Poison and Acid

Dazaree gulped while staring at the monstrous man in front of them. All of them have the same thoughts that this being will attack them. Another thing that bothers them is that why is it looking for Dazaree. 

Whatever the reason is, all they can do now is to protect her at all cost and defeat the man. 

The man chuckled and then spit a purple liquid that melted a leaf of a plant upon contact. Because of that, they all became serious. That concludes Troye's theory that the man releases  acid and poison. They'd be in trouble if he spits it out to them. 

Fablo didn't remove her gaze from him and tried to read its move. "I must attack it first,," he pondered but then Troye suddenly spoke to him through telepathy. 

"No. don't carelessly attack him. He is fast and jumps high, giving him a long-range advantage against midrange like you." 

"I bet he can spit his acid from a long distance," Dazaree thought. 

"Yes he can," Troye replied. 

"Then what is your plan?" Fablo asked. 

Troye stared at the man and thought of a good strategy to take him down. "We'll have to get close to him," Troye stated. 

"What?" Fablo said. 

"We will charge at him at once so he'd be confused who'll attack. Once I yell to get his attention, that will be your signal to attack him before he could spit his acid," he explained to them through their minds. 

"Got it," Fablo and Dazaree replied. 

"Remember that I can see through his thoughts so wait for my signal," he told them but before that could proceed to the plan, the man suddenly blurted our acid liquid through his mouth and eyes. 

"Stand back!" Fablo exclaimed. All of them moved away from the man while their eyes were fixated on him. 

The man is now looking down while puking purple liquid. It made them cover their nose because of the strong smell. Then they noticed that the man's stomach was getting bigger. 

"Something's happening to him," Dazaree blurted out. 

"Yeah, I think he's going to explode," Troye replied. 

"We have to leave the rooftop immediately!" Fablo yelled. 

Dazaree looked at him and asked, "How? He's blocking the door." 

"Tsk!" Fablo brushed his head in frustration then looked to their right where the long table is. "Let's just use that to cover ourselves," he said and pointed to it. 

All of them agreed and immediately went to the table. 

"It might be useless though but this is the only choice we have," Fablo added but then the man vomited again, taking their attention. 

"It's getting worse," Troye said. 

The man slowly looked at them with a sad expression in his eyes. "Grgh… Me don't… grgh what-- to… grrh die," he said while purple liquid dripped from his eyes and mouth. 

Troye and Dazaree felt bad for him. He's still a human after all despite having a monstrous body. It makes them want to save him but they do not know how. 

"Help… grgh... me," the man told them and tried to reach them with his hand but Fablo made the two back away. 

Meanwhile, Troye could see the man's memories and how he wanted to survive. He saw his happy memories with children and his friends. But what pains Troye most are the deaths of his friends one after another. He can feel all the pain the man is feeling right now and how his own acid inside him is killing him. 

It's just too much. Whoever that person is who did this to him and to his friends must be a demon who does not feel empathy to anyone despite being a human. 

"We should help him…" Troye blurted out. 

"Remember that he isn't human anymore," he reminded them. He knows that Troye might do something stupid out of pity and he cannot let that happen. 

"But Fablo--" 

"Just look closely, Troye. He's dying," Fablo said firmly, making Troye look down. 

Dazaree grabbed his arms and looked at him, "Fablo is right, Troye. If we try to get close to him, we will get hurt." She looked at the dying man and continued. "I want to help him too but I can also see that he's been suffering for a long time." 

Fablo sighed. At least Dazaree understands. He looked in front again and tried to think of a plan because he cannot rely on Troye now because he's being emotional. It is the disadvantage of being able to hear thoughts or see memories of your enemy. It makes Troye weak, Fablo thought. 

He wanted to strike the man but it might make him explode and it's too dangerous for them because they can't leave the rooftop. They are basically trapped unless they try to jump off the five-story building which is impossible because they will die. 

The man suddenly dropped on the floor while his body was getting bigger and his veins were popping out. 

"Go hide this instant!" Fablo yelled.

But then when they were about to lift the table, they heard the sound of a helicopter approaching their direction. 

"Help!" Dazaree exclaimed. 

The helicopter is purposely approaching them and then a person from the inside throws a rope ladder so they can hop in. 

When it was near them, a familiar woman looked from the inside. 

"Come up fast!" a woman yelled. It's Nana Seling! 

"Nana!" they yelled back. They are confused about how the woman got here with a helicopter but that is not their concern now. They must escape the area immediately. 

"Hurry!" she said. 

Troye immediately grabbed the rope ladder to stabilize it and help Dazaree get up first. She immediately climbed up but it gave her a hard time because it's moving so a man from inside the helicopter reached for her hands. 

Nana Seling helped to lift her up too so she successfully got inside the helicopter. Then Troye climbed up next. 

While he is climbing, Fablo lifted the table just in case the man explodes while he's still there. 

"Shit," he just said while he could sense that the man was going to explode soon. 

"Fablo! Come up!" Troye exclaimed, taking his attention. 

Fablo immediately grabbed the rope ladder tightly so the helicopter immediately tried to fly away from the rooftop and just after that, the man created a loud explosion. 

Before they could get away, Fablo screamed as acid splattered on his legs causing it to bleed so much. 

"Fablo!" they screamed. 

He gritted his teeth as he tried to bear the excruciating pain. Although only bits of acid went to him, it hurt him so much as if it's eating his skin. 

"Damn!" he groaned. 

***