Beast Soul

"P-Please, Jamie…. I-I don't have any more money. T-This is all I have.." Ken Bergman, a small and frail looking boy, knelt in front of three young men.

"You little sh*t…" One of the men clicked his tongue and kicked Ken right in the stomach, which flung him back a few steps, causing him to slam against the wall with a loud thud!

Ken let out a shriek, gasping for air as he landed on the ground.

"What a loser…" A girl who was standing beside them with a lollipop in her mouth murmured under her breath, after which she took out her smartphone and started taking pictures of the kneeling Ken, giggling as she did so.

"Come on Ella, don't insult my piggy bank like that.." Jamie, the one who kicked Ken, said with a sarcastic tone in his voice as he dropped his hand over her shoulder and pulled her to his side, causing the girl to giggle with delight. "Oh Jamie, stop it.."

"What should we do with him, Jamie?" Victor and Benny, who were Jamie's pals, grabbed Ken by the collar and dragged him up.

"He's a piggy bank who doesn't have any money…" Jamie turned towards Ken, who had blood dripping out from his mouth, and his black eyes sparkled. "Of course, he needs a punishment."

------------ BEAST SOUL ------------

"Three guys and one girl."

Noah, who was standing next to the mouth of the alleyway, leaned over and counted. The three guys were all enormous, easily outweighing Noah. They all wore uniforms as well. Not the same school uniform as Noah's, but a different one.

Most probably athletes of some sort, he surmised. After all, regular highschoolers don't have such large and muscular bodies.

Not that they would pose any threat to Noah. He was someone who has fought against monsters before. A bunch of gangster wannabe highschoolers were nothing to him.

'Good, they'll help me with my training,' Noah thought to himself.

Ever since he fought Adrian and the beasts, Noah had come to realize that he was severely lacking in technique, reflex, and strength. Although he had defeated Adrian easily, it was only possible because of his superhuman strength. He wasn't able to defend properly against Adrian's attacks, and could only overpower him using just his strength.

That might work against a normal human being, but it definitely wasn't going to be so easy when he's fighting a wild beast.

He had to improve.

'Before that,' He turned to look at his reflection on the glass window of a store nearby. 'I have to disguise myself first.'

Of course, he wanted to save this person who was being bullied by these scumbags. However, since he wasn't exactly used to fighting with his superhuman strength, Noah felt that it would be better if he disguised himself, in case something goes wrong.

'But what do I use to disguise myself?' He scratched his chin. He didn't have a mask, and he definitely couldn't go out and buy one right now.

He searched his pockets and pulled out a handkerchief.

'This might do the job for now,' He grabbed the handkerchief, folded it diagonally in order to form a triangular shape, and then wrapped it around his nose and his mouth.

'What else do I have?' He thought to himself as he rummaged through his jacket, and found a pair of dark sunglasses.

After pondering for a few seconds, he put on the sunglasses, and then turned towards the glass window to get a good look at his appearance.

'Goddamn it! I look like a pervert..' Sure enough, the reflection showed a suspicious figure that would make almost anyone call the cops looking back at him.

But he didn't have anything else on him to change his disguise. 'Screw it, let's just get this over with..' In the end, he decided to just go with it for now and walked into the alleyway.

"Hold him, you guys." Jamie let go of Ella's shoulders and walked up to Ken as Victor and Benny seized his arms and pulled him up.

"J-Jamie… P-Please don't.." Ken said with a trembling voice.

"Shut your mouth b*tch!" Jamie clicked his tongue and slapped Ken right on his cheek, resulting in a loud noise.

The slap was so hard that for a second, the world stopped moving for Ken. He could see Jamie's mouth moving. He was speaking, but Ken couldn't tell what he was saying. But he could feel the sour taste of blood in his mouth.

"Hold him straight for me, alright?" Jamie said with an evil smirk on his face. He grabbed Ken's hair and pulled his face up, bringing it close to his own face, and Ken felt as though he was staring at the devil himself. "I have to teach him properly what it means to disobey my orders."

Tears began to drip down, and Ken shut his eyes tightly.

Right then.

"Leave him alone, f*ckers."

A young voice. The trio turned around and saw a figure standing at the mouth of the alley. The mysterious figure had their face covered with cloth and was wearing sunglasses, but they did have the body of a young boy.

"Who is that?" Ella, the girl with the lollipop in her mouth, tilted her head towards the mysterious figure and raised her eyebrows. "Ew, is that guy a pervert?"

Jamie stared at the figure with a frown on his face.

From the looks of it, this guy just seems to be a highschooler, he thought. He didn't look like an adult. And he definitely didn't look like an athlete.

'Ha, does this kid want to die?' A twisted smile appeared on Jamie's face. He definitely didn't mind getting another piggy bank, he thought to himself.

He looked at Victor and Benny, and the two nodded their heads. They knew what they had to do.

"You should've just walked away when you had the chance, kid!" He said, as he took a step towards the mysterious figure. Victor and Benny did the same, as they spread out wide, taking both sides of the alleyway.

"Unfortunately for you, this is wh-"

"Cut the cr*p, f*ckface," Before Jamie could finish his speech, the mysterious figure interrupted him with an indifferent tone, which caught him off guard.

'These f*ckers…' Noah stared at the four bullies with a cold expression on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a beaten and bruised Ken lying on the pavement, and Noah's blood boiled with rage.

He too, knew what it felt like to be bullied. But even Billy Becker wouldn't beat him up so badly. This wasn't bullying. This was torture.

"This piece of cr*p…" Jamie gritted his teeth, as he stared angrily at Noah. He didn't like people getting in his way. He didn't like people standing up to him. But he absolutely loathed people who interrupted his words.

"Beat up this f*cker!" Jamie snarled, and both Victor and Benny rushed forward.

'Here they come,' Noah, who saw the two bullies charging towards him, narrowed his eyes and raised both of his fists.

"Take this!" Victor moved first. He charged forward in a straight line, appearing right in front of him. His right arm swung.

'Dodge, dodge, dodge…' Noah's mind told him repeatedly, and he tried to tilt his head and sidestep out of the way. He was faster than before, but he wasn't talented enough.

BAM!

The punch landed right on his face, next to his nose and his right cheek. It should've broken his nose. Noah should've been bleeding.

"Got you, you f*cker!" Victor yelled out loudly, and he pulled back his fist and looked at Noah's face, expecting to see blood dripping out of his nose. But he didn't. Noah stood in front of him without a single scratch on his face. It was as though he hadn't landed the punch. He showed no pain and no concern.

"My turn," Those were the last words Victor heard from the mysterious figure before a punch landed in the centre of his chest, which made him feel as though he had been hit by a train, right before rendering him unconscious.