Under the firm boot of the Intelligence Commander, the gang leader trembled with terror.
"Wait, Miss Valentina! It's me, Billy!" the kid begged, raising his hands desperately as he stared down the vicious Thresher slug. "I worked for Dr. Blakk! I'm on your side!"
Valentina furrowed her brow, glaring at him with absolute disdain. "Who?" she asked coldly. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. You ruined my damn movie, so I don't care who you are, but I guarantee you're going to—"
Valentina's threat was abruptly cut short by a deafening roar.
CRASH!
The entire theater shook. The gigantic wall of solid ice that served as the projection screen fractured into hundreds of pieces, exploding inward. From the freezing mist and massive blocks of shattered ice, a terrifying figure emerged.
It was a massive Cave Yeti, a beast standing over ten feet tall and covered in thick gray and white fur. And it was furious. The constant gunfire and explosions in the theater had violently rudely awakened it from its deep hibernation cycle inside the glacier.
"RRROOOOOAAARRR!" the beast bellowed, beating its chest with massive fists.
The Yeti grabbed a heavy chunk of ice the size of a boulder, crushed it with brute force, and hurled the jagged shards at Valentina like crystal shrapnel.
The Commander's survival instincts kicked in instantly. She pulled her boot off Billy's chest, executed an acrobatic backflip, and sprinted for cover behind a Hyena-model Mecha-beast belonging to the Hooligang.
The ice shards slammed into the mount's metal chassis with a lethal clatter. By sheer dumb luck—and because he had frozen in fear on the floor—Billy wasn't shredded by the icy shrapnel that flew mere inches from his head.
"Huh? What did the great Pronto miss?" a voice mumbled.
Pronto strolled in, holding a massive bag of popcorn. He looked straight ahead, where a giant ice monster was currently demolishing the theater and unleashing thunderous roars. Instead of panicking, the Molenoid's eyes went wide with wonder, and a delighted smile spread across his face.
"Wow! They weren't kidding about the high definition in this theater!" he exclaimed, thrilled, grabbing a handful of popcorn.
The Yeti let out another savage bellow, and a blast of freezing, foul-smelling breath swept over the front rows.
Pronto sniffed the air and nodded approvingly, deeply impressed by the technology. "Nobody told me the movie was in Smell-O-Vision too," Pronto commented, fascinated. "The special effects are incredible. It smells like rotting fish and damp cave! It's like it's right in front of me, and even with-out-the-g-g-glasses...!"
The Molenoid stopped dead in his tracks. The Yeti grabbed a massive ice crystal and hurled it through the air, smashing it against the cavern ceiling.
A huge chunk of ice crashed down right next to Pronto, obliterating his popcorn bag. The kernels scattered across the floor.
Pronto gulped. The smile vanished from his face as reality hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Oh, no..." the Molenoid squeaked, finally realizing he wasn't wearing 3D glasses. "The monster is real! EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!"
"The great Pronto is too young and beautiful to be eaten!" he shrieked, pulling a U-turn and sprinting away at surprising speed while the Yeti blindly charged toward the Hooligang and the Shane Gang.
Billy, regaining a fraction of his trademark false bravado, leaped to his feet, brushing the ice chips off his jacket. "Don't just stand there like idiots!" he yelled at his henchmen. "Shoot that monster!"
Eli Shane drew his blaster purely on instinct, aiming at the massive beast's chest. But before he could pull the trigger, a heavy blue hand grabbed the barrel of his weapon and forced it down.
"Don't shoot, Eli!" Kord warned, staring at the ceiling in obvious panic.
"Why not? That thing is going to crush us!" the gang leader shot back.
"Look up!" the mechanic Troll explained. "This cavern is made of ice, and the explosions have already compromised the structure. It's full of cracks. If we fire explosive or high-impact slugs in here, the whole roof will cave in on us. We'll be buried alive!"
Billy's goons, however, didn't have a Troll with a degree in structural engineering to warn them. Following their boss's orders, the Hooligang opened fire in unison, unleashing a barrage of Ramstone and Demolition slugs straight at the beast.
The result was catastrophic.
The shots did absolutely zero damage to the Yeti. In fact, it was the exact opposite. Being an elemental creature born of the glacier, the Cave Yeti simply absorbed the kinetic energy from the slugs that struck its body.
With a roar that rattled the fillings in everyone's teeth, the monster began to grow. Its muscles expanded grotesquely, practically doubling its original size. It was now a titan pushing twenty feet tall.
"Oh, great! They just made it madder!" Trixie complained, backing up with her team.
Amidst the absolute chaos, the piercing roar of a modified engine cut through the air.
Alex came skidding in spectacularly on his Bengal Tiger Mecha-beast, kicking up a cloud of frost. He slammed on the brakes right next to Valentina, who was still crouched behind cover, and offered her a hand.
"Hey, Val. The movie's a bust and that snow monkey just went full boss-mode. Let's get out of here," Alex said casually, as if he were asking her to leave a boring dive bar.
Hearing his voice, Trixie finally turned her head and noticed the guy in the middle of the theater. Her expression instantly shifted from Yeti-induced panic to pure outrage.
"You?! What are you doing here?!" Trixie yelled, aiming her blaster at him, instantly recognizing Blakk's Commander from the mall.
Alex, keeping his grip on the handlebars, flashed her a lazy, lopsided grin. "Well, if it isn't my favorite girl..." he purred sarcastically. "Sorry, Cherry, but it's my day off and I don't really have time to play with you guys. Try not to get squashed, okay?"
Ignoring the redhead's furious growls, Alex revved his Mecha-beast, steering it toward where Valentina's mechanical horse was parked so they could mount up and bail.
But Valentina had other plans.
"Wait, wait! Pull over here!" Valentina ordered, smacking his shoulder. Alex slammed on the brakes right in front of the concession stand.
"What the hell do you need at the snack bar right now?" Alex asked, looking at her like she was insane while the Yeti wrestled with the Hooligang behind them. "Are you getting more popcorn to watch these idiots get crushed or something?"
Valentina scoffed, offended by the implication. "I'm not getting food, idiot. I'm getting my gold. I want a refund," Val stated, her eyes gleaming with pure corporate indignation.
Completely ignoring the giant monster roaring a few yards away, Valentina nimbly hopped off the Mecha-beast and vaulted over the counter, hunting down the poor theater manager to demand her money back. The movie wasn't over, and the Intelligence Commander wasn't about to let anyone rip her off.
Far from fleeing in terror like the rest of the civilians, Valentina had marched right into the ticketing area. She was currently holding a small, trembling Molenoid by the collar with one hand, dangling him a few inches off the ground.
"I'm sorry, lady! I swear!" the Molenoid whimpered, kicking his feet in the air as Val shook him mercilessly. "Everyone already bailed! The manager took the cash register and all the gold! I'm just the projectionist, there are no refunds!"
"I don't give a damn who you are! You ruined my movie and somebody is giving me my money back!" the Intelligence Commander demanded, eyes practically shooting sparks.
While Valentina was busy extorting the poor theater employee, the situation behind her was escalating rapidly.
Alex gunned his Tiger Mecha-beast to the max, drifting across the frozen floor just in time to dodge a brutal backhand from the Yeti.
"Hey, Val! Get out of there already!" Alex yelled over the roar of his engine.
The Yeti, frustrated after missing the bike, snapped its massive head around and locked its glowing eyes on Valentina. It raised a colossal fist of ice and brought it crashing down toward her.
Hearing Alex's shout and feeling the giant shadow loom over her, Valentina dropped the projectionist and launched into an agile tactical roll, dodging the impact by mere inches. The Molenoid, however, wasn't so lucky.
The giant, furry hand closed around him, hoisting the terrified projectionist into the air like a ragdoll in true King Kong fashion.
From his cover behind some rubble, Eli Shane watched it all go down. They were just about to sneak toward the exit, but seeing the civilian trapped in the monster's grip, Eli let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Damn it..." Eli muttered, his shoulders slumping. He couldn't just turn his back and walk away; his hero complex simply wouldn't allow it. Now he had to play savior and rescue the projectionist.
"Come on, team, with me," Eli ordered, reloading his blaster with a look of pure resignation.
A few yards away, the dynamic was significantly less noble.
Billy, the Hooligang leader, strutted over to Trixie, blocking her path with his usual arrogance. "Hey, you! Give me that camera!" he demanded, pointing at the device clipped to her belt. "You've got proof on there that I beat the Shane Gang! Hand it over!"
Trixie looked at him like he was the dumbest creature in all 99 caverns. "What? No way I'm giving you my camera, you idiot!" she replied, baffled by his audacity.
But Billy kept pushing, blocking her line of sight and breaking her concentration with his annoying whining. Realizing that arguing with him was a waste of time and that they desperately needed a distraction, Trixie flashed a wicked smile.
"You know what, Billy? If you really want the camera and want to prove how tough you are to all of Slugterra... why don't you go take down that Yeti all by yourself?" Trixie challenged, pointing at the twenty-foot monster. "You do that, and I'll give you the tape."
Billy's ego was significantly larger than his brain. He puffed out his chest, completely sold on his own greatness. "Ha! Piece of cake! Watch and learn, little girl!" Billy bragged, spinning around and charging blindly at the ice Yeti.
Trixie just rolled her eyes and got ready to do some actual shooting.
As the chaos unfolded, Alex pulled his Mecha-beast up right next to Valentina, who was brushing the dust off her uniform, still scowling over her lost gold.
Alex leaned on the handlebars of his Bengal Tiger and looked her up and down. "Look, Val... it's not that I don't care about your gold, or your unwavering corporate pride," Alex said, his tone dripping with irony as the Yeti roared behind them, "but... do you seriously want to fight a giant ice monkey to the death over a stupid movie ticket?"
Valentina drew her custom blaster, spun it in her hand with lethal dexterity, and shot Alex a sharp, defiant smirk.
"What's the matter, 'A'?" Val replied, raising an eyebrow. "Are you scared of a little ape?"