"Aggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! "
Hearing the distant scream get louder and louder as the body fell to the ground, I slammed the ground again, opening a Door in the bathroom that dropped my clothes, shoes, and baseball bat beside me.
Then, focusing on the sensation of the guy upstairs, I forced open a Door underneath him and dropped him above the pile of his friends, feeling my energy drain even more.
My vision immediately went black, and I could only lie there panting as my limbs twitched tiredly.
Crunch-
Crunch-
Crunch-
"Ugh"
Gritting my teeth as I heard footsteps from the outside getting closer, I slid my shoes on and began communicating with the feather to rearrange the interior subtly.
I couldn't shift the storage area completely underground, but I collapsed the steps leading downward and erased the door.
If the guy came at me again instead of running away, I would collapse the entire building, and come back after 24 hours had passed.
If the place was already destroyed, I doubted people would come to ruin it, but even if they set the whole thing on fire, the feather would be safe.
Probably.
As for me, I would just hide near the lake, which still seemed like a completely dead zone despite things moving around in other areas.
The sensation of gentle pecking on my face and the emotions of worry and anger brushed over me from the feather.
The little feather was concerned and wanted to help me fight, though I did not understand how that was possible.
I was thankful that it had prompted me to get the Doors' ability and even helped me use it on others.
Otherwise, I would have struggled more than I am right now.
"Just hide away and properly absorb the seed. The stronger you get, the better for me." I mentally brushed it away and held my breath while observing the bigger guy slowly clamber up from the pile of bodies.
He spun around in a circle before his head snapped up, turned towards me, and stepped forward.
As I suddenly felt the shape of the pen beneath my palm, a punch snapped my head to the side, and I flew to the side, smashing into another wall.
What the hell?
How had he moved so fast?
Or even found me? He shouldn't be able to see.
Unless the glasses guy wasn't dead and could transfer his vision?
Feeling my ears ringing and blood pooling in my mouth, I immediately leaned sideways and slashed the pen directly across the fist that was coming for my face while trying to move my body away and open a Door beneath me.
CRASH!
A large, meaty fist crashed into the wall while another grabbed my ankle as my body slid headfirst into the Door.
"Got you, you damn bastard. You're really making me work for those coins. It better be more than a 100."
Staring at the crazed grin and feeling my ankle being twisted and crushed as he dragged me out of the Door while trying to free his arm, I immediately used my free leg to smash at his face.
As he made to headbutt me, I quickly clicked the pen and stabbed his arm while lowering my foot to uppercut his chin.
SNAP!
"Arghh!"
I felt a couple of toes crack, but as the pen sank in easier than expected, I used the opportunity to drag it from forearm to wrist, alternating which tabs I pressed while kicking at his face.
Get ink poisoning and die, you damn bastard.
"Arghhhh fuck!" his hand spasmed, but he held on tightly, squeezing my ankle and freeing the arm stuck in the wall.
As another punch slammed into my crossed arms, making my right arm completely numb, I mentally called for the employee handbook, hoping it would smash into his head like a meteor.
Unfortunately, it appeared gently in my left hand, and I had no choice but to use it like a shield to guard against the punch coming to my face again.
THWACK-
"Arghhhhh fuck My hand!! I'm going to kill you!"
When knowledge met power, the clear winner was power.
The hand turned into mincemeat when it hit the handbook, splattering me with chunks of flesh and blood.
As my stomach heaved from the metallic smell and hot texture, I gripped the pen tightly and stabbed toward his throat with all my might.
While my hand was easily batted away with a loud crack, I swung the handbook at his head, causing his head to twist in an odd direction before his body dropped like its strings were cut.
"Huff huff huff huff."
The only sound was my harsh breathing as I tried to stand up while watching the body carefully.
Seeing that he wasn't moving, I examined the somehow pristine handbook, hobbled over, and smashed his head in once more before collapsing on the ground.
Lying there, I began taking stock of my body.
Towel? Still on my waist.
Body? In immense pain.
Even if I ignored the numerous minor wounds, I wasn't doing too well.
My entire right arm was numb.
It wouldn't bend, and it felt like my wrist was broken.
The toes on my left foot ached, and I couldn't arch it properly.
My mouth was bloody, and it felt like a tooth was loose.
My head was pounding, my vision was blurry, and it hurt to take a deep breath.
The buzzing and bells in my ears were playing "Jingle Bells" at 100 volume.
My right ankle?
I rotated it before wincing.
The best-case scenario said this was a sprain, but the experience said it might be a fracture.
To be honest, I wanted to just lie here until I somehow recovered, but sensing movement outside and vaguely hearing the sound of human voices, I forced my body up and began rummaging through the guy's pocket.
I pocketed the wallet, but unfortunately, the cell phone was smashed.
As for the clothes? Let's respect the dead and leave them alone.
More importantly...
I was looking for the coins that these guys kept mentioning, but I couldn't see them. I was hoping that the Employee handbook was wrong but there was really nothing at all.
Where was that stupid atm that was supposed to be delivered? Maybe I had to tap his wrist?
"Jake? What's the progress? The connection broke?"
Hearing the nasally voice, seeing the glasses guy stagger toward the doorway, I opened a Door straight to the basement, muffling my groan as I slammed into the bare concrete ground.
THUD!
"Ohhhh! Fuck that hurts."
How could it not?
My body felt like a literal mess.
Forcing myself to stand, I limped to the door containing the sanctuary spark.
Seeing nothing but a neat stack of wood filling the room, I nodded in approval before shutting the door and removing the seams, making it look like a plain wall.
Let's leave the appearance of an unfinished basement and collapse everything when the people rushing around get here.
With my body aching, I slowly put on my sweatpants and top before wrapping the towel and a wooden plank around my ankle as tightly as possible.
Panting from the exertion and blood rushing to my head, I just focused on the sensation of multiple footsteps walking around the second floor.
Somehow, more people had come in.
Even more distantly, I could feel more people moving around the land, although the lake area was suspiciously empty.
The one figure I could sense around it suddenly disappeared.
Crash!!
As I felt the walls and furniture being destroyed, I could feel the Sanctuary Sparks' anger and the building's urge to begin restoring everything back to normal.
"Rather than being angry, I'd prefer if you could leave with me. Can you come out? I technically own the land?" I asked the feather in a hopeful manner, but felt a firm no.
It was impossible to shift from the main building once settled, and the feather was bound here.
Instead, the feather wanted to rebuild and fight back.
"Little Oasis. Don't fix it; just leave it all broken until I return. The guard dog should be here to protect you, maybe, and I'll leave, too. Just absorb that seed and power it up properly. Got it? When I come back, let's plan our revenge."
Ignoring the worried pecking sensation against my face and the slightly silly vow of revenge from the feather, I opened a Door to the back area where there weren't a lot of people.
Leaning against the wall temporarily to catch my breath, I smashed my fist against the external wall, forcing everything to collapse inward. The roof, the bathtub, the bed—all the walls, the ceiling, and the flooring imploded in one big mess concentrated around the central area, hopefully burying everybody inside or at least dissuading them from sticking around.
Then, with all the speed that I could muster, I began limping for the lake while mentally cursing H.E.L.P Apocalypse Co.
Truly, this was a horrific birthday.