Ian, Numba, and Izzy had reunited. The three of them were part of the AFC during the era when Gary had joined as well. They had stuck close together, including with Gary, and had been through a lot.
Just like Izzy, though, after having a few matches in the AFC, their fame was enough to give their group the recognition they needed, and their families realized that there was more benefit for them if they stayed close to Gary and the Howlers along with their growth.
Meaning there was no reason for them to be in the AFC anymore. Each of them had left to help with their family businesses. However, they had kept their habits of training and using their Altered forms, allowing them to continue to grow stronger.
“Wait, is it okay for you to be here?” Marie asked. “I thought Cardenez Electronics was under attack.”
“You’re right, we were. That was the start of a lot of this mess, right?” Numba replied. “But it seems the attacks have lessened since Slough is now the main aim. The Cardenez group is stronger than you think.”
“My father has a number of measures in place in case anything happens, and besides, he was the one who told me to come here in the first place. If Slough falls, if the Howlers lose this war, then what happens to Cardenez Electronics?”
“Will the Phoenix Gang take over by force? The Howlers losing is the same as us, and that’s why we're here for support.”
Olivia welcomed the help. Having already fought with some of the Phoenix Gang, she knew they needed as many Altered as possible, and she didn’t think they had seen the worst of it just yet.
“Attack, attack! They’re coming from the North Entrance; they're attacking!” A Howlers member started to shout.
Immediately, all of them were on the move. As they ran through the street, several Howlers members dressed in black and gold were grabbing weapons as they made their way to the front as well.
As they were rushing forward, disaster had struck them slightly right in front of their eyes.
“What idiots are these? They just put a whole load of flammable wood in front of us, for us to light up, did they want to trap and kill themselves!” Large numbers of voices were heard from the other side.
The Howlers members that had reached the area were covering themselves from the intense heat in front of them. Nearly everything was set on fire and fairly quickly, next to no one could come close.
Right there and then, a person was seen charging through the flames. With them being flame-like Altered, they were more resistant to the fire.
Immediately as they came through, one stabbed a member of the Howlers with its claw-like hands.
As they went to attack another, a spike came flying in the air, piercing him right in the stomach. Right after that, Ian was in front of him with two spikes in his hand and had stabbed him right through the head.
“This isn’t a time where we can mess around, right? Everyone is fighting for their lives so we can’t hesitate!” Ian shouted.
Looking at the dead Howlers member on the floor and the dead Phoenix Gang member, he had been in this situation a few times now, so he knew what needed to be done.
“I’ll handle the flames,” Olivia said as she swung her arm, and the whip came out. It wrapped around the bulk base of one of the large tables; after that, she lifted it in the air and hurled it over to the other side.
She had no clue what it was hitting, or if it was hurting the others, but for now, she would keep on hurling the flames away in the other direction.
Olivia continued to do this, getting rid of it, piece by piece. What she didn’t realize was most of the time she was chucking the pieces of furniture so fast that the flames would dwindle out as they hit the ground.
On the ground itself, Marie, Ian, Numba, and Izzy were doing a number on the Phoenix Gang members that were deciding to jump through.
Numba charged forward and with horns sticking out of his head, hit one of the men right in the center, sending him flying back into a flaming table. Part of the wooden edge was sharp which had pierced his body.
Marie, she avoided a couple of hits from the metal claws, and then, with claws of her own, swiped at the man’s neck and throat.
‘My training with Olivia this whole time, these guys are a lot slower than her, we can deal with this situation.’
Izzy with her large hair was able to snakily grab some of the members, pulling them from their legs, and then stopping them with her own foot.
Although the situation seemed panicky at the beginning to them all, the other Howler members were left with nothing to do as they watched this perfect team of Altereds get rid of the attackers one by one.
If they couldn’t do that, then they could at least do something else. They rushed and got the fire extinguishers from the restaurants nearby. They were plentiful due to the nature of the establishment.
As they got out, they used them on the furniture on the side, extinguishing the flames. Most of the center of the barricade they had built up, it had disappeared thanks to Olivia’s throwing, and now there was a large opening in the center of the street.
Two whole wide trucks could fit through, and that’s when both sides could see each other.
“I see now.” A man with dark purple hair stated. “I was wondering why they were having so much trouble. It seems that Slough has many, many secrets that I wasn’t aware of during my time here.” Raven said. “My job is to clear this area, and I can’t wait to see the look on his face when he returns here and everything he cared for is gone.”
****