Jett was about ready to finish the fight. The middle-aged man, tried to take a shot at Jett. However, Jett vanished just before the bullet could hit him, reappearing behind the man and delivering a swift kick to his back. The man stumbled forward, dropping to one knee.

Before the man could recover, Jett teleported in front of him and landed a powerful kick to the man's face, causing him to spit blood.

“We only need one of you,” the man muttered weakly.

“What are you even talking about?”

The man struggled to stand back up and continued, “Devin is the only wielder we need. He is the perfect wielder, destined to bring death upon this immoral world.”

Jett's frustration grew. "And just where is this Devin? Also, did you do anything to Eric?"

The middle-aged man reached into his pocket and pulled out another gun. This gun was unlike any other, its barrel glowed faintly with an unnatural blue light and it had several runes marked around it.

"Eric. Is that the name of that white-haired brat?" the middle-aged man asked, his tone mocking.

"Yes," Jett replied, a bit angry. "Did you do anything to him?"

The middle-aged man gave a sinister smile. "Yeah, the same thing I'm about to do to you."

He raised the strange gun and pointed it at Jett. Jett was about to teleport away, but he realized with dread that he had exhausted his energy. "Shit! Not now!" he cursed internally.

As the middle-aged man fired the gun, a beam shot out of it—a beam of intense, searing energy that was blindingly bright. The beam seemed to incinerate Jett on the spot, leaving nothing behind but a faint wisp of smoke.

However, once the smoke cleared, the middle-aged man gritted his teeth, a look of shock spreading across his face. "So teleportation was not all, huh?" he growled, staring at Jett, who was unharmed inside a barrier of condensed space.

Jett smiled confidently. "I can't believe that worked," he said to himself.

The middle-aged man tried again, firing the gun. The beam shot out once more, but the moment it struck Jett’s barrier, it turned into thin wisps of light that faded into nothing.

"My barrier manipulates the surrounding space, causing energy directed at me to lose its momentum and dissipate. Objects might probably just bounce off though," Jett explained. “You know, just like in movies."

The middle-aged man sneered, "Well, you’re going to come out of your barrier soon enough."

Jett nodded knowingly. "Oh, I know..."

"That’s why I’m here," a voice said from behind the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man turned around sharply to see Whimsy standing behind him. They had come out through another black hole. Whimsy brought out another giant inflatable mallet out of thin air, swinging it with surprising force. The mallet struck the middle-aged man squarely on the head with a loud "BOING!" sound. The man fell to the ground, unconscious.

Jett deactivated his barrier and walked over to Whimsy. "What about the other guy?"

Whimsy tilted their head and said with a playful grin, "He didn’t make it."

Jett asked, surprised, "You killed him?"

Whimsy chuckled. "Well, he sort of killed himself."

"How?"

Whimsy replied, "He tried to shoot at me and hit a giant rubber ducky instead. It bounced back and got him right in the head."

Jett shook his head. "That’s... unbelievable."

Whimsy chuckled, "You should have seen it. It was hilarious. Anyway… what are we going to do about this guy and the creepy old lady outside?"

Jett offered a suggestion, "You could just create one of those black holes and we leave with him before that old lady knows what’s going on."

Whimsy shook their head. "I can’t."

"Why not?"

Whimsy explained. "Well, I can only maintain a certain number of toon-force holes at a time, and the last one I used needs to reset before I can open another. Besides, my power also works best in chaos."

Jett muttered under his breath, "That’s just…"

Whimsy finished his thought, "Inconvenient. Yeah, I know."

"I can’t teleport right now so I think we should-"

Before Jett could finish his statement, the old woman entered the room and asked, "Have you taken care of them yet?" She stopped short as she saw Whimsy and Jett standing over the unconscious middle-aged man. "That was quick," she sighed in annoyance.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Whimsy looked at the old woman, and then turned to Jett. "I'm not comfortable hitting old ladies," they said.

The old woman gave a cold smile. "Don’t worry about it."

She suddenly ran towards Whimsy with blinding speed. She reached down to her sock, pulled out a knife, and quickly plunged it into Whimsy’s chest.

"Ah, why am I always the first one to get stabbed," Whimsy said in surprise.

Whimsy’s ring suddenly glowed pink and their wound healed almost instantly. The knife remained in their chest, but it was more comical than lethal.

The old woman then spun and kicked Whimsy with astonishing strength, sending them crashing out the window.

Whimsy found themselves suspended in mid-air, flailing their arms. Whimsy then looked down and sighed. "Crap! I always forget not to look...," they muttered, just before gravity took hold, sending them yelling as they fell.

Meanwhile, the old woman swiftly threw her knife at Jett, who was quick to react by activating his space barrier. The knife struck the barrier, bending away from Jett without harm.

Back inside, the old woman threw the knife at Jett, but he quickly activated his space barrier. The knife struck the barrier and bounced off harmlessly.

‘I was right. Objects bounce off,’ Jett thought.

The old woman squinted at Jett, trying to size him up. "Hey, you’re that guy who has the 30-million-dollar bounty."

Jett lied smoothly, "Um… no, you must have me confused with someone else."

The old woman pulled out another knife and twirled it around her fingers. "You look just like him."

Jett offered a slight smile and shrugged. "We just happen to bear a strong resemblance to one another."

The old woman continued to twirl the knife, a cold smile on her lips. "That’s a lie. Turns out killing you won’t be a complete waste of my time after all."

The old woman moved with a speed that defied her appearance, closing the distance between herself and Jett in a blur. She began throwing rapid punches with superhuman strength that surprised Jett.

Jett's space barrier absorbed the blows, but he could still feel the impact rattling his bones. ‘She’s freakishly strong. Damn, is she really an old lady? What is she eating?’ Jett thought. Realizing he couldn't keep absorbing her strikes indefinitely, Jett teleported behind her, aiming a kick at her back.

However, she reacted quickly, blocking his attack and countering with a powerful elbow to his chest. Jett stumbled back, spitting out a spray of saliva. Taking advantage, the old woman tried to strike him with her knife, but Jett vanished just in time.

Jett reappeared above the woman, aiming to land behind her and catch her off guard. As he descended, he extended his arm, attempting to strike her with his elbow. The woman spun around at the last moment, catching Jett's arm in mid-air. She twisted his arm with surprising strength, forcing him to the ground. Jett winced in pain, but quickly teleported away, breaking free from her grip.

Jett reappeared further away from the woman, gasping for air. ‘I can’t afford any more mistakes, or she’ll kill me for sure,’ he thought.

The old woman twirled the knife in her fingers with a confident smile. “Giving up already?”

Jett chuckled. “Not yet, granny,” he replied.

With a flash, Jett teleported directly in front of her, delivering a swift punch aimed at her jaw. However, the woman caught his fist with one hand, and with the other, she struck him on the side of the head.

Jett staggered back, dazed. The woman lunged at Jett with the knife aimed at his chest. Jett reacted quickly, vanishing in a flash of blue and reappearing behind her. The woman spun around and tried to slash Jett, but he activated his barrier once more.

The woman gritted her teeth, frustrated. “You have such an annoying ability,” she muttered.

Jett smiled and said, “It’s about to get worse.” Jett focused on his abilities while the old woman kept trying to break through his barrier. “If I can make the distance between two points get shorter…” A huge pressure of space suddenly pushed the woman back. Jett smiled. “…Then I can also make the distance between two points get larger.”

The old woman glared at him. “Don’t use me to test your little scientific theories, boy.”

She threw her knife at Jett with force, but Jett instinctively activated a huge pressure of space, pushing the knife back with such force and speed that it hit the old woman in the chest. The knife pierced her, driving her into the wall.

Jett’s eyes widened in horror. “No!” he shouted as the old woman slumped down, dead.

He hadn’t meant to kill her. He was just trying to defend himself.

‘I just killed another human being,’ Jett thought as he stared at the old woman’s lifeless body.

***

Whimsy climbed back up from the building and slipped through the window. They looked like a cartoon character who had taken quite a beating. Their left ear was comically bent out of shape, they had a comically large lump on their head and Whimsy even had a series of birds flying around their head.

Whimsy looked at the scene, then quipped, "Whoa! I thought I was the one supposed to be making things messy around here!"

Jett was still staring at the dead woman's body, blood pooling around her. He seemed troubled. "It wasn't supposed to end like this. I just reacted..."

Whimsy walked up to Jett and said, “Hey, don’t beat yourself up too much. She was the one who went after you with a knife. It was self-defense, really.”

"I—I wasn’t supposed to kill her. I—I'm not supposed to kill anyone," Jett replied, his voice filled with regret.

Whimsy spoke gently, “Well, sometimes life doesn’t give us a choice.”

Jett’s eyes darted back to the woman’s body, guilt clearly written across his face. “And I didn’t have to kill her.”

Whimsy replied with a gentle firmness, "It was either that or you’d be dead."

“Maybe, but still…” Jett mumbled.

“You’re not in the wrong. Never think that. Nothing good ever comes from it,” Whimsy said, trying their best to comfort Jett. “Besides, this isn’t some wacky ‘Tom and Jerry’ cartoon where no one ever gets hurt. This is real life.”

Jett managed a weak smile. “Could you give me a minute alone?”

Whimsy smiled back and nodded, “Sure. I’ll take this guy downstairs and wait for you.” They grabbed the unconscious middle-aged man by the collar and dragged him downstairs.

Once Jett was alone, tears welled up in his eyes. He continued to stare at the dead woman. He had just taken a life, and the reality of it hit him hard. As he grieved, tears streamed down his cheeks.

Meanwhile, Whimsy was downstairs with the unconscious middle-aged man beside them. They glanced at the man and muttered, “You had better be worth keeping alive.” As the middle-aged man slowly regained consciousness, Whimsy nonchalantly bonked him on the head with a mallet, sending him back into unconsciousness. “Nope, too soon,” Whimsy said, then chuckled. “Guess that was like a reverse ‘Knight Rider’ right there—sleep mode engaged!”

Suddenly, Whimsy spotted something shining at a distance and their ring glowed pink as their right arm stretched comically to grab it. It turned out to be an impromptu tech device that looked like a broken-down phone.

Whimsy fiddled around with it, and a recording played:

“Jett, if you’re listening, it’s me, Eric. Ryan is the murderer. I want you to go after him immediately and get that ring from him. If my facts are correct, chances are that he is hiding out at 455 Elm Street. As for my whereabouts, don’t worry about me.”

The recording stopped, and Whimsy chuckled. “Who knew investigating would be as easy as a ‘Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego’ game?”