Chapter 4: August 15, 2018, 3:40 P.M.

Nathaniel walked among the hundreds of people milling on the sidewalk as cars rumbled impatiently on the street, desiring to escape gradual traffic. Nathaniel sighed as thought about the disappointment that will wash across his foster parents' faces as he confessing to them that he has yet again got himself kick out of another school. He sighed again as he put his hands into his gray jacket pockets where Nadia, who was in his left jacket pocket, rubbed against the palm of his hand in order to comfort him. Nathaniel smiled slightly as he slipped into the cracks and cranks of the flow of the crowd, petting Nadia with his thumb occasionally. When he turned around the corner, he felt the strange sensation that someone or something was following them, burning holes into Nathaniel's back with its eyes.

Nathaniel attempt to turn his head to the side to peer over his shoulder as he strode in sync with the movement of the swarm of people, but only saw blurs of hundreds of faces, colors, and movement. Still the sensation that something or someone was observing his every step hovered over Nathaniel as he strode gradually through the sea of movement and colors towards his apartment where his fate awaits him.

"Nadia...," Nathaniel said telepathically.

"I know," Nadia responded, "I can both sense and smell him too."

"Him? Who's him?" Nathaniel asked in confusion and curiosity.

Before Nadia could form an answer, Nathaniel glance up at one of the numerous, clear windows of the skyscraper that was a few meters ahead of him, engulfing him, Nadia, and the mob in its shadow. In the middle of the window, engulfing by the semidarkness that surrounded the room, a silhouette that was roughly his height stood there, lifting the faded purple curtains as it stare at about the spot where Nathaniel was ambling. Nadia growled softly as she peered outside the jacket pocket, lifting her head up in order to glance at their observer as she sunk her claws into the fabric of the jacket to prevent herself from falling onto the gray asparagus sidewalk. Nathaniel ignored the weight of the stare of the mysterious stranger, developing a deadpan expression as he scurried toward the end of the block. As they turned around the block where the traffic cease to exist and only a few people milled the sidewalk, the stare disappear, but standing in one of the mouths of the alleyway that was a few meters away was the same silhouette.

Nadia growled softly again as she leapt towards the cemented sidewalk, growing to her normal size while she was in mid jump. She landed in her attack position in front of Nathaniel, baring her sharp, metallic teeth as the silhouette, without making a sound, stepped out of the mouth of the alleyway into the sunlight; lifting his light blue hoodie off his head during the process, revealing itself as Alby. Surprise grabbed Nathaniel in its grasp as he began to examine his former classmate and bully. Despite the fact that he had some of his back bones crushed by the stone, samurai's long sword just hours ago, he somehow manage to stand up straight and maintain his posture without showing any signs of pain. A small, metallic, light green computer chip stuck out on the left side of Alby's neck; crimson blood slowly tickling down the left side of his neck from the small gap that the computer chip made in his neck as Alby stared at Nathaniel blankly with his light brown eyes, which now contain blots of electric blue in them.

What the heck is happening right now?, Nathaniel thought as he watched Alby's eyes switch from him to Nadia, who glare intensely into Alby's eyes as she snarled, "Let the boy go and get the heck out of here before things get ugly."

"Sorry, Nadia. No can do. I got a mission to complete. Besides, where is the fun in letting go of the kid," Alby replied, an edge of casual mixed with hatred entered his voice while a spark of distant craziness began to take place in his eyes.

Alby began to run towards Nathaniel and Nadia as the distant spark of craziness in his eyes seem to grow, reminding Nathaniel of a psychopath murderer who was anticipating the surge of adrenaline that causes him to feel alive only when happens when he removing a person or people from this world; his left hand gradually forming into a fist with each step he took, but Nadia sprang on top of Alby, digging her claws into his shoulders as he fell on the sidewalk backwards. Alby grimaced and softly groaned as Nadia dug her claws deeper into the skin of his shoulders, causing red crimson blood to start to sprout out of his shoulders and stain both his light blue jacket and his light blue basketball shirt, but the craziness in his eyes still his eyes as his expression changed from the expression of a mindless, broken robot into the expression of lunatic who had manage to wrap their victim around their finger.

Suddenly, the sound of the static of about hundreds radios seem to pierce the air surrounding Nathaniel, Nadia, and Alby as hundreds of pairs of electric blue eyes appear at every corner of the sidewalk, blocking any routes of escape. Nadia shifted her gaze from Alby to the approaching newcomers, a vexatious expression took over her face as she snarled at them as they amble towards her, Nathaniel, and Alby. When the hundreds pairs of electric blue eyes emerged into the series of rays of sunlight that linger in the street, Nathaniel saw a mob of twilight black, metallic creatures that had a body of a tiny gecko, the tiny, long eight legs of a small spider, the huge, triangular ears of a bat, and the wormlike tail of a rat. When the strange, metallic creatures were meter away from them, they, as one, disappeared in a flash of electric blue electricity; leaving behind burnt marks scattered all over the sidewalk.

The shadow of fear fell upon Nadia's face as, in another flash of electric blue electricity, the creatures reappeared on top of her; their metallic claws digging into her silver, metallic skin as they seem to gradually disappear into Nadia's silver, soft fur. In response, Nadia shrunk to the size of a spider, causing the creatures to shriek in surprise as they unexpectedly floated in space for a millisecond before plummeting onto their master's body. The creatures began to shrieking in several of radio statics as they search in vain for their prey with their poor eyesight.

What!?!, Nathaniel thought as Alby began to get up from the sidewalk with the assistance of his elbows, causing some of his minions fall from his body onto the think cement of the sidewalk, looking straight into Nathaniel's mismatch eyes as he said softly, "Let's take care of business."

Alby sprang to the soles of his dark red and black high-tops shoes quickly, shaking off the majority of the creatures off of him, and began to charge yet again towards Nathaniel, forming another fist in his left hand in the process. Nathaniel jumped into a fighting position, shifting the right side of his body towards Alby while both of his hands developed into fists as he positioned them in front of his face. When Alby's fist was about 7 or 8 cementers from Nathaniel's face, Nathaniel stepped to the right in order to dodge the fist, watching Alby rush pass him out of the corner of his eyes, but after Alby just barely passed by, the strange, metallic creatures appeared on top of Nathaniel in a flash of electric blue electricity, digging their sharp, metallic claws into his skin in order to prevent themselves from falling onto the ground.

What are these things?, Nathaniel thought with annoyance as he attempt to brush the creatures off of him, but while his attention was on the creatures, Alby sneaked up on him and quickly slid his left arm around his neck, holding Nathaniel in a chokehold as he put his right hand in the right jacket pocket. Nathaniel's hands flew up toward Alby's arm, gripping on to his arm as he began to pull it off of him. As Nathaniel lifted Alby's arm away from him, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Alby pull out another light green computer chip. With a sly smile accompanied by the unreasonable craziness in his eyes, he shoved the computer chip in the right side of Nathaniel's neck as if he was installing it into a computer's motherboard in order update and fix the computer. Nathaniel released Alby's arm as pain and hatred joined confusion, frustration, and anger; tingling sensations began course through his nerves as Nathaniel felt something wrap its tentacles around his insides while the radio statics coming from the creatures cause him to develop a headache.

Suddenly, in another flash of electric blue electricity, the creatures on top of Nathaniel disappeared into thin air, ceasing Nathaniel's headache in the process. Alby, who continue to shove the computer chip into Nathaniel's neck, peered over Nathaniel's shoulder; confusion washing over his face as he searched for any signs of the creatures. After a second passed them by, the hundred radio statics returned as a flash of yet another electric blue electricity flashed behind Nathaniel. Alby shouted in surprise as he staggered a couple of cementers; his left arm slipping off of Nathaniel's neck and his right hand letting go of the computer chip during the process, causing the pain to disappear.

Nathaniel's right hand flew up to the right side of his neck as he turn around towards Alby to find him brushing the creatures off of him as he shout between his teeth, "Stupid canheads! Get off of me and do what you are told!"

Feeling the stickiness of the red crimson blood oozing out of the hole made by the computer chip behind his fingertips, Nathaniel began to pull the computer chip out of his neck, causing the tingling sensations in his nerves to increase. Suddenly, Nadia's voice cried out, "Stop!"

Nathaniel's fingers froze on the computer chip as he cranked his head toward his left shoulder to find Nadia, who was still at the size of a spider, standing there, her claws digging into his skin as she glance at him with stern eyes. "Don't attempt to pull it out."

Nathaniel was about to ask Nadia why not when a piecing, painful scream came from behind him. Nathaniel turned around; Nadia's lower body swaying in the air for a moment during the process; to find Alby in the process of bending down to his knees with his hands covering his face as he let out another scream of pain. As the scream rang down the street, Nathaniel notice that several of the creatures were standing on Alby's left shoulder with their four thin, long back spider legs while their four thin, long front spider legs were pulling the computer chip in the left side of Alby's neck out; red crimson blood spilling onto their twilight black, metallic skin as the computer chip gradually slid out of the skin of Alby's neck. Once the computer chip was out of the skin of Alby's neck and in between several of the creatures' front spider legs, which was now coated in blood, Alby's scream was cut short as he froze in the position he was for a moment before he fell face forward onto the gravel, gray asparagus sidewalk, causing the creatures to shriek in various of radio statics as they teleported into thin air with their flash of electric blue electricity.

Nathaniel waited for Alby to pull himself off the ground, to put himself to his feet once more in order to finish his job, but Alby just lay there on the ground lifeless, red crimson blood oozing from his smashed nose and his neck into small puddles on the sidewalk. As Nathaniel stared at the dead body of his former bully and classmate, Nadia jumped off of Nathaniel's shoulder, growing to her normal size in mid jump before her feet hit the ground.

Nathaniel turned his head away from the dead body to glance at Nadia, the confusion, the anger, and the frustration bubbling into his voice as he asked her, "What the heck just happened? How did you know that pulling the computer chip out of my neck will instantly kill me? What were these creatures? How do you-"

Suddenly, the tingling sensations in his nerves strengthens, but after a moment, the tingling sensations in his nerves disappear as the computer chip in Nathaniel's right side of his neck slowly crumples into tiny pieces, leaving a small, bleeding, gaping hole in his neck as the pieces fall into the ground and disappear in the cement of the sidewalk. Nathaniel lifted his right hand to the gaping, bleeding hole as he glance at the place where the computer chip bits disappear with a surge of worry, but after a moment, he realize that death was not upon him due to the fact that the computer chip just crumple like frail glass when it is slightly touched by the lightest touch.

Nathaniel pulled his hand away from the hole and look at it to find that the palm of his hand and his fingers are coated with a new coat of sticky, red crimson blood as he asked Nadia, "What just happened?"

Nadia was silent for a moment before answering, "Your - "­­­

Suddenly, Nadia stopped talking in the beginning of her sentence. Nathaniel shifted his gaze from his bloody hand to Nadia to find her electric green eyes gradually dimming down as her head dropped onto her chest, the tips of her two metallic, sharp, medium - sized saber teeth coming to rest on her chest during the process.

"Nadia!?!" Nathaniel said with panic in his voice as he examine the still clockwork saber tooth tiger while trying to remember a time when Nadia just broken down for some unknown reason. Suddenly, Nathaniel felt lethargic as a shapeless, shadowed figure appeared a few meters down the sidewalk, seeming to stare at him as he slowly dropped onto his knees next to Nadia's still, froze body. He began to fall onto the sidewalk sideways as a surge of unexpected sleep took over his body, causing him to unwilling close his eyes as he watched the figure begin advancing toward him, the broken down clockwork saber tooth, and the dead body of a seemly crazy former bully.

Who or what are you?, Nathaniel thought as he landed on the sidewalk, sleep drowning him in its power as his eyes finally close all way.