Chapter 65: Chapter 65: Attack On Central Mall (Part 1)

The explosion nearly caused Don to fall over, but he maintained his balance by quickly placing his hand against a nearby wall.

Thanks to his superhuman senses, Don was able to react quickly and turned to face Samantha with open arms in an attempt to grab her. But just at that moment, two more loud, consecutive explosions sounded, one coming from right above the store and the second seemingly from afar, but much more powerful.

Before either he or Samantha could question it, the force of the second explosion caused the windows of the store to shatter and break inward, sending a shockwave in all directions. This time, even Don couldn't react in time.

He felt the powerful force of the shockwave strike his body, causing him to fall to the ground just as he managed to grab Samantha, who fell with him. They hit the floor with a loud thud, and Samantha immediately groaned in pain *argh!*, while Don simply gritted his teeth as a feeling of soreness and dizziness overtook his body.

"Mom, we need to—" Before Don could finish what he was saying, his eyes widened and his grip on Samantha tightened as he caught sight of the ceiling breaking apart. "Watch out!" he yelled, using all the strength he could muster to hold Samantha tight and force his body into a roll.

"What are you—" Samantha, still in pain and confused, didn't know in which direction to look as Don grabbed her and rolled to the side. Not even a split second after, a chunk of the ceiling fell and landed on the spot they had just vacated. Both their hearts were beating incredibly fast, and a clear sense of panic and fear had arisen.

Just like back at the hotel, Don found himself feeling strange. Despite being sore just a moment ago, his body began to feel light, his hearing grew sharper, and his gaze could even make out small details amidst the chaos that had erupted within the store.

"What's that?" Don suddenly asked as he heard the sound of several footsteps drawing closer to the store. They didn't seem far off, and that's why he asked. But Samantha simply looked at him with confusion, hugging him protectively and looking around for any signs of a threat but seeing none.

"What is it, Donnie? Are you okay? We need to leave before something else goes—" Samantha trailed off and couldn't finish her words as she soon understood why Don suddenly looked so concerned.

With many of the mannequins and clothing racks now toppled over, even near the changing rooms, Samantha could see a group of individuals dressed in green jumpsuits with thorn-like spikes attached to their arms and legs. They also had strange, intimidating masks and all carried baseball bats with scribbled slogans that Samantha couldn't make out.

Don, however, could.

Narrowing his eyes to look at the slogans, he was confused by what they read: "Green Revolution," "Nature Strikes Back," "Earth First," and "Environmental Exploitation Must End."

Don couldn't make sense of this until Samantha yelled out in terror, "They're Green Thorns! Nightshade must be attacking Central Mall!" She revealed this with a deep sense of fear in her voice.

Don was about to ask who exactly these Green Thorns and Nightshade were, but then he recalled the name from the radio—the supervillain. He stopped himself from asking more because, despite the chaos of the current situation, he still had to maintain his character.

Who knew if this so-called Nightshade was a very well-known supervillain not only in the city but beyond? It would be strange for Don not to know him. But since he couldn't ask about the Green Thorns and Nightshade, he had to rack his brain for an idea, and he couldn't immediately think of one.

Samantha looked at his concerned expression and thought to herself, 'I need to get us out of here.' In her mind, as a concerned mother, she needed to save her son. "Donnie, quickly, let's hide in the dressing rooms. The Green Thorns are known for being violent."

Although Samantha was trying to be the adult in the situation, it was clear that she was also very scared and likely had never been in such a situation before, evident by her trembling hands.

She held Don tightly by the arm, trying to tug him toward one of the rooms. But just as she was doing this, a loud noise caused both of them to turn their attention back to the marching Green Thorns, who began using their bats to strike mannequins and shelves. Some turned to enter the store.

Don, who could see beyond, noticed some of the Green Thorns breaking away and entering other stores and even kiosks that served hot dogs and ice cream, yelling "Murderer!" as they used their bats to smash into the structures.

"Please, don't hurt me!"

The various people present in the mall had different reactions to this—some begging, most running, and a few even trying to fight back. As the scene grew more chaotic, four of the Green Thorns entered the Mi Casa store and immediately began to strike mannequins and racks, yelling "Green Justice! Green Justice! How dare you wear our animal brothers and sisters?"

Some patrons within the store tried to run away but were caught, and in a strange set of actions, they were stripped of their clothes and forcefully branded with similar slogans as those on the bats of the Green Thorns.

'What is this?' Don wondered before looking at Samantha, who was simply too stunned to speak with no idea of what to do. Don felt Samantha's idea to hide might be the best, and he also turned toward the dressing room, but just at that moment, one of the Green Thorns charged toward them, yelling "Green Justice! Green Justice!"

The sight of this unknown masked man charging at them with a bat was extremely terrifying. The man didn't even bother to stop as he came close and immediately looked poised to strike. Searᴄh the nôvelFire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Wait, please," Samantha tried to beg, but Don reacted on instinct. He could see the figure already looking to strike them. Without thinking too much, Don shielded Samantha with his back turned toward the attacker. As the bat came down, it struck him on the back.

"Argh!" Don let out a loud groan as the bat struck him on the upper shoulder, with a small part of it even hitting his head.

"Donnie!" Samantha screamed.

Suddenly, Don felt light—the wrong kind of light—and his vision grew hazy.

'No… I don't want to die, not again…' he thought as he slowly lost consciousness.