Chapter 240: Uncle Moles and a Terrified Vulkanus
Startled by the sudden discovery, Kevin quickly snapped his lighter shut, plunging them into momentary darkness. A second later, a dazzling, vibrant purple glow flooded the cavern. Gwen held up her right hand, a sphere of crackling pinkish-purple Mana hovering above her palm, casting long shadows against the rocky walls as she approached the massive stacks of crates.
"Why are there so many explosives down here?" Klein murmured. He stepped forward, casually swiping a finger across the thick layer of dust coating one of the wooden crates. Beneath the grime, faded red stenciling read: HIGH EXPLOSIVES. He rubbed the grit from his fingertips. "Judging by the rot on this wood, some of this ordnance has been sitting here for a very long time."
Gwen raised her hand a few inches higher, trying to push the ambient light of her Mana deeper into the cavern to reveal the sheer scale of the stockpile. "I just have a bad feeling about this..."
A sharp whistling sound cut through the damp air. Ben instinctively ducked just as a jagged, half-human-sized boulder sailed over his head, smashing into the cavern wall with a deafening crack. He spun around, scowling into the upper darkness. "Hey! Watch it!" he yelled. "We've got company!"
A shadowy figure darted away from a rocky ledge high above them. Kevin immediately shifted his stance, ready to sprint up the incline.
"Relax," Ben smirked, reaching for his wrist. "He's not getting away."
Ben slammed his palm down on the Omnitrix dial. A brilliant emerald flash engulfed the cavern, washing out Gwen's purple Mana. When the light faded, the ghostly, moth-like form of Big Chill hovered in his place. With a sharp exhale of freezing vapor, he phased straight through the ceiling in pursuit. Oddly enough, the Omnitrix—which had been glitching and acting up just hours prior—seemed to be working perfectly fine now.
It took less than three minutes. The temperature in the cavern plummeted as Big Chill phased back through the rock, casually dangling a bizarre, squirming creature by the scruff of its neck. It looked like an unholy cross between a plump human and an oversized geoduck clam.
The short, fleshy geoduck-man was utterly indescribable. His beady little eyes, brimming with a very unique brand of 'wisdom,' stared off in two completely opposite directions. If one had to describe his overall vibe... he looked exactly like the shifty, cowardly sidekick in a Saturday morning cartoon who was absolutely guaranteed to betray the main characters for a single corn chip.
"Hey! You glowing moth-idiot, put me down!" the geoduck-man screeched, flailing his stubby limbs wildly in the air. His pathetic struggles did absolutely nothing against Big Chill's iron grip.
"I'll put you down," Big Chill hissed, his voice echoing with a hollow, icy metallic ring. "But you have to stay right here and play nice. No tricks."
The creature crossed his fleshy arms, jutting out his chin stubbornly. "No way! The second you put me down, I'm gonna find an even bigger rock and smash you all to jelly!"
"Wow. This guy is genuinely dense," Gwen muttered, massaging her temples. Even if he was actually planning a grand betrayal, screaming his evil master plan out loud while dangling over a deadly drop was a special kind of stupid.
Klein simply sighed, completely unamused by the cartoonish display. He glanced sideways. "Kevin. Handle it."
"With pleasure," Kevin grinned, cracking his knuckles. He strolled right up to the dangling geoduck-man, pulled back his index finger, and delivered a merciless, resounding flick right to the center of the creature's forehead.
Thwack!
"Still want to smash us?" Kevin asked casually.
The creature's eyes spun in dizzying circles, his brain clearly rattling around in his skull. "Ooooh... yeah... still smashing..."
Thwack!
Kevin flicked him again, a little harder this time. "How about now? Still smashing?"
The second impact finally jump-started the alien's rusty, single-cylinder brain. "No! Ow! No more smashing! I promise!"
Seeing that their captive had finally grasped the reality of his situation and didn't seem eager to cause any more trouble, Big Chill unceremoniously dropped him onto the dirt floor. A flash of green light illuminated the cave once more as the icy alien reverted back into Ben.
"Who are you? And how did you get all the way down here?" Klein asked, his sharp eyes scanning the creature's ragged, dirt-caked clothing. The ingrained grime and pale, sun-deprived skin suggested this guy had been living in these subterranean tunnels for years.
The creature dusted off his knees and puffed out his chest. "You surface-dwellers can call me Uncle Moles!" he declared, looking incredibly smug about his self-appointed title.
Gwen's mouth twitched in a polite, strained smile. "Well... that's certainly a simple and direct name."
"Yeah, really paints a picture of your social circle," Kevin snorted. He could already imagine a whole subterranean society filled with a 'Geoduck Auntie'and a'Geoduck Grandpa' sitting around eating dirt.
"Social circle? No, no, no. It's just me down here," Uncle Moles corrected without a second of hesitation.
Ben blinked, his tone softening with a sudden wave of sympathy. "Wait, really? You're the last of your kind?"
To his utter surprise, Uncle Moles vigorously shook his fleshy head, looking genuinely disappointed. "I wish! If only I were that lucky. Nah, my annoying relatives are swarming all over the underground. This specific cave system just happens to be my personal territory."
Klein rolled his eyes, his brief sliver of pity instantly evaporating. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the massive crates. "So, I'm guessing you're the one who hoarded all these explosives?"
"Yep! Stole 'em right out from under you clueless surface-dwellers a long time ago," Uncle Moles boasted, puffing out his chest again. A distinct gleam of pride flashed in his mismatched eyes as he admired his dangerous collection.
Gwen crossed her arms, still thoroughly puzzled. "Okay, but why? What could a single guy living in a cave possibly need with enough military-grade C4 to level a city block?"
"To protect my pets, obviously," Uncle Moles replied, looking at her as if she were the idiot.
Klein and Gwen exchanged a dry, knowing glance. They both instantly realized exactly what kind of 'pets' this guy was talking about.
"Let me guess," Klein deadpanned. "The underground rhinos."
"Bingo!" Uncle Moles cheered, licking his lips with a grotesque slurp. "Gotta keep 'em safe so they can breed! Their meat is absolutely delicious."
"So those armored monsters tearing up the surface belong to you?" Kevin raised an eyebrow, stepping closer. "Then how the hell did they end up topside?"
"They usually stay way down deep," Uncle Moles explained, scratching his chin. "But recently, a bunch of lava started flowing into their nesting grounds. It got deadly hot down there. They couldn't stand the heat, so they panicked and stampeded up to the surface." He gestured down a dark, sloping tunnel. "Come on, follow me. I'll show you."
Without waiting for an answer, the bizarre little alien waddled past them, leading Klein and the crew away from the explosive stockpile and deeper into the sweltering bowels of the earth.
Meanwhile, much deeper underground.
Vulkanus, the hulking, armor-clad alien mob boss, was currently busy barking orders at his sweating, exhausted subordinates. The massive subterranean factory was deafeningly loud, filled with the roar of heavy machinery and bubbling magma. Yet, despite the blistering heat of the forge, a sudden, inexplicable chill shot straight down Vulkanus's spine.
He shuddered, his tiny infant-like body squirming uncomfortably inside his massive mechanical suit. 'Could it be...? No! No way! It's just my imagination playing tricks on me!'he mentally reassured himself, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.'Are you kidding me? I came all the way to the center of this miserable dirt-ball planet! If I run into that absolute plague god down here, I might as well just pack up and roll my ass back to my home planet! How is an honest businessman supposed to make a buck in this galaxy?!'
Just as he was desperately trying to calm his racing heart, a strange, squeaky voice echoed from the entrance of the main cavern behind him.
"This is the place!"
Vulkanus froze. He slowly, mechanically turned his heavy armored suit around to look at the intruders.
Huh? Those teenagers look awfully familiar...
His eyes locked directly onto Klein's calm, utterly indifferent gaze.
Vulkanus's brain short-circuited. A heavy, suffocating silence descended over him. 'Is my luck really this cursed?!'
Before Ben, Gwen, or Kevin even had time to process the massive factory or summon their powers, a deafening CLANG echoed through the cavern.
Vulkanus's massive mechanical suit dropped straight to its knees, cracking the stone floor. He threw his heavy metal hands up in the air in a gesture of absolute surrender.
"Boss! Big Brother! Please, just listen to me!" Vulkanus wailed, his voice cracking with sheer panic. "Don't hit me! Don't be in a hurry to act! I can explain!"
Klein casually stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking down at the groveling alien warlord. "Speak. I'm listening," he said mildly. He always prided himself on being a very reasonable guy, after all.
"Look at this, Big Brother, look!" Vulkanus hastily tapped a few buttons on his wrist gauntlet, projecting a glowing holographic document directly in front of Klein. "This is my mining factory! I have the permits! All of this is completely legal, I swear on my mother's grave! I really haven't caused any trouble this time!"
Klein lazily scanned the floating holographic text. While the operation absolutely violated every single environmental law on Earth, it technically possessed a valid, loophole-ridden mining permit stamped by the Milky Way Galaxy's commerce regulations.
Not that Klein cared about the law. If he really wanted to shut this place down, no galactic lawyer in the universe could talk him out of it. His only real concern was figuring out exactly what Vulkanus was doing down here, and making sure it wasn't going to force him into running another annoying, time-consuming errand.
With a dismissive wave of his hand, Klein signaled for Vulkanus to shut off the projector. He then turned his attention to the massive, roaring machinery dominating the cavern. His sharp gaze swept past the conveyor belts and smelting vats, finally locking onto a colossal, spiky metal structure suspended over a seemingly bottomless, glowing pipe that plunged straight toward the planet's core.
"And what exactly," Klein asked, his voice dangerously soft, "is that?"
"Uh... well, Big Brother, you know I'm not from around these parts, right?" Vulkanus stammered, his mechanical hands fidgeting nervously. "That little gadget right there? It just... tweaks the factory's temperature a bit. Makes it feel a little more like my home planet! Just a minor adjustment to make the working conditions more comfortable for my boys! It's really nothing big, I promise!"
Several thick drops of cold sweat squeezed out of the pores on Vulkanus's tiny, fleshy forehead. He was clearly lying through his teeth, omitting a massive chunk of the truth in a desperate bid to muddle his way through the interrogation.
Klein stared at him for a long, agonizing moment.
"Is that so?" Klein mused, a dark, knowing smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Because if I remember correctly, the surface temperature of your home planet is roughly eight hundred and fifty degrees... and that's when the weather gets cooler."
Vulkanus's heart stopped. 'It's over,'he screamed internally, his soul practically leaving his body.'I forgot this absolute plague god actually reads the galactic encyclopedia!'
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