Chapter 39: Chapter 39: The Finalist
"And DaHChip, how many heroes will be advancing to the Live Finals tonight?" Covalt turns to ask.
"Well, Covalt, we've decided that out of the current twenty contestants, the fourteen with the highest Leaderboard scores will be selected to advance to the Live Finals. "
"That means some heroes sitting on this stage will be eliminated in a matter of minutes?" Covalt asks, turning back to the contestant bleachers. "That's a brutal cut."
"Well, Covalt," DaHChip continues, "we're looking for the best of the best."
Fair enough, Travis thinks. Looking around at the twenty other heroes gathered here, he knows he should be good enough to beat some of them.
He will be good enough to beat all of them, if that's what it's going to take.
"Well then, let's get to it, shall we?" Covalt says, causing the audience in the auditorium to erupt with applause. Travis digs his fingertips into his thighs, forcing himself to stop shaking. It's been quite a journey already getting here—he can't imagine what awaits him if he makes it through to the Live Finals.
And he can only hope Jenny and some of the right heroes make it there alongside him.
"We'll be revealing the advancing contestants on this Leaderboard," Covalt says, turning to face a giant holo-screen with the numbers 1-14 listed, with blank spaces for hero names. "Let's just get right down to it, shall we? It's time to reveal the first contestant in our Final 14…the hero who scored the highest in the Semi-Finals!"
Travis cranes his neck to see the screen, watching as the first name scrolls into view…
1.) INHERIT (Leaderboard: 95)
Travis watches as Inherit leaps to his feet and waves at the crowd, smiling smugly. He didn't seem to have any doubts about advancing.
Inherit crosses the stage, shaking Covalt's hand and thanking the judges before moving backstage. (Before the filming of the Final Selection began, Travis were prepped by a team of producers, led by GG. He was all told that as soon as the results were revealed, he was to step off stage to begin filming reaction interview packages).
So as Inherit disappears backstage, he knows he's now in the hands of a dozen producers asking him how he feels. Travis tries to prepare his own responses—he just prays they're going to be elated ones.
Travis turns back to the screen, watching as the second Leaderboard position is filled by…
2.) RETRIBUTION (Leaderboard: 94)
Retribution steps into the stage, as soon as he gets to the middle the whole room gets filled with silence. He grabs the mic from Covalt's hand.
"I quit." As he says this, Covalt and the judges are shocked by the sudden change of mind.
"What the hell are you saying?" Rebellion steps in front of Retribution. "Why are you quitting now? This is not what we talked about."
Retribution drops the mic and speaks closely at Rebellion. "Listen here you rebel, this whole thing is rigged and you know it.... Oh... that's right... the Hoshi Group is not enough for you so you're going to pursue another group. That's it right? once a rebel... always a rebel."
Retribution turns around and slowly disappears in the darkness as he walks away.
"Well... that's surprisingly terrifying. But if it's his decision then we need to respect it, so we will replace him with the third place and make it the second place." Covalt says.
"Let's continue everyone."
2.) FREY (Leaderboard 92)
As Frey replaces Retribution from the leaderboard, people assume that her lover Asrid can't be too far behind.
Covalt then gears up for the third Leaderboard spot, which is filled by…
3.) ASRID (Leaderboard: 90)
Considering Frey and Asrid both advanced by working together, this isn't surprising.
All right, Travis thinks to himself as the next Leaderboard slot gets filled. It's about time that his name was called….
4.) JURY (Leaderboard: 85)
Sh*t, Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t.
"This thing is rigged, I'm supposed to be number 4." Travis says to himself.
Now that Jury has been called, he starts to lose his patience.
He looks around—there are sixteen heroes still on the bleachers and only nine spots left. Travis thinks about his odds as the next Finalist is revealed….
5.) BLACK MAGIC (Leaderboard: 69)
His girlfriend just made it through, which can only mean good things—assuming he made it through, too.
"That's right! that's my girl." Travis says, he wants to shout it but he needs to respect his girlfriend's decisions.
That's also five for five when it comes to the most famous heroes here. As the sixth contestant is posted, he can only hope that he's going to be included in their ranks….
6.) THE CRUSH (Leaderboard: 67)
Having a villain as infamous as The Crush around makes him nervous for more reasons than he can count.
But that thought passes as he realizes that there are now fourteen heroes remaining to fill seven spots—which means he now has a fifty-fifty shot at making the Final 13.
Moving right along, the seventh Finalist is posted as:
7.) BEARCAT (Leaderboard: 58)
As Bearcat stands up, his massive frame shakes the entire stage. But Travis is too distracted by the fact that neither him nor Jenny have made it through yet. He can't imagine having to continue this experience without her—or even worse, having her continue this experience without him.
Travis looks over at Null and also notices that none of the Wildcards have advanced to the Final 13 yet, either.
8.) MANBEAST (Leaderboard: 57)
Great. That's two breeds of fervent anti-Powered "heroes" that have made it through ahead of him.
This time he looks over at Null and she's looking directly back at him. Even though he can't see her face through the black plastic, he knows exactly what she's thinking:
This is not good.
Travis pulse picks up once again as the ninth Leaderboard placer is announced….
9.) GRAVITATE (Leaderboard: 55)
For a moment, the sound drowns out of the room and all he can think is: he did it. He scored high enough to be the ninth member of the Final 14.
And considering his Leaderboard could have been as high as 100 or as low as 0, he can be proud of this showing—even if it was a close call, advancing this late.
As he walks across the stage, he can just feel it: his life is never going to be the same.
Thirty Minutes later....
These are all the Final 14: (The last four are the wildcards.)
1.) INHERIT (Leaderboard: 95)
2.) FREY (Leaderboard 92)
3.) ASRID (Leaderboard: 90)
4.) JURY (Leaderboard: 85)
5.) BLACK MAGIC (Leaderboard: 69)
6.) THE CRUSH (Leaderboard: 67)
7.) BEARCAT (Leaderboard: 58)
8.) MANBEAST (Leaderboard: 57)
9.) GRAVITATE (Leaderboard: 55)
10.) NULL (Leaderboard: 54)
11.) SCOUNDEL (Leaderboard: 44)
12.) SKY (Leaderboard: 43)
13.) SHULA (Leaderboard: 29)
14.) LUCKY (Leaderboard 19)
For whatever reason, the judges keep saving Lucky, who was a Wildcard as well. They certainly must see something special in her. Something he's a bit afraid to admit he sees himself…it may be a dangerous thing, living and working with someone as cute as Lucky.
Finally, he looked over the names of the six eliminated contestants, all of whom must already be filming exit interviews by now. He can't imagine what it would be like to be one of them, to have their dreams blown apart after making it this far, except for Retribution, he quit himself.
RETRIBUTION (Leaderboard: 94)
GALEXA (Leaderboard: 23)
TARANA RAIN (Leaderboard: 21)
SHEATHE (Leaderboard: 20)
THE WICK (Leaderboard: 15)
CAPER (Leaderboard: 15)
Leaning his head back against the wall, he try to soak this moment in. This is huge—he's one of fourteen heroes who are about to be launched into an unparalleled level of fame. He can only hope he's ready for what lies ahead—chances are, his entire life is about to change in ways he can't even imagine.
And, as was evidenced by tonight's cuts, he knows it can all be taken away from him as quickly as it has been given. So he had better rise to the occasion.
But for right now, he will try to soak in the happiness. Because his dreams are actually coming true—in real life.
"Breaking news from New York City!"
The sound of a 3V being turned on somewhere backstage pulls him back into reality. He stands to find a group of producers and crew members standing around a 3V set, where Sheri Saw is holographically projected before him.
"We've just received word that the Hoshi City based Powered terrorist cell known as The NewOrder has launched another attack, this time in New York City. Reports are still coming in, but… oh, we're receiving images right as…wait, that can't be…oh my god…"
As the color drains from Sheri's face, suddenly the screen shifts to aerial footage above the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where the George Washington Bridge stretches across the Hudson River, clogged with rush hour traffic. Everything appears to be normal, until he sees something that makes his stomach drop to the floor.
Without warning, the bridge begins to crumble down into the river, a mass of snapping cables and tumbling headlights.
And he finds it hard to breathe.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone