With a firm press of the red trigger button on her trols, the Avalon’s on fired. Thud-thud-thud-thud!

  30×173 mm depleted armor-pierg rounds rained down like a storm of molten fury. These rounds, tested and proven by Zack, geed temperatures exceeding 6,000 degrees Celsius upon impaough to melt all but the thickest ultranium alloy.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The barrage tore through the grouh the creature, leaving scorched craters in its wake. The powerful shells hit the armored target with devastating force, sending it hurtling back over teers, its massive body rolling across the debris-strewn ground. The ondestructible bck exoskeleton shattered uhe relentless assault. Holes punched through its body, the exposed tissue melting into steaming liquid that dripped onto the ground.

  “Target wo is down. Switg tet number one.” From Ava’s vantage point, the i-armored creature appeared ralized. She refocused her aim oated Lord, log onto its hulking, bruised form. But before she could fire, something ued happened.

  “ROAR!!!” The supposed corpse of target wo let out a furious bellow. Its body vulsed as the fibrous tissue began to writhe and expand. Four meters. Five meters. Six meters.

  In moments, the creature’s size doubled. Its bde-like arms morphed into long, whip-like tentacles, eading in massive, cwed hands. “What the hell is this?!” Ava’s voice wavered for a split sed as the monstrous monster rose to its full, t height. It roared again, swinging oacle-arm upward. The apperetched unnaturally, elongating like rubber as it reached for the Avalon.

  “Pull up! Pull up!” Ava yahe trols, f the Avalon into a steep climb. But she wasn’t fast enough. The creature’s cws scraped the underside of the aircraft, leaving five deep gashes in its belly.

  Back at the b, Zack was immersed in his work wheellite feed of the area appeared on his monitor. He had set strict protocols for the Ant and Spiders: handle minor threats indepely and only report critical situations.

  Now, watg the chaos unfold on-s, Zack realized this was far from minor. The battlefield had reached full-blown crisis levels. The feed showed Ava engaged in a desperate aerial retreat while the monstrous, mutated Beast wreaked havoc. Sparks, fire, aru littered the area as Ant and Spiders fell one by ohe Mutated Lord, still active but severely weakened, lumbered through the wreckage.

  “Sir, an advanced mutant zombie has beeed!” Ego’s calm voice echoed through Zack’s b, breaking his focus as the satellite feed dispyed the chaos at the area.

  “Temporary designation: Tyra. It’s already destroyed five Ant and Spiders! Ava is on-site with the Avalon but hasn’t been able to ralize it.” As Ego delivered its report, Zack’s eyes remained fixed on the s. The devastatio by the Tyra was evident.

  “Sir, the Tyra’s body demonstrates araordinary capacity for rapid adaptive ges, shifting its physiology to matviroal and bat demands,” Ego reported. “Current observations indicate several distins. The first, an i-like exoskeleton, provides formidable defense, withstanding tungsten-core bullets and miissiles. However, it was shattered by depleted uranium armor-pierg rounds, indig some limits to its resilience.

  Another form includes bded arms, which have been observed slig through 3-5mm alloy steel with arming efficy. Their effectiveness against gold-titanium alloys remains ued, leaving uainties about the extent of their cutting power. Its tentacle-whip cws extend up to 80-100 meters, tipped with razor-sharp cable of tearing through alloy steel armor. The range and precision of these appendages suggest a focus on le lethality.

  Finally, the creature occasionally assumes a giganti, though its purpose remains unclear. It may serve as a reserve for power, intimidation, or unknown offensive capabilities.” Ego tihe data streams pulsing with urgency. “Preliminary analysis also suggests the Tyra inated from a massive aggregation of mutated zombies at the warehouse

  Zack cut in, his voice cold and firm. “So, this thing… it’s another Sara? Like the other se Zombie?”

  “Yes, Sir.” Zack’s jaw tightened as he recalled the st time he entered such a monstrosity. Years ago, he’d found a simir o a nuclear power pnt. He’d destroyed it on sight, never giving it a ce to grow. Yet here it was again—another Sara, hidden deep within NYC.

  “What’s the differeween this Tyrant and the leader of the st zombie wave?” he asked, his tone sharp.

  “The leader was a high-level zombie bred from a simir Sara, Sir. However, analysis indicates a social structure among advanced zombies, akin to ants or bees. The leader acts as the ‘brain,’ anding other types of zombies, while the Tyra appears to fun as a specialized bat fighter.”

  Zaodded, the expnation making sense. “Uood. Notify all Ant and Spiders iy. Climb the tallest nearby buildings and prepare for bombardment.”

  Hundreds of Ant and Spiders scattered across the city streets immediately respoo Zack’s and. Their sleek, metal forms moved swiftly through alleys and open roads, heading fh-rise structures he area. On position, they fixed themselves to the rooftops, shedding their back armor to reveal missile s aimed toward the locatioon.

  Even Ant and Spiders out e sprioward closer buildings, ensuring maximum ce. Zack’s strategy was clear—stay out of reach while rainiru from above. “Ego, tact Ava. Tell her to climb higher and prepare for a cloud bomb drop.”

  “Sir, the pce still tains valuable supplies. Are you sure?” Ego asked cautiously.

  “I didn’t say drop it now,” Zaapped, strapping into the Apex suit. The thrusters roared to life, propelling him out of the Mansion and toward the battlefield.

  Meanwhile, chaed on. The Tyra, now t at six meters tall, roared as it swung its whip-like cws at Ava’s Avalon.

  Whoosh! Boom!

  Each swipe cracked through the air like a soni, the ends of the cws moving faster than the speed of sound. “Ava here. Gaining altitude as ordered!”

  Without hesitation, Ava pulled the Avalon into a sharp climb, leaving the Tyra thrashing below. Ehe creature turs attention to the remaining Ant and Spiders scattered around the area. “ROAR!!!” Its hulking frame barreled toward a nearby building, smming into its side with unstoppable force.

  CRASH!

  The wall crumbled instantly, the eructure colpsing in a deafening roar of rubble and dust. A meical dog stationed on the rooftop fell with the debris but used its bance systems to leap across the falling wreckage. Before it could escape, a massive cw shot out from the dust cloud, ing around the meical dog and dragging it close.

  CH!

  The Tyra’s foot came down hard, crushing the mae into a fttened disk of metal and sparks. Dust swirling around it, the Tyra let out another ear-splitting roar, its glowing eyes log onto the remaining Ant and Spiders.

  Meanwhile, hundreds of Ant and Spiders had reached their designated rooftops. Eae was firmly fixed in pce, missile s fully deployed and aimed at the Tyra’s location. Zack hovered above them in the Apex, his expression cold and resolute. “Fire.”