The moment the door had opened in front of patiently waiting Robert, his fist shot forward, piercing through the chest of the man, whose eyes barely registered what was happening before it was too late. Gripping the dead body with the stuck hand, Rob raised the corpse with his forearm before stepping into an apartment. His other hand was already picking up the dropped gray bag, filled with different weapons. Walking inside, while holding both “items”, he shoved them into the bathroom before closing the door. Glancing down on his bloodied hands, he entered the bathroom again to wipe it with a towel. Meanwhile, not bothering to turn around, Robert said:
“You try to escape, you die. Your kittens can’t stop me. So, be a good boy and come in,” Pointing at the couch, Rob finally looked at the scared teenager, whose gaze was in constant motion as if its owner was trying to find the way out. And knowing the kid, Robert was sure the second version of Gray Lion indeed wanted it. Not that there was a single chance of achieving it. Not after so many pranks from the rebellion kid.
“I said come in! Forget about Redginald – the guy only wished to become a murderer, while I already am. And believe me – I killed more living beings than you’ve ever seen in your short shitty life.”
“I am not a boy,” Not finding how to reply to this statement, the teenager muttered before obediently following the command. Sitting down and interlocking his fingers, trying to suppress the worry, he silently observed how the villain, clad in pitch-black armor, calmly closed the front door. The process of his rescue could be described as brutal, bloody, and scary as hell. The quick deaths of supers, the tough attitude of his savior, the threats – everything screamed about the danger that was coming from his unrequested “helper”. Still, the orphanage taught Gray Lion that you simply couldn’t show any fear, or else you would be eaten in no time. Therefore, trying to show a relaxed state, the teenager asked with a provocation:
“Why are you standing like a strip pole?
“Shut up, and don’t speak until I tell you. I am quite fed with your annoying comments and disrespectful behavior,” Robert immediately cut in, landing his heavy gaze on the kid. The tight black armor that had only tiny holes near the eyes and a few more around the mouth made him look like an animated mannequin from the low-budget horror movie the teenager had seen a year ago. However, this time it was for real and not just a picture on the screen.
“Hey, man, we haven’t… I am shutting up, no need for violence,” The kid went silent, abandoning his plan to distract with talks and cooperation before finding an opportunity to get out from the sight of the scary super.
“I know you bought the serum that potentially can increase the powers by infusing more omicron particles into the body. I know that it was your second plan to deal with Demonologist. My question is – did you use it on him?”
“What the hell… How do you…,” clearly trying to win the time to find the answer, the teenager attempted to fake ignorance, but just a single step toward him was enough to stop it. Sighing regretfully, the kid confirmed Robert’s suspicion, “Well, yeah… In the beginning, I had a thought to use myself to get the power boost, but later my brother’s fate came to mind… You see, man, he was…”
“Cut the crap! I know your brother’s history. What was your idea?” Robert asked, not willing to listen to the same story once again. And considering his attempts to pull information from the teenager in previous loops, it wouldn’t have been even the tenth time.
“You know? How? Doesn’t matter… I just thought that if the serum could increase the strength of powers, it might give Demonologist more than he could handle. The fucker is already so strong, so… maybe… just maybe… he is already on the brink of being filled to the edge. This was my idea – to make his cup spill. Even one mishap was enough for my brother to ruin his life, so I wished the same for the man, who stepped aside when he could help... To be a real hero, and not to play the role for others… Unfortunately, it didn’t work. There was no reaction at all,” The teenager sighed, leaning back on the couch.
“Oh, no, it worked… And you fucked up massively,” Robert muttered, trying to think about the situation, “Okay, I need to check something. You are free to go… and yes, don’t use your hideout – I will temporarily occupy it for the next few months. Otherwise, do what you want… And don’t cause me any troubles like setting the bomb inside – it would be the last thing you remember.”
The following actions were almost done on autopilot. The short wait in the familiar basement to hide until the CSA’s search would lower its scale before the quick assault of the pet shop’s laboratory. Knowing the strength of the main guardians there, Robert simply used a looted gun to shoot both from the beginning, while they tried to chock him with their powers, relying on laser turrets as heavy hitters. It appeared that the slim corridor without any covers was not only good for creating a huge wind but also provided no possibility to hide from bullets. As always, some things worked in both ways.
Stepping over the two bodies, Robert paused in front of the armored door, waiting for the scientist’s voice. The latter didn’t disappoint, quickly admitting the futility of resistance and speaking through the inbuilt speakers.
“Oh, please, don’t break it. I am opening, no need for violence…,” As if confirming the words, the door moved to the side, showing the inners of the laboratory, “I’ve heard that you need serum – I will give you one. Or more… No need to crush anything. It’s too costly to restore everything.”
The familiar laboratory met him with an already moving aging man, whose desire to save the results of his work was much stronger than any loyalty to his sponsors, who clearly belonged to the criminal world. Moreover, the scientist was sincerely eager to speak about his creation, not hiding his pride about it. And it wasn’t because he wanted to take all credit. No, again and again in each loop the scientist spoke about the combined effort of his now-dead team, trying to finish their work. It helped Robert to understand more about the serum.
“Please, come down! I will prepare everything you need… I assume you are here for serums, right?” Making his way through the messy laboratory with multiple equipment in a different state, the man quickly reached the opposite side of the large hangar. Taking out the container from a hidden hole in between two machines, he returned to Robert, who already had come down using rusty stairs, “Here… I have only three serums ready. Nothing more – that’s everything I’ve managed to produce after the previous delivery and my latest tests.”
Stolen story; please report.
“I appreciate your cooperation… Still, I will need to ask you a few questions. And yes, I know about the potential reinforcements that will come in a few minutes,” Robert replied, pointing toward the chair, “Please.”
“Everything to save this place… So, how can I help you, Mr. Black?”
“You can call me Golem,” Rob said, reminding the code name that was given to him by CSA, “I want to ask about the side effects of the serum. Specifically, a few things. How long will it take for the serum to increase the power of the ability? Can it cause insanity?”
“Obviously,” the scientist nodded at once, “It is omicron particles we are speaking about. It is a well-known fact that many power wielders can’t handle the process of empowering, going insane, or even mutating into abominations. When you add more of them to the super, it will immediately destabilize the established equilibrium and the result will depend on many factors, including how close this specific super was to his personal verge. Another problem lies in the chaotic nature of the particles. With their constant alteration, they simply might not connect to similar particles, but which have completely different properties in the specific moment,” pausing for a moment, the researcher caught his breath before proceeding further with explanations.
“Last but not least is the artificial nature of my serum. No matter how my team tried, we were always far from recreating the same particles. I made some progress, but they are still not the same. Very close, with a similar effect, but not quite there yet... which leads to the situation where the overall result might be just anything… Not speaking about the randomness of the process in the first place, when the time, circumstances, personality, and even emotions can influence what power will the subject get.”
“Emotions? Are they so important?” Robert asked with a frown.
“Emotions are often used as an initial trigger of the powers after the newly empowered super gets their abilities… You can’t just read somewhere what you can do after the contact with omicron particles…”
In fact, I can. At least something convenient.
“…so this trigger in the form of emotional outburst works like some kind of plug-in to teach their own brain how to use this new power. It doesn’t always work this way, but statistically, it’s the most used method,” the scientist explained, worsening Robert’s mood.
What do I have in the end? Demonologist had already taken the dose, even before I appeared through the portal. I just can’t revert this fact by the reset. Any emotional situation will drive him crazy… Any “cock blocking” won’t work as literally anything can cause him to turn into an oversized snake with multiple limbs. Melted ice cream, parking fine, quarrel with Sarah… Shit!
“Do you think it’s possible to extract the serum before it starts to work?” The tiny hope was still present, barely shining in this dark realm of Rob’s repeatable and bloody horror.
“No,” and it was crushed a moment later, “You see, only the manifestation of the abilities or the increase can be delayed, but the change is done immediately upon contact with a serum. And we can’t undo it – even the experiments on super’s corpses showed no progress. The change is permanent, and even the grave can’t cancel it. That’s the reason why dead supers with transformation abilities don’t turn back after death… In fact, I think it’s easier to make all humanity gain powers than turn all supers back to a non-empowered state.”
Okay, I’ve got. You are like hammering more and more nails in my coffin… And it sucks.
“If I take the serum, there is no reversion process, no matter the consequences?” Robert clarified once again, looking at three tubes in his palm, covered in pitch-black steel.
“Correct… But it also means that the power increase gained from the serum can't be taken back by anyone. These gains are yours till death,” The scientist smiled proudly, making Robert curse inwardly. This single fact led to the realization of how awful his situation was.
In the end, to be a real hero and save everyone I simply need to murder one of the local heroic icons. Not only he was one of the most powerful supers from the start, but also this fucking serum made him much stronger. No wonder why I haven’t seen this transformation into toys or on his page on the net. It was gained by the serum after the ruined attempt of having sex… sounds stupid, but now it explains how the virgins can turn into OP-archimages in the next life.
The local heroes and CSA won’t believe or help me. The criminals are here all about money with corruption, fraud call centers, or underground casinos being the main weapons of their influence, and not the firepower of weapons and abilities. The locally labeled villains are all either dead or in prison, while the real evil power is the military, which would rather nuke everyone instead of any surgeon operation to cut the weak point. Therefore, you can’t rely on anyone, but yourself, Rob. No heroic team for rescue. Just you and your personal insanity in repeating everything all over again.
On the other hand, you’ve got all the time in the world to win a lottery of gaining the needed power… Or until you fuck up and die, which isn’t that impossible… How do I do it? Hmm… In the final state, this dragon-like bastard is already basically unkillable, but at the start, he isn’t so strong… Nope, he just didn’t realize it, but a death threat might be a good reason to skip a few stages and turn into a scaly monstrosity right on the spot. And if I want to be a true hero, I need to minimize casualties, so no escape or intrusion in this laboratory… But it would be hard to do it when the attention of CSA would be focused solely on me… Hmm…
Well, I can get an appropriate power, make a training kill in his dragon state, survive the nuclear blast, restart, and go for the clean kill before running away from another nuclear missile. Easy-peasy… As if… Yep, in the end, it’s all about killing, Robert. You simply can’t escape your murder-hobo fate.
“Hey, you, moron, stop right there before I will crumple your metal armor like a piece of toilet paper before flushing the shit that would be left from you!”
The loud shout interrupted Robert’s thought process, returning him to reality. Turning his gaze upward, he noticed a dozen bikers with guns, pointing at him. Dressed in leather and wearing the same symbol, they tried to look like real criminals, but it was hard to threaten the super, whose deeds painted a few rooms in bloody red. Still, their courage seemed to come from their leader. The ugly fat woman with multiple rings, nails, and chains attached to her skin in random places, turning her into a real piercing freak. However, the freak with powers as she didn't bother to hide. On the contrary, the woman demonstrated it with an obvious desire to scare Rob, making five metal knives slowly float above her open palm in this showcase.
“Is it a magnetic ability, bitch? If yes, then I need to disappoint you – not all metals are magnetic,” Robert grinned with anticipation, paying no attention to the scientist’s pleas not to destroy his laboratory. As always, the reset would fix everything, apart from Rob’s sanity. Therefore, it was time to release some steam, and he found perfect targets for it with one crucial advantage – he hadn’t killed them before, making it a truly new experience, “Let’s start. Who wants to be the first one to die?”