Chapter 54 - Challenge – Part 5

Detroit, Michigan, USA – Earth:

On a road, a dark red bubble appeared once the bomb blew up.

Haru Watanabe placed a telekinetic force field around the bubble to stop it from sucking in people and other things in the city.

She was holding her palms towards the dark red bubble so she could focus the psionic energies onto a specific place.

However, she is struggling to keep her force field steady.

As she was struggling, she noticed something.

“She is inside that dark red bubble.”

Haru was looking at the dark red bubble with a horrified look on her face.

Zhi Yan, the teleporter was standing next to her.

Looking at the bubble closely, she noticed a figure within it.

“Holy shit!” Zhi blurted out. “I can’t believe she is dead.”

“She is not… ngh… dead.”

“Huh, really?”

(What the hell do I do?) Haru thought to herself. (I don’t care… Shit! She is just a child.)

She gritted her teeth.

(Why the fuck did he gave children powers? I don’t understand.)

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Strengthening the force field even more, from Haru’s mouth, streams of blood started to pour down.

However, she didn’t notice it.

She was too focused on the force field.

“Oi, Zhi…”

Zhi looked at her with a surprised expression on her face.

“How does your…ngh… teleport—hrn… teleportation works?”

“I, uh, can teleport myself from Point A to Point B. I have to visualise the place and I can get there.”

“Can you tele…”

Haru trailed off once she saw Zhi shaking her head.

“Can you get me Katie? Please?”

“…”

"The busty redhead, I mean."

Zhi looked at the dark red bubble once more.

The telekinetic force field was starting to crack.

“I would appreciate the others too, if you could bring them. I could use all the help I can get. Thanks.”

“Yeah,” Zhi said as she vanished into thin air.

Haru coughed blood once more.

“Who would have thought… ngh… that dealing with gravity bomb… hnn… would be this hard?”

She chuckled.

“Keeping the dark red bubble… above and blocking any…ha… it from consuming anything… Fuck, this is hard!”

She noticed the cracks and frowned.

“My powers are lowering… Wait!”

Haru looked up as she thought to herself.

“Why don’t I just send this off to… nhn… the sky too? And then I… can free her up there?”

But she soon dismissed the idea.

“That won’t work… It will just be a hassle.”

Her shoulders drooped.

“My hands are getting tired too.”

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed the people were still standing around. It made her furious to see them be so careless.

But deep down, she couldn’t blame them. They did not know what was happening here.

Haru tried to strengthen the force field once more but she coughed blood instead.

“Why…?”

It was the first time she had used her powers to contain a gravity bubble that sucks in everything and could potentially lead to opening a black hole.

Nazar has witnessed something like this before.

One member of the Death 100 is called Graviti and her power is gravity manipulation. She was able to open black holes, which swallowed worlds.

“Being a hero is not my thing…”

She sighed once more and focused on the force field while waiting for Zhi to return with Katie.

လလလ

Nazar and Jalil were inside the mall.

Jalil was holding his right palm towards him while his eyes had lit up with bright white light.

Nazar’s speed had increased tenfold in the last minute.

“How were you able to withstand… this thing the last time?”

“Your reality warping was weak. And it only affected people who were in that area at that time.”

“Oh…”

“Reality warping is heavily related to the mind. Same with [Reality Anchoring].”

Reality Anchoring is an ability which allows the user to be immune to the effects of reality altering powers.

“Reality is a fragile blank template. With reality warping – using your mind - you can reshape it to whatever you desire. Someone with Reality Anchoring, however, can reject that reshaped reality. So, if they don’t want to reject it, their Reality Anchoring won’t work.”

“I see.”

“So, right now, I am not rejecting the reality you are projecting onto my body.”

Jalil was confused but he nodded anyway.

“So, thanks to you, I need the speed I need to make this thing even quicker and have all the parts I need.”

Nazar smiled.

“Are you…”

Jalil was hesitant to ask a question.

“Am I a “God”?” Nazar said in a self-mocking tone.

“…”

“I wouldn’t say so. Your religions… There is a God up there. He is an almighty person who was the first being to ever exist. He made this universe for the first time. He is the being who made the angels. The demons. And more.”

“And humans?”

Nazar shook his head.

“I will tell you a secret. Don’t tell anyone about it, okay?”

Jalil listened in anticipation.

“Actually, never mind. Yes, he is also responsible for the creation of humans. Directly or indirectly doesn’t matter, right?”

“…”

Jalil did not really accept the answer but he kept quiet.

“Then what are you? What about the other day when you appeared as this… As this holy person?”

“That’s… a secret.”

Jalil frowned.

“I am nearly done.”

Nazar smiled.

“Thanks, Jalil.”

လလလ

Zhi appeared with Katie near Haru.

Unlike Katie, Zhi seemed to have had very wet clothes.

Haru looked at her with a confused expression.

“But… Just a minute ago…”

“Long story short, I fell into a nearby pool but the next time, I got it correctly.”

“Oh… But I thought you said...”

"Yeah, yeah. I know. But it happens sometimes. My mind fails me a lot."

Haru looked at Katie and pointed with her eye towards the dark energy bubble.

“Can you help me out with the force field?”

“I don’t know how… but sure.”

“Place your own force field above mine.”

Katie took a deep breath and did as Haru asked.

She placed a barrier above Haru’s barrier.

Haru relaxed a little and placed a thin barrier around herself.

She lowered her arms and started to walk towards the dark red bubble.

Taking a deep breath, she entered the force field and reached out her hand towards the dark red bubble.

“Wai—What are you…?”

“I don’t want to let a child die. I might be an annoying bitch but… I can’t have children dying on me.”

(“Jose!”)

Haru looked for Jose’s presence and sent her a telepathic message.

(“Are you still… Are you okay?”)

(“Y-y-y-yes…”)

Jose seemed very scared. It was as if she was crying.

(“Don’t…”)

Haru trailed off as she tried to come up with some words.

(“Don’t be scared. I will… I will get you out of there. So…”)

(“I-I-I am not s-s-s-sca-scared.”)

(“So, take my hand.”)

(“I… I can’t.”)

(“Why is that?”)

Haru kept moving forward and trying to reach her hand towards Jose.

But she didn’t want to lose herself to the bubble, so she tried to walk towards it slowly.

If she wasn’t careful, she would be sucked in.

The barrier around her was keeping her safe but perhaps not for too long.

(“I… I don’t know…”)

(“Just take my hand.”)

Haru could feel the sad thoughts in Jose’s head.

(“The world… It’s a dark place. I… I hate it too.”)

Haru saw her thoughts and memories.

(“I hate to do this… But I know what you have been through. I am sorry that I looked at it, but I saw it.”)

(“…Huh?”)

(“I hate what happened to you… Being bullied for your disability… Being thrown away by friends and family because of who you like… Being all alone and always in the dark… Believe it or not, I have been through something similar. Maybe not as much as you, but similar.”)

(“W-what?”)

(“Look, the world is a dark place. Everyone is selfish and only cares about themselves. And you should do the same. So, right now, just save yourself.”)

Haru extended her hand even further.

(“People are pathetic, but it doesn’t mean that you should stay inside that… that bubble. It will hurt you. There is… Uh… I don’t know but maybe there is something that is worth living for.”)

(“Did you find anything worthwhile in your life?”)

Haru kept quiet.

“Hey, what’s happening there? I can’t..ngh… Can’t hold this for much longer.”

Haru frowned.

“I am trying to make her to take my hand, but I am not sure if she wants to.”

“Shit! Really?”

Haru tried to think about her question but she couldn’t come up with an answer.

(“Just take my hand, please?”)

(“I… I don’t want to… I am not…”)

(“Why?”)

(“I hate that world. But… I can’t...”)

(“There is no time. Please take my hand. If we waste any more time, things could go wrong.”)

(“But… I can’t… I… I… I don’t...”)

("Oh come on... Take my hand. It's.... Do you really want to stay here?")

("....No.")

("So, take my hand, then.")

("I don't want to...")

Haru bit her lip in anger.

("... Just get out of there. I wish I could force you... Just take my hand.")

(".....I... I don't...")

(“You know what? Fuck this shit. I don’t give a fuck anymore. If you want to stay there, then fucking do so. Don’t be—Ugh!”)

As Haru felt anger, the force field started to crack.

(“Just take my fucking hand or I will fucking throw this bubble into the fucking space! I really don’t want to see children die, but if that’s what you want, then I don’t give a fuck! So, take my hand or stay there. It’s up to you.”)

Despite what she said, she still extended her hand even further.

She felt very bad for saying that to her.

(“If you don’t want to—Oh.”)

She felt Jose’s hand touch her hand.

For some reasons, she felt a little relieved.

Haru extended her hand a little more and took Jose’s hand.

Once she took her hand, she pulled Jose out of the red dark bubble.

Once she pulled Jose out, she placed a bubble around her and placed her further away.

Taking a deep breath, she strengthened her force field around the bubble.

She pointed her index finger up and the dark red bubble flew up towards the dark space at Mach 5.

She used her left arm’s sleeve and wiped the blood off her face.

“That was a fucking waste of time!”

As the bubble was flying up, Haru noticed something.

It was getting harder and harder to contain.

“Wah?!?!”

Looking up at the sky, a few of the bombs blew up.

“H-h-how?”

Her force field broke off.

Multiple dark red bubbles appeared in the sky and merged together.

“We did all of this for nothing?!?!”

A massive dark red bubble appeared a few miles above the city and tried to suck in everything.

Haru and the others felt like being sucked in too.

Looking around, she also saw buildings slowly flying towards the dark red bubble.

Haru held out her palm and created a massive dome-shaped force field around her. It covered over one hundred meters.

Since it was too much for her, she coughed up blood.

But it did help her stay safe.

လလလ

A few seconds earlier, Illya flew down and picked up Arno.

“Woah!!”

“Can you erase those things? Please?”

“I… I will try.”

Flying as fast as he could, Illya reached where Eddie was floating.

Eddie nodded and manipulated the weather to slow down the speed of the bombs and lower it.

Arno focused his energies and erased a few of those bombs.

Only around eight bombs were left when…

“WHAT?!?!” Illya blurted out.

“I didn’t do that!”

Eddie flew as fast as he could and took both Illya and Arno away.

In a few seconds, they were in Illinois.

“What…?”

Eddie looked at the massive dark red bubble above Detroit in a dazed manner.

(“Fear not, Eddie…”)

He suddenly heard a voice in his head and felt relieved.

(“I have the device ready.”)

Using his many senses, Eddie watched closely as Nazar flew up towards the dark red bubble without his armour.

(“Bro, what the fuck are you doing?”)

(“As I said, potato, I have a plan.”)

(“‘Potato’ is not a fucking insult, potato!”)

(“Hehe.”)

Eddie watched closely as Nazar went up to the bubble and entered it.

(“Wah?!?! Wh-Wha-What are you doing?”)

(“Don’t worry. I can survive this…”)

Nazar didn’t sound very sure.

Eddie watched with a worried expression as the large dark red bubble suddenly vanished into nothingness.

လလလ

Nazar finished building the device while getting powered up by Jalil.

As soon as he finished, he smiled thinly.

“Why did you make two?”

“If one doesn’t work, the other should do the trick.”

“Ah.”

Nazar stood up and flew out of here.

“Oh?”

A bubble appeared around Jalil and he started to fly behind Nazar.

Flying up, Nazar looked back and said, “Empower me as much as you can. I am gonna go into that thing.”

“S-seriously?!”

“Yeah, I am gonna be fine. Just keep increasing my power.”

Nazar didn’t know but blood was pouring down from his mouth, ears, nose and eyes.

Jalil felt fear while looking at Nazar.

After a short while, Jalil stopped moving but Nazar flew into the massive dark red bubble.

Jalil saw as Nazar vanished from his view and entered the dark red bubble.

(Now then…)

Inside the dark red bubble, Nazar let out a sigh.

He had placed a barrier around himself, so he won’t lose to the gravity inside the dark red bubble.

In his palm, he was holding a device.

He looked at it but noticed that his shields were cracking.

However, what he did not notice is that the veins in his body were popping and blood was spurting from all over his body.

So, he threw the small device into the middle of the bubble and it vanished immediately.

Nazar had programmed the device to get rid of the gravity bubble only.

He breathed a sigh of relief once the dark red bubble vanished.

Nazar flew down with Jalil and landed next to Haru and the others.

“Holy shit! What the hell happened to you?”

“What do you mean?”

Haru looked at him with a blank look.

“Look at yourself.”

Jalil lowered his palm and Nazar’s personal reality reverted to normal.

As soon as it reverted to normal, he coughed blood and fell to the ground.

Haru checked his pulse but...

"He is dead?!"