I'm Not the Escapee, Though (4)
Did this bastard just turn the tables on us?
I raised my shield and took point up front, scanning the Guard Captain's body as he glared daggers at us.
His clothes were torn in a few places, but no wounds.
According to the telepathy from Sang-hoon before he died, this guy had the physical prowess to one-shot a body reinforcement ability user.
Not an easy opponent by any means.
With my current power, the max I could pull or push was around 100kg.
Unfortunately, brute-forcing it with raw strength wasn't an option.
Against a body-enhanced ability user, half-assing my gravity powers would just get my neck snapped right back at me.
The original Quaker from the story? He'd turn a guy like this into ground meat before he could even yawn...
Since you're bothering to possess me in here, couldn't you at least throw in some powers? A status window or something.
...Yeah, right.
Time to stop escaping reality.
"Target the guards behind him!"
The bullet trajectories whizzing past me visibly spread out.
A strategy to ignore the bulletproof bastard up front and take out his minions first.
"You little shit..."
"Shut your trap, you dog. You were the one kidnapping people for experiments—act like the mutt you are and bark."
That was my first countermeasure.
We had to thin their numbers before we could even think about tackling him.
Problem was, pulling it off meant drawing his attention.
So I gripped the vial I'd swiped earlier and held it up.
"Wonder what this is?"
"How the hell did you—?!"
"Thanks for the tip-off."
Whatever it was, it must've been important.
I flashed the most infuriating grin I could muster and started pushing and pulling the vial with my gravity powers.
The moment he lunged at me, I launched the vial backward.
Whatever its value, he halted his charge and snatched it mid-air.
But the vial—hurtling at head-crushing speed—shattered in his grip.
Shards of glass rained down with purple liquid.
"You fucking...!"
[Found the electrical room?]
[Yes, we have.]
[Kill the lights.]
"All survivors evacuated!"
"Full retreat! Regroup at the rear and reform lines!"
"Yes, sir!"
"And pop every tear gas grenade! Block 'em off!"
We pulled back from the front line immediately.
Not perfectly disciplined, but quick enough.
The tear gas we'd lobbed slowed their advance, if only a bit.
Too many wounds to trust just their gas masks.
Hearing the groans, their injuries were probably burning from the gas right about now.
"Too bad they didn't just croak."
The Guard Captain and his men burst through the tear gas smokescreen.
He closed in tight on us.
Blocking him fell to me, now shifted from vanguard to rearguard.
"Looks like you got treated here too. How about a deal? We walk, you get what you want."
"I don't negotiate with vermin."
Straight-up refusal, huh.
Fine then.
Guns trained on us, triggers pulled.
Deafening blasts filled the passage with gunfire and muzzle flashes.
Then, darkness fell.
"Cheap tricks."
"We'll see."
They didn't have night vision, so sight was sealed off now.
I recalled the distance from memory.
About 20 steps.
I gathered repulsion force at my toes and launched forward.
"Think the dark blinds me?!"
The gap closed like a bullet leaving the chamber.
His presence loomed larger.
I might die pointlessly, like anyone else.
But sometimes, you gotta risk it all to see a way out.
One second from collision. In that split instant, I released the shield and blasted it with repulsion.
At the same time, attraction pinned my back to the floor, slipping me under his legs.
A momentary opening.
I squeezed the trigger at his groin.
"You fucking bastard!"
"Tough nut."
Guess it hurt.
I rolled aside, dodging the falling fist.
"Rat bastard!"
A sonic boom ruptured my eardrums.
No time to wait for them to recover. I repulsion-launched myself to the ceiling, sticking there.
Staying on the floor would've turned me to paste!
"Where are you?!"
"Right here."
Clinging upside-down, I repelled myself toward the guards' rear.
Grotesque, back-to-ceiling slide, but exactly what we needed.
Me overhead was our golden chance.
Click.
Fresh mag slamming home.
That sound drew every barrel my way.
I repelled backward, dodging the hail of bullets.
Bullets grazing past like some movie hero—way too thrilling for comfort.
Never again.
But confirming the rush in real-time, I fired back.
At their heads.
Screams, and hot blood splattered my skin vividly.
Two—no, three down.
"Damn it!"
"Shields up!"
They finally raised shields against my barrage.
"Out of the way!"
A massive silhouette charged through the dark—straight at me.
Bulldozing his own men.
Pissed off good.
I kept repelling along the ceiling to test his patience, sliding like on rails as he pursued.
Figured his minions were done for with me stirring shit, or maybe he just wanted me dead that bad.
I sighed as his fist whistled past my nose.
"How about you give up and we both go our ways?"
"You cockroach! Kill you, and the rest are nothing!"
"Oh yeah?"
Far enough?
Light beams from behind— their final defensive line.
I released the attraction on my back and dropped to the floor.
Now for some open space.
The garage.
Our final destination.
And... his tomb.
I walked to the garage center, locking eyes with the Guard Captain, his gaze burning with fury.
"If my men were half as sharp as you, this wouldn't have happened."
"Too late for compliments now."
I ditched the gun.
No ammo left anyway—unless as a club, pointless.
He cracked his knuckles, knuckles popping like he meant to twist my head off.
Now the real fight begins.
Before he charged, I checked my status one last time.
No weapons.
Body: decent shape.
No items.
Feeling like bare-handed gorilla wrestling.
Mess up here, and I'm dead.
That thought dredged up the fear I'd ignored.
You could run alone.
Out that open door.
So just go solo—
"Fat chance."
I started this—I own the consequences.
As his massive frame ballooned in my vision, I erupted repulsion from my entire body.
His form shrank instantly in my sight.
"...Fucking hurts."
Full-power repulsion deflection, and it still wrecked me.
A bit weaker, and I'd be mush.
I hauled my throbbing body up.
Bruises everywhere, but no time to nurse them.
"Die, you mutt—"
Fist incoming like a truck.
Hit means death.
Block means death.
Body won't take two.
So I up the ante with my life on the line.
What I needed: ditch hesitation.
Commit to that forward step.
Right foot forward.
Right arm cocked back.
Fist clenched—
Max repulsion-loaded punch thrust.
Full-weight straight.
But his fist cracks my skull first like a watermelon.
So—
Left palm open.
Attraction yanks his leg.
"Cheap tricks!"
His punch wavers—hooked.
I tilted my head, dodging razor-thin.
"Thought I was done."
My fist smashed his face dead-on.
Repulsion detonation on impact snapped his head back.
Then a white knee smashed my forehead.
His legs buckled; he dropped to a knee.
I collapsed too.
Head spinning.
Temple wet—blood coated my hand.
"Gonna die for real."
Thought I was gone.
I staggered up, glaring at the unconscious bastard.
Time to finish him.
Shove a gun in his mouth and pull the trigger?
I shuffled toward the distant gun.
"Grrraaah!"
Shit.
Too easy, huh.
Full-body repulsion again.
My body tumbled like a ball, slamming into the opposite wall.
Worst case.
Got up from that?
"...You rat..."
"Persistent fucker."
Haha.
Hahaha.
Really dying?
So soon after possessing?
Wrong choice after all?
I stared blankly at the ceiling.
Others might kill him.
But me? Dead.
Right now.
Fist clenched.
Something in my hand.
Eye shift: single bullet. Bounced from a mag?
What the hell with one bullet.
"Choke...ing..."
Feet lift off.
Neck crushed—no air.
I met his rage-filled eyes and rasped,
"Die..."
One bullet.
I wedged it between fingers, thumb on the flat base.
Repulsion on thumb, attraction on bullet tip—balanced.
Power peaked...
Released attraction.
"Gurk...!"
"...Now stay down."
His death rattle, blood gushing from his open mouth.
I hit the floor, drenched in it.
"...Fucking bullshit..."
That was my last memory.