Flames of Revenge

Ru had just left the hospital to head to the amusement park. When he tried to hail a taxi, he found that all the cabs were full. Facing the typical end-of-day rush hour traffic, he decided to walk a little further before trying again. As he passed a motorcycle rental shop, he thought about renting one. After choosing one, he ran into a big problem at the checkout counter: His stepfather had canceled his debit card.

As Ru was leaving the store, he saw a delivery guy get off a motorcycle nearby. Should he ask the rider for his vehicle? Or maybe he could just take it. He had another idea: steal one. "That's a great idea," he thought to himself and acted quickly.

He was just getting on the motorcycle when someone with a strange accent said, "Oh, that doesn't look good on you, Donatella."

Ru swiftly dismounted the motorcycle and glanced around, his eyes darting from one passerby to another. However, something else drew his attention—a peculiar mannequin in the display window of a nearby boutique.

The male mannequin had a candy-pink plastic cat head and was dressed in a red suit with a purple tie. His feet were adorned with matching purple socks, while his leather shoes had pointed toes.

"Wow, you've got style," Ru said.

"I can't say the same for you, Donatella," the strange voice replied once more.

Ru looked around suspiciously. Was someone watching him? Or was that voice speaking in his mind?

"Oh, not again," he muttered exasperatedly, reaching into his pocket for one of the panic pills he always carried with him.

He had to wait for the pill to take effect, so he decided to enter the boutique. As he approached the counter, he asked about the suit on the catheaded mannequin in the display window.

The saleswoman gave him a strange look and replied, "Sorry, we don't sell suits here. We focus more on sports and casual wear."

Ru thanked her and quickly left the boutique. However, after walking for a while, he began to have doubts, so he returned to the display window. He was surprised to find that the mannequin he had seen earlier was not there.

"I became a normal person," Ru reflected, yet the anxiety persisted.

Ru continued walking, looking at the display windows. Despite his efforts, the feeling of unease lingered.

"It feels like I'm being watched, and by more than one person," he thought.

Late afternoon sunlight created golden glasses. Streets were full of people and cars. In this chaotic environment, Ru got in an energic mood. The city's chaos became a melodious bliss in his imagination. His spontaneous voyage was soundtracked by car horns, brakes, heels, and laughter.

"La la la..."

The music, created by his brain, gave Ru's movements a playful grace. Walking along railings, jumping over barriers, going up/down escalators, and even pole dancing on lampposts became his pastimes. In this urban playground, thoughts of the amusement park and Dr. Leblanc gradually faded from his mind, replaced by the simple joy of living in the moment.

Ru's burgeoning creativity waned as the synesthetic experience faded, but his senses remained sharp. A tingling sensation abruptly changed his mood.

At the edge of his field of vision, Ru noticed a passerby whose features appeared slightly distorted, with eyes glowing eerily gray. Before he could fully comprehend what he was seeing, other faces began to morph before his eyes.

"What the hell?" he asked himself. He rubbed his eyes several times. Not content with that, he popped a panic pill he carried in his pocket. He counted backward from 100 in threes. Seeing that the weirdos kept appearing, he sat on a bench and counted backward from 500 in threes.

"497, 494, 491, 488, 485, 482, 479, 476..."

The ordinary faces of a fifth of the people passing by his bench were transformed into grotesque caricatures of humans. Ru kept counting.

"407, 404, 401, 398, 395, 392, 395..."

A middle-aged woman's once gentle smile turned into an ominous grin, unnaturally elongated, revealing razor-sharp teeth. A small child's innocent gaze turned to a malevolent glare as horns seemed to sprout from his forehead.

"356, 353, 350, 347, 344, 341, 338, 335..."

Ru quickly got up from the bench and tried to walk, this time away from the crowd.

As panic gripped Ru, he staggered backward.He blinked fearfully, hoping to make the horrifying images before him disappear, but they grew more vivid with each passing moment.

"287, 284, 281, 278, 275, 272, 269... It won't end, it won't pass, ouch!"

The world around him was filled with terror, and the once familiar crowd now looked like a twisted nightmare. Every face he encountered wore the same horrible transformation.

"211, 205, 199, 193, 187, 181... It smells bad—very bad. Six, bad. Six is bad!"

His steps quickened, his breathing ragged. He tugged at the collar of his sweatshirt. He tried to run. But it was as if he was being crushed.

Finally, he became so dizzy that he couldn't stand. He stayed where he fell, in the middle of the road.

Two lights rapidly approached him. Ru heard the overwhelming screams of the people. Nevertheless, he was unable to move. Time seemed to freeze for him.

"Oh, did I strike someone?" inquired Heise, who was driving. He smiled confidently as he looked in the rearview mirror at Ru, whom he had just driven over with the automobile. Then he quickly hit the gas pedal. "Oops! Now I'll have to find him a new body—a female body."

He turned up the music to maximum level and began driving quickly towards the approaching police car.