And right on time, the wall split and Genewall security rushed into the room, guns blazing. I pushed Iseult into a lab room, the resulting force sending me into the opposing room. Concrete crumbled as bullets tore through the space we’d inhabited. My hallway desk took the brunt and splintered into a wooden mess.

The Squat roared, rushing past guards and into the hall. The creature barely fit the compound. Its head brushed the hallway’s ceiling, damaging lights as it passed. Its skin shrugged off stray bullets. Squirming green tentacles studded with teeth carved deep furrows into walls, and massive golden eyes depressed into its body left no blindspots.

I covered my nose as it drew near. Its noxious stench combined the worst parts of rancid squids and rotting cats. If I barfed, Genewall would receive a strongly worded letter from my lawyers.

“Stop!”

At a guard’s call, the security team held their fire and the barreling monster froze outside our rooms.

“Neutralize!”

The Squat howled and tentacles squirmed around each other to seek us. Unfortunately, the Squat was too big for me to send it somewhere else, but as its tentacles neared, I teleported them to the sides. Iseult dodged grasping tentacles by a needle's point. Every time they came too close, I subtly supported him. The way he contorted his body… sweet baby Jesus.

The monster jerked in place as its tentacles slammed into walls. Dust rained from the concrete ceiling and painted the monster grey. It focused its innumerable eyes on me and released a piercing screech. Oh~, someone was mad. Could it sense my teleportation gift? The Squat quit chasing Iseult with its tentacles and focused its full attention on swatting me.

The hallway couldn’t hold this massive creature. As it moved, walls turned to rubble. Iseult slid under its body as it swung around, and he sprinted towards the security team. They fired at him, but he slipped into his invisibility cloak and stayed low to the ground. In panic, the leader sprayed his assault rifle in a circle.

“Defend!”

The Squat froze. Clearly, it wanted to rip me a new one, but some force compelled it to listen to orders. Interesting.

The monster bounded away from me. Iseult hugged the wall as it passed, his dash halted. The Squat shielded the guards from the front, walls shattering from its stampede. A stray tentacle slapped an assault rifle from a guard’s hands, but before he could pick it up, the Squat crushed it under its feet.

“Move! Defend!”

The monster took two steps forward and created a dense tentacle barrier. The guards took position, stuck their rifles through small holes in the barricade, and bombarded the hallway. Under the focused assault, Iseult ended his charge and dove into a nearby lab room.

“Agh!”

A lucky bullet struck his right shoulder as he fled, and he tumbled to the floor. Red blossomed through the invisibility cloak, defeating its purpose. Those guys messed up.

Anger constricted my chest. Iseult’s blood woke me from enjoying the spectacle. Right, people got injured in fights. I never internalized the danger because my recent bouts were always low stakes.

I’d had it, they lost their clothing privileges. I teleported their clothes and guns away. They formed a neat pile a few meters past the Squat so the guards would be unable to retrieve them. It took the men a second to register their nakedness before they caused a ruckus.

“Move!”

The Squat did nothing.

“Move damn it!”

Still nothing. The commander felt at his waist and realization washed across his face. With this insight, he paled.

“Retreat! Leave your gear and get the hell out of dodge!”

As if it sensed his fear, the Squat sniffed the air and salivated. It licked its lips, revealing massive canines and three rows of teeth. Ah, this might have been bad.

The security team broke ranks and sprinted for the secret entrance, but the monster spun in place and snatched three men into its tentacles. Toothed appendages cut deep wounds into captured guards. As the tentacles brought the guards closer to its nightmarish maw, they screamed and cursed.

My bad. I was angry, but that didn’t warrant their deaths. I teleported the guards into the streets three at a time. The monster howled as the guards escaped its grasp. Chill. Live, laugh, love and all that jazz.

Unfortunately, the Squat wasn’t a mature adult. As the last guard popped out of the facility, the monster threw a tantrum, stomping all over the place. Oh no, it crushed the guards’ stuff. Whatever would I do? Hehehe, this was their penance for going against great supervillain Chaos Theory.