Surprise, surprise(not really).
The bastards looked um....gangstery, all except the rich kid. The one to the left seemed to be werewolf. He had a large scar that ran across his face, barely hidden by the amount of fur the kid had. He had little to no armor covering him, so I'm assuming he transformed to his werewolf state.
Two others seemed to be twins, and I recalled the one who talked to Alex back at the medbay. They stood side by side to each other, boy and girl, the only distinction around their hair where one was white and the other black. Other than that, they were a perfect image of each other, even the armor they wore.
The fourth dude that stood next to Mason had a black helmet on that hid most if not all of his face. The rest of him was covered in a fur coat, his legs barely visible. I'm assuming that's deputy dushbag.
And finally, the guest of honor, who had on an expensive looking white armor, with golden lines running through the joints. He had this smug look on his wizardly face, his dark hair flowing due to the spreading fire around. Mason.
Everyone from my party slowly stopped the extraction of essence to fully focus on the new arrivals.
"What was that?" I mocked them as my group gathered up around me. Scar face's nasty smile turned to a frown. He turned to Alex, waiting for his reaction.
"I thought the kid already explained it to you. We have dibs in all of your loot, as your leader had so kindly offered," he said, his voice now more audible and authoritative.
Alex turned to me and I could see his eyes pleading. Wait...did he really think he sold us out? Is that why he talked to me before? And what's this about him being the leader?
An idea hatched in my brain. Guess I'll have to hold my plan for a little while.
"Oh, did he now? Leader, care to explain," I smiled at Alex, hoping the group would catch on to what I was doing. Clive looked like he wanted to say something but I glared at him, which made him keep his mouth shut. Griffin looked like he disapproved of my plan, but nonetheless kept quiet.
"Yes 'leader', we want to hear your answer," Jessie continued the lie. Alex's eyes widen in shock and fear when he was forced to answer.
"I–I'm n–not the–"
"–only one whose surprised by this out come. So, how much did you promise them?" I interrupted him before he could call my bluff.
"Huh, he really is your leader. Who would have thought? Well, whatever. If you allow that spineless loser to lead you, then I'm pretty sure you guys ain't nothing much," black twin said with a smile and a look of pity. It was taking everything in my power not to pounce on the idiot. Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one.
"You called us weak?! Nah bro, your twig looking a*s got no say in this!" Clive retorted, lifting his axe in anger.
"What did you just call–"
"Enough! I don't wanna hear anything else from you guys other than handing over the essence," helmet boy spoke, pointing at Alex like he should be the one to deliver.
"B–but we worked hard for–"
"Do you dare oppose me, boy? Have you already forgotten what we talked about?" he continued. Alex turned pale quickly. I stood in front of him, looking at the group one by one. Mason came to the front and stared me down.
"Adamantium spear, pathetic. Like some loser South deserves such a weapon. How did you do it? Do you have connections with the principal? Well, no matter. It will be in my hands soon, anyways. Now, hand it over, and we'll let you guys live," he said, a creepy smile formed on his face.
Wow. I've heard of dumb, but this guy is on a whole other level. Did he really think it was that easy? Just walk over, take my spear, beat us a little, then get away with our spoils? I couldn't contain myself.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
I burst out laughing. Everyone stared at me like I just blew a fuse. I could see this made Mr. Mason lose his patience.
"Did I really scare you to madness?"
"Nope. I'm laughing at your stupidity! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Stop that! You think this is funny?"
"Yes. Yes, I do,"
I saw it before he did. But I couldn't react in time. He threw a punch to my face and I braced myself. Honestly, I wanted to see how strong he was, that's why I wouldn't dodge the cheap shot, but someone beat me to it.
Alex took the brunt of the fist head on and crumbled to the ground.
"Alex!" I screamed in shock, my joking mood shifting a hundred degrees.
"Piece of filth! If you wanted to get hurt, I'd have gladly helped–"
Suddenly, Mason was no where to be seen. It took a few seconds for everyone's mind to register what happened. They all scanned the area and soon found Mason planted deep into a thick tree, exactly to the right side of everyone.
His impact was so powerful, the fire that was spreading all around from the earlier lamp Alex had tossed out went out immediately.
"What just happened?" helmet dude asked, panicking. At the moment, I was a little busy trying to help Alex where I could. The blow that was delivered to him against me would be like a mosquito bite, but to him, it was a whole lot damaging.
Through the darkness, I could see him bleeding profusely from his mouth, his face swelling from the the side he was hit.
–––
[Bradley, how long does he have?]
*scanning...*
[Wait why?! Is it that bad?]
[What do you mean by that?]
–––
Oh no! No no no no! Why did he have to step up and take the blow knowing full well that it could end him?!
"Hey, boss, You good?" scar face asked Mason who was now pulling himself out of the tree. If one looked closely, you could see a trickle of blood running down his nose.
"That Furrha just sucker punched me! I'll make you regret that!" he roared. Like his threat meant anything to me. Time to start the real plan.
"Griffin, hide our position from the teachers vision. I know you can," I requested as I held on Alex's head.
Griffin nodded his head, his veins bulging, showing he wasn't too pleased to watch his classmate beaten down. He moved from his position and now there were four. Good.
"Jessie, I hate to ask, but could you use your blood powers to keep Alex alive?"
"I can try, but know I can't stay like that for long," she answered and hurried to my side. Alex tried saying something, but I stopped him and told him to just focus on staying alive.
"Clive, why don't you keep an eye out for anyone who comes around here?"
"I want a piece of the action too! You can't take them all by your self!" he angrily stated.
"Then who will keep a look out? Listen, there are still some beasts around here that might disrupt our fight. We also need more beast essence and you're more qualified than anyone else to do the job by yourself," I advised.
He wanted to protest more but seemed to have think things through. He nodded his head in understanding but before he left gave me one last warning.
"Don't die to this chums, Max. I am the only one who has the right to end your life,"
I nodded my head and he moved off to a different location, to hunt down the beasts. By now, Mason was already out of the bark, helped by the twins and he was seething with rage.
"You think you can take us by yourself? What a load of bullc*ap! Guys, teach this guy not to mess with us," he ordered his minions.
The werewolf pounced on me first, but I swatted him down to the ground. If only they knew how pissed off I really was. The lot of them deserves nothing more than death. I'm going to enjoy this.
"Let's start with you, Mr. Scar," I placed my right foot to his back and began applying pressure. The wolf tired squirming away but that was impossible, seeing that I was a whole lot stronger than him. A bit more pressure, and I heard the satisfying crunch of his spine beneath my foot.
An inhumane scream escaped the wolf's lips as his limps went down, never to be used again. He at some point stopped screaming, realizing it was doing more damage than anything else. How he's still alive, I don't know whether do I care enough to know. Let him enjoy the view of what I'll do to his friends.
"You know, I gained a lot of information once I appraised Alex's body. Like how many scratches were around his body that weren't fully healed. Wolf boy might have done that, but I have to wonder, who among you two was the one with the pathetic healing abilities?" I asked the twins, my killing intent spreading even further.
Both looked horrified after they just witnessed how easily I took their friend down but were even more scared when I released my aura. The brother came forward to try and negotiate.
"I tried doing my best to heal him, but the damage was too large for a full recovery," he started.
"Oh? Well then..." with my speed, I grabbed the sister and delivered two face punches and one to her chest, which pierced her armor like paper. With my strength, it was equivalent to an elephant stomping on an ant. The sister passed out immediately, but that didn't stop me from adding another fist, this time to her gut, forcing an alarming amount of blood out her mouth.
I tossed her to her brother who tried catching her but ended up been tackled to the ground, my speed never giving him a chance to react in time and save his sister.
"I want you to heal her," I growled, turning to the helmet boy and Mason, who were frozen in shock. That's the reaction I wanted from them. The twin placed his sister on his lap and hurriedly began the healing process. It was total silence as everyone held his breath, waiting for him to finish.
Jessie had moved Alex to a more secure location, so I had nothing to worry about them being collateral damage. Once he was finished, I immediately appraised her sister and vwola! Healed, good as new.
"I see. So this is what happens when you fully use your ability, ey?"
Blood drained from his face when he remembered what he'd just told me.
"I can heal him!" he immediately responded, bowing down before me.
"See, I don't need you anymore. You had your chance to heal him, and you failed," I answered.
"Please spare me! I tried healing him but he was just to damn damaged! Mason, SAVE ME!!" he wailed as he saw me approach him.
"Mason, aren't you going to help your boy. You looking a little pale too," I spoke, watching Mason and deputy dush bag back away.
I grabbed the twin by the neck and plunged my hand deep in his chest. He coughed up blood but I made sure to leave him alive, for my own purposes.
"Now it's your turn, girl," I muttered, as the twin girl had just came back from the land of the dead.