Chapter 4: Close Call
March 29th, 2026
As Tariq pulled 04 close to him—
Zero Four spoke through a chat bubble.
"Don't forget the white string, 04!"
04 suddenly drove a knee into Tariq's gut—just enough to force him back.
A small grunt escaped Tariq as he spat out a faint trace of blood.
Without hesitation, 04 dashed backward and yanked down on a thin, fragile-looking white string shimmering in the air. It was tied to the twins' invisible autobus.
The string, connected to the collar around his neck, snapped tight—pulling him back as he vanished into thin air along with it.
Aboutrika rushed to Tariq's side, pen knife in hand.
"What's goin' on here?"
Tariq exhaled.
"Nothing much… but wait—where's Harith?"
"…He went to take a piss."
"So—"
Out of nowhere, something hissed.
HISSSS!
A faint black spray burst toward both of them. Tariq and Aboutrika immediately began coughing as drowsiness crept in. Aboutrika collapsed first.
Tariq caught a faint distortion—something invisible.
With what little strength he had left, he reached to his waist and squeezed something brown toward it.
(Not sure what that was… I just… hope my chocolate did something to the sprayer…)
A second later, Tariq fell to the ground beside Aboutrika.
Moments passed.
Then—04 reappeared.
He glanced at the brown liquid that had been thrown at him. It had done nothing.
"Tsk. What a desperate attempt. Though… I got 'em, 40."
Standing there with a cracked helmet and a bruised face, he spoke again through a chat bubble.
"Should I extract their Dispositions now… or wait for the guy who went to the bathroom?"
"04. Don't get cocky. The wise move is to extract them now, just in case."
"Hmm…"
04 looked down at the unconscious bodies of Tariq and Aboutrika.
…
…
"Nope. Too much work extracting them one by one. I'll wait for the other guy and—"
He paused.
"…Wasn't there a girl wearing red with them?"
"Hey, 40. Stay on guard. I'm sure I saw a girl in a red sweater—and she disappeared."
40 nodded from inside the car, then leaned out wearing pirate-like glasses, scanning the area carefully for Amina.
"And speaking of which…"
04 noticed Harith returning.
He quickly moved, silent as ever, slipping behind the wreckage of the broken autobus.
Harith adjusted his pants as he walked back—then froze when he saw Tariq and Aboutrika lying on the ground.
"What?!"
Sweat formed instantly.
(What the hell happened to them while I was gone?!)
His posture tensed.
He rushed forward—but a gust of wind cut past him.
In an instant—
A black blade pressed against his throat.
The same black spray was aimed directly at him.
"Game's over, little guy. Submit… or you'll join your friends."
Harith slowly raised his hands.
His eyes drifted downward—to 04's feet.
"Just spray him and end it, 04!"
"You know what? Screw this. Mutakamel didn't say anything about bringing you in dead or alive!"
(Wait… who is Mutakamel?)
The thought flickered through Harith's mind.
04 clicked the spray—
Nothing.
"What?!"
He panicked, trying again. Still nothing.
Harith's eyes widened for a split second.
Then—
He moved.
With a sharp kick, he knocked 04 backward.
Zzzzk!
A burst of blue-gray electricity shot from Harith—striking 04's foot.
Instantly—
Flames erupted across 04's body.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"
Harith relaxed slightly, a small smirk forming.
"Well… good morning to you too, Mr. No-Brain-Only-Brawn."
"T-THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME?!"
The chat bubble turned jagged—letters sharp and aggressive.
Harith pointed, electricity crackling along his finger toward the cracked helmet.
"Simple. When Tariq punched you earlier—your feet scraped across the spilled gasoline."
"And your spray not working? Tariq probably used his hardening chocolate to block it."
Harith briefly recalled Tariq mentioning his fight against Gateau.
Around them, the air ignited—the gasoline vapors catching fire.
Suddenly—
04 lunged.
"THEN YOU'RE GOING DOWN WITH ME!"
"You really thought I wouldn't expect that?"
Harith clenched his finger into a fist, electricity snapping wildly around it.
Tsk… tsk… TSSK!
And then—
"Sparking… PUNCH!"
His fist slammed into 04's body.
A massive shockwave burst outward.
The force launched 04 backward at catastrophic speed—like a bullet fired from a gun.
"And not only that…"
Harith snapped his fingers.
Electricity surged again—overriding 04 mid-flight.
BOOM!
An explosion ripped through him, the gasoline amplifying the blast.
By sheer coincidence—
04's flying body collided with something invisible.
The twins' autobus.
The impact—combined with the explosion—shattered it completely.
40 was thrown high into the air before crashing violently to the ground. His armor cracked, his body battered from both the explosion and the fall.
"Cough… cough…"
Bruises and wounds spread across him.
Then—
He felt it.
A presence.
Right behind him.
To be continued…
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Character Spotlight:
None — all new characters were introduced in the previous chapter.