64. Alien Fungus

I woke up about two hours later, it was already dark outside and it was raining.

Getting out of bed, I walked past Ashley, who was still reading a book, and past Gwen, who was watching a movie on my laptop, and walked over to Grandfather, who was driving.

- What time is it? - I asked, sitting in the front seat next to Max.

- It's almost nine o'clock in the evening. - Grandfather answered, continuing to drive the bus.

- Weren't we supposed to be camping at eight in the evening? - I asked, pulling out my phone from the spatial storage to check the time. It's actually almost nine.

- Plans have changed. There was a collapse on the road, so we had to change the route. - Max said.

- So that's why we ended up in a mountainous area. - I said and looked out the bus window.

Now we were driving along a mountain road. I must say, the road itself was quite steep, with a lot of turns. And it's raining outside.

So it's no wonder Grandpa is so focused on the road right now. One wrong move and we fell off a cliff, straight down. It's good that Max is a really good driver. Basically, don't have to worry.

Just at that moment, right in front of our bus, a boy of about twelve jumped out and shouted:

- Help!!!

- Grandpa, hit the brakes. - I shouted.

I was about to turn into an alien to save the boy, but Grandfather was able to slow down in time.

The bus spun a little, but we were all safe. True, Ashley and Gwen fell to the floor because they weren't ready to stop, but they're fine.

The kid himself was also able to jump out of our way in time. But apparently from fright, he jumped too hard and now he is hanging over the abyss, holding on only to a branch.

Since Ashley and Gwen hadn't recovered from the emergency brake yet, I jumped out of the bus and ran to the kid.

Using magic, I created a magical construct in the form of a huge hand.

The boy had already lost all his strength and, releasing his hand, began to fall down.

Using x-ray vision, I looked through the rock and guided my construct.

A large blue hand grabbed the kid and squeezed his body. After that, I jerked my hand back and put the boy back on the road.

Dispelling my hand, I laid the boy down and looked at him. It looks like he lost consciousness from fear.

He didn't look very good. All pale and bags under the eyes. Since it's raining now, it's also frozen.

I didn't really want to pick up an unknown kid, so I once again created a big arm and took the guy with it and went to the bus.

I got on the bus and saw Gwen and Ashley. Everything happened so quickly that they had not even had time to realize what had happened, and only by this moment they were on their feet.

- How is he? - Grandpa asked as he unfastened his seat belt.

Getting up from the driver's seat, he walked around the girls who were turning their heads trying to recover, took the kid from the construct and laid him on the bed.

- All is well with him. He fell off a cliff, but I was able to catch him in time. He passed out from exhaustion and fear. He was also completely wet. - I said, going to the bed and standing behind Grandfather.

- It's clear. It's okay. - Grandpa said with a weary sigh. Well, yes, he must have been worried about all this. Still, he nearly hit the kid.

- His name is Gilbert. - Gwen said as she approached and pointed to the name patch on the kid's shirt.

She and Ashley had finally recovered from the sudden stop and were now looking at Gilbert with curiosity.

- Yes, the guy with the name was unlucky. - Ashley said with a laugh.

- I wonder what he was doing in the middle of the road at such a late hour? - Gwen asked.

- Judging by the patch, he's from some summer camp. - I said and took out my phone to check the card.

After a couple of minutes, I said:

- There is Camp Opinicon five kilometers from here. Apparently he's from there. It's just not clear why he was here.

- Maybe he just ran away from the camp. This often happens. In any case, we need to take him to the camp. He's probably already being looked for. Besides, there should be a medical center. - Grandpa said.

- Right. - I agreed.

- And what is it? - Ashley asked, pointing her finger at the lilac spot on Gilbert's arm.

- Do not touch. It may be contagious. - I said to Ashley and slapped her on the arm.

- Sorry. - Ashley said holding her hand.

- It's quite possible it's some kind of fungal infection. - Gwen said, looking at Gilbert's hand.

- Wait a minute. - said Grandpa and went to one of the lockers. From there, he took out a jar of powder from the fungus.

- This should help. - Max said, then sprinkled some powder on Gilbert's hand.

The fungus behaved very strangely. As soon as the powder touched Gilbert's hand, all the fungus twitched and then simply dissolved and disappeared.

We all looked at it with bulging eyes.

Oddly enough, Ashley was the first to recover from the shock. She quickly snatched the can of powder from Grandfather's hands and sprinkled it on her hands.

After spending half a can, she finally calmed down and looked at us.

Me, Grandpa and Gwen looked at her with dumb shock.

- What? Is it really contagious? - Ashley said.

Paying no more attention to Ashley, I looked at Gilbert's hand and touched it a little, after which I said:

- It certainly wasn't an ordinary fungus. Perhaps this is again the tricks of aliens. We'd better go to the camp.

"That's right, we need to get there as soon as possible. - said Grandpa and sat behind the wheel drove to the camp, following the map.

Five minutes later we were at the camp. Grandpa drove in through the main entrance and stopped the bus in front of one of the buildings.

Leaving Gilbert on the bus, we got off and went inside the building.

It turned out to be a dining room. Inside was complete destruction. Tables and chairs were overturned and food left behind.

- Wow, everyone is running away. - Ashley said, surveying the whole mess with curiosity.

- Yes, as if they were blown away by the wind. - Gwen said.

Grandpa walked over to one of the tables that was still standing and ran his hand over a bowl of spaghetti.

- The food is still hot, obviously they ran in a hurry. - Max said.

Just at that moment, there was a sound of thunder outside and the light was cut off.

Grandfather took out two flashlights, which he, just in case, took on the bus. He kept one for himself and gave the other one to Ashley and Gwen.

I took out my phone and turned on the light on it.

From the direction of the kitchen there was a noise, so, lighting the way, we went there. Entering the kitchen, we saw a bunch of dirty dishes. And nothing more.

Ashley and Gwen obviously didn't like the place and were trembling a little. It seems that they are already adult girls who have fought with aliens more than once, but are afraid of simple darkness. I don't understand them.

So that they would not be so scared, I let them take my hand. Gwen grabbed my arm and Ashley grabbed my elbow.

As we walked further into the kitchen, we saw two pairs of eyes that practically glowed in the dark. This scared Ashley and Gwen very much and they screamed.

I just lit up that place and saw two twins. They were a boy and a girl. They were about eight years old. They hid in the closet.

: Grandfather, I found the children. - I said to Max.

He will deal with children better and be able to calm them down. They were clearly very scared.

I paid attention to my girls. They were very frightened and were now trembling while holding my hand.

- Calm down. They are just scared kids. Pull yourself together. - I said, stroking the girls on the back, so that they would come to their senses.

After a couple of minutes, they were finally able to pull themselves together and no longer trembled. At least not as much as before.

While I was comforting my girls, Grandpa came over and started talking to the kids in the pantry.

- Are you okay? - Grandpa asked in a soothing tone.

- For now…

- Yes. - leaving the pantry, these children said in turn.

They seem to be the heirs of the Weasley twins and constantly take turns speaking after each other.

- What happened to you? And why are you hiding here? - Grandfather asked, ignoring the manner of speech of the children.

- There was some noise outside, but… - the boy began to say.

- We were scared to go out. -  and the girl finished.

- I'm Andy. - the boy introduced himself.

And I'm Mandy. - the girl said.

- And we are twins. - Andy and Mandy said at the same time hugging each other. It seems to be their favorite representation.

There was thunder outside, and the twins seemed to finally remember that they were scared. Shouting, they hid behind Max.

Just at this point, I calmed down my girls and was able to pay attention to the children.

- Where is everyone else? - I asked, waving my hands.

Ashley and Gwen were still scared, so they grabbed and hung on my arms. Although, judging by their cunning faces, they are no longer so afraid. They really like the way I calm them down and protect them.

- Everybody left. - Andy said, clutching Grandpa Max's leg.

- There is no one left here. - Mandy said, repeating the steps after her brother.

Grandfather visibly gloomed at their words, after which he went to the phone that hung on the wall and checked it.

- Apparently the hurricane damaged the telephone service. And cell phone too. - Max said, looking at his old cell phone.

- Let's go back to Gilbert's, and let's go to the city. - Grandpa said.

Everyone was willing to leave this terrible camp, so we all quickly went to the bus.

Once outside, I used telekinesis to create a shield over our heads to protect everyone from the rain.

Oddly enough, the twins didn't even notice. Well, good.

Going inside, Grandfather immediately got behind the wheel and tried to start the bus. But he didn't succeed.

Frowning, Max got off the bus, the rain had completely stopped. It happened very quickly and unexpectedly.

Raising the hood, Grandfather looked at the bus engine. A fungus sprouted on the entire motor, which is why the bus would not start.

- It looks like the whole motor is overgrown with some kind of fungus. - said Max, carefully looking at the motor.

Hearing his words, Ashley quickly ran into the bus and brought powder from there.

Seeing what Ashley had brought, Grandpa said thoughtfully:

- Maybe this will work.

Taking the powder from Ashley's hands, he began to sprinkle it on the motor. It really worked and the fungus started to disappear. But the powder was only enough for half of the entire fungus.

- Not enough. Well, we'll have to stay here. -  Grandpa said.

Taking Gilbert, we went to one of the cabins, following Andy and Mandy's directions. It turned out to be a living quarters, so we decided to stay here.

Putting Gilbert on one of the beds, Grandfather said:

- Stay here, keep an eye on Gilbert. I'll go to the kitchen to get food.

- I will go with you. - I immediately said.

- Good. Extra hands won't hurt. - Max said and left the house.

Before leaving, I took a serious look at Ashley and Gwen. Seeing my gaze, they immediately focused.

While Ashley and Mandy were distracted, I approached them and pressed a special point on their neck. This prompted them to fall asleep. I did the same with Gilbert so that he would not wake up early.

: There is definitely something wrong with this camp. Stay here and protect the children. Let them sleep better. They shouldn't know about aliens. Gwen, cover the door and window with your magic shields. - I ordered and went out.

- Good. - Gwen said.

They know when to joke and when to obey me implicitly.

As I walked out the door, using my super vision, I saw Gwen put up her magical shields.

Since Gwen listened to me, I can not worry about them and focus on the case.

Moving away from the house, I saw how several humanoid mushrooms attacked grandfather. He was quickly tied up and dragged into the forest.

I was about to save Max, but I stopped. Judging by the eyes, he saw me and knows that I am near. So Grandfather wants to be taken to the lair of these mushrooms. There I will save him and solve the local problem.

Just in case, I used telepathy. And yes, I was right. This is his plan.

It is clear that Max has long understood that this camp is not so simple. Of course, I could find the fungus den myself and decide everything, but since Grandfather wants it so, I will act according to his plan.

I quickly turned into a Chamalien and, merging with the terrain, ran after the kidnappers.

I had little time to examine myself, but I noticed that I was still wearing pants. Thank God. I wouldn't want to be naked.

Five minutes later, we were in a strange area. Here everything was in strange luminous mushrooms. It must be said that it was quite a beautiful sight, but I could not be distracted.

Max was dragged into a cave. Going after him, I saw that the humanoid mushrooms had already gone somewhere. And Grandfather's body is entwined with roots.

Since I knew what to do next, I quickly turned into Ditto and created a clone, which turned into the Two-Tails and freed Grandpa from captivity, teleported back to the camp.

I, on the other hand, turned into an XLR8 and ran inside the cave. I moved so fast that the roots couldn't catch me.

After a couple of minutes, I arrived at the very heart of the cave. There was a Mycelium here. I must say it's a nasty thing. Something like a brain. Also with teeth.

When I got close to the Mycelium, the Omnitrix glowed yellow. Apparently, I got the Wildvine. It's rather strange, but I'm not up to it.

The whole earth shook. It looks like the mycelium wants to grow mushrooms with its spores. I would not like to allow this. That's why I turned into Heatblast. The Mycelium picker is still too big, so I also started running mana through the body.

Blue haze came out of me. This time, I used Mana to increase not physical characteristics, but the power of my fire.

When everything was ready, I released all my fire at full power. The Mycelium picker from the heat of my flame was simply wiped off the face of the earth.

But I didn't stop there. I continued to pour fire all over the cave.

From my flame, everything in the area burned and melted. Ten minutes later, I destroyed everything that was possible.

With that done, I turned into the Two-Tails and returned to the Camp.

There, I saw that the half of the camp was strewn with mushrooms, more like flowers with closed buds.

It seems that despite the fact that I was in a hurry, the Mycelium managed to grow some of the mushrooms with their spores.

Once again human, I looked around. Not far from the dining room, I saw my family.

In the hands of Grandpa, Gwen and Ashley were cans of powder. Looks like they found the infirmary and found fungus powder there.

When they saw me, they smiled and waved at me.

- How are you? - Grandpa asked.

- Things are good. I destroyed the Mycelium and the entire cave. There's nothing left. It is only necessary to destroy these disputes.

- We found powder. It works great against these alien fungus. - Ashley said happily.

- Alright, let's get this over with and go to bed. - Gwen said with a yawn.

Using our telekinesis, Ashley and I created a huge cloud of powder, which was lowered over the entire area.

The medicine completely destroyed all remnants of alien spores and we were able to relax.

Having finished with everything, we returned to the house. There, we checked on Andy, Mandy and Gilbert. Since they were still sleeping, Grandpa decided to leave them like that.

Max stayed with them at the cabin to take care of them while me, Gwen and Ashley got back on the bus. There we lay down on the bed and fell asleep in an embrace.

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