Guess it's true what they say.
"Comfort is the enemy to achievement."
I knew my past victories felt too easy, and now the pendulum seemed to swing back. The only saving grace I had was in Hermes' chilling statement; these weren't trained soldiers, just belligerent hoodlums who were about to be lambs to the slaughter. That wide gap in experience was how I dodged their blasts and lay low as the goons in front of me murmured to themselves.
"Blimey, you think we got her Percy?"
"It is pretty quiet there but there's only one way to make sure."
"Pssh, well, if you think I'm getting in the middle of that, you're crazy, Donner."'
"Well this is as close as I want to get to her, you didn't see what she did in Redridge."
"Yeah but that means you got the most experience. So I say you go Donner."
"I don't man I thin-"
"Can you two please shut up and go together before I shoot the both of you!"
"Fine!," says Percy and Donner as they walk toward them.
As their footsteps approached, I crawled towards the proliferated door and pulled out Gungir. Dreaded anticipation clammed up my fingers as I balanced two truths. That is wasting any more time will get people killed, but I'm no good to anyone dead. Both statements brewed a steady storm of rage within me. Rage I put to immediate good use as the door knob slid in.
Before the two knew better, I swept and pushed Percy into Donner. Once they lined up, my first round from Gungir shattered their skulls. Bloodied brains splattered the walls as I heard dozens of men scream out. In those tense milliseconds, I unfurled a small barrage of stocked-up smoke bombs before the gunfire stopped.
From there, I engaged in the riskiest sprint of my life towards the other side of the store, briefly using Percy's body as a human shield before disappearing into the large racks. The supermarket's sheer size made me feel like I was traversing skyscrapers.
I acrobatically corkscrew, flipped, and dove across packages, shelves, and tables in this expanse. All the while, I kept counting the 18 people festering with shaking rifles. A factor that proved to be end #18, as rolled through a rack filled with baby supplies, which separated us with bo staff in hand.
Shock colored his face for a solid second before he tried raising his gun. Too bad for him; a second's all I need. I sent his firing rifle upwards in one fluid spin and swept his right leg. When his knee buckled from the fall, I circled back and started choking him with my staff. The hardened crook then trashed around like a bull, desperately trying to escape, but I held on and kicked him to the ground.
From there, his eyes towards the light as I sent him there with two stabs of my sai at his throat. The small victory was momentary as two other guys circled the aisle with rifles ready. In the nick of time, I rolled away, using a nearby pillar as support while using the staff to reach around and grab my enemy's weapon.
I then put it and Gungir to good use, laying out the two warning shots before rolling in and mowing them down in a single rifle magazine. Five down, 15 to go. Switching towards my grapple gun and rising to the top of the gigantic shelf. On top of my bird's eye view, I preemptively reloaded, hoping to at least catch my breath and-
"She's on top there!"
Crap and a half. I forgot I couldn't do the whole "brooding in darkness" if there wasn't any darkness to work with. Immediately I broke out in another mad dash, throwing out three empty Gungir shots while keeping my body low till I jumped towards a massive package filled with chocolate bars. Which proved to be a relief if I survived this; I can say that chocolate saved my life.
As various shells tore through the wooden floor, I lay in a fetal position, happily consuming a stray chunk of chocolate that happened to spray near me. Staying quickly became an issue, though, as a surefire shot combined with the brittle floorboards sent my entire top shelf slanting toward them. A devilish inspiration sparked as I decided to give them what they wanted.
Using my staff as a fulcrum, I balanced my weight and sent the whole crate careening down on top of them. Every single adversary close to it scrambled like the ants they were. Taking advantage of the chaos, I fired my grapple gun into another gangster's chest! Metal claws burrowed into the man's chest, crushing bone and tearing flesh away as he became my living pulley system while I dropped.
When I got ten feet up, I taunted the line and swung toward my screaming hostage. He didn't scream for much longer as I shot him in the head and kicked him back down to Hell with a present to remember his friends. Translucent light turned blighting amidst my flashbang as the shadows from the entire aisle grew darker and bigger, including mine.
Upon my subsequent dreaded descent, I pulled out my twin sai and slashed out two mobsters' throats on the way down. Amidst the scarlet shower, I gave my next targets a single venomous glare to freeze them to still. Dual piercings to their pupils made their petrification permanent. I almost switched back to Gungir but couldn't even get a shot out as a brave maverick tackled me.
I thrashed around like a wild bull, but then another came. And another. And then another, like we were playing a game of dominos. Before I knew it, I had a holy quartet on me. As each one feverishly tried to claim control of my gun, I could feel them squirmish, kick my side, or smash my face into the concrete. But even when the coppery taste of blood came for me, I kept on until I let them have it.
Counting full force on speed and fear, I slipped out of the magazine to quickly get my real weapon. A second later, my grapple gun rocketed out of the pile. When the line grew steady, I took us all for a ride, skidding across the floor till we all collided straight towards a large soda can display in the shape of a football player.
Thin cardboard and tin might as well have been brick and mortar with how hard they hailed on me. Still, I found myself getting up first, pained breaths aside.
Unfortunately, my other assailants were also groggily making their way up, not noticing that our little crash had sent rivers of conductive scrap and soda to ooze out the floor.
Poor bastards didn't know what hit them as I lit up my electric staff and saw them violently convulse themselves unconscious. To the sound of sizzling vapor, my weapon became a makeshift crutch as I awkwardly hobbled to see if I didn't accidentally fry my grapple gun. Unfortunately, as the song goes, there is no rest for the wicked.
"She's over here guys!," said a woman outside my view.
My body then moved on its own, diving towards a nearby produce stand I could find. At the same time, catching a bullet in the shoulder for it. Blinding pain seized up my entire body as I landed with a thud. Black spots danced cleverly around my eyes as I sprawled on the floor while clutching my bleeding left shoulder.
One excruciating touch was enough to tell it nothing but bone and my armored shoulder pad. A lucky circumstance that will only happen again if I'm at my most careful. I gritted my teeth as much as possible as I heard a deep-voiced woman rally what was left of the men.
"Come on you sorry sacks hurry up! I got her, we can still turn this around."
Once I heard the clamoring footsteps of two more men, I engaged in my last trick. Taking full advantage of their clammy fingers, I threw my jacket left of the stand while sprinting to my right. The split-second distraction was a minute long at speed as I darted straight towards the opposite direction and vaulted through into another aisle as blood trickled down.
Like hungry wolves, my pursuers continued to creep toward me, following me through the next dreaded corridor. This time we entered an aisle full of alcohol and beer cans. Their mouths were practically salivating with bloodlust. Only for them to find nothing by the time they crossed the aisle. Utter confusion clouded the trio as they huddled together like a dreaded rat tail. As they did, the woman from earlier retook the lead.
"Bugger me! She was right here. Where the hell did she go?!"
"Don't know. All I know is that this Angel ain't gonna do the job. Got a spare piece on you Poppy," said the man on the right as he dangled his switchblade.
"Oh, I've got a piece on me Dee, but I'm saving it for her," she said excitedly.
"Hope it's worth it," said an older man to Poppy's left.
"We fail here, and we can kiss those 3 million pounds goodbye. And I got a family to feed."
He then put his brass-knuckled fist on the floor, inspecting the bloody droplets on the concrete. It didn't matter, though; I had already covered my tracks. And they were about to see who was genuinely hunting who here. When their gaze turned at the pivotal angle, I summoned my quickly waning strength and sprung out. From the floor above, I fell with the staff in hand.
Panic purloined their reactions as I struck the girl first. She only got a single whiffed shot off from her right arm as I gave a demining backspin kick to her gut. Bits of bile escaped her throat as I locked her dominant right hand, using her as another temporary hostage while we engaged in a dreaded merry-go-round. The two men's brief hesitation worked wonders as I elbowed "Dee" and tripped Poppy towards another aisle.
She tried to reorient herself a railing haphazardly, but when she did, I immediately struck, breaking her arm over the support beam and sliding the gun out of view. With her pinned, I tried to gouge her neck using my sai, only to get immediately thrown off her by Mr. Brass's knuckle.
My shoulder immediately flared up as I dodged a flurry of fists from his brawler stance. He fully grabbed my staff, taking control of it as he spun me around and choked me on a stack of beer cans. Dee resurfaced, running towards me with killing intent as he raised his blade to stab me straight in the eyes.
Only an adrenaline-fueled jerk of the head saves me as I give myself just enough room to remove to use my remaining sai. In a flash, I stabbed Brass Knuckle in the gut and headbutted him before finishing him off with a slice to the throat. I parried another strike from Dee, launching the blade high before throwing him in a corner drop.
I then turned his neck into the world's greatest pincushion from there. I immediately turned back towards Poppy as she got back up, armed with an ace up her sleeve: an unpinned grenade.
"Suck on this you fucking bit-"
She tried throwing the frag, only to find it still stuck to her hand, courtesy of my glue bomb. Poppy's face went from prideful to desperate as I then judo threw her away from me before the penultimate explosion. I wish I could say the fight ended there, but when it rains, debris falls. Under the blast's weight, the entire part of the aisle started to sway and collapse.
I tried escaping the structure, but between all my injuries and constant weapon switches, I couldn't entirely escape. Leaving me to disappear into the debris. Clouds of dust of air clouded my vision and brain, forcing me to lie down, choking as I senselessly stumbled amongst my surroundings.
When I finally came to, I was greeted with a familiar sight. The midst of the battle made me forget that Poppy was only number 4/20. Meaning I had the pleasure of greeting three men with rifles. Immediately I tried advancing them, scaring the feared trio plenty fierce, only for us to find my left foot too stuck and sprained to escape properly.
Heated desperation fueled every deliberate squirm as my enemies started to wordlessly cock their guns. A dreaded sound that made me freeze like a deer in headlights. Death's chill ran down my neck shaking my entire core as I turned from fearmonger to coward. Beneath my mask, I held down any whimpers and closed my eyes, intent on seeing the light. In a way, I didn't expect.