Li slowly led the team further ahead until he and everyone found themselves near the edge of the trees and onto open land. Dan watched as criss crossing rounds slashed the air in front of him as not only Rachel’s team, but two other teams were involved, totaling three teams engaged in a messy three-way battle.

“How the hell are we getting through all this?” Dan whispered.

“We will,” Li said calmly. “By the way, do any of you have a spare smoke grenade?”

Dan rummaged through his inner pockets and found one. He handed the grenade over to the stealth specialist. Once again, he held the grenade in his right hand while getting his left palm in the same position as last time.

“We’ll get through the shitstorm ahead of us while minimizing casualties on our end,” Li assured. “Watch carefully. This is the new ability I hinted at from the dream.”

Li’s left hand once again began illuminating with brief charges of white electricity in between his gloved fingers.

This strange gathering of energy continued for another five seconds before Dan saw a small black sphere form, floating above his palm. More arcs of white static roiled around the black sphere as Li continued gathering energy for… whatever this new ability was.

“Woah,” Angie whispered.

If Dan had to describe what he was seeing, he was reminded of the pictures of black holes he had read about in old astronomy textbooks he had stolen from local libraries when he was younger. Was Li summoning a black hole in the palm of his hand?

The stealth specialist finally opened his eyes. “Before any of you ask, no this is not a black hole. If I could summon such celestial objects, then we would have bigger problems to face than the measly gunfight in front of us.”

Li slowly turned his head toward the battle raging in front of the facility. The black sphere in Li’s hand had grown to the size of a baseball with white bursts of static roiling around it.

“Keep your ears peeled for my signal. When I tell you guys to run, make a break for the facility,” Li instructed.

“Wait a second, what is that thing supposed to do?” Angie asked, pointing at the black sphere.

“Watch,” Li said. He slowly curled his fingers, touching the black sphere and crushing it in his hand.

The stealth specialist disappeared in a brief flash.

Dan and Angie looked around frantically, wondering what the hell had just happened. Dan glanced to the side and saw the smoke grenade he had given to Li had detonated in the midst of the battle and the smoke was quickly enveloping the area. Rachel’s Prime Swords along with the other teams caught in the battle briefly ceased fire.

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Dan saw the incoming call from Li.

“Now it’s time for you two to run,” the stealth specialist plainly said.

Dan immediately emerged from the bush he hid behind and Angie wasn’t too far behind. He pushed himself as hard as he could straight down the middle and into the smoke. The gunfire resumed and Dan felt the sudden slash of wind behind the back of his neck as rounds slashed through the smoke. Dan finally emerged out of the smoke and he spotted the stealth specialist hop down from the roof of the second floor of the facility. He looked back and thankfully saw Angie emerge out of the smoke, covering her mouth while in a coughing fit.

“Let’s get inside,” Li said.

The stealth specialist turned around and entered through the double doors of the facility. The doors slid aside and Li entered. Dan and Angie followed their teammate inside shortly after. While Angie was still coughing and getting her bearings, Dan stared at Li, befuddled by his teammate's strange new ability.

“Li, you mind telling me how the hell you pulled that off?” Dan asked.

“Of course,” Li said. He leaned against a wall and crossed his arms. “The voice calls it the Death Step.”

“That sounds quite edgy,” Dan remarked. “What did you actually do with that black ball you generated in your hand?”

“It’s the gathering of energy needed to teleport from one point to another,” Li said. “I didn’t use it to its full potential, but it was good enough to get us past that firefight outside.”

Angie coughed but interjected. “Wait a minute. You can fucking teleport now?”

“The actual intended use of the Death Step is telefragging your enemies. As in, you teleport towards the position of your target and kill them by blowing them apart as you take up the space they once occupied.”

Both Dan and Angie stared blankly at the stealth specialist.

“That’s gruesome,” Dan muttered.

“Indeed it is. That is why my version was a simple teleport. I could have performed the move to its fullest on one of the combatants outside, but what’s the point? Even with the initial shock of seeing one of their own splattered to pieces, I would still be outnumbered and in the midst of a chaotic firefight.”

“Did you get anything else from that dream?” Dan asked.

“No,” Li admitted. “Aside from the berserk ability, this Death Step is the only one I have so far. Though, this power isn’t as busted as you both think it is.”

“Why’s that?” Angie said. “I’d love the ability to teleport behind my enemies.”

“As of now, I’m limited to a distance of fifty meters. It also took a while for me to gather up the energy in my palm. That’s another thing. I need one of my hands free to build up the energy.”

Dan stroked his chin. “So you’re limited by distance and the time to set up the move?”

“Plus, I need line of sight. I need to actually see where I’m going to teleport to for it to work,” Li said.

“Still, that sounds broken as shit, especially since you emphasized ‘as of now,’” Dan said. “Maybe when we continue to level up and put more points into our supernatural stat, these powers of ours will grow more potent as well.”

“Indeed. Such an ability suits me quite well. This will make future missions involving stealth and infiltration even easier. It’s practically easy mode,” he said.

“Lucky bastard,” Angie remarked.