The lion makes the first move, stomping the ground. A wave of stone - solid stone this time, no dirt mixed in - rushes towards me at incredible speeds.

[Carve through it!]

[That's rock, not dirt!]

[Well, then dodge it!]

I leap to the side. I've gotten remarkably good at jumping, especially for an ant, but the wall of stone clips me and I'm launched through the air.

Vision spinning, I barely manage to reorient, landing on my side and rolling to a stop.

[That thing packs a serious punch!]

[You don't have to tell me twice!]

[Well, you said you had a plan - what is it?]

[That was it. I thought that -]

My enemy doesn't wait for me to finish my conversation. Instead, it slams its paws into the ground, and a huge chunk of rock explodes from the ground, spinning rapidly. A growl building up in its throat, it lunges forward, and the rock hurtles ahead of it.

[Nice knowing you.]

[I'm not giving up! There's got to be something we can do!]

The rock is only a few feet from me when I hear it.

[NOTICE: Emergency conditions met. Activating temporary possession.]

I manage a telepathic laugh before my vision goes black.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The lion ruler snarled, raising a chunk of rock with its high-level Earth affinity. Charging forward at the dangerous creature that killed three of its pack, it hurled the stone at it. The creature didn't bother dodging, not with three injured legs.

A vertical black line appeared on the rock and it was cleanly - perfectly, in fact - cut in half. The pieces hurtled into the forest, crashing through trees and snapping them at the base.

The lion growled, intimidated at the figure he now saw.

It was still an ant, but it was no longer the small, matte-black creature that it had been only moments before. It was as large as himself now, and was absorbing light at an unbelievable rate. The very air was being sucked in, for crying out loud, but the lion would not back down.

Summoning another rock, he prepared to throw it, but the ant split then split again, and again, and again, until there were at least a dozen ants, all moving in different directions. He looked from one to the other, then decided to throw caution to the wind and clawed at the closest one. It exploded in his face, and pain erupted all over his body.

Very well then, if he couldn't get close to it...

He jumped in the air, crashing down with a massive shockwave of earth that wiped the field clean, the fake ants exploding harmlessly against the stone. Growling with satisfaction, the lion looked around for the real one.

When he saw it, he almost considered retreating, but his pride was too great. The ant was at least twice his size now, and there was a thick veil of black energy coating its mandibles. Raising its head, it prepared to bite down on the lion ruler.

Roaring in fury at the creature that dared attack him, the lion summoned its ultimate defense - a thick layer of crystalline stone, the hardest it could manage. The black bite snapped down and failed to crack it, struggling to gain purchase on the tough rock, and the lion growled in satisfaction.

The ant backed away, and raised up on its back four legs. A curious feeling overtook the lion, as if it was falling.

Suddenly it wasn't anywhere. It was surrounded by its barrier and, just outside it, blackness. It was worried, but not overly so. It had easily pummeled all of its opponents before - why should this time be different?

Then it saw the ant. Standing on nothing, thousands of times larger than he was, mandibles that could crush a mountain hanging wide open.

This time... was possibly, maybe, not going to end in its victory.

The bite closed, and there was a quiet crunch.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I shake my head, the strange dizziness rapidly fading. The lion is nowhere to be seen, and the ground is torn up everywhere. It looks as though my plan worked. Bubbles seems excited to see me, if not a little nervous.

[So. Your plan was almost dying?]

Oh, right. Joule.

[I was confident it would work.]

[We have no idea how emergency conditions work! What if you'd ended up hurt?]

[If I'm hurt, that means I'm still alive.]

Joule huffs in annoyance, choosing to put the conversation away for later.

[It is a pity, though. I wish I could have eaten that thing. Who knows how much energy we could have gotten from it.]

I can hear Joule moving around in my head, which leads me to wonder what exactly the inside of my head looks like, as well as what Joule looks like. So many questions.

[Huh.]

[What is it?]

[Well, based on the absolutely ridiculous amount of energy we've got, I'd say that you did, in fact, eat the lion. Very quickly, too - it's still dissolving.]

Well, no reason I shouldn't eat the other ones while I'm at it.

Once I'm done, I say to Joule, [I think that I could probably get a little bigger from this.]

[Oh, much larger. You'd have more size and strength than you've ever had.]

I feel like that's wrong, for some inexplicable reason.

[Well, let's get to it.]

Walking over to my hole, surrounded by gashes and tears, I start heading down.

[Wait.]

I tense in spite of myself. Joule's voice is serious.

[What?]

[There are three lifeforms in your home. They might be more lions.]

[Got it.]

Given the amount of void Joule says I have, they shouldn't be too much of an issue.

I light my mandibles up with void, poke my head into my front room, and find...

[Are those humans?]