The grin on Dylan's face sent a shiver down Justin's spine. A minute ago, he had only barely escaped getting beat up by his already-stronger kid brother because of his father's intervention. Now, however, he feared his little brother couldn't be stopped, even if the entire family teamed up against him. Justin gulped, praying that something, anything, would distract Dylan long enough to allow him to escape. But he had no such luck.
"So," Dylan stepped closer to Justin, flexing his arms and chest muscles as he did so, "you think it's cool to just fire strange weapons at your kid brothers without knowing or caring what they'd do. Is that your idea of a good time?"
"'Kid' brother?" Amber chuckled lightly. "I don't think you can really use that term anymore, Dylan! You sure don't look like any kid I've seen."
Dylan spun his head around to look at his sister. "Shut the hell up, Amber, or I'll deal with you next." The fire, anger, and dominance in his eyes shocked Amber, causing her to cower at her brother's intimidating presence. Whatever had caused Dylan's sudden and unexplainable transformation, one thing was for sure: he seemed to be getting way too aggressive and out of control.
Davy watched his newly-huge twin try to intimidate the rest of the family, knowing something was wrong. Dylan might normally be a little intense sometimes, yes, but to snap at his sister like that, to become so belligerent... well, that was way out of his character. Something had happened inside of him as his body had grown and changed, causing him to become more domineering and frightening than any in the family could have possibly feared.
Sneering at Justin, Dylan took another step closer, the stomping of his large foot causing the windows to rattle slightly. "Well, Justin," he finally said, "I think it's time someone decided to give you what you've been deserving for years. I guess that someone's me!!"
He reached out a large hand and grabbed Justin by the neck, lifting him up in the air. Justin's feet dangled freely, several inches off of the ground. His eyes bulged as he gasped for air, clawing wildly but uselessly at Dylan's thick hand, which was wrapped almost completely around his throat. "P-please, Dylan," he begged, his voice wheezing as he struggled to breathe, "I-I'm sorry!!"
"Not as sorry as you're gonna be." Dylan narrowed his eyes and squeezed tighter. Lifting his nineteen-year-old weakling brother into the air like this didn't even make the young teen break a sweat. He even was able to strut around as he held Justin up, his older brother's body swinging and his arms flailing helplessly way as he did so.
"Dylan Timothy Smith!" Frank did his best to make his voice boom, though he heard the slight cracking in it, and he tried to conceal the trembling in his hands as he pointed towards his monster of a son. "Young man, you put your brother down right this instant!"
Dylan only sneered, ignoring his father and thrusting Justin up even higher, his thick arm extended nearly as far as it would go. Jerome would later swear that he heard a dark, menacing laugh coming from somewhere deep inside Dylan at this point, almost as if another being was possessing him, but no one else could confirm this. Whatever the case, there was no denying that Dylan truly was enjoying getting his revenge on his older brother, not just for hitting him with the gun, but for an entire childhood of bullying, teasing, and just being a dick in general.
As the seconds passed, Justin's face began to turn purple, and his eyes started to roll back in their sockets. Sweating profusely, Davy knew that he had to do something to help his older brother survive against this brutal muscle beast, but he didn't know what he could do. His brother needed to be stopped, before someone got seriously hurt... or worse.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the gun, the thing that started this whole mess, lying near Dylan's feet. Justin must have dropped it in all the commotion that occurred since they had gotten hit, while they were trying to figure out what had happened. It almost seemed like something out of one of his comic books, Davy thought. Except that instead of his brother becoming a superhero that would help others with his strength, he had turned into an evil, almost-maniacal villain. If only there was a way to balance out Dylan's strength... Wait! Of course!
His hulk of a brother took Justin's weakening body and slammed it against the wall, forming a large dent in it. The gun now lay behind him, and Davy knew that he only had one chance. Making sure that Dylan was focused on their older brother, Davy quickly ran up, bent over in one smooth motion, and grabbed the gun, dashing back away as quickly as possible. Dylan didn't even notice the movement behind him, too busy strangling the life out of Justin, who seemed to now be unconscious. Davy swallowed hard; it was now or never. He clasped the gun with both hands, attempting to aim it as best as possible. Closing his eyes, he whispered, "Please," and then squeezed the trigger. But who did he aim it at?