And all eyes fell on the three of them. They couldn't use their affinities as these were just civilians—so this was going to be difficult.

They stared at them but hadn't moved yet, although the music had stopped and the people on the podiums had desisted from their activity.

Aegon's had began to warm up until Ren glanced over at him. "You wanna burn civilians?"

"What other choices do we have?" Aegon hissed. "We can't let him get away."

"Then use your other affinity, restrain don't harm." He added as his shadow crept up from the floor into a form of its own. "Get to the second floor, we'll handle the ones down here."

With a nod, Ren started to throw punches left and right, to whoever was standing in his way, and so did his materialised shadow.

The two slowly began to clear a path forward for Aegon, and so did Zara.

Von returned back to the rail, this time with a shirt on and fingers working up the buttons. Seeing his dummies ran through, he held the rail in anger and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Kill them now, by any means possible!!"

And the once dull headache intensified into a debilitating migraine. They clutched their heads and gritted their teeth.

"...!"

When it finally settled, their eyes swept across the room to see the hypnotised—some were breaking bottles, some grabbing glasses, others picking up heels for makeshift weapons.

"Oh shit." Aegon cursed. Turned back to the floor above. He had to get there before Mind-Forge escaped.

He moved. Leaving Ren and Zara, he phased between people, moving through punches and ghosting attacks.

Just before he got to the stairs, the throbbing headache returned—stabilising him. The patch would hold for now, but the headache wasn't going away.

So, he was going to have to do this the hard way. The bloody way.

The bouncer in front of him had gotten a taser, zapping it a few times for show. He stretched his arm to tase Aegon.

He folded in—avoiding the attack by an inch. Grabbed hold of the bouncer's arm and twisted, but he didn't budge.

He, instead, held Aegon by the collar and slammed him into a glass table—shattering it under his weight.

With numerous pieces of glass in his back, Aegon shut his eyes and groaned in pain. Oblivious to what was happening next.

As Aegon's head hung off the edge of the broken table, he raised his leg to squash his skull.

His eyes opened just in time—his hand shut out and connected with the man's balls, forcing him to stumble back.

He rolled off the table, hurriedly grabbed a long shard of glass and cut the big man across the thigh—dropping him to a knee.

"Arrgh!" Aegon yelled as he jerked his body forward to deliver a devastating knee, square to the face.

Blood seeped from his nose as he dropped to the side with a full thud. Aegon held his shoulder, wincing in pain and trying to catch his breath.

"Aegon! He's getting away!!" Zara barked at him while she bounced someone's skull off the counter like it was personal. "Don't let that bastard escape."

He gave her a short nod before making his way up the stairs, a few men lined up on the stairs to stop him.

Punch after punch, knee after knee—their numbers gradually shrank until, finally, he was at the top floor.

"No. No. No. Y— You wait right there!" Von stuttered and screamed, fidgeting back when he saw Aegon's figure. "Who the fuck do you think you are going after a Transcendent?! I'm a goddamn national treasure."

"... And this is what you do the nation that treasures you?" He gestured around. Scoffing, "you're fucking disgusting."

"Don't take another step forward." Sweat soaked through his sleazy Hawaiian shirt. "It's just a little harmless fun...

C'mon tell me what you really want?" He met Aegon, eye to eye. "Money? Beautiful women? Men? Power? I fucking have it all...

Just say the word and it'll happen—I'll make it happen for you, friend."

Aegon faced the floor while shaking his head. His fists folded at his sides as an involuntary heat wave warped his form. "What I want?... Is for you to die a slow horrible death."

He raised his hands, fingers already bubbling red and about to go off.

Before he could fire, a girl stepped in between them, her face expressionless, yet she pressed a broken bottle to her neck—close enough to draw blood.

Yet even as the blood dropped down her neck, her hands remained firm and steady.

Von stepped closer, standing behind the girl now. "You had a chance to get whatever you wanted—" he shook his head in disappointment. "—and yet, you chose to be self-righteous."

Aegon's face twisted. "You're supposed to be a hero and this is what you do with that position? Taking advantage of these people—"

"Shut up!" Von didn't let him finish. "I put my life on the line every single fucking day for these—" he glanced at the girl. "—idiots. I have the right to do whatever I want, now... Lower your hands."

"..."

He didn't. His hands remained firm and straight, aimed at Von.

Adjusting his glasses, he turned to the girl and made the command—audible enough for Aegon to hear despite the racket ensuing downstairs. "I want you to remember every single thing I've done to you, but don't lower the glass and stay perfectly still."

"...?"

The lady shut her eyes for about a minute. And then as she opened them, tears streamed down her cheeks. Her lips quivered uncontrollably and her breath hitched.

She let out a screeching scream. "No! No! No!" She continued to scream.

"Shut up." Von commanded smoothly and she obeyed. The tears continued but he'd given a command so she cried in silence.

He faced Aegon who was practically steaming, "That was your fault. Don't you see how much better it is if they didn't know."

"You bastard." He took a step forward but immediately stopped as he saw the girl press the bottle deeper into her neck.

Von smiled sadistically. "Look, nice try kid but how bout next time you don't sneak up on a Transcendent... In case you're confused, how bout I have Heather here read you her command—" he turned to her. "Heather, speak."

The girl's lips forcefully parted open. "He commanded me to kill myself if you get too close to him," her voice cracked as she spoke. "He commanded me to kill myself if you catch him, he commanded me to kill myself if you chase him."

"Good girl." Von added, tracing a line across her face that made her shudder. "And just for extra support, how bout some other friends."

Aegon turned around to see five men with knives up the stairs and slowly circling him.

"This isn't a movie, kid. The bad guys always win." Von made his last comment before turning around and following the back.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.