Chapter 86

Beginning’s End 4

-:-

10 minutes later

Theo calmly sat at van like a good little kidnapped boy that he was.

While he could have started killing the thugs right then and there, he wanted to make sure that the battlefield has as little civilians as possible.

Thanks to his spy drones, he had an easy time keeping tabs on his surroundings.

Annoyingly, the thugs were very bold and took the roads with large concentrations of people such as busy streets with large numbers of restaurants, schools, etc.

Thus, Theo kept quiet and bide his time.

During this long silent ride, Theo made sure to pinpoint where his enemies were sitting.

Due to the annoying black bag on his head, he could only use his ears for the task.

Fortunately, these thugs were quite noisy and were already counting their chickens before they hatch.

There were 2 in the left, 1 on the right, the thug leader was straight across Theo and the last one was the driver.

Theo’s arsenal was only 2 throwing daggers.

“Surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned. Even with these handicaps, the odds are still stacked against them. Poor thugs.”

Theo didn't have to wait long for the opportunity to unleash his wrath.

The van took the exit and headed for the freeway.

While there were still quite a few civilians driving along with them, this was the least populated area their little convoy has taken.

Theo could wait until they reached their destination, but he didn't like the idea fighting in extreme numerical inferiority without his power armor.

He had to do it now and pray for zero collateral damage.

With one last deep breath, Theo’s attack was swift and brutal.

First, he threw his daggers at the same time with all of his might.

The one thrown by his right hand impaled its target in the head.

This was a lucky shot since Theo couldn't see anything.

The one thrown by his left hand brutally cleaved through the first via the lungs then through the spine of the second before impaling itself on the door frame.

Without missing a beat, Theo removed the bag on his head as he charged at thug leader.

Before thug leader could process what was going on, Theo’s adamantium fist shattered his skull in one blow.

In one fluid motion, Theo took a piece of thug leader’s shattered skull and used it as a shiv to stab the driver in the head.

However, the diver was able to react fast enough and used his free hand to block the blow.

This sudden attack caused the driver to accidentally turn the steering wheel in an erratic manner.

Theo let go of the skull fragment impaled on the driver’s hand, grabbed thug leader’s pistol and shot the driver in the head.

He quickly reached out for the steering wheel and tried to control the rocking van.

Unfortunately, he was a second too late.

The van slammed into the concrete wall on the outer side of the freeway.

Theo hid behind the driver seat and used it and the driver to absorb the shock of the crash.

Though a bit dizzy, Theo shrugged it off and scavenged all the weapons and ammo the thugs had in preparation for the inevitable battle with the corrupt police officers.

“5 Glock G19, 6 magazines with 15 bullets each, 1 butchers knife and a crowbar. Not the best spread in the world, but this should be more than enough for Santino and his men.”

Theo stayed inside the van and observed the outside via his spy drones.

As expected, the 4 police cars turned around the moment they saw the van crashed.

They stopped a bit ways away from the van and exited their cars with their weapons drawn.

There were around 16 of them with one wielding a Colt M4 Carbine assault rifle while the rest had Colt M1911 pistols. All of them wore bullet proof vests. Not the most cutting edge in law enforcement weaponry, but all were fairly common in the law enforcement business because they did the job well.

The M4 was particularly worrying since it can easily tear through the van like knife through butter.

The one that wielded the M4 was hanging a bit back and used a car door as cover.

The M4 needed to be silenced post haste.

For now, Theo silently waited inside the van for an opportunity.

After about a few minutes, 3 of the police were commanded to check the van.

With their pistols drawn, the 3 approached the van with all due caution.

Since the front part of the van was firmly embedded in the concrete wall, the policemen couldn't take a peek on the situation inside.

As such, they had to risk opening the van’s side door to see the situation inside.

This was a mistake.

The moment one of the officers opened the van door, Theo’s left arm shot out and grabbed his gun arm and crushed it in one brutal squeeze.

As the officer screamed in agony, Theo stabbed the poor man on the other arm with the butchers knife and used him as a shield as he exited the van.

Before the other two could react, Theo drew his gun and fired at them while hiding behind his meatshield.

Only 2 shots were fired, but both were lethal headshots.

Once outside the van, Theo made sure to keep the officer facing his fellow officers.

“THEODORE LORNE! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! RELEASE THE HOSTAGE AND LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS!” said Santino on a megaphone

“Oh? Playing the good cop I see. Good strategy Santino”

The main reason why Santino was actually acting like a police officer was because of the many civilians that stopped to take a video of the incident.

If it wasn't for that, Santino would have ordered his men to kill Theo even if they had to sacrifice one of their own.

1 less person = a larger cut for everyone

On the other hand, having videos showing Theo killing police officers will be the end of his superhero career.

By painting Theo as the deranged gunman, Santino was clearly hoping that Theo’s desire to be a superhero outweighed his desire to kill the corrupt cops.

One problem though…. Theo no longer cared of becoming a superhero.

While their deaths will have a certain negative effect in Theo’s future business venture, he was confident that he could find buyers among the more shadowy parts of the world.

As such, he showed them no mercy.

Theo aimed his pistol and blew a hole into the M4 wielder's head.

There may be around 20 meter distance between Theo and his targets, but such a thing was negligible with Theo’s cybernetic eye

Without missing a beat Theo fired 3 more shot with the first 2 landing their mark.

The third target was able to duck behind the car door fast enough to dodge the bullet.

Unfortunately for the third, his legs could easily be seen beneath the door.

Theo shot him in one leg, thus causing him to tumble on the floor while screaming in pain.

The officer’s pain lasted only a few seconds before his brains blown out of his skull

“SHIT! FIRE! FIRE AT WILL! KILL HIM!” roared Santino

Abandoning the whole good cop scenario, the officers unleashed a hailstorm of bullets.

Like the 300 spartans of the hot gates, Theo resolutely moved forward while his meat shield was pumped full of lead.

Similar to the martyrs and saints, the man absorbed any bullet that was meant for Theo at the cost of his body.

Some bullets did go through and hit Theo, however, most of their energy was dissipated when they hit the meat shield. By the time they strike Theo’s chainmail, the force was equivalent to getting hit by rocks.

It still hurt but nothing he can't handle.

On the other hand, Theo’s counter attacks was few but extremely lethal.

Thanks to the targeting assistance of his spy drones, Theo didn't need to poke his head out to aim.

Personally, he disliked using such a boring style of fighting.

There was a certain feeling derived from watching your opponents die with your own eyes rather than from a video feed.

However, Theo had to conserve his strength for now.

Santino and his thugs were nothing more than appetizers.

As such, Theo had to fight with the assumption that there will be more ahead.

The only time Theo’s pistol poked out from the meat shield’s body was the moment he fired.

There was no way to predict who was being targeted and when was the shot coming.

The first died from a standard headshot right between the eyes.

The second, a bullet on the neck and spine.

The third was able to dodge, but the bullet cleaved through a part of his brain. He was alive, but not for long.

And just for the heck of it, the forth was shot in the balls.

Realizing that the M1911 pistols didn't have enough piercing power, one of the cops made a mad dash for the M4.

He was shot in the leg, then the chest, then the head.

Of the original 16, there were only 4 left.

Greedy as they might be, the 1 million Rooks reward meant nothing if they were dead.

As such, they did what any sane human being would do in such a situation…. RUN!

The officers made an attempt to get into their cars and flee the scene.

Naturally, Theo had no intention of letting them live.

With words of appreciation spoken in his mind, he abandoned his meat shield and ran for the M4.

By the time he got to the M4, one of the cars were able to get some distance away from him.

The M4 had a maximum effective range of 500-600 meters.

The car was only 100+ meters away.

To Theo, this was practically point blank.

He fired only 2 shots.

The first one blew the driver’s brain onto the windshield.

The second cut the passenger’s spine horizontally.

Before Theo could bask in his handiwork, the screeching sound of burning rubber signalled him of the other car.

Charging towards him was the other car with Santino shooting from the passenger seat.

Fortunately, Santino was a bad marksman. None of his shots came close to hitting Theo.

Theo went to a nearby police car and used his left hand to rip one of the doors.

As the car was about to hit Theo, he dodged towards the driver side and swung the door.

It went through the windshield, destroyed the steering wheel and cleaved the driver in two.

And like any out of control vehicle, it eventually crashed into another police car.

Theo cautiously approached the passenger seat with the M4 at hand.

The door flew open as Santino tumbled out.

The moment Santino saw Theo…

“Let’s cut a deal! I’ll-” said Santino before getting hit in the gutt by a crowbar

Santino went down on all fours as he desperately gasped for air.

“Save your breath Officer Santino. You’re going to be screaming a lot later on. I hope you’re ready” replied Theo as he kicked Santino in the head.

He cuffed Santino using the own policeman’s handcuffs and threw him into the backseat of a nearby police car.

As Theo was about to ride off like a badass, a couple of concerned citizen tried to stop Theo by pointing their legally owned pistols at him.

Since Theo was in a good mood, he simply shot the guns out of their hands then proceeded to give them a something to remember him by….. A mild concussion.

With a satisfied nod, Theo returned to the police car and rode off.

He wasn't sure what was happening, but it was certain that his life will no longer be the same.