Ah, life.
Adam followed the IBAA convoy through the streets. Although Beatrice and Harvey told him that the Leak was close, they were now at the edges of the city and closing in on the freeway. And even though there was a little traffic, the convoy easily swerved through it.
The people were making way for them. Even back when they were in the crowded part of the city, all the lights were turning green as they approached.
Adam glanced over his shoulder, scanning to see if there were any other black vans around them other than the IBAA. The Hospital had been quiet since he exposed them in public... too quiet.
Were they perhaps trying to erase their existence already? Or were they planning sothing big? Adam hadn’t really scoured the internet and the social dia platforms for any news that could relate to them... but he was sure they were trying to stir sothing.
His thoughts were interrupted when the convoy suddenly slowed as they approached a flyover, and Adam saw why. A massive crowd had gathered ahead—hundreds of people pressed against the tall railings, so running away, others holding up phones to record whatever chaos lay beyond.
Soldiers, as well as IBAA personnel, were already there, directing the flow of civilians. Unfortunately, even with the hundreds of drills the people had done, when the real thing happens, all logic goes away.
The soldiers and officers were trying to make a path for the convoy, but alas, only half of the people were actually listening to their instructions, with so even starting to fight amongst themselves.
The IBAA vans ground to a halt, unable to push through the dense mass of bodies. Adam watched as Beatrice and Harvey stepped out of their vehicle, already reaching for their equipnt.
But Adam didn’t wait.
He quickly got off his motorcycle, almost launching himself after removing his helt. He tried to slip past close to the railings, but when he realized there truly wasn’t a single gap to weave through, he did the only sensible thing—he jumped above them.
His fingers caught the nearest roadlight, the tal pole slightly groaning under the sudden weight as he swung himself up. From this vantage point, he could see over the crowd’s heads, scanning for the source of their panic.
"Spotted anything yet?" Harvey’s voice ca from below, then above, as both Heroes followed his lead, grabbing onto the sa pole. The light swayed dangerously under the combined weight of three people.
"No..." Adam only glanced at him before focusing on the crowd again. His focus, however, was disrupted when he realized that Beatrice was floating in the air right next to them. He rembered the Berserk Fairy again.
Flying... how convenient do you think it would be if you had that ability, Adam? But then, you wouldn’t have use of that beautiful motorcycle of yours.
"There." Beatrice pointed toward the end of the flyover, where a ramp sloped left into another street. Harvey and Adam turned, and quickly spotted the source of all the panic—a writhing, translucent mass the size of a car. And a mass was the only right way to describe it, because it truly was just that, a mass of moving... liquid, or perhaps jelly would be the better term.
And there was soone fighting and holding it back.
"What... is that?" Adam muttered.
"A sli. A very... troubleso monster," Beatrice answered. "Weak, slow, but incredibly durable. Its body is highly corrosive and would lt even the road if given enough ti."
"How do we kill it?"
"You won’t see it from here." Beatrice pointed at the creature again. "It has a brain. Destroy that and—"
"Thank you." Adam nodded and no longer waited for Beatrice to finish explaining as he leapt from the pole without hesitation. The streetlight bent and swayed violently, nearly throwing Beatrice and Harvey off balance.
"Shit! He just rushed in without a plan!" Harvey shouted, but Adam was already gone.
Adam landed hard at the bottom of the flyover. He didn’t know when he stopped hesitating from falling off great heights, but it had already beco inconsequential for him.
Stop posing and thinking, Adam. Shut up.
Adam sprinted toward the monster. The person fighting it, a muscular man, held the lted remains of what had once been a sword. His armor was pitted and smoking where the creature’s acid had touched it.
The sli lashed out, whipping out a tendril from its jelly-like body that shot toward the panicking Hero’s chest. The Hero raised his shield, only for his eyes to turn wide as he realized... he no longer had a shield.
"S-shit!" The man squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the burning death—but it never ca.
When he opened them, he saw the top of soone’s head.
"H-huh?!" The man, in his surprise, fell back on his butt. He looked up at the person who protected him, only to see the steam rising from his chest. His skin and flesh dissolved, revealing muscle and bone beneath.
"Are... you okay?" Adam asked. He was clearly in pain from having his body eaten by acid, but he still glanced at the man.
The Hero nodded instinctively, too shocked to speak.
Adam focused on the sli. It was massive, easily the size of a sedan, its translucent body truly reminding him of the jelly he used to eat during breaks back when he was a scavenger. He scanned its body and saw the brain that Beatrice was talking about.
It looked like an egg with several hairs jutting out from it like spines.
The creature was lting everything in its path; even the concrete beneath it was starting to bubble and crack.
And upon seeing that... Adam lunged forward.
"No! Don’t touch it!" the Hero scread loud enough that his voice carried over the fleeing crowd. Several people turned to look, with those holding their phones up quickly to point their caras at whatever was going to happen.
They did, however, quickly look away as they saw soone plunge himself into the creature’s acidic body.
"W-what the fuck?!"
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