Luc tried to slowly move to the side so he had the ability hunter on one side and whatever was behind him to the other side but the ability hunter wouldn’t let him.

  Luc was relatively sure of the ability hunter’s ability but not hre conditions and restrictions.

  “So uhm how about you tell me why you do this?” He asked, trying to get the ability hunter to talk and hopefully reveal his ability. The ability hunter, however , just stayed silent and observed while moving in such a way Luc couldn't get an advantageous position.

  “Tss, this always works on those adventure series…” Luc complained.

  The media had been vague about the ability hunter, Luc thought, as ‘uses crowbars’ was very unspecific, he noticed. Surely the expert might know more than just ‘uses crowbars.’

  Luc made the firs move and flung a microwave. As expected, the ability hunter smashed it but this allowed Luc to move to and advantageous position and flung a blender.

  This also got smashed but grass shattered within and some stuck out and cut the ability hunter.

  “Hehe, flimsy boxes are finally becoming useful!”

  The ability hunter lifted the half smashed microwave with 2 hands and flung it toward Luc.

  Luc sidestepped it and kept an eye on it but from his eye corner as he was also looking at what the ability hunter was doing.

  Finding out the ability of the opponent was half the fight and Luc knew that. The other half was finding the limitations and how creative the user was with them.

  Luc’s ability was quite straightforward, so he didn’t have many ways to hide what his ability was.

  Luc clumsily flung a large elongated box that didn’t get far and another microwave.

  “Ugh, it seems my success rate is dropping…” Luc said, trying for another bluff.

  The ability hunter was likely also trying to figure out Luc’s limitations, so he was attempting to plant ideas in the head of the ability hunter. Whether it would e successful or not was yet to be seen.

  The ability user stretched out his hand and the earlier flung object moved, causing Luc to react..

  “Hah! Eyes over here!”

  Something slammed him from the front, as he had been paying attention to what was going on his side, and he got blown back.

  Luc rolled over the floor and flung a mug.

  “Ugh, I need to be careful with my refills and I ran out of microwaves…” Luc said softly to himself as he stayed on the ground but alert.

  The ability hunter was flinging himself around and slamming into Luc but how was still unknown.

  “Maybe ‘fetch and pull?’ and he can cause something to fetch him? Maybe? Explains how he got over the wall and can still move so fast…”

  This all didn't do much as Luc needed to find the limitations or restrictions.

  “Although, flinging oneself, seems quite dangerous to me… if only I had a fridge…” Luc looked around, but he was too far from any containers containing old paper, and he knew of only a few brands that put fridges in boxes, so finding one was like winning the jackpot.

  The plastic wrap of the golden fridge Genie had given him came to mind. It would have decided the match in an instant. Be it crushing or launching his opponent. Refilling fridges was currently his strongest move, which was the whole reason he was on this nightly raid; to find fridge boxes.

  Maybe I should have looked around at Trashformers…”

  Another reason popped in as he had no transportation and needed a bicycle.

  A crowbar got flung at Luc which he narrowly avoided. He moved sidewards so he could keep an eye on the ability hunter and the crowbar that had crashed into a wall and fallen on the ground.

  A toaster box got pulled out of his backpack, refilled and taken out of his box.

  “Heh, you’re going to toast me?!”

  The abilityhunter moved toward Luc as she stretched out his hand.

  The crowbar on the other side moved and flow toward him, or rather, toward the ability hunter.

  Luc gambled and caught the crowbar which flew past him, pulling him along. It was a surprise to Luc and the ability hunter but Luc had no time to let this get to him. The toaster in his left hand got extended toward the ability hunter, causing it to appear Luc had punched the ability hunter in his gut.

  A grunt escaped from the ability hunter as he flew backward and rolled over the ground.

  A sharp pain came from Luc’s right shoulder, which got warm and wet.

  A black dagger was sticking out of his shoulder, explaining the sudden symptoms.

  “When did he… ugh…”

  The toaster got dropped and Luc reached his left hand to pull it out but paused. Wouldn’t he bleed out if he pulled it out?

  “Hehe, you thought I had only crowbars?”

  The ability hunter rolled over and stretched out his hand. The dagger in Luc’s shoulder vibrated, spreading pain through the right side of his body before the dagger flew out of his shoulder toward the ability hunter which made it fall on the ground next to him.

  Luc collapsed to his knees and tried to stop the blood coming out from his wound. Weakness and dizziness mixed with the pain, and Luc was at a loss for what to do. Should he run? But was that wise? Calling someone would reveal that he broke into the mall. What were his options?

  Luc winced as he reached for the toaster with his left hand, grabbed it and threw it at the ability hunter’s head, missing by quite a bit.

  “Shit!”

  The ability hunter had yet to get up as he was continuously coughing and crumpled to the ground.

  Luc’s right arm wasn’t responding well, which scared Luc. He wasn’t sure if this was normal or not or if the damage was larger than he thought, the stab would was deep after all.

  Lethargy set in and Luc needed to make a decision. His left arm reached for his right pocket with a lot of pain and clumsiness.

  He messaged the first person in his contact list; help, Frozen Star mall, behind bicycle shop. And sent it.

  Luc didn’t have many friends, and his contact list started at the ‘C’.

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  His left hand moved to his backpack again and grabbed the first box he could and flung it like a frisbee toward the ability hunter and refilled it. The box got refilled midair and a boxed clothing iron landed a hit on the ability hunter, knocking him out.

  “That…was unexpected…”

  A sound startled him and he slowly moved to the side to find a spot where he would be hidden from sight. He did ask for help, but it was too soon and there was no guarantee that person would come.

  “Who’s there?!” a deep voice said, as a flashlight swept the area.

  A choice presented itself to Luc. He could reveal himself and tell the truth or stay hidden.

  The man with the flashlight was wearing a uniform, so it was likely he either was patrolling or had come here due to the noise they had made during their fight.

  ‘But what if he asked what I’m doing here’ was the thought that stopped Luc from revealing himself.

  Getting in wasn’t particularly easy so it would be suspicious that he was inside the closed mall.

  “What?!” The man said as the flashlight illuminated the knocked out ability hunter and pulled something out of his pocket.

  “An unconscious, possibly dead individual in the Frozen Star mall, sector 6, I need assistance.”

  A firearm got drawn, and the man walked around, cautiously pointing his flashlight and firearm around to get a better look at the scene.

  “A fight? Blood traces…”

  The flashlight followed the blood trail to Luc’s hiding spot.

  Fate had decided for Luc as it was unlikely he could hide or escape, without leaving a trail behind and prepared the best victim act he could think of.

  He turned his head away and squinted as the large container got pushed aside and hte bright light shone upon him.

  “Found another individual, heavily wounded. It appears to be a stabwound.” The man said through a black device and crouched down. “Are you okay? Help is coming. Can you tell me what happened if possible?”

  “Ugh… he stabbed me… don’t let…. Him out of your sight….he’s… the ability hunter…”

  Luc glanced toward the police man who stopped shining the flashlight in his face, to check wether he was being believed when he noticed a silhouette behind the police man.

  Luc swept his leg as hard as he could, to floor the polie man and have him thus evade a dagger swipe to the neck.

  He groaned as the pain in his shoulder radiated through his torso and tried to get a box out of his backpack.

  The police man rolled to the side, reacting to the ‘clang’ the dagger made as it hit the container to the side and faced the adversary.

  “What?! You weren’t unconscious?!”

  The ability hunter didn’t respond and flung his dagger, which the police man deftly evaded.

  “The ability hunter… is an ability user… keep an eye on thrown objects…” Luc said as he tried to fight against his body trying to make him black out.

  A shot went off, but the police man missed as something hit him in his back.

  His protective clothing had protected him from injury, the impact to his back had thrown his aim off.

  “Thank you. I’m sorry, I can’t do much for you, besides taking the fight elsewhere, help will drive soon, please hang on.”

  Several shots missed intentionally to make the ability hunter back off and take his distance. The police man slowly followed the ability hunter but ensured that he moved the container back to give Luc full cover.

  “Gravely injured civilian behind the gray ‘bicycle world’ container in sector 6 of the Frozen Star mall. Make haste, engaging the ability hunter, which happens to be an ability user himself.” Luc heard before the sounds of shots and grunts continued.

  The fight didn't conclude near instantly, which concerned Luc. A firearm was supposed to even the playing field between ability users and normal people, but there was a problem a firearm couldn’t overcome; mana.

  Covering one’s body with mana could protect them easily from attacks that weren’t mana related, so while relatively useless against other ability and magic users, it would help greatly against firearms.

  The police force knew this and their training should have included that, but theory was always different from practice and the continuous shots and grunting proved that the ability hunter wasn’t at a disadvantage and was possibly in an advantageous position.

  An unskilled ability user would have fallen here, but the ability hunter was what appeared to be a skilled killer. It wouldn't take much imagination that this wasn't his first time encountering the police force.

  Luc tried to command mana, but since he had never attempted to do so, nothing happened except for cause him pain as he was overexerting himself.

  ‘This is where I die’ was what Luc thought as the lightheadedness became severe when a woman dropped down from the nearby roof.

  “You said ‘help’ but I didn’t expect it to be this severe…” Charlotte said as she helped him up.

  “What…are you doing here…”

  Charlotte showed him her phone and the message he had sent.

  “I called some special Lambert forces before jumping down as it doesn't seem that that policeman will hold out for much longer. I also have a vehicle ready to get you to the hospital, isn’t the power of money not wonderful?”

  “No…hospital…Genie…”

  “Very well, do know that I want an explanation afterward. Bear with me as this will hurt but three isn't another way.”

  Charlotte activated a device that created a strange bubble around them, and she helped Luc walk away, who continued to grunt in pain.

  “I know that you can’t help it, but this concealment bubble doesn’t conceal sound.”

  Luc got lead away slowly from what had turned into a battlefield. The policeman was still fighting bravely and had some minor cuts. He was limping a bit, but still had a fight in him.

  A finger of the ability hunter was bleeding profusely as it had been shot off, but besides that, the ability hunter hadn’t accrued any more injuries.

  The edge of the mall got reached after what appeared to be forever to Luc, and they walked through an opened gate and got helped into a small red car.

  Luc’s eyes opened and he shot up. “Did I die?!”

  He looked around to recognize what was Genie’s storeroom. He rubbed his shoulder which was healed and tried to get off the couch but failed.

  “Ugh, all that and nothing to show for it… No fridge and no bicycle…”

  Luc tried to get up again, staggered and fell back on to the couch.

  “I suppose Genie only healed me but didn’t account for the blood loss…”

  Deciding that complaining would be ungrateful, he laid back down and stared at the ceiling.

  “Ah, you're awake. Did I fix you up properly?" A familiar voice said.

  "Thanks again for fixing me up Genie. I'm just feeling a bit anemic.”

  Genie's face showed confusion and looked at Charlotte who stood next to him.

  "He lost a lot of blood. It's likely that your wish didn't cover blood loss.”

  "Oh okay, I'll try to add that next time. So what adventure did you get yourself into without inviting me!"

  "Genie, I almost died… but it was just a regular trash collecting night.”

  “But why did you ask her for help and not me!"

  “Because you're normally on the top of my contact list but I forgot that's not the case anymore."

  Genie crossed his arms and faced Charlotte. “Change your name to Garlotte!"

  " I won't and I will still be above you in the contact list even if I did…”

  "Then Harlotte!”

  "Genie… I hope you know that ‘harlot’ is a word and that would make for a terrible name, right?" Luc said tiredly.

  "Just accept it Genie, he will message me now!” Charlotte said with a smug face.

  “So you have declared war! My paperclip and I will destroy you!" Genie said as he grasped to the side, making a fool out of himself. “Huh? Where is it?"

  "You always leave it in your store, remember?” Luc pointed out.

  “The war starts after I get it back!” Genie said before he ran off.

  "Genie is quite… the interesting character."

  "He's a weirdo, but his heart is at the right place.”

  “So mind telling me the whole story before my war withe Genie starts?” Charlotte said as she pulled a nail gun out of her backpack. “Also mind refilling these nail cartridges?”

  “You…you're not seriously going to fight Genie, right? And with a nail gun? How would you even…”

  Luc then remembered Charlotte’s ability to power anything so she didn’t need a socket or batteries to use the nail gun.

  “Of course not! It’s just to scare him a bit! So explanation please!”

  “Uhm well I just went out as I need more boxes for fridges and I tried to find a bicycle as I lost my previous one. When I got near to the mall, that ability hunter freak assaulted me. I fled inside after taking out his shins, or so I thought, and he followed me there. Then I got hit by a dagger and the rest you already know more or less.”

  “I see. How about…”

  A door flung open and Genie wielding a giant paperclip entered. “Your days of tyranny are over Garlotte!”

  “My name is Charlotte!” She said as she pointed the modified nail gun at Genie.

  “Ehh, that’s cheating, right, Luc?”

  “Don’t pick fights you can’t win but at least see how far you can get.” Luc said, fully intending to rest and enjoy the quirkiness of his friends.

  Empty threats got flung between Charlotte and Genie for the rest of the morning, but no actual fighting had been done.