Several charred ants burst from the flames, their exoskeletons scorched black but bodies still intact, they tackled Ben to the ground with brutal force!
Two ants pinned his arms. Two more clamped their mandibles around his ankles. A fifth locked onto his shoulders and began dragging him toward the sea of fire, where a dozen more ants waited with bloodthirsty anticipation.
"Drag him into his own flames and burn him alive!" Clancy's order cracked through the air like a whip.
Dr. Animo raised one hand, tempering his ally's enthusiasm. "Wait. Have your ants avoid destroying the reactor core in that armor. We can use it."
"Bug!" Clancy repeated the command to his swarm, though the ants clearly struggled with the concept. Finally, he simplified it, "Don't bite the golden glow!"
That they understood.
"Get off me!" Ben's voice emerged distorted through his helmet's voice modulator, deeper and more mechanical than normal. "You disgusting bugs!"
He twisted violently, servos whining as the armor strained against the ants' combined weight. His four limbs twitched and jerked, but he couldn't generate enough leverage to throw them off. Each ant possessed strength wildly disproportionate to its size, like trying to bench-press a car with each individual insect.
The worst part was how evenly they'd distributed themselves across his body. No matter how he struggled, he couldn't find the angle he needed to break free.
The ants dragged him backward, inch by agonizing inch, toward the wall of flames.
Over by the shattered restaurant window, Asher's hand moved toward the Omnitrix,
FWOOSH!
A basketball-sized fireball erupted from Gwen's right palm, the Charm of Fire blazing bright on her wrist. The sphere of flame shot across the room like a meteor and slammed into the ant restraining Ben's right arm!
CRACK!
The ant flew backward, wings beating frantically as it tumbled through the air. It crashed into the flames behind it and rolled across the burning floor. Though it survived, smoke rose from its cracked carapace and one of its legs hung at an unnatural angle.
"Thanks, Gwen!" Ben's right arm came free. He immediately clenched his fist and hammered it downward, each impact like a pile driver, sending the remaining ants flying off his body!
As each insect sailed through the air, it hit the ground with sickening thuds. Their carapaces cracked audibly. They lay twitching, thoroughly beaten but not quite dead.
Across the restaurant, Asher lowered his hand from the Omnitrix and smiled. "Looks like I can take that break after all."
He picked up an unopened bottle of cola from the counter and took a long, satisfied drink, settling in to watch the fight unfold.
"He actually... got free?" Clancy's face twisted with disbelief. "What kind of garbage is this?! Everyone, attack together! Now!"
The giant wasp buzzed its wings, raising its massive stinger as it dove toward Ben's head. Meanwhile, a fresh wave of enhanced ants scuttled forward with renewed purpose.
"Big mistake, Bumblebee!" Gwen switched the position of her charms with practiced ease. The Charm of Levitation flared to life on her wrist, and her feet lifted off the ground. She shot forward like a missile, intercepting the wasp mid-flight and grappling with it in midair.
Ben dropped into a boxer's stance, fists up, weight balanced, ready to move. His first punch shot out with textbook form and caught an approaching ant square in the face, launching it backward through the air!
Another ant charged. Ben pivoted smoothly, his second punch already in motion. The enhanced strength of his armor combined with proper technique sent the insect spinning away like a kicked football.
One after another, the ants rushed him. One after another, Ben's punches found their marks. His movements were clean, economical, skilled, every strike precise enough that the watching ants began to hesitate.
"SCREEE!"
The chittering roar cut through the chaos. Dr. Animo's massive mutant cockroach burst through the remaining ants like a battering ram, its crimson carapace gleaming as it barreled straight toward Ben!
WHAM!
Ben's fist connected with the cockroach's armored head.
The impact resonated through the restaurant like a gong. The mutant cockroach's charge... stopped. Its six legs dug furrows in the floor as momentum bled away.
But Ben stumbled backward three steps, his armor's servos whining from the strain.
"This thing's tough!" Ben raised both hands defensively, eyes locked on the towering insect. His reactor pulsed steady blue light through the silver plating.
"HISSS!"
The mutant cockroach's wings snapped open with a sound like ripping fabric. Its grotesque body lifted off the ground, mandibles clicking as it rocketed toward Ben's head,
But instead of ramming him, the cockroach extended all six legs at the last second. Its claws locked onto Ben's shoulders like grappling hooks!
Caught completely off-guard, Ben found himself airborne. The mutant cockroach's wings beat furiously as it carried him toward the broken window,
CRASH!
They exploded through what remained of the glass. Shards rained down as they tumbled onto the street outside.
THUD!
Ben hit the pavement hard, rolling several times before coming to a stop. He pushed himself up groggily, head spinning. "Do cockroaches usually fight like this?"
"SCREEE!"
The answer came in the form of another diving attack. The mutant cockroach shrieked as it dove straight at him, mandibles spread wide, clearly aiming for his throat,
And this time, those razor-sharp mandibles were going for the kill!
"Enough!"
Ben's reactor blazed. The blue light transformed into brilliant gold in an instant, electrical energy crackling across his chest plate like contained lightning!
The sudden brilliance made the mutant cockroach's compound eyes twitch. Its dive faltered for just a split second,
Ben's fist became a golden blur!
BOOM!
The punch connected with the mutant cockroach's thorax. Electricity exploded outward from the point of impact, arcing across the creature's crimson carapace in a spiderweb of golden light!
The mutant cockroach flew backward like it had been shot from a cannon. It rolled across the street for dozens of feet, its wings twitching spasmodically, smoke rising from the scorched impact crater in its chest.
When it finally stopped moving, its legs curled inward. Dead or unconscious, either way, it was done.
"Hah... hah..." Ben stood in the middle of the street, his right arm still extended from the punch. Golden electricity danced around his armored fist, crackling and sparking. Even through his helmet's face plate, his grin was audible in his voice. "Looks like the lightning core can enhance more than just my speed! It supercharges my attack speed too!"
The surge of power felt incredible. Like every movement had been upgraded, refined, made perfect. Even with Vilgax's massive robots, a punch like that could have shattered their heads!
Dr. Animo's expression remained perfectly neutral as he watched the mutant cockroach go down. His eyes flicked briefly to the belt-mounted gene variable device at his waist, its energy reserves still showed full.
"What... how did...?" Clancy's jaw went slack as he stared at his fallen champion. "The mutant cockroach... it's dead?"
His head whipped around to face Dr. Animo, panic creeping into his voice. "That iron-plated kid just killed it! With one punch! Are we... are we actually going to lose here?!"
"Bug!" Dr. Animo's sharp command cut through Clancy's rising hysteria. "Stop panicking and issue your orders properly. Have your ants attack without holding back, and tell that wasp of yours to stop worrying about collateral damage. Kill him!"
Only a dozen or so enhanced ants remained from the original swarm, the ones that hadn't been incinerated in the initial fireball. They formed a ragged line, antennae twitching nervously as they faced the armored figure crackling with electricity.
"You're right..." Clancy swallowed hard, forcing himself to focus. "Bug! Everyone, attack!"
The remaining ants surged forward as one, mandibles clacking, moving faster than before without the crowd slowing them down,
But Ben spread both palms wide. The repulsor apertures in his gauntlets glowed with building energy, golden light mixing with the reactor's power!
"Battle's over!"
FWOOOOM!
Twin beams of golden energy erupted from his palms. The temperature in the street spiked instantly, the air itself seeming to shimmer and warp around the beams' trajectories.
The enhanced ants never stood a chance. The energy washed over them like a tsunami of light and heat!
BOOM!
Where the beams connected, the world turned white. When the light faded, all that remained was a smoking crater in the asphalt, and the scattered ash of what had once been a dozen mutant insects.
Ben slowly lowered his hands, the reactor core's glow fading from gold back to its standard blue. Steam rose from his gauntlets.
On the other side of the crater stood two figures: Clancy with his empty hands hanging at his sides, and Dr. Animo with his calculating expression locked firmly in place.
No more mutant cockroach. No more ant army. No more backup.
Just two mad scientists, and one very dangerous teenager in high-tech armor.
Clancy's left eye twitched. Then his right. His whole face began to spasm as the reality of the situation crashed down on him.
Dr. Animo's hand drifted casually toward the gene variable device at his belt, fingers brushing its activation switch with deceptive calm.
And in the restaurant doorway behind Ben, Asher finally stood up, setting down his empty cola bottle with a soft clinkthat somehow carried across the silent street.
"Looks like you two are fresh out of bugs," Asher called out conversationally. His hand moved to rest on the Omnitrix. "Want to keep going? Or should we just skip to the part where you surrender?"