unCHANGED |unOrdinary| John x Sera

Chapter 9.4 |Hero

“I’m taking the gun.”, she said.

“I doubt we'll need it. Your ability can be lethal!”, I pointed out, “Wait, how did you get it back anyway?!”, I asked, realising that I definitely missed something.

“I’ll tell you later, just focus on leaving!”, she said, scanning a card of some sort to open the double doors. When did she get her hands on one of those?!  

However, before Sera opened them, she turned to me, “John, are you doing ok? A freeze like this is a lot.”

I nodded, “Pfft, it’s fine.”, I assured her, “We’ll be out in no time anyway.”

“If you say so.”

We wandered further down the hall. I was mostly following Sera, since she seemed to have a better sense of direction in this place than I did. As we turned a corner, we ran into two more men and a woman, each of them armed. 

“They must have a silent alarm or something.”, said Sera, slapping them into the walls. “I think the exit is past that larger room.”

“Yeah. let’s go then.”, I said, trying to hide my tiredness. Stopping time  is really draining me, but it’s too dangerous to unfreeze now. We walked to the  next set of doors. I peeked through the glass panes, “The coast is clear. I really expected them to at least try and stop us.”, I chuckled.

“Don’t jinx it, stupid.”, Sera teased unlocking the doors and going through. I wiped the sweat from my brow. Just a little longer… 

We were halfway to the exit, when I was quickly becoming exhausted. I could feel my control over time slip and quiver. No! Not yet! I tried to power through, wheezing. Sera turned around, “John, are you-”

I cried out. Time resumed to normal, whipping me with tremendous recoil damage. It felt like my core was on fire. It was near unbearable.

Shocked, Sera tried to stop time herself, but she was a second too late. I felt my power suddenly fade away, to barely half of its prime.  Sera, too, was puzzled when she could only freeze a small area around her. But we both recognised the feeling. We locked eyes , “Well, sh*t.”, I breathed.

“Run.”, she said. We both increased our speed, sprinting at the door. I winced, tolerating the blinding pain in my abdomen. I heard gunshots. Oh fu*k, I really did jinx it!!!

I felt an aura behind me. It was a purple-haired man with a speed ability. He lunged and tackled me to the ground. I threw him off of myself, crawling back to my feet. I saw Sera standing by the door, hesitating between leaving and helping me. I don’t need help! “Go!”, I yelled.  She bit her lip but seeing that I was about to follow, she sped through the frame.

As I began to run after her, I collapsed, breathless. I looked at my leg and  the knife jutting out of it. I pulled it out, attempting to walk. I couldn’t. I was barely able to limp. But I had to. I increased my speed, my last shot-

BANG

A bullet through my other leg. I was done for. I withheld my cry of agony as I hit the ground, knowing I wouldn’t get back up. I hope Sera doesn’t come back. She won’t stand a chance!

“Hold him down.”, I heard His voice. 

Many hands pressed me against the floor, I started grabbing at them but they locked down my arms, cuffing my wrists. It couldn’t have been difficult, I wasn’t more of a threat than an injured mid-tier…

I saw Him come out of the shadows, making his way towards me, “And here I thought we were making progress.”, he stopped directly in front of me, “I’ll be sure to go harder on you next time.”