I froze for a second, before managing to get the words out. “I heard that a few henchmen got into a gunfight with a super. Was that you?”

  “Yeah, it was. They started some shit, and I finished it. But now I’ve been dealing with assholes running around the park, looking for me,” his eyes gave me an accusatory glare, demanding a response. Despite the hostility in his gaze, and the aggression in his words, there was a twinge of happiness in his voice.

  “They were members of the Disciples of Agony. I came looking for you because of your fight-” He cut me off.

  “It wasn’t a fight. Don’t call it that. They didn’t hit me once, so how could it be a fight? It was closer to pest control.” He chuckled at his own joke.

  “Oh. I’m sorry?” I’d been growing more uncomfortable the longer we talked, especially since he kept twitching.

  “You’re not, but that doesn’t matter. So, are you here to get revenge? Been watching you run around like a psycho looking for me.” He flashed a wide smile at me.

  Beads of sweat started to crawl down the back of my neck. “No, I’m not with them, and I’m not looking for revenge. I just needed to meet with you.”

  His smile faltered, and his eyes dulled. “Oh. What do you want?”

  “I used to work for the Disciples, now they’re trying to kill me. I was thinking that we could work together. I’m a super too, and we’ll be stronger as a team.”

  “Nah, I don’t do teams.” His expression turned bored, and he turned to watch the ducks. “I mean, if you want, you can be my henchman.”

  Despite the handful of warning signs, I still wanted to have him as an ally. Even if he was a bit unstable, there weren’t many options in South Rain, and I was currently weak enough that just a handful of skilled henchmen could take me out.

  But there was no way in hell I would take him up on that offer. I was done with being ordered around, working like a dog for someone else. Of course, I still needed this psycho’s help.

  So, I decided to take a risk and meet him on his level. The best way to handle a crazy person is to be just as crazy. That’s probably not true, but I was desperate and only had one idea.

  “No. You should work for me instead.”

  He looked shocked at my response, but that damn smile creeped back onto his face. “Are you dumb? Why would I work for you?”

  “Because if we can’t be a team, then one of us needs to be in charge. So why not have you work for me?” I asked.

  He started to laugh. “You’re crazy, man. I like that. Alright, let’s fight. Loser works for the winner.”

  He stood up from the bench and started walking away from the lake. Even though I had a pit in my stomach, I followed him. It was obvious that he was itching for a fight, which wasn’t a good sign for me.

  But I was confident in myself, because somebody had to be. While he led me to a small clearing in a patch of trees, I tried my best to think of a plan. I had no clue what this guy could do, but he also didn’t know anything about me.

  If the report told me anything, he’d probably start off by shooting me. And in combat, there was only one real use of my powers. Stealing the gun out of my enemy's hands. I just needed to get his gun and tear through his super resistance before he could use his powers. While super resistance can block some damage, it was a resource that he would eventually run out of.

  When we were a few feet apart, facing each other in the clearing, I waited for him to make his move. The tension was near suffocating, like being strangled by a telephone cord. It was my first time seriously fighting another super, and there was no room for mistakes.

  He made the first move, pulling his gun out faster than I could see. By the time I reacted, the gun was already aimed at my head. I flexed my hand, activating [Take], causing his gun to fly into my hand. It was just a pistol, but leaving him unarmed was all that mattered.

  By the time I had it pointed at him, however, he already had another one. I quickly disarmed him, using [Take] with my free hand, doubling my firepower. But right as I was about to pull the trigger, he pulled out a rifle.

  I threw one of the pistols to the side and pulled away the rifle. It was a relief that it was light enough for me to [Take], even if firing it one handed would be difficult. My entire plan would fall apart if he could shoot back, so I just needed to take away the last of his guns. And of course, by the time the rifle was in my hand, he was aiming another gun at me.

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  My strategy continued to fail as every time I pulled a gun from him, he managed to get his hands on another one. I was too focused on disarming him to find time to shoot. At first, I thought he was just overly cautious. The type that doesn’t leave the house without an armory on them.

  By the time I threw away my eighth submachine gun, I began to have a feeling that something was up. The pile of guns had reached my ankles, and I was throwing them away on instinct by this point.

  Powers weren’t something that one could use freely, every use takes energy in the same way a punch takes energy. It wasn’t something that I put much thought into, since my ability was so simple that it barely took anything out of me to use. That was until I had to handle an entire barracks worth of guns.

  We were both exhausted, having pushed our powers to their limits. This fight was a lot less dangerous than I was expecting. The only question was who would pass out first from exhaustion.

  That was until this bastard pulled out a blade. Not a knife, but a blade. I’d grown so used to the pattern that I instinctively pulled it. I panicked, unable to stop it from piercing my hand.

  I recoiled at the pain, crying out as the blade dug itself into my palm. I tried to pull it out with my free hand, trembling and unfocused. Normally, a knife would just bounce off of me, but this blade was different. There was a light golden mist floating around it.

  While I was distracted with trying to pry the blade out, he took advantage of the situation. The first shot barely missed my hand, which was inches away from my face. That’s when I noticed he was now armed.

  I threw myself to the ground, using the pile of guns as makeshift cover. The bullets rang out as he fired wildly in my direction. A stray bullet pierced my leg, a burning pain that shot through me. I cried out in pain as my vision lost focus.

  I gave up on my hand, accepting that it would be useless in this fight. I didn't want to risk peeking out to try and pull a gun from him, not when bullets could actually hurt me. With my free hand, I grabbed a spare pistol and bared through the pain.

  The second he stopped firing, I popped up and started shooting. I always considered myself a good shot, but being exhausted and bleeding out made it hard to aim. His size worked to his advantage, most of my shots aimed too high to land. Thankfully, one bullet connected squarely against his forehead while he was pulling out a set of machine guns.

  He continued to shoot while his head was knocked back. I threw myself to the side, but I was just a moment too slow. Three bullets tore apart my arm, sending blood and flesh flying through the air. Even if that hand was already injured, losing an entire arm was far worse.

  I forced myself to keep going and picked up the nearest gun. It felt heavy, but I didn’t bother with checking it out. I wasn’t paying any attention to anything but my target. That asshole was going down.

  When I pulled the trigger, I was nearly knocked back to the ground. The shotgun fired out a massive slug, which took down a small tree behind him. I steadied myself, my legs losing strength, and raised the gun back up.

  He was in the middle of pulling out another pair of guns, giving me a window of opportunity. My next shot hit him square in the chest, knocking him off his feet. He flew through the air before collapsing onto the ground.

  He wheezed out in pain, his guns scattering off to the side. Blood started to pour from his chest, his super resistance having burned out. I staggered towards him, each step more taxing than the last. He tried to move, but his body refused to cooperate.

  I pointed the shotgun at his head. “You work for me now. Name’s Taker.”

  He let out a chuckle and stretched out his hand. “Deal’s a deal. Nice to meet you, boss. I’m Reload.”

  I dropped the gun and pulled him to his feet. I was grateful that he accepted the loss, because I was running on nothing but fumes. I looked over our battlefield, the nearby trees riddled with bullets. There were dozens of guns laying on the ground, most of them fully loaded.

  “We should bounce,” said Reload. “Surge Gang is probably on the way.“

  I braced myself and pulled the blade out of my hand. I was shocked that there was still enough blood left to pour out of there. At least my arm was fully numb. “Yeah, we should leave. You got any Throm on you?”

  “What type of a psycho fights without ‘em?” he laughed,

  Reload rummaged through his pockets. After a moment, he tossed me a Throm, the first ever miracle drug. I caught the red and white pill, swallowing it dry. It’d take a bit to get back in fighting shape, but at least I wouldn’t die.

  He popped his own pill and we made our way out of the park. Reload didn’t seem to have any interest in the guns we left behind, so I didn’t bother with asking about them. The bleeding stopped before we were even out of the park. I’d likely need the rest of the day to get patched up, but Reload would only need an hour or two at worst.

  I headed back to the motel, with Reload walking alongside me. While the terms were that he’d be working for me, I hadn’t realized that meant he’d follow me back home. The surrounding area was empty, probably due to our gunfight.

  “So, when are we gonna go hit the disciples?” Reload asked me.

  “Don’t know. We’re not in any condition to be fighting them yet.”

  He gave me a confused look. “And? You got problems with them, so why waste time sitting around?”

  “They’ve got four supers and an army of henches while we’re just two supers. We’re going to need better numbers and a plan.” Reload seemed to be a bit too reckless, and I was worried that he would be a risk later down the line. But for now, I just needed to keep an eye on him.

  “Whatever you say, bossman. Where we headed?”

  “Well, I’m going to the motel I live at. You can come with me, if you want.”

  “Sure, not like I got anywhere else to go.”

  While I should’ve been more concerned about Surge Gang looking for us, the adrenaline and shock made it hard to focus. So that was how two guys, with no concern for discretion, made their way through the city while covered in blood and bullet holes.