Hearing the gunfire while sitting in that dark room was a gut wrenching experience, and the cuffs that prevented her limbs from moving only added to the helplessness. Bella gritted her teeth and glared at the slightly open door. The gunfire stopped not long after, and she was left waiting to see who would show up.

Seconds passed, then minutes followed. If she wasn’t worried before, then she surely was now. A shadow obscured the light seeping into the room, and a moment later, a blonde head peeked in, looking around as if searching for something. His eyes landed on her soon after, and an apologetic smile took over his face.

"Sorry, Bells. I’m having a little trouble finding the keys."

A little stunned, Bella couldn’t close her mouth for a while, not until a tired sigh escaped her.

"I thought I told you not to call me that."

~[ }~

In the end, Oliver had to get a plasma cutter to break the cuffs. Doing so without burning Bella’s skin proved to be a challenge, but they still managed.

"You... you really defeated them... On your own..."

Seeing the three corpses in the room above was shocking enough, but learning how they were made sounded entirely unreal. It changed the image Bella had of her blonde companion. No longer was he the aloof simpleton that didn’t fit the world they belonged to. Not only was he capable of killing when the need arises, but he was skilled enough to get them out of a seemingly impossible situation.

"By the way, what was that thing you did?"

"What thing?"

"You know, the yellow glow."

"Ah..."

The two were still in Kyrs’s pawn shop. The hairy bastard seemed to have hid the red Juggernaut, so they had no choice but to look for it again. While at it, Bella decided to ask him something that had been on her mind since earlier.

"Well, I don’t really know how to explain it..." Oliver stopped to think for a moment. "You know how Riot is able to fight Boss, even though he’s still a Basic human?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, it’s something martial artists can do once they reach a certain level. Boss was trying to learn it and decided to teach me."

Of course, they never expected him to make this much progress in such a short time. There was even a big chance that he would never be able to achieve it, and yet he did.

"So... it’s basically a superpower..." Bella said. "Does that make you an Enhanced Individual? What Level would you be at?"

"Slow down. It might be years before I’m able to use it properly." Oliver said.

According to Riot, once he is able to use Soul Manifestation on command, he would be a Level 3 at the very minimum. Rising from there would require more training, and just like most martial arts, there was no single timeline for when one could reach the next Level. He could be stuck at Level 3 forever, or he might reach Level 4 in a couple of years then climb to Level 5 from there.

"Damn, I’m really jealous." Bella said. "Wish boss chose me instead."

"No you don’t." Oliver quickly replied. "unless you’re okay with almost being killed everyday."

"Found it!"

Bella’s arms suddenly short up, raising a red pistol over her head. As her excitement grew, she seemed to lose all interest in their previous conversation, turning her attention to the red pistol.

"Wow. This thing is heavy." She said, holding it out in different directions. "So this is the kind of weapon Boss likes..."

"Careful with that. I hear they can dislocate your shoulder."

Bella examined the gun some more then turned to him, her brows a little furrowed.

"Do you think the boss will like it?"

Their boss didn’t have a need for guns, and from what they were told, what removed that need also took away what he enjoyed about the weapon. For all they know, this whole trip might have been for nothing.

"Well, one way to know."

It was well past midnight by the time they left the Pit. Though they had a good nap, the pair still felt exhausted after everything they went through, and they still had more to do afterwards.

Apparently, the news of their kidnapping had yet to reach their boss. Kyrs managed to get into contact with Carlos somehow, and the lieutenant handled the negotiation all on his own. He was preparing to send some people to retrieve them when he got the news that they escaped, and from the messages he sent them, they were in for a grilling.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to worry about it until the next day. Their boss had left his office around yesterday afternoon, and knowing him, he wouldn’t be back that night. That gave them the time to get some proper rest, and so they both headed home, but not before having a little argument about who gets to keep the gun. They solved it with a game of rock paper scissors, which Oliver ended up winning. Bella wasn’t having it, so she made him promise to meet her before going to hand it to their boss.

What would his reaction be? Oliver and Bella both went to sleep asking themselves the same question. Would he be surprised? Or would he be angry? They wasted a lot of time and got themselves in a very dangerous situation, after all. What if their boss was no longer in a bad mood? That would be a good thing, actually. It’s not like their efforts would go to a waste.

~[]~

Oliver woke up to a notification from his doorbell, and upon seeing who it was at his door, he could only sigh.

"You know I wouldn’t go behind your back, right?"

"Yeah yeah, just move it already."

After a while, he seemed to realize that his raven haired companion was just way too eager to hand their boss the gift they got. Eager enough to come knocking on his door so early in the morning. Though he wanted to get some rest, Oliver remembered that his training resumed today.

Yesterday was supposed to be a rare day off yet it turned out to be as exhausting as any other day. Because of that, he wasn’t as eager to visit the club as his friend was. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

’Maybe I will get another break...’

Of course, he didn’t think there was any chance of that happening, so imagine his surprise when it did.

"There won’t be any training today. You can practice on your own, or you can relax for the day."

It was a little weird, but not entirely illogical. Maybe he wasn’t in the mood for training, or it might be that he was too busy with something that he couldn’t spare the time to spar with him. Still, that part was the least of their problems.

"If it’s not urgent, save it for another time."

When they tried to set things up so they could hand him their present, the red haired boss dismissed them with such coldness that they were left frozen for a while. Just when they thought his mood had improved compared to the day before, he waved everyone away before locking himself in his office, not taking any meetings before he left later that afternoon.

Bella was depressed for the entire day, but she managed to lift her spirit by the time the next morning arrived. Unfortunately, things weren’t looking any different from the previous day. Their boss would arrive, exchange a few words with the members, then climb to his office and stay there for an entire day.

The next day was the same. By then, it was clear that something was going on. It was almost as if their red haired boss was avoiding his underlings, interacting with them only when it’s absolutely necessary. That meant only Carlos could come up to him, and under those circumstances, it didn’t feel right to ask for his time.

Something very odd was going on with their boss. He wasn’t in that bad of a mood compared to the other day, but he didn’t seem be back to normal, either. Was he just took occupied, and because of that, his actions seemed strange to them?

Whatever it was, there wasn’t much they could do about it. Their only choice was to wait for the right opportunity even when their enthusiasm died out with each passing day, eaten by the dismissive attitude of their boss. Word began to spread among Inferno’s members, and it soon became clear that they weren’t the only ones bothered by their boss’s strange behavior.

Just when they thought they would go through the same thing for the fifth day, something seemed to change. Their boss showed up at the same time as the previous four day. He walked into the club, exchanged some greetings with those present, then discussed something with his lieutenant. By all means, it was the same routine as what they had gone through, and yet everyone who had been present that day would swear to you that something was very wrong with the red haired boss that day.

Most of them felt it, but none could tell what it was. None were close enough with him to figure out what it was, but Oliver was different. It was only until he saw him that day that he realized the man they had previously met wasn’t their boss, but something else. That something had played his role perfectly. It walked among them as if everything was normal, talked to each of them and carried out its duties just like it’s supposed to, but it was a fake. Oliver could tell, and because he could tell, the thought that crawled into his mind that morning left a lasting scar.

The thing that arrived that morning—the thing he believed with utmost certainty was their real boss— that thing was not human.