Castle Maze

Story
The next morning, John, Julie, Ship, Tack, Eddy, Lucy, Charmcaster, Sunder, Animo, Kevin, Ultimos, Tini and Synaptak are standing outside of the castle. Kevin comes over to John.

Kevin: (Whispering) John, are you sure about bringing along the Galactic Enforcers?

John: (Whispering) Well, I told them they could come. And I do agree we could use all the help we can get.

Kevin: (Whispering) There’s a reason the Galactic Code was dropped by the Plumbers. They will only get in the way.

John: (Whispering) We don’t have a choice now. (Regular volume) Everyone ready to go?! (Everyone nods their heads.) Alright. Animo, teleport us to the castle.

Animo: Very well. Let’s go, to Phantom’s Castle! (The group teleports away.) End Scene

The group appears outside a large marble castle. The castle was twice the size as any other Forever Knight castle seen, and has no moat and no door. The roof was a dome, with no way into it.

Charmcaster: I thought you were taking us inside the castle.

Animo: Phantom must’ve jammed my teleporter to prevent us from getting in. (Ultimos flies into the air.)

Ultimos: Phantom of Earth! You are under arrest for the conquering of Earth. Come out and surrender!

Kevin: What are you doing?!

Synaptak: This is standard Code procedure.

Tini: We have to fight them head on.

Sunder: Phantom isn’t going to come out on his own. He’ll send his lackeys.

As if on cue, an army of Zombie Forever Knights fly from above the building on hovercycles.

Ultimos: Galactic Enforcers engage!

Ultimos flies into the air, and punches a hovercycle, destroying it. Synaptak flies up, and fires a psychic energy blast, destroying hovercycles. Tini jumps up, and punches and destroys several cycles. The knights rain down lasers onto the group below.

Charmcaster: Ugh! Should we fly up to assist?

John: No. Let’s ground them. (Slaps down Omnitrix.)

Gravattack: Gravattack! (Gravattack raises his hands, which glow with blue energy. He then swings them down, and a powerful force of gravity hits the area, bringing all the knights, hovercycles and Galactic Enforcers to the ground. The hovercycles explode and are destroyed.)

Julie: (As if appalled) John!

Charmcaster: Oh, relax, girl. They survived.

Gravattack: Everyone start making their way to the castle.

Gravattack starts walking forward, when Forever Knights get up, firing laser blasts at him. The lasers orbit around Gravattack as he walks. Kevin grabs a knight, and absorbs the metal off their armor. Lucy takes her human-sludge form, and the two start pounding their way through the knights. Animo pulls a frog out of his pocket, and hits it with a ray from his tran-modulator. It turns into his giant mutant frog, and he jumps onto it.

Animo: Now, my pet! Crush them!

The frog hops, and lands on a group of knights. It hops again, and extends its tongue, swatting through knights. Tack jumps and extends his neck, using it as a scythe to tear through knights. Ship forms around Julie, as she punches her way through the knights, their lasers doing nothing to her. Charmcaster floats in the air, firing mana blasts at the knights, while Sunder fires lasers from his axe, riding his glider.

The group arrives at the castle wall, where Charmcaster fires a mana pulse wave to drive the knights away.

Animo: Now how do we get in?

Gravattack: Have you really not learned anything about me at this point? (Hits Omnitrix)

Pacifista: Pacifista! (Pacifista opens his mouth, charging his mouth laser. He fires the laser, and it tears through the wall, creating a giant hole in the wall.) Everyone get inside!

Lucy: John! The Enforcers are still out there! (Pacifista turns, and we see from his view. Computer crosshairs appear, searching the area. He then finds the Enforcers in the middle of a circle of knights.)

Pacifista: Great. Hold the knights out of the hole. I’ll bring them back. (Pacifista jumps high into the air.)

Ultimos blows his breath, which freezes several knights. Synaptak causes several knights to levitate, using them to slam into the other knights. Tini punches knights left and right, sending them flying. Then, Pacifista lands in the area, catching them off guard.

Ultimos: Another one? (Ultimos flies at Pacifista, and punches him. His fist hits the Omnitrix symbol, and his glove tears in the process. Neither of them notice the Omnitrix glow yellow.)

Pacifista: Get to the hole in the wall. We have to go.

Ultimos: Oh, John. According to the Galactic Code of Conduct, we have to save all the innocents.

Pacifista: To do that, we have to stop Phantom. Now go! I’ll hold them off.

Synaptak: As if you can hold them off.

Knights fire lasers at Pacifista, who doesn’t even feel them. He then raises his arms and spins, firing lasers from both hands. The lasers and the following explosions send the knights flying into the air.

Tini: Come on! The main job is inside.

Ultimos: Agreed. Galactic Enforcers, to the castle!

The Enforcers make it to the castle, with Pacifista right behind them. A swarm of knights follow.

Synaptak: Well, hero. Do you have any plans for closing this hole?

Julie: Oh, shut it already! Let him work. (Pacifista hits the Omnitrix.)

Clockwork: Clockwork! (Clockwork fires a time ray, hitting the wall. A few moments later, the wall is reformed, and it’s as if it was never destroyed. Clockwork reverts.)

John: Everyone here? (He counts through them, seeing everyone.) Okay. Let’s go. To find Phantom and defeat him. (John starts walking, and the others follow. Kevin comes up right to him.)

Kevin: (Whispering) Told you so.

John: (Whispering) You were right. Don’t rub it in. End Scene

The group arrives in a large, white room. On the far wall opposite them, there is a viewing room, where they see Phantom and Eunice sitting on their thrones. Phantom has a smug smile.

Phantom: Welcome, to my beautiful castle! As of now, you are all my guests. So, let me extend my hospitality to you.

Animo: As if you will be kind to us.

Phantom: Oh, Animo. I so wish that you didn’t betray me. It is such a shame to kill such a bright mind.

John: Are you done yet? Let’s fight already.

Phantom: Oh, not yet John. You never were very patient.

John: Better than being a coward.

Phantom then snaps his fingers, and the wall under him opens up. The Highbreed comes in, with a new right arm, leading an army of DNAliens.

Tack: What are those?

Eddy: DNAliens. How’d he get them?

Phantom: I learned from my friend the Highbreed here about an abandoned hatchery that had some Xenocytes. So, I decided to add them as Pawns in my Chess Pieces. Whenever you’re ready, Highbreed.

Highbreed: Destroy them!

The DNAliens charge forward, some spitting slime balls.

John: Fight through them! (Slaps down Omnitrix.)

Slapstrike: Slapstrike!

Slapstrike stretches his arm, slapping through a large portion of DNAliens. He then grabs the ground, and retracts his arm, sending him forward. Kevin absorbs the stone on the ground, and charges in, punching his way through the DNAliens. Eddy activates his Toltech Armor, and uses his flamethrowers. The DNAliens try to retreat back in fear from it.

Charmcaster: So they don’t like fire, huh? Berdi Mordo Nata! (Charmcaster raises her arms, releasing a powerful burst of fire at the DNAliens. They are hit, and knocked down.)

Julie with Ship, Ultimos, Tini, and Lucy join Kevin in pounding their way through the DNAliens. Tack swings his neck around, taking DNAliens out. Sunder activates his glider, and flies around swinging his axe, sending them flying. Animo’s frog spins and hops, crushing DNAliens left and right.

Slapstrike makes his way to the center of the room. Then, Highbreed appears in front of him.

Slapstrike: I’ll take you out with one shot. (Highbreed then jumps over Slapstrike, and continues on. Slapstrike sees that he was heading towards Eddy.) Oh man. Sunder! (Sunder looks over, and Slapstrike points to Highbreed. Sunder nods, and follows him.) Omnitrix. Activate DNA repair mode.

Omnitrix: (In John’s voice) DNA repair mode activated. (The Omnitrix then releases a pulse wave, removing all the Xenocytes from their hosts. However, all the humans were zombies, and they continue to march and attack. Slapstrike reverts.)

John: Oh, come on! (Tries to activate Omnitrix, but it is out of power.) Fine. I’ll fight fisticuffs. (John starts making his way through the zombies, blasting them with mana bursts.)

Highbreed swings his fist at Eddy, who blocks it with his arms. He hits Highbreed with a missile, forcing him back. Eddy’s armor turns back into a backpack, and into a jetpack, taking to the air. The robot gauntlet then forms over his hand, and he fires a laser at Highbreed. Sunder joins Eddy and fires a laser. Highbreed takes both of them, and jumps, hitting both of them and knocking them out of the sky. Highbreed is then blasted by mana, as Charmcaster helps Sunder and Eddy get up.

John is working on getting back to the group, but the zombies hold him back. He blasts them with mana, but he can’t get through. Then, Animo’s frog lands nearby, and Animo gets off the frog.

Animo: You ready?

John: Yeah. Anytime now. (Animo reaches into his pockets, and pulls out two grenades.)

Animo: (Handing John one) Just push the button, and slam it into the ground, or another solid object.

John: Right. (John puts his grenade in his pocket, as Animo presses the button of the other one, and throws it at the ground.)

The grenade releases a powerful shockwave, traveling through the entire room. Every zombie hit by the shockwave reverts back to human form and passes out. When Highbreed was hit, he passes out as well.

Phantom: Impossible! I guess I should’ve expected that.

Eunice: Don’t worry, my dear. Once Animo’s dead, they will be easy pickings. (Team Heroes have regrouped.)

John: Alright, Phantom. Time for you to fight.

Phantom: And why would I do that? As your host, it is my job to entertain you. (Phantom holds up his right hand, which glows with mana. Team Heroes all glow purple, and they all teleport away.) And may the odds be ever in your favor.

Characters

 * John Smith
 * Charmcaster
 * Lucy Mann
 * Sunder
 * Eddy
 * Tack
 * Julie Yamamoto
 * Ship
 * Kevin Levin
 * Dr. Animo
 * Galactic Enforcers
 * Ultimos
 * Tini
 * Synaptak

New Chess Pieces

 * Phantom
 * Eunice
 * Highbreed
 * Forever Knights
 * DNAliens (first re-appearance)

Aliens

 * Gravattack
 * Pacifista
 * Clockwork
 * Slapstrike

Aliens Unlocked

 * Ultimos' Species

Trivia

 * Kevin expresses that having the Galactic Enforcers was a bad idea.
 * He is proven right, as they don't listen to anyone outside their group.
 * This is the first time that the Omnitrix scanned an alien of an alien form original to this story.
 * Because of this, his name has not been revealed yet.