Chapter 219: Arresting Dr. Animo
"Oh, no..."
Staring up at the massive, blue-black moth-like creature hovering in the sky, Dr. Animo felt a sudden spike of sheer panic.
His brain screamed at him to run. Move! Get out of here!
His legs, however, turned to useless jelly, trembling uncontrollably as he stuttered out a series of incoherent syllables. Before he could even command his muscles to twitch, a bone-chilling wave of absolute cold swept over the courtyard.
Even with his newly enhanced, strong physique, Dr. Animo was instantly frozen solid, encased in a thick block of translucent ice.
But it wasn't enough to hold him.
Crack...
In less than half a minute, a web of fissures spread across the frozen prison. With a violent flex of his muscles, the ice covering Dr. Animo shattered into a million glittering pieces.
Shaking off the frost, he glared up at Big Chill. The sprawling castle beneath his feet thrummed with raw energy, continuously pumping power straight into his veins. Bathed in that limitless supply, he no longer felt the biting cold. He felt invincible.
Unfortunately, the massive influx of muscle mass brought a severe decrease in his overall intelligence. Clenching his oversized fists, a fleeting, utterly delusional thought crossed his mind: I can brawl with this thing.
Riding on that misplaced confidence, Dr. Animo bent his heavily muscled legs and launched himself into the sky like a cannonball. He extended his massive fists, aiming a devastating haymaker right at Big Chill's face.
The alien moth didn't even flinch. It simply hovered there, perfectly still, as Dr. Animo's fists—and his entire body—phased harmlessly right through its intangible form.
Realizing his mistake, Dr. Animo frantically braked in mid-air, using his newfound levitation to float just below the alien. A cruel, arrogant smile spread across his lips. "I almost forgot how annoying you alien heroes are to deal with."
Despite the miss, he wasn't disheartened. Even if he couldn't punch the phantom right now, Big Chill's freezing abilities clearly couldn't harm him anymore. As long as he waited for the right moment, he could land a fatal blow. It was a battle of attrition, and with the castle backing him, he would surely win.
Riding high on his own twisted logic, Dr. Animo threw his head back and burst into maniacal laughter. "Kid, you're doomed today!" he shouted, pointing a thick finger at the sky.
Hearing the taunt, Big Chill merely lowered a clawed hand and calmly tapped the Another Omnitrix dial resting on its chest.
"Ultimate Big Chill!"
A quiet, brilliant blue light flashed across the sky. The alien's overall color scheme violently shifted from a ghostly blue-black to a searing orange-red, accented with striking yellow and black patterns. The tattered moth wings flared outward, transforming into what looked like roaring, burning flames.
Dr. Animo's laughter died in his throat. He stared at the glowing entity, a sinking feeling settling in his gut. Things were rapidly developing far beyond his initial calculations.
He violently shook his head, physically tossing the distracting thoughts aside. He was the 'Null Void King'now. He had strong limbs and a simple mind, completely abandoning the frail'Dr. Animo' who relied on intellect over brawn.
"Hmph! So what if you changed your clothes?" Dr. Animo sneered, his muscles bulging. "No matter how many tricks you have, I will break them with sheer force!"
Roaring with effort, he clenched his fists and rocketed toward Ultimate Big Chill once again.
In response, Ultimate Big Chill opened its mandibles and spat a massive torrent of ice flames directly at the approaching mad scientist.
To the naked eye, the blast looked identical to a roaring inferno. In reality, it was a highly concentrated, flame-like ion beam designed to aggressively consume all ambient heat from the air, using that very thermal energy to fuel its spread. It was, quite literally, ice that burned like fire.
But the current, muscle-brained Dr. Animo didn't care about the scientific principles behind the attack. He just wanted to smash something.
Without a single thought of dodging, Dr. Animo roared and charged headfirst into the swirling vortex of ice flames.
And then...
Damn it, I was too hasty!
The complete and instantaneous consumption of heat plummeted the surrounding temperature to near absolute zero—roughly minus 270 degrees Celsius. The kinetic energy of the material molecules around him effectively stopped. Dr. Animo felt his limbs lock up completely, turning as stiff as steel girders.
Worse still, the extreme temperature paradox caused his clothes, his hair, and the very surface of his skin to sear away. He couldn't even process the sensory input. Was it boiling hot? Or freezing cold?
In the blink of an eye, Dr. Animo—now completely naked and entirely bald—turned into a solid block of ice and plummeted out of the sky, crashing heavily onto the castle roof.
Crack, crack...
The impact sent small fragments of ice skittering across the stone, but thankfully, his enhanced body was durable enough to withstand the fall. Otherwise, he would have shattered into a bloody mosaic.
I was too hasty. I should have just run earlier.
That single, desperate regret echoed in his rapidly blurring consciousness.
However, a glimmer of hope remained. Dr. Animo could feel the castle beneath his frozen body still humming, desperately trying to feed him energy. As long as he had enough time, the raw power would thaw him out, allowing him to break free and escape. Klein, see you when fate allows...
The entire castle was essentially an extension of the Quadrant Giant Diamond. As long as the Extreme Gold fueling it wasn't completely exhausted, it would act as an infinite battery for both the diamond and himself.
Just as Dr. Animo began to regain a shred of his former intellect to plot his grand escape...
Ultimate Big Chill swooped down from the sky. Its fiery body shifted into intangibility, passing back and forth through the massive structure of the Quadrant Giant Diamond.
In a matter of seconds, the core of the Quadrant Giant Diamond froze over entirely, its internal mechanisms grinding to a dead halt. The absolute zero temperatures rapidly spread throughout the entire castle, violently snuffing out the burning Extreme Gold.
Lying completely paralyzed on the roof, Dr. Animo could only stare blankly at the sky.
...
Forget about escaping. Without the castle's power supply, the artificial superpowers coursing through his veins would rapidly deplete, reverting him back to a frail, ordinary old man.
And could an ordinary human survive being flash-frozen at absolute zero?
Not a chance. He was dead meat.
Dr. Animo could only pray to whatever cosmic entity was listening that Grandpa Max—that meddling old scoundrel—was nearby. Being locked up in a Plumber prison was infinitely better than freezing to death as a naked, bald popsicle.
Meanwhile, hovering in mid-air, Ultimate Big Chill assessed the frozen fortress.
After completely neutralizing the Quadrant Giant Diamond, the alien took a deep breath and exhaled a concentrated stream of pressurized gas directly at the frozen core. This wasn't the bone-chilling cold air or the endothermic ice flames. It was simply a blast of pure, concussive wind.
While its freezing properties were dialed back, the sheer kinetic force of the airflow was devastating. It was a basic ability carried over from the standard Big Chill form.
Struck by the intense, localized hurricane, massive spiderweb cracks instantly spider-webbed across the brittle surface of the frozen Quadrant Giant Diamond.
With a deafening crack, the massive crystal shattered into a million harmless ice shards, raining down across the courtyard.
Hearing the commotion, Grandpa Max finally marched into the castle grounds. His eyes immediately landed on Dr. Animo, who was currently frozen into a very naked, very bald ice sculpture on the ground. Max couldn't help but let out a relieved chuckle. "Well, it seems the problem is finally solved."
Ultimate Big Chill drifted down from the sky, landing lightly on the stone floor. A quiet blue light washed over the alien, instantly transforming him back into Klein.
Klein dusted off his jacket and looked around. "Grandpa, what about those Vulpimancers?"
"Most of them scattered and escaped into the wastes," Max explained, holstering his weapon. "The rest were rounded up and dealt with by Pierce and the other Helpers."
Hearing that the loose ends were tied up, Klein tilted his head, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "Then you should be able to come back with us now, right?"
Upon hearing the word 'us', Max's relaxed expression instantly darkened.
He knew exactly what awaited him back home. Even though Verdona had already beaten him to a pulp, there was no guarantee that returning to Earth wouldn't result in another disastrous, highly dramatic confrontation. Especially if someone happened to bring up Xylene, or any of his other past alien acquaintances.
Max narrowed his eyes, shooting his 'innocent' grandson a deeply scrutinizing glare. This kid had a notorious track record of stirring the pot just to watch the chaos unfold.
"Ahem..."
Max cleared his throat, puffing out his chest as he put on his most serious, authoritative Plumber face. "Grandpa still needs to stay here to help the locals rebuild. The Vulpimancers need to be properly managed so they can return to their natural duties. This place simply can't do without me right now. Earth is up to you kids."
Before Max could even gauge Klein's reaction to his airtight excuse, a very familiar, melodic voice echoed from right behind him.
"So... you're not planning to come with us, then?"
Max's entire body went rigid. He forced a painfully stiff smile and slowly turned around. "Verdona, sweetheart, you know the situation here. I..."
"Fine, whatever you want."
Hearing Verdona actually relent, Max immediately let out a massive sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping.
Although he found it highly suspicious how easily his Anodite wife had just agreed to let him stay, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. It was a win.
Then, Verdona smiled sweetly and added, "Anyway, I can just come find you anytime I want."
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