Lucid

Chapter 28

A/N- the song kinda sets a nice vibe for the chapter so consider listening to it before reading. It's "Beautiful Lie" by Monsta X

POV: Fixer
Off in a dark corner, a worker sits, wearing all black. However, this person isn't working for the stage company, and isn't in a corner of the room. Instead, he sits in the corner of the lighting scaffold, and is here working to protect people's safety and privacy. Sort of. Honestly I'm not really sure I'm here. I Just kinda decided to be come the guardian angel of Kpop idols, I suppose. But enough musing. Looking down, I can see everything. Fromis_9 finished their stage a few minutes ago, and headed back. Monsta X is dancing away, and I can see IVE's position as well. And best of all, I see seven of my eight targets heading down the stairs. They're very confident, so they're obvious. They'll take the center stairs, then go left and into the left side access door. From there, I assume they'll take the fastest route to the idol changing rooms. Given the poking around I did while I was waiting, I can only assume that the targets I've numbered as 3, 4, and 6, will probably try and spy on them while they change. But- that's bad. Hold on. They split, as three go left and four go right. Did they change their mind? Last time they said they were going to meet target #2 at the left door and he would let them in. What are the four doing, going to the right? I move towards the center of the array, having to now decide which group to take first. But that choice is made for me, as Liz suddenly stands up and starts walking towards the backstage, looking at her phone. She's getting a call, but she's also headed straight for four targets who will recognize her, and do who knows what else. I stand up, sprinting carefully across the steel beams of the light array, before skidding to a halt. I sling a wire around the closest support pillar, before tapping it to my belt. I look down, seeing Liz and the targets, still on a collision course. With no other options, I jump, free falling for a moment before the cord roll latches on, slowing me down just enough to save me from breaking my knees.

I land on the walking path, in a three point stance. I see the floor. Realizing I've gotten disoriented, I look up. I see the four in front of me, very startled. And I can hear Liz, behind me, also startled. Standings up, I lunge towards the first one, #6. A punch to the face sends him staggering backwards, and I spin that into a kick to #1's stomach. He collapses, and I keep moving. I put a hand on the shoulder of #3, and use it to vault onto #8's shoulders. I spin my torso around, and the momentum makes #8 fall to the ground while spinning 180. While he falls, I extend my leg, and place a kick to the back of #3's legs. Standing up, I see that a few of them are still moving, but there are security guards running up now. I turn to Liz, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"I've got you covered." She looks up at my face when she hears me speak, and I can see recognition bloom in her face.
"Fixer!" I wink, and then head towards the backstage. Tapping my wrist computer, it shows me a cycle of security cameras. #2, #4, #5, and #7 are all still moving, and they're too close to the dressing rooms for my taste. I break into a run, my feet slamming against the floor as I sprint down the hall. I slow to a jog as I make the corner, and still knock my shoulder against a wall while making the curve. I pass the lighting rig center, curve around a rack of stage elements, and nearly sip trying to turn past the hair styling room. But then, I reach my target- a moment too slow. Fromis_9 is walking out of their room ten feet in front of me, and twenty past them are the other four targets. I hear them shout, and I know I have to pull a move I haven't used in quite a while.

I sprint forward at maximum pace, and leap high into the air, knife drawn. I reach to one side and stab the knife into the wall, using it as a stable point to turn from. I'm now sideways, twirling in a circle as I fly over the heads of the alarmed girls. I kick my feet out and rebound off the wall, before managing to catch my momentum on the other wall with my hand. As I do, I rotate upright again, and land on the floor on the other side of them between the oncoming for targets and the idols. I do one more spin to slow my momentum, and halt. I'm a little dizzy from doing what closest resembles figure skating on a wall, but I know where the enemies are, and where the allies are. I reach to my back, and draw out a Sidekick, and point it at them. The four targets, already shocked by my acrobatics, skitter to a halt and raise their hands. I'm a little out of breath from all that sprinting, so I lower the gun and pant for a moment. That's my mistake, and they realize it. As soon as the gun drops, they rush me. My brain swaps to combat mode as it always does, and I number each one, high risk to low risk. In this case, who's closest and who's farthest. I raise my gun again, and fire a few shots into the first one's chest, and he falls limp immediately. But his momentum keeps going, and he's headed straight for me. I dodge to the side, but his shoulder strikes me, knocking me off balance and pushing my armed hand away. The second one throws a punch at my face, and I lean back, watching it go overhead. But this was a mistake, as the third one knocks my legs out from underneath me. This is unpleasantly similar to what I did to their friends. Except that was 4 on 1, and this is 1 on 4. I fall backwards, and my head slams the floor painfully. Number three starts moving past me, as two tries to kick my face. But I roll, and as two's kick hits my shoulder, I raise my arm and fire a shot into the back of three's neck. I hear a cracking noise from my shoulder, and realize that luckily, I was wearing shoulder armor, meaning that was his toes cracking. I grab his leg and pull it, and number two falls to the ground. Number four kneels above me, and does a strange move, trying to punch with the side of his fist. It hits my stomach, but doesn't do anything noticeable, it was a weak punch. I kick his face, then roll onto my stomach. I feel a sharp pain in my stomach as I roll. Number four must have poked something internally. I push myself to my feet, and raise my fists. Two is next to me, while four is in front of me. Two tries to throw a haymaker at my face again, but I brush it aside with my arm. Then they glance at each other. Then number four, with excellent form, puts his whole body behind a punch at my head, right in the center, while two goes for my waist. I shift sideways, trying to avoid, but four follows the move. I cross my arms, and I wind up sliding backwards almost two feet as I grind his momentum to a halt, probably leaving a nasty mark on my arm. I pull out my other combat knife, my first one still stuck in a wall, and slash his hand. He screams as I see tendons flare, and tries to headbutt me. I raise my arms as reflex, but feel guilty, as my hand is still holding a knife. He smashes his head against my armored wrist computer, and the knife pierces his collarbone. I shove him off, and he's definitely out of the fight. Lucky for him, it didn't hit in a dangerous spot on his collar. An inch left, an inch up, or an inch right, and he'd bleed out in minutes. Turning around, I see number two, suddenly reconsidering his choices. He starts running, and I see that the hallway is empty, but the idols are spying from around the corner of the hall. I grab the gun from where I dropped it on the floor, and two shots makes short work of him. Lucky for me, this gun is quiet, as it emits nothing but a small noise of air as it fires. And lucky for him, that I decided to load with non lethal ammunition today.

I walk over to number two, and realize he's holding a knife, with a decent amount of blood on it. Looking down further, I realize it's my blood, and I've been stabbed. I'm also dripping blood from an inch deep, three inch long gash up the side of my stomach. I'll have to deal with that later. Looking back, I see the idols, staring at me. Ah, one has a vlogging camera, that's bad. But I'm sure they'll edit this out. I flick two fingers from my brow, then walk off. By the time I've rounded the corner, I'm already checking for my exit, and watching the cameras. I slip out one of the many side doors, and walk down the street until my car pulls up alongside me. I walk to the driver's seat and sit, and direct the autopilot to go home. I grab the medical kit from behind the passenger's seat, and pull out some pieces. I tear open the cut in my blood soaked shirt, revealing the long, jagged gash down my torso. I spray disinfectant across it, before following that up with a splash of fluid to clot the blood vessels. Then I put a bandage overtop of it, and press down carefully, around the edges, before applying pressure to the wound itself. It hurts like all hell, but I keep holding it, knowing I need to keep it closed. Using my other hand, I grab my belt, and pull it loose. I slide it behind me, around my waist, before releasing my other hand and pulling the belt tight over my bandage. With that covered, I look around. A couple dents and dings, some bruises, and minor cuts. Nothing major, and by that, I mean that the knife wound was the only one that could kill me. Leaning back, I sigh gently, as I slowly relax, letting my tiredness get to me. As I begin to drift off to sleep, I say,
"I should go talk to IVE..."

A small voice echoes back, "input received. Adjusting destination."

A/N-
Yeah, I know Fromis_9 didn't have a comeback. The timeline is already not perfect. This is by far, not the biggest thing I've messed up.