In an empty warehouse at the very back of the warehouse complex in the port area, a motorcycle stopped in front of the warehouse. Two people, one dressed as a police officer, got off the motorcycle and went inside. Inside the dimly lit warehouse, with only one light on, about ten large, strong-looking men were already waiting, playing on their smartphones and drinking alcohol. One of the ten men, wearing a military jacket and with a military haircut, asked,
"Hey, how's it going? Done?"
"Done, he just went limp and died," replied a man who had just entered, dressed as a police officer.
"The boss said to take care of all three, right?" said the man in the military jacket.
"The other two are difficult, bro, they were taken to the police station," the other man replied.
"Then you disguise yourself again, or do I have to get involved too? The important thing is, were you followed here?" the man in the jacket asked.
"Safe, bro, chill," said the man dressed as a police officer.
Suddenly, "Crash!" the only light bulb shattered. "Thud!" The men immediately stood up, knocking over their table, and activated the flashlights on their smartphones to look around.
"Hey, who turned off the light?!" a man shouted.
"Wh-what... is this... heeeelp..." a man screamed, accompanied by the sound of someone being dragged.
Flashlight beams immediately illuminated various places. The men began to pull out homemade pistols from their waists and pointed them forward.
"Waaaaaa... heeeelp!"
Another one of them was dragged away, and his voice was no longer heard. The men began to gather.
"Hey, who are you? Don't mess around..." the man in military uniform shouted.
"B-bro... l-look, bro... waaaaa... bang... bang!"
"Hey, what are you shooting at?!" the man in military uniform shouted.
"T-tiger, bro... just passed by..." said the man who was shooting.
"Huh, a tiger?" asked the man in military uniform.
"Waaaaaaaaa... mercy... mercy... heeeelp!" a man near them screamed.
"Hey Din... Din..." shouted the man in military uniform.
But there was no answer. The atmosphere returned to silence. Finally, the remaining gang members ran out of the warehouse.
"Aaaaaah... I'm hit... I'm hit..." shouted the one at the very back.
Once outside, they immediately looked towards the warehouse and pointed their homemade pistols.
"Bro... look, bro..." a man shouted.
Everyone turned towards the door. Inside, a pair of yellow eyes were watching them, like the eyes of a tiger stalking its prey from within the dark warehouse.
"Shoot... shoot..." shouted the man in military uniform.
"Bang... bang... bang." "Bang... bang... bang." "Bang... bang... bang."
The warehouse door was riddled with bullets, whether they hit or not. Finally, the bullets ran out. The gang members pulled out knives, machetes, and whatever else they had.
"Hey, you two, check inside..." said the man in military uniform.
Two large men, carrying machetes in their hands, slowly approached the warehouse door. When they reached it, they immediately poked their heads inside to peek. Suddenly, one of their heads was grabbed by a large hand, like a tiger's paw, and "Waaaaaaa help..." was pulled inside before he could finish his sentence. His friend next to him immediately fell to a sitting position and quickly moved backward while still seated.
"B-bro... a tiger... bro... it's huge..." said the man who was sitting.
"Come on, everyone, together! If it's just a tiger, it's easy... I've fought lions before," said the man in military uniform.
The remaining men moved closer to the warehouse door. Suddenly, a very large Sumatran tiger leaped out of the warehouse and immediately pounced on one of the gang members, rendering him immobile and unconscious.
"Grrrrrr..." The large tiger glanced at the seven men still surrounding it.
"Kill... kill... it's just a tiger..." shouted the man in military uniform.
"Just a tiger?" Alex asked in a terrifying voice.
Suddenly, the tiger emitted white smoke and transformed into a half-tiger, half-human figure, standing on two legs in a fighting stance.
"R-run... Cindaku..." a man screamed.
Immediately, several men tried to escape, but Alex took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Groaaaaaaaar!"
The fleeing men were immediately thrown back by the booming and powerful wave of Alex's roar. Alex turned and approached the man in military uniform, who was now sitting along with the man in the police uniform and his friend. Alex immediately crouched in front of the three.
"You're the one who killed the dealer at the hospital?" Alex asked the man in the police uniform in a terrifying voice.
"N-not me... h-he..." said the man in plain clothes, pointing at the man in the police uniform.
Alex immediately grabbed his uniform and stood up, lifting the man, but the man in military uniform stabbed Alex's stomach with a dagger. "Clang," the dagger broke and fell to the ground. Alex's hand immediately grabbed the military man's uniform and lifted him along with the man in the police uniform. Both were terrified and screamed for help. Alex's grip immediately shifted to their necks, and "Crack!" Both men's necks broke. Alex threw their bodies to his right and left.
"Waaaaa... you're dead... you're dead..." a man screamed, along with the two, pulling out his pistol.
"Bang... bang... bang..."
The pistol was fired three times at Alex's body, but Alex walked closer to the man and brushed the bullets stuck in his fur until they fell to the ground. The man turned and ran away from Alex, but "Slash!" Alex's claws pierced from his back to his stomach, then pulled him out. Alex stood looking at all the helpless, fallen men.
"Jon, rest in peace there... they're taken care of."
"Dring... dring... dring," a smartphone rang from the pocket of the man wearing military uniform. Alex approached him and crouched down, taking his smartphone. He saw who was calling him and answered it.
"Hello... Ron, is it done yet?" a man asked.
Alex remained silent and didn't reply. Then he sat cross-legged next to the body of the man in military uniform, pressing the speaker.
"Hey, answer me! I'm coming over with the goods..." the man replied.
Alex hung up the phone. He broke the smartphone and sat cross-legged in the middle. Not long after, a mini-bus entered the warehouse complex and headed towards where Alex was sitting. The car's headlights illuminated the situation in front of the warehouse. Four people immediately opened the doors and got out of the car, then walked to the front of the car.
"What's going on here? Roni's dead..." a man in a black safari suit said.
"Grrrrrr...."
The four men turned. They immediately became alert as they saw a large tiger on the roof of their car, ready to pounce.
"Sh-shoot... kill... kill..." shouted a man in a shirt, who seemed to be their boss and the drug lord.
"Graaaaaah!" The tiger leaped and tore apart the four men in front of it, with no one surviving. Alex returned to his half-tiger, half-human form and lifted the mini-bus, then flipped it over. He pressed the police emergency number and left the military-clad man's smartphone on the underside of the car.
"Come to this warehouse, the address is this," Alex said in a terrifying voice.
"Wait... who..." the police replied.
Alex turned off his smartphone, then he turned and walked out of the warehouse complex to return to his dormitory.
A Few Days Later
A few days later, news on television reported that a gang of drug dealers was found dead in a gruesome state in the warehouse complex, along with evidence in a warehouse and in an overturned car. Several eyewitnesses who survived and were not killed that night said they were attacked by a tiger and were considered insane for consuming too many drugs, although most netizens believed it because CCTV footage from the warehouse management circulated, showing Alex's actions when he transformed into a tiger and a tiger-man. The recording went viral before being deleted by the person who posted it.
June 2022
Alex sat alone in his dorm room, lost in thought. He picked up his smartphone and opened his favorite game app. He saw his friend was online and immediately opened a chat with him.
"Hey, bro," Alex greeted.
"Hey... let's play... create a room," his friend replied.
"Sorry, bro, I think I'm retiring from this..." Alex said.
"Huh? Why? Why retire?" his friend asked.
"I want to live a proper life. I'm going to Jakarta for college later," Alex replied.
"Oh, same here. My uncle disappeared and went to Sumba, so instead of being alone here, I might as well leave," his friend replied.
"Cool, see you there then," Alex replied.
"But are you really retiring... Ugh, then my only friend left will be the stressed one," his friend said.
"Sorry, bro. I'll play again when I'm in Jakarta," Alex replied.
"You promise, okay? We'll play together in Jakarta... Alright, bro, I'm going to play now," his friend replied.
"Yeah, I'm logging off," Alex replied.
"Woke, bro," his friend replied.
Then he closed the app and immediately uninstalled it. After the process was complete, he put his smartphone on the table.
"Sorry, bro, my reason for quitting isn't thinking about the future. I don't want any more Joni here... I patrol every night," Alex thought to himself, looking at his smartphone.
Since then, sightings of large Sumatran tigers around Lampung city have caused a stir among residents, and photos of the sightings have gone viral online. In addition, many criminals have been caught and repented after encountering the tiger. Netizens consider the tiger to be their city's guardian and have given it a name. Initially, they called it "Tiger Man," but over time, it became "The Tiger."