Mob 5.2

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

The first few moments were hell for him.

Several emotions hit Greg all at once as everything rained down on him, everything seeming as if it was falling apart. Light, heat, force; Whatever that thing was, it had been strong enough to hit him with all three, sending him to the floor as a wave of force knocked him over completely.

As his head came into contact with the ground, a sharp burst of pain shot through his skull, forcing him to shut his eyes as everything collapsed. In that same moment, the entire building fell to pieces, entombing him and everyone else before he could react.

Greg opened his eyes one by one, gasping heavily as he found himself surrounded by complete darkness. He continued to gasp for air, the darkness feeling almost like a physical weight pressing down on his chest, making it hard for him to draw breath.

It didn't take too long for him to realize that the sensation of breathlessness had very little relation to the darkness at all, and far more to do with the fact that there was a literal weight pushing down on him.

Several weights, really; A pile of rubble weighty enough to prevent him from moving his legs and to make every breath a fight in and of itself. Breaking free was another struggle, Greg lacking any real leverage to lift the weights off of himself with ease. Still, he managed well enough. (+1 VIT)

Gamer's Mind had done its part in the struggle too, doing its best to keep him calm while he struggled to breathe and see, stress almost enough to make him hyperventilate when he realized what had happened.

Coming to terms with the situation took him a little while, Greg nearly tearing up as he called upon his mana to shed some light on the enclosed area around him. The smell of it had been enough to make him gag already. Actually being able to see — confirming his suspicions — was even worse. So much… just so much…

The plan came easy, really, compared to everything else. Rather than dwell on his situation or even focus on what had nearly brought him to tears before, he pushed his attention to something else. How to see, how to move, how to escape… With all the options in front of him, he had no excuse not to be able to think of something.

Still, even thinking of anything took far too long, Greg's mind too preoccupied trying to understand what had even happened in the first place.

Everything had happened so fast.

Too fast.

The shaking, the screaming, a flash of light, a surge of pain, and then…

Silence.

The screaming, loud shouts of terror and raw cries of pain, from everyone inside the restaurant, was all just… just gone.

Permanently suppressed by so much falling rubble.

The silence wasn't absolute, though.

Really, he almost wished it was. It would make things so much easier right now. No distractions to bother him while he struggled.

But, no, Greg could still hear other things.

The sound of unsteady debris above and around him threatening to shift and make everything so much worse, turning his current mission even more of a lost cause. That was all he could hear from inside, though, and even that was almost enough to make him crawl back under the wreckage that he pulled his way out from. Unfortunately, he could hear much more from outside of what was once one of Brockton Bay's more upper-scale eateries.

Sounds like the odd rumbles that had apparently set off his Danger Sense a few short minutes ago, distant explosions and the annoying symphony of car horns going off at once, combining with the explosions into a distant but overbearing din.

Above all that, he could still hear screaming, though.

Screaming and crying.

Just not from anywhere near him.

Even worse about it all was the fact that they were so distant, faint enough to just remind Greg he couldn't do anything to stop it even if he was able to.

Greg tried not to think about that last part, the teen willfully pushing those more morbid thoughts to the back of his mind as his fingers dug into the wall of what he assumed was concrete and brick directly in front of him. Dust and small bits of rubble rained on the blond from just above his head, the short ceiling of fallen debris not giving him much room to maneuver as he crawled forward on his hands and knees.

As oppressive as the silence around him was, the darkness pressing around him came a close second. With both artificial and natural light lost to him, the only source of light available to Greg came from his own body, the bright blue glow of his Mana Glitter pushed to the fullest.

Grains of light scattered from his open palm and stuck to the surfaces around him, each one providing some modicum of illumination for a few moments before a new spray of glowing motes. One hand out in front of him, Greg continued to sift through the rubble with his other hand, doing his best to lift and toss aside larger pieces of debris. He had to focus, Greg knew that.

He had a job to do.

Find Emma Barnes

Details: Locate Emma Barnes inside the destroyed restaurant.

Success: +10000 XP, + 2 Stat Points

Failure: Death of Emma Barnes

"Emma!"

His voice didn't sound like him, Greg realized after the first moment of silence after his scream.

No, it definitely didn't sound like him at all.

That voice was too raw, too ragged, just far too rough to be his voice.

Maybe it was all the dust in the air, doing it's best to coat his throat and lungs with a fresh layer of thick, dark powder. Maybe it was the pain in his hands, his fingertips already bleeding as he kept on digging.

Greg didn't give either much thought as he paused for a moment, far too focused on his next action. Hunched over, he pressed his free palm flat against the wall of rubble and let out a low breath, careful not to breathe too much of the dust-filled air back in.

For a moment, he was near perfectly still, the only movement being the rise and fall of his chest as he took short, measured breaths.

Then… "[Structural Analysis.]"

Sapphire light surged to his palm, the glow a far deeper, richer blue than his Mana Glitter gave off. Again, Greg didn't spare the time to appreciate that, nor did he pay much attention to the feeling of the mana as it traveled down his arm.

Rather than dissipating into the air, the energy he could feel inside him seemed to purposely seep through the wall, ignoring the physical boundaries of the materials in front of him. Instead, his mana passed through the brick, tile, glass, and steel without much trouble, approximating a rough mental image of what lay in front of Greg.

If he bothered to think much about it, Greg might have compared it to sonar.

Structural Analysis Lvl Up!

8→9

Mana Glitter Lvl Up!

7→8

The blond blinked as the image returned, his Structural Analysis providing some idea of what lay roughly half a meter in front of him. It was far from perfect but Greg could understand enough to be useful. Just like that, Greg knew what parts of the rubble he could lift aside, what he could dig through without too much trouble and what areas were likely to bring everything falling down on top of his head if he were to disturb them too much.

Like the world's most dangerous game of Jenga. Greg didn't bother smiling at the joke, the thought more instinctive than anything else. Instead, he pushed the thought aside and went back to digging, the blond teen doing his best to avoid thinking about anything other than what was directly in front of him.

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

"[Structural Analysis.]"

Greg uttered the words to the skill as he palmed the wall of wreckage in front of him yet again, shutting his eyes as information flooded his thoughts.

Dust coated his body, remnants of the debris that had fallen over his head. His chest still stung from the rubble he had freed himself from, his right hand throbbing as he pulled another piece of rebar from the collapsed pile in front of him. Even still, Greg managed to ignore it, allowing himself to be subsumed by the calm focus that Gamer's Mind provided him. So close.

Right in front of him, less than a meter away was a wider area, a direct path out of the tight enclosure Greg found himself trapped in. I'm so close.

"Emma!"

One hand still spraying out the motes of mana that provided him light, Greg kept on tearing at the debris with the other, furiously throwing away anything in his path. So close.

Mana Glitter Lvl Up!

8→9

Greg slammed his shoulder into the already crumpled mound of rubble, grunting loudly as his shoulder complained at the forceful action. Fighting the urge to cradle his bruised shoulder, he pulled aside one of the last pieces of construction material. A pained grunt left his mouth as he pushed forward with another shoulder tackle, sending dust and gravel flying back into his face. (+1 STR)

"Emma!" Shouting again at the top of his lungs, Greg forced his way through the last bit of rubble in front of him, sending fragments of brick and building material flying outwards.

Blinking through watery eyes, he took in the wreckage around him, searching for any sign of the redhead. The ceiling above had caved in, the entire thing nearly concave as it left little more than a few meters of space above Greg's head, compared to the ballroom-like distance of before. There was far more illumination to be found too, just the slightest bits of natural light poking through overlapping areas of the ruptured roof and several larger holes. Open wires lay on the main floor of the restaurant sparking, surrounded by light fixtures shattered beyond all repair.

Worst of all was the blood.

There was just so much of it just... everywhere. Coating the rubble-filled floor and staining his hands and feet even further red was one thing but the metallic smell was so pervasive that it partly masked the smell of smoke and dust. Seeing the red liquid only made his heart beat faster, the smell hitting him like a sledgehammer. Blood pooled from beneath the wreckage, so much of it that it couldn't have possibly come from a single person.

His eyes spun from side to side, drops of sweat inching down Greg's face as he held his hand even higher to spread as much light as possible. "Emma!"

Silence.

"Emma! Say something! Please!"

His closed fist struck the ground, doing nothing but sending a jolt of pain up his arm as Greg let out another scream. "Emma!" Mouth open, Greg let out several ragged breaths, nearly wheezing as he inhaled more and more dust and smoke.

"Emma!"

[Hysteria] negated by Gamer's Mind.

A shudder left him as he felt the calm settle over him again, his arms no longer trembling. For a few seconds he remained like that, completely silent as he just continued staring at his surroundings. He took in a single breath, low and controlled as he did his best to avoid inhaling too much dust.

Greg's eyes widened, his gaze rising as a slight sound hit his ears. He finally heard something other than the sparking of broken wires and the periodic dripping of blood, barely loud enough to be overheard over those other constant noises.

A soft breathing sound and a gentle mumbling...

It was her.

Truthfully, Greg understood that it could just as well be anyone else, one of over a dozen people who were with him in the restaurant. Really, there were plenty of people who it could be, people who he couldn't really care less about right now. Still, Greg couldn't even bother thinking about them. If he let go of that little strand of hope, then there'd be no point in even trying anymore.

"Emma!" Greg's head whipped around as he tried to discern where the voice was coming from. There was so much rubble around. He could search for days in here and judging from all the blood, Emma didn't have much longer. "Emma! Emma!"

Greg heard it again, the slight sound hitting his ears as he forced himself to be as quiet as possible. Snapping his head from side to side, his gaze landed on a smaller pile of rubble next to a half-buried table and he knew that under all that debris, he'd find her. He dropped to his knees, uncaring as glass and metal cut into his trousers and stabbed at his legs, mixing his own blood with the puddle already on the floor.

"[Structural Analysis!]"

Information flooded him again and Greg let out a gasp, eyes widening further as he saw a blurry image of what lay under the rubble in front of him. A smile burst across his face and without even meaning to, the blond let out a burst of relieved laughter, bending over at the waist as the sound left him. "Emma!"

[Hysteria] negated by Gamer's Mind.

Shaking his head, Greg gulped as he came down from his sudden high, blinking in surprise as he found himself calm once more. Got to focus, Greg thought aloud, shaking his head once more. Can't let myself get all… distracted or anything.

Grunting, the blond took the first step as he pushed aside a relatively large hunk of brick and masonry, the distinct design on it telling Greg that the building next to the restaurant hadn't gone without its own damage. As he tossed it out of the way, he heard the sound again, this time just loud enough for him to actually hear the voice as it let out a faint noise.

"...eg..."

"Emma!" His voice cracked slightly, her name coming out odd as Greg screamed his throat raw again, shouting through so much smoke inhalation. "Emma, I'm almost there. J-just… just hold on!" Hearing his name —part of it, at least— only bolstered Greg's determination as he moved faster, dropping the surge of constant mana to allow himself the use of both hands. He dug like a madman, acting without much care for the stability of everything else as he continued to tear at the pile with only his bare hands. (+1 STR)

He dug and dug, lifting and pulling with all his strength until he knew he was close. Forced to rely on what little light came through from the holes in the caved-in ceiling, Greg couldn't quite see anything much but he knew that he didn't have far to go. The image of his Structural Analysis was still vivid in his mind's eye.

Hands coated with blood tore at the last few objects in Greg's way, the blond pushing aside a thick piece of wood with an audible grunt. Stumbling back, he hunched over and gasped as much-needed air rushed to his lungs. This is it.

Dark as it was, Greg could barely make out the outline of a body resting on the remnants of one of the restaurant's circular dinner tables, the faintest hint of movement catching his eye. "Emma?"

Raising his hand up again, Greg pushed mana to his palm, motes of light bursting from his hand as he spoke the familiar words yet again. "[Mana Glitter.]"

Blue light shone down on the figure below him and Greg took an involuntary step back, a gasp leaving his mouth as his eyes widened in shock.

"Em… Emma?"

Unfocused eyes stared up at him, surrounded by a head of red hair splayed out into an unkempt mane to frame the pale gauntness of her face.

"G… G-greg..."

Quest Success!

"Find Emma Barnes" Completed!

Gained 2 Stat Points

Gained 10000 XP