Chapter 10: Carnage in the Corridor

Jerome entered through the darkened double doors of the exquisite building and moved up to the security scanners, something which would spell a problem for the knives he carried. Should he kill them…no that was too wilful at least on the ground floor of a building he would presumably have to kill more in but he could hardly allow his knives to be seized, he didn't mind giving up his gun, that was all fine. He sighed as he walked up to the security counter.

"Please, place any and all metallic and electronic items in a tray," said the one the manning the scanners.

Jerome smiled amicably before taking off his bag and as he was about to put it down he noticed the officer resting his hand on the metal border that ran all the way down and he smiled. Well this should be easy then, with that thought his fingers sparkled with the same electricity that had once been used to jolt him. He gently tapped the metal border and watched the guard shudder than slump back in his chair much to the panic of the one that stood on the other side of the screening gate. Jerome walked through the side of the screening gate with his bag and moved behind the other man tapping the unconscious guard. He cleared his throat and the man had just enough time to turn before, with clenched teeth, he too fell down into spasms. He looked around, a few people here and there, none paying attention to him too much. Well it was like noon and there would not be many people appearing here at this time anyway, in fact he was the only person in the security line. He looked around for CCTV cameras and spotted three spanning across the lobby, all covering various different angles. Well he knew he had been caught on camera before he had entered the building, the parking lot itself had several cameras but where on earth could Hector Bishop exit through. There was one way out and several fire exits but all of them covered this one lobby. If Hector Bishop was to exit now he would need to walk past him and whilst Jerome Hall might mistakes and not notice Hector Bishop, the supercomputer that aided him would always notice that man. He was a priority to Jerome and what was a priority to Jerome was also a priority to his AI, Eckhard and the AI had said that Hector Bishop's residence is on the topmost floor of this nice building and he himself was in the security room because as Hector watched him, he too had eyes on Hector. He walked past the two guards he'd knocked casually waving several hellos and admiring a couple eating each other's face out in the lobby. He walked through a tunnel like place lit neon and neared another, smaller set of double doors. He admired this double doors' intricate design, it was much more interesting than the larger ones at the front, this one contained, a carving or a painting, he couldn't really tell what the creator was going for but it seemed very aesthetically pleasing. In front of the door stood two guards who immediately put their hands out.

"Sir-," they started but they barely had time to speak another word before they were both blasted back by the arcing electricity in Jerome's bad and due to his lack of control he also burst several bulbs that lit the tunnel neon.

He clicked his tongue as he looked at the now ruined piece of art that this tunnel was

"Eckhard, I didn't want such a high voltage," said Jerome looking at the smoking guards on the ground, they were still breathing.

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Jerome paused, "I though you did that."

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"Oh," Jerome nodded, the last few days have been very autopilot thanks to Eckhard, he had assumed everything related like this had been done by his AI, something he didn't mind in all honesty, he still had his mind and a small percentage of his sanity…maybe.

Anyhow, he should take more care about sparking other people then, at the very least he should contain it only to the people or objects he needs. Emitting electricity through touch is much easier, projecting it outwards is harder, much harder. He moved forward to the double doors when he stopped, suddenly with better thought he decided to disguise himself. He checked the corridor for anyone that might be coming before kneeling down next to one of the guards and stripping him off his uniform, it was a black shirt, black pants, sunglasses and a cap to top it off, why they needed a cap indoor he didn't know, nor about the sunglasses but it was the apparel they both wore and so he would wear it. Unknowingly, in thought he however had stripped the man down completely, to his underwear. The man before him lay buck naked with singed hair and an erect member. Frowning he stood up, underwear still in hand, wondering about this, could it have become erect because of the shock, he quickly looked at the other man who apparently didn't seem to have the same issue. He looked down and then looked at the underwear before shuddering and then tossing it aside. He did feel slightly sorry for the man but he didn't think it would matter whether he was found in his underwear or buck naked, it would be embarrassing either way. He quickly suited up before tossing his old clothes into his bag and adjusted his cap and then stared at his unclear reflection in the darkened and polished wall surface, he looked decent as far as he could tell, though he couldn't tell much. The disguise should work, well it worked in games, TV shows, movies etc. No reason it shouldn't work in real life but then he suddenly thought further.

"Eckhard, I have a morphing function do I not?" he asked.

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"Well then let's do that," he said. "Switch me to the man I just stripped."

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"Clothes…clothes included?" he asked. "You can morph my clothes?"

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"Damn," Jerome cursed. "I stripped him for nothing, don't include the clothes Eckhard, just morph my features."

He slowly shifted and all there was, was an uncomfortable tug on his skin, like someone was pulling at it.

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"Well done Eckhard," he said and suddenly he was surprised, the voice that came out sounded nothing like him. "I sound funny."

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"Damn, I'm quite literally what spies want to be," said Jerome letting out a foolish smile.

Jerome was then fed the name of the man by Eckhard, Robert and that was all he needed to know. These weren't features he intended on taking permanently, Jerome was better looking and more well endowed than this many anyday of the week, it wasn't even a competition really. He already had Jerome, there was no need for this apart from being a temporary disguise. He scratched his newly grown beard and then rubbed his thinning hair, he did feel a little distressed in this body, he was so used to Jerome's, that body was a perfect fit for him. He then looked at the fat paunch he had and he sighed. He opened the door and trudged on through with the bag he held. The door quickly closed behind him with no one the wiser about two guards knocked out, at least he hoped, no one knew. There very few people in here, all dressed up to the brim and the music playing was nothing special, just some regular mood setting tracks, the people in here however were all dressed to the brim, prim and proper but there was no one that sat at the counter of the bar. The entire place had a very sombre atmosphere to it, though it could just be him. The bartender noticed him immediately as he entered and looked at him curiously. He on the other hand just stared around not sure of what expression to make, or what would be natural with Robert. He held the bag tighter as he walked over via the way indicated by Eckhard towards the door at the far end hidden, obscured by the rather large potted plant right in front of it. As he moved past the bartender who still kept looking at him, he simply nodded his 'hello' and then circled around the potted plant following which he opened the door. As soon as he opened the door he noticed a man sitting to his right on a chair half asleep. He tried to step past him him quietly when his head suddenly dropped and he surged awake following which he proceeded to notice Jerome.

"Who…oh, Robert, what are you doing here?" he asked followed by a deep yawn.

He simply looked at the man not sure whether he should stick up a conversation with this man or simply knock him out and move forward. He chose option two and his right hand shot out like a gun pushing the man's head and slamming it against the wall and sending him straight back to sleep. Letting out a short whistle at the fact that he had managed to control his power and not putty the man's head he gladly walked forward towards the polished set of elevator door at the far end of the corridor. He pressed the button and the door soon opened and unlike the darkened corridor behind, the elevator was a different story. It lit up with incandescent lighting and had a very rich, posh atmosphere to it, the designer of the interior of this lift had a very royal idea when he did this and he or she was also very strange because the lift was a far cry from the building's theme and atmosphere, it was worlds apart. He however stepped into it and pressed the button for the top floor and the elevator rose. He looked at himself in reflected off the elevator's shiny surface. Still looking like Robert, he had half a thought to turn back into Jerome but for some reason he stuck with the looks of this Robert character. He checked as the numbers on the screen changed as the elevator rose step by step. He should find ways to change faces more often, despite this shape not feeling all that comfortable the first few minutes, he somehow seemed to enjoy it now. He would make the ultimate spy if he wasn't so hell bent on revenge.

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"Thanks for the warning Eckhard," said Jerome and he drew a knife from his bag, a knife he had become highly proficient in the twenty four hours since he last used it. He twirled it cleanly creating a magical scene to anyone that would see it and then the elevator stopped. His grin widened as the doors opened and his eyes immediately met the muzzle of a gun. He flicked back his arm and threw the knife and despite the weak and lazy looking throw, the knife carved through the air. The air however was not all it carved through as it went straight through the skull of one of the men waiting to greet him and buried itself in the shoulders of the one standing behind him. He clicked his tongue, he could have taken out two if he wasn't so eager. The gun fired and bullet erupted into his body, the force would be enough to cause any man to stagger back but Jerome pushed forward with the same grin and grabbed the muzzle and let loose with a jolt that charred the man holding the gun. By the end as he dropped to floor he looked like a stick figure and he was truly well beyond dead. It was then the screams erupted. These men clearly weren't as disciplined as the ones that came to kill him in his loft, they died without sound, without fear, this men had it all, the crying, sobbing mess they were.

"What the f*ck!" one of them cried.

"Get him!!" another yelled out more ferociously and gunfire erupted.

These weren't pistols but assault rifles. What on earth a club needed assault rifles for he didn't know but then again the owner of the club had sent assassins after him so assault rifles weren't the end of the world. Each bullet found their home in Jerome and due to the sheer volume of the firepower he was brought to his knees as his body jerked in all directions from the many hits. All the while however the grin did not leave his face and Eckhard voice was on a loop in his brain.

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It was continuous and they didn't seem like they had a plan to stop, unfortunately for them, their guns planned ahead and soon all of them clicked empty. Jerome slumped forward looking very much like a dead man and the guards heaved a sigh of relief.

"We got him," one of them sighed in relief.

"Hell yeah!" another cried pressing his rifle again despite it being empty.

Then as they watched everything that had fell out of Jerome's body came to life and climbed back inside and he looked up with a maddening grin. It really…really hurt, he hadn't been attacked so ferociously even by that carnomancer he'd faced. He felt his body being strung up like a high-tension wire as the carnomancy activated. There were cracks on the floor then as he shot forward, he grabbed the one right in front of him by the mouth and then proceeded to crush his jaw and rip out whatever he had grabbed, it turned out to be bone, something very important to the man he noted because as soon as he had ripped it out, the man dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes. He turned and another man had just enough time to let out a half scream before he jabbed the bone and his own hand right into the man's gut and pulled out something soft and squishy, something that winded like a snake around his hands. The man gasped and as tears fell out of his eyes he dropped down, he still breathed but his intestines were outside his body. Seeing all this, the last two men clambered back in terror and he dropped the intestines he was holding along with bone.

"No more bullets?" he asked calmly, the man a nervous mess, gulped as he attempted to point his empty gun at Jerome.

"Wh…what….what are you?" he asked.

Jerome relished in the man's fear as he grabbed the man by the top of his skull and with a gentle massage deformed it. The man's eyes rolled back as he formed at the mouth. He finally turned to the man that had knife buried in his shoulder. His eyes seemed to be glazing over but even so he held it open. Jerome somewhat admired the man's tenacity as he tried his level best to point his rifle at Jerome.

"Yo…you-you look like Robert," he said and Jerome's eyes widened a fraction, he wasn't shocked, just slightly surprised that man might know the figure he had transformed into.

"I'm not him," Jerome simply stated and the man nodded.

"Ar-are we not humans to you?" he asked in a very quiet voice as he tried to hold on.

"You are humans to me," said Jerome nodding and the man looked at him curiously and he continued. "You're just humans to me."

The man let out a wry chuckle, "A man with a god complex."

"No," said Jerome shaking his head. "Someone above a man that could be a god."

He reached out and pulled out the knife and a large amount of blood gushed out of the man kike a fountain and slid sideways into his death. He then stood up and looked at the carnage he had unleashed, it was unnecessary he mused to himself, unnecessary but very much fun. He wiped the knife on his clothes and then grabbed the man that had just died from blood loss. He then looked at the somewhat torn bag which his body had somehow managed to protect from the larger brunt of the bullets. The bag contained his present to Hector Bishop, he dragged the man over and grabbed the bag, slinging it over his back and then he dragged the man along leaving a trail of blood and as he moved step by step, he changed back feature by feature into Jerome Elliot Hall, a body he had grown very well acquainted with since taking it over. He looked like a bloody monster walking as he dragged his trophy and carried his gifts to visit a man who would regret making him his enemy. He reached the door and then with a grim smile pulled back his leg and unleashed a furious kick, one that ripped the door clean off its hinges and planted it half down the room and grinning he stepped in. He noticed a properly groomed man with a monocle behind a private bar counter holding a bottle of alcohol.

"Hello," the man said, he tried to appear calm but Jerome could smell the fear. "Hector Bishop, at your service."

Jerome looked at him straight in the eyes, he could imagine the image he was presenting this fool of a man but he had come bearing gifts, the man could look a little bit more cheery.

"Hello there yourself."