Day two brings light to the small town of Grith once more. The same normal morning routine is stopped by two men in black suits approaching Zahn’s house. All the people of the town watch as the strange men walk up to the front door. They turn to look at everyone as they begin to knock on the door. Everyone resumed what they were doing after the glare from the two men.

Zahn opens the door while yawning from having just woken up. He rubs his eyes with his hands and apologizes for the yawn.

“Good morning, Mr. Novix, I take it you slept well?”, said Lyam with a subtle smirk.

“Oh, h-hey guys. What are you guys doing here so early?”, Zahn replied with another yawn.

Aiden smiled and let out a slight laugh. “We are here to give you a ride! Hurry up and let’s go!”

Lyam coughs and gives Aiden a very stern look. “Sorry, Mr. Novix, about the unprofessionalism of my partner. We noticed your wardrobe seemed to be limited. You don’t want to be wearing the same clothes every day for the academy and you will also be needing a few other items so you can be fully prepared for your first day.”

Zahn seemed confused but also thankful for the kind gesture. “Thank you guys! I’m ready to go now.”

The three walked out to the car and started the journey to New Proxon. Zahn was excited to be able to see the city so soon again.This was going to be really fun he thought. He can finally explore the city instead of watching from windows.

The journey came to a halt as they hit a blockade of traffic just inside the city. The ground began to shake slightly and loud sounds of crashing could be heard from in front of them. The three of them looked forward to see what was going on, but they were not able to see anything.

Lyam pulled out a phone from his pocket and dialed up someone’s number. He reported the strange situation to whoever was on the other end and asked if they had any information. After a brief exchange he hung up the phone and unbuckled his seat belt.

“Aiden, it's code 7. No one is on scene and there are too many civilians.”, Lyam said as he exited the car.

“Uh, what about Zahn?”, Aiden replied as he followed him.

“Bring him with us. He should be fine it’s only a level 2.”, Lyam shouts back as he rushes through the crowds.

“Hear that? You get to see some fun already. Let’s go!”, Aiden says back.

Zahn gets out of the car and starts following the two men. He can’t seem to keep up, but he is trying his best. The feeling of excitement can’t help but fill his mind. What is he about to see? Why the urgency? Should he be worried?

The questions stopped once he arrived at the situation. His stomach dropped to the ground and he felt an overwhelming force of disgust and the urge to vomit. There were bodies sprawled out across the streets. They were mangled, mutilated, and some had nothing left of them but pieces. He looked up to see Aiden with a look of sadness. The first time he has seen the kind soul without a smile since they have met.

“This part never gets easier.”, he replies. “We have to keep going.”

Zahn nods his head and they continue forward after Lyam. They passed more and more bodies along the way. Zahn started feeling more and more worried. Were these all humans, or were some of them Immortals? He began to feel fear and terror.

“You’ll be fine! Stay close to us! We won’t let anything happen to you!”, responded Aiden after feeling the fear coming from him.

They arrived a couple blocks down and were nearly crushed by a car falling from the sky. Zahn’s eyes locked eyes with the monster that caused all of the death and destruction he had passed. Its hair was solid black. Eyes glowing red. The beast was an Immortal. He was rampaging through the city and killing everyone in his path.

“Zahn, stay back and help anyone around get out of here.”, Aiden ordered.

He nodded to him and started searching for people to help. The entire area was a disaster. The city streets were covered in blood, flames, and debris. Buildings surrounding the street were damaged and had large pieces of them destroyed. Cars were laying all around and some were completely destroyed and engulfed in flames. He continued searching.

The rampaging Immortal turned to Lyam and Aiden as they faced off with him. His head was twitching and he was unable to speak. The only sounds coming from him were grunts, growls, and screams.

“Aiden, what’s wrong with him?”, Lyam asked.

Aiden looked into his mind to search his feelings and emotions. The only thing he could sense was an abundance of chemicals mixed in with his brain.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“S**t, he’s fried. It’s ‘IH’, sir.”, Aiden responded.

Lyam sighed and took off his suit jacket. The rampaging man looked to him and back to Aiden and repeated the action once more. He turned back to Lyam and started to charge when he was suddenly brought to his knees screaming in pain.

“Left.”, Aiden shouted.

The raging man jumped to his left to start running away, but he was blasted by a sound wave. He stood up and looked over to Lyam and began to charge straight towards him. He was stopped again with an unbearable pain and fell to his knees again.

Aiden’s eyes glanced over at Zahn as he helped a young girl from a crashed car. The enraged man heard Zahn and started rushing towards him in anger.

The man was blasted away by another sound wave from his side. He collided with a building and shattered the stone walls on the outside. The man tried to stand, but was unable to continue moving. The pain was still holding him back and he struggled to see.

Aiden looked back to Lyam suddenly and shouted. “Wait! Left side! Do-”, he was cut off as he was sent flying across the street by the man with a single punch. Lyam looked to his left, but it was too late. He felt the warm blood soak into his shirt as he looked down to see 3 spines lodged into his ribs.

“I just bought this shirt. I take it you are the one who gave him the ‘IH’?”, he asked a masked individual standing on the corner of the street.

They had no response. They followed up with another attack and launched 3 more spines from their hand. Each spine was roughly a foot long and a half inch in diameter. The spines appeared to be made out of bone, but were much more dense and stronger. Lyam punched the air in front of him and sent out a sound wave that blasted the spines away and sent the masked stranger into the wall behind them.

“Ugh, really had to get my lung didn’t ya?”, Lyam taunts as he pulls the spines from his ribs. “Aiden, are you alright? This one’s a level 3.”

The dust settles as Aiden stands up and wipes a little blood from the corner of his mouth.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll take the 2. I’m a better match for him.”, he responds.

“Suit yourself.”, Lyam says.

Zahn looks as the four of them square off against each other in the street. Lyam and Aiden are side to side. The little girl holds onto Zahn as she begins to cry. The sound sets off the rampage as the man charges towards them. Aiden quickly invades the brute’s mind and sends him into another episode of pain and torment as he falls to the ground. The masked person then jumps up and sends out 6 spines split into their directions. Lyam sends out a couple sound waves and blasts them away once more.

“What a terrible day for you two. Anyone else and you may have had a chance, but we are nearly perfect counters to you guys.”, Aiden taunts the masked person.

They keep staring at each other for a short moment. It is as if none of them want to make the first move. The rampaging man is still crippled by his pain and cannot stand. Aiden turns to Zahn and motions for him to get out of the area with the girl. The masked stranger uses this chance to jump onto the walls of the building and uses the spines to climb up the walls and continues to unleash barrages of spines at all of them. Zahn starts to panic and tries to hide behind the cars as the spines fly towards him and the girl. Another sound wave blasts them away as Lyam continues to block all of the spines from hitting their targets. The stranger reaches the top of the building when they are suddenly hit with a massive pain. Their head starts to pound and they can’t think straight. The pain is so intense as they fall from the edge of the building.

“Sorry, but we really can’t let you leave.”, Aiden says.

“You’re losing focus.”, Lyam tells him.

He turns to see the man standing back up again. The man starts to charge towards him when he is brought down to his knees once more by the pain once more. Lyam turns to the masked person when he suddenly feels a stabbing pain in his leg. He looks down to see two more spines have gone through his leg and are sticking out the other side. The strange person rushes towards him as he begins to blast more sound waves to defend himself. They dodge them all and throw out more spines from a closer distance. More and more of them are launched. He keeps blowing them away with wave after wave, but the assault does not persist.

Aiden turns to see what is happening and invades their mind once again. They are hit with more pain again, but this time they launch spines at both of them in response. He begins to dodge the spines but is immediately punched by the brute and sent into a car. The spines stab into the wall above Zahn and the girl. She lets out a whimper in reaction. The brute turns to them and screams after hearing her. Lyam blasts away the spines sent towards him and hits the masked person with a point blank sound wave that sends them flying through the nearby building. Lyam quickly blasts a weaker sound wave at the brute to get his attention, but it does not work.

“Zahn, get out of here. It’s not sa-”, Lyam is stopped as a spine stabs through the back of his throat and exits the front of his neck followed by two more that lodge into his back.

“Mr. Lyam!”, Zahn shouts.

The brute charges forward and charges up a punch. Zahn grabs the girl and dashes out of the way. The brute crashes through the car which causes an explosion. Flames are everywhere and the destruction continues to spread. Zahn looks to the masked person as they fire 3 more spines. Zahn dodges the spines but is hit by a piece of the exploded car and knocked into the wall. He opens his eyes to see the brute about to throw another piece of the car at him. The little girl begins to run away from the scene. The masked person launches 3 more spines at the fleeing child.

“No!”, Zahn screams.

He runs and jumps onto the girl as the spines close in on them. Another sound blast is sent through the air. Zahn feels the warm sensation of blood running down his back. He turns to see 2 of the spines laying on the ground next to him. The last spine stabbed into the right side of his back. There was not much pain. He could feel it, but the pain was no more than a pinch. He stood up and turned to the masked person. He has been running this whole time, but why?

The thoughts started to flood his mind more and more. I am Immortal. I am one of them. I can fight them too. Why am I scared? He turns to the brute and gets ready for an attack. Suddenly, he is interrupted as the brute falls down to the ground in pain again. Aiden walks from the smoke behind the brute and scoffs.

“I’m tired of this now. We got the newbie hurt, Lyam.”, he says.

Lyam turns to the masked person once more. The wounds are closing up quickly. The masked person takes a step back, but it's over. The immense pain floods their head once more and they begin to fall to their knees; however, before they are able to reach the ground Lyam’s fist makes contact with their chin with an uppercut.

“Hyper Wave.”, Lyam whispers.

A huge sound wave blasts from his fist. The individual's head explodes immediately upon contact with his fist. Lyam immediately follows up with another one to their chest which turns their entire body into bloody mist and chunks of meat. The brute tries to stand up once more, but the pain overwhelms him once more and his body starts to seize up and twitch. Blood starts to flow from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. His eyes roll to the back of his skull as he is choking on his own blood. The pain gets worse and worse until the brute stops moving.

“Probably should have done that from the start I guess, huh?”, Aiden laughs.

“Maybe, but I was hoping to capture them alive.”, Lyam responds.

“It will be fine. At least we have one body for the bureau to take.”

“I guess there’s a silver lining. Zahn, how are you holding up?”

Zahn looks at the two of them in shock. They don’t have a scratch on them. The wounds they suffered healed in mere seconds.

“Oh, you’ve been stabbed.”, Aiden says.

“Y-yeah, I don’t really feel it to be honest.”, Zahn responds with a slight laugh.

“Glad to see you in high spirits. Let’s get that out of your back.”, Lyam responds.

They pull the spine from Zahn’s back and the wound immediately begins to heal itself.

“Hmm, you have a pretty high recovery rate. That spine was about 5 inches deep into your back, it may have even hit a lung and you are already healing. That’s impressive.”, Lyam tells him.

“Not only that. He said he didn’t even feel it. His defense must be fairly good too.”, Aiden adds. “Can’t wait to see what your rank is at the academy.”

Zahn looks at the smiling man in confusion and replies, “My Rank?”