The monster was within range of the proton cannons.

“Open fire!” ordered Tawashi.

The first ray of light flew over the bridge and hit Magnamite hard. The creature sputtered under the impact but did not slow down. Instead, the shot seemed to have merely upset himt.

“It's not enough...hit it with a second load!”

Another shot was fired, with no better effect. Using his gigantic paws, Magnamite mowed down the first row of street lights and bridge safety barriers. He threw them towards the armed forces. One of the projectiles hit a proton cannon that exploded on impact. Luckily there were no injuries, as the officers fled just in time.

Horrified, the soldiers saw the monster advance by leaps and bounds. Nothing seemed to stop him.

“Good lord, it's as tall as a ten-story building!” exclaimed Tawashi.

Magnamite still drew closer. He now made a kind of cry, a frightening mix of a howl, buzzing energy, and flashes of electricity.

“Fire, fire them all!” howled Tawashi.

Soldiers and police officers let loose the power of their weapons. Lightning struck the monster in the head, the body, the legs...but it did him no harm.

“Keep it up! Don't stop at all costs! It must be destroyed! Aim for its energy core, in the middle of its body!”

When Professor O'Shay arrived on the scene aboard his craft, he discovered the wildest scene in the world. Magnamite was in the middle of the bridge, under a hail of fire. Debris was thrown for kilometres around. It was complete chaos, and the huge creature was dangerously approaching the city's last line of defense.

The monster shook himself and reared. Its legs swept the ground before him. His body quivered, and his eyes glowed more. Suddenly, he stretched his front legs to the police, and a huge flash of energy gushed. Some sort of blinding ball lightning split the air. In a great grinding of crushing metal, the foremost armoured vehicles were thrown into the air, and the bridge seemed to melt like butter. The police retreated and fired harder.

“The weapons aren't making a dent,” noticed the professor. “I think he's trying to absorb all the energy of the proton beams! Each shot makes him more powerful! We need to stop before he becomes invincible!”

He called through the speaker of his aircraft:

“Inspector Tawashi, cease fire! Cease immediately!”

But the cacophony covered his voice, and the police officer didn't hear.

“I need to act, and fast! I have no choice...”

The professor got into his vehicle and went flying through the place between the armed forces and the monster. He hoped to force the military to stop firing, but this was not the case! He found himself caught between the fire of the security forces and was hit by Magnamite!

“Confound it! One of my reactors was hit! I absolutely have to land!”

He tried to engage an emergency landing, but nothing happened.

“Nothing's responding. I can't run my engine! I'll be crushed under the paws of the monster!”

The aircraft fell in on itself, and plunged to the ground. The impact was terrible, but protective systems allowed him to sustain any damage. When he drew himself up. he saw through his cracked cockpit the enormous tentacle of Magnamite that would befall him...

“Astro, help!”