The Ravine
The pursuit ended at the foot of a massive basalt cliff.
The fleeing tribe members stopped abruptly.
They didn't turn to fight; instead, they fell to their knees, bowing their heads to the mountain peaks.
The elders began a rhythmic, guttural chant that echoed off the canyon walls.
"Hold fire," Arnold ordered, signaling his squad to fan out.
"What are they doing?"
"Praying," Ernst said, his eyes scanning the ridgeline.
THOOM.
The ground shook. Pebbles danced on the rocky floor.
THOOM.
A roar tore through the air—a sound so loud it vibrated in their chests.
From the mist above, a titan appeared.
He was a mountain of muscle and fur, standing over twenty meters tall.
He landed with an earth-shattering impact that knocked several mercenaries off their feet.
King Kong.
He beat his chest, the sound like thunder, and roared a challenge to the invaders.
"Fall back!" Arnold screamed, his soldier's instinct overriding his training.
"It's a Titan! Move!"
The mercenaries scrambled, dropping suppression grenades as they ran.
But Kong was fast.
He leaped, covering a hundred meters in a second, his massive fist raised to crush the ants below.
Arnold looked back. He saw Ernst standing his ground, calm amidst the panic.
"Master!" Arnold shouted.
Loyalty overrode fear.
Arnold turned, sprinting back toward the falling fist of the god.
He raised his machine gun, firing uselessly at the beast's face.
"Get out of there!"
"Stand down, Arnold," Ernst said calmly.
Ernst looked up at the descending fist.
It was the size of a van.
Kinetic Mass: 60 tons. Velocity: 120 mph.
Absorbable.
Ernst planted his feet. He didn't activate his nanotech armor; he wanted to test his biological limits.
He raised his right hand, palm open.
BOOM.
The impact created a shockwave that flattened the surrounding jungle.
Dust and debris exploded outward.
Arnold shielded his eyes, expecting to see a crater where Ernst had stood.
Instead, when the dust settled, Ernst was still standing.
The ground beneath him had cracked and sunk three feet, but his arm hadn't buckled.
He was holding Kong's massive fist in his small, human hand.
Kong's eyes widened in confusion. He growled, pushing down with all his weight.
"You are strong," Ernst grunted, his skin glowing with a blinding violet light as he drank the kinetic energy.
"But I am a battery."
Ernst's muscles swelled slightly.
He channeled the absorbed force of the Titan's punch, multiplied it, and released it.
"Get... OFF!"
Ernst thrust his palm upward.
The release of energy was catastrophic.
Kong was lifted off his feet and blasted backward.
The giant ape flew through the air, crashing into the canyon wall with a force that shattered the rock face.
The battlefield fell silent. The Iwi tribe stopped chanting.
The mercenaries lowered their guns.
They stared at Ernst as if he were the monster.
"Stop staring!" Ernst barked, adjusting his cuffs.
"Fire! All weapons! Bring him down!"
The spell broke. The mercenaries unleashed a torrent of lead and rockets.
Kong roared, shaking off the rubble. He was hurt—bruised and confused—but far from dead.
He realized that the small human was dangerous.
Kong grabbed a boulder the size of a house and hurled it.
"Incoming!"
Ernst moved like a blur.
He intercepted the boulder mid-air, punching it.
CRACK.
The rock shattered into gravel, raining harmlessly over the squad.
"He's adapting," Ernst noted.
"He knows he can't touch me, so he's using range."
Kong stayed back, bombarding them with a relentless hail of stones and trees.
Ernst became a human shield, dashing back and forth to deflect the projectiles.
'I have a weakness', Ernst realized, batting away a tree trunk.
'I have infinite defense, but no range. My nanotech cannon is too weak for a Titan. I need a bigger gun.'
"Pull back to the beach!" Ernst ordered.
"Draw him to the heavy artillery!"
They retreated, Ernst covering the rear.
When Kong chased them into the open coastal plain, the trap sprang.
The three hundred soldiers Ernst had stationed at the beach opened fire with mortars and anti-tank cannons.
The explosions drove the ape back.
Roaring in frustration, Kong turned and vanished into the fog.
The Village - Night
They seized the Iwi village, turning it into a forward operating base.
That night, the mood around the campfire was subdued.
The soldiers looked at Ernst with a mixture of terror and reverence.
He wasn't just their employer anymore; he was something other.
Arnold approached Ernst, holding two tin cups of coffee.
"Master," Arnold said quietly.
"Today... what you did. Is that the Serum?"
Ernst took the coffee.
"No, Arnold. That is the X-Gene. It is my inheritance."
Arnold looked down at his own massive hands.
He was nine times stronger than a man, but today he had felt like an insect.
"Can I... get that?"
Ernst looked at his loyal lieutenant.
He thought of the future—of William Stryker and the Weapon X program.
There were ways to graft mutant abilities onto humans.
"Not yet," Ernst said honestely.
"The technology to transfer the X-Gene is theoretical. But I am working on it. If I succeed, you will be the first in line."
Arnold nodded, satisfied.
"I will wait."
They looked out at the dark jungle.
Somewhere out there, Kong was healing.
"He is smart," Ernst mused.
"Did you see how he switched tactics? He stopped brawling and started sieging. That is not an animal. That is a warrior."
"The savages control him?" Arnold asked.
"No," Ernst shook his head.
"They worship him. He protects them not because he cares, but because this is his territory. They are his pets. And we..."
Ernst smiled, his eyes glowing faintly in the dark.
"...we are the new alphas. He will come back. And when he does, I will have a better weapon than my fists."
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