Beast Soul

The binoculars were marginal at the distance, and the light was very low, but to Alphonso, none of those things actually mattered. He only needed the binoculars to keep an eye on Mr. Carrick's house, and maybe, just maybe, he could catch a glimpse into the house to see what the supposed monster was upto.

There were a lot of people in New World City. Even more after the recent improvements made to the city, and amongst the countless citizens of the New World City, it's highly unlikely that their teacher would have ended up being the target of some monster. And even more unlikely would be the fact that he regained his human appearance and was also a teacher to a group of mutants. It was as though the stars had aligned perfectly.

But unlikely events happened from time to time, and especially around the four of them, so Alphonso kept his field of view tight on his teacher's house, and he adjusted the focus as he looked through the binoculars to get the sharpest image. 

"Did you find anything?" Max asked as he leaned forward towards Alphonso. 

"Not yet," Alphonso didn't turn around and continued to observe Mr. Carrick's house through the binoculars.

"He's not doing anything weird even when he's inside his own home?" Gerald said as he waved his hands in the air in a dismissive manner. "Well, doesn't that solve the whole mystery then? He's obviously just a normal middle-aged man!"

"I think Gerald's right, Alphonso.." Max nodded his head and placed his hand on Alphonso's shoulders, who had stills yet to turn around to face the other two. Max continued, "The shockwave that I felt might've just been a general warning of sorts. We may have just put a lot more emphasis on it than we probably should have."

Alphonso still didn't turn around. His gaze was focused on Mr. Carrick, whom he had last seen entering his bathroom a few minutes ago. 

"Hmmm.." Alphonso rubbed his chin as he pulled his head back and placed the binoculars down onto his lap, and the other two boys looked at each other, confused as to what Alphonso was curious about.

"He's been in the bathroom for way too long…" Alphonso murmured under his breath, finally speaking after a few seconds of silence, and Gerald widened his eyes in surprise. "Huh?" 

Alphonso turned around and pointed at Mr. Carrick's house as he continued, "He's been in the bathroom for more than fifteen minutes. It's taking him way too long!"

"... Are you being serious right now, Phonzi?" Max scratched his head, unable to believe what Alphonso was saying. "He could just be someone who enjoys taking a long bath! How the f*ck would you know what's the normal bath time for him?"

"I don't know, man… something's fishy," Alphonso didn't think that Max's explanation was good enough, and he began rubbing his chin as a frown appeared on his face. "Fifteen minutes in a bathtub may be explained, but more than fifteen minutes under a shower? I don't think any old guy would be alright with standing under a shower for that long!"

"How the f*ck do you know what kind of bathroom he has?" Gerald said with a shocked expression. 

"I caught a glimpse of the interior when he opened the door, alright!" Alphonso raised his voice and spoke with a tone of annoyance. He sounded as though he was offended by the words spoken by Max and Gerald. "Why the f*ck are you guys so keen to leave, huh? This guy could really be a monster!"

"Are you seriously asking us why we want to leave?" Gerald couldn't control his anger and yelled out. "You are making us spy on our middle aged Physics teacher! Of course, we're uncomfortable and want to leave! This is way too creepy!"

"I thought we'd already had this discussion before!" Alphonso, who looked like he also had enough, lashed out as well. "It's been like two minutes since then! What the f*ck changed in two minutes? Did your balls drop off or something?"

"We did have a discussion! But we didn't finish it! You just pretended like it ended! We aren't magically going to be alright breaking the social norms just because you gave a reason for doing it!" Gerald poked his finger on Alphonso's chest as he spoke, and Alphonso clicked his tongue in response. "Oh grow up! These are the sacrifices that you'd have to make to be a f*cking real life superhero! We don't have magic or A.I. Butlers to help us identify who's the real monster and who's not. This is what we have you dumb f*cks! And if a middle aged man who could also be a monster staying under a shower for more than fifteen minutes sounds even slightly suspicious, then that's a suspicion that must be taken seriously, because unlike in the movies, we won't get a whole lot of clues to be suspicious about! This is all we have, and it's probably all we will have, ever!"

"Jesus Christ! Would you guys calm down? Please!" Max stepped in between the two of them and pushed the two boys back, which made the two take a few steps back reluctantly. 

"I'm just saying that I'm not comfortable doing this!" Gerald said with a frustrated tone. This time, his voice had also been lowered. 

"I understand your feelings, Gerald." Max nodded his head. "I feel the same way as well. But there's got to be a different way of having this conversation other than yelling at each other at the top of your lungs."

"Ugh, fine. I guess you're right!" Gerald shrugged his shoulders as he let out a long and heavy sigh. His gaze then shifted to Alphonso and said, "I'm sorry for yelling at you. But you have to understand that this is all really uncomfortable. What we're doing is not right."

"I know that…" Alphonso responded almost immediately, clicking his tongue once again. "But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. And right now, the people of this city depend on us for their protection. Even if they don't know it yet."

"... I guess we can't persuade you to abandon this plan, huh?" Max said with a frown and Alphonso stared at him for a few seconds before replying, "Well, how about this? We'll wait a few more minutes for Mr. Carrick to get out of his bathroom. He's most likely not going to take more than thirty minutes under a shower even if he's someone who enjoys a long bath. Especially since he just got from work and must be exhausted."

He then turned around and pointed at the house before continuing, "But if he doesn't come out of the shower even after thirty minutes, then I suggest we head on over to his house and try to get a good look at what's really going on inside there. How about it?"

Max and Gerald turned to look at each other once again, and could only let out another long and heavy sigh.

Looks like they were going to be staying there a lot longer than they thought. 

----------------

"Hah, those idiots!" Harold mumbled under his breath as he threw his backpack onto the floor and jumped onto the bed, letting out a long sigh. 

He had just went straight to his house after the class, and didn't even bother following the other three to observe Mr. Carrick all the way to his house.

"They won't actually go through with the plan and creep on the guy while he is in his house, right?" Harold had thought that the other three would at least question their decision after he left and would come to the conclusion that what they're doing is wrong, but it seems like that wasn't the case. 

"No, no, no.. don't think about those idiots! You did the right thing! You tried your best to persuade them to follow you, and if they still didn't understand the right thing to do, then that's on them." He told himself. Harold wanted to be a normal superhero. Someone who stood for justice as well as morality. Not some vigilante who breaks all the rules. 

"But what if that guy really is a monster?" The thought had been bothering Harold for quite a while now. Ever since he left the school. Ignoring the moral aspects of the plan that his friends had made, they would most definitely end up in big trouble if Mr. Carrick really was a monster. 

"God damn it! Those f*ckers are making me worry about them!" Harold screamed loudly and slammed his fist onto his bed.

BAM!

He had expected a small and soft noise, but surprisingly, the punch sounded much more loud, as though he had punched wood. A surprised Harold immediately leapt up and looked at his fist, only to be horrified to find that the whole exterior part of his hand was covered in countless thorns!