Jason leaned back on the couch. He lost his interest over the news. He knew the red-hair lady but the man shooting the shotgun was a new one. Although using firearms are known to be useless but using it as a knockback deterrent was quite interesting.

 

I doubt those shotgun can do the same thing against a Bumi bison. Those wolves might be weaker than the Oaken Haunted Tree.

 

Jason tried to utilized ‘Scan’ hoping to use it over the monsters on the screen, and as he expected the only thing that came up was the specification of the new flat-screen TV. Esther who sat next to him leaned over to him.

 

“They’re the same like you,” she whispered.

 

“You mean us,” said Jason.

 

“That doesn’t matter, I thought you and Hakeem are the only one,” said Esther.

 

“There’s more than you think,” said Jason.

 

“You’re not going to explain are you?” said Esther.

 

“Look at the screen, that shotgun guy is doing something interesting,” said Jason.

 

His eyes focused back at the news as the trench coat man unveiled his own special ability.

 

--

 

“Megan, do you see that?” Mike who was capturing the video couldn’t help but shudder to saw the unthinkable.

 

Megan was staring at the sight of the trench coat man forming something purplish in his hand. It came from thin air and the rumor she heard over the past two weeks was starting to come back at her. There was a rumor floating in the journalism world, about people doing extraordinary things known as Awaken.

 

“Mike, don’t you ever stop recording,” said Megan.

 

A purple color orb formed on top of Moretti’s palm. There was even a wick at the top of it.

 

“A bomb? That’s your ability?” said Bryce.

 

The wick lighted up on its own and Moretti threw the purple bomb at the center of the pack. The wolves were wary as they stared at the sight of the thing being thrown in the air. One of them howled and they ran in all directions, but it was too late.

 

“Go!” Moretti said.

 

He ran towards the disperse pack. Bryce was still confused by the whole situation but she ran after him. The purple bomb landed on the asphalt ground as Moretti muttered.

 

“Paralyzing Bomb.”

 

The bomb exploded releasing a purplish cloud of dust enveloping the whole pack. The moment these wolves sucked in the purplish air, all six of them stopped moving paralyzed on the spot.

 

“They’re not moving?” said Bryce. She was confused but Moretti wasn’t. The switchblade danced between Moretti’s fingers as he then stabbed it right into the eye of one of the immobile wolves. The man stabbed it multiple times until there was no life in its eyes.

 

Bryce saw the opportunity and knifed the wolf closest to her. She gritted her teeth as she too did the same thing, stabbing the shit out of that wolf until its dead.

 

The growl from the wolves returned once more as they started to move. One managed to bite Bryce at the flank sending her down to the ground. She winced at the slight bit of force as its fang dug deep into her enhanced flesh.

 

The window kept on blocking her view as she saw her Copper Body points dwindling into a single digit. If it ends up at zero, then she had no doubt she would end up dead.

 

“Argh!” she yelled as she stabbed the wolf multiple times. She stabbed at the head a few times but it was useless as their hide was strong. Luckily, the tip of her kitchen knife pierced through its eye.

 

The wolf jerked a few time but Bryce relentless assault brought it to death. Yet she had no time to rest, another wolf bared its fangs at the unguarded Bryce. Inches from biting her at the neck, the sole of Moretti’s foot kicked the wolf right at the body, knocking it far away.

 

“Thanks,” said Bryce as she noticed the dripping blood from Moretti. He was covered in bite wounds from top to bottom. It seemed he was in a much more worst condition than her.

 

“You’re hurt,” said Bryce.

 

The purple bomb manifested itself once more on top of Moretti’s palm as he threw it like it was a fastball. The two still living wolves ran in opposite directions fleeing from the purple dust cloud. One of them paralyzed while another escaped by a hairbreadth.

 

“Take care of the paralyze one,” said Moretti.

 

He rushed at the wolf who was charging at them. Bryce wanted him to stop seeing how bad his injuries were but she couldn’t let the opportunity to go to waste. She attacked the immobile wolf while stabbing the heck out of it she glanced at Moretti.

 

She stared at the wolf who was biting Morettie’s arm. The wolf shook its head from side to side ripping apart the arm of that man. Both fell on the ground as the wolf was stronger than Moretti yet the man didn’t know the meaning of giving up. Even when his life was at the edge of danger, his switchblade didn’t stop stabbing at the wolf while trying to pierce it through the eye.

 

But the struggling wolf was hard to stab and Moretti stabbed it right through the inside of the jaw. Moretti pushed it piercing the soft flesh of its jaw. He ripped through the flesh and the blood flowed down. The wolf released the bite and retreated while shaking its head.

 

Moretti didn’t stop as he tackled the distraught wolf. His arms and body moved swiftly as he choked the wolf. The wolf was still struggling as it still had a lot of fight in it left. Then a red-hair lady appeared as she did the finishing touch.

 

A kitchen knife lodged inside the eye socket of the dead wolf. Moretti pushed the dead wolf away as he stood up on his two feet.

 

“is your arm okay?” she asked.

 

He didn’t reply as he turned away getting back to his cruiser motorcycle.

 

Bryce ran at him and held his arm. She watched the mangled sleeve of his trench coat, she expected to see a severe bite wound but what she saw was a metal arm guard. Moretti took back his arm with force, yet before she could leave any further a big camera lens was right in front of his face.

 

“Citizen of New Jersey, there you have it. The heroes of humanity, they won against the unfair fight between man against UC. One of them is this courageous woman,” said Megan as she was smiling while broadcasting this live news.

 

She hit it big and she was going to get more of it. The microphone was pointed at the confused Bryce. She didn’t expect an interview and considering how ruffle she looks, this definitely wasn’t the best moment for her.

 

“Please say a few words to the audience, tell us how you defeat these abominable creatures that even the military couldn’t defeat,” said Megan as she put a subtle dent at the military credibility.

 

“I… uhm…” Bryce didn’t know what to say while Moretti already shoved the cameraman away from his face.

 

Then she felt something inside of her.

 

“We can fight back,” she said with her determine eyes staring at the camera. “Defeat any one of them and you will obtain the power to fight against these monsters, monsters that changed our lives, monsters that kill the lives of the innocent and I’m not the only one. They are more powerful people out there, trying to fight against this threat. Stop relying on others and believe in yourself, I can do it and so can you.”

 

“There you have it, a great speech from our humanity’s hope and your name is…” Megan faced the mic to Bryce.

 

“I’m Bryce Hendricks and I’m not going let these monsters take over the world.”

 

--

 

The live broadcast was cut off turning back to the annoying ads.

 

An aoe stun ability, I really need one of those.

 

He watched the crude fight and he wasn’t impressed. It was like a child’s play in his eyes considering the low level of those wolves. For some reason, he felt sour seeing Bryce. The lost Copper Body really put a dent in him and seeing how Bryce utilizing it in a poor manner only intensified his regret.

 

“So are you like her? The hope of humanity, trying to save the world,” said Esther.

 

“Don’t be stupid. I’m not that naive,” said Jason.

 

“So, when are you going to train me?” said Esther.

 

“Train you? I’ve got no time for that, you can ask Hakeem, here’s his number,” said Jason.

 

He got up and ignored the glare from his sister.

 

--

 

Unknown to the rest of the United States, the military barged inside the news station stopping the live feed but it was too late. The fight had ended and the citizen had all saw the hidden truth.

 

“Sir, we didn’t manage to stop them,” said one of the soldiers raiding the news station.

 

The high official at the other line was fuming. While those other Awaken people who still hid under the shadows saw the broadcast had their own thought in mind.

 

A man was sitting on the edge of a cliff of the Grand Canyon. He paused the video of the news as he saw the rather interesting duo.

 

“Fighting with someone else doesn’t seem bad.”

 

Meanwhile, in one of the prestigious companies in Silicon Valley, a woman sat in front of her desktop looking at the video enthralled by the sight of Bryce and Moretti fighting. Her big round glasses were sliding down as she pushed it up back in its place.

 

“Others, I need to find others like me.”

 

A farm in a small town in Texas, a man came out of his house. He whistled as a horse leaped over the fence, he jumped on top of the steed as he rode through the wind. He was smiling as he just watched the news about others like him.

 

“I’m not the only one.”

 

--

 

Jason tied his shoelaces as he prepared to go out for another training session.

 

“Mom, I’m going out for a run,” he said.

 

“Be back before dinner,” she said.

 

He ran with his headphones on and seeing how the news going to be next big thing in the world wide web, he had hunched that more people are going to come out into the open and others who desire such power would emerge.

 

I better prepare before things get messier.