Chapter 58: The Pyramid at the End of the World

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I stumbled out into thick, humid air that hit me like a wet blanket. The portal snapped shut behind us with a sound like tearing paper. We stood at the edge of a jungle so dense it looked solid, trees stretching up like black pillars. The stars above were incredibly bright, undimmed by city lights.

She knows. The Ancient One knows I have knowledge of other ‘possibilities,’ as in, the future, the Marvel multiverse. She thought it was one of my alien’s abilities, but the fact was that she knew. The thought kept bouncing around my skull. Part of me was terrified. Part of me was weirdly relieved. At least someone knew the truth.

The night sky suddenly lit up with engine glow. Three sleek black ships descended through the canopy, their engines barely making a whisper. Plumber ships. Besides those blatant Omnitrix symbols on them, I recognized the design from Grandpa's old photos.

To be fair, it’s more accurate to call the symbol on Omnitrix the Plumber Symbol instead. I suppose Azmuth chose the symbol to show that this device was meant to protect, not destroy.

As they touched down, Gwen moved closer to me. "You okay? You look like you swallowed a bug."

"Just processing some things," I said, which wasn't really a lie. "We're about to fight a soul-sucking vampire for a key to an ancient soul-eating monster. With space cops and the magical CEO of Earth. This is definitely not how I pictured my summer going."

She squeezed my hand, and I felt some of the tension ease. "Hey, I’ll protect you, just hide behind me like a good boy. Hola, Mexico."

"Someone’s being bold," I said, squeezing back. "Gwen, don’t try to punch higher than your weight. If things get dangerous, leave it to me, I’ll fight her."

“....”

The Plumber ships hovered down the sky and touched down like ghosts, their black hulls barely rustling the jungle leaves. I watched as the ramps slid out without a sound. When Grandpa called for backup, he didn't mess around.

The Ancient One stood next to me, looking completely unbothered by the humidity that was already turning my shirt into a wet rag. Having her here felt like carrying a loaded rocket launcher… if rocket launchers drank tea and dropped cryptic wisdom.

"Interesting," she mused. "Much sleeker than the flying dumpster your grandfather used to pilot. He once crashed into my meditation garden in what looked like a metal potato with thrusters."

"That definitely sounds like Grandpa," I said, trying not to picture young Max in some janky space jalopy.

The operatives filed out. About fifteen total, decked out in tactical gear that made SWAT teams look like mall cops. They moved like water, flowing into formation without a word.

The diversity hit me immediately. Sure, most were human, but a blue-skinned alien who looked like Fasttrack who was checking his gear, a tigress woman hefting what looked like a minigun, and leading them all – a fish-man in a water suit that probably cost more than a house.

"Commander Patelliday," Grandpa called out, clasping the fish-alien's webbed hand. "Thanks for the quick response."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Max," Patelliday replied, his voice slightly garbled through the suit's speaker. Those teeth looked like they could bite through a car door. "Though maybe next time pick somewhere with a beach? My scales are chafing."

"Wasn't exactly my choice," Grandpa said. "What's our situation?"

The commander's expression went all business. "Perimeter's all secure. Three ships watching the approaches. We're picking up multiple energy signatures converging on this location. Some match Forever Knight tech, others are..." He glanced at the Ancient One. "Weird."

"Magical," she supplied helpfully. "Selene's presence creates reality distortions. Your equipment would read it as quantum fluctuations."

"Right. Magic quantum whatever." Patelliday shrugged. "Point is, this place is about to get crowded."

Right on cue, every sensor started screaming. Patelliday checked his wrist display, his fish eyes narrowing to slits.

"Contact. Northeast. Multiple hostiles incoming fast."

The treeline exploded with armored figures. The Forever Knights, because of course they were. Enoch led the charge, his gold mask catching the moonlight, armor still dented from our last dance.

"This sacred quest will not be defiled by alien scum!" he bellowed, waving his energy sword like he was conducting an orchestra. "The Sword belongs to humanity!"

Grandpa just looked tired, like Enoch was a telemarketer who wouldn't take no for an answer. "Patelliday," he said calmly. "They're all yours. Keep them busy and away from the pyramid."

The fish commander grinned, showing way too many teeth. "Been wanting to test the new stun cannons. Boys and girls, let's play!"

Energy weapons lit up the night as the Plumbers moved to intercept. The last thing I saw before we headed deeper was the tigress woman picking up two Knights and using them as clubs to hit a third.

"Come," the Ancient One said, already gliding into the jungle. "Time grows short."

The deeper we went, the wronger everything felt. The temperature dropped despite the tropical heat, and I swear I could hear whispers that weren't quite there. Trees contorted into unsettling shapes, their bark black and oozing, and vines hung like gallows ropes, twitching as if affected by an unseen force.

"Death magic," Charmcaster whispered, gripping her obsidian shard like a lifeline. "It's saturating everything."

Gwen nodded, looking green around the gills. "It's like... like the air itself is dying."

I couldn't feel magic the way they could, but even I knew something was seriously wrong. The Omnitrix kept pulsing, reacting to God knows what. Everything tasted like pennies and static.

"Stay together," the Ancient One warned. "Reality grows thin near places like this. Trust nothing you see."

"Oh good," Gwen muttered. "Because this wasn't creepy enough already. Now we get hallucinations too."

"Where's your sense of adventure? You were so bold earlier," I asked, but my joke fell flat seeing her tremble.

We walked for what felt like forever but was probably twenty minutes. Then the jungle just stopped. Like someone had taken a cookie cutter to the forest, leaving a perfect circle of nothing.

And there it was.

The pyramid erupted from the earth like a bad dream made of stone – a massive ziggurat of black volcanic rock that seemed to eat light. Purple and green energy swirled above its peak in a vortex that made my eyes water. Every block was carved with symbols that looked like the tablet's glyphs, if the tablet's glyphs were screaming.

"No way," I stared at it. "That's..."

"A prison," the Ancient One finished quietly. "Seven sorcerers died building it. Their souls still guard what lies within. Although I have a feeling they’ve recently been absorbed."

Grandpa swept his scanner over the structure. "Energy readings are insane. Whatever's in there, it knows we're here."

"There," Charmcaster pointed. "The entrance."

She was right. A massive gateway covered in DO NOT ENTER warnings in about fifty languages stood at the base. Or what was left of it – the large stone doors had been blown apart, scattered in chunks across the ground. Dark magic hung in the air like smoke from a grease fire.

"Shit. You messing with the mask didn’t buy us much time, Ben. She beat us here," Gwen said, her hand glowing as she read the energy. "But something's wrong. The magic is... torn and shredded. There was a fight. A big one."

The Ancient One's face went grim. "Then we have no time to waste. If Selene has already faced the guardians..."

We approached carefully. Up close, the pyramid was worse. The stone didn't just look black – it was like staring into a hole in reality. The shattered doors showed carvings of people dying in ways that would make horror movies look like Disney films.

"So," I said, trying to break the tension, "anyone else thinking maybe we should've gone to Disneyland instead?"

Cricket sounds. Even the jungle was a tough crowd.

We stepped inside, and the temperature crashed. The interior was a maze designed by someone who hated physics – hallways that curved up into darkness, stairs that went in directions that shouldn't exist. The walls showed that monster from the magical hologram consuming entire worlds, souls streaming into its mouth like rivers.

"That's the Avatar?" I asked, immediately wishing I hadn't looked.

"One of its gentler moments," the Ancient One said. "Before the seal."

Selene's path was easy to follow – scorched walls, melted stone, and what might have been guardians once, now just piles of crystal dust. The air reeked of ozone and something else. Something that had been dead for a very, very long time.

"Girl put up a fight," Grandpa noted, examining a section of wall that looked like someone had taken a blowtorch to butter.

"The pyramid's defenses were formidable," the Ancient One explained. "Clearly not formidable enough."

We descended, following the destruction. The passages widened, ceilings stretching up into darkness. My breath came out in clouds now, the cold biting through my clothes.

Then we reached the heart of the pyramid. A cathedral of nightmares carved from solid rock. Pillars shaped like twisted, screaming faces held up a ceiling I couldn't even see. Sick green light pulsed from ahead, painting everything in shades of wrong.

In the center sat a sarcophagus that belonged in a museum, if museums collected things that radiated pure evil. Jade and obsidian formed patterns that hurt to follow. The lid had been blasted open, split like an eggshell.

And chained to it by black-red magic was... that.

Spoiler

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The Avatar stood twelve feet tall and nearly just as wide, wearing ancient Mayan robes that had seen better days. Blue fabric with yellow trim hung over a form that couldn't decide if it was solid or liquid. No teeth in that mouth, just a black void with a tongue that moved like it had its own brain. Red eyes burned above a ceremonial mask, and bandages wrapped its limbs, leaking something dark and viscous.

Just looking at it made reality hiccup.

And standing over her prize, dress torn and blood on her lips but definitely winning, was Selene Gallio. The Mask of Ah Puch glowed in her grip, pulsing with sick triumph.

"Fuck, we’re late to the party."

Selene spun at my voice, and her victorious expression curdled like milk when she noticed who stood beside me. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

The Ancient One stepped forward, radiating that special kind of calm that meant someone was about to get their ass kicked. "Language, Lady Selene, there are children around. This ends now. Release the Avatar and surrender the Mask."

Selene's laugh could've stripped paint. "Watch what you say, Yao. Little girl playing dress-up in her master's robes. You walk into my moment of victory and make demands? If your master were alive, he’d have bowed and begged for mercy."

The temperature dropped another ten degrees, and the Ancient One's voice went from calm to cosmic. "You mistake my master. Just because he was respectful to you does not mean he wouldn’t have stopped you if you crossed the line. Now, I inherited his will. I am the shield. I am the line that will not be crossed. Stand down. Last chance."

Damn. 

Selene's eyes blazed with the fury of someone who'd been alive way too long. She raised the Mask, and reality started bending around her like taffy. Behind her, the chained Avatar let out a sound that made my skeleton want to leave without me.

The Ancient One's hands came up, golden mandalas spinning to life around her arms. Grandpa's weapon hummed. Gwen and Charmcaster lit up with their respective magics.

And me? I slapped the Omnitrix, scrolling through options like my life depended on it. Which it probably did.

Selene's beautiful face twisted into something ugly. "I can’t bother myself with this any longer. Fine. You'll burn with this worthless crowd."

The chamber exploded into chaos as two forces of nature prepared to throw down, with the fate of everything hanging in the balance.

For a moment, I wondered if I even mattered in this fight.

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