Chapter One Hundred and Two

A few people screamed while a few others fainted. One person in particular— the employee who had tried to take the gun from the bald man— fell backward while clutching his stomach. Edward jumped out of the booth, shocked by the current turn of events. Leila tried to stop him, but her hand only grasped air. 

"Edward," She whispered loudly. Edward raised his hand to silently reassure her, then slowly walked toward the bald man. The bald man didn't see Edward coming, as he was currently staring at the dying employee with fear and shock evident on his face. The other man, who had started the argument in the first place, had already begun to retreat from the scene.

He ran out of the door, completely uncaring of the employee dying on the ground behind him.

"Let's calm down, okay?" Edward said as he slowly approached the bald man. As soon as he heard Edward's voice, the man pointed the gun at Edward's chest. His entire hand was shaking from the adrenaline pumping through his veins, but Edward wasn't even slightly afraid of being shot. He had leveled up quite a bit since the last time he took a bullet— he wasn't even sure if he would feel the bullet's impact anymore.

'It would be nice if my suit didn't get holes in it, though,' Edward thought. He slowly raised his hands, clearly showing that he was unarmed, as he slowly approached the dying employee.

"Just stay calm, okay? Take a deep breath," Edward told the bald man. He took another step forward.

"Don't take another step! I'll shoot you if you do!" The bald man said. Edward ignored him.

"I only want to help the person bleeding out. I don't intend to do anything else, okay?" Edward told him. He took another step. To his surprise, the man pulled the trigger, firing a bullet at Edward's chest.

Edward felt a light tap against his sternum. The bullet felt like somebody had tossed a grain of rice at him. Edward looked down and sighed. 

"Damn it," Edward muttered to himself, "And after I told Brandon to be careful. I'm such an idiot."

Edward turned back up to look at the bald man, who stared at Edward as if he were an alien. The bald man fired another two bullets— one striking Edward on his shoulder while the other hit his open eye. As the bullets flew through the air, the dozens of patrons dining at the restaurant screamed and shouted, each cowering under their tables or behind their booths. Those who were brave enough had already escaped out the front door, while a few ran others through the kitchen to escape out the back. 

'I don't have to worry about him targeting other people,' Edward's mind realized, 'I'm too much of a threat to ignore. If I attack him, however, his aim might become unpredictable, and he might fire into the crowd. I have to wait until he fires all of his bullets before I subdue him.'

Edward ignored both of the bullets fired at him and approached the employee bleeding out on the floor. The employee was young— not even Brandon's age— and stared at Edward with fear in his widened eyes. Edward turned away from the boy's face and looked at his injury. The bullet had struck just next to his stomach, near his spleen. Half of the boy's uniform had already been drenched in his own blood, causing the boy's complexion to become pale and sickly.

Without hesitation, Edward crouched down and put his finger over the boy's wound. Then, he ignited a tiny flame just above his index finger and pressed it against the bullet hole. Edward's glove and part of the boy's uniform were burned away as soon as the flame appeared.

The boy screamed in pain as the flame seared his flesh. Edward ignored his cries as he focused on the boy's wound. Once he was sure it was cauterized— both inside and out— he extinguished the flame. Once it was gone, the boy fainted as his limbs collapsed on the diner's wooden floor.

"I'll have to hope that will stop him from bleeding out for the time being," Edward sighed as he stood up, "The doctors that remove the bullet will be super confused, though."

"Who the fuck are you?" the bald man screamed. Edward turned away from the boy on the ground and looked at the bald man instead. The bald man stepped back and felt his back touch the wall behind him. As he did so, he fired another two bullets, this time striking Edward's knee. The second bullet dug into the ground at Edward's feet.

"No more bullets," Edward chuckled to himself. Now that the man had no more ammo, Edward didn't have to worry about the gun going off while Edward approached him. If the man panicked and fired into the crowd, he might have hit someone. 

Edward took a step forward and instantly appeared before the bald man. With only enough force to snap bones, Edward brought his hand down and slammed it into the man's wrist. The man screamed in pain as he fell to the ground. Soon after, Edward lightly tapped the back of the man's head. Naturally, thanks to Edward's strength, the pressure of this light tap was strong enough to knock the man out.

With the threat gone, Edward sighed in relief before looking down at his suit. The bullets targeting his spleen, his sternum, his leg, and his shoulder had all left visible bullet holes. Although the diameter of each hole was only that of a grape, his pale skin was like a neon light when compared with his dark suit.

"God damn it," Edward mumbled as he pulled at his suit to view the holes easier. A part of his heart was saddened as he saw the condition of his clothes, but another part of him was happy that no one else had been injured. 

Just then, he heard police sirens approaching from a distance. Edward turned around and walked to Leila. She and her three roommates stared at him, each dumbfounded by his actions. They were all surprised that Edward had tanked bullets as if they were nothing— especially Leila's roommates. Leila had a feeling that most man-made weaponry wouldn't be able to damage Edward, but she still held a little bit of worry in her heart.

"Let's go," Edward told her in a hurry, "I don't want to be here when the police show up."