1 Chapter 1 v2

Loud thuds could be heard coming from an abandoned warehouse, in a normally unimportant city.

No one was passing by, seeing as it was the dead of night, but even if they were they'd probably think it was a demolition crew finally tearing the old place down. And in a way they would kinda be right.

A raggedy black haired man slammed through a metal pipe, and crashed into the wall, bits of broken concrete and dust showering his body as he flopped to the floor.

Blood tricked down his face but he had no time to care, as he slammed his hands and feet into the floor and pushed off his right full force, flinging himself away just in time for a heel to come crashing down into the floor where his legs once were.

"Fleeing on all fours, now you're finally acting like the dog you are."

His attacker taunted him, but he could do nothing but clench his teeth and growl. He already talked shit to her once, and that's what lead him to his all expense paid trip across the room. But it was in his nature to not shut his mouth, despite his body screaming otherwise.

"What the hell is even in it for you capturing me huh?! Clearly you can kick my ass just fine so it's not like you need the manpower, so just leave me the fuck be!"

He swung his hands in wild gestures, his eyes shaking with both fury and confusion.

The assailant chuckled, which only pissed him off more.

"Trust me, this is purely a quantity thing. If you ask me, I'd rather grab one big fish than a bunch of little puppies, but here we are. Now, sit and be good, before I put you down."

Put between his life and his pride, the man sighed and leaned back.

And he bolted forward, arm raised in a claw as black energy poured out of it. "You're gonna have to make me, bitch!"

Make no mistake, this man knew from the bottom of his heart he was fucked. But that doesn't mean he was just gonna bend over and take it.

Nearly an hour later, the factory was littered with small craters, and was quite structurally fucked with most of the walls having man sized holes in them.

Another shadow landed just outside of the door, as the attacker dragged the beaten man out, surprisingly in one piece, well depending if you count the tooth missing.

The shadow leaned down and inspected the beaten man's face, his light stubble and distinctive jaw making him quite the handsome fellow, should you exclude all the cuts and bruises on his face.

"Man you always beat up the handsome ones. You know you could just seduce them, or leave them for someone who will."

"If you're so thirsty, bring a goddamn water bottle with you when you come to meet me, Lynx."

The shadow known as Lynx took offense to this, but knew better than to piss the one in front of her off.

"Now I know you didn't come here just to check out some goods, well actually maybe you did."

Lynx sighed before leaning back against the wall, "Nah sadly I have more fun to give to you, Lepus."

Lepus groaned in annoyance, but was immediately hushed by her.

"Ah ah ah, before you go complaining you'll actually like this one. We think it's a Zodiac."

Lepus snapped their head towards Lynx, "Alright dump this puppy with the others for Lupus, I'm going right now".

Lynx sighed, having known she'd get this overly energetic response.

"Fine, he's up in the northeast. I know you won't listen to this but be careful, because we're acting quick without gathering much intel. A Zodiac is too important of a catch to leave waiting, after all."

Lynx passed her ally a folder containing limited intelligence, and watched them bound away towards their next prey. Once they were out of sight, she immediately wiped her brow of the sweat that coated it.

"Man, keeping a secret is tough with that one."

As Lepus bounded across the rooftops, they checked the folder only to find a picture with a brief summary. "Alex Chance huh? Doesn't sound too interesting, but I hope you can entertain me at least for a little bit."

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Alex was running to school in the morning, with his giant backpack on his shoulders. He wasn't late to school or anything, it was just what he did everyday, much to some people's chagrin, like the car pulling up next to him as he ran.

"I know it's pointless to ask, but do you want a ride?"

Alex turned to look at the big dude driving the car, tanned from being out in the sun too long.

"Not only is that a no, but I think you should be running this with me Duke. It'd be good for all that weight of yours. It's only a nine minute run."

Duke just shook his head, his short brown hair swaying slightly.

"The saner way of putting it is it's two miles. It's nine minutes for the track team maybe. And besides, this is 200 plus pounds of muscle buddy, and people recognize it too when it smacks them into the ground."

Alex feigned annoyance and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah we get it you're cool and you play football. Speaking of which, see ya after school."

Duke pulled away shaking his head and laughing, and left Alex to his morning run. What neither of them mentioned was the fact that it was pouring rain out at the moment, and Alex's dirty blonde hair was already soaked down to his head.

After making his way to school and hanging out with Duke and the rest of the football team for a bit, Alex made his way through the normal daily routine of school.

Something most people gave up on commenting about was his habit of never visiting his locker. In all honesty, he actually forgot which one was his since he never used it.

It's because he carried everything in the giant backpack, and didn't mind carrying it everywhere since the weight was negligible for him. The real fun part of the day came around at the end, as he headed to the secondary gym after school.

Namely, he joined the football team in the workout room, filled with weights galore.

Duke joined up with him as he came in.

"It's completely unfair how you get to use the weight room for free with us, without even being in the team."

Alex just laughed and waved at the coach, who was giving him a thumbs up.

"Not my fault your coach knows how to hook a man up. Besides, I think he's trying to recruit me as much as you are."

Scratching his head, Duke gave a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, sorry about that."

Patting him on the back, Alex pulled his friend in. "Nah man, I know you just want a bad ass team up with yours truly. I just don't feel like playing sports, that's all. Got too many rules between me and hitting them."

The coach then whistled and brought everyone in to the center, which Alex followed because it'd be weird just standing out in a corner on his own.

"I've got some good news boys. We've actually got an assistant student coach to help out with our workout routines coming in today. Now I want you all to be on your best behaviors. I don't care that most of you are 18 now, you keep that and this separate, capiche?"

Most of the boys were starting to get excited as they put two and two together, and snapped their eyes onto the figure entering the room, a tan woman with long black hair, strutting in evenly and calmly without a hint of nervousness, something usually present in a student teacher.

She made eye contact with Alex and grinned at him, looking him up and down.

Despite having immediately been told otherwise, the dude next to Alex ribbed him and whispered "Bro I think you're already in. You just gotta make your move and get in there. Lemme know if it's only those shorts that are tight."

This made Alex turn to Duke, who would have made a similar albeit toned down joke, only to be confused when he sees him sweating and nervous.

This makes the new teacher look at Duke too, with a hidden stare in her eyes which only Duke and Alex caught.

'I got a weird feeling about this one. Shame too, I wasn't against taking that guy up on the advice.'