The Statue Museum was quieter than Asher had expected.
After several minutes of persistent persuasion, Max finally abandoned his idea of hiring a tour guide and agreed to let everyone explore at their own pace. The compromise seemed reasonable enough, until Gwen volunteered herself as their personal docent.
She launched into detailed explanations at every exhibit, rattling off historical facts and artistic significance with the enthusiasm of someone who'd memorized every placard in advance. Her knowledge actually exceeded that of the professional guide they'd encountered earlier.
"Oh my God," Ben groaned, covering his face with both hands. "Gwen the nerd is worse than that old lady tour guide from before. They should be related."
"Just bear with it," Asher sighed, guiding Ben forward with a hand on his shoulder. "She'll tire herself out eventually. Let's just survive until then."
The three of them trailed behind Gwen's impromptu lecture tour until they reached the museum's central exhibition hall, where the most significant statues were displayed.
A crowd had already gathered around the main exhibit, an open display without any protective glass case. Visitors snapped photos freely, their camera flashes illuminating the grotesque features of the centerpiece.
It was a humanoid monster standing on two clawed feet, with a pair of massive bat-like wings folded against its back and four malevolent eyes carved into its stone face. The craftsmanship was incredibly lifelike, detailed enough to make several children in the crowd tremble and hide behind their parents.
Asher studied the statue with detached interest. If this thing were actually alive, it might be intimidating. But it's just carved rock. What's there to be scared of?
The demon statue wasn't alone. A matching gargoyle stood beside it, equally menacing in design. And between them, dominating the center of the hall, loomed a skeletal figure draped in flowing black robes, gripping a massive scythe in its bony hands.
Death itself, immortalized in stone.
The three sculptures formed an ominous triangle in the heart of the museum.
"Wait, where did Gwen go?" Ben's confused voice cut through Asher's observations.
Asher's eyes narrowed instantly, scanning the crowd. His relaxed posture vanished, replaced by alert tension. "She was right in front of us a second ago..."
Gwen had been leading their group just moments before. Now she'd vanished completely, not among the tourists, not by any nearby exhibit.
Could Hex have already taken her?!
The possibility sent ice through Asher's veins. After their previous encounters, he knew exactly what the dark magician was capable of, and what he wanted.
"Ben, Grandpa, with me. Now!"
He grabbed Ben's arm and rushed toward the museum's main entrance, weaving through confused visitors. Max followed immediately, recognizing the urgency in his grandson's voice.
BOOM!
Just as Asher reached for the door handle, the entrance burst open from outside!
A small figure squeezed through the gap before the heavy doors could slam shut, a girl wearing a mysterious black cat mask and a purple-and-black costume that looked like it belonged at a superhero convention.
Orange hair spilled out beneath the mask. Asher recognized her instantly.
Gwen!
"Gwen!" He quickly pulled her inside and secured the door behind her. "Thank God. I thought, never mind. Why did you suddenly change into your Lucky Girl costume?"
Gwen's expression was deadly serious beneath her mask. "I don't know how to explain it, Asher. But as a lucky woman, I felt danger approaching. The Charm of Luck practically demanded I put this on and come back here."
The pendant around her neck, the Charm of Luck that Asher had given her after their battle with Hex, flickered with an ethereal purple glow, as if confirming her words.
Ben, who'd been annoyed with Gwen's lecture tour all afternoon, couldn't resist. "Please, Gwen. Being a hero isn't about luck, it's about instinct. Real heroes don't need magical jewelry to tell them when something's wrong!"
"Oh really, doofus?" Gwen shot back without missing a beat. "You want to put on your little tin can suit and settle this? Because I'm not scared of you!"
"It's not a tin can, it's power armor, "
"Enough!" Asher stepped between them, his voice sharp with authority. "Both of you, stop. This isn't the time."
As the unofficial leader of their small hero team, his word carried weight. Ben and Gwen fell silent, though they continued glaring at each other.
Gwen adjusted her mask and followed Asher and the others back into the main exhibition hall. Her costume drew plenty of stares, a teenage girl in full superhero regalia wasn't exactly typical museum attire, but most visitors remained focused on the statues.
"Excuse me, young lady." A security guard approached Gwen with a stern expression. "This is a serious academic institution. I'm going to have to ask you to change into appropriate clothing before, "
"I'm being completely serious right now," Gwen interrupted, her voice tight with tension. "I'm Lucky Girl. There's danger coming to this museum. If you trust me, you should evacuate everyone immediately. My unease is getting worse by the second!"
The Charm of Luck pulsed more intensely, and Gwen could feel it now, a massive concentration of magical energy approaching rapidly.
"Please," the guard said impatiently, "this isn't a place for children to play make-believe. The museum doesn't allow, "
He never finished his sentence.
BOOM!!
The main entrance exploded inward!
The heavy wooden doors disintegrated into splinters and smoke, the detonation echoing through the hall like a thunderclap. Security guards, tourists, even the children who'd been photographing the statues, everyone froze in shock, staring at the smoking ruins of the doorway.
"That magical signature, it's here!" Gwen's eyes widened behind her mask.
A figure emerged from the smoke and debris, moving with deliberate, menacing slowness.
Black robes billowed around a gaunt frame. A staff topped with a serpentine skull gleamed in one pale hand. And that face, white as bone, marked with black tattoos that formed a permanent death's-head grin around cold, calculating eyes.
Hex had arrived.
The dark magician surveyed the museum with obvious contempt, his gaze sweeping across the terrified crowd before settling on a specific target.
The Charm of Luck around Gwen's neck.
His Charm of Luck. The one that had been torn from his necklace during their battle. The artifact he needed to complete the ritual detailed in the Archamada Book of Spells.
"My charm," Hex spoke, his voice carrying through the silent hall like a funeral bell. "It's not with those fools I pinned to the ceiling before."
With a casual wave of his staff, he demonstrated exactly what he meant.
WHOOSH!
Invisible force erupted throughout the museum!
Every person in the hall, tourists, guards, even Max, was suddenly yanked upward by an overwhelming gravitational pull. Bodies slammed into the ceiling with sickening thuds, pinned there by Hex's levitation spell like insects mounted on display boards!
Screams of terror and confusion filled the air as dozens of people struggled helplessly against the magical force holding them aloft.
But three figures remained on the ground.
Asher, Ben, and Gwen had lunged for the demon statue the instant Hex appeared, wrapping their arms around its stone body with desperate strength. The sculpture's massive weight anchored them against the levitation spell's pull.
And there, gleaming against Gwen's costume, was the Charm of Luck.
Hex's skull-tattooed face twisted with cruel satisfaction. "How convenient. The charm ended up on a little girl, and now the worst that could happen is that the fire creature took it from me."
He extended his staff toward the three teenagers, dark energy beginning to coalesce at its tip. His intention was clear, eliminate them all, then reclaim what was rightfully his.
"You think you've already won?" Asher's voice cut through the tension like a blade.
He glanced up at the ceiling, confirming that every civilian, including Max, was focused entirely on Hex. No one was watching him.
Good.
Without hesitation, Asher activated the Omnitrix interface, the holographic display casting green light across his determined features. Under Hex's increasingly alarmed gaze, he selected his transformation and slammed his palm down.
FLASH!
The burst of emerald light erupted simultaneously with the beam of dark energy that launched from Hex's staff!
"Why is this child radiating light? No, this light is familiar!" Hex's eyes widened with sudden recognition. "The fire creature from this morning was also born under this kind of light!"
But when the transformation completed, it wasn't flames that greeted him.
Standing where the boy had been was a towering figure, twelve feet of rippling crimson muscle, four massive arms ending in fists like wrecking balls, and four burning eyes fixed on the dark magician with absolute confidence.
Four Arms.
BOOM!
The dark energy beam struck Four Arms directly in the chest. The Tetramand's body was like an immovable mountain, he didn't shift a single inch. The magic that should have obliterated a normal human splashed harmlessly against his armored hide, unable to push him back even half a step.
"That boy..." Hex's expression shifted from confidence to genuine horror. "He can use that watch to transform into the fire-breathing creature and this four-armed monster. Perhaps even more forms I haven't seen!"
The realization hit him like a physical blow.
He'd come expecting to face a single enemy, perhaps the fire creature again, at worst.
Instead, he faced an enemy who could become multiple types of warriors, each with different abilities and strengths!
Four Arms cracked his neck, the sound echoing through the suddenly silent museum. A predatory smile spread across his alien features.
"That's right, skull-face. I've got a whole roster of aliens to choose from."
He raised all four fists.
"And you just picked a fight with the wrong one."