“Alright, I want you kids to listen to me…”
Said Mr. Foster wheeling around to face Jack and Amelia.
“I want you guys to stick to the crowd and stay away from the walls. They are heading toward Maglift 13. Follow the instructions given to you by the evacuation team and stay safe.”
“But the No.8 maglift in Parisi catering is the closest one. We could go there in five minutes if make a ru….” Said Jack, but was interrupted by Mrs. Foster.
“Didn’t you hear your dad?! Stay away from the walls! Parisi is too close to the walls!”
“But..” said Jack.
“No buts! It’s risky to go anywhere near the wall. STICK WITH THE CROWD! Understood?!” exclaimed Mr. Foster.
“Ok.” replied Jack.
“Good. Now go. Remember, stick with the crowd.” Said Mr. Foster as he wheeled around. A jetpack materialized on his back. Mrs. Foster did the same, and both flew off into the sky.
“Come on. We gotta go. Lose the blanket.” Said Jack.
“Right.” Said Amelia as she threw the blanket away and started running with Jack.
They ran down the main road and caught up with the crowd, which was heading up a street on the second right at a four-way intersection. 'West Pennway St' was written on a signboard on the left. People were rushing through the crowd, trying to outdo one another. The voices of the soldiers directing the crowd seemed louder than the screams and whimpers floating in the air.
“Keep moving everyone. Stay in a group. Please make sure you don’t let your kids out of your sight!” shouted a soldier on their right through a megaphone.
Jack and Amelia continued to follow the crowd. Shouts and cries were still floating in the air, creating a tense atmosphere. But Jack was unconcerned. His mind kept returning to his parents.
‘I hope they're okay. They must be all right. They must be kicking some monster butt right now. I'm sure they'll be back before you know it’ he told himself as he tried to calm down.
He caught a glimpse of Amelia's trembling face. He realized she was thinking along the same lines as him.
‘It'll be fine. They'll be back. You must protect Amelia. Remember your promise to Dad. He would want you to keep her safe’ he told himself, and a wave of determination washed over Jack as he kept these thoughts in his mind.
With everyone in the crowd trying to get ahead of each other, the risk of being hit by taller people was very real. If they tried to get ahead of the crowd, they chose to stay in the back. The evacuation was on its way to its destination, and everything was going well.
Then, in an instant, everything was thrown into hell. The evacuation was halfway to their destination when a large blurred figure landed in front of the crowd with a stomach-rattling crash, creating a large dust cloud. The soldiers escorting the crowd gathered in front. They took out glowing blue cubes, which transformed into swords, gauntlets, guns, and other hand-held weapons. The soldiers took defensive positions in front of the crowd. Jack couldn't see anything, but he couldn't shake the feeling that it couldn't be anything good. As if in response to his thoughts, the dust cloud violently swept away as a massive, black, winged creature stood before them. It had blood-red eyes with a narrow pupil slit. Its face was typical of a bat, with three bony projections from each side of the lower jaw pointing backward.
Jack heard a loud voice say, "Open Fire!" before the creature let out a deafening roar that muffled the sound of gunfire. People began to flee, but it appeared that the creature was not going to let even one person escape, as it began jumping around at the fleeing evacuees, crushing them under its front paws, or violently shaking them in its mouth, as an alligator does. It didn't appear to be bothered by the gunfire. A soldier used a gauntlet to attack the monster's sides. When it collided with the beast, the gauntlet unleashed a massive shockwave that pushed the beast a good distance away. People saw this as a chance to get as far away from the beast as possible.
"Come on, keep moving, Amelia!" exclaimed Jack as they approached the end of West Pennway Street, where they had originally joined the crowd. Because they were near the back of the crowd, it was easier for them to flee at any time, which is exactly what Jack and Amelia did when they heard the monster's roar about two and a half minutes ago. They ran up the same road where they met their parents and returned the same way they came.
“I know I’m running as fast as I can.” Said Amelia in an exasperated tone.
“We should’ve gone back the way we came. That would have been much safer..” said Jack before Amelia interrupted him.
“We don’t know that for sure. What if the monster had decided to come after us instead of going at the crowd? Then we would’ve been in a much stickier situation than we are in now.”
“Either way, we aren’t completely safe. So let’s keep moving as fast as possible” Said Jack
He turned right on the intersection onto what he knew was Jefferson Street, still clutching Amelia’s hand tightly. He was completely focused on getting Amelia to safety and keeping his word to his father.
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEK!”
Amelia's high-pitched scream jolted Jack back to his senses, and he looked up. The creature was right on top of them, its mouth wide open, exposing its massive blood-stained teeth. But what alarmed Jack the most was the fact that the back of its throat was emitting a bright orange light and a few sparks. He was almost certain he knew what would come out of the beast's mouth, but he had no idea how to avoid it. Before he could think of anything, huge flames erupted from the sky, heading straight for him and Amelia. Jack turned his back on the flames and embraced Amelia to protect her. As he felt the heat approaching him, he reflected on how much he would have killed to see his parents. As tears streamed down his cheeks, he could see his parents lovingly smile at him and feel their warm embrace around him.
‘It's close, I feel the heat, it's going to burn me, I just hope Amy isn't hurt by this, Oh please God, let me keep my promise to Dad at the very least’ thought Jack as he braced himself for the pain.
He could feel the intense heat but he realized that the flames shouldn’t have taken this long to engulf him. He turned his head slowly behind and opened his eyes a tiny bit.
He saw a silhouette of a person, leaning in the direction of the flames, holding what appeared to be a digitalized shield in front of them, keeping the flames at bay. The flames abruptly died out. The monster, on the other hand, didn't appear to be giving up on them. It tilted its head back, its throat glowing brightly once more. But, before it could spit fire, another person appeared from the sky. A gauntlet materialized on the approaching figure's right arm as he reared the same arm for a powerful punch aimed at the beast's head. Jack then heard the person scream at the top of his lungs.
“STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY KIDS YOU BIG UGLY PIECE O’ CRAP!”
Punctuating these words, the soldier punched the monster’s Jaws, creating a shockwave much stronger than before, knocking it down from the sky as it crashed near the entrance to the flyover in front of them. The man landed in front of them, picked Jack up, and flew into the sky.
“Dad, is that you?” asked Jack
“Yeah. And what the hell are you kids doing here?! I thought we told ya to follow the crowd and NOT head towards the wall!” said Mr.Foster through his mask.
“We tell you to keep away from the wall and you guys do the exact opposite of what we tell you?! What th….” Asked Mrs. Foster angrily before she was interrupted.
“Dad, Mom, we were going with the crowd. It’s That monster. It suddenly showed up outta nowhere and started killing the people. That’s why ran this way.” Replied Jack.
“Yeah. Nobody even saw that thing coming.” Said Amelia.
“What the hell?!! I thought we had occupied all the monsters near the south side wall. How did this thing enter the city without being detected?!” exclaimed Mr. Foster as he started hovering about.
“More importantly, what is that thing anyway? It’s the first time I have ever seen an X-Beast throw fire. And something’s strange about it. I have never seen an X-Beast wearing a collar.” Said, Mrs. Foster.
Only at this statement did Jack notice the monster's collar. It was made up of three brown leather segments held together by metal rods. Something large was embedded in the centre of the bottom-most segment. It appeared to be a crystal and was glowing red. Mr. Foster turned to his wife.
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“We can figure that out later. Right now we need to get these kids to safety. We should also alert the..WHOA!!!” shouted Mr. Foster as he barely dodged out of the way of a fireball.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Foster wheeled around to see the monster bite a chunk out of the road. It kept the chunk in its mouth for a few seconds and spit it at them as a second fireball.
“Dang! This is a seriously troublesome monster! We really gotta get these kids to safety.” Said Mr. Foster.
“Yeah, let’s scram.” Replied Mrs. Foster.
Both of them started heading away from the monster and towards the nearest Maglift.
“Looks like you get your way, Jack.” Said Mr. Foster.
A huge force propelled them sideways, almost sending them crashing into a building. Mr. and Mrs. Foster, on the other hand, were able to regain control. The creature, which had taken flight again, had hit them with its tail. It lunged forward at them, baring its massive teeth. Mr. and Mrs. Foster ducked to either side of the approaching beast's path, still clutching Jack and Amelia as tightly as they could. The beast came to a stop in mid-air, wheeled to the left, and pursued Mrs. Foster, who managed to avoid the incoming monster's head by rolling herself along the side of the beast's body. Mr. Foster began firing at the beast as soon as it was clear of Mrs. Foster. Agitated, it began to pursue Mr. Foster.
“Damn, This thing doesn’t seem like it wants to let us off the hook that easily. Ok, hold tight Jack, I’m going to try a few manoeuvers to shake this thing. Mary, call in some backup, we need it right now!” Said Mr. Foster.
He then flew towards one of the buildings behind him at the maximum speed possible with his jetpack gear. The beast followed them closely, randomly shooting fire at them.
“James! Be careful!” exclaimed Mrs. Foster into Mr. Foster’s earpiece.
“I know, I won’t let anything happen to Jack.” Replied Mr. Foster.
They reached a red-colored building, which looked like an apartment.
“Ok, Jack! Things are about to get dicey, so hold on tight.” Said Mr. Foster.
“OOK!” replied Jack.
Mr. Foster opened fire on a window in the building's lower half. The glass broke, allowing Mr. Foster to zoom into the room, and then fire shots at the window to their right to secure their escape route. Because the beast was close behind, it smashed through the wall at full speed, scattering debris and splintered woodwork throughout the room. Jack closed his eyes to keep anything from getting into them. The entire scene seemed to shake violently, making Jack sick. He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, but instead gritted his teeth and gripped his father as tightly as he could. They exited the building through the right-side window as quickly as they entered. The monster, which was about six feet tall, tore a huge hole through the building and destroyed about half of the lower right side of the building in its pursuit of Mr. Foster, causing the already weak structure to tip over to the right side. The beast managed to escape the collapsing structure before it could crush it with unexpected dexterity.
“Ok, time for plan B!” said Mr. Foster as he started flying away from the monster.
“What’s plan B?!” asked Jack.
“No idea.” Replied Mr. Foster.
“HUUUUH?! No idea!!!!!?” exclaimed Jack.
“I’m still thinking, ok!” replied Mr. Foster as he dodged another fire attack.
Just then Mrs. Foster flew past Mr. Foster and Jack and punched the monster square in the jaws. The monster was knocked out of the sky by another big shockwave. Mrs. Foster then turned towards Mr. Foster.
“I've told Amelia to go to the maglift as soon as Jack arrives. She is inside Parisi Catering. I'll hold this thing off while you get Jack there.” said Mrs. Foster.
“Copy that! All right buddy, let’s get you to safety” said Mr. Foster as he swooped down.
Mr. Foster landed in front of the back entrance from where Jack and Amelia first came, as Amelia came running out to them.
“Ok, you know what to do. Take Amy and get the hell outa here. I gotta go help your Mom.” Said Mr. Foster.
A roar erupted from above them as the monster charged into their line of sight. Mrs. Foster was barely able to repel the monster's onslaught of attacks. Mr. Foster returned to the sky to assist his wife. Amelia entered the building and proceeded to take the basement stairs down. She turned around, expecting to see Jack close behind her, but instead found him standing at the door, his head tilted upwards, watching the fight above them.
“Jack! Come one! We have to go.” Yelled Amelia.
“Oh no!” whimpered Jack.
“What’s the matter?!” Asked Amelia concernedly.
She dashed over to where Jack was standing and saw why he was whimpering. Enraged at Mr. and Mrs. Foster, the monster grabbed Mrs. Foster by the mouth and began to spit fire at her while holding her in its mouth. Mr. Foster used his shockwave gauntlet to land another punch, but the monster saw him and hit him from above using its tail, sending Mr. Foster hurtling downwards until he tore through a wooden wall next to the Parisi.
“DAAAD!” shouted Jack as he ran towards the hole.
A loud thudding sound came behind them as he ran toward his father. The monster stood behind them, Mrs. Foster in its mouth, its teeth now covered in blood from digging into Mrs. Foster's abdomen. Her armor was glitching and her black spandex was visible. Mrs. Foster's face was contorted in pain, and blood poured from her mouth.
“MOOOM! NOOOO!” yelled Amelia, tears flowing from her eyes.
The monster turned its head toward Amelia, with a hungry glint in its red eyes. It dropped Mrs. Foster and started to head toward Amelia slowly.
“HEY! YOU! OVER HERE YOU OVERGROWN PIECE OF HAIRBALL!” shouted Jack. He then picked a stone and threw it at the monster and yelled.
“YOU WANT HER!! YOU’LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME!!!”
The monster gave an ear-splitting roar and began to charge toward Jack. Just then Mr. Foster jumped over Jack.
“Oh no you don’t!!!!!” yelled Mr. Foster as the shockwave gauntlet formed on his hand.
The monster noticed Mr.Foster's incoming attack. It swerved its head and grabbed Mr. Foster by the teeth while tilting its head to avoid getting hit. Then it used the same fire attack it used on Mrs. Foster, blasting Mr. Foster's torso with flames while he was in its mouth. As Jack looked on in horror, the monster continued to fire at Mr. Foster's armor, while Mr. Foster retaliated by blasting the beast with his plasma gun. The armor seemed impervious to the attack until it began to glitch. Jack felt helpless as he watched his father scream while being burned by the monster. He'd never felt so hopeless, helpless, and beaten in his life, and his knees were at breaking point as he sensed impending danger. He knew that once the beast was finished with his father, he would be next in line. This realization paralyzed Jack, so much so that he couldn't even move his neck to look around.
Just then, a plasma shot from behind the monster struck one of its wings. The beast turned around and dropped Mr. Foster's half-burnt body. Jack, too, turned his head in the direction of the shot. Amelia stood beside their mother's body, her legs shaking in terror, tears streaming down her cheeks, a horrified expression on her face, holding a plasma handgun pointed at the beast.
“L-l-leave my d-dad alone!! And s-s-stay away f-f-from my b-brother!!!!!” shouted Amelia, half sobbing in fear.
“A-A-Amelia…..r-r-run..” said Mrs. Foster with great effort.
“No! I don’t wanna leave you, Mom!” yelled Amelia rebelliously.
The beast reared up on its back legs, and its mouth began to glow again. But before it could launch its attack, a rocket struck it in the face. Before Jack could realise what had happened, two hands plucked him from the smoke and ran towards Parisi. Shots fired, roars, and shouting filled the air. When Jack turned around, he saw that a couple of soldiers had attacked the beast, accompanied by one of the large mechas. He looked to his left and saw Amelia being carried by another soldier.
"We'll get you both to the entrance, then you guys get to the maglift as soon as possible." Said the soldier holding Jack as he ran towards Parisi. "This thing is big enough to wreck this narrow street, so you guys better get moving."
But, as they were about to enter Parisi, the monster's tail thrashed around and destroyed the building. Jack couldn't shake the feeling that the entire universe despised them. He couldn't see his father or mother because of the chaos, but he did notice Amelia. She was safely in the hands of another soldier, who was keeping her away from the fighting.
The beast abruptly stopped thrashing around and turned to face the wall. Its face appeared to be in a trance, as if it had been summoned. And then Jack noticed it: the red crystal in the collar was glowing brighter and pulsing.
“All right!! This is our chance!!! Let’s bring this thing down!” said one of the soldiers.
But before they could launch their assault, the monster took off and flew away. The soldiers all watched as the monster vanished beyond the wall. Everything seemed quiet for the first time in the last hour, except for the sound of soldiers running around and shouting for help. But Jack's ears were ringing too loud for him to hear anything else. He was completely disoriented, his body hurt all over, and his legs were on the verge of collapsing. He was brought back to his senses when he was suddenly enveloped in a tight hug. He noticed Amelia in front of him, crying and squeezing him tightly. At this point, Jack's legs completely gave out and he was forced to his knees. He hugged Amelia just as tightly as she hugged him. He choked as tears rolled down his cheeks in a steady stream. He couldn't bring himself to make a sound.
They were led in hoverbikes to the maglift hidden beneath Primitivo Garcia school, where they were headed before the chaotic episode. It took about ten minutes for them to reach the underground city, where they were taken to the hospital to be treated for their injuries. Amelia couldn't answer any questions without crying, while Jack remained silent for the most part, only answering the doctor's questions with a yes or no, tears steadily streaming down his cheeks. After getting their injuries treated, Jack and Amelia were led to the emergency room, where their parents were taken. The soldiers stood at the entrance.
“They’re still awake. But…. It won’t be long before they’re gone. Go on. Talk to them.” said the soldier in a grim tone.
They saw their mother and father hooked up to various monitors and oxygen masks. Both of their bodies were half-burned. Jack and Amelia ran up to them and stood beside them.
“Hey kids…..you’re alive!” said Mr. Foster with a weak voice.
“Daddy…Please don’t go.” Sobbed Amelia. She lay herself onto her father as she cried.
“Sorry… my little chihuahua…I don’t think either of us is going to make it……We got burnt pretty good.” Said Mrs. Foster, her voice barely audible.
“But..But.. You Promised!! You promised you’d come back to us alive!” Cried, Amelia.
“Oh, Amy….We're sorry... I know we did….I'm so sorry that we're leaving you….. after promising to come back. But…. we aren't leaving you completely.” said Mr Foster.
“You guys aren’t?!” Asked Amelia in a slightly surprised tone.
"Your father's right…. Amy. We will always be there for you...in here" Mrs. Foster pointed her finger straight at Amelia's heart.
“We will…..Always be thinking about you….no matter…..where we are….We will….dream about you guys….forever.” Said Mr. Foster, barely able to form a sentence at this point.
“Please try to hang on Mom and Dad!” exclaimed Jack in tears, as he heard the monitor beeping.
“Heh..Your Dads’s beat buddy…can’t hold on…” Said Mr. Foster as he coughed.
“We’ve…Broken our promise…and I’m sorry we did…But please..try to keep your promise…Please… keep Amy safe…Promise that.. to us…Once more.” Said Mrs. Foster, coughing from time to time.
“Ok!! I will Keep Amy safe. I’LL NEVER LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO HER!! THAT’S A PROMISE.” Said Jack crying, yet trying to do his best to keep his composure.
“Heheh… That’s my boy….” Said Mr. Foster as he drew his last breath and his eyes became lifeless.
“Good Luck..kiddo…” Said Mrs.Foster as she too lost her life.
Both of their monitors displayed a blank line as their hands hung down from their beds, holding each other.