MOLM : CH 13 - WORM THINGY (Patreon)

Ever since he was a child, Kevin had dreamed of flying, but not the kind where you sit inside a lump of metal in a tiny chair with little to no leg room; that didn't seem like flying at all.

True flight was supposed to liberate, not constrict, and now that he was in a world where it was possible, that dream had awakened again.

Orochi in the games was capable of flight, or at least levitation; his feet rarely touched the ground. Kevin was looking forward to the day he would be able to truly fly.

"Let's go! The next ability isn't far now."

But the problem was that it was already evening and there was no sunlight falling inside the room anymore.

After thinking for a while, Kevin decided it was time to head out.

Although Chris said that they were in this together but Kevin did not want to drag the man into his troubles; the man had already been kind to him, too kind in fact, and Kevin didn't want to overstay and find out that it was all a facade.

He left a note on the bedside table and teleported out of the house, trying to catch the last rays of the setting sun.

...

"Hey Kid, you hungry yet?"

Chris called down towards the basement, thinking that the boy must have surely tired himself out by now.

Chris, not getting a response, checked up on the boy and was surprised to discover that the basement was empty.

"What the hell!" He exclaimed, looking at the deep hole at the corner of the room.

"What in hell.."

"You in there kid?" He asked, peering down at the hole.

Chris flashed some light from his hands into the hole but still couldn't see the bottom of the hole.

"Where did this bastard go?"

Checking upstairs, there was still no sign of Kevin, but he found a piece of paper on the bedside table.

As his eyes scanned through it, his brow couldn't help but frown.

...

Dude! You won't believe what just happened!

A giant ass worm thingy just crawled out of your basement floor. It totally scared the shit out of me. But don't worry, I scared it away.

Anyway, my arm's feeling a lot better now and while your whole talk about how we're in this together and stuff was very touching, I think it's better if I handle things on my own. See ya later, big guy, take care.

...

"This little twerp," Chris muttered, crumpling the piece of paper in his hands.

Chris's face was a mix of anger and worry. He was not worried about the boy, but about himself.

The boy didn't have long to live anyway, and that's why he wanted to take him some place safe to live out the rest of his life. Once there, he would then decide whether to inform Magneto about him.

Even though Kevin was just a clone, he was still Magneto's son and Chris wasn't sure how he would react. He still hadn't decided whether to inform him because he hadn't decided whether to get involved with the Brotherhood again.

But now, with Kevin out on his own, the initiative was no longer in his hands. If Kevin was a weak and helpless mutant, like he had thought before, it wouldn't have been a problem.

But looking at the bottomless pit in his basement, Chris knew the boy wouldn't go down without a fight and when things blow out of proportion, it would undoubtedly reach Magneto's ears.

...

While Chris was debating whether to go after the boy, the boy in question sunbathing on the roof of an abandoned building, trying to catch as much energy as he could from the setting sun.

As for hiding, Kevin knew it was a futile; after all, it was the government that was after him, and they would find him eventually. Only by getting stronger could he ensure his freedom and survival.

Just as Kevin was about to get up to look for a place to spend the night, he saw a strange black dot. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at the strange black dot that seemed to get bigger.

"Fuck! It's a surveillance drone!"

[Black Particle Experience +1]

Kevin didn't hesitate to fire a black particle wave at it, knocking the drone from the sky; but it was already too late.

[Suspicious individual spotted on the rooftop!]

[Running facial recognition! Standby for confirmation!]

[Target is a match! Identity Confirmed!]

[All teams, be advised! Suspect Located!]

[Sending target location to all teams!]

The surveillance personnel had already notified the ground team, and they were already on their way.

Kevin had already left the roof to enter the building. Through the gaps in the covered window, he saw multiple armoured vehicles approaching the place.

At the back of one such vehicle, the team leader was addressing the entire team through the comms.

"All right team, let's go over the details one more time," said the stoic middle-aged man with a serious look on his face. George was under a lot of pressure; he had already gone through the mutant's details multiple times.

"The mutant can absorb sunlight, but just cause it's dark doesn't mean we can take him lightly."

"He's also capable of short-range teleportation, with a range of two metres, and emitting high-energy beams from his hands with a range of up to six meters."

"Everybody maintain a distance of at least ten meters at all times. Is that clear?"

"CLEAR SIR!"

"Good, I don't want any mistakes."

"Don't worry sergeant, we're prepared for his every move," said the youngest member of the team, who was already sick of hearing about the mutant's abilities; they had gone through this multiple times.

"Sniper team, what's your status?" George asked through his earpiece.

"Sniper team in position, sergeant."

"Do you have visuals on the target?"

"Negative, sergeant. The windows are covered."

"Switching to thermal vision, stand by for confirmation."

"We've got one heat signature on the top floor, sir. Do we have the permission to shoot?"

"Negative! Hold your fire till my signal. We need him alive," said George. Although they had snipers in place, that was only for the worst-case scenario. Their orders were to capture the mutant alive. If possible, that is.

While the strike team was getting in place, the police were setting up roadblocks to avoid a repeat of the last time.

Chris, who had also seen the commotion, was stealthily moving towards the building where Kevin was.

"Don't die too soon kid," he muttered under his breath.