Pain echoed through Nathan's unconscious body. The lightning bolt seemed to have paralyzed him momentarily. He groaned unconscious, searching for a moment of relief as distant-like voices called out to him

"Nate! Nate! Nathan! Wake up, please!!"

Echoed a familiar voice. The voice was soothing and reminded Nathan of warm milk and cheese but it wasn't quite enough to wake him up.

"Damn it, let me do it!" Complained another familiar voice— this time that of a male's.

The sound of a slap then quickly followed as Andrew's hand kissed Nathan's face immediately bringing him back to consciousness.

"Ouch, son of a... ugh!!!" Screamed Nathan as he grasped his cheek in pain.

"Nate! Thank goodness you're ok!"

Exclaimed Sindy with relief as she hugged him tightly.

"Sindy, please... I need... air..!"

Reluctantly, Sindy released Nathan to give him some space to breathe. She was happy he was alive but wished he was more appreciative of her affection.

"Dude, you were out for like three hours! We weren't sure you would wake up..!" Exclaimed Andrew with a breath of relief.

Nathan rubbed his bruised cheek with a distressed face before replying, "Three hours? What happened..?"

"I wish I knew... My memory's kinda fuzzy too. All I know is that I woke up in this creepy forest beside you and Sindy..."

"Creepy forest..?" Murmured Nathan becoming aware of his surroundings.

There were dead trees as far as the eye could see drowning in darkness and mist. The air was moldy and the ground was covered in bits of white rock which strangely resembled broken bones.

"H-How did we get here?!"

"No idea... As I said, this is where we woke up and it doesn't seem like anyone brought us here either."

Sindy sneezed due to the moldy air— sniffling her nose before speaking, "I-I think it had something to do with the strange weather and the lightning bolt we were hit with. That's the only explanation for all of this as weird as that sounds..."

Andrew quickly agreed, "Well, if we want answers, then the first thing we have to do is find a way out of here."

"That's something I can agree on," seconded Sindy. "Nate, can you stand?"

"Yeah, my head's still a little hazy but I think I can manage."

Shortly after, the three friends huddled together as they desperately searched for an exit. As they marched onward, Sindy stole a few glances at Nathan as if he was about to disappear again. After his sudden disappearance back at the theatre, she was not willing to take any more chances with him.

"I'm not gonna just disappear into thin air, Sindy... You can take it easy," comforted Nathan.

"Sure, I'll be the judge of that..."

As the three walked on, the darkness seemed only to grow thicker. Their only source of light were the dim stars in the night sky which poorly aided their vision.

After another ten minutes of walking, the friends began to grow desperate. It was almost as if the forest was endless.

"Man, I swear I'd piss myself if something were to suddenly jump out at us..." Said Andrew unsettlingly.

"Oh my gosh! Andrew, please don't! This is creepy enough as it is!" Argued Sindy.

They were then quickly interrupted by the sound of something or someone moving in the darkness just ahead of them. The three friends immediately came to a stop trying to figure out what they had just heard.

"Oh no! What was that?!" Panicked Sindy as she latched herself around Nathan's arm.

"Sindy, don't worry! Andrew probably just stepped on something to try and scare us. He's just messing around again," reassured Nathan with an optimistic smile.

Andrew was known for being a troublemaker as he sometimes loved to pull pranks on his friends. However, this time it was surely not him.

Nathan's reassurance then quickly turned into fear when he saw Andrew shaking his head, implying that it was not him.

Suddenly, stepping out of the darkness into full view was a five-meter wolf-like creature. It had bright red eyes, black fur, and paws that looked like they could slash a full-grown man in half.

Scared witless, Sindy released a blood-curdling scream. Unfortunately, this seemed only to infuriate the massive beast more causing it to charge towards them.

"RUN!!" Screamed Andrew cowardly.

Nathan and Sindy didn't waste a second to hesitation. They all began dashing through the forest, dodging trees and jumping over fallen logs as fast as they could. It almost looked like a scene from a horror movie where the three victims would inevitably be caught and devoured whole.

The massive wolf was however extremely agile and strong. It ran recklessly towards them, knocking over countless trees while snarling aggressively. To make things worse, it was gaining on them quickly.

Just when things looked like they couldn't get any worse, Sindy found herself tripping over a log. Her body tumbled into the dirt and broken bones with a powerful thump. She quickly tried to regain her footing but it was much too late. The beast now stood over her ready to make her its next meal.

"Sindy!" Yelled Nathan in horror.

Nathan did not wish to see one of his best friends die at the paws of some massive beast. He had to do something, no matter the risk. It was the hero thing to do, right?

Recklessly, without any real plan, Nathan picked up a broken branch and charged the five-metered beast with a battle cry.

"No, Nate! Don't be a hero!" Screamed Andrew helplessly as he watched both his friends fall into the mouth of danger.

Fortunately for Sindy, the beast identified Nathan as a threat and decided to attack him instead. With jaws open wide, the beast charged and snapped at Nathan aggressively.

Thankfully, with the aid of some luck, Nathan was able to lodge the broken branch into the creature's mouth, preventing it from closing just over his head. If he had failed, he would surely be headless by now.

However, that was far from enough to stop the massive beast. It then tackled Nathan to the ground in anger while shaking the branch free from its mouth.

Nathan did his best to crawl away but the beast sank its teeth into his right leg before tossing him into the side of an old tree which crumbled upon impact.

Pain then crippled Nathan's body leaving him unable to fight back. He was in big trouble.

Flaming with rage, the beast went in for the kill. Death looked straight into the soul of Nathan as he found himself helpless against the beast.

Suddenly, the beast yelped in pain as a rock slammed into the side of its head. Andrew had thrown a rock at the creature to buy Nathan some time to escape.

"Sorry, Nathan doesn't taste too good! He would leave a bad aftertaste... Not that I taste any better of course!" Trembled Andrew.

The beast, more agitated than ever, switched targets to Andrew. Unfortunately for Andrew, he tripped over the same log that had caused Sindy to fall over earlier.

"Crap! Looks like this is it! I hope I poison your ass when you eat me you damned mutt!"

Sindy did her best to get on her feet to help Andrew, but she had twisted her ankle upon falling. There was nothing she could do to help him.

Nathan also watched in horror as the beast went in for the kill. He wished it was all just a bad dream he would soon awake from but he knew better than to make wishes that were never going to happen. This was reality and wishes weren't about to save anyone. He had to help Andrew somehow.

Writhing in pain and feeling as if he could collapse from agony at any moment, Nathan forced himself back onto his feet.

He was determined to prevent his friends from dying such horrible deaths. His emotions dictated his decisions but they also fueled him with the adrenaline he needed to win.

"A true hero doesn't make excuses as to why he didn't save someone..! Come at me you oversized mongrel!"

The beast halted and turned to charge at Nathan once again. It had detected an odd energy signal suddenly radiating from Nathan which put it on its guard. It had to defend itself.

With its teeth covered in the blood from Nathan's leg, it snarled before charging towards him. Nathan then quickly picked back up the broken branch and waited for the beast to come closer.

As soon as the beast came close, Nathan aimed the branch towards the throat of the beast. Suddenly, a dark flame-like aura covered Nathan's hand, fueling him with immense power. It slammed the beast through five trees upon contact as the sound of bone and wood snapped.

Bloodied and bruised Nathan stood but he was victorious. He then watched the beast gasp for air with a broken windpipe resulting in its inevitable death before weirdly disintegrating into dust.

Nathan's hand also throbbed with pain from the force of the strange power. He had no idea why this strange power suddenly came over him. It felt dark and scary as if there was something sinister behind it. Nathan however had no time to think of it. His friends were currently his top priority.

"Nathan!" Shouted Sindy in relief.

Both Sindy and Andrew ran to his side breathing as if they had just finished a marathon.

"Sindy, Andrew, are you guys okay?! That thing didn't hurt you did it..!?"

"We're perfectly fine... Worry about yourself for once!" Cried, Sindy.

"You're in bad shape... We need to get you treated, but we're stuck in this damn forest!" Cursed Andrew.

Nathan gave a dim laugh. Though their predicament hadn't improved much, he was glad they were still alive, "Nah, things could be worse. It's just my leg and my back. Worst-case scenario I won't be able to walk again for a while."

"Your back?! Bro, then the worst-case scenario is that you won't be able to supply Sindy in the future!"

Feeling flustered, Sindy slapped Andrew so hard, that the sound vibrated through the dark forest. Andrew was immediately silenced with pain.

"We just need to get out of here an-an-and..." Sindy was unable to finish her statement, due to the impure thoughts that flooded her mind.

However, once more the three friends froze as another sound suddenly echoed from the distant darkness. It was similar to the one they had heard earlier before the beast had attacked them.

"Oh no! Not again... Please, I don't wanna be dog food man!" Cried, Andrew.

Sindy and Nathan looked on in horror expecting a giant creature to pounce on them at any moment. The sound got closer until two figures came into view. A girl that looked around 18 years with lush straight purple hair and sparkly purple eyes came into view. By her side was a male that looked just a year younger with a dark, cool complexion, dark-brown eyes, a muscular body, and hair shaved in a buzz cut. They both wore uniforms with the logo AA which had the words Assassins Agency written stylishly underneath.

"People?" Queried the female stranger curiously,

"What are you all doing out here..? It's dangerous in this forest!"

"Look, one of them is injured! They need help, Amanda!" Exclaimed the male figure as he stooped to inspect Nathan's wounds.

Hope washed over the three friends as they felt like their luck had finally changed for the better.

"We're saved! And by a hottie too!!" Declared Andrew, staring at the female stranger.

"Wait... how do we know we can trust these people?" Asked Sindy making her suspicion known.

"We assure you, we're friendly. See, look here!" Said the female stranger as she pointed to the AA logo on her chest.

"Yeah, sorry we don't know what that's supposed to mean. Not to mention, the word ASSASSINS doesn't seem very friendly."

"Sindy, we need any help we can get right now. Not to mention, we need answers as to where we are..." Noted Nathan dimly.

The strangers then paused and spoke softly to one another as if discussing something important. Their conversation lasted for at least 30 seconds before they turned back towards them.

"Okay!" Started the female stranger, "Weirdly enough, it seems you all really don't know who we are... Based on the fact that you don't even recognize our organization's logo probably means you're all not from here or you have serious amnesia... Though that's quite odd no matter how I look at it... However, I promise you that we're one hundred percent friendly!"

The male figure then stepped forward ready to introduce himself.

"My name is Leo and this is my teammate Amanda. We would love to explain everything to you but it would be best if we got you out of here and back to HQ where it's safe."

"That's fine by me," declared Nathan.

Sindy was still suspicious of the two but she knew that it was the best option based on their pitiful situation.

"Well then, shall we go?" Asked Amanda.

The friends then all agreed since it seemed like the most logical option. Slowly, they then disappeared into the darkness with the two strangers. Little did they know that a story of suffering and pain was about to begin.