GT: *sitting in a boat in the middle of a lake with SZ* Heya, folks. Hope you're enjoying our work so far.
SZ: Aye. Going for a huge update here so hopefully this makes up f-SHH!...you hear that? *shark fin floats up out of the water*...he's out there…
GT: *pulls out a violin and starts playing the theme of Jaws* Well, we don't own squat here but our own ideas. Also, big shout out to the Ink Tank for everything they've done to cover on the Anur System that we've been adapting for this.
Shark Z0: Dun-nu-nu! *slices the boat with shark fin making it slowly float apart and begin to sink* Hopefully none of you readers have thalassophobia!
The Resolute was in the midst of restocking its food supply for its human passengers. Which would be mostly vegetarian for a while till they got to another planet with more protein options for them. This was only really a problem for Tucker and his so-called 'All Meat' lifestyle.
"Ah…come on…"
"No."
"Can I…"
"No."
"But it's veggies~!"
"And that's a problem…how?" Makoto asked, pausing in eating a fairly large corn on the cob.
"It's just for a few days 'till we find a planet that sells any kind of meat," Ben spoke as he joined Makoto in eating the same.
"Yeah, but it goes against my all meat diet," Tucker argued.
"You do realize you need veggies to help counterbalance all that protein and carbs, right?"
"Not true. I can eat without so much as eating a single veggie," Tucker stated.
"Oh, so would fries count in that equation?" Skurd questioned.
"I…that's a loaded question."
"He makes sure to order fries cooked in beef tallow," Sam explained.
"Is that how they do it?"
"You asked for fries with the flavor of meat…that's the only way anyone could do it…" Sam sighed, "And it's like they said there's nothing wrong with eating vegetables."
"I sometimes order vegetarian chili for my chili fries," Ben added, "Plus with my addiction to smoothies…my diet is actually mostly fruit based. Except when I get…inventive."
"It's not that bad, you can find something enjoyable in this all green menu," Danny offered.
"Well what about Noel's pet?" Tucker asked.
"Mari actually hunted her own food while we were touched down," Noel spoke up as she ate a salad, "It's mostly alien vermin. But given that she transforms into a big alien predator now…I don't think it will hurt her diet…" she explained as they turned to see Mari's small form dragging what looked like a giant beetle into her little hideaway in the walls.
"...Yeah….hurt…" Hobble gulped, feeling a bit nervous around the mink now after hearing she could change into a Nargacuga.
"Oh don't worry; she's very well behaved, Hobble," Noel assured their friend/coworker.
"Plus don't you constantly secret a film of mucus to deter predators and pests?" Skurd asked.
"Well yeah, but Nargacuga are famous for using those big sharp wings to slice up their prey first," Hobble added.
"All I'm hearing is Tucker has to suffer," Tucker spoke up.
"Wow…he's a real in his own world type of guy, isn't he?" Hobble looked at Sam.
"Eeyup…" Sam nodded, munching away at her salad.
"Look, the next world is mostly a water world. Maybe we can get some fish, will that calm you down?" Ben asked.
"...yeah. Yeah, I can deal with fish…" Tucker nodded after pondering for a moment.
"Good, Noel can cook it for you." Ben smirked as Noel smiled at hearing that.
"...What?" Tucker blinked.
"Really?!" Noel asked excitedly.
"Go nuts, I'll eat up any leftovers anyway," Ben replied, "Now if you'll excuse me…I need to learn how to make smoothies out of pumpkins…I know I can figure it out."
"Ooh~! I can probably whip up a pumpkin pie or something!" Makoto offered.
"Can I retract my complaints?" Tucker asked.
"No…" Danny replied.
"Should have just toughed it out and ate with us," Sam smiled.
"Aw man…!" Tucker groaned as he leaned back into his seat.
"Alright, stop sulking, we gotta get ready for a water planet," Sam spoke up, "No, not beaches; it's a large ocean-like world. Meaning we'll need to find the only possible landing spots then dive down to find any relic."
"Good thing I got plenty of swimming options then," Ben muttered as he looked at the Omnitrix.
"We have the Aquatic Playlist," Skurd spoke up, "I shall pre-set it."
"Anything we need to worry about?" Noel asked.
"Not really. The residences are normally calm and chill," Tetrax explained.
"...So long as Raquel is there or we get the relic, it doesn't matter what happens," Naoto spoke up, a frown on his face as he looked at his still full plate, "I'm not gonna let anyone use her for some stupid ritual for Space Dracula."
"...Hah. Naoto, y-" Ben began before the ship began to move and rock, "Woah!"
"Don't worry. I think we're starting to breach into the planet's surface," Tetrax assured the group as he was the only one standing still.
"Rocky landing…ironic given how little rock there is here…" Ben grunted as he held his arms out to catch Makoto and Noel from falling over, "Everyone good?"
"I'm good," Naoto and Sam spoke up at the same time, while Danny, Tucker, and Hobble all fell over in a heap with Mari balancing on top of them.
"Why me…" Hobble groaned from underneath the pile.
Hobble Own count: 7
"Alright, we've found a good land mass to land. It might be mostly water, but there are enough island-like masses we can use for landing," Tetrax spoke, "Welcome to Anur Millgan."
"Finally. Maybe…why's the water all black?" Naoto blinked as he looked out a nearby window..
"Black water?!" Tucker ran up to the viewing window.
"Yes, Anur Millgan's waters are filled with various minerals and algae that it is jet black. It's thanks to the algae that this planet has oxygen," Tetrax explained, "It'll be a chore to swim through unless you're a natural aquatic life form. So I'll let you borrow the small diving sub I have, reinforced haul made from Petrosapien taydenite crystal. Can survive any pressure, but the divers will need to depressurise."
"...D…Depressure?" Hobble repeated, "We…we're going that deep?"
"You know a better way down without the pressure crushing you like a tin can?" Makoto questioned.
"I'd go…but I don't float…I'd just sink and sink…and sink some more," Tetrax spoke, "It would take some effort to become buoyant."
"Me and Danny would be the best picks," Ben spoke.
"You and who?" Danny asked.
"You're a ghost, you can become intangible; technically, as long as you have an air supply like a rebreather or oxygen mask, you'll be fine," Ben explained, "You are literally bioluminescent, you can control ice and heat, and again intangibility, you can phase through the water and be fine."
"He has you there," Sam agreed.
"Also you can exit and enter the sub at a whim," Ben added, "So we at least need someone to pilot us while we're out and someone who can survive the crushing pressure with us." he listed, before looking at Naoto, "What size diving suit are you, Naoto?"
"Wait…I'm going down?" he blinked.
"Oh…I can't trust you up here," Ben explained his reasoning, "Underwater, you'll more likely to remember that crashing the vehicle you're in would be severely and fatally detrimental to you."
"...Good point," Naoto nodded a bit, "Fine then…hopefully we'll encounter Raquel down there…hopefully in a safe spot."
"Don't worry, man. As Tetrax said, the people living here should be chill with us," Danny assured, "For all we know, she might be hanging out somewhere in their village… Wait. They do have villages, right?"
"Yes they do," Tetrax replied.
"See? N-"
"Very deep in the water." he explained, "The locals don't have a day or night cycle so they are always working and tending to their environment," he added, "They shouldn't bother you so long as you don't mess with the Ganic Lagorge."
"The what?" Danny and Naoto asked.
"Ben would know the Earth equivalent…Krakens," Tetrax explained.
"Oh…so…they have those…" Ben slowly nodded in understanding.
"I'm not sure how, but they seem to be the same creature but evolved to different planetary oceanic biomes," Tetrax explained.
"...Yeah, no. I'm staying on the ship," Hobble instantly spoke up, completely stark white upon hearing that.
"So who's gonna be the sub pilot?" Danny asked.
"I'll go," Sam spoke without hesitation, "Stay in the sub, don't do anything to upset the locals, and act as a safe zone for you guys when you need to get out of the water."
"Good thinking," Ben nodded as Skurd slid right onto the Omnitrix, "You guys keep us updated if anything comes up."
"Can do, hun," Makoto replied.
"Given the water, I don't know if the fish will be safe for us to eat…but…" Noel pondered as Tucker began to sweat given what was said earlier.
"I will bring the most normal looking fish I can." Ben offered.
"Oh thank you, man," Tucker sighed in relief.
After a bit, the small team consisting of Ben, Naoto, Danny and Sam began to traverse into the waters of the planet, the only female of the quartet currently piloting a fairly large sub as the front lights shone into the near-pitchblack waters, various fishes of….interesting shapes and sizes swimming nearby.
"Man…you can barely see anything down here," Danny muttered as he looked out the front window, seeing what looked like a flat fish swimming to a small glowing light..before a much larger-angler fish like creature resembling a chest swam up and ate it in one gulp, "...Sam?"
"Yeah, Danny?"
"I think we've found something scarier than the bottom of the ocean back on Earth…" Danny whispered with wide eyes.
"Yes…almost like a horror movie down here~" Skurd added in a spooky tune, "And you four are the unfortunate victims in this scenario."
"Skurd…" Ben began.
"No, I am serious. The foreign exchange student…" Skurd began as he motioned to Naoto, "The somewhat slacker at school…"
"Hey…" Danny frowned in an annoyed tone.
"And the gothic vegan chick that's secretly an action heroine…Oh, and the brown-haired goofus of a jock I'm attached to."
"You know there's a reason why me and Makoto stuff you in the pickle jar," Ben deadpanned.
"Yes, so you can canoodle in peace!" Skurd declared.
"Well duh," Ben rolled his eyes as the sub swam past a few rock formations, a series of red eyes opening up one by one as they all stared at the vehicle, "We just want time together….and-hoo! The stamina in that woman. I…"
"Hey hey. Easy there, lover boy," Sam quickly spoke up, "Last thing we need right now is hear how you and Makoto make out."
"Eh. Kinda unphased by that after meeting Raquel," Naoto shrugged…before blushing a bit, "All she had on was a cape."
"Okay, moving on!" Danny spoke up as he quickly shook his head to get the blush off his face, "Sorry, just…things feel tense enough as is outside….still not as bad as the Thep Harusian."
"Hopefully Mari scared that thing off for good," Sam added before sighing, "Though knowing our luck…"
"We'd eventua-" Naoto began before tensing, "..." his eyes narrowed as his hair flashed white, "You feel that?"
"...feel what?"
"That bloodlust just now…" he frowned before the ship began to rock a bit, "?!"
"What…?!" Ben began before jumping back as something snarled at him from a nearby window.
"Bloodlust?" Sam asked.
"Like something's hunting us," Naoto stated before another snarl went off at another window.
"...I blame the Slime," Sam declared.
"...Oh don't y-" Skurd began before something clung to the front window, making the group see what looked like a monstrous looking fishman-like creature with glowing red eyes, sharp teeth bared as it clawed at the window, "?!"
"GAH!" Danny yelped, jumping back in startlement.
"We've got company and it's not friendly like Tetrax said!" Ben panicked.
"Gh!" Naoto jumped as another one tried to get in, using its fangs to try and bite at the glass, "I am not going scuba diving for a year after we get back home if things like this might be down there!"
"Tetrax! Tetrax, do you come in!?" Sam shouted into the ship's communicator, only for static to come from it as more of the monstrous fish began to swarm the sub, "Are you kidding me?! I can't get a hold of him!"
"Guess we're gonna have to fight," Ben spoke.
"Looks like," Danny sighed as he transformed, phasing through the sub before he quickly phased back in, "...um…that might be an issue actually."
"...Why?" Ben slowly asked before more and more red eyes appeared around the sub, "..oh…."
"Shit…" Naoto finished as the fishmen all lunged at the sub.
=Bzzzzzt! I-ZZZZZZT-Rax?! W-BZZZT!= Sam's garbled voice came from the ship's communicator, earning Tetrax and the others' attention as they could barely hear the sounds of snarling going on in the background =B-BZZZT! !W-BZZZT!….C-BZZZZT!=
"What's going on?" Makoto asked.
"It seems we are having interference. The minerals in the water must be interfering with the communications. But the signals of its systems show that the life support is functioning normally," Tetrax stated.
"Then what was th-" Makoto began before the sound of metal groaning was heard, "?!"
"...What….was that…?" Tucker slowly asked.
"I thought you said the locals of this planet were nice?" Noel asked.
"They are. They are pleasant folk who live their days keeping an eye on the biome of their planet. They only come to land maybe once a month for supplies," Tetrax explained, "But, then again, these days…someone's been upsetting the natural balance of these worlds."
"Let me guess, someone touched the relic, and it caused high levels of unnatural aggression in the locals?" Makoto guessed.
"Oh no…it totally is that, isn't it…?" Noel cried small waterfall tears, "And us without the walking natural repellent of danger~!"
"This ship has defenses, right?" Tucker asked.
"Of course it does. But that doesn't mean they can't still do something over time," Tetrax stated.
"Then wh-" Hobble began before something clung to the window, "?!"
"Ahh! The heck is that?!" Makoto yelped as more and more objects began to cling to the windows, the group seeing several spider-like squid creatures clinging to them with their singular eyes looking in...all while mashing their fanged teeth together, "GAH!"
"Sonaraquids," Tetrax noted
"Squid Spiders!?" Makoto gawked.
"That almost feels par the course for things I've seen," Noel sighed out with a deadpan look.
"Well, I don't like that look in their eyes," Tucker and Hobble gulped, seeing the Sonarquids' eyes glowing blood red as they tried to force themselves in.
"These things aren't normally violent…are they?" Tucker asked.
"No. Normally, they're moving along the water and sharing food with the locals," Tetrax explained, making Tucker about to sigh in relief, "Which they gather by using their suction cups to detect underwater prey and hide their main body in the water before striking."
"I hate this place so much…" Tucker mumbled.
"So if the locals are so focused on the day to day and are peaceful, what would cause the sudden…sea beasts from the black lagoon planet?" Makoto asked.
"The Relic must have been activated like we guessed…but who activated it?" Noel asked.
"The guys and Sam just went down, they can't have found it already," Tucker spoke up, "Someone must have found it already and touched it. Making the locals go crazy must be its defense mechanism?"
"Sounds about right given what we're seeing," Tetrax nodded.
"...ah crap baskets," Makoto groaned before one of the windows began to crack, "?!"
"They must be using the echo location abilities of their tentacles to break the glass…" Tetrax realized.
" #%$% #$%&!" Gluto gurgled as his tentacles snapped up before he swung them and grabbed the controls and pulled several levers as the haul of the Resolute was suddenly electrified, knocking all the Sonarquids off and flailing to the ground.
"...We're gonna die, aren't we?" Hobble nervously asked.
"No w-" Makoto began before they heard something echo, "...Mari ch-" she began before a Sonaraquid fell on top of her and Noel, "AHH!"
"EWEWEWEWEWEWEWEW~!" Noel screamed as she and Makoto tried to get them off, "Mari-chan, Funkfreed!"
"PAON~!" Funkfreed trumped as he slipped out of his sheath, changing into his Elephant state as his trunk grabbed the one on Noel.
"Hey hey! Hands off! Th-" Makoto began as her Sonaraquid had its tentacles wrapped around her body while it tried to bite her head, "AHH!" Mari shot out a nearby vent as she grabbed the spider-like squid, tearing it off Makoto as her armor was pulled off with it, "Ah my armor! Oh..oh you little…get it, Mari-chan! Get it~!"
"How'd they get inside?!" Tucker and Hobble screamed, hiding underneath the table as Mari was tying up the limbs of the Sonaraquid with Funkfreed doing the same.
"Give me that!" Makoto took back her armor and proceeded to don it quickly, "How'd it even do that?" she grumbled, "...I thought only Ben could do it that fast…" she whispered to herself.
"...wait. If…we're dealing with these up here…" Noel slowly began in realization.
"...then Ben and the others are dealing with something nastier down below…" Tucker added as it dawned on him and the others.
"Aw hollow chestnuts," Makoto grimaced.
"Okay…I'm tired of the rocking back and forth!" Big Chill shouted, phasing through the sub as he before flashing into Ripjaws as he roared and swung his claws at one of the frenzied locals before swinging his tail to slap away another. He grabbed another before roaring and biting their shoulder before flinching, "Yow…that weird seaweed jacket is crazy hard…" he put a hand to his namesakes and poked one of the teeth that collided with the seaweed…before the tooth cracked, "!? Okay…Skurd?"
"Let's try reinforcing your chompers with some Petrosapien and some Talpaedan," Skurd offered, his slime engulfing Ripjaws's mouth and turning the teeth into crystals shaped like drills.
"Nice grill. You should try dentistry," Ripjaws joked before roaring as he bit another of the locals and this time his teeth broke the layer of seaweed and allowed him to get a good hold before flinging them away. With a roar, he attacked another and another as he bit through their defenses to harm them and make them swim away in terror of a beast that could bypass their defenses. With a razor Ripjaws bit the final of the locals and pinned them to a reef, "Talk! Why are you doing this!?" He demanded, baring his teeth at them. The Anur Millgan local hissed and struggled only to stop as Ripjaw roared directly in their face and stopped short of biting his neck, "Talk…" he growled, backing away to prove his point, "If…you even can…" he muttered as the alien trembled in understanding who was the deadlier creature here, "I don't think you even can talk…" he tapped the Omnitrix as he turned into Ampfibian and wrapped the local in his tentacles, "Try not to move. I'm still not good at this trick yet." he focused his electrokinetic powers on their head as he began reading their minds electrical pulses, "Nothing but…violence and…attack…you're not in control of yourself…something is making you go rabid? But what?" He raised two tentacles to the local's head and let loose a low zap making them slur and go dizzy before letting them sink in their unconscious and harmless state. He turned around and became transparent as he phased through the subs hail to enter and face his away team, "Okay…Bad news: the locals aren't in control of their actions. Worse news: The locals aren't in control of their actions, meaning they aren't doing this because they want to." Ampfibian explained as he fiddled with the Omnitrix with one of his tentacles.
"Oh great…we're stuck with rabid fishmen and have no idea where to find the source of them going mad," Danny groaned.
"Not exactly." Ampfibian spoke, "While I was reading his mind I felt something: a signal that was the cause for his brain's disruption. It was lighting up a part of the brain I can only assume is the survival and aggression centers." he explained as the Omnitrix beeped.
=Life Form Lock Activated=
"As Ampfibian I can track that disruption, and we can follow it to the source. And I'm willing to bet ten tayden that that will be our relic. We stuff it into a reinforced and isolated containment unit, then back in a storage unit inside the Resolute, and the locals turn back to normal fishmen," he explained, "Sadly…that means going towards all those very angry minds…that away." he pointed ahead with one of his tentacles, "Sam…set course, full forward and go steady." he ordered, "No sense rushing into total danger…we'll get there eventually." he sighed.
"Aye-aye, captain," Sam joked.
"Good. Jokes help keep a cool head in strenuous situations like this," Ampfibian complimented, "Naoto?"
"Keeping an eye out for anything else that comes our way," Naoto replied as he looked out the window.
"Excellent," Ampfibian nodded, "Danny?"
"I'll do the same," Danny replied as he sat near the other window, eyes narrowed as he cautiously looked outside, 'It has to be Dan…only he would want to cause chaos like this…'.
"I just hope everyone topside is safe," Ampfibian spoke, "These locals can't just be down here with us. If it's most of the planet under effect…" he left off out of concern.
"...It's quiet….too quiet…" Makoto whispered, the group gathered up near the overturned table as more of the windows had been broken from the still gathering Sonaraquids, "...You think they're gone?"
"I hope so…I nearly got eaten last time they broke in," Hobble whispered, covered in suction cup marks and bite marks as he nervously held his blaster.
"Gluto, is everything okay on your end?!" Tetrax shouted.
"#%!%!%!"
"These are one of two sentient life forms that Ben has access to?" Noel asked with a frown, her hair covered in faintly purple-tinted webs, "He's not allowed to use it…This is not a rare cute bug like Ball Weevil."
"...We made sure the medbay's safe, right?" Tucker asked.
"Yeah. It goes into lockdown when the ship's being attacked," Tetrax assured.
"Handy," Makoto noted, "So with no means of getting in touch with the away team, and no sign of these little freaks stopping any time soon…what do we do?"
"It'll take me a while to repair the glass…" Tetrax sighed, "Meaning we can't take off into space to avoid them, but we could probably island hop and get them to chase rather than keep breaking in. Sure would waste less energy than the electrified haul trick. "
"Hmm…How would they handle Noellie's cooking?" Makoto asked.
"If they were rational? Pretty good. I mean, her mousse is the best one I've had in decades," Tetrax replied.
"But…could they handle the mousse?" Makoto asked, making Tetrax blink.
"No…most life forms that don't have the same teeth as me would surely have theirs crack and…Oh~" he realized.
"Noel, we need you to cook your mousse! A lot of your mousse!" Makoto declared.
"Really?!" Noel gasped in glee.
"Could we make it Double Extra? You know…so there are leftovers?" Tetrax muttered, raising a hand.
"Well the plan is to feed them so they are too full to attack anymore," Makoto lied through her teeth to keep Noel excited.
"...Mari-chan, Funkfreed, cover for me!" Noel shouted as she shot up, wrapping an apron around her body before she grabbed a nearby chef's hat to shove her long hair into, "Mama's cooking tonight!"
"Just…trust me guys, you don't need to eat any. It's just to help deal with these jerks. Any intact leftovers go straight to the big guy," Makoto explained to the others as she pointed to Tetrax who was rubbing his stomach at the thought. Mari and Funkfreed saluted with their paw and trunk respectively as Tucker and Hobble just blinked one eye at a time slowly in confusion to the sudden change of mood in the ship.
"!$14111!" Gluto shouted from the command room.
"We're fine! Just making something for a plan!" Noel shouted, already having pulled out some ingredients to mix up into a bowl…which began to censor instantly with a sickly emerald green.
"Did it just censor itself?!" Hobble gawked with his eyes nearly bugging out of his head.
"She literally just put those things in a bowl! How!?" Tucker freaked, 'I thought Noel was some alien chef gourmet with all the stuff she makes for Tetrax and Gluto!'
"Yeah…don't bother trying to think about it," Makoto stated, "...Also before you ask? No, she does not taste her own cooking."
"That's literally the point of cooking!" Tucker snapped before more of the Sonoraquids pounced through the opened window to attack, "AHH~!"
"NOT AGAIN!" Hobble panicked.
"I need a little bit more time!" Noel called out as Mari hissed and slashed at Sonoraquids, making them hiss back as they moved back from the Mink's attempted slashes.
"We'll do what we can, but they are too small and tricky! Also if this is mind control, hurting them feels wrong…" Makoto muttered, "At least…in the bodily harm sense, letting them deal with stomach pain from eating something they shouldn't…not my problem."
"You make a great point," Tetrax muttered, forming a hammer head of crystal on his hands as he swung and smacked the Sonoraquids away.
"It doesn't need to be perfect-perfect since we're tossing it out the window for these guys to eat you know!" Makoto grunted, as she smacked another one down.
"It's a matter of pride!" Noel argued, a whisk held up high.
"Oh you…" Makoto grumbled as she slapped another Sonoraquid away.
"Gah!" Tucker and Hobble screamed as one lunged at them as they ducked out of the way, letting it slam into Funkfreed's flank, making the elephant turn and slap it off his rear.
Funkfreed then looked down as a Sonoraquid hissed at him. A moment passed and the elephant just stepped on it quickly before lifting his leg to see it twitching in pain. Shaking his head, making small noises of tutting, he grabbed it with his trunk and proceeded to swing it around and use it as a flail to slap more of its kind away from the kitchen.
Mari chittered as she grabbed one before it could pounce at Noel, swinging it around before sending it flying into a small group of them, sending them flying as swirls replaced their singular eyes. Mari chittered before nudging a shaker filled with a lime-green 'salt' closer to Noel's reaching hand for her, earning a headpat, before Mari hissed and jumped on another Sonoraquid's sole eye, making it move around blindly until she jumped off and onto the counter again, letting it hit another Sonoraquid and let them both be smacked into the one Funkfreed was using as a makeshift club, sending them out of the space vehicle and splash down a good hundred yards away. Funkfreed huffed as he tossed his out…before grabbing a box of a strange flake-like ingredient and giving it to Noel, earning a pat on his trunk as thanks.
"That is both awesome and adorable," Tucker admitted.
"She has them trained well," Hobble agreed.
"She has that effect on animals sometimes," Makoto shrugged before using her tail to smack another Sonoaraquid away, "Seriously these guys just won't stop…if only Ben w-"
"Hey."
"KYA~!" Makoto screamed as she jumped into the air, clinging to the ceiling as her tail was poofed up.
"Ooh…Sorry, babe…" Amphibian winced as he floated out of the floor and became tangible...before a Sonaraquid pounced on him before it was quickly zapped off, "Woah! What…?"
"Oh thank god you're here, man!" Tucker exclaimed, "We're being invaded by spider squids!"
"Hey, it's no picnic down below either," Ampfibian argued, "We were raided by fishmen of the Black Lagoon down below, and I had a feeling things were just as bad for you guys up here."
"Of course things are bad!" Tucker complained.
"We are in a sub…deep under water, surrounded by 9 foot long fishmen covered in iron seaweed armor," Ampfibian replied flatly, "Who's got it worse? I told the gang to hang tight after we found the deep sea temple, which has natural oxygen pockets thanks to all the algae in the ocean."
"We keep getting raided by Sonaraquids!" Hobble screamed, "They just keep coming and coming!"
"I can see that," Ampfibian spoke, "Noel's making her mousse to toss at them?"
"Yep," Tucker replied.
"She's making extra for Tetrax at his request?"
"He knows me well," Tetrax chuckled as he slugged another one.
"I'd love to help, but honestly I think I'm more needed to deal with the locals under the water given they have a natural defense that can't be overcome," Ampfibian spoke as he swung his tentacles out and whipped multiple Sonaraquids and zapped them at the same time, "Sam, Danny, and Naoto will be getting the relic while I fight off the locals around the temple. But I just got done zapping them off with a big discharge. You guys good on your own?"
"We got a plan, and thanks to your help we should have the time to complete it," Makoto smirked, calming down finally as she jumped down from above, making a Sonaraquid gag out before she kicked it right out one of the broken windows.
"Awesome. I'll leave it in your guys' hands then," Ampfibian nodded, zapping a few more Sonaraquids before he phased into the floor once more.
"You let him leave?!" Tucker and Hobble panicked.
"He's fighting bigger dangers underwater," Makoto pointed out, "It feels like he's more useful underwater; fighting the bigger, stronger, sturdier locals…" she listed out, "Meanwhile, these guys are numerous and annoying."
"Almost done with the first batch!" Noel called out from the kitchen, "I still need time to make a bigger batch!"
"Well please hurry! I don't want those slimy little tentacles taking my armor off again!" 'That right belongs to Ben…who could possibly t-ack! No no…do not tempt fate, Makoto…'
"...Okay…This should be a good spot," Sam whispered as the sub rose up, surfacing in a small cavern with various ruins and rubble scattered about.
"Oddly…I'm reminded of this 1980s cartoon about a kid explorer and his family," Naoto noted, looking out at the ruins.
"All that's missing is the little dog and telepathic friend," Danny added as the side of the sub opened up.
"Well with any luck…the Relic might be hiding here," Sam stated as she got up, pulling out her blaster, "Along with who or what might've activated it."
"...yeah," Naoto nodded, cracking his knuckles a bit as he and Danny got up next.
"We still need to be careful. If it was Dan doing this, the traps are likely still active and untriggered," Danny advised.
Naoto and Sam nodded as they carefully stepped out of the sub, blasters and powers at the ready as they began to traverse into the ruins. As they did, they saw bits and pieces of pictures on the wall depicting the residence of this world…along with others fleeing or bowing to a large group of vampire-like creatures with the largest amongst them covered in a red aura. They could make out runes of some sorts on the walls, but they were covered in moss and water damage, making them near unreadable…even if they could translate what they were.
"Guess we know how bad things used to be for these folks," Sam sighed, "From what Tetrax said, these folks are happy just living life day to day. But back then…" they noticed a few cracked pictures depicting a few Anur aliens being held up by the much larger vampire-like creature, "They were fearful of the Vladites…"
"Not just them, but the entire system it seems," Danny noted, seeing ones of some other races doing tasks for the vampire-like creatures.
"...wait," Naoto held his hand out before the two, making them stop just as they were about to make a turn. He picked up a nearby piece of rock, peeking out the corner real quick before tossing the rock ahead, letting it clatter on the floor before a part of it suddenly collapsed, causing a part of the wall to open up as a large stone angler head shot out and crashed into the opposite wall, biting down on it as it slowly retracted, "...careful. Pressure point traps up ahead."
"Called it," Danny smirked.
"Well then real good thing one of us can fly both through the air and obstacles," Sam spoke up..
"...Aw crud," Danny realized what she meant.
"Hey. Ben's currently dealing with the fishmen outside and he entrusted us to find the relic before Zs'skayr and Dan do…especially the latter."
"Aww~ Well ain't that sweet of Tenny boy."
"?!" the trio tensed as they quickly turned, seeing Dan looking down at them from the ceiling.
"Why am I not surprised?" Danny scowled.
"Sup, mini-me?" Dan smirked, "Zs'Skayr felt you guys enter earlier…like the little surprise we left?"
"Heck no," Danny replied.
"Oh now that hurts. I forgot how bad we are with respecting others," Dan retorted as he began to phase into the room, "Then again…we used to have the hots for Pauline…feh. What a shallow human being…Almost makes me feel sorry I had to burn her face off when she tried to woo me in my timeline."
'...Okay. Even Pauline didn't deserve that…' Sam thought as Danny and Naoto narrowed their eyes at Dan.
"Do you ever run out of horrible things you've done to people?" Danny demanded while swinging at his alternate self from another time, who blocked his punch.
"No, not really, that's half the fun, seeing you react to the things I did, and the fact we're the same person. Deep down on a level, you always wanted to use your powers. How much fun was it overshadowing Dash and making him look like the fool he's always been? You enjoyed that back in the day didn't you? The only difference is…I made sure people knew it was me, and that much worse could happen if they crossed me again!" he backhanded Danny sending him flying back, "You might be unlocking more abilities now mini-me…but we're still the same person, meaning anything you can do, I can do better~" he raised his arms as one was covered in fire and the other in cold energy, "Let's review physics. What happens when extreme heat and extreme cold meet?!"
"Wait, no!" Sam realized as Dan slammed his hands together as the two elemental energies collided and caused a powerful green tinted shockwave with a thundering clap that knocked them all off their feet.
"Well how about that?" Dan smirked, "What do you think we should name that little move? An Ecto Thunderclap?"
"Ugh…Yeah…That's ringing in my head…" Naoto grunted as he got back up first, "You're pretty intense, aren't ya?"
"Perhaps," Dan replied, "Though…You're new."
"Good…then you won't see this coming!" Naoto shouted as he charged for an incoming punch, only for Dan to float aside to dodge it.
"Really? That trick w-" he began before Naoto quickly spun around and delivered a roundhouse kick, his foot covered in bloodred energy as the dark future version of Danny blocked, grunting as he staggered back a bit, "Gh…that hurt a bit…was that blood?"
"Bloodedge!" Naoto shouted as he pounced forward, sending out a lance of bloodred energy that shot towards Dan, making him quickly become intangible as he let it pass by him.
"Blood manipulation…that's totally n-" Dan began as he became tangible and then quickly moved back as he dodged a rising punch from Naoto, only to flinch when an armblade of bloodred energy slashed his face up, "Gh!" he quickly floated back from Naoto for a moment, tracing a finger on the cut...which surprisingly didn't have a cut on it, "No blood? How…oh…oh ho~ Oh, I get it…that's totally your schtick isn't it? You use your blood…then you steal your opponent's to heal yourself…you a vampire or something?"
"I'm more of a special case," Naoto stated as he stood in a ready position, "Also duck."
"?" Dan raised a brow before he formed a barrier to block an incoming energy blast from the side, making him turn towards Danny before he quickly became intangible again just as Naoto shot another blood lance at him, piercing through his shield as it bore into part of the walls, "...okay now you're earning my interest, vampire boy."
"Sam, you go on ahead," Danny whispered to Sam.
"What?"
"We have to work together to fight him off," Danny explained, "You're the only one who can go in there while we're the only ones who can fight Dan."
"And I have to deal with the traps…typical." Sam sighed, "Fine, just don't blow up the temple."
"We promise only to try!" Naoto grunted as he swung a blood-red energy scythe at Dan, who ducked as the scythe cut into his cape a bit, "Also…"
"Don't worry. I'll keep you updated!" Sam shouted as she began to run off, avoiding a few tiles to make sure not to activate the trap from earlier.
"Updated? Updated on what?" Dan pondered.
"Nothing for you to worry about!" Danny shouted while blasting Dan with an ice blast, sending him flying back and encased in ice.
"...RAAGH!" Dan roared as he broke free of the ice, fire crackling off him as a grin grew on his face, "Alright then, mini-me… You and vampire boy wanna square up? Then come at me!"
"My name isn't vampire boy…" Naoto began as he and Danny got into a fighting stance, "It's Naoto…Kurogane Naoto!"
"Well…I'll have someone remember to put it on a gravestone," Dan smirked.
"Zap for you, and zap you, and why not~? A zippity-zap for you!" Ampfibian cheered as he zapped more of the frenzied locals, making them yelp and run off as fear and pain overwrote the draw of the relic making them act this way. Ampfibian sighed as he went intangible as one of them swung at him, confusing the local as they turned around to see a sparking tentacle aimed at their face, "Zap-Zap~" at that, the water lit up as a large shock sent the local fleeing as fast as they could swim, "Even with life form lock…this is getting exhausting. Who knew producing this much electricity would feel like a work out?"
"And we are not risking using the OmniDrive again…" Skurd added, "That'll just make things worse…"
"Plus who knows about its effect on Lifeform Lock, best not even risk Omni-Kix either." Ampfibian sighed out as he slapped a local silly this time before giving it a light zap to make him shriek and swim away, "Besides this form is perfect at the moment, I can zap through that natural defense of theirs; they only have physical might, so I can avoid them with intangibility; and I can fly around to check on the others. But I hope the gang topside are okay."
"They'll be fine, they are dealing with the smaller locals," Skurd spoke, "Let's not distract ourselves."
"Right. Next wave incoming," Ampfibian sighed as more swam towards him, "I really hope you'll all accept an apology after this is all over, but for now…Zap!" He spread out all his tentacles as he unleashed a massive surge of electricity into the water, lighting everything up and zapping the locals before they got too close, making many pass out and slowly sink towards the sea floor while others scrambled to escape or help those who passed out.
Meanwhile back on the surface with the Resolute, the others were struggling as the sonoraquids caused nothing but trouble. They just continued to try and try with numbers no matter how many they knocked out and tossed back.
"I'm finished~!" Noel called out.
"Oh…thank…whatever god will listen…" Makoto sighed, "Alright, Noellie…feed 'em!"
"Hai! Funkfreed!" Noel called as Funkfreed lifted up a large bowl of a blurred out parfait, "Ready…" she aimed at one of the opened windows just as another Sonaraquid was thrown out, "FIRE ONE!"
"PAON!"
*BANG!*
"Mari-chan!" Noel called as Mari held up another bowl to Funkfreed, letting the elephant 'load' it up, "Fire two!"
"Hope thi…Tetrax!" Makoto called out in annoyance as their Petrosapien guide was sneaking away with a bowl.
"Aww…" he sighed in defeat, handing it back to Noel.
"Bowl for you in the fridge, Tetrax-san!" Noel called out as Mari 'loaded' another bowl into Funkfreed's trunk, "Fire three!"
"Extra large?" he asked excitedly.
"Hai. Just how you like it."
"It's almost sweet more people besides Mai love her cooking this much," Makoto muttered, "Well, depending on the recipe."
"But..why does it come out censored?!" Tucker exclaimed as Tetrax rushed back over, holding a extra large bowl of Noel's mousse and a large crystal spoon.
"That we….honestly don't know…"
"Mmm…" Tetrax shrugged, "But the taste is sublime, and the texture is perfect. I haven't had something this good since before Petropia was destroyed. And after Ben repaired it, but you know that's not really the point."
"#! #!4141!"
"Hey! You didn't complain about the souffle she made for you," Tetrax argued with Gluto, waving his spoon around a bit.
"...~232~"
"You're welcome, Gluto-san!" Noel called out as Mari 'loaded' one more bowl, "Fire Five!"
"Let's see what effect it has on them…" Makoto whispered, peering out the window as the Sonoraquids gathered about and began to fight one another for the bowls.
Seemingly, their instincts to eat overpower this frenzy, and sure enough when they tried to bite down…one of two extreme effects occurred. 1: Their small teeth cracked on impact with the hard center, which was so painful they fell over in agony. 2: If they got a part they could swallow, they ended up falling over with a spiraling eye and multicolored foam flowing from their mouth. You'd assume they'd stop eating, but it seemed this frenzy had caused them to ignore their usual eating habits and now were desperate for food. Any who had awoken from the frenzy due to the pain or extreme taste began to panic and tried to wake their companions but had to watch as they fell to their instincts and the trap. It at least seemed those who awoke realized what they did and had the decency to bow towards the onlookers in apology as they dragged their currently unconscious kin away.
"Haha! Yes! It worked!" Makoto beamed.
"Wow…That really was effective cooking, huh Tucker?" Hobble asked, only to look up as Tucker's face was a pale white, even down to his clothes as his eyes were blank in horror, "...T-Tucker…?"
'I agreed to Noel cooking my fish food…' Tucker thought, mentally panicking as he looked out at the twitching Sonaraquids on the ground, '...Diet be damned, I should've eaten the damn vegetables!'
"Hey, Noellie, it looks like your cooking is so…extreme it breaks the frenzy!" Makoto cheered, "M-Make more!" she demanded, "Try something different, as long as the taste knocks the berserker out of them, make anything you can, okay?"
"AAH~!" Noel squealed out, sparkles in her eyes as she looked at the Beastkin, "I can make anything?!"
"Yes, but for the locals, okay! It's to both confuse and awaken them from this mind control. Got it?!" Makoto explained, "It seems your cooking can…break mind control, so…something new has been learned!"
"..." Noel said nothing as she whipped her Phone out, searching for a song real quick before tossing it to a nearby stand, "I've awaited for this day to come…" music began to play as she whipped out a set of cooking utensils, "Today, I chef."
"Enjoy yourself, you may not get another chance to experiment this much 'till you and Grandpa Max take over the mess hall…again…" Makoto sighed before leaning out the window and putting her hands together to bow to the now awake Sonoraquids, "Sorry…" she whispered, "Make your buddies eat the food to wake them up!" She called out a little louder as several began to panic, before she pointed to them then the others who hissed like wild beasts, making the now awake Sonoraquids look at one another before saluting with a look that said: We're sorry, guys, it's for your own good.
"Least we got them on our side, the ones awake that is," Hobble muttered, "I guess they really are nice folks; this is just…universally not their best day."
"I feel so sorry for them…for…a myriad of reasons," Makoto sighed, "But it seems that despite the taste, the food agrees with them. So I take it that the fish here must be so extreme they can get nutrients from anything."
"That was really well put, Makoto," Hobble noted as Tetrax nodded with a mouth full of his share of Noel's Mousse.
"Well I was a field agent, and a stealth agent. I can make things sound professional if I need to," Makoto pouted at that, "Just because Ben and I are lazy doesn't mean we can't be smart if we need to."
"Well, you could stand to show it off more," Hobble replied before slapping Tucker, snapping him out of it as he regained color.
"Eh…but then people will expect too much of us…" Makoto complained.
"So unlike Danny, who is a C student…you guys are actually really smart," Tucker noted.
"Well, Ben actually has an Eidetic Memory," Makoto shrugged.
"He has a what?!" Tucker asked.
"Yup. Me...I got street smarts. I've learned plenty of what I needed in life from where I grew up, and from helping my parents out at the farm," Makoto added, "Also I picked up plenty of tips from a few local Beastkin that lived in the district we lived in."
"Well at least we seem to have found a method of protecting ourselves for now," Hobble sighed, "You know as long as we don't run out of food."
"We'll stop on Luna Lobo, but I'll warn ya, the locals have a mostly carnivorous diet," Tetrax explained, "So save some veggies to keep your diets balanced."
"Noellie, don't use all the veggies, please!" Makoto called out.
"Okay!" she cheered.
"You mean there is a world of all meat!?" Tucker complained trying to shake the much larger Petrosapien.
"I don't need protein like you kids, but this…" he held a spoonful of mousse up, "This is just indulgence." he shoved it in his mouth.
"Hah….well…" Tucker began as he plopped down on the floor, "Least I can get a fish…"
"Mmm hmm…as long as it's not the local Millgathyes Plesioth. The Local Millet Lagish hate them."
"...what?"
"Oh good heavens!" Skurd panicked as the sea was alight with electricity as Ampfibian found himself in a difficult spot of now having to fight off a new creature that tried to prey upon the knocked out Millit Lagish.
It was…for sure one of the weirder creatures they'd seen. It was a long green fish like creature, with deep green scales that faded to a dark dirty orange towards the edges of its large fins. Two on each side grew to almost wing like length and allowed it to make powerful strides through the water with each 'flap' its body could be called almost serpentine like as it extended into a long tail with a paddle like tail fin with long spines, and it had what seemed to be two long and powerful legs ending in webbed feet. Its back was covered in spines and fins like a lion fish with two matching finns framing its face which had a pointed beak-like nose with a jaw filled with rows of shark-like teeth, and two large glowing beady eyes.
"What…is that thing?" Ampfibian asked.
"That is a Millgathyes Plesioth, quite possibly one of the most annoying predators in the galaxy," Skurd explained
"How do you know that?" Ampfibian asked.
"Because these suckers repopulate so fast they are sold off to worlds and have become an invasive species!" Skurd declared, "Psychopaths keep them as their version of the sharks in the moat around their creepy abode…only for them to escape and infest local bodies of water."
"Wait, seriously? But…what makes them so anno-" Ampfibian began as the Plesioth began to lean back a bit before it did a hip check towards him…which resulted in him flying right into a rocky wall, "?! Wh…HOW?!"
"See?! That's how! Despite being a giant fish with legs, they somehow discovered what hip-checks are! The stupid amount of muscles in that area of its body let it strike hard!" Skurd declared.
"Great…so it's an invasive fish…that hip checks…anything else?" Ampfibian asked.
"Well the ones I saw were altered by the environments they called home…they were blue-ish. And I saw one that evolved to colder waters and became white. Even ones that evolved to live in mud." Skurd explained, "They will survive anywhere…and be a pain to everyone. But, if I recall, the original had some sort of ability to suck in and store water within a specialized bladder that it could then expunge later at high volumes and focus through their teeth to pressurize it."
"Oh…so it's a water cutter gun…" Ampfibian sighed.
"Eeyup…"
"...and it's gonna try and hunt the locals…" Ampfibian whispered as the Plesioth turned towards the unconscious locals, giving a low growl as its fins flared up a bit, "...any ideas on how to beat one of these things?"
"Not unless you want to get tail slapped, hip checked, spritzed with pressurized water, hip checked, slapped by its fins, and did I already mention hip checked?!"
"Will you stop with the h…wait…" Ampfibian paused as an idea formed in his head, "...ooh this is gonna be painful…"
"What are you…" Skurd began before Ampfibian swam towards the Plesioth, the giant fish-like creature pausing in about to bite into one of the local beings before it turned to see the jellyfish heading towards it.
It began to rear its hips back again, focusing its muscles in tight as it began to move…only to squeak when it felt a sudden jolt in its hip. Its leg began to twitch before it suddenly let out an ear grating screech of pain, its eyes nearly bugging out of its head as it began to try and swim off.
"...HOW?!"
"Hips that strong hit with the right jolt…it becomes a really horrible charlie horse."
"Huh…"
"Now get out of here you!" Ampfibian shouted as he began zapping the Plesioth, making it screech out with each zap making its body feel worse, "Beat it before I turn you into a fish fry!" he clapped to tentacles together and fired a concentrated bolt of electricity at its hips, making it cry out and flail away.
"Leave it to you to find a way to beat the most annoying predator in the universe…" Skurd deadpanned.
"You kidding me? I've dealt with so many charlie horses from my old bullies when I was a kid," Ampfibian argued, "I just recalled that memory when I thought of the most annoying thing, and Cash came to mind instantly. I'm glad he's chilled out, but the dude was such a pain back in the day."
"Hm…noted," Skurd muttered before looking around, seeing the still unconscious local aliens on the ocean bed as some were currently hiding, "...and look at that. We managed to drive them back…now we can go and meet the others."
"Just for some insurance…let's make use of that stupid fish," Ampfibian looked at the pathetically fleeing Plesioth, "Skurd…make some strong vines will you?"
"Ah~ A Guard dog to keep them away from the temple!" Skurd realized as he spread across his tentacles and turned them into Wildvine arms.
"Come here not-so-little fishy~!" Ampfibian cheered making a vine lasso.
"Hah!" Danny and Naoto shouted as they both threw a punch at Dan from both sides, only for the evil ghost to raise his arms to block the incoming punches, resulting in a small shock wave that shook the area a bit.
"Hoo…You've been training, huh mini-me?!"
"Hey, just because I beat you back then didn't mean I should get sloppy," Danny replied.
"True. Otherwise, I'd be more disappointed!" Dan laughed before blocking another kick from Naoto, quickly becoming intangible as he moved back to let Danny's fist slam into Naoto's face. Dan smirked seeing this happen as he swung his hand and palmed Danny's face before blasting him away. The dark alternate timeline Phantom smirked as he turned to Naoto and grabbed his next punch before the two cocked back their free hands and balled them into fists as they charged them with energy and struck one another, causing a small explosion that sent both skidding back, "If I had let things stay the course and waited a bit longer, I would've had a ton of fun with you in my time! Ah well, hindsight's twenty-twenty."
"Stay the course?" Naoto asked.
"I guess they haven't told you the story, huh? See in the original series of events, mini-me here did something that resulted in his, mine…our parents, sister, and friends dying in a stupid accident. Turns out Fast Food will kill ya, that secret sauce is like dynamite!" he laughed, "See in that timeline, I move in with my old nemesis, the only other Halfa like me. I wanted the pain to stop…so I had him rip out my human half, turns out…without that stupid human heart. I'm way more fun, so I ripped out his ghost half and absorbed it into myself, then killed my human half, didn't need it anyway." he giggled at the memory of his human half cowering before killing him, "Then from there, oh the world was my playground, I could do whatever I wanted, wherever and whenever. Only a select few places were safe from me…and one person strong enough to play ball with me on the weekends. You…oh I never saw a whatever you are, so clearly time is-a changing. And yet here I stand, what do ya know?"
"Like I said…" Naoto paused, cracking his neck a bit as blood red energy began to engulf his fist, "I'm a special case!" he shouted as he charged and threw a punch at Dan, only for him to float out of the way…yet he was soon hit in the face by Naoto's foot as the brunette grasped the floor for a quick spinning kick, a blade of blood red energy following his path as it cut up part of his uniform.
"Gh!" Dan grunted as he was sent crashing into a nearby wall, clutching his chest for a moment as green flames burst for a moment, healing his wound while the tear was no longer there, "Oh ho…Oh you are a real wildcard, vampire kid!"
"Believe me, you're not the first smug asshole I've fought before," Naoto retorted as he flipped back next to Danny.
"Well…and here I thought the world would get boring if we killed you little pests here. Maybe I can still have a fun time yet~" Dan laughed, "Alright boys, amuse me?" he waved them to come at him with his hand as it ignited with green flames.
"How you holding up, Danny?" Naoto whispered to Danny as they both stood ready.
"Well…it took me randomly learning a new power to beat evil me last time, but now he's proving that I got lucky, and this weird catch up thing works both ways. So…eh been worse." Danny admitted.
"We got numbers…and if Ben comes back we can probably pressure him. But really we just gotta hope Sam can get the relic and we can run." Naoto offered.
"Running is good." Danny nodded, "But…not an option right now." he sighed.
"Then we keep fighting." Naoto nodded as well in agreement.
"Hah!" Dan laughed as he flared his forked tongue as he charged at them.
"Ha!" Danny and Naoto shouted as they charged in turn.
"...okay…coast is clear," Sam whispered as she ran into an empty room, jumping over a tile or two as she jumped over to a nearby pillar, stepping over what could've been the boney remains of whoever was caught in the temple's traps, "Okay…it has to be close by now…this place is like a freakin' maze…"
"Guys!" Sam turned to see Ampfibian flying through the walls before flying around again, scratching his head in confusion, "Yeesh…mazes are somehow harder when you aren't looking to get out of them…"
"?! Ben! Ben, over here!"
"Sam?" Ampfibian stopped in his tracks, turning to see the ravenette waving at him as he floated towards her, "Where's Danny and Naoto?"
"Currently holding Dan back…I'm trying to find where the relic is while avoiding some of these traps here…and so far no sign of it nor of Naoto's girl."
"Well I can float ahead and trigger the traps so you don't need to, and I can check the path for dead ends by going through the walls," Ampfibian offered, "But I don't detect any other brain waves here. And since I just got that trick down, I'm willing to bet this whole maze…somehow interferes with that power. So we're doing this the sort of old fashioned way." he explained as he floated forward and began moving his tentacles around to trigger traps which just…went through his intangible body, "Wow…this place is clearly not meant to stop ghostly things…might be a design oversight given the Ectonurites are natives…"
"Sounds like a reverse of the logic Ghost Zone uses for its traps; all deadly to ghosts but harmless to humans," Sam compared.
"Guess even the best designed SAW traps don't account for one thing…" Ampfibian muttered as he continued feeling around for trap triggers, "In this case, anything with the power of intangibility," he stuffed one of his tentacles into a wall, "Wait a minute, this one feels like a doozy," he triggered something causing the walls to slam together violently, "See…this is why I trigger the traps…that…was too violent."
"That was why I wanted Danny to go ahead and find it," Sam stated as the walls retracted.
"Let's face it. This is gonna be a day and a half at this rate…" Ampfibian sighed, "I bought us some time by chaining a local predator to the entrance to spook the locals away, but how long those reinforced vines will last in this water…" he sighed, "And given my luck, Danny's Luck, and Naoto's lack of it. That might as well be 30 minutes."
"So…we are gonna have to obstacle-course run the death rooms?" Sam asked.
"When you say it outloud it really sounds stupid don't it?" Ampfibian asked, "But at this rate who knows what could happen next, if you want I can do the running while you head back to the start where it's safe." he offered.
"That's nice and all, but with Dark Danny back there, no one's safe," Sam shook her head, "Time to speed run this."
"I'm more of a completionist when it comes to games, but let's cheese this thing," Ampfibian nodded, "Ready?"
"No…but it's still better than the evil future version of my best friend."
"Then let's book it!" Ampfibian declared as they began running down the maze halls.
"Next order!" Noel called from the kitchen.
"Order up!" Makoto shouted as she bolted by, placing a plate with blurred out food on it on the windowsill before it was taken by one of the conscious and sane Sonaraquids.
"This is going a lot better with the newly awake Sonoraquids holding their friends down and feeding them the food to wake them up," Hobble muttered with a laugh as two Sane Sonoraquids tackled a frenzied one and forced it to eat one of the dishes making it twitch and begin foaming at the mouth, the two nodded before chasing after another who was in this frenzied state and chasing it down with the leftovers of the food.
"I feel really bad for hurting some now," Makoto admitted, "They are really nice folks when you get to know them. Sorry…" she whispered to one as it took another plate of food, the Sonoraquid just saluting and marching off to use the new 'cure' for the Frenzy State.
"So what's this one?" Tucker asked, looking at one Funkfreed handed off to him.
"A new recipe! I based it off bourbon chicken, but added the recipe for sweet and sour chicken for it!"
"Right…order up!" Tucker shouted as he chose not to ask and just survive this day, but wait a minute, "Wait…we had CHICKEN!?"
"Oops…" Noel realized, "Guess we had some in the back of the fridge~"
"...Please tell me there's something left!" Tucker shouted as he bolted for the fridge.
"Paon…" Funkfreed shook his head.
"Ahh come on~!" Tucker groaned as he fell back, "Nothing but veggies…not even a morsel of meat anymore…"
"Oh! I do have a MegaMeat PotPie baking right now!"
"Megawhat?" Tucker instantly shot up.
"Well I thought about how meat pies are normally made..so I decided to make it a potpie with multiple types of meat. White and dark meat Chicken, beef, pork, ham, bacon, steak, and cook them all with potatoes and gravy!"
"YES!" Tucker cheered.
"Uh…Tucker…sometimes Noellie's food is safe for human consumption…but other times…" Makoto muttered sheepishly.
"Most times her food is 5 star cuisine to certain aliens," Hobble spoke, "However only some humans can handle cooking meant for aliens who are immune to things like space super capsaicin…"
"Good thing Kickin' Hawk is immune to the stuff…" Makoto muttered.
"Oh, he so loved that dish!" Noel smiled.
"...I don't care. I'll take the risk!" Tucker declared as a ding went off.
"Oh! It's done!" Noel beamed as she shot towards the oven, teaching in as she pulled out a large pie…which oddly looked normal compared to everything else she had made.
"Oh…maybe this is one of your normal Earth Dishes this time," Makoto muttered, "Normally your cooking is alien only food somehow."
"I don't know why, I only use Earth-based ingredients most of the time," Noel muttered, "Normally it's when I use Grandpa Max's pantry does it come out different…"
"...Well Tuck, I Guess you got l-" Makoto began before Tucker took the pie and began to go to town on it, "?!"
"Meat..glorious Meat~! Oh it taste so…" Tucker began, face covered in gravy as he was busy chewing on the contents inside...only to tense when his stomach began to gurgle, "?!"
"...T-Tucker?"
"...bathroombathroombathroomNEEDBATHROOM!"
"Okay, that probably could just be his lack of greens in his diet…" Hobble spoke up.
"Actually, yeah…" Makoto muttered.
"Oh…that would make sense…" Noel nodded, "I did add some carrots and potatoes to it."
"Well you can add as many veggies as you want, Noellie…nothing's gonna make that protein nightmare healthy," Makoto stated as Tucker bolted out of the room.
"But…wouldn't you like that?"
"Oh ho no. I like meat and protein as much as the next tomboy, but no way I could take all that without feeling super green. Unless you're a workout nut like Akane back at Kibougamine or…well, Rath, your body can't handle that much protein in one setting."
"Oh, well I guess we know which alien has this as his favorite dish then!" Noel smiled.
"I like your positivity." Makoto smirked.
"Well it looks like we awoke enough locals that they are overpowering those who are brainwashed," Tetrax noted, looking out the window as more Sonoraquids who were awakened began comically slapping their Frenzied kind around to drive them back out to the water and away from the Resolute. Some were even smacking several frenzied Millit Lagish who poked their heads out of the water to keep them under.
"I'm so happy they are understanding folks," Hobble sighed.
"I'm so happy everyone enjoyed the dishes!" Noel beamed before tilting her head, "Mmm…Oh! Do you think I could open a restaurant?"
"I think as long as you tell folks you specialize in Cosmic Cooking, it will be good." Makoto spoke up, "That and you find out what dish works for which aliens."
"Ooh…I like the sound of that. 'Cosmic Cooking,'" Noel awed.
"I'd eat there in a heartbeat," Tetrax commented.
"Oooh~!" Tucker's voice groaned.
"I'm gonna sound proof that room." Tetrax muttered as the girls nodded.
"...Hmmm…someone's having 'fun'," Zs'Skayr whispered as he felt the area rumble a bit, the Ectonurite holding a fairly large monstrous looking skull that seemed to be missing its fangs, "It has been so long since I last saw a Vladite, even just a skull…You were the lords of our system, yet your hubris and arrogance allowed them to end your reign and your world." he spoke to the skull as if it was listening, "The only beings in this system as formidable as us Ectonurites, we were your only foil due to lacking life force for you to feed on. However it seems in both our absences, this system of space has fallen to weakness. Thinking they can live in peace, and enjoy their metaphorical day in the sun. But, oh…I plan to put an end to that daydream." he then flinched as he heard the sounds of traps going off, "Tch….at the rate they're going, they might cause the temple to collapse in on itself…" he huffed, "Almost immediately after we no longer ruled, they started getting so pathetic in structural durability. So many traps going off at this rate would have done nothing more than disturb a glass of water back then."
"Why is it eels!?" Ampfibian panicked as zapping could be heard, "Why did all the gross ones fall on me?! What the heck universe?"
"Ben!" Sam called out as they entered the final chamber, "Gah!" she panicked upon seeing Zs'Skayr.
"Oh…Ben, I should have known," he chuckled.
"Zs'skayr, hand over that…skull…ew…" Ampfibian groaned with a shudder, "Hand over the creepy skull and I won't fry your boney butt into ash!"
"Sorry, but this skull is more important than you realize," Zs'Skayr grinned as a dark aura came off the skull, "However…I do appreciate all the hard work you've been doing for me…"
"I've burned you down to nothing before as a 10 year old," Ampfibian warned as his green eyes narrowed dangerously, "Don't make me do it with my own two hands now…"
"Atta boy~" Zs'Skayr smiled at that, "I knew there was a little bit of me in there," he then swung his free hand out to guard as he let Ampfibian's tentacles wrap around it only to grunt as Ampfibian went intangible with him to keep his grip, "Wha-GAH!" he cried out as he was zapped with a large amount of voltage, making him drop the skull as Ampfibian swung and slammed him into a wall in that moment of distraction, his body going solid and smacking into it with a loud crack.
"For your sake…you should hope there isn't any of you in here," Ampfibian spoke as he wrapped Zs'Skayr in more tentacles as he continued zapping him with voltage to keep him from going intangible, "Sam, get the evil skull. I'll keep Count Creep here!" he slammed Zs'Skayr into the ground.
"Got it!" Sam nodded as she hurried towards the skull.
"Gh…another ghost-like alien. You're really trying that hard to replace me~?" Zs'Skayr growled as he swung his clawed hand at Ampfibian who grabbed the swing with one of his tentacles.
"What can I say? Like a video game, I just traded up for a better guy," Ampfibian declared as he tightened his grip on Ectonurite, "This just means you won't be getting out of this wrestling match since both of us can alter our density, and after last time…I've picked up on how to do it better."
"Gr…b-better?! Nothing is better than an Ectonurite!" Zs'Skayr hissed.
"You wanna bet?"
"Grr!"
"Focus, Sam…Focus," Sam whispered as she began to slow down, avoiding a few raised tiles as she reached where the skull was. She quickly grabbed it…before she instantly dropped it, a look of horror in her eyes, "!?...wh…what the hell…"
"Sam, you good?!"
"?! Y-yeah! Just…startled is all!" Sam called out, opening up her bag as she used it to scoop up the skull, 'What was what…was that…the Vladite King I felt?'
"Grr…return that, you blasted girl!" Zs'Skayr hissed out, his tentacles shooting out as it tried to reach for Sam, only for the Ectonurite to scream in pain as he was zapped once more..
"Shouldn't have looked away," Ampfibian chuckled, "I just need for her to get that to the sub, then I can stop hugging you."
"Damn you, Tennyson…!"
"I'll meet you up ahead, Ben!" Sam shouted as she quickly ran off, running past the two as she did a quick turn.
"Gh!" Naoto and Danny grunted as they slammed into a wall, quickly moving away as one of Dan's fireballs crashed into it.
"Come on, boys! Let's not let it end like this!" Dan laughed, "Then again, you're both only half human…so I was bound to be disappointed." he held his hand up, making a ball of ectoplasm energy.
"Oh yeah…well how about this?!" Naoto shouted, pulling his blaster out as he shot up at the ceiling above Dan, causing a stream of water to come gushing down and engulf him.
"Gh!? Ppfptpf!" Dan sputtered as his energy began to dissipate...along with his hair, "Ahh~! You di-!" he began before a blast of icy-energy slammed into him, sending him skidding back as parts of his body began to freeze over.
"Guess without a sun close enough, the water on this planet is easier to freeze over than it'd be on Earth," Danny noted, "How'd you know that would work?"
"I didn't…I took a bit of a gamble there," Naoto admitted as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "One wrong shot and I could've flooded the entire temple…"
"Wh-?! Dude!"
"Well wh-"
"GAH!" Dan roared as he forced the ice off him, his hair flaring back up.
"Seriously, are you this difficult to beat?" Naoto couldn't help but ask.
"I can only hope so," Danny admitted as Dan continued trying to break more ice off him.
"So what do…" Naoto began before Sam ran past them.
"Move it!" she ordered.
The two boys blinked before Danny blasted his evil alternate self with another ice blast before they both scrambled to the Sub with Sam. Dan roared as he broke more of the new ice off as they ran off and took the long corridors to the chamber they surfaced in.
"What happened?" Danny asked.
"Zs'Skayr, creepy evil skull, Ben…time to run!" Sam huffed out, "Ran through a crazy trap maze…twice…get in!" she pointed to the sub.
"Don't have to tell me twice," Danny replied.
"Wait, did you s…"
"No girl in there! Move it!" Sam barked.
"Yes ma'am!"
"What about Ben?" Danny asked as they all entered and began sealing up the sub.
"He's…give me a second," Sam took a deep breath, "He's fighting his evil ghost nemesis and holding him down. We need to get out before your version gets free. Ben has ghost powers, isn't a ghost, can breath underwater, and zap everything. He'll be good, but we gotta get out of here in case Ben's plan becomes…kaboom and bury them under this thing."
"Roger," Danny nodded.
"We'll recap if I saw anything about your girlfriend having been here after we get back to the ship, Naoto," Sam continued, "Our lives come first."
"Fine," Naoto sighed before looking at the skull, "That the relic?"
"Yep."
"...That is one ugly mug and probably worse when the guy who had it was alive," Naoto noted.
"I wouldn't recommend touching it…it's cursed…and I'm not saying it lightly. Touching it made me see…visions." Sam explained as she took her seat in the command chair and began booting everything up and began diving. She then blinked, "Oh don't freak out, but Ben left a predator chained near the front door to scare the locals."
"Predator? What kind of…GAH!" Danny shouted as the Plesioth bound by vines to several stone spires hissed and chomped at the sub but came up short.
"Wow…" Naoto awed, "...That is one ugly ass fish."
"Is it…trying to hip check us?" Danny blinked as the Plesioth tried to do a hip check at them, only to squeak when it felt its charlie horse flaring back up.
"It did its job, that much is what matters," Sam spoke, "Last thing we needed was the sub getting wrecked by the locals."
"...Fair point," Danny sighed, flashing back to normal as he and Naoto looked down, seeing some of the natives groaning as they began to regain consciousness.
"Well…looks like taking the creepy skull has fixed things," Naoto noted.
"Reinforced radiation proof haul…blocking the creepy nonsense," Sam explained.
"Ah…ah…phew…okay…that's the last of it…" Noel panted as she plopped onto a chair, Mari currently fanning her with a cloth as Funkfreed handed her a towel to wipe some of the sweat off her, "Are they all gone?"
"Yep. No more crazies out there," Makoto confirmed.
"Okay…That…That's good," Noel spoke between pants, "Noel go sleep now…"
"Hoo boy…speaking in the third person means she's really sleepy," Makoto grimaced, "Nobody try waking her up, got it? She is terrifying if you wake her up if she goes to sleep in this state."
"...what h-" Tucker began before Hobble covered his mouth, "Mmmm?!"
"I don't know, and frankly I don't want to!" Hobble hissed in panic.
Tetrax and Gluto looked at Makoto with a raised brow from the former before she whispered, "Don't tell Hobble, but he did not listen to the warning last time. It was so terrifying to him, Alf had to hypnotize him to forget he ever did it."
"Oh I see…" Tetrax whispered before the ship's radio began to crackle.
=BBzzzzt-lo? H-bz-llo? Can anyone read me?!= Sam's voice called out.
"Oh good communications are back. They must be surfacing," Tetrax sighed, "Gluto, think you can boost the signal?" Gluto blurbed something out as he began typing away.
=Hello?! Can anyone read me?!=
" !31e1!"
=Oh thank god communications are back up…= Sam sighed in relief =We got good news and bad news=
"...What's the bad news?" Tucker slowly asked as Hobble moved his hands away from his face.
=Dan and Zs'Skayr are already onto us being onto them, so Danny and Naoto had to hold the former back while Ben is still holding the latter back in the temple= Sam explained =Good news…we got away with one of the relics before they could snatch it=
"Wait, Ben is doing what and where?" Makoto asked.
=He'll be fine. He's Ben, right?=
"I can say that, but that doesn't mean I'm not worried!" Makoto argued before she pulled her Badge out, tapping it rapidly a few times, "Ben! Ben, please answer!"
=...BZZZZT! Everything okay, babe?!= Amphibian's voice shouted after a few moments, the sounds of fighting going off in the background, =I'm sorry, honey, but now really isn't a good time. I'm fighting two mean ghosts and they are not keen on letting me escape…but I am traumatizing them to the terrors of tentacles=
=GAH! AH! Why!?= Dan cried in the background.
=I'll be back in just a minute, I hope. Portals are still super hard for me to get right. Okay, love you, bye~=
"Wait, what?! No! Don't just leave it at that!" Makoto spoke before rushing to the window and looking before seeing a familiar portal open in the sky before a mass of water surged out, letting rocks, debris, and a seemingly traumatized Plesioth to slam down before something big landed on it.
A bulky turtle/beetle-like alien stood there as he looked down at yellow armor shell plated limbs ending in three fingers and toes. His body was clad in an armored shell which was red along the sides and black along the back and yellow on his torso. He had yellow spheres at the end of his armored tail and atop his two pointed ears. The Omnitrix placed on his forehead as Skurd sputtered water.
"Oh lookie, another of your aliens matured," Skurd gagged.
"So this is adult Portaler?" he asked looking at his hands, forming a small portal in his hands before closing it, "This is…a lot more easy to control….huh. Don't even feel queasy either after using one…guess older Portler means better control."
"Also you are huge!" Skurd declared as he motioned now Portaler now stood much taller than before, probably breaching somewhere in 7-8 feet in height.
"...So all dem boys in the Undertown Tsubaki's dad's mayor of ain't mature?" Portaler questioned.
"The older ones must be the VIP or premium service."
Portaler flinched as the Plesioth growled and tried to move, making him jump off. He sighed as he opened his hand and made a portal under it that opened above the water…a good several meters in the air, letting it slam down with a loud splash.
"...what was that?" Makoto slowly blinked.
"A really…really annoying fish dat can hip check….REALLY hard," Portaler replied before looking around, "...Where are Sam and the o-" the sub surfaced from nearby, "Nevermind."
"Okay…I know it's Ben…but how did he beat us to the surface…?" Naoto asked.
"Well we can hope that those two will take their time getting out of that crumbling ruin," Sam sighed.
"It should," Portaler chuckled as he turned back into Ben, "Before we left Anur G'rrnay, I asked about a runic array to ward off Ectonurites from phasing through walls and had Skurd turn a tentacle of mine into a Diamondhead chisel to etch it on a few places. Hence needing to go Portaler."
"Yes, it's amazing what he can do when he's serious," Skurd stated, "Sadly they could blast their way out with enough time due to it being pitch black down there."
"Then let's get a move on." Makoto spoke up.
"Gotcha," Ben replied.
"And fair warning? Noellie's tired enough to go third person."
"Yikes! Okay, major rule in effect right now," Ben warned the three, "Do not wake up Noel for any reason whatsoever if she was tired enough to speak in third person. It's up there with maliciously destroying chocolate in front of Tsubaki while breaking the law, Makoto and being racist or trying to harm our friends, Kajun and messing with her lab experiments, and Mai when she's having her time of the month and she doesn't have her favorite brand of chocolate by her. Yes, I am serious about the last one because she has the roughest one of all the girls that I know and if she's suffering, she will make others suffer with her."
"It's true," Makoto confirmed.
"…That's insane," Tucker whispered, "...Oh wait! Ben, did you…"
"Sorry man…I was in such a rush holding back that Plesioth and the formerly berserk citizens, I forgot to grab one…"
"I mean did you want to eat a fish from an ocean like this?" Sam asked, "Most of them are adapted to live in pitch black visibility."
"...Okay fair point," Tucker sighed, "...Still, the next place better be worth it for the me-" he tensed when his stomach began to gurgle once more, "...ahh not again…!"
"...Tucker ate one of Noel's meals?" Ben asked Makoto as Tucker rushed out.
"She made an all Meat pot pie and he just gorged on it."
"Yikes," Ben winced, "Well, let's get going then. And Naoto?"
"Hm?"
"We'll talk about if she was here or not after we're off-planet," Ben replied.
"...Got it man," Naoto nodded, giving a mental sigh as his hand balled up into a fist.
The sounds of wolves howling filled the air, the breaking of branches going off as lupine figures ran through a forest of dense trees, a very small close moon shining brightly above. The sounds of running and howls filled the forest as figures ran through the dense foliage. A small creature ran and ran, but it was cut off as more figures encircled around it and began growling as a pack cornered the creature. With a cacophony of howls the forest shook.
SZ: *snores while resting on the couch*
GT: He fell asleep. How cute. *starts pulling out Halloween supplies* He's gonna wake up in a spooky scary place.
Z0: Yep *facial hair growing rapidly* It is about that time of year as of writing this. *begins scratching behind my ear with my leg*
SZ: Zzz….Spooky month….
Z0: Well let's end this chapter so we can prepare for the next one *growing taller as a wolf tail begins swaying behind me*
GT: …Please read and review, folks. Each review, favorite, follow, or whatever gives Z0 something to terrify that isn't us.
Werewolf Z0: Grrrrrrr…