The crowd watched as their icon was slammed into the ground again and again. Many winced with each body slam. A few began to weep as they felt hope in their lives being smashed again and again against the concrete tunnels. A few of them bellowed out his name with primal fury.
None of them immediately moved to help him.
Many had relocated to the sewer city after life above ground had become more ruthless and callous. Time after time following the Umbra Event, super powered beings that awakened their abilities were quick to take advantage of their new superior state. Standing up against a person who could fly, bench-press a vehicle or fire blasts of death from their very hands was a very unwise thing to do.
Above ground, before coming here, again and again, these people had watched as regular humans had become helpless against this new type of people. Forced to relocate here, they had done so with shattered hope in living, resigning themselves to merely surviving.
Then, came their head of security. Over the last few days, he had driven out many of the callous and cruel super beings from the sewer city. Each time a report came about of a super being flexing their powers upon the helpless sewer folk, Shang would respond rapidly and decisively. The one man army also proved to be the light for many members of the sewer city.
His fans grew rapidly. They became dedicated. There wasn't really much being done in the sewer city, so many had taken to worshiping their protector. Idolizing and fan-boying the youth, he had soaked it all in, becoming more flamboyant in his duties.
After a few battles, remaining supers in the sewer city came to fear and respect the construct user. While Shang was never the actual ruler of the city, his reputation within it had grown to impressive levels, inspiring the belief in the superiority of their protector.
Of these people, watching Shang lose for the first time, many did not want to give up. Some began to slink away from the crowd, certain that the evil super being now panting would turn his wrath upon the supporters of his opponent.
The few sign posts waved by the fans were dropped one by one; instead some of these fans began to pull out small daggers, wrenches, pipes or any kind of concealable weapon.
In the span of a minute, more fans retreated, while even more came together with whatever weapons they carried. They stared daggers at Jun, who was still panting deeply, trying his best to ride out the wave of headaches that washed over him.
Jun watched as the reduced crowd of fans began to inch closer. It began with a few braze individuals taking a few shuffling steps forward. Some had eyes locked on Jun, others stared at Shang with the light of hope, while the remainder monitored the hostage Xia, hoping to complete their savior's mission in his stead.
The crowd began to shift. Slowly, the people moved to cover their sudden objectives; Jun lost sight of Shang as his fans crowded around him, most likely shielding him with their bodies, someone had even begun to splash some bottled water over Shang's face; Xia was pushed behind a group who the brandished their weapons towards Jun; the final portion of the crowd were now bearing down on Jun, weapons raised towards him as they moved at a snail's pace.
Jun felt himself recover with each breath though and decided not to move until he had recovered as much fighting power as he could muster. His mind panicked as the crowd continued to bear down on him, yet he kept a straight face. His pathways had cooled off to where the pain he felt had all but faded away. His vision recovered and he could make out the mutterings from the crowd.
These people… he chuckled.
Some movement at the edge of his vision caught Jun's attention and he noticed Mei Mei and Shu'er were at the hospital's entrance, watching the scene unfold.
"Get out of here girls." Someone cautioned the two.
"Leave quickly. He might want to get you too."
"What? Really!" someone replied, tightening his grip on an iron pipe.
"He must be working for that Gavik bastard!" someone shouted loudly. Immediately it was like someone had poured cold water on the crowd. A hush fell on the growing mutterings. They began to look between themselves unsure of how to proceed.
A lady screamed, throwing her things to the ground. "If it's Gavik, I don't have anything to do with this!" she grabbed the hands of a teen and dragged him away.
"Are you sure he is with Gavik?" someone asked.
"No… but he." Pointed at Jun, "…is grabbing girls. Kidnapping them."
"Just like Gavik." Someone else finished.
A new quiet fell upon the crowd as they turned their heads to Jun. A new fire burned in their eyes. Many tightened the grip on their weapons. One by one, they began to approach Jun.
The crowd moved slowly, yet steadily. Even as they watched Jun for sudden movements, they would exchange glances with one another; no matter what, this was still a super powered being. They could just as easily be marching to their own deaths.
"Stop!"
Jun's vision was blocked and he felt someone tug on his arm.
A smile came over his face as he realized that Shu'er now stood between him and the crowd while Mei Mei was trying to pull him up to his feet.
A warm feeling spread from his stomach and shimmered up his back. He took a deep breath, straightened his back, clenching his fist; Jun felt stronger all of a sudden.
Jun put all his strength on his knee and pushed himself up too stand, staring down the crowd.
Some of them faltered, yet even more found their courage and continued advancing.
"Can you still fight?" whispered Mei Mei.
"Yeah, I'm good to go." Jun shook his head, removing the last of his fatigue. He scanned the crowd, losing count after thirty-five people, Jun felt like he was in for the fight of his life. He looked behind him and saw that there was a path behind them. Despite all the commotion, there really was a way out.
Jun calculated he would be able to carry both sisters as he himself would make a sprint for the exit.
The crowd had gotten into his range.
They all looked like regular people.
Jun watched their angry faces shout at him. If he let them, he would be overwhelmed and he doubted, in such a frenzied attack, whether any of them would survive a mob assault. Jun took a moment, glancing at Shu'er's worried face and Mei Mei who seemed to be calculating different things in her mind.
Looks like I'm going to have to be… cruel.
Jun sighed.
He raised his right hand and focused on neck of the first person in the crowd. He hoped if he yanked it back hard enough, he could incapacitate in one strike.
"WAAAAAIIIIITT!!!!!"
The crowd stopped, recognizing the voice. Even Jun stopped himself from attacking. A portion of the crowd left behind to tend to Shang began to cheer.
The advancing crowd then split apart making way for Shang, most of them began to retreat, cheering as they did while giving fighting space to their idol.
"You villain! Your fight is with me!" Shang struck a pose again, straightening his back, thrusting his chest out and striking his thumb on his chest, wincing as he did. Shang hurt all over his body, but maintaining his façade as well as performing his duty as protector remained important to Shang.
Jun sighed. He raised his hands, cupping them to speak, but Shang entered a defensive stance, releasing energy to form an armor construct, however, what formed was an incomplete helmet and a patchwork cuirass.
"I am not a villain you idiot!" shouted Jun, really fed up with this day's circumstances. "Who have I attacked? Hmm!?" he demanded.
The crowd began to throw slurs, insults and accusations at Jun, but quieted down when Shang raised his hand.
"You attacked the doctor in the hospital, you-." Shang started speaking.
Jun cut in, "I grabbed her," he pointed at Xia, "because she stole my phone and wallet."
Shang was about to retort, but hearing that, he readjusted his argument. "You kidnapped those girls." He pointed towards Mei Mei and Shu'er.
Shu'er laughed and spoke before Jun could say anything. "Are you drunk? We're helping him get his stuff back from that thief!" she motioned to Xia.
"Look, I came out here to answer you, but you attacked me without giving me the chance to explain myself. Hell I kept telling you this was a misunderstanding, yet YOU ignored ME!" Jun said angrily.
"Huh!" exclaimed Shang, his shoulders falling slack. Oh, thank heavens, Shang thought, I absolutely can't fight this guy. He briefly glanced at Xia. Aww, she's a pretty thief, but a thief non-the-less.
Someone spoke weakly, "I didn't steal your things sir." Most heads turned to look at Xia who spoke during the lull in the conversation. She continued, "I thought you died or something. So-so."
"You just took everything I had on me!?" Jun flared up causing Xia to shrink backwards and look away. "All I wanted to do was ask a few questions." Jun said exasperatedly. "I'm looking for someone. She lived in Number 17 Jonche Street, the apartment building that is in rubble now."
"The one Gavik destroyed?" someone from the crowd asked.
Almost immediately, the crowd began to disperse. It seemed like no one wanted to have anything to do with whoever this Gavik person was.