RUMBLE!
"Wh-What the hell was that?!" Mentos exclaimed in panic. He could feel the earth quaking underneath his feet.
"It's the monsters!" Lanor wrongfully assumed and quickly drew her sword.
"No, it originated outside," Hao told the group while using his hand to steady the container from falling from the counter.
Rumble!
The shaking intensified which toppled everyone over. The kids were petrified in fear and Acadian let out a long whimper as he trembled on the ground.
"What the bloody hell is going on out there?!" Ciara shouted.
"Vee, the container!" From where she was on the floor, Lanor noticed the Grey Tissue rolling closer to the edge of the counter and warned Hao.
"I've got it." Hao was also scrambling on the floor like an egg, but he figured out a way to properly safeguard the Grey Tissue from falling. "Blade Sprites!" Without tapping the side of his goggles he was able to summon 5 Blade Sprites into existence. They flew to the container and stabilized it from tipping over by securing themselves at all corners.
RUMBLE!
"Crap! Not again!” Mentos stumbled backwards and hollered, “Come on Vee, do something about that thing or else we're screwed!!"
"What the hell do you want me to do Mentos? I don't control bloody nature!" Hao roared back at Mentos for sounding ridiculous. Moreover, he used Wheelz to grab onto a supporting column, which kept him anchored to the ground.
"This is our only chance. Let's go before the earthquake becomes too powerful and collapse the shack. You coming or not?!" Lanor said to Ciara who was still trembling on the ground. "I'm heading out!"
"Wait for me!" Mentos struggled to his feet and also followed Lanor out of the shack.
"Ugh, I can't believe you guys. I'm going to see how bad it is out there. Wait for me!" Hao ran out after them with Ciara by his side.
As soon as they came out of the shack, the earthquake began to subside. The children and the Sword Fishes were all relieved to feel the ground steadying under their feet once more. Acadian however was still trembling inside the shack as if he was scared out of his mind.
"Shoot! I forgot that Acadian is still chained inside. Are you okay old chum?" Mentos was about to rush back into the shack when he and the others noticed Vicky and her underlings nearby. They were over by the compound's entrance, staring afield with great interest. Everyone met up there to assess the situation.
"Mum, did you feel that earthquake? It was terrible." Lanor inquired while gaining Vicky's attention. Vicky merely spared her a glance.
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Coming over, Hao's Vibe Sense locked onto the palpitation rate of Vicky's heartbeat and discovered it was eerily calm. Thus he asked, "Hey, Vicky, it sounds like you know what caused this earthquake. Do mind sharing with the rest of us?"
"Tsk, did you just scan my heartbeat?" Vicky felt slightly offended by being so rudely and invasively penetrated by a young lad. If his senses could reach so far, what else could they see? She was very wary of him now.
"Move over punk." Scar pushed Hao to the side as he limped on over to Vicky's side. Hao took it like a man and didn't retaliate. He was more focused and learning of what had caused the earthquake.
Vicky finally shared with the group while gesturing to the rising dust cloud behind some distant buildings, "Recently the Wranglers District has become quite busy with a ground-shaking project. My sources told me that a drilling operation is underway in the area. These earthquakes are the result of that."
"What is the drilling for?" Hao was curious. "They couldn't possibly be searching for rare ores or anything like that. I mean come on, this is the slum after all. Nothing valuable could ever be buried under these grounds aside from dusty old bones."
"Thanks for that reminder." Lanor felt offended by Hao's statement.
"You're right brat." Vicky agreed. "But not entirely. You see, the drilling is going on near an old abandoned factory which is located close to the walls of the Wranglers District. They are not drilling for any valuable, instead, they are creating deep enough holes to plant their Pole Divergence Antennas. Apparently, these antennas, once set up are to prevent the chances of palace breaks occurring in Portal Bay. It seems something big is happening under the quiet that the general public isn't aware of yet."
"Oh..."
Hearing Vicky's explanation, the gang exchanged looks of confusion and worry.
Lanor demanded more answers, "What do you mean by that mum? Do you know what is going on in the city? Why haven't you told us anything before?"
RUMBLE!
Before Vicky could answer her question, another resounding vibration shook the district. This time it was even more violent than the last one. It knocked down many of the structures around them and caused some of the weaker ones to collapse. The tremors were so bad that they created a quasi-domino effect throughout the slums. With this level of destruction, surely some people must have been crushed.
"What the hell!" Mentos hollered while finding his balance. "If this earthquake is manmade as you've said, why the heck are they so flagrantly destroying peoples' property? I can't believe that they are so callous about this place's safety. Don't they care about the lives of the people living here at all?!"
"What do you expect? This is the slums." Raven explained, "They don't care about us."
“Damn right.” Boulder agreed.
The vibrations continued to rock the Wranglers District but with less and less intensity. Meanwhile, this was happening, back in the shack, something dubious was occurring that only Acadian was privy to. The Blade Sprites which were keeping the Grey Tissue secured on the counter had reached their expiration date. After they crumbled away, the container continued towards the edge.
<40 Tunes Remaining>
"Huh!" It wasn't after seeing this notification with his Vibe Goggles that Hao became alert of the possibly dangerous situation. "No! I got to get back to the shack!" He screamed while launching his feet into gears.
"Vee! What's going on mate?" Mentos shouted in alarm. Lanor, Ciara and the others were also curious as to what had Hao spooked. Therefore, they all gathered their legs and commenced chasing behind his fast-paced sprint.
As soon as Hao entered the shack, he began to feel the earth tremor beneath his feet lessened to the point where he could easily balance. However, he arrived too late. He heard a loud crack and witnessed the Grey Tissue's container shattering into pieces. The green slime inside oozed out and pooled on the floor.