Like a spear of godly lightning hurled from the heavens, the concentrated thermal beam struck Dr. Animo with devastating force, sending him tumbling from the stratosphere in a blazing arc of destruction.
The friction of his high-speed descent through the atmosphere created a cocoon of superheated air around his body, turning him into a living meteor as he plummeted toward the Earth below. Even with his enhanced physiology and supernatural healing abilities, Dr. Animo understood that a fall from this altitude would likely prove fatal.
He spread his regenerated wings desperately, fighting against the tremendous air resistance that threatened to tear the delicate membranes apart. The residual heat from Ben's attack continued to char the wing surfaces, weakening them further, but any reduction in his falling speed was worth the pain.
Using every ounce of his remaining strength, Dr. Animo managed to adjust his trajectory toward the convergence point of three major rivers that flowed through Manhattan. The deep water there represented his only hope of surviving the impact, and if he could reach the bottom of the river system, he might still have a chance to escape and regroup.
But Ben had no intention of allowing his opponent to reach safety.
Positioning his arms behind his body and bringing his feet together, Ben ignited powerful flame jets from both his hands and feet. The resulting propulsion system generated enough thrust to launch a space shuttle into orbit, and it sent him rocketing downward like a guided missile pursuing its target.
Despite starting his descent after Dr. Animo, Ben's superior propulsion system allowed him to close the distance with frightening speed. Within moments, he had overtaken his falling opponent and was in position to deliver another decisive strike.
Ben raised his arm and unleashed another precisely aimed thermal laser.
Hiss!
The beam sliced cleanly through both of Dr. Animo's wing membranes, leaving behind only the skeletal framework of bone and cartilage. Without functional wings, his ability to control his descent was completely eliminated.
While Dr. Animo's healing factor could eventually regenerate the damaged tissue, the process would require time—and time was the one resource he no longer possessed. From an altitude of several thousand meters, even the most optimistic calculations gave him less than three minutes before impact.
The dark waters of the Hudson River rushed up to meet him with the inevitability of gravity itself.
Dr. Animo struck the water's surface with the force of a small meteorite. The surface tension of the river, combined with his tremendous velocity, made the impact feel like colliding with solid concrete. The collision sent a massive column of water erupting skyward, creating artificial rainfall across several city blocks and generating waves large enough to threaten the cargo ships and pleasure craft anchored nearby.
The tremendous impact shattered virtually every bone in Dr. Animo's body and ruptured most of his internal organs in an instant. For any normal creature, such injuries would have meant immediate death.
But Dr. Animo's enhanced physiology was several times more robust than even Connors' transformed state, and his healing abilities operated at a correspondingly accelerated rate. Despite feeling as though his body had been completely destroyed, he regained consciousness almost immediately and began the agonizing process of regeneration.
His only viable strategy now was escape. If he could reach the deeper parts of the river system and find a place to hide while his body healed...
But escape was not an option.
Splash!
Ben dove into the river without hesitation, his superheated body causing the surrounding water to boil instantly. Any fish unfortunate enough to be swimming nearby were flash-cooked by the thermal shock, floating to the surface as an unintended seafood buffet.
Contrary to popular belief, Heatblast was not particularly vulnerable to water. While he couldn't generate flames as effectively in an aquatic environment, the liquid wouldn't extinguish his internal fire or threaten his life. He could even breathe and speak normally while submerged.
However, water's high specific heat capacity did present a significant tactical disadvantage. The surrounding liquid constantly absorbed thermal energy from his body, effectively reducing his overall power output and forcing him to work harder to maintain his temperature.
Recognizing these limitations, Ben made a strategic decision.
"Life Lock mode, disengaged," he announced, pressing the Omnitrix's central control interface.
With Peter's assistance during their earlier hacking session, Ben had gained enhanced control over the device's core functions. He had implemented three primary modifications: the Life Lock mode for extended transformations, manual transformation switching for tactical flexibility, and a stealth appearance mode to reduce the device's visibility.
For underwater combat, he needed a specialist.
"Ripjaws!"
The flames surrounding Ben's body immediately extinguished as his molecular structure shifted once again. His lava-based physiology dissolved away, replaced by the distinctive anatomy of a Piscciss Volann.
His skin became a mottled gray-green color perfectly adapted for aquatic camouflage. His head elongated into a fish-like shape topped with a natural bioluminescent lure, while his hands developed webbed claws designed for swimming. Most dramatically, his legs fused together and extended into a powerful mermaid-style tail that could propel him through water faster than most torpedoes.
The overall effect was reminiscent of a mythological sea creature—if mermaids had evolved in heavily polluted waters and developed a taste for industrial waste.
Ripjaws hailed from Piscciss, a planet with vast aquatic environments where underwater combat was both an art form and a survival necessity. While his physical strength on land was relatively modest, his aquatic abilities were extraordinary. Most notably, his jaw strength was legendary—capable of biting through materials that would challenge industrial equipment.
Even Tony Stark's titanium-gold armor alloys would crumble like crackers under Ripjaws' bite force.
Ben's powerful tail strokes sent him cutting through the water like a living torpedo as he pursued Dr. Animo into the river's darker depths.
Dr. Animo had managed to swim into the deeper sections of the river where sunlight couldn't penetrate, creating an environment of almost complete darkness. He felt a surge of relief as the cold water surrounded him, soothing his heat-damaged tissues and providing the kind of environment his cold-blooded physiology preferred.
The crushing thermal output that had made Heatblast so dangerous was no longer a factor in this aquatic environment. Here, Dr. Animo felt confident he could outlast any pursuit.
"If I can stay hidden in these depths, that fire monster won't be able to follow me," he thought with growing optimism. "And next time we meet, I'll be ready for him!"
"There won't be a next time, Dr. Animo."
The voice seemed to emerge from the darkness itself, causing Dr. Animo to spin around in alarm.
He saw a white streak cutting through the black water like an arrow fired from some aquatic bow, moving toward him with predatory intent and impossible speed.
Ben closed the distance in an instant, his webbed claws latching onto Dr. Animo's torso before his opponent could react. His massive jaws—now extended far beyond normal human proportions—opened wide enough to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth.
The bite that followed was precise and devastating, Ripjaws' fangs easily penetrating Dr. Animo's enhanced hide and tearing away a substantial chunk of flesh.
"Agh!" Dr. Animo's scream sent bubbles streaming toward the surface as river water flooded into his nasal passages.
While the injury itself was not life-threatening given Dr. Animo's healing abilities, Ben's intention hadn't been to deliver a killing blow. Instead, he used the wound as an injection site, forcing a syringe of serum antidote directly into Dr. Animo's bloodstream.
The antidote spread rapidly through his circulatory system, immediately beginning to neutralize the genetic modifications that had given him his enhanced healing factor. Dr. Animo's hopes of recovery and eventual retaliation crumbled as he felt his regenerative abilities diminishing by the second.
Ben grasped one of Dr. Animo's horn-like protrusions and began swimming toward the nearest sewer outlet, dragging his captive through the underwater tunnel system until they reached dry land.
Once on shore, Ben canceled his transformation back to human form. Ripjaws' considerable strength was optimized for aquatic environments, and Dr. Animo's current mass of several tons was beyond what the alien form could effectively manage on land.
As the transformation completed, the third modification Ben had made to the Omnitrix became apparent. The device automatically entered stealth mode, altering its appearance to resemble an ordinary wristwatch and concealing the distinctive hourglass symbol that might attract unwanted attention.
While Ben preferred the Omnitrix's original design, the recent events had certainly drawn SHIELD's notice. Any alien technology would be subject to intense investigation, and Ben had no desire to become a person of interest in their files.
Unfortunately, despite his successful modifications to the device's existing functions, he hadn't yet managed to unlock any new alien forms. That particular challenge would require additional research.
"Do you really think you've won?" Dr. Animo gasped, his voice weak but still carrying a note of defiance.
Despite his obvious defeat, he seemed to be drawing strength from some hidden knowledge.
"Take a guess," he continued with obvious satisfaction, "where do you think I left my genetic mutation device?"
Ben glanced at his captive and realized that Dr. Animo indeed hadn't been carrying the genetic mutation device during their battle.
"I integrated the mutation device with the Canary transmission array before we began fighting," Dr. Animo explained with growing excitement. "Even as we speak, it's powering up to broadcast genetic modification signals across all of Manhattan!"
His eyes blazed with fanatic fervor as he continued, "Soon, every person in New York will be transformed into a new species! My vision of evolution will be realized regardless of what happens to me!"
"I haven't failed yet!" he declared, clearly expecting to see despair or frustration on Ben's face.
But Ben's expression remained perfectly calm.
"Really?" he replied with obvious amusement. "Then perhaps you'd like to guess where Dr. Connors is right now?"
The question hit Dr. Animo like a physical blow, draining the confidence from his features as the implications became clear.
Earlier, Ben had divided their mission objectives. Peter had been sent back to Queens with strict instructions to protect Ben, Sr. and May from any potential retaliation. Dr. Connors, despite his recent transformation and the trauma of his defeat, had volunteered for what might be the most crucial task of all.
Since Connors had claimed familiarity with the operation of Animo's genetic mutation device, Ben had dispatched him to locate and disable the mutation broadcast system before it could complete its activation sequence.
Dr. Animo's face went pale as he realized the full extent of his miscalculation—just before Ben struck him, knocking him unconscious.
A few minutes later, Dr. Connors who is still on his mutated form due to Animo modification emerged from a side tunnel, carrying the genetic mutation device like a trophy of war. The device that was supposed to transform all of Manhattan had been permanently deactivated.
Dr. Animo's grand vision of forced evolution had come to an end.
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