A single mysterious man stood at the end of Burnham food street. Unlike the other members, he wasn’t dressed in all red; instead, he had a grey jacket on top of his shirt along with a pair of black trousers.
“Hahaha!” Raven laughed as he placed his hand on top of his face. Through his fingers, he was peeking at those on the other side.
“Who is that guy, why is he laughing so much?” Numba asked.
Unlike the other members of the Phoenix Gang who they had attacked at first sight, Ian, Numba, and Izzy were cautious about this person. The way they were standing, it was too confident.
As if even if they came right at him and tried to attack, he could defend himself from it. Spending time at the AFA they got used to people like this; Apollo, the top student, was one of them, and the same energy was coming off from this individual.
Olivia, with her whip, was staring intensely at the man in front. She hadn’t bothered wearing her mask for a while now; it was the same for Marie as well. The core members of the Howlers, since the start of this mess, had stopped.
Orders were still being sent via Kai’s text messages, and in general, people could figure out who the core members were just by the strength alone when they came to help. If it was any other time, maybe they would have been surprised by the young age of someone like Marie, but that didn’t matter at a time like this.
“Olivia, I can’t believe that you have no pride,” Raven stated. “You used to own all of this. You were a feared member of the Pincer’s Gang, and you were untouchable due to all the dirt you had on the other groups, politicians, and more…”
“Yet what, you gave all of that up, and now you work under this pathetic gang, the Howlers?”
The voice had sparked a memory in Olivia; now she knew exactly who it was.
“Raven… from the Grey Elephants?” Olivia asked.
Since the Grey Elephants were one of the top gangs in Slough along with the Underdogs, it was normal for someone like her, who was infamous in Slough, to know him as well. They had a few run-ins together, but they didn’t really know each other.
“Haha, can you really criticize me?” Olivia asked. “You ran away from this city because you were too scared to fight, and what did you do, join one of the Kings? Do you really think that’s honorable?”
“Let me ask you, what have you done to help the Kings get in the position that they are in? For me, sure the Pincers were disbanded, but I became part of the Howlers, and it grew into what it is today; I was part of its growth, but you, you’re nothing but a dog!”
Ian leaned in to whisper to Izzy at that moment.
“Hey, this woman is good with her words; do you think she has a partner?”
“Not for an idiot like you,” Izzy slapped the back of his head.
“What have I done for the Phoenix Gang?” Raven couldn’t help but continue to laugh. “I’ve done a lot more than you could have imagined. Tell me, I don’t see a particular person here, the one that helped strike down the Underdogs.”
“What was his name Gary Dem? Don’t you think his disappearance was a bit strange? I was the one who set up this whole damned war to begin with!” Raven shouted and started to charge in.
At the same time, the Phoenix Gang members by his side had charged in as well as transforming their bodies.
Seeing this, Ian jumped in and ducked under a flaming tail, then punched the Phoenix Gang member hard in the face. He was startled but not defeated as he came charging in again.
Izzy as well went to help out the other Howlers members that were now taking part in the fight, using her abilities to pull them out of tough situations. One member was going to be slashed in his face, and with her hair, she pulled him back just in time.
Leaving three people to go right in the center, Olivia, Marie, and Numba. Out of all of them, Numba was the first; when he got close, exploding from his position, his horns grew, and he went straight out with an almighty punch.
That punch was soon caught right by Raven, not even moving him an inch back.
“You have a lot of power for an Altered, but you guys have no idea!” Raven said, his anger brewing, and part of his eye was turning black.
He lifted his hand ready to punch Numba but before he could, a whip wrapped around it. It was pulling his arm away.
Turning his head, he could see that Olivia no longer looked the same as she did before; she had transformed into a Wolf type Altered.
“I see, it seems that you have changed quite a bit as well,” Raven commented.
That’s when a heavy strike was felt right in his back. Marie had transformed herself as well, and with her two claws, she thrusted them forward, piercing the back of Raven’s skin.
“Are you sure you want to do that; it’s quite dangerous,” Raven commented.
Moments later, Marie let out a short scream.
“ARGHH!” Marie's fingers felt like they were burning as she pulled them out.
Her nails that had dug into Raven’s back, they had melted while her fingertips were burning with a strange thick green substance on them.
“You’re not the only one that has changed. I will get rid of everything in Slough, and then rip Gary apart with my own two hands!” Raven kicked Numba right in the stomach, sending him flying back, and Raven’s body started to change.
His head had split open, growing larger by the moment. Separately, five heads had appeared, dragon-like in feature with a long tongue and in the air. Those that could see him could now guess what type of Altered he was.
“A mythical type Altered, this is going to be hard,” Marie commented.
***