(XXI) First Failure

A black whale-shaped submarine with the glimmering yellow "Supercop" logo rode at a slow pace underneath the Atlantic Ocean.

Inside the submarine, in a plain white office, a man sat with his gaze fixed on the Apple laptop on his wooden table.

The man wore standard milky military uniforms and had three gleaming tiny gold stars etched on his left chest.

His name was Sherman Clark, the chief of the supercops.

//AN: Reference: chapter 7//

Sherman had a slight frown across his puckered face as he scrunched up his eyes and continued to skim through whatever he was reading.

His wrinkled fingers danced above the keys on the laptop, making a noise that resonated inside the quiet office.

Knock Knock.

Sherman Clark veered his gaze from the screen to the door and spoke in a deep voice. "Come in!"

The door handle twisted slightly as a man in a white supercop uniform strode in.

"Sir, we just received info from one of our spies in the swamp areas."

"Info?" An interesting glint was visible in Sherman's eyes as he sat straight and bore his gaze on the man.

The man gulped a bit. After all, it was no secret that Sherman only liked to hear good news. It has cost the jobs of the previous assistants.

Luckily for him, this was good news.

"Sir!" The man suddenly gained confidence. "Our spy states that there had been some unusual occurrences in that area tonight."

"Brief me," Sherman said.

"They spotted Nightmare."

"nightmare?" The zing of excitement made his heart thump when he heard that name.

"Yes, he was spotted with a witch and a little girl."

"Get me, Kayne!" Sherman slammed the desk, causing a huge dent to appear on it.

'he would be executed once and for all.'

No matter how minor a villain Nightmare was, they knew it was all a ruse because he was the world's fastest-rising villain.

thus making Sherman treat him as a big threat, a threat that might one day become too big to tame.

A bit of time passed before Sherman's telephone buzzed.

*Bzzz

His didn't glance at the caller as he grabbed the phone and placed it in his ears.

"Kayne!"

"Yeah, what's up?" Kayne replied, Borden visible in his tone.

"Nightmare have been spotted in the swamp areas!"

"Really?!" Kayne's borden vanished.

"Yes, and Your X-Squad will be required to apprehend him."

"Yes, sir!"

The call disconnected.

Sherman slumped back in his seat and yanked out the drawer underneath his desk.

He grabbed a photo of a young boy who was identical to him but younger and more vibrant.

"Son, your father will eventually catch that psycho, and when he does, I will..."

He started radiating an enormous surge of energy that forced the assistant to gasp for breath. Hence, he plunged to his knees and clutched his throat.

"I'll snap him in two!"

–—— 

Ruby's side

He started pacing towards Ruby in small strides; his massive body started bloating up as he turned into a mountain of meat. His arms and legs were now 20 times thicker than Ruby's entire self.

He reached the couch and raised his hand to the air as his razor-sharp nails lengthened, and he slashed down at Ruby.

Before the feral slash could connect, a black radiance bathed Ruby as he teleported behind the leader and thrust his dual dagger into his skull.

However, the man swatted the daggers away and sent a punch that made the air ripple.

Bang.

Ruby spiraled and slammed into a wall, and the walls crumpled into chunks and rubble.

'This is the reason I hate to face supes with cannibalism powers!'

Ruby thought as he bolted up from the wreckage and launched himself at the man.

The man also darted towards Ruby with a crazed expression and gooey blood drooling out of his mouth.

'what a weird superpower.'

If this was the only power in the world, he'd prefer to be normal.

When the duo closed in, the man lengthened his claws again and made a horizontal slash.

Swoosh.

The air made a fierce rippling sound as Ruby darted to the side with his great retractable sword in his grasp.

'How is he changing weapons like this?' The mountain of flesh couldn't help but wonder.

Ruby smirked a bit when he saw that confused expression on the man's ugly face.

"It seems like you don't know me that well," Ruby exclaimed as he darted from side to side, sending out slash after slash at the man.

The great sword pierced the man's boneless, fluffy skin with ease as green liquid oozed out, smothering the ruddy floor with a bit of green.

Ruby continued to hop from side to side and make slash after slash.

He didn't want to let the man gain breathing space. Because if he did, the man would gain momentum. Hence, he continued.

After some time, Ruby distanced himself from the man and glanced at his handwork.

His mouth hung open a bit before a surge of realization hit him.

All the slash punctures he had made were closing simultaneously at a fast pace that would make vampires and werewolves pale in comparison.

'How did I forget this basic thing?' Ruby resists the urge to facepalm himself.

Supes with cannibalistic powers were known as the fastest healers.

Ruby knew this, but most of the public didn't, as the super organization kept it wraps.

"Feeling scared?" The man emitted a feral snarl as he started approaching Ruby.

"No, you think I'm scared of you?" Ruby said with an annoying grin.

He was trying to make the big guy fall for his trick and come to him.

"Come, you waste of a human!"

Growl.

The man growled menacingly as he plunged to all fours and started sprinting towards Ruby as though it were a predatory wolf. His eyes gleamed with a savage, bloody glint as he pounced at Ruby.

'Just as expected.'

Ruby thought as he glared into the man's eyes; it felt like a seemingly deep abyss as he activated [Daze].

The man froze as his eyes lost color.

"This was faster than I thought," Ruby said. But something was bothering him that this wasn't over.

'I better kill him; I hate my mind!'

[«Quest: kill the supe within 15 minutes»]

"Huh?" Ruby was a bit startled.

'Why would the system–' he broke off as the man's limbs started moving. His eyes returned to their bloodshot glints as they swirled with pure madness.

'I hate my mind!' Ruby raised his great sword in a flash and slashed down powerfully.

However, the fleshy mountain already had his grasp on the sword tip. Green blood trickled down from the man's hands as Ruby plunged the sword further into his hands and more blood surged out.

For a moment, neither of them moved, as though they were in a battle of strength, but soon there was a clear winner.

The mountain of flesh yanked the sword from Ruby's grasp and clutched his neck in an iron grasp as he raised him to the air.

-5 min

-4 Min

[«Severe injuries have been sustained»]

'Fuck! What's all this?' Ruby thought as he tried to gasp for breath. The monster was draining him of air bit by bit.

-3 min

Ruby didn't care about the supe. He was more concerned with the system countdown. It felt as if time started moving fast as the countdown continued.

-2 min

Gasping for breath, Ruby maneuvered his hands into the man's face and thrust his fingers into his eyeballs.

Pulch

Pulch

Ruby didn't stop as he heightened the pace at which he poked his fingers.

"AGHHHHHHH!" The man emitted a wild yelp of pain as Ruby thrust his hands deeper into his eyes, touching the skull. He flung Ruby into the far corner of the room as he dropped to his knees and clenched his aching eyes, which were now seeping with blood. 

-1 min

Ruby propelled himself up and darted towards the man. Thanks to his study of super humans, he knew it would take some time before those eyes regenerated again. Hence, he bolted to his sword, grabbed it, and sprinted towards the man as he did a wide slash.

However–in mid air–before the sword could collide, the dreaded message flashed.

-o sec

[«Quest failed»]

[«Calculating punishment for failure»]

[«Punishment as follows»]

–-----------

Later that night…

Karen Kayne and his X squad stormed the building, which was now drenched in bloody chunks of meat and a bulky severed head with green blood gushing out of its mouth and a black skull card pinned to its head.

Kayne stared at the head with disgust in his gaze. It was the first time he felt glad that Nightmare killed a supe.

Though cannibalistic superhumans were stronger than normal superhumans, most superhumans despised them because of their superpower, and Kayne was one of them.

'Thanks for killing this abomination.' Kayne plucked the black card with a skull engraved on it. His expression disrupt as he glared at the card with a cruel expression.

"But that doesn't mean I won't erase you from this world."

******

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