Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Attack On Central Mall (Part 2)
*Argh...*
Don struggled to make sense of everything as he began to open his eyes.
He raised his head from a slumped position and could feel that he was being tugged by his pants. As his vision went from blurry to clear, he saw Samantha currently cornered against the wall with one of the Green Thorns in front of her, madly yelling, "Green justice!" as he reached forward and grabbed one of the shoulder straps of the dress she was wearing.
"No, get away from me!" Samantha yelled out, but the man ignored her and pulled at the strap, ripping it in one motion and causing her to cry out as tears began to form on her face.
"No, *sob* *sob*. Please, I beg you," she pleaded, quickly holding onto the part of the strap that had been ripped to prevent it from falling and revealing her breasts.
Don was about to yell her name but stopped himself at the last second, remembering he wasn't just a stranger to this woman. In that moment, he felt another tug on his pants and only then did he bother to look behind and saw another Green Thorn aggressively standing over him.
Don only noticed at this moment that he had been stripped of his shirt and now the Green Thorn was trying to strip him of his pants. When the Green Thorn saw that Don was awake, he stopped tugging at his pants and tried to reach for Don's neck.
However, Don reacted quickly and rolled over before lunging himself forward and headbutting the Green Thorn.
Because the Green Thorn was wearing a mask, Don felt the most pain from this action, but he had acted out of necessity rather than logic.
His movements were chaotic and not at all planned. Despite the pain he felt from headbutting the Green Thorn, once he saw that it was enough to push his attacker back, he quickly rose to his feet and sprinted toward Samantha, who was currently struggling to fight back against the Green Thorn attacking her as he tried to remove her hand from the strap she was holding.
"You're wearing our brothers' and sisters' skin, you monster! Take it off! Take it off!" the man frantically yelled, not hearing the footsteps coming from behind.
He was completely caught off guard when Don decided to tackle him with full force from the back. The unexpected attack forced him forward, causing his head to collide with the wall in front of him.
"Ahhh!" Even Samantha let out a shrill scream as she crossed both hands over her chest and shut her eyes.
The Green Thorn was clearly dazed by the attack, and though he didn't fully fall to the ground, Don proceeded to grab him by the waist and pull him away from Samantha. The Green Thorn couldn't react to this and stumbled away, falling to the ground as he let out a minor groan.
"Sa-m-mom, are you okay?" Don urgently asked the crying Samantha, who simply raised her head to look at him with tears running down her face.
Although she only had a few scrapes and the only damaged things were her glasses and dress, she looked absolutely horrified by what was about to happen to her. So much so that she could barely speak because most of the words got stuck in her throat.
"Green justice!"
Before Don could reply, the Green Thorn he had initially escaped from had recovered and was now charging toward him.
Don snapped his head back and showed a look of concern. Thanks to his superhuman senses, he caught sight of the bat Samantha's attacker had dropped in the corner of his eye.
Without even thinking twice, Don crouched to pick it up just as the Green Thorn reached him. Don angrily grunted as he raised the bat in a swinging motion, striking the Green Thorn on his hip with all the force he could muster.
"ARGH!" The Green Thorn let out a visible cry of pain and held his hip as he fell to the ground.
But Don didn't let up. Fueled by adrenaline, fear, and sheer instinct, he felt it would be too dangerous to stop. Without thinking twice, as the Green Thorn fell, Don moved forward and swung the bat, striking the man in the head, aiming for the front of his face. *BAM!*
The bat hit the Green Thorn's mask with a slight metallic thud. This time, he only managed to let out a minor grunt of pain as his body went limp and collapsed to the ground. Not even a second later, a small trail of blood could be seen coming from under his mask.
But even then... Don wasn't done.
Samantha gasped and held her chest tighter as she watched Don. She looked even more shaken when she saw the trail of blood coming from under the mask of her attacker.
However, looking at her son's figure, she realized he wasn't done as he approached the Green Thorn in full, slow steps before raising the bat above his head.
"Donnie, what are you--" Samantha muttered in a low tone, but right now, she couldn't reach Don.
Without hesitation, he proceeded to swing the bat downward, striking the already fallen Green Thorn on the head once again with as much force as he could muster. This time, the mask cracked, and even more blood could be seen trailing from under it.
Samantha couldn't help but bring one hand up to her face and cover her mouth as she let out a silent gasp. Don's grip on the bat loosened for a moment, and he just looked at the fallen Green Thorn while catching his breath.
His hands began to tremble slightly as the realization of what he had done slowly began to creep in. No matter what sort of world he had found himself in, Don had still come from a world of relative peace where taking a life was no small matter. Even if it was to some, he wasn't such a person. So to be made to do so, even by circumstance, came as a shock to his mind.
Shocking as it was, however, he didn't allow it to cause him to waver. He couldn't because, in that moment, the Green Thorn he had initially tackled began to struggle to his feet.
"You... you..." the Green Thorn muttered as he raised his head to look in Don's direction and at his fallen comrade. Without uttering a word back, Don's grip on the bat became tight again and he looked at the Green Thorn with an angry but confused gaze.
"You... you..." the Green Thorn mumbled again, clearly dazed, as he approached Don while still holding his hip, only stretching out one hand as he tried to punch Don.
However, his movements were sloppy, and even without Don's superhuman senses, he could be perceived as slow.
The moment he stepped within reach, Don swung the bat and struck him at the side of his head, causing him to violently hit the wall before his body eventually slumped to the ground.
That single strike was enough, and the Green Thorn no longer looked to be a threat as his body eerily twitched while blood trickled down certain parts of his mask.
Samantha looked at Don in disbelief, and he met her gaze for a moment. He could immediately see the surprise in her eyes, but he didn't know whether it was from the madness of the current situation or from seeing his actions.
Whatever the case, he soon turned his gaze away, still worried that the situation wasn't over.
He looked forward while catching his breath, holding the bat tight, and continued to hear strange yells of "Green justice! Defenders of nature!" coming from outside.