Ben 10 (Reader insert)

Ultimate Weapon

Parked off to the side of the road in the middle of the desert, we dined on lunch. The bowl of, what looked like grits, greeting me pleasantly. A bite proved to be just as good. A glance up to dart a look at Gwen and Ben from across the booth proved they felt the same. Matching faces of delight.

"Well, what'd you think?" Max said from beside me. "Bet you never tasted anything like that before!"

"Hm, what's the crunchy stuff?" Ben asked, finishing chewing his bite. He, along with Gwen and I, turned to stare at the elder. All of us waiting for a answer.

"Dung beetles."

Wrenching, all three of us stopped chewing. Glancing at each other in mounting horror, we turned away from our bowls and spat it out. I was lucky that my spit landed on the napkin I had. Not wanting to stare at it any longer, I wrapped it up and pushed it more towards the center of the table. Bowl included.

"What? Too spicy? You'll get use to it." Max said as I downed the water I had to get rid of the taste.

An alarm went off, making us all pause in confusion.

A cupboard popped open, a tv screen stretching out and down, pushing past Ben and Gwen in its haste to reach the elder. Sitting beside him I caught sight of a ancient looking mask that was designed to have a permeant frown and large hoops that acted as either ears or handles.

But Max seemed to know what it was, as his face instantly hardened. Glaring down at the screen with a venom I didn't understand. "No." He whispered loud enough for us all to hear.

"Grandpa? What is it?" Ben asked boldly.

"The Mask of Ah Puch." Grandpa Max explained, turning the monitor around so Ben and Gwen could see it. "Its the key to the most powerful and destructive weapon ever created."

That's all the elder dare explain as he hopped up from the booth. Rushing to the driver's seat, he started it up, leaving Ben, Gwen, and I to clean up alone. We hit the road just as we finished, Ben rushing to the passenger seat to question his grandpa more on the subject.

Gwen and I found our spots back in the booth, peering up at the front to listen.

"The Mask of Ah Puch is the guide to the Sword of Ek Chuaj. The Plumbers searched for it for decades without any luck."

"Ek Chuaj? What kind of alien is that?" Ben asked.

"You nimrod, he said it was a sword. I think?" I said, though trailed off unsurely as I turned to Max for further explanation. He obliged, but appeared beyond irritated by the subject.

"Not alien, Mayan. Ek Chuaj was the god of war, his sword was rumored to level cities with just one swipe."

Trying to be funny, Ben raised up the hand with the watch and haughtily stated, "Hah, sounds like just the kind of thing the world's most powerful ten year old boy should have!"

Grandpa Max did not take it well, glaring at his grandson so heatedly I thought it wasn't the elder I had come to know sitting there. He all but spat the words at Ben. "This is no toy Benjamin! Whoever controls the sword controls the destiny of mankind, and I will not let it fall into the wrong hands."

As the elder faced the road ahead, Ben, Gwen, and I exchanged concerned glances. Though we all looked more put out with the sudden change of attitude then anything else. To not set Max off we all stayed silent the rest of the trip.

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Arriving at our destination, which turned out to be a oil mining base, Max parked. Taking in the building that sat in the middle of all the all towers that littered the fields. The elder eyed it like a obstacle that could prove to be more trouble than it was worth.