Chapter 3:

Chapter 3. The End And The Beginning.

The Spirit In Me


"Mrs. Natasha!" called Sergeant Nish from the police unit. "Mada escaped with his grandson Ruan. He must have realized that he was about to be arrested. However, we were able to trace his tracks. He prepared everything in advance. A real underground building... But we were one step ahead of him. Our teams are there right now, inside the basement. They found everything. All the materials he hid, that's more than enough evidence to arrest him for life. We just need to find him now-" The sergeant's words were interrupted by a huge explosion that shook the entire city.

The blast noise woke up the city's residents, who a moment later felt the powerful shockwave.

"What was that?!" asked the mayor in a panic. "I don't know ma'am!" answered the terrified policeman. When a short moment after, Sergeant Nish received a report. "Ma'am! I am receiving a report that the explosion came out of Mada's research lab!" Sergeant Nish reported nervously.

Natasha was shocked.

She stepped outside her house and looked towards Mada's lab. She saw the big smoke cloud coming from its direction in the nearby mountains. Without hesitation, the 16-soldier unit rushed towards Mada's laboratory.

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In the lab, Ruan laid on the floor with his eyes closed, when suddenly, one of his eyes opened.

"Where am I..?" he asked himself confused. "What is this place...?.. this annoying beeping... what's going on here?" he questioned as he put his hand on his head in confusion. He tried to stand but couldn't. Dizzy, he began crawling forward the wall next to the laboratory monitor to use it get up on to his knees. When he was up, he opened his eyes wide as a result of the burnt smell he inhaled which focused him sharply. Suddenly, in a flash of memory, he recalled what happened just a moment ago.

"Grandpa!" he called out in a stressed voice, moving his head quickly around, looking for him. On the floor a few meters from him, he found him.

Rather, it.

The body of his grandfather.

Ruan eyes opened wide awake as his pupils narrowed quickly.

The sight was clear. It was impossible to make a mistake in the assessment.

He is no longer alive, as a huge cut split his head to two. His opened eyes indicated that the blast was so quick, it didn't even had time to close them before the hit.

Standing near him, Ruan felt paralyzed. He raised his hand and tried to call for him, but the words did not come out of his mouth. He stepped towards but quickly fell to the floor as a result of a sharp pain. Looking at his leg, he saw it.

A 30 cm piece of glass that was once the cell outer glass is stuck deep inside his left thigh.

Determined while struggling with the pain, he dragged himself to Mada, basking in his blood. When he reached him, he slightly lifted his corpse and put it on his knees, as if he was about to medically treat him. But, his shocked gaze hinted he knew it was for no use.

Instead, he hugged him tightly when he cried a loud, hysterical, and heartbreaking cry as his clothes fills with his grandfather's blood.

From the noise of the alarms, he heard rough footsteps increasing. He immediately realized that these belonged to military men or policemen, carrying heavy and noisy operational mountain boots.

"They are going to catch me and throw me in prison... What was all of this for? For what purpose was I born?" Ruan doubted. Emptiness filled his heart as he regretted all his life's decisions that were presented right before his eyes in his mind.

"My whole life, I just suffered. All my effort. Everything Grandpa worked for all his life… In vain." he thought depressed and dejected with his grandfather's corpse still in his hands.

Suddenly, he snapped.

"Wait - the stone!" he reminded to himself. Quickly, he realized what he had to do.

He closed his eyes and placed him gently on the cold laboratory floor. With fire in his eyes and the rest of his strength, he crawled towards the cell and jumped through the broken glass frame to the location where the stone laid.

He crashed to the floor. The hard landing caused a sharp pain in his thigh that caused him to writhe in pain. Although the pain, he quickly came to his senses and searched for the stone.

"Where is it... where is it?!" Ruan exclaimed with astronomical pressure.

The sound of the soldiers' footfalls got louder and louder as they are getting closer.

"Where is it?! Where is it?!?" Ruan panicked. "Is it even here?! Did the explosion broke it into pieces?!" he stressed and hastened as he scans thoroughly the cell filled with shattered, heavy glass from the inner heating machine cell.

"I lost too much blood..." he thought feeling dizzy as his vision getting blurrier each passing moment.

"Shut up you bitch…! fast... fast!" Ruan exclaimed with a shake of his head as he tries to stay conscious and continues to search. Suddenly, he detected something under thick glass, close to the center of the wide cell. He started crawling towards it.

The soldiers of the special unit broke into the control room. The protective lab glasses that were always on the lab table were on the floor, broken and covered in blood.

"We found him. He's dead." The commander announced in the Walkie Talkie.

"Dead?!" a question was heard from the other side. "There is no doubt about that," replied the commander looking at the body next to him. "What about his grandson?" asked the other side. The commander's look disclosed that for a moment, he forgot about him. "We're after him. In a moment it's all over." The commander announced.

Ruan crawled and reached the odd glass.

When he lifted it, he found it.

The stone.

He sat on his knees beside it. A sensation he had never felt before echoed through his body. A powerful, concentrated, and compressed feeling that has no equal. Its gravity felt immense. Just from being by its side, he felt that it was able to swallow him whole in an instant. On top of it, the stone changed its color permanently, from blue to a dark and deep purple color, which almost resembles black. he looked at the stone as a memory came to his mind.

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Mada led Ruan with him as they walk into the insides of his previous laboratory.

A side room that was hidden from all eyes.

In the same room, there was a shining purple stone in a small glass container, held by a thin iron stand. In addition, there were boxes with mice in them. "Come closer." Mada invited Ruan. he leaned over to the cell and looked at the stone through the glass. Small lightning bolts erupted from it.

"It's... amazing..." Ruan marveled. "Right?" Mada asked as he quickly added, "But, it's unstable. This is how far I've come. You see, the stone can draw Energia, it can release it, but it's unpredictable. Because it's not under anyone's control. As powerful as it is, it's possible to give it the ability to be controlled." Mada said with the enthusiasm of a little boy.

"The stone must penetrate the user's body so that it can fuse with it." he told Ruan as they looked at the mice running in the plastic box at the old lab. "The ideal place to attach the stone is in the animal's heart area, as the heart is the one that directs the Energia in our body. If it succeeds, the creature and the stone will hopefully become one. But, pay attention." Mada said and lifted the diamond stone with long tweezers from its designated compartment.

He put the diamond into the box with the mice. The mice first showed concern. But, after a few seconds, one of them returned and looked at the shining stone. He moved his head up as he tried to sniff it. Getting closer and closer each time. Until a single strand from his mustache accidentally touched the stone. In a sudden and rapid explosion, he turned into dust in an instant.

Ruan was startled and jumped back, almost tripping on the floor. The two remaining mice in the cage backed away as they let out frightening chirps. Mada picked the diamond back up and returned it to his cell.

"Right now, the stone will absorb the power of any creature that comes in contact with it and kill it instantly.

All that will be left is dust.

However, if the stone instead of absorbing the creature's Energia, integrates with it - on that day, my research will be complete. However, this stage is still far ahead as you see. So, what do you think?" Mada asked with a sly smile.

Ruan, who had just been exposed to his grandfather's real research for the first time, couldn't believe what he was watching. It was too good to be true. "It...” he stammered, trying to find the right words. "It's the most incredible thing I've ever seen in my life..." he said in excited amazement.

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Ruan focus returned in an instant. He looked at the stone in front of him as the mouse leftover dust appeared in his mind.

Death.

But suddenly, without his intention, he remembered his grandfather's words.

When he lost him, when he lost everything – only then he understood his sentence.

"The worst option is not death…" he whispered to himself.

"The worst option is to give in to the fear that paralyzes you to get what you want." He said aloud. Shocked, he recited his grandfather's words as it's understanding seeped into him.

"He didn't lose his mind... he was ahead of me… again. like always..." he grabbed his head, frustrated.

"Because I was reckless... because I didn't trust him enough, it came to this..." he realized disheartened. "He invested his whole life, all of his mind! In order to create this stone!''.

"It's the essence of my life" he remembered the sentence his grandfather always told him from the day he found out about his real research.

In his vision, he saw his grandfather before his eyes. How he would pick him up from kindergarten with a hug. How he would listen to him, whatever his age was, with great interest. How he promised him that he could always count on him. "You have me, and I have you. We are together, a family. Forever." Said Mada in his memories.

"Grandpa was everything to me... and now, he is no longer here... But, his life purpose is here. Lies right in front of my eyes." he came to an understanding.

On the one hand, the fear of death. On the other hand, the purpose of his grandfather's life.

he closed his eyes tightly, reaching forward where the stone was placed. He narrowed his eyes nervously even more when he felt a touch at his palm.

Peeking with one eye, he took a look.

"I... touched it... I'm not dead...!" he exclaimed surprised. Quickly, he picked up the stone.

The soldiers came through the side entrances to the stone storage cell. They pointed their weapons in the direction of Ruan, as the commander of the soldiers shouted, "Put down what you're holding! Get away from it and raise your hands!" he ordered.

Ruan did not respond to the call. He continued to look at the stone glowing with an immense powerful purple light.

"I'm not going to repeat myself one more time!" insisted the commander, "Drop what you're holding at once!" he strongly ordered. With an aphetic look, Ruan looked at the soldiers and reached his hand forward as he exposed the stone to their faces.

"Stop playing games! Drop what you're holding or I'll shoot! Now!!!" shouted the commander again.

Ruan looked at the stone with bright eyes, as flash memories of his grandfather came to his mind.

"We are family. You have me and I have you. Forever."

"It's us against everyone else."

"It's the purpose of my life."

He focused. "This stone... was so important to grandpa, that he was ready to die for it..." he thought as he looked at the stone.

"This is your final warning!!! Throw away what you're holding now!!!" screamed the commander, looking through the crosshair of his weapon. The barrel, aimed right at Ruan's heart.

Ruan imagined his grandfather one last time as he closed his eyes. "Grandpa... I'm sorry..." Ruan apologized as a tear fell from his eye when he dropped the stone from his hand.

The commander and his soldiers looked at it in astonishment. For a moment, it felt like time slowed down, as the stone floated in the air, falling slowly side to side with Ruan's teardrop.

"I'm sorry... that you couldn't be the one..." Ruan whispered in deep agony. Suddenly, In an extreme frenzy with his eyes wide open from rage, he grabbed the stone in the air and thrust it forcefully into his chest.

Immediately, a massive explosion occurred and threw all the soldiers around to the floor, quickly pushing them against the walls of the cell far behind.

A massive beam of light was shot from Ruan into the air, breaking through the roof of the laboratory with comical ease as if a moment before the huge steel plates could not withstand the tremendous pressure of the unusual experiment. Enormous shock waves of purple colored Energia erupted from him as the beam of light rose towards the stars. It was so strong and powerful that it could be seen from tens of kilometers away.

To the townspeople, it seemed for a moment, as if dawn had broken.

The stone tore through Ruan's shirt and entered his chest. His feet hovered above the floor. The injury he had on his left thigh healed in an instant and the piece of glass that was stuck in it came out completely and fell on the floor. His mouth was open as his eyes shone with purple intensity.

He floated several meters in the air. The soldiers watched him glued to the walls of the lab, unable to move a finger as he burned with purple Energia. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity to them, the beam of light faded.

Ruan's eyes closed. He floated down slowly, landing softly on the floor, and then falls to his knees.

The place was tremendous quiet as everybody watches in horror, when after a few seconds, a deep and powerful breath like the one of a drowning person was heard.

Suddenly, Ruan opened his eyes.

He looked at his palm. Clenching it, he saw that he was able to move. "What happened...? Am I dead...? Am I in a dream...?" he asked himself.

The commander saw the confusion on his face. "What is he doing?" he asked himself suspiciously, "Could it be that he doesn't understand what just happened?" he wondered. "It doesn't matter... this is our opportunity... take advantage of it!" he asserted immediately.

Ruan looked at his chest and saw the stone inside his body. "It wasn't a dream... the stone...".

"I... I… I don't feel anything." He thought disappointed with his hands were on the floor. His body was exhausted.

"Absolutely last time! Raise your hands and put them behind your back!" the commander called resolutely to Ruan, pretending to still believe he had the upper hand.

Ruan, frightened, followed the instructions and put his hands behind his back when he was down on his knees.

The commander came up behind him and kicked him into a prone position. On his stomach, Ruan mourned to himself. "I don't feel anything... the research... failed…" he stated as tears fell from his eyes with a bitter cry on his lips.

The soldiers surrounded him. "Handcuff him Benji." ordered the commander to one of his soldiers.

Benji, one of the soldiers, came from behind to handcuff Ruan. he took off the handcuffs and approached Ruan's right hand. Ruan didn't resist and kept his hands clasped behind his back so that the he could handcuff them. He opened the handcuffs and closed one of them on Ruan's right hand.

To steady himself in order to put on the handcuff on Ruan's left hand, Benji grabbed his left hand, when a slight noise of a sudden gust of wind was heard.

Immediately after, a sound of a helmet hitting the floor.

The soldier's uniform and helmet fell to the floor and on Ruan's spread legs. A cloud of dust dispersed where the soldier once stood.

Silence prevailed for a moment and was replaced by panicked screams of the terrified soldiers.

The soldiers quickly moved away from Ruan, clinging to the walls of the broken structure. "What did you do to him?!" screamed Yod in rage, one of the remaining soldiers.

Ruan, who was still lying on the floor, did not understand what was happening. He looked ahead at Yod, the frightened soldier in front of him. He looked around at the other soldiers backed up to the walls of the building. "Why are they looking at me like that…? Why isn't he handcuffing my other hand? What's with them?!" he asked confused.

Turning his head, he saw that the soldier who stood over him had disappeared. His clothes were laid partly on the floor, and partly on him.

His eyes revealed his astonishment.

All other soldiers including their commander froze in place. Their bodies trembling with fear. Only Yod, who had just seen his best friend vanish, felt his bones shakes with vengeance.

He pointed his weapon at Ruan and yelled at him in panic, "Don't lift a finger! One movement and I'll shoot!" he shouted aggressively, confused and stressed.

Ruan felt the fear reflected in his gaze.

"What do they want from me...? I didn't do anything...!" Ruan thought to himself surprised.

"I said don't move!!!" screamed Yod and lifted the gun crosshair to his eye.

"I have to do something! Otherwise... they'll shoot me!" Ruan insisted panickily in his mind.

"I don't know what happened!!! I didn't do anything!" Ruan shouted at Yod. The frozen soldiers were startled by Ruan's cry. "I'm not dangerous! I just got into the situation by accident! This research wasn't mine! I'm in the same situation as you! You're making a mistake!" Ruan screamed.

All the soldiers around him remained in place like they were made of stone. They didn't know what to do. What to think. What to say. In those moments, like their bodies, their minds froze also.

"Your lies won't work on me!!! Explain to me now what did you do to him!!!" Yod shouted with tears in his eyes and broken voice. His body tense as his eyes focused through his weapon crosshair.

"I didn't do anything to him! I don't know what happened to him!" Ruan shouted back.

"Stop lying to me you scumbag!!! Tell the truth or I'll shoot you right here and now!!!" Yod screamed as he placed his finger on the trigger of his Energia rifle.

"That's the truth!!! I'm telling you everything I know! I didn't do anything! It's not my fault!!!" Ruan shouted with all his might, "You have to believe me! I'm not lying to you!!!" he added in an intensive shout.

"You... you liar piece of shit... you're a liar and a vile murderer!!!" Yod screamed as he pulled the trigger a little.

Ruan slowly saw the finger of his hand pull the trigger further and further back, each moment a bullet will be released.

"What did you do to Benji?! Huh?! What did you do to him?! Bring him back right away!!!" screamed Yod crying with rage as his tears fell to the ground.

"I don't know!!! I didn't do anything to him!!! You have to believe me! I'm just as confused as you!!!" insisted Ruan back at him. "If you shoot, you're going to spill innocent blood!!!" he yelled out loud. Yod flinched back nervously. "I followed my grandfather here! I'm not related to this! I don't understand it myself! You can arrest me! I'm not resisting! So please, I'm begging you with everything I've got, don't shoot!!!!!" Ruan begged with his head to the floor and his hands spread out in front in a submissive bowing position.

There was silence. Everyone stopped moving. Ruan and Yod too. As if time stopped for a moment.

Until suddenly, the sound of a whistling bullet cut it off.

A bullet is fired from the barrel of Yod's Energia gun.

All the other soldiers were surprised as they looked in Yod's direction. Ruan heard the shot clearly.

"This is it. I'm dead. All my life, to get to this moment. How pathetic." Ruan thought as he shielded his head with one hand and the other extended open towards the direction the bullet was fired from.

The bullet hit Ruan's shoulder and broke into pieces.

Ruan remained crouched on the floor unharmed.

The soldiers were stunned. None of them dared to utter a word.

Ruan's eyes opened wide as he looks at the floor.

"He... he missed!" he thought to himself.

Terrified, Yod looked at him in horror.

"You've lost your mind! You could have killed me!!! Please!!! Stop him! Please! I'm not against you!" Ruan shouted to the other soldiers as he waved his hands in panic, trying to explain with his body what his words couldn't convey.

"You have no reason to attack me! Just arrest me and that's it! I don't care what you do with me! I don't care where you take me! Just please! Please! I'm begging you from the bottom of my soul, don't kill me!!!" Ruan shouted towards the shooting soldier.

But soon, Ruan saw the look on the Yod's face.

His gaze hit Ruan like a powerful punch to the face.

He looked like he was daydreaming.

Detached.

Ruan looked at the other soldiers. Their looks were just as much scared and afraid. Lost and frozen in space.

"It's… useless." Ruan thought to himself as he looked at their faces. " They are completely obdurate … No matter what I say, no matter what I do… I will die here... This is exactly like the story of my whole life all over again.

These soldiers are just like the rest.

Like the kids at school.

Like the bullies on the streets or at work.

Just like Society.

They claimed I was the violent one. They claimed I was the dangerous one... Me?! Violent?! That's a lie! I've always been the victim!

Always. All my life, nothing came easy.

Everything I had, I had to work for. Work Hard. All my life I've had to fight. Fight for who I am. Fight for my place. But, it was a battle I could never win.” he cried desperately in his mind.

"They never wanted to listen... they never wanted to understand.

Just like here. They don't listen to me. They don't try to understand me. If I die by them, nobody will care. They won't be judged for it. They will find a reason to cover the event and move on. Maybe the news will appear in the paper one day, and that's it. They'll move on with their lives, and I'll be forgotten.

Just like Grandpa, and everyone who came before me and didn't fit their conditions.

I have no way out. It's a broken game with no way to win. I'm at a dead end." Ruan thought to himself with a shocked look on his face, accepting his fate.

He stopped moving. He stopped talking. He stopped trying to make them understand him.

Ruan surrendering to himself gave the other soldiers enough time to recover. But, before they could bat an eyelid, a volley of shots froze them in place again.

Yod began firing bullets in a long and loud burst.

"Monster! Monster!!!" Yod screamed at Ruan in terror.

Ruan closed his eyes again in fear when the bullets were fired in his direction.

The first burst lasted a few seconds, the bullets flew toward Ruan and hit his surroundings. Pieces of glass and metal from the lab floor tossed at Ruan along with the Energia bullets shot from Yod's rifle as they hit Ruan. Some of them also hit Ruan.

But, instead of the bullets penetrating his body, they broke into pieces on contact with him and their fragments blew around the room.

Yod got tired after the long hail of bullets and started breathing heavily. Similar to the police one, the military Energia rifle did not need to be loaded. It would simply operate on the basis of the Energia of its user, converting it to explosive power and the bullet shaped Energia that was being shot from it.

After a few seconds of complete silence, Ruan opened his eyes again.

Yod noticed it scared and panicked, and quickly exerted himself to shoot another long bunch of bullets towards Ruan.

Ruan closed his eyes once again out of instinct, but after a second, he focused and opened one eye. "What is this feeling?" Ruan asked himself.

He looked forward and saw that the bullets did not affect him. They do not cut him. Do not penetrate his body. He suddenly felt the stone in the center of his chest and understood.

"I can feel it... the Energia...!" he opened his eyes wide in surprise. "For the first time in my life, I can really feel it! Clearly as day light! I can feel it as if it were mine!" he wondered.

Purple Energia glow began to surround his body. he got up from the floor and walked towards Yod.

Yod let out a panicked shriek and quickly jumped back. Frightened, he stumbled and fell, trying to drag himself backwards while keeping his eyes on Ruan, until he got stuck at the wall of the building. All the other soldiers stepped back in fear. Ruan continued to walk towards Yod as he was burning with purple Energia while he glares at the floor. When he stood over Yod, Yod looked at him and saw his eyes.

The fury in his eyes shone like the core of a planet.

One could see in them pure anger and murderous lust, the likes of which he had never seen before.

Yod cried out in fear, "Please… Please!!" he shouted as he tries to push Ruan away with his hands. Ruan concentrated on Yod's Energia, bringing his hand closer to his head. The commander of the soldiers came to his senses and shouted at Ruan to get away from him. The rest of the soldiers joined him quickly after as they screamed at him to get away from Yod with the points of their weapons.

Yod cried and ranted, but was unable to push Ruan away from him. "Please! please!!!" he cried out for help as he reached out to his commander when Ruan's hand touched him.

Another breeze.

The sound of Yod's helmet falling hits the floor. A cloud of dust hovered in the room, marking his last remains.

Ruan looked at his right palm as he felt the soldier's Energia flowing into his body.

The soldiers around Ruan were shocked. If last time it was by mistake, this time, there is no doubt. He did it on purpose. Distracted, they saw that Ruan's attention was not on them. Quickly, one of them started running out of the building. The rest immediately followed and fled for their lives while Ruan stood still, looking at his palm in disbelief.

"Grandpa's research worked... it really worked!" Ruan said to himself shocked and surprised. He breathed a sigh of relief as he slumped to a sitting position on the floor and smiled a big sigh of relief. "I can't believe it! All his effort and sacrifice... were not for nothing! He was right! His research was right!" he smiled and blushed as he caught his face in happiness and joy.

"Ha-ha-ha! ha-ha-ha-ha!" he laughed loudly and uncontrollably. "I can't believe it! He didn't fail! He didn't fail! Wow!" he declared drunk from enthusiasm.

But he immediately realized how much sadness there is in that presence.

"No... it shouldn't have been like this... the one who should have reaped the prize should have been him..." Ruan said in disbelief. He looked at his hands and the stone in his chest. "It shouldn't have been me... it should have been him...! It should have been him! What is such joy worth if I can't even share it with him, with the one who was the closest to me?!" he raged aloud, when sudden shock was revealed on his face. "Wait, grandpa... grandpa... he... he never knew that the research was completed! He died without knowing the answer! He never knew that what he had worked for all his life, against all odds, was a success!" Ruan grabbed his head in extreme frustration.

"It's not fair!!!" He yelled furiously as he sent a purple Energia punch into the floor of the lab tearing through the thick metal sheets it was made of. From his angry look, suddenly, his eyes opened wide as realization hit him.

"It's... all because of me... I was reckless... again!!!" Ruan screamed at himself as he curled angrily, grabbing the hair of his head with his fingers.

"If he hadn't tried to stop me! If I hadn't interfered! He trusted me! that's why he brought me with him! Always, since I was little, he would cover up my mistakes! And again! For the last time..." he realized in deep sorrow.

"Why... why is that it had to be like this... why..." he repeated to himself as anger rose in his body. "Why?!" he shouted while sending another punch to the floor. His face twitched in anger. "Why... why... why...! why...! why...! why!!!" Ruan screamed at the floor as he sends punch after punch into the pit that he had opened up on the lab floor.

Tears began to flow from his eyes. "Why isn't he here… why…" he cried in despair. "Why...?" he asked as he suddenly snapped.

"No... wait... no... it wasn't because of me..." Ruan understood with a frozen look. "It wasn't me who caused it... if he had more time... he would have succeeded... this shouldn't have happened... if the soldiers wouldn't have chased him... if the government wouldn't be looking for him... if society hadn't put so much pressure on him..." Ruan stated to himself. "It's all because of them... if only the mayor didn't make him a target... she…", he whispered as it clicked. "It's because of her. It's because of her... if she hadn't interfered, if she hadn't sabotaged and made his research difficult, he would be alive today...

Happy...

Celebrating his achievement with me... because she caused him enormous stress and fear that he won't complete his research, she made him finish it with an extreme experiment when his back was against the wall!” he raged fiercely.

Suddenly, a vision of his grandfather's corpse appeared before his eyes.

"It's her. It's all because of her." Realization seeped into him as his face contorted when unparalleled fury burnt him from the inside.

"They will pay for this… They will all pay for this... Each and every one of them will pay for this! I swear in all my might, they will pay it back! In blood!!!" Ruan shouted out when he stood up. His purple Energia surrounded him as his eyes glowed with a flaring purple rage.

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Morning. Kali, Loy's mother, read Today's newspaper. She was surprised as she put it down on the table. "Horrible" she whispered to herself. The newspaper and the empty drink glass remained on the kitchen table.

Later that morning, Loy walked down the stairs from his room to the living room, getting ready to go out for school. He walked past the living room table and saw the headline on the main page which caught his attention. He opened his eyes in surprise.

In an electronics store in the nearby city of Nash, a special transmission was broadcast on TV. "After a sudden explosion in a factory far from the city, an unknown man with a purple diamond stone in his chest committed a heinous murder of over 100 people. There is suspicion of the identity of the accused but there is no definite information about it. After the murder, he managed to escape. The city of Saraf was evacuated of its inhabitants and they were scattered throughout the country. Now Captain Ariel will give an address to the incident. The broadcast is all yours." called the host and the focus switched to Ariel, one of the senior military captains.

"Thanks Phil. We have ordered all the cities near the city of Saraf to be on high alert. Reinforced military forces have already been sent to the nearby cities. If the person matching the description currently appearing on the screen is seen, call the number below the description and report it. We swear by all means. The despicable murderer will be caught and brought to justice trial." said the senior military Captain.

Loy read the news. A mass murder happened in Saraf city. "Such an act could only be committed by a man who has lost his mind," Loy thought to himself on his way to school.

In class, all the students in the class talked about what they heard on the news. About that man with a diamond stone in his chest.

Suddenly, a student in Loy's class, Dot, threw a sentence at Loy.

"Sounds a lot like you, monster!".

Loy was surprised. For a moment, he froze in place. But, quickly came to his senses. He didn't comment back and soon the lesson has started.

During the lesson, he thought about it. "is it true? Does he really like me..?" he asked himself. "It's not true... I know it's not... but for some reason when he said that, I couldn't help but suddenly see the similarities between us.." He thought with a dejected look.

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A few days passed. The school bell rang signaling the start of the first lesson of the day as the students entered their classrooms. Loy entered the classroom and sat down in his usual chair. Outside the classroom, a new student.

The different feeling made her on high alert.

"What is this feeling...?" she asked herself, "There is something behind this door... that I have never felt before...".

The teacher entered the class first. "Good morning everyone," said Veta, the teacher. "Before we start our morning class, we have a new student to introduce to you. Students, this is Lin." she introduced.

When the door opened, Lin stepped in looking at the floor.

Dejected and disinterested to look at the students in the class, she seems an introverted, gentle and polite girl.

But, as she walked into the classroom, she felt the powerful feeling she felt before intensifying.

Increasing dozens of times over, raising more and more.

A good, warm, and unique feeling that she had never felt before.

"What is this feeling...?" she asked herself.

She felt compelled to look, as she raised her head in the direction of the feeling. In front of her sat Loy, looking at her with the excitement of a child in his eyes as a smile rose to his face.

Loy's gaze caught Lin's attention.

From a distance, they looked in each other's eyes.

Suddenly, just for a moment, it seemed to them that everything around them disappeared.

Just the two of them in a bright, white, and empty space, floating around as they are looking through the window of their eyes, into each other's soul.

Vforest
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