"Ow!?"
Sera tripped on the stairs and nearly faceplanted—but Mickey caught her just in time, allowing them to keep moving.
"Mannix! Just go! Don't waste your time on me!"
She said it for the mission's sake. Ever since Don had taken her hostage, she'd known she was slowing them down...
If she had been able to fight Don off herself, Mickey wouldn't have had to risk it—Don wouldn't have gotten away.
Sera blamed herself for all of it.
But Mickey didn't see it that way—and Sera could feel that.
He hadn't let her stray more than four meters away from him, not even once. While chasing down enemies, he still made time to guard her.
That wasn't something Sera was used to.
It felt like her pride was in tatters.
She felt like dead weight.
"...Mannix! Just go! They're probably almost at the top by now. If you follow the power cables up, you might be able to cut them off!"
"..."
"..."
"You sure you'll be alright?"
He glanced back.
"Go! Just go, Mickey!"
"..."
Mickey looked her in the eyes.
"...."
"GO ALREADY! You want this mission to fail or what?!"
Meanwhile, Fred and Priya had reached the uppermost floors. Just one floor above was the server room—where Jody, Roxxy, and Trigon were currently fighting.
Suddenly, Don grabbed Fred's shoulder and pulled him back.
"Stop."
"?!"
Don gestured for them to stay still and tilted his head, listening.
Sounds of crashing. Fighting.
Coming from directly above.
"They're clashing above us," he said.
"They're fighting each other."
Priya: "...Fighting each other!? Are they fighting over us!?"
"We don't know how many sides are involved. But I need to get you upstairs—fast. Wait here. I'll scout ahead."
Don left them in a secure spot, then began to fade...
His body dissolved into white mist and floated away.
Priya watched in awe as the man known as Don vanished before her eyes.
Fred raised his gun.
"Now do you understand… why I call him Flying Ghost Don?"
"..."
Priya didn't answer, but her silence was enough to say she understood.
That was Don's power: the ability to transform into a ghostlike mist—undetectable, intangible, impossible to hear or see—until it was too late.
That's why every player in the underground world knew his name:
Flying Ghost Don.
Mickey was gone now—headed up to intercept the targets.
Sera made it to the VVIP floor.
"Huff… huff…"
She was gasping for breath, forced to slow down to a brisk walk.
Now she understood why people wear sneakers on missions.
"Ugh… huff… huff…"
CRASH!
Instinctively, she ducked—glass had shattered above her.
She didn't know it yet, but it was the moment Trigon was fighting Jody upstairs.
Then, she spotted a woman in a luxurious pink evening dress stepping out of a room.
"..."
The woman's behavior was odd.
"...Damn it… this dress cost a fortune and it stretches like crap?"
The woman muttered as she pulled out a silenced pistol—Sera's eyes went wide.
She had a weapon!
"Hey! You! Don't move!"
Sera aimed her gun, glaring.
The woman froze, then turned back—
"Sera!"
"...?!"
Sera had never seen her before.
But she knew Sera's name?
"Put the gun down! It's me, Toshi! It's Toshi!"
"...Oh—"
Sera lowered her weapon.
"Why the hell are you dressed like that? Whose body is this!?"
"I didn't exactly want to be like this," Toshi (still in disguise) replied.
"But another faction's after the same target as us. I had to throw them off first."
"The CIA? A man and a woman?"
"Yeah. Same ones Mickey ran into?"
"He went ahead to intercept them... Right now we've got the advantage. They're being squeezed from both sides!"
"Perfect. Then—"
Toshi started to turn—but his peripheral vision caught a gun barrel aiming from behind Sera.
His eyes shot wide open.
"SERA!!"
"...Huh?"
Seeing his sudden change in expression, Sera realized—something was right behind her.
She turned—just as a muzzle flash lit up—
And Toshi used his martial ability to shove her away from the bullet's path!
"Ugh—!"
Too close.
She couldn't dodge in time.
The bullet grazed her ear instead of hitting the back of her skull.
Then continued, slamming into Toshi and knocking him back too.
Both of them hit the floor—Sera clutching her ear in pain.
Her cartilage had twisted out of shape.
Toshi felt like he'd taken a knee to the gut—numb all over.
"There it is!"
Sera pointed at the gun-bearing mist-formed hand hovering behind them.
It aimed again—Toshi activated his technique a second time.
Two seconds was all he needed.
Time slowed—
Toshi drew and fired at the floating hand.
Bang! Bang!
Both shots landed. Blood sprayed as the hand dissolved into mist—and disappeared.
"It's gone!"
Sera said, gun drawn, scanning all directions.
"That guy in white! He could come back any second!"
The two stood back-to-back, covering each other.
"You okay, Toshi!?"
"Just winded… You?"
"...Ear shot…"
She forced her twisted cartilage back into place—
"Ngh!"
—and used her power to repair the damaged tissue.
"This enemy can turn into mist... Toshi, I can't see him at all when he's like that!"
"...It's like he's invisible."
"Exactly…"
But "invisible" wasn't quite right.
Toshi knew it wasn't literal.
Don didn't truly vanish—he mimicked invisibility through his mist form.
A few meters away, just around the corner…
The air condensed—white mist forming into a human figure.
Don reappeared silently.
He raised his bleeding hand—still oozing from Toshi's shot. The bullet had torn through him.
He held it away from his white suit to avoid staining it.
"...Never thought I'd see Seraphina Gilmour mixed up in something like this… never saw that coming…"
He was filled with questions.
"And the other woman… (Toshi)... There's at least 4 or 5 of them total… more than I expected."
Don used his good hand to wrap a white bandage around the wound and drew his pistol.
"That woman… she's fast and accurate. Even when I only returned my hand to flesh, she still landed two clean shots..."
I'll have to kill them—fast.
With that thought, he dissolved into mist again.
Sera and Toshi scanned the area, looking for any suspicious white haze in the air.
"Goddammit… if Jody were here…"
Sera gritted her teeth. Toshi was thinking the same.
"Yeah… mist or gas—whatever it is—it's undetectable. No sound. No smell. No trace. We're down to just sight."
And if Don got close enough undetected—
That would be the end.
At that moment—
A small mist formed next to Sera's ankle…
Two hands emerged.
One held a 12-inch combat knife, wrapped in bandages.
STAB!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Sera screamed in agony—
Collapsed to the floor.
"SERA!?"
Toshi turned—
And saw the knife jammed straight through her ankle, protruding from the other side.
Blood gushed across the carpet.
The pain was searing—and numbness crept up her leg.
"AAAAHH!! KNIFE!! THERE'S A KNIFE IN MY LEG!!"
She couldn't move her foot.
She probably couldn't stand.
Even though her skin was steel-hard, this knife had pierced it clean through.
Only two explanations:
Either the knife was made from something harder than steel, or Don had immense strength.
It was the former.
It had gone straight through her joint.
Only way to help was to pull it out—which would make it worse.
Sera clutched her leg, shivering.
Toshi crouched beside her, watching every direction.
"You bastard! Come out! You damn coward!"
His voice echoed—
And Don answered.
"People like you have no right to call others names."
"...!!"
Toshi looked around—but couldn't pinpoint the voice's origin.
"I'll finish her off first… She's weaker than you. Don't worry… You'll join her soon enough."
Suddenly—a gun-wielding hand appeared from a corner.
Bang!
But a wall shot up between them—blocking the bullet.
No doubt—it was Sera's power. She'd raised cover for Toshi.
He dragged her behind it.
Sera slapped her hand on the conjured wall—her pink aura flaring.
The structure expanded into a circular barrier, surrounding both of them.
Smart move.
It gave Toshi time to check on her.
He heard her groaning—trying to pull the knife out.
Anyone who's ever had something lodged in them knows—
When the numbness fades, the pain is like fire.
"...Ugh… ngh! Agh…"
"Sera! Don't! Stay still! You'll bleed out!"
Toshi peeked from cover—but Sera cut him off.
"Stay still? And be a burden again!? Hell no! I won't let you wipe my ass for me!"
"But—"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"!!!!!!"
Before he could finish—Sera, grimacing hard, grabbed the knife—
And ripped it out of her foot!
Even Toshi—no stranger to blood and death—winced at the sight.
"...Nnghh!!"
Tears streamed down her face—
But she wiped them away twice—and that was it.
Her ankle healed.
Cells regenerated rapidly.
Her foot was back to normal.
"...Hahh!! Huff… huff…"
She turned to Toshi.
"Ready to fight… grabs gun"
"...Sera…"
"If I sit around playing victim, I'll never hear the end of it. Let's figure out how to kill this bastard instead."
"Yeah…"
Toshi eyed the floating mist.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Not sure… try me."
He nodded.
Sera exhaled.
"The mist form… its weakness is being mist. Every time he attacks… he has to become flesh again."
Toshi: "Or more precisely—he must return to flesh to harm us. While in mist form, he can't do a thing."
"We just need to wait for the moment he materializes."
"...Exactly."
Toshi peeked out again—
Only to find a gun barrel inches from his face.
"Whoa—!"
BANG!
Time slowed—
Bullet time activated.
Toshi dodged just like Neo in The Matrix, leaning back as the bullet whizzed by—landing in Sera's lap.
It grazed their cover—barely missing her.
"Holy shit—! That was point-blank!"
Toshi was stunned.
"You piece of shit!! YOU GOT A DEATH WISH!?"
Sera screamed into the void. Whether Don heard it or not didn't matter.
"Toshi! We need to do something! He's watching us—studying our powers!"
"Totally agree!"
"What have you got!?"
"...Ah! Right!"
Toshi reached into the cleavage of the body he'd stolen—
Sera didn't know why he'd hide it there—or how—but whatever.
What mattered was what they had.
Toshi's inventory:
A red-black C4 bomb (same as the one used on the power room)
A smoke bomb (gray gas)
Extra bullets and mags
A high-tech wristwatch—same model as Jody and Roxxy's, complete with flashlight
Then—
Another bullet whizzed by.
But Toshi had an idea.
"...Sera! I think I've figured out his condition. If I'm right… Can you help me with something?"
"...Of course. What do you need?"