1.42 – Oops, I did it again, they played with my heart, now I’m captured again

In the end, Nathan chose his second option: not going to the room where he killed the only guy. Yes, he could try to hide the body, or perhaps he could cast another illusion around the table, but the smell would start permeating through the room soon enough, and he didn’t like his chances of not getting identified quickly.

The opposite side of the building it was. He was right next to where the Red Lily women and the boss of The Onis disappeared to. A few men accompanied him, but nobody spoke a word.

Thank god for that. If Nathan had to pretend to know what the hell was going on here, or if he needed to know any other information that these people definitely took for granted, he would be utterly clueless about what to say.

He stepped inside the room, looking around. It was a bit more decorated than the rooms on the opposite wing. There were matresses on the floor, dressers, and even a few expensive things like ornamented mirrors and such.

All in all, it indicated that whoever occupied the building closer towards where the bosses were might have been a bit more important.

Two more Onis entered the room with him, and they immediately went into action. They opened up dressers and looked under the mattresses. As if Nathan could hide under them. They were on the ground, god damn it.

Nathan, so he wouldn’t just stand around, went towards the window and opened it up pretending to look outward, towards the forest around.

“He ain’t there. The boss has told us.” One of the other Onis behind him reprimanded Nathan, after what he quickly turned and nodded, not daring to say a word.

He felt restless. How much longer is gonna take you Alicia? Surely she remembered how to find him right? He told her, back when he explained his app, that she would be able to find him in it any time, She couldn’t participate in being a hero for him, but Nathan expected that there might be some trouble and that the participants might sometimes need help, and so most of the heroes opted in for optional tracking of their location.

Maybe some of them didn’t realize, but he tried to notify everyone about that fact, and it was right there in the terms of service. He left his own app open when he got abducted.

Now the question was: where was his phone? Should he head towards the main building and… No, that was suicide. Surely the two Red Lily girls would recognize him the moment he went inside. Already, he was lucky enough that they didn’t realize who he was yet.

The two men on his side suddenly stiffened and touched their earpiece. Nathan pretended to do the same. He couldn’t hear a word of what they heard.

Damn, what I would give for super hearing now. He watched the two, cautious not to let any feelings show in his posture.

But even without doing anything, the two others turned his way. They exchanged a look and then took a battle stance.

“Wh- what are you guys doing?”

“No use pretending now. We see the marking on your mask. Poor old Yunato, dead. Should have realized that you seemed a bit different.”

What? Oh.

Realization dawned. Nathan looked at the masks of the other two in the room with him, and he realized what had happened just as quickly. They were each adorned in different markings on their mask. Of course they were. How would you identify someone in a masked gang?

Why did he not realize something like this, so simple, sooner? Options played in his head. He had three abilities and next to no stored momentum. If these two had any powers to speak of, then he was utterly, completely, fucked.

And as if to drive the point home, one of them transformed his hands into fire. They seemed as if they were made of lava, The clumps that became his fingers shining light on the whole room. The other Oni simply took a pistol out from its holster and aimed it at Nathan.

“No sudden moves! The boss required you to be alive, but that doesn’t mean you have to be whole.” The lava guy huffed as he made a step forward, careful not to come too close.

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The one with the pistol touched his earpiece and said something, but Nathan couldn’t hear it through the hammering in his chest.

Again, he tried to find a way out of this, but throughout everything he’s been through, he never felt so useless. He didn’t have astral inventory to take out rocks. He didn’t have any momentum stored, or enough for that to matter. If he fought these two, then certainly the others would come swarming. If he was lucky enough to kill both of them, then the gang’s retribution would be even greater.

He played with the idea of using rock up and making a dash for it. Perhaps he could create enough distance, come closer to Tokyo, until the heroes found him, but no, it was useless.

Despite him having his new illusion ability, he felt so tired. Using it drained him more than he realized before, and he already felt like he needed a nap. He couldn’t keep running, not now when they knew how to identify him.

So he did the possibly most stupid thing he’s ever done: he surrendered.