347 left me outside the Commander's office. Leaving me to wonder and dread what awaits me behind the door. I was preparing myself to open the steel door when it opened by itself with a hiss of steam, and a voice came from inside.
"Come in, kid."
Whoa. Did Brimstone have a sense boost or something?
I walked over slowly, and Brimstone gestured for me to sit beside Sage. "Hand over the phone."
"Phone? What phone?"
He just glared.
Dammit!
I took out the phone from my pocket and kept it on the desk.
I could visibly see his rage and frustration build.
"Do you know how screwed you are, young man! Not only did you break protocol, but you also endangered this whole organization! You risked Valorant Secrets and, not to mention, illicitly liaised with an organization actively trying to spy on us!"
I flinched with each sentence. But my rage flared too. And I now understood that unless I stood up for myself, I was never gonna be free from whatever the hell it is this man has planned for me.
"You know what Fuck you! Fuck your protocols, and Fuck Valorant!"
Even Brimstone flinched at the fury in my words. More from surprise at anyone having the nerve to talk back to him than anything else. But he did flinch.
"You kidnapped me off the street for who knows what offences simply for knowing a few names! Every agent in this place volunteered. They are paid for their services. I am a fucking slave to your whims! Knowing who you guys are does not make me a criminal! Fuck half the world knows about you guys! Jett and Phoenix's faces were plastered all over the news after that fiasco in Venice. I just know a little more than the average Joe."
I paused to catch my breath.
"Oh, and about your precious protocols. Please kindly show me the papers where I signed my life away to you."
I expected Brimstone to lash out. Or at least get angrier. Because even I hadn't realized how angry I was at the unfairness of it all until I started mouthing off.
But Brimstone went really still.
Sage tried to speak up but he silenced her with his hand.
"You don't need to commit a crime to become a danger to us!"
Shit! The proverbial gloves were off so to speak. So I did what I had been planning to do.
STATUS
Code - Mirror
Name - Not Set
Core - Iron 1
Shield - Iron 1
Radiance - 100/100
Power - Mirror
Trait - Undying
Abilities
Crest - None
Quell - None
Echeleon - Healing Orb(Charged)
Xenith - Not Dead Yet (10000/10000)
Shards - 500/500
Shards - 5511
Book - Not Dead Yet (Clove)
Healing Orb(Sage)
I might have had more shards by converting the radiance I generate. But Clove's crazy exercises rendered any hope of that useless. I did not want to overwrite the two good abilities that I already had. So I decided to go with a good Crest instead.
And while the new sensation enveloped me, I gritted out these words.
"Fine. Then let the courts decide that."
I smiled.
"Courtney, Call 911."
My phone beeped, and in that signature voice, the AI assistant(Alexa ripoff) answered, "Understood. Calling Chamber."
So the bastard did rig the phone!
Anyways, this was actually better. I already knew Valorant had enough pull that a 911 call won't trouble them at all. I had been counting on Chamber knowing that I called 911 to get both him and the authorities involved.
Brimstone's eyes widened, and he leapt across his desk at the same time I did. I got to the phone first. But before I could stabilize, Sage had me locked in a chokehold and pinned to the ground.
The commotion drew in the agents on standby into the room. And as soon as the door opened to let them in, just like they had when Clove shot me. I grinned.
"Bingo!"
And then I disappeared in an eerie puff of darkness and appeared behind the guards in the corridor outside Brimstone's office, exactly in the posture I had started the teleport in.
I quickly got up.
"Toodaloo!"
And before anyone could get their bearings. I ran, leaving behind a gaggle of bewildered agents and a fuming Brimstone.
Click.
I put the phone to my ear.
"Bonsoir, mon ami. Quelque chose ne va pas ?"
I could almost hear the amused, smug smile through the phone.
"Nobody learns French that fast, Chamber! Just tell me if you can help or let me call 911."
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I rounded a bend as glass shattered around me. I think I got hit on my back. Thankfully, the shield was active.
"Of course, of course, my friend. I can help you."
I rounded another corner and heard Brimstone's voice over the PA system right as the alarms went off.
"Mirror's on the run! Tranqdarts only. I want him alive. He knows short-range teleportation. Take anti-gatecrash measures."
Hey! Shrouded step is Omen's signature. Don't confuse it with Yoru!
I doubt he was confused, though. Yoru had more teleportation power. Meaning he probably just meant maximum security.
I slipped underneath a closing steel door and came out into the open. Man, Clove's reckless lessons were coming in Handy. Plus the confidence of having a charged Ultimate.
My target was the training ground that was on a corner of the facility.
"From the sounds of it, you are still in the Headquarters, though."
"Obviously."
"That is a problem."
I saw a guard about to shoot and teleported behind him.
"Can you solve it?"
"No!"
"Then let me call the police!"
"I'm afraid I built in the feature to call me when you dial 911."
"Then what use are you?"
I rounded a corner and ran into a guard coming from the other side.
We both grappled while the phone fell to the floor on speaker.
"Now, now, mon ami. No need to be so rude."
I got a punch to my face, but the shield held. I was in no way good enough to overpower a trained military man with a little bit of training.
But with my immortal body and my shield. I could most definitely overpower him. Which I did. And then I used his card to swipe the last gate open.
"Fuck Chamber! Stop wasting my time! I'm not at a dinner party!"
I picked up the phone, and two VAs came around the bend and started shooting.
I instinctively raised my hand to protect my face and fumbled out, Dammit, I was out of Radiance. I'll have to start liquefying shards.
And seeing as each Shrouded Step charge took 300 Radiance. I don't have a lot of moves left.
"Okay, okay. Listen friend. I cannot help you if they capture you again. Nobody can. Get out of the base and then let's talk."
Click.
Dammit! Fuck!
I liquefied the 7 shards and the shield flickered back to life. But I was finally in the training grounds now.
I glanced at the high wall out in the distance. And then disappeared into a vortex of darkness. When I reappeared, I was standing on the edge of the wall.
Freedom!
"Damn, rookie. Didn't think you'd really make it this far."
I found Jett twirling a knife on her right hand.
She was sitting on the wall I had been standing on, leaning against the watchtower, one leg casually swinging in the air.
"I am assuming you are the Anti-Gate crash measures."
She smiled.
But instead of answering, she grinned and spoke into her earpiece.
"Omen, I found him."