Lucian led Ben and Gwen through the darkness until they arrived near a windmill tower.
But the moment they got there, all three were stunned by what they saw.
A tall, evil Snare-Oh wreathed in purple light was digging at something underground, whipping its white bandages around like a grave-robbing ghoul clawing up corpses.
It worked nonstop, sending its bandages down into the earth to pull out chunks of purple crystal, then opening its chest and stuffing them inside.
Suddenly, the mummy snapped its head around.
Its purple eyes were filled with cold killing intent. It let out a shrill screech and charged straight at them.
"Time for the hero to make an entrance!"
Ben said that and was just about to transform.
"No, Ben. Not yet." Lucian pressed down on Ben's watch. He wanted to help Ben obtain the Snare-Oh's genetic sample.
Ben seemed to realize something. The confusion in his eyes slowly turned into delight.
"Awesome, Cuz. You're seriously the coolest today!"
"Oh no. I'm the coolest every day!"
Gwen pressed a hand to her forehead. "Ugh, this doofus..."
Boom.
A faint green light flashed across the barren grassland and vanished in an instant.
"Kringl the Summoner!"
The next second, an alien that looked strikingly like Santa Claus appeared on the spot.
He was plump and wore a red Santa suit, with white hair and a white beard. His eyes glowed green, and his whole body gave off a mysterious aura.
[Kringl the Summoner: Resembles Santa Claus.]
[Abilities: First, enhanced strength. Second, he can release summoning magic circles from his palms, which summon incorporeal energy spirits. These energy spirits can possess inanimate objects and control them.]
Last time, at the Christmas resort, Lucian had broken the curse on Dingdang's Heart, which unlocked Kringl the Summoner's DNA.
"Santa Claus?" Ben and Gwen both stared in shock.
"Roar!"
The evil Snare-Oh lashed out with its pale bandages, tearing through the air as they whipped toward Kringl.
"Strength enhancement."
A layer of snowflake-like energy instantly spread over Kringl's hands, greatly boosting his strength.
"Come here."
Kringl gave a hard yank, dragging the Snare-Oh toward him. Just as it was about to slam into him, he drove a punch straight into its face.
Bang!
The Snare-Oh took the hit head-on and was sent flying backward, crashing hard into the windmill tower and blasting a web of cracks across it.
The Snare-Oh didn't stay to fight. It turned and tried to flee.
Kringl formed a hand sign, then lowered his arms flat at his sides.
Bzzz...
A white energy circle formed in each of Kringl's palms, each one made up of countless snowflake-like patterns.
Blue ghost-like figures flew out of the circles one after another.
Under Kringl's control, those ghosts burrowed into the surrounding rocks, trees, and all kinds of inanimate objects.
"Go!"
At his command, the rocks and trees possessed by the energy spirits seemed to come alive, surging toward the fleeing Snare-Oh as fast as they could.
In an instant, they piled on top of it and pinned it down completely.
"Cool! That Alien Hero is amazing. He can actually control rocks!" Ben blurted out.
"That's not quite it, because Cuz can control wood too," Gwen said.
"To be exact, I can control all inanimate objects, as long as I release energy spirits into them," Kringl explained briefly.
At that moment, underneath the heap of rocks and wood, the mummy broke itself apart into countless white bandages. Like a swarm of wriggling worms, they slipped through the cracks and crawled back out.
Then they reformed into the shape of Snare-Oh once again.
Boom.
Kringl hit the Omnitrix and transformed into Wildvine.
Kringl's energy was powerful, but it didn't seem especially effective against Snare-Oh.
Using Wildvine against the mummy was perfect. It would be a good chance to see which "stretchy hero" was stronger.
Wildvine shot out sharp tendrils that grew wildly, while Snare-Oh refused to back down and sent out a flood of white bandages.
The two wrapped around each other tightly, neither willing to let go.
A flash lit up in Wildvine's eyes. Sharp spikes burst from the surface of two elongated tendrils.
Slice, slice, slice!
The razor-sharp vine spikes cut through all of Snare-Oh's bandages and shredded its body into pieces, leaving it looking like a torn rag doll.
A second later, Snare-Oh was back to normal.
"Roar!!" Snare-Oh let out a furious howl, grabbed Wildvine around the waist with lightning speed, and slammed him hard into the ground.
Bang!
Wildvine felt dizzy at once as a terrifying force rippled through his entire body.
But he wasn't easy to handle either.
Using the momentum, Wildvine flowed downward and turned into countless vines that burrowed underground.
Two seconds later, they burst out at Snare-Oh's feet.
Wildvine erupted from the earth. The closed top of his head opened up like a flytrap baring its fangs, revealing his furious face.
Wildvine sprang into the air, bound Snare-Oh's body with the tough tendrils beneath him, then lashed out with his claws in a wild flurry of stabs and slashes.
In the blink of an eye, he tore Snare-Oh into a pile of white scraps.
But he still wasn't done. Wildvine leaped onto a tree, pulled more than a dozen black explosive fruits from behind his back, and hurled them all at once.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The pile of white bandages was swallowed by a series of violent explosions. Fierce gusts of wind kicked up, and clouds of smoke and dust swept outward in every direction.
"Did Snare-Oh die?" Ben stared at the explosion in shock.
Wasn't Wildvine under Cuz's control a little too strong?
Through the hazy smoke, a tall figure slowly rose to its feet, purple eyes glowing.
Snare-Oh was still alive.
"Roar!"
With a shriek, Snare-Oh charged out of the smoke like an unkillable cockroach and rushed straight at Ben.
Boom.
The Four-Armed Humungousaur charged in and clamped both hands down on Snare-Oh's arms.
"Ben, get over here!" the Four-Armed Humungousaur barked.
No matter how Snare-Oh struggled or shifted its body, the Four-Armed Humungousaur's grip stayed locked tight like iron vises.
Ben immediately understood and ran over.
Then the Four-Armed Humungousaur, still gripping Snare-Oh's bandages, brought it closer to Ben's Omnitrix...