The Rustbucket rumbled through the night, headlights cutting across the dark road. Max sat at the console, eyes sharp as he adjusted the tracking system. A ping lit up the screen.
"There," Max said, steering toward a nearby town. "Digby Dairy."
Fred leaned back, arms crossed. "Figures. Who would've thought a dangerous mineral would be buried under a dairy factory?"
Max parked outside the facility, activating defense and stealth mode. Panels shifted, cloaking the Rustbucket in a faint shimmer. He pulled out three disk‑like devices, handing one each to Gwen and Fred.
"Wear these. They'll protect you from the mineral's effects," Max explained.
Ben frowned. "What about me?"
"You'll probably be fine as long as you stay in alien form. The Omnitrix shields you while transformed," Max said firmly.
Ben's brow rose. "Probably!?"
Gwen and Fred pressed the disks to their chests. Slick hazmat suits unfolded over their bodies. Max suited up as well. Gwen raised her left hand, chanting softly. A pink bubble of stealth magic enveloped them, rendering the group invisible as they snuck into the factory.
"The signal's stronger down there," Max said, pointing toward the factory's basement.
They descended into the lowest floor. Max's scanner began to shriek, lights flashing wildly before short‑circuiting.
Fred whistled. "That's got to be a lot of corrodium. Enough to fry the detector."
Ben grinned. "Then let's dig it up." He leapt from the platform, slamming the Omnitrix. In a flash, he became Diamondhead, landing with a heavy thud. His arms morphed into crystalline blades, ready to carve into the concrete.
"Ben! Wait!" Max shouted, but the grinding drowned him out.
Fred reacted instantly, conjuring a blue mana shield to block Ben's blades. Sparks flew as diamond met magic.
Ben scowled. "Hey, why'd you stop me?"
Gwen's voice was sharp. "Is that big head of yours filled with air? What do you think will happen if you dig up the one thing the mummy is after huh!?"
Ben blinked, sheepish. "Oh… guess I didn't think that far."
But it was too late. The ground shimmered, purple veins of corrodium glowing ominously.
The lights flickered—once, twice—then went out.
The basement plunged into darkness, with only the corrodium glowing faintly. And with each flicker, the mummy appeared closer, its bandages trailing like serpents.
Gwen chanted quickly after the lights died, conjuring a light orb that illuminated the room. The mummy was suddenly face‑to‑face with Diamondhead.
Ben reacted, stabbing his crystalline arm into the mummy's chest. "Hah! Guess you could say… wrapped up in defeat?" He smirked, lowering his guard.
"Careful!" Max barked.
But it was too late. Linen strips slithered across the floor, snagging the chunk of corrodium Ben had dug up. The mummy's appendages wrapped tightly around the mineral pulling it back to the main body.
Fred conjured a mana disc saw, hurling it at the strips. The mummy shifted, unraveling its lower body to block the attack as it dragged the mineral towards itself. Some of its bandages got torn but the ones pulling the mineral were safe and still pulling.
The mummy tried to retreat, it's upper body pinned by Ben's blade, lower body defending its prize.
Amidst the tension, a security guard stumbled in, drawn by the noise. Max's voice was urgent. "Gwen! Keep civilians away from the mineral!"
"Got it!" Gwen nodded, raising her hands, casting barriers across the entrances to the entire basement. Pink walls shimmered, sealing the basement.
"Hey! What the heck!" the security guard tried to open the door.
The mummy seized the distraction, ripping free from Ben's blade. It gathered itself between Fred and Ben, clutching the corrodium and stashing it with the rest in its abdomen.
Fred transformed into a fusion, he turned into a hybrid of Cannonbolt and Fourarms. His body curled into a massive armored sphere, then unfurled with four powerful arms.
The mummy lashed out, targeting the factory's equipment. Explosions erupted, mist, liquids and gas filling the basement.
The basement shook, pipes bursting, steam hissing. Diamondhead charged slashing with his crystalline blades, but the mummy caught his slashed with its bandages and redirected Ben's moments to the walls.
Fred lunged, Cannonbolt's momentum fused with Fourarms' strength, delivering seismic blows, bashing the mummy into walls.
Gwen on the other hand floated above, focusing as much as she could as she was on damage control. Mana shields blocked falling debris, her spells sealing cracks in the walls. She also made sure the security guards outside couldn't enter.
The mummy fought defensively, disrupting their rhythm. It darted between attacks, unraveling strips to trip Fred, then whipping them to deflect Ben's shards. Every move was calculated chaos—less about winning, more about destruction.
Ben growled. "This guy's slippery!" He fired diamond spikes in rapid succession, each passing through the mummy's strips as it loosened its bandages.
Fred roared, slamming fists into the ground, shockwaves rippling. The mummy staggered but rolled with the impact, tearing apart more equipment.
The basement filled with smoke, alarms blaring. Gwen's barriers strained as explosions rocked the factory.
Through the chaos, the mummy spotted a small window near the ceiling. It unraveled its body, launching strips upward. With a final surge, it pulled itself through, vanishing into the night with the corrodium.
The kids stood amidst the wreckage, panting. Gwen lowered her hands, sweat dripping. "I blocked every exit… except that one."
Ben clenched his fists. "We had him!" as he turned back.
Fred shook his head. "No. He was never trying to beat us in the first place. He just wanted to escape—with the mineral."
Max's face was grim. "Dont beat yourselves too much. I'm sure we'll find that mummy and discover what it's planning to do."