The Destro gang members gathered around Suzie, who had been asleep for the past three hours and was showing no signs of waking.
"What exactly happened to her?" Justin asked for the nth time.
"Oh, will you shut the fuck up!" George yelled, pacing around the room.
"I mean, you cannot blame me. It's Suzie. The strong and invincible woman of the Destro gang. Heck! She was okay this morning when I saw her last."
Derolo walked back into the room, his presence silencing all the commotion erupting inside.
He walked over to Suzie and glanced at Justin, who still looked panicked.
"I do not know exactly what happened. Suzie read a book and then fainted." He paused, remembering something. "She said a big change will happen in a few hours."
Justin rolled his eyes, scoffing softly. "Crime is already legal. What more big change could happen?" He murmured.
Derolo's fists were clenched. He didn't understand the situation any more than they did, and he hated being in a situation where he couldn't grasp or understand what was going on.
"Where did she get the book she read from?" George suddenly questioned, the wheels spinning in his head.
"It was the Cosmos book. A book I received after getting the shadow system."
"So, it's safe to say that the system we received is partially involved in anything happening." George stated, rubbing his index finger over a scar on his thumb.
"Yes." Derolo answered.
"So, the only thing we can do is wait for her to come to?" George questioned again.
"Yes."
"Hold on...am I the only one who doesn't understand a word any of you are saying?" Justin asked, frowning.
"Uh....if Suzie were awake, she would have probably said something like - it's because you're so dumb that you fail to understand something as simple as this."
Justin shot a glare at George but couldn't say anything in his defence because Suzie would have said those exact words. So, instead, he focused his attention elsewhere and stared out the window.
"It's raining... that's unusual."
Someone knocked on the door, and a head poked into the room.
"Come in."
A dark skinned man with a low afro cut walked into the room immediately.
"Boss," he called.
"What is it?"
"Well, Wayne is awake."
"Did he just wake up?"
"Yes. A few minutes ago, but even though he's awake, he's unable to move well or speak well."
"That's to be expected. He was badly beaten and given health care to preserve his life alone."
The man didn't leave, so Derolo knew he had something else to say. "What else is it?"
"We saw that girl a few moments before the rain began. "
"Where is she now?" Derolo inquired, furrowing his brows.
"Well, she disappeared. As soon as we spotted her, it's like she just vanished into thin air." The man said, a confused expression plastered on his face.
"Maybe you mistook her." George suggested.
"If I was the only one, that could be a possibility, but there were five people with me, and we all saw the same thing."
A phone rang aloud in the room.
"Caleb, pick up the call." George pointed towards his pocket where the phone was ringing from.
"Oh.." Caleb fumbled as he reached for the phone. His brows knitted into a frown as he listened to the person on the other end speak.
"Wayne's acting out." He informed after ending the call.
"That is to be expected." Derolo chuckled to himself, walking out of the room with Caleb. "That guy is a monster, to be honest."
*****
The rain continued falling, and the pitter patter of rain drops offered a soothing effect to Derolo, whose mind was raging with different thoughts.
'System Interface!'
A blue translucent screen suddenly appeared in front of him, and he went through the things there. He had been able to understand that the system he had received was similar to a game of sorts, or rather, it had a semblance to them.
[Status]
< Name:Derolo Vladimir>
[Skills]
He didn't understand what they meant, but he could take a guess at what they signified, especially the strength, agility, and speed. What he didn't have any idea on was the basic shadow movement he had as a skill. That wasn't even there the last time he checked.
"What the hell is happening to us?" He muttered to himself as he continued walking.
"Get me the hell out of here! Who the f**k do you think you are!" Yells could be heard from outside the room, and Derolo shook his head slowly.
"He really is a monster, that guy."
His face lost any warmth they had as soon as he got into the room Wayne was held.
"Stop acting like a lizard's tail, Wayne. It's embarrassing." Derolo worded as he walked in to see Wayne held down by Destro members.
"You can leave." Derolo ordered, and the two men holding Wayne down left him to do their business.
Wayne raised his head and, with his busted lip, managed a smirk.
"Oh, aren't you feeling like a king now?"
Derolo raised his hands in the air in mock surrender and smiled. "I did beat you. You can't blame my ego for spiking."
"Do you know how much I hate you?" Wayne asked again, spitting out stored blood in his mouth.
"Tell me something I don't know." Derolo voiced, dragging a metal chair close to him.The smile faded from his face in an instant as he sat, looking Wayne straight in the eye.
Wayne returned the glare in good heart.
"Why did you attack my place? Don't give me the bullcrap you were spewing, saying some olders got killed because we both know you don't value lives."
Wayne smiled, dragging a chair to himself.
*****
Meanwhile...
Justin and Geoge shared silent looks, or it was more like Justin was being ignored because George was working on a notebook.
"This rain is strange." George blurted out after a long time.
Justin shook his head, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"It doesn't feel right." George said again, walking towards the window.
Justin was bored out of his mind, but no matter how bored he was, he wasn't ready to listen to the damn scientist ramble on about weird things. The only person who could make him shut up was lying in the bed, unconscious.
"This rain is weird!" George said again, his voice louder this time.
"The f**k man, keep your speculations to yourself." Justin hissed and decided to play the popular game Call of War. No sooner had he logged into the game when George told him to turn on the news.
Grudgingly, he turned on the news and news of an acidic rain worldwide was spoken about.
"What?"
"The strange thing about this phenomenon is that it's happening everywhere in the world. While the rain isn't exactly hurting anyone, we are still advised to stay indoors as it hasn't been discovered what is causing this. Stay safe."
George turned off the television as soon as the reporter spoke.
"I knew something was wrong with the rain."
"It is time!!" Suzie suddenly yelled, still asleep.