33 Bad Luck (1/2)
The captain and his squad skated down Interstate 85 towards downtown. A loud siren noise could be heard throughout the entire city, informing citizens to evacuate. People rushed out of their homes and apartments to escape. Some carried suitcases and other belongings. They looked like a massive horde of ants as they filled the streets. Steam wagons blocked traffic on every road. Many abandoned their wagons and started to run on foot.
”People always wait until the last minute to evacuate.” Fang sighed. ”These sirens have been going for nearly an hour, but they're only leaving now. Idiots.”
”Why do they do that?” Ed questioned.
”People want to hang onto a sense of normalcy. That everything is still fine. It will all be okay. It isn't until shit hits the fan that they realize the severity of the situation. Even then you have idiots who try to bring tons of luggage with them. Well, all we can do is wish them the best. We'll be too busy saving trapped and injured people. We can't bother with those that can still move on their own.”
As they got closer to downtown, the streets became more and more crowded with people. ”This is as far as our skates will take us. We're going by building the rest of the way.” The captain ordered.
The men each rappelled to the top of a nearby skyscraper. Ed's eyes widened in shock as the men lined up, shot a grapple to the next building, and swung across. They shattered the glass as they slammed straight into the building feet first. He copied them and swung to the next building. He broke through the glass and rolled across the ground. He stood up and looked around. It seemed to be an office building.
”Back to the top floor. We'll keep doing this until the crowds in the streets thin out.” The men repeatedly climbed to the top of buildings and swung several floors down to the next building in line. Soon, they reached the downtown area.
”Fuck!” One of the men yelled in surprise. They could see the center of downtown. A huge crater over a kilometer in size appeared where there were previously banks, businesses, and other buildings. A silver liquid filled the crater. Loud crackling sounds could be heard from it as occasional streaks of lightning appeared on the surface of the liquid.
”It's plasma.” The captain said. ”Every time the nightmare shoots one of those orbs, a similar crater is made. Past cities it attacked are still filled with the stuff, making them completely inhospitable to life. Touch it and you're a dead man.”
As they were now much closer to the center of the city, they could hear the battle starting in the north. ”Wow! Look at that esper!” A soldier yelled excitedly. In the distance, a 10-meter-tall fire giant could be seen blasting fireballs towards the nightmare.
”Jake?!” Ed accidently exclaimed aloud.
”Hmm?” The captain frowned. ”You know that esper?”
”Mm.” He nodded. ”He bullied me in school. He also gave me the scar on my face you saw.”
”Is that so? Well, leave him be for now. Good chance the nightmare will kill him anyways.” Fang turned towards his men. ”Split up. We'll just be a large target sticking together here. The mana-radios will probably get a lot of interference from the lightning. We'll meet up at the heliport after we're all finished. Remember, protect yourselves first and the citizens second. You can only save others by staying alive!”
”Yes Captain!” The men saluted and began to descend from the building in different directions. Not all of them had faced the Lightning Nightmare before, but they all had experience in these types of situations.
'Hmm. That plasma looks interesting. I kind of want to study it… Might just get me killed though. Perhaps another day.' He climbed down from the building and began to search the streets. 'Do people even need rescuing? It's not like the Flame Nightmare where the whole damn city was on fire…'
He searched for a bit without finding anyone in need of help. Those near the lightning blast had already been killed. The buildings outside the blast radius were completely unharmed. Some citizens could still be seen leaving their homes slowly, but they didn't really require assistance.
He got bored and climbed back up a building. He watched as the espers fought. A huge yinyang symbol appeared in the skies. It had to be over 15 meters in circumference. The symbol was made of black and white snow. It slammed into the nightmare, delaying it for at most a second. The symbol quickly fell apart and lightning snaked out in all directions from the nightmare.
”Eh?” Ed's eyes widened in surprise. 'Was that Yuki? I wonder if that lightning killed her? Is the whole class fighting here or something? Maybe just Jake and Yuki? It makes sense. Jake is nightmare obsessed and Yuki's father is a crazy man.'
A brilliant white light began to shine near the nightmare. 'Oh, speak of the devil.' Mr. Sai appeared from the light and flew forward. He slammed into the nightmare, knocking it back several meters. The nightmare released a frenzied roar in anger. It sounded like thunder as it blasted through the entire city. The windows of nearly every building in downtown shattered instantly. Loud screams rang out as citizens knelt to the ground while covering their bleeding ears. Some passed out as a result.
The nightmare swung its fist at OP Baldy, who easily dodged out of the way. The fist slammed into the ground, creating a lightning plasma lake beneath it. A small earthquake shook through the city as a result. Some weaker buildings began to collapse from the force.
Mr. Sai continuously weaved and dodged as he flew around the nightmare. He landed repeated blows to try forcing it back out of the city. Ed couldn't help but chuckle to himself, 'Heh, it's like watching a mosquito fight a bug zapper.'
Screams of pain and agony began to echo through the streets. The recent attacks had made the relatively peaceful situation turn much worse. 'Guess I'll get started then,' He climbed down from the building and searched for survivors. He quickly found a man with a broken leg trapped under a steel beam.
”Please help me!” The man begged with tears in his eyes.
”Sure.” He bent down and easily lifted the steel beam up. The man crawled out and struggled to stand on his good leg. ”Thank you!” The man said with tears still in his eyes.
'Should I fix his leg? No, I might get caught by captain crazy.' He looked the man in the eyes and spoke, ”I've got others to save. You can still move on your own. Head south and you might live. Try to reach the heliport if possible. We'll have Sinless members stationed there later.”