Surrender?

After the convenience store battle, things went quiet again for a while. For over two weeks, absolutely nothing happened. Well, at least as far as the organization is concerned. I was almost hit by a car twice, and almost got crushed by collapsing scaffolding. None of which were caused by me, of course, and I avoided getting hurt easily.

At first, I continued with doing some light destruction here and there, but as the organization was not showing up, I decided to pause my work and take a break. Last time they sent ten people after me. How many people would they send next, after taking so long to prepare? Twenty? Thirty? If that was the case, I was better off preserving my energy for the upcoming fight.

Even though the accidents have temporarily stopped, the city had yet to return to normal functioning. People were still feeling extremely uneasy. After all, the authorities had no reasonable explanation for any of the events.

It didn't help that there was a serial killer on the loose. Breaking into apartments every day, and killing all the tenants.

That was, of course, me. Every morning, I picked a different apartment to spend the day in, watching movies, playing games, reading, browsing the Internet, whatever was available. I even added two of them that were particularly nice to my key collection.

Then, in the evenings, I would go out for drinks, looking for hookups.

Like that, time passed by leisurely.

***

All good things have to come to an end eventually.

As soon as I saw the man in the beige suit enter the bar I was in, I knew it was time for another confrontation.

Just as the last time, he completely ignored everyone, including me, and took a seat at the opposite end of the bar from me. He probably intended to make me follow him again to a place where they would ambush me.

And I would do just that. Even though I knew it was supposed to be a trap, I was not worried. And I didn't really have much of a choice, not if I wanted to get rid of more of them. I doubt they would fight me on my terms if I refused to comply. Likely, they would just temporarily withdraw and come up with a different strategy.

For now, though, the night was still young. I grabbed my glass and moved to the seat right next to the man.

He didn't even spare me a glance as I sat down.

I was the first to break the silence. "So, what's the plan for today?"

He lifted his gaze from the documents he was reading, but still hasn't said a word.

"Oh come on, might as well have a little chat while we're here, no?" I wasn't about to get discouraged so easily.

The man sighed and closed his file. "What is there to talk about?"

Finally.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe introduce yourself? What is the deal with your organization? Why are you after me?" Well, I already knew the answer to the last question, but we needed to start somewhere. He seemed to be in a higher position, so he probably would be able to give me a better explanation than the 'don't you know what you've done' I got from the sniper.

However, he just looked me up and down coldly. "There is no need for you to know any of that. Are you going to surrender yourself?"

Surrender myself? What a joke.

"What would happen to me if I did? If I were to go with you without putting up a fight, would I get a trial? Or jail time?" There was no way I would agree to any of that, but there was no harm in asking.

"No. You're going to be executed," he answered without a hint of hesitance.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing. "And you're just telling me that? Why would I ever surrender, if that is the case?"

He was completely unmoved by my reaction. He just put the file back in his briefcase and stood up. "Then we have nothing else to discuss."

He was about to leave, but of course, I wasn't about to let him go willingly. I sprang out of my seat, grabbed him by the shoulder, and pulled him back, throwing him at the bar counter. Several glasses fell down, shattering on the ground. Not giving him time to reach for his walkie-talkie, I grabbed him by the throat. "Sorry, but I think otherwise."

He might be a fighter, but he was still a member of the organization. I needed to get rid of him as well. I could probably find the rest of his team on my own, as long as they were in the city.

He still managed to maintain his calm. Unmoved by the situation he ended up in, he looked up at me with slight disgust in his eyes.

A few men stood up, wanting to intervene. Two of them pulled me away, making me lose my grip for a second. I was about to shake them off, but…

As soon as my hand was no longer touching his neck, the space contracted and he disappeared.

I shook out the men holding me, but they were not even paying attention to me anymore. Everyone was staring at the empty spot where the man was just a moment ago.

I was no less shocked than them.

The guy was not holding his walkie-talkie. He hasn't spoken, and there was no pressing buttons involved. How did they time it so perfectly?

I quickly glanced around, but I haven't noticed anything suspicious. There was not even a trace of the unsettling feeling left.

Moreover, even if anyone was observing us, it would still be difficult to pull it off. He disappeared precisely at the moment we lost physical contact. If anyone else was controlling his teleportation, then there should be a slight delay.

Which must have meant that he was capable of doing it on his own, without the use of their special device. And since he waited until I no longer had a hold of him, it also meant that otherwise I would get teleported together with him.

Now that could be a useful piece of information.