Chapter 18

Three months have passed since the events of Wolf Mountain. Dr. Lee was presumed dead at his own hands. Since then, superhumans stopped attacking zone A. The Decagon was empty since all the criminal superhumans were deported to a secret island. Since then, there seemed to be peace, but the people were still divided.  

"Do you think people will be able to start coming together, now that my father is gone?" Diane asked as John walked beside her.

He shrugged as he looked around at all the people walking to city hall to see the press conference. John stood outside of city hall with Diane. City hall was a block from Giz-tech which could be seen from anywhere.   

“I think now people have a chance to change and look for a better future.” John said as he placed his hand on Diane’s shoulder.       

“I want to meet my mother and sister. The problem is I don’t know if they’d accept me as family.” Diane said as she looked away. John turned her toward him with a serious look on his face.     

“If they don’t accept you, then you still have the others…and me. Though, I still think you should try to get to know them. Nothing is stopping you anymore, so when you get the chance to go see them.” John said softly, as Diane stared at him silently before agreeing. 

Gizmo stood with the mayor of the city. Gizmo's arm was in a brace, and he had few patches to cover his wounds. He had been missing for two months so it surprised John to see him. Michael had few wounds as well, but they both appeared fine. Michael smiled as he stepped up to the podium as a crowd of people surrounded the stadium.  

"People of Darko city, after searching for months on Wolf Mountain Dr. Lee's body has yet to be recovered. This is not the reason I'm holding this press conference though. We're here because I feel that now is the time we should try coming together. My goal now is to give nonhumans a chance to feel part of a united society. I have a man from the preternatural society who wants the same thing here today. Please, come and say a few things for us, sir." Michael said as a man stepped onto the stadium platform. 

He had long brown hair and pale skin with tall stature. He shook Michael's hand before walking over to the podium. John watched as the man stared out at the crowd, appearing nervous. John heard some people booing him and muttering silently.    

"My name is Adrian Star, and I know the last few years has set a great deal of tension between our people. I'm here, because most of us want to be accepted in society just like some of you in your own society. My dream is to be able to one day tear down the zones and be a city united. If Hyper city can do such a thing, then why can't we? Humans sometimes forget that we're people too while nonhumans forget that not everyone wants to hurt us. We're misunderstood, and I'm here now to change that.” He said as the ground shook beneath everyone’s feet.

 John looked up to see buildings everywhere exploding. Debris flew everywhere as some buildings toppled over. John could see Giz-tech under fire as he saw a giant light blue flame in the shape of a dragon spiral around the building.      

John took off running. He pushed through the panicked crowd as he ran trying to see what was happening at Giz-tech. John was moving fast so he was able to get to the street the building was on a few minutes. He looked up at top of the buildings to see people in dark clothing. John turned around to see more destruction as Diane appeared beside him.    

"Let's check on Mr. Zestro!" Diane said as she took off running, causing John to follow her. 

As they ran down the street to see berserkers terrorizing the citizens. Diane cut them down as they made their way through zone A. The explosions continued as more creatures appeared. John didn't understand what was causing all of this destruction. After, a while the finally got to the street Zestro's pizzeria was on. As they got down the street they saw task force vehicles everywhere. 

Soldiers were trying their best to put out fires and help civilians. John got to the building to see it collapsed and it was on fire. Briana stood across the street holding her sister. They were sobbing as John soldiers dragging a body on a gurney. The hand rolled out to reveal a hand that had a golden watch on it. John’s heart sunk as he collapsed to the ground. No matter what he did someone was always taken from him. He felt this emptiness in his chest as he stared at the ground. John breathed heavily as his hands trembled uncontrollably.

He looked around the area to see a figure standing on a roof top looking down at the scene.

John stood his feet causing the figure to notice him looking. He took off running causing John to go after him as this darkness grew in his chest. His heart pounded out of control as he ran across the street to an alley. John continued to move through the alley until he leaped high enough to land on a building. The figure was two buildings ahead of him and moved fast. John grunted as he hurried after the person hoping to ask what happened. He knew that in his state of mind that he could potentially try to kill the person, but he didn't care. John was moving faster and faster as he closed the distance in his pursuit.   

John was moving faster and faster as he closed the distance in his pursuit. He roared as he leaped high into the air to land on top of the fleeing suspect. John crashed into the man, causing them both to fall through a collapsing building. John and the masked man fought as they crashed down into the building. The hit the ground rolling away from each other but got back to fighting again. John noticed the man has a mask that was designed to resemble a wolf. He slammed the man on the ground as he hammered away at him.   

"Why did you kill Mr. Zestro? He never did anything to anyone." John yelled as he continued to pound on the man's chest. He was pushed back stumbling to the ground. The man scrambled to get up as he withdrew his katana.   

"I didn't kill him, John. Things are coming that you don't understand." The man said as John wondered how he knew his name. 

He charged at the man ignoring the weapon his hand. The man slashed at the air as John leaped over the weapon's trajectory. He landed behind the man and kicked him. He crashed into more debris as the building collapsed even more.     

"How the hell do you know my name, and who are you?" John questioned as the man staggered to his feet. He wore a long black cloak and was about six foot one. The man moved around the collapsing room as John eyed him. He was prepared to unleash all his fury upon Mr. Zestro's killer.   

"My name is Shadow Wolf, and I'm a Dark Warrior." The man said as John realized he was a part of the occult. John charged at Shadow Wolf, causing him to swing the katana. He managed to stop the katana with his hand. He grabbed Shadow Wolf by the throat and pulled the katana out of his head.   

"Let me guess you're searching for a magic stone, right?" John questioned forcing Shadow Wolf to confirm his question. He threw Shadow through a wall as the building crumbled on top of them. John burst through the rubble and emerged outside where Shadow Wolf was scrambling to his feet. John aimed the katana at Shadow Wolf as he got closer to him. Shadow wolf raised his hands to surrender as John stopped a few feet away from him. 

"You aim that katana at me then you better be prepared to use it, boy." Shadow Wolf said, causing John to stare at him surprised. 

Why did he say that? John realized his hands were trembling as he held the katana in his hand. He took a deep breathed as he lunged at Shadow Wolf swinging the katana. Shadow Wolf evaded without effort as he kept his hands hidden in his cloak. His movements shadowed John's movements. It seems as if he knows what John is going to do before he does it. John grew frustrated as he moved wildly, trying to confuse Shadow Wolf. It still appeared as is Shadow Wolf was one step ahead as he sidestepped every attack. Shadow Wolf seemed calculated as he moved toward John. 

He grabbed his arm and pushed it inward causing the bone to snap. John cried out in pain as Shadow Wolf snapped his leg as well. He fell to the ground after he dropped the katana, which allowed Shadow Wolf to regain possession of it.         

"You still have much to learn before you are ready, for the trials to come, boy." Shadow Wolf said as he raised the katana high into the air. 

He brought it down with a powerful force impaling John on the ground. He coughed out blood as he writhed in agony as Shadow Wolf twisted the katana in his stomach. Shadow Wolf tore it out of him as blood flood the ground beneath John. His vision blood as he struggled to get up, but he was unable to move. He couldn't allow Shadow Wolf to get away but for some reason, he couldn't breathe. His wound wouldn't heal at all and felt numb. The air evaporated from John's body as his eyes closed consuming him in total darkness.