The Baddest

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 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 cat-headed mannequin in the window.

The clerk 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 boutique window. He was surprised to find that the mannequin he had seen earlier was not there.

"I think I've come to my senses," Ru thought, but the fear remained.

Ru continued walking, looking at the display windows. Despite his efforts, the feeling of unease lingered. Seeking distraction, he stepped into an accessories shop with an authentic ambiance. Impulsively, he grabbed a silver earring. He bypassed the cash register and tossed it lightly in the air at an angle. This quickly eliminated the security alarm antenna by the exit. He caught it before it clattered to the ground, then slipped it into his pocket.

Although Ru didn't realize it yet, he had gained a new skill: moving with superhuman speed when performing a stealth action.

He moved quickly and disappeared into the crowd, afraid that the shopkeeper or a clerk would notice his theft.

It was late afternoon, the sun casting long shadows. The streets were teeming with people, bustling with life. During this bustling chaos, Ru found solace in blending in with the crowd. He enjoyed the density and cacophony of city life. The symphony of city sounds filled his ears and turned into a melodic ecstasy in his mind. Car horns honked, brakes screeched, heels clicked on the pavement, and laughter echoed through the air, creating a unique soundtrack for his impromptu journey.

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.

As the synesthetic experience faded, Ru's burgeoning creativity waned, but his sharpened senses remained on edge. His mood changed abruptly when a tingling sensation shot up his spine. Though he initially dismissed it, he couldn't shake the feeling as he watched the faces around him.

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.

He stumbled backward as panic coursed through Ru's veins, his heart pounding in his chest like a drumbeat of impending doom. He blinked furiously, hoping to make the horrifying images before him disappear, but they seemed to grow more vivid with each passing moment.

"287, 284, 281, 278, 275, 272, 269... It won't end, it won't pass, ouch! 265, 261, 257, 253, 249, 245, 241..."

The air around him was filled with terror, and the once familiar surroundings of the crowd now looked like a twisted nightmare. Every face he encountered wore the same horrible transformation, and Ru couldn't help but feel that he was trapped in a waking nightmare.

"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, someone biting at his shoulders, someone pouncing on him.

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

He saw two lights closing in on him fast. And he could hear the screaming, the people screaming at the top of their lungs.

"He's dead, he's gone! Gone," someone said.

Was someone dead? And if so, who was it?