Chapter 18. Do not threaten our neighborhood…

The old basketball court had long been overgrown with bushes, and the rusty barbells with rings stood bent and painted by vandals. Two young guys were sitting on one of the dilapidated benches, sipping beer from aluminum cans and discussing something cheerfully.

Paul – "Damn... Dude, just tell me you've had a lot to drink and you're carrying game now..."

Dean was actively gesticulating, trying to show on his fingers the system he was talking about – "Listen! I believe that it is possible to build a society where everyone is equal. Do you understand? Where there is no difference in race, nationality, skin color, eye shape, or even genetic code. All people are equal, man! Everyone has equal rights and opportunities. A society where no one will chase you, preys on you. Where you will be free! You are free to become whatever you want."

Paul looked seriously and tried to understand what his friend was saying to him now – "Oh my God! And do you believe that? I'm not human, Dean. Yes, I've learned to adapt perfectly and disguise myself as a human. But it's just a shell, I realize that I won't be able to escape from it. People will never accept me if they know who I really am..."

Dean snapped his fingers, "Because 'Capitalism' rules here, buddy... The formation of slaves and the oppressed. A bunch of rich people dictate the rules for everyone else. People here will never feel truly equal and free. There will always be an elite who will humiliate the rest."

His interlocutor slapped himself in the face – "Dude... Of course, I'm glad that you treat me so well... And you and I became friends... But that's because you know what you're dealing with. Other people don't know this, and they won't want to know... never..."

Hugging his friend, he leaned on his shoulder – "You're cool! Thank you..." - He raised his can – "For friendship!"

Paul smiled and hit his can–"For friendship!"

They took a big sip when a young female voice rang out behind them –"Hi guys! What are you doing here?"

They turned to see Sarah, who, covering her head with the hood of her hoodie, came up to them, carrying a boy on her back.

Nigel waved at them – "Hello, I'm a briefcase!"

Sarah turned around and put the boy on his feet – "Okay, briefcase. Go for a walk for now."

Sitting down next to them, she pulled back her hood, revealing her lovely girlish face with bottomless blue eyes and hair the color of melted milk.

Dean – "We are discussing communism! A society of free and equal people."

Sarah narrowed her eyes, "How many cans have you had?"

Paul rummaged in the bag next to him–"The first one... But we have a couple more with us. Will you?" He took out a jar and handed it to the girl.

After taking a sip, Sarah twisted her face – "Your mother... How can you drink this?"

Dean moved his shoulder, "I think it's not bad. Hastings, for all his flaws, had a superpower. This clumsy guy could get excellent quality booze anywhere at any time."

Sarah – "I think he's always getting you into trouble..."

"I don't think so... It's just that as a friend, I always come to his aid. After all, this is the basis of friendship. Moreover, do you remember that he was also at the station that night?" He turned slightly in her direction

Sarah turned away in displeasure, watching Nigel play with an old ball, trying to throw it into the basket.

Paul took a sip of beer– "I think Dean is right... It seemed to me that he was a good person, it's just..."

Sarah – "I'm not saying he's bad. I'm saying that... He's just... He knows how to get into trouble."

Paul– "Well... So I can do it too."

Dean – "Me too!"

Throwing back her head and exhaling irritably, Sarah decided to close the subject – "Okay, okay... A bunch of nerdy friends, let's change the subject!"

At this time, a company of 5 guys who looked like high school students from a local school fell into the playground, they behaved cheekily, in the hands of one of them there was a bat wrapped in wire with nails sticking out of it. Another was shifting his steel knuckles from one hand to the other. With their whole appearance, they showed that they were a kind of tight-knit gang, tough guys in the area, whom it was better not to mess with. A lone boy playing on the playground clearly attracted their attention.

It was noticeable that Sarah tensed up, peering at the guys who were approaching the child with a confident step and clearly they did not have the best intentions.

Paul, not noticing what was happening, decided to continue the conversation, directing it in a different direction – "When all this is over, I want to buy myself a car. I think it's going to be a big pickup truck or an SUV. I love big cars. Dean, what do you say?"

Dean drew attention to Sarah's changed behavior, from relaxed and cheerful it became focused and ready for action. He already knew that at such moments she feels danger to herself or her friends–"Yes, that would be cool... Sarah? Is everything okay?"

They both looked at the girl, who, without answering, got up from her seat and, covering her face with a hood, moved towards the company, which surrounded Nigel in a tight circle.

A big, thick guy, who looked like a boar with his carcass, grabbed the boy by the T–shirt - "Hey, you little one! Give me the money now!"

Nigel – "Fuck Off"

A woman's hand appeared on his left and pushed him away so hard that he immediately fell, hitting his back on the ground. The girl shielded the boy and prepared to fight back against anyone who tried to approach them.

Sarah's voice sounded harsh and determined–"Get your hands off him!"

Jumping up, the guy began to breathe heavily, like a bull preparing to pounce on an opponent. But when he saw the girl in front of him, he immediately slowed down, and a smug smile spread across his fat face. - "Uhhh! Guys, look at what a beauty has come to us. What, Mommy decided to come to the rescue. Well, we'll have a good time with Mom, too."

The whole company began to laugh, bursting into a fit.

Sarah looked at her rivals with disgust. She was about to put this arrogant asshole in his place when one of the two guys who came to her rescue answered for her.

Dean – "Maybe I need to have some fun with you?! Watch your mouth, you little piece of shit!"

Paul rolling up the sleeves of his hoodie – "Yes, I've been wanting to work with my fist for a long time."

The hooligans immediately turned to them and the main one stood in front of them, looking with disdain at two friends who did not look like tough fighters at all. "What are you doing here? Fucking assholes! I'll rip your ass off, there will be nowhere to stick it."

Paul pretended to turn his nose away– "Why do they take me for a weakling."

Dean supported his friend and decided to quip - "I think it's because we don't look as cool as this guy."

Paul looked at his friend and snapped his fingers-"Exactly. You'll need to go to the burger joint more often and grow yourself a beer belly."

Dean–"I heard that the diner where Carroll worked serves great burgers."

Paul – "Yes, they are great. But I don't like to sit there, there are too many visitors."

The bully roared - "Are you deaf, morons? Get out of here, you premature assholes!"

Paul waved his hands – "By the way, is the asshole the one who rips off the ass, or the one who got it ripped off?"

Dean thought about it with his hands on his hips, "That's a good question. And can someone who has his ass ripped off be an asshole at all?"

Sarah chuckled, "If you're so interested, then you can ask this question on the asshole anonymous forum. I think I've heard of his existence."

The bully turned to the girl and shouted in her face with a distorted and red look of anger – "And you whore, shut your mouth, later I'll do something useful for him."

Sarah stared with narrowed eyes. The boy who ran out from behind her ran up to the big man and punched him in the stomach - "Don't you dare call her a fat Freak!"

The guy took a step back and angrily flashing his eyes pushed the boy back – "Fuck off, kid!"

Anger began to boil inside, she felt it rising, seizing her mind. The beast inside demanded to be let out. He wanted blood, he wanted a fight. Take a deep breath... and slow exhalations. This simple exercise helped Sarah to restrain her predatory instincts, only to not have a bloodbath right here. But no one has ever forbidden beating these freaks to a pulp. Grabbing Nigel by the hood, she pulled him back.

The enraged yard gangster came close to the girl's face and growled, spitting saliva – "Keep your puppy with you, bitch!"

Sarah, closing her eyes, made one last attempt to calm the assholes, although her inner feelings suggested that this was a futile undertaking. Sarah – "Listen guys, get out of here while you're safe! This is the last warning."

A fit of hysterical laughter erupted instantly and just as instantly subsided. An insinuating voice in her ear made it clear that there was no point in holding back anymore – "Shut the fuck up, whore!"

A sharp knee kick in the gut knocked all the oxygen out of the asshole, then clinging to the hair of the guy bent over the floors, she drove her knee into his face, hammering the bridge of his nose right into his skull. Lifting her face, disfigured by the blow, she looked into his eyes – "Shut the fuck up yourself, you freak!"

The last blow, a right hook to the neck, knocked the opponent out. Throwing away his spitting blood and gasping body, she chose the next target and jumped on another bully who stood in a boxing stance - "Hey, pretty girl, come here! And now I'm going to paint your face blue and purple!"

She beckoned to him with her hand, giving him the advantage on the first strike. The opponent rushed at her with a shout, aiming at her face. Near. She grabbed his fist and twisted the elbow joint outwards. The bones had torn through the flesh and were sticking out of the open fracture. Falling to the ground, the "boxer" rolled and screamed in pain. Sarah began to beat him furiously with her feet, crushing his ribs with sneakers and beating off his insides. "That's what happens to those who decide to become a gangster," a rough, unnatural voice said through clenched teeth.

Nigel stood as if in the middle of a large arena and watched the battle unfold. The leader of this gang was now lying on the ground two steps away from him and, with his face buried in the ground, was wheezing, drooling bloody. The other guy, whom Sarah had just finished kicking in the stomach, whined for a long time, and his pale appearance did not bode well for him.

At the other end of the playground, Paul met with two other idiots. After looking at them with a cheerful look, he lazily drawled, "Okay. We were joking, and that's enough. You don't care that even a girl beat up two of your friends. I think it's time for you to turn on your brains, if you have any, and get the hell out of here."

After exchanging glances, both hooligans attacked him at the same time, one of them clutched a bat in his hands and, swinging, was ready to smash the opponent's skull. The blow and the bat shattered into splinters, and the Floor, as if nothing had happened, remained standing in place – "It looks like life doesn't teach you anything!"

The second took advantage of the moment to pull out a folding knife and prepared to plunge the blade into the open neck.

Paul took a step to the side - "And this is already a forbidden technique!"

Knocking out a knife with a blow of his palm and in a matter of seconds being behind the poor guy, he grabbed him by the hood of his jacket and slammed his head against an iron pole. The blow was so strong that there was a crack of the skull and the opponent slid powerlessly to the ground. The unlucky baseball player stood looking at the broken handle of his bat, and did not understand how such a thing could happen.

Paul winked cheerfully and spread his hands– "Yes, man, today is not your day!"

Closing the distance, he delivered a sharp blow to the chest, breaking the rib cage and with the next blow put an uppercut from below. The clang of broken teeth and the crunch of his jaw announced that he had won the round. Flying away, the guy landed at the feet of the last asshole, who was still standing, although Dean did not regret beating the crap out of him with a lot of blows to the body. With each attack, the guy was wheezing more and more and was about to fall.

After carrying out the last series of punches, Dean jumped back and let the opponent fall on all fours and vomit a whole pool of blood under him.

Sarah had already "high-fived" Nigel at that moment and was smiling as she listened to his enthusiastic screams.

Nigel – "Cool! You know how to talk to bad guys!"

At that moment, a loud click was heard behind them. The already noseless leader, who had regained consciousness, could barely stand on his feet, holding his throat with one hand, and with the other clutching the cheapest pistol of all that the Taurus G2c could get. That gun was a real piece of plastic shit.

Panting and wheezing, he could barely squeeze out the words – "Don't come any closer... Bitch..."

Sarah slowly approached, snatched the weapon from his hand and sharply hit the hilt in the temple, finally sending the opponent into a deep coma.

Eva sat next to him on the couch and listened attentively to Nigel's story about the cool fight he witnessed and nodded periodically. Her trademark relaxed smile never left her face.

Nigel – "They handled them so coolly! Sarah took down two in a minute! Can you imagine? She literally turned their leader into a Voldemort."

Eva was confused-"What? Who is this?"

Nigel– "She destroyed his nose! She trashed it! I think this guy will need a prosthetic in the future. I wonder if there are prosthetic noses?"

Eva put her finger to her lips, thinking about his question– "I think yes, he will be able to order it online."

Nigel –"That was really cool!" - his voice became quieter and more thoughtful – "I wish I could do the same."

Eve tried to catch his eye and pondered over his last words–"No. Trust me, you don't need it."

Nigel abruptly tucked his legs in and sat closer to her -"Why? Do you think I'm not worthy of having such abilities?"

Eva lifted her head and nervously crossed her arms over her chest, "You don't deserve to become a monster like us. You deserve a better fate, man! You have all the opportunities that none of us had."

Nigel lowered his eyes sadly, "But you're not monsters. You people! You just have it...Beyond ability!"

She grinned and stood in front of the boy. Leaning forward to face him, her eyes abruptly changed to cat–like pupils and began to emit a light blue glow - "I'm a monster Nigel! And always has been."

Nigel approached without a shadow of fear and touched Eve with his forehead – "You are a human! You're amazing!"

She started laughing, but her voice became rougher, and she began to slowly approach directly to his ear, running her cheek over it. Nigel readily tilted his head, giving her access to his neck and squeezed his eyes shut, clearly preparing for what she might do to him. A quiet laugh and a whisper from Eva–"Huh, do you really think I'm like a vampire? No, boy, I do not know how to do this. And even if I did, I would never share my power."

Turning, he whispered in her ear, "Why?"

Eve also leaned into his ear, "I don't want to condemn you to the torments that I had to go through. I don't want you to be caught one day and imprisoned in a glass jar like an animal." She straightened up and looked at him with a simple human gaze.

Nigel – "But if I'm as strong as you are, they won't be able to hurt me. Really?"

Without answering anything, but only smiling, Eve wrapped her arms tightly around the boy and squeezed him tightly in her arms. Nigel's voice became strangled-"Eve... My Ribs..." She loosened her grip a little, but continued to hold on to her. She touched the back of his head with her cheek. Nigel thought a little and decided to ask a question that has long interested him: "Can I ask?"

"Let's make a deal right away. Don't ask me that question in the future. You can ask what you want and when you want. OK?" she whispered in his ear.

"Is it hard?" She put her hand on Nigel's head and began to run her fingers through his hair. I was born like this and I don't know any other life. It's like a surge of energy and power engulfing my body. It's a feeling of incredible freedom and strength; I feel like I can do anything and nothing can stop me. An incomparable thrill that always makes my heart beat faster... it certainly invigorates and gives strength."

Nigel smiled and pulled back a little – "If I could still become like you... Could I do the same?"

Eve tilted her head slightly, thinking about the answer–"I think so... But it's not that simple, man. You would have to put in a lot of effort to control yourself."

"Instincts?" He looked into her eyes. Eva nodded, once again noticing the shrewdness of this child's mind, he was clearly more developed than his peers – "Yes."

"Did you have a hard time dealing with them?" His curiosity still wouldn't let go.

"Pfft, I had to learn to suppress it inside myself, to take control. To train self-control and composure... Do you understand?" she could have told him a lot about how hard it really was to do this. She had to do some bad things when she wasn't always in control of herself. But these stories were certainly not for children's ears.

Nigel came up with a phrase that intrigued Eve – "That is, you are fighting with each other. How are the white and black wolves?" Eve tensed slightly–"What other wolves?" Although she had to live in the forest for a long time and she met wild animals more than once, none of them posed the slightest threat to her."

The boy continued, "I mean. Haven't you heard that legend? There are two wolves inside each of us. White and Black. They are constantly fighting with each other. Whichever wolf you feed the most will win. It's like fighting good against evil."

Eve chuckled, "Hmm. No, this is the first time I've heard about it. I wouldn't say that my other side is evil. It's just a predator that acts on its instincts. It's just another side of me. That's it."

They were still sitting on this couch and Nigel did not take his eyes off her. Eve– "Don't even think about it."

He looked at her with plaintive eyes–"What?"

She shot him a look back–"Great. He persuaded me. Just don't make eyes at me. But I warn you, don't be scared."

She stood up and began to change her appearance. Nigel stared at her open-mouthed, it was truly a majestic and terrifying sight.

Completely transformed, she sat down giving him a better view of her appearance. Nigel touched her forehead and ran his hand through her dreadlocks–"Wow..."

She held out her hands to him. He put his palms on top of hers. "Hmm... It feels so strange...the skin is warm but tough...it looks like snakes." Eve smiled and made a sound like a hiss. Then she straightened up, letting him look at her.

"It's mega cool... If you could come to my school like that, then these high school bullies would shut up quickly." - In response, she folded her arms across her chest. She was actually amused by the idea that she would come to his school like this "It would be a massive psychosis."

Nigel walked around behind her and saw a row of patterned bone blades extending from her spine from her neck to her lower back. He immediately had a question – "Is it convenient for you to sleep with them?

Eva strained her back and the spikes lengthened by shooting more than a meter, then just as abruptly hid them back. - "Wow! Cool! What else can you do?"

Eva thought about it, she actually had some secrets, but she didn't want to show them to the boy right now. "That's enough, that's enough fiction for today." A moment later, an ordinary woman was standing in front of him.

"Okay, that's enough monsters for today. I want to watch a couple of movies. By the way, how do you feel about horror movies?"

"And which ones?" Nigel was still overwhelmed by what he had seen.

"I think I saw a lot of CDs on the shelf, I think we'll find something interesting..."

Press followed his friend into the room. Several crippled young people were lying on gurneys, some were unconscious. The guy lying on the edge was holding his stomach and moaning in pain.

Press – "Damn it! Who beat you guys up like that? Superman?"

Grow turned around and nodded silently, indicating that he agreed with his opinion. These guys were obviously beaten by the crowd and very brutally. They may have stumbled upon a gang.

"It was a girl, sir... But her fists... It's like they're made of steel." - the guy spoke with difficulty.

The press cursed in displeasure – "Oh shit. What the fuck? What she looked like!"

Grow whistled and listened attentively to the description of the one who broke this guy's ribs and beat off his insides–"Blonde, medium height, blue eyes, dressed in a hoodie, there were a couple more guys and some kid with her."

After them, a young nurse appeared in the ward with a tablet and several ivs – "Who are you? How did you get into the ward?"

Grow showed his ID card– "Everything is fine, man, we are our own."

Casting incredulous glances at them, the nurse began to apply a tourniquet to the arm of one of the victims. The guy lying motionless on the gurney was unconscious, many sensors and wires were attached to his body, monitors reflected all vital signs.

His head was covered with a lot of bloody bandages, so it was impossible to make out his face. A breathing tube was coming out of his mouth. After connecting a catheter to his vein, the nurse checked the sensors of the life support system.

Grow–"What happened to that poor guy?"

"This guy is in a coma now and we can't make any predictions about him. There are many difficult operations ahead. We'll have to remove the bridge of the nose from the brain." - the young doctor waved his hand and prepared to leave. Grow stopped him: "Have you seen something like this before? How strong should the blow have been?"

The nurse lowered the tablet and thought about it. He had to go through a lot of data from practice in his head to finally give an answer – "Nothing like that, sir... Truth... I heard about one case at a lecture. A car fell on one man's face, which fell off the jack. He had similar injuries back then."

The press asked again – "A car? That is, a person could not have struck such a blow?". Grinning, the nurse shook his head and left the room, saying finally – "No, it's impossible"