Chapter 2 - The Raid and Revelation

The Steel Factory warehouse was one of the main producers of metal in Callahan so raiding it would be beneficial to the majority of the gangs in the city since metal is a scarce resource. Gangs could use metal for forging their weapons such as swords, guns and all that. Not only can it be used in weapons, it can be used to reinforce the gang territories and such by the use of metal plating. Whatever s**t is going down tonight, it's going down hard.

I had arrived at the scene at 11:45pm and as planned I climbed up the roof of the factory to conceal myself from the "main gangs" that are going to be here. Once I got up on the roof, I saw a familiar face. It was Samiel, he'd gotten to the soon to be crime scene way before me. He looked focused as he held his katana in his left hand.

"You're late." Samiel said to me.

"Like I give a f**k." I replied to him. "It's only 11:45 anyway, the raid's supposed to go down at midnight as planned." I added.

Samiel had time issues. If I knew better, he was already here way early. Probably he was scouting the vicinity and our escape route just in case the cops show up.

"Sound Bridge Boys and Mountain Tigers are the gangs that are going to raid this place. It was a planned war between the two." Samiel said.

"Then the Silver Shadows are the third party, they wouldn't know what hit them." I replied to him as I put on my cut-off gloves.

The time's almost nearing the raid that was about to take place and indeed these guys are on time. We knew the gang symbols and which gang one person belonged to. The guys wearing tank tops with white tiger logos engraved on different parts of their shirt were obviously members of the Mountain Tigers, while the guys who had musical notes tattooed on their wrists were the Sound Bridge Boys. The Mountain Tigers usually operated in the north end of Callahan, I should because I snuck into their headquarters just a month ago to steal some cash from them. I never knew much about the Sound Bridge Boys though, they must be new since Callahan bridge was still under The Dragon Clan control. Me and Samiel stayed on top of the roof to avoid being noticed by the other gangs.

"Sounds like a serious raid." I whispered to Samiel

"Yeah, who knew they'd bring that kind of man power for just raiding a steel factory." Samiel replied.

I knew what he was saying as I looked at the gang members of the Sound Bridge Boys. They had fewer Slingers than Miscals which suggests that Miscals were their frontliners. I saw the weapons of their Miscals and most of those people had whips with spikes at the end. I didn't know much about the Sound Bridge Boys but I sure did know about those whips. Those things hurt like a son of a b***h and I've been hit with that thing one in too many times. The whips were already bad enough but when the spike lodges into your flesh, it tears your skin and muscles which f*****g hurts really bad. I'd rather get shot by a bullet than get hit by those f*****g things.

"What do the Mountain Tigers got? I can't see from here." Samiel asked me.

"I see, less Miscals, and they have Slingers on the front lines. Few Melee's also and one guy has a huge axe. He looks experienced." I said to him.

"We'll let them fight for now and we'll finish the left overs." Samiel said.

We eavesdropped on the conversation back there as we were preparing for the surprise attack that we were about to engage.

...

General POV

The Mountain Tigers were now staring down their opponents for the night which happened to be the Sound Bridge Boys. There was a brief moment of silence between the two gangs that were in the raid, until one of the members of the Mountain Tigers decided to speak up.

"Whoever wins the war will claim all the resources here." he said. 

The members of the Sound Bridge Boys did not say anything as they began to attack in an collective position. Their Miscals began to rush at the Slingers of the Mountain Tigers. Gunshots came from the side of the Mountain Tigers as they began to kill the Miscals of the opposition gang one by one. Majority of the members of the Sound Bridge Boys fell now to the ground dead. Their Slingers were now exposed as the Mountain Tigers continued to attack them with huge precision. Few of the members of the Mountain Tigers also fell to the clutches of the Miscals of the Sound Bridge Boys but only a few men remained from their gang. 

The Mountain Tigers were now being cocky as they had the upper hand in the raid. They walked slowly to the remaining members of the Sound Bridge Boys to intimidate them, but as they were about to attack, there was a huge gush of air that came towards them and sent the majority of the members of the Mountain Tigers flying towards the scrap metal pile. A few of them actually died from the impact that the air had delivered.

"What the hell is this?!" One member of the Mountain Tigers asked in surprise.

"I forgot to mention that I was still here." A voice said.

They all looked to the side of the Sound Bridge Boys and were surprised at what they saw.

...

Kidel POV

I f*****g felt that huge gush of air from where Samiel and I were standing. One of the Sound Bridge members was an Air Manipulator. Sense of urgency tells me that Samiel and I have to get down there.

"We have to finish this fast." I told Samiel.

"You got that right. Let's go." He said as we both jumped in the combat zone of the two opposing gangs.

The gush of air left a huge smoke screen for us to be covered and hidden. Samiel and I went our separate ways in order to cover more ground in killing these losers. Samiel headed towards the Sound Bridge Boys while I rushed to the members of Mountain Tigers to subdue them all. It didn't take long for all of them to notice me charging at them and knowing them, they've probably already heard of me as the Crimson Eyed Demon of the Silver Shadows.

The Mountain Tiger Boys rushed at me in order to attack, but I was too quick for them slow pokes. They were predictable in their attacks and I easily took care of them all without even attempting to attack them. I just countered all their strikes and hit them in the right spots, which was usually at the back of their head in order to render them useless. 

I was still busy with the small fry members when I noticed that the only remaining member was that dude with the huge axe. I took care of the last gang member before I approached the man with the huge axe. He looked like an experienced guy and it seems to me that he was too old to be a gang member of the Mountain Tigers.

"Hey oldie, you sure you in the right age group?" I asked him.

As expected he did not say anything to me, instead he just charged at me with his huge axe. He swung it vertically but fortunately it was easy enough to avoid. Just as I thought that I was already safe in the air, I then saw something that really surprised the f**k out of me. Earth from beneath me was rising up to close the distance between me and the ceiling. I shifted my weight to the side in order to avoid impact and I successfully did but not without paying the price. As I landed to the floor, the man sent rocks flying towards me which hit me flush in the face. I landed on the ground and felt my face, yep I was bleeding from my nose and I had a cut just above my eye thanks to this man who happened to be an Earth Manipulator.

...

Samiel POV

The fog cleared out and I was in the clear. Sound Bridge members were already retreating thanks to the Mountain Tigers except for that guy, who was an Air Manipulator. I immediately  rushed to attack the guy but it was no use. His air controlling skills were too much for me to handle alone. I needed a distraction, a huge one. Something to take that f****r down for good. I held my blade firmly and relied on my speed again to get closer to the man controlling air and this time I was successful at making it behind him. I slashed his back and indeed the b***h felt the pain.

"How'd you like that?!" I screamed at the manipulator, but before I could even follow up with a next strike, he had me gripped in a whirlwind. I couldn't move my muscles, not even a little. He sent me flying towards the ceiling and it was not a pretty experience. I fell to the ground and I was tired as f**k and couldn't move, now I know the feeling of what it's like, to pass out.

...

Kidel POV

F**k, this guy's walking over me like a doormat. He had the advantage because he was an Earth manipulator. I always thought of what it was like to face Manipulator, well now I know and now I have to remember to think twice in fighting these sons of b*****s. My body felt like jelly and I couldn't move my limbs. I saw the Mountain Tiger member get near me and he checked my vitals. He concluded that I was probably dead, well maybe I was but f**k It would be too soon to tell. I felt something grab my shirt but I was too weak to see who it was. Well whoever was that guy he sent me flying towards the wall with a huge gust of wind. Crap it was the Air Manipulator. Samiel must've been beaten. I heard their voices talking about me, probably finding out that i was one of the Silver Shadows.

"Atleast we took out the trash, now we can go back to our business." A voice said. It was the Earth Manipulator. He was talking to the Air Manipulator. 

"Let's just pick up where we left off shall we?" I heard the Air Manipulator say.

I felt f*****g helpless. I can't even remember feeling like this ever. I can't move, my limbs feel like jelly but an urge inside me says that I can still fight. I can beat any of these f*****g losers any day of the week. I just wanted more strength, just a little push to get up and put these a******s in their place. 

Then suddenly I felt something weird going on inside of me. The core of my body was feeling hot, like the flames of hell had burned it and in a short manner, I felt my body being filled with strength. I began to regain consciousness and as I did, I looked at my hands and they were engulfed in blue flames. Strangely enough it did not hurt me, nor did it burn. Could it be, that I am also one of these Manipulators? Well I didn't have any more time to answer that. All I know is now I can take these guys on in a fair fight.

...

General POV

Kidel stood up as he had fire in his hands. It was no ordinary flame for it was the coldest of all flames. The blue flame. The Earth Manipulator and the Air Manipulator suddenly noticed this and they were surprised at what they saw.

"So he's a manipulator too." The Air Manipulator said.

"He just discovered his powers now, we can still take him." The Earth Manipulator said as he rushed at Kidel to end his life.

Kidel had noticed this and he again evaded the Mountain Tiger members attempt of an attack. He saw Earth rising towards him, but the attempt was thwarted by the fire balls that Kidel had thrown towards the Earth. The Fire Manipulator landed on the ground safely and he now blasted The Earth Manipulator with more blue flame. The Earth Manipulator struggled to keep up, but in time he got hit with Kidel's searing flames. The man fell to the ground injured and as he tried to get up, Kidel appeared and stomped his face on the ground. The Earth Manipulator couldn't move because Kidel's foot was on his face. He saw the crimson eyed teen's face which was bleeding and cut. 

"Ready to die yet f****r?" Kidel said coldly.

The man was petrified at what he saw as his face was stomped to death by Kidel. He noticed that the Earth Manipulator was still barely breathing and he knew that he could not let him live. Kidel now blasted the man with the full force of his blue flame and the man burned to a crisp. Now he was certain that the Earth Manipulator was dead.

"No one messes with me." Kidel said

"Oh really now?" The Air Manipulator said as he attempted to attack Kidel with another gust of wind, but then he felt something sharp stab him right across the heart. It was a steel blade. Samiel had stabbed the Air Manipulator from the Sound Bridge Boys.

"Yeah really." Samiel said as he pulled his blade out of the chest of the Air Manipulator.

"Glad to see that you're okay." Kidel had said to him.

"The heat woke me up." Samiel had said. He noticed Kidel's hands were still on fire because of his blue flame power.

"Holy s**t, you're a Manipulator?" Samiel asked him.

"I only found out now." Kidel replied coldly.

"Damn. And not only that, you're flame is different from a conventional Fire Manipulator." Samiel had added. 

"What the hell does this mean?" Kidel asked him.

"I don't know man, but at least we cleared the raid. No Mountain Tigers and Sound Bridge Boys in sight. We'd better take the resources here now." Samiel had said.

"You give the guys a call, I'm f*****g exhausted from all of this. I'll be on my way." Kidel said to him.

"Yeah sure just get well man." Samiel said as he got his phone out of his pocket to call the rest of the Silver Shadow members.

...

Kidel POV

I walked out of the warehouse and ended up in the streets of St. Marks district. I just needed to get away from it now. My face was still bleeding and my limbs feel weak but not as weak as they were before because I can walk now. I'm still going slow and I had to make it to the central district to get to the train. Trains here in Callahan never close which was good news to me but I'm not sure I can travel that far with all my energy drained from me, especially now that I can Manipulate fire I was to expect more fatigue in my system.

Everything hurt, my shoulders, my cuts, my head and my muscles. I clutched my left arm and yeah the thing was as useless as a rock.

"F**k I need a cast on this thing, or at least to stretch it." I told myself.

I continued walking in St. Marks, I had a feeling that it was already past midnight. My hunch was it was somewhere in 1:30 to 2:00am now. The houses in St. Marks district looked nice which reminded me of my old home. Yeah I feel regret sometimes that I gave up all of that regular life for a gang, but my hatred of the system of life weighed more on my list of things that I hate so it didn't matter. Then I stumbled upon a car parked in a certain house which had a familiar license plate to me. 

"MRK3721?" I read it outloud.

I was sure that this was Lumina's place, but yeah like hell she'll allow me to stay here. From the looks of her father earlier, he preferred educated guys rather than gangbangers so there was zero chance that I was going to be allowed to stay here. So I did the other thing. I examined her house and checked if there was a backyard, and there was. I snuck into the back and saw her backyard. It was a wide space and you would see typical flowers and a sandbox which was probably there because she played in it when she was a kid. There was a huge tree at the far end of her backyard so I sat down there to rest. I looked at her house which was right in front of me and saw that there was still light on the second floor room. I wasn't sure if it was Lumina's room or her dad's but nonetheless, it would be better if no one found me here. I rested my head against the body of the tree and attempted to sleep.

...

Lumina POV

I had my light on my room which was on the second floor because I was still doing some homework which was obviously due tomorrow. I'm not exactly a good student in school despite all of my straight A's because I tend to get lazy at times. I was typing a paper for my English assignment when I suddenly felt the urge to use my brand new camera. I then stopped typing my paper for a while and took my camera with me. I opened the window in my room and looked through the lens of my camera. It had night mode so I can see the things that I want to capture in my camera. I looked around through the lens and saw the familiar things in my back yard which was the sandbox I used to play in when I was young, the flowers and the huge tree at the far end. I kept my camera focused at the huge tree and I'm pretty sure that there is someone sitting below the tree near the roots. I zoomed with my lens just to make sure that if there was a person there and indeed there was. I had two choices, either disturb my dad or to see who it is for myself and I would choose the latter. I'm not really the typical girl who gets scared easily. I can describe myself as more daring and brave for that matter. 

I took a baseball bat from my closet and went downstairs to see who the person sitting below the huge tree was. My dad was already asleep for it was already 2:00 in the morning. I went to the kitchen because it was where the door to the backyard was located and I opened it and went to the backyard slowly. I walked towards the huge tree while carrying the baseball bat and when I got there I was surprised to see who the person was. It was the guy I met earlier in the central square. He looked different though for he was bleeding out of his nose and on the corner of his eye. He looked beat up from a fight. He was sleeping

"Kidel?" I called out his name.

Suddenly I saw him wake up and he looked at me with those crimson eyes of his.

"Uhhh.... Lumina?" he said softly as he was tired.

"Come, let's get you fixed up." I told him as I helped him get up and took him inside my house.