Chapter 54: Undersea Resort, Grandpa's Rich Friend
Sunlight danced across the rolling waves of the open ocean, scattering like shattered diamonds. High above the water, a sleek, advanced luxury jet cruised through the cloudless sky. Inside the spacious cabin, Ben and Gwen practically vibrated with excitement, their faces pressed against the reinforced windows. Even Klein, who usually treated the world with a heavy dose of lazy indifference, leaned forward with a spark of genuine interest in his eyes. He had to admit, stringing the words 'Underwater'and'Resort Center' together was a concept that actually caught his attention.
"This is so cool!" Ben cheered, his breath fogging up the glass as he stared down at the vast ocean. "An actual billionaire invited us to check out his brand-new hotel, and he even sent a private luxury jet to pick us up! This beats the Rustbucket any day!"
Gwen turned away from her window, her brow furrowed in curiosity. "Grandpa, why didn't you ever mention you knew Mr. Donovan Grand Smith?"
Grandpa Max offered a sheepish smile, rubbing the back of his neck. "I suppose it just never crossed my mind..."
The cabin shifted, bringing a sudden, stomach-dropping sensation of weightlessness as the jet began its final descent. Down below, a massive artificial landing platform jutted out from the churning sea. The aircraft touched down smoothly, its engines whining down to a low hum. Stepping out, the salty sea breeze immediately whipped at their clothes. The platform was vast and starkly empty, save for a heavy-duty elevator structure sitting squarely in the center, surrounded by thick steel railings.
As the jet's hydraulic doors hissed open, Grandpa Max led the way down the stairs. Waiting to greet them on the sun-baked tarmac was an older gentleman in his late sixties, standing beside a boy who looked to be exactly Ben's age. The pair were dressed in bizarrely identical outfits—brown, high-necked long-sleeved shirts paired with crisp white trousers. Even their slicked-back hairstyles mirrored each other perfectly, making the kid look like a miniaturized clone of the old man.
The older man's face broke into a wide, practiced grin as he stepped forward, extending a hand. "Max! It has been far too long."
Grandpa Max grasped his hand, returning the firm shake. "How have you been, Donovan?"
"I own sixteen major hotels worldwide," Donovan boasted, puffing out his chest slightly. "I am doing exceptionally well. I am just glad you finally decided to step back and actually enjoy life for once."
Max just chuckled, choosing not to argue the point. He gestured to the trio standing behind him. "These are my grandkids. Ben, Klein, and Gwen."
Donovan placed a heavy hand on the shoulder of the boy beside him. "And this is my grandson, Edwin."
Ben and Gwen offered friendly waves. "Hi!"
Edwin rolled his eyes, crossing his arms with a heavy, dramatic sigh. "Ugh. Whatever."
The greeting hung awkwardly in the air. Ben dropped his hand, exchanging a flat look with Gwen.
Klein merely raised an eyebrow, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. 'This kid is a piece of work,'he mused internally.'Good thing I did not bother saying hello. Saved myself the breath.'
Catching the immediate friction between the kids, Donovan cleared his throat loudly and pivoted the conversation. "So! Who is ready to head underwater?"
He marched over to the central structure and slammed a palm against the call button. The heavy steel doors slid apart with a mechanical grind. The group filed into the spacious glass-walled car. Edwin maintained his aggressive pout, staring at the ceiling, while Ben and Gwen glared at the back of his head.
The elevator dropped smoothly, taking them deep into the facility's upper levels. When the doors parted again, they stepped out onto a high-tech staging platform. Sitting dead center was a massive transit vehicle that looked suspiciously like an oversized amusement park teacup, ringed with plush leather seats. A uniformed attendant ushered them aboard. Once everyone was strapped in, the attendant threw a heavy lever, and the floor beneath the vehicle irised open.
The transport pod began a slow, spiraling descent down a massive, transparent transit tube. The ocean swallowed them whole. Sunlight faded into a deep, captivating azure. Schools of silver fish darted past the reinforced glass, their scales catching the ambient light of the tunnel. A massive shadow drifted overhead, revealing the pale underbelly of a passing whale, its low, rumbling call vibrating faintly through the glass.
"Whoa... cool!" Ben and Gwen gasped in unison, their faces practically glued to the glass, all previous irritation with Edwin completely forgotten.
Klein leaned back in his seat, his gaze sweeping over the aquatic panorama. It was his first time experiencing a deep-sea dive like this. He had witnessed far more mind-bending cosmic horrors and alien landscapes, of course, but the sheer, quiet beauty of the Earth's ocean held its own unique charm.
Grandpa Max, however, kept his eyes fixed on the structural joints of the tunnel. "Donovan, are you entirely sure it is safe to build an underwater resort in this specific location?"
Donovan waved a dismissive hand. "Are you talking about the fault line? We reinforced the foundations!"
Max's frown deepened, carving harsh lines into his face. "I am talking about your sheer audacity in dropping a massive, billion-dollar construction project dead in the center of the Bermuda Triangle."
'He has a point,' Klein thought. In this universe, the Bermuda Triangle was not just a myth for conspiracy theorists. It was a known hotspot for extraterrestrial activity and bizarre anomalies.
Donovan scoffed, completely unbothered. "You have always been a worrier, Max. You never had the stomach to take real risks."
Klein nearly choked on his own spit. 'A legendary intergalactic Plumber who fought warlords across the galaxy does not take risks? Do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth, old man?' he roasted Donovan internally.
Taking Max's silence as a victory, Donovan puffed out his chest again. "Just wait. Once you set foot inside this unmatched resort, your worries will vanish. You are going to be amazed."
The transit tube leveled out, and the deep gloom of the ocean floor was suddenly banished by a brilliant array of floodlights. Ahead of them sat a sprawling, ultra-luxurious complex encased entirely within a colossal, semi-circular glass dome. It looked like a glowing pearl resting on the seabed.
The transport pod docked with a soft hiss of equalizing pressure.
"The grand opening is not for another week," Donovan explained as the doors slid open, gesturing grandly to the opulent lobby before them. "Only you, my most distinguished guests, get this exclusive sneak peek."
The second their feet hit the carpeted floor, Ben bolted off like a rocket. Gwen grabbed Klein by the sleeve, dragging the reluctant teen along as she hurried to inspect the architecture.
Ben skidded to a halt by the main observation deck, pressing his hands against the massive curved glass wall. Outside, a maintenance worker in a heavy-duty diving suit was slowly gliding along the exterior, scrubbing algae off the transparent surface.
Gwen walked up beside him, her eyes scanning the thick structural supports. "I read an article about this project in Ocean Preview magazine. The engineering is supposed to be advanced, Mr. Grand Smith. Is this glass..."
"Titanium-laced quartz glass," Donovan interrupted, his voice echoing through the cavernous lobby. "It can withstand ten times the atmospheric pressure of the ocean floor. I guarantee you will not get a single drop of water on you, unless you decide to jump into one of our nine heated swimming pools."
Max nodded slowly, his eyes still scanning the room for potential hazards. "Impressive work, Donovan. Truly."
"Two billion dollars well spent," Donovan preened. "But as I always say, money is not everything."
Edwin snorted loudly, completely shattering his grandfather's humble facade. "Since when? Did you change your famous catchphrase while I was not looking, Grandpa?"
Before Donovan could scold the boy, Ben's eyes locked onto a small, enameled pin attached to Edwin's collar. "Hey! Is that a Sumo Slammers pin? I am a massive fan! Where did you even find that one?"
Edwin brushed a speck of dust off his shirt, looking slightly smug. "It is exclusive merchandise from the Sumo Slammers exhibition in Helsinki. I flew out there on Grandpa's private jet to get it."
The kid was still dripping with arrogance, but the hostility in his voice had dialed back significantly. Finding someone who actually understood the value of his geeky collectibles seemed to thaw his icy demeanor just a fraction.
"Edwin tracked the market," Donovan boasted, clapping a hand on the boy's shoulder. "He tells me that little piece of metal has already tripled in value. The boy has a razor-sharp business mind! I plan to have him inherit my entire corporate empire one day. After all, a king needs an heir, right?"
Ben puffed out his chest, refusing to be outdone. "Hey! I have been inheriting Grandpa's business all summer long!"
He shot a knowing look at Max, and the two shared a quiet, amused smile. If Donovan only knew what the 'family business' actually entailed.
The peaceful atmosphere shattered instantly. A piercing, high-decibel alarm shrieked through the lobby. Crimson emergency lights flared to life, bathing the opulent room in a harsh, pulsing red glow.
"Look!" Gwen shouted, pointing at the observation window.
Outside the glass, the maintenance worker was thrashing wildly. A swarm of massive, aggressive sharks had suddenly materialized from the gloom, circling him in a tight, frenzied ring. Worse, a stream of bubbles was violently escaping from the worker's air hose—his suit was compromised.
Donovan panicked, scrambling toward a nearby communication console. "No, no, no! He cannot die out there! The media will absolutely ruin me!"
Ben did not hesitate. He slipped away from the group, ducking behind a decorative coral pillar. His fingers danced over the Omnitrix dial. "Time to go hero."
A blinding flash of emerald light illuminated the corner. When it faded, a tiny, gray-skinned alien with massive, bulbous eyes stood on the carpet.
"Oh, come on! Seriously?!" Grey Matter squeaked, throwing his tiny hands up in frustration. "Not now!"
A hand reached down, pinching the Galvan by the scruff of his neck. Klein lifted the tiny alien and casually set him down on a nearby coffee table. "Sit this one out, Dweeb. I will handle it."
Klein cracked his neck. He was actually enjoying this little underwater vacation, and he refused to let a bunch of overgrown fish ruin his peace and quiet.
He raised his wrist, tapping the faceplate of the Another Omnitrix. A sleek, muted blue light washed over his body, shifting his skeletal structure and rewriting his DNA in a fraction of a second.
Where Klein stood, a towering, monstrous aquatic alien now loomed.
Without a word, Ripjaws sprinted past the screaming billionaire, vaulted over the interior safety railing, and dove straight into one of the open access pools that connected directly to the ocean outside.
Edwin blinked, looking around the suddenly empty space where Ben and Klein had just been standing. "Wait, where did those two go?"
Gwen crossed her arms, not missing a beat. "Heaven knows. Probably ran off to find the restroom."
Beyond the reinforced glass, the situation had turned critical. The sharks tightened their circle, their dead, black eyes locked onto the struggling worker. One of the largest predators arched its back, preparing to strike.
Suddenly, a dark torpedo shot out from the facility's airlock.
Ripjaws slammed into the lead shark with the force of a freight train. His massive, steel-trap jaws unhinged, revealing rows of razor-sharp, glowing teeth. With a single, savage bite, he clamped down on the shark's midsection and violently thrashed his head. The water churned as the predator was literally torn in half.
Thick clouds of crimson bloomed in the water. The scent of blood sent the remaining sharks into an absolute frenzy, their predatory instincts overriding any sense of self-preservation. They swarmed Ripjaws from all sides.
It was a fatal mistake. They were apex predators of Earth, but they were nothing compared to a Piscciss Volann.
Ripjaws became a blur of lethal aquatic grace. He spun, his webbed claws slashing through the water, gutting a charging great white. He caught another by the snout, his immense physical strength crushing its cartilage before tossing it aside like a broken toy. It was an absolute massacre. Within seconds, the entire shiver of sharks had been reduced to floating debris.
The surrounding seawater had turned a murky, terrifying shade of blood red. The maintenance worker, suspended in the middle of the carnage, stared at the towering, monstrous fish-man hovering before him. Between the gruesome display of violence and Ripjaws' nightmare-inducing anglerfish face, the poor man's mind snapped. He began to scream hysterically into his comms, thrashing even harder.
Ripjaws swam right up to his faceplate, his glowing lure casting an eerie light over his jagged teeth.
"If you do not stop screaming right now, I am going to bite your head off," Ripjaws growled, his voice a deep, gargling threat that transmitted perfectly through the water.
The worker froze, his eyes bulging. The monster fish could talk?! His brain could not process the absurdity of it, but his survival instincts kicked in. He clamped his mouth shut, nodding frantically.
The worker's suit was taking on water fast, the pressure threatening to crush him. Ripjaws grabbed the man by the heavy collar of his rig, kicked his powerful tail fin, and shot back toward the facility's access pool like a missile.
They breached the surface of the indoor pool with a massive splash. Ripjaws casually tossed the heavy diver onto the tiled deck.
"Cough! Hack... cough!" The worker ripped his helmet off, collapsing onto his hands and knees as he violently coughed up seawater.
Hearing the commotion, Max, Gwen, Donovan, and Edwin sprinted into the pool room.
In the shadows near the back of the room, a muted blue light flashed silently. A moment later, Klein strolled out from behind a row of lounge chairs, his hands back in his pockets, looking completely unbothered.
Donovan let out a massive sigh of relief, his panic instantly vanishing as he looked at the surviving worker. "Excellent! The problem is solved." He adjusted his collar, a smug grin returning to his face. "And honestly, even if he goes to the press and claims a giant, talking monster fish saved his life, absolutely no one is going to believe him."
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