The golden dome of the Aegis Shield dissolved into a shower of harmless, glittering light.
Silence, profound and absolute, fell over the massive arena.
Every eye was fixed on the three figures standing alone in the center of the ruined cityscape.
Team Revenant.
The last team standing.
Miles stood there, his chest heaving, the last vestiges of the controlled overload humming just beneath his skin.
He felt drained.
Hollowed out.
But he was standing.
"Well," Leo said, his voice a high-pitched, shaky squeak that echoed in the sudden quiet.
"I think we made an impression."
He looked at the smoking craters and the unconscious bodies of the other teams scattered across the arena.
"A very, very loud impression."
"I don't think we're getting our security deposit back for this place."
The booming voice of the announcer finally broke the spell, declaring them one of the three finalists.
The crowd erupted, a roaring, deafening wave of sound.
