I skidded around one of the arena walls trying to put some distance between myself and Damon's liger shark. Despite what I had said to Jane and Iris running was a huge part of my plan going into this. Using guerrilla warfare tactics and small bursts of mana I'd planned to wear them down gradually and hopefully take out one or two of them. I got too caught up in Damon's little show and missed my window to run initially.
Though my plans were dashed the moment he brought put the liger shark. The reason they didn't have any eyes was because they didn't need them; the entire surface of their skin was a supercharged sensory organ fine tuned to detect the electromagnetic fields that all things generate. Even if it was two miles away and in total darkness it would be able to see me clearly. It was created as a hunter, specifically created to counter guerrilla tactics.
A blood curdling roar ripped through the arena as I dashed toward one the nearest pillar. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and something told me to duck. The liger shark came crashing into the pillar I was running to, it's teeth embedded in the thick marble right where my head would have been.
'That attack would have taken my head off!' I though with a panic. I changed directions, vaulting over a small wall I looked over my shoulder as i ran. The liger yanked a chunk of marble out of the pillar and crushed it in its mouth. It then turned towards me and ran to give chase after me.
I ran as fast as I could, weaving around pillars and jumping over smaller walls, just barely dodging the evo's attacks as it tried to swipe at my legs or knock me off my feet. I nearly shit my pants every time I felt the blowback from its powerful attacks. As I ran around another wall I grabbed the edge and used it to sling shot myself and spin around. I gathered mana around my hand that cycled into wind, as the liger shark ran around the wall I sent two gusts of wind crashing into it and sending it flying.
Not caring where it landed I turned and kept on running finding myself back in the center of the arena. Damon was kneeling on the ground holding his shoulder where his crystal sat.
"Chase!" I heard Jane scream. I turned to see her and Iris hiding behind a short wall. "Damon lost control! He's not controlling the liger shark!"
'Shit!' I thought as I suddenly was sent flying, I landed a few feet away from in front of Damon feeling all the wind knocked out my lungs. I looked up and saw the liger shark standing fifteen feet away from me. It paced a back and forth, it's movements more shark like than feline.
"Fuck!" I gasped breathlessly.
"Chase!" Jane and Iris screamed. I rolled onto my side and stood up despite the sudden pain in my ribs.
"If you're not going to help then don't bother screaming my name!" I croaked but didn't bother to spare them a glance. I had bigger problems. Since Damon wasn't controlling the liger shark that meant this entire time it was actively trying to kill me.
I cycled mana into my right hand and focusing it into my crystal. The second I did that the liger shark became guarded and growled at me. I directed my mana to it and wrapped it around the Evo like a mummy before trying to control it. It roared and shook it's head, fighting against my control. I never had a evo fight me this hard. It slammed its head against the ground, jarring itself and shattering my connection. The backlash felt like millions of glass shards digging into my arm.
"Fine! Hard way it is!" I said as I rubbed my crystal through my glove. I ran at the liger shark, yanking the glove off as I did. No longer dazed the Evo saw me coming and charged. I cycled mana into the soles of my feet, the image of a steady and powerful stream of flames flooded my mind.
The liger shark pounced, jaws open, razor sharp claws extended and ready to tear me into shreds. I skidded to a stop while shooting off the flames in my left foot to send me flying backwards. The liger landed where I had originally been just as my right foot touched the ground. Without a moments hesitation I fired the flames in that foot and was sent flying toward the liger shark cycling massive amounts of mana into my crystal.
"LETS HAVE A CHAT!" I roared as I slammed my hand down on the liger shark's head.
Time stood still and everything else faded away like sand blown in the winds leaving nothing but darkness. I stood floating for a few moments in the vast nothingness till gravity slowly pulled me down. Several feet beneath me a grated gangplank above a massive factory floor started to materialize. As I touched down a giant tank materialized in front of the of the gang plank and with it hundreds of young liger shark babies materialized inside the tank. They swam together in the gestation fluid.
'This is a evo factory.' I thought. I walked the length of the gang plank looking at each liger. They looked like they were all fully formed and would be moving out of the gestation tank into a maturation tank any day now. I smiled and watched the giant school peacefully swim around the tank.
"This batch is maturing nicely."
A man in a lab coat materialized in front of me and walked along the path I had just taken. Two more men materialized beside him one in a expensive suit, the other in a lab coat just like the first only thinner and more frail looking.
"Good job Dr. Andrex how long until they reach full maturation?" The man in the suit asked. Dr. Andrea smiled.
"Another two months! This batch is looking to be stronger than the last one!" He replied.
"There is one problem however." The other scientist said. "We've run out of the feeding culture for the liger sharks and it'll take at least a month until we can get more."
"Why would that be a problem?" The man in the suit asked. He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a cigar. "All the feeding culture we need is right in that tank."
"What do you mean Sir?" The scrawny scientist asked. The man in the suit lit hos cigar and took a long drag before blowing the smoke in the scrawny scientist's face.
"I seriously have to spell it out for you? The little sum'bitches can start eating each other when they get hungry."
'No…he wouldn't?' I thought as I followed then across the gang plank.
"Sir with all due respect we can't do that!" The scrawny scientist cried.
"The hell we can't! These little bastards are going to grow up to be blood thirst soldiers for whatever twisted splicer pays the most. Might as well get them used to killing while they're young."
Both the scrawny scientist and I recoiled in horror. In all my time around techno-splicing factories I've heard some borderline psychotic orders but to intentionally starve evo's so they'd cannibalize their brothers and sisters; this took the cake.
"As you order Mr. Dresden." Dr. Andrex spoke up. The scrawny scientist looked at his superior with horror. Mr. Dresden smiled and clapped Dr. Andrex on the shoulder.
"Good man!" Mr. Dresden said then walked toward the stairs to the gang plank. He vanished into mist before he reached them.
"We don't have any choice Stewart, we're out of their culture and all other evos in the factory are for orders. Letting nature take its course is our only option."
Both scientist vanished into a puff of smoke. I felt time start to speed up, the school of evos swam around their tank as if someone had then on fast-forward. Men and women speeding on and off the gang plank taking measurement and making observations. The cycle of day to night changing rapidly until there was a flash of blood in the yank. A feeding frenzy, all the bigger and stronger evos of the school ganging up to feed on the smallest and weakest of them.
The owner of the factory, Mr. Dresden had a first row seat to the massacre. The excited smile on his face while he watched the gore and bloodshed curled my stomach.
"Quite a show. It was worth pushing that culture delivery back two months…"
Mr. Dresden vanished and time kept moving on. With every day more and more ligers vanished from the tank until only seventeen were left. Fully matured each had unique scars that marred their bodies. I could easily tell which one was Damon's, it was the largest of them and all others kept their distance for fear of being attacked and eaten. It was the undisputed master of the tank.