For several seconds, there was no reaction from either party. Just like how the leader of the armed thugs, the brawny, bandana-man was unable to process the series of events that just got more and more outrageous and felt as if a story from some horror-flick came alive, the young teenage trio of the Indie-club couldn\'t react at all.

Right from the first moment that strange young boy from unknown origins suddenly disappeared, only to appear behind one of the armed men only to literally tear a hole at the center of his chest... they were long since lost in the events.

At first, they didn\'t even notice the monster-like claws that suddenly appeared. Only when the first couple of yells and deathly hoars reached their ears did they turn aghast with shock and even with a tinge of fear.

Jake, the most grounded of them all, was also lost for words. His mind was in a state of mess, a chaotic storm wreaked havoc inside.

\'Just who... are what is he?\' Remembering how the boy seemingly floated above the ground as it came out from the rubble itself, he realized that he skimmed over a lot of details at the beginning. Whilst he was petrified and stunned with all the carnage he was unleashing, his mind was under the barrage of questions and conspiracy theories.

\'Could this place be... hiding some secret underground government facility?\' He pondered. \'Could he be a victim of government abuse, an experiment gone wrong?\'

As he looked at the claws, he was reminded of one of his favorite anti-heroes, a grumpy \'lone-wolf\', with great regenerative powers and a similar sort of armament that he could seemingly grow out from under the skin on his hands.

\'Could there be more like them?\' He pondered, his mind already birthing the seeds for newer and increasingly more outlandish theories. Being a fanboy of comics and all related superhero-type media, just like his two friends by his side, his wishful thinking easily found grounds to hold onto even in such a nightmarish situation they were now in.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn\'t even register the last moments of the battle. Only when the shooting has suddenly ceased, did he slowly wake up from his session of reverie.

Yet, as soon as the haze cleared from his mind and his vision regained its clarity he was shocked by what greeted him once again. The unknown figure, the boy that they have just met, and later found out to be such an undefeatable boy with an impenetrable-looking skin was lying seemingly dead in a large pool of blood. Though he didn\'t know if any of that belonged to him, Jake couldn\'t believe his eyes.

No. He felt it impossible! He, like his beloved hero from the comics, was almost immortal! A simple bullet, even as lucky as that last shot was couldn\'t kill him!

"No..." Jake muttered, as his mind refused to accept the harsh reality. Whilst Jay was seeming of similar thought and gazed at the unbelievable, impossible result with obstinate refusal behind his shocked, bewildered gaze. He too, while silent, silently shook his head, not accepting the reality, and was just waiting for the mysterious boy to sit up at any second.

As for Myra, her shock soon faded, replaced by a pang of sadness that she herself couldn\'t understand where it came from. She felt her heart churn as if it was crying, grieving for the loss of someone important to it. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, battling against her hopeless resistance, and soon made their escape route slithering down towards freedom, the ground.

She didn\'t know who this boy was. She couldn\'t understand how he came out suddenly from the thick smoke, how he appeared at the center of this natural disaster at all. She couldn\'t believe her eyes at first when suddenly, just like in the movies they all loved and fanned over he suddenly blinked as if it was as normal as breathing and decided to attack the men pointing their gun at them.

She did notice that the first target the mysterious boy chose was one of those that armed her specifically, though she didn\'t put too much weight on it. Besides being paralyzed by the gruesome scene that followed after it, she didn\'t have any chance to ponder on it at all.

She couldn\'t understand why did she feel this strange connection, this almost magnetic pull towards this unknown figure. Why wasn\'t she utterly horrified, scared when he revealed what kind of a monster he truly was.

Was it because of him fighting for them? Maybe, though Myra felt there was something else, something deeper, something that she couldn\'t understand. She felt the heavy, rapid beating of her heart, that she just knew didn\'t match the scare, the situation.

No, it was something else. She could feel hidden desire, an urge to get closer to this man. To this boy.

Like Jake and most likely Jay, she herself was lost in her own thoughts and didn\'t register the last hurrah, the last hail mary of this hateful thug as it unleashed the last of his bullets in a desperate storm to, -if nothing else-, pull this monster down to the pits of hell with him.

Only when the storm calmed down, and silence loomed over them once again, did she wake up, together with her friends, and look at the motionless, blood-drenched body. The pain, the sorrow, the grief filling her heart, she couldn\'t hold back herself anymore and cried.

...

Cautiously stepping forward, the leader of the now-deceased group of thugs slowly inched closer and closer to the boy\'s -hopefully- corpse. Nervous that it may just be a ploy, a trap set up by that horrifying monster, he took his time with each step, tightly clenching the rifle in his hand. Even though he was completely drained of bullets, used the very last magazine he had, he felt safer holding it close.

Several seconds passed in tense silence, with the only background being the faint, subtle sobbing of the girl.

The leader, as he finally got into a close-enough distance slowly, hesitantly pointed the gun at the body. Reaching further, he poked at the body, laser-focused on the smallest, tiniest of twitches in response.

His fears, his agitated state didn\'t calm even as there was no reaction at first. Only after what felt like a full minute of continuous poking and pestering, did the ugly frown began to curve upwards.

"Did he... Did that monster finally f*cking die?!" He muttered at first, slowly beginning to process the miracle that had just happened to him. "I... I survived?" He asked himself.

Looking down at the body, slowly, realization struck him. A sinister-looking smirk appeared on his face as he raised his empty gun in the air in victory.

"I SURVIVED! HAHAHAHA I KILLED IT!"

His celebration, however, was abruptly cut short when the distant sounds of sirens have reached their ears. His smirk vanished, giving place to a small frown yet again as he muttered.

"F*ck... they were quite fast..."

Still, not all is bad, he still had the 3 of the original group of kids. Though he lost a lot, in the end, the situation was that dark...

As he looked over the mourning trio, dark thoughts began to form into a sinister plan in his twisted mind...

Pulling out a dagger from the sleeves of his pants, he suddenly turned his attention back to the kids. A crooked smile appeared on his scruffy face as he nodded towards the city.

"Okay brats, get a move on it. I don\'t know what more secrets you three may hold, but I\'m sure it worth quite a penny!"

=====

Almost there! Just a bit more push and we will reach the first reward! Come on guys (and gals!), do your best!

Powerstone Goals

100 Power Stones -> 1 Chapter,

200 Power Stones -> 2 Chapters,

300 Power Stones -> 3 Chapters,

Golden Ticket Goals:

50 Golden Tickets -> 1 Chapter,

100 Golden Tickets -> 2 Chapters,

150 Golden Tickets -> 3 Chapters.