As Elio stood there after defeating the unknown stranger before he hurriedly ran towards Aran's bloodied figure that was lying on the ground.
"Aran! Oh no no no no... Please tell me you're okay!"
Struggling to speak, Aran coughed out before weakly reassuring Elio by slowly standing up and telling him "I'm fine." With a weak—sounding voice.
But that didn't seem to help as anyone could tell that he was on the brink of losing consciousness any second now.
Aran was clearly leaning on the wall for support before his legs buckled, making him fall to the ground.
Before he did, Elio caught him and lent him his shoulder.
"C'mon, let's get out of here." Elio said, Aran nodding in response.
As the two boys walked away, they suddenly heard the man Elio punched regaining consciousness as he pathetically crawled on the ground.
Seeing this, Elio and Aran's eyes opened wide from surprise.
Gritting his teeth from frustration, he tries to scream at the two of them. His shattered teeth, making his speech hard to understand.
"You litthle braths! I'll kill you!"
Reaching into his pocket, Aran felt something off.
'N-no! I knew for sure I knocked his weapon away!'
He thought to himself.
But his worries were replaced with confusion as the object the man pulled out was not a gun, but instead a capsule filled with a dark, crimson liquid that glowed in the dark.
Pressing the capsule on his skin, the man injected the liquid into his body as his irises glowed a dark red as his body started to spasm out of control.
At that moment, the man experienced an unimaginable level of pain as he lets out a blood-curdling scream that slowly transforms into distorted screeches as his mouth starts to puke blood.
The next instant, his limbs started to grow rough spikes of stone that glowed red as his jaws unhinged.
What the two boys were looking at now was no longer a man, but a monstrosity that was filled with thoughts of nothing else but to destroy anything that resembles life itself.
Seeing this disturbing sight, Aran quickly urged Elio that they should leave now. Elio nodding in response.
Elio carried Aran on his back as he tried to run away.
But before he could activate his ability, Elio's face was hit by a cloud of smoke that suddenly appeared in front of him, making him stumble. Thanks to his strong legs, he was barely able to keep his balance.
As Elio stood there stunned, the two boys quickly realized that they couldn't see their surroundings anymore as it was covered by a thick fog of dark smoke. The only sources of illumination being the dim streetlights spread throughout the parking lot.
Recovering from the hit, Elio dashed through the smoke, but as he ran farther, he started to slow down as the surrounding smoke was acting like a whirlpool that was pulling him back into the center.
The two boys realized that they couldn't escape.
Not another second passed before Elio was hit by a barrage of fists made of smoke, making him grit his teeth from the pain of the repeated pummeling.
"Argh!"
"Aran!"
As Elio heard Aran's yell, he realized that his friend was also in danger of getting hit.
Seeing this, he quickly put him down on the ground and used his body to shield Aran from the attacks.
"Elio..."
Aran whispered weakly.
"I'm fine! I'll think of a way to get out of this mess!"
Elio said as he gritted his teeth, trying to endure the pain.
Pulling on Elio's sleeve, Aran spoke again despite his condition.
"I've got a plan..."
"What?!"
"Take me to the van..."
Gritting his teeth from the pain he was enduring, he agreed.
"...Alright!"
Pushing through the pain, Elio used every fiber of his being to stand up as he carried Aran towards the parked vehicle.
As he got closer, the mutated man jumped out from the smog to attack Elio, making him drop Aran.
Trying to protect his friend, Elio stood in the way of the mutated creature to stop him from getting closer to Aran who was crawling towards the vehicle.
"I'll hold him off! I'll get to you in a bit!"
He told Aran.
"Damn it, just leave us alone!"
Elio said as he tried to throw a punch. But just when he felt like his strike landed, the creature disappeared into the surrounding smoke.
It was as if it was the smoke itself.
At the same time that happened, the man that Aran choked out finally regained consciousness as he sat up confused at the sight of the foggy smoke.
"Ugh... What the hell?!"
He yelled out, alerting the creature towards him.
Thinking that he was easy prey, the creature jumped out of the shadows to attack.
Seeing that the enemy was distracted, Elio looked towards the van and saw Aran get inside of it before using his ability to close the distance in less than a second
As he reached Aran, Elio closed the door behind him and talked to his bleeding friend.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah... Just a little worse for wear..."
"You said you have a plan?"
"Yeah..."
Weakly coughing, Aran asked Elio a question.
"Can you explain your ability to me?"
Looking behind him for a moment, Elio replied.
"Alright. If I were to describe it, I can control electricity. I mostly use it to enhance my physical ability. Like making me move faster and hit stronger."
Breathing slowly, Aran spoke.
"Can you use it in other ways...?"
"I can use it to electrocute stuff, but I need to come into contact first. And because of that guy's ability, I can't even lay a finger on him."
"That's fine then..."
Sitting up, he told Elio his plan.
Elio listened intently as his eyes started to widen when he understood.
"That could work!"
Elio said before the body of the man with the blade for an arm hit the windshield, cracking it.
Gently punching Elio's chest, Aran looked at him with resolve in his eyes that said 'I'll leave this up to you.'
"Go get em..."
"Right!"
Opening the door, Elio stepped out to face the creature.
Getting into a boxing stance, Elio taunted it. Using his hand as if to tell the creature to come closer.
"Bring it on!"
Taking its attention away from the man, the creature ran towards Elio with an uncontrollable destructive impulse.
As Elio dashed towards it and threw a lightning powered punch, the creature once again transformed into smoke and disappeared into the smog.
But this is what Elio was aiming for.
Following Aran's plan, Elio put his hands on the ground. If he can't hit the creature directly, he'll hit it indirectly.
Using the wet puddles as conductors, Elio released his ability to its maximum output. The power was so great, that it lit the ground up with blinding flashes of light that electrocuted the creature.
It let out a distorted howl as it started to twitch out of control before being stunned.
Looking behind him, Elio took another step and dashed towards the creature at a blinding speed before delivering a full powered uppercut, launching the creature several feet up in the air before it fell down unconscious with a large thud.
Breathing heavily, Elio put his hands on his knees.
'It's over. Aran's plan worked!'
*Crack*
"!!!"
Elio quickly returned to a fighting stance as he heard a sound coming from the creature's body.
He watched anxiously before the creature's outer shell cracked and faded to dust, revealing the man that was inside.
As a side effect of the serum he injected, the joints of his limbs were contorted. It wasn't the way they were supposed to look.
At the same time this happened, the whirlpool of smoke that surrounded the parking lot subsided and disappeared into the night sky.
Looking at the body of the man, Elio panicked, thinking that he killed a human being.
But looking closer, Elio saw that he was breathing.
Seeing this, Elio breathed a sigh of relief before running towards the van to get his friend.
Putting his hand on the door handle, a voice suddenly called out to Elio.
"Freeze! Put your hands in the air!"
It was the Police. Not wanting to seem aggressive, Elio complied and followed the officer's demands.
__________________________________________________
[ARAN]
"Ngh... Mm...?"
It felt like I just woke up from a deep sleep. I expected my entire body to hurt as I remembered the pummeling I experienced from the kidnapper. But for some reason, nothing hurt.
In fact, I was feeling a warmth all over my body as a gentle fragrance surrounded my face. If I were to describe the scent, it'd be like a warm day in spring.
Like, flowers blooming beautifully under the gentle sun—type of smell.
'This is nice...'
I thought to myself
But that thought was immediately discarded as I finally stopped to think where I was.
'Oh no, am I still in the van?! Where's Elio?!'
Quickly sitting up, I opened my eyes but couldn't see anything besides a light-blue glow. It was bright, but it didn't hurt.
"!!!"
My vision being obstructed, I panicked.
"Ahhhh!!!"
I screamed from fear.
"Whoa! He's freaking out!"
An unfamiliar voice that sounded like a man yelled. A deep and rough sounding voice.
"Please do not be alarmed, you are safe."
Said by another unfamiliar voice that sounded feminine. If I were to describe it, it sounded elegant and strangely comforting.
But I didn't let my guard down just yet as I pointed towards both directions where I heard the two voices.
"W-who are you people?!"
I asked them.
"Here, give me a moment."
Said the feminine voice.
After she spoke, I slowly started to see patches of white light appear before my vision was fully restored.
It turns out, my face was covered by a large group of small butterflies. They were emanating a gentle, blue glow.
Looking at the face in front of me, I saw the face of a girl that seemed around my age.
My fear quickly melted away as I saw her beauty in full display. Her hair had the same color as the sky. A gentle blue that was so warm and comforting to look at. And her eyes, having the colors of a beautiful indigo hue.
Safe to say, I was entranced.
"Um, pardon me..."
She said in a nervous voice, interrupting my thoughts.
Realizing that I was staring, I quickly looked away, flustered as I tried to readjust my... glasses...?
'Huh? Shouldn't these be broken?'
I thought to myself as I took them off to hold them in front of my face.
The lenses were a little cracked which indicated that they were damaged in the fight, but I strangely remember the frames being snapped off.
"Strange..."
"Yes?"
The girl asked.
"Uh... I mean my glasses. I thought for sure they were broken."
"Oh, one of the officers here kindly repaired the frame"
"Officer? Wait, where are we right now?"
Going by unnoticed by me for a while, a man towards the corner of the room to my left spoke. He was wearing what seemed to be a police uniform.
"We're in the police station, kid. You were in critical condition when we got you."
"Critical condition..."
I said to myself before quickly gasping as I looked at the officer.
"There was a blonde male with me, where is he now?!"
I asked him, panicking as I didn't see Elio anywhere.
'If something were to happen to him I'd...'
"Oh, the tall kid? Yeah, he's here. We brought him into custody for being under suspicion of a crime."
My heart dropped as I heard this.
"W-wait, he didn't do anything wrong! Please let him go!"
"Calm down, kid.
The man told me. Sighing at how much I was panicking.
"He's innocent until proven guilty, so he doesn't have a criminal record yet. If you're worried about his condition right now, he's already fully recovered. Our jails are actually pretty comfortable. He's probably enjoying a cup of hot cocoa in his cell right now, and is mother's also with him, so you'd probably want to have a talk later."
"There was a little girl, too. The last time I saw her was when she ran away towards a corner. Where is she?"
"Are you talking about the kid with the red backpack?"
"Yes! Is she okay?"
"She was being taken care of by a traffic guard when we found her. When we approached the kid, she claimed to know that blonde guy, so we took her in, too. She's currently at the lobby with her parents. Got any other questions?"
The officer asked.
"And the two other men?"
"No need to worry about them, they're currently detained inside an ability-inhibiting cell. They seemed aggressive, but we have things under control now. With the blonde guy and the girl's testimonies, those men seem to be the main suspects."
After hearing the officer's explanation, I breathed a sigh of relief.
"I see..."
Putting his hand up, he continued.
"We're going to need to know your side of the story too, though. But since you just woke up, we'll let you take your time to process things for now."
"Thank you, I appreciate it."
I told him as I looked around the room.
Noticing a mirror, my eyes widened.
My face was...
Completely fine...
Touching my cheek I went to ask a question.
"Wait, just how long was I out?"
The man pinched his beard before answering.
"Hm... About two hours."
"Two hours?! There's no way I recovered that much in that amount of time! I felt for sure my face was messed up."
I told him with surprise in my voice.
Honestly, I was already thinking of saying goodbye to any chance of getting a girlfriend with how messed up my face was.
Clearing his throat, the officer pointed towards the blue-haired girl.
"Well, you can thank this little missy here."
Hearing this, I looked at her before asking "How?"
"It is my perk. It is a multi purpose ability, and healing is one of them. I myself am unsure of how it works, but experts have theorized that my ability can heal wounds by rewinding them back to a point in time where they were yet to be made. And these said experts have made sure that there are no negative side effects to using my ability. So rest assured, you will be okay."
"Were the butterflies on my face because of your ability?"
"Yes."
"Whoa, that's really cool!"
I yelled out. It was a really interesting ability. I was kinda curious about those 'other purposes' she mentioned too.
'A healing ability is rare enough, but she can use it for other stuff too?!'
Because of my sudden outburst, her eyes widened from surprise. Noticing this, I quickly apologized.
"Oh... Sorry."
"No, it's alright. Thank you."
Giggling a little, she thanked me with a smile.
"I was just a little surprised."
Seeing this, I blushed—Wait wait wait wait-
Who said I was blushing?! I'm totally not!
I shook my head violently to erase the thought.
Worried, she looked at me.
"Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Besides, I'm the one who should thank you for healing me!"
"I see. You're welcome."
I breathed deeply to calm myself down.
Looking at her again, she seemed oddly familiar.
It felt like I've seen her from somewhere before but I couldn't put my finger on why. That was until I noticed that she was wearing a school uniform.
A uniform from Potentia Academy.
Wait, it can't be...
Taking a small breath, I looked at her to ask a question.
"Um, did you by any chance perform a speech during the entrance ceremony in Potentia Academy?"
"Why yes, I did. I see that you're a student of Potentia, too. Any student is a friend of mine. I am a second year student and the representative of class 2-A, Pheobe Papilio. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
I knew it!
"What's one of Lucida's most promising talents doing here?"
I asked her before she waved her hands off.
"You flatter me. I was called over because I live close by, so I just provided my aid. It's not worthy of praise."
"I see... But still, I really am grateful."
I told her with a smile.
"Hey wait, since you were already home, why are you still in complete uniform, miss class rep?"
"Ah..."
She blushed slightly from embarrassment.
"I was... Busy with work, so it did not occur to me. Please pay it no mind..."
Seeing this, I had to stop myself from screaming "CUTE" from the top of my lungs.
That was close...
I thought to myself.
I now understand why that guy from the entrance ceremony was so enthusiastic about seeing her...
Maybe she has a fan club at school? I think I wanna apply.
Looking at her phone's clock, she realized it was late and stood up from her chair.
"I'm afraid I have to go now. It was nice talking to you... Um... I'm sorry, I do not think I know your name."
"It's Aran."
"I see. Until we meet again, Aran."
She said, smiling slightly before walking away.
Making sure she was away from earshot, I lay back down on my pillow, giggling creepily.
"Ehehehe!"
"Ugh..."
The nearby officer let out in a disgusted tone.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't see that... Rest up a little. You're going to have to call your guardian to tell them about this whole mess. And after that, we'll ask you a few questions. The information that you give better be accurate and true."
"Yes, sir..."
I said to him.
"Alright. I'll see you in a bit."
He told me before exiting the room and closing the door behind him. Looking at the door, I get lost in my thoughts.
I'm glad that everyone's fine, but It sucks that I got Elio involved in this. I can understand if he doesn't want to talk to me anymore.
I need to apologize to his mom, too.
Oh, and I need to say sorry to that little girl for yelling at her. That must've scared her....
Sighing to myself, I stretch my arms before looking at the ceiling.
"This is going to be a long night..."