Chapter Text
As Oni Lee pulled the pin on the grenade holstered on his chest, I found myself shifting to shadow state instinctively. It wasn’t really a conscious decision of my part, but I went with it.
And regretted it a second later.
The grenade he’d used was a flashbang, and in my other form in was painful beyond anything I remember feeling. I dimly realized that I’d returned to my normal form, only to feel the impact of numerous bullets on my chest. I couldn’t count them, being barely able to see.
I only started having a good idea of what was happening when I felt someone jump on my back and a knife at my neck. The armor there was more than enough, and I managed to see the glowing of the real Oni Lee at my left. A quick look reveal that none of the Lees I could see were reaching for a grenade, so I went in shadow state and dashed to the other side of the room, going back to human form as soon as I got there.
Even in that small amount of time, Oni Lee had managed to clone himself another two times. I was in the line of sight of only a single one this time, and took two more shots before said clone disappeared. Another took his place, the the real Asian flashing for a quarter of a second before me, and said clone waited no time before drawing a grenade off his bandoleer.
This time, I forced myself to stay human. I couldn’t deal with the pain of another flashbang. I used my arms to block the cameras on my suit, ignoring another Lee shooting at me.
Then the grenade exploded, and it wasn’t a flashbang but an explosive.
I felt the wave of heat for the bomb. My suit was pretty much insulated against outside attacks, but not completely. Especially vulnerable were my hands, since my single remaining glove was cheap mass-produced stuff, not tinker made as the rest of my suit. My shoes might become another issue, but my hands were the first priority.
Note to self, I told myself angrily. Craft synthetic silk gloves, then better shoes.
I did another second long shadow dash and started thinking about what I could do.
My natural power was useless, unless I could get into striking range of the real one… Not an easy feat with his speed. My shadow power’s mover abilities were of great help dodging, but brought a critical vulnerability with them. My areas were useless, as Oni Lee would probably not let me finish one, and even if I did he didn’t seem the kind to fall in such an obvious trap. Tinkers required setup, which I couldn’t do now. Othala’s gift wasn’t gonna do anything in such a situation, and I still had no clue about my ‘thief’ power. I still activated it.
There was no change I could notice.
I could still run away, but I didn’t want to. Slenderman relied on his reputation, his mystique, and that was sure to be screwed if I left now. My shadow power would probably be revealed, which would be a great disadvantage in further visits, not to mention what other information someone could glean from this battle. No, running away wasn’t in the cards, not unless my situation became worse than now.
I dashed again and dodged another grenade, another explosive. I managed to get away enough that I only felt a little heat and the pressure wave from the explosion. Which, by the face Oni Lee made, wasn’t what he wanted.
So he started lobbing grenades in pairs.
I wasn’t stupid. Two meant a flashbang along with something else. So dodging would hurt, and not dodging would hurt.
That meant taking a third option.
I reached forward and grabbed the flashbang, putting it behind my head as I entered shadow state once again. Behind me, the other grenade exploded, fragmentation this time. When it did, the Asian parahuman was safely hidden being a mound of trash, farther in the room. Two seconds later, he started jumping from spot to spot, leaving a clone each time. From my place in corner, I waited until he popped right before me.
And then I appeared before him, back first.
I learned that holding a flash grenade was painful, even with a somewhat gloved hand, but it was nothing compared to Oni Lee. He took the brunt of the light right next to the face while I dodged it by being prepared. The sound didn’t seem to bother him, for some reason. I suspected some form of earplugs.
I smiled inside my suit. I can do this, I realized. I can get him for good. I felt good, focused. I reached out for his hand with my own.
But the Asian before me wasn’t out of tricks. He grabbed a grenade of his belt, one I didn’t recognize, and tossed it right my face.
A smoke grenade.
My suit didn’t have an air filtration system, so I got a lungful of smoke. My shadow power reacted instantly, and I dashed on the other side of the room. By then however, I couldn’t see the real Oni Lee, and the clones were crumbling into white ash one by one.
I waited. He’d have to get out of the smoke at one time or another.
It took around a minute before he was out, but when he did he wasted no time going on the offensive, looking angry. Clones popped all over the place, throwing explosives, pineapple grenades and flashbangs pair by pair. No subtelty, little strategy, simply filling the room as much as he could with maximum firepower. He just kept a safe spot for a few seconds, a place with only flash grenades, then went a found a different one. He even used his own clones as shields to protect himself from their attacks.
Unfortunately, he’d given me the perfect place to hide. His smoke grenade was still going, giving me there perfect spot on the ceiling to wait out attacks. And wait I did, because I realized something.
He was tiring.
Before, there would be five to six Lees in the room, now there were four at most. I didn’t know why that was, overuse of his power, high exercise and lack of sleep, but he was. I tried for the same maneuver as I did previous, but he didn’t fall for it this time. He was ready for it, and managed a jump at the last second.
So I started doing hit and run. Just as he did the last few days on the battlefield.
I would appear at his right, left, behind or straight in front of him, reaching out for his hand. Each time I did, I was a fraction of a second closer to touching. His clone always reached out for a grenade, but they were slowing down too and I always managed to escape before they could do anything.
I don’t know how long it went like this, but our game of tag kept on.
Then one time, instead of escaping, the real him reached out for a grenade.
I moved back like I did for a clone. By now, I could recognize which grenade was which, and this one was a fragmentation bomb. I stood on the opposite wall, waiting for him to throw.
He didn’t. He seemed, from his body language, like everything was taking him too much energy.
What are you waiting for! I screamed inside.
Even with all the previous detonations, this one seemed louder. I dashed to him as soon as the blast was gone. His mask was cracked, his suit as mess, and his right arm was basically missing, shredded. I put my fingers on the stump, trying to staunch the bleeding. I pulled his power, mainly to keep him from moving, but started feeling a headache coming. I ignored it, and focused on what could have caused this.
He’d basically killed himself, when he was going full pin against me minutes earlier. This surely wasn’t normal behavior.
It was only then I remembered Victor’s power, still active in the back of my head. For some reason, it took two tries before it shut off, and my headache nearly doubled.
Oni Lee did react. The eye that I could see, which had been dim, grew focused in a second. He tried reaching out for me, only to fall before getting halfway there.
I thought for a second, focusing through my rising headache, and noted there was nothing I could do here. I didn’t have any medical training, and even then I doubted I could do anything at this point. My now-complete regeneration beacon was on the other side of the city, so getting it wasn’t a possibility. I had what I’d come for, even if the result wasn’t what I expected, and there was no reason for me to stay. As abandoned as this place was, sooner or later someone was going to noticed what happened here.
I slipped into shadow form, ignoring another stab of pain, and was out of the room a minute later. Behind me, Oni Lee’s fingers twitched as they traced the ground.