Beast Soul

"Yeah well, we don't know what kind of ulterior motives a monster like him would have now, do we?" Harold said with an aggressive tone while waving his hands around frantically. "But if what he said was true, then it would explain how Alphonso's legs magically healed.." Gerald said as he pointed at Alphonso, and the whole group turned to look at him.

"That is true..." Harold bit his lips. "What would it mean, though?" Max whispered softly, and the rest of the group turned to him. "Us, turning into monsters." He began to clarify. "What would it mean to our lives, if it was, in fact, the truth?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Noah's words entered everyone's ears, and the whole group leapt up from the ground and turned to look at him, their eyes filled with fear. "Given what's happening in the city.." Noah said with a serious expression. "... I'd say that you just found yourself a way to survive."

"Wh-What do you mean by that?" Gerald, who although nervous and fearful of the young man standing in front of him, decided to ask, and Noah let out a sigh. "Do you honestly think that those monsters you saw in the sewers today are the only ones roaming around the city?"

"Th- That… " Harold looked like he wanted to say something, but right before he did, he squinted his eyes and placed his hand on his chin, as though he was thinking of something. 

The rest of the group were also intrigued about Noah's answer, and began to think about the meaning behind his reply. 

Of course, they had now seen monsters, which they only thought were present in stories and movies. In fact, they would argue that they'd seen too many monsters, or at least way more than one should expect to see in their lifetime. 

But given that they saw three- no, four beastly creatures in one single day, it wouldn't be that big of a stretch to imagine there being more monsters that are hiding away in abandoned buildings and dense forests.

"Hold on a minute.." Max's eyes widened in surprise as he slammed his fist onto his other hand, making a small 'thud' sound, attracting the attention of the rest of the group. "The disappearances that have been all over the news lately.. " Max said with a surprised expression on his face.

"No way…" Gerald mumbled to himself without even waiting for Max to finish explaining his words. He knew what he was trying to say. In fact, all of them knew what he meant. 

Harold looked at Noah, who felt his gaze and glanced back in his direction. "Are you sure that it wasn't just the monster that we saw today that was responsible for the disappearances?" He asked Noah. 

"It definitely could've had a hand in that, yes…" Noah decided to explain what he thought. "But it's definitely not just that creature. I've seen more. Many more."

"Well, sh*t…" Alphonso said softly as he slowly sat down onto the ground, his hands covering his head. The rest of the group didn't have the best of expressions either, with all of them looking dour and gloomy. 

"Well what the f*ck are we supposed to do now?" Harold asked, and everyone turned to look at Noah, who simply shrugged his shoulders in response. "Depends. You're not normal humans anymore. Sooner or later, your superpowers will show, and when it does, make your choice."

"And that choice is?" Gerald narrowed his eyes as he spoke, questioning Noah's intentions. The rest of the group were also a bit skeptical about the whole situation, which was understandable, considering the young man in front of him literally transformed into a monster and fought another supernatural being just a few hours ago.

"Use your powers to help and protect people, or just don't risk showing it and continue living a normal life," Noah decided to explain what he meant by the word 'choice', and the group nodded their heads in unison, understanding his words.

"Choose wisely," Noah repeated his words once again, this time as a form of warning, and the group could feel the intensity of his words.

The whole group then sat down on the ground once again, and Noah walked back to sit beside Wolfe. 

"Hah…" Gerald let out a long and heavy sigh after a few seconds of silence. He raised his hand and stared at it for a bit before continuing, "So, superpowers…"

"That's only if you're putting a positive spin on it," Harold said with a snort and a frustrated expression on his face. "The correct explanation is; we're a bunch of freaks!"

"Harold!" Gerald looked at him with intensity, and Harold simply shrugged his shoulders. "What? You know I'm right! You all know I'm right! It's the truth!"

"Yeah, we know.." Alphonso shook his head as he leaned backwards onto the large sequoia tree that was right behind him. "But you do know that you don't have to actually say that out loud, right?"

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but after being almost killed by a giant f*cking spider and almost poisoned to death, I don't think I have any energy left to be positive," Harold replied with a snort. He certainly wasn't feeling too relieved. He looked stressed and exhausted. 

"Whatever it is, be it a superpower or a f*cking curse, the fact is that we can use it however we want. And that's the point." Max decided to interject into the conversation. 

"Says the guy who brought us into this mess in the first place.." Harold whispered softly, but everyone heard his words clearly. 

"Harold!" Gerald seemed infuriated. "Did you forget that we decided to call it quits on the blame game?"

"Yeah, well that was before I realised that I had been permanently turned into a freak!" Harold also couldn't take it anymore and yelled out loudly, looking frustrated and angry. 

"Harold, just leave it alone…" Alphonso didn't want to interfere, but he did anyway.

"Why are you all being so quiet and accepting about it?" Harold grit his teeth and waved his hands around. "Am I the only one who's not fine being turned into a f*cking monster? What the f*ck is wrong with you guys?!"

"Enough!" Noah, who was listening to them fighting with each other, finally decided to interfere.

BAM!

He slammed his hands together and clapped as loud as he could, making the group flinch once again.

'How long are they going to continue flinching?' Noah shook his head, and then began walking towards the group of boys, who seemed to have finally shut up.

"Listen, I know that you're all a bit too.. uh, new, to this business…" Noah began speaking in a calm and soothing tone, which made the boys calm down a bit. "But you don't want to antagonise the only people who actually know what you're going through."

Harold glanced at Gerald for a split second, and Gerald glanced back, making eye contact for less than a second before immediately looking away.

"I hope you guys understand what I'm saying," Noah nodded his head, and began backing away. He didn't want to deal with their situation, as he already had enough problems to deal with. 

"Harold," Gerald didn't want to waste any more of their time, and decided to get straight to the point. "I'm sorry for getting angry at you, but I am not going to apologise for what I said."

"Yeah, me too.." Harold, although reluctant, nodded his head. 

"Have you decided?" Noah asked, and the boys turned their heads, glancing at each other and nodding nervously. 

"Uhm, this is all a bit too much to process for us in one go.…" Gerald decided to speak for the group once again. "Can we have a few days to think about it?"

"Oh? Yeah, yeah.. of course," Noah was caught off guard for a second, but he quickly recovered. 

'Why did I think that they'd give an answer so quickly?' Noah thought to himself. 'This is a big decision. Of course they'll need more time to think about it.'

"Take all the time you need," Noah waved his hands in the air, and then pulled out his phone. "Oh yeah, I'm going to need all of your numbers, in case any one of you loses control of your powers." He looked at the boys and smiled. "After all, we're only going to have each other to help out."

"That can happen?" Harold asked, and Noah nodded his head. "Not always, but sometimes."

The group nodded their heads and took out their phones.

---------------------- 

New World City Police Station.

 "Bleugh….!"

The sound of someone throwing up could be heard inside the washroom.

"Are you done now, Bill?" Commissioner Bridge, who was waiting outside the bathroom stall, asked out loud.

"Ugh… ugh…" Mayor Remus, who was inside the bathroom stall and clutching the toilet seat, began to breathe heavily, groaning loudly as he closed his eyes.

"...What the hell happened to my son?" He asked in a hushed tone, and the Commissioner had a bitter smile on his face. 

'How can he explain this?'