CH45: ESCAPE (PART 1)

*BOOM*

As soon as the bomb detonated, Dezhong darted back to the top floor where he was met by a crowd of scared civilians running like a scared herd of zebras. He tried desperately to push through the crowd in order to escape, but was instead knocked to the ground and nearly got stomped on.

Luckily, he was quick enough to roll over to the other side where Krista waited for him. "We have to go, NOW!!" He shouted while grabbing her hand and pushing through the crowd.

*FWOOM*

While Dezhong tried to push through the crowd, Krista kicked him as hard as she could right on his hip as she pushed herself and fell over to the floor, dodging a fireball that was aimed at her.

"GET HER!!"

Upon seeing Rhys, Kazak, and Alteca, Dezhong once again grabbed Krista by the leg and quickly dragged her through the crowd, out of the club and onto the sidewalk where there were less people. "Get up, Krista. We have to go."

*FWOOSH*

Rhys shot another fireball at Krista who quickly and swiftly jumped away. Dezhong looked over his shoulder and caught eyes with Rhys for a quick second. "He's with her." Rhys announced and Kazak quickly attacked with a high kick to Dezhong's face.

[-1O HP]

With just one kick, Dezhong was sent skidding on the concrete pavement while his face throbbed in pain. His mouth was instantly filled with blood while his vision became blurry for a while. Meanwhile, Krista managed to get back up on her feet and chose to run to Dezhong's side. She quickly helped him up as Kazak pursued them without haste. Although he was dazed, Dezhong was still able to get back up on his feet and started to run with Krista behind him.

"Follow me. We can lose them through the alleys." The two teens took a hard turn to the right and darted through the narrow alleys filled with dumpsters, homeless people and junk that was just thrown out. With no idea where he was leading his friend, Dezhong just kept running and taking different turns, hoping that he and Krista would lose the tail of the leader of the Serpents.

"Grab my hand." He said and pushed Krista in front of him and gave her a little boost while he prepared to used his charging heart skill. "Take a left turn when you see one, HURRY!!"

Krista soon left Dezhong behind as he intentionally slowed down to let Kazak get closer to him. As soon as he did, Dezhong turned left and leaned against the wall with his fist folded.

[Charging Heart Skill: Activated]

*PUNCH*

Kazak's face was met by the force of Dezhong's power packed punch which left him on the ground, knocked out and bleeding through his nose. 'I can't believe it worked!' Dezhong exclaimed with amazement. He didn't expect his trick to work so seeing that it did surprised him greatly. With his skill still active, Dezhong soon caught up with Krista and thankfully got to another busy street where they quickly hid in the crowd. Not wanting to be spotted, they both picked a spot where there was a crowd of men and women listening to a stand-up comedian who had his stage set up in a parking lot next to a grocery store.

'We did it.' Dezhong whispered in relief with his face still throbbing. He touched his cheek and felt the swelling gradually heal.

"That was a close one, wasn't it?" Krista laughed as she too breathed a sigh of relief. "If I knew this was what being in a gang meant, I'd have joined years ago. This exhilarating thrill has got my blood pumping like crazy."

"You two are not done yet." Jamal, who got back on the rooftop as soon as he heard the explosion announced as he witnessed what was going on by the restaurant. "Both leaders of the Cold Flames and Alteca have gathered their own gang members, and more are coming by the second. Are you two at a safe place?"

"We are." Dezhong replied. "But it's not going to be for much longer." All around them were men and women with either snake tattoos, fire emblems on their jackets, or the Alteca logo on their clothing and all of them had one finger in their ears as though they were receiving a message.

It was sort of a setup. Each one of these leaders had their people standing by, waiting to protect their leaders in case anything wrong happened. "Jamal, what's the status at your side? Can you make it to us?" Krista asked as she tried to conceal herself. Thankfully the dystopian dress codes did a good job at hiding their faces, but with a good enough description, the gang members would recognize them easily.

"Negative. There are too many of them. Wait!! It looks like the Altecas are leaving but more Cold Flames are heading where you guys are. Hurry up. You don't have much time."

"We can't move yet." Dezhong announced as he noticed a couple of gangsters closing in on them. "They've spotted us, Krista. When I give you the signal, I want you to scream "Mutant" as loud as possible."

The comedian continued with his show as Serpent and Cold Flame gangster surrounded Krista and Dezhong, making sure that there was no way out for them. Before planning on how he was going to escape, Dezhong made sure to check whether he had enough energy to use his charging skill in order for him and Krista to escape.

[HP:40/50]

[Energy:70/80]

'With the amount of energy I have left, I can use charging heart three more times and with the speed thing, I might be able to outrun some of these guys.'

Just at the right moment, the comedian delivered his punchline and made those attending laugh so hard and Dezhong gave Krista the signal to shout. "Now Krista."

"MUTANT!!" With a painfully loud scream, Krista was able to scare the crowd and have them panic. The laughs suddenly stopped as screams came out from the mouths of all those who attended. With this confusion going on, the crowd started escaping the parking lot and spread across the streets, bumping and knocking down the gangsters who tried to capture Dezhong and Krista,

"Now, Krista. Let's go." Dezhong seized the opportunity and together with Krista ran for a building that had a set of ladders that went to the rooftop. "Follow me. I know how we're going to escape."

'Just like earlier this week with the cops. I'll lose them through the rooftops and team up with Jamal.' Dezhong smiled, having a feeling that he was in his element.