In the end, Rob faced another failure, once again confirming the true meaning of his surname. All those attempts, when he had to massacre his way through the scientists, led to nothing, apart from confirming that CSA did a great job in securing the area. It was no wonder, considering the desire to minimize the risk of leakage from the facility no matter what, even with the cost of the destruction of the place. Repeating different routes an uncountable number of times, Robert was always seen by someone’s eyes until he found a way to avoid all but one, which belonged to the particular super with a dedicated power. That appeared an insurmountable obstacle. No matter what he used – be it a main exit, the narrow hole, made by Gray Lion, or even a self-made tunnel – the empowered human noticed it in the end.

Robert simply couldn’t escape the gaze of the superhero who could see through the multiple buildings without any effort. Any odd behavior immediately led to a summon of a half-baked speedster, which in turn caused an unavoidable fight. He couldn’t pretend to be someone else when CSA agents orderly checked everyone’s identity with scanners. Maybe there was a chance in different circumstances, but he had what he had.

Still, so many failures caused an emotional outburst from time to time, when Rob had to release the pressure and accumulated anger. The superheroic team appeared to be a perfect choice in the case, fighting for their life with all their power and not feeling anywhere harmless. Sometimes, mentally too exhausted with a constant need to act, to move, to fight, Robert surrendered and obediently went to the prison, taking a long break not to be absorbed in the bloody madness of short time loops. During such stays, he managed to push his controlling skills to a new height.

Copying the method of simultaneous squeezing, Rob used obsidian steel instead. It appeared a much easier task after previous training. Without a need to control every single part manually, and just focusing on a single mental command, he managed to create his own tightly fit armor. Almost like a villainous costume. Adjusting the thickness in some places by using more black material, Robert turned himself into a pitch-black mannequin. The next step was to use Energy Blasts, enveloping himself in a destructive layer. That led to a dramatic rise in his might, albeit turning the confrontation with supers into a deadly brawl with barely any risk to himself. The only exception was Demonologist.

Robert had enough power to crush the first two forms of the demonical bastard in quick succession, but the tyrannosaur was just too huge and mighty to deal with it in a short time frame before the unavoidable nukes would drop from above. Being almost like an older brother to the lizardman from the superheroic team, this transformation had the same insane rate of regeneration, easily on par with Rob’s. Or maybe it was even stronger as even a simultaneous destruction of the brain and heart of the creature didn’t cause a death.

Rob even used the Broom – that weird device that led to a tickling sensation in his body. Tearing the weapon from the agent’s palms after finally interrogating Dr. Borson Green Junior about the thing, Robert used it immediately against the walking demon. The wide arc of violet light caught both the hero and the unconscious villain, causing an instant reaction. Their bodies simply started to collapse from the inside, rotting in a fraction of a second before turning into ashes only to disappear a moment later. At least it was the case with a fake Gray Lion. Demonologist’s figure was reduced to a tiny formless blob that still connected his brain and heart, pointing out that they were indeed his weak points. Hovering in the air, it created a dreadful feeling. However, such a state lasted barely a blink before the regeneration kicked in, reforming the demonic figure from scratch, but now with visible anger in his snake-like eyes.

Robert attempted it a few times with the same result, admitting that he simply didn’t have enough firepower to kill the superhero, outperforming his regeneration. The sheer tenacity of the demonic being to keep itself intact was out of his possibilities. Considering the constant growth with the size and strength of each next transformation, the futility of the idea was clear. However, that led to a reevaluation of the situation that was going on during the end of the time loop during the fight with a huge dragon.

It’s me who knows that the Broom doesn’t work. What if the others believe that it will help against Demonologist? Or he, himself, tries to use it to stop himself, perfectly knowing the outcome of his outburst?

This theory was partly confirmed in several next loops. First of all, the huge demonic monster was indeed heading toward the area with skyscrapers, where coincidentally the Facility with the specific weapon was located. Rob couldn’t distinguish the exact building from such a distance, but there was no other area like that. On the next reset, Robert directly told Agent Bell to use the Broom in case of emergency with Demonologist. The result was exactly the same as when he made a similar warning about a potential threat from one the most powerful heroes but without mentioning the weapon – the draconic abomination still tried to reach the lake, potentially attempting to decrease the damage to the city from an unavoidable nuclear strike. Alas, it was too slow for that, most likely being seen as fleeing to the water.

And what does it leave me with? I can’t kill Demonologist even before he goes rampage, and to deal with the dragon – not a chance… So, I need to stop the event from happening. But for that, I need to be there to know the reason for everything… This leads once again to the two main obstacles on my way to doing it – not having CSA behind my back, while being powerful enough to survive the nuclear blast… Shit!

Pondering over the problems again and again, Robert had to admit that in his circumstances to have even a chance of succeeding, he had to forget about any hesitation about the moral correctness of possible deeds. It was simply impossible to achieve the goal without proceeding with the same actions he did before which gave him an understanding of his situation. He had to kill to find out about this world. He had to kill to find out about the device that kept him trapped inside the time loop. He had to kill to find a peaceful way out of the laboratory, albeit unsuccessfully.

In the end, I am a villain, drenched in blood from tip to toe, who for the sake of a distant imaginary picture where everything would be better continues to kill…

Still, Robert accepted this thought. Maybe he found a non-egoistic goal to prevent the destruction of the city from the nuclear explosion, but it still didn’t change anything about who he was or how he was dealing with things. Rob was once again too weak to use the righteous way of achieving a noble goal, leading to his current approach. Therefore, appearing once again in the cursed laboratory, meant to be buried under the rubble, Rob was already mentally prepared for what was going to happen.

Covered in his pitch-black armor that left only two openings for eyes, Robert immediately launched a punch against the force shield. The invisible protection met the mixture of kinetic and disintegrative energy, failing at once to withstand the might of both. In the next moment, Robert charged forward, completely ignoring the scared scientists. He was almost at the end of the long corridor near the emergency stairs when the first explosion resounded from above. However, he didn’t care, too occupied with his new plan.

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In a dozen seconds, he was already breaking inside the laboratory with CSA agents. Led by Sarah Bell, they were only taking the weapon when Rob’s figure emerged from the broken door. The big guy with the destructive device immediately reacted, trying to aim, but Robert was faster. Not pausing his motions, he slightly gripped the face of the agent. Ignoring several gunshots, he gently took away the Broom from the terrified man, who literally felt a touch of death. Lightly smashing to the side Sarah, who tried to attack him with a high kick, Robert aimed the weapon toward the agents.

“Move!”

There was a short pause when their fear fought against the obligation to confront the villains. However, the ease of their loss together with the difference in power made the former much stronger than the latter. Thus, just after a few seconds of inner struggles they obediently went to the corridor. Sarah was the last to do it, squinting her eyes at him as if trying to evaluate his power in a potential battle against Demonologist. And the superhero was already walking toward them, dragging the unconscious kid. Missing the situation, the demonic super failed to react in time when Robert stepped out from the laboratory.

“Release the kid or they will die. Agent Bell will die,” Stressing the last part, Rober commanded loudly. The barrel of the charging Broom had never left sight of the agents.

“You will regret it… Try anything stupid and I’ll rip you apart,” almost growling, Demonologist spoke, freezing on the spot.

“I sincerely doubt it… but even if you are right, they will be long dead,” not changing his calm tone, Robert replied without turning his head.

“I don’t know who you are, but there is no chance you can escape this place. If not CSA, then the military will act,” Sarah intruded into their conversation, attracting attention to her persona.

“Well, you are right,” after a short pause as if thinking, Robert admitted with ease, “Then I will surrender after you apply first aid to the kid… His older brother died because of this demonic jerk, and now he can follow the example. Not going to happen with me around,” quickly pointing at the beaten-up teenager with the barrel, Robert returned the aim. It caused refocused attention toward the fake Gray Lion.

“I tried to be careful, but he resisted,” trying to defend himself, Demonologist spoke in an apologetic tone, while others observed a broken arm and, a tattered suit with bruises and cuts visible in holes on the youngster’s body.

“Good job, HERO,” Rob calmly nodded, “You’ve beaten a kid… Now will you do me a favor, agent Bell? I guarantee that I will surrender after that… And if you can, I want to join him in the prison to take care in case of the same treatment from other criminals.”

“Our prisons are not… yes, just keep this weapon from shooting,” the senior agent nodded, slowly walking toward the frozen figure of the demon. The latter paused for a second, before enveloping himself in a familiar sphere. In the next moment, Demonologist transformed back, finally appearing in front of Rob in his human form. And it didn’t look good. Precisely speaking, the man had above above-average appearance, but at this particular point in time was looking like a mess. Dressed in a long brown coat over the disheveled suit, he could be described as exhausted. Huge bags under deep blue eyes, a black stubble.

So, he was tired, and I still failed to kill him… Yep. And what the hell with clothes? Why am I always nude while his ability to transform keeps his clothes intact? What the fuck?

Reaching into the inner pocket, Demonologist pulled out a cigarette and lighter. Gently smiling at Sarah and winking at her, the man stepped to the side before leaning to the wall. Soon he was puffing the smoke with closed eyes, clearly enjoying the moment. There was not a trace of worry about the pointed Broom as if the man somehow understood that Robert wasn’t going to shoot. Still, his seemed-to-be relaxed position was far from the point of disregarding the threat. Rob couldn’t miss how the superhero was ready to launch himself forward, covering Sarh from a potential shot. However, there was no need for it.

“Don’t you want to show your face if everything is resolved?” Demonologist couldn’t ask, pointing with his cigarette toward Rob’s pitch-black figure.

“Forgot to use my makeup and too ashamed to show myself in front of magnificent you, whose bluish color under the eyes emphasizes an overall brutal image... especially with that careless stubble,” Robert smirked, declining the offer and keeping his conjured armor on himself.

“That was a good one,” The man smiled in return, taking a drag on a cigarette, “Even my regeneration handles poorly with the tiredness… But nothing that twelve hours sleep can’t fix.”

“Make it twenty,” Sarah spoke with a harsh tone, “You, put the weapon on the floor and surrender as you said… I need to warn you that not only he is here to stop you from any stupidity, but also the full team of supers is on standby… So, either you…”

“As I said, I will surrender,” Robert replied with a smile, which appeared visible through a tiny hole against his mouth. And then he did what he promised, casually giving the weapon, which was immediately pointed at him. The next part was boring for him and busy for others.

Convoying him to the surface, they kept their caution. This time even Demonologist hasn’t disappeared, smoking with a cup of coffee not far from Robert on a retractable chair. The three snipers were also there, monitoring every single motion he made through the scopes of the powerful rifles. They never bothered to warn Rob about their presence, but after so many repeats he just knew where to look to catch a glimpse of the hidden figures.

I guess if I showcase my strength, they start to treat me seriously from the beginning… Hmm, might be a problem that I will need to consider next time.

The wait was much longer than before. The team of superheroes even finished their interviews before two ten-wheels monsters came through the police barricades. They both had the same armored trailers with inbuilt force shields, despite hiding them under the thick metal plates. The moment it stopped, several guards were already pointing at him with rifles, ordering him to move inside. That was another novelty in the attitude of CSA– no one dropped their guard. Maybe it was because of Demonologist’s presence, or maybe it was something different, but there was no sign of early relaxation that he had seen multiple times before.

Still, it didn’t change anything to Rob’s plan. Noting how an already woken teenager was shoved inside the cage, he silently followed the example. Waiting for a dozen minutes to be sure he made some distance, Robert stood up. Enveloping both his palms with energy, he struck the nearest wall, penetrating it with ease. And then he pulled, simply ripping the armored plates apart with his fingers. The force shield tried to fight with such a brutal approach, but failed miserably, flickering one more time before disappearing forever. In the next moment, Rob created a huge hole, enough to drop outside.

Catching the glimpse of the incoming second truck, he momentarily raised his weight to the absolute maximum, while simultaneously redirecting the energy layer. A second later the monstrous car rode into him, smashing against a sudden obstacle. Unfortunately for the armored car, the latter was quite heavy, while the truck’s speed was nowhere near making a real impact against the unexpected pedestrian. Simultaneously melting and shattering from the contact, it still pushed Robert back, sending him a few steps backward.

Not today, truck-kun…

However, that was it. Instead, the cabin of the truck was reduced in size, turning into a mangled mess of metal and flesh, while taking the lives of the driver and his partner at once. It left the car’s trailer completely vulnerable as there was no escort… not taking into account the floating drone that was observing the situation from above through the camera. Or at least Robert thought like that when he got to the door of the trailer, the familiar voice spoke.

“Well, well, well… What do we have here? A villain, trying to escape from deserved punishment? And that is a mistake, because I, Green…,” calmly turning around and ignoring the blubbering of the super, Robert had only one thought.

I am so sick of you, dumbass!