Chapter Fourteen
--Ienji--
Ienji, along with forty or fifty other kids, staggered as their sight returned after the temporary blindness caused by the flash.
It took him a second to realize that at some point, the ringing in his ears had been replaced by a different kind of ringing; someone must have pulled the fire alarm.
He removed his hand from the table he'd been steadying himself on. Jared seemed in a similar condition, although there was a strange look in his eyes.... Alec, unsurprisingly, was typing quickly with one hand while rest the other upon his forehead; he appeared a bit addled, but was doing something.
Most of the kids were fleeing the room, now that the door had been opened and the danger appeared past. Alec wasn't fleeing, and was instead concentrating on hooking up to his laptop he'd removed from his backpack. Ienji himself didn't want to leave without his friends, and Jared appeared uncertain.
In the aftermath of all that had occurred in less than two minutes, no one but the three of them noticed Alec point the lens of a digital camera around the scene, apparently taking dozens of pictures of the devastation.
Suddenly, Ienji felt something strong, like a wind, but going down.... it was hard to put it into words.
He instinctively materialized his own digital device for a brief moment before noticing himself and dematerializing it; he looked around, but no one appeared to have seen him. There were only a dozen kids still there, and, all but these three were heading out the door as quickly as possible.
The 'wind' picked up, and with warning the student lounge shook once more; but this time, it was the opposite of all previous. The room righted itself, having titled a few degrees in the initial quake, and the circular fissure narrowed before sealing itself; as if by magic, the cracks in the tiled floor disappeared. It was as if nothing at all had happened.
Still none of them spoke. Then, finally, Jared said, "I think we should leave now." Ienji and Alec--who had packed his computer equipment--nodded.
The three friends shakily out through the empty doorway, stepping over the crashed-in door on their way out.
--Evan--
Evan found himself wishing he'd taken his bike instead of the bus; his legs
were beginning to tire, but he didn't let up his pursuit in the slightest.
The kid seemed to have somehow passed through the forging of the link between
himself and the digital world without harm; just like Ienji.... this kid
had taken it upon himself to terrorize his fellow students using a power
of which he couldn't possibly have any real understanding.
He was misguided; Evan hadn't been there to explain things. Why was this all
this happening? Where had they gone wrong?
Now the digivice was telling him the kid was forty yards ahead of him. He
looked forwarded and spotted a cloaked figure stepping down into the subway
station; the same one at which Evan had arrived in Siojaton.
Evan picked up the pace; he'd end it there.
--Ienji--
As Ienji, Jared and Alec left through the double-doors into the space outside the school, they spotted police and firemen rushing down into the student lounge.
The schoolmaster, along with the entire faculty and all students, were outside; he was on a cell phone, apparently arguing with someone.
Most of the kids were huddled in groups, and discussing what had occurred in tearful, excited, frightened, or hysterical whispers. Ienji and his two friends remained silent for some time.
Finally, one of the three worked up the nerve to speak of the events. "What happened?" Jared said quietly. "It was just a regular day.... and then that kid, Anish.... how did he do those things?" He paused, then asked, "Did all of you see what I saw?"
Alec nodded. "Yes. And I even have photographic proof; I took a few pictures before the floor closed up like nothing had happened."
"That's good," Jared replied absently. "I just wish you'd taken a photo of that strange glowing device.... I felt it.... that is, I've never seen anything like it before."
"I have," Ienji said out of nowhere.
Both friends looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?" Alec asked.
Ienji almost faltered, but spoke readily. "I've seen something like that before.... it happened yesterday," he told them. He turned to Jared before continuing. "I was going to tell you on the bus, Jared, but.... I felt that maybe I shouldn't."
He sighed heavily before looking each of his friends in the eye as he went on. "I think we should discuss this somewhere else.... 2:00 p.m., the library?" he queried.
--Evan--
Evan took two steps at a time as he descend into the underground station. He held his GD in front of him; its light seemed to clear a path.
He leapt over the turnstiles and glanced around. It was the time of the day in which the station was often empty. There were two landings, inbound and outbound; he assumed the kid would be at the outbound.
Sure enough, there he was; conspicuous in his torn cloak and the glowing object he held in his right fist. The kid glanced around in alert paranoia, and spotted Evan coming toward him.
Knowing he had to move quickly--this kid was no match for Evan's skill and experience, but he did have a few tricks, like the blinder-deafener.
Evan threw out a digital 'net', to bind him, but the kid dodged it. Cursing, he threw another net, but the kid slammed forth his digivice and dissolve the net before it could make contact.
He and the kid were the only two people in sight, so Evan held nothing back. He took a step forward and prepared to fire another net, but suddenly saw the kid hold his GD up in the air; Evan quickly closed his eyes to avoid the blinder, and the earplugs he'd put on nullified the deafener.
Appearing frustrated, the kid decided to take the fight up a notch. He thrust his hand at the ground, and suddenly the ground shook violently. Evan caught himself as he fell.
He looked up, and noticed a bit of dust and rubble crumbling off the ceiling. "By all means bring the subway crashing on us," he yelled at the kid.
The kid twitch his left hand in an attempt to apply telekinetic force, but he easily deflected it with a touch of his own telekinesis. Evan then fired one last net directly at him.
Out of nowhere, the kid cried out. It wasn't a cry of anger, or of sadness, or as the result of pain; it was almost as though the kid was cursing all things that had rightness.
Time slowed, and Evan felt something he'd never felt before.
Massive streams of digital energy, focusing and condense upon the solitary cloaked figure. It was like the formulation of a more powerful processer.
Speechless, he stared in awe as darkness--physical darkness--gathered around the kid, and.... transformed him.
The indicator on Evan's ghost digivice--previously a blinking blue dot, it had become a vast dark hole in the 3D holographic projection.
The kid, now only a shadowy form, easily batted aside the digital net, before advance upon Evan threateningly.
Instinctively, Evan reconciled his confusion and uncertainty by focusing on the reinforcement of a digital 'shield'. It probably saved his life, because a half-second later, a massive wave of telekinetic force impacted him, and he flew against the far wall of the station at around 150 kph.
His shields cushioned him, and now he realized that his only hope was to focus on shields. The shadowed figure pummmeled him with attack after attack, and it was all Evan could do to stave his attacks, wear him out.
For a minute Evan began to believe that the kid wouldn't even get tired, but then he observed that the frequency of assault became lower.
Evan thought he might pass out from the sheer effort of it, but then, as if in farewell to a nightmare, the darkness evaporated, and the kid became a kid again.
Both of them suddenly heard the sound of an approaching outbound train. It settled to a stop just as the darkness fully faded.
Feeling a second wind come over him, Evan dropped his focus on defense and began to fling net after net at the kid, who narrowly dodged or deflected each one.
Evan saw that the kid wanted to catch a ride out of town on the train, and moved to cut him off. But he wasn't quite fast enough to fully anticipate the kid's sudden blinder, and his eyes only closed partially as the flash distorted his vision.
For a moment he couldn't see what he was doing, and those few seconds cost him; the next thing he knew, the kid was stepping onto the near-empty train.
Desperate, Evan raced toward the train as he flung one last net, but the doors were closing at it bounced off harmlessly.
He ran forward, pounding at the doors, yelling for the conductor to open them, but there was no response. He watched helplessly as the train moved out.
The last thing Evan saw before he passed out from exhaustion was the word 'Tokyo' labeled on the back of the train.
--Ienji--
Ienji, along with forty or fifty other kids, staggered as their sight returned after the temporary blindness caused by the flash.
It took him a second to realize that at some point, the ringing in his ears had been replaced by a different kind of ringing; someone must have pulled the fire alarm.
He removed his hand from the table he'd been steadying himself on. Jared seemed in a similar condition, although there was a strange look in his eyes.... Alec, unsurprisingly, was typing quickly with one hand while rest the other upon his forehead; he appeared a bit addled, but was doing something.
Most of the kids were fleeing the room, now that the door had been opened and the danger appeared past. Alec wasn't fleeing, and was instead concentrating on hooking up to his laptop he'd removed from his backpack. Ienji himself didn't want to leave without his friends, and Jared appeared uncertain.
In the aftermath of all that had occurred in less than two minutes, no one but the three of them noticed Alec point the lens of a digital camera around the scene, apparently taking dozens of pictures of the devastation.
Suddenly, Ienji felt something strong, like a wind, but going down.... it was hard to put it into words.
He instinctively materialized his own digital device for a brief moment before noticing himself and dematerializing it; he looked around, but no one appeared to have seen him. There were only a dozen kids still there, and, all but these three were heading out the door as quickly as possible.
The 'wind' picked up, and with warning the student lounge shook once more; but this time, it was the opposite of all previous. The room righted itself, having titled a few degrees in the initial quake, and the circular fissure narrowed before sealing itself; as if by magic, the cracks in the tiled floor disappeared. It was as if nothing at all had happened.
Still none of them spoke. Then, finally, Jared said, "I think we should leave now." Ienji and Alec--who had packed his computer equipment--nodded.
The three friends shakily out through the empty doorway, stepping over the crashed-in door on their way out.
--Evan--
Evan found himself wishing he'd taken his bike instead of the bus; his legs
were beginning to tire, but he didn't let up his pursuit in the slightest.
The kid seemed to have somehow passed through the forging of the link between
himself and the digital world without harm; just like Ienji.... this kid
had taken it upon himself to terrorize his fellow students using a power
of which he couldn't possibly have any real understanding.
He was misguided; Evan hadn't been there to explain things. Why was this all
this happening? Where had they gone wrong?
Now the digivice was telling him the kid was forty yards ahead of him. He
looked forwarded and spotted a cloaked figure stepping down into the subway
station; the same one at which Evan had arrived in Siojaton.
Evan picked up the pace; he'd end it there.
--Ienji--
As Ienji, Jared and Alec left through the double-doors into the space outside the school, they spotted police and firemen rushing down into the student lounge.
The schoolmaster, along with the entire faculty and all students, were outside; he was on a cell phone, apparently arguing with someone.
Most of the kids were huddled in groups, and discussing what had occurred in tearful, excited, frightened, or hysterical whispers. Ienji and his two friends remained silent for some time.
Finally, one of the three worked up the nerve to speak of the events. "What happened?" Jared said quietly. "It was just a regular day.... and then that kid, Anish.... how did he do those things?" He paused, then asked, "Did all of you see what I saw?"
Alec nodded. "Yes. And I even have photographic proof; I took a few pictures before the floor closed up like nothing had happened."
"That's good," Jared replied absently. "I just wish you'd taken a photo of that strange glowing device.... I felt it.... that is, I've never seen anything like it before."
"I have," Ienji said out of nowhere.
Both friends looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?" Alec asked.
Ienji almost faltered, but spoke readily. "I've seen something like that before.... it happened yesterday," he told them. He turned to Jared before continuing. "I was going to tell you on the bus, Jared, but.... I felt that maybe I shouldn't."
He sighed heavily before looking each of his friends in the eye as he went on. "I think we should discuss this somewhere else.... 2:00 p.m., the library?" he queried.
--Evan--
Evan took two steps at a time as he descend into the underground station. He held his GD in front of him; its light seemed to clear a path.
He leapt over the turnstiles and glanced around. It was the time of the day in which the station was often empty. There were two landings, inbound and outbound; he assumed the kid would be at the outbound.
Sure enough, there he was; conspicuous in his torn cloak and the glowing object he held in his right fist. The kid glanced around in alert paranoia, and spotted Evan coming toward him.
Knowing he had to move quickly--this kid was no match for Evan's skill and experience, but he did have a few tricks, like the blinder-deafener.
Evan threw out a digital 'net', to bind him, but the kid dodged it. Cursing, he threw another net, but the kid slammed forth his digivice and dissolve the net before it could make contact.
He and the kid were the only two people in sight, so Evan held nothing back. He took a step forward and prepared to fire another net, but suddenly saw the kid hold his GD up in the air; Evan quickly closed his eyes to avoid the blinder, and the earplugs he'd put on nullified the deafener.
Appearing frustrated, the kid decided to take the fight up a notch. He thrust his hand at the ground, and suddenly the ground shook violently. Evan caught himself as he fell.
He looked up, and noticed a bit of dust and rubble crumbling off the ceiling. "By all means bring the subway crashing on us," he yelled at the kid.
The kid twitch his left hand in an attempt to apply telekinetic force, but he easily deflected it with a touch of his own telekinesis. Evan then fired one last net directly at him.
Out of nowhere, the kid cried out. It wasn't a cry of anger, or of sadness, or as the result of pain; it was almost as though the kid was cursing all things that had rightness.
Time slowed, and Evan felt something he'd never felt before.
Massive streams of digital energy, focusing and condense upon the solitary cloaked figure. It was like the formulation of a more powerful processer.
Speechless, he stared in awe as darkness--physical darkness--gathered around the kid, and.... transformed him.
The indicator on Evan's ghost digivice--previously a blinking blue dot, it had become a vast dark hole in the 3D holographic projection.
The kid, now only a shadowy form, easily batted aside the digital net, before advance upon Evan threateningly.
Instinctively, Evan reconciled his confusion and uncertainty by focusing on the reinforcement of a digital 'shield'. It probably saved his life, because a half-second later, a massive wave of telekinetic force impacted him, and he flew against the far wall of the station at around 150 kph.
His shields cushioned him, and now he realized that his only hope was to focus on shields. The shadowed figure pummmeled him with attack after attack, and it was all Evan could do to stave his attacks, wear him out.
For a minute Evan began to believe that the kid wouldn't even get tired, but then he observed that the frequency of assault became lower.
Evan thought he might pass out from the sheer effort of it, but then, as if in farewell to a nightmare, the darkness evaporated, and the kid became a kid again.
Both of them suddenly heard the sound of an approaching outbound train. It settled to a stop just as the darkness fully faded.
Feeling a second wind come over him, Evan dropped his focus on defense and began to fling net after net at the kid, who narrowly dodged or deflected each one.
Evan saw that the kid wanted to catch a ride out of town on the train, and moved to cut him off. But he wasn't quite fast enough to fully anticipate the kid's sudden blinder, and his eyes only closed partially as the flash distorted his vision.
For a moment he couldn't see what he was doing, and those few seconds cost him; the next thing he knew, the kid was stepping onto the near-empty train.
Desperate, Evan raced toward the train as he flung one last net, but the doors were closing at it bounced off harmlessly.
He ran forward, pounding at the doors, yelling for the conductor to open them, but there was no response. He watched helplessly as the train moved out.
The last thing Evan saw before he passed out from exhaustion was the word 'Tokyo' labeled on the back of the train.