Seattle, Washington. Lumen Field.
Third Quarter. 4 minutes remaining.
Score: SF Gold Rush 17 : 17 Seattle Vultures.
The famous Seattle rain was coming down hard. It wasn't just water; it was freezing needles. The field was a mud pit.
But the weather couldn't cool down the hate.
69,000 Vultures fans—the loudest fanbase in the world—were screaming for blood.
"KILL HIM! BREAK HIM! SEND HIM HOME!"
The decibel meter on the Jumbotron was flashing red. They didn't want a win. They wanted a sacrifice.
Their target: Number 33.
On the field, the game had turned into a street fight.
The Vultures were playing dirty. Really dirty.
Eye gouges at the bottom of the pile. Cleats stomping on toes. Twisting fingers.
Levi was covered in mud, but his eyes were burning with a cold, terrifying fire. He was a volcano waiting to erupt.
"Leg still attached, yellow boy?"
Jamal "The Prez" Addy, the Vultures' star Safety, spat out his mouthguard. He glared at Levi with venomous eyes. "Don't worry. This next play, I'm sending you back to the stone age."
"Hut!!!"
The ball was snapped.
The play was an outside run, designed to stretch the defense.
Levi took the handoff and burst toward the sideline.
At that exact moment, Jamal Addy—who had been hiding in the blind spot—launched himself.
He ignored the ball.
He ignored the rules.
He turned his body into a human missile, aiming straight for the side of Levi's right knee.
The Scissors Tackle.
Targeting the ACL and MCL at full speed.
In this weather? With Levi's foot planted in the mud?
That is a career-ending hit. Guaranteed.
"WATCH OUT!!!"
High in the stands, Dr. Sophie screamed, her hands clutching the railing until her knuckles turned white. She knew the angles. That hit would snap a titanium rod.
The entire world held its breath.
Twitter trolls hovered over the "Send" button on their "RIP Levi" memes.
But.
0.01 seconds before impact.
Levi's vision turned blood red.
[SYSTEM WARNING: Malicious Crippling Attack Detected!]
[Passive Trigger: Thorn Aura (Damage Reflection +500%)]
[Active Skill Instant Cast: Gravity Anchor (Absolute Stability)!]
Levi didn't try to dodge.
Instead, he slammed his right foot into the mud.
LOCK.
His leg stopped being flesh and blood. It became a pillar of iron rooted to the earth's core.
BOOM—!!!!
CRACK—!!!!
First, a heavy thud.
Then, a sharp, sickening snap that sounded like a dry tree branch breaking in a storm.
The sound was so loud the field mics picked it up clearly.
"BROKEN!!" The announcer shrieked. "Someone's leg is gone!"
The two men tumbled into the mud.
Silence fell over Seattle.
Everyone craned their necks. Who is it? Is the tank finally broken?
One second.
Two seconds.
A figure stood up from the mud.
He shook his leg, doing a casual little hop to test it.
Levi.
He was fine. He looked bored.
But on the ground...
Jamal Addy was rolling in the mud, letting out a scream that sounded less like a man and more like a dying animal.
"AAAAAHHHHH!!! MY ARM!! MY ARM IS GONE!!"
Addy's right arm was twisted at a horrific, unnatural angle. White bone was poking through his jersey skin.
When he hit Levi's "Anchored" knee, his shoulder and humerus had shattered instantly.
Physics is a bitch. And today, Levi was the teacher.
Levi looked down at the wailing villain.
"I warned you, Jamal. I told you to bring extra ambulances. You didn't listen."
"YOU MOTHERF—!!"
Seeing their captain destroyed, the rest of the Vultures' defense lost their minds.
Logic vanished.
Red rage took over.
Five massive defenders abandoned the play and rushed Levi at once.
"KILL HIM!! GET HIM!!"
They swarmed him, fists flying, intending to bury him under a pile of bodies.
Levi didn't retreat.
The System interface pulsed with a new, golden light.
[System Alert: Enemy Team Frenzy Detected.]
[Unlock Requirement Met: Use of Excessive Force Authorized.]
[New Skill Unlocked: WAR STOMP (AOE Shockwave).]
Levi took a deep breath. He lifted his right leg high into the air, looking like a god of war preparing judgment.
"KNEEL!!!!"
He stomped his foot into the rain-soaked earth.
DOOOOOOM—!!!!
It wasn't just a stomp.
It was an earthquake.
A visible ripple of mud and water exploded outward from Levi's foot!
The shockwave traveled through the wet ground, hitting the rushing defenders like a physical wall.
The five Vultures, who were mid-stride, suddenly felt the ground buck violently beneath them.
They lost their footing.
Slip. Crash. Bam.
Like dominoes, the five attackers collapsed face-first into the mud, sliding helplessly away from Levi.
Freeze Frame.
Levi stood alone in the rain.
Surrounding him were six fallen enemies—one screaming with a broken arm, five groaning in the mud.
He hadn't thrown a single punch.
He just stepped.
The Referee had his whistle in his mouth, but he forgot to blow it. He was too busy staring at the crater Levi just made in the turf.
Levi turned, looked at the terrified Safety deep in the endzone, and started walking.
He didn't run.
He walked.
The Safety moved out of the way. He didn't want to die.
Levi crossed the goal line.
TOUCHDOWN.
SF Gold Rush 24 : 17 Seattle Vultures.
Game Over.
The Aftermath.
Seattle was silent. The "12th Man" had left the building.
Only the sound of sirens filled the air as Jamal Addy was loaded into the ambulance.
But while the fans celebrated, the real storm was brewing in New York.
NFL Headquarters, Manhattan.
Top Floor Conference Room.
The mood was darker than a grave.
On the massive projector screen, Levi's "War Stomp" was playing on a loop.
Roger Gold, the Commissioner of the League, sat at the head of the table. He was an old, ruthless man who cared about one thing: Money.
And Levi? Levi was a problem.
"Bone density anomaly. Muscle hardness off the charts. Yet... no drug tests fail."
Gold tapped the table with a pen. Click. Click.
"Gentlemen, this is a business. We sell entertainment. We sell competition. If one man is invincible... if one man breaks every star player we have... the betting markets collapse. The game breaks."
"What do we do, sir? He's a viral sensation. We can't just ban him."
"We investigate."
Gold stood up, walking to the window overlooking the city lights.
"Launch the 'God Particle' Protocol. I want the FBI involved. I want independent labs involved. Find his weakness."
He turned back, his eyes cold.
"And if you can't find a weakness... manufacture one. I will not let a monster ruin my league."
San Francisco. Levi's Apartment.
11:00 PM.
Levi had just showered. He was wrapped in a bathrobe, holding a glass of champagne that Dr. Sophie had brought over to celebrate.
Sophie was in the bathroom, drying her hair.
Levi felt good. Invincible.
Until—
[ALARM! CRITICAL WARNING!]
[Detection: "World Authority" Malice Locked On.]
[High-Level Plot Triggered: The Capitalist Purge.]
[System Side Effect Manifesting: Overuse of "Indestructible Body".]
[PENALTY: The Rebound.]
[Effect: For the next 24 hours, all stats reduced to ZERO. Pain Sensitivity increased by 1000%.]
"What the—"
Before Levi could finish the sentence, agony struck.
It felt like every nerve ending in his body was being dipped in acid.
The pain he had reflected all day? It came back. All at once.
"Argh..."
The champagne glass slipped from his hand. Smash.
Levi collapsed onto the carpet, curling into a ball. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. A gust of wind from the AC felt like a knife slicing his skin.
He was paralyzed.
Helpless.
A mortal man in a world of wolves.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Heavy pounding on the front door.
"Mr. Levi? Open up. This is the FBI Anti-Doping Task Force."
The voice outside was cold. Mechanical.
"We have a warrant to search for illegal biological enhancements. Open the door, or we will breach."
Levi lay on the floor, sweat pouring down his face.
Sophie couldn't hear him over the hair dryer.
The door handle jiggled.
Click.
He forgot to lock it.
Levi watched in horror as the door slowly creaked open.
Outside, shadows loomed.
And for the first time since getting the System...
The Human Tank knew true despair.