Chapter 49: Sword of Ek Chuah
"Is this it?" Klein muttered, brushing a thick layer of ancient dust off his shoulder.
After surviving a gauntlet of lethal traps and grinding stone mechanisms, the group finally stood in the deepest sanctum of the Mayan temple. Looming before them was a massive stone door, its surface etched with jagged, unsettling glyphs. At the center of the entryway sat a weathered stone pedestal. A distinct, face-shaped depression was carved into its top—a perfect fit for the Mask of Ah Puch.
Grandpa Max stepped forward, the heavy artifact cradled in his hands. With a grim expression, he pressed the mask into the slot.
A deep, grinding rumble echoed through the chamber. The colossal stone doors shuddered, shedding centuries of dust as they slowly began to part.
Even before the gap widened enough to step through, a blinding, incandescent golden light bled through the crack, casting long shadows against the temple walls. As the doors ground to a halt, the source of the brilliance laid itself bare.
At the apex of a towering ziggurat, nearly a hundred steep steps high, a magnificent weapon was driven deep into a stone altar. The Sword of Ek Chuah. Its blade radiated a piercing golden aura, the hilt forged into the shape of a snarling serpent's head, carefully detailed with ancient, glowing runes.
Flanking the altar were two imposing stone monoliths. The statue on the left was tall and skeletal, its carved face a perfect, horrifying mirror of the Mask of Ah Puch. The figure on the right was shorter but heavily muscled, gripping a massive stone spear. Silent sentinels, standing eternal guard over the divine blade.
The divine sword acted as the sole light source in the cavernous chamber, bathing everything in a rich, warm glow.
"That is... the Sword of Ek Chuah," Grandpa Max breathed out, awe coloring his tone.
Klein just stared at the glowing weapon. 'That looks ridiculously expensive,'he mused, his pragmatic mind already spinning.'I need to figure out a way to pocket that.'He knew exactly how Grandpa Max operated. The old man would confiscate the artifact, lock it away in some highly classified Plumber base, and let it gather dust where Klein could never reach it.'Maybe I can orchestrate a little accident,'Klein plotted, rubbing his chin.'Oops, the sword fell down a bottomless chasm. Tragic. Then I just circle back tonight and dig it up.'
His mental heist was abruptly cut short. The moment Grandpa Max's boot touched the first step of the grand staircase, the entire temple violently lurched.
A deafening crack echoed through the air. The stone skin of the two towering statues began to fracture, thick webs of fissures spreading across their chests.
A guttural, bone-rattling roar erupted from the altar. The stone and mud sloughed off, revealing that these were never statues at all. They were alive.
Grandpa Max's eyes widened in horror as the ancient entities stepped free of their petrified shells. "Those are Ah Puch, the Mayan God of Death, and Ek Chuah, the God of War!"
The heavily muscled Ek Chuah didn't waste a single second on introductions. He reared back and hurled his massive stone spear straight at Grandpa Max's chest.
"Look out!" Max threw himself backward, tumbling down the steps just as the spear impaled the stone where he had been standing, sending a shower of sparks and debris into the air.
Ek Chuah vaulted off the high platform, landing heavily next to his embedded weapon. With a grunt of exertion, the war god ripped the spear free from the solid rock, spun toward the group, and launched himself into the air, weapon raised for a lethal strike.
Klein let out a heavy sigh. So much for a quiet heist. He casually raised his wrist and slammed his palm down on the faceplate of the Another Omnitrix.
"Diamondhead!"
A blinding flash of quiet blue light consumed the chamber. The Petrosapien's crystalline body gleamed in the golden light. Diamondhead shifted his stance, morphing both of his hands into razor-sharp, jagged blades. He crossed his arms over his head just as Ek Chuah brought the heavy spear crashing down. The impact rang out like a struck bell, sending a shockwave of displaced air through the room.
Higher up the steps, the skeletal Ah Puch finally moved. The God of Death bypassed the skirmish entirely, sprinting down the stairs with terrifying speed, aiming straight for Grandpa Max and the sword.
"Alright, I'll take care of tall, dark, and ugly!" Ben yelled, slamming his hand onto his own Omnitrix.
A brilliant emerald flash illuminated the temple. "Four Arms!"
The towering Tetramand flexed his four massive biceps, bending his knees before launching himself into the air like a cannonball. He slammed into the stone steps right between Ah Puch and Grandpa Max, cracking the ancient masonry beneath his heavy boots.
Denied his target, Ah Puch let out a hollow hiss and lunged at the Tetramand. The God of Death threw a devastating right hook. Four Arms grinned, clenching his upper fists. He met the strike head-on, throwing his own massive punch to intercept.
The collision of their fists sounded like a bomb detonating. The shockwave kicked up a cloud of dust.
When it cleared, Four Arms' grin had vanished. Ah Puch stood completely rooted to the spot, entirely unfazed. Four Arms, however, was forced two heavy steps backward, his boots skidding against the stone. The Tetramand's four eyes narrowed. This skeletal freak was actually stronger than him.
Across the chamber, Diamondhead was locked in a fierce, high-speed melee with Ek Chuah.
The war god thrust his spear forward in a blinding blur. Diamondhead caught the tip between his crossed blades. The sheer force chipped the crystal, but the jagged edges instantly regenerated, sealing the weapon in place.
Ek Chuah yanked the spear free and swept it upward in a vicious arc. Diamondhead leaned back, letting the heavy stone head whistle mere inches past his face. Using the momentum, Ek Chuah brought the weapon crashing down in an overhead chop. Diamondhead didn't retreat this time. He parried the heavy blow with his left blade, stepped deep into the war god's guard, and slashed horizontally with his right. Ek Chuah threw himself backward to evade, but he wasn't fast enough. The crystalline edge tore through his armor, leaving a long, bleeding gash across his chest.
Diamondhead clearly held the upper hand in the duel, but he wasn't about to fight fair.
Furious, Ek Chuah gripped his spear with both hands and leaped high into the air, preparing to bring the full weight of his godly strength down on the Petrosapien.
Mid-leap, his momentum abruptly died. A glowing tether of pink mana wrapped tightly around his ankle, yanking him violently downward. Ek Chuah slammed face-first into the solid stone floor, the impact cracking the tiles beneath him.
Gwen stood a few yards away, her hands glowing with vibrant Anodite energy. She had chosen to hang back and support Klein, and Klein certainly wasn't going to complain. Why bother with a fair one-on-one duel when you could just jump the guy? Sure, Klein was more than capable of winning a solo fight, but there was a distinct, obvious joy in a thoroughly unfair beatdown.
"Where do you think you're going?" Gwen smirked, keeping the mana construct anchored to the fallen god.
Ek Chuah planted a hand on the ground, groggily trying to push himself up. He didn't even make it halfway before a crystalline fist slammed into the back of his head, driving his face right back into the dirt.
Diamondhead casually straddled the war god's back. He had morphed his blades back into heavy, blunt fists, and he began to mercilessly hammer away at the back of Ek Chuah's skull.
"Heh heh... heh heh heh... hahahaha!" Diamondhead's quiet laughter echoed through the chamber, growing more unhinged and excited with every brutal strike. He had truly missed the simple, unadulterated thrill of a one-sided jumping.
Ek Chuah roared in muffled fury, thrashing wildly. He managed to buck Diamondhead off, scrambling to his feet to retaliate. But the moment he raised a fist, a barrage of pink mana bolts slammed into his ribs, throwing him off balance. Every time he tried to attack Diamondhead, Gwen threw up a glowing shield or bound his limbs. Every time he tried to rush Gwen, Diamondhead was there to deliver a crushing uppercut.
The God of War was being utterly humiliated, battered from all sides like a training dummy. Not that he could voice his complaints, considering he seemed incapable of speech.
While Ek Chuah was busy getting pummeled, Gwen flicked her wrist, using her mana to telekinetically snatch the heavy stone spear right out of his reach. Stripped of his weapon and disoriented, Ek Chuah stumbled. Diamondhead didn't miss a beat. He tackled the god back to the ground, mounted him again, and resumed his relentless, jackhammer-like assault.
A deafening crash shattered the rhythm of the beatdown.
Diamondhead paused mid-punch, glancing over his shoulder. Across the room, Four Arms was airborne. The massive Tetramand had been physically lifted off his feet by Ah Puch and hurled across the chamber like a ragdoll. Ben slammed into the ancient stone wall with enough force to crater the masonry, a cloud of dust billowing around his slumped form.
Ah Puch was simply too tall, too heavy, and possessed a terrifying, unnatural strength that Ben couldn't match in a straight brawl.
Seeing his cousin get tossed around like a chew toy caused Diamondhead to freeze for a fraction of a second. That momentary lapse in focus was all Ek Chuah needed. The battered war god surged upward, flipping their positions and pinning Diamondhead to the floor. Ek Chuah raised a heavy fist, ready to cave the Petrosapien's face in.
Crackle!
A jagged bolt of pink lightning illuminated the room, striking Ek Chuah square in the chest. The magical blast sent the god flying backward, his body smoking as he tumbled across the floor. Gwen lowered her glowing hands, offering Klein a smug little wave.
Diamondhead quickly rolled to his feet, rolling his neck until the crystals cracked. His hands smoothly morphed back into lethal, jagged blades. He locked his gaze on the disoriented, disarmed Ek Chuah and charged. It was time to put this guy in the ground.
Stripped of his spear, Ek Chuah was forced to rely on his bare hands to fend off the living weapon. It was a slaughter. He couldn't beat the Petrosapien when he had a divine weapon; empty-handed, he was just target practice. Diamondhead became a blur of quiet blue motion, his blades slicing through the air with surgical precision. Within seconds, Ek Chuah was covered in deep, glowing lacerations, his movements growing sluggish and desperate.
Diamondhead ducked under a wild, sweeping punch, pivoted on his heel, and swung his right arm in a brutal, horizontal arc.
The crystalline blade sheared clean through the god's neck. Ek Chuah's head tumbled to the stone floor, his heavy body collapsing into a lifeless heap of dust and rubble a moment later.
"Ben!" Diamondhead called out, turning back toward the crater in the wall. "You good... Hmm?"
He trailed off. Four Arms was still groaning in the rubble, struggling to push himself up, but Ah Puch was nowhere to be seen.
A heavy thud drew his attention. A figure clad in medieval armor crashed onto the floor just a few feet away from Diamondhead, groaning in pain. Klein blinked, recognizing the crest immediately. A Forever Knight.
Diamondhead snapped his gaze up toward the high platform. Ah Puch was standing right next to the glowing Sword of Ek Chuah. The God of Death had just casually swatted the Forever Knight away like a pesky fly.
But that wasn't the only surprise. Just a few yards away from the altar, Grandpa Max was locked in a fierce, close-quarters brawl with a man wearing a distinct, horned golden mask. Enoch. The leader of the Forever Knights had apparently decided to crash the party.
Having dealt with the armored lackey, Ah Puch slowly turned his hollow gaze toward the scuffle between Max and Enoch. The skeletal god let out a low hiss and charged straight toward the two older men, intent on slaughtering them both.
Realizing exactly what the God of Death was planning, Diamondhead didn't hesitate. He slammed both of his hands flat against the stone floor. A massive tremor ripped through the temple as a thick, jagged wall of solid crystal erupted from the ground, violently blocking Ah Puch's path to Max and Enoch.
Ah Puch skidded to a halt, staring at the sudden barricade in hollow confusion. Before he could process it, a sharp, stinging pain exploded across his face. He whipped his head around to see Diamondhead standing at the base of the stairs, his arm outstretched, having just fired a crystalline shard right into the god's cheek.
"Hey, ugly!" Diamondhead taunted, waving a hand. "Come pick on someone your own size!"
Without waiting for a response, the Petrosapien charged up the steps. Enraged by the blatant disrespect, Ah Puch abandoned his pursuit of the old men and threw himself down the stairs to meet the alien head-on.
Down in the rubble, Four Arms finally managed to shake the cobwebs from his head. He pushed himself out of the crater, rolling his four shoulders with a series of loud pops. He looked up just in time to see Ah Puch charging toward Diamondhead.
Even though Klein clearly had the situation handled, Ben's pride was stinging. He had been tossed around for far too long to just sit back and watch. If he didn't get a few solid hits in to vent his frustration, he was going to explode.
"Oh, no you don't! He's mine!" Four Arms bellowed, leaping back into the fray.
Gwen, naturally, was already two steps ahead of him, her hands blazing with pink mana as she flanked the skeletal god.
Ah Puch suddenly found himself surrounded. The God of Death paused, looking from the towering Tetramand, to the razor-sharp Petrosapien, to the glowing Anodite. It was a thoroughly unfair, completely unbalanced three-on-one beatdown.
And Klein wouldn't have it any other way.
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