"Let's call him... The Sunder-Sphere!" Ben shouted over the roar of the prehistoric beasts. His knack for naming was the only thing saving Tyler from his own lack of imagination.
Dr. Animo's face contorted. "Naming things?! You're naming things while my army stands ready to devour you? You children are insufferable!"
CRUNCH!
The T-Rex lunged, its massive tail sweeping the ground, but it hesitated. Even a mindless mutation could sense the predatory aura radiating from the golden, spiked ball before it.
"Get out of my way!"
Tyler curled into a jagged sphere, his spikes locking into place. He didn't just roll; he detonated forward. The Sunder-Sphere collided with the Rex's chest, the impact sounding like a car crash. The ancient predator was sent reeling, its hide punctured by a dozen bloody holes.
"Don't stop now!" Tyler bounced off a stone pillar, redirected his momentum, and slammed into the Rex again. And again. The king of the dinosaurs was being played like a pinball, helpless against the golden blur.
Mutated cockroaches swarmed in to help their master, but they couldn't even touch Tyler. The sheer wind pressure from his high-speed rotations tore their fragile wings to pieces before they could land.
"Useless! All of you!" Animo screamed, leaping off his Triceratops. "Triceratops, intercept that sphere! Cockroaches, swarm the four-armed one! Go!"
The Triceratops lowered its three-horned head and charged. From a distance, it looked like a tiger attacking an orange tabby.
BOOM!
The two collided. The Triceratops—a ten-ton biological tank—stopped dead in its tracks. It couldn't budge Tyler an inch. It was like a bicycle hitting a mountain.
"ROAR!"
The T-Rex saw its opening. It lunged from behind, its jaws snapping at Tyler's back in a desperate sneak attack. At the same time, the cockroach swarm descended on Ben.
"Gross! Get off me!" Ben roared, swinging his four arms like fans to create gusts of wind. "These things splatter when they die! It's all over my suit!"
The battlefield was shifting. The Rex and Triceratops were flanking Tyler, pinning him between two walls of ancient muscle. Ben was struggling to stay upright under the weight of the Mammoth's trunk.
"Yes! Victory is mine!" Animo cackled, clutching his helmet. "I, Dr. Animo, have finally achieved my revenge!"
THUD.
Tyler suddenly leaped into the air, spinning like a top. He bounced off the Rex's head, used the Triceratops's back as a springboard, and landed heavily in front of Ben. The shockwave of his landing sent the Mammoths stumbling back.
"Tyler," Ben hissed, wiping bug-juice from his eyes. "You handle the bugs, I'll take the big guys. If we don't change something, we're gonna lose."
"Don't worry, Ben." Tyler's hand drifted to the dial on his chest. "I'm switching to Apex Predator Mode. I think it's time I dealt with the 'Trainer' instead of the 'Pokémon'."
"The what and the what?" Ben blinked.
WHOOSH!
In a flash of red light, the golden sphere vanished. Standing in its place was the Velocity Wraith. Its blue-and-black armor shimmered, and a jagged, demonic smile stretched across its face.
"Sorry," Tyler rasped. "Wrong channel."
Animo froze. He looked at the rollers on the creature's feet and felt a cold pit form in his stomach. "Everyone! Protect me! He's a speedster now!"
The mutated insects and dinosaurs formed a living wall of scales and chitin in front of the doctor. Animo let out a breath of relief. He can't get through that, he thought.
"Need a light?" a voice whispered directly into his ear.
A clawed hand reached around and offered Animo a cigarette.
"Ah, thanks. I could use a—" Animo froze. He reached into his pocket. It was empty. He looked at the hand. It was orange, scaled, and ended in obsidian claws.
He slowly turned his head. The Velocity Wraith was standing right beside him, leaning casually against a crate.
WHACK!
Tyler delivered a lightning-fast jab that sent Animo into the dream world instantly. With his other hand, he shredded Animo's helmet, the gene-variator sparking and dying.
Without the helmet's control, the mutated creatures devolved into chaos.
"Now, let's try a little experiment," Tyler said, looking at the T-Rex. He rotated the dial again while he was still moving at top speed.
WHOOSH.
Mid-sprint, the Wraith transformed back into the Sunder-Sphere. The momentum of the speedster combined with the mass of the Cannonbolt variant. Tyler slammed into the T-Rex with the force of an orbital strike.
The Rex didn't just fall. It flew. The fifteen-ton lizard was launched hundreds of feet into the air, its body spinning helplessly as it disappeared over the horizon.
"I... I think I saw it fly," Ben muttered, dropping a cockroach he'd just crushed. "I didn't know they could do that."
Tyler landed back on his feet as the Triceratops and Mammoths fled toward the museum's lake, terrified of the golden demon.
[Ding! Host has neutralized Dr. Animo and cleared the prehistoric threat. Kill-streak achieved. Progress: +1%]
[Template Mastery: 7/100. DNA Unlocked: Eye Guy, Wildvine, and Ditto!]
"Three more," Tyler grinned, his eyes gleaming. "The roster is growing."
The sound of police sirens and news helicopters filled the air. Tyler signaled to Ben, and the two vanished into the shadows before the first spotlights hit the museum lawn.
Minutes later, a dazed Dr. Animo sat in the back of a police cruiser, his hands cuffed. He looked at the officers with a strange, wide-eyed joy.
"Officer? Please," Animo whispered. "Take me to the highest security prison you have. Bread, water, a cell with four walls... I don't care. Just keep me away from the monsters."