"Too many of them!"
Tyler's mind raced. He hovered above the skiff, his eyes and tail lashing out with twin beams of violet energy. The light converged into a singular, pressurized laser that carved through the water like a divine blade, forcing the mutated alligators back into the depths.
"Keep moving!" Tyler roared, providing cover as the boat reached the patches of reeds.
Max's expression remained a mask of iron as he rowed. His tactical gloves were slick with mutated blood, but his strokes never faltered. Ben sat low, clutching the gunwale, while Gwen stood ready, her staff humming.
Suddenly, a localized cloud of black mist descended—a swarm of mosquitoes, each mutated into a blood-seeking parasite by Animo's crimson rain. Max swatted at the swarm, his Plumber suit sealing perfectly against their needles.
"I've got this!" Gwen shouted. She spun her staff, her body momentarily dissolving into a violet haze to intercept the swarm.
A thunderous shockwave erupted from her magic, pulverizing the insects into dust. As Gwen began to plummet toward the black water, Tyler swooped in, his wings cutting the air as he caught her mid-fall. He deposited her gently onto the skiff with a quick thumbs-up. "No need to thank me."
The boat hit the muddy bank of the Astronomical Observatory. Max was the first out, followed by Ben and Gwen. Tyler landed beside them, his gaze fixed on the skeletal ruin of the building.
CLICK.
The Carnitrix dial spun violently. Tyler felt a surge of adrenaline so potent it made his heart hammer against his ribs. "Gwen! Shield them! Now!"
Gwen slammed her staves into the mud, a protective gale of mana erupting to form a dome around the three.
From the shadows of the observatory, the nightmare emerged. Hybrids poured out—insects with human-like heads, eight-legged crocodiles, and twitching chimeras.
Tyler looked at his watch. The icon was a jagged, feline silhouette. He slammed the dial.
ROAR.
A low, guttural vibration shook the air. From the red light stepped The Killing Tiger (Rath). He stood in a humanoid crouch, his saber-toothed fangs dripping with anticipation. His eyes were voids of pitch-black malice.
"KILL!!"
The Tiger didn't wait. He was a blur of orange and black fur, his claws tearing through a mutated crocodile's hide as if it were paper. Unlike other forms that grew weary, the Tiger became more manic with every kill. His blood surged, his strength mounting as he transformed the observatory entrance into a charnel house.
He was a god of slaughter, an avatar of the Carnitrix's "Error Killing Consciousness" made flesh.
"He's... he's terrifying," Ben whispered, shielding his eyes from the spray of ichor. "Let's call him the Killing Tiger."
For fifteen minutes, the air was filled with the sounds of snapping bone and wet tearing. When the silence finally returned, Tyler stood by the water's edge, trying to wash the gore from his fur. The lake water turned pink beneath his touch.
[System: Host has entered a Berserker state. 78 Carnitrix hybrids eliminated. Progress +1%]
[System: Template Progress 45/100. Unlocking: POLARIS (Lodestar)!]
[System: Congratulations. All regular "Correction Watch" aliens have been unlocked.]
A flash of light returned Tyler to his human form. He doubled over, retching at the sight of organ fragments clinging to his clothes. "That... that wasn't a fight. That was a carnival. I never want to do that again."
"Tyler, are you okay?" Ben rushed over, but Tyler could only wave him off.
Max walked toward the observatory, his hand on his sidearm. He entered the dark threshold alone. A few minutes later, he walked back out, his face pale with a horror Tyler had never seen before.
"He's in there," Max rasped. "But I can't be sure... if that thing is still Dr. Animo."
THOOM. THOOM.
The heavy footsteps shook the very foundations of the observatory. A massive shadow detached itself from the doorway, stepping into the dim light of the marsh.
"Are you looking for me, Plumber?"
The voice was a resonant, distorted harmony of several different vocal cords.
"Behold the greatest biological mind of the century! I have used my ultimate experiment on the only worthy specimen—myself!"
A massive, orange-furred arm gripped the doorframe, followed by a crystalline limb made of organic diamond. The creature squeezed through the entrance, its body a grotesque fusion of stolen DNA.
The Slaughter-Chimera stood nearly ten feet tall. Its dark red torso was a map of rippling, over-developed muscle. It possessed four arms—one with the fur of a Wildmutt, one the jagged crystal of Diamondhead, one the clawed webbing of Ripjaws, and one the molten rock of Heatblast.
Its face was a twisted ruin, dominated by the single, vertical pupil of the Star of Terror. And in the center of its chest, a massive, unblinking purple eyeball stared back at them—the eye of Zs'Skayr.
"Animo..." Tyler whispered, his hand going to the Carnitrix. "He's not just a mutant anymore. He's a demon."
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