His eyes were fixed on the darkness.
But his eyelids were still closed, despite being awake. Sam Davis felt himself on his back on the ground; the cool grass cushioned his body, similar to a comfy and tidy bed.
While still closing his eyes, Sam tumbled and turned on the grassy ground. While he was lying down, he thought about what happened before he blacked out.
All that he could recall from before was that he went to accidentally take a fall, where he put out his arms in front of him to break the fall, but accidentally somehow blew away the top half of the shed that was right in front of him. And before he realized he had super strength inside his body, the sleepiness already took over his body like passing out after a sports game.
It was probably just a dream that took itself too literally, because the shed and its broken contents were nowhere to be found, only the grass waving to Sam from the urging of the wind.
But now it was dark; it was probably a couple of hours that he slept on the ground, wondering how he wasn't found by anyone passing by. Then again, Sam knew the reason, and it was right in the distance in front of him.
A gated entrance led to grim-looking walls, covered with spray-painted symbols and graffiti. Evidence of no one cleaning up in that part of the district was in the pieces of trash and paper that were left on the ground, and the cracks opened to the dirty sidewalk. It was not something considered ordinary, but broken enough for people to take advantage of the whole place for nefarious purposes.
That was Harmist Lane, a place where the city despises wholly.
Mom was probably worried about him after being in the area for so long that it was completely pitch black at night.
The only way to go back home directly was through the unnerving path of Harmist Lane's open, confusing network of its many routes. It was like a whole maze to get through if a person didn't know specific directions.
There wasn't any other choice for Sam. So, he went towards the gate and into Harmist Lane.
As he walked on the unpaved roads, the only noises that seemed active were the chirping of crows perching up top on the old buildings and the wind's breeze singing its nightly song into Sam's ears.
It was like that on the walk through Harmist Lane until he heard a high-pitched scream that came from the corner in front of him. Upon hearing this, Sam heroically let himself be guided by his instincts to help what could possibly be some poor person who was in danger.
Reaching the corner, he planted his back against the wall and peeked around the corner to see what the commotion was.
It was a couple of guys in red outfits, surrounding a girl near a lamppost. Like a predator circling its prey, the red-shirted guys held their hands to block her potential escape.
A large guy with some sort of outlandish haircut on him stepped forward toward the girl. Sam assumed that he must be the leader.
"Hey, cute-stuff, what are you doing here? It's kinda dangerous for someone like you to be in Harmist Lane. Why don't you let us help you ease the tension away?"
The girl stepped back, her open hand towards the big dude that she wasn't interested.
"Not today, you won't!" the girl aggressively responded to the group. "Y-you know, I only went here to get your attention so that others who fight back would safely get away from the likes of you, so I'm warning you, dirtbags."
The big red-shirted guy, along with his friends, laughed out loud at the sheer bravery and talk this girl was expressing to them.
"Check it out, boys! The little girl here thinks she is so brave coming out alone to face us, the Red Puncher! Are you sure that da truth?!"
"I have plenty of experience throwing guys off that stage, you know!"
But it was as though they didn't listen to her words anymore, since the group was now inching closer and closer with their fiery look on their faces.
Sam decided it was enough for idling around, and that he would help out the girl with assistance of his own.
He rushed around the corner and tackled the first guy nearest to him, launching him into the air before jumping for a knee-kick to the face to the same guy, causing him to roll to the back of his head in response to completely blacking out.
"What the he—" Another guy next to the first tried to say before getting a mouthful of Sam's elbow. He dropped to the ground with multiple cases of chipped tooth syndrome.
The rest of the enemy gang members immediately turned their attention to Sam. Eyes widened in shock as the two guys they were with were suddenly knocked out cold.
"Who the hell are you, kid? Shouldn't you be in bed already?"
Sam stepped up to show himself as a threat wearing the red overalls. He proudly puffed up his chest before saying:
"I'm the kid who's gonna kick your butt, so you better leave or else it turns into you watching out!"
The three red thugs looked at each other in confusion. He could tell what he said didn't make any sense. The brown-haired girl stared at him, trying to see what was in his mind.
The big leader guy boomed in fury as he pointed at Sam. "HEY! What are you idiots waiting for?! Stop standing around and get him!"
"Oh, right!" The red-shirted guys said in unison before they charged towards Sam. "AAAAHHHHH!"
Seeing as though multiple guys were rushing to him in multiple directions, it was definitely a chance for that freaky power to rise against these jerks.
Looks like they are going at me in all directions. Then, I should probably use one second of this power that I had before, if it was actually real and not some sort of weird dream. Maybe if I close my eyes and think about what happened before, then it would come naturally to me. So... come on, where is that strength in me at all?
Sam flexed his muscles; only at first tensions in his arms ache a little, but when he continued to focus on the blood going through his hands, he felt some sort of unique rush that he hadn't felt at all in his life. It was like his arms were from another strong being and that the liquid rushing in his arms was like oil powering his systems to the max.
Then, in that one second, it was though time was slowed down around him, making the Red Punchers around him feel like statues to him. So, he punched them each squarely in the jaw, forcing them to immediately throw themselves backwards from his strength-induced punch.
Sam stood still with a glare given right to the big guy, visibly shaking in his boots.
"Yo—you monster! How could anyone be that strong?" the lone Red Puncher shrieked. "You're a freakin' freak, there's no way you're a normal dude!"
Unbothered by his breakdown, Sam slowly stepped forward, each step making the guy form drops of sweat around his forehead.
"My name is Sam Davis, and my dream is to become a hero, so that nobody would face loss or loneliness. I'm just a guy... who turned into a beast so I can protect my loved ones from harm. Don't mug or harass anyone else ever again. If you don't understand that, then get out of the way and change your ways, or else I'm gonna beat you into red bean paste."
"You think that speech is gonna scare me, kid?! Don't be stupid, I'll kill you for thi—"
The girl from behind jumped in the air and landed a kick into his face. The big red puncher opened his mouth wide in pain as he landed precisely into the trash can headfirst, his legs noticeably sticking out.
"Whoa," Sam said.
"Damn," the girl uttered, "I've been waiting to use that move on someone for a long time. Looks like today's the day that wish finally came to be." The girl looked at Sam with a grin as she patted down her jeans. "Thanks for the help, by the way. The assist was definitely not expected, but appreciated."
"No problem," Sam replied. "But I'm just surprised how you knocked down that big guy in just one shot. And for that kick to reach over his head, though..."
"I did tell these jerks to cut it out since I had experience throwing guys over my shoulder when they tried to get near my band too much on stage..."
"Band? Stage? You in some kinda band?" Sam simply questioned.
"Hey, those two are the ones that beat up our guys. Let's give them a taste of payback."
A large group of red-shirted guys erupted from around Harmist Lane's corner; unlike the first group, these guys were wielding baseball bats, crowbars, pocket knives, and all sorts of things that could be found in a dumpster.
The girl grabbed Sam's arm and pointed in the other direction. "C'mon, this way. I know a shortcut that we could use to lose them!"
And so the two ran, not intending to fight any more people to prevent their stamina from being depleted.
* * *
The two of them ran as fast as they could, to the point where Sam could feel the wind shouting in his ear and trying to hit his eyes with the nightly gust.
After he looked back to see if the members of the Red Punchers Gang were trailing right behind them, which he confirmed that it wasn't the case, he finally stopped next to a lamppost with a bench next to it.
"I think we lost them..." he managed to say.
The girl wheezed as she tried to take a break by sitting in the corner of the bench. "I need to breathe for a sec... oh god..."
They both breathed heavily as they both tried to catch their breath. Sam, in particular, definitely needed it after using his powered-up body to thrash the Red Punchers.
Sheena Vegas removed all the dust around her shirt with a quick sweep of a hand.
"That went well, don'cha think?"
"Be careful around these parts of the city, especially during the night," Sam told her.
"Oh, you worrywart! Just because Harmist Lane is full of creepos doesn't mean I shouldn't do the same thing as you... You know? Saving people and all that, I really want to be the hero too!"
"Um...?"
"Oh, yeah, my manners, of course. My name is Sheena Vegas, the lead vocalist of the super duper popular band called the Ravaging Rotation! Rock on, my dudes and dudettes! But like even with all the world tours that my band was in... mostly in Standart City... and the great reception we get at the end of each song... although our last venue that we played in, we got booed so much that it made our drummer quit on the spot... so that's bad. But I think in the future, the Ravaging Rotation will have their success, so we ROCK ON AS ALWAYS!"
Sheena yelled out loud with special emphasis on her band name. She showed her rock star hand gestures right in front of Sam's face.
"... I'm Sam Davis." He backed up from the sudden Spike in her energy. "So you're always walking around here at night. Exercises at midnight?"
"Nah, mostly just finding some thugs doing illegal things so I could bash their heads in."
Sam blinked at her words. It was very bold of her to be on Harmist Lane, where shady people, trash all over the ground, and outright black market deals were taking place. Additionally, on top of that, Sheena would also actively be looking for trouble despite looking like an ordinary rockstar who may or may not have self-defense training.
Sheena drank more water from her plastic canteen.
"Well, I'm tired as hell. My parents will be super pissed about where I was, so later, Sammy!"
"Sam, actually. And don't you need me to walk you back to your house, just in case, for safety reasons?"
Sheena dismissed his concern and helping hand with a wave.
"Look, you're probably around freshmen or sophomores, and I dropped out of school around this year as a senior. It'll be embarrassing for both of us to walk together. Don't you have a girlfriend who's gonna get mad if she finds you walking with someone else?"
"H-hey, it's nothing like that—I just want to help people out before it's too late; that's what I was saying! I'm just a sophomore student with nothing going on, being romantic and all."
It was true, Sam really did want to help people out. It was always a thing for him to intervene for those who needed his help and deal with the bad guys who caused the misery in the first place.
A lot of people would say overprotective, saying that being a full-time hero isn't really worth it, but he believed if he tried with all of his might along with Fiery willpower, he could push past his limits and save the day.
"You seem like a cool guy, so... next week at Rooster Gas Station at 9:00 PM, we'll be playing behind the convenience store. Next to the bathrooms," Sheena stated to him, but a certain falter of a smile was noticeable. "So, would you like to watch? I mean, you don't have to go, but we really would like a big audience.
"Sure, if you think that your band is great, then I for sure believe it to be. I'll just have to make sure to ask Quad Four if they wanna go."
She raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Quad Four? Whuzzat?"
"I mean my friends!" Sam quickly fixed, "I meant I will bring my dear friends if they want to go."
Upon hearing his confirmation, Sheena beamed; if she were a light source, it would illuminate the surrounding area of total darkness.
"Great! We'll see you if you're there!"
Sam continued to stare until she disappeared around the corner of the street. If she said that she could handle herself around Harmist Lane, then it would be good manners to believe her word.
He sighed to himself. What girl would be crazy enough to walk in the middle of the night by herself in one of the most dangerous parts of the city? Certainly it won't be Cloey, as she won't even survive in a place like this.
But moving on, it was clear to Sam that his powers were not normal at all; it was like some freak of nature was in him that caused his strength to skyrocket. Telling the Quad Four about this would definitely make things more complicated than they should be, and the horrifying possibility that he would unknowingly hurt them.
His powers were unlike anything Sam had ever seen; he didn't know how it would react to anything, or whether he could control it at all.
The best course of action would be to stay low until Sam could understand what his powers were and things it could do. Quad Four would definitely be worried, but he knew it was a price worth paying to not tell them the truth yet.