The roar of the crowd had died down, replaced by a stunned silence. Black, breathing hard but unharmed, stood over the broken form of Abyss. Fragmented images of sterile labs and Dr. Orion's cold gaze flickered in his mind, unsettling him more than any punch. His friends, wide-eyed with a mix of triumph and terror, scrambled to grab the winnings. They thought the worst was over. They were wrong.
A chilling shriek tore through the silence of the pit. It wasn't human. It was a sound that scraped against bone, followed by the heavy thud of something impossibly fast landing amidst the splintered seating. Dust and debris rained down as the figures of the stunned spectators scattered like mice.
From the settling dust, a nightmare stalked forward. This was Sheena.
She was a creature of terrifying beauty and brutal power, a half-tiger, half-human alien-looking beast. Her form was tall, muscled, and sleek, covered in shifting, dark stripes that seemed to ripple like shadows. Her eyes, glowing with predatory intent, fixated on Black. A low growl rumbled in her chest, a sound that promised violence and death. She was fast, impossibly strong, and utterly devoid of mercy. She didn't give a damn about anything but her target.
"The Syndicate sends its regards, experiment," Sheena's voice was a guttural snarl, laced with something cold and ancient, a predator's purr before the pounce. She was a refined version of the failed experiments, loyal only to the Chronos Syndicate, a living weapon designed for one purpose.
Black's friends, finally realizing the true danger, screamed. "Black! Run!"
But Sheena was already in motion. She moved with an unholy speed, a striped blur that tore through the remaining debris of the pit. Her claws, long and razor-sharp, were already extended, aiming for Black. This wasn't a fight for money; this was a hunt.
Black, his instincts screaming, reacted. He dodged, a raw, unthinking reflex. Sheena slammed into the wall where he'd been moments before, leaving a crater. The sheer force of her attack sent a ripple of fear through him, a feeling he hadn't experienced in the pit. This wasn't like fighting Abyss. This was a calculated, lethal attack from a predator.
His friends were screaming, trying to pull him away, but Sheena's focus was solely on Black. She leaped again, her powerful legs propelling her across the pit. Black instinctively threw up a hand, and a wave of pure, concentrated kinetic force erupted, throwing Sheena back. She slid across the ground, snarling, but quickly righted herself. She wasn't just strong; she was resilient.
"Clever boy," Sheena purred, a chilling smile stretching her feline features. "But not clever enough."
She launched herself again, this time aiming to cut off Black's escape. His friends were caught in the crossfire, narrowly dodging her swipes. They were terrified, realizing the monster they'd unleashed by bringing Black to the fights.
Black knew he couldn't let them get hurt. A surge of protective anger, a foreign emotion, mixed with the unsettling memories triggered by Abyss. He had to lead Sheena away, protect his new family. He met her charge, not with a dodge, but with a defiant stand.
The battle raged through the crumbling underground pit, a deadly dance between two beings of impossible power. Black, still learning, relied on his unfeeling invulnerability and the raw, unrefined bursts of his newly awakening powers. Sheena, however, was a master of her brutal abilities, moving with terrifying grace and precision. She was relentless, a living nightmare that wouldn't stop until Black was captured or dead.
Part 5: Escape into the Ghost Terrace
Sheena was a force of nature, a terrifying symphony of muscle and predatory grace. The underground pit, once Black's arena of unchallenged dominance, became his torture chamber. She was faster, more experienced, and utterly ruthless. Her claws raked across his unyielding skin, not drawing blood, but sending shockwaves of pure, unadulterated force through his body. He was tossed, slammed, and battered against the pit walls, the metallic clang echoing his growing desperation. For the first time, Black understood what it felt like to be overwhelmed, to be truly outmatched. He didn't feel pain, but he felt the crushing, sickening weight of her power. He was being beaten to a pulp.
His friends, seeing the brutal assault, cried out. "Leave him alone, you monster!" One of them, a fiercely loyal boy named Kai, lunged forward, clutching a salvaged pipe. But Sheena didn't even break stride. With a contemptuous backhand, she slammed Kai against the grimy pit wall. The sickening thud of bone against concrete was followed by a desperate cough, a spray of blood against the already stained surface. Another friend, Lena, tried to pull him free, only to be swatted away with equal savagery, her head hitting the ground with a sickening crack.
A guttural roar tore from Black's throat, an animalistic sound he didn't recognize. It wasn't pain he felt, but something far more primal, more agonizing: fury. Seeing his friends, the only people who had shown him kindness in this strange new world, broken and bleeding, ignited a spark he didn't know he possessed. The fragments of Dr. Orion's experiments, the alien genome, the suppressed instincts — they all coalesced into a single, overwhelming directive: RUN. SAVE THEM.
A new kind of energy surged through Black, cold and sharp. His perception warped. Sheena, moving with blinding speed, suddenly seemed to slow, her predatory snarl stretching out in an agonizing tableau. This wasn't just physical speed; it was a temporal burst, an instantaneous shift in his very existence. He became a blur, a shimmering afterimage. In that instant, he scooped up Kai and Lena, their limp forms surprisingly light in his arms.
"Go! Get to the exit!" he screamed, his voice raw, an actual voice finally emerging from his silent stoicism.
As Sheena snarled and lunged, Maya, the most resourceful of their group, acted without hesitation. She aimed her scavenged postulating pulse gun – a crude but powerful energy weapon – not at Sheena, but at the very ceiling of the underground pit's main gate. A blinding flash, then a deafening boom. The ancient metal structure, already compromised by centuries of neglect and the previous fight's vibrations, groaned and buckled. Dust, rocks, and twisted rebar rained down, creating a chaotic, choking distraction.
"NOW!" Maya yelled, already pulling their remaining friends towards a hidden service tunnel.
Black, with Kai and Lena in his arms, surged through the crumbling debris, the newfound superspeed a raw, exhilarating current through his being. He burst out of the pit, leaving the roaring, collapsing chaos behind. But even as he fled, a chilling, triumphant shriek echoed from the depths. Sheena, battered but unbowled, was already emerging from the dust, her glowing eyes fixed on her escaping quarry. The chase was on.