STOP STARING, SHOOT AT IT.

Grimacing in pain, Alan reached over his shoulder, relieved to find the rifle he’d holstered to his back was still there. Maybe he should have detached it as it was weighing him down, but in all the chaos he’d barely even remembered it was there. Alan tried to aim at the Predecessor, finding it difficult as his hands shivered from the cold and his entire body convulsed in pain. He fired his first shot, but it missed completely, hitting a cliff rather than anywhere near the terrifying being.

Re-calibrating. Please wait... Fire again now.

Alan followed through, and this time the shot managed to hit the Predecessor's unprotected forearm. The Predecessor's HP bar showed up. It still had 94% of its health remaining. Alan fired again, this time scoring a headshot, yet it only did a fraction of a fraction of a percent of damage, and the Predecessor's health bar remained at 94%. How was he supposed to defeat this thing? The Predecessor looked up in Alan’s direction shortly after the second hit. Then, with a burst of strength, it leapt out of the crater, disappearing into the mainland almost faster than Alan could follow.

Shortly after, the Predecessor reappeared in a blur of movement near the entrance of the Golden Gate Bridge. Alan strained to focus on it as he felt Eve do the same. His perception shifted, as he felt his own thoughts somehow merge with Eve’s frantic calculations. Time seemingly slowed down as he attempted to fire at the Predecessor, the movement of his finger squeezing the trigger feeling like seconds rather than the millisecond it actually was. From Alan’s perspective, the Predecessor seemed to move almost normally, running at a human pace as everything about him slowed down.

Agonizingly slowly, Alan turned his sniper rifle to where Eve anticipated the Predecessor would move to and fired off a shot. This time, Alan was able to see the bolt of plasma erupt from the end of his rifle, travelling at the speed of an arrow as it streaked straight forwards and hit the Predecessor in the head. Once more, the blast failed to make any visible dent in the being’s HP pool.

At the moment before the gap in the bridge, the Haxlard shimmered into existence, having somehow withstood the impact of the Predecessor’s landing. The grey warrior held its blade with two hands, rushing forward to stab the Predecessor. Yet the Haxlard was moving so slowly. The Predecessor simply sidestepped the oncoming blade, taking a black knife out of its belt. It glanced at the Haxlard as he dived past in slow motion, then decapitated him in one fell strike. A message popped up notifying Alan of the completion of the third round. He ignored it, concentrating on the Predecessor.

It proceeded along the bridge, preparing to leap over the gap. Somehow, Eve managed to once more anticipate where the Predecessor would be, and Alan’s next shot hit the godlike being’s center of mass mid leap. The Predecessor didn’t care. Alan let the rifle slowly drop out of his hands, struggling to think of some plan, anything that might help him. But he knew it was all futile.