Omnitranyl (Ben 10 Alien Force)

Kevin was trying to remember all George's instructions. He just didn't know if he could trust them...

"The crypt is the center of the underground floor," George said, sitting on the bed in the dormitory. "Since we're not going to enter through the elevator, but through the air duct, we'll get out here, in this little room that is between the elevator and the entrance to the labyrinth."

Kevin looks around. On one side, the elevator doors that connect the underground to the castle. On the other side, an opening in the wall, with stylized details around it, and numerous feudal paintings filling the walls of the small room. The whole place was dimly lit by torches.

Well, so far the four-eyes didn't lie, thought Kevin.

"The key to understanding the labyrinth is to know the correct path to follow. And for that, we need to read the texts and the paintings on the wall of the little room."

Kevin approached the wall. Paintings and texts were spread out like a timeline. According to George, the paintings told stories of great Forever Knights. However, the paintings were nothing more than projections on the wall that changed periodically. This was the way that the Eternal Knights always guaranteed a "new password" to the labyrinth.

The story of the time was as follows:

***

Sir Simon.

He was born in the north of England

And found in the path of the sword his vocation.

He faced storms and blizzards

In search of the knowledge he needed to fulfill his mission.

He overcame the iron rain of Sir Thormund

To reach the Lake of Doom.

And there, a bizarre and monstrous creature he met.

From its eyes, flames were burning and causing destruction.

He droves his sword through the creature's skull

Due to his courage and determination.

His acts of heroism reached the ears of the king

And so, he was named from the North, the Champion.

***

Kevin thought the whole thing was nonsense. Exaggerated, silly, and even lying at times. But what the hell, if the tin-heads wanted to believe that such a silly story really happened, too bad for them. He focused his attention on trying to memorize as much of the text as possible. I should have brought a pen! Wait a minute... I had George's cell phone in my pocket! He took some pictures of the walls, but unfortunately for him, the projection was made of a polarized light that did not allow him to take pictures. He opted to type a message that would not be sent, just a few key words, none of this litany of "vocation" and "doom" and "heroism".

When he finished, he looked at his text:

Northern England, sword, storm, knowledge, lake, monster, eyes with fire, courage, king, North.

It' s great! he thought.

Kevin then proceeded to the entrance of the labyrinth. The first room was a semicircular room, also poorly lit by torches. On its curved wall were three exits.

And now...

The Osmosian approached one of the passages and tried to see what was on the other side. Only darkness. He decided to look for more clues: he looked on the walls, on the floor, even on the ceiling. It was then that he noticed on the doorways, drawings carved in the same feudal style as the paintings. Three designs, one on each doorway: a sword, a shield, and a bow.

"'He was born in the north of England. And found in the path of the sword his vocation,'" said Kevin. That was the most he could memorize. "Path of the sword, then!"

He followed the passage cautiously, stopping at the entrance of the place and keeping an eye out for any possible "novelty". He remembered George's instructions again:

"The labyrinth is full of traps, and each one has a different way of being activated. Some of them are by stepping on the wrong spot, others by making some noise, many of them have motion sensors or lasers. Really, if we want to get to the crypt alive, we'll have to do it without activating the traps..."

Kevin focused his attention on the ground. A few squares had the logo of the Eternal Knights on their surface, but most did not. As a matter of course, he deduced, I should only step on the marked squares. He looked for possible exits. Three again. But it was not possible to see the engravings, it was too far away.

The young Osmosian then began his route, from marked square to marked square, jumping around the room, careful not to slip an inch. He jumped over one, then another, then one more. He was already in the middle of the room when he could see the pictures: a group of people, a coin, and a book. He looked at his cell phone in search of something that could fit into the pictures. Knowledge and book!

Kevin jumped to the next marked floor when suddenly he heard a huge thunderous sound echoing through the room.

"Damnit!"

The trap activated. A huge gust of wind filled the room. The rain came immediately afterwards. The water and wind hit Kevin with overwhelming violence. It became increasingly difficult to stand in one place, imagine taking even a step. The sounds of thunder intensified, and then lightning began to punish the place, like an absurd storm.

Lightning struck the ground near Kevin, forcing him to throw himself to the side to avoid being hit. The rain crashed against his skin like small needles. The wind tossed his body from one side to the other.

I have to get out of here.

Kevin touches the ground, coating his skin with rock. Being now denser and heavier, he was able to move forward with less difficulty. With his hands in front of his face, he tried to block out the wind and rain, moving towards the drawing in the book.

Staying inside the room became more and more unbearable. The rain and the wind were blowing in a thousand directions. Thunder rumbled through the room, making the floor shake. Lightning streaked everywhere, making it increasingly difficult to see.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning strikes Kevin in the back. He is only a few meters from the exit. The rocky skin on his back, now cracked and fragile, probably cannot withstand another such bolt of lightning. Kevin tries to get up as quickly as possible and jumps towards the passage. As soon as he touches the ground again, he spins around in a somersault, goes through the opening in the wall and stops with one knee on the ground, leaving the stormy chaos behind him.

He stands up and looks back, but sees only darkness in the room he was in a few seconds ago. Slowly, his skin begins to return to its natural composition.

My congratulations to the guy who set this trap, he thought. He managed to make a pretty convincing storm.

In the new circular room — as dimly lit as ever — he sees projected on the opposite wall the image of a castle and its walls, with soldiers walking from one side to the other of walls in vigilance. Outside the projection are two exits, one on each side of the castle.

And now? What should I do? Perhaps he misinterpreted the trigger in the previous room and was therefore forced to face the storm. What would be the puzzle now? He looked at the floor around him and noticed small piles of junk near the wall. Were they remnants of armor?

Kevin slowly approaches one of the piles and picks up what would be a helmet. It was made of a rustic metal. Maybe the model was of British origin, who knows? He lifts the visor of the helmet and the look of a rotting skull stares back at him.

"Aaaaah!" He throws the helmet to the center of the room.

Each time the object bounced on the ground, the sound of metal resounded through the room, until the helmet stopped moving, returning to silence.

"Damn..."

Sounds of bells begin to be heard from the projection on the wall. The soldiers in the castle move frantically from one side to the other. The image of a lord knight appears on top of the castle wall and in a thick voice says:

"Enemy to the north! In your positions!"

The soldiers begin to line up on the wall. All with bows and arrows in hand, they prepare to fire on command.

Kevin absorbs the rock from the wall and runs towards one of the exits. Over the opening, a drawing of a waterfall. He takes George's cell phone from his pocket, now with a cracked screen, and looks around for directions. By the sequence, he should go to a "lake". He looks again at the drawing of the waterfall. No! It must be the other way out!

"Readyyyyyy!" said the voice.

He was crossing the room toward the opposite opening, when he heard the voice finally say:

"Rain!"

Kevin continued running, but saw from the projection on the wall countless shadows of arrows streaking across the ground towards him. The shadows grew larger and larger until the moment the "rain" began.

From the ceiling of the room, numerous lasers fall and hit the ground, hitting Kevin a few dozen times. He tries to defend himself, but at some points his rock cover breaks, exposing his skin to the heat of the lasers.

The shooting ceases.

He moves with difficulty. Different parts of his body ache and throb. On his right forearm, a cut, already cauterized by the laser heat, as well as on his left thigh, a faint smell of burning flesh rises to his nostrils.

Again the voice announces:

"Readyyyyyyy!"

Kevin discards the rock cover, in search of greater lightness of movement, and runs toward the exit.

"Rain!"

Just as before, the shadows of the arrows move toward Kevin. More than that, they move toward where he intends to go. Kevin quickly changes direction and jumps to another part of the room, escaping at the last moment from the rain of lasers.

He runs to a pile of armor remnants and looks for something that would help him protect himself, however, no piece was in usable condition. On the ground, lying next to the pile, he sees a wooden shield.

This piece of crap won't hold anything! He thought. Unless...

"Readyyyyyyy!"

Kevin absorbs the metal from several pieces of armor he finds, unfortunately the amount was barely enough to cover an entire arm, who will say a body. He takes the shield and, with his hand on the outer surface of the object, he desorbs the metal, creating a shiny metallic layer over the shield.

"Rain!"

The young man puts the coated shield over his head and runs desperately for the exit. In his direction, the shadows of the arrows grew larger and larger.

"Work it, damn it, work it!"

The rain pours down all the way, leaving scorched scars on the ground where it hits. As it hits the shield the lasers are reflected in a thousand directions.

"Yes!"

As he approaches the exit, Kevin sees the engraving of a lake at the top of the opening, and then speeds up even more with the certainty of getting rid of that place.

As he crosses into the other room, the young man leans against the wall and allows himself to rest for a few moments. The current room was the same as all the others, which meant more traps, he thought; so he decided to get some air before he almost die again.

He picked up his cell phone from his pocket, but to his "happiness", the object had been partially burned by the laser that hit his thigh, so it no longer worked.

Great...

With his breath partially recovered, Kevin then decides to face the new room. This time, four openings in the walls.

Exactly at the moment when I need to take a guess is when the greatest number of options arise. Perfect!

In the center of the room, an image of a lake is projected onto the ground. A serene lake, with fish swimming from one side to the other.

Kevin tried to stay as far away as possible from the projected water. He walked towards the engravings in the openings. Some might help him to remember what was next in the story. But he found no drawings. Over the openings, he found the following letters: W, N, E, and S.

What the hell does that mean?

Kevin then heard a small sound of gravel bouncing on the ground. Turning toward the sound, he sees a stone rolling lightly over the lying lake.

"And there we go."

In the center of the lake, the ground opens up and a giant serpent-like creature emerges from the opening.

"To reach the Lake of Doom. And there, a bizarre and monstrous creature he met." Kevin recalled.

Still with his shield in hand, he stands ready to defend himself against any movement of the creature. The next action of the serpent reminds him of yet another detail of the story:

"From its eyes, flames were burning and causing destruction"

Kevin holds the shield over his head, deflecting the creature's flames to the sides. Slowly, he begins to feel the metal heat up and the wood of the shield scorch.

The snake interrupts its eye flamethrower for a few moments as if to catch its breath before firing again. Kevin takes the opportunity to run away. But where to?

Still unsure which room to enter, Kevin runs in circles around the room, with the snake firing flurries of fire right behind him.

At one of the interruptions of the flames, he decided to counter-attack. He absorbed enough rock from the ground to fill just his right hand and, forming a ball of stone spines, set out to attack the creature. He aimed to hit the snake's body.

However, his hand went straight through.

"What!?"

The snake spun its body around and with its tail swung Kevin toward the wall.

But it doesn't make sense, Kevin thought. The snake's fire and physical damage were real, but when it tried to attack, it ended up going through it like a ghost. Was it really a mystical creature? No, it is not possible...

Kevin continued to run around the room, dodging the creature's attacks. At the same time he was thinking: was the snake real or not?

"That's it!"

He takes his shield and throws it towards the side of the snake's head. A metallic sound is heard the instant the object hits it. With that the image of the snake oscillates between the bizarre creature and a serpentiform robotic structure much thinner than the original snake. A projection!

"But of course it is a projection..." he says to himself.

Kevin runs towards the place where his shield fell, dodging the flames and the attacks of the snake's tail. Upon reaching the object, he touches the outer surface of the shield and absorbs the metal. He then deforms his hand into a pointed blade ready to deliver the final blow, for, according to the story:

"He droves his sword through the creature's skull"

Kevin again hurls the shield toward the serpent's head. The creature, attentive to the repeated movement, deflects by ducking, and it is at this instant, that Kevin leaps and pierces the snake's robotic skull with his hand-blade.

The machine loses its projection. It slightly throbs with the loss of command. Small beams start from the skull opening and sounds of circuitry spread through the room. When finally it deactivates and collapses to the floor in a deafening sound.

Kevin steps down from the creature and makes his way toward the passageways. He was too tired to say any punch lines. Besides, he didn't even have an audience to listen to. He decided to focus on how to get out of there.

But how, if he couldn't remember the end of the story? What the hell was happening? He defeated the creature, then he met a prince. No. It wasn't a prince, it was a king. Then the king... The king... What the hell did the king do!

I couldn't remember...

What about his list? No chance either... He could remember at most the beginning: Northern England, sword, and... Wait...

Kevin again looked at the letters of the openings: W, N, E, S.

"How could I have been so stupid! These are the cardinal points, North, South, East, and West. And if, I'm not mistaken, that knightly jerk was from the North, then..."

Kevin followed the opening with an N carved over the entrance. He hoped he wasn't so wrong. As soon as he stepped through the opening, he saw Sir William in the center of the room, lit by a single beam of light coming from the ceiling.

"Congratulations, Phillip!" said Sir, "Or should I say, traitor?"

That's great! thought Kevin. All this effort for nothing...

"I must say that your actions in the labyrinth were quite impressive. Don't you agree, my dears?"

The other lights in the crypt lit up, revealing a huge contingent of soldiers, arms in hand.

Kevin found himself with no way out. Perhaps he could convince them that this was a challenge among the pageboys:

"My Lord I-"

"Shut up! It's no use saying anything, because I won't believe any of your excuses. The castle is fully monitored and we were already suspicious of your attitudes. Besides, your disguise technology is damaged and I can see your real face."

For Kevin, everything began to make more sense. George's information really was a trap. Like it or not, getting into the crypt floor through the ventilation duct was very easy. Besides, even though he activated the traps, no soldiers appeared. They were just waiting. Maybe the tin-heads weren't as dumb as he thought.

"But I will say that I was impressed when I found out that you, Phillip, if that is your real name, were a traitor too. You looked like a young man with so much potential! Our suspicions actually focused on someone else."

"Excuse me?" said Kevin.

"Come on! Come out of the darkness and reveal yourself!"

From inside the previous room, a voice familiar to Kevin began to speak. It was an irritating voice, which, like it or not, made Kevin annoyed just listening to it:

"Wow, and I thought I had managed to disguise myself so well!"

Kevin watched as the Squire came out of the shadows and positioned himself beside him. He brought his hand to his face and pulled off his identity mask, revealing himself to be Albedo.

"By the way, thanks for the help, osmosian. You saved me a lot of energy!"