The arena lights flared to life as the voice echoed through the massive coliseum:
"ROUND ONE – BEGIN."
Across the cracked concrete battlefield, the enemy team emerged:
A tall woman crackling with blue lightning, arcs of electricity coiling around her arms.
A lean man who vanished and reappeared in blur-like flickers—super speed.
And… no one else.
But they all knew someone else was there. The invisible third.
Jack, Michael, and Emily stood in tight formation, backs nearly touching.
Jack activated his Echo Mask, scanning the arena in red pulses of sound. "We won't see him. Stay alert."
Emily stared around nervously. "I have an idea… but you'll need to hold them off for a second."
Michael grinned. "I've got you covered."
---
The lightning woman raised her hand and fired a bolt of energy straight at Emily.
"Scatter!" Jack shouted.
They dove away as the lightning exploded in a burst of white heat.
Emily slid behind cover and pulled water from her BackWater Pack, then flung her hands skyward.
The water shot up—and then came back down.
A rain began to fall. Cold, fast droplets drenched the arena like a passing storm.
And then…
Footsteps.
Faint splashes. Ripples in the falling water. Shapes cutting through the rain where nothing should be.
"There!" Jack barked, his Echo Mask locking onto the shape.
The invisible fighter was revealed — barely, but enough.
Emily twisted her fingers, focusing her Water Beam into a narrow stream. She fired.
SPLASH! It hit the invisible one in the leg, revealing shimmering skin and a flash of panic. They ducked and ran, but now they couldn't hide.
---
Michael charged the speedster, who blitzed across the field in sharp bursts. Michael narrowed his aim and fired his Suppressor Shots, letting out thin, fast bursts of flame that forced the runner to dodge tightly.
The speedster turned to circle back—but slipped slightly on the wet concrete from Emily's rain.
That was enough.
Michael fired the Burner—a jet of fire roared across the arena and singed the runner's side, making him scream.
---
But up above, the lightning woman had lifted both hands into the sky.
Electricity arced upward and formed a growing orb of raw power above her head.
"She's charging something huge!" Emily yelled.
Jack stepped forward.
His eyes burned red. The voices in his head screamed louder, clawing for release.
He nodded once.
"Come out."
Screeching Maw burst from the ground behind him, floating forward with a deafening shriek that cracked the air. Its jellyfish-like body shimmered, white light flickering from within as dozens of mouths opened and screamed.
The lightning orb faltered mid-charge. The Maw's scream distorted the air, ripping through concentration.
Jack raised his hand. "Consume it."
The Screeching Maw shot forward—and instead of avoiding the electricity, it devoured it.
The blue lightning surged into the Maw's body. It shuddered once—then screeched louder, even more violently.
The lightning woman's eyes widened.
Before she could back away, the Maw latched onto her arm—its teeth sinking deep into her skin—and discharged the lightning back into her, amplified and chaotic.
She screamed as the shock dropped her to her knees, her body twitching.
---
The invisible fighter was now soaked and slipping, trying to crawl away, clearly panicking. Emily struck again with a water blast, pinning them against a wall.
Michael knocked out the speedster with a final punch backed by heated fists.
Jack stood in the center of the arena, the Screeching Maw hovering beside him, still sparking and dripping blood from its mouths.
Then the voice above declared:
"ROUND ONE: TEAM 9 — VICTORY."
Emily lowered her hands. "That was close…"
Michael exhaled, scorched and grinning. "Best damn fight yet."
Jack said nothing.
But in his mind, the voices of his monsters weren't celebrating.
They were hungry.