Chapter 43: Jungle
The explosion was so loud my ears rang.
The window of the Aegis box rattled violently in its frame. Dust fell from the ceiling.
Down in the stadium, the crowd's cheers instantly turned into screams of panic. People started scrambling over the seats, pushing each other to get to the exits.
I spotted the top tier contractors up top taking a back door to the helipads. They had zero intention of sticking around.
"What was that?!" Genevieve yelled, grabbing the back of a couch to steady herself.
Captain May was already tapping frantically on her tablet. "It came from the front gates! The main entrance just blew up!"
"Black Hole," Mr. Graves snarled, his face turning red with anger. "Those anarchist rats. They're trying to attack the VIPs again. May, lock the door. Call the Aegis extraction team immediately."
I stood near the glass, looking down at the chaos.
The charity gala was a test run, and now they were hitting the biggest event of the year.
I opened my Status Screen.
BP: 295/295.
I was Level 50. I wasn't the weak rookie who had to hide in a hotel kitchen anymore. If the Black Hole leader showed up, I was going to melt him.
Loud alarms started echoing through the stadium.
ATTENTION, an automated voice boomed over the speakers. SECURITY BREACH. INITIATING LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL.
Massive steel shutters began dropping over the stadium exits, trapping the panicked crowd inside. The military guards stationed around the arena raised their energy rifles, pointing them toward the smoke billowing from the front gates.
"We're locked in!" Genevieve panicked, running to the door and jiggling the handle. It was electronically sealed.
"Stay calm, Frostbite," May ordered. "The steel shutters are designed to keep Villains out. We are safe in this box."
I kept my eyes on the smoke pouring through the main entrance.
The smoke began to clear.
Figures walked through the gates.
I squinted.
There were about fifty of them. They were men and women of all ages, but they looked completely wild. They were wearing primitive clothing—loincloths made of animal skins, torn dresses, and crude leather straps. Some of them were barefoot. Their faces were painted with dark lines of mud and blood.
They looked like savages who had just walked out of the Stone Age.
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"What... what is that?" Genevieve asked, staring down at them in confusion. "Are they protesters? Where are their coats?"
Captain May dropped her tablet, clattered loudly on the floor.
I looked at May. Her face was completely pale. She was staring at the savages with an expression of pure terror. I had never seen her look scared before.
"They're here," May whispered, her voice trembling.
"Who?" Graves demanded. "Who are they, May?"
"Jungle," May said quietly.
Graves and Genevieve looked at each other.
"Jungle?" Genevieve repeated. "What is that? A new gang?"
"They aren't a gang," May explained. "Black Hole are anarchists. They attack corporations because they hate the system and have a political goal."
She pointed at the people in loincloths.
"Jungle doesn't care about politics," May said. "They believe the System was sent to Earth to return humanity to the food chain. That society is a lie, and that the strong should openly eat the weak, without laws, morals, or mercy."
"They're animals," May whispered.
Down on the field, the guards raised their rifles and shouted warnings at the Jungle members.
"Halt! Drop your weapons or we will open fire!" the lead guard yelled.
The Jungle members raised their heads and let out a collective howl that echoed through the stadium.
Then, they charged.
The guards opened fire. Blue energy bolts tore into the charging savages.
A few of them fell, but the rest didn't care. They just ran through the blaster fire with terrifying speed and ferocity.
A massive Jungle member, seven feet tall, leaped through the air. He landed directly on the lead guard, grabbed the man's helmet, and twisted.
The guard's neck snapped.
The giant savage threw the body aside, picked up the guard's energy rifle, and snapped it over his knee like a twig. He roared and charged the next guard.
It was a massacre.
The Jungle members tore through the military guards in seconds, using Blessings that enhanced their physical strength, speed, and brutality. They ripped them apart with their bare hands.
The crowd in the stadium watched in horror. The screaming intensified. People were trampling each other in a desperate panic to get away from the field.
"They're slaughtering them," Genevieve gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
"May, get the extraction team on the line right now!" Mr. Graves yelled, his usual calm demeanor completely shattered. "Tell them to blow the roof off this box and pull us out!"
May scrambled to pick up her tablet. Her hands were shaking so badly she could barely type.
I looked away from the slaughter on the field and glanced at the boxes next to ours.
In the Gadol box, Leo was slamming his fists against the door, trying to break out so he could go down and fight. Zachary was standing behind him, looking grim, readying his armor.
Then, I looked at the Dawn box.
The Dawn executives were panicking, just like Mr. Graves.
But Koda wasn't.
He was standing right at the glass, looking down at the massacre on the field.
He looked up, caught my eye through the glass, and gave me that same smile.
I felt a cold knot form in my stomach.
Down on the field, a Jungle member wearing a wolf pelt over his head stepped forward. He raised both of his hands toward the sky.
A massive pulse of dark green energy erupted from his body.
The energy shot upward, expanding rapidly until it formed a glowing green dome over the entire stadium. It covered the open roof, sealing us inside completely.
The stadium was entirely locked down.
"The extraction team can't get through," May whispered. "The airspace is blocked. We're trapped."
I looked at the green dome, then down at the savages tearing through the stadium, and finally at Koda smiling in the next box.
There was no escaping this. The tournament was over. The hunt had begun.