Without warning, the shadowy arm moved like lightning. The dense, pulsing sphere of energy was thrust forward, piercing straight into No Name's chest without tearing through skin or flesh.
ZRAAAK!
An unbearably sharp, freezing sensation exploded inside his chest cavity.
It felt as if millions of rusted ice needles were being forcefully injected into his bloodstream, freezing every nerve cell in an instant.
No Name's eyes widened, his mouth opening to scream in pain beyond human tolerance yet the void swallowed his voice whole.
His muscles locked rigid.
His consciousness was torn apart.
His vision spun wildly, dissolving into absolute darkness before he was dragged down into a bottomless vortex.
…
Drip.
A single drop of cold rain struck his cheek, bursting into tiny splashes.
No Name jolted violently.
His lungs greedily pulled in damp air, his chest rising and falling uncontrollably.
The stench of rotting waste and filthy puddles flooded his senses once more.
PAcid rain poured down, washing over the dried blood at his temple.
He blinked, realizing he was lying once again on the cracked asphalt of District 9's alley.
At the edge of his vision, the large man he had beaten still lay unconscious, completely unmoved.
Time itself seemed to have frozen and had only just resumed at the exact second he vanished.
"Just… a hallucination?" he muttered hoarsely, his voice nearly drowned out by the roar of engines from the main road.
He forced his trembling body upright, leaning against the damp concrete wall.
Everything looked normal.
The rain fell as it should, and the distant neon lights flickered arrogantly once more.
But when No Name closed his eyes, he froze.
Beneath his ribs, in sync with the frantic rhythm of his heartbeat, he felt something… shifting.
A flow of energy cold, dark, and violently feral now coursed beneath his skin.
Something unseen, something unexplainable, was breathing within him… as if waiting for the right moment to be unleashed.
He stared at his own trembling hand.
The harsh life of the streets he once knew had just evolved into something far darker…
and far more deadly.