Hearing that familiar voice, everyone stiffened and turned around.
"Enoch?" Grandpa Max froze, his hand tightening around the mask.
He absolutely could not let Enoch obtain the Sword of Ek Chuaj. The consequences would be unthinkable.
"Hand over the Mask of Ah Puch, and I might consider sparing you," Enoch said, extending his hand toward Grandpa Max.
"Not a chance!" Grandpa Max refused without hesitation.
Enoch sighed. "What a shame, Max. I thought even if you didn't care about your own life, you would at least care about your grandchildren. But now it seems… perhaps that isn't the case."
"Enoch, stop twisting things around!" Grandpa Max's chest rose and fell with anger.
"Oh? Then let's see what you choose." Enoch clapped his hands.
More than a dozen Forever Knights stepped forward, gray masks on their faces and green assault jackets on their backs, surrounding the group with glowing swords in hand.
"Oh, come on! My watch is still charging!" Ben groaned, smacking the Omnitrix in frustration.
The Omnitrix remained stuck on its red screen, refusing to activate.
Lucian's Omnitrix was still in cooldown as well. Neither of them could transform.
"Aqua Arrow!"
After the earlier battle with the Divine Monkey Ancestor, Gwen's magic hadn't fully recovered. She managed to fire off an Aqua Arrow, knocking down several Forever Knights, but was quickly overpowered and seized by the others.
Ben and Lucian were captured as well.
Without the Omnitrix, they were just ordinary people—no match for the Forever Knights.
Only Grandpa Max, standing near the stone pedestal, remained free.
He held the mask in one hand and a gun in the other, his arm trembling slightly.
He was trapped in a cruel dilemma.
If he handed over the Mask of Ah Puch and allowed Enoch to claim the Sword of Ek Chuaj, then according to legend, a single strike could level an entire city. The world would fall under Enoch's rule.
But if he refused… Lucian and the others would be cut down by the Forever Knights right now.
Seeing his hesitation, Enoch let out a cold laugh.
"Well, Max? Drop your weapon and give me the Mask of Ah Puch, and I'll let them go. Otherwise, you can prepare to collect their bodies."
"Grandpa!" Ben and Gwen shouted together.
After a brief, painful struggle, Grandpa Max let out a heavy sigh. He dropped his weapon and threw the Mask of Ah Puch to Enoch.
Catching it, Enoch caressed the mask and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! The Sword of Ek Chuaj will finally be mine!"
"I've done what you asked, Enoch! Let my grandchildren go!" Grandpa Max's eyes burned red.
Enoch laughed again and ordered his men to drag Lucian and the others to the edge of the massive pit.
Two Forever Knights restrained Grandpa Max as well.
"What are you doing, Enoch?!" Grandpa Max roared.
"According to Mayan legend, the Pit of Eternal Despair is bottomless," Enoch said coldly, his voice devoid of warmth. "What do you think will happen if I push them in?"
"Stop!" Grandpa Max struggled, but the knights forced him to the ground.
"Push them."
"Yes!"
The Forever Knights obeyed. Lucian was shoved in first.
Then Ben. Then Gwen.
"No!" Despair filled Grandpa Max's aged face.
His heart felt like it was being torn apart. He had always thought about protecting the Earth—yet he hadn't even managed to protect his own grandchildren.
"Don't look so devastated, Max. I'm not unreasonable. I'll send you down to reunite with them," Enoch said with a laugh.
He personally shoved the stunned Grandpa Max into the endless abyss.
With his enemies gone, Enoch led his men to the stone pedestal and placed the Mask of Ah Puch into the groove.
The ancient door opened.
One by one, they stepped into the Divine Sword Hall.
...
Inside the Pit of Eternal Despair.
The walls of the chasm shot upward at terrifying speed, wind howling past their ears in sharp, shrill bursts.
Lucian narrowed his eyes against the raging gusts.
Beep!
The recalibrated Omnitrix screen shifted from red to a glowing green.
A faint smile tugged at Lucian's lips as his black hair whipped wildly in the wind.
He pressed the dial, switched heroes in one smooth motion, and slammed it down.
Thud!
A surge of eerie green light flared in the abyss. From the darkness, a blue moth-like figure burst forth.
Its body was icy blue, slender and elongated, wings spreading wide from its back. Every beat of its wings stirred waves of biting frost.
Big Chill!
"Ahhh!!!" Ben and Gwen's screams echoed from above.
Beep!
Under the protection protocol, the replica Omnitrix ended its cooldown early and reactivated.
Seeing the green screen light up, Ben's eyes widened with relief as he reached to slam it down—
Whoosh!
A blast of extreme cold shot up from below.
Before Ben could react, Big Chill caught him midair.
Ben stiffened, not daring to move, staring blankly at the icy alien.
"Cuz…?"
"It's me."
As he spoke, Big Chill swept over and caught Gwen as well, holding both of them securely.
But before they could relax—
A massive shadow loomed overhead.
Big Chill glanced up. "It's Grandpa!"
Grandpa Max's solid build had to weigh at least two hundred pounds.
With Ben and Gwen already in his grasp, there was no way Big Chill could catch him too.
"Got it!"
An idea flashed through his mind. Big Chill exhaled a torrent of freezing air upward, instantly forming a crystalline ice bridge that stretched across the chasm.
Boom!
Grandpa Max crashed down onto the ice bridge, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface.
"My old bones… ah…" Grandpa Max groaned, clutching his lower back.
"Grandpa, I'll take Ben and Gwen up first, then come back for you!" Big Chill said, hovering in midair.
Seeing the three of them safe, Grandpa Max froze for a moment before breaking into a relieved smile.
"Alright. As long as you're safe, I'll wait here."
Soon, Big Chill carried Ben and Gwen back to the edge of the Pit of Eternal Despair.
Looking at the already opened stone door, Big Chill's expression darkened.
"Looks like Enoch and the others are already inside."
"Then I'm going in first to beat them up!" Ben snapped angrily.
After being thrown into the pit and nearly killed, he was itching for payback.
"Not yet. I'll bring Grandpa up first. Then we go in together."
With a beat of his wings, Big Chill disappeared back into the depths of the Pit of Eternal Despair.
Moments later, Grandpa Max was safely brought back up as well.
Standing shoulder to shoulder, the group stepped into the Divine Sword Hall...