Everything stopped for Dauntless and me, we were frozen in time. But outside our pocket of time, things didn't stop.
Bakula's head recoiled back, she slumped to the ground. Blood poured out from her broken goggles. We had done it, the ABB's leadership was gone. Soon the gang will disappear as well. It would splinter into pieces.
My short celebration was cut short when I realized what Bakuda had done. The bombs, her bombs, they were all connected to her. They all went off if she died…
White light washed over us, as the warehouse that housed the ABB exploded. We were protected by the bubble of displaced time. I couldn't feel the heat, but I could see it. It was so bright like someone had dropped a sun on the warehouse.
Soon even that light gave away, the area was shrouded in a gray haze.
I was left to wonder how big the blast was. Was the city fine?
But the smoke dissipated like everything before it.
Day faded into night, I was left to watch over the frozen Dauntless… my vigil had begun.
All through the night and the next night, I watched over him.
The next morning I saw the destruction the bombs had caused. All around us, the building had been flattened. In the place of the Warehouse was a massive smoking crater. Luckily the destruction did not seem too widespread only spreading out to three-block radius.
It was on the third day we got our first visitor.
A hero, Armsmaster. I gazed as his bike rolled in silently, for I could not hear anything. He walked up to the pocket of time. He snarled something, he seemed agitated, angry, and to a certain degree, guilty.
He stayed for a bit, he spoke much. I couldn't read lips so what was said would probably never be known except to Armsmaster. His stay came to an end, the hero walked away. His bike rolled away silently.
The day darkened, night came and went.
Over it all, I watched.
It was the seventh day the next set of visitors came. This time there were so many. At least hundreds. The Protectorate was here, or at least I thought it was the Protectorate, for Armsmaster stood with them. There were some troopers from the PRT also. A short fat woman wearing a suit, she seemed to be in charge.
The news crews were here. Also, they took pictures and interviewed the short fat woman. They stayed for a bit longer.
The sun lowered in the sky, my only source of time. The group left, Dauntless and I were left alone once more.
Two days later, I noticed a change in Dauntless. He seemed to be glowing, white light shining forth from him. Every day it got brighter.
On the thirteenth day, yet another group came. This group set up a podium in front of us and, rows of chairs. A large memorial stone was placed, I could not read it for it was facing the wrong way. I could guess what it said.
Soon more people arrived, there were easily hundreds. They all wore black, every single one of them.
This was a memorial service but to some… this was more akin to a funeral. I watched it from my place in the bubble.
So many people got up to speak. I knew they were all here for Dauntless. Words were spoken from the podium, many tears were spilled.
While they cried and talked about times probably long gone, I watched over Dauntless. But it made me think, would I be here till the end of time watching and waiting for freedom that would never come?
Silently I waited, soon things seemed to be wrapping up. People placed flowers on the stone before the pocket of paused time. Only one person stayed longer than the rest, a young adult male he remained for a while until a much older man came, his father? Or his grandfather. The old man led the boy away.
The podium and chairs were all taken away. The sun left us, darkness settled over us, Dauntless' glow being the only source of light.
Wait, this was a pocket of paused time. How were the rays of light penetrating? How were they traveling?
I mentally shrugged, I didn't know, and that was not going to change anytime soon.
The rain came and went. Dauntless glowed brighter. The sun rose and fell.
Then on the sixteenth day, there was a change.
For a couple of seconds, time in the bubble unpaused. I rocketed forward, my body following the last command I had actively given it. Like a well-oiled machine, I landed above the hero, my shield arm expanded, it covered both Dauntless and me. I tried to move but I couldn't, the bubble was back in place.
Like a dome of metal, it protected us, but from what I asked myself.
This time shrouded in the darkness of my shield, time was paused once more.
Dauntless yet lay still, glowing in the darkness.
Unable to see the sun anymore, I did nothing but wait.
I waited and waited.
Time passed.
Dauntless glowed brighter.
And brighter.
He grew so bright that I could no longer look at him. He no longer glowed, he shined. The miniature sun that was once Dauntless grew. Spark of white lightning danced off him and hit the dome of… my flesh that surrounded us.
The sparks seemed to shift through the bubble of time like snakes. The moved, every which way. They were searching, but for what I questioned. A way out maybe.
Soon I thought, well soon to me. For all, I know the bubble could pop, and millions of years would have passed.
Was it better or worse that I didn't see or feel the passage of time? Would this bring me to the edge of insanity, or was I already insane? Could I even become insane?
Then I began to feel it. The bubble was breaking down. Degrading. It could only function for so long. It started to flicker in and out of existence.
With every flicker, I moved slowly drawing the shield back into myself and standing up. It was slow progress, the flickers started with long intervals between them, but soon it began to speed up.
It was like I was glitching, every movement was stalled for God knows how long.
There was nothing flashy when the bubble ceased to exist. I craned my neck, looking up into the heavens. Dark storm clouds darkened the sky, casting shadows upon the earth.
I turned back to Dauntless, he still glowed with white brilliance. The white snake like lightning surrounded him flowing through the air.
Would awake, I asked myself.
"Dauntless?" I spoke the name slowly, "Its gone."
Dauntless didn't stir, he still lay unmoving. I knew he was not dead, for his chest rose steadily. I listen over the quiet dine of the city. I could hear his breath.
I kneeled on the ground before him, "Dauntless, you gotta wake up." I sighed, maybe I would have to pick him up, I looked about, yeah this was probably not the place to be. Even with the ABB gone, or at least I thought they were gone.
I reached out to pick up the hero, my hand brushed against him, and his eyes snapped open.
Like a spotlight, silvery-white light shined from his eye sockets. I recoiled back, that was new!
He rose off the ground, his body moving unnaturally. He hovered in the air several feet off the ground. Slowly the shining light seemed to dim slightly as it was redistributed to different parts of his body. His shield, spear, boots, and his breastplate glowed with white light brighter than the rest of his body.
The light that streamed from his eyes dimmed to just a glow.
But the white lightning danced across his body.
"Dauntless?" I asked what had happened to my friend.
The glowing visage of the hero turned to me, "Thomas?" he asked shakily, "What happened?"
I swallowed, I had even realized it my hands had turned to blades. I retracted the blades, "Bakuda got us with a time bomb. Froze us in time. you were unconscious for it."
The hero floated back down to the ground, "I see."
"What happened to you?"
The hero shook his head, "I don't know, it like I received all my charges at once, hundreds of thousands of charges. Nearly drove me crazy."
"Charges I asked, you never explained your power to me."
The hero paused before spoke, "over twenty or so hours I build up a charge, I take that charge and imbue it with power." He raised his spear as an example, "First the weapon gains durability first, then." he swung his spear, it extended reaching across the ground. It hit a building bringing the entire building down.
I stared at the smoking remains of the building.
"Why did you use that before?"
He seemed just as surprised, "It was a glorified taser before." he choked out.
That one big jump from taser to a weapon of mass destruction.
I would have asked one question about what we were going to do if I wasn't interrupted.
Whenever we think of sirens, we always think low and droning. The Sirens I heard were different. They were more akin to a scream, and endless scream. It screeched, sounding through the city, it was heard for miles.
It wasn't droning, it was an erratic panic screaming.
Dauntless breathed one word, "Endbringer." One word that sent shivers down my spine.
They're here.