"We're calling it Glitch Roaring Devil!" Ben yelled over the roar of the fire. His knack for naming was the only thing keeping the atmosphere from becoming a pure horror movie.
Dr. Animo's face twisted in a mask of pure rage. "You dare name my creations? You dare treat this like a game?!"
THUD!
The Tyrannosaurus Rex lunged at Cian, though its scarlet eyes betrayed a deep, primal hesitation. Mutant cockroaches swarmed the air around the golden sphere, chittering in a hive-mind frenzy.
"Get lost!"
Cian curled into a massive, serrated golden ball. He didn't dodge; he met the T-Rex head-on. The impact was sickening. With a single pass, the T-Rex staggered back, its thick hide riddled with bloody puncture wounds from the Glitch armor's micro-spikes.
"Don't even think about running!"
Cian bounced off the museum walls, gaining speed with every leap, striking the T-Rex again and again. The apex predator of the ancient world was being treated like a tetherball, completely unable to find its footing. The swarming cockroaches were shredded into a fine mist by the sheer wind pressure of Cian's rotation.
"Curse you!" Animo roared, leaping off the Triceratops. "Triceratops, intercept that golden freak! Cockroaches, swarm the red one!"
The beasts obeyed with eerie precision. The Triceratops lowered its massive frill and charged Cian, its weight shaking the foundations of the museum.
BOOM!
The collision was like two freight trains meeting. Despite the size difference—where the Triceratops was a tank and the Roaring Devil was the size of a small car—it was the dinosaur that stopped dead. Cian's "Peak Human" boosted density made him feel like a mountain of solid lead.
Meanwhile, Ben was being mobbed. "Ugh! Get off me! These bugs are disgusting!" Ben roared, swinging his four arms to swat the mutated roaches. Every time he crushed one, it exploded in a spray of foul-smelling ichor. "I can't take it! This is gross!"
The battlefield was a mess of prehistoric fury and modern gore. The T-Rex and Triceratops began to flank Cian, closing off his rolling lanes. Ben was being pushed back by the sheer volume of the insect swarm.
"This is it!" Animo cackled, holding his transmodulator high. "I, Dr. Animo, shall have the final victory! Hahaha!"
Suddenly, Cian leaped. He curled into a tight ball mid-air, ricocheting off the heads of the T-Rex and Triceratops like a pinball before soaring high into the night sky.
"Is he running? Don't let him escape!" Animo pointed upward.
CRASH.
Cian landed heavily in front of Ben, the shockwave knocking the mammoths back.
"Cian!" Ben hissed, his voice desperate. "Swap with me! You handle the bugs, I'll take the big guys! Or we're gonna lose!"
"Don't worry, Ben." Cian stood up slowly, his clawed hand hovering over the dial on his chest. "Watch me activate Killer Mode. I'm going to take out the 'Trainer' first."
"The what?" Ben blinked, confused.
Voom!
In a flash of red light, the golden sphere vanished. Glitch Terror Star (Glitch XLR8) stood in its place, his demonic visor clicking into place. "Sorry, wrong channel," Cian rasped.
Animo froze. He saw the rollers on Cian's feet and realized the danger instantly. "Block him! He's switched to speed!"
A living wall of mammoths, dinosaurs, and insects moved to shield Animo. It was an impenetrable biological fortress.
"Hah... safe," Animo breathed, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Want a smoke?" a voice whispered from his left. A hand extended, offering a cheap cigarette.
"Oh, thanks. I need to calm my—wait." Animo froze. That was his brand. His specific, cheap brand. And that hand... it wasn't a hand. It was a three-fingered black claw.
"..."
Animo slowly turned his head. He found himself staring into the cold, visor-less eyes of the Glitch Terror Star.
POW!
One precision punch sent Animo into a world of darkness. Simultaneously, Cian's claws shredded the transmodulator into useless junk.
With the control signal gone, the mutant army devolved into chaos. The dinosaurs began to roar in confusion, and the insects scattered.
"Now, for the cleanup. I have an idea," Cian said. He looked at the T-Rex and confirmed the area behind it was clear of civilians.
He sprinted toward the T-Rex at Mach 1.
FLASH.
Mid-sprint, the Killer Mode indicator flickered. The lean form of the speedster instantly expanded into the massive, spiked mass of the Roaring Devil. Because he preserved his XLR8 momentum, the golden sphere was now moving at the speed of sound.
The T-Rex didn't even have time to roar. When Cian hit it, the dinosaur practically evaporated from its position. It was launched into the sky, soaring over the museum and into the distant woods like a prehistoric comet. It was the first T-Rex in history to achieve flight—right before it achieved extinction.
Cian didn't stop. He ricocheted into the Triceratops, sending it flying into the reflecting pool. The mammoths were next, swatted aside like oversized plush toys.
Ben watched from the sidelines, his jaw hanging open. "XLR8 momentum... with Cannonbolt weight? That's cheating!"
Cian slowed to a halt, a wide, predatory grin on his face. "Killer Mode is broken, Ben. Totally broken."
[Ding! Host has defeated Dr. Animo, neutralized the prehistoric army, and secured the museum. Progress +1!]
[Template Progress: 7/100. Unlocking: Glitch Eye Guy, Glitch Wildvine, and Glitch Ditto!]
"Three more?" Cian pumped a fist. "The roster is filling up. This is perfect."
In the distance, the sounds of sirens and helicopters grew louder. The police were finally arriving. Cian gestured to Ben, and the two vanished into the shadows before the first searchlight could find them.
When Dr. Animo finally woke up, he didn't try to run. He saw the police and crawled toward them, sobbing with relief. "Take me away! Lock me in the deepest cell! Just keep those... those things away from me! I'll stay in jail forever! They have free meals, right?!"
The scientist who wanted to rule the world was now just a man who wanted a locked door between him and the Glitch Watch.
[Template Progress: 7/100. Current Active Glitch Aliens: 16/20.]