Ambush

In the newly quiet streets of Ravenwood, at night, Isaac walked as he kicked some rocks and wore a face of dissatisfaction, mumbling to himself. 

"Crazy asshole. I had to save him to protect my ass. Who would believe me if I had told them he willingly threw himself off that roof." He said as the earlier events of the day were fresh in his mind. 

Luckily, no one saw his superhuman feats while saving Juniper. Despite the combined commotion of the breaking glass and the yelling of the crazed lunatic, he was able to leave before staff arrived at the scene of the commotion. They quickly tended to the Vice President of the student council with care as Isaac was able to get away safely. 

As for the goons on the roof? Well, Isaac wasn't sure what happened to them, however, he knew for a fact they didn't talk about what happened, otherwise, Isaac would be in a jail cell right about now. Despite his luck, Isaac couldn't help but feel grumpy at today's events. He acted recklessly and it almost cost him dearly. Not only for him but for his grandpa as well. 

He had become strong and it made him cocky, his mind ignoring the fact that power came in multiple forms, not just strength. It truly reminded him that outside his Qi and physicality, Isaac was truly powerless. Growing up in Ravenwood made that fact more and more apparent. Something he would struggle with most of his coming life. Isaac wasn't like all these other rich kids who had leeway in life. For him, his actions had consequences. Making him think whether he should keep the Monkey King and Isaac Hale completely divided. Whether he should keep Isaac Hale as the fragile weak boy he was, and the Monkey King as the hero of Ravenwood, powered by Qi.

As he thought this, he looked around and noticed the streets were awfully quiet. The more he moved to his home the fewer people he saw.

Coincidently, screams and grunts snapped him out of his daydream. He followed the sounds of the voices, making accurate guesses as to what it could be, and proving himself correctly as he witnessed two men with guns harassing and robbing a family of a male, female and child. It was rare to see a family like this out this late, however, due to the recent uproar about the Guardian Angel of Ravenwood being real, it might have instilled a sense of peace and trust in the hearts of civilians. And it was the Monkey King's job to uphold that trust.

"This'll get my mind off everything." Mumbled Isaac.

"Give me everything you have! Wallets and jewellery! Hurry up!" Yelled one of the assailants while his partner pinned down the man. The woman and child shivered in fear as the mother removed her bracelet and earrings with trembling hands. As the man pointing the gun at them smiled at the visibly expensive jewellery, he noticed a thud behind him. 

He quickly looked back, only to notice his partner lying on the ground, unconscious with the family man standing above him with a confused and shocked face.

"What the hell did you do?!" Yelled the robber, confused as he pointed the gun at the innocent man.

"Nothing! I swear, he just dropped to the ground!" He yelled. Before the robber could interrogate him any further, he felt a slight pressure on the back of his head. In the next second, his head smashed onto the ground as blood flooded everywhere. The family of three looked at the scene, only to notice a gorilla-masked man with a white shirt, tie, black suit pants and sneakers kneeling over the man, his hand gripping the back of the robber's head.

The family backed away from the unknown being as their body told them to run. Before they could, the man stood still as he squinted his eyes, staring at the person.

"Wait, are you the famous Monkey King?" Asked the man, his face slowly started to change into a smile.

"That's me. Try not to be out on the streets too late. There are still some idiots who think they can cause trouble around here." Said the Monkey King as he walked into the darkness, leaving the family of three with gaping mouths and shock on their faces.

Isaac kept walking till he turned the corner and headed to where he left his bag and belongings, feeling better about his day after that encounter. As he started to appreciate the name he had made for himself, Isaac noticed a feeling that made the hairs on his neck stand up. He didn't know how to describe it. Bloodlust, predatory gaze, strong emotion, he didn't know what it was. It was as if his survival instincts kicked in, telling him danger was close as if he was being watched. 

Despite this, Isaac tried not to make this feeling noticeable. He channelled his Qi into his eyes as he swung his head backwards, trying to catch the enemy. His eyes glowed with a slight amber glint through the night as he looked past the darkness of the area, darting his eyes back and forth through all the places the assailant could be. 

He didn't know where exactly, however, his eyes made it easier to scan the area within his line of sight. And soon, he spotted a head peeking out from behind a building, watching him with an intense gaze, mixed with slight shock at how the person he had been following was looking straight at him.

The stalker seemed to notice he had been spotted, as in the next second, he disappeared from his position as Isaac tracked his movements.

Isaac, unwilling to let the person leave without putting up a fight, kicked off the ground as he poured most of his Qi into his legs, giving immense speed, surprising even Isaac, as he was unable to test the effects the new growth of Qi would have on him. With impressive agility, Isaac jumped off the walls of the buildings, hurtling himself to the roof where he saw his stalker in the distance, a great length between them.

"He's fast. He was able to cover that distance in just a few seconds." Thought Isaac as he suddenly realised his new leap in speed might not be enough. Despite that, he didn't give up as he leapt great bounds and ran at great speeds to try and close the distance. And despite his original thoughts, Isaac started to catch up to his stalker.

Slowly but surely he started to gain onto the unknown individual as they travelled at blurring speeds, bolting through Ravenwood. As they dropped into an alleyway, in a split second that played like a whole minute to Isaac, he noticed the stalker's footing change angle, indicating he was about to abruptly change direction.

"That way, he's going right! As soon as he turns I'll get the jump on him!" Thought Isaac as he prepared to jump in the foreseen direction. However, before he could even move, he witnessed the stalker's speed suddenly increase drastically. The stalker burst with unreal speed. Speed that Isaac had never seen before, let alone reached. 

The stalker quickly turned the corner as Isaac tried his best to keep up, however, when he followed the individual into the alley, there was no trace of him. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air. Isaac's eyes could see nothing, he even tried to focus his Qi sense but to no avail. The stalker was gone.

***

Isaac opened the door to his apartment as he walked in, exhaustion and defeat visible on his face. It was clear from his demeanour that Isaac had been through a lot that day. The chipper boy who left the apartment that same morning was nowhere to be seen, replaced by someone who looked as if all he needed was a nap.

Isaac collapsed on his couch as his eyes slowly started to close. He thought about all that had happened today and how much he had learned. There was now someone in Ravenwood who showed greater feats than he was even close to, there was a chance Juniper would wake up and ruin his life and worst of all, he was all alone. He had no one to talk to. No one to confide in. 

"I miss Grandpa." He confessed, his previous joy at the old man's sudden departure quickly being replaced by the feeling of longing and despair. Just as he thought this, he heard a few knocks on the door as he sprang up his head, staring at the entrance.

"Grandpa?"

***

"What happened?" A voice came through a communications device that sounded commanding and authoritative. 

"He spotted me. However, I was able to get away." Said the man holding the communication device, sitting on a rooftop, in the shadows as he looked over Ravenwood. 

"He spotted you? That's impressive. What happened, Khan?"

"I apologise. I underestimated him, ignoring the fact there was a possibility he would sense me. However, I was able to get away. Despite him being faster than I was told, he was still not up to my level. During my time, I was able to find out he most likely isn't one of us." Said the man, giving a detailed report on what happened.

"Keep watching him. I don't want 'Mosy likely', I want facts. Find out who he is and what relationship he has with Vitalis." Said the voice, commanding the man.

"Understood, sir Colt."

***

"Grandpa?" Said Isaac, walking to the door with a sceptical face. His grandfather had keys, he wouldn't be knocking. Yet the visits they got were practically zero, so who else could it be? He swung the door open as he was met with two tall men in suits and black sunglasses.

"Isaac Hale?" One of the men asked, making Isaac raise an eyebrow.

"That's me. Can I help you?" As Isaac said this, the two men looked at each other as they turned their heads to him, one of them raising their hand and flipping open some sort of ID.

"We are with the Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans. You're under arrest." Isaac couldn't help but stare at the two men with a straight face as he tried to understand what they had just said.

"Huh…?" Asked Isaac, finally contemplating their words while sweat started to pour from his forehead.

"Don't make this any harder than it needs to be. Just put your hands behind your…"

"Hey, wait a second! Why am I being arrested?!" Asked Isaac, cutting the men off and raising his hands, trying his best to understand what was going on. As he suddenly moved, the two men before him flinched slightly, one of them revealing a peculiar object in his hands, hiding it in his pocket. Isaac had seen this enough times already to know what it was, it was a gun.

As the man whipped out his weapon, attempting to point it at Isaac, he felt a crushing blow assault his abdomen, making him vomit and fall unconscious. Isaac retracted his leg after kicking the man, noticing the aggressive action they showed. The second man looked at his fallen partner for a few seconds before drawing his weapon.

However, he was too late. He heard a slam as the door he stood before closed in his face. Isaac ran into his apartment and grabbed his bag, putting in his belongings and necessities. It was clear he couldn't stay here anymore. He didn't know what was going on right now, but he refused to go with those people. He just needed to escape and deal with this later as the Monkey King.

Just as he thought this, he heard a rumbling crash coming from his front door. The whole building shook as dust filled the air and debris flew across the room, clear that whatever happened had just destroyed half of Isaac's apartment. However, it didn't stop there, soon Isaac started to hear loud stomps that trembled the ground, low and animal-like grunts coming from the direction of the stomps.

Through the smoke, Isaac noticed a pair of yellow, reptilian eyes that towered over him, peeking through the haze. Isaac seemingly stopped breathing as he stared at whatever this monster was. As he came into view, he noticed a giant being with ragged pants, green reptilian-like scales and sharp giant teeth, beckoning to chomp on something.

With every step this creature took, it left a small crater in Isaac's fragile and old apartment. The monster looked down at Isaac, its tall size and wide body barely fitting in the apartment, destroying anything that stood in its way.

Isaac's heart beat rapidly, his eyes and mind constantly battling over whether what he was seeing was real or not. Sweat poured down his face as he was frozen, his body not listening to the countless cells in his body that were screaming at him to run.

Without a word, the beast raised its hand and swung his fist at Isaac, its speed defying the logic behind its size. The surprised Isaac stared at the fist as it approached him, screaming at his body to move. With a deep breath, Isaac controlled his Qi through his meridians and raised his hands to block the attack.

With surprise, Isaac stopped the fist before it struck him as he gritted his teeth, his feet barely able to hang onto the ground. As he acknowledged his achievement, he failed to notice the sneaky long and thick tail that was adorned in green scales, whipped by the monster, hitting him straight in his ribs.

Drops of blood escaped from Isaac's mouth as he crashed through his apartment, soon crashing through and window and sent flying through the air. With a loud boom, Isaac hit the ground, leaving a crater where he fell, dust covering him as he tried his best to command his Qi to the previously damaged area.

After a mere few seconds, footsteps echoed through the streets of Ravenwood where Isaac had just fallen.

"Isaac Hale. Or should I say, The Monkey King?" A female authoritative voice came from the darkness as the sounds of the footsteps increased and became louder. 

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Amanda Waller, Director of the Advanced Research Group Uniting Superhumans, or ARGUS." As the voice said this, Isaac got to his feet as the dust started to settle, revealing a few individuals that surrounded him.

"I know I'm a bad guy and all, but ganging up on a kid is probably the lowest point in my career. And I've done some pretty messed up stuff." A female with pale skin, tattoos, pink and blue hair with the same coloured makeup spoke jokingly in a chipper voice as she carried a mallet and wore short pants and high boots, coupled with a blue and red leather jacket.

"Alright kid, don't make me stick a boomerang down your throat. That would be a shame. Cleaning my boomerangs is always a bother." A man in a thick Australian accent spoke mockingly as he wore a blue trench coat and a blue beanie.

The previous monster stood behind Isaac as it grunted, sweeping its tail across the ground while holding a tablet that the lady spoke out of. However, what drew Isaac's attention the most, was the familiar spiky blond-haired man with a glowing blue sword in his hands that Isaac had almost forgotten about.

"You got lucky last time with those cheap tricks, punk. Let's see if you can do it again." Despite remembering him with blond hair, he started to notice the colour of the blond fading, as if it were dyed, revealing black streaks across the man's hair.

"Jay?!" Yelled Isaac internally. He was completely confused, any logical explanation he thought of was diminished by the illogical situation he was in. Arrested, peculiar individuals and monsters. All Isaac could do was push the questions out of his mind and prepare for the clear threat that stood before him.

"Isaac Hale, meet the Suicide Squad."

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Look up in the sky! Is it a bird?! Is it a plane?! No, its POWERSTONESSSSSSSSS!

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