The trio stumbled into Luna's house. They collapsed into the living room.
Ria was hyperventilating, her entire frame shaking. Tears streamed down her face.
"I made a mess." she choked out, her voice thin with panic. "I made such a terrible mess! What if I killed him? I didn't mean to hurt him!"
Luna, forced herself to approach the girl. She knelt and her face softened. "You didn't kill him, Ria. And you saved us, you did a good thing."
Ravyn remained standing, his back to the room. His fists were still trembling.
Luna slowly stood and turned to him. "Ravyn, are you okay?"
He didn't move. "That guy... he was looking for me, he called me an anomaly." His voice was a flat. "And you nearly died, all because of me."
"But I didn't.." Luna snapped. "We didn't, so stop freaking out."
Ravyn finally turned. "We were lucky this time. But who knows about next time? Or what if there isn't even a next time?"
Luna grabbed his jacket, forcing him to meet her gaze. "There is and we will survive! You said it yourself this morning, Ravyn! We aren't strong but we survived two encounters and now the third is added! We got this!"
Ravyn pulled away, his voice rising in panic. "No, we don't! We don't even know how that guy found me or who he's working with! What if there's an army of them hunting me?"
Luna's frustration boiled over. "What makes you think you're so important to a point where an army is sent against you? You're just being paranoid!"
"I'M NOT BEING PARANOID!" Ravyn shouted, the tears he had held finally falling from his eyes. "You don't understand. Everywhere I go, there's always trouble! I don't protect! I can't protect! All I do is break things and people! That's all I'll ever be good at!"
He scrubbed his face fiercely, turning toward the door. "But this time, I won't stand and watch people get hurt because of me."
Luna's eyes went wide, quickly morphing into familiar hurt. "So you're just gonna leave, huh?" she asked, her voice cracking as tears welled in her own eyes. "Go ahead and leave. That's all everyone in my life is good at."
Ria huddled silently on the sofa, her hands over her mouth.
Ravyn didn't look back. He walked out of the house and into the night.
As he walked his mind was a repeating loop.
[What if they follow me there?]
[And hurt my family?]
He stopped in the middle of the street, chest tightening.
[What If he already knew them?]
Ravyn turned and started running. His body was still hurting but he forced himself.
"Yo. Where you rushin' to?"
A figure stood at center of the road, tall, dark-skinned and powerfully built.
Ravyn skidded to a halt. "Get out of my way." he gasped.
The man, Dave, grinned. "Chill, blood. Dave just wanna talk."
"I said move!" Anger took control. Ravyn didn't wait, he simply flesh-stepped forward, the sudden acceleration blurring him into a streak.
Dave crossed his arms over his chest. Ravyn's punch slammed into the block with pure physical force. The impact vibrated through the air but Dave didn't budge. He pushed back, knocking Ravyn off balance.
Ravyn forced his body to obey. And the deep red aura snapped back into existence, flaring intensely around his fists.
Dave met the sight with a grin, his own body shimmering as he activated his Overheat. "Come at me!." A visible sheath of red-hot mana encased his fists.
Ravyn didn't waste words. He lunged again, a furious barrage of punches.
CLASH!
Dave met him strike for strike, their blows colliding. They traded blows and each strike shaking the foundation of the street.
Dave was faster, he weaved in, uppercut to the ribs. Ravyn coughed, stumbling back... then a spinning elbow came that barely missed Ravyn's head.
Ravyn countered, he flesh-stepped sideways and slammed a punch into Dave's guts.
Dave grunted, sliding back several meters. Then he smiled. "I'm getting pumped now." he said. And heat began to pour off him, waves distorting the air. He had reached his peak and his body was steaming intensely, his skin radiating heat.
They both blurred. And a barrage of fist collided, everything around was ripped by the intense force.
Dave's fist caught Ravyn's stomach, sending him flying backward. But before Ravyn could crash, a kick whipped out, intercepting him mid-flight and slamming him into the ground.
Dave smirked and grabbed Ravyn by the shirt and slammed him head-first into the wall. Then came five consecutive blow to the guts followed by a spinning kick that sent Ravyn flying again.
He tumbled across the street until he crashed into a car hard, coughing and spitting blood.
Ravyn was badly bleeding. He tried forcing himself up but his knees kept on buckling.
"NO!" He shouted, slamming his fist on the ground. "I can't loose."
His entire body convulsed. The deep red aura covered him. He forced himself up again, his body trembling.
His feet sank slightly into the concrete as he increased his own local mass. His body radiating a terrifying pressure.
Dave grinned. "Oh, now we talkin', blood!"
They started walking toward each other, slowly at first. With every step Ravyn took, his feet sank into the ground, the surrounding area trembling.
The two beasts accelerated and met in the center of the street. The forces slammed into each other, not just destroying the street but tearing up the adjacent yards.
The neighboring houses groaned under the pressure, windows blowing out from the shockwave.
Dave tried to burn through the pressure, Ravyn countered by applying a crushing force that threatened to collapse Dave's bones from the inside out.
Dave threw a devastating uppercut. Ravyn dodged it, then plunged his hand forward, focusing all his power into his fist. And he's hand pierced through Dave's chest, tearing a hole through him.
Both powers instantly snapped. And Ravyn's hand remained embedded in Dave's sternum. A torrent of blood from the gaping wound, pooling at their feet.
Dave coughed, blood bubbling past his lips. His eyes fading.
"Damn..." Dave wheezed. "The nicest thing you could've done... was saying no to joining my team."