Max displayed extraordinary driving skills, drifting the Rustbucket around tight corners and weaving through traffic like a professional racer as they sped toward the Natural History Museum.
In the back, Cian and Ben were "overtime-eating"—shoving down Max's insect sliders as fast as they could swallow. As Max put it: eat them while they're hot, then go "get to work"!
Moments later, the RV was forced to a halt. The road leading to the museum was a graveyard of abandoned vehicles, clogged by people fleeing in every direction.
"The road is blocked," Max said, his face grim as he slammed his palm against the steering wheel.
"Then we take to the sky!"
Cian wiped his mouth and confidently activated the Glitch Watch, scrolling for a specific number. A blinding red light pulsed, filling the cabin as he kicked the door open.
Thump.
A gargantuan, foul-smelling insectoid creature stepped onto the pavement. Four long tentacles on its face served as both eyes and biological cannons, and its mouth was filled with dagger-like serrated teeth. A viscous, yellow fluid dripped from its maw, sizzling as it ate into the asphalt.
This was Glitch Stinkfly, complete with enhanced corrosive bile.
"We'll call you..." Ben stepped down, looking up at the towering bug. "Fly-Devil!!"
"Ben, let's move!"
Cian took off instantly, his powerful wings creating a localized gale. He snagged Ben's shoulders with his serrated claws and hauled him into the air.
"Whoa! I'm flying! So this is what it feels like!" Ben flailed his limbs with excitement, his face lighting up. "This is my first time in the air!"
"Heh, really?" Cian's mouth-parts twitched. He muttered under his breath, "Did he get amnesia from the car ride...?"
The gates of the Natural History Museum had been turned into twisted scrap metal.
A Tyrannosaurus Rex emerged, its eyes glowing a sickly scarlet, its body built like a biological tank. Behind it came a pair of mammoths, their massive bulks moving like living mountains. Finally, a gargantuan Triceratops with armor-plated skin stomped into view.
Dr. Animo sat atop the Triceratops like a king, gripping its horns as if they were a seatbelt. Swarms of mutated insects buzzed around his prehistoric cavalry.
"Next, I shall take you all to the Truth Awards," Animo muttered to his pets. "I'll show them my genius! But you must be careful..."
Deep down, he was still terrified of meeting that "Horror Organization" again. Compared to the things he'd seen in the supermarket, he, Dr. Animo, felt like a five-star law-abiding citizen.
Swoosh!
A shadow passed over Animo. Cian hovered above, holding Ben over the drop zone. He looked down with a cold sneer. "You sure you want to play it this way, Ben?"
"Heck yeah, it's cooler!" Ben nodded vigorously. "I've imagined this a thousand times!"
Drop!
Cian released his grip. As Ben plummeted toward the ground, he slammed his fist into the core of his cracked, green watch. A brilliant emerald halo erupted in the night sky like a firework.
Animo looked up just in time to see a four-armed powerhouse descending like a meteor.
CRASH!
Ben—now Four Arms—landed in a three-point stance, the concrete shattering beneath him. He stood up slowly, his muscles rippling, unbothered by the impact. "Hey, Animo! You nerd! I'm here to play with your little pets!"
"You?" Animo blinked, staring at the red-skinned alien. "Wait... you actually look kind of... cute?"
After the visual trauma of the Glitch Watch, the original Four Arms looked practically pleasant to Animo's eyes.
"Cute?! I'm a powerhouse!!" Ben roared, charging forward.
Trumpet! Trumpet!
The two mammoths let out deafening bellows, lowering their tusks and charging. Ben tensed every muscle and met them head-on, the collision of flesh and bone echoing through the street.
"Why does this feel... different?" Animo frowned, watching Ben struggle. "The monster from earlier today felt like it knew exactly what it was doing—like every move was planned. This one... feels like he's just figuring it out as he goes!"
"You're smarter than you look!" a lethal voice hissed from above.
Animo looked up.
Ptui!
The giant insectoid Cian whipped a facial tentacle forward, spitting a glob of concentrated corrosive phlegm. It hissed as it burned through the air.
Pop!
A giant mutated cockroach flew into the path of the projectile, acting as a shield. It was instantly melted into a puddle of black slag.
"Wow, cockroaches? You really think these bugs are going to turn the tide?" Cian hovered indifferently.
"It's YOU! You're all part of the same group!" Animo gritted his teeth, finally connecting the dots.
"Correct." Cian nodded.
"Curse you! What else can you do? You're just a bug! T-Rex, bite him!"
The Tyrannosaurus lunged, its fifty-foot frame leaping into the air with terrifying agility, its jaws snapping at Cian's wings. Cian didn't move. He simply reached for the dial on his chest, a playful, dark expression on his face.
Just as the T-Rex's teeth were about to close around him...
"Wait, wait!!" Animo's face went pale. "Why is he glowing?"
FLASH!
A horrific red light exploded from Cian's body. The T-Rex's jaws clamped down on the light, only to meet something impossibly hard.
RUMBLE!
A high-speed, spinning golden sphere erupted from the light, slamming directly into the T-Rex's head. The sphere rotated with violent force, grinding against the dinosaur's skull. Sparks flew, and the T-Rex's teeth shattered one by one as it was driven back into the ground.
It was the first time in history a T-Rex had experienced a concussion.
"A-woo..." The dinosaur's fierce gaze went dim and dizzy as it staggered back in fear.
The massive golden sphere slammed into the pavement and unfurled, revealing a terrifying face. The armor of this Glitch Cannonbolt was a bruised gold, but his face was streaked with dark stains and a pungent, metallic stench. His mouth was a jagged row of fangs.
Worst of all, as the Glitch Cannonboltr tensed his muscles, thousands of micro-spikes erupted from the golden plating of his shell.
"The dial... that's the source of your power!" Animo deduced, his breathing becoming shallow. "Everyone! Attack! Kill this monster!!"
Cian looked calmly at the army of dinosaurs and insects. He glanced back at Ben. "Hey, Four-Arms! What do you think I should call this one?"
"Call me Four Arms! And you... you should be..." Ben didn't stop punching mammoths as he thought of a name.