant it in a nice way – "
The Yenaldooshi shot up to its feet with an angry howl, throwing Ben off its back. It spun around and slashed its claw through the air, but Ben scrambled out of the way and started running. He didn't get very far because the Yenaldooshi's superior speed caught up within in half-a-second and swiped its claws again. By some miracle, the beast's claws swiped the Omnitrix instead, but the force of the impact was still strong enough to toss Ben flat on his back.
The Yenaldooshi snarled as it slowly approached the boy when someone called out Ben's name. Max and Wes had managed to climb up the cliff and were running their way with Wes's gun locked and loaded. The Yenaldooshi seemed to decide that Ben wasn't worth the trouble and ran the opposite way, disappearing over the edge of the cliff.
While Max and Wes ran over the edge to follow the werewolf, Ben looked down at the Omnitrix when he noticed that it wasn't displaying the red light for its Cool Down Mode; the light was yellow and the dial was spinning on its own.
"Hey, I've seen this before," Ben muttered to himself. "What was it called again…? Ah, it's probably nothing."
Ben, Max, and Wes returned to the village some time later that night. While Max and Wes was informing the villagers of what happened out in the canyon, Ben, Gwen, and Trixie stood by the Rust Bucket away from prying ears.
"So, did Kai say anything about me while I was gone?" Ben asked Trixie hopefully.
"A little, but not much," said Trixie.
"Wait, is that why you were talking about Ben earlier," asked Gwen. "You were trying to see if Kai was interested in him? So what, you're Ben's wing girl now?"
"I have to," said Trixie. "It's in the Rulebook of Friendship."
"There's no such thing as – oh wow, there really is one," Gwen changed her tune when Trixie flashed a thick, leather-bound book title 'The Rulebook of Friendship.' "Mind lending me that later?"
"Sure," Trixie answered.
"Okay, since we're apparently helping Ben with his crush – "
"It's not a crush!" Ben denied, his face flushing with embarrassment.
"Let me give you a piece of advice," Gwen told her cousin, ignoring his outburst. "Don't seem overly interested. Girls can totally sniff out desperation a mile away."
"Uh, right," said Ben apprehensively.
"Hey, where are all those people going?" Trixie asked, noticing how the villagers were heading out of the village.
"Off the reservation," Wes explained as he, Max, and Kai rejoined them. "They fear the Yenaldooshi's return. And with tonight's full moon, it's power will be greater than ever."
"Well, after I went Rifter on its butt, I'm sure it's lo-o-ong gone by now," said Ben.
"My grandpa told me what you did," said Kai.
"Yeah, it's just one of my many talents," Ben boasted. "I don't like talking about it. But I'm pretty much this total superhero twenty-four-seven."
"So, like, what things have you done?" asked Kai, who quirked a brow when Ben started scratching himself relentlessly.
"You know, the usual," said Ben, fighting back a grimace as he tried to reach a difficult spot on his back. "Arrest criminals, take down aliens, save mankind – "
"Scratch yourself like a monkey," Gwen taunted, mimicking his scratching.
"Are you okay?" Kai asked Ben in concern.
"I'm fine," Ben groaned, his irritation growing as he kept scratching. "I just can't stop itching. Trixie, could you scratch my back for a sec."
"The Rulebook of Friendship is very clear about the 'no scratching' clause," said Trixie bluntly.
Ben made a whining noise as he sat on the ground and removed his shoe, desperately scratching his foot. Everyone was shocked when they suddenly witnessed Ben's skin turn a deep-bluish pigment, his nail grew into claws, his hair turned wild, and he started scratching his ear with his foot like a dog.
"Uh, Ben," said Kai strangely. "Your face is – "
"What, handsome?" Ben interrupted, again. "Yeah, I get that a lot."
"Actually…more like really hairy," said Kai awkwardly.
"Ben, what's going on?" asked Gwen, growing concerned as Ben's ears suddenly turned pointed.
"Wha – what the?!" Ben yipped in a fright, feeling his increasingly hairy face. "What's happening to me?!"
"So this isn't one of your superheroes?" asked Kai.
"No-o-o-o-o!" Ben's answer came out in the form of a wolf's howl; Ben clapped both hands over his mouth to stop himself. "I don't get it? How'd this happen to me?"
"Were you bitten by the Yenaldooshi?" asked Wes gravely.
"When I was Rifter," Ben answered. "But it didn't even break the skin."
"On top of that, your DNA would have been a completely different species," said Trixie thoughtfully. "There's no possible reason why anything that happened in another form would be carried over into your human state."
"This goes beyond the realm of science and technology," said Wes seriously. "The Yenaldooshi is a spiritual beast that can create others in its exact image. And when it does, those followers will seek to destroy those closest to them."
"Good thing we don't like each other, huh, Ben?" Gwen commented.
"So how does Ben un-wolf?" asked Max.
"The only way to reverse its spell is to stop the Yenaldooshi," said Wes.
"With a silver bullet?" Ben remarked.
"That's in the movies," said Wes, shaking his head. "You must dip a silver pendent in the juice of the Árbol del Matrimonio cactus and place it against its heart. And we must do it before tonight's full moon, or you could remain likie that forever."
"Forever?" Ben squeaked with an audible gulp.
"The Navajo also believe the Yenaldooshi is a god," Kai commented.
"You know…," said Ben, changing his tune so fast it was amazing he didn't get whiplash, "a little back hair's not so bad."
"No," said Trixie firmly. "Just…no."
"I will get the pendent," said Wes as he walked back to the village
"Hey, is anyone else hungry?" said Ben, who were eyeing a nearby cow hungrily….
Inside the Rust Bucket, the children were gathered around the table waiting for the adults to finish the preparations for the upcoming ritual. Gwen was using Trixie's laptop (since her own was lost somewhere in the Niagara and Trixie never paid her back). Ben piled all the eggs they had into a bowl and drowned them all in milk, which was weird even for her taste buds. The budding werewolf dived face first into the bowl, splashing milk and eggs shells in every direction…and yet Kai was strangely the only one to be on the receiving end.
Ben chuckled sheepishly under Kai's blank stare as he offered a napkin with his teeth.
"Uh, hehe…napkin?" he said.
Gwen rolled her eyes and resumed typing on the computer until she pulled the web page she was searching for. It was a page on Árbol del Matrimonio cactus and, more importantly, what the cactus looked like and where it was commonly found. While she took notes on everything she read, her dweeb of a cousin pounced away and went rummaging through the fridge.
"Let's see what else I can wolf down," said Ben, laughing at his own joke. "Get it? Wolf down? I'm a riot."
Gwen shook her head and went back to her notes…until everyone heard a horrible noise that sounded like cracking bones. The girls turned back to the fridge to discover that Ben had grown to the size of an adult, his body more muscular and his face more wolf-like with the canine ears on his head and a more pronounced nose. Ben didn't seem the least bit perturbed as he swallowed an entire turkey in only a few bites.
"You're looking more and more like a Yenaldooshi," Kai told Ben with a strange mixture of terror and awe.
"Well, I still feel like just me," said Ben, sounding like a combination of two overlapping voice.
For whatever, reason, Ben seemed to smell something outside the Rust Bucket and pelted out the door, grabbing the top of the threshold to flip onto the roof. With his new sense of smell and sight, he locked onto his pray: a white rabbit…which was odd because brown rabbits were more likely to live in the desert.
The rabbit squeaked, sensing immediate danger, and dived back into its burrow as Ben pounced upon it. He dug his claws into the ground in a bid to chase after it, flinging dirt everywhere…and once again only managed to hit Kai when the girl came to investigate. The Navajo girl was obviously not pleased at being singled out – again.
"Guess you can teach a new wolf dumb trick," said Gwen jokingly.
"Uh, sorry?" Ben apologized sheepishly.
"The NASA tracking station on the north ridge was just destroyed by some sort of werewolf," Wes informed the children when he and Max seemed to literally pop out of nowhere. "It almost ripped apart the guards there."
"What did it want?" asked Max.
"It took some satellite equipment," said Wes.
"And it ripped down that receiver you had here," said Ben. "What do you think it wants?"
"Obviously it's angry that technology has invaded what it considers its sacred land," said Wes sternly.
"Look, Mr. Green, I respect your people and your beliefs," said Trixie, frowning. "But that's just absurd. This… Yenaldooshi is targeting specific pieces of equipment. The radio receiver and the satellite parts. It's not some wild beast, it's a thinking creature. And it's building something."
"Whatever the reason is, we need to find the Yenaldooshi, and find it fast," said Wes severely.
"You won't be able to look for both the Yenaldooshi and the cactus," Kai pointed out.
"So let me, Kai, and Trixie look for the cactus," Gwen volunteered.
"Once we find it, I can deliver it with Citraka – I mean, Fasttrack's DNA," said Trixie. "I'll be there in two seconds flat."
"Good idea," Max agreed. "Come on, let's get moving."
"Be careful," Ben and Kai said to each other, which made Gwen want to gag.
All the while, Trixie hummed thoughtfully to herself. She still didn't believe that these attacks were the result of an ancient wolf spirit. There was something bigger going on around here and she intended to find out what it was.
"The NASA station is west of here," Wes explained to Max as he drew a crude map of the terrain in the ground with a stick. "It's surrounded by lakes to the north, south, and east. Which means the Yenaldooshi should have come this way."
"Let me see if I can help," said Ben, who was sitting crouched on all-fours atop a cropping of rocks. He made a howling noise that sounded akin to a young pup, and received an almost immediate response from a much stronger howling in the distance. "He must be this way."
Ben led the charge, dashing ahead of Wes and Max due to his superior animal speed. The wolf's howl led them to the ruins of ancient cliff dwellings that Wes called Keet Seel. Max and Wes lost track of Ben after the soon-to-be werewolf used his claws to climb the cliff while the retired men were forced to use the stairs. When they reached the top, Ben was nowhere in sight, but Max's flashlight discovered a two-toed footprint embedded deep into the floor.
"The footprints end here," said Wes, spinning around cautiously with his gun raised. "I can sense its presence."
Max took a sharp glance around the ruins when he spotted something glowing in the shadows; it looked like a pair of green eyes.
"There!" shouted, pointing them out to Wes.
The Navajo man pivoted around and turned his rifle on the eyes as the creature they belonged to approached them from above. But when Max turned his light on the creature, they found what appeared to be a perfect copy of the Yenaldooshi, only with green eyes and wearing Ben's clothes.
"No, it's me, Benwolf!" Ben cried with a panicked howl, his voice deeper with a reverberating echo.
"The transformation is complete," said Wes severely while lowering his rifle. "We need the cactus." He pulled out his out-of-date flip phone hoping to call his granddaughter, only to receive a message on the screen that said 'No Service!' "No reception. We'll have to summon them another way."
He reached into his backpack to pull out a flare gun –
"Canyon de Chelly is a sacred place," Kai explained to a Trixie and a tired Gwen as they strolled through a field of cacti, trying to hunt down the Árbol del Matrimonio using a picture on Trixie's smartphone. "It's where our spirits go."
"Well, maybe the spirits can help us find that cactus," Gwen complained. "Because I'm about ready to give up."
Tired and exhausted, Gwen decided to sit down for a moment to catch her breath…which was a really dumb idea when literally the only thing to sit on was cacti. Neither Trixie nor Kai were remotely surprised when Gwen bounced in the air with a pained yelp, falling flat on her face with her pieces of cactus clinging to her butt. Trixie made sure to snap a picture of this moment, knowing Ben would want to see it later.
"Árbol del Matrimonio!" Kai said in relief after she identified the cactus that Gwen had sat on. "I guess the spirits work in strange ways."
"And painful ones," Gwen groaned.
"Well, that's all fine and good," said Trixie, flipping her phone around to show that she wasn't getting service, "but there's no signal out here. How are we supposed to figure out when Benjamin and the others are?"
With almost perfect timing, a bright red flare exploded in the sky beyond the cliffs to their right.
"Over there!" said Kai, pointing out the flare. "They must be sending us a signal!"
"That's convenient," said Trixie, pocketing her phone. She ripped off a piece of the cactus from Gwen's butt ("OW!") and shouted, "Accessing Citrakayah sequence!"
Kai took a surprised step away from Trixie as she witnessed the green-haired girl turn blue with multiple feline features; this was the first time she had seen a transformation besides Ben's Yenaldooshi metamorphosis. Before the Navajo girl even blinked, Trixie took off like a speeding bullet, kicking up a trail of dust in her wake.
Now that Wes had shot the flare and gave the girls their location, all they could do now was wait patiently for Trixie to arrive.
"I hope they found the cactus," said Max, frowning with worry.
But waiting for the cactus soon proved to be the least of their worries. A clatter of falling rocks drew their attention to the building behind them to discover that the Yenaldooshi had tracked them instead, looking down on them from the roof. The Navajo werewolf jumped down and landed across from the men, snarling hungrily. There was a moment of confusion in the Yenaldooshi's expression as it tilted its head towards Ben, somehow surprised that there was another like it. This seemed rather odd considering ancient legend said Yenaldooshi had the power to make followers.
"What're you looking at, ugly?" Ben snapped.
"Ben, we need the cactus to destroy it," Wes warned him.
"I don't think he's going to give us the chance," said Max as the werewolf prepared to pounce.
The Yenaldooshi lunged at the human, but Ben stepped forward and grappled the werewolf around the middle, lifting the least over his head and tossing it away. The Yenaldooshi scrambled to its feet, leering at Ben, who stretched his claws in anticipation. Then, to everyone's shock, the Yenaldooshi's mouth split open into four parts and let out a supersonic howl (that was visible to the audience in the form of purple sound waves.) The sonic scream knocked Ben, Max, and Wes off their feet and threw them into the wall.
"Ugh…guess it's bark is worse than its bite," Ben groaned, shaking the daze from his head as he stood up.
"I…I've never heard of the Yenaldooshi being able to do such a thing," said Wes, appearing genuinely confused.
"Guess they left some stuff out of the old legends, huh?" Max remarked.
Ben dashed forward on all-fours and the Yenaldooshi met him halfway. The two werewolves collided in the air, their limbs tangled around one another, until Ben managed to pull away and deliver a strong haymaker across the Yenaldooshi's face. The Navajo werewolf retaliated with a double-fisted uppercut, then Ben returned the favor by smashing the Yenaldooshi's face into the ground, only for the werewolf to flip around and tackle Ben. Now with the Yenaldooshi sitting on top of Ben, holding down the boy's arms, the Navajo werewolf opened its teeth to bite down on his face until Max came around, armed with a stick he found on the ground.
"Back off! Now!" Max demanded, smashing the stick over the Yenaldooshi's head.
The werewolf flinched, but wasn't hurt. On the contrary, he seemed extremely pissed. The Yenaldooshi rose to its full imposing height with a snarl and stomped closer to Max, who backed away with Wes.
"Uh…nice doggie?" Max chuckled nervously.
With the Yenaldooshi off of him and his grandfather in danger, Ben instinctively reached for the Omnitrix.
"Going FastWolf," said Ben as he tapped the activation button…. Only there was no activation button. Because the Omnitrix was not on his wrist. "Wait, what? Where's the Omnitrix?"
Well, Plan A was a bust. So Ben needed to fall back on Plan B…which was essentially picking up the biggest rock he could find and throwing it at the back of the Yenaldooshi's head. The Yenaldooshi swerved around with an agitated growl; he was sick of people throwing things at his head, goddamn it! The Navajo werewolf pounced and tackled Ben to the ground, showing a superiority in strength as it easily tossed the boy around like a ragdoll.
And not a moment too soon, Trixie suddenly zoomed in between the retired Plumbers in a cloud of dust, nearly giving the old men heart attacks.
"We really need to put a bell on you," said Max.
"Did you get the cactus?" Wes asked her seriously.
"Right here," said Trixie, presenting the piece of cacti to the Navajo man.
While Wes squeezed the squeezed the juice out of the cactus onto the silver, wolf-etched pendent he pulled from his pocket, Max tackled the Yenaldooshi off his grandson. Before the werewolf could counteract, Ben grabbed one of the Yenaldooshi's arms and forced it behind the beast's back while Max did the same with the other, holding the flailing werewolf in place. Wes approached the Yenaldooshi with the pendent outstretch when, in a burst of blind panic, managed to overpower Ben and Max and threw them off.
Max was tossed into Wes, causing the Navajo man to drop the pendent on the ground. Though still not a believer herself, Trixie picked up the pendent and made a dash at the Yenaldooshi. With her superior speed, Trixie effortlessly ducked underneath the Yenaldooshi's sweeping claws and pressed the pendent firmly over the Yenaldooshi's heart (or at least where she thought its heart was; she didn't know ancient werewolf biology.)
…
…
…
"Uh…is something supposed to happen?" Trixie asked while she and the Yenaldooshi exchanged awkward stares.
The Yenaldooshi blinked cluelessly…then slapped Trixie across the face, throwing her against the wall. With everyone down for the count, the Yenaldooshi scurried away over the edge of the cliff and disappeared into the night.
Moments later, Gwen and Kai arrived to see their families scattered on the ground, picking themselves up from their humiliating defeat.
"What happened?" Gwen gasped, running over to help her grandfather stand.
"The pendent failed," said Max, cracking his aching back. "We're back to square one."
"I don't understand!" said Wes, snatching the pendent from Trixie's hand in frustration. "That should've worked!"
"Grandpa," said Kai thoughtfully, "maybe the pendent didn't work because we're not dealing with a Yenaldooshi."
"But it bit me," Ben pointed out. "Isn't that why I'm like this – "
Ben groaned in pain as his body began to convulse again, collapsing to his hands and knees. To everyone's surprise, Ben's cloth's disappeared, seemingly melding with his body, and the Omnitrix symbol appeared on his waist.
"Kai's right," said Trixie, her jaw dropped in awe. "You're not a Navajo werewolf, you're an alien werewolf."
"That would explain that howl of his," said Wes, still in shock over the major revelation.
"And why the Omnitrix isn't on my wrist anymore," said Ben. "But how did…. Wait a minute. Now I remember. When we were fighting, that werewolf scratched the Omnitrix and it turned yellow, just like it did back in Sparksville when it unlocked Buzzshock."
"An alien werewolf," Max groaned. "Just when I thought this summer couldn't get any stranger."
"If that thing was an alien this whole time," Gwen questioned Trixie, "why didn't you tell us about it?"
"Because it wasn't in the Omnitrix's database," answered Trixie. "It's a completely new species of alien, never seen before."
"Then why did it take me so long to change?" asked Ben. "It took me hours to turn into this."
"This is only a theory," Trixie hummed, touching her chin thoughtfully, "but the Omnitrix might have accidentally got stuck between Active Mode and Capture Mode. Using two modes at once must have caused its processing power to be drastically reduced. But now that the transformation is over, it should work fine."
"So, you got a new alien," said Gwen, hands on her hips. "What're you gonna call this one?"
"Uh, er…," Ben mumbled incoherently, glancing in Kai's direction while his brain did somersaults in his head. "Uh…Blitz…wolf…er…."
"…That was the worst one yet," said Trixie with a blank stare. "Let's go with Subwolfer and call it a night."
"Okay, yeah, that's way better," the alien known as Subwolfer agreed.
Suddenly and without warning, the ground beneath them trembled violently, almost throwing everyone off their feet.
"Something tells me we may have other worries as well," said Wes.
The Tennysons and Greens followed the trail of the Not-Yenaldooshi (as we will be calling it from now on) deeper into the ancient town where they discover a tunnel in the wall farthest back, going down deep into the cliff. They had a brief scared with a swarm of bats flying over their heads, but Subwolfer was the only one who didn't flinch, even laughed at Gwen's frightened screams.
They wandered deeper into the cave, which Wes noted was recently excavated based on the fresh claw marks on the walls. The Not-Yenaldooshi must have been digging nonstop for hours to construct it. As they got further underground, Gwen caught a wiff of something in the air.
"Do you smell that?" said Gwen.
"What?" asked Subwolfer. "My wolf breath's not that bad."
"She's referring to the sulfur smell," Wes explained. "That's usually a sign of lava. But the volcanos around here have all been inactive for millions of years."
"So then, that's not real lava?" Trixie pointed behind them as the tunnel suddenly lit up.
For no explicable reason whatsoever, the tunnel walls cracked and a flood of lava spilled out of the opening…and crawled along the ground at a snail's pace because real lava doesn't really move that fast. There was a pause of awkward silence shared between the group (Kai coughed and Max scratched himself uncomfortably.) With no real threat present, the Tennysons and Green moved on deeper into the cave system.
"That alien werewolf must've reactivated the volcano somehow," Max commented after a moment of silence.
"Maybe it wants it off its land, one way or the other," said Wes.
"But this isn't its land," Trixie pointed out. "It's an alien. And if it wasn't in the Omnitrix before, that means it wasn't from this galaxy."
"Great, alien werewolves from the other side of the universe," Gwen groaned exasperatedly. "Just once, I would like to have one day where the worst to happen to us is running out of toilet paper."
"I think I'd rather face the werewolf than that," Trixie remarked.
"Hey, does anyone hear that beeping noise?" Kai asked suddenly.
Now that they took a moment to listen, they did indeed hear a beeping noise – one the Tennysons were very familiar with. Everyone swiveled around to Subwolfer as the Omnitrix emblem on his waist flashed red before he finally burst into red light, reverting Ben back to human form. Ben looked himself over, checking for any extra fur or a tail, then punched his fist in the air and cheered when he knew that he was one hundred percent human.
"The Omnitrix finally timed out!" Ben cheered. Then next thing he did was turn the Omnitrix's dial, discovering Subwolfer's silhouette added to his collection. "And check this out. The watch added DNA. Welcome to the club, Fido."
"Well, that's one problem solved," said Max. "Now we just need to find our alien werewolf and figure out where it took all that satellite equipment."
Pieces of gravel fell from the ceiling and landed on Trixie's shoulder, causing the green-haired girl to look up curiously. She let out a startled gasp and said, "I think he found us."
The others turned to Trixie before following her line of sight towards the ceiling. The Not-Yenaldooshi was hanging above their heads with its claws digging into the cave's stalactites. It unfurled its jaw into four parts again and unleashed its supersonic howl on top of the group. Ben and the others scattered as the sonic blast shattered the ground where they once stood. The Not-Yenaldooshi removed its claws and dropped down to the ground, turning its snarling maw on the Wielder of the Omnitrix. Ben checked his watch and was relieved to see that it had a full charge; Subwolfer's de-transformation must have reset the charge.
"Going hero!" shouted Ben, slamming down on the Omnitrix's raised dial.
Rath appeared once the green transformation light died down, growling at his canine counterpart while punching his fist into his hand threateningly.
"Let me tell you something, alien werewolf guy!" screamed Rath. "Rath is gonna pound you into next week. And let me tell you something, Kai Green!" He shouted at Kai, making the Navajo girl stare awkwardly. "I think you're awesome and cool and super pretty!"
"Is he always like this?" Kai whispered to Gwen uneasily.
"For this alien, yeah," answered Gwen.
The Not-Yenaldooshi pounced on Rath, but the Appoplexian easily dodged its outstretched claws and grabbed the werewolf by the nape, casually tossing him to the opposite side of the cave where it hit the wall. While the Not-Yenaldooshi shook its head free from daze, Rath took to the air and body slammed the alien wolf beast, making the cavern shudder on impact.
The Tennysons and the Greens stood off to the side, waiting for the dust to settle, when they heard someone being struck and watched Rath fly across the cave. The Appoplexian hit the wall face first, burying his head in the rock. Rath grasped the head with both hands and tugged once…then twice…and finally pulled out after the third attempt. But when he pulled out, the Appoplexian accidentally released more lava from the mountain…and just like before, it's flow moved at the same speed as molasses.
"Should we be concerned about that?" Trixe asked Wes.
"No, not really," said Wes casually. "Lava isn't as dangerous as they make it out in movies and cartoons. It's actually very easy to avoid and deaths by lava are largely uncommon, unless you're foolish enough to get close and fall in."
"You learn something new every day," Gwen remarked.
Well, since there was no real danger with the lava, Rath turned back toward the Not-Yenaldooshi…who pounced on the Appolplexian and pinned him to the ground. The alien werewolf seperatedc its maw as it prepared to fire off another sonic blast, but Rath managed to pry one of his arms free and uppercut the Not-Yenaldooshi, turning its head sharply towards the ceiling just as it released its howl.
The ceiling exploded as the sonic blast burst through the rock. The result caused a chain reaction that destabilized the cavern, causing stalactites and boulders to break away and fall on top of their heads; Max pulled Trixie by the back of her dress before she was flatted by a large rock. The Not-Yenaldooshi realized that the cave was starting to collapsed and attempted to pounce towards the humans, but Rath grabbed the werewolf from behind and pulled him into a headlock. More boulders fell from the ceiling, steadily stacking into a wall that separated the Tennysons and Greens from Rath and the Not-Yenaldooshi.
"Ben!" Gwen cried, trying to run for her cousin, only to be pulled back by Kai, who saved her from being trampled by a falling rock.
"Go, I'll be right behind you!" Rath yelled before the Not-Yenaldooshi reached behind and clawed his face, forcing them to separate. And before the humans could see how the rest of the fight turned out, the boulders completely blocked their vision.
Though Max, Gwen, and Trixie hesitated to leave him behind, they followed Wes and Kai along the cavern, where they spotted an opening in the very back; most likely an exit. They ducked and rolled around falling rocks until they safely made it through the opening and found themselves exiting into the canyon where the boys had tracked the Not-Yenaldooshi hours ago. Kai was the last to escape before then entrance collapsed behind them, completely sealed underneath a wall of rubble.
"Ben's still inside there!" Gwen screamed frantically. "We've gotta get him out – "
But her concern proved unnecessary as Rath suddenly popped out of the ground moments later, apparently having dug his way his way to safety.
"Ben, you're okay!" said Gwen in relief.
"Let me tell you something Gwendolyn Tennyson," Rath shouted proudly, flexing his muscle. "It'll take a lot more than a bunch of dumb rocks to take Rath down!"
"Yeah, especially since his head is full of them," said Trixie jokingly.
"Yeah, that's – hey!" Rath complained while everyone laughed at his expense.
The Tennysons and the Greens returned to the Navajo village an hour later just as the sun was starting to rise over the horizon. Wes spoke to the few villagers who remained to defend their homes from the Not-Yenaldooshi and spread the word about the creature's defeat. The men looked relieved and went to spread the word to the other villagers.
"The people should return soon," Wes informed them, "now that we are no longer under the threat of the Yenaldooshi, or should I say, 'space werewolf.' Yeah, I think it wise to keep that last part to ourselves. Either way, the village is saved thanks to your help. Thank you."
"Yeah, it was nothing," said Ben boastfully.
"What do you think that alien wanted anyway?" Kai questioned curiously.
"Since we never found any of that satellite equipment or your receiver," said Trixie, "it's impossible to tell what happened. I couldn't even understand what it would want to build with them."
"Who cares?" said Ben confidently. "We kicked its butt, and I got a new alien out of it. It's a win-win."
"Come by the museum later," Wes offered Max, throwing his arm over his good friend's shoulder. "I can't send you on the road without a few souvenirs."
"I wouldn't mind a few of those dreamcatchers," Max said good-naturedly.
"You know, it's a long summer," Ben said to Kai hopefully; Gwen rolled her eyes and made a gaging motion, which Trixie found funny. "Maybe I'll see you again."
"The thing is, Ben," said Kai with a unimpressed look, "you seem like a nice guy, but you're just not my type."
Ben looked understandably devastated, and Trixie and Gwen's reaction were similarly stunned by how callously blunt Kai was about it.
"B – But I thought you really like me," Ben sputtered.
"Well, that was before you turned back into, well…you," said Kai.
"What's wrong with me?" asked Ben.
"Nothing," said Kai. "And the alien stuff's cool, just…not as cool as when you were a Yenaldooshi. I figured I could train you, tame you – you know."
"What?!" said Gwen, going from shocked to angry in 1.2 seconds. "Train him? Tame him? He's a person, not a pet! You don't deserve someone like Ben!"
"Whatever," said Kai uncaringly. "I'm way out of his league anyway."
Gwen gnashed her teeth, now completely furious with the Navajo girl. Gwen was fully tempted to knock Kai's lights out…if Trixie hadn't beaten her to the literal punch. The living Omnitrix lost all sense of calm and slammed her fist squarely between Kai's eyes, knocking the girl flat on the ground.
"Kai!" Wes screamed, running to his granddaughter's aid.
"Well, will you look at the time?" Max said quickly, pointing at his nonexistent watch. He grabbed the kids and made a beeline for the Rust Bucket. "It was nice see you again, Wes! Let's meet again sometime!"
The RV bolted out of the village so fast, Wes didn't even have time to reach for his rifle.
"Was that in your Rulebook of Friendship?" Gwen asked Trixie as the kids gathered around the table.
"Yes, chapter nineteen," said Trixie coolly, pulling out the rulebook and showing her the chapter in question.
"Oh wow, it really is in here," said Gwen with curious surprise as she took the book and read the passage, proving that it was indeed the rule to punch someone when they broke your friend's heart. "I gotta read this sometime."
"Thanks for standing up for me back there," Ben said gratefully to the girls. "I can't believe I was so stupid."
"You weren't stupid," said Trixie sympathetically. "Kai was just a jerk."
"The thing about a crush, Ben, is that sometime you get crushed," Gwen added with an understanding tone, pulling her cousin into a comforting side embrace. "Don't worry, there's lots of girls out there."
"You think so?" asked Ben hopefully. "But how do I impress them as me?"
"Two secret words is all you need to know," said Gwen.
"Really?" asked Ben curiously.
"Why have I not been informed of these secret words?" said Trixie, who was obviously thinking of Charmcaster. "I must know these words!"
Gwen only grinned smugly, leaning back with her hands folded behind her head, savoring Ben and Trixie's pleas for answers.
All the while, buried deep underground, the Not-Yenaldooshi scurried through the wreckage of the tunnel system. It was bruised and bleeding, but it was still alive. But more importantly, it was able to keep its secret hidden. The alien werewolf pulled the switch and took a step back, howling with pride as its satellite transmitter hummed to life.
Let's face it, Blitzwolfer was a dumb name and the reason behind its name is equally dumb. There are a many mistakes that Omniverse made, but that was one of the top three. Subwolfer's name is a combination of wolf and subwoofers, which are designed to amplify low-pitched frequencies like bass and sound effects, which just seemed fitting based on his powers.
And to all my readers, please go check out my original story, Seven Little Nightmares, to support me.
Next chapter: Beta Test