The instant Tina launched herself forward, the grass beneath her feet exploded upward like green shrapnel. In Jonathan's grip, the shotgun suddenly looked useless, nothing more than a stick meant to scare birds away. To Tina's eyes, it probably was exactly that.
For a split second the entire world seemed to slow to a crawl. Clark reacted first. His powerful frame burst into motion as he dashed forward, grabbed Tina around the waist, and hauled her off the ground before she could strike again.
Then he ran.
Clark had already judged her speed when she attacked earlier. Compared to him she moved slowly enough that he could probably subdue her without much trouble. But when her kick cracked the ground and shredded the grass beneath it, he immediately realized the danger.
That kind of force meant that anything she broke could become deadly shrapnel.
If she casually smashed the wooden railing outside the house, the splintered pieces could fly like bullets. Clark didn't want to risk his parents being caught in the crossfire.
By the time Jonathan raised the shotgun again, Clark and Tina were already disappearing down the road.
David watched them go for a brief moment before breaking into a run, aiming in the direction Clark had taken. He moved at the speed of a trained athlete—fast, but not inhuman.
"I'm going to help Clark," David said quickly over his shoulder. "Dad, protect Mom."
"David, don't go!"
Jonathan stepped forward, shotgun still in hand, but the warning came too late. By the time the words left his mouth, David had already sprinted down the road and vanished into the darkness.
David glanced back once to confirm that the farmhouse lights were no longer visible behind him.
Then he accelerated.
The quiet suburban road stretched ahead under a row of pale streetlights. Clark slowed down slightly and began lowering Tina to the ground, intending to restrain her properly.
But Tina reacted almost instantly.
She clasped both hands together and slammed them down toward Clark's back.
Bang!
The impact sounded like a car crashing into metal. Caught completely off guard, Clark was driven face-first into the pavement. Cracks spread through the asphalt beneath him as the ground shattered, sending pebbles jumping into the air.
"You have powers too, Clark!"
Seeing that Clark hadn't been crushed by the blow, Tina grabbed his collar and tried to lift him by the neck. Clark's hand shot out and clamped tightly around her wrist, halting the motion.
His expression turned serious.
"Tina," Clark said quietly, "you can still turn back before you make a bigger mistake."
During their brief struggle earlier, he had clearly sensed the anger pouring out of her. But something about it didn't feel simple. Aunt Catherine's death might have hidden circumstances they didn't understand.
If Tina truly hadn't killed anyone and had only robbed a bank, then there was still a chance to stop things before they went too far.
"Made a mistake?"
Tina let out a cold laugh.
"I'm just using the power I've been given to pursue happiness," she said. "What's wrong with that?"
She pulled against Clark's grip, preparing to test whose strength was greater.
Before she could finish the motion, a blur streaked across the road.
Bang!
A figure moved like a bolt of lightning. A fist slammed directly into Tina's cheekbone, releasing a violent shockwave that blasted outward through the air.
Tina was sent flying.
Her body skipped across the lake's surface like a stone thrown by a giant before crashing repeatedly into the ground. She tumbled dozens of meters away before finally stopping in a heap.
Even Clark, who had been holding her, was thrown backward by the impact. He slid six or seven meters across the pavement before regaining his footing.
"Who did that?"
Tina staggered up, her face flushed red where the punch had landed. Rage filled her eyes as she searched for the attacker.
Under the streetlight, David stepped forward calmly and flexed his fingers.
"You've got tough bones," he said flatly. "That felt like punching high-density alloy."
"David?"
Recognition flickered in Tina's eyes. Her gaze shifted between David and Clark, and the hostility on her face sharpened.
"So the older brother has powers," she sneered. "And the younger brother's a monster."
"But your family shouldn't have messed with me!"
She exploded forward.
Her sprint was faster than a charging cheetah. In the blink of an eye she covered dozens of meters, her fist tearing through the air toward David's face.
[Shock from Tina +0.4, Anger +0.6…]
Bang!
The punch struck with the speed of a bullet and carried enormous force. David stepped sideways at the last moment, letting the attack slice past him.
As Tina swung again, he caught her wrist.
She tried to yank it free immediately, but it was like being trapped in an iron vise.
"The strength is decent," David said calmly. "Too bad your fighting style is completely chaotic."
Her movements lacked rhythm, technique, or strategy. She simply relied on brute force.
David's eyes were cold as his grip tightened. Hundreds of tons of pressure flowed through his fingers.
"Let me go!"
Tina screamed as pain shot through her arm. Her free fist whipped toward David's head, cutting through the air like a hammer.
David didn't even dodge.
Instead, his hand tightened further.
The force surged upward into the thousands of tons. Under pressure like that, even a steel ingot would collapse into scrap.
Crack!
Tina's punch froze halfway to its target as a horrifying wave of pain exploded from her wrist. Her body spasmed violently and her arm dropped uselessly at her side.
She tried desperately to pull away, but David's hand didn't budge.
Looking into his eyes, Tina suddenly felt a chilling fear.
The handsome young man standing in front of her felt less like a person and more like a merciless creature.
"Da… David."
In desperation, Tina's face suddenly twisted and shifted like soft clay. Within seconds the features rearranged themselves.
The woman staring back at him now had gentle eyes and faint lines at the corners of her face.
She looked exactly like Martha.
Pain filled the expression on that familiar face as she forced out a strained whisper.
"David… it hurts…"
She expected his instincts to kick in immediately. Anyone would release their grip if they saw their mother suffering like that.
David did release her.
His hand jerked open as if shocked by electricity.
"How dare you!"
The fury in his voice erupted an instant later.
Before Tina could even move, a hand like solid steel clamped down on the back of her head. Her face was slammed downward with terrifying force.
Bang!
Gravel exploded outward as her skull smashed into the pavement. Half her head was driven violently into the dirt.
"Ah!"
Tina screamed and tried to push herself up, but David's hand pressed down mercilessly. Her skull creaked under the pressure as a wave of suffocating terror flooded her mind.
"Help! Help!"
Her voice came out muffled and distorted from beneath the ground.
David's expression remained completely cold.
He raised his fist.
"David, stop!"
Clark rushed forward and grabbed David's wrist.
This time Clark didn't hold back. He poured all his strength into pulling David away, but no matter how hard he tried, David didn't move even an inch.
Clark's eyes widened in shock.
He was about to grab him with both hands.
"Get out of the way!"
David flicked his arm backward.
Clark was thrown aside as if he weighed nothing. He crashed onto the road several meters away while David's fist descended.
Bang!
Tina's body convulsed weakly. Her hands clawed at the dirt like someone drowning, then slowly fell still.
Her head remained buried in the ground.
"Tina!"
Clark rushed over immediately. He pulled her out of the dirt and quickly checked her condition.
She was still breathing.
But her eyes were closed.
And she wouldn't wake up.
"You've done it again," Clark said angrily, glaring at his brother. "You beat someone into a vegetative state."
"If she dares to use Mom's face again," David replied coldly as he dusted off his hands, "she's lucky I didn't kill her."
[Fear from Tina +0.8, Doubt +0.3, Anxiety +1.0… Fear +1.2…]
The mental signals continued to appear steadily.
It was a complete psychological process.
First confusion when someone lost control of their body. Then anxiety when they tried repeatedly to move and failed. Finally realization—and fear.
David hadn't killed Tina.
In prisons that held violent criminals, the usual punishment for inmates who refused to behave was solitary confinement.
A small, lightless room.
The only illumination came from a thin crack beneath the door. The space was so narrow a person could barely take two steps.
No voices. No movement. No sense of time.
After three days, even the most vicious prisoners usually became obedient.
"Even the cruelest criminal learns humility after three days in a dark cell," David murmured quietly.
What Tina would experience would be far worse.
An enhanced version.
One that could last decades.
…
Cars were parked beside the quiet lake, and several bonfires burned along the shore. The air smelled of grilled meat and wood smoke as people gathered for a lively outdoor barbecue.
It was noon during a holiday weekend.
David and Chloe sat near the fire, roasting skewers over the flames.
"David, Clark… what's going on with you two?" Chloe asked curiously, adjusting the collar of her down jacket. "If I remember correctly, you guys haven't spoken for several days."
"The vibe between you two is colder than this lakeside wind," Peter added dramatically. He rubbed his arms and shivered exaggeratedly, his teeth chattering.
"Oh my God, someone save me. I'm freezing to death."
His over-the-top performance was clearly meant to lighten the mood and give the brothers a chance to reconcile.
"I don't feel cold," Clark replied flatly as he flipped a strip of sizzling beef over the grill.
David took a sip of chilled fruit beer and stared out across the lake without responding, as if he hadn't heard the conversation at all.
"Are you from some kind of icy alien planet or something?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow.
She had never seen the two of them like this before.
What exactly happened between these brothers?
....
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