Beast Soul

New World City Police Station.

"Hah…" Detective Harry let out a long sigh of relief as he leaned back on his chair and closed his eyes. On his table were a bunch of files and papers that were stacked up on top of each other. 

"This is why I hate this f*cking job…" Harry slapped his hand on the table as he spoke, and Detective Lewis turned his attention towards him. "These damn paperworks.." Detective Harry continued his rant. "It's just so damn annoying!" 

BAM!

He slammed his fist onto the table, and the stacked pile of papers almost fell down due to the impact of the strike, but before it could do so, Detective Lewis immediately rushed forward and grabbed hold of the pile of papers and carefully placed it back, making sure that it didn't fall over.

'Although I'm the one who usually ends up doing the paperwork..' Detective Lewis wanted to say the thoughts in his mind out loud, but in the end, chose not to do so.

"What about those kids?" Detective Lewis asked, and Detective Harry raised his eyebrows and looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What about them? We sent them home, didn't we? What's there to worry about?"

"I- I don't know…" Detective Lewis scratched his head and said with a stutter, which only made Harry even more confused than before. "It's just- I don't know... Something feels off.." Detective Lewis spat out something that barely qualified as a sensible sentence. 

"Like what? You mean with the kids?" Detective Harry, who somehow found sense in his words, asked Lewis, who nodded his head. "Yeah."

"I really don't know what you're talking about, man.." Detective Harry shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head to the side as he spoke, and Lewis let out a sigh. "Yeah, I'm not sure either."

He thought for a few more seconds, and then continued, "It's just, how calm and quiet they appeared to us.." 

"Really?" Detective Harry looked at him as though he was talking nonsense, and seeing his gaze, Detective Lewis couldn't help but think that he was, indeed, talking nonsense. "You didn't think that?"

"I mean, I don't know.. I didn't study the expressions of the kids enough to know how weird their behavior was!" Detective Harry said as he adjusted his hat on his head, lightly tapping it every now and then. 

Detective Lewis shook his head and responded, "Think about the son of the Mayor. You saw how he was mutated by whatever that was, right?" 

"Yeah, I saw him.." Detective Harry replied, and almost a second later, his eyes widened. "Don't tell me you're implying that those kids are really monsters?" 

The two looked at each other for a brief period of silence before shaking their heads together. 

"Yeah, I'm probably bullsh*tting.." Detective Lewis replied, as he was not sure about his theory anymore. 

"Probably..." Detective Harry agreed with his words. However, now that Lewis had mentioned such a possibility, he couldn't help but feel like there really was something off about the whole situation. 

Inside the Commissioner's Office.

"Care for a cup of coffee, Special Agent Alan?" Commissioner Bridge walked up to Special Agent Alan, who was sitting on the chair opposite to the Commissioner's desk, and placed his hand on the agent's shoulder.

"I would, thank you.." Special Agent Alan said with a faint smile on his face, and Commissioner Bridge nodded his head and called for his secretary. 

"What do you think about the recent increase in these monster invasions, Agent Alan?" Commissioner Bridge spoke as he brought his coffee cup to his mouth and began to gently blow air on it. "I just want to know what someone who has some experience of being in this situation before thinks about it."

"Well, if I'm being honest," Alan glanced at the top of his coffee cup before turning his gaze towards the Commissioner. His expression was that of uncertainty. "This event is unlike anything that I have ever seen before."

"I'm assuming that's not a good thing," Commissioner Bridge said with a bitter smile and Special Agent Alan reluctantly nodded his head. "I'm afraid it's not, Commissioner. I'm not too hopeful about the future of this city."

"Well, now you're being too honest," Commissioner Bridge said as he let out a short chuckle. It was brief, of course, as his expression immediately turned serious after a few seconds. "What do you think we should do, Special Agent Alan?" He asked, with a pleading look in his eyes. "What do you think we can do to ensure our survival?" 

"Well first, we should wait for Special Agent Richard Edgerton to arrive to make a decision." Alan shrugged his shoulders. "With him, we can probably decide on what the FID's next plans are." 

"Do you think there's hope?" Commissioner Bridge asked, his facial expression now anxious. "For us to survive?" 

"I don't know the answer to that, Commissioner Bridge," Alan shook his head. "All you can do is pray."

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

'Can I take him down on my own?' The thought had crossed Agent Edgerton's mind countless times when he was hunting. Even when he was tracking normal humans back when he was in the special forces, he used to have the same thought. And the answer was always the same; if you injure them just enough, you can take down just about anyone.

Agent Edgerton licked his lips as he saw the injured 'monster' in front of him who was barely able to get up from the ground. He knew that he could finish this creature if he had his rifles, but they were either lost in the fight or were completely destroyed. 

He himself was injured severely. And yet, Agent Edgerton couldn't help but take a step forward. "A hunter doesn't let his prey go when it shows itself to him.." He whispered softly as he pulled out a small knife from his pocket, and continued moving forward.

"Hah…" Noah breathed in and out as he tried getting up from the ground, but he quickly had to grab hold of his knees and crouch down while biting his lips.

'F*ck! That hurts like hell!' Noah wanted to lie down and let out a very loud scream, but he resisted the urge to do so.

His hands were burnt and his body was difficult to move now. His gaze then shifted to Agent Edgerton, who was approaching slowly, and he squinted his eyes.

That man was here to kill. Noah could tell just by looking at his eyes. He knew that the man was after him, and he wanted him dead. And in his weakened state, Noah wasn't even sure whether he could take him head-on or not, which was not a good thing.

"Urgh!" He groaned as he tried to get up, but right before he could do so, Agent Edgerton immediately raised his leg and kicked him right on the shoulder, pushing him back and causing him to slam onto the tree behind him with a loud noise.

BAM!

"Gah!" Noah screamed loudly, but before he could properly open his mouth, Edgerton appeared beside him once again, grabbed the back of his head and slammed his face down onto the dirt. 

WHAM!

Noah couldn't even let out a gasp, as his face was slammed onto the mud beneath him. The agent was pressing his head down onto the dirt with intense force. If he wasn't in such an injured state, Noah could've easily pushed him away. But with all the injuries he currently had, Noah found it difficult to even lift his hand properly. 

The agent raised his knife into the air and began bringing it closer to Noah's neck as he pressed his hand onto his back, pushing Noah down onto the ground and applying pressure. 

'Doppelganger Noah, are you there?' Terrified that he'll lose his life, Noah wanted to ask help from the doppelganger Noah, who had suddenly disappeared, but received no answer.

'F*ck, what the hell do I do?' Noah didn't know what else he could do to get out of this situation. And he didn't have much time to figure out a way. 

'This might be a terrible idea, but f*ck it!' Noah closed his eyes, and all of a sudden, flames began to form inside of his mouth.

'Not yet, not yet…' Noah reminded himself to get the timing right. He knew that in the position that he was in right now, he could only open his mouth partially. And that was only if he tried really hard, since his head was now pushed down onto the wet mud, which would make the mud enter into his mouth as soon as he opened it.

So he had to shoot out the flames in a relatively short time. As the agent began to raise the knife higher and higher, Noah began to count. 

Swoosh!

And right when the agent swung his knife down, Noah opened his mouth, which resulted in a loud explosion.

BOOM!