1 Discovery and Betrayal

Salem was a fifteen-year-old boy who was doing poorly in, not only his academic studies, but in his health and fitness as well. He had brown hair that made up his curly afro and he also wore glasses daily. Salem and his two friends, Josh and Krystal, whom he had a crush on, were walking home from school together since they had always been neighbors when Salem felt the urge to urinate.

"Hey, guys," Salem began. "Let me stop at this gas station and use the bathroom real quick."

Josh and Krystal both nodded, but there was something odd about the way the two looked at each other as Salem turned to walk away. The gas station had an old neon sign on the top of it, but it had become so decrepit that the letters were hardly legible. He made his way into the bathroom and, as he was standing at the urinal, the thought crossed his mind of why he had never met his parents and why he was forced to live alone. He zipped up his pants and began to walk out, but a man appeared before him when he was suddenly frozen in place. The man had no discernible face, but a swirling blackness hovered in place of his head. Salem's eyes widened as the man put his hand on his shoulder and a warm surge of power began to fill his entire body.

"Salem," the man said. "I am an Archangel, but my powers have dwindled with my old age and there is currently an Angel looking for me. I will give you this power, but I know not how it will affect you."

Salem felt his body moving in an unnatural way as the power filled him from head to toe. His vision through his glasses suddenly became blurry and he felt his hair become shorter. The man was clad in a black armor that resonated evil, but he and the armor vanished leaving behind nothing but bones as Salem was suddenly able to move again. He walked back into the bathroom to use the mirror and was stunned by what he saw. He had a more toned and chiseled face along with a fade for a haircut. He lifted up his now too big shirt and it revealed a six pack where fat used to be on his gut. It appeared as though all the 205 lbs of fat had turned into pure muscle. He tightened the belt on his jeans, but he took his shirt off since he was already close to home. Before Salem left, he noticed that his right eye turned black with a red iris before returning to normal.

"I've seen weirder today."

He walked outside holding his shirt over his shoulder and was shocked when he looked to the road where Josh and Krystal were at. His chiseled jaw dropped to the floor when he realized that they were making out. He felt a new sense of hatred and anger he once thought impossible as his eye turned black and he walked towards the two. They stopped when they noticed his approach in an attempt to hide their deed, but it was too late.

"Salem," Josh began. "Is that you?"

"You look so different," said Krystal.

Salem stopped and looked at Josh visibly angered, and he was stunned when he saw Salem's eye. Krystal was also stunned, but the fear in their hearts kept them from running away at what happened next. Salem's right arm was suddenly encased in black armor like the Archangel from earlier. Black spikes protruded from the shoulder piece of his armor, and the frightening part was that a blade with jagged hooks on the bottom edge appeared in his hand that was chained to his forearm with chains that were burning with red fire along with his blade. The blade was larger than a knife, no longer than a short-sword, but it was considerably fatter than a normal sword. It took all of his willpower not to kill them right then and there.

"You realize that I've asked you out several times over the past year, and you always said no! You always said that you weren't ready for a relationship, so when I asked you out yesterday and you said that same thing, you wanna do this shit to me!?"

"I'm sorry," Krystal said before being interrupted.

"And Josh, I told you this shit. You knew I had a crush on her, and you doing this shit is exactly why I was your only friend up until now!"

The armor and weapon disappeared in a flurry of red sparks and his eye turned to normal as he walked away towards his house leaving behind the only friends he had known.