[1]

UNITED STATES, DENTON TEXAS. OCTOBER 12TH

It was a lively night in the small town of Denton. With the streets practically emptied and most stores closed, the only noticeable racket- besides the burly breeze- was the sound of panicked breathing and heavy footsteps pounding at the concrete below.

"Ha! That little quirkless fucker is pretty fast! Think he'll last any longer?" A kid with lightning for hair chuckled, leading the way for the rest of his small group of delinquents.

The kid he was chasing glanced back, in his eyes was nothing but fear and fatigue. He had been running for a while, and he was reaching his limit.

"Heh! I give him a couple more blocks! We're almost at Caesars Pizza- "Another kid responded, his own body being uniquely different from their target and his leader.

With furry arms, knife like nails, thighs like tree trunks and wolf ears atop gray matted hair, the kid flashed a cruel smile as his beady red eyes flashed hungrily.

"Woah~ Drop that look bruh, you look like you're going to eat his ass." Chuckling, the third and finally bully spoke up. Though, his own words contrasted with his own appearance.

With a relatively normal, standard human appearance, the kid smiled just like his two partners. Though he looked human, the four-spider leg like appendages sprouting from his lower back shouted something different.

The trio sped up, feeling the distance between them and their target slowly closing as the one in question began to tire visibly.

His jaw clenched and his fist tightened as he inevitably fell to his knees just outside a dark apartment alleyway. Grunting as he fell, the kid closed his eyes and awaited the inevitable as he heard a group of footsteps approach him at high speeds.

"Look! I told you he'd last another two blocks!" Chuckling like he had heard the funniest joke ever, the werewolf of a meta licked his teeth gazing at the curled-up ball of a human before them.

"Kai~ Come on! Don't be a bitch. At least look us in the eyes while we beat your ass… Don't tell me- This is how your father went out too, is it?" Covering his own mouth with his hand, the boy with lightning for hair chuckled, his eyes showing just how much he didn't regret what he said.

Kai, the boy in question, felt tears well up in his eyes as his eyes shot open, glaring hatefully at his attackers. "Fuck you. There's a reason your sorry asses have to jump me every time you see-" Unable to finish his sentence, Kai was met with a swift, furry kick to his face.

Cracking his nose and sending him skidding across the pavement, grinding away the skin on his left shoulder and forearm.

Groaning in pain but biting his lip to avoid screaming, Kai raised his arm to his face, cupping his bleeding nose and aching skull. 'Fucking christ-!' He screamed internally, feeling the panic, anxiousness, and anger well-up within his chest as he heard the taunting laughter of his attackers.

"Holy shit, Sam! You broke dudes' nose… What the fuck…" The one with spider appendages spoke up, feeling a little woozy seeing the bloody appearance of the kid they were supposed to just be messing with.

This isn't the first time they hit him, but they always held back since their mutant types and always have naturally increased strength- Not to mention the fact that Kai is an unpowered person… His physique can't handle half of the beating a quirked person could.

"Oh, shut up! Daniel, shock him or something. The bitch thinks he's funny." The one named Sam spat, slowly closing the distance between him and Kai.

Daniel hummed, flashing an unhinged smile. Kai opened his eyes to get a look at his attackers. The headlights of a passing van highlighted Daniel and Sam as they approached, one behind the other- Both holding the same brutal glints in their eyes.

Kai glared, even though he was scared he might actually die tonight- He still held his ground.

"You know what makes this whole situation funnier? Huh Kai? It's the fact that you don't even have anyone to call after we're done… You're just going to limp your broken ass back to the little shitty, backwatered apartments your dead daddy left you in, and cry yourself to sleep." Daniel stated, kneeling in front of Kai.

Pushing his shoulder slightly to put him on his back.

The tears that were previously in his eyes were no where to be found, all that was left was complete restrained anger. Sam grinned maniacally at the sight.

"Heh… David, come here. Take a picture of his face!" he called, looking over his shoulder to see that David was frozen in place, a look of hesitation and unsurety painted on his face.

Sam sucked his tooth and ignored him, 'Pussy.' He mentally commented, mostly towards David but Kai as well.

Pulling out his phone, he pulled Kai' hand away from his face and quickly took a couple pictures. "Yeah~ This is golden…" He commented. Glancing over towards Daniel as he put his phone back in his pocket.

Kai' teeth grinded together, struggling to breath as he wasn't accustomed to mouth breathing. "You're mad now but remember why we're doing this. You think you're like us- Equal. You have no power, dickhead. Stop tainting the 'Powerfuls' reputation trying to accomplish the same shit we are." Daniel spat, placing his hand on Kai' face.

The kid in question felt his eyes widen and his heart began to beat like it was trying to escape his chest. "N-No!" He yelled out, hearing the electricity on Daniels head crackle and pop.

"Heh!" Sam scoffed, turning away and stepping beside David. Shoving him with an elbow as he did so. "You really gotta man up, dude." He muttered. David swallowed dryly as he nodded absent mindedly, his sight glued to Daniels back as he brutally shocked Kai with enough electricity to cause his skin to pop and burn.

His screams woke the few the occupied the dark and empty apartment complex. However, all they did was turn a blind eye… After all, Denton was known for its lack of Pro-Heroes and rather high rate of crime.

Moments later, Daniel and his group had stopped their torture and looked over the kid they practically killed. Daniel, giving one last kick to Kai' gut to make sure he wasn't dead- was satisfied when the kid let out a pained, weak cough.

"Alright. That's enough, let's go." And just like that, the trio turned to leave. David lingered, whispering his apologies just loud enough for Kai to hear. Though, the kid didn't care… He was practically drowning in his own blood as his broken nose was still bleeding.

Not to mention the excessive burns on his face that impaired his vision and shocked his brain- It was a literal miracle that he was still alive.

…

As the dark-skinned teen laid there, hating how weak he was and how unfair the world had been to him. Kai couldn't help but feel his heart hurt with the want to get revenge.

'T-This- Why…? Why me!?' He cried internally. Ignoring how childish and immature he sounded. 'I just want to live! W-Why is that such a problem?!' He questioned once more, rolling over on his back, coughing up a ball of blood as he did so.

Weakly opening his eyes; He let out a slight chuckle at the lack of vision he had. Everything was blurry, even when he weakly held up his hand in front of his face, it was like it was fifty meters away.

'I want to die.'

CRACK! *

Kai didn't fret when he heard the sound of thunder crackle above his head. He was too far gone to even care about anything else. All that he could recognize was a light, fluffy feeling of finally letting go.

'Of-fucking-course…' He complained, hearing it crackle once more.

BOOM! * This time, Kai furrowed his brows as much as his face allowed. The sky roared, yet no rain followed like he expected. 'That is so loud…' He groaned mentally.

CRACK! BOOM! *

Kai genuinely felt that something was wrong. 'A-Am I hallucinating or something?' Wanting to chop up the sounds he was hearing to him just developing trauma towards anything electrical after what he just experienced; He knew that wasn't the case as of right now though.

He waited, laying on the cold pavement with hitched breathing. He counted seconds until the next roar of thunder occurred, but as moments passed, Kai eventually relaxed. Chocking up what he heard as nothing but delusions.

Until the sky roared once more and through his blurred vision, multicolored lightning shot down from the dark, clear sky and struck him directly.

His eyes widened, causing his scarred face to protest painfully. He wanted to scream, but the burning pain that seared through his chest and spine froze him in place.

The lightning rain lasted for what felt like hours, but in reality, it was less than a second. Once it died down, Kai had passed out, his dark skin pulsing with electric veins flashing white.

…

Hours passed and Kai was still unconscious. It wasn't until it reached 6am that people finally began to come out of their apartments. The first to notice Kai was a brown skinned lady.

Immediately calling for an ambulance.