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DISCLAIMER

1) This material is not used for monetary profit in any manner.  It is
done solely for enjoyment purposes, and as homage to the great stories
and characters of Marvel Comics Group

2)  All  the  characters,  events,  and locations portrayed within are
recognized as property of Marvel Comics Group should they so wish.
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                            THE TWELVE #1

                    "Whatever Doesn't Kill You..."

                         WRITER: Samy Merchi
                       EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Kingbob
               SPECIAL THANKS TO: Christopher Claremont
                    for creating these characters.
               Without him, I would not be truly alive.

   Cumberland,   Kentucky.    The  sun  is  just  setting  behind  the
mountains, the gleaming twilight overseeing the land, wrapping it in a
soft blanket, letting people down easy into the darkness of the night.
A beautiful land, with all kinds of people.
   One  of  them  was  Samuel Zachery Guthrie.  He was on his way back
from the coal mines.  It had been a day like any other.  A day of hard
work filled with daydreaming.  Ever since his father had died, Sam had
considered himself the head of the Guthrie household, and had left his
studies to bring the large family a living, as best he could.
   Never once did Sam complain, accepting his responsibilities calmly,
as  he  believed  a man should.  Day after day, week after week, month
after  month, he diligently worked at the coal mines, his only respite
being  the daydreaming of far away galaxies, and indescribable aliens,
that filled his mind amidst the monotonous rhythm of his work.
   Today all that would change.
   As  his  pace  brought him ever closer to the Guthrie farm, walking
steadily  on  despite  the  rough  day, he began to feel something was
wrong.   The  farm  was  never this quiet.  Especially in the evening,
when  everyone  was  home.   His  expression  took on a pensive frown.
Where  was  everyone?  Where could they have gone?  The lights were on
in  the house, but there was no movement he could see.  Unconsciously,
his feet started to move slightly faster towards the house.
   Then,  he  saw  the  first  thing  that made his heart really jump.
"Elizabeth!!!"  he  gasped  as he saw his younger sister at the porch,
lying  motionless.  Without a second thought, he dropped everything he
was carrying, and broke into a run towards the house.
   It  took  Sam  slightly over ten seconds to cover the hundred or so
yards  left  to  the house.  He knelt beside Elizabeth, and turned her
around, onto her back.
   Her eyes were open.  And dead.  Sam's eyes went wide as he realized
that her neck had been broken.  "No..." he whispered weakly, unable to
believe  that  this  was  happening.   "Elizabeth..." he sobbed, tears
filling  his  eyes.   A  feeling of dread filled him, and with a quick
motion  to  close  his dead sister's eyes, he stood up and darted into
the house.
   "Momma!!   Paige!!  Lewis!  Jeb!  Josh!!" Sam called out, his heart
thumping  so  hard  it  almost leaped out of his chest.  His breathing
grew  shallow,  even  as  his  vision started to grow black around the
edges.  He couldn't have imagined a body could be so scared.
   "Well,  we  even got us a roll call", a cold voice said from behind
Sam.   He  whirled around to look straight into the ice cold eyes of a
muscular  woman.   Her  raven-black  hair  flowed straight down to her
shoulders, framing a sharp, sadistic expression.
   For  a  moment,  Sam  didn't  know what to do.  His body took a few
steps  back from this menacing woman who slowly but surely advanced on
him,  tapping her fist into her other hand.  "Wh...who are you???" Sam
stuttered in fright.  "What do you want??"
   The  woman  sneered  viciously,  as  she  took a few steps forward,
cornering  Sam quickly.  "For the rest of your life, kid, you can call
me  Arclight!"  she said, then threw a punch at him, sending him clear
thru  the  wooden wall into the kitchen.  "Of course, that ain't going
to be long..."
   There  was  little  time  for Sam to clear his head, before another
voice  broke thru to his consciousness.  "And I'm Harpoon, young man."
The  voice  was  low, speaking broken english.  "For obvious reasons."
Sam  felt  himself  be  yanked up by his collar and turned to face the
wall  opposite  the  one he had been smashed thru.  What he saw, froze
his blood immediately.
   On  the  wall was a body.  It was hanging there by a harpoon thrust
thru  the middle, nailed onto the wall.  The worst part?  The body was
still moving.
   "MOMMA????"  Sam's  wail  was that of a heartbroken man as his eyes
locked   onto  his  suffering  mother.   She  was  snapped  back  into
consciousness  by  the  scream  of  her  firstborn,  and she looked up
slowly.   Her eyes were full of pain, dim, almost ready to go out, but
not before she delivered one final message.
   "Samuel...   You  must..."  She  coughed,  blood trickling from her
mouth.   "You  must...be strong..." With that, her body went limp, and
she passed from this world.
   Sam felt himself about to faint, as he tried to stumble towards his
mother.   "MOMMA???" he shouted again, in vain, as he was grabbed from
behind  by  strong  arms, and held in place.  He could hardly see thru
the  veil  of tears, and didn't even realize that he was being held in
place.  "You bastards!!!" he screamed at Harpoon amidst his sobbing.
   Harpoon  readied a harpoon from his quiver, and it quickly began to
glow brightly as he energized it with his mutant power.  He placed the
weapon under Sam's chin, pressing the tip into the skin.
   Sam  screamed  as  the  energy burned at him, and all he wanted was
release  from  this pain, to go meet his mother and sister in the next
world.  He weakly tried to get away from Arclight, but he was hardly a
match for the super-strong woman.
   "This  is  the mark, no?" Harpoon questioned Arclight, pressing the
burning  energy a bit deeper into Sam's chin.  There was a quick snort
from  behind  Sam.   "You  heard the woman.  This is Samuel." Arclight
turned Sam's head to look at her.  "You're Sammy-boy, aren't you?" she
grinned sadistically.
   There  was no answer, just silent sobs as Sam slumped in Arclight's
arms.  "What do y'all want...?" he quietly asked, not really expecting
an answer.
   Arclight  chuckled  as she silently pressed her lips onto Sam's and
kissed  him.   "Mmmmm..."  she smirked as she pulled away.  "Just your
life,  basically.   Nothing  personal.   Just a few grunts doin' their
job."
   "Nothin' personal??  NOTHING PERSONAL???" Sam shouted.  "Y'all kill
mah  family an' then say it ain't personal???  Well it sure as heck is
personal  t' me!!!!" He felt his blood boiling, his body trembling, as
if going to explode from his anger.
   There  was  a low rumble.  Arclight and Harpoon barely had the time
to blink.
   THROOM!
   A  huge explosion sent the two killers hurtling away as Sam's blast
field  kicked  in  for  the first time, expanding around his body with
immense  force.  It shoved Arclight and Harpoon right thru the kitchen
walls,  demolishing  most  of  the  room,  even  as it sent Sam flying
directly upwards, thru the ceiling, the roof of the house, and towards
the darkening skies like a Cannonball...

   Medicine  Bow mountains, Colorado.  A few hours later.  The sun has
set,  and  darkness has overtaken the hills.  A young woman is sitting
cross-legged  on  a  rock,  overlooking the valley opening in front of
her.   With  closed eyes, she enjoys the quiet, her posture strong and
proud,  as  is  befitting of a Cheyenne warrior.  At these quiet night
times,  she  is  at  peace  with  the world, drawing strength from the
harmony of the world.  Unfortunately, this might be the last night for
her to have any semblance of peace in her soul.
   She  concentrated on feeling the life around her.  The nature.  The
world.   She opened all her senses except sight, letting her eyes stay
closed as she listened, smelled, and felt the mountains around her.
   As Ridge-Runner arrived, she heard him coming from far away despite
the  large  cat's  quiet paws.  He trotted towards her, and she turned
her head towards him and opened her eyes.
   Slowly,  her  hand went around Ridge-Runner's neck, to hold the cat
against  her.   A quiet, content purr came out, almost as if from both
throats,  as they enjoyed being together, the silent rapport that they
shared extending from their surface thoughts to the very core of their
beings.  They were both happy.  At peace.  For now.

   Slowly,  Sam  came  to.   He  noticed he was lying in the middle of
rubble, a cliffside towering in front of him, and a crater in the very
rock  in  front  of  him,  as  if something had flown horizontally and
impacted  the  cliff.  What could it have been?  And what was he doing
here?   He  tried  to  gather  his  thoughts  and  remember  what  had
happened...
   Sam's  eyes  went  wide  as he remembered Harpoon and Arclight, and
what had happened to his family...  Had it been a dream?  He hoped so,
from  the  bottom  of  his heart, but as his hand went to his chin, he
knew  it  had  been  true.  A painful scar, like a burn, was there, to
remind  him.   As  if  he  would  ever  forget.   As  if he could ever
forget...
   With  aching muscles, Sam rolled onto his back, leaning against the
cliff.  He froze in place as his eyes locked onto the man just a dozen
yards  or so away, sitting on top of a boulder.  He flinched back, but
there was the unyielding cliffside, not letting him go anywhere.
   "You  have  nothing  to fear from me, Samuel", the man said calmly,
remaining  on  top  of  the  boulder, sitting there, watching Sam.  He
seemed  to  have  native  american  features, most evident in his skin
coloration,  and long, black hair flowing down to his shoulders.  Over
his  brow  was  a  headband, ornamented in a way Sam couldn't see from
afar,  and under the headband the man's eyes watched him in a passive,
yet strong way.
   Sam  narrowed  his  eyes at the man's clothing.  A green, skintight
outfit covering his entire body, save for a star-shaped formation over
his  upper  torso,  a  belt  holding  a  pouch of some kind, boots and
bracers  -  all dull, earthen orange in coloration.  A strange glimmer
of...recognition?   went  thru  Sam,  and  he  held still for a while,
listening.
   "These  are  dangerous times for you, Samuel Guthrie.  And not only
for  you,  but  for  the  entire  world.  You are not the first of the
Twelve to rise, nor are you the last, but you are the first in danger.
And  that  is partially my fault, and my responsibility." The man slid
down  from  the  boulder  to  the  ground  after speaking, and started
walking  towards  Sam.  "I am the Shaman, and I have come to help you,
for Selene has started the Hunt."
   Sam  narrowed  his eyes, and backed up slightly, managing to get up
by bracing himself onto the cliff.  "What do you mean, sir?  What does
any  of  this have t' do with me an' mah family?" he hesitantly asked,
unsure of whether he wanted to know the answer.
   Shaman  reached  into  his  pouch, Sam's curious eyes following the
motion,  a  bit warily.  With a careful motion, Shaman's fist withdrew
from the pouch, and flung into the air a red mist.  "It will be easier
to  show you, Samuel Guthrie", he said, even as images started to form
in the mist.
   "There  exists  a  woman  named  Selene",  Shaman started, the mist
showing  the  countenance  of  a beautiful woman with raven-dark hair.
"She has walked this earth for untold time.  Some believe she is truly
immortal,  some  merely believe she is prolonging her life with magic.
She has only one true fear.  And that is to die."
   "According to a prophecy, there are twelve bloodlines that will one
day  spawn  the  people  who will eventually slay Selene.  Now, Selene
believes  she  knows these bloodlines, and she has started the Hunt to
slay  these people before they can slay him.  Your bloodline is one of
these, Samuel."
   The mist showed images as the story progressed, and then dissipated
into  the  air.   Sam  gaped,  slack-jawed for a while, then he turned
towards  Shaman.   "That's crazy", he said.  "Ah ain't gonna be a part
o'  killin'  anyone.   The  only  prophecies  ah believe in are in the
Bible."
   With  a  quick  nod,  Shaman  took a step closer.  "If that is your
choice,  Samuel." He placed a hand onto Sam's shoulder firmly.  "Every
man  has his own path to take, and I have no doubt that you are one of
the Twelve for a reason.  But now, we must go.  Others need our help."
He  reached into his pouch, and sprinkled dust into the air, to form a
circle  above  them.  The circle slowly descended over them, and as it
reached the ground, all was quiet.  They were gone.

   Roberto  Da  Costa  was having the time of his life.  He was racing
towards  the  goal,  and  with  a quick move, kicked the ball past the
goal-keeper.  Once again, number six, Roberto Da Costa, scored a goal.
It  was  a  great  day for him, as he got to shove the big talk of the
Dynamos   back   down   their  throats  with  goal  after  goal.   The
Thunderbolts  were  leading  4-0, all four goals scored by number six,
Roberto Da Costa!
   The  crowd  went  wild as yet another goal was scored, and the roar
was  immense, as Roberto trotted back towards the center of the field.
There  was  less  than a minute left of the game, and he was certainly
giving the crowd a show, even though the Thunderbolts' victory was all
but certain already.
   As  the ball returned to play, it took Roberto mere seconds to gain
control  of  it  once  more and to start towards the Dynamo goal.  The
Dynamos' number two, Keller, approached him from the side, but Roberto
just  smirked and accelerated slightly, leaving the larger man behind,
and within seconds the crowd was roaring again at yet another goal, by
number six, Roberto Da Costa!!!

   The  young woman was enjoying the quiet of the night, still sitting
in  the very same place she had been for hours.  Ridge-Runner had left
a  while  ago, but she had stayed to overlook the valley, as the quiet
of  the  night overtook the camp.  She smiled in happiness, and flexed
her shoulders slightly, as she prepared to go back down, to the camp.
   A  sudden series of flashes from the camp caught her attention, and
a  few  seconds  the  sound of those flashes reached her, striking ice
cold  fear  into  her heart.  Gunshots.  Without a second thought, she
leaped down from the rock, and began running down the hill towards the
camp,  her  fists  clenched even as she felt her heart pumping harder,
not from the exertion, but from the fear.
   She  was  escorted by the sound of more gunshots, someone firing on
full  automatic,  and the screams that could only belong to her tribe.
She  felt  tears  streaming  down  her face, as she covered the ground
towards  the  sounds,  running the familiar path back to camp like she
had never run before.
   Her  feet  were almost a blur as she ran.  The familiar fallen tree
that  she  so  often  sat upon, blocked the path as always.  She leapt
over  it without a second thought, her strong legs sending her up into
the air.  Grabbing a branch, she let her momentum snap it off the tree
as  she  began  to  fall towards the ground once more.  Making no more
sound than a cat's silent paws, she landed into a crouch, resuming her
run again in a fraction of a second, now carrying the branch.
   In  just  under  two minutes, she arrived at the camp, the gunshots
having  ceased  just barely ten seconds before she arrived.  The scent
of  death welcomed her, and in her heart she knew that her tribe - her
family  -  all thirty-six, were dead.  And her heart craved vengeance!
Silently,  she  crept  into the camp, hiding herself against a teepee,
and opened her senses wide, to listen where the culprits were.
   "You  getting  her,  Scalp?"  she  heard one voice say, towards the
center of the camp.
   There  was  no  response, just a tense quiet, and that told her all
she  needed to know.  Somehow, they knew she had arrived.  And she had
no wish to suffer the fate of her tribe.  But who were they??  Why had
they  done  this??   She  pushed  the  questions out of her mind.  Now
wasn't  the  time  for thinking.  She pushed herself back into action,
rolling to the side just as a burst of gunfire cut thru the teepee and
where  she  had  been  less  than a second before.  No doubt about it.
They knew where she was, so she broke into a run again, this time back
to  the  woods.   The  camp wasn't a good place for a battle, she knew
instinctively,  and furthermore, if there were survivors, luring these
people  away  was  important.  She headed towards the woods, and heard
running  steps  behind  her,  coming  after  her.  She smiled thru her
tears.  She would have vengeance.
   Scalphunter   watched   his   sensor   module,  tracking  the  girl
unerringly,  as  he  ran  after  her,  leaving the camp behind.  Prism
followed  with a brisk pace, shining to produce the pair all the light
they  needed  to  enter  the woods in the dark.  Little did they know,
that  the  situation  had  changed.  Instead of the predator, now they
were the prey.
   Silently,  Scalphunter  gave  a  little motion to indicate to Prism
that  the  target  was  just  a little bit ahead.  A few seconds after
that, his run was interrupted by something.  She knew the woods inside
and  out.   She  knew which route they would take.  She had jammed the
branch  under  a  rock  so  that it went just above the path, at ankle
height.
   As  Scalphunter tripped onto the branch and tumbled down, there was
a  furious  war  cry, as she jumped down from a tree up ahead, falling
towards  him  with a knife in her hand.  Her feet made no sound as she
fell  to  the  ground  beside  the  killer,  and stabbed at him with a
lightning swift stroke.
   The  killing  stroke  missed  just  barely  as the more experienced
Scalphunter  rolled  so  that  the knife instead plunged deep into his
side.  He couldn't restrain a scream of pain, and lashed out, whipping
her across the face with his pistol.
   Her  head  snapped  back,  and  she  stumbled backwards a bit.  She
didn't   even   notice  her  bloodied  face,  as  she  kicked  towards
Scalphunter, hitting the side of his head before he could even get up.
The  man  pointed  the  pistol  wildly  at her, and fired.  The bullet
didn't even come close.  "Prism!  Get her now!"
   Prism watched the situation, and pointed his fist at her.  A bright
flash,  like  sunburst,  emanated  from  him  and  she  stumbled back,
throwing  her  hand across her eyes, but too late.  She was blinded by
the  flash.  "As good as done, boss", he calmly said, and then lowered
his hand, to watch what happened next.
   Scalphunter  blinked and shook his head as he tried to recover from
her  kick.   He  got up shakily, and stepped towards her, with a quick
whip  across  her  face,  he  sent  her to the ground, and pointed the
pistol towards her.  "Nothin' personal, sweets.  Just doin' our job."
   She  snarled  as  she  lay  on the ground, on her back.  Still, she
couldn't  see anything.  "I am Moonstar!  I am a Cheyenne!  I will not
beg!!!" With that, she brought her foot up, hoping she estimated right
by his voice.
   She  did.   The  foot  came  up  between Scalphunter's legs, and he
shouted,  then  keeled  over,  slumping to the ground beside Moonstar,
groaning  in  agony as he clutched his groin.  Even Prism winced as he
saw the attack.
   Moonstar  lifted  her  war-knife  once again in a quick motion, and
aimed  it  towards  the  defenseless  Scalphunter's groan.  Before she
could  plunge  the knife down, she felt a searing pain in her hand, as
Prism fired a pencil-thin laser beam from his finger, burning thru her
hand.   The  knife  fell down as she reflexively pulled her hand back.
But she refused to scream in pain.

   In  the  middle  of  the  Cheyenne  camp,  a  ring of dust suddenly
appeared  about  ten feet in the air.  It slowly fell downwards, as if
no  wind or breeze could touch it, and as it came downwards, it slowly
brought  into  sight  two  people,  as if appearing from nowhere.  The
Shaman and Sam Guthrie had arrived.
   Grimly,  they  watched  the surroundings, the bodies on the ground.
Shaman  looked  down and said a prayer to his gods.  Sam, on the other
hand,  looked like he was going to be sick, all color drawing from his
face,  leaving the boy pale and shaking.  "Wh...What...happened here?"
he managed to say.
   Shaman  opened  his  mouth  to answer, but both men's attention was
shocked  to  look one way by a sudden gunshot.  "She is alive", Shaman
said,  narrowing  his  eyes.  With a quick motion, he reached into his
pouch,  and  pulled  out  the  figurine  of  a  panther, which grew to
life-sized  and  animated  to  life  like a real panther.  Quickly, it
sprang  forwards,  running towards the forest, leaving a glowing trail
after  it.   "Follow  it!"  he said and started running, following the
trail.

   Moonstar  started  to slowly recover her sight, seeing slight blurs
of forms in the darkness.  Her attention focused onto the bright light
which  she hoped was the last thing she had seen since the flash.  The
strange, crystalline-bodied man calling himself Prism.  She pulled the
last  of  her cards.  "Murderers!" she called out as she concentrated.
"By  the  Great  Bear,  let  my  spiritforms give you untold suffering
before  I  kill  you!"  She  lashed  out  with every last ounce of her
strength, calling upon her mutant powers to assault the killer.
   Suddenly,  Prism  saw  the  ground  under him disappear.  He didn't
understand  what  was  going  on.  He just saw that he was high in the
air, and the ground was approaching quickly.  His worst, most fearsome
nightmare  was  happening  right  in  front  of  his  eyes.  And as he
impacted  to  the  ground and saw shards of himself flying everywhere,
the  pure  mental  shock  sent  him  reeling,  next to catatonic as he
slumped down to the ground.
   "Nice  trick.   Now watch this." said a voice behind Moonstar.  She
heard the click of a gun behind her and knew she was dead.  Still, she
didn't resign to her fate, tensing up to throw a kick behind her.
   She  didn't  have  the time.  In the heat of the battle, she hadn't
noticed  the new arrival, but the furious roar of a mountain lion told
her  that  Ridge-Runner  had  arrived.  And he wasn't going to let his
best friend get killed.
   Scalphunter  didn't  have  much  time to react, but fortunately his
body  armor bore the brunt of the attack.  With a quick motion, he put
a few bullets thru the cat, and he fell down, not moving.
   "Ridge-Runner!    NO!!!"   Moonstar   screamed,   and   leaped   at
Scalphunter, sending a flying kick towards his head.
   Despite  the  wound  in his side, Scalphunter managed to crouch and
let  Moonstar  go  flying over him, whacking the back of her head with
his  pistol.  She fell to the ground, dazed, and took a few kicks into
her  gut.   With  the last one, she heard a sharp crack, as one of her
ribs broke.  Still, she didn't cry out, but instead lashed back with a
sharp  kick,  which  Scalphunter jumped over.  "It's over, sweets", he
said  as  he  changed the clip with a quick motion and pointed the gun
towards Moonstar.
   Before  he could fire, there was a growl again, as a panther leaped
at  Scalphunter  from  the  side.   He  barely  managed  to  dodge the
ferocious  attack,  but  with a few explosive bullets, the panther was
blown  into  little  wooden  shards.   "I'm  gettin'  tired  o'  these
interruptions..." he said in an irritated voice.
   "You  can  prepare  yourself  for more, Scalphunter", came a steady
voice.   Shaman  was  standing  at  the edge of the clearing, Sam just
behind him.  In a quick motion, he reached into his pouch, and flung a
crystal   shard   towards   Scalphunter.   In  mid-air,  it  grew  and
transformed  into  a  globe  that  swallowed up Prism and Scalphunter,
containing  them inside the transparent material.  Then, he closed his
eyes, and started to concentrate.
   Three  heartbeats  passed,  then  a huge gust of wind picked up the
globe  and carried it away to the skies, disappearing from sight.  Sam
gaped after it for a while, as Shaman ran to Moonstar.  "Moonstar, how
are you feeling?" he asked, looking her over.
   She gasped a bit, biting her lip as she forced herself to stand up.
Her  face  was  bloody and battered, and she was hunched over in pain,
but  still,  she  began  to stumble towards Ridge-Runner, mumbling his
name, almost like a mantra.
   Shaman  glanced  to  the  large  cat and frowned, as he noticed the
bullet  wounds.   He moved closer, and noticed the cat was nonetheless
still  alive.   Quickly,  he reached into his pouch for some ointment,
which   he   gently  spread  over  the  wounds.   Moonstar  looked  on
suspiciously.   "What  are  you  doing?"  she  asked  with  a slightly
reverent voice, recognizing the older man's stature as a shaman.
   "I'm   helping  him",  Shaman  simply  replied.   "You  can  relax,
Moonstar.  He will be fine, with a little rest and time to heal."
   Moonstar  breathed  an  obvious  sigh  of  relief,  not  paying any
attention  to Sam, who slowly walked closer, a bit hesitant to intrude
on the moment.  "You are not Cheyenne", she noted.
   Shaman  shook his head, still keeping his attention on Ridge-Runner
as he attended to him.  "No.  I am Sarcee."
   At the reply, Moonstar's expression went to puzzled.  "They live in
Canada."  She turned around, to face Sam.  "And why have you brought a
white man with you?" she asked with contempt in her voice.
   "There  is  more  at  stake  here  than you know, Moonstar", Shaman
explained calmly.  "The boy has something in common with you.  You are
both hunted."
   Moonstar narrowed her eyes.  "Hunted?  By whom?  Tell me and I will
plunge  my  war-knife into their heart and avenge my tribe!" she spoke
in  venomous  tones,  that obviously upset Sam, as he took a few steps
back, looking away from her.
   Shaman  passed  his  hand  over  Ridge-Runner's eyes, and he weakly
opened  them,  getting  up  to  his  feet.  "That may be your destiny,
Moonstar.   We  have  much  to discuss and others to meet." With that,
Shaman stood up and let Ridge-Runner go to Moonstar.

   Meanwhile,  in Rio De Janeiro, Roberto Da Costa was on his way back
home   from  the  Thunderbolts'  championship  celebration,  with  his
girlfriend  Juliana  Sandoval.   They  were young.  They were in love.
They  were heroes.  Tonight, they would prove it, beyond all shadow of
a doubt.
   As  they  took a shortcut thru an alley from street to street, they
suddenly   found   the  alley  ahead  blocked  by  three  silhouettes.
Roberto's  eyes  narrowed,  as he recognized the forms.  "Dynamos", he
spat  out.  Juliana clutched tighter to Roberto, as she glanced behind
them.  "There are more..." she said quietly, scaredly.
   Roberto  glanced  over  his  shoulder to see four more, approaching
slowly.   One  of  them  was  rattling  a  chain.   "Get  behind those
dumpsters, Juliana", he said coldly, as his hands clenched into fists.
She  made  no  move  to  do  so,  instead  just  clutching  to Roberto
stubbornly.  "Do it!" he said, angrily.
   "That's  right,  halfbreed.   We don't want her, we just want you",
said one voice from ahead.
   Roberto frowned darkly.  "Come on then.  Let's get this over with",
he  said cockily.  Juliana clutched his arm tight as the Dynamos began
to approach.  Then, she started to scream.
   One  of  the Dynamos quickly stepped forward and hit her across the
face.  She dropped to the ground, unconscious.
   If it would have been just himself, he might not have had a chance.
But  they  hurt his girlfriend.  The girl he was in love with.  With a
feral  snarl,  Roberto  leapt at the boy who hit her, tackling him and
taking him down to the ground.
   Roberto  managed  to  get a few good punches to the boy he tackled,
before  he  felt  a  chain  wrap  around  his neck, and pull him back.
"That's  enough out of you", a mean voice said, yanking him back.  His
fingers  grabbed the chain, trying to pull it off, but he was choking.
Desperately,  he  tried  to  get  some  air,  but all he could get was
punches  to  his stomach and across his face, pounding him all over...
He felt himself blacking out...
   Then,  the  chain  came  loose.   There  was a lot of screaming and
shouting,  and  Roberto  glanced  backwards.   Juliana was practically
scratching the eyes out of the boy with the chain.  Roberto seized his
chance,  and even though his body was hurting all over, he lashed out,
cutting loose at the Dynamos, tearing into them.  In vain.  There were
too many of them, and he was vastly outnumbered.
   The  turning  point  was  when  Juliana  got  hit again.  Suddenly,
Roberto felt hot all over, weird, like he wasn't even in his own body.
Everything was suddenly so light.  And everything went quiet for a few
seconds.   Then,  the  Dynamos  began  to scream, this time in terror.
They  began  to  scatter  and run away, and soon the street was empty,
aside  from  Roberto  and the unconscious Juliana.  He started towards
her, worried, but suddenly the world began spinning, and he felt weak,
everything going black...
   Roberto  Da  Costa,  thirteen  years young, collapsed down with the
girl  he  loved,  suffering  from  a concussion, internal bleeding and
several  broken  or fractured bones.  He did not move on the now quiet
alley.  Quiet as death.