Chapter 227 - 20 Minutes Stacy’s body was slowly staggering back towards Gary. She herself didn't know what was going on, but seeing the blood and looking down at her stomach, she started to get wobbly on her feet. Because her back was turned, Gary couldn't see anything, but he didn’t need to see because he could already smell the blood that was entering his nose. Eventually, she stumbled, falling into Gary’s arms. Looking down, he could see the wound in her stomach, and, though he wasn’t a professional, it looked quite bad. ‘Sh*t… she was stabbed! … and the knife is in that guy's hand. You’re not supposed to take it out, right?’ Gary thought as he tried to think back to any form of training or movies he had watched for some knowledge. “Stacy!” Gary shouted at her. “You need to put pressure on the wound! Hang on, I’ll take you to a hospital. It will all be okay!” The man, who was responsible for the high school girl’s injury, showed no signs of remorse, instead he charged in again. Quickly, pulling her so she was behind him, Gary kicked the man before he could even reach them. The teenager had aimed at his stomach and he wasn’t holding back, causing the gangster to fly into his colleagues tumbling down. Turning around, he placed Stacy over his shoulder and was planning to head out of the place, but there was a problem. Austin still hadn’t managed to take on his five guys. With the stun guns being used, they were disrupting his flow, and he needed to be careful of the knives, so he didn’t get a serious wound like Stacy’s. "Haha even delinquents at school these days use knifes, do you think I don't have experience fighting against you lot!" Austin taunted. There were cuts across his chest and forearms, he was bleeding as well, but there were no serious wounds. Thankfully, he had taken out two people already, but a *ding* was soon heard, and from the front door, reinforcement appeared storming out of one of two of the elevators. “Gary… it… really… I don’t even know if it hurts.” Stacy whispered, her face being ghostly white. [New Quest received] [Who wants to live forever?] [Should have let her pop your cherry, boy.] [A girl is dying in your arms, yet you wish to save her life. While the wound isn’t too deep, you lack the expertise to treat her. If you don’t do something, she’ll die from blood loss (~20 mins) Warning; External circumstances can worsen her condition!] [Quest reward: ???] [Time limit: 20 minutes] [Failure: Death of Stacy Turnhell] [Optional complete condition: Bite her] When reading the last line, a wave of thoughts came into his head. Mainly when Mr Root had been in his critical condition, he had contemplated this way of saving him, and now it looked like his system was subtly pushing him towards it. Turning her would also mean saving her life. When Gary read the consequences for failing the Quest, he understood that things were very serious. Personally, the teenager had been stabbed multiple times, but unlike him, Stacy was just a normal high school girl. She didn’t have the same vitality he had. ‘Can I do it, can I get out of this place in time…No… I still have time! I can still consider this possibility if we can’t get out.’ Gary decided as he turned around. Multiple people were coming out of there rooms trying to see the commotion, but the guards were soon telling them to stay inside. “Austin, get back here, I need you to carry her!” Gary yelled down the hallway. After delivering a punch and knocking a guy's shades off, the large teenager went back to where his friend was. Without asking him any questions, he placed Stacy on his back. Despite having taken out a few of the gangsters, more had come down. There were more than a dozen in front of them, with around half that number behind them. The men were being a bit cautious after seeing the strength these intruders had displayed. Fortunately, the hallway was narrow, limiting the adults’ movement. “I’ll open a path, just stay behind me!” Gary ordered, and looked to his left, where the door to the room he had been in was. Austin was wondering what Gary's plan was. Honestly, even he couldn’t see a way to get out of this one with how many people there were, it was just endless, but their leader was someone who could save them from those two monsters, so he could do the same again. [Skill activated Controlled Transformation] 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 [Transformation has begun] Gary chose to just transform his nails lightly, which he then used to rip into the side of the wall. Once they were in, he transformed his biceps, granting him not just regular super strength, but Werewolf super strength. He could feel the clothes tightening around his bicep. Quickly pulling the door, he had managed to pull it off its hinges. “Now!” Gary shouted, as he charged forward while holding the door as an impromptu shield. Austin immediately followed right behind him, but he quickly noticed something. Gary was too fast. The teenager had used his skill on his legs to give him an edge as he pushed forward. The gangsters had already seen him do something inhuman, yet he didn’t want to give any other clear indication that he was an Altered. He had transformed just enough to give him the extra strength in stats and speed that he needed without any change in his outward appearance. The men tried to move out of the way of what was coming towards them, but their large number proved to be a detriment in that regard. The next second, Gary slammed the door into the first man, knocking him back. He continued to run forward, not slowing down, and pushed through like a bulldozer. Eventually, they had gotten out of the hallway, and were now in the open area where the two elevators were. “Go!” Gary shouted. Austin went and pushed the elevator button, waiting for it to arrive. The large teenager suddenly felt something warm around his shoulder and as he touched it, he saw that it was a red liquid. Stacy’s blood was dripping down. The men that Gary had knocked down were getting back up, and now that they were out of the hallway, the door was pretty useless. Since it was already falling apart, the high schooler threw it towards those still on the floor, and stood there in the centre while waiting for the *ding* sound. That's when Austin noticed that there was a small girl in the corner, it was Nini. She wasn’t shaking but was clearly trying to avoid trouble by hiding behind a large plant. “You see this?” Austin questioned her as he pointed at Stacy. “This is how ‘valuable’ you are to them. Today, it’s the girl on my shoulder, but tomorrow it could easily be you… I’ll be paying you a visit at school soon. You’re scared of the Pincers… but trust me, you should be more scared of us!” A large yell and cry of pain was heard. It was then that the two of them turned to Gary, who was in the middle of taking care of all the gangsters. He dodged a punch and threw out an overhand right hand into the face of another. He had been hit with a stun gun just before, but the teenager powered through it. Still, after kicking another gangster, he lifted one above his head, and another came and stabbed him right in the stomach, not just once but a few times. Seeing this, Austin was ready to put Stacy down to protect his leader. “Arghh!” Gary screamed, hurling the man towards the others, he then grabbed the one attacking him with the knife with his bare hand, and punched him in the face three times quickly, while kicking him on the ground. “You tried to kill me!” Gary screamed, as he continued to punch in the unconscious man’s face, until he was eventually rugby tackled to the ground, but seconds later the green haired teenager had flung another gangster off. He threw his assailant across the room, before getting back up again. It was the first time for Austin to witness Gary fight so wildly. The large teenager understood that it was both of their lives on the line, and he genuinely wanted to help… only, how was he even supposed to get in there, in the middle of all that mess? Finally, a *ding* was soon heard, yet there were even more men inside.