Beast Soul

The leaf in his hands began shaking furiously once again, and it began to straighten itself and return to the green coloured leaf that it once was. "Come on…" Max whispered once again, as he watched the leaf lose its wrinkles and stretch out as though it had regained its youth.

BAM!

All of a sudden, a loud noise entered into his ears, which made Max groan in pain as he tilted his head sideways, and the leaf fell from his hands once again, losing its green colour and reverting back to its original form.

"What the hell was that?" Max said with an annoyed expression on his face as he rubbed his ears with his fingers, and his gaze shifted to the outside, where the noise had come from. It didn't sound like it was from anywhere nearby. And it definitely didn't sound like a normal noise.

Whoosh!

He immediately got out of the window and walked towards the window, and then popped his head out, looking around whether or not he could see anything unusual that was going on.

"There doesn't seem to be anything happening…" Max whispered to himself while squinting his eyebrows, confused at what just happened.

On the other side of the neighbourhood….

"Did you guys hear that?" Gerald yelled into his phone, which made his mother explode into anger. "Gerald! How many times have I told you to keep your voice down? Do you want to get grounded again?"

"Sorry mom!" Gerald pulled his phone back from his ears and said to his mother. He then put his phone back to his ears and repeated his words, this time whispering it. "Did you guys hear that?"

"What? You mean your mom getting angry at you and threatening to whoop your a**? Oh yeah, we definitely heard that!" Alphonso replied cheekily, and Harold let out a chuckle.

"Ha, ha, very funny you guys…" Gerald rolled his eyes and responded in an annoyed tone. "But for real.. Did you guys hear that? That weird noise..?"

"Yeah, the ear screeching noise, right?" Harold was the one who responded first. "I did hear that. Although I don't think my mom did. She hates loud noises, especially the ones that make your hairs stand up." Harold said in a serious tone. He was definitely not joking.

"Yeah, I heard it too…" Alphonso replied as well, agreeing with Harold. "My parents are still asleep right now, which is weird because that sound should've definitely woken them up, given how loud it was."

"You guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Gerald asked, his eyes narrowed and his hands clenched tightly. He had a guess about what that sound was, but he didn't know if he was right or not. 

"A sound that was probably only detected by us who have all been coincidentally turned into freaks?" Harold said with a cheeky tone. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the monsters that are supposedly on the loose all over the city."

"Well, then…" Gerald asked as he stood up from his bed, walked up to the door and looked through the peephole in order to make sure that no one was standing behind his door. He then continued, "What the hell is the plan here?"

"What do you think Harold?" Alphonso turned the question to Harold, who widened his eyes in surprise. "Well, why are you suddenly evading the question and passing it onto me?"

"Why are both so reluctant about this?" Gerald said as he was about to raise his voice at the two boys, but then quieted down once he remembered what his mother had told him just a few seconds ago. He aggressively whispered into his phone, "Weren't the two of you the ones who were raving about becoming superheroes and saving people?"

"Yeah, I know, I know.." Harold replied in a nervous tone, his voice getting louder and louder as he continued. "It's just.. Now that it really is happening, we're a bit overwhelmed by everything."

"Wha- Don't tell me you guys are planning on backing away?!" Gerald placed his palms on his forehead and leaned next to the door, surprise and concern evident in his voice as he spoke.

"No! No, no, oh god no.." Alphonso responded almost immediately. He shook his head furiously, even though the others couldn't see him, and said, "We're definitely on board with the whole superhero plan. It's just a lot to take in at the moment. But don't worry, we'll be ready in no time."

"Yeah, of course.." Harold replied, his voice still sounding nervous as he spoke.

"Yeah, well, it appears the time to get ready has come sooner than expected." Gerald replied. He walked up to the old wooden cabinet that he had in his room. It was where he had kept his collection of shoes. He pulled out a pair of sneakers from the cabinet, and dropped them next to his feet, before continuing, "What's it going to be guys?"

".... Ah, screw it!" Harold said after breathing in and out, and he got up from his bed and opened his window. "We said we'd be superheroes and help people, and that's what we're going to do." He said, and he leapt out of his room and onto the roof of his house without making any noise.

"You know what, you're absolutely right!" Alphonso responded, and in his voice, one could identify passion hidden deep inside. "We're going to be superheroes, and superheroes don't sit around and try to figure out whether or not they should stop monsters and save people. They have their existential problems after they save the day." 

"I'm going to take that as a yes from you, Alphonso," Gerald said as he put on his shoes. "So here's the plan. We'll meet up in front of the children's park in five minutes. We'll then head to Max's house. I'm sure he must've heard the noise as well." He slowly opened his door without making any noise, looked around in order to make sure that there wasn't anyone in the hallway, and then got out and headed downstairs. "Find a way to get out of the house without arousing any suspicions." He said as he rushed to the kitchen and headed out of the house through the backdoor.

Harold used the wooden bars that were attached to the side of his house to climb down onto the ground and replied, "Already on it." He then shifted his gaze to the road, and continued, "I'm heading out. I'll meet you guys there."

"So am I," Said Gerald. "We'll continue when we meet up."

"Alright guys. Give me a few minutes," Alphonso said and he hung up his phone. He then walked to the kitchen, where his mother was watching a metube video on her laptop, and asked, "Mom, can I go and hang out with my friends?"

"Alright, Phonzy.." His mom replied with a smile, before turning her attention back to the metube video. "But don't be too late."

"Alright, mom. I won't," Alphonso waved his hands and exited out of his house.

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"Another one…" Noah, who was lying on his bed, immediately leapt up as soon as he heard the strange noise and his eyes narrowed. Right then, his gaze returned to normal, and he couldn't help but feel confused.

"Why on earth did I know that?" He looked at his hands and whispered to himself. He didn't know why or how he was able to conclude that the noise was from another monster within seconds. This wasn't just something as simple as a guess. It was as if he was already aware of this sort of noise. Like it was already ingrained in his mind.

"Merging…" He whispered softly to himself, and then immediately shook his head. 

'No, no. You can't let him get to you,' Noah said to himself. He was still him, he thought in his mind. He knew who he was. The doppelganger is simply getting under his skin. 

'Now,' He then turned his attention towards the window, and narrowed his eyes. If his intuition really is right, then that means that there was a monster roaming around nearby. He knew he had to deal with that.

"Let's try and focus my energy on something a bit more productive," He mumbled under his breath as he walked towards his window.

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"Ugh.." The girl who had crashed onto the bookshelf groaned, and the monster slowly walked up towards her, stretching its clawed wings wide. 

The clawed wings slowly began to approach the half conscious girl, as though it was taking its time, but right before the monster grabbed the girl by her head...

BAM!

A loud noise of something striking the ground, followed by a crashing sound, made the monster stop in its tracks, and look to the window.

"Gah!" Clarice gasped, and from her mouth burst out blood and saliva, which dripped down onto her eyes and nose, causing her to cough continuously.

'Shit!' She cursed. She knew that there was a chance that the monster could've heard that noise, and so she tried to get up from the ground. 

'Wha- What the...' All of a sudden, Clarice's eyes widened in surprise and horror, as she came to the realization that she couldn't move her body!