Location: Burning Dorm Building
Time: 12:30 PM, 2/14/08
To be perfectly honest, even as I was throwing things at Kathrin I kept my gloves sealed tight, not allowing myself to touch anything. I mean, if I actually tried to explode that many items I’d pass out for sure.
The only thing that I actually touched was the floorboard from earlier.
Despite logically understanding that I had to be bluffing, Kathrin still hesitated for a moment after I said explosion. That, combined with the floorboard underneath her actually exploding, threw her off balance.
Okay. Now what?
I tried to take stock of the situation.
For the first time, Kathrin seemed somewhat vulnerable.
Was there any way for me to capitalize on that?
Not really. I didn’t have the luxury to think ahead to what I’d actually do if I managed to get her off balance like that.
And the building was in much worse condition than I thought. I had been so focused on my own actions that I didn’t realize how bad it had gotten. Even if we ignore Kathrin, I’m not sure I’d be able to escape that burning building alive.
Yeah, I was dead.
It was getting harder and harder to see through the fire.
I couldn’t smell anything other than the smoke that filled the air.
My skin was starting to burn from standing too close to Kathrin for too long.
The crackling of the flames spreading everywhere around me was getting louder and louder.
The taste of dust in the air made every breath harder than the previous.
In that moment where all of my senses were being assaulted, one thing managed to stand out.
The sound of a single snap reverberated through everything.
As she was falling to the ground Kathrin’s body was blasted through a nearby wall and out of sight. Standing in her place was Olivia, furiously trying to put out the fire burning on her right shoulder.
A booming sound caused me to cover my ears out of instinct. I could feel my hair being blown back as the sound passed over me.
“Olivia!”
“Shut up! Be quiet! It’s too loud. There are too many sounds!”
Olivia was cradling her head in her hands.
That’s when I noticed. Ears. She’d actually taken her headphones off.
Then she was gone, reappearing about ten feet away.
Another booming sound filled the building. It generated enough force to put out some of the nearby fire.
“I can’t keep this up. We have to go. Emily, take off your clothes!”
Excuse me?
“I don’t have that kind of hobby! I don’t want to die like that!”
Olivia disappeared again, showing back up closer to where she was originally. She let out a pained scream, but it was covered up by the booming sound I’d begun to associate with her sudden movements.
“Just shut up! Stop talking! Take your clothes off! If an idol is stripping then so can you!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Olivia started running back toward me, only pausing long enough to slip out of her shirt and pants.
I didn’t understand what she was planning, but I could tell she was being serious. This wasn’t the Olivia that I was used to. How could I ignore someone with such intensity?
I quickly started undressing as well.
Olivia and I were both wearing our training uniforms. Basically, pants and long sleeve shirts made out of a material which was supposed to prevent burns and minor lacerations. They couldn’t block a direct attack, but they’d reduce the damage from a glancing blow. Even though clothes like that were hot, especially during this time of year, you’d rarely find an augmented in a combat situation without them. Even employees at the MID are supposed to wear a layer of that material under their uniform.
Only someone like Hana would forgo such an important layer of defense.
Matching Olivia, I only took off my shirt and pants; leaving my undershirt, and other articles of clothing, on.
Olivia ran up beside me and started wrapping her pants around my neck, then her shirt.
“Olivia, what are-”
“Shut up!”
Olivia stopped what she was doing as she once again cradled her head in her arms.
I didn’t understand anything, but I could tell I was making it worse. Despite her obvious pain, I didn’t say or do anything else.
After a few seconds, Olivia got back to work. She took my pants and wrapped those around my neck as well. Then she quickly rolled up my shirt, using the length of the sleeves as a rope to tie the mass of clothes tight around my neck. As she pulled my shirt taut I lost the ability to freely move my neck.
“Is it tight?”
I tried to nod my head in the affirmative, but couldn’t. I decided to give a thumbs up instead.
“Good. Sorry, but this is still probably going to hurt. I’ll try to take the brunt of it, but it’s too fast for me to control.”
Olivia reached around my back and pulled me close, holding our bodies together. I’m sure to an outside observer it would be quite the scene, but I wasn’t partially interested in such a sapphic display. And if half of the rumors surrounding Olivia were true, it’s safe to say neither was she.
“Hold on tight!”
She raised her free hand up and snapped. Once again, the sound of her snapping somehow overpowered everything else.
Then, something happened.
I’m not being vague, I just don’t know what happened myself. My entire body hurt, my head was spinning, my right side had a series of cuts and scrapes, and I felt like I broke my neck.
We rolled across the grass for ten meters or so before coming to a stop against something cold.
The grass?
Where were we? What was I supposed to be doing here?
My thoughts were fuzzy, and it was getting hard to focus on any one particular thing.
Calm down. Take this one step at a time.
I was outside.
Behind me was my teacher, I can’t remember her name, but she was still frozen in a casket made of ice.
In front of me was a burning building.
That girl was lying on the grass beside me.
She wasted no time in putting her headphones back on.
I wasn’t sure what to say in that situation.
“You liar. I thought you said you had pierced ears?”
I don’t know why I ended up saying something like that.
“Shut up.” She had said that plenty of times earlier, but her tone was completely different. “An idol’s image is everything, but with the way I am there’s no way I could have something like that done to my ears.” The girl paused long enough to take a deep breath. “If you tell anyone I’ll have my manager sue you.”
“Sure, sure.”
Things got quiet again.
“Hey, umm. . .” What was her name again? I felt like I was starting to regain my focus, but names were still hard. “What about the other girl?”
I was glad we were out of the building, but how safe were we? I had almost completely forgotten about the other girl.
“She’s dead. I sent her flying with no time to brace herself. Her neck snapped for sure.”
Ah. I reached up and touched the clothes around my neck. So that’s what it was about. She had made an improvised neck brace.
Then, is that how her augmentation works? She can move incredibly fast, but if she tries to move anyone else the laws of physics still apply. It makes sense. Suddenly accelerating that fast would cause all kinds of damage.
“Thanks. You made sure I survived.”
“I did what I could. You might not realize this yourself, but you’re definitely concussed. And I’ve got no idea how badly your internal organs were damaged. You need medical treatment, for sure.”
So that’s how it was. But I was still alive, so even if I was damaged, I had a reason to be thankful.
“If it’s medical treatment you need, I could offer some assistance.”
A third party appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
“Could you put something on though? I’m not sure what passes as decency in the Free Cities, but I’m not used to this kind of sight. I don’t think I’d be able to concentrate on anything else if you’re in that state of undress.”
Him. That guy caused this whole mess by organizing the teams in such an annoying way. I had a lot I wanted to say, but as my adrenaline levels were decreasing I could feel my consciousness fading as well. I wanted to fight it, but there was no way I could keep myself awake. That shouldn’t come as a surprise. From the beginning, this was nothing more than a dream on heroics.