Chapter 72 Monsters.

Chapter 72: 72 Monsters.

"Th-thank you all for c-coming," he began, shuffling his papers too close to the microphone, his eyes flicking nervously between them as one hand occasionally rose to brush through what remained of his thinning hair.

"I ah... I am exceedingly e-excited to be here..."

I sat up a little straighter.

He seemed nervous.

Not normal nervous, either. There was something about the way his eyes kept darting around the auditorium that put me on edge.

Maybe it was just my paranoia talking. After everything I’d been through lately, I wouldn’t exactly be surprised if my brain had decided to treat every nervous scientist as a potential supervillain.

Still, I leaned toward Rhea. "Is he alright?"

"He’s usually more composed in his videos," she whispered, cocking her head curiously as she watched him.

That wasn’t particularly reassuring.

My concern growing, I discreetly stretched out my magnetic senses, probing the room for anything that felt out of place.

The professor himself was clean. His watch, a few pens, his belt buckle and the phone tucked into his pocket were the only significant pieces of metal on him.

Nothing strange there.

I expanded my awareness through the auditorium, feeling the faint hum of computers, metal fixtures, personal electronics and all the other assorted junk hundreds of people carried around with them.

Nothing alarming.

Nothing that screamed hidden weapon or elaborate assassination attempt.

Then I felt the canister.

There was a ridiculous amount of metal packed inside that thing, far more than should have been necessary for whatever medical experiment Kord was supposedly demonstrating.

I focused on it.

The sensation was difficult to describe. I could feel the different metals, their shapes and positions, the intricate machinery hidden beneath the outer casing, but beneath all of that was something else.

A strange sense of attention.

Almost as though something inside was aware that I was probing it.

My brow furrowed as I leaned forward.

What the hell was in there?

Before I could focus any further, a chorus of shouting suddenly erupted somewhere outside.

My head snapped toward one of the windows just in time to see the glass explode inward.

Half the wall came down with it as something enormous smashed through the side of the lecture hall, sending chunks of masonry and glass scattering across the seats.

The creature hit the floor near the podium hard enough to shake the room, its enormous claws digging into the linoleum as it skidded several feet before finally coming to a stop.

Then it straightened. It was a bear.

At least, I assumed it had started out that way.

It was now the size of a heavy-duty truck, with muscles bulging across its body like someone had taken every steroid on the planet and decided to inject all of them into a single animal.

Its jaws were enormous, lips peeling back to reveal rows of jagged fangs coated in saliva, while its red eyes swept across the auditorium with the sort of mindless fury I associated with rabid animals and particularly angry linebackers.

A long tail, more like a snake than anything belonging to a dog, whipped behind it with enough force to crack like a leather whip.

Then it threw its head back and howled.

The sound shook the entire auditorium.

Students screamed and bolted from their seats, stampeding toward the exits as professors and corporate representatives abandoned whatever dignity they’d walked in with.

I was already on my feet, grabbing Rhea by the arm.

Oh, great.

Either someone’s experiment had gotten loose, or someone was pulling off a goddamn heist right in the middle of a university convention.

Either way, it wasn’t my problem.

This place was packed with superpowered students and professors. Surely one of them would be stupid enough to throw themselves at the monster within the next thirty seconds.

"Come on," I said, pulling Rhea toward the stairs.

She stumbled after me, barely moving, her eyes locked on the massive creature.

"Rhea, let’s go."

"But... what about—"

"Not our problem." I tugged harder on her arm.

Then the monster’s head suddenly turned. Its red eyes locked directly onto Rhea.

It froze for half a second.

Then it roared. A triumphant, ear-splitting sound that made several students stumble in their rush for the exits.

"Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me."

The creature crouched, its muscles bunching beneath its hide. Then it launched itself into the seating.

Rows of desks were ripped apart beneath its weight as it bounded toward us, claws tearing through metal and plastic as easily as paper.

Fuck!

I shoved Rhea behind me and threw out a hand. My magnetic powers seized onto the metal framework of one of the desks.

I ripped the entire thing out of the cement with a violent screech of twisting bolts and snapped metal before swinging my arm forward.

The desk shot through the air. The monster lunged. The two collided.

The impact caught the creature full in the side, sending its massive body flying sideways through several rows of seats.

It smashed through desks and chairs before finally slamming into the far wall hard enough to leave a spiderweb of cracks across it.

For a moment, there was silence. I slowly lowered my hand. Then the wreckage moved.

The monster groaned beneath the pile of broken desks and began forcing itself back onto its feet.

I stared. "Fuck."

Yeah.

That wasn’t good.

Before I could decide whether running faster was an option, a mechanical hiss echoed from below.

I looked toward the demonstration platform. The massive metal canister was opening.

Hydraulics groaned as sections of the casing separated, releasing a thick gush of steam and smoke across the stage.

Something moved inside. Then it stepped out.

I stared.

It looked like an ape. Or at least, it had probably started as one.

Now it looked like someone had taken Donkey Kong and the terminator and forced them to do unholy things together.

The gorilla knuckled its way out of the canister, metal plating running across its back and shoulders, one eye replaced by a glowing red lens.

Its fists were enormous metal gauntlets, each one looking capable of punching through the side of a car.

It straightened to its full height, reared back and hammered those fists against its armored chest.

The resulting clang echoed through the auditorium.

Then it roared. "Youuuuuu!"

I stared at it.

The ape pointed one massive metal finger toward Rhea.

"Youuuu give Kooong giiirl!"

I slowly turned my head toward Rhea. She was staring at the creature with wide, fascinated eyes.

Of course she was.

"Of course its name is fucking Kong," I sighed.