The air felt heavy, and the hearts of monanimals pounded. They couldn’t believe who was in front of them. It was future Mongrod in his most savage form ever. He raised his mechanical arm and unleashed a crackling surge of electricity. The Monanimals scattered, barely dodging the blast.

Molandak rolled behind a boulder, returning fire with his beam gun, but Mongrod's force field shimmered to life, absorbing the shots.

Moyaki flung a trio of spice bombs that exploded into thick clouds. The air turned hot and sharp. Mongrod inhaled deeply, licking his lips.“Tasty,” he smirked. “These are the so-called heroes? Pathetic.”

Meanwhile, 15 mins earlier...

The Monanimals regrouped deeper in the jungle, breathless and shaken..

“So what now?” Moyaki asked, pacing.

Molandak looked around. “Wait... where’s Chog?”

A voice came jogging in from the trees.“Hey! Guys!”

They turned as Chog stumbled toward them, holding his paintbrush like a torch.

“Mongrod caught me... but he let me go.”

“He what?”

“He told me to tell you: ‘You can run, but you can’t hide.’”

Salmonad’s eyes narrowed. “Turn around.”

“Why?”

“Just do it, Chog.”

Chog sighed, turned, and Salmonad yanked a blinking chip from his back.

“He tagged you.”

“We’re gonna die,” Mouch panicked. “He shrugged off our strongest attacks like nothing!”

“I know,” Molandak said, “but this also means we know he’s coming. That gives us a chance for an ambush.”

“Exactly. But first upgrades,” Salmonad said, pulling out a compact gear bag.

He tossed a small pouch to Moyaki. “New spice bombs with hallucinogens, flamebursts, vine seeds. Use them wisely.”

To Chog, he handed a small vial set. “Your brush now holds reactive paints, crafted to shift light and shape. Your skill brings it to life.”

To Mouch, he offered a sleek pair of goggles. “Auto-sensors. Enhanced aerial recon. You’ll be our eyes from above .”

Then, Salmonad held up the fractured pieces of Molandak’s Time Machine. “I’ve restructured parts of the time machine. With a precise trigger, we might trap Mongrod in a time loop away from this reality.”

“Let’s get moving,” Molandak said.

“Mouch, scan the area and tell us how long we have till he gets here?”

Mouch soared upward. Seconds later, his voice crackled over the comm. “He’s closing fast.”

They worked in silence. Moyaki planted explosives under a carpet of jungle moss. Chog crouched in the underbrush, his brush moving like lightning, painting illusions and invisibility cloaks onto the trees, the traps, and everything.

The jungle fell quiet.

And Mongrod arrived..

From the shadows, Mouch hurled his daggers, but before they reached their mark, a magnetic pulse bent them midair and sent them flying back.

Salmonad leapt, shielding Mouch just in time.

“WEAKLINGS!!” Mongrod roared. His voice rattled the trees.

“Retreat!” Salmonad yelled.

Moyaki dropped a smoke bomb, and in the swirling cover, the team made their escape.

But as Chog turned to run, a cold grip seized his arm.

“Where do you think you're going, pest?” Mongrod growled.

Chog looked up, paralyzed. Mongrod's eyes glowed with malice.

He stepped directly onto a buried bomb. A shockwave tore through the trees, flinging him back.

He stood up, cracking his neck. “I see you've prepared.”

A vine exploded upward, wrapping around him like a serpent.

“You think this is enough?”

Molandak emerged from camouflage and fired. The shot deflected. Mouch's daggers rained from above, and one of his Mongrod’s mechanical arms made a spark.

“ENOUGH!” Mongrod screamed, energy bursting from him. The vines vaporized, throwing the Monanimals across the field.

Molandak groaned, barely conscious. Mongrod stomped toward him.

But then Chog stepped into the clearing.

Or rather... many Chog.

Mongrod blinked. He was surrounded by multiple Chog. He fired at one, a rock. Another, a stump. The illusions taunted him.

“Ahh,” Mongrod muttered. “An artist.”

“Where’s the real one?” he snarled.

A sharp pain tore through his side.

He looked down to see Chog. Holding Mouch’s dagger impaled in his stomach.

He had been invisible the whole time.

Mongrod snatched Chog by the neck, lifting him off the ground.

“You’re the first to make me bleed. But it ends here.”He began choking Chog.

His metal hand scanned the wound and sealed it in seconds, while Chog thrashed, gasping.

“Don’t fight it,” Mongrod said. “You’ll see your friends again... soon.”

Chog’s body turned blue from lack of oxygen.

The others rushed forward.

“NO!” Molandak shouted. In a fury, he fired at Mongrod. Mouch descended, launching blades to stop him.

Mongrod threw Chog aside to block the incoming attacks.

Chog hit the ground hard, coughing and trying to catch his breath.

“Mongrod!” Salmonad yelled. “Your reign of terror ends now. We may not be strong enough to beat you, but we can trap you.”

Salmonad stood alone, holding the time device Molandak had arrived with. Repaired, Adjusted, and Ready. He pressed the big button.

A space hole ripped open behind Mongrod, sucking at the world like a vortex.

The Monanimals clung to the trees.

Mongrod spun with panic in his eyes. “What have you done?!”

He lunged forward, trying to grab someone, anyone.

But Molandak stepped up. His beam gun glowed white-hot and supercharged up

He fired at Mongrod.

The blast pushed Mongrod backward into the black hole. He screamed, clawed at the air, and vanished.

The rift sealed shut.

Silence.

Salmonad dropped to one knee.“Checkmate,” he whispered.

Credits: Spyrex (Scalds)