Soldier of Time

LXIV: To The Offense (2)

Hanibal pulled a remote control from his desk and pressed a button that turned on all the front lights in the warehouse, and for a second left young Simon completely blind.

He looked away for a second, but then the entire thickness of his eyes turned dark, and he managed to see through the glare of the lamps without problems. With his rifle, he began to destroy the reflectors.

Hanibal got up, while saying, “It won’t take long to destroy them, and you have to go to the back. Troy and Karen have not appeared yet, and they are dangerous.”

Hanibal peered into the action taking place downstairs, and he saw Jack making efforts to protect Gia and saw Johan and Jerome were attacking mercilessly.

He raised his voice to everything he gave and said, “Activation 206 primary defense target!”

When saying those words from one of the boxes on the main floor of the warehouse, a robot emerged, looked at its activator, and then recognized from its database the people it had to protect. Without wasting time, the robot threw itself at full speed against Jerome.

The young man looked at him, and his body could not react, but Johan, in the form of a beast, intersected the robot on his way. They both fell to the ground.

Johan, threw away the robot, before he got up and asked in unmasked annoyance, “You again? How much junk like you does he have?”

On the second floor, Steven and Hanibal were starting to go to the back of the warehouse.

Carolina was with them when Hanibal said again, “Activation 207 seek and destroy.”

From the office, another robot started to get up, but the killer and his two companions moved away in the direction of the side exit.

“What are we going to do, boss!?” Carolina asked, keeping her head down from Simon. “Are we going to abandon the others!?”

Steven looked at Hanibal, who stopped in the act, saw how in his mind his own ideas confronted those raised by that subject and how it had happened until now that subject’s ideas prevailed.

Hanibal said, “I must protect myself, and I am the only one that matters!!”

Carolina felt her own mind churn, and the idea of protecting her leader was the central axis of her life. Steven knew that no one in that group could think clearly, and although her mind was also being affected at the time, they were unable to argue with the strange logic that his companions presented.

As they advanced, they listened to the strong battle on the main side of the warehouse, and as they headed for the side exit, they both saw Troy and The Deer blocking their way.

The Deer blocked their way, pointing his gun at them.

Carolina raised her hand to prevent any bullet impact and said, shouting in disbelief, “How are you still alive!?”

Next to him, Steven saw his partner and said, “Go away. If you go, they lose.”

For a minute, Hanibal’s eyes returned to normal, his smile widened, and the idea of facing the Deer once more made his body vibrate, but in a split second, the idea of protecting himself assaulted him when Steven put his hand on Hannibal’s shoulder which made a disgusted face but immediately began to run.

The surprised Deer looked at him, and looking at Troy, he told him, “I’ll take care of these two. You go and follow him.”

The Deer nodded and began to run, chasing Hanibal up the series of bridges and iron railings that made up the second floor of the place.

When Carolina tried to activate her power to prevent it, Troy was transported towards her, and kicking her in the chest, and he knocked her down. Steven tried to reach Troy with his hand, and the young man carried away.

When he saw him, he said, “Old friend, give up. I really don’t want to hurt you.”

“That will not happen,” the man replied with a smile.

Behind her, Karen appeared and embedded a knife in her abdomen before slamming it down. The doctor did not take two seconds to heal that wound and see Karen directly in the eyes.

She said, “I’m sorry, Troy, but this guy won’t get out of here!”

Troy wanted to respond to Karen, but a force that he did not see where it was coming from made him rise in the air until he hit the side door that he was protecting.

The man landed on his backside and looked at the young Carolina, who said, “Don’t ignore me, you black scum!!”

The young man smiled and said, “Do not believe for a second that I will not hit you for being a woman...”

The boys prepared to fight while Hanibal began to approach the back of that warehouse. A shot made him hide and draw his weapon, and the Deer walked in his direction down the stairs while pointing at the murderer, who seemed to want to leave that place.

As Slevin advanced, he said, “Where are you running? You left the exit behind.”

“I do not know. My head is a disaster. I only think of running away,” Hanibal said with total honesty. “There is not even a way out in this place.”

“What’s wrong, Hanibal? Are you running? That’s nothing like you.”

“But you surviving a deadly poison, that’s everything like you.”

“That poison gave me a lot of life. I think I should thank you.”

“There’s a way you can do that, Deer. Here we are, both completely alone. It is our opportunity.”

“I’m not going anywhere. If you want to do it, then go ahead!!”

Behind the column, Hanibal was stunned. Something suggested that he flee. A feeling that he knew was not from him indicated that he had to escape.

“I understand. You know everything tells me that I must flee, but in the end, a man is what he is.”

And at that moment, Hanibal came out of his hiding. The blond young man looked at the Deer’s weapon and took his own. The two men facing each other kept their arms parallel to their bodies.

A smiling Hanibal said, “You say that running away is not my thing, and you’re right, but following me and looking for a fight, that’s not your thing. Deer.”

“I know, but in the end, you will realize that I am still the same.”

And with those words, the men raised their pistols and began to move and fire. They both searched for cover while shooting their opponent without success. When they were covered, the Deer made his movement left to face Hanibal, and when he saw him, he stopped time.

The assassin pointed in the direction of the mercenary, but when he released the time, he slid on his knees, avoiding both shots then aiming at Hanibal.

He released two shots from his weapon, but the assassin had already foreseen that, and with a somersault, managed to evade the shots.

Hanibal watched as the Deer took cover, waiting for the moment to leave. Out of nowhere, a gun magazine flew in the direction of Hanibal, and its power was oriented to avoid all the shots from Deer.

For that reason, this attack took him by surprise, causing him to retreat. The blow was dry and made him lose sight of his opponent. When he regained his sight, the Deer had him in his sights and fired, and the shot flew to Hanibal’s shoulder, lightly brushing him.

The murderer saw how his life was in the hands of the Deer and said, “Did you missed?”

To which the Deer replied, “You forgave me twice, and we are even. Now I will kill you, and all debt will be paid.”

Hanibal looked at the Deer with a smile, and removing all the bullets from his gun, he said, “You may not like the result.”

The killer had run out of bullets and pulled out a survival knife, as he said, “Your horns against my knife, Deer.”

The Deer did not have many bullets in his weapon, but he would only need one to finish off that subject. His knives weighed on his body, and he silently yelled to take that challenge.

The Deer was aware of the risk that this entailed, but a voice in his head urged him to be who he was.

The Deer emptied the gun and then threw it away from him.

He felt the weight of all his weapons and taking the two Kukri daggers, he said, “This time, there is no forgiveness for anyone. This will be the last time, Hanibal King.”