A golden streak of light made its way to an abandoned construction site at the edge of the settlement. Stopping at the top of one of the incomplete towers, two men appeared out of the golden light.
"Moving forward, should we consider him to be a threat to the organization?" Asked a man dressed in a silver skin tight running suit.
"Do you even need to ask that? Just look at the state he left me in, if you had not shown up when you did I do not think you would have to ask that question!" Jay exclaimed.
"Well now, someone was able to rattle even you? That is quite the surprise. I always thought you could not be rattled." The mystery man chuckled.
"Is my current state funny to you?" Jay asked, trying to get up and approach the other man.
"No, I just find it amusing that nobody has beaten you so thoroughly." The silver clad man said, staring off into the horizon.
'He was able to take out our "Joker", how much longer will it be before he can take out our "King". The silver man thought, turning around to speak with Jay. "Now, go get yourself cleaned up at 'The Clinic' and…" He trailed off.
Jay had already left the building staggering his way out making his way down to the street leaving trails of blood as he made his way down. 'Next time will not end the same way I can promise you that, you brat,' Jay thought.
_____
The rhythmic sound of a mechanical beep slowly stirred Larry from his slumber. He went to sit up, but a sharp pain ran through him, making wince in pain. "Ouch." Larry said.
Waking the other two people who had also fallen asleep in his hospital room. The two in his room were none other than Oscar and Jane. "How long was I out?" He asked, looking at the two.
"Not very long, just a few hours. You are lucky those wounds were not fatal." Oscar said.
"Yeah I know, who was that guy? He moved like a professional, but he acted like a child. Whenever things were not going his way he tried using brute force to make us submit. Where is Melvin, did he escape?" Larry asked.
"Well, we do not really know. After you got hurt Melvin went berserk and right as the fight was ending something intervened and the other guy just disappeared. When that happened we came straight here and got you patched up." Oscar said.
"You left Melvin alone in a crazed state!" Larry shouted, straining himself.
He started coughing and doubled over in pain.
"Larry, do not strain yourself so much." A voice said.
"Shut up!!! I do not need any more patronizing from some random nurse so back off and mine your…" He trailed off, looking over his shoulder to shout at the person who told him not to strain himself, wincing in pain again.
The person he just tried to tell off was none other than Lydia. The same person he had told Melvin to fight for right before he passed out.
"Oh crap, I am so sorry. If I had known it was you I definitely would not have yelled at you." He said sheepishly, his cheeks a bright shade of crimson in embarrassment.
"It is fine. However I think you should be a little nicer to the people who are just trying to take care of you." She replied.
Oscar and Jane were now laughing uncontrollably at Larry's inability to control his emotions. They were rolling on the floor clutching their stomachs tightly trying to stop themselves to no avail.
"Anyway, where is Melvin?" Lydia asked, looking around the room expectantly as if to find the person who had kept the others in the room from any more harm than they had already sustained.
"Well, about that. He kinda went berserk and we left him in the middle of the street to get Larry medical treatment." Oscar said, shrinking back behind Jane, as if to use her as a human shield from Lydia.
"You what?!" She shouted, enraged by the fact that they just left him there even though he had protected them from a very dangerous threat. "Well, looks like I will have to go out and find him again."
"Again?!" The other three gasped.
"Yes, again. We had to go find him once before but this time is going to be a little more complicated because he knows more about this place than almost anyone else." She said, slapping her palm to her face.
"What do you mean he knows more about this place than almost anyone else?" Larry asked.
"Oh that is right, you guys do not know who Melvin's family is." She replied
_____
Melvin finally came to, near the outskirts of the settlement in the fields laying on his back with no recollection of how he had made his way here. He quickly sat up to see if there were any distinguishing features about the field he was currently in. Getting up he saw a giant tree a ways away from him, his first thoughts were to head to the tree and use it as a vantage point. However his instincts were saying it would be unwise to head to the tree so he did the only thing he could think of.
He ran in the opposite direction with only a single thought on his mind. 'I need to get stronger to keep my friends safe. Kang was hurt because I was not strong enough to help him, and now Larry was hurt because I could not protect myself, never again,' he thought, his eyes glowing a deep crimson as he ran towards the edge of the settlement.