The first thing Videl registered was the noise. The deafening, eardrum shattering, noise. The next was the heat. For a brief moment it had felt as if the sun had decided to pay them an up close and personal visit, it's flames licking at their bodies, scorching their exposed skin. The last thing Videl took note of was the crushing weight on her body.
Refocusing her vision, she tried desperately to take note of the situation. She was on her back, her arms spread out on either side of her, her gun no longer glued to her right hand. The sharp ringing in her ears was louder than any other noise. She was pinned. But not by Cato.
Cato. She looked around desperately for her fellow soldier, panicked. But there was too much smoke to even see a few feet ahead of her.
Opening her mouth to call out his name, she immediately began choking on the thick, hot, debris-filled air. She desperately tried to sit herself up, to get herself in a more comfortable position so she'd be able to breathe, but she found that her ability to move was inhibited.
On top of her legs and half-way up her torso, laid heavy, broken chunks of rubble. The wall that Videl and Cato had been using as protection against the stream of bullets had crumbled with the explosion, pinning her to the ground.
Her first instinct was to get out of there as fast as she could. Fumbling around with her hands, she tried to lift large, broken pieces of the concrete off of her body. After what seemed like hours-although it had only been just minutes since the explosion-Videl knew she wouldn't be able to free herself from the trap.
"Cato." she called out weakly, trying to look around for her companion now that the smoke and dust had settled somewhat and it was easier to see. "Cato!" she said, much louder, hoping to hear a call back.
She laid there for a few seconds, and waited. Still, she could hear nothing but the crackling sound of fires, as the ringing in her ears began to subside. She could faintly hear yelling in the distance, but it seemed so far away now.
And then as quick as the first two came, another explosion shook the area, igniting the sky in the south. Suddenly, the shouting stopped.
A heavy feeling sunk into the pit of Videl's chest; this one not brought on by the crushing weight above her. She wanted to yell out, to scream and thrash, and to go and help her team, but instead she lay immobile and helpless on the cold hard ground.
Tears stung at her eyes as she ran over the possibilities in her head. Her entire squad could be dead right now. At that thought she began thrashing, desperately trying to wiggle herself free from her trap. No. She would not ever be able to live with herself, knowing that she hadn't done everything in her power to help them.
Suddenly, as she jerked her body to the side, a relatively large piece of rubble shifted, landing on it's side, freeing her right leg. Videl's eyes widened at the sudden return of the use of her leg, and as a new wave of adrenaline coursed through her blood stream, she began thrashing more, trying to use her freed limb to her advantage. Using the heel of her boot, she tried pushing against the concrete, willing the stubborn rock to move itself so she could wriggle the rest of her body free.
Suddenly, in her peripheral vision, she saw something.
A tall, dark figure was approaching the scene, walking towards her from the midst of the smoldering campground. Videl collected the air in her lungs to let out a call, letting her teammate know her location so that they could help her, but the air caught in her throat as she stared at the figure.
She couldn't see much, as the figure was shrouded by a veil of smoke, but it was distinctly a male silhouette. The only thing that ticked her off to the fact that it was not a member of their squad, was his bare arms. Every member of Squad 12 was issued the same uniform, to be worn at all times. Long-sleeved uniforms.
Videl found herself frozen stiff with fear as she watched the figure walk closer and closer to her location. If this was a member of the Shibato gang, then there was now nothing stopping them from killing her where she lay; or worse. She was a sitting duck, and all she could to was watch as her hunter approached her, preparing for the kill.
But when the figure stopped walking and turned to inspect some rubble, Videl felt a tiny shred of hope bubble up within her. Maybe he hadn't noticed her yet. Maybe the smoke was too thick to see through from his perspective. Maybe if she could stay as silent and still as possible, he wouldn't discover her, and he'd move on. He was only about twenty feet away, so she had to try and be as still as possible.
Yet as she watched the man reach down and pick up a few small pieces of rubble, terror froze her once more. The man moved a few more pieces of rubble, revealing the dirty, bloodied, and unconscious face of Cato.
Then a haunting thought struck her: He's going to kill Cato.
With strength Videl didn't know she had, she pushed hard against the rubble which held her captive, groaning as she struggled, no longer caring if the man heard and spotted her. Maybe he'd take note of her, ignore Cato, and come after her instead. She was at least hoping for that outcome. She wasn't about to sit around and watch her teammate get murdered.
Miraculously, with another hard shove, she freed her other leg, and dragged herself out from under the remaining rock and debris, freeing herself completely. As she stood, she immediately registered a sharp pain in her right leg. Looking down she noticed a steady stream of blood flowing out of a pretty severe wound on the outside of her calf. But no bones seemed to be broken, and she was running out of time.
Turning towards the man, who was looming over Cato, seemingly oblivious to Videl's existence, she watched as she reached down and grabbed Cato's shirt collar.
"No!" Faster than she knew she was capable of, she sprinted toward the man, seething with fury. Before she reached the two, the man had pulled Cato completely free of the rubble and set him, sitting, propped up against the very rubble he was just buried in.
He barely had time to turn his head when Videl's fist met his temple.
The man's head jerked to the side a bit, but his body remained in the same position and he appeared to be harboring no pain. As he turned to face her, Videl could hardly make out his face through the angry tears and the smoky air. She swung her fist once more, aiming for his face, but he quickly sidestepped her attack. Again, she threw a punch, this one aiming for his chest, and again he easily dodged.
Videl let out an angry scream and began to viciously attack the man. Her fists swung quickly and strongly, yet never made an impact on her target. The man was quick. Insanely quick. Dodging every attack. But never blocking.
In a fit of frustration, she screamed and threw herself at the man, putting the entire weight of her body into the attack. She struck him square in the chest with her shoulder, and quickly elbowed him in his gut. As the man stumbled back and let out a "oof", Videl grinned and raised her arm to land another blow.
But before she could even register what was happening, her arms were pinned behind her. Before she could scream, a voice spoke directly into her ear.
"Would you stop that?"
Videl was taken aback at how undeniably… normal he sounded. How annoyed he seemed at the whole situation. His tone made him sound almost bored.
"Wh-what are you-how dare you!" Videl yelled, trying to break free. But she couldn't move her arms, and could barely move the rest of her body. "So are you going to kill me now or later?" she spat, venom in her words. "'Cause I'm not going anywhere with you. You might as well kill me now." The pain in her leg was beginning to become much more difficult to ignore, and she was trying hard not to lose her resolve.
"I'm not going to kill you-"
"Well I'm not going with you!" Videl tried hard to mask her fear with more anger and began to struggle against his hold on her.
Girls and other young women who were captured by major gangs were always put to use by the revolting criminals. If you were taken captive, you became nothing more than a servant or sex slave. Once a gang got a hold of you, your chances of survival were slim and you became nothing more than a form of payment between gang members.
The lucky ones are killed within a few weeks. The unlucky ones are kept for months, years even. But once they've gotten their use out of you, a bullet through the skull solves that problem. You became just as disposable as common trash.
Videl's best friend from her childhood had disappeared a couple years ago, taken captive by the Haruma gang. She hadn't been seen or heard from since. After a few months of waiting and waiting for any sign, Videl realized that she was probably dead. It would be best for her anyways…
"I'm not going to kill you or take you with me." The man sounded confused. "You know I'm not going to hurt you, right?"
Videl laughed coldly. "Like I'm going to believe you. You tried to kill Cato just now!" she growled, struggling against his hold once more.
"Wait, you mean your friend here?" the man turned his body, turning Videl with him, to face Cato's unconscious form. "I didn't try to kill him, I just freed him from that rubble, that's all. He'll be fine."
"What about the rest of my team, huh?" Videl snapped, trying not to listen to his reassuring words. "Are you the one responsible for blowing this place to bits?"
"Look, I'd let you spit accusations at me all day, but I have someplace to be. I stopped by to help, but I can see that my help isn't needed or wanted. So if you'll excuse me." He released her roughly, letting her stumble forward a bit as she tried to regain her footing.
"Ugh!" Videl turned, her hand already in a fist, and prepared to hit the man with all her might, but when she pulled her arm back to strike, he was gone.
She turned around quickly, looking off into all directions. There's no way he could have disappeared so quickly. It just wasn't possible. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.
Videl shook her head, chalking it up to being a bit light-headed from the lack of blood. Her leg wound was still bleeding heavily; she'd need to patch it up, and soon.
"Videl!"
The sound of the Captain's loud voice so close to her shocked her so much that she let out a startled shriek.
"Easy now." he said, approaching her carefully. A wound over his right eye was bleeding heavily, dripping blood down the side of his face, obscuring his vision in his right eye. He also seemed to be walking with a slight limp, but other than that, and the amount of dust and debris caked to his skin, he seemed to be alright.
"Captain." Videl breathed out. The sight of him before her was more than welcome, and relief flooded through her. "What happened? What were the explosions from? Is everyone alright?"
"Land mines. Jones set one off. Both him and Toniya disappeared in the explosion."
"Are they…?"
"They're gone." he said grimly, confirming her fears. "Once we realized what was going on, we retreated back to the camp, but whoever was in charge of this whole set-up realized we'd discovered what was going on so they detonated the one over here."
The two soldiers looked over to where the the tall tan building used to be. Now it was just rubble and fire.
"They had two people in there." Videl commented. But she didn't say anything further. Your protection was never ensured if you were in a gang. If whoever was in charge of a mission wanted to blow up the building that you were in, then that's he'd do without a second thought. Every man for himself.
That's the way most people lived nowadays; regardless of whether you were involved in a gang or not. Videl has witnessed way too many families break apart and friends turn on one another due to the high stress that life in this world carried. Although it was sad, that's just the way things were.
The sound of Cato going into a coughing fit brought their attention towards him.
"You alright?" Videl said, crouching down besides him. Cato didn't stop coughing, but he did look over at her and nod.
"Any injuries to report?" Captain asked.
It took almost a minute for the large soldier to recover from his coughing and respond to the question. "I think I may have a concussion, and maybe some cracked ribs." he shook his head, "I could've sworn I was buried under rubble. I thought I was being crushed."
"You were." Videl spoke before she could stop herself. "I mean, that guy helped you out."
"What guy?" Captain turned toward her, a quizzical look on his face. Videl tried to find the right way to word her encounter with the stranger, but she could hardly stutter out a response. "Was it a Shibato?" Captain asked, growing impatient with the girl.
"No. At least I don't think so. He-he saved Cato. And he said he wasn't going to hurt us and that he stopped by to help… I don't know where he went though." she decided it were best that she leave out the part where she tried to take him on, and could hardly land a single hit.
One thing Videl prided herself in, was that she excelled at hand-to-hand combat; she was one of the best the military had to offer. And if Captain knew that she had been bested by a common stranger, that wouldn't go over too well...
"Well hopefully we won't see him anymore." Captain said sternly.
Videl nodded. Being a part of the military, she was quick to learn that any 'random acts of kindness' can be interpreted as a threat. Allies aren't accepted very easily. Most of the time, any do-gooders end up being gang members sent to befriend and spy on the military and it's work.
So news of strangers helping a hand is an immediate red flag.
"If I catch sight of him I'll be sure to report it directly to you, sir." Videl said, hoping Captain will forget about the stranger she couldn't lay a hand on. The sooner she forgot about the freak encounter, the better.
