18 Hungry

Richard Edgerton checked his watch as the flight touched down at New World City ten minutes early. At five foot eleven, he was a pretty muscular man. One look at him, and anyone could tell that he worked out regularly. 

Dressed in a black suit, he definitely stood out in the airplane. However, he didn't seem to mind the attention he was getting. 

'What to eat today?' He thought to himself as he got off the airplane. Baggage was on the carousel quickly enough, and soon he exited the airport, caught a cab and got in.

"May I ask where to, sir?" the cab driver turned around and asked with a smile.

"What's the best restaurant in the city? You see, I'm not from around here and I thought I'd try out the cuisine first." Richard smiled back politely. "Do you know any good places?"

"Oh dear. That's a tough one." The cab driver tapped his chin and thought to himself. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the cab driver replied, "I have never been there, but I have heard a lot about this new restaurant that's opened up downtown named 'The Pearlfisher'. Apparently, they serve the best seafood in the city."

"Alright then." Roger nodded his head. "The Pearlfisher it is."

Half an hour's drive later, Roger was staring outside through the window, looking at the beautiful palm trees that were on either side of the road. His eyes then moved to the front, and he could see the two story building with the name 'The Pearlfisher' written on top of it.

"Wow," Roger murmured to himself. "I can already smell the food. I can already feel that this is going to be the perfect meal to start my day."

------------ BEAST SOUL ------------

"Hello? Hello? Can you hear me?" Alan Fischer was talking loudly into his phone, as Lewis was staring at Harry with surprise in his eyes.

"What the hell do you mean the body is gone, Harry?" Lewis asked, looking confused and Harry sighed.

"It means exactly what you think it means, Lewis," Harry shrugged his shoulders. "It's not that complicated."

"Are you sure? Because it definitely sounds like we're caught in a complicated situation," Lewis retorted and Harry pressed his palm against his face, letting out another sigh. "Look, what the hell were we supposed to do? The body was gone before we even got here. I'm guessing someone or something dragged it away while the boys ran off."

"And you know that there was definitely a body?" Lewis asked and Harry nodded his head. "Forensics sweeped the whole place. There's definitely parts of human flesh and blood scattered on the ground. At this point, we can't exactly confirm if the boy in question is in fact dead or not, but if what those kids told us were true, then...."

"Damn it! Where could the body have gone?" Lewis scratched his head. 

At that moment, Alan, who had been busy talking on the phone, turned around and spoke. "Oh, you don't need to worry about finding the body. The FID has sent the perfect man for the job." He pointed his hand at the cab that had arrived right in front of the junkyard.

Richard Edgerton emerged from the taxi, and waved his hand at Alan, who waved back. 

The man walked towards the entrance of the junkyard, when all of a sudden, he was stopped by the police officers who were guarding the gate. 

"Don't worry. He's with us," Detective Harry yelled at the police officers, who nodded their heads and moved out of the way for Richard to enter. 

He pulled up the yellow tape and walked towards the three men, smiling politely as he spoke, "It's very nice to see you again, Alan." His eyes then turned to Harry and Lewis. "And you two must be Detective Harry Stone and Lewis Fitzgerald." He stretched out his hand. "I'm Special Agent Richard Edgerton. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Harry and Lewis nodded their heads and shook his hand.

"I heard that the flight landed ten minutes early. Why're you one hour late, Richard?" Alan asked. "Don't tell me you stopped by to eat again."

Eat? Harry and Lewis turned to look at Richard with confusion in their eyes.

"Ha ha ha… you've got me, Alan." Richard laughed with an embarrassed expression. "I apologize, but you know I can't resist a good meal right before a job, right?"

"Ha… I guess it's alright," Alan sighed and Richard let out a loud laugh once again. 

"Why would you have a meal and purposefully make yourself late?" Harry tilted his head and whispered. "If he wanted to try out the local cuisine, couldn't he have eaten afterwards?"

"Ha ha ha… That's what most people think when they meet me for the first time," Harry had whispered under his breath in order to not alert Richard, but surprisingly, Richard heard his words and let out a loud laughter, causing Harry to flinch. Richard didn't seem to mind and responded, "But you see, when I am assigned to a job..."

*Slurp*

He licked his lips. "There usually isn't a city remaining afterwards...."

Richard finished speaking, and Lewis and Harry widened their eyes.

"Don't scare them like that, Richard," Alan slapped him on the shoulder, and Richard laughed again, "Ha ha ha! Sorry about that. I was kidding.."

He then said with a grin. "...It only happened once."

-------------------

'Little twerp….'

Noah heard voices ringing in his ears. But he couldn't see anything. It was pitch black.

'What a loser…'

'Lick it from the floor, bookworm…'

'Ha ha ha! Are you crying? Seriously?'

The voices were familiar. Noah recognised them almost instantly. He knew them. He heard them everyday. He hated them. He endured them. And yet he didn't do anything in response.

Noah tried to speak, but found that he couldn't open his mouth. Or maybe he could? It was too dark to tell. 

Then…

'Feel it, Noah…'

An unfamiliar voice.

'Feel the rage.' 

'Embrace it.'

With every sentence, Noah could feel the voice getting closer and closer. He felt anxious, but he couldn't feel his body. He couldn't see. He couldn't move. He could only hear.

And then..

He began to see the light. His vision was returning.

"E- Eh..." Noah knelt down on his knees and clutched his head as he groaned. He rubbed his eyes as he regained his vision. 

"Wh-Where am I?" Everything was still too blurry for Noah, but from looking at the outlines of trees and leaves lying on the ground, he figured out that he was in the middle of a forest.

Plop!

As he moved his hands on the ground, he felt his hand become immersed in a liquid of some sort, and he immediately pulled back in response. 

"Wha-What the hell?" As his vision was gradually returning, Noah raised his hand up to his face and stared at it, only to find that it was now completely covered in crimson red.

"B-Blood!" Noah screamed as he looked at his hand in horror. 

'Don't tell me I killed someone…' Noah didn't want to believe it, but this was the second time he woke up with his hands covered in blood. 

'Wait a minute…' Noah thought back to the last time he fainted, and he could faintly remember the moment right before he lost consciousness. He had felt his hands transforming into something different. He doesn't remember what, but he did remember that it definitely wasn't normal.

'Does this mean that I really killed the Vice Principal and the Soccer Coach?' Noah had previously thought that he wasn't responsible for their deaths as it was found to be an animal attack, but right now, he wasn't so sure anymore.

GRRRA!

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar, which made Noah flinch in fear. Now that his vision was completely back, he looked around and discovered that he was in the Arayal Hills, which was a large forested area right outside of New World City.

GRRRR!

He heard the voice again, but this time it was different. "Wolfe?" Noah was already familiar with the dragon's voice. 

Was he fighting something? Noah thought. Maybe another wild beast?

Noah was silent. After contemplating for a few seconds, he bit his lip, and headed deeper into the interior of the jungle, where the voice was coming from.

Noah moved quickly and carefully as he pushed through the tall grass, following the direction of the roar.

He came to a wide, open field where only tall grass and shrubs were present, and Noah paused. 

Noah caught a glimpse of two creatures fighting with each other.

He recognised the dragon, Wolfe, which was taking on a creature that was larger than him in size. The beast had thick, dark brown coloured fur covering its body and a giant elongated head that reminded him of a bird. 

GRRRRA!

The creature roared loudly at Wolfe, and spread out both of its large wings, which, unlike those of Wolfe's, were completely covered in feathers, similar to that of birds.

'What the hell is that thing?' Noah thought to himself. He then turned his gaze towards Wolfe and he grunted in surprise.

The dragon, which to Noah had seemed invincible, was now completely covered in bruises. 

Was Wolfe losing?