Chapter 56: Old Ghosts and New Gambits
—
The hallway temperature plummeted like someone had opened a door to deep space. My electronic consciousness, spread throughout the building's systems, recoiled from the sheer wrongness of Selene Gallio's presence. Even through cameras and data streams, she radiated power that made my circuits want to short out in self-defense.
Through a dozen different angles, I watched Grandpa Max's face cycle through emotions I'd never seen on him before. Shock, resignation, and something that looked almost like... guilt?
"Why are you quiet, Maximus Tennyson?" Selene purred, and the way she said his name made it sound like she was tasting wine. "You've aged. But I'd recognize that look of grim determination anywhere." Her lips curved in a smile that belonged on a shark. "The years have not been as kind to you as they have to me."
"It has been a while, yes…"
I was having a difficult time processing this. Selene tilted her head, studying him like a particularly interesting insect. "And Verdona... tell me, does that chaotic Anodite still enjoy her earthly experiments?"
Wait. Hold up. Verdona? I was surprised. This ancient soul-vampire mutant knew Grandma Verdona? Then again, I guess it makes sense. An energy-sucking mutant sorcress, and a sorcress who was living-energy manifest. My family appears to have a more extensive history in this world than I realized.
My mind raced even as I started flowing through the building's infrastructure toward the vault. The electronic pathways became my highways, and data streams my rivers.
I had maybe two minutes before this confrontation exploded into something none of us could handle. I had a plan to execute before that.
"That's none of your concern, Selene," I watched Max say, his voice harder than I'd ever heard it. His hand hovered near his weapon, though we both knew it would be about as effective as throwing cotton balls at a tank.
"Oh, but it is." She took a step forward, and the lights dimmed further. "You see, when one's keeper disappears without proper notice, it leaves certain... obligations unfulfilled."
Keeper? What the hell did that mean?
I didn't have time to watch the drama anymore. I had to leave the CCTV. So I did, and made my way into the vault. I slipped through a microscopic gap in the vault's seal, reforming inside.
It was very slim, but thankfully Upgrade wasn't limited by things like that.
Outside the vault, things were escalating. I didn't catch the entire conversation, but the bits I heard were enough.
Things were escalating. I had to be quick.
****
"You dare threaten him? Grandpa, stay behind us." Gwen's voice cracked like a whip, her charms already glowing.
Beside her, Charmcaster looked scared. No, she was scared. This was the Black Priestess Selene, which mage didn't know about her? They all knew this mythical entity could go against Gods.
And yet, Charmcaster didn't back off. Her hands sparkled with purple energy as she got ready to face the entity. For her father.
"Gwen, don't–" Max started, but it was too late.
The two young sorceresses struck in perfect sync.
Gwen's telekinetic blast could have punched through steel. Charmcaster's arcane bolts had taken down creatures twice their size.
Together, they'd have been devastating against most enemies.
Selene just raised one hand.
The attacks stopped. Not blocked or deflected. They unraveled like cheap sweaters, dissolving into harmless sparkles of light that drifted to the floor like snow.
"Quaint," Selene said, sounding genuinely bored. She eyed Charmcaster. "You, you're Spellbinder's daughter, correct? Do you not know who I am? Disrespectful child."
****
I didn't have the luxury to hear more than that. I looked at the artifact resting in front of me.
The Mask of Ah Puch sat on its pedestal like it owned the place. Green and purple light pulsed from within, casting sick shadows on the walls.
The thing practically reeked of death magic even to my electronic senses.
I picked it up, staring down at it. Then I brought it to my face. As I merged with it, something else hit me. Information. A map, burning itself into my consciousness.
A massive Mayan pyramid hidden deep in the Mexican jungle, coordinates so precise I could probably find it blindfolded. The Omnitrix flashed.
Perfect.
Now for the fun part. I couldn't destroy the mask – that would tip our hand too early. This wasn't simply a map, but also the key. But sabotage? That was an art form. I dove into its internal structure, finding the energy converters that channeled its power.
It was a magical artifact, but magic itself followed patterns. Messing with it wasn't as straightforward as messing with some computer, but I could still do some stuff to it. One line of "code", that's all it took.
A simple feedback loop that would make the mask drain any power source for hours before stabilizing.
Good luck finding the death god artifact now, lady.
I detached from the mask, put it back in its spot, and flowed back toward the CCTV. I didn't remain there for long.
"Sorry guys, I fell asleep," I poured out of the CCTV with all the drama I could muster. "Whoa, what's going on?!"
Eyes turned to me. The two sorceress girls looked at me from their position on the floor with hope, while Grandpa looked worried. Selene raised an eyebrow.
"BEN! STAND DOWN!" Max's voice cut through the air like a blade. "This is not your fight!"
I tapped the Omnitrix symbol on my chest, returning to human, and then quickly tapped it on my wrist again.
The transformation to Blitzwolfer was as dramatic as always, and I was suddenly ten feet of muscle and fur and barely contained violence. I hoped that being a werewolf meant I could go against a Vampire, even if she were an Energy Vampire.
"Stay away from them!" A deep predatory growl rumbled from my chest as I moved in front of them. Although all this was part of my plan, my beastly instincts screamed to attack Selene, to protect my pack from this ancient threat.
"Ben! Don't be hasty, she's too powerful!" Max shouted in warning.
I froze, caught between wolf instincts and human reason. Selene's eyes found mine, and her smile widened.
"Interesting," she mused, gaze locking onto the Omnitrix symbol. "Has science evolved so far as to allow this level of transformation? Hmm… I should invest some time in science. I'll have a talk with the White Queen about this later."
Then her attention shifted to Gwen, who was slowly getting up from the floor. It was subtle, but something in Selene's expression changed.
Not hunger or amusement, but genuine academic interest. Like she'd found a rare butterfly she wanted to pin it to a board.
"Both of your grandchildren are impressive, Magister." The way she emphasized his title made it sound like an insult. "One more than the other."
I had a feeling she found Gwen more impressive than me, but that didn't surprise me. My power came from a watch. Gwen was powerful because of the Spark in her blood. Gwen shivered under that gaze, and I stepped between them, glaring down at Selene.
Selene turned toward the vault like we'd already bored her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an artifact to collect."
"Selene, wait." Max's voice had changed, gotten softer. "Why does a mutant sorceress need a weapon that can destroy cities?"
She paused, looking back over her shoulder. "You don't need to know. I have my reasons." Her eyes narrowed. "Do I need to tell you everything?"
"I thought we were close enough to share some secrets."
The temperature dropped another five degrees. "That was a long time ago, Max. At least for you, it was." Her smile could have frozen hell. "You're an old man now."
She placed one hand on the vault door. The metal didn't melt or explode – it just ceased to exist, dissolving into shadow like it had never been there at all. She retrieved the mask with casual grace, gave it a cursory glance, then turned back to us.
"Do give Verdona my regards when you see her next," she said. "Tell her I'll make sure she pays my debt the next time I find her."
A portal of pure darkness opened behind her. She stepped through without looking back, and reality snapped back into place like a rubber band. The lights brightened, the temperature normalized, and we were left standing in an empty hallway with a gaping hole where a vault door used to be.
Nobody spoke for a long moment.
"So," I said, reverting to human form. "That went well."
****
The walk back to the Rust Bucket must be the quietest walk in human history. Even Charmcaster, who usually had a quip for everything, followed in stunned silence.
The defeat hung over us like a funeral shroud.
A few minutes later, Grandpa's knuckles were white on the RV's steering wheel as we pulled away from the facility. No alarms had gone off. Selene probably fried their entire system just by existing near it.
We'd failed. The bad guy got the macguffin. Roll credits.
Except...
"So what now?" Gwen finally asked, slumped in her seat. "She has the mask. We lost."
Grandpa and Charmcaster didn't reply. I let them stew for another few seconds because it was fun. Then I let the grin spread across my face.
"Lost? Who said we lost?" Every head in the RV swiveled toward me. Even Grandpa glanced in the rearview mirror.
I tapped the Omnitrix, and it projected a faint holographic image into the air. A perfect 3D rendering of a massive Mayan pyramid, complete with GPS coordinates.
"She has the mask, sure," I said, trying not to sound too smug and failing completely. "But I have the map. It's in Mexico! Since we're near the border, it shouldn't take us long. Although I'm not entirely sure how I acquired this hologram feature. I was trying to memorize it at first..."
Gwen's jaw dropped. "You got the location?"
"Better than that." I leaned back, hands behind my head. "I also sabotaged the mask. Introduced a nasty little feedback loop into its power converters. She tries to use it in the next, oh, twelve hours? It'll drain whatever energy source she feeds it. Could be a whole day before she figures out the problem."
The mood shift was instantaneous. Grandpa's grim expression cracked into the biggest smile I'd seen from him all summer.
"HAHA, that's my grandson!" He laughed, reaching back to clap my shoulder hard enough to bruise. "Thinking three steps ahead! I'm proud of you, Ben."
Warmth bloomed in my chest. Getting Grandpa Max's approval hit different when you knew what a badass he really was.
Charmcaster stared at me like I'd grown a second head. "You... you tricked the Black Priestess? Crazy..."
There was something new in her violet eyes. Not just surprise, but respect. Like she was seeing me for the first time as more than just muscle with a fancy watch.
"He's always been clever," Gwen said, and the pride in her voice made me want to do something for her right there. "Just usually hides it under all that showing off."
"Hey, showing off is an important part of my charm."
"What charm?" Gwen shot back, but she was grinning.
"So what are we waiting for?" Charmcaster leaned forward, energy crackling around her fingers. "We know where to go, we have a head start. Let's meet that Death God and get that stupid sword before tall, dark, and terrifying figures out her new toy is broken."
"Yeah!" Gwen was practically bouncing in her seat. "We can totally beat her there!"
I was already calculating travel times, transformation options, and potential ambush points. This was perfect. We'd gone from catastrophic defeat to having the ultimate tactical advantage. Selene might be an omega-level threat, but she'd made the classic villain mistake.
She'd underestimated the kid with the watch.
"Hold on," Grandpa said, and just like that, the celebration screeched to a halt. His expression had gone serious again, that Plumber look that meant business. "We're not going alone."
He pulled out a device I'd never seen before – sleek, black, covered in symbols that hurt to look at directly. A Plumber communicator, but not any normal model.
"Grandpa?" Gwen asked.
"Selene Gallio is out of our league," he said simply. "I've faced some nasty customers in my time, but she's... different. Older. More dangerous. If we're going to stop her, we need backup."
He started dialing, and I caught a glimpse of the contact list. Names I recognized from Plumber files, from news reports, from a dozen different sources. Heavy hitters. The kind of people you called when the world was ending.
"Who are you calling?" Charmcaster asked, but Max was already speaking into the device.
"This is Magister Tennyson. Authorization code Gamma-Seven-Seven." His voice had gone full military. "I need to speak to the Magistrata. Yes, it's urgent. Tell her the Black Queen is active."
The RV rumbled on through the Texas night while Grandpa made his calls. Each one was short, cryptic, but I caught enough to know he was mobilizing something big. This wasn't just about stopping one ancient mutant anymore.
This was about something larger. The mask, the sword, Selene's interest in them... it all added up to something I didn't quite understand yet.
But I would. Because that's what I did. I solved problems, saved the day, and sometimes seduced some girls on the way.
Even if sometimes the problems were immortal soul-vampires who apparently knew my alien grandmother.
My life was so weird.
"Ben," Gwen whispered, scooting closer while Grandpa was distracted. "Look at you, working smart, not just hard. My presence must be having an effect on you."
"Definitely it was all your influence," I said, but her praise made me warm all over.
"Mhm, I know, I know," her green eyes were playful, but seriousness returned. "But she's really strong. You didn't see how easily she took us down… she just waved her hands, and we were useless."
"She's a thousand-year-old sorceress," Charmcaster said from the side. "It's natural she's so strong. Next time be more careful."
Before I could respond, Grandpa hung up and turned to face us. His expression was serious, but his smile said there was hope.
"Change of plans," he said. "We're making a stop in San Antonio. There's someone we need to pick up."
"Who?" I asked.
He smiled, but it was all teeth. "Mostly some Plumber backup for any possible Forever Knights that might reach the place. But for Selene… an old friend."
"Who, grandpa? Tell us the names!" Gwen insisted.
"Ah, I don't think you guys know her," he replied with a shrug. "People call her the Ancient One."
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