The first thing that went through my mind was "hot."

I get blasted against the wall as the explosion spreads from the door.

My ears ring, and I taste blood. It's delicious.

Fire burns around me as the second floor of my house starts to fall around me. My blurry vision can barely make out Rob, who was next to me, now in hundreds of pieces.

I look down at my hand, and it looks red and angry. My entire body is covered in 2nd and 3rd-degree burns. It hurts so bad. I want to pain to stop, but my mind refuses to let me go into shock.

A group of men walks into my house, all wearing armor and wielding gadgets. I'm too impaired to make out any details.

One of them comes right up to my face and starts to mouth some words, I can't hear anything, but my lip-reading skills are top-notch, only if my visions stopped blurring.

I pump healing magic into my organs, especially my brain and eyes.

"-firmed that this is the owner of the rock we're looking for. He'll die before the fire brigade can put out the fire."

Rock? Holy shit! They want my Flash Gordon. I watch in horror as the three other men walk deeper into what used to be my house.

"We have five minutes. If we don't find the rock, take the kid with us for questioning. The mortician can find answers from his body." He yells out to the others

I have been acting like a corpse, so this guy gets quite the surprise when I stab my mostly slagged metal arm into his neck.

I stand as my flesh and blood start bubbling and growing back as I unleash the floodgate that is my mana. My blood burns as I regenerate mana faster than I'm losing health.

My hearing is still fucked as I can't hear the gurgling of the man stuck on my arm. He has quite the tenacity to survive with a forearm-sized hole in his neck, but he is not as tenacious as me. He goes limp, dead.

I rip off my prosthetic from the elbow down. I don't need it anymore, especially now that it's broken and got a dead guy stuck to it. I scramble to get to Flash Gordon before these goons can take him from me, and I trip over a metal box.

The design is quite simple. It's basically a metal briefcase that's cubic. It reminds me of the transport case hospitals use for organs.

More important things are at hand. My body is done healing. My skin is soft and supple like I just got out of a scorching hot bath. It also sucks that I'm hairless from head to toe.

The only thing that stops me from looking like and naked mole rat is the strange tattoos that still cover my body. I guess tattoos really are permanent since they came back, even though my skin almost got disintegrated.

I take one step before one of the goons comes around a corner, surprised that I'm standing there naked, next to his dead friend. He points the business end of an assault rifle at me.

Of course, he has a gun. Why can't he charge at me with a sword or something?

He lets out a flurry of bullets. My legs fail to get me behind cover in time.

The bullets pack a mean punch. They barely penetrate my skin, causing more blunt trauma than anything else. I grit my teeth and summon my [Unwieldy Tanto].

The guy starts screaming in pain aver he lets out that initial burst of bullets.

My [Ring of Thorns] is really great! It reflects the damage I take back at the aggressor if I want it to, and I really need it to. It's like every twenty bullets he shoots at me, I get to shoot back once. It could be better, but I'm not complaining.

I take the brief moment of hesitation that brewed from him getting hurt from shooting his gun to rush this guy. I get right up to him before he reacts and tries to pull the trigger again.

I slash at his gun. I miss it, but I take his arm off instead.

"AAAAAAHHH"

Or I assume he is saying, I still can't hear.

The cut was brutal. The barbs make it where there would be no way for the arm to be surgically reattached. The wound is too sloppy for orthodox healing.

[Scientific Insight+] reveals that these guys are at level fifty, probably stuck at a class advancement they can't get through. I never went full out against humans weaker than me. I always have to make conscious notes not to kill people in mock battles.

My sword swings through the air as I decapitate the guy before he can run away. I didn't see him use skills, and since he used a gun, I'm assuming that he's a noncombat class. I hope the other two are just as weak, and this fiasco can be cleaned up smoothly.

I'm now covered in blood and soot. I should probably get out of this burning building after making sure Flash Gordon is alright.

I rushed over to where my bedroom was. Flash Gordon was resting on his pedestal next to my bed when I went to shower. I hope he's okay.

Wait. Am I stupid?

I activate [Master's Whistle] and try to get Flash Gordon to teleport next to me... But nothing happens.

I keep whistling as I finally reach the wreckage that is my room. I don't see Flash Gordon or the other two men that entered my house. I scamper into the street from where my wall used to be and look out into the dark, crisp night.

I might not have neighbors, but I'm still relatively close to the market district. Onlookers are crowding around my burning house, as my first friend has been taken from me.

My eyes rapidly dart around, not caring for the shocks of horror as a bloody naked man covered in ash and regret jumps out of the rubble. I spot what I'm looking for. My garage door is unharmed somewhat, so I quickly head inside.

I burst out of the garage on Duchess, with all of Khan following behind. We take to the skies for a bird's eye view.

They are mighty big, so I kept them in my magnificent mansion because I didn't want them to squeeze themselves like a pack of sardines in my backyard.

I was rational enough to trigger the ability inside the garage, so I wouldn't reveal my skill to the bystanders who weren't offering help.

[Master, you sounded distressed when you called for us. What is going on?]

"Some assholes blew me up and stole Flash Gordon. I'm going to kill everyone involved."

[Noted. Thisss one is at your service.]

"Fly up high. Our best bet is to spot them from above. They probably don't know much about me since they thought I would die to only one explosion."

Duchess soars into the night sky, giving me the perfect aerial advantage. I scan the busy streets of Bluefield until I spot a particular car going the exact speed limit. It's a black SUV that looks suspiciously normal.

I close my eyes briefly, and my instincts scream that Flash Gordon is inside.

"That one."

As soon as my finger raised, Khan instantly descended from the skies and rushed down the car.

Traffic comes to a halt as the swarm of sharks starts pushing cars aside until they reach the black SUV. Khan's teeth tear into the weak aluminum chases of the vehicle as I hear gunshots go off inside the car.

Luckily, Duchess and I were right behind.

I jump from Duchess's back and land on the hood, causing the engine compartment to cave in. I can't see inside the SUV as the windshield is completely blacked out. The car rolls to a stop.

I quickly get off the car as my hunch was correct. Bullets start flying out of the windshield from inside. Before Khan could fully penetrate the metal, I just ripped the car door off its hinges. Their incognito ruse screwed them as I couldn't be this casual with a reinforced car for rankers.

Khan got past the trunk door and managed to flood the vehicle with himself. I pull the driver out of his seat and slam him against the side of the car. His gun falls to the ground.

"Where is Flash Gordon!"

The guy looks barely older than I am, but he looks dressed for the part. He is wearing black clothing that looks fire retardant. There was a gas mask next to him on the dash. He's definitely one of the guys I'm looking for.

"Who?"

I slam him to the ground. This guy tried to kill me. I'm not going to go easy on him.

"Let's try an easier question. Where. Is. Flash. Gordon."

"Oh shit, you mean the rock! It's in the glove box, man!"

I don't need to say anything before Duchess telekinetically gets one of those strange boxes I found at the house.

"Listen carefully, punk. You came into my house and tried to take my life. You did abduct one of my tamed beasts and my first friend. Now, even if I kill you right on the street, I'm sure the enforcers would take my side. And if they don't, my father knows a pretty good lawspeaker."

"I-"

"Hush now. I will ask some questions, and If the answers cool my anger, I'll hand you over to the enforcers instead of splattering your brains against my heel."

The sounds of a man being eaten alive from the back of an SUV are distinctly heard, as I never called off Khan. The only remaining survivor is the guy next to me.

"A-a-alright, man! Just ask away!"

"How do I get Flash Gordon out of this thing."

"It's a semi-dimensional storage carrier. You just need to push the button. The rest is self-explanatory."

I do so, and Flash Gordon pops straight out of the box. He floats there as if nothing happened.

"Now, what do you want with him. Who sent you."

A phone starts to buzz in this guy's front pocket. He looks at me for permission, and I give him a silent nod.

He gingerly reaches into his pocket and answers the phone. After a brief moment, he hands it over.

"It's for you."

?

I put the phone to my ear, half expecting it to blow up. Instead, I hear the voice of a man speak out to me.

"Let's talk. Come to the waffle kiosk in the strip mall."

He hangs up before I can answer.