Dan immediately backpedaled. His chances of surviving this fight had drained further down the shitter.

His arms were sore from the free strike Adam had given him. Striking his sword against the agent’s energy shield was like smacking a baseball bat against a brick wall. Either the bat breaks or the wielder gets hurt.

Dan didn’t care what would or wouldn’t work against Adam. He needed everything he had to kill his enemy. He took the grenade launcher and fired two more grenades at Adam. One landed in front of the agent and the other scored a direct hit, judging from the immediate explosion.

The area in front of Dan was nothing but fire and smoke.

Did I kill him? Dan wondered.

Unfortunately, his answer walked right out of the smoke. Adam moved with a slow but deliberate stride that exuded indifference. He even patted off his shoulder piece. Adam’s entire body was encased with a brief but noticeable flash of greenish energy, the same as when Dan had tried going for his neck.

“Well, not bad,” Adam said. “That would have worked if I had been anyone else.”

Dan backed away from the Kodak agent. Anyone who survived a sword strike to the neck and a direct blast from a grenade was a demon.

Adam cracked his necked. “Well, I guess I can’t expect you to be an equal since you’re still too underleveled. But I’ll try to have some fun. Just try to give my muscles a good warmup before I move on to the heavy hitters of your team.”

As hopeless as the situation was, Dan knew running away was suicide. Adam would easily catch up. Staying and fighting was his only option. Since Adam appeared to be holding back to savor the experience, Dan had to throw everything he had at him. Now.

He drew his pistol in his other hand and hammered the trigger while launching more grenades. Dan filled the entire area in front of him with more smoke and fire. Both weapons in each hand clicked empty.

The fired raged on and the smoke continued expanding and rising into the air. For a moment, Dan didn’t see or hear anything else outside of the carnage he’d just dished out.

A figure blurred out of the smoke and grabbed Dan by the neck. In the next second, he soared through the air and his back hit a street light, snapping it in half.

Dan could barely comprehend the immense pain coursing throughout his back. For a split second, his whole body went numb. Then the waves of pain spread throughout him. Somehow, Dan’s armor and reinforced bones prevented his spine from snapping in two. Still, it hurt like hell.

The impact of his landing on the pavement felt like nothing in comparison. Dan was in such pain that he could barely move. It seemed even a twitch of his finger triggered pulses of pain throughout his whole body.

If Dan could only move an inch at a time, then so be it. Giving up was the last thing he wanted to do. But without any of his harder hitting weapons, what could he do against Adam? The only weapons he had left on him was one last pistol and a few more explosive blocks.

Dan watched with blurred vision as Adam slowly walked over to him. His only chance left was to throw an explosive block at Adam and detonate it right in his face. While Adam was busy tanking the explosion, Dan would take one last healing stim and the booster Kate had given him prior to the mission.

Every bit of movement from his arms triggered the immense pain coming from his lower back. He pushed through regardless, continuing to reach into his coat, one hand going for the explosives and the other grabbing the detonator.

He could hear Adam’s voice, though it sounded far away.

“You surprise me, kid,” the Kodak agent said. “I would have thought that would break your back. You really are the real deal. All of our first tiers should be ashamed of themselves. None of them could hold a candle to you. At the least, none of them have your tenacity.”

Dan’s left hand had already reached the detonator in his pocket while his right hand grabbed a block of explosive inside his coat. He looked up and Adam was still a good distance away. Dan had to throw it now or else he would kill himself too.

Adam chuckled to himself. “I can promise you that you will die with your pride intact. It took Adam Torrent, a badass tier two Kodak agent, to take down the scrappy, no-named rookie Dan Orion. We’ll write that on your tombstone.”

Dan couldn’t wait any longer. He mustered up what little endurance and patience his body had left and threw the explosive block as far as he could.

“What kind of throw was—”

Dan wasted no time jamming his thumb into the detonator. He shut his eyes at the same time the explosion went off. The blast knocked him back and rolled him across the pavement.

He looked up and didn’t see a plaza anymore. All he saw was smoke and fire as if he had just called in an airstrike. Anything that was bright orange was either shrouded in smoke or the darkness of the night.

Dan didn’t know how much time he’d bought himself, but he reached into his coat and grabbed his last healing stim. He rammed it into his neck and injected himself. In just a few seconds, the blinding pain that dominated every minute movement reduced to tolerable levels.

Dan’s back still didn’t feel too hot. He remembered the time he had been hit by a car by a bunch of gangsters who were going on a joyride. The overwhelming pain in the moment and time wasted with the injuries afterward sucked.

He slowly stood back up and limped over to a newspaper stand and leaned on it. Adam had the deadly explosive blow up right in his face. Dan was positive that the agent had died.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

But he wondered if he had a serious head injury as he saw a figure slowly emerge out of the fire and smoke.

“No fucking way,” Dan said slowly.

Adam walked out of the smoke, though not unscathed. The agent didn’t have his energy shields anymore. Dan saw green static course throughout Adam’s entire body. The agent reached for something on his back and ripped out what looked like short baton. The green static disappeared.

Adam pointed his finger at Dan. “Kid, that explosion just wrecked my energy shield generator. I’ll probably get my ass chewed out for getting such expensive equipment destroyed.”

After all that, Dan had only managed to permanently bring down Adam’s energy shields. Now, whatever damage was inflicted would directly hurt Adam. The question was whether Dan still had the strength to continue the fight.

“I don’t think any first tier has ever taken down my shields before. Be proud you are the first, Dan Orion,” Adam said.

Dan was so shocked at the agent surviving such a powerful explosive to the face that he stood in place, frozen as the Kodak agent walked over to him. Adam reached for his helmet and slowly took it off.

The Kodak agent stood in front of him, looking down at Dan. He almost didn’t want to look up, but knew that if this was his last living moment, he should at least see the face of the man who killed him.

He looked up and saw Adam’s pale skin. He had a few scars on both cheeks as well as haunting bloodshot eyes that stared down at him. Adam had short cropped blond hair that was flattened from wearing the helmet. From the lines around his eyes and forehead, Dan guessed that Adam was at least a few years older than Allen.

Adam’s mouth turned into a big toothy grin. One of his teeth was gold. “Well, kid, take a good look. Not many of my enemies get to see my face before they die. They only see my skull helmet. But for you, you earned my respect. And so my face will be the last thing you see before you die. Any final words?”

Up close like this, Dan had only one option left. The poison knife he used to kill Samantha Striker.

“Actually, Adam, there’s a few that come to mind,” Dan said. He mustered all the strength he had left and reached for his combat knife. All the speed he could demand out of his body was put into one last slash against Adam’s face.

Dan managed a cut on Adam’s cheek before the Kodak agent grabbed his wrist. The grip was so sudden and constricting that Dan immediately released the knife.

Adam chuckled at Dan’s pathetic final attack. But Dan knew otherwise.

“All that for a scratch?” Adam taunted.

“That was all I needed, big guy,” Dan said. “Tell me, how do you feel right now?”

The question was right on cue, as Adam’s grip on his wrist loosened. Dan yanked his arm away and watched the poison begin taking affect. Adam’s legs wobbled, and the agent took a few steps back.

“W-what the hell?” Adam said. He crouched down and planted one hand into the pavement. His other hand covered his eyes as if he was suffering a headache.

Dan was impressed with the poison. It took immediate affect even against a tier two agent.

Thanks, Jane. You’re amazing, Dan thought.

Dan remembered the booster that Kate gave him before the mission. He wondered if he needed it to properly finish off Adam. He took the syringe out from his inner pocket and stared at it. Seconds later, his blood ran cold as he heard Adam’s familiar voice.

“That was quite dirty, kid.”

Dan backed away from his enemy, who had stopped swaying and was back on his feet. What happened to the poison?

Adam laughed. “I said this before, but that would have worked on anyone else except me. You see, any Kodak agent above tier two receive further upgrades to their immune systems. You’ll have to give me something way more potent to kill me. Whatever that was on your knife, it only gave me a surprise buzz.” The agent stretched his arms. “Well, I guess it had some effect. My muscles are a bit more sore and I think I’m sweating. A first tier agent making me sweat, what a day.”

Dan knew he had to use the booster. But he stared at the syringe and hesitated. Kate had already betrayed the team. Her intentions had been nefarious from the start. How could he know this booster would perform as advertised?

Adam crossed the distance between them in an instant, showing off his superior speed. In the next moment, the booster was no longer in Dan’s hand.

“What is this?” Adam said.

Now the fight was truly hopeless. Dan’s leg and chest were aching, his vision blurred periodically and he’d lost the last tool he had.

Adam rammed the booster into his neck. “Well, since you’re so generous, I’ll take this instead.”

Dan wondered what kind torture he would be subjected to by a further amped-up Adam Torrent. The agent had survived everything Dan had thrown at him. Grenades, explosives, poison, nothing he had could put this monster of an agent down.

But both Dan and Adam were hit with another nasty surprise. Adam’s toothy grin vanished from his face and blood suddenly leaked from the agent’s eyes and nose.

Adam staggered back. “What the fuck? What is this bullshit?” He coughed up more blood, and gagging soon followed.

Dan blinked twice, watching the sight in front of him. Adam’s body language became erratic as he staggered back and forth, twitching as if suffering a seizure. Dan’s hesitation had saved his life. Kate must have sabotaged that booster.

He breathed a sigh. It was a relief, but that feeling was soon replaced with rage towards Kate. That bitch had planned to kill Dan from the start if he didn’t cooperate. Whether that was getting killed by rebels, Kodak agents or by this booster.

Adam coughed up one last spat of blood before he toppled over and fell flat on his back. He didn’t stand back up.

Dan, through a miracle, had managed to defeat a tier two Kodak agent.

Congratulations!

You have defeated Kodak-Cresh agent Adam Torrent in battle!

Extra bonus experience rewarded.

Dan had no time to celebrate his hard fought and miraculous victory as his ears were bombarded with more gunfire. Instinctively, he dropped flat on his stomach.

His HUD popped up a notification that made his day.

“Hey kid, we’re about to get swarmed by reinforcements,” Allen said. “Get your ass up, I’ll cover your escape.”

Dan’s HUD immediately updated and spat out a waypoint for him to follow. He picked himself back and limped his way towards the blue circle leading him into an alley across the street. Any kind of force he tried to put on his left foot was met with waves of extreme pain.

He hoped Allen had something for his leg and all the other injuries he had sustained during the fight. His back was still screaming at him and his vision continued fading. Just keeping focused on what was ahead of him was a struggle.

Stepping into the alley, Dan couldn’t see much of anything. A combination of the darkness and his failing vision meant he was solely relying on following the blue circle that would hopefully lead him out of this mess.

Dan continued limping his way forward, following his HUD’s waypoint. He had no clue how much time had passed, but the loud cracks of gunfire behind him became increasingly muffled. Dan couldn’t hear much of anything anymore as he fell to his knees and onto the wet pavement.

He put whatever strength and energy he had left into crawling along the pavement, struggling to keep his head up and following the waypoint ahead. His arms gave out, and he was left to lie on the ground.

Dan’s fading vision caught one last sight of someone standing over him. He felt powerful arms grabbing him and lifting him before he shut his eyes and didn’t see anything more.