Swish!
As for the shotgun in Jonathan's hand, Tina saw it as nothing more than a firewood stick.
The moment she leaped, blades of grass flew into the air. The entire world seemed to slow down a hundredfold. Clark, with agile movements, darted out, scooped Tina up by the waist, and carried her away.
Although he was confident he could subdue Tina after seeing her 'slowed down' speed, he knew from the way she cracked the ground with her foot that she possessed considerable strength. Even casually breaking a fence railing could turn splintered wood into bullets.
Clark didn't want any accidents.
After Clark and Tina disappeared, David, at the speed of a normal track and field athlete, aimed in one direction and gave chase.
"I'll help Clark. Father, you protect Mother."
"David, don't go!"
Jonathan, holding the shotgun, tried to call out to his son, but David was already too far to be seen.
David glanced back, confirming his parents couldn't see him, and his speed suddenly surged.
On the suburban highway, under the streetlights.
Clark slowed down, intending to put Tina down, but Tina's vision blurred, and before she could react, she brought her hands together and smashed them down hard on Clark's back.
Bang!
A dull thud.
It felt like being hit by a car. Clark was caught off guard and slammed to the ground, cracking the pavement. Small pebbles on the road were thrown up by the impact.
"You have powers too, Clark!"
Seeing that Clark wasn't dead, Tina grabbed his neck and tried to lift him.
Clark firmly gripped her wrists, stopping her movements, his expression serious.
"Tina, you can still turn back before you make a bigger mistake."
He had sensed Tina's anger. There might be hidden circumstances surrounding Aunt Catherine's death, and perhaps Tina wasn't responsible. If that were the case, she wouldn't have killed anyone yet, only robbed a bank.
"Mistake?"
Tina sneered.
"I'm just using my abilities to fight for happiness. What mistake have I made?"
She was about to exert her strength, to see who was stronger between her and Clark.
Bang!
A cold figure attacked like lightning, their fist smashing into Tina's face. A blast of air erupted, sending Tina tumbling backward. She flew like a skipping stone across a lake, colliding with the ground several times before finally skidding to a halt dozens of meters away.
Even Clark, whom she had been holding, was affected, flying six or seven meters before landing.
"Who?"
Tina's face was red as if she had a superficial abrasion. She stood up, looking furiously at the newcomer.
David appeared in the light, his expression indifferent. He rubbed his fist.
"Your bones are quite hard."
He had just hit the woman's cheekbone and felt like he had struck high-density alloy.
"David?"
Tina vaguely recognized David. Her gaze flickered between him and the rising Clark, her expression turning fierce.
"My brother has powers, and my brother is a monster."
"But your family shouldn't have messed with me!"
Her speed surpassed that of a charging cheetah. In an instant, she covered dozens of meters and threw a punch that whistled through the air towards David.
[Confusion from Tina +0.4, Anger +0.6...]
Bang!
Her fist moved like a bullet, carrying astonishing force. David stepped back to dodge the punch. As she attacked again, he grabbed her wrist. Tina tried to break free, but it was like being caught in a vice.
"Good strength, but a complete woman's fighting style."
There was no method or strategy to it.
His eyes were cold. He applied pressure with his hand, exerting hundreds of tons of force.
"Let go of me!"
Tina cried out in pain, her face contorted with ferocity. She swung her other fist, tearing through the air towards David's head.
As if not seeing it at all, David's body didn't move. He simply tightened his grip, increasing the force to over a thousand tons. Under this terrifying power, even steel ingots would be crushed into iron mud.
Crack!
Her fist halfway through its swing, excruciating pain shot up her wrist. Tina screamed, and her body convulsed as if electrocuted. She dropped her hand, trying to pull it away from David's grasp, but it was impossible.
She looked at his handsome, cold face, feeling as though she were facing a ruthless, bloodless, terrifying creature, an involuntary fear welling up inside her.
"Da... David."
In her moment of crisis, Tina's facial features contorted like mud, transforming into the face of a woman with fine lines at the corners of her eyes. She deliberately put on an expression of extreme pain.
Tina had changed into Martha's face, believing that David would instinctively let go upon seeing his mother's pained expression before his eyes.
David did just that, releasing his grip as if shocked.
"How dare you!"
But in the next instant, he reacted, his heart filled with rage.
Before Tina could escape, she felt a hand forged from steel grab her head and smash it forcefully into the ground, face down.
Bang!
Gravel flew, and Tina's entire head was almost brutally pressed into the ground.
Cough, cough, cough!
"Ahhh!"
Tina screamed, trying to lift her head. Under the immense pressure of the large hand, her skull made sounds of unbearable strain, and the fear of death consumed her body and mind.
"Help, help!" she cried for help, her muffled voice emerging from beneath the earth.
David remained unmoved, his face icy cold. He raised his fist, about to strike.
Crack!
"Let go, David."
Clark quickly grabbed David's wrist.
This time, he didn't hold back, rapidly increasing his strength. But when he realized he couldn't pry David's hand off even with his full strength, he looked at him with wide, astonished eyes.
Clark was just about to use both hands.
"Get out of the way!"
David swung his clenched fist backward, and Clark was sent flying as if weightless. He then brought his fist down.
Bang!
Tina's hands, flailing weakly like a drowning person, hit the ground. Her head was buried in the dirt, and she no longer moved.
"Tina!"
Clark shouted, rushing to Tina's side and turning the unconscious person over.
Fortunately, she was still breathing.
But... she couldn't be woken up at all.
"You've turned someone into a vegetable again."
He glared angrily at his brother.
"How dare she imitate Mother. It's good I didn't kill her."
David stood up, dusting off his hands. He looked down at the ground, his tone ice-cold.
[Fear from Tina +0.8, Confusion +0.3, Anxiety +1.0, Anxiety, Anxiety... Fear +1.2, Fear, Fear...]
A complete process—a person knocked unconscious, realizing they still have consciousness, confused as to why they can't control their body, followed by anxious attempts, then realizing something, and finally, fear...
He hadn't killed Tina.
In the maximum-security prison, for violent offenders who were disobedient or caused trouble, the punishment was often solitary confinement.
Only a sliver of weak light from the gap in the cell door, a cramped space where one couldn't even take two steps, darkness where no one spoke to you, and where you couldn't even see your own hands.
"Usually, even the most brutal inmates become obedient after three days in solitary confinement."
And what awaited Tina was an enhanced version of solitary confinement, lasting for decades.
...
By the frigid lake, cars were parked along the shore, with bonfires lit.
It was a lively outdoor barbecue party on a holiday afternoon.
David and Chloe, along with a few others, sat by the fire, grilling meat.
"David, Clark, what's wrong with you two?" Chloe, dressed in a down jacket, asked with a puzzled look. "If I remember correctly, you two haven't spoken to each other in days!"
"The atmosphere between you two these past few days has been as cold as this lakeside," Pete said deliberately, rubbing himself and feigning a shiver as if about to freeze to death, his teeth chattering. "Good heavens, save me."
He put on an exaggerated, comical act, trying to create a lively and relaxed atmosphere and give the two a chance to reconcile.
"I don't feel cold," Clark said in a low, muffled voice, flipping the beef he was grilling.
David drank a glass of cold fruit beer, gazing at the distant lakeshore, as if he hadn't heard.
"Are you guys from outer space or something?" Chloe asked curiously.
She had never seen the two like this before.
What had happened between these two brothers?
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