The Undying | five hargreeves

exploded

"Why am I here?" The supposedly casual barista asks, wiping puke from his mouth after just time-traveling with us through the briefcase.

"nin-nin~" Ruda explains in one word, doing random ninja poses. "in a nutshell," I nod approvingly, making Alma sigh with a pained expression. "Am I at least getting paid?" "no," "nope,"

"But we WILL kill you if you don't cooperate." Ruda says as if it's an everyday thing, throwing up ninja signs. "what she said," I point back, nodding in agreement.

"Okay, let's just get it over with." "You sure you won't puke? "positiv—"

Whoosh

"BlergHHHHh—" I hastily cover his mouth before he can even let it out, feeling a slimy texture against my palm. "Can't we just walk?" he says quietly, tears forming in his eyes. "It's faster this way, plus we can't let you overexert yourself." I tell him, reminding him that this is a high-security prison we're sneaking into.

"Yeah, this isn't exactly a walk in the park." Ruda backs me up, pouting her lips to point towards the minefield ahead of us.

Normally, I'd just let Ruda walk through the entire thing, but with the whole situation, I don't think I can. "Can you mask the explosions?" I hear my airhead partner surprisingly make a point. "I've never done such a thing, but sure."

"Yeah right, they'll still hear—"

Kaboom!

My jaw drops, watching pieces of her fly everywhere. 

"Okay, this one's safe!" I whip my head around, watching her—who was now back in one piece—stomp on a patch repeatedly. 

I can only throw my head back, thinking 'this is going to be a long day. . .'

--

"go to sleep," I whisper, breaking the prison guard's neck. "sorry~" I hear Ruda say from behind, bending down to close the corpse's eyes. "can I?" I look around before nodding to Alma, finally giving him a break from the exhaustion of making us invisible this whole time.

Grrrrrrr~

"Hah, let's quickly get our guy—I'm hungry." "Want me to kill you so—" "My hunger resets? no." she cuts me off, pushing me ahead to get the job done already.

I turn around to the cell's entrance, grabbing Ruda's tie harshly before teleporting right inside.

"we're here," I say quietly, warily observing the white padded room. "hey," I call out upon not getting a response, whipping my head back only to see a surprisingly empty space, her black tie being the only thing left.

I tightened my hold on it, anxiously looking everywhere in the room for any signs of her—there were none.

"Ruda? This isn't funny." I grit my teeth, on the verge of losing it.

Drip

I eye the bright drop of red liquid in contrast to the completely white room, slowly bending down to inspect it. 

Blood. . . but from where?

I'm certain I got in the room with Ruda, as well as I'm certain our target's in their cell with us.

Could it be the target's power that's playing with me right now?

Just what is it? Hallucination? Illusion?

Cough

Just then, I hear a faint sound of a cough, making my eyes widen at the realization. . .

Is it still invisibility?

If that's the case—

I blink towards where I think the sound came from, swinging my arms around and reaching for something within the area.

—physical contact from something or someone that's not under Alma's power makes the invisibility null.

A relieved smile subconsciously escapes from my lips, finally catching sight of her.

I immediately frown at this, realizing something crucial.

Even for just a little while, I was worried.

I was worried she was completely gone.

. . .and that I'd be alone again.