Running behind the pitch-black figure, Gray Lion was desperately trying to think about his potential options. Unfortunately, he couldn’t see any as his unasked savior who appeared out of nowhere was scary as hell. That only added a headache to the teenager, whose day couldn’t be named as a lucky one. Despite all his efforts and long planning, the revenge seemed to take much longer than he wished. Moreover, the chances of succeeding dropped significantly.

Not only did his enemy know about his existence, his identity, and his powers, but CSA also took note of the younger brother of Gray Lion. Not speaking that both his plans had failed… It would make any further moves much harder to bring to life new schemes to strike down that bastard, who only pretended to be a hero, instead of being an embodiment of evil. Even his transformation was literally screaming about it, but somehow general folks ignored it completely, believing in nonsense, spread by CSA-funded media.

“Stop, freeze,” Quickly turning around, his rescuer pushed the teenager into the alley, pressing to the wall with ease, not even noticing a resistance. Gray Lion had to keep his anger from exploding, considering such an attitude from the unknown and weird super. Despite the fact of being saved from the cage, the teenager knew about his strength, not tolerating any hint of his age or weakness. He killed several dozens of people. He could deal with armed police officers even without any weapon. He wasn’t going to patiently take such treatment as…

“You move, you die. Got it, boy?”

As if reading his thoughts, the pitch-black figure turned around and calmly spoke. There wasn't a trace of hesitation in dark green eyes, visible through tiny holes in the armor. Only sheer confidence and warning of painful consequences. The latter was especially important as Gray Lion had witnessed the might of this villain who simply ripped apart two superheroes, who came to prevent an escape.

The most terrifying part of the short fight was the easiness of the bloody deed. There was not a trace of worry, of any struggling, of overcoming own limits in an attempt to win over the mighty opponents. It looked more like a plain and dull murder of caged animals, which had no chance to resist an inevitable outcome. Their speed, an ability to fly or to move at insane speed, their bulletproof resistance – nothing mattered against this obsidian reaper, who looked like a walking block of black metal. Still, Gray Lion’s emotions couldn’t be turned off by the will, leading to a mindless biteback, despite knowing the potential consequences. His wish to disagree appeared much stronger than even fear.

“I am not a boy! I am already seventeen!”

“Oh? I thought you were fifteen… Well, it changes things. Move, youngster,” the last word was spoken in a clearly mocking tone, but a strong grip against his shoulder made Gray Lion swallow his next words. Otherwise, he would already summon his lioness to turn the man into mangled meat as even the light hold felt like a powerful press. Unfortunately, at such a distance and against such an opponent there was not a chance he would risk a direct confrontation. However, soon, there had to be an opening to use. He just needed to endure… and that was hard, as even their way of fleeing was as annoying as diarrhea.

Ducking into different alleys, pausing midway through another street only to suddenly turn around, they moved like some kind of a machine with RNG-based settings. Chaotic, and illogical, it was surprisingly efficient in avoiding multiple street cameras, flying drones, and even random witnesses. The erratic escape led them through a parking lot, a few closed shops, and food storage of the huge supermarket, before they finally broke into the residential building, quickly reaching the second floor. Waiting near one of the doors for a long minute until it swung open, the pitch-black figure stepped inside. Simultaneously, his hand shot forward, penetrating the chest of the middle-aged man, who was trying to leave the room, while carrying a huge gray bag. Pushing the dead man back, the obsidian villain raised the corpse before shoving it into the nearest closet. Only after that, he spared a single glance toward the dumbfounded teenager.

“Come in…,” showing an example, the pitch-black figure calmly entered the apartment, “Don’t worry about Redginald… He was going to attempt a mass shooting at his previous place of work. Imagine, working for twenty years straight without a single promotion, but being fired after the mistake of his newly appointed boss as a scapegoat… Well, not that I can do it myself. Still, he wasn’t the nicest guy I can reassure you… Now, let’s talk,” his armor started to crawl down, exposing the bald head with unnatural skin that resembled steel. Turning around, the man attempted to continue only to see the barrel of a shotgun aimed at his face, “Don’t…”

The loud shot resounded through the apartment, sending tens of shrapnel pieces into the short flight. An instant later they tried to shred the skin, using all their power to turn a sudden obstacle into a colander. However, the steel spherical fragments were smashed against the tougher surface, leaving only a few scratches against the face of the villain, but nothing else. Bouncing back, causing a wave of ricochet, they vented their anger from a failed attempt at the surroundings.

“That was stupid – now everyone in the buildings heard it and will call the police,” the man sighed, ignoring the shocked expression of the teenager. The latter still tried to repeat the shot, but the villain was faster, slightly moving his head to the side and easily dodging another round because of the close distance. A moment later a few gray lionesses materialized inside, taking up almost all space. Immediately jumping at the man, they were met with quick strikes, barely achieving anything, but only increasing the panic in the building after they heard the predator’s roars.

Noticing how the teenager disappeared in the corridor and hearing the approaching sirens from the police that were already nearby because of his escape, Robert cursed the unstable emotional state of this specific sixteen-year-old kid. He couldn’t name him anything else apart from the kid, as such behavior under emotions without thinking about the consequences of the actions was plain stupid.

Another fucking restart because of this little shit!... At least Agent Bell wouldn’t blow up the laboratory if I cooperated with her, allowing CSA to scan me to confirm that I hadn’t taken anything.

“Come in…,” showing an example, the pitch-black figure calmly entered the apartment, picking up the bag with the weapons, “Don’t worry about Redginald… He wanted to murder his former colleagues because of unjustified firing in his opinion. Not a good guy… And don’t try anything stupid – our neighbors will hear it and call the police… Now, let’s talk,” turning around and throwing a heavy bag in the corner, Rob pointed at the couch.

The teenager’s gaze followed the cloth container, possibly understanding what was inside, before returning it to Robert. Staying motionless and obviously worried, the self-proclaimed Gray Lion didn’t react, making Rob sigh.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“I insist, youngster… and to show that I don’t mean any harm I will do this,” he spoke, while going to the kitchen and grabbing the knife. Dispersing the black armored layer around his grayish palm, he smashed the blade against his skin, scaring the teenager, “As you can clearly see, I don’t wear armor, I am the armor myself,” widely smiling, Rob continued, “If I wanted to kill you, you’ve been already dead, no matter how many summons you would have called to assist you. So, SIT DOWN,” stressing the last part, he ordered, making the boy flinch but finally to obey.

“And why are you standing like a strip pole?” The teenager still couldn’t avoid a half-provoking question.

“Because I weigh over half of a tone (1100+ lbs.) at minimum… and that when I focus on lowering it,” Robert explained, grimacing with annoyance from the fact. Unfortunately, not a single piece of furniture in the apartment could handle him. He had already tested.

“That sucks,” demonstratively stretching on the couch and making him comfortable, the teenager commented, “So, what do you want from me? I appreciate the saving of my ass, but it doesn’t explain why you did it. I haven’t seen you, nor have I heard about you before.”

“I am new in town,” Rob replied, finally exposing his face, “I wanted to talk about…”

“You are ugly, maaaan,” the teenager grimaced, pointing the finger at Robert. It took a lot of mental effort to keep the wave of anger in check. Deeply exhaling, Rob ignored the remark.

“I need a hideout for several months. I need information about local criminal groups. Maybe about their powers or technologies that can strengthen any metals… or information about powerful weapons… What else? Maybe any equipment to help to survive the nuclear blast, while being in the epicenter… And…”

“Hold on, man! Are you fucking serious? I am not a help desk!” The teenager almost shouted, leaning forward, “Ask someone else – more knowledgeable. Maybe a fixer?”

“Presumably acting alone, you successfully broke into a guarded area. I know it - have seen it with my own eyes. You do know a lot. Don’t make me pull this information by force, you little shit!” Robert barked in return, failing to hold boiling emotions. Not only was the kid irritating, but also the whole road to this conversation took at least a hundred restarts until Rob found the temporarily safe place and managed to get the teenager inside while avoiding all the kid’s attempts to ruin everything.

“Will you torture a fifteen-year-old boy?” Imitating the sudden fear, the teenager pressed himself against the back of the couch.

“Drop the act. You are older. Only those who are under sixteen can gain immunity from any of my actions,” summoning a mad grin, Robert replied, “Real innocent children, but not little jerks, who try to look younger to use it for their profit.”

“Why sixteen? You can’t even drink alcohol at this age,” wiping the fake fear, the teenager asked with an unhidden curiosity.

“Because that was the age when I killed a living being for the first time,” Rob calmly answered, reminding himself about the very first battle in the role of an armored squad’s operator in the bunker.

“It seems you had a shitty life… I started at seventeen,” the kid nodded in acknowledgment.

“You don’t even imagine to what extent… Well, speak,” strengthening his voice, Robert commanded, while making a step forward before sitting down on the floor not far from the teenager, “We have approximately one hour before the police will check the place because of the quarrel of some drunkards on our floor. Don’t waste our time.”

“Huh… Okay, dork, but I need to warn you that I don’t know much. I have a few contacts in the local criminal circles without any specific details on the possibilities of their supers… I can write you down a few names with an explanation of how to approach them correctly… Hideout is easy – we can use mine for now until I find a new one for me… The weapon – well, why do you think I broke into that facility in the first place? To get something powerful enough to erase Demonologist’s ass from the existence!”

“Was he your goal from the beginning? Not something inside?” Frowning, Robert decided to clarify.

“Yep,” the teenager nodded, “That fucker has to pay for what he has done with my brother… I dropped a few hints about my interest, pretending to be a survived Gray Lion, to lure out the guy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get my hands on their invention that potentially could kill this regenerative fucker,” the teenager sighed with disappointment, “Now it would be much harder.”

“Don’t be offended, but your plan sounds dumb,” Robert mentioned, inwardly trying to think how awfully bad his luck had to be that his appearance in the realm coincided with the kid’s attack.

“I had two in fact, but the second also didn’t work out it seems…,” shrugged the teenager.

“And was the Broom that weapon you aimed for?” Getting the nod, Rob cursed silently, “I presume that in your search for the instrument capable of killing Demonologist this one together with your second plan was all you got? No other potential possibilities to effectively stop him?”

“Nope, nothing like that… The Broom was my best bet. According to the data I’ve got it might kill him…”

“Unfortunately, no, I tried,” Robert sighed, pondering what to do. If the kid with a clear goal of killing a particular superhero managed to find and break into a hidden underground set of laboratories, Rob was sure that the same person most likely thought about every single available option to achieve his goal. That only strengthened Robert’s previous decision in solving the situation before Demonologist went insane. The completely broken level of regeneration that the demonic hero possessed was too hard to overcome. Especially after he turned into a giant mutated dragon.

“What the hell, man? You tried it? Oh, wow… And I thought I was his last archenemy that wasn’t several feet under the ground or shoved in High Castle. We have another thing in common,” the teenager smiled, clearly relaxing after getting this information.

“Okay, let’s get out of here. Lead the way to your hideout. We’ll continue this conversation there,” Robert ordered, already mentally preparing for a potential restart. The problem with the latter was that he couldn’t magically push the button and reappear at the checkpoint. Also, he wasn’t in the movie-like time loops when a suicide would save him from this inconvenience. Nope, each time he was exposed to cameras of drones or to the eyes of a random witness, Rob had to run toward the laboratory to destroy the working machine. Otherwise, he had to spend a few months in prison, forgetting the crucial details of his escape route.

It turned everything into pure hell, repeating the same things again and again. It was the reason why he chose to find this apartment before speaking with the kid – going through the same dialogues multiple times was beyond his ability to endure the mental suffering. That’s why, when Robert opened the door and found a guy in flip-flops and a dirty T-shirt, who was carrying a bag with trash, he simply shoved any thoughts about being a hero deep inside while launching his fist. Unfortunately, not only did the guy turn, reacting to motions, but also Rob himself forgot that he wasn’t dealing with the super.

His palm, enveloped in disintegrative energy by sheer instinct formed after thousands of clashes with empowered humans, tore the head of the unlucky man instead of gripping his neck as he intended. Splashing the blood all over the corridor from the exposed veins that were roughly cut, the scene directly from a horror movie was created at once. Panicking from the thought of repeating everything again, Robert quickly threw the body and the severed head into Reginald’s apartment before pushing the teenager out and shutting the door. However, even before they reached the front door of the building, someone’s terrified scream came from above, warning all neighbors. And it would undoubtedly lead to the call to the police. The latter was already in search mode, looking for fugitives.

Shit! Now I need to spend several hours just to get to this point… Fuck! Nope, I need to push further to see the other options, while I can… I don’t wish to repeat everything because of every single tiny mistake. To hell with it! Let’s brute force it!

“Say, kid, where was your hideout?”