Enzo lunged at Ethan, unleashing a frantic barrage of punches. Ethan barely managed to slip the first few before raising his arms to block, the sheer force of the assault grinding him backward.
In just one week, I've become stronger than I ever imagined, Enzo thought, his confidence surging. But as he glanced at Ethan's face, his heart skipped a beat. Ethan was calm—disturbingly so.
Is he… calculating? Panic flared in Enzo's chest. He tried to spring back to reset his stance, but Ethan was already on him. Ethan fired a heavy right cross; Enzo ducked instinctively, but he never saw the follow-up. A knee caught him square in the nose with the force of a sledgehammer.
Dazed, Enzo scrambled to his feet, only to find Ethan's left fist hovering inches from his face. Before he could blink, the blow connected. The impact launched Enzo backward, sending him tumbling into the dense underbrush of the surrounding woods.
Ethan's fists are lethal, Mr. Henry observed from the sidelines, his eyes narrowed. His raw power is off the charts. Even I didn't see that coming.
Enzo spat blood and climbed back to his feet, his right cheek already swelling and purple. "That was a hell of a punch," he rasped. "Your attack power is higher than anyone I've ever seen… except for him."
Mr. Henry's expression darkened. Is he talking about that man? The image of Benson flashed through Henry's mind like a warning.
"I never thought much of you," Enzo continued, his voice dripping with venom. "I figured you'd be just like your sister—pathetic, weak, and useless."
Ethan's blood turned to ice, then began to boil.
He's playing dirty, Henry realized. He's goading him. For someone like Ethan, who is just beginning to understand his own emotions and the people he cares about, this kind of rage is a wildfire.
Ethan lunged.
"That's it," Enzo whispered with a jagged smile. He whipped a hidden blade from his belt, aiming for Ethan's heart.
"Ethan, move!" Allen screamed, rushing forward. He kicked Enzo's hand just as the blade swung, redirecting the steel. The edge buried itself in Ethan's shoulder, but Ethan didn't even flinch. With a guttural roar, Ethan slammed Enzo into the dirt. He pinned him down with a knee to the shoulder and began to rain down blows, his fists rhythmically altering the very structure of Enzo's face.
That's not control anymore… Henry's eyes narrowed. That's something else. If this continues—he won't stop, Henry thought.
Allen tackled Ethan, dragging him off the mangled boy. "Stop! You'll kill him, Ethan!"
Ethan fell to the grass, his chest heaving. Henry watched him closely. That's the danger. When you've spent your life feeling nothing, the moment you start to care, the anger becomes uncontrollable.
"This isn't like you," Allen said, his voice soft but firm.
Ethan took a ragged breath and nodded, his eyes gradually clearing. He stood up just as the sirens began to wail in the distance. Teachers and police flooded the clearing.
Paul climbed out from the debris of a nearby structure, staring at the flashing lights. "Looks like we're cooked," he muttered, glancing at the shattered remains of the safehouse . These kids… they're monsters. Especially that old man.
Madison rushed toward Ethan and Allen, her face pale. "Are you two okay?"
Both boys nodded silently.
"We need to get you to the hospital," Madison insisted. She paused, looking toward the shadows where Henry had been standing. "What about Henry? Should we tell the authorities about what he did?"
"No," Ethan said flatly.
"Why? You saw what he's capable of, didn't you?"
"I caught a glimpse," Allen admitted, "but Ethan's right. We shouldn't."
Madison looked at Ethan, her gaze searching and strange. Ethan took a deep breath and sat on a nearby rock to steady himself. "Even if Henry is a fighter, he hasn't done anything wrong. He helped us. He saved you. As long as he isn't a threat to us, he deserves to keep his secrets."
Allen nodded in agreement. "He's just like us. He doesn't use his power for evil."
Ethan stood abruptly and began to run toward the school camp.
"Where is he going?" Allen asked.
"To see his sister," Madison whispered, a memory of a younger Ethan flickering in her mind.
On the other side, Olivia was trembling. Her hired men lay scattered across the forest floor, beaten so badly they looked more like piles of laundry than human beings.
A masked boy stood over them, his posture relaxed and terrifyingly calm. His phone buzzed.
"Is it done?" a voice asked over the line.
"Yes," the boy replied shortly.
"Come back now. The teachers and police are on the scene."
The masked boy pocketed his phone and turned toward Olivia. She shrank back, her voice shaking. "I—I'll tell the teachers you have a phone! It's against the rules! You'll be expelled!"
The boy didn't even look at her. He walked past her as if she were a ghost, leaving Olivia, Sophia, and Daisy paralyzed in the wake of his brutality.
By the time the teachers arrived to comfort the girls and arrest the thugs, the masked boy was nothing more than a memory in the trees.