In just two hours, the city had transformed into a warzone. Hope had faded. The only thing that was left was despair.
"This just in! The once beautiful city of Aurelia, once described as the City of the Future and the former capital of Elandore, has now completely transformed into a bloodbath.
The news I'm getting is that an alleged monster has struck in Aurelia.
Now I'll leave that up to you if you wanna believe it.
But me personally? I think it's the government. Seems like a secret weapon test to me.
What do you think?" asked the news anchor on the TV channel Golden News Network.
"Hold on, hold on. We're getting some live footage from our reporters who are currently stationed in Aurelia.
Play the footage, please," said the anchor as he showed the footage to the viewers.
The footage was being recorded by the reporters, who were onboard a shaky helicopter.
It showed what looked like a post-apocalyptic view of Aurelia. Homes destroyed. Buildings broken. Fires spreading. People dying.
Emergency services were everywhere. Ambulances, cops, and firefighters.
But then the camera focused on a large entity moving throughout the city. It zoomed in.
There was a large figure destroying everything in its sight. The cops surrounded it and started firing. It did nothing.
Instead, the cops started getting killed one by one. Special forces needed to be called.
"Oh that's rough," chuckled the anchor, barely hiding his excitement.
This footage would definitely get me a promotion. What a scoop, he thought to himself.
A mother, frozen in fear, was watching the news while her five-year-old daughter was beside her.
The news was pure chaos. Gunfire, screams, and blurred footage.
"Mommy, I'm scared," said her daughter, clutching her mother's hand.
The TV flickered. Darkness erupted. The power was gone.
"Don't worry, sweetie. The brave policemen will protect us," answered her mother, while she herself was shaking in fear.
Meanwhile, Harry made his way into his workshop.
He saw most of his staff dead, his dreams broken, and lots of rubble.
He looked at the blood on his boots. I... caused this, he thought to himself as tears came into his eyes. And I'll be the one to fix it.
In his workshop, there was a wall with a tiny hole on its right side.
He looked around and picked up a thinner-than-usual screwdriver from the floor.
He inserted the tip into the tiny hole and rotated it clockwise twice, each turn making a soft clicking sound.
After he was done, he took out the screwdriver and put it inside his coat.
Then he pushed the right side of the wall. It rotated anti-clockwise. After he walked in, the wall did a full circle and came back to its original position.
"My secret lab," he muttered under his breath.
The lab was full of illegal and dangerous experiments and inventions.
He went to a wall and picked up a big, heavy blaster that was hanging from it.
The blaster looked like something pulled straight out of a sci-fi movie.
I'll end him, he thought as he wiped the tears off his face.
Harry arrived at the center of the city, where the battle was taking place.
Broken glass, children's screams, and bloodshed were everywhere.
The city he once loved had been destroyed because of him. Most of the officers were dead already. It was a gruesome sight.
I hate myself, he thought as he wiped the tears off his face.
The remaining officers knew they were fighting a losing battle.
"Is that... a kid?! What in the hell is he doing in a warzone?!" asked an officer, confused at seeing Harry run into the battlefield.
As the Beast raised another officer into the air, Harry shouted in a cheerful and taunting tone, though it was obvious he was holding back tears:
"Hey, Ben... Goodbye."
"Like you can do anything. Hell you're the one that caused this you shrimp. Ha!"
Harry held the trigger for ten seconds.
The blaster hummed with unstable energy. He took the shot.
It was loud and destructive. The damage done was as much as five tanks combined. Smoke spread across the battlefield.
Once the smoke cleared, Beast and Harry were both gone.
There was silence on the battlefield.
The people cheered, celebrating their victory. But deep down, everyone knew that this wasn't over.
And they all had the same question, one they were afraid to ask:
Where did they go?
The Elandorian Air Force was tasked with searching the city for any signs of the Beast.
They searched everywhere, yet there was no sign of him.
The co-pilot, Jacob, asked the pilot who was a veteran, "How could something so massive just disappear?
Even if it's dead, we would still see its remains, wouldn't we?"
The pilot didn't answer.
"And what about that kid who just appea—"
He was immediately cut off.
"Don't," the pilot said coldly.
Jacob turned to him.
"In this job," the pilot said harshly, "the people who ask questions don't live very long. Let the higher-ups handle this."
In Aurumia, which is now the capital city of Elandore...
The King, King Midas, was furious after finding out about the massacre of Aurelia, the sister city of Aurumia.
"Bring me Bartholomew at once!" King Midas commanded his aide.
"And get the EIA (Elandorian Intelligence Agency) on that boy.
I need a name, history, and possibly...
An execution."