“I have to say I’m mighty pleased that we finally caught you, Eris.” The female leader snickered. “It’s been hard tracking your movements up in Engineered Society, what with your large number of supporters.”

“But now I have the pleasure of informing the agency that you… will soon be dead.” She let out a deep chuckle and signaled to the guy behind Zhen.

Zhen twisted his head to see what was happening but the man behind him hissed and pressed the gun flush to Zhen’s head. Forced to look ahead, Zhen heard him fumble with something.

“It’s funny, isn’t it, Eris?” The slippery voice of the female leader droned on. “The one person you thought could save your miserable life is going to cause your death.”

She yanked on Eris’s hair, eliciting a groan from him. “Time to say goodbye,” she hissed.

Droplets of blood formed along the edge of her knife as she pressed it into Eris’s neck. A pained whimper escaped Eris’s mouth and he shut his eyes in defeat.

The leader’s thin lips parted in a cruel grin. A click of her thumb on the handle retracted the knife blade. She stood up and spun the knife deftly in her hand. “On second thought, I have a better idea.”

She motioned to the man behind Zhen. “More fun to get this young man here to shoot you instead.”

Zhen felt the man behind him press a revolver into his handcuffed hands. He was tempted to retaliate with it but the metal butt of the gun pressing into the back of his head reminded him not to do anything foolish.

“Shoot him, boy.”

“Why should I?” Zhen snapped.

The leader sighed in mock exasperation. “Because if you don’t, he dies,” the leader emphasized as she jerked her head towards Pierre.

Zhen’s eyes widened slightly but he tried not to let his fear show through. “And why would I care if he lives or dies?”

The leader snapped her fingers and the short man shot Pierre in the leg. The boy cried out and fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding leg. Zhen’s heart leapt in his throat as he heard Pierre’s moans of agony.

“It’s a flesh wound. But if you don’t cooperate, the next bullet will be in his head.”

Zhen cursed silently, his mind running through possible options to escape this situation. Desperately trying to stall for time, he threatened the leader. “If you try that one more time, I swear I’ll use my powers to kill all of you. Beginning with you,” he snarled.

“What do you think the handcuffs are for, boy? Those are special ones designed to nullify any powers. If you have any, that is.” She gestured to the handcuffs with a flourish of her hand. “Just go on and shoot Eris. What’s it to you anyway?”

Zhen wasn’t one for being emotional or sentimental but the mention of his parents had him curious as to what Eris knew. But he couldn’t possibly sacrifice Pierre because of something in the past. On the other hand, it was still possible that even after killing Eris, they would dispose of Pierre and him.

A whirl of emotions battled against each other in his body and Zhen’s eyes flickered to Eris’s. His eyebrows lifted as he noticed the corner of Eris’s lips turning upward. Zhen followed Eris’s gaze as it flitted to Pierre for just a second before returning to him.

Zhen immediately understood and lifted his handcuffed hands to shoulder level, aiming the gun at Eris’s heart. He uttered a small prayer, hoping to God that he was right, and fired.

The sound of the shot echoed through the factory. Eris stumbled and fell to the ground as blood started to ooze out from his wound.

The leader cackled in delight and nudged Eris’s body using the heel of his boot. “Well, I’m mighty glad that this saga is finally over,” she said as she kneeled down and removed Eris’s handcuffs. “Won’t be needing this anymore.”

She turned to look at Zhen and Pierre before barking out. “Kill them.”

No sooner had she spoken the words than a glass-like material appeared and encased Pierre. The leader and her two men stared in shock at the barrier that had formed around the boy. Before they could react, Zhen lashed out at the man behind him with his handcuffed hands, hitting him in the head. Zhen brought his gun around and aimed it at the short man behind Pierre, but it flew out of his hands and into the man’s.

Magnetic power.

Out of the corner of Zhen’s eyes, he saw that the leader had disappeared. He turned his attention back to the two men. Electricity guy was already throwing a punch at him but Zhen’s reflexes proved faster. Zhen aimed a kick at his kneecap and Electricity guy crumpled to the ground on one knee, hissing in pain. Without giving him time to recover, Zhen grabbed his arm and gave it a sickening twist, dislocating it at the shoulder.

A shot rang out and Zhen felt the bullet enter his shoulder. Grunting, he ignored the searing pain and gave two accurate jabs to the side of Electricity guy’s head, causing him to lose consciousness.

Quickly, Zhen scrambled behind Electricity guy, using him as a shield from Magnetic guy who was shooting at her. Magnetic guy shot again but this time it went through Electricity guy’s body. Peeping out from his makeshift shelter, Zhen gauged the distance between them and slipped out his knife that he kept hidden in his boots.

Magnetic guy aimed at him once more. Taking in a deep breath, Zhen threw his knife at him, the blade sinking into Magnetic guy’s gun hand. As Magnetic guy cried out, Zhen sprinted towards him, whipping his legs out from under him. When he went down, Zhen pulled out the knife from his skin and slit his throat.

Zhen panted lightly from exertion as he watched the blood gush out from Magnetic guy’s throat. It gave him a small amount of personal satisfaction to watch the man die, seeing that he was the one who shot Pierre. Zhen spat on the ground in contempt and then, rushed to Pierre’s side. He was blocked by the barrier but Zhen called out to him, “Are you alright?”

Pierre nodded and gave a small smile. His pallor was still fine, so Zhen guessed the leader was right in saying it was merely a flesh wound. Zhen’s wound, however, was slightly more serious and he clutched his shoulder, trying to stem the flow of the blood.

Zhen shifted his gaze to Eris who was still lying on the ground. His heart raced as he wondered whether he had really shot Eris dead. Getting up slowly, Zhen moved towards him.

His advance was halted when the leader materialized beside Eris and gave a hard kick to Eris’s abdomen. A small yelp burst from Eris’s lips and by reflex, he curled up into a ball.

So Eris really wasn’t dead. That was a relief.

Zhen switched back to his fighting mode. The leader was a teleporter and from experience, it wasn’t easy dealing with those types.

The leader glanced at her two dead comrades and clicked her tongue in disgust. “Looks like you took out those dimwits, eh. Not bad. Are the two of you guys a combo team or something? One of you plays dead using his powers, the other one takes down my team mates while I got cheated into surveying the area, thinking there was a third party. But it’s time for you to go down.”

She disappeared in a flash just as Zhen lunged towards her. Before he could react, she reappeared behind him and slashed his back. Zhen stumbled forward, gritting his teeth in pain. The blood loss was making him dizzy and weak. He had to end this fight fast before he lost any more and fainted.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and stilled his body, letting his other senses take over. The smell of his blood on the leader’s knife was still fresh. He could still smell it lingering around… getting nearer…

There!

Zhen whipped out his own knife and with his eyes still closed shut, he thrust his knife to the right with all his might. Feeling the knife sink into flesh, he opened his eyes to see the leader impaled onto his knife, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. His blade had sunk into her heart, killing her instantly.

Yanking his knife out of her body, Zhen let her fall limp to the ground. His breath came out in ragged gasps. Hearing footsteps coming from behind him, he whirled around, ready to take on the next enemy. Finding that it was only Eris, he relaxed slightly but regarded Eris with a suspicious look.

“Thank you, Zhen. I knew I could count on you,” he said with a smile, holding out the key to Zhen’s handcuffs.

“How do you know my name?” Zhen asked, his arms outstretched, letting Eris uncuff him.

“I know a lot more than you think.” he replied as the handcuffs fell off from Zhen’s wrists. “We should get to know each other better. ”

Zhen raised his eyebrows at Eris’s statement, rubbing his wrists as he stared at the older man. Eris was certainly mysterious and intriguing and Zhen found himself drawn in.

“This world… is inherently unfair, corrupted, and evil. My resistance aims to change that. We need you, Zhen,” Eris said seriously.

Zhen contemplated Eris’s words, the cogs turning in his brain, churning out the possibilities of what he was suggesting. It was an opportunity – a dangerous one with high risks.

“What’s in it for me?” Zhen asked.

“Citizenship for you and the boy.”

Zhen glanced at Pierre and then back at Eris, a small smile creeping over his lips.

“Deal.”