Pounding on the door of the lab added pressure to an already tense situation. The scientists wiped sweat from their foreheads, continuing their precious work.

“We have to seal it. We have to seal it and we have to leave.” Dr. Lowe stated.

“There isn’t time to relocate, Brandon. What we have to do is finish what we started.” Dr. Binsky replied calmly.

“Let’s not argue, finish the work and then we’ll leave. Less talking, more testing.” lab assistant Brett tried to diffuse the hostility.

Both scientists surrounded the counter as they ignored banging on the large metal doors. It sounded like thousands of fists were trying to break through at once. They both knew they were close. 

Suddenly, one of the doors began to give. The three of them looked towards the entrance, expecting it to bust any moment with the amount of sound behind it. With the seal exposed, they could hear through to the other side more than just the banging.

“LET US IN”

“YOU CAN’T HOLD US BACK FOREVER”

“WE’RE STARVING”

One voice was more calm and more commanding than the others.

“Take your time. We’ll never stop.”

The scientists all got chills from the confidence of the intruders.

“Brett, pile some stuff by the door. Make yourself useful.” Dr. Binsky ordered snarkily.

Brett begrudgingly dragged some unused tables and chairs to the entrance, flinching at some of the louder noises from outside.

“Good boy.” she poked.

He shrugged it off and sat on one of the tables by the door. Dr. Lowe peeked over and thought he heard Brett speaking quietly.

“What’s that Brett?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing, sir.” Brett answered quickly. His eyes were wide and his pupils dilated. Dr. Lowe knew instantly what was happening. He placed a hand on Dr. Binsky’s shoulder and pointed, staring at their assistant.

“Yes. It’s true. Like them, what you have is… irresistible to me too.” he hopped from the table and paced towards the scientists, who were backing away. “How could you not have seen this coming?”

Dr. Binsky laughed, stunning Brett. “You’ve always been the weak link in our lab. Here, we’re done anyways.”

Sharon tossed a piece of the most succulent piece of beef ever crafted by man at the lab assistant and watched him dive to it before it even reached him. The smell of it getting closer to those outside caused a frenzy. The barricade and doors were moments away from opening completely. 

She turned to see their completed work for one final time, and saw Dr. Lowe holding all of the remaining beef, and a scalpel.

“You’ve always pronounced a few words wrong and I never corrected you.”

With that, Brandon sliced her quickly, not even allowing her to enjoy her creation. He took one bite, then another, and couldn’t stop.

The only way they could make such a perfect beef was by using quantum-scale robotics. These bots manifested as Brett and Dr. Lowe flew towards each other, meeting in the middle and becoming an amalgam of one another. Then, rapidly, they started to produce more beef from their skin. 

‘SLAM’... the huge, steel doors of the lab and the barricade were broken. A horde of people ran at the meat mass and began to chew, themselves joining the new creature. It would never end. Unchecked, the entire world would become Beefatron.

Chunky Muffin fled the bakery, at long last escaping his captors. He ran down the sidewalk wildly, as if being chased. Wind scraped off a few crumbs from his back, which then landed on the ground, sprouted a wrapping and faces of their own before being scooped up and eaten by pedestrians who just dodged Chunk barreling past them. The muffin man turned a corner and backed up against a wall to catch his breath, many blocks from the bakery. He looked to his side and realized the building he was using as cover was a pawn shop.

A classic revolver was on display behind the counter inside the store. It was exactly why Chunky Muffin went there. He pointed up at the gun and looked into the eye of the shop owner, who somehow was unfazed by the pastry’s presence.

“And how are you planning to pay for that?”

“I don’t have any form of currency, kind sir. I can, however, pay you in muffins.”

The shopkeeper plucked off a couple of pieces of Chunky Muffin’s crust and waited a moment as they grew into two large, sentient muffins. He ate one of them and then looked at the other one cruelly. “You work for me now.” He left the wrapper of the other muffin beside this one and told it to clean up the mess.

“Here you go.”

“You have my eternal gratitude.” Chunky Muffin bowed gently and tucked the gun in the back of his wrapper-pants. He stepped outside the store cautiously and checked around for the baker and her cat. Nowhere to be seen.

Down the street, Beefatron was running as a ravenous hoard amassed behind him. Each time someone reached the meaty monster, their first physical contact with it would cause them to be fully absorbed into it. However unwilling to harm people Beefy was, it was his nature. Nobody could resist the succulent attraction from the beef lord and he was designed to take in all organic material and use it to become the supreme food source.

Chunky Muffin walked through a group of young trouble makers carelessly.

“HEY. Wait up big muffin.” the leader called out.

“Chunky Muffin.” the confection issued a correction.

“Alright, THICK BOI.” the kids jested, circling Chunk. “Where’d you come from?”

“I’m not certain of that myself.”

“Does this hurt?” one of the ruffians grabbed a piece of Chunk’s face.

“Not at all.” Chunky Muffin smiled.

“What about this?” the leader kicked him right between the legs.

“Yes. My wrapper seems to be very sensitive.”

“Oh, so we gotta go for the wrapper.” one of them said, yanking down the wrapper, exposing a soft and pale undercarriage.

“Look at that!” they all laughed.

“Please, stop.” Chunky Muffin requested. This only served to infuriate the crew, who then banded together to push him over and roll him into the street.

“Let’s kick him until a car comes.” the leader suggested, and they did so.

Chunky Muffin curled into a ball and wept, considering grabbing his gun but wishing no violence upon anyone. All the crumbs that kept coming out of him fled as they became sentient - some were stomped out by the gang. He wondered for a moment if this world would consist of constant fleeing from danger and torture. None of them noticed that they rolled him directly in front of Beefatron’s path. The meat machine fell over him and absorbed all the kids harassing him. He kept rolling and got covered in the crumbs lying around, which expanded in his meaty pores. The mass of people chasing simply came to their senses as the tiny muffins forming on Beefatron’s delicious exterior dampened the powerful aroma it gave off. As the street emptied, Chunky Muffin helped Beefatron up and brushed him off.

“The pieces that came off your body stopped those people from getting eaten by my body.” Beefatron smiled.

“Well, that’s excellent news.” Chunk replied happily.

The two held hands and walked down the street together. Best friends forever.