A Certain Powerful Omnitrix 3: The Hate That Dwells In Shadows

Anur Phaetos, World of Utter Darkness

"Come on!! Can't this hunk of junk go any faster!?" Mikoto cried in a panic as she paced back and forth in the  Resolute's infirmary.  Ben was being held down in his bed by Gluto while he used other stretchy tendrils to find some way of subduing Ben. Ever since around 2 hours ago, Ben had started thrashing around violently in his sleep. The Omnitrix's green color had switched to a glowing purple. Time was running out.

After the Ancient Ones had given their warning. Mikoto had gone into a ballistic panic to get back to the ship. She had run all the way back outsided the cave and in a frightening rampage and display of electrical power, she blasted every single leftover Loboan that was still there, including the Loboan that was fighting Looma. The werewolf-like aliens ran away whining and barking pitifully as Mikoto continued to run for the ship. This had left Touma, Tetrax, and even Looma feeling a little frightened.

Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is growing up.

-James A. Baldwin

"Mikoto calm down!" said Tetrax

"Don't tell me that!!" shouted Mikoto. "Not when we've only got 5 hours left!!"

Touma and Index stayed silently to the side as they watched Ben's sleeping form convulse and sweat. For a moment, Ben even seemed to turn slightly transparent, as if his DNA was slowly turning into that of an Ectonurite's.

Suddenly an alarm rang out, They were nearing Anur Phaetos. World of the Ectonurites, and the domain of Zs' Skayr...also known as GhostFreak.

When the group looked out the main window of the Resolute, the only way to describe Anur Phaetos's terrain was........a huge dark mess.

Bone like rock protrusions crisscrossed around everywhere, purple vortexes were swirling around random locations. Strange caves and tunnels ran through the bone-like protrusions. And most strange of all was that there was no ground, it was just  a bunch of shifting and floating rocks. Just how they were going to traverse across this to find the alter of Zs'Skayr.......even Tetrax seemed to be at a lost on how they were going to do that.

"Looks like we're going to have to use some of my hover boards." Said Tetrax. "But since only I know how to ride one besides Ben, I'm afraid I can only bring one more along."

"Well it wont be me. To be honest." said Index. "This place looks very scary. And those weird ghost aliens won't stop looking at me......."

Ectonurites were flying outside the window. They all had their purple eyes trained on the ship, as if waiting for something.

"Won't they be trouble?" asked Touma. "These guys are all GhostFreak's guys right?"

"Ectonurites work primarily through a hive mind." said Tetrax. "Though they may be sentient beings, but without the High Ectonurite Lord, they're just wanderers. Now that they can sense their master within Ben, they won't attack until the aura of their master fades, or until their master gives them an order."

"But wouldn't they know that we're trying to stop their master from coming back?" asked Mikoto.

"They don't think like that." said Tetrax. "They're a hive mind, the way they conceptualize things such as reasoning, love, death, etc.......is all different. When Ben went GhostFreak back when he was in control, he turned into the same kind of Ectonurite you see out there. The only thing that kept him free of the hive mind and allowed him to retain his human way of thinking was the Omnitrix's safety protocols.

"They're all monsters." Mikoto growled. "All of them........" Mikoto looked at Tetrax with a determined expression on her face. "I'm coming with you, I don't care what you say."