Still Time

Haaaaaah.... I didn't want to meet Jacob again. At that time, I was in one of the many apartment complexes under Jacob's jurisdiction, set to meet with him and the team that'd get rid of my "pest problem," but before me stood an old man with a weird sense of fashion and an out-of-shape guy in his 30s.

—"Hey... I don't want to sound ungrateful, but are you sure these guys are cut out for this job?"

—"What do you mean?"— answered Jacob. —"This is the best I could. The low-quality footage with the supposed 'powers' which didn't show bull-- and I don't want to waste my best assets on a minor kerfuffle, still, I threw in a wildcard if you look to your left."

—"The girl?"— I asked as I turned my head to where Jacob pointed. —"What can she do exactly?"

—"I don't know either, but Cartan sent it to me as a gift, the only thing is I don't trust him enough to accept anything for me, so I'll try keeping her out of my hands as if I were playing hot potato."

—"That doesn't inspire much confidence."

—"Do not worry about it, I did see what she was capable of doing, and let me tell you it was quite the marvelous sight! Though I'd recommend that, before you start this operation, you make sure she doesn't intervene in the other two's battles."

—"Why is that? She doesn't like teamwork?"

—"Not exactly, let's just say her brain is wired quite strangely, it's like she can't differentiate between foe or friend. Nevertheless, she's lethal, so if everything goes right, I'd suggest you appoint her as your personal bodyguard."

—"If 'everything goes right'? How sure are you?"

—"Watch your mouth. I mean, if for some reason it doesn't work out, that'd mean these guys represent a bigger threat than expected, but realistically speaking, I think this is the last you'll see of them for good." —How snarky!

So be it. As long as those vigilantes stop me from working on that impossible request, I'll pray for their survival... a bit. But if they die, I'll have to find another scapegoat.

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—"ARGHHH!"—Relax man. Relax--GODDAMMIT!! —"E..veryone! Scatter now!"

—"I saw a human-like figure just flash before my eyes, it's an enemy right?"— asked Sgt.

—"Yeah."— I'm beginning to recuperate my voice, course-correction is in effect. —"We should move as fast as we can to evade her!"

—"Ah!"— screamed Lou, as I turned to him I saw him barely miss the blade of the katana.

"Seems like she can teleport really fast!"— It's not confirmed if that's her power but it's what we have to go with. Think Gyu, how should we approach this? ...Bingo. —"Lou. Use your future vision as fast as you can!"

Everyone was moving from side to side, I began zig-zagging so that it was more difficult to hit me.

—"Who's up next Lou! Who is she attacking?!"— I yell.

—"Uhm. Ten. It's TEN! HURRY!"

Ten quickly pushed herself off the ground to evade the oncoming attack, throwing the woman off guard in the process. We all managed to get a better look at her while she was stunned but she quickly regained composure and was out of our sight. In that moment I was able to notice two things. 1. She was already set on swinging the katana directly at Ten, a one-on-one, it's like her power works directly in her favor since she can't concentrate on more than one opponent at a time. That quick draw of her sword coupled with that power that allows her to escape at a second's notice makes for a terrific combination. 2. She had to put her foot forward before making said escape, it's not like she's teleporting per se it's like she's bridging the gap between her current location and where she wants to be, I saw her look up at the roof of the mall right before she disappeared before my very eyes.

"I saw her! If we time this correctly we might be able to stop her!"—said Ten.

—"Before that, Sgt. put up a color wall around us! That'll give us some time to come up with a consice plan."

—"SARGE IS NEXT!"

—"Right on i—"

Sgt. head had come off in an instant. I hadn't even noticed Lou's scream, I got distracted for a second. No... I can't let it be like this!

<<

Go back just when you gave Sgt. the order to put up the wall.

>

—"Sgt. put-on-a-col—MOVE NOW!"— It's a bit weird to reverse time while you are forming words.

—"Agh."— He managed to move right in time. —"What were you saying before."

—"Color. Everything. Now."

—"Aye."

After that brief exchange of words Sgt. had manage to fill the majority of the parking lot in a thick layer of red. Making it difficult for the enemy to see us but at the same time we couldn't see anything ourselves.

—"Well have to go by our voices guys. Do you have an idea of where you currently are? Who's to you left, right, front, and back?"

—"Y-Yes!"— replied Ten.

—"I think so."— said Lou.

—"Me too."— added Sgt.

—"Well, then here's the plan. Ten as soon as you are able too you should grab the enemy and throw her as far as you can in the air."

—"Wait wh-"

—"Sgt. You go invisible and move toward others to also camouflague them. The three of us will keep on moving and will take an opportunity to make a run for it to change our positions to throw the enemy off. Keep the color curtain up but turn it off and on so we repeat this until everyone is safely hidden. Still, Ten take every chance you got to throw her.

—"O-ok!"

—"Everyone ready, start moving." —All of us began making haste. —"I'll turn off the curtain in 3... 2... 1."

I immediately felt a prickling sensation in my foot. I turned my head in a heartbeat and saw that the woman had restricted my movement completely by nailing the katana through my left leg's calf.

—"GAAAH!"— I screamed in anguish and pain.

<<

I try my best to take advantage of my time reversal ability to move just an inch away from the attack to enact the plan I had concocted.

>

However, right when I was able to evade her sword, she stopped herself right before she drove her katana through the soil and quickly regained an attack posture while looking directly at me. She then put her foot forward and landed a critical hit, it was as if she jumped with high velocity, plunging her weapon at my stomach. I was right when I said she could bridge the distance between places, but I didn't imagine even a gap of a measly 2 meters could generate such incredible force.

<<

>

I kept moving backwards, she must have heard me hand out orders to others. But... at such a long distance? Maybe she has decided to pin down all of us one by one. However, my time-reversal technique must seem to her as if I have superhuman reflexes. She nevertheless kept on attacking and successfully thrusting her katana at me until she began making superficial cuts all over my body.

Maybe making her tired is the key?

—"Gyu! Are you okay?!"— yelled Ten.

I can't quite answer right now, just keep running while I... huh? I can't move my body, it's like I'm paralyzed. What is goin— Oh no. How didn't I notice? HOW DUMB COULD I BE?! SHE DIDN'T MAKE SUPERFICIAL CUTS, SHE SPECIFICALLY ATTACKED MY JOINTS AND CONNECTIVE TISSUE. I wasn't wearing down anything, she was the one in control this whole time.

As I connected the dots, I felt the sword cut through my mouth and over my cheek. She had stopped her barrage of attacks and looked at me like a kid does after stepping on an ant. What is it that you feel? PITY?! Have you had your fill?! PLAYED TOO ROUGHLY WITH THE TOY? I feel blood running down my nose. I'm going to pay you in kind. BRING IT ON.

<<

>

Instead of evading her and waiting for her to use her hopping ability, I'll face her closely. She looked quite shocked once I pranced closely, so much in fact that the foot she moved was backwards, but that little space she moved is gonna cost her since there's a straight path for me to follow until I tackle her. Still quite stunned, she couldn't react to my pounce, and as such, we both fell to the ground. I tug onto the parking pavement and crawl while getting up.

—"TEN! Throw her into the air!"

—"W-What?!"

—"Throw her now!!"— I move out of the way so Ten gets a clear sight of the enemy behind me.

—"...Ok!"—said Ten as she propelled the woman up into the vast cloudy sky, letting go of her katana in the process. —"Ah! No! I did it without thinking!"

—"Good job! Now it's my turn."

—"Do I catch her?! She's going to die!"

—"Leave it to me."— I said as I positioned myself closer to where the enemy was going to fall, at twenty meters, she seemed to move erratically but as she started to go down I realized she was adopting a semi-standing position which would obviously make her bones cross through her ribs and thorax out the other way, decimating every organ in the process, but also, it was her last gamble. As she was clutching her teeth, the idea had formed; she would bet it all on, as soon as her one foot touched the ground, the other would be forward, essentially letting her fold the two points like origami: the falling place and wherever she moved forward. The best outcome had her sacrifice one leg in place of not getting thumped hard into the ground, the worst had her insides splattered into a fine paste.

Not on my watch. I finely tuned my slowing down of time and waited for the exact moment before she hit the ground and moved forward. I sucker-punched the enemy right in the face and deadened the fall's momentum as my arm made an arched movement that made her go flying away 4  to 5 meters in front of me, the force was enough that my shoulder dislocated.

—"Sh- Shi-AUUUGH! IT HURTS SO MUCH!— I fell on my buttocks with excruciating pain. Everybody else ran towards me and the fallen enemy.

—"Are you alright?"— asked Sgt.

—"As right as I could—AAAAAAH!"

—"You okay, Gyu?!"—asked Lou, who had put all his weight on my shoulder.

—"GET OFF ME MAN!"

—"Ah! Sorry!!"

Ten was the only one who had gone up to the enemy lying on the ground.

—"Is she- Is she dead?"— Ten asked with an aghast appearance on her face.

—"I give up."— said the woman who had regained conscience in no time, making everyone startled, Ten even physically bobbing her head to the back in an instant.

—"What are you talking about?"— I say. —"You think after all you've done, you'll be forgiven?!"— my face contorted into an ire-filled scowl. —"You are dead meat."

—"W-whu- Gyu! You are kidding, right? We don't kill anybody."— Are you serious?

—"Maybe that's with cases like you, but this dangerous of an individual shouldn't be trusted in the slightest, one bad move and we'll be the ones gone!"

—"I'll join you guys."— said the woman in a nonchalant tone, which further infuriated me, but my angry stomping halted when Ten pushed me back with both her hands.

—"Please! Don't do this, you're still human!"— What is she even saying right now?!

—"Ten, I didn't take you to be this naive. Did you think this group wasn't one of vigilantes who are tired of other power-users befouling this world? We get rid of such filth. Stop this nonsense, or I'll have to force you out of my way."— Ten's face looked perturbed at my words.

—"Gy- Gyu?"— She looked pale, but also... blurry? I think I... am...

—"GYU?!"

Feeling... dizzy—

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As I came to be, I was lying in the back of the van with my back to the door. Sitting in front of me was the enemy power-user who prompted me to gasp loudly by sheer shock.

—"Awake are we?"— said Sgt.

—"What the hell is this, Sarge!?"

—"What else but a new member of P.U.C., the first one recruited by private Ten!"

—"You should've dealt with her immediately!"

—"Don't worry about that, Lou is holding Piper's katana with a strong grip. Besides..."— Sgt. pointed at the woman, who's apparently named Piper. I hadn't noticed Ten right beside her, she was holding her dominant right hand, which had all of her fingers broken and twisted.

—"She won't be able to use it for a while."

—"Uhm... I guess it's a temporary measure, good job, Sgt."— I said, but I'm not a fan of working together with this individual in the slightest.

—"No need to thank me, it was Ten who decided this was the appropriate measure. She begged me to handle it herself."— R-Really?

—"Gyu?"— Ten muttered in a frantic tone. —"Could we make a stop near a friend's house to... fix her up?"

I stared silently at her. Deep down, I respect the fact that she took the matter into her own hands, but anyone can tell how affected she is by the whole ordeal. I should've waited more time to hone in on the fact that this group is not composed of good people. —"Whatever, be my guest."— Only the ones capable of putting a stop to this abuse of power. I was once like you, Ten, I believed everyone could be saved, and I still... Anyhow, with this, I've lost approximately 2 hours of time within a day, my power has been whittling down ever since I first started to feel like I couldn't travel back through time more than 12 hours. Right now, I'm down to 8 hours.