The town wasn't the same as it used to anymore. Buildings were left ravaged and destroyed as Haruto ran through them, injured people were waiting for someone to save them, and the usual greetings from everyone turned to cries of pain. The town was now in peril.

Haruto arrived near his house to see Ms. Goodman and his best friends waiting for him at the gate all frantic with worried faces. Sirens came running as police cars were heading towards his last destination, fully armed. This was when he knew that the town was under attack by this mysterious creature. Reaching the group, everyone at the gate became relieved at the sight of the tired boy who panted from running for hours on the streets. But as they came closer to him, their moment of relief was short-lived when they saw that Haruto all bloodied and disturbed. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost or was being followed by one.

"Haruto what happened?! Where were you?!" Kenriki asked him as they took him inside the house to get him cleaned.

"Oh dear, I hope you aren't hurt. This is my fault for asking you to buy groceries." Ms. Goodman's freckled face showed guilt as she closed the door behind her. "We have to tell your father dear."

Inside the house, everyone took to tending Haruto and asking for questions, they tried their best to convince him to tell him what happened, but all Haruto did was stare down at the floor, shivering and breathing heavily.

"Haruto..." Sayozane said as she wiped his forehead with a wet cloth, her concerned face made him calm down. "What happened back there?"

Haruto looked at her with widened eyes. "I... I." He stuttered, trying his best to comprehend what had happened earlier, the whole situation felt completely out of the world for him, but he had to tell them what he saw, "It was a monster..." A monster? they thought. Everyone became skeptical of his words.

Ms. Goodman looked at him and asked. "Are you sure it wasn't people, dear?"

He shook his head and she believed him immediately. Ms. Goodman knew that the boy was not someone who could lie easily, even when he was still a child, he was always fond of telling the truth, no matter the consequences.

The local broadcaster had theorised a terrorist attack from downtown but they weren't able to verify it. When the attack began in the city, they assumed the worst.

Kenriki came back from the kitchen with a fresh pair of clothes and a jar of water, placing it on the table, and asking Haruto about it, "And what did this... monster look like, Haruto?" the boy asked as he poured the water into Haruto's transparent cup. To which he drank immediately to soothe his exhaustion.

After drinking for a while to relieve himself, the others asked him once again.

"Haruto..." Sayozane said as she placed her hand on his stiff shoulder. "What happened back there?" But Haruto didn't even say a word, the room was filled with silence as they sat down in confusion. Ms. Goodman immediately stood up and turned on the TV to watch the news. The device slowly lit up to exert audio of a cartoon channel, only for it to be abruptly changed to the news channel. A hand from the edge of the screen gave the reporter along with his fellow colleague, a new script to read aloud in the broadcast.

"Am I supposed to read this?! Oh—okay, okay fine! Breaking News. A disturbing event has just occurred at downtown Rizal Park. Children and adults were murdered by an unknown assailant. Police have been on the track of this mysterious culprit and are currently on its tail. We have exclusive footage of the perpetrator to be shown to you right now."

The view suddenly changed to a video recording of the monster attacking some fishermen while ravaging their houses in the process. Fear swam across their minds, Sayozane held her mouth as she trembled in place, Kenriki was more than shocked as he witnessed the deaths of the fisherman, and Ms. Goodman stood still as a statue as she watched the whole thing unveiling. The screams of men and children, houses destroyed, and the blood that made the sea red. At the end of the video, the camera was tossed into the rocks as blood splattered all over the lens and screams were cut off when it stopped playing.

"What the hell was that?! Are we going to be evacuated?! Hey, who are those guys?! Wait, wait, wait!" Sounds of various footsteps and mumbles came from the edge of the screen, the news reporter began to panic as if a gun was being pointed at him, "Okay, okay. Just calm down man... Local officials have called in military personnel to deal with the creature. As of now, citizens are advised to stay indoors at all times until further notice. Stay safe and God bless." Just as when the man finished his report, gunshots could be heard from the broadcast before the TV gave off a loud static and shut down. The power from the house had gone out and a grizzly roar was emitted from the city.

Everyone in the house went quiet, unable to discern what was showcased to them. A monster attacking the city now? Why? When? How? Question after question ran through their minds until Ms. Goodman approached the door after putting on her snooping cap.

"Haruto dear, don't go anywhere from now on. I'll be the one to take care of you until this is all over. You just sit tight and let me do all the work okay?" Ms. Goodman hurried over to the door and grabbed her umbrella. "I'll be right back Haruto, you kids better go back home." Everyone in the house stood still as the door behind her closed.

Kenriki approached Sayozane as she started crying, wiping away her tears with a cloth while assuring her that this was all going to take care of. She nodded in response.

"Were you hurt?" Kenriki asked Haruto as he sat down beside him and patted his back. But he didn't answer, Kenriki could hear a faint cry coming from his friend, his tears falling into his cup of water, and soon after, his arms were all around Haruto.

"I-I..." Haruto cried as he recounted the memories of what happened back at the store. "This is all my fault!" He screamed, "I couldn't help them... I had to do something but I couldn't! I just sat like a coward as they all died right in front of me! They're dead because of me!" Haruto broke down as he dropped the glass of water that shattered on the wooden floor. "I'm a failure!"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"Hey, hey! Listen to me Haruto! It's not your fault! You couldn't do anything! I—"

Kenriki tried to reassure his scarred friend as he roughly placed his hands on his weeping friend's shoulders. But it only made Sayozane cry as well, overcome with tragedy and pain, Kenriki shed a tear as well. Filling the room with the sounds of crying and despair of three best friends.

A few hours had passed since Haruto explained what had occurred back at the park. Sayozane trembled in her chair as he explained the gruesome things that he saw. Children and adults—murdered. The convenience store—destroyed in mere seconds. Even the police who maintaned peace for a long time—slaughtered. Now his best friends knew too; everyone was in danger.

"That's horrible... Who could imagine that the police would be wiped out in an instant. We don't even know what this thing is but we can assume that it's probably foraging for food. It's possible that this area of Arid City has become its feeding ground." Kenriki stood up to look out of the window. The birds were still starting to tuck in inside their nest. "Buildings destroyed in mere seconds... even in this house, we aren't safe. We've got to find a secure place to stay for tonight. We don't want that thing crashing into our rooms while we sleep." Kenriki said as he turned around and sat back onto his chair.

"W-Well, my home on the other island is okay if you guys wanna stay there," Sayozane suggested as she tapped her index fingers together. "If it can't swim in the water, maybe we'll be safe there."

"Great idea. I'll have to bring my mother along, she'll get hurt if she stays here as well. Haruto, we should go get Ms. Goodman and get away from here. We'll have to stay at Sayozane's house for as long as the military continues to deal with this. In this situation, we should just trust and rely on adults." He said as he placed his hand on Haruto's soldier.

But their conversation was interrupted when a buzz emitted from Haruto's right pocket. His phone rang and showed a random number with no picture of the caller.

"Hello?" Haruto asked. Eyeing both Kenriki and Sayozane that this was curious.

"Hey there little man," Haruto's eyes widened at the sound of the caller. That voice, Haruto thought. It was no mistake. "We got something to tell you."

Haruto looked around as the caller waited for his reply. "What do you want?"

"Looks like you and your training dummies are in trouble."

"Training dummies? Is he talking about Sayozane and Kenriki?" Haruto thought.

"Listen, we gotta meet back at the temple. We got something to tell you."

"Why? Why should we trust you?" Haruto replied as he stood in confusion with the caller's ambiguous invite.

"You know that what you saw back then isn't normal. You're not even sure if the military can handle it." Those words were enough to throw Haruto off track in his thoughts. As much as he had faith in these adults and trusted them, the caller was right. It became unclear if the military had the power to stop this thing, "Come meet us and we'll tell you what you need to hear and come alone little man." The call dropped after his last words.

"Who was that?" Kenriki asked.

Haruto couldn't understand what was happening but he knew that they had to do something. An answer to their questions waited for them at the temple and they had to reach it before the night ends.

Haruto looked at his friends. "Guys, we're going back to the temple!" Everyone nodded in agreement.

As they arrived at the once stellar stadium, they were surprised to see it being guarded by multiple soldiers, just as the caller said. Military personnel approached them to escort them into the heavily guarded building. When the three of them went inside, the soldier behind them slowly closed the doors as he went back to his post with another soldier standing close to him.

"That's five of them, should we do it?" The first soldier asked.

"After we get rid of these piled up body bags, we'll take care of those kids." The second soldier replied. As they discussed about the procedures of their plans, the radio on his vest blurted out a signal. The voice cackled and static, placing it near his ear, his eyes widened as a command from the headquarters informed them of something dire, and prompted them to run towards the city to assess it.

Inside the arena, the trio was surprised when they came across two familiar figures; twins.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up." Gokuro chuckled as he crossed his arms in front of Haruto.

"Tch." Haruto could hear Kenriki getting irritated by the guy, but he didn't want any trouble, he'd have to get the information fast, and get the hell out of here.

"Just spit it out, man." Haruto said. Stepping in front of Kenriki.

"Woah, someone's feisty today aren't they. Hehe, don't forget that I almost killed your best friend little man. I could do the same to you." Kenriki blocked Haruto's view as he stood in front of the cocky bastard, pissed, and ready to fend him off.

"Gokuro! Stop." Keiko said. "We need their help to remember? Just tell them already!"

"Tch, whatever bitch!" Gokuro said as he snobbed at his sister and took a step back. "Well let's get straight to the point, yeah, we're under attack by a monster. And I'm guessing you're aware that it's more dangerous than a regular animal? If you saw it back then, you'd know that bullets won't leave a dent on it." His words scared Haruto a bit.

"A monster that's immune to bullets? How the hell are the military going to handle this? Well... I guess they have other methods as well." Haruto thought.

"How the hell are we going to stop this?" Gokuro said with a smug face and a mocking tone.

"What are you talking about?" Haruto asked.

"You already know that what we're dealing with is extremely dangerous and believe me, even rapid-fire, explosives or even a fucking tank won't be able to handle this thing." Gokuro continued to explain how dire their situation was as he showed a video on his phone that showcased the monster withstanding multiple tank shells without flinching, even shredding the tank apart with its claws and jaws. The trio was shocked, the thing was basically invincible.

"But you did say 'how are we going to stop this' did that mean anything in particular?" Kenriki asked in a cautious manner.

"Hehe, well, as a matter of fact, it does," Gokuro chuckled as he took off his bomber jacket. Revealing once again the uniform her wore back at the tournament and the tattoo on his arm.

"What do they mean?" Sayozane asked as she hid behind Kenriki.

Keiko came closer to show off her lavender-like pupils that glowed under the shadow of complex. It sparkled like an iridescent-gem of outstanding elegance. Gokuro's composure became more fierce as his tattoo shined, covering him in a light-green aura that lightened up his fist with a fire-like embrace.

"We're not ordinary people Haruto," Keiko explained as she used her hands to slash a nearby bottle of water on a table, "We possess special abilities that make us different from the rest of the kids. We heard that you were able to defeat Hiromoto, the poison user, so we decided to call you because we need your help."

"What could I possibly offer to help?!" Haruto asked. Surprised that they also brought up the final match.

"You were able to defeat a powerful opponent that even me and my brother's combined strength wouldn't be enough to take him down. Look, we called you because we need you to lend us a hand with your powers—"

"Powers?! What are you talking about?!" Haruto was taken aback by her words.

"What do you mean?" Keiko asked.

"I don't have any powers! I don't even know how I was able to-" Haruto stopped his rambling. The thoughts of his actions back then were so horrid that couldn't handle thinking about what happened back then, it was a miracle that the police didn't come to arrest him for murdering someone, the emcee explained that there was a hidden contract on their registration that allowed them to take out their enemy in any way they see fit after they were discharged from the infirmary. It was the reason why they were still able to walk freely today or why no one interrupted them during their matches.

"Oh my god, I told you this was a waste of time!" Gokuro said in complete disappointment as he kicked the water bottle.

Keiko turned to her brother and slapped him. "Can you stop being a dick for once and just try to help?!" The sound of Keiko's frustration made her brother even angrier.

"Well, then what the hell are you suggesting?! Let these useless pieces of trash help us do what; become bait for it? You heard what he said; he has no powers!"

"Wow." Kenriki chimed in as the twins bickered at each other. "You really are a dick."

"What the fuck did you call me?!" Gokuro approached Kenriki and stared at him intensely, "You better watch your mouth dumbass!"

"So? I'm not afraid of you." Kenriki said as he looked Gokuro straight in the eye. Showing no hint of fear towards the angry boy.

Kenriki's words were more than enough to anger Gokuro even further, pushing Kenriki backward and cracking his knuckles while Kenriki took out his eskrimas to defend himself.

"Gokuro! Please stop this!" Keiko begged for his brother. "If you do this we'll—"

But their confrontation was interrupted when a soldier's scream triggered a flurry of gunshots outside. A commanding officer called for his men to keep firing. A roar outside silenced the commotion and terrified the group inside. The monster was here.