SHRIIIEK!
The first ray of light from Dr. Animo's Transmodulator struck a cockroach skittering across the dirt outside the prison walls. The insect's transformation was immediate and grotesque.
Its body swelled like a balloon being overinflated, chitinous plates expanding and cracking as they stretched to accommodate the sudden growth. Two long antennae shot upward like twin swords, crimson plating spreading across its back in waves. Six legs thickened into trunk-like appendages covered in bristling black hairs that looked more like spikes.
Within seconds, what had been an ordinary pest was now a monster the size of a small bear, its mandibles sharp enough to cut steel.
"Magnificent!" Dr. Animo adjusted his hippie glasses, eyes gleaming behind the lenses. "The Transmodulator's effects are even more potent on already-enhanced subjects. This cockroach has become something truly extraordinary, comparable in durability to an armored vehicle!"
"That's not gonna be enough, Doc," Clancy said tersely, his green-yellow eyes fixed on the distant prison entrance. Through his telepathic link with the insect swarm, he could sense the reinforcements gathering, dozens of armed guards mobilizing to stop them. "We need more. A lot more."
"Patience, my friend." Dr. Animo's grin widened. "This was merely the appetizer. Now... for the main course."
He swiveled the Transmodulator's beam toward a line of ants crawling near his feet, dozens of them moving in single file.
FZZZZZT!
The light washed over them all at once.
The ground seemed to buckle and shift as the ants exploded in size simultaneously. What had been a narrow line of insects became a writhing mass of bodies each growing to the size of housecats. Their segmented bodies gleamed like polished obsidian, and their mandibles, now large enough to bite through bone, clicked together with sounds like gunshots.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
One of the transformed ants took a single experimental step. Its leg punched straight through the dirt road, leaving a perfect impression nearly six inches deep. The ant paused, tilting its massive head, then took another step, this one with more force. The ground shuddered.
Dr. Animo laughed with genuine delight. "Look at them! Regular ants can carry twenty to thirty times their own body weight. Now, at this size, each one possesses strength equivalent to at least a thousand pounds!"
"Beautiful," Clancy breathed, his voice filled with something like paternal pride. "My children... you've become so strong."
His eyes flared that sickly green-yellow, and the connection between him and the insects intensified. Commands flowed from his mind to theirs, attack, defend, kill, as natural as breathing.
Dr. Animo lowered the Transmodulator, satisfaction radiating from every line of his face. "An army of enhanced ants, a squadron of giant wasps, and our crimson champion here." He gestured to the mutant cockroach, which chittered aggressively. "Let's introduce the reinforcements to our new friends, shall we?"
In truth, Dr. Animo could control these creatures just as easily as Clancy could. The Transmodulator's secondary function allowed him to exert telepathic influence over anything he'd mutated, a little detail he'd never shared with his "partner."
But letting Clancy think he was the master of the swarm? That served Dr. Animo's purposes perfectly. If the bug-man developed delusions of grandeur, well... accidents happened. Especially when surrounded by creatures loyal to their true creator.
For now, though, Animo thought, we have a common enemy.
The outer gate of the prison burst open with a metallic screech.
Support staff poured out, at least forty armed men carrying submachine guns and rifles, their faces grim with determination. They'd been briefed on the situation: two escaped prisoners, some kind of insect situation, possibly armed.
None of them were prepared for what they actually saw.
"Holy shit!" The lead guard skidded to a halt, nearly tripping over his own feet. "What the hell is that?!"
The giant wasp hovered twenty feet in the air, its wingspan wider than a car. The crimson cockroach stood like a sentinel, its antenna twitching. And between them, covering nearly every visible surface of the ground, was a seething carpet of cat-sized ants.
"Open fire!" someone screamed. "All units, open fire!"
BRATATATATATA!
Gunfire erupted like thunder, muzzle flashes lighting up the prison yard in rapid succession. Bullets tore through the air, hundreds of them, shredding the smaller wasps and ordinary insects like paper.
The mutant cockroach, however, didn't even flinch.
Bullets struck its crimson carapace and ricocheted, sparking off the hardened shell like raindrops on steel. The creature's entire body gleamed as if polished, each impact only seeming to make it more aggressive.
The enhanced ants fared slightly better, or worse, depending on perspective. Bullets punched shallow grooves into their segmented bodies, leaving tiny craters that oozed clear fluid. But the wounds were superficial at best, and the pain only made their eyes glow brighter with rage.
They charged.
"Fall back! FALL BACK!"
The giant wasp dove from above, moving faster than anything that size had any right to move. Its stinger, thick as a spear shaft, lanced through the air and skewered a guard clean through the chest before he could even scream. The wasp yanked back, flinging the body aside like garbage, and immediately targeted another victim.
The enhanced ants hit the front line like a wave of black death.
One ant seized a guard's leg in its mandibles and bit down. The man's scream cut off abruptly as the ant's jaws sheared through flesh and bone with the ease of scissors through paper. Another guard tried to run but only made it three steps before ants swarmed him, dragging him down beneath a chittering, clicking mass of bodies.
"No! Don't, AAAHHH!"
"Someone call for backup! We need the military! We need, "
The mutant cockroach charged into the fray like a battering ram. Its sheer mass knocked men aside, trampling them underfoot, crushing bones and organs with mechanical indifference. Its mandibles snapped shut on a rifle, cutting the weapon in half with a single bite.
In the distance, on the guard towers positioned along the outer wall, two snipers scrambled to set up their anti-material rifles, weapons designed to stop vehicles, not insects. They were the prison's last line of defense, tasked with taking down high-value targets.
"Target the two prisoners!" one sniper barked, peering through his scope. The crosshairs centered on Dr. Animo's head, finger tightening on the trigger,
VVVVVT!
A wasp, one of the smaller, dog-sized ones, slammed into the tower's window like a missile. Glass shattered inward, and the sniper jerked back, firing wildly. His bullet went wide, punching a hole in the dirt road fifty feet from Dr. Animo's position.
The second sniper didn't get a chance to fire at all. Three wasps descended on his tower simultaneously, stingers flashing like rapiers. He died before he could even scream.
Down in the killing field, the slaughter continued.
Most of the guards had abandoned their weapons entirely, running full-sprint toward the prison's main building in hopes of barricading themselves inside. But the ants were faster. They caught the fleeing men one by one, dragging them back into the swarm like prey into a spider's web.
The screaming gradually faded. Then stopped entirely.
Dr. Animo surveyed the carnage with clinical detachment, hands clasped behind his back. "Efficient. Very efficient."
Clancy wiped a speck of blood from his cheek, his expression somewhere between satisfaction and ecstasy. "Told you my children could handle it."
"Our children," Dr. Animo corrected smoothly. "And they're not finished. They still need proper... nourishment... before we move on."
Clancy's grin turned feral. "Yeah. They're probably starving after all that work."
Neither man looked back as the surviving insects descended on the corpses.
Several minutes later, the two villains departed, Dr. Animo riding atop the crimson cockroach like some nightmarish cavalry officer, Clancy perched on the giant wasp with his arms spread wide like wings. Behind them marched the enhanced ant army, their mandibles still dripping red.
They headed toward the city proper, following the dirt road that would eventually lead them to main streets and neighborhoods.
Everyone they passed took one look at the procession and fled screaming into their homes, slamming doors and windows shut. Parents grabbed their children and hid in basements. Shopkeepers locked their gates. Within minutes, an entire district of the city had become a ghost town.
The news spread faster than wildfire.
"Breaking News, This Just In!"
The television screens across the city flickered to urgent broadcasts, interrupting scheduled programming with flashing red alerts.
"According to reports from federal agents and local law enforcement on the scene, a catastrophic prison break has occurred at the county detention facility," a grim-faced news anchor announced, her voice tight with barely controlled panic. "All prisoners and staff inside the facility are confirmed dead, killed by what witnesses describe as an army of mutated insects."
The screen cut to grainy footage shot from a helicopter: an overhead view of the prison yard littered with bodies, and two figures riding monstrous creatures down the road.
"The only survivors are the two individuals believed responsible, identified as Dr. Aloysius Animo and a man known only as Clancy, both high-security inmates previously detained for crimes involving genetic experimentation and ecological terrorism."
Another cut, this time to ground-level footage shot by someone's phone camera from a safe distance. The enhanced ants filled the frame, their size grotesquely disproportionate to reality.
"Authorities are warning all residents in the downtown area to remain indoors and secure all entry points. If you have access to pesticides, keep them readily available. If you have access to heavier armaments..." The anchor swallowed hard. "...you may wish to have those prepared as well."
The screen split to show side-by-side mugshots: Dr. Animo's wild white hair and manic grin, Clancy's blue-green skin and sharp teeth.
"These individuals are considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached under any circumstances. Military forces are being mobilized, but in the meantime, "
Across the city, in homes and offices and public spaces, people stared at their screens in mounting horror.
This wasn't just a prison break.
This was the beginning of something far worse.
Inside the restaurant where the Tennysons had been enjoying lunch, the atmosphere shifted dramatically.
Asher had just finished the last bite of his fried rice, savoring the perfectly balanced flavors. He'd pushed back from the table with a contented sigh, rubbing his stomach. That was exactly what I needed, he thought. A nice, peaceful meal after all the chaos lately.
Ben and Gwen sat nearby, both focused on the massive 4K television mounted on the restaurant's wall. They'd been watching some cooking competition show, laughing at the contestants' dramatic meltdowns over undercooked soufflés.
Then the emergency broadcast cut in.
The cheerful music vanished, replaced by that distinctive sharp tone that always preceded breaking news. The screen flickered to the female anchor's serious face.
", reports coming in now about a mass casualty event at, "
Ben's expression went from casual to alert in an instant. Gwen straightened in her seat, eyes narrowing.
Asher turned toward the screen just as the first images appeared: the prison yard covered in bodies, the giant insects, and then,
"Dr. Animo?!" Asher's eyes widened in recognition. "And... wait, is that, "
The camera zoomed in on Clancy's distinctive blue-green face, his sharp teeth bared in what might've been a smile or a snarl.
"No way," Gwen breathed. "They were in the same prison?"
The news anchor continued her report, cycling through increasingly disturbing footage: the mutant cockroach tearing through metal fencing like paper, the enhanced ants swarming over vehicles, the giant wasp silhouetted against the sky.
", currently moving through the downtown district toward an unknown destination. All residents are advised to, "
Around the restaurant, other patrons had stopped eating entirely. Some had gone pale. One woman gagged and covered her mouth, pushing away her plate like the sight of food suddenly repulsed her.
"Oh god," someone whispered. "Are those things... are they eating, "
The television mercifully cut away before showing anything too graphic, but the implication hung in the air like poison.
Max appeared at their table, his face set in that particular expression Asher recognized, the one that meant mission mode. "Kids, we need to go. Now."
"But Grandpa, " Ben started.
"We don't have time for arguments. Asher, you said earlier you wanted a quiet day?" Max grabbed his jacket from the chair. "I'm afraid that's off the table. Get to the Rust Bucket, all of you."
Asher was already moving, his mind racing. Dr. Animo and Clancy, working together. Dozens of enhanced insects, maybe more. And from the look of that footage, they were heading somewhere specific, somewhere with a purpose.
But where?
"Wait!" The restaurant owner, an older man with concerned eyes, grabbed Max's sleeve as they headed for the door. "You can't go out there! Didn't you hear the news? Those... those things are out on the streets! It's too dangerous, especially for children!"
"I appreciate your concern," Max said gently but firmly, "but we have to go. Trust me."
"But the news footage is from several minutes ago!" the owner insisted. "Whatever's happening out there could be right outside by now! At least wait for the military to, "
CRASH!
Every head in the restaurant whipped toward the entrance.
A shadow passed across the window, something massive and fast, blocking out the sunlight for a brief, heart-stopping moment.
Then silence.
Asher's hand had already moved to the Omnitrix, fingers hovering over the activation dial. His enhanced senses were screaming at him, every instinct telling him that something was very, very wrong.
The front door's glass rattled slightly. From outside came a sound, a wet, chittering noise that made Asher's skin crawl.
Then laughter.
Cold. Mocking. Unmistakable.
"Well, well, well!" Dr. Animo's voice drifted through the door, amplified and theatrical. "Asher Tennyson! How convenient that you've saved us the trouble of searching the entire city. Tell me, are you so eager to face us that you couldn't even wait for us to come find you? How... thoughtful."
The shadow shifted again. Through the window, Asher caught a glimpse of crimson carapace and twitching antennae.
Dr. Animo stepped into view at the entrance, his white hair wild, his hippie glasses reflecting the afternoon sun. The Transmodulator helmet gleamed on his head like some kind of twisted crown. Behind him, perched on the giant wasp with arms spread wide, Clancy grinned like a madman.
And surrounding them both, filling the street from curb to curb, was the swarm.
Hundreds of enhanced ants. Dozens of giant wasps. The crimson cockroach standing like a general surveying its army.
Dr. Animo's grin widened until it looked almost painful.
"Hello again, boy," he said softly, his voice dripping with venom. "Did you miss me?"
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