"Catch him!" Suzuki barked with urgency.
Sato and Yamamoto obeyed at once.
The three bullies charged at Tanaka with such speed that he had no time to think—he reacted purely on instinct.
As Tanaka raised his frail, skinny arms to shield himself, as though they could protect him, a sudden red-and-black radiance burst forth, blinding and searing the bullies in an instant.
Sato, Yamamoto, and Suzuki collapsed to the ground, howling as an unbearable burning consumed their eyes. They writhed in agony, blood seeping through their fingers as they covered their faces. The once quiet alley turned into a pit of screams and suffering
At last, and unexpectedly, Tanaka Itsuki had awakened his superpowers.
But not like an ordinary hero.
Instead, the seventeen-year-old boy, whose awakening had come far too late, had unleashed a curse within himself—a curse that had lain dormant for seventeen years, waiting for the perfect moment to rise.
Tanaka's eyes glowed a deep, blood-red, shining with an almost unnatural light. Black veins spread across his face like scorched roots beneath his ashen skin. From his arms oozed liquid shadows, dripping and slithering as though his very flesh was made of smoke and blood.
Little by little, Suzuki regained his sight, though the pain was unbearable. When his blurred vision finally cleared, what he saw was no longer the boy he had once known. Tanaka had become something else entirely—something demonic. A villain, the kind the city had grown accustomed to living under since its domination.
Sato and Yamamoto still lay on the ground, silent now, yet their suffering showed plainly in their trembling. Suzuki managed to force himself upright, dizzy, his eyes still burning as he struggled to open them fully. He couldn't tear his gaze away from Tanaka.
Before him was no longer a seventeen-year-old boy.
Before him stood a demon.
A demon no one could ever hope to defeat.
Tanaka was no longer the weak boy everyone once bullied.
Now, he had become a powerful demonic villain, one the world would soon know as: Erevos.
Tanaka tore his gaze from the bullies. Regaining some reason, he looked down at himself—and was horrified. He had become something he had never wished for.
All he had ever wanted was to be a hero. But never… never had he imagined he would end up a demon.
"Damn it… what now? What the hell am I supposed to do? I can't go home like this… Mom will despise me, she'll be terrified," Tanaka muttered. His voice had changed—deeper, heavier, every word drawn out as though speaking itself had become a struggle.
Then he remembered the bullies. Two of them still crawled on the ground. The moment they opened their eyes and saw him, they turned and scrambled away like infants fleeing for their lives.
Only one stayed—Suzuki. The bravest of the three, and their leader.
"You think turning into a damned demon makes you stronger than me?" Suzuki snarled, his rage and thirst for vengeance burning. His pride demanded he not lose here. His reputation was at stake—even if no one else was present to witness it.
"Shut up, idiot. Leave now before I end you with a single blow. You owe me this much," Tanaka replied coldly.
But just as Suzuki, prepared to charge again, convinced he could somehow win this fight, someone else entered the scene.
An elastic hand shot out of nowhere, stretching like a band of rubber. Its fingers wrapped around Suzuki's waist, lifting him into the air and stopping him from making the worst mistake of his life.
Sato and Yamamoto kept crawling toward the alley's exit, never daring to look back.
Tanaka's eyes locked onto the elastic hand. He instantly knew who it belonged to.
It was Shimizu—his best friend.
That was Shimizu's power: super elasticity.
Whether his hands, his neck, his legs, or even his torso, he could stretch any part of his body endlessly, like chewing gum being pulled to its limits.
"Tanaka Itsuki? Is that really you? Whoa,—you finally awakened your powers! That's amazing! Now tell me, what should I do with this idiot who thinks biting my hand will make me let him go?" Shimizu said. His stretched hand gripped Suzuki tightly, holding him like a toy he had no intention of releasing.
"I don't care. Do what you want with him," Tanaka answered with disinterest.
Suzuki panicked, sinking his teeth deeper into Shimizu's skin, desperate to escape—but it was useless.
Shimizu smirked. He had been waiting for this moment. Suzuki had always bullied them, mocking both him and Tanaka, lording his early awakening of powers over them, making their lives miserable. Now, finally, it was his turn.
With no hesitation, Shimizu hurled Suzuki to the side of the alley. The throw was flawless. Suzuki's body soared through the air, his scream echoing in terror—until he vanished. No one knew where he landed.
Moments later, Tanaka's demonic form unraveled.
A gust of wind swirled around him before fading, leaving behind the seventeen-year-old boy once again.
Shimizu's body also snapped back to normal, his hand returning to its original state.
Sato and Yamamoto staggered to their feet and, like frightened zombies, stumbled away, desperate not to share their leader's fate.
"Tanaka, that was incredible! But hey, when you sign up for the city's Hero Academy… what will you say when they ask about your power? How would you name it—or describe it?" his best friend asked curiously.
It was a good question.
Even Tanaka himself didn't have the answer.
"Let's just go home… I need to apologize to my mother. I need to talk to her," was all Tanaka could manage to say.
Shimizu walked him home.
Neither of them knew that from that day on, their lives would only grow more complicated.