All Of Them

Merrick Wander was surrounded by dead people, lots of 'em. Though he was famed for his marvelous skills and great ability for slaughter, he was not a madman crazed for blood. As such, he won't resort to any mindless killing.

The carcasses that surround him tell a different story though. Moreover, it doesn't help that Merrick was surrounded by the Extolled Police who convincingly believe that it was Merrick who perpetrated the killings.

Scientists of Force were all dead, every single one of them. Merrick was visiting a friend from Force Conglomerate's branch, only to find out that the place has been attacked. He was too late, and just right on time when suddenly, the Extolled Police surrounded him.

This was too fishy.

With a thought, Merrick escaped the enclosure of the Extolled Police with a simple teleportation. He was framed. By who? Merrick can tell that they were in cahoots with the Extolled Police.

But how?

The Extolled Police were said to have unyielding loyalty to their codes, and to the oaths that they made. There was no guarantee of such loyalty, but the clear corruption that Merrick was seeing was just too unprecedented.

If the Extolled Police were in cahoots with someone, it could only mean that the supposed to be the righteous organization has been compromised.

Perched on the edifice of St. Gala Cathedral, Merrick watched the City of Delim in its hustle and bustle. With a thought, he teleported, consecutively tracing his escape route to a deserted area.

Merrick went for the carriage that was waiting for him with Jimmy Simmons as its coachman. "Jim, let's go, fast." He instructed Jimmy to immediately get out of there.

Something bad was about to happen. Jimmy without hesitation spurned the horses. Exactly at that moment, a jeepney came hurtling out of nowhere and smashed the carriage. The horses neighed, and the carriage was reduced into splinters.

Jimmy with impeccable reflexes jumped and summoned his Python gun, a deadly firearm he commissioned from Force.

BANG!

The driver of the jeepney was shot in the head.

Merrick was no longer inside the carriage at that time. From some distance away, Merrick was fighting against a teleporter who grabbed him at the last second. Separated from his partner, Merrick worries for Jimmy. "Who are you?" He asked the teleporter.

The teleporter who brought Merrick into a secluded alley gave an eerie smile. "I am Karth, from Zentury." He briefly said, and within an instant disappeared at Merrick's sight.

Merrick ducked, as Karth sneaked on his rear. The sound of steel passing over his head could be heard. Merrick thought of teleporting himself, but he can't get a hold of his concentration as Karth was relentless in coming at him.

Speed, though Merrick doesn't lack any of it, it was his only glaring weakness. Against people who were at least as fast as him, Merrick found it difficult to fight with especially with Karth having the initiative.

Merrick raised his wand and summoned boulders of rocks, Karth evaded by teleporting once more. Merrick immediately saw the opportunity to teleport, however, Karth immediately appeared at his side almost instantaneously.

Wielding a sharp knife, Karth drove his weapon. "Now, brother!" Suddenly, another Karth appeared.

Merrick saw the newcomer in his peripheral vision and was finally enlightened. Karth has a twin, and the two of them were both teleporters. That's why Karth's teleportation appeared quite fast in his eyes.

Exhibiting immense brutality, Merrick's brain went into overdrive. He swapped his coordinates with the newcomer resulting in Karth hitting his twin. Merrick literally swapped his position with a thought, a far more difficult application of teleportation.

The sound of steel tearing through flesh resounded, "No, brother!!" Karth cried pathetically as he murdered his own brother.

It was an indirect killing but the sensation f personally cutting your own kin must've been a very terrible experience.

Merrick's cruel nature was portrayed at that moment. In his left hand was Karth's still beating heart plucked through teleportation. He squashed it causing red to splatter. The twin teleporters died hugging each other in their arms.

There's not a second to waste. Merrick teleported to where Jimmy was.

On the corner of a street, Jimmy lay on his back, black blood pouring from his mouth.

Merrick hurriedly came to Jimmy's side. He kneeled and used his rudimentary knowledge of medicine, thinking of the best way to remedy the situation. "I may not be a doctor, but I think your lungs got clogged by blood. Let me." Using his Special Ability, Merrick teleported the clogged blood.

Jimmy grabbed Merrick by his arm trying to say something, but he can't speak as there were still too much blood in his lungs.

Merrick patted Jimmy on his shoulder with hidden worry. "You shouldn't strain yourself. Why didn't you transform? If you fought seriously, this might not have happened to you."

Jimmy pulled Merrick, his lips to his ear. With all of his power, Jimmy conveyed his thoughts to Merrick in a whisper. "Run."

Fear made itself known to Merrick's mind. He hugged Jimmy and with a thought, forcefully teleported themselves to the farthest place away from there. When Merrick opened his eyes to the new scenery in front of him, he was shocked to see he lost his right arm… and Jimmy lost his left leg.

Merrick didn't see anything. It just happened. He didn't even catch the face of the attacker. While teleporting another living entity together with its user was incredibly difficult, Merrick was confident of not accidentally cutting limbs in the process.

The missing limbs were clear indications of an incredibly strong enemy, strong enough to beat Jimmy in the blink of an eye and pluck out limbs in an instant. Merrick didn't cower from fear but instead got his ego challenged.

The familiar structures of Delim City were no longer to be seen. Instead, Merrick found themselves in a forest. Like Jimmy, Merrick fell unconscious. As all of his concentration was consumed by the forced teleportation, Merrick will definitely suffer from a severe migraine once he wakes up.

…

Meanwhile, in Delim City, Leneya looked at the right arm and left leg she took from the two meddling fools.

Behind Leneya's steel mask was a hungry desire to consume. It's sad that she wasn't able to kill the two special characters of the novel, but she should be satisfied enough that she managed to weaken them.

Losing an arm and a leg in this world was an unsalvageable thing. Though this world has some hard high sci-fi technology despite its medievalistic inclinations, it would be difficult for Merrick and Jimmy to find an expert who will be willing to help them. After all, Zentury had kidnapped almost all of the most notable scientists in the world.

It was a fact that this world's trajectory of technology was a total whack job more inclined for infantry war, but that doesn't in any way discredit the works of other geniuses. Zentury saw through this, now, even Force was wary of Zentury's scientific might.

Leneya took Merrick's Wand for herself. She admired its beauty and decided to keep it as a trophy. "Hey there, future Extolled Police Chief. Zentury will remember this favor."

From the shadows, someone revealed himself— his goatee trembled as he speak in excitement. "Oh, milady Leneya! No need for formalities! The Dreamers shall prosper."

A look of understanding passed over Leneya. "Oho, so you are one of us, eh? Nice to meet you then. Hmmm… Shadow powers huh? Oh, I know you… You are the Gentleman."

"I am flattered… You can call me just Ado… So, I've heard, you made contact with the fallen god already?" Leneya became alert at the gentleman, Ado's, inquisitiveness.

Realizing that he came too strong, Ado bowed in apology. "I don't mean anything else. I just have news to share, that's all."

Leneya kept silent indicating for Ado to continue.

"I met with the Clairvoyant. He said that the Old Man wants to meet you… Lady Leneya, the Insanity Gene's incubation was nearing its end… We should acquire it before its incubation ends."

Leneya frowned, but her mask hid it from Ado. With a calm voice, she tried to tell Ado in a confident tone that everything will be okay. "Don't worry about it. We'll return to our own worlds as the fallen god promised. The Insanity Gene was just waiting in the academy for us to pluck."

Ado doesn't know what to say anymore. It took him some time, but finally, he voiced his doubts. "In every vision of the Clairvoyant, we failed. Even with the current god not having a hand in it, we still lost… again and again… will we really make a difference? Or will history repeat itself?"

"Yes, we will make a difference…" Leneya declared with certainty. "Because in this iteration, we are going to move EVERY villain that we can get our hands into, all of them. Heroes? They can all fuck themselves!"