Chapter 45: They Will Find Out I'm the Boss
"Grandpa!"
Max's startled cry shattered the quiet night. Klein, Gwen, and Ben scrambled to react. Klein and Gwen were already out the door, while Ben was just shoving his feet into his sneakers.
"Don't go out! They'll find us," Gilbert hissed, grabbing Ben's arm. He had woken up at some point during the chaos, his eyes wide with panic.
"That's my grandpa!" Ben yanked his arm free and sprinted out the door.
Klein and Gwen reached the dining hall first. Through the glass windows, they spotted a bizarre and unsettling sight: a mob of walking mushrooms. They had thick, stubby limbs, glowing eyes, and spiky, cracked caps. The creatures had Grandpa Max bound tight in thick, pulsing ropes of mycelium, hauling him away toward the dark tree line.
Whatever they wanted with him, it certainly wasn't friendly.
"Let's save Grandpa first," Klein muttered, his tone flat but his eyes sharp.
He slammed his hand down on the faceplate of the Another Omnitrix.
A brilliant flash of quiet blue light engulfed him. In his place stood Swampfire.
Swampfire burst through the doors, Gwen right on his heels. Pink mana flared around Gwen's hands as she condensed her energy into a razor-sharp disc. With a flick of her wrist, she hurled it forward. The glowing construct sliced clean through the mushroom creatures carrying Max, severing them at the waist.
Swampfire raised his hands. Plumes of roaring fire erupted from his palms, blasting away the reinforcements trying to swarm the fallen old man.
He strode forward, grabbing Max by the arm to haul him up, his fiery fingers easily tearing through the thick fungal bindings.
"Grandpa, head back to the camp. Gwen and I will handle the weeds," Swampfire said, his voice a deep, crackling rumble. He didn't even look back as he casually tossed another fireball, incinerating three approaching mushroom grunts.
Max nodded grimly, rubbing his wrists, and sprinted back toward the safety of the cabins.
But the horde seemed endless. For every mushroom creature they destroyed, pieces scattered and immediately began knitting back together, reforming into new, smaller menaces.
A deafening boom shattered the earth.
More than a dozen massive craters burst open around them. Gigantic, writhing stalks of mycelium erupted from the soil, whipping toward Swampfire and Gwen like massive tentacles. At the same time, a tidal wave of smaller mushroom people charged them.
Just as the horde was about to crash into them, they froze. Every single stalk, every single mushroom creature halted mid-step, trembling in place.
"Now, who's the boss?" Swampfire chuckled, a dry, amused sound. He held his hands out, fingers twitching slightly. His innate chlorokinesis was already overriding their basic instincts. Fungi might not technically be plants, but they were close enough for a Methanosian's control.
Ben finally skids onto the scene, panting heavily. He stopped dead, staring at the ring of docile fungi surrounding Swampfire. If he hadn't just seen Grandpa Max running back to safety, he would have assumed Klein was the one who ordered the kidnapping.
Max, having caught his breath, walked back out with Ben.
"Cousin, what exactly is going on now?" Ben asked, eyeing the frozen monsters with deep suspicion before looking up at Swampfire.
Gwen and Max shared the same bewildered expression.
Swampfire's amused demeanor vanished. The flames on his shoulders flickered erratically as he stared into the dark woods. "Something... is actively fighting me for control over them."
The implication hung heavily in the air. The true mastermind was still out there, and the night was far from over.
Footsteps pattered against the dirt. Andy and Mandy scrambled out of the shadows, unable to bear the terrifying wait any longer. For kids their age, staying hidden in the dark while monsters roamed was a tall order, especially since Klein and the others were their only hope of getting out alive.
Gilbert, terrified of being left alone, scurried out right behind the twins. They all froze when they saw the motionless mushroom army.
"Um, what's wrong with them?" Gilbert asked, nervously tugging at the hem of Ben's shirt and pointing at the horde.
Swampfire slowly turned his head toward the twins. "Hey, Andy, Mandy. You mentioned earlier that everyone around here suffers from athlete's foot, right?"
The twins flinched, intimidated by the towering, fire-breathing plant alien. "Ah... yes, we did say that," they whispered in unison, their voices trembling.
"Then that stuff should be right here." Swampfire pointed a muddy finger toward Ben's pocket.
Realization dawned on Ben's face. He dug into his pocket and pulled out the tube of heavy-duty athlete's foot medicine they had found earlier.
Max caught on instantly. "Check the cabins! Grab all the anti-fungal supplies you can find!"
Ben and Gwen rushed to help him. Within minutes, the trio returned, their arms loaded with a mountain of creams, sprays, and medicated powders.
"Let's see if this actually works," Swampfire said. He took a bottle of the anti-fungal powder from Gwen, popped the cap, and casually dusts it over the head of the nearest mushroom grunt.
The creature instantly shrieked, a dry, raspy sound, as its cap shriveled, turning gray and crumbling into lifeless dust.
"It works." Swampfire tossed the remaining bottle to Gilbert. "Keep this for self-defense. I'm going to go have a chat with the guy causing all this trouble."
Without waiting for a response, Swampfire turned and marched into the dark depths of the forest.
"Cousin, I'm coming too!" Ben and Gwen shouted at the exact same time, immediately jogging after him.
Andy and Mandy watched them go. "They really are like twins," the two kids said in perfect unison.
In the forest, Swampfire led the way. Ben and Gwen flanked him on either side, while a massive entourage of mind-controlled mushroom people marched obediently behind them. Klein looked less like a hero and more like a gang boss leading his subordinates to reclaim their territory.
It didn't take long to reach the source.
They arrived at the edge of an abandoned mine pit. The area was choked with bizarre, towering fungal growths, some pulsing with a sickly, bioluminescent glow. In the dead center of the pit lay a massive, seemingly bottomless sinkhole.
Swampfire raised a hand. Thick cables of mycelium slithered out from the edges of the pit, weaving together into a dense, makeshift platform. He stepped onto it, and Ben and Gwen followed without hesitation.
The fungal elevator slowly lowered them into the yawning abyss.
The descent felt endless, the air growing thick and damp. When they finally hit the bottom, they were greeted by a massive subterranean tunnel completely coated in glowing mold and pulsating spores, leading off into the unknown.
Suddenly, the mycelium platform beneath their feet shuddered violently.
"The closer we get to the host, the harder it is for me to keep a grip on them," Swampfire warned, his voice tight with concentration.
Gwen nodded. Her eyes glowed bright pink as she shed her human disguise, transforming into her shimmering Anodite form, raw mana crackling around her hair.
Ben slapped the dial of his Omnitrix. Nothing happened. He groaned, slamming his palm against the stubborn faceplate again and again until it finally depressed with a mechanical hiss.
A brilliant flash of emerald light illuminated the cavern.
In Ben's place stood a tall, vine-like alien. It had a single blue eye, pitcher-plant-like protrusions on its shoulders, and large, dark explosive seeds growing along its back.
"I haven't seen this guy before, but he feels pretty tough." The plant alien flexed his vine-like fingers, getting a feel for his new body.
"Dweeb, what did you turn into this time?" Gwen asked, floating closer to inspect the unfamiliar hero.
The plant alien struck a dramatic pose, the perfect name already loaded in his mind. He spoke without hesitation. "He's called..."
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]