Beast Soul

"I would really like to know where I'm heading towards." Noah said, and the two boys, Gabriel and A.J. looked at each other for a few seconds before turning around and facing him. "The old abandoned school building." Gabriel replied in a monotone voice. "Can he come with me?" Noah pointed at Adrian, and the two looked at him for a second before replying, "Sure. He can come."

And with that, the two turned around and walked in front of Noah and Adrian, who glanced at each other for a split second before following the two teens close behind. "What do you think?" Noah leaned towards Adrian and whispered softly into his ear. "Is this an invitation from the 'King'?" Adrian responded by shaking his head. "I don't know. But I do know that those two are part of the community." He pointed at the two boys walking in front of them. "Perfect," Noah said with a smile. "I guess I can finish this sooner than planned."

The two boys led Noah and Adrian out of the school building and they headed towards the short pathway that was covered with shrubs and grass right behind the school. 

Noah glanced at the pathway, as his gaze shifted from one side to the other, looking at the forested area that was hidden right behind the school. Both sides of the pathway were enveloped by large trees whose branches blocked the sunlight from reaching the ground, creating a dark and cool pathway to walk on.

The path led them to the old and abandoned school building, and Noah turned to look at Adrian. "Is this where the community members hang around?" He asked while whispering under his breath.

Adrian leaned towards Noah and opened his mouth to speak. "The secret community doesn't have a specific place to meet. The location is sent to your smartphone whenever there's a meeting." Adrian explained in a hushed tone. He then briefly glanced at the entrance of the old school building once again before continuing, "However, this abandoned building is definitely the most used location as of lately. So, to answer your question; there could be some of the members hanging around here. I'm not sure, but that's definitely a possibility."

Swoosh!

Noah and Adrian watched as the two boys opened the front door of the building. The wooden door slowly opened with a creek, and the teenagers stepped inside.

"What do you plan to do if there are more members inside?" Adrian asked Noah as they continued walking.

"Nothing changes." Noah shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant manner before continuing, "There's just a bit more people to beat up. That's all."

"Are you sure that you can handle it?" Adrian was still concerned despite Noah showing no signs of nervousness. "Who knows how many members might be here? You could end up hurting yourself if you take this too lightly."

"Adrian, didn't I tell you before?" Noah whispered with a smile on his face. "I can handle it. Trust me."

"Alright. We're here." Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the words spoken by Gabriel, and Noah and Adrian turned their attention to him. They were standing in front of another door, with the words 'Gymnasium' written on top of it.

Twack!

A.J. pushed the door open and entered the room, followed by Gabriel. "Come in," Gabriel motioned to Noah before walking inside, and Noah glanced at Adrian before following him. 

"I sure hope everything turns out well," Adrian mumbled to himself before following the others and headed into the gymnasium, which was completely covered in cobwebs, with dirt and moss in every corner of the room.

Both Gabriel and A.J. looked at each other and nodded their heads before turning around to face Noah while standing right in the middle of the room. 

"Noah Pemberton," A.J. opened his mouth to speak. "You probably already know who we are, but you most probably wouldn't know what our motive was for calling you all the way-"

"Let's cut the cr*p, shall we?" Noah interrupted A.J's words before he could finish his sentence, which made the young man widen his eyes in surprise before asking, "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're here to fight me, right?" Noah said while squinting his eyes as he raised both his arms up, assuming a fighting stance. "So, what are you waiting for? Let's fight!" This surprised both Gabriel and A.J. Even Adrian was caught off guard by the words spoken by Noah. 

'Noah, are you sure that you want to reveal your true intentions like this?' Adrian had thought that Noah would've played along with Gabriel and A.J's plan until the right opportunity came. However, it seems that Noah had other plans in mind.

"I think you're mistaken, Noah Pemberton.." A.J. tried to calm the situation down as he spoke while raising his hands. "We're not here to fight you."

"So you're here to recruit me into your group then.." Noah asked another question, and a frown appeared on A.J's face.

"Did you tell him, Adrian?" Gabriel turned his gaze towards Adrian and asked. But before Adrian could respond, Noah interrupted him and responded, "It doesn't matter who told me. I've already made up my answer. I'm not joining your secret group."

"You don't know what you're saying, kid." A.J. said as he began walking towards Noah, his hands now rolled up into fists. "Trust me, you don't want to reject us."

"Oh, I definitely do want to reject you guys," Noah said with conviction. "You see, I really don't like what you guys are doing. Creating a hierarchy of bullies that benefit only you while also breeding new delinquents? Not something that I'd want to stand behind."

"I don't know what this guy has told you," A.J. said as he pointed his finger at Adrian and continued, "But none of that is the truth. We're not delinquents, nor are we bullies."

"Oh yeah?" Noah said with a sarcastic tone. "So then what are you planning on doing to me now that I rejected you?"

"That's…" A.J. couldn't reply, and Noah snorted in response. "Thought so."

"For f*ck's sake! I've had enough with this cheeky brat!" Gabriel yelled out, his eyes red with anger as he stared at Noah. "I'm going to beat the sh*t out of you, you dumb little b*tch!"

Noah smiled in response. "There we go. That's the true you."

-----------------

Joey Adkins. A bully who ruled Arlingrad High as though he was its king. He beat down anyone who opposed him. And Max and the gang had the most unfortunate luck to have accidentally bumped into him in the cafeteria. And since then, he has made their school life difficult. 

Max squinted his eyes and scanned Joey from far behind. "I want to try and take him down…" Max's words, although spoken in a hushed tone, caught the attention of the group, who stared at him with a look of surprise.

"Max, what did you just say?" Alphonso asked as he stared at Max with a shocked expression on his face, still not being able to believe the words that came out of his mouth. Max glanced at the group for a few seconds before turning around and then walking towards the gate, and the others ran after him with expressions of terror.

"Max, Max!" Gerald ran up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder as he spoke. "Max, are you thinking straight right now? Do you realize what you're saying?"

"Oh, I fully understand the words that came out of my mouth. Trust me," Max didn't stop in his tracks even though Gerald was grabbing him by the shoulder. He continued moving towards the school gate, where a gleeful Joey was waiting for them to arrive.

"Max, you have to think this through! Please!" Harold yelled at Max with a frustrated tone, and Max suddenly turned around and stared at Harold. "I have thought this through Harold!" He yelled out in response. "Don't you realize that we're not the same people anymore? We have superpowers, Harold. Superpowers! We can easily take these clowns on!"

"If that's what you think, then you really haven't thought this one through, Max." Gerald interjected into the conversation. "As you'd told us, your powers only consist of manipulating the timeline of nature. How on earth is that going to help you fight Joey?" 

"The ground," Max pointed his finger at the school grounds, which weren't covered in pavements nor concrete. It was simply a dirt covered normal ground. Max then shifted his finger from pointing at the ground to the trees that were right next to the compound walls of the school campus and continued, "The roots of those trees are hidden deep within the ground. I could manipulate them to help me in the fight."

Roots?

Surprised by his words, Gerald turned around and looked at the other two, who simply shrugged their shoulders. Gerald then simply scratched his chin, thinking to himself. "You know you have to be careful to not expose your powers, right? This could be extremely risky."

"I know," Max nodded his head with a serious expression. "But I don't want to continue working for that pig anymore."

Alphonso, Gerald and Harold looked at each other. They were unsure of the method that Max was going to implement, but they were all in agreement on one thing; They hated Joey Adkins!