Elsewhere, the situation only intensified. Res’ beam was the warning Cer needed to immediately spring into action. Turning on her heels, she bared her fangs at the guardians and immediately ordered them to prepare for combat.
“That’s her signal alright. Got a clue what the machine in your head is saying!?” Cer asked Revy who she kept close.
Her eyes went astray as if someone else was in Cer’s place. Her lips trembled as “White Rabbit!” slipped from her trembling lips.
“Behind me!?” Cer’s instincts lied to her. Something was certainly there but she couldn’t perceive the entity. “… Tch. Only kids can see it, huh!?”
One by one, the children began pointing towards her, rejoicing at the presence of the White Rabbit.
“You’re here!”
“You want me to take your hand?”
“It’s fluffy!”
“M-My hand…?” Revy lifted a hand towards Cer’s face.
At the halfway point her body began to slowly sink as a hole made perfectly for Revy formed beneath her.
“What the – OI!” Cer shouted, grabbing onto her hand as she tried to pull her free but to no avail. She moved to her waist, levering her entire body weight but even that was not enough. “PICK THE CHILDREN UP! Hoist them like they’re sandbags! The ground is eating them!”
Her order was not just to the guardians, but to the people around their crowded path who also witnessed other children begin to sink. Mass panic ensued, but the appearance of the Peace Flocks calmed them down immensely as there was no other immediate threat present.
“Peace Flock! Get them to stop shouting over me already and start breaking the floor around the kids!”
Cer didn’t want to give up on Revy and tried everything she could as the girl blabbered on about the White Rabbit, and even called her Jury at one stage. Seeing that even picking the children up didn’t work as they’d suddenly be pulled to the ground like magnets – Cer began smashing her claws into the ground, carving away at the stone surrounding the pit only to find that it was no portal.
It was a real hole, and to her shock –
“TCH. That… FUCKING STINGS!”
– She lost three fingers by merely grazing it.
Her fangs bared a furious charge of electricity as she clutched onto Revy’s shoulders, her crimson eyes drilled into the delusional girl’s.
“White Rabbit this, White Rabbit that… Snap the fuck out of it!”
In a fit of rage, she slammed her head against Revy’s, and in that moment, the girl came to as the pit underneath her disappeared.
“Ouch – Huh!? Miss Moon!? You’re not… what was I…?” Before Revy could comprehend the situation, Cer shot out a giant electric fang into the air, gathering as much attention to her as she shouted:
“HEY! Smack them! Knock some sense into these little shits!”
“By the order of a Moon!” One of the guardians immediately complied, slapping the face of someone’s son.
And to his surprise, the darkness that ate at his legs disappeared, freeing him. However, his consciousness disappeared. Whether this was due to the slap or otherwise was not known.
“Sorry kid…” One of the guardians regretfully muttered.
“Their concentration needs to be broken.”
“No… It’s their consciousness!”
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Cer would have burst out laughing if the situation wasn’t so dire.
“What kind of a coward goes after children?” A Peace Flock Captain could be heard muttering to his companions as people flocked to their street, realizing that it was the safest with the number of Justica Arms Personnel present.
They were, after all, the police force of the Nex Megalopolis. Caldera Industries, Act X and even the Golden Middle weren’t recognized at all. In fact, a street filled solely with them would have been seen as dangerous.
This was how respected Justica Arms was.
They would have rather to remain undefended than to immerse themselves with shirtless hammer wielders, the hollow Insectids, and people that brandished the middle finger as an insignia. If anything, the Golden Middle appeared like a Syndicate than a legitimate operation.
“The Head is going to head straight here to clean up after us. A few broken noses are easier to explain than a few missing kids!” Cer was an upstanding Moon. Even if these people were the unwashed masses, she had a role to play and was not going to betray Frost’s expectations.
This was why she didn’t resort to violence immediately.
Because as the Code of Conduct stated:
Innocent people can’t be dragged into this. It’s hard when the Impuritas or whatever this is has us by the throat. That stupid ‘no property is allowed to be destroyed’ rule is another bullshit one… but in this situation, people are going to get mowed down if the buildings start collapsing.
Cer has Frost’s interests in mind. If it were up to her…
… then she’d take the most efficient method.
Her fists clenched, the cackles of electricity instilling fear into Revy who was still held in place.
I can’t believe Frost has become my fucking moral compass.
Suddenly, she shot multiple electric fangs into the air, getting the attention of the Atelier Personnel.
“You. You. You and you.” She delegated with a finger. “Fuck off and get everyone out of here! Spread the news that domestic violence is going to be ok for the next twenty-four hours!”
“… You still have such a dumb way with words.” A Peace Flock Captain sighed, placing a hand on her ear. “Alright. You heard the Fang. Disobedience is a slight against the Head. Spread the news.”
Cer suddenly turned her attention to the Caldera Industries’ Footsoldier Protectorates, who were responsible for operation a coffin-shaped machine. It was used to detect seismic activity connected with the Impuritas’ movements.
“Caldera-scumbags! Are you getting a reading or not!?” Cer shouted as Justica Arms Personnel began herding people away. Revy was taken away from her as her surroundings became clear enough for her to finally breathe.
“No readings… There can only be one group responsible for the attacks. The Scourge.” A Protectorate concluded but was slammed for this by his own men.
“If it was the Scourge then how did holes appear on the ground!?”
“Then how do you explain that they can only see this White Rabbit!?”
“Treat it as the Fractured Nilhim and whatever this White Rabbit is.” Cer gave them the simplest conclusion, for her sole brain cell couldn’t begin to manage multiple complex leads. “The ‘Scourge’ is out of your scope. If there’s anyone that’s going to be of help in that field, then it’s CogitO and their Blue Moons. Good luck making contact with them first. I’ve never seen one show their face before.”
“The Fang can’t do anything about it!?” Just as a Protectorate questioned her, the ground before their feet bared the bitemarks of a giant, invisible wolf.
“Focus on what you’re good at before I take that jaw and bash your skull with it. Nothing in the Nexus’ Code of Conduct is stopping me from degloving you like a piece of fruit. So be a good fruit and help people get out of here.”
The Protectorates could not respond. Cer was not joking and would jump at the opportunity to execute them where they stood. Even with safeguards in place, the brutality of the Ateliers and the Nexus was never going to leave.
It irked her that they even questioned her abilities.
A savage veil of electricity encased Cer as she kept her eyes peeled for any abnormalities. Suddenly, her ears twitched to a strange ticking in the distance. It arrived from somewhere in the direction of her fleeing group.
She bared her fangs and slammed both hands onto the ground. She sank ankle-deep into cracked bricks as she assumed a sprinter’s form. To others, she looked like an animal ready to pounce at its prey.
“Something’s here… if it’s really the Fractured Nilhim, then there’s no point in anyone sticking around. This is a job for only a Moon. Oh… And if you see a giant golden spider roaming around, then don’t you dare touch it.”
[Galvanic Current].
“BECAUSE THAT BELONGS TO THE AMALGAM!”
Cer’s body disappeared in an instant. She flung herself forward like a lightning bolt, heading straight for the crowd as the ticking became louder. She was a slave to instinct, and she maniacally grinned at the prospect of combat as she sprung into the air, seeing a pale figure phase through the dense crowd.
“… Is that the tiny Jury you saw in the Black Forest, Frost? The hell is going on. It really does look like Jury!”
Cer had no way to fight it in this environment. However, she quickly noticed that the White Rabbit was ignoring children as it barreled its way down towards someone. It was clearly a child that was a part of her group.
Who the hell does it want? Is it mad that we snapped them out?
She ran along the walls of the buildings, using her grip to keep herself perfectly horizontal. Gravity was in inconvenience that struggled to take its hold on her. And like a cheetah waiting for its prey; she lunged straight for the White Rabbit, weaving through the crowd.
“Gotcha!”
Her instincts alone guided her to thread the ridiculously small needle.