The Ambush

The vehicle slammed on its brakes. The mob of fans swarmed the SUV, blocking it in.

Jude, with his senses from the Boundless Vitality skill, noticed something wrong.

While the fans were banging on the windows and protesting, four men wearing jackets and surgical masks shoved their way through the crowd.

The four men reached the passenger doors of the SUV. One of them pulled a baton from his jacket, smashing the window.

Another reached inside, grabbing the arm of Lyla, the lead singer of Stellar, attempting to drag her out of the vehicle.

Jude grabbed the nearest man by the collar of his jacket, lifting the thug off his feet, and hurled him backward into a planter. The impact knocked the man out.

The leader of the group, a man wearing mirrored sunglasses, spun around, swinging his baton at Jude's head.

Jude ducked, the baton whistling inches over his hair.

Jude drove his knee upward into the man's ribs.