"Stop right there, you dirty beggar!"
"If you don't want to die, stop running faggot!"
Two men looking around in their thirties loudly howled as they chased a youngster through a forest. Both of them were dressed in suits and had a large build making them seem as if they were the bodyguards of some famous figure.
"Hahaha, eat my dust, fuckers!" The youngster, who looked to be in his early twenties, mocked without turning back. He knew if he slowed down for just a second, he would be done for!
However, his ragged shirt was already drenched with sweat while his pants seemed to be torn in several places, making him look like a street beggar, no less coupled with how his face seemed as if he hadn't had a good meal in ages.
The only reason he was able to keep up his pace was because of his nimble legs and the adrenaline coursing through his veins.
But he knew it would only be a matter of time before he collapses with exhaustion. So, he had to get rid of these two behind him by any means.
He soon came upon an overhang and jumped without hesitation, seeing that he had no choice. Because of the overhang, he was now hidden from the sight of the bodyguards chasing him.
He quickly moved towards the side with silent steps as he heard the running footsteps of the men chasing him, getting closer and closer.
When the two bodyguards got close to the overhang, they halted as they saw many trees ahead but no sight of the youngster they were chasing. It was as if he magically disappeared.
"Shit, where did he run off to? How come that little twig is so fast? Paul, be ready to use your gun if he becomes too much of a trouble. Even if some forest guards hear our shots, I doubt they will get here in time."
"Of course, Matt. He dared to touch our young miss with his dirty hands, and Boss told us to finish him off personally. How could we let him down? It's his head or ours."
'What the fuck! All I did was try to steal her watch. It was not as if she would miss it with so much money in her account...damn...her dad is so stingy,' The youngster indignantly inwardly cried as he heard their loud voice.
He barely could make ends meet, and with petty thefts and tricks, he was somehow surviving to this day. Of course, sometimes he would get caught and get beaten up for it, especially when he took too much risk.
He had been in hiding for the past few years with a death warrant out for him by many bigshots, all because he was the only living proof left of a huge conspiracy.
And because of that, he had to learn how to be cunning and be shameless whenever needed to survive and to execute some of his tricks.
He desperately wanted to try for normal jobs no matter how low the wages. However, there was a hit order on his name, and the only reason he was able to escape by close shave was because of his only special ability...the ability to change his appearance to look like anyone.
And that ability awakened first when he was so close to death the first time. After awakening that ability, he wondered if he was a freak and whether some government officials would seize him for experimental study and whatnot.
It seemed similar to the superpowers he read about in comics before, and at that time, he felt a strange sense of excitement and fear at the same time.
From then on, he obviously never revealed his ability to anyone and used it to evade the ones trying to kill him.
But he had to have physical contact for a couple of seconds with the person he wanted to impersonate and could only use his ability for thirty seconds every six hours, after which he would revert to his original appearance.
So, whenever he tried to steal some expensive stuff by impersonating someone else's face, he would have to do it extremely fast and escape.
But this time, he did not know that the watch had a GPS tracker, and he obviously got tracked down.
The watch looked like a boring analog watch because of which he never expected it to be so hi-tech inside.
And not only that, he never expected the young lady he tried to steal from would have hidden bodyguards monitoring her movements from someplace else. Usually, they would be sticking close to such a wealthy figure.
He was then chased for almost half a day, and it seemed as if the bodyguards wouldn't rest till they had his life!
Of course, he had no idea that he just ticked off a member from a mafia family since that watch was an heirloom which he even threw away as soon as he knew it was giving away his position.
But right before he was trying to sneak up behind the bodyguards...something that would change his life forever happened...
*ZING!*
A bright white pillar of light descended from the skies and seemed to touch the ground near the forest where the youngster and the men were. But within just a second, the pillar of light disappeared as well.
"Oww…" The youngster shut his eyes close as he got blinded by the strange white pillar of light. But right after he opened his eyes, there wasn't a pillar of light anymore, and the skies still seemed normal as ever.
The youngster blinked his eyes numerous times, wondering if the bizarre phenomenon he just saw was just his mind playing tricks because of his tiredness.
The bodyguards were also stunned when they suddenly got blinded by a strange pillar of white light descending out of nowhere and then disappearing. They even rubbed their eyes and shook their heads, thinking if it was because their exhaustion was kicking in.
"Paul, what the fuck was that? Did you see what I saw?" Matt asked in a perplexed tone as he came out of his daze. However, a faint drop of sweat slid down his forehead.
Paul had a nonplussed expression, not knowing what just happened. The light seemed so beautiful and otherworldly. He was mesmerized by it for that split second before getting blinded by it.
But other than the flash, there was no sound or disturbance of any sorts in the forest, and it was still as silent as ever. And since the flash seemed to have happened at least a few kilometers away, they obviously couldn't see what happened.
The youngster quickly sorted out his thoughts as he knew this wasn't the time to waste his precious chance right when the bodyguards seemed to discuss something with shocked expressions.
They wouldn't see him unless they turned around and looked up while he could clearly see their backs turned towards him.
He took a small sharp knife from his pocket and had his finger tightly gripping its handle. He could have run away, but there were still other bodyguards stationed at the exit of the forest, and he had no choice but to escape in the other direction.
He absolutely had no qualms of getting rid of people trying to take his life as this lifestyle was something he was forced to get accustomed to surviving against the people trying to hunt him.
If he, by chance, let any of his enemies go after seeing him, he was sure that his whereabouts and everything would undoubtedly be out in the open. And then it would only be a matter of time before he was cornered and killed.
*RING!!!*
"Shit! It's the boss!" Paul gulped as he saw his boss's name on his phone.
"Don't answer it now!" Matt cautioned and continued, "You go in that direction, and I will take this one. He should have gotten lost by now."
Paul had his gun in his hand as he was quite anxious to kill the youngster and scurried towards the southeast direction while Matt continued towards the northeast direction.
The youngster didn't think that they would split, but he was happy since it made things way easier for him. If previously he was not confident, then now he was sure of it.
With a grin on his face, he furtively followed Matt since he seemed like an easier target.