Blake shut his eyes as he felt his skull shift and elongate around his facial organs. He stayed perfectly still and let whatever was happening be.
There was no point in fighting when they were clearly awakened ability users. If anything, it would only enrage them, 'And who knows? They might take their time to kill me.'
Soon, however, he realized that he wasn't dead or close to being such. "Huh?"
He opened his eyes and was surprised to see that he was still alive.
"That is enough." 024 commented and B let go. The latter stepped away from him while the former stepped closer.
024 placed his hands on Blake's jaw but the latter felt nothing upon contact. In fact, his whole head seemed to be numb.
'What happened?' He desperately wanted to ask but knew that he would get answers eventually.
B abruptly bowed and exited the cabin, leaving 024 with him.
Blake shifted slightly under the intense gaze of his contractor.
"Black—" 024 started and paused, "— you are certainly not what I was expecting."
Blake raised an eyebrow, 'What was he expecting? Is it that my pseudonym doesn't match my face or is that an underhanded means to say I've disappointed him?'
But he wasn't done. "When your boss told.me about you, I was expecting someone far more exceptional, powerful, maybe even older." The last part made Blake scowl.
024 seemed to lock eyes with him through his glasses, "I suppose I expected too much from a legacy."
Those words made his blood run cold and the color drain from his face. "What?" He couldn't help but ask aloud.
"Why are you acting surprised? Didn't your employer tell you that the only reason you got this job is that you're a legacy?"
Blake gritted his teeth. All the pieces finally clicked together. "No, he didn't."
Inside, he was fuming. 'That round ball of fat! No wonder he sought me out! He knew my dad so he knew of me being a legacy. So much for respecting my family.'
024 let go of him and reached for his pocket, pulling out a phone. He suddenly took a picture of Blake and showed it to him.
The latter's jaw dropped. 'So that was what he was doing?' His face has changed from what it once was.
It wasn't too big a difference from how he originally looked but to someone who hardly knew him, he looked like someone else. His nose was longer and more crooked.
Even his jawline and bone structure had become sharper. His skin seemed to have become slightly tanned but the biggest change was with his hair.
The black strands were now bright blond. He seemed to be some sort of rich, pampered brat who had never known any struggles. 'I guess that is the dress code for this party.'
B walked in through the door and closed it behind him, drawing all attention to him. He turned to 024 and bowed, "Sorry sir but it seems that I'll have to suggest we make a move. We have been found out..."
His boss sighed. "Let me guess, we are being surrounded. No matter. Take him to the Blue region, I'll handle them."
Blake looked between the two of them and wanted to question what was happening but decided otherwise.
Questions equaled wasted time which equated to death.
B nodded and gripped Blake's arm. He ran straight through a wall and continued sprinting through the forest while being dragged from behind.
Tree branches, roots, and the occasional insect smacked into him, leaving faint bruises across his skin. They healed as quickly as they formed and despite running for a good minute, he wasn't exhausted.
'There is no way my endurance is natural. And who is this guy to just abandon his boss?!'
Blake craned his neck back and his eyes nearly popped out of his skull. Massive black tendrils reached into the night sky, sweeping into flashes of light and crackling energy from the distant forest.
He stared at them until he felt a massive force pull him. Turning to B, he finally noticed that the cabin was out of sight.
In fact, they seemed to be somewhere else completely. Over the horizon, the tendrils had vanished.
Blake winced as he tried to remember the tendrils he had seen. 'What was that and why does it hurt to think about it?'
"H-how did he get here?" He eventually asked. From his face and the thug that had been killed, it was obvious that B's ability had to do with flesh manipulation.
Teleportation was certainly out of bounds.
"It is just as I had presumed. You stared at the boss's tendrils. Don't ever do that again. You're lucky enough to have survived being so close to them." Those words were enough to satisfy any latent curiosity he might've had.
He wouldn't be like the metaphorical cat and let curiosity kill him.
Blake sat on the forest ground and ran a hand over his face but felt nothing. 'How did I end up in this situation?'
Being hunted was a strange concept to him. Perhaps it was everything his dad had taught him that allowed him to remain fairly calm.
B sat as well and spoke, "Perhaps you do succeed, I'd like to advise you to find a job or something. You'd be well compensated for your task when you are done."
Blake tilted his head both from the shock of the powerful, flesh-manipulating ability user engaging in conversation with him, and his advice being good.
"But I doubt that Big will give me anything." He chuckled and B's eyebrows furrowed.
"Isn't it obvious?" The criminal laughed a little. "Your boss clearly sold us out and if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that the boss will survive and once he does, your boss is as good as dead."