บท 16: - Under Duress
Dante knelt down in front of the boy. "I'm Dante, and this is Sofia. How old are you, Min-jun?"
"Sixteen."
Sofia smiled. "It's nice to meet you."
Min-jun put his head in his hands. "My fucking head…."
"Sorry about that," Dante said. He still wasn't sure what he had done or how he had done it. Everything had moved so fast. "I didn't know any other way to show you that we're not worth the bullet. What are you running from?"
"Bounty hunters. Police. The army of Elendir. Everyone really," said Min-jun anxiously.
"Wait, what did you do?" Sofia asked warily.
"I…I killed the Prime Minister," Min-jun said, burying his head into his arms. "Vaas forced me to. It's gonna allow them to take complete control of Elendir. They didn't tell me all the details, but I know they're forming an empire, and will probably start with this planet as their home base."
"Fuck," Sofia blurted out. "Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me. I'm not getting involved with this. I'm not staying here either. Dante, come on. We're going, right now."
"Sofia," Dante fumed. "He's just a kid. We have to help him."
"No, we don't. He works for Vaas. They are pure evil, trust me. Their little 'gang' grabs kids from all around the universe, performing experiments on them, or even paying them a few coins to do their bidding. Fuck Dante, you were one of those kids!" She said, exasperated.
Dante was taken aback. "What…?"
"Just listen. If Vaas has their sights set on this planet, they will kill us both without hesitation, along with every other citizen living here. We don't have time to help this kid. It's time we worry about ourselves."
"Sofia…what're you saying? That Vaas made me…how I am?" Dante asked, clenching his fists. "Why do you do this? Why do you keep so much information from me? I deserved to know!"
"I saved you from them," Sofia said, her voice cracking. "I helped you when you were at your lowest. I got you out. I don't want you to be hurt again."
"You did that for me?" Dante asked in a softer tone. He wished he could remember it all, even if there was pain lurking in those memories. "Okay. Okay. I understand what Vaas has done. But this makes my decision even clearer. I needed someone to save me from them," he said, turning back to the boy. "He does too."
Sofia considered for a moment. "Fine, but we need to hurry. I don't want to stick around for when this place becomes a battlefield."
Dante reached out his hand and pulled Min-jun to his feet. "Take your gun. We're probably gonna need it."
Someone knocked on the door.
"Get back," Sofia said, pushing them behind her. A window shattered and a canister rolled next to Dante's feet. He kicked it away as smoke began to pour out.
The air began to thin, and Dante's lungs began to contract as he struggled to breathe. They all began to cough.
There was another bang, and a fist protruded from the door. The hand reached down and groped for the door handle.
Min-jun was the first to act. Setting his gun back on the ground, he charged forward. Dante watched as the boy who'd just been cowering in the corner pulled out a knife and stabbed it into the intruder's forearm.
There was a grunt from the other side but no visible reaction. The hand reached down and twisted the doorknob. With a shove, the door swung wide open, slamming into the wall behind it. A large man stepped inside. His head was shaved bald, a large snake tattoo running from his eyebrow down to his lower neck. His build was massive, standing close to seven feet tall. And he was buff. His muscles looked like they would escape the confines of his t-shirt at any moment. Hanging from the belt at his waist was a handgun and a small dagger. His left hand had been replaced by a large mechanism that resembled a claw.
The man looked down at Min-jun, his face stoic. Reaching over to his right arm, the claw closed onto the dagger and removed it from his forearm. Not so much as a hint of pain was displayed on his face.
Min-jun took a step back, fear playing across his face.
In a flash of movement, the claw threw the dagger in Min-jun's direction. It stabbed into his jacket and pinned him to the wall.
The hunter pulled out his interface while Min-jun struggled to pull the dagger from the wall.
"Min-jun Quon," said the hunter in a deep growl. "Your bounty is at 1.4 million Ƈ. That's quite a number. Alive only." He turned and looked at Sofia and Dante, who were still coughing on the ground. "Who're your friends? I don't think they have any bounties. No sense in leaving them alive."
He stepped toward them.
Dante stood up, putting himself in front of Sofia. "Get back. I'm warning you." He began to reach out to the hunter's mind. Maybe he could convince him like he had Min-jun?
The claw closed around Dante's face, lifting him from the ground. His legs kicked in the air as he held onto the claw, trying to pull it away.
"Dante!" Sofia screamed, standing. She punched at the hunter, twice in the abdomen. He didn't flinch. Instead, he backhanded her, sending her sprawling on the ground.
The claw began to tighten on Dante's head. His skull felt like it would explode.
A gunshot sounded, and Dante felt blood cover his body. His first thought was that he'd been shot, that the hunter had finally put him out of his misery, until the claw loosened on his head.
Dante dropped to the ground and looked up in awe as the hunter fell to the ground. Most of his face was destroyed, as if his head had exploded. Dante looked over his shoulder, where a bullet had lodged itself deep into the wall.
Min-jun stepped in front of him, the sniper rifle in one of his hands. He held out the other to Dante. "You okay?'
Dante accepted it gratefully. "Yeah."
Sofia groaned as she sat up. "I'm fine too, thanks for asking."
Dante rushed over to her. "I'm so sorry," he said, brushing a finger across the large red mark forming across her cheekbone. He barely knew this girl, yet he felt guilty. He hadn't been able to protect her. "Does it hurt?"
Sofia wiped his hand away. "I'm fine. We gotta get going, or else ten more just like him will show up. Follow me. We're going to get some weapons."
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