Amid the madness, Kagami was at Commander Fleck's side. The Vytal soldier was talking to a man in the passenger side of a truck. He had a bandana tightly wrapped around his head. Picking up something from his feet, he handed it off with a nod. Leaning forward, the driver of the vehicle, a woman, sincerely waved to Fleck before quickly driving off.
"What's that?" The jadette asked.
"A bomb." Fleck flashed a smile as he slid a hard shell backpack on.
She blinked once. "What?"
"Not, not your usual bomb." He clarified. "It won't obliterate everything when it's detonated."
"Good to know." She nodded slowly.
He exhaled. "Listen, kid. I don't ask questions on how it works, but once it's set off it will destroy all living matter within a certain radius. Specifically the radius of the border we've made. It'll leave all the buildings still intact."
Kagami's eyes shot wide as she eyed the bag. "You're telling me the government here can make something like that? On a whim?"
"Well, yes but no." He tightened the straps on the bag. "My friend can. He's a scientist. A genius actually. He's been working on it to help destroy large hives of Grimm. And if it makes you feel better, there's no way he'd tell anyone else how to make it."
"Because that's definitely comforting." She rolled her eyes.
"Good. Then we're on the same page." Fleck nodded. "We'll need to get pretty close to the Leviathan. Once we are, we can set it up then b-line it back to safety before detonating."
"Are you sure everyone has been cleared out though?" Concern filled her voice. "Like absolutely sure. Because..."
"Everyone has been evacuated. You have my word. Let's go." He gestured.
Taking a deep breath, she tightly gripped the rifle she had. "Okay." She nodded in agreement before following after him.
Both of them stayed on the rooftops to avoid the reptilian Grimm as they sprinted through the city. Doing her best to ignore the terrible state of everything, Kagami swallowed hard. It was hard to imagine just hours before this city was beautiful and beaming with life.
Getting close enough to feel the air tremble from the large Grimm's breathing, Fleck held up his fist and crouched down. "This should be a good spot."
"Then get to it." Kagami peered over the side of the roof. Watching dozens of Sobki scurry down the crowded road, she gulped. "I really don't like being this close to all of them." Raising her rifle, she carefully watched them. "Especially with limited ammo."
He quietly scoffed at that. Kneeling down, he slipped his backpack off. He then very carefully unzipped it and began to pull futuristic-like parts out. "How old are you, kid?"
Raising an eyebrow, she eyed him. "Nineteen."
He scoffed again, this time with a smile. "And you ran out here into this madness with a sword?"
"Hey. I also have this." She gestured to her left arm.
"Right." He nodded while rolling his eyes. "Well you're no Huntress yet, but you're definitely getting there. You're absolutely crazy just like them."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Huntsman and soldier are two very different occupations." He spoke while putting the parts of the bomb together. "You're never going to catch me jumping out of an airship and diving head first to the ground without a parachute."
Kagami very softly laughed at that. "It's really not that bad as long as you have a landing strategy."
"My parachute is my landing strategy." Taking a deep breath, he slid his backpack on and stood up. Looking up at the giant Grimm towering above the city, he gripped the detonator in his hand. "Come on." He turned around.
Pulling away from the edge of the roof, she nodded and pulled the rifle she had close. "Right. And then we can finally put an end to this nightmare."
"Exactly." He smiled.
As the two of them went to retreat a safe distance away from the bomb, the entire ground rumbled. Catching her balance, Kagami whipped her head around to look up at the monstrous Grimm. The Alpha Leviathan was shifting around. Its body slowly moved as its tail carelessly wrecked everything in its path.
Seeing the tail moving towards them, Fleck's eyes widened. "Shit!" He shouted. He went to move, only to stop as Kagami rushed by.
The jadette had dropped the rifle she had and was fully sprinting towards the set up bomb. Quietly cursing under her breath, she bared her teeth and slid to a stop beside it. Looking over, she watched as the Grimm tail turned buildings into a pile of rubble and dust. "Bad... very, very bad!" Wrapping both her arms around the device, she carefully held it close. "Really very bad!" Pushing herself up, she ran ahead.
She had hoped she would be able to make it to the building on the other side but as she felt the roof below her feet giving away, she knew she was wrong. Feeling herself fall, she closed her eyes. She moved her body around so she was falling back first. Curling up, she braced herself as she went to protect the deadly device in her grasp.
The next thing she knew, her shoulder was being shaken. Her mind was a blur and everything felt fuzzy. Slowly moving, she stared up at the night sky through the remains of the destroyed building. As the ringing faded from her ears, she noticed Fleck on one knee beside her. "Commander...?" She blinked.
Exhaling, he nodded. "Good. You're alright." He held out his hand to help her up.
"We're not dead?" She was still a bit dazed.
"Luckily not, thanks to you. But we have bigger problems." He eyed the bomb tucked in the corner of the room. He then looked back at her. Raising his arm, he waved the detonator. "It's busted."
"What?" Her eyes widened. "Can you call the others to make a new one?"
"We don't have time for that." His voice lowered for once.
Kagami grew silent as she realized what was going on. "No." She held up a finger. "No you-"
"Don't tell me no." He stood up straight. "I have spent my whole life here waiting for the inevitable day this island would need defending from the creatures of Grimm. You will not tell me no." Bringing up his other hand, he placed it against her chest. "Now, leave. Please. You have plenty more of your life to live."
"But you can't!" She pushed up against his hand. "You'll-"
"Yeah. I will." He flashed a smile. "But everyone else here will get to live. Including you. So go. And you know, maybe try not to forget me." He took a step away.
"Commander!" She bared her teeth. As he pulled away, something fell from between his hand and her chest. Catching it in her hand, she stared at a pair of dog tags. She gritted her teeth before balling her hand into a fist and clenching it tight.
"Take care, kid." He smiled back at her as he moved towards the bomb.
She took a small step away as she felt her eyes sting. "You too, then." She wearily smiled back.
"Yes ma'am." Fleck gave her a quick salute. "Keep them all safe." He nodded.
With uneven breaths, Kagami quickly turned around. She didn't even dare look back. Hauling herself up through the rubble, she managed to make it back onto the rooftops and immediately began to make her way back across the city to the line Vytal Defense Force was holding. She ran as fast as she could. Each breath felt like fire in her lungs.
Just as she saw the soldiers, she heard a soft boom from behind her. With her eyes widening, she pushed a little harder.
"Kagami?" Kris looked up just as she sent the items from a destroyed toy store hurtling towards the line of Sobki. Her head then slowly tilted as she saw a translucent blue dome expanding quickly behind her. "Kagami!"
"Yes! Hello!" She harshly shouted back. She wasn't going to make it to safety. Stumbling a bit as something grabbed her arm, she looked down to see a wooden hand attached to a rope clenching her bicep. "Huh?" She quietly let out before suddenly being jerked away. Closing her eyes, she groaned a bit as she was dragged across the roof and down onto the ground behind the barricade.
Looking ahead, she watched as the translucent blue stopped a couple meters away before instantly being sucked back into its center with a loud crack. A sharp ringing filled everyone's ears as the Sobki each froze in place before turning straight to smoke.
With a shaky breath, she watched as the Leviathan went still. The glow from its eyes and spine were gone. Swallowing, she glanced up at Baren who was standing tall above her. Her ninjato was sheathed while Kagami's sword was in her left hand. The old warrior still had a firm grasp on the girl.
"What was that?" She suddenly demanded.
The jadette lowered her head at that. This time, she couldn't stop the tears in her eyes from swelling. Gripping the dog tags in her hand tight, she looked back up. "A bomb. All the Grimm are dead." She looked up as smoke began to trail off the Leviathan.
"Holy shit." Kris took a few deep breaths as her shoulders fell. "Holy fucking shit! That was awesome! And a bit terrifying... incredibly terrifying." She swallowed. "But awesome!"
"Yeah..." Kagami slowly got up to her feet.
Eyeing her, Baren pulled her close to look into her eyes. "What happened?"
"Um..." She swallowed. She went to speak, only to feel the ground shake. With her eyes widening, she looked over. "No... no." She trailed off.
With smoke still steaming off it, the enormous Grimm let out pained groans as it slowly shifted around. As the smoke cleared, it revealed its dark armor pieces to be white once again. Its spine and eyes once again glowing. All that happened was it looked like it had gotten a bath.
"No..." The jadette let out in a whimper. Her hands trembled from how tightly she held onto the dog tags.