"Agh!"
I yelled out in the middle of the platform, making everyone else around me look at me with strange faces.
But their gazes were the least of my concerns as I quickly turned around and punched the hooded figure that was behind me.
They fell down as I jumped on top of them.
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
I screamed at their face, with a voice full of anger.
The hooded figure didn't say anything before their body suddenly burst with light and a concussive sound akin to a flashbang grenade.
As I was disoriented, the hooded figure kicked me out of there and ran away.
Trying to recover I repeatedly blink my eyes before I could finally see a little of what's in front of me. Seeing that the person was already far away, I quickly followed them.
When I did, the figure took a hard right and ran inside the bathroom for men. When I entered, I saw the familiar face of the officer that I talked to.
"It's you!"
I told him excitedly.
Pointing towards the hooded figure, I told the officer what they tried to do to me.
"He almost pushed me off the—"
"!!!"
Before I could react, the officer took out his gun and fired a shot, point blank, towards my head.
________________________________________
[Condition met]
[Returning to previous save point]
________________________________________
"!!!"
I gasped for air as my body recoiled from the shock. I was back on the train platform again.
Knowing what would happen next, I decided to move out of the way instead of retaliating.
Seeing that his attempt to push me down failed, the figure panicked and ran towards the bathroom.
Knowing it was a trap, I didn't follow but instead looked at his retreat before running out of the subway in a panicked state.
Who the hell was that?! I've never met them before, so why did they try to push me off the platform?!
And there's the officer from the other day, too! Why did he shoot me?!
This is crazy, I need to get away!
Hiding in an alleyway, I tried to figure out who those people were. And then it hit me.
Before the man who had the power to use smoke killed me, he mentioned something about an, organization. Does this mean...
Are they back for revenge? Damn it, so they're gunning for me! But there's a chance it's not just me they're after!
Realizing that there were multiple people involved in the kidnapping incident, I felt anxiety in my stomach as I tried to call Elio.
C'mon, pick up! Pick up!"
[Aran! Is this you?]
"Yeah, it's me. Something just happened."
[Something happened on my end too...]
"You were attacked? Are you safe?"
[Yes, for now.]
"What about your sisters?"
[They're here with me right now. I'm going to hide them at a family friend's place until things calm down.]
Without wasting another second, I quickly explained my understanding of the situation.
"When I fought the man with the smoke powers, he mentioned something about an organization. They're most likely here to settle the score with us or something..."
[This is crazy... We need to call the cops!]
"No!"
I yelled out loud from desperation. Hearing this, Elio was a little stunned and confused.
[Huh, why?]
"I think they're in on this too..."
[How'd you know?]
He asked me. But I didn't have a response.
"...."
Elio was right. I had no proof that the cops were involved in this. I can try telling him what happened to me, but for some unknown reason, I can't tell anyone about my ability as it always sounds distorted.
Thinking for a moment, I thought of a way to tell him.
"Wait, I'll text it to you!"
[Alright.]
The phone call paused for a moment as Elio tried to read my text. But what I sent wasn't a text, but instead a glitching series of numbers, letters, and symbols that were changing rapidly.
What the hell?!
[I can't understand this, Aran... What does this mean?]
Damn it, even writing it doesn't work...
As I gritted my teeth in silence, Elio suddenly spoke.
[Alright, you don't need to tell me. I trust you.]
"What?"
I said with surprise.
"You trust me that easily?"
[Yeah! You saved our butts last time, so if you say something's fishy, I'd believe it! So what's the plan?]
He asked me.
Knowing just how much Elio trusted me made me happy. But I had no time to waste and immediately started talking.
"Thanks, man. Let's meet at an old warehouse. I'll send you the address. Make sure you aren't being followed!"
[Alright, I'll see you then.]
I hung up the phone before blending in with the large crowd walking on the streets.
________________________________________
After the call, I traveled through the old alleyways and blended in with the crowd every time I had to get out in the open. Since I was a little shaken up, I kept looking behind me to make sure I wasn't being followed.
Once I confirmed I was alone, I took a taxi to the outskirts of the city.
The place was an old warehouse that Mr. Brok owned. He calls this place his 'personal playground because this is where he tests the machines that he makes.
Stepping inside, it was a mess. There are beer bottles everywhere and scattered scraps of metal parts.
"And he complains about my room being untidy..."
I uttered out as a little jab towards Mr. Brok.
"Whatever, let's get started."
I stretched my arms before getting a pair of goggles and tools. Since we can't trust the police, Elio and I are on our own.
The only option we have left is to end this ourselves.
Because of that, I need to prepare. They've caught me off guard far too often and because of that, I died.
Even if I do die and go back, there's no guarantee Elio would be fine, too.
Because of that risk, I need to make sure we're as ready as we can ever be.
I threw some parts on top of Mr. Brok's workbench and started building.
Even though I'm not as good as Mr. Brok, I've got the basics of assembling machinery and electronics down.
Thankfully, the hard parts were already pre-built by him, so all I had to do now was follow the schematics. After a while, I finished the first thing I wanted to build.
They were a pair of gloves that could each shoot out a long flexible rope that could either grapple or be used as a whip. For convenience, the gloves can even retract them back automatically.
The main drawback of this design, though, is it's a little bulky because of the section that holds the rope while not in use. But it's the best thing we have right now. At least I've got a weapon now.
"Alright, let's test these babies out!"
I put them on and looked at the beer bottles behind me to use them as test dummies.
"Hah!"
Swinging my arm forward, the rope shot out at an incredible speed before striking the beer bottles, shattering them on impact.
"Whoa..."
Yep, they work.
Mr. Brok, I'd give this one 4 stars out of 5.
I smiled to myself before hearing a knock on the door.
I immediately put my guard up as I walked towards it, pointing the gloves toward the door in case the person outside was an enemy.
"Who's there?"
"Aran! Thank the gods, I found you!"
"Stay there!"
I couldn't trust him yet. It's just too much of a dangerous situation.
For all we know, it's someone who's impersonating Elio to ambush me.
"O-okay..."
"What are the names of your little sisters?"
"Tiara and Tina"
"Who's your favorite character from the Stoney franchise?"
"Stoney himself, of course!"
It really was Elio. Calming myself down, I opened the door.
"Sorry about that, I'm a little jumpy right now..."
"It's alright. Things are crazy..."
Turning around towards the workbench, I told Elio to keep his guard up.
"It's only a matter of time before they find us."
I told him.
"Yeah..."
"What about your mom and older sister? Are they safe?"
"I'm honestly still worried... But they can handle themselves..."
"What?"
"They're actually stronger than me! Hehe..."
When I heard this, I was shocked.
...There's no way, right? I thought Elio was a powerhouse, but he's not even the strongest in his family?!
There's always a way bigger fish, I guess...
Interrupting my thoughts, Elio asks me a question.
"So what's the plan?"
"When I finish making our equipment, we'll go outside in the open, making it easier for them to find us."
"What? Why?" Elio asked out of concern.
"It's the only way for us to get any leads on our own. We can't trust the cops, so it's up to us. It'll be like a surprise cavalry tactic. They try to attack one of us, but the other one is close enough to help."
"I still think it's a little risky, but sure..."
"Yeah, I think so too. That's why I'm trying to minimize that risk."
Tossing something towards him, I lean on the workbench.
"Here, put this on."
Lifting the object up in front of him to see, Elio tilted his head from confusion.
"Uh... Aran, what's this?"
"It's a bulletproof suit made from the scales of a stone armadillo. It's sleek enough to wear under a jacket."
"What?!"
Elio asked me with tears in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"Aren't armadillos those cute little critters?! Why do you have this?!"
"I don't know, ask Mr. Brok! I'm not happy about it either, y'know..."
"You monster..."
He said, crying as he hugged the suit close to him.
"Just put it on..."
*Sob* "Okay..."
I didn't expect him to be that much of an animal lover... Sorry, but we gotta stay safe...
I thought to myself as I put on a suit of my own, wearing a black jacket that had an illustration of a white spider over it.
Surprisingly enough, despite lying around the warehouse for a while, it wasn't dusty at all.
________________________________________
"Are you in position?"
Aran asked Elio on the phone.
[Yeah, I see you.]
"Good."
The two boys waited until nighttime before going to the park that was close to Aran's home. He knew for sure they'd think to look for him there.
Aran acted as the bait while Elio was hiding a few dozen meters away, waiting to ambush any potential enemies.
Staying as conspicuous as possible, Aran stood up on a bench and started waving his hands, with the hope that whoever was after them would take the bait and fall for their ambush.
He did that for a long while until finally, a familiar hooded figure approached Aran from behind.
Pretending to not see him, Aran focused on his phone, seeming as if he was busy scrolling through it.
Just when the hooded figure was only a few meters away from Aran, is when the plan got set into action.
With a whisper to his phone, Aran gave the signal to strike.
"Now."
The next moment, a distant bush suddenly exploded with electricity as Elio dashed towards the hooded figure and knocked him out.
"Well, that was easy... I kind of expected him to put up more of a fight..."
Aran said out loud, seeming disappointed.
"This is for the best..."
"But after all that time I spent preparing, this is pretty disappointing.."
He sadly told Elio.
In truth, he just wanted to try his new gear out. Scratching the back of his head, Elio sat the hooded figure up on the bench as Aran used his gloves to shoot out the ropes and wrapped it around the unknown assailant.
"Welp, now we wait..."
Elio said as he dusted off his hands.
"Could you get me a drink from the vending machine over there? I'm a little thirsty from waiting."
Nodding towards him, Elio agreed.
"Yeah sure. I'm quite parched too."
As Elio went to get the two of them some drinks, Aran went deep into thought as to what their next move will be.
Once this guy wakes up, we can get leads. Maybe even find their hideout..
It's crazy to think that the police are working with them.
Aran quickly shook his head to get rid of the thought.
Wait, no... We can't say for sure that the entire police force is with them. But we can't risk going to them either...
Whatever the case, we'll get our answers once this guy wakesup— "Waah!"
Feeling something cold touch his cheek, Aran let out a surprised yelp.
"Haha! What was that sound?!"
Elio said as he laughed at Aran.
"Why you little..."
"Sorry, sorry..."
He told Aran with a grin.
Letting out a sigh, Aran took the can from Elio's hand.
"An energy drink?"
He asked Elio.
"Yeah, don't want it?"
"No, it's perfect." Aran said before taking a sip.
It's going to be a long night. I doubt we'll even be able to sleep for a few minutes.
There's dangers lurking everywhere so we gotta stay on our toes...
Looking towards Elio and the unconscious hooded figure, Aran balled his hand up into a fist.
But I swear, I'm going to get to the bottom of this. And as long as I'm here, no one is dying tonight.