Derick Andrew stood alone in the silent walkway of the zoo, with no sign of humans or animals. He knew most of the animals were predators—which meant they were hunting.
His eyes were shut. He took in a deep breath and exhaled, he used it to steady himself. A faint noise made Derick's ears twitch, rising like antennae tuned for danger.
He still didn't move; for him, his senses would pick up more than just that. Slowly, the faint and sharp noise became clearer. His ears caught something—something dangerous.
It was a growl. A growl that would make predators among predators obey. It was the growl of the King of the Jungle—the lion.
Derick moved fast, faster than the normal man. Every step was a leap. He was heading west of the zoo—lions' Den. As he ran, he could hear multiple sounds—whimpers, cries, wallows. He wanted to help all, but couldn't. He had to stop the lion first.
[Narrator]:
Oh boy, this is getting interesting. He's 'bout to face the king of the jungle—what more could we ask for?
Derick got to the den of lions. The pride lingered around—scattered, but of like minds. They made a formation at the entrance of a small store; this was because of the child who, to them, was nothing but prey.
The racing footsteps of Derick caught their attention. They turned towards him, prepared to attack the unwanted guest. The lionesses took it as their duty to fight for the king, who just lay back, watching what would become of the human. The lionesses saw no fear in his eyes. They hadn't attacked yet—the man standing before them did not shiver. More so, they were the ones fear had gripped.
Derick smirked, walking with confidence toward them.
"I feed you every day, and now you want to bite the fingers that fed you? You ungrateful kittens. Get into the den before I lose it, you dumb cats."
He had somewhat of a dumb thought.
I keep speaking to animals like they understand me. Even they know I'm nuts.
The lionesses paused, not wanting to attack. But the King roared and growled—it was like he was ordering them to go at the man before them. The king's orders were absolute. The lionesses ran toward Derick with incredible speed and leapt to pounce on him.
Inside the little room was a girl—one of the elementary school students Derick had met earlier. She was in tears, cramped in the little space she had to avoid the claws of the lions if they found a way inside.
"The mister is going to die because of me… Why did I come to hide here? Mommy, come help me! We didn't mean to make noise after that man warned us," said the little girl after hearing the lions' growls.
The doors of her hiding place opened. She closed her eyes, ready to accept her fate—that the lions had come to eat her.
But instead, she heard a voice call to her:
"Are you alright?"
She opened her eyes. She couldn't believe it was a person who had approached her—not just anyone, but the sir she had met earlier. She wiped her eyes and answered,
"I'm fine, sir. Thank you."
Derick picked her up and placed her on his back. His clothing was torn, cuts marked his body, blood dripped from him.
She asked, "Are you okay, sir?"
He replied, "Yes, I'm okay. Don't worry about the injuries. What's your name, little one?"
The girl answered, "My name is Vivi."
They came out of the room. Vivi looked around for the lions, but saw no sign of them. She turned left and saw them in their dens.
[Narrator]:
"Yeah, baby! He took out the pride of lions himself. Don't you guys think he's technically the new king of the jungle? That's a tough feat."
Derick, with Vivi on his back, ran through the zoo. Unexpectedly, some animals didn't realize their homes were opened. That gave Derick a brief moment of hope that there could be fewer casualties. He locked the open doors of the animals and continued his search for people and survivors.
Vivi fell asleep on his back. Derick wanted to find a place for her to rest, but he didn't want to risk the little girl's life with snakes also loose.
***
Derick was stopped dead in his tracks by barricades.
He yelled, "Oh, come on, who are these selfish lot?"
He moved the obstacles out of his way, but as he prepared to leave, he saw a crowded room filled with people—his fellow coworkers, children, parents, and the hot lady that caught his attention.
A man shouted,
"You plan to leave without setting the barricade back? You want us to be eaten alive?"
Derick instantly fired back, "Take a chill pill, you bald prick. Hope everyone is okay. I have already taken care of the animals, but now I plan to head to the control room to fix things completely."
There were murmurs everywhere. The words that he said about him handling the loose animals brought smiles and also doubts to the people.
"Are you sure you handled all the animals, Derick?" a female coworker asked.
"Do I need to repeat myself? Yes, I handled them all. What I want from you guys is remain here. When I get to the control room, I will turn on the Wi-Fi signal so we can call an ambulance and the police."
Derick dropped Vivi into the hands of her guardian. He asked the lady for her name,
"Miss, your name, please."
The curvy lady with a soft voice answered,
"I'm Jean. Thanks once again. If it weren't for you, we would have lost a child on a school trip."
Jean walked up close to Derick and gave him a tight hug. Derick's heart was beating with unfathomable joy; his dark eyes lit up like someone who just won the lottery.
He stuttered a bit before saying, "I'm leaving now, so see you guys soon."
Derick turned to run. He picked up his pace and went straight for the control room. Jean stood watching him leave. She had a disgusted look on her face. She silently said,
"Fuck."
Meanwhile, Derick was all smiles. The bosom and embrace of Jean still played in his head. He arrived at the control room. No time was wasted—he gave the door a kick that sent it flying.
A familiar voice called out to Derick,
"Derick, I thought you left. What do you think about the animals' freedom?"
Derick was stunned. He couldn't believe who caused the havoc.
Derick started cackling. He laughed, "I'm gonna beat you to a pulp, Leonard."
He drew out his nails and said, "I thought you were saying those words then as a joke, but you actually did it. Why?"
"They need freedom. We can't lock up those wonderful creatures. They are not savages," Leonard said.
Leonard sounded like a deranged person; he was moving like he was drunk.
"You released them in your deranged idea of freedom. Now that they're out attacking the innocent, are they not savages?"
Leonard replied,
"As long as they have freedom, I'm okay with their behavior. It's in them for self-defense."
The rage in Derick piled up and kicked in the moment he heard those words.
He walked to Leonard and gripped his neck. He thought of choking or snapping it. Instead, he threw him against the wall, which knocked him out.
Derick switched everything on, fixed all he could, and then the ambulance and police arrived.
[Narrator]:
"Derick—superb. You are goated. Can't wait till you meet the rest."
Later that day,
Jean walked into a building. She was pissed. Her dress was completely different from the teacher's wear she had earlier.
A cold, thick voice called to her, "You don't look happy, even with a successful job."
She replied, "I didn't know there would be an unexpected variable."
The voice replied to her, "Come sit with me. I'm happy with what you did. The chaos your ability causes gives me assurance that there will be more casualties that will befall this city. This is just the start. Ultra City—pain and futility will become your day-to-day activities."