The words shocked everyone who stood in the group. Garren, Nova, Fred, Sol, Ogre. Everyone who heard those words couldn’t help but look toward Stanley, who frowned.

This was bad.

"My level?" Garren asked, looking at the man who had just checked Stanley’s power.

Stanley didn’t wait for anyone to get an answer. He had to act now.

Time slowed down around him as he moved, pushing past the heavy air, making his way to the guns that were being picked up by one of the Lightning Nova’s men.

Stanley punched the man in the face right when his shield flickered. His hand went through the shield, crushing the man’s face as the blood, bone, and teeth scattered in the air.

He wasn’t done. Even as the dead man’s body fell to the ground, he grabbed the suitcase from his tight hands and took the Net gun out from it.

His arms felt sluggish, the weight of the gun becoming normal, which to him was heavy. His lungs wanted to breathe out the air that had been used up, but he knew if he let that go, even as his lungs asked for more, he wouldn’t be able to draw it in time.

So, he held onto it and targeted the lightning Nova in the distance. He could see the lightning Nova’s face turned toward the man who spoke his name. This would be easy.

He shot.

Even as the small tube flew out from the front of the net and expanded outward with a shield forming around its long limbs, Stanley let go of his power, letting time flow back to normal.

Blood sprayed from the man he punched, and the plasma net wrapped around the Lightning Nova at the same time.

Air ripped apart the surroundings and a sonic boom caused people to have to cover their own ears. The one they called Ogre was the only one not feeling any pain.

Stanley could only wonder what his power exactly was. And how he activated it.

Nova’s heart still felt surprised by the news she heard of Stanley’s Soul Energy being high. She looked toward Stanley and then at her brother. "What... how did you do it so fast?" she asked.

She had always known he was fast. But that had all seemed like a side effect of his insane strength. However, looking at it now, with the new information she had just received, she could only think of one thing.

"You’re a Nova," she said. "Aren’t you?"

Stanley was about to say something when Nova moved all of a sudden. Golden threads on her body split out from her, striking a man who was making his way to help.

She looked toward Stanley once more and said only one sentence. "Help me win."

Stanley needed no more words. He turned and punched Ogre once more. The shockwave of the punch exceeded not much farther than his body. Stanley punched again, the powers disappearing into the man.

However, he didn’t give up. He simply looked up at the man’s terrifying face. "How long can you keep this up?" he asked. "When does your power end?"

The big man was terrified.

He sent out a punch of his own toward Stanley to fight back, but Stanley took it head-on. No, he even headbutted it without getting hurt.

"You’re just a brute that can do nothing," he said before smiling. Then, he turned around and went for the other people there.

Stanley appeared in front of a water bubble that he tried to punch. However, he saw a future where his hands were corroded when touching the bubble. It was toxic.

Still, he didn’t let his punch slow down. He went for it and punched the empty air. He did not touch the bubble, but the air alone was enough to distort the bubble to the point that it burst open.

Stanley had seen this future. Then, slowly down time to match with the flickering shield, he punched. His hand went through the man’s ribcage, coming out of the other side.

It was a bloody fight, but he had gotten used to it. He was used to cutting down monsters that were human and humans that were monsters.

Fred had gotten up by this point as well, his left arm limp to his side, while he shot at someone with his right. He arrived next to him.

"Are you alright?" Stanley asked, looking around at the people who were staying away and alert, bringing out their own guns to shoot. Stanley stood in front of Fred to protect him.

Fred looked around worried. "I can’t use my powers," he said softly so that only Stanley could hear.

Stanley frowned a bit. "Why not?" he asked. He still didn’t know what Fred’s powers were, but this didn’t sound good.

"I can’t move my left arm," he said. "It’s gone completely numb. I’m sure it’s broken."

Stanley frowned. It was most definitely his doing back when he tried to save him from the lightning attack. ’Shit!’ he thought to himself.

"Fight with what you have," he said.

All this time, Garren stared from the net, half angry, half amused at what he saw outside. He did not care that his men were dying. If they were dying, they were too weak to be of use to him anyway.

Still, he couldn’t sit here for long. It was going to be 1 p.m. soon, and he had to get out of here.

His eyes landed back on Stanley. "Everyone, fall back!" he shouted the order at once. His men didn’t hesitate to move back, all but the 3 dead ones.

2 of them were killed by Stanley and the other was killed by Nova.

Stanley frowned as people moved back. He didn’t want to play into their momentum, but he didn’t feel like he could leave Fred like this. He needed defense.

"So," Garren spoke, making Stanley turn back to him. Even through the plasma shield, the man gave a grin. "You are a Nova too, huh?"