A New Day Chapter 30: A New World: Part 2
It was a technical error, that's what she told herself.
But she saw the footage. The people shook, the audio desynced… it looked like an earthquake. But it wasn't. They would have felt it otherwise.
Rose stared at the tv, it showed off static, no the "We'll Be Right Back" technical difficulty screen, no awkward change to a commercial break; they got good reception here, so it can't be chalked up to an error on their part.
She looked around. Her fellow guild members and partner had the same idea. They whispered to each other and tried to get closer to the screen. Even Azelf was confused as well, the telltale sign off a raised eyebrow and the telekinetic lowering of their mug. What was going on?
Her answer would soon come.
The loud creaking off metal and rumbling announced its presence outside their abode. Marcus was the first to run out, followed by several other guild members. Rose dashed to the steps, people held their breath, some fainted. She followed their eyes, she understood why.
A skyscraper, the tallest in the entire city, her home, was gone. Dust, ash, smoke rose from the skyline like a mushroom cloud, enshrouding the area in a blank pseudo-darkness. The particles in the atmosphere turned the burning sun bright red, as if the devil himself was collecting his dues.
The sounds of a mug shattered on the floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Azelf, shouting to high hell and pointing from member to member. She figured that they wanted them to rally their water types to put out any potential fire and get straight to ground zero.
Half of the members couldn't, they physically couldn't. The weak hearted collapsed, one of their more elder members had a heart attack and had CPR applied to him on the spot. Others stood in silence. Markus said nothing as well, the strength zapped from him as he saw the dark clouds continue to rise.
A thought then began to haunt Rose. Regretfully, she turned to the desk. That little cat was resting on a clipboard, taking a nap, as if it were any other day. The animal wasn't even perturbed over even taking notice of the frantic guild members running out.
As she felt her cheeks become wet, another thought rang through her mind. One she was in denial, but then she remembered she saw Teardrop's image in that broadcast.
She's not coming back.
Silence.
It was all I could hear. No clapping, no hollering, no people chewing their food loudly. Just… nothing.
Then we heard someone drop their fork.
Loud chattering was the immediate concern. A good deal of the school body's population groaned, saying it must have been a poor signal. If that's true, then why are the teachers freaking out? I see a couple of the teachers audibly cursing to themselves, or staying put like mannequins, mouth wide open.
"Man, the teachers seem to be in a real tizzie, huh."
"Yeah… they are." Darkness did something that I never thought I would see. Her eyes were wide open, her breath shaky… was she scared. "Something's off. I'm not the only one here that thinks so, right?"
"Maybe something good's going to happen to the school? Like maybe they're live streaming it and we got a shout-out or–"
"Not a chance in hell." Poseidon interrupted the cone. "Those are not tears of joy."
Before I could even respond, the PA system went active; the principal canceled classes for the day. The teachers were now herding us through the back exit, taking a B-Line straight to the parking lot. We were supposed to stay put while our parents arrived to pick us up. I can see one of the teachers right now, they're holding up a clipboard while talking down the phone like crazy.
Actually, it wasn't just him. Most of the teachers are doing it too. Is it really that serious?
"Seriously, what is going on!" The oshawott pushed through several students to reach us. "I've tried asking the teachers but they aren't giving us anything. What do they think we are? Kids?"
Leafy raised a finger and opened his mouth.
"He's joking, Leafy… I think." I said.
Leafy closed his mouth. The monkey folded his arms and looked around. Was he shivering? It wasn't that cold outside… is he nervous?
Can't blame him. I am too.
"Now I am just spitballing here, but… what if we've been chosen to go to the theme park? What if–"
"Nothing good is happening here, Leaf." Poseidon reaffirmed. "Take a look now, even the students are getting shaken up now."
He was right. Several of our classmates were freaking out. The ones that were throwing a fit were crowding around people who were pulling out their cellphones and showing off to their friends. I could even see that jerkwad charmeleon freezing in place as he looked over the shoulder of one of his friends. Mouth wide open.
"Well whatever it is, it'll probably blow over by tomorrow. Maybe the rest of the week if we're lucky."
"It won't." Darkness replied to me. I looked at her, her paws pressed the screen of her phone against her face. Her stoicism was entirely absent. All that was left was… nothing.
Leafy and Swirl were close to her. They took turns looking at the feed; Leafy jaw dropped and took several steps back, accidentally falling on his rump by accident. Swirl eyes became watery and buried her creamy head against Poseidon. Poseidon snatched the phone from Darkness and took a look himself.
He became stiff, like a mannequin. I couldn't tell if he was crying because he immediately closed his eyes shut, he kept panting like that, clenching the phone tighter and tighter while not letting go of his sister.
I was the last one. I almost didn't want to see what was going on, but my sense of curiosity forced my hand. I carefully walked around behind Poseidon's back and looked over his shoulder. I choked. My backpack slid down my back as my arms dangled down below.
It was a helicopter view from the city. All the buildings appeared untouched with the exception of an enormous pile of metal and concrete sprawled across the streets below.
A tomb in the making.
The diner became a ghost town.
Half to the people scurried out of the door when the ash turned the sun red. The rest were unable to remove themselves from their seats. Hypnotized by the ugly pixels hanging above their heads. He immediately dismissed his staff for today and gave a full refund to those who were unfortunate to receive their food. Shelly couldn't handle it and locked herself in the office. It's fine she needed the time.
He needed more than that.
The dog could not keep his eyes off the screen. There was nothing else to focus on, and he had a feeling his fellow mons' would howl to the ends of the earth if he so much as thought of reaching for the remote.
Breathing became a whirlwind, eyes threatened to become a tidal wave, he was well on his way to be shaking like an earthquake.
It was the end point of the battle. Even though he was too wounded to participate, he could see the movie of blood and tears from underneath the wreckage of a burning car. When the shouting and gunfire became quiet, he crawled onto his belly, legs still hurting, no doubt from the shrapnel still embedded in his calves.
Ash was raining as if it were winter. The houses were reduced to nothing but rocks and bent wood. Smoke still clouded the sky. He couldn't even see the sun anymore. He didn't dare call out for his squad just yet, he was still in danger.
His nose however led him astray. Into the alley way. There were nothing but the sounds of rats and cockroaches scurrying around, not a living soul otherwise. He figured he was reaching for town square. As he kept going, the horrid smell became more and more revolting. It smelled like… burnt meat. He finally turned the corner–
He was taken aback from his thoughts when the sounds of heavy breathing dispelled his self-enchantment. It was Wolfie. Arceus, he'd all forgotten about him when… all this happened. He was seated down. His plate hadn't been touched much either. He was sitting there, eyes wide and snout slowly inhaling… and exhaling.
Inhaling.
Paws clenching.
Exhaling.
Eyes watery.
Breathe in. Moments before disaster.
Breathe out. Why?
Burger slowly rose from his perch and silently walked over to the doctor. He reached out a paw forward.
"Wolf… I just want to say–"
He didn't care to listen. Burger wasn't sure if he even was listening. In a flash, he buried his paws across his face. Deranged hiccups and high-strung wails countered the loud noise of the speakers. His food was getting wet, courtesy of him. Everything was coming to a close, coming right out.
Burger paused for a moment, then laid a paw onto his shoulder, massaging his neck gently. He knew it was pitiful, Wolfie deserved better… he just didn't know what else to do.
It took her a moment before she realized she was falling.
In that microsecond, the blood pumped through her lungs, her brain, everything was in slow-mo. She barely had time to think. She could barely hear at all, the rumbling, the loud technical failures from the speakers… the beating of her own heart. Sensory overload.
The center of the floor caved in, leaving a massive circle-like dent before it broke inwards. Most of the vultures tried to keep flight, but ultimately were swallowed by the abyss.
A splash of a warm liquid was felt on her cheek. The grass-type snapped her head right. A large metal beam embedded itself on the ground. Tear were standing there, and now she's not. She's dead. The amount of nausea from the smell confirmed it.
The Beast Trio and the salazzle got the worst of it. They barely had a chance to react when the whole ceiling crashed in on him. The dust blocked most of the carnage, but she was lucky to see a spot of one of their paws, Entei. Was that a bone?
It didn't matter now. The ceiling was getting closer and closer. She thought of how unfair it all was. The unlikeliness. Why did it happen to her, to Tear, to anyone here? What did they do to deserve it?
She lived a long nice life, that's true. The only regret she has was not giving Wolfie a final goodbye. It was brief, it couldn't be avoided, she couldn't have seen this in advance. Arceus, please just. This was too much. It was—
….
…..
….
..
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.
.
.
.
A man was seated in his recliner, inside a gray concrete room. He was staring intensely at the television. That building… it wasn't even a building anymore… looked like some gutted out an entire scrapyard!
Three legendaries and a mayor, alongside arceus-know people?
UNACCEPTABLE!
The remote was thrown at the tv, cracking the screen. He huffed for a moment, then shook his head.
"Forget it, there is nothing we can do now. Maybe we can still fix this."
The only saving grace was that all of their assets were left unscathed… physically at least. He needs to remind himself to hire more therapists to their post. He looked at the computer, his fancy set up in the corner.
"You Alohan devil… you think you can get away with this. I don't think so. You'll pay for this. I swear…"
The human gritted his teeth, and clenched his dog tags.
It's time for a arceus-damned meeting.
A Braver New world we shall see.
Welcome to Act 2.
Hope you're ready for a ride.