Patience - Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties, or being able to wait for a long amount of time without getting irritated or bored.
Time for the night shift.
My two-hour alarm went off, and I sprang up. I felt well rested, if not a little sore, so I warmed up with a few stretches and push-ups. This had been my routine for a while, and it was honestly pretty helpful to stretch out before killing low-life criminals. I dawned the costume that had come to be known as rogue, and I stepped out of my window once more, jumping nearly 60 feet up to the rooftop I had become quite familiar with. Today I had few leads, as the drug-stocked warehouses had already been cleared by Midas. I figured that the entities from the night before would attack some part of the city again tonight.
Calling them the 'entities' is a little dull. I need to call my enemies something cool. How about… uh. Well now I wasn't really sure. They had no features on their heads, like ears or eyes, so the Kellers? Too offensive. The Faceless Ones? A little unoriginal, but I didn't have time to think about it for much longer, as it was already dark out. Faceless Ones it is.
I took off in a sprint, this time heading for the entertainment district that the Faceless ones had attacked previously. As I sprinted, I noticed a few things; firstly, it hurt a fucking lot because of my beating, and secondly, I was moving significantly faster than before. Maybe using my power in an actual fight increases my use with it faster than conventional training? Then again, I might just be delusional from my ass-kicking.
I jumped from rooftop to rooftop, sometimes boosting my jump with an energy burst, ducking under billboards and jumping over air conditioning units on each building. As I looked around, the city seemed just a little nicer than before, even if only a day had passed. The voices were a little happier, and the stars were slightly visible, glimmering against the reflection on the water. The world was changing.
Little by little, things were getting better.
Still, I had to focus on my goal. I was already in the outskirts of the entertainment district, so a vantage point could prove useful. I rounded the corner of a building, running sideways on the wall, and then climbing to the roof.
As I faced the inner entertainment district, two Faceless Ones were waiting, carrying a large hunk of metal in their arms. They hurled the small car at me, which I managed to catch with my energy coated hands just before it killed me. I let the car drop, making a large impact on the roof of the building. Maybe these things were smarter than I gave them credit for. Were they waiting for me?
I took a moment to recollect, and I now was forced to fight up close, as I had activated two of my powers. For the most part, I would need to use my hands for combat and my feet to move, as I hadn't fully mastered the use of energy in my feet yet. I had to make up the distance. I charged an energy burst, moving fast enough that my eyes watered. I traveled across the roof in the blink of an eye, faster than most people could react. I reacehd out, and my hand was inches away from grabbing the Faceless's.. face? Just as I was about to grab it, both its friend and itself fell backwards off the roof in unison, moving in opposite directions. Damn it. Which should I chase now?
I followed their movements, seeing where they were going. As they reached their destinations, I understood what they were doing.
They were giving me a choice.
On the left, around seven of the faceless were attacking the outside of a restaurant, where people were being killed left and right. On the right side, around nine faceless ones were grouped together, fighting a group of policemen outside a nightclub, not too different to the one that I had last seen them at.
Time to decide.
The left side was proving more lethal to several citizens, but the police would most likely arrive soon and be able to fend them off. On the right, the extra faceless would most likely allow them to kill some, if not all of the police unless I stepped in. However, it would take some time before they got close enough to kill any of them.
I chose to go to the left and deal with the immediate threat, the seven Faceless that were currently attacking and killing innocent people. If I was fast enough, I would get over to the police in time to save them.
I charged two lethal shots, one in each index finger. I fired the first, making my mark and putting a sizable hole straight through its head. His body quickly faded into the same stream of energy as before. One of his friends absorbed the energy, opening its head to release another copy. Before it could undo my work, I fired the second beam I had charged, killing it instantly. Now I had to pay close attention. From the body of the second Faceless I had killed, only one energy trail formed, despite the Faceless having absorbed another energy trail before death. If I was correct, this meant that while the Faceless clones could regenerate each other, only the original could make new ones. I rocketed towards the remaining five Faceless, who were now all facing me. I was midair, moving well over 100 miles per hour, the rush of the wind against my body was like knives, and every cell in my body tingled with anticipation as I was nearly face to face with one of the beings, only a few feet away. Suddenly all of it stopped, the wind in my face came to a halt, and my body did a full one-eighty. My feet spun around to where my face had just been at full speed, with my heel now touching the front of the Faceless's head. I unleashed enough energy to destroy a semi-truck, and the faceless was vaporized. I touched down onto the ground and broke into a sprint. I hurled a energy ball in front of me, creating a smokescreen. Now for the plan. Outside of the smoke, I had seen the locations of the four Faceless. Two were outside the front doors of the restaurant, surrounded by dead bodies. One was climbing on the side of the building and has most likely reached the top by now. The final Faceless was off to my right, closer to the parking lot. If I focused on the two by the entrance, I would most likely be able to kill them both since they were close together. However, anyone still inside the building would be trapped inside, and if any of the bodies in the pile of corpses were alive, they would be killed in the blast. If I attacked the one on the roof, it might cause the roof to collapse, killing anyone inside. That left the final Faceless, who was conveniently far from any part of the restaurant. No more time to waste. If I waited longer, the Faceless would have time to regenerate their comrades I had killed.
I bursted out of the smoke, staying low to the ground. I reached the Faceless, grabbing him by the feet as I went past. As I began to slow down from my initial burst, I planted my feet on the ground, going into a spin. Using my full momentum, I threw the bastard at a car, setting off the alarm and creating a large dent on the driver's side of the car. Before the Faceless could recover, I shot an energy ball at the front of the car.
Boom.
An explosion engulfed both the Faceless I had thrown and several other cars surrounding it. I turned to face those who remained. Two were charging me, nearly on top of me. The first jabbed at my face. I weaved, but before I could deliver a counterattack, the other Faceless kicked me in the ribs, sending me into a roll. It was as if the less Faceless there were, the stronger and smarter they got. I stood up and brushed the dirt and blood off of myself. The two that had coordinated the attack were approaching me once more.
It would be to my advantage to isolate each opponent into a one-versus-one fight, so if I pushed one of the Faceless back with a ranged attack, it might be easier to fight. Because I use mainly my right hand for serious blows, I charged a lethal shot in my left hand's index finger. While this would limit my hand-to-hand skills, I would still be able to kick to make up for it. My opponents were now in a formation of sorts; one in the front for hand to hand, and another slightly back and to the right for backup. I charged forward, and they matched my movements. As I neared the closer of the two Faceless, he prepared a fighting stance.
And then I jumped right over him. I aimed my finger at the Faceless who had hid in the back, now looking in my direction, confused. I stabilized my shooting hand by holding my wrist with my other arm. I fired the shot, and it made direct contact with its head.
The smoke from the blast cleared as I fell, and I saw something terrible.
The Faceless had survived my lethal shot.