14 Limit Break

Dan's screams echoed through the room as his broken limbs twisted and healed themselves. The pain was excruciating, catching him off guard. He had never experienced anything like it before, and he struggled to regain his composure. With a fierce determination, he used both arms to lift himself up against the woman's force, his muscles bulging with power. He tried to turn and hit her, but she was too quick for him. Her instincts had sharpened, sensing his unexpected increase in strength. "What now?!" she exclaimed in surprise and annoyance.

"Another ability?!" the bearded man and the sunglasses guy chimed in unison, their voices thick with disbelief.

Dan bared his teeth, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts at once. He wanted nothing more than to charge at the bearded man, to make him pay for what he had done. But he knew he couldn't ignore the woman attacking him from the side. With a grunt, Dan dodged her next three strikes, surprising her with his agility. But she quickly recovered, launching a fierce punch at him with all her might. Dan grabbed it with ease, his strength surpassing hers. The woman's eyes widened in shock, realizing too late what Dan was trying to do. But before she could react, a sickening crunch filled the air, drowning out all other sounds. Dan felt something give way under the force of his grip, as bones shattered like glass.

"Aaaghh!!!" She screamed and tried to break free from Dan's grip, her throat constricted, and her eyes widened with fear. Dan tightened his grip, his fingers digging into her skin, and hurled her towards the wall behind him with a violent force that shook the very foundation of the house. The wall cracked and splintered as she crashed into it, sending a cloud of plaster and wood chips flying in all directions. She slumped down, dazed and disoriented, her body throbbing with pain. Blood trickled from her mouth as she tried to catch her breath, her vision blurring as she fought to stay conscious. But Dan didn't spare her a second glance, his attention already focused on the bearded man who had been watching the scene unfold.

"Shoot him!!!" The bearded man's voice rang out in the tense silence as everyone in the room gripped their automatic rifles and took aim at Dan. But before they could fire, he staggered back, his body wracked with pain. He steadied himself, his eyes narrowing as he realized he had been hit three times - twice in the chest and once in the knees. The pain only lasted a moment before a wave of numbness washed over him. His enhanced recovery stat had kicked in, and he watched with satisfaction as his wounds began to heal at an incredible speed. But his moment of triumph was short-lived. He immediately had to block multiple incoming attacks, his opponent's technique far superior to his own. She landed a series of blows that made Dan furrow his brow in frustration; He wasn't able to see the visions anymore.

Did the sunglasses guy activate yet another blocking ability?

Giving himself some space, Dan eyed him, but he seemed to be the same as before. After another exchange of blows, he finally understood - he wasn't getting tired even a little, which meant his energy stat wasn't being used. It was a blessing in disguise. The tremendous stat gap between him and his opponent meant he didn't need his abilities. And with his energy not being sapped, he could fight for much longer. As he realized the situation, his confidence and anger surged. With renewed vigor, he abandoned his blocking strategy and unleashed a punch at his opponent's abdomen, taking a blow to the face in return. He barely felt it while she staggered back, gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of her lungs. Gritting her teeth, she wiped the blood and drool from her mouth before staring daggers at him. The two of them continued their fight, moving at lightning speed as they exchanged blows.

The sound of destruction echoed through the room as the fight raged on. The force of their blows left tables overturned, walls cracked, and furniture in splinters. The TV lay shattered on the ground, its screen cracked and lifeless. Even the floor was scuffed and scratched from the intense battle. Dan also noticed that his opponent had another new technique - she seemed to be able to stack attacks in the same spot, just like he could in time dilation.

But with each use, the ability seemed to take a toll on her. She went from five simultaneous attacks to three, and now he only saw one attack. It was clear that the more powerful the ability, the more drawbacks it had. She started gasping for breath more often and looked to be in a worse state than Dan. He realized that he needed to end this quickly before he himself grew tired. Ignoring all of her attacks, Dan lunged at her, and they crashed through the wall and into the kitchen area. Before his opponent could react, Dan grabbed a knife and used it to pin one of her hands to the counter.

"Aaaghhh!!!" She screamed in agony as she tried to remove the knife from her hand, but Dan held her down and started delivering brutal punches to her face and abdomen. At first, she tried to block with her other arm, but eventually, she grew too weak to resist. Dan continued his assault until her face was completely disfigured and she lay there, whimpering in agony.

Finally, Dan stood up and grabbed one of her legs. She stared at him imploringly, her eyes barely open, as if begging him to stop. But he ignored it and delivered a sharp kick to her knee joint, causing it to bend horribly with a terrifying crack. As she coughed up blood, unable to even scream out in pain, Dan went for her other leg.

But before he could continue, he heard the bearded man's voice shouting once more. "There's no point in holding back now, shoot him!!"

Dan's heart raced as he spotted the men aiming their rifles in his direction. With adrenaline coursing through his veins, he decided to take cover behind the crumbling wall. But as he soon as he tried to move he realized that his leg was rooted in place. The woman had somehow crawled up to him and was clinging to his ankle, her grip like a vice.

"Aaaagh!" Dan screamed in agony as the bullets started raining down on him. He frantically tried to shield himself with his arms, but the bullets kept finding their mark. They punched through his flesh, leaving behind a trail of red-hot pain. He struggled to make himself smaller, twisting and turning in an attempt to evade the gunfire.

But the woman at his feet was still holding on, making it hard for him to move. In a fit of desperation, he used all his remaining strength to kick her away. His blows landed repeatedly on her arm and throat, each strike fueled by a fierce determination to survive.

Finally, after a few brutal attacks, the woman let go of Dan's ankle. He gasped for air and scrambled to find cover. As he looked down at his body, he realized that he was nothing more than a blood-soaked mess of flesh and bone. His left ear was gone, and his arms looked like they had been shattered into a million pieces. He coughed up blood as he tried to catch his breath, his vision starting to blur.

Despite the overwhelming pain, Dan's body began to mend itself at an incredible rate, the gaping holes in his flesh slowly starting to close. He wanted to wait until he was strong enough to fight again, but the bearded man had other plans.

"Move in closer and finish him off!!" He barked out an order, and the other men closed in on Dan, their guns at the ready.

Three of them charged straight towards the opening in the wall, while the rest circled around to the door.

Dan sprang into action as soon as he saw them get closer. He moved with lightning-fast reflexes, grabbing the gun of the nearest man and crushing his hand with a sickening crunch. He used the man's body as a shield, hoping to buy himself some time. But the others didn't hesitate to open fire, the sound of gunfire ringing out all around him.

Dan ducked behind the man's body, narrowly avoiding the hail of bullets. When he heard the guns click empty, he sprang into action once more. With a swift kick, he sent three of the men flying into the living room, their weapons skittering across the floor.

He turned his attention to the next man, punching him with a force that shattered his ribs and punctured his lungs. The man writhed in agony, choking on his own blood. Dan then grabbed the next man's head and slammed it into the wall, the impact leaving a small dent. He dragged him across the jagged surface of the wall, peeling off his skin and muscle tissue with every inch.

The man screamed in terror and pain, but Dan didn't stop until his face was a bloody mess of exposed cheekbones and raw flesh. Without sparing the man another glance, Dan turned his attention to the last man, who was trying to run away. He seemed to have run out of bullets and looked at Dan in horror as the bullet wounds healed rapidly in front of his eyes.

Fear seized him as he abandoned everything and turned around. But before he could take a single step, Dan's hand wrapped around his throat, pinning him to the wall like the other man before him. He screamed when something sharp pierced his back and emerged from his chest, pinning him to the wall like a bug in a display case. Dan surveyed the carnage around him, his eyes flicking from one fallen foe to the next. He finally spotted the bearded man with no one left standing between them. Marcus and sunglasses guy were gone - Dan paid them no more thought as he strode towards his target. To Dan's surprise, however, the man wasn't even frightened: instead, he challenged Dan.

"Come on then," he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "I've been waiting for this." He pulled something from his pocket and slipped it onto his knuckles, a vicious grin spreading across his face. "You have a sister, right? I'm going to make you watch as I torture her this time."

Dan boiled with rage, his face a distorted mask of pure hatred as he launched himself at the man. He kicked him hard enough to make him fly into the air before immediately grabbing him and lifting him up in one powerful motion. His fists pummeled the man again and again, pounding mercilessly until the mans feeble resistance was nothing more than a distant memory. Not content with this alone, he hurled him into the ceiling with every bit of strength he had. There was a loud thud as the man's body collided with the hard surface. Before his victim could come back down to earth, Dan struck once more, this time bashing his skull against the floor, rendering him unconscious.

But Dan wasn't done yet, he leapt on top of him and started pummeling him with unrelenting fury. His fists tore through skin, bones cracked and split under the onslaught, and his flesh smashed like soft butter. Blood spattered across Dan's face as teeth were reduced to dust, eyes caved in completely, and even the man's skull cracked under the force of Dan's limitless rage. But still Dan did not stop, there was no reason left in him but revenge as he heard once more in his head the voice of this fiend recount what he had done to Dan's mother. His hands continued to flail away like a demented jackhammer long after there was no sign of life left in his victim – just small twitches and faint whimpers that barely registered above a whisper. And still Dan kept going until there was nothing left but a battered shell of what once had been a human being.

'He's dead, leave him' The stranger's voice echoed in Dan's mind, and he was overcome with a sudden urge to stop. He looked around, searching for the source of the voice, but there was no one there. It was like the stranger was speaking to him telepathically.

Dan's gaze fell on the remains of the man's head, and felt a wave of queasiness flood over him. It was impossible to tell that it had once been a person's skull; it was now just an arrangement of crushed bones, blood, and teeth. Despite the gruesome sight, Dan felt oddly apathetic towards it. He glanced at his hands covered in the dead man's brain matter and blood but instead of feeling disgusted with himself like before, he only experienced sadness. That sensation of revenge he thought he would feel never came; he just felt grief. His reverie was interrupted by the stranger's words.

'Check on your mother, there might still be time left to save her' Dan's eyes widened as he realized that he had forgotten about her in the heat of the moment; he turned around and sprinted towards her.

His heart sank as tears swam in his eyes upon seeing her limp body. He pressed his ear against her chest and heard the faint whisper of a heartbeat, confirming that she was alive. He refused to give up hope and lifted her frail body into his arms, running outside to call for help - but the stranger's warning rang in his head like a siren, 'she has a head injury, don't move her too much'.

Dan hesitated for a moment, torn between his desperate need to get his mother to safety and his fear of making her injuries worse. But he was too consumed by panic to think clearly. He took off running towards the nearest hospital, activating his time dilation power to try to get there faster.

The world blurred around him as he ran, his heart pounding in his chest. But he immediately felt his energy drain away, leaving him weak and disoriented. He managed to keep going through sheer willpower alone, but the fatigue from using limit break for so long was taking its toll. His eyelids felt heavy, and he could hardly stand up anymore - he screamed for help in the street with one final burst of energy. The last thing he saw was someone wide-eyed with shock, already pressing the phone against their ear in an attempt to alert medical personnel before he lost consciousness.