Even as Stanley pulled the trigger on the Net gun, he saw lightning pour out of Garren’s fingers, crawling its way toward Fred in the distance.

And it moved fast. He could see its movement but was unable to follow it. So, even as he let go of the gun and tried to move back toward Fred, it was already too late.

Stanley saw the future that would happen a second after this.

The bolt of lightning would strike Fred in the chest, and it would inch through his body, burning the flesh it passed through, the shield around his body unable to stop blown away.

Then, Fred’s body would be unable to handle the remaining energy of the lightning bolt and burn to a crisp.

Stanley was unable to change the future. He could only watch as Fred died right in front of his eyes. All because he left his side.

Time flowed back to normal, and somehow the Lightning Nova managed to dodge the net that was thrown at him. Stanley didn’t even have to look to tell that he could move at a faster speed than humanly capable.

At lightning speed, perhaps.

Nova registered just a moment later what had happened. She slowly turned in the direction where the sound had come from and saw the corpse of one of the men that she had brought here, with a lightning-shaped scar along his body, steam still making its way through the giant wound on the chest where the lightning had struck.

She wanted to vomit.

Stanley could only watch in silent horror. None of the other people in the area made a peep either.

Garren was the first to break the silence. "12:37," he said and turned toward the Ogre at the side. "You guys should start leaving. I should go make the speech at 1."

Ogre nodded but hesitated as he turned toward Stanley. "What about him?" he asked.

Garren turned around to Stanley who wasn’t looking at them. "Hey Nova," he shouted at him. "Do you have any plans on joining our clan?"

Stanley turned and looked at the man eyes red with anger. He had trouble breathing properly as he seethed in rage, letting it control his heart, letting the hate control his mind.

He walked toward Ogre, who quickly stepped back to make way, even making sure to run far away. Then, he clicked open the guitar case and pulled out a sword.

Garren smiled. "Oooh, I do remember hearing about this sword," he said. "Are you gonna use it on me?"

"I am going to kill you with it," Stanley said, bringing out the sword.

Garren smiled as he watched his people leave, bringing away his reluctant sister. "Let’s see you try then."

Stanley dodged a bolt of lightning before it even arrived and weaved his way to the man. Garren was a little surprised, but he didn’t let it catch him off guard. His mind worked at inhuman speed as his arms crackled with lightning and he punched at Stanley.

Stanley dodged the punch and swung the sword down the man, but he dodged as well. Lightning crackled from his body even as he dodged, grabbing onto the sword like a lightning rod, zapping Stanley in the end.

Stanley felt his body go numb ever so slightly, but there was no pain. He could continue as if nothing was wrong with him.

Garren wasn’t expecting this, but then again he expected nothing as everything was possible. He had yet to figure out just what sort of Nova Stanley was, and how he managed to act so quickly like he did.

Nothing came to his mind, so he just fought.

Garren turned to a blur, even to Stanley in his slowed-down time. He moved as fast as lighting itself and arrived next to Stanley with razor-sharp claws made out of electricity.

Fortunately, Stanley could see the future and knew when to dodge.

At the same time, he slashed vertically where the arm was going to come. To both of their surprise, Stanley managed to cut the arm clean off.

Even with an exceptional speed of thought, Garren hadn’t managed to react to the attack and lost his arm. "Argh!" he cried out and stepped back. Stanley didn’t let him take a break.

They rushed forward, slashing vertically at the man’s head. Then, halfway through, he redirected his attack with a lot of effort, making the slash diagonal to catch Garren as he dodged.

He missed.

Time flowed back to normal as Stanley finally took his first breath in a long time. He huffed, quickly, trying to get in as much oxygen as he could to his organs before he acted again.

Garren stood at the side, his face wide with shock and anger, clutching his right arm that had been severed just below the elbow. Blood dripped from the amputated limb, but for some reason, there wasn’t much of it.

Then, lightning zipped out of the wound like snakes looking for a hunt. They zapped the ground, the air, Fred’s corpse, and Garren’s own clothes. As they snaked out, the wound of his amputated limb healed as the lightning brought forth a new arm.

’Fuck!’ Stanley thought. ’He can heal!’

He tapped his sword twice on the jewel, turning it into a gun to shoot at the man. As the plasma primed, he pointed it at Garren and shot without waiting.

"AAAARH!" Garren suddenly shouted, lightning escaping from him in all directions, snaking out like a wave. Stanley’s shot disappeared into the bright light.

Stanley jumped to move backward away from the lightning, and at that moment he saw the future. He twisted his body, slashing behind him at Garren who had already appeared.

He reached out with his left hand, but Stanley cut it cleanly, just like he had with the other. But Garren didn’t stop, and his remaining limb landed on Stanley’s chest.

"DIE!"

And then Garren unleashed all the power in him onto Stanley.