Chapter 3

The two stranded immigrants on Earth finally reach the busy area of the city. Both the young soldier and the man are in complete total cloth. The young one is wearing a black gene and a black top with OFF WHITE written boldly on it. The man on the other hand is dressed in a baggy blue trouser and top with a red cap. All what they're wearing is being peculated from someone.

 "I still don't know your name yet, and we have been together for hours now". The young man says, inquiring.

 "Doesn't matter because you and I won't be seeing each other again by tomorrow morning. And we aren't friend, so you don't need to know what my name is". The man declare.

 "I am not your enemy. I was literally following the king order. Look, I acknowledge the fact that you spread my life, I still don't know the reason you did that but abandoning me alone on this strange world will definitely lead to my death which means you will be responsible for my death, but indirectly". The young soldier expounds.

 "Fine by me". The man alleges calmly.

 "You are really a beast, as they said". Rustle the soldier, but the man hears wheat he says making him to stand on a motion.

 "Excuse me? Did you just call me a beast?". The man turns to inquiry.

 "That's what we were told. My friend and I just got recruited in two day before we were ordered to hunt you down. All what commander Cane said was that we were hunting for a beast, until I saw that the beast we are hunting for was a man".

 "Metaphorical". He concludes.

 "I am Malik by the way, and I'm starving right now, we should find something to eat".

 "At last, something we can agree on". The man admits as they both head to the restaurant at the other side of the road.

LATER THAT DAY...

 It's another busy late night as usual. The is on the horizon as the air blows coldness to everyone's face. Some of the shops are still open for night's work. Despite this, there are some area that are quite and creepy to work alone.

 "Good night Luck, my regards to your parents". An elderly woman waves farewell at Luck as he leaves the store with loads in his hands. "Be careful out there, my boy. Don't walk the isolated area, it's late already". The woman warns before Luck vanishes at one corner.

 This won't be the first time he will be sent to an errand doing late hour by his parents. He's aware of the dangers that usual happen around the area. He still wonders the reasons behind the cruel acts of his parents, but he has no choice than to do as they want.

 Furthermore, he hasn't walked some miles far from the store when he starts sensing some footsteps following him. He pays no attention to it at first, but he becomes nervous when the person won't stop but keeps following. Then he's really scared when the stalker becomes more than one. Suddenly, he stops, looks around to see who they are, but it seems like the followers have disappeared in to the air with no trace.

 "Hello! Is anyone there?". He calls out, but there's no response, just silence. "Was I imagining things?". He thinks before he proceeds. Immediately he commences, the echo of steps stat again which prompts him to double up his pace but in the process of running for his life, he stumbles on a stone which he doesn't realize it's on the way.

 "Oh, shit!" He curses when he hits the floor and by the time he makes sense of what's happening, he's finding himself surrounded by street thugs. They are not looking friendly at all. Well, all thugs aren't friendly if you don't know them.

 "Please don't hurt me. Just let me go, my parents will be really mad if I'm late. Please". Luck begs, scare to look at the thugs faces.

 "Don't worry, they won't be mad when find out that you have gone missing or when they find your ugly butchered body in a sack beside the bridge. One of the thugs threaten Luck, others burst into laughter after seeing the fear in the boy's eyes.

 "I beg of you, let me go". Luck plead.

 "Whee! He wants to cry". Another thug, a female, mocks.

 "Anyway, you're too adorable to be wasted. We will spear you for a reason. Give us your money or you die". Another thug, who is like the leader, bellows. Then, he points a gun at Luck to cooperate and to make the boy know they really mean it.

 "I have no money. I swear".

 "Then you leave us no choice than to kill you". The thug leader says. Then, Luck is hold tightly by two of the thugs, pinning him down to restrain him while the leader places the gun on the boy's temple.

 Is this how death comes? Yeah, he has watched many movies where a character dies like this. Sometimes you wonder that what is stopping the character from fighting back. There are many skills to break yourself free and mop the floor with your enemy. But the truth is that you will forget everything if you are in that kind of situation. If you are you smart and calculative, you will end up killing yourself in your attempt to escape. Luck, eyes close, expecting the click of the gun, follow by the splash of his blood, then he will cross over.

 "I wonder how it will be if you're the one begging for mercy". Someone says, but the speaker isn't seen.

 "Who said that? Coward hides in the shadow, why don't you come out? Show yourself!". The thug leader demands, pointing his gun at every angle since he knows when the voice is coming from.

 "Coward?". The asks then chuckles. "Coward don't hide in the shadow because they fear, they hide in the shadow to create fear itself. And from the look on your faces, fear is all what I sense. Sweet!". Came another response from the dark, then a figure matches out of the dark.

 "IT'S THE NIGHT HOWLER! FIRE! FIRE!! SHOOT HIM DOWN". The thug's leader shouts, then instructs his comrades to begin to fire at the vigilant that's about to ruin their night.

 However, Night Howler easily dodges all the bullets at are fired at him. His reflexes and stamina make the hits to miss. The thug leader, then, charges at Night Howler, yelling on top of this voice as he's about to deliver a punch. Night Howler quickly seizes the man's hand, he then gives him an uppercut, sending flying. The Thug leader begins to bleed from the nose due to the effect of the punch he just received.

 He growls like an animal, frown his face, breath restless in anger. He signals to his minions to go ahead, to cause a distraction for the vigilant. When his goons are getting beaten by Night Howler, he takes the opportunity to aim at his target. He brings out his gun, pointing it at the distracted vigilant, then, he waits to take his shoot. As he's about to pull the trigger, Luck kicks the gun away from the thug's hand, ruining the opportunity he has to hurt the Howler, even if his gun can no to a lot of damage due to the Night Howler tech armor.

 The thug leader bounces on Luck instantly, straggling the boy to the earth, ready to take the life out of the boy's weak body. The thug is now bloodlust at the moment, taking all of his anger and frustration out on the boy that makes him misses his target. Luck is struggling so hard to breath when the man is squeezing the air out of his lung. He fights to break free from the crazy man hands, but he couldn't because he is weak compare to the monster on top of him.

 "You should have run when you had the chance, you little piece of shh….". The man couldn't finish his statement before he is knocked out by the Night Howler. The man falls heavily on the boy, but he is able to push the man away from him before catching his breath.

 "It's okay, young man. You're safe now". Night Howler says as he helps the boy up. "You should know it is very dangerous to be out at this time all by yourself".

 "What other choice do I have than to do what they say". Luck response. "Thanks for saving me, Night Howler. You are my hero". Luck shows his gratitude.

 "You want to get out of here before these fools wake up. Have a wonderful night". Luck nod. Then he begins to hurry up with a smile on his face. He just sees and talk with his favorite his for the first time. Mark is going to hear about this.

 The echo sound of the alarm wakes Mark up from sleep. He stretches' his arms and yowl. He does his morning routine then prepare for the day. We go to the kitchen for his breakfast but notice his mom isn't around. She might have left due to an emergency. Well, doctor always have an urgent call, so he is bother. He microwaves his food which has already become cold, then eat up on time to meet the school bus.

 While he waits for the bus at the bus stop, Luck suddenly pop-up out of nowhere. He is full of energy this morning as he has a wonderful experience to share with his best friend. Wait, not really a wonderful experience though, he almost gets murdered, but he is still glad to share it without leaving a stone turn around.

 "Whoa! Why do you look so excited this morning? Do you win a lottery or something? What am I missing, mate?". Mark inquires before the bus parks at the junction, then they enter as people gush in while some people enlighten from the bus.

 "You won't believe what I am about to tell you, Mark! After years of collecting comics, I finally meet him?". Luck says, a beam of smile on his face.

 "Oh, boy, you need to calm yourself down. You actually started collecting comics like few months, not years. You are exaggerating because you are happy". Mark corrects. "And who are you talking about anyway? Suspense is killing me already". Mark asks.

 "THE NIGHT HOWLER!". Luck whispered, emphasizing this statement.

 "WOW! Really? Lucky you. Tell me how it happened, when, where, how, how?". Mark loads his friend a lot of questions he's dying to know.

 "It's time you calm yours @$$ down as well because this boy right here is about to tell the best adventure ever. So, listen carefully, because I won't be saying a word twice". Then he commences to narrate all the previous night incidents from when he's double cross by the thugs, how they threaten him with a gun and how his hero comes to his rescue. He also tells how he kicks away the thug leader's gun away from his hand, and how the man almost killed him in the process.

 "That's a very incredible if you remove the 'ALMOST DIE' part. I hope you aren't hurt, though". Mark shows his concerns.

 "Not at all, but I was terrified when the gun was placed on my head. The chill that ran through my spine can't be expressed with the word "Oh God, the chill that ran through my spine can't be expressed with the word" Luck says, forming a scare expression. "Also, The Night Howler looks so badass than he is in the comics. The cool tech armor, superhero landing and poses. Ha! He also gave Batman vibes when he was talking from the shadow. His superhero quotes was FIRE! I wish I could see him again, under a better circumstance though. What about you?". Luck asks his friend.

 "Nah! I'm good. We can never meet". Mark shares his honest opinion, which as well makes Luck vibe drain. He is expecting that due to his friend's lack of interest in this kind of stuff, but he's glad he's able to share his experience with him and listen.

 "Why?"

 "It's because they only show up when you are in danger. I'm just happy he never came late to save y

ou, and you are here with me in one piece". Mark says as they both enlighten from the bus after parking.