“Now!” Levi shouted, lunging for the crate.
Behind him, Rose whirled around, snatching up Handel. Rearing up onto her wrist stump, she threw him toward the window.
Levi grabbed the crate and retreated toward them. “Hey! We aren’t escaping yet. Chaos first. Chaos!”
The woman in the TerraForm mask threw her hand out. “Men! Stop him!”
Handel fell into the square of sunlight cast by the window. His withered body plumped up, the wrinkles smoothing out. His slender limbs thickened, muscle wrapping over bone. His shoulders broadened, legs lengthening. The flower on top of his head trembled, then burst, strengthening from a wilted bloom to a full-blossomed rose, layers of frothy petals falling around his face.
He turned. Deliberately, he cracked his knuckles.
“Ohhh…I get it, now,” Levi said, as the four masked men closed in on him.
Thump thump thump thump. Rose charged in, kicking her fellow vagrants aside with a flick of her fingers. She leaped, flying over Levi, and bodyslammed the two Apostles approaching him on the far side.
“Thanks, boo!” Levi darted to the side as the remaining two Apostles leaped at him. One, wearing a blue mask with a flame on it, landed messily on the floor, while the second, wearing a featureless black mask save the crescent moon on its forehead, spun around nimbly. The second Apostle slid back a foot and reached to his hip, where a sword materialized. He drew it with one smooth motion and charged at Levi, once more closing the distance.
Levi skipped backward, holding the crate against his chest. “Whoa, whoa, watch that blade! What happens if you slice your precious shots open, hmm?”
The black-masked Apostle hesitated. Levi raised his eyebrows. Oh. It is precious, huh?
In the rear of the room, the TerraForm Apostle raised her hand. “Destroy the shots if you must. Do not allow him to leave with that crate.”
Raising his sword once more, the black-masked Apostle lunged.
“Fuck!” Levi jumped with all his speed, yanking his legs up and out of the way a heartbeat before the sword sliced his legs clean off.
The blue-flame-masked Apostle climbed to his feet, only to get punched through the opposite wall by a thick green fist. Pollen flew up, clouding gold in the air after Handel’s fist. He marched after the Apostle, breaking through the broken drywall.
Past him, Rose grappled an Apostle, then rolled onto her back and threw him into the crowd of vagrants. The man landed on the floor, and was immediately swarmed, people picking at his clothes, pockets, anything they could reach.
The other Apostle ran to his rescue, screaming as she tore her way through the crowd, but the more she attacked the homeless crowd, the angrier they grew at her and the Apostles, until the lion-faced person hauled back and launched themselves at the screaming Apostle. As if their attack sounded the starting bell, the homeless people ran at the Apostles, the doors, the windows, fleeing and fighting in every which direction. One or two whipped around and started punching their fellows, the whole thing devolving into a wild melee.
“Whew, look at that. You wouldn’t want to worry about some guy and a stupid crate of shots, would you?” Levi asked, stuffing the crate in his backpack as he backed away.
The black-masked Apostle followed after him silently, sword at the ready, completely mindless of the madness behind him. Through the eyeslits of his mask, cold eyes regarded Levi.
Levi threw the backpack over his shoulder and drew his knife. With a deep breath and a flick of his head, he threw the hair out of his eyes, then gestured the man on. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”
As if he’d been waiting for the invitation, the man leaped forward. His sword blurred, zipping toward Levi’s neck.
Levi swayed backward. The sword swept over his head, clipping his bangs. Even as it flew past, he tensed, his calves tightening. He lunged forward with the backswing, closing in on the masked man’s throat.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Startled, the man went to step back, only for Levi to stomp his foot to the floor. He jerked his sword up, awkwardly slashing at Levi’s torso. Levi caught the blade in his forearm. The blade sunk through flesh and into his bone, thumping home. It stuck there, firm as though it’d been set in concrete. The swordsman yanked, trying to remove it, but Levi twisted his arm, locking it in.
“Nope. It’s mine now.”
Pulling his arm back, Levi yanked the swordsman toward him, stabbing at the same time. His knife sunk deep into the man’s solar plexus. He twisted the blade, and hot blood rushed down his hand. The man gasped, grabbing at Levi’s arm in pain, his sword abandoned.
“Yeah. It doesn’t feel good, does it.” Levi patted the man’s shoulder with his sword-embedded arm. “It’s okay. It’ll all be over soon.”
He yanked the knife out. Bright blood cascaded onto the floor, puddling at the man’s feet. Levi twisted out of his way. The man stumbled forward, falling against the wall, then slowly slid down it.
Levi looked around. The vagrants ran wild, grabbing anything they could get their hands on, tipping tables, attacking the Apostles. Handel threw a table at the TerraForm-masked Apostle, which she desperately batted aside with a gust of wind. Rose flicked crates full of shots into the air, occasionally kicking them directly into an Apostle or one of the scrubs-clad people. He nodded to himself. “Now that’s some good chaos.”
The TerraForm-masked Apostle stumbled toward the door and slammed her hand on it. From the other side, the sound of heavy booted feet rushed forward.
“Uh oh. Time to go.” Levi whistled, backing toward the door. “Handel, Rose! Let’s blow this joint!”
Swatting away a few nearby people, Handel waded through the crowd toward Levi. Rose scuttled toward him. An Apostle lunged to block her way. She hunkered down, tensing all her fingers, then burst off the ground in an explosive display of power. Her palm slammed into the Apostle, and her round, sharp-toothed mouth closed around his head, gnawing at his neck. The Apostle screamed, clawing at the giant hand, then went limp. Rose rode him to the ground, then spat him out. The man’s unconscious, slobbery head lolled on the end of his neck, eyes rolled back in his head.
“Damn,” Levi muttered, impressed.
Behind him, the door slammed open. Men in track suits and hoodies pointed guns at the group. “Nobody move!”
Levi grimaced. “There goes my exit. Handel, can you—”
Without hesitation, Handel turned and smashed through the wall beside him, walking directly through it without even blocking his face. Metal crumpled, and glass shattered.
Standing up on her fingertips, Rose hooked her finger at Levi, then hurried after Handel.
Levi saluted the gangsters and ran after them, hopping an Apostle on his way.
Bullets pinged off the concrete all around him. One caught him in the back, sending him stumbling forward. Instinctively, Levi caught his breath and felt it wheeze, whooshing through his ribs. Yeah. That caught a lung. I’m fucked.
Pushing the pain to the back of his mind, he raced after Handel and Rose. Ahead of him, Handel stomped through the yard, growing larger with every step he took in the sun. His big fluffy rose of a hair bobbled in the wind, shaking with his steps. Rose hurried after him. All at once, she took a dozen tiny steps, then leapt up to ride his shoulder. She turned back and gestured to Levi, all but hopping in place in her nervousness.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Levi assured her, running after her and Handel.
With one more enormous step, Handel kicked through the gate. He stomped down on the other side and kept going, stomping out into the street. His eyes locked onto the forest, and he lurched toward it, picking his way around the cars. Horns blared, and in the distance, sirens sounded.
“I think I get why he was avoiding the sun, now,” Levi muttered, gazing up at the ever-growing Handel.
On his shoulder, Rose vibrated in worry. She gestured Levi on again, more anxious than before.
He waved. “It’s okay! I’ll catch up to you later. You two focus on getting away!”
Rose paused, then bobbed in place. She turned back around, pointing the way to the forest for Handel.
The second she turned away, Levi gritted his teeth. He reached to his arm and with effort, yanked the sword free, then stuck it through his belt. His shirt stuck to his back, blood coursing down his back, slicking through the jacket and shirt, sinking into his pants. The world tilted, and he struck the wall, putting his shoulder up against it to stagger on.
“Shit. I’ve lost a lot of blood.” He glanced over his shoulder, where the broken fence still loomed, then, with some effort, shoved off the wall and stumbled across the street. “Gotta get away. Don’t wanna get caught and tortured.”
One step at a time, he staggered on. Around the next corner, his knees gave out from under him, and he fell on his side. The world went black, and he waited for oblivion, only for the filthy street to fade back in.
Levi took a deep breath. He clawed his way upright, putting his bloody back to the wall. “I’m still holding on. Let’s get this set up. Let’s do it.”
He put the sword against the wall behind his back, with his bag and his knife. He fumbled for his phone, but his fingers couldn’t grasp the slick rectangle. He laughed to himself, falling back against the wall. “Fuck. This is it, I guess. Here goes nothing.”
His eyelids drooped. His head bobbled, falling against his chest. He held his hands out as if begging for coins and let go, and this time, oblivion took him.
[You lost a life!]
[Lives remaining: -17255]
DEBUG: Corruption Level Medium [WARNING] | Ability Points non-degraded | status GOOD
Press X to reallocate your ability points.