Ven and Asha looked at the villain in awe. Ven did not realize that he was staring at the second highest ranking member in the entire Cinder Fang gang… Con-Crush.

  “Where’s the thief?” Con-Crush loudly demanded.

  “I’m getting Tamu and I’m getting out of here! This is the last person you want to see! He’s a monster!” Asha panicked as she darted for the gaping hole that was once a front door.

  Con-Crush had a reputation of brutally crushing the skulls of people who crossed him or his gang. The fact that he appeared at their home, could have meant that he planned on doing just that.

  Con-Crush sent another slab of concrete at Asha that narrowly missed her, leaving her frozen in fear.

  “You didn’t answer my question… where’s the thief? I know she lives here. You’re her whore sister aren’t you?”

  “You’re not going anywhere near this family!” yelled Ven, his anger stirring up.

  The other two grunts looked at Ven in horror, but Con-Crush just laughed as if he were watching a comedy.

  “Y’all laugh with me!” demanded the bald headed Baharian man. The other two thugs laughed along in fear.

  Con-Crush launched himself from the rooftop like a missile of living stone, and crashed into the streets below with bone-shattering force. His brutal super-powered landing sent a brutal shockwave through the ground and split the ground. It was like a miniature earthquake.

  Ven, Asha, and the other two goons were all knocked off of their feet by the sudden impact.

  Ven titled his head up to stare at Con-Crush’s tall ominous appearance. Just how could he fight a guy like that!?

  “You’re the one who sent Taj into a coma huh?” Con-Crush said, almost smiling.

  “In a coma? What are you taking about?” asked Ven. He slowly rose to his feet, still buffeted from the fall.

  “There were three men chasin’ that thief. You punched one of them and he’s still unconscious. And you’re the reason that little bitch even got away!”

  Ven started at his hands, almost unable to cope with the reveal. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to put anyone into a coma. I just wanted to save a little girl.” He didn’t want to kill anyone or knock someone unconscious… he just wanted to help out a screaming child.

  “Well that’s not a little girl, that’s a thief born from a pathetic family! Because of her we lost a lot of coin!”

  Suddenly, and almost on cue, Tamu opened the garage door. It was opening slowly, but everyone was silent with anticipation at that moment. Ven and Asha really wanted her to stay in the house.

  “What the heck is going on out there!” Tamu screamed, before she noticed the criminals. Her face went ghostly when her eyes met the diabolical presence of Con-Crush. His reputation was nothing to take lightly.

  “There she is,” Con-Crush said as he slowly walked towards Tamu with a devilish grin.

  “Hey, leave her alone!” yelled Ven as he ran towards Con-Crush.

  Con-Crush quickly turned his entire fist into a large slab of hardened concrete and squatted Ven away as if he were an insect. He lunged him straight into another rusty house, breaking the wall.

  Con-Crush, now very satisfied, turned his attention back to Tamu.

  “You see little girl, there’s a price to pay for stealin’ from the Cinger Fangs. I don’t know how you did it, but I guess it means some of our members ain’t the brightest,” said Con-Crush.

  “Sorry Crush,” one of the thugs said.

  “I wouldn’t have stolen anything from you guys if you didn’t kill my dad!” said Tamu fiercely, yet terrified.

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  Con-Crush erupted into a deep laughter. “You stupid kid! We didn’t kill your dad, your dad killed himself! Your dad was Tumaini right? Well It’s not our fault that Tumaini used all of his hard earned cash to buy our product! That dumb ass should have been buying things for his family, instead he went and killed himself! If he was smart, he would have used that money to get his entire family out of Ashton!”

  Tamu now looked at Con-Crush absolutely traumatized and full of despair. Tears began to radiate down her hopeless face., unable to cope with such a revelation.

  “That’s enough!” Ven flew back and tackled Con-Crush to the ground, the impact launching both men several feet away from Tamu.

  “Crush!”

  “Don’t just stand there! Get the girl!” Con-Crush said as he wrestled with the nameless hero.

  Asha held Tamu as the grunts started walking towards both of them.

  Ven then yanked Con-Crush off of the floor and slammed him back into the ground with a huge force that made Con-Crush wince in pain.

  “No you don’t!” He quickly came and knocked out the two thugs before they had a chance to move. Them making Tamu or Asha a hostage would be bad news. Hopefully they wouldn’t be comatose like the other guy, but for now protecting the sister was more important.

  Before he could fully turn around, Con-Crush hit him with a large block of concrete that sent Ven hurling into the garage, breaking it instantly.

  The ringing in his ears fueled his mind with rigid anxiety, as he placed his hand on his fast beating hard. The impact hurt a ton, more painful than anything he felt that day. He stumbled to his feet as he tried to ignore the fear that was telling him to run away. There was nowhere he could run, he had to stay and fight. Like when he protected his mother, he would protect Tamu and her family too. He slowly rose and emerged from the debris with his eyes locked on Con-Crush. He was feigning confidence.

  “Ven! Are you okay!?” yelled Tamu.

  “I’m impressed, you’re more powerful than I thought you’d be,” said Con-Crush, surprised by Ven’s slam. “What’s your name?”

  “It’s Ven.”

  “That’s not what I meant, what’s your real name? Your hero name?”

  “I don’t have one yet,” Ven said, as he continued to trying to hide his immense fear.

  Con-Crush said nothing but stare at Ven for a few seconds, possibly trying to intimidate him. “Why defend them? The younger sister is a thief, and the older sister is a slut. Their father was a drug addict, who was also a thief, and their mother is an addict too—she’ll probably be dead soon. Only scum live in Ashton… I can tell you’re not scum.”

  “The real scum are those who insult and threaten people,” replied Ven, now enraged upon hearing the villain’s words. Besides… If Con-Cave was really a monster then he had to right to judge anyone else.

  “Tamu blames you guys for her dad’s death, and can you blame her? She’s just a kid man, do you really want to kill a kid? If it’s money you want I can reimburse you for the product you lost,” Ven continued.

  “Reimburse us? What the hell are you on about?”

  Ven took a deep breath and bit the bullet. It probably wasn’t a good idea to tell his identity, but if he could avoid a fight he wasn’t sure he’d win, then he would go for it. He wanted to ease his way into superpowered fights, not be suddenly thrusted into it! Clearly the villain he was staring at was way more powerful than the two low ranked thugs who attacked his home. Con-Crush was probably an emergee was years, while he was only one for a matter of days. Could he really win against those odds?

  “My name is Vendel Nguvu. I’m the son of Vera Nguvu and the late co-founder of NG Bank (the company), Vatani Nguvu. So… I’m saying I can give you a lot of money. As long as you agree to leave Tamu alone.”

  “When I said I knew he had money, I never would have thought that he’d come from the wealthiest family in all of Bahari,” remarked Asha, her face stunned. “Just why is a guy like that in Ashton?”

  “He’s not a lot different from us Asha,” said Tamu. “He’s suffered a lot too.”

  “What do you mean by that!?”

  “He’s been sick his whole life and he only recovered a few days ago in the last Emergence. Now he’s a superhero… named The Restored. Eh, the name is still a working progress,” explained Tamu.

  Con-Crush grinned after his intimidation seemed to grow stale. “So you think you can just throw money at all of your problems? Don’t make me laugh! I am the second in command of one of the most notorious villain gangs of all time, do you even know that that means? It means I have power… money… women. I have a lot of men under my control, they go wherever I tell them to go. No hero can come near us. Many have tried to stop us and I crushed all of their skulls myself. The Hero Brunch is nothing but a nest of weaklings. If I already have a lot of money, just what the hell am I gonna do with more of it!? I’m crushing that kid because she disrespected our gang. You don’t get to just walk away after disrespecting us. Hell, I might just end Tumaini’s entire blood line tonight. Why crush one of them when I can crush the entire family?”

  “So that’s how things work for you guys? Just kill anyone that disrespects you? Sounds pretty childish,” said Ven.

  “Like a rich kid like you could understand anything. This is the way things work! If you disrespect a gang, there’s a price to pay. It don’t matter how childish it sounds!”

  Ven sighed, before taking off his black jacket, revealing a sleeveless black shirt. “I take it there’s no way for me to avoid fighting you now.”

  “Only if you walk away after kissing my foot!”

  The two men stared at each other without saying a word. A storm was brewing in the atmosphere. Ven did not have a lot of experience fighting, but every bone in his body told him that he was about to engage in the most brutal battle that he ever engaged in, in his entire life.

  He sighed before trying to relax his rapid breathing. Anxiety would not claim him. There was no where to run, an epic battle was destined to take place.