Odd Path

Resurgence

John looked up towards the bag to see four fingers hanging on to the bag for dear life. He then moved his eyes to where the man was laying after being knocked unconscious by the sound waves. John had never seen such indestructible determination in a person's eyes as his eyes locked with the man holding his head up high, his willpower flowed through every inch of his body. John immediately began tugging on the bag with some considerable resistance on the part of the robber, considering he was only using one hand. John then began to climb up the ladder to deliver the finishing blow. After climbing up, he stepped forward, preparing to stomp the man's head along with his scary determination. Just before he was about to let it loose, however, the man quickly rolled out of the way of the boot and quickly covered his face with his arms. John then slammed his brown boot on the floor, smashing in one of the floorboards, leaving a sizable hole that exposed the arid, dirt-filled, desert ground below the old shack. As John pulled his leg up, he winced and groaned in pain as his leg was sliced by multiple stray wood chippings.

"This guy. He doesn't just predict what I do...This bastard can see the future or something. He not only predicted when I was going to attack, but he also predicted where the wood pieces were going to fly off to and blocked his face accordingly. This guy's dangerous. I've gotta finish him off now." John said as he finished healing himself up with his tuning fork once again.

The man then grabbed onto a window sill and was able to muster himself up and, like a trained boxer, immediately got into a fighting stance as his dizziness faded. He inched closer to John as John did the same. John, also in his fighting stance, racked his brain, grasping at ways to be able to defeat a Nor ability such as the robbers at such close combat. His thinking time came to an end as the man began throwing hooks after hooks. After the first couple of punches, John ducked under the curving fist and prepared his knockout uppercut to end the fight early. He then reared up his entire arm and lowered his body, and in only a split second, his fist flew through the air towards the sky at unbelievable speeds. But his fist hit nothing. The man had used his Nor to see his attack coming and used the information to dodge the attack by moving to the left and rotating his body just enough to completely dodge John's deadly flying fist, and prepare his counterattack.

"Too slow." the man growled as he dodged to the side. He then moved forward and brought his fist towards John's body at lightning speed.

Just as it made contact, The man heard a crack echo from John's ribs.

"That's gotta hurt." The man uttered.

With multiple broken ribs, John flew backward and tumbled onto a broken piece of the floorboard.

The man then walked up to John and crouched down. He grabbed his head a made John look at him.

"You fought hard. Real hard, actually. Harder than I've ever seen anyone before. You've got some good intuition and fighting prowess. Unfortunately, it's all gotta end right now. I'm sorry. Wasting such good potential over some gold bricks. What a shame, but an order's an order, I'm afraid." The man said as he picked up the revolver and pointed it at John's face.

His cautious nature sprang up and he decided to use his nor one last time and see into the future just in case John pulls something out of his sleeve. As the man begins to use his Nor ability, he began having trouble deciphering what he looking at. Most of the time he could see what was going to happen for about 2 or 3 seconds into the future, but here it was all red and gooey. The man pondered what was going on until he heard a loud rumbling sound coming from the kitchen. He looked over for only a second or two and until he looked back at John. Awaiting him as he looked back is John with a large, yellow, reptile in his hand pointing it at him. Before he had any time to react, the man was suddenly blinded by blood that had sprayed out from the lizard. The man then tumbled backward with his hands on his face, desperately trying to pry the liquid from his face.

"Texas horned lizard. A reptile with a very peculiar defense mechanism to say the least." John said as he got up and stole the revolver for the man.

John then shot all the bullets that were in the revolver out the, already broken, window. Except for one. He then began spinning the cylinder of the revolver, almost as if he were playing Russian roulette. Before the man could fully recover his sight, he began to speak.

"But your ribs, I heard them crack as they broke into pieces in your body. How are you still able to walk, or talk?!" He questioned loudly.

"Are you sure the sound you heard wasn't the sound I made when I destroyed the floorboard with my foot? They sound kinda similar, I guess." John replied.

John had kicked down into the flimsy floorboard with his boot just as the robber connected with his punch, tricking him into thinking John's bones had broken. Knowing that the desert was home to many crazy species of desert wildlife, John had waited for an opportunity to use a Texas horned lizard's unique defense mechanism of spraying its own blood out of its eyes to his advantage, guessing that the man could only see the future through his own eyes. His gambit had paid off.

After the man was able to clear the blood from his eyes and stand upright, he immediately put his hands up at the sight of a shining silver revolver being pointed straight at his head.

John, calmly and quietly, began asking a series of questions. akin to an interrogation.

"Tell me your name, and tell me why you've come here," John ordered.

The man stayed silent.

The peculiar sound of a gun cock, echoed throughout the small shack.

John was no longer playing games. The man knew that.

"My name..." The man hesitated. "My name is Wren Frame. I was hired by the leader of the "M.A.P" criminal organization to come and dispose of you take your goods. He paid handsomely and paid in advance. I, naively, took the job, thinking that it would be a one-and-done deal. It seems I might've miscalculated on that last part. As a mercenary, I am always prepared to deal the finishing blow on my target. Young, old, man, woman. It's all the same to me. However, we mercenaries have always known to expect the outcome where we are the ones who are dealt the finishing blow. As such, I will not plead for my life, nor will I expect sorrow for my death. All I truly wish for, is a quick and honorable death, from a quick-witted, and honorable man such as you, John Trail." Wren Frame uttered as he lowered his head.

An ear-piercing bang echoed throughout the shack.