Beast Soul

"Ew, this place stinks!" Alphonso said as he covered his face and nose with a disgusted expression. The group of boys were walking through the sewers, following Max, who was curiously searching for the source of the sound that he heard just a few minutes ago.

"Yes, Alphonso. We're inside the f*cking sewers. What did you think it's going to smell like? Lavenders?" Gerald shook his head as he held his phone facing down, forcing the bright light to hit the green water below them. 

"You know what the smell reminds me of?" Harold said with a grin on his face, and Alphonso asked. "What?"

"You're mom's p*ssy!" Harold immediately replied, as though he has been dying to day that, and the group erupted into laughter. Their loud voices echoed throughout the sewers, spreading everywhere.

"F*ck off!" Alphonso clicked his tongue, clearly unhappy about the joke, and frustrated by the fact that he fell for such an obvious setup. He should've seen it coming the moment he caught a glimpse of a grin on Harold's face.

"It's pretty hilarious, though," Max whispered under his breath, his eyes still looking forward. 

The three boys looked at Max, and then each other, and let out a sigh. They were walking for quite a while, and had yet to find anything intriguing other than the rats and the sh*t filled water that they were standing in. No sign of the source of the noise that they heard.

"Hey Max!" Gerald called Max, who turned around to face him. "Yeah?" Max asked, his eyebrows raised. 

"Don't you think we should leave now?" Gerald said as he stretched out both his hands. "We've been walking through this dirty water for god knows how long. There's nothing in here except piss, sh*t and rats."

"I just, I don't know…" Max shrugged his shoulders, stammering as he spoke. He seemed unsure. He then breathed in, and said, "I just have a feeling." 

"A feeling?" Gerald shook his head. He walked up to Max and placed his hand on his shoulder as he responded, "Buddy, that's just the weed."

"No, I'm not talking about that!" Max clicked his tongue and pushed his hand away. "I just feel like there's something here. And it's calling for me. Like, uh, like an external force..."

"An external force?" Harold interrupted him. "Man, are you talking about God?"

"What? No!" Max shook his head. "I'm just saying that there's something here that I'm supposed to see-"

"Max," Gerald cut him off. He let out a sigh and stared at Max. "We have to leave. There's nothing here."

"B-But.." Max wanted to reply, but found himself lost for words. But right when he was about to give in and agree with Gerald…

Thump! Thump!

The sound! There it was once again!

Max, Gerald and the rest of the group turned silent, their eyes darting all over the sewers, trying to find the origin of the sound that they were hearing.

Alphonso turned to look at the metallic pipes that were lined up to the walls of the sewers, and his eyebrows raised up. "The pipes?"

The rest of the group shifted their gazes towards him, and he pointed at the metallic pipes on the wall. "It sounds like someone's slamming on the pipes."

Max and Gerald looked at each other. 

"Maybe it's just a rat," Gerald said softly.

Max didn't reply. Instead, he turned around, and continued walking forward.

"M-Max!" Gerald yelled out loudly. "What the hell are you doing? Come back!"

"I need to find out what's causing the loud sounds!" Max yelled back in reply, without turning around, and continued moving.

"What the hell?" Alphonso whispered under his breath, and the three remaining boys looked at each other.

"Hah.." Gerald let out a heavy sigh. With a frustrated expression on his face, he said. "F*ck it. Wait up!"

--------------- 

"What the actual f*ck is happening?!" Those were the words that came out of a terrified Ella's mouth, as she watched her boyfriend get thrown away like yesterday's trash.

BAM!

She watched her boyfriend slam onto the wall behind him with a loud noise and fall down, and she couldn't help but let out a loud scream.

"AHHHHHH!" She screamed as loud as she possibly could, but immediately shut her mouth once she saw that the eyes of the masked figure were on her.

The masked man had only glanced at her for a split second, but it was enough to send chills down her spine. His eyes were cold and emotionless, and she couldn't handle his ruthless gaze even for a single second.

'Wha-What the hell..' Ella wanted to speak, but she could only open her mouth. Her voice didn't come out. It was as though she had suddenly turned mute. 

BAM!

"Bingo!" The masked figure said with an enthusiastic voice as he gripped Benny's fist tightly.

'Why the hell is he acting so excited about catching my fist?' Benny was bewildered by the reaction of the masked figure, who seemed to be overly excited about grabbing his wrist.

'Don't tell me that he's just an extremely strong dude who's never been in an actual fight?' Benny raised his eyebrows. It could very well be the case. After all, an experienced fighter, or perhaps even an amateur one would've been able to avoid Jamie's previous attack. 

It was not that hard to figure out, especially since Jamie didn't have any strategy while punching. And he was extremely obvious on which hand he was going to be using as well. You just had to follow his hand, and it should've been an easy dodge. And yet, this guy couldn't evade it.

'If that's the case,' Benny thought of something, and all of a sudden, he pulled his lower body up using the grip exerted by Noah on him, and his feet leapt up sideways.

"Huh?" Noah, who had gotten distracted because of his achievement, was too late to realize what was happening.

Whoosh!

Benny's lower body spun in the air as his legs swung from sideways, his ankle crashing right onto the side of Noah's head with a loud noise.

BAM!

"Ha ha ha! Take that, you son of a b*tch!" Benny laughed maniacally and tried to pull away from Noah, thinking that he had finally taken down the masked figure.

"Ugh.. What the hell?" To Benny's surprise however, Noah's grip didn't loosen even a bit. "Why is this guy so freakishly strong?!"

"I wonder why.." All of a sudden, the masked man spoke, which made Benny freeze in horror. 

'How the hell is he still standing?' Benny knew that his kick should've sent him crashing down onto the ground. And yet, he was still standing. 

"That was a good kick.." The mysterious man said as he wiped his face with his other hand, his gaze still stuck on Benny. 

Whoosh!

The man then pulled back his other hand, raising it in the air, and Benny, who was terrified upon seeing his actions, screamed, "I-I'm sorry! I-It was my fault! I shouldn't have tried to attack y-"

POW!

A powerful slap struck Benny's cheek, sending him flying backwards.

BAM!

He slammed onto a pile of trash cans that were lying next to the wall, causing a loud ruckus as he crashed.

"Ugh…" Benny groaned loudly. He was gasping for air, breathing in and out. 

'I thought I had blacked out for a second there…' With his breathing getting erratic, Benny raised his head and looked at his own body. He could see that his legs and his hands were still connected to his body, even though he couldn't feel them right now.

'What kind of a monster throw was that?' Benny was terrified. He thought that he had almost died right then and there.

Ella was watching the groaning Benny trying his best to move his body with a horrified expression on her face. 

'I need to get out of here,' She knew that staying behind would not be a great idea, so she wanted to leave as soon as possible. But right when Ella turned her gaze towards the mouth of the alleyway, she felt a hand grab her shoulders, and she couldn't help but scream loudly.

"AHHHHHH-" The ear piercing scream was cut short by a hand covering her mouth and pulling her backwards, causing her to fall down onto the ground on her butt.

"Ouch!" Ella groaned in pain, but soon realised that the mysterious figure who was assaulting Benny and her boyfriend was standing right in front of her, which made her legs go weak.

The mysterious figure didn't speak, but his presence was enough to terrify the young lady. 

"P-Please let me g-go.." Tears and snot began to stroll down uncontrollably from her face, as she stammered while speaking.

"Do you know how to fight?" The mysterious figure asked. 

"W-What?" Ella, who was in the middle of crying and having a mental breakdown, didn't clearly hear what the mysterious man said. She looked at the man with a confused and fearful expression on her face, and the man opened his mouth to speak, "I said, do you know how to fight?"

"I-I do n-not…" Ella tried to speak normally, but she was still stammering. 

"That's a shame…" The mysterious figure replied.

'Maybe he doesn't attack people who don't know how to fight!' Ella, who was terrified out of her wits, now came to the conclusion that the mysterious man was asking if she could fight him. Perhaps she would be left alone because she doesn't know how to fight?

BAM!

But her hope was shattered when the next moment, the mysterious man grabbed her hair and slammed her face down onto the pavement, causing her to faint.

"I don't like to hit women.." Noah said as he stepped over the unconscious body of Ella and walked towards the two injured young men, who were now on their knees and looking at each other. "But you aren't worthy of being called one."

"Ella…" Jamie, who had just gotten up from the floor, saw the body of his girlfriend, lying on the ground, unconscious. His eyes turned towards the mysterious figure, hoping to be fueled by anger, but all he could feel was pure terror.

"You guys are up?" Noah stared at the two youths with his emotionless eyes, and two flinched.

"Good," He said as he cracked his knuckles.. "Time for round two."