Morning.
The city is alive again. Swarms of people littered and rushed through the streets to start their day. The city's traffic is heavy even on a weekend. The lockdown is lifted, with the Alliance announcing on live TV that they have dealt with the biggest reason of the lockdown yesterday. The Wanderers' Manila Branch Chief Hong Yuan announced that they've apprehended the unidentified Superhuman, but won't divulge the personal details. Even if many of the city's press were suspicious about the Alliance hiding the captive's personal details, they know that they can't air such concerns.
Meanwhile, still shamelessly at the house of his friends after all that bullshit yesterday, is our MC.
This house crasher had the audacity to raid the brothers' fridge and scrounge up some breakfast for himself, while the two are still sleeping.
His anime addiction is flaring up again, as he booted up the personal computer on the side while the television is still on. Of course, he wants to read manga.
"Oh, they're saying they'd already caught me huh? Guess they lied to hide their whooped butts." Several spoonfuls of food were sent to his filthy mouth in quick succession. "Did that dog even realize who I was?"
Right as the PC booted, a boot slammed to the back of his head.
"Oy, oy, oy! Why'd you raid the fridge you ass hat!" John's other boot sailed straight into the house crasher.
"Hehe… you can't hit me a second time!" This man actually ducked. "There's—"
He's interrupted by the sound of a smashed monitor.
He looked at John with an innocent smile that's an invitation for a beatdown. John's eyes narrowed into slits, while his muscles issued cracking sounds.
"Y'know, brother John… uhhh… you've been very good to me…" This guy stood up and started retreating.
John was about to lunge and tackle him when the MC issued a high-pitched shriek accompanied by sizzling sounds.
He collapsed, and seizured for a good several minutes afterward. It was this time when the veins on our shameless yet suddenly vulnerable MC bulged, seemingly close to bursting. John had seen this multiple times before, and he knew at a single glance that it was one of the more dramatic episodes.
Normally, the flare-ups aren't enough to take him out of commission like this. Usually he'll just suffer from the temporary regression of his Superhuman abilities.
His bigger flare-ups are always obnoxious like this one, though.
The MC's eyes were bloodshot, as he continued squirming on the floor. The next moment he's vomiting black blood that seemed toxic enough to dent the marble tiles. The brothers never found out how to deal with this poison from the start, so no way John would know how to deal with it now.
Black blood then gushed out of the MC's orifices, as John retreated and woke his brother Juan up. He came back a minute later, with his brother in tow, looking at the horrifying scene of a bloody, and unconscious man.
"This was the worst one, right?" Juan covered his nose to stop the stench from entering his system. "If only he'd tell us how to get rid of that thing!"
This guy actually has the audacity to not tell his friends about stuff like these! It's a good thing his friends trust that he won't die!
Though… there's actually a reason he's not even trying to cure it…
The two continued staring dumbfoundedly at the scene. The two are thinking that he's gonna wake up in a minute anyway, as it had always been.
Then… there's just silence, and a fart from Juan…
Can't you two just do anything about the blood or something!
***
"HONK!" A dirty goose honked angrily after receiving a few rocks to the face.
'One day…'
What? Who's talking?
'You humans will see…'
Who's talking? You're scaring me!
'That peace was never an option!'
I'm getting goosebumps…
"HONK!" Another loud honk sounded out from the battered goose, successfully irritating the children that threw rocks at it into leaving it alone.
They made the right decision.
'Fuck… shouldn't have scared them so much… I can't bite them anymore now…'
Huh? Wait a minute…
'Eh, well, I'm just gonna go take a shit.'
I'm going insane. I'm having delusions of a goose about to take a dump.
The goose went to a grassy vacant lot beside a cafeteria a few meters away. There it took a dump— or should I say, laid an egg.
If there's any superhuman around, they'll be able to react to the scent of a Superhuman being.
There isn't?
Oh. Of course, there is. Why do we have plot convenience if there isn't someone nearby?
"Gramps. Since you're the former boss of a hated organization, why are we just eating plain porridge?" Romulus Irvin's stomach grumbled, even though he's eaten six bowls of porridge already.
"Shut your mouth, you ungrateful lout!" Wait, is what I'm seeing real? There's rocks on that old man's bowl! "You've already eaten six bowls, and you're still complaining? There's tofu and chicken in there! That's not plain porridge!"
This old man didn't even care about the loud crushing sounds his mouth was making while chewing the rocks he added to his porridge. He's about to go on another tirade against his grandson when his senses, honed by decades of fighting dimensional beasts and Superhumans alike, flared. It was some sort of an instinct for him to feel the earth beneath his feet for reconnaissance at times like these, to scout out whomever the sudden release of power belonged to.
His grandson didn't notice though, as he's still grumbling while eating his seventh porridge on the side. It is within Remus' expectations though, because he knows that his acute sense of awareness regarding Superhuman activity around him is thanks to the thousands of battles he fought throughout his life. His grandson will get there too, he hoped.
His brows slanted as if something was amiss from the intel he gathered. He heard the brat ask a crew for another bowl of porridge, when he realized that it must've been one of the troublesome kinds.
Stroking his sagely beard he murmured, "could it have been an Animal Manifestor?"
Romulus retaliated as if he heard what his gramps said. "I'm just on my eighth bowl! Why are you already saying something behind my back!"
He's not even behind your back!
"It's not like I can eat rocks like you!" Suddenly, he's bawling. Of course, as an old man, he wants to avoid situations like these. Especially now, when he had just discovered something.
So, he compromised, even if he didn't do anything wrong to the kid. "Fine… go eat however much you like." He then called a waiter, and told him to just give whatever the kid wants.
The bawling kid suddenly stuck his tongue out at the old man. The quick switch back to normal is basically an invitation for a beating, and yet the old man let it slide.
"Punk. I'm just gonna smoke. I'll be back." The old man gave off the feeling that he's used to getting baited into these kinds of situations by the kid.
"You don't even smoke." The kid gave a snort and dug into his food again.
Remus then set off to where the suspected Manifestor is.
Locating the reason for the eruption of power is a piece of cake for the old man. Especially since it's nearby. He found a goose— which of course, honked at him as if saying, "Stay away you dirty human or face my wrath!"
The goose is incubating a bright yellow egg, drawing the wily old fox's attention. He smiled after realizing he struck it lucky. The eggs must be hiding some sort of unprecedented power.
Lost in his thoughts, he said to himself. No way this goose can kill him, right?
"Honk!"