"It looks like I might have found the challenge I was looking for," Austin thought, as he got into a fighting stance.
While going up against all the other gang members before, he still preferred his natural way of fighting, as he acted on instinct, moving and throwing punches at the right time. Now that it was clear his opponent was an Altered, he thought he should step it up a gear.
"I've fought against other Altereds before, but what the heck even is that thing?" Austin looked at the dark black eyes and the six wriggling black tentacles behind his back. The man still looked to be in pain, as the tentacles on his back were moving out of control, and there was the dead body on the ground.
The one that had been killed was a fellow gang member, and it didn’t seem like the Altered had done it on purpose.
One of the gang members was stuttering as he stepped backward.
“The boss, he's gone crazy, he-he’s turned into a Crazed Altered!”
It was the normal conclusion to come to in this situation and in order not to become the next piece of meat on the floor, the gang members started to bolt away from the scene. One of the men closest had been grabbed by his leg by one of the tentacles.
It lifted him in the air by his ankle, before throwing him into an abandoned bridge. His body had knocked the door so hard that a large dent was made before the fridge door broke and he fell on the floor, unmoving.
The rest of the gang members that hadn’t been beaten by Austin yet, or were still able to move, had made their escape, running straight past the target they were going after. Their life was more important than just catching some kid.
Looking at the scene, there was one person that had yet to leave.
"Damn it, Vlad is still here, he needs to get out of the place, why does he still look like a lost little sheep?"
The young boy, although could see the strange Altered, he almost had no reaction. He just stared at the creature wondering if this was his time, if this was simply what was meant to happen to him.
Acting fast, Austin charged ahead, as he ran toward Pan. One of the tentacles came out toward him and grabbed his right arm.
"This isn’t enough to hold me back!"
Although the tentacle was wrapped around Austin’s arm, he could still run at full strength. When he got in close, Austin went for a direct hit right into Pan’s stomach. The grip on the tentacle loosened as he went flying, falling into a pile of rubbish.
"Vlad, what are you doing? Get out of here, get out now!"
Vlad, somewhat hearing Austin’s voice, had snapped out of it, as he ran past Austin. Austin knew that the Altered wouldn’t be taken down with a hit like that. He could somewhat tell when his opponents were down for the fight, it was a type of instinct one had after being in so many fights, and this Altered still had a lot in him.
Pan was buried deep in the rubbish but his tentacles broke through, throwing pieces left, right, and centre.
"Now the question is, do I try and finish this as quickly as possible so no one else gets hurt, or do I use this as a training opportunity?" Austin thought.
While deciding what to do, Pan had lifted himself off the rubbish and was standing on the mound. No longer did he look in pain, grabbing his head; instead, his eyeballs were completely black. Part of his eyes looked like they were leaking as black ink was falling down them.
"Alright, let's do th-"
A dull pain could be felt on Austin's back. It felt like a pinch on his skin. When turning around to see what it was, he could see that it was Vlad, standing there with a small knife in his hands.
Vlad’s eyes were opened wide, his hands were shaking, as he held the blade with blood all over it.
"What did I… what did I..." Vlad kept repeating. "No… it's your fault, it's your fault!"
Having turned around, Austin was now looking at Vlad. The wound that had been made on his back had already healed. Maybe before he was an Altered something like this would have done something to him, but it didn’t.
"Vlad," Austin said, in a soft voice. He wasn't angry that he had just been attacked, he was wondering what had driven a kind kid, a happy person like him, to do this.
"It's your fault! If I never met you, if we never went to that fighting club, then my father would have never been killed by them!" Vlad shouted, tears rolling down his face.
Hearing this, Austin clenched hard on both of his fists and he started to grind his teeth.
"They… killed your father?" Austin asked.
Before he knew it, the tentacles had wrapped around one of his wrists, and then soon wrapped around the other, but Austin didn’t turn away; he didn't look at Vlad.
Lifting his head, Vlad was stunned. Why wasn't Austin doing anything? Was Austin now going to die as well? But wasn't that what he wanted? Wasn't that what he just tried to do?
"I'm sorry," Austin said, the strength of the tentacles pulling him across the ground, while Austin still remained unmoving.
Seeing Austin in this state, because of him, because of what he did, Vlad realised the mistake he made.
"No... I should be the one saying sorry!" Vlad shouted. "You didn't kill him; it was the Scavengers! I WAS SO UPSET, I WAS SO ANGRY WHEN I SAW THEM KILL HIM RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES!
"But… What am I meant to do? Someone like me would never be able to get revenge on them, and then I started to blame you instead. I started to blame you for everything, and when I saw your back open, I thought if I get rid of you, then I would have avenged my father.
"But the truth is, I was just running away. I decided to go after you because I thought it was easier. I'm sorry, Austin, this isn't what I wanted. I didn’t want you to get hurt!"
Two more tentacles wrapped around Austin’s legs, and he was being dragged back further, until Austin leant forward, moving his strong legs and took a step forward.
"You want revenge!" Austin said, pushing his feet in the ground, fighting back against the tentacles. "Tell me what you want, tell me what you want to do, Vlad!"
Vlad was wiping his tears with the palm of his hand, wondering what Austin meant by this.
"What does he mean? Why is Austin doing this, when he's on death's door?" Vlad thought.
"Say it… just tell me what you want!" Austin shouted again.
"I… I," Vlad thought back to that night, back to his father's face, and the way they all looked at him. "I want them all dead! I want to get rid of every single one of the Scavengers! I want revenge!" Vlad screamed.
Taking another step forward, there was a big smile on Austin's face.
"That’s what I wanted to hear," Austin smiled. "I’ll do it, I’ll be the one to get your revenge!”
****
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