Xavier wondered why she stopped but he didn’t open his eyes and focused on the thought of being human. Then he heard a voice but it wasn’t Lily’s “You can open your eye, monster” the voice said. This made Xavier’s blood ran cold, it was a man then he slowly opened his eyes to reveal that Lily was being held by the guy with the tattoo pointing a gun on her head. He saw Lily cry and rage was starting to cloud his mind but the same voice halted his advance on the man. It was Mat and he was also pointing a gun at him, “Gentlemen, I present to you the Monster of the Livingston Manor.” Mat said proudly. Xavier began to growl but Mat told him to stand down or Lily would pay the price signaling the man with a tattoo to be ready. “Now, get your ass out of the circle and follow me.” Mat said while he backed away his gun still pointed at him. Xavier grunted and slowly floated towards him, as the was in range with the tattooed guy he quickly conjured a tentacle and with a blink of an eye the tattooed guy was pushed in to the tree with a loud crack and threw him aside. This caught everyone off-guard and by the time Mat could process what was happening Xavier was already protecting Lily from the gun shot while grabbing and smacking his men on the ground. Mat shot a few rounds on Xavier but he countered it with a shield he conjured. The men didn’t stand a chance but Xavier didn’t hurt them as much, he was only attempting to drive them away but they continued their assault on the monster for the sake of the money. He flailed several tentacles to push them back but the men had fire arms and they had numbers, but Xavier had morphing abilities so while was guard himself and Lily he conjured an arm and plunged it into the ground. “What are you doing?” Lily said between sniffles, “Watch this!” Xavier said smirkingly then a low grumble emanated from the ground causing a faint shake. A few seconds later several giant tendrils jutted out and picking each man off the ground raising them a couple feet in the air. They dropped their guns and were screaming their lungs out demanding the creature to lower them down but instead Xavier bash them with one another in a carousel of pain. “That’s right go get’em Xavier. Kick their asses” Lily yelled supporting from behind. As he enjoyed smacking one guys to another, he forgot to count the men he held captive so he briefly stopped to count the men and came into an eye widening conclusion, Mat wasn’t there. He looked around trying to located him but stopped when he heard a voice, he looked to see Mat holding a weapon covered with cloth and pointing it towards him “SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND! he yelled furiously clearly enraged at this point then he removed the cloth to reveal an RPG rocket launcher. Lily’s eyes widened at the sight of the weapon “Mat! Have you gone insane? Put the freaking gun down!” Lily screamed. “NO! I am not letting my fame and fortune be thrown in the sidelines. I’m bagging this fucking monster one way or another and I am not letting anyone stop me, not even you Lily.” “Mat this is madness! You’ve got insane Lily said still persuading him “SHUT UP!!! he said furiously while cocking the gun and pointing it towards her. “So, what will it be monster? You or the girl?”. Xavier pondered for a second before letting go of the men mid-air falling on the ground as he recalled all of his tentacles and reverting back into his cloaked form. “What are you doing Xavier?” Lily hissed at him. “Don’t worry I have a plan” he said communicating through her mind. Lily stood still as she watched her dear friend’s plan unfold. “Alright, you win. You got us, I’ll come with you on one condition, leave Lily alone. Mat grinned and agreed to his terms, he ordered him to move towards truck and get in the cage. He did what he was told and headed towards the truck slowly, at this point the men were already on their feet and unsheathed their machetes as their guns were out of ammo. Mat ordered the men to be ready so they can leave with their supposed prize but little do they know they were already caught in Xavier’s trap. In one swift motion, he stretched a tentacle and grabbed it away from Mat then he tossed it aside and pushed Mat slamming him on a nearby tree. Then the men charged at him one by one using their machetes slicing him. The spell made him partially vulnerable as red liquid was dripping out of one of his wounds. The men saw this opportunity and continued their assault on Xavier but he relented, the formed several bladed tendrils and countered every attack. The metal steel clashing with Xavier’s harden appendages were like a scene in a movie, Xavier saw their red auras Lily was watching behind the tree and decided to help her loving friend. She grabbed a long and thick branch and ran towards one of the men, the kid. As the kid turned his head, Lily greeted him with a wide swing to the jaw knocking him out instantly. Then she attempted to attack another one but it didn’t work this time, she swung makeshift bat at bulky guy but it shattered on impact. The guy turned around and slapped Lily sending her face down on the ground, the man attempted to kill her but Xavier saw him and he immediately sent a tentacle to grab his machete and bashing him on the head with the handle with loud crack sending him face down on the ground then he turned his attention to the others and swung at them with a large tentacle knocking them down. He went towards Lily worried “Lily are you ok? Say something!” he said with worried breaths. Lily coughed a little and said “I’m fine, I’m fine. I just needed a breather” with a low tone. Xavier smiled and helped her stand up, they both looked at the men who were battered and bruised on the ground. Lily counted them and told Xavier that Mat was missing then he quickly returned to his fight mode. He said he was knocked out under a tree but when he pointed towards it, he was shocked to see that he wasn’t there anymore. “I swear I left him right over there” Xavier exclaimed. “Probably ran off like he always does. What a coward” Lily said. “No, I could still sense his presence somewhere” Xavier said then from out of nowhere a loud gunshot was heard across the forest and followed by a cry of pain.