《The Light of the Stars》 Chapter 1: Beginnings ¡°And so, today we will honor the anniversary of the tragedy sixteen years ago here, and are here at the memorial right now. The memorial of the prototype Space Shuttle¡¯s Wind Serpant, which exploded over the skies of the pacific and crashed into the ocean. It was then¡­¡± The TV was turned off, though not on purpose, as a small foot stepped on the remote while walking across the floor. He was wearing just a large animal sweatshirt with cat ears on the hood he was wearing, and a cat tail coming out the bottom of the back. It was a size too big, and so went down to his thighs. The boy had brown hair and different colored eyes, one red and one purple. His skin was average, and his height was that of either an older elementary schooler¡¯s or a younger middle schooler¡¯s height. However, there was no traces of him living with anyone else. He looked like he was still a bit worn out along with his grogginess, thought he moved with purpose, and a grumbling stomach, towards the kitchen. The boy groggily wiped his eyes of drowsiness, taking his smartphone out of the charger. There was a few notifications, such as news reports, a text from someone he had named in his contacts as ¡°Ruru¡±, Something about an explosion last night, and a video. He vaguely registered it. ¡°Erm, Zazie¡± a boy¡¯s voice came from behind him. The young boy turned around, and saw that there was a boy around his age, wearing nothing but a wolf themed version of his sweatshirt that was the same size as well. The only difference was that he wore glasses, the fact he had long silverblue hair, and silver eyes. ¡°¡­Ruru, did you break into my apparent again?¡± ¡°Nah, you let me in last night. I guess you were too tired to remember?¡± ¡°¡­reason?¡± Ruru took off his glasses and set them on the table, and then began to take off his sweatshirt, revealing his naked body. There were bruises the sizes of an adult male¡¯s hand in a number of places, some of which looked quite bad. Zazie was a bit more awake now, and nodded as Ruru put his sweatshirt and glasses back on. ¡°Your father is an asshat¡±. ¡°Yeah¡­anyways, it seems like it will be a long badspell, so I am hiding out here for the next few days¡±. ¡°If your father starts banging on my door drunk, I wont have mercy on him¡±. ¡°And if he is sober?¡± ¡°¡­I wont hold back¡±. As such a scary conversation took place, Ruru looked over to the TV as it turned on seemingly by itself, and Zazie suddenly teleported from the floor to the countertop, so that he could reach the high shelves. He opened them, and two places and placemats suddenly disappeared, appearing on the table. Ruru opened the drawers in the meantime, and the moment he did, several forks went missing. At the same time, the electronic microwave opened on its own as Ruru walked towards it. Zazie jumped down and looked at another drawer Ruru had opened, which contained some instant ramen. The moment he looked at them, two disappeared and appeared in his hands, only to disappear again as he looked towards Ruru, whose empty hands suddenly held them. That was because not only were the two boys best friends, but they were also psychics. Ruru was a technopath, capable of controlling and manipulating anything that has electricity running through it. And Zazie was able to use special manipulation to teleport. Of course, each one had their limits. Zazie could only teleport things to him, or from him, and teleporting things to him was more difficulty. He could also teleport himself, but unless he wanted to teleport naked (which happened on occasion), he had to do extra calculations for whatever clothes he was wearing. As for Ruru, his ability to control technology had a lot more limitations and drawbacks, but in the end, it was only technology with an electric current, so when his father decided to beat him, he had no way of protecting himself from that. ¡°You should just move in with me full time¡± Zazie mentioned with a sigh. ¡°That man is nothing but trouble¡±. ¡°If I do that, and people think he killed me or such, or otherwise somehow causes a police investigation, that would be inconvenient for both of us though. After all, I don¡¯t feel like being abducted in the middle of the night to be experimented on¡±. ¡°We don¡¯t actually know that¡¯s a thing you know¡±. ¡°I don¡¯t want to take the chance¡±. The two sighed, as their food was finished heating up. Ruru opened the microwave at a distance as they sat down at the table, while Zazie glanced over and teleported the finished ramen to their plates. Incidentally, although line of sight was not majorly required, it made it a lot easier. Either way, as the two eat, they wondered about what to do next. Both of them were psychics, and their powers were nothing to scoff at either, however¡­there were obvious reasons to avoid being known as psychics. Far too much risk involving the potential of being used as lab rats, or being targeted by others. Plus, there were other downsides. Psychics could get headaches easier, especially if they overexerted the use of their powers. Furthermore, perhaps because of how much work or strain it places on their bodies, but their temperatures can get higher then others, and they feel hotter. That was why the two were clad only in sweatshirts. Even though it was winter, neither of the two felt cold because their powers generated greater body heat. It was actually quite inconvenient to wear heavy layers in the snow for show, so they usually just wore long sleeves and long pants that at least looked warm. ¡°By the way¡­you sent me a video?¡± Zazie asked as he picked up his phone. ¡°Ah, from late yesterday. It was about the big incident that occurred at the port, how they claimed it was big whale or something. It wasn¡¯t though, I checked out the reports. Paranormal phenomenon was mentioned¡±. ¡°So its probably another esper like us¡± Zazie replied, as the two finished their food. ¡°Thanks for the meal¡±. ¡°Thanks for the meal. And yeah, so we may want to be careful. I mean, we both know how easy it can be for an esper to identity another esper¡±. Indeed, if Zazie looked closely, and properly started at Ruru specifically for a good enough time, he could feel the psi-waves coming off of him. There were ways to suppress them of course, but doing it for too long was tiresome. For now, the two quickly changed into their school uniforms, blue shorts, a blue blazer, white shirt, and red ties. They had to go to school after all, and at least appear normal, so once they were dressed and had their things, Ruru took Zazie¡¯s hand, and Zazie did the intense calculations needed to teleport two fully clothed people with luggage a long distance away. Zazie Rokuro ¨C Age 12 ¨C Blood Type: A- ¨C Likes: Ramen, Curry ¨C Psionic Power: Spacial Manipulation Rukio ¡°Ruru¡± Takama ¨C Age 12 ¨C Blood Type: A- ¨C Likes: Ramen, Curry ¨C Psionic Power: Technopathy
¡°Sarah, what is going on up there?¡± ¡°Nothing mom!¡± Sarah Smith, a sixteen year old high school student with blonde hair and big round blue eyes, said from inside of her room, as she was currently dealing with a rather annoying phenomenon. Rather, she was half dressed, while floating in her room. Supported by nothing, her psychic power of levitation had started to activate at random this time. ¡°Even though I have been working on my control¡­what a pain¡± she mentioned, focusing a bit and getting herself back on the ground before finishing getting dressed. For a moment, she thought she felt some psi-waves appear on top of her bouse, but then they disappeared immediately afterwards. Either way, it seemed that she was going to be late. She thought maybe, she would consider flying to school, but she was worried she might get spotted so decided against it. Sarah Smith ¨C Age: 16 ¨C Blood Type: O+ ¨C Likes: Waffles, Pasta ¨C Psionic Power: Levitation
¡°Ah¡­why does this always happen to me¡± a black haired boy said, as two men with guns were approaching him. He was wearing the same school uniform as Zazie and Ruru. ¡°Now now, kid. We know you saw us¡­we can¡¯t just let you escape¡±. ¡°Seriously? I don¡¯t have time for this¡± he sighed, when suddenly he seemed to blur and disappeared. He appeared behind the two large men, and the young boy delivered a kick to the back of one of their heads, knocking him down. The other saw him and pointed a gun at him, but the moment he shot the boy seemed to blur away. And then, the gun was blurred away right out of his hand, as if it had been ripped out, as the boy appeared with it once more. ¡°M-monster!¡± ¡°Nah, its just Psychoshift¡± he said, as he then pulled the trigger. ¡°Bang!¡± The man fell down, but there was no hole in his head. Rather, his mind in his panic, thought that the childrish bang was real and he fainted. ¡°Seriously¡­first the bank robbers, then the kidnappers, then the pedophile, after that the terrorist incident¡­.why do I keep finding trouble?¡± Kobayashi Kotari asked, seriously annoyed. ¡°Ah! I am late!¡± And then, he Psychoshifted out of the alley. Kobayashi Kotari ¨C Age: 12 ¨C Blood Type: AB- -- Likes: Eggs ¨C Psionic Power: Psychoshift
Meanwhile, downtown¡­ ¡°All sorts of crazy things have been going on today¡± said an older boy of around fifteen years old as he walked through a burning building unbothered by it, subduing the flames as he went. He cleared out all the flames he could, but the buildings was already mostly on fire so he could not quite put it all out yet. Starting fires was easier then snuffing them out. So at the moment, he just cleared his path as he opened a door, revealing the room of a little girl of around ten years old. ¡°Alex?¡± ¡°Hey, Alice¡±. ¡°You could have gotten here sooner¡­well, you got here well before I would burn to death¡±. ¡°Man, precognition sounds really useful. You were able to call me and tell me about this fire before it happened¡­but, why are you here?¡± This wasn¡¯t her room after all. ¡°I told you, my power is not precognition, is Psychometry. I can see the past, present, and future of any object I touched. I accidentally touched the building, and saw what would happen. I ran in, pulled the fire alarm, tried to warn everyone¡­then the arsonist found me and locked me in here. How did you get in so easily?¡± ¡°Lock melted probably¡±. ¡°Naturally..well, not sure if its really the case, but whatever¡± she said, standing up. She seemed rather mature for a ten year old, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. She had accidentally triggered her power on a lot of different things, and had seen a lot of things as a result. So he just picked her up, put her on his back, and sighed. ¡°Well, we are going to be late to school now, so we better hurry¡±. Alex Harrison ¨C Age: 15 ¨C Blood Type: O ¨C Likes: Burgers ¨C Psionic Power: Pyrokinesis Alice Harrison ¨C Age: 10 ¨C Blood Type: O ¨C Likes: Lolipops ¨C Psionic Power: Psychometry
Ah, so that is the answer to this stupid early morning test question¡­. Izumi thought to himself, as he gleamed the answer telepathically from those around him. He was rather annoyed since a lot of them were barely even trying. Granted, one could say he was cheating right now, but he thought this teacher was the real bully. He had called for an early, mandatory class and given a high school level test to middle schoolers. The thirteen year old boy didn¡¯t want to let him win, so after probing his classmates brains a little, he probed the teacher¡¯s brain. Thanks to his telepathy, he knew the teacher hated them. Among them, he seemed to especially hate Izumi himself. His bright red hair and bright red eyes made him remember the girl that rejected him his third year of middle school, so even though he was a boy, it was being taken out on him. Izumi ravaged all of the answers from the teacher¡¯s brain and continued to fill out the test perfectly. It was three grade levels ahead of him, the answers had never been written down, and it was designed specifically to screw with them. This teacher was a jerk, so seeing a student, a student he hated for that matter, get a perfect score should hopefully put him in his place. ¡°And done¡± he muttered to himself, smiling as he picked it up and turned it in. The teacher went wide eyed, and quickly checked through all the questions. However, the more he looked, the more annoyed and bloodshot he became. And with the test done, Izumi was allowed to leave. The telepath was very happy with this outcome, since he didn¡¯t want to miss the field trip. Izumi Yoshido ¨C Age: 13 ¨C Blood Type: B ¨C Likes: Curry, Spicy Food ¨C Psionic Power: Telepathy
¡°Amara, you okay?¡± a girl asked a pink haired girl as they walked towards school.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Ah, yeah, thanks¡± she said, her pink eyes fluttering with energy. The two then saw a flock of birds fly overhead, and hurried a bit out of the way, but they seemed fine. ¡°Looks like they did not get us¡± the girl said. Amara however knew better, because she had deployed a barrier to prevent the bird bombs from hitting them. It was thanks to her power of Barrier. It would probably be considered one of the ultimate defensive esper powers, but its offensive power was not so great. Still, if it meant she could protect her friends, she would be more then happy with it. Amara Rubico ¨C Age: 13 ¨C Blood Type: B ¨C Likes: Tofu, sweets, soy souce ¨C Psionic Power: Barrier
Astro Island. An island found right in the center of the pacific, inside of the Ring of Fire. Equal distance between Japan and the US, it has ended up absorbing a lot from various cultures. It has a large population and even multiple cities are built on it, with skyscrapers as high as the eye can see. A joint space program by both the US and Japan exists there, and the city runs on a lot of geothermal power, thanks to its location. As such, one could say the cities, which were built using the latest technology from scratch, are the highest technologically developed cities in the world. With interactive touch screens placed all over to help with navigation, searching, calling for assistance, and so much more, as well as sanitation bots, monorail systems, subway systems, and so much more, it runs efficiently, and with a high degree of cleanliness. And around this time of year, many schools would organize an annual field trip to the Grand Science Building, where a lot of the latest and more advanced technology was there on display. It was a place of learning, science, and always got people excited and interested. ¡°Everyone, make sure to keep with your groups!¡± the teacher said, as three boys were brought together by mere chance. ¡°Hey Kobayashi¡±. ¡°Hey Rukio, Zazie¡± Kobayashi said as he joined them. ¡°Looks like we are a group of three again¡­I wonder if they just kept the same groupings as last time?¡± ¡°¡­maybe. You think they will have anything new at the center?¡± ¡°I hear they were planning to show some videos and tech about the latest civilian space shuttle designs. I heard that there was actually a large one, and thanks to a new reactor design. Even more improved efficiency compared to the QR3 Model, making the QR4 allow for even more civilian shuttles and traffic. I even heard that we might be getting field trips to the orbital space station Meridian, or even to Luna-1¡±. Although it might seem far away for other students, Astro Island and its various cities and installations were the heart of the Unified Human Space Program. Because of that, there were some students who had already been to space, and nearly all of them had received an injection when they were younger, a new experimental treatment that would take effect over a few years as the body grew. Apparently, it would allow the body to adapt to the zero gravity envirornment better, even reducing things like bone demineralization. Overcoming this gap is what has allowed the space program to flourish, since it now meant that people could stay up in space for long periods of time. The only drawback is that it was only effective in still growing bodies, since the bones are still growing and the body still developing. So it could be said that here, everyone had a much higher chance of professionally going into space. As the trio talked to each other, they were then called to get on the bus, and soon after headed towards the Grand Science Building. Incidentally, the bus did not meet a single red light on the way there.
¡°You want me to do what?¡± Alex asked his teacher as they walked into the main lobby of the Grand Science Building. ¡°I would like you to help some of the younger students from the middle and elementary schools go around and understand everything¡±. ¡°Erm¡­.you know my science grades are not the best¡­why not ask Ori or Sam?¡± ¡°I already have them helping other areas. Come on, please Alex?¡± the teacher, Ms. Shido, asked him with sparkling eyes. A truly kind hearted spirit, her eyes which looked to be full of innocence and kindness tore right through Alex¡¯s mental defenses like it was nothing. ¡°Alright, alright, sensei¡± he mentioned. ¡°Who and where?¡± ¡°A middle school group, Class 2-C. It will be made up of Izumi Yoshido, Amara Rubico, and Isabell Lucia¡±. ¡°Fine¡­¡± he said, when suddenly he felt a small body hug him from behind. ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Hey big bro!¡± Alice said cheerfully. He saw her eyes flash for a second, but no one else seemed to catch it. ¡°Alice, your class came here today? I thought it was next week?¡± ¡°Nah, it seems like they changed it up¡± she said, letting go. ¡°Anyways, please be careful! And lets meet for lunch in the cafeteria!¡± ¡°Err¡­sure¡± he said, and then watched her run off to her class. ¡°Hey, sensei¡­this place will be safe right? I mean, don¡¯t they have a lot of experimental technology here?¡± ¡°Ah yes, of course! Everything here is well tested, and the security is also great! We passed through it remember?¡± Guards that appeared to be vigilant at all times. Full body scanners at the front entrance. And certainly, the place was full of cameras, motion senses, and emergency shutters. Everything looked safe enough. I just hope it¡¯s enough to counteract the bad luck espers like me seem to possess.
¡°I just hope it¡¯s enough to counteract the bad luck espers like me seem to possess¡±. Izumi heard that telepathically from the older boy who was apparently designated to be their guide. He wanted to know if this person was going to be bothersome or not, but he ended up learning something interesting. So he is an Esper too? Interesting¡­ Izumi knew of a few espers, but he had yet to introduce himself to any of them. Leaving aside some of the weird thoughts he heard from them, he was worried that they might end up outing him and making his life hell. No one wanted to be the first Esper outed, after all. That said, he did find it interesting that Esper thoughts were often harder to read, and their minds harder to delve into, then normal humans. Because of that, he could use that method to figure out who was an esper and who was not. Although, there was one abnormality he was not sure about, and that was the girl next to him. Amara Rubico. He was completely incapable of reading her mind. It was not like he constantly spied into everyone¡¯s minds, but when he first discovered his power, he had tested it out by probing the minds of his classmates. And he had successfully gotten at least some connection from all of them, except her. It was a failed link every time. In fact, he had to keep good control of his power. Early one, there was one time it went out of control, and he got a headache because he received the thoughts from about one hundred people simultaneously. It nearly made him faint, but he was able to shut it off in time. He wondered what sort of power she had, or if it was just some sort of weird mutation by chance. Either way, he had been paired with her for the trip, so it was a good time to learn.
¡°Alright everyone! Ready to have some fun?!¡± Sarah said enthusiastically to the trio of Kobayashi, Zazie, and Rukio. Although certainly, the three of them tended to be happy and friendly, her overload was rather sudden. And then, in that moment, she grabbed them all into a big group hug. However, even though she was only sixteen she had quite the growth, and therefore a few nearly suffocated like that before she released them. And so, without much conversation or waiting, the groups began their exploration of the Grand Science Building.
¡°How is everything going?¡± a man with a stern, stoic face asked as he entered a room, with a boy in a blue panda hoodie and shorts following behind him. ¡°Are the teams we dispatched there yet?¡± ¡°We are registering reports now. We are currently accessing the Grand Science Building¡¯s systems. Are we sure this is the place?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­Ruu?¡± Ruu nodded his head, his eyes were illuminated unnaturally. ¡°¡­Grand Space Building¡­explodes¡±. As he said that, he saw the Grand Science Building explode suddenly and spectacularly, with people running in shock and fear on the monitor. However, no one else reacted to this, as it had not happened yet. It will happen though, unless it was stopped. That was what his power, Precognition, told him. Even now, he was beginning to see a blur. The future was not as solid as it was, as if it could change. ¡°We got a team in¡­.wait, hold on. We just lost all communications, and we have been shut out of the Grand Science Building¡¯s systems!¡± ¡°Its begun¡± the man said, putting his hand on Ruu¡¯s head. ¡°Ruu...stay as long as you can, but if things take a turn for the worse¡­please look away¡±. ¡°Thanks¡­dad¡±.
All of a sudden, as Alice¡¯s group was walking in a direction, a lot of the lights shut off for a moment, and then turned back on. After that happened, a man near them took out two guns, and shot two of the guards. ¡°Everyone! Don¡¯t try to resist! This building is under our control now!¡± As Alice heard that, she turned around and saw her friends, and the guide, had already run away. Well, she expected as much. Seeing the child not reacting, the man got adjitated, and put a gun to her head. In that moment, she activated her Psychometry through physical contact, allowing her to see the past, present, and future of that weapon. She immediately dodged to the side as she turned around, grabbing the gun while biting down on his arm, and at the same time kicked the shin she saw had been injured during a training session for this plan earlier. All this pain severely reduced his grip, which let her take the gun and shoot him a few times in the chest. He fell to the ground dead, so she took his other gun, and to see if she could learn anything new, used psychometry on it. It was the same as the first, just with the other hand. But now, thanks to her psychometry, she had inherited all of the skills and training done with the guns, so she was now capable of effectively using them. The guy was not especially skilled, but it was better then nothing. She could hear gunfire on other floors though, and some of the security shutters were closing. Weirdly though, not all of them were, and as she started to walk around looking for Alex, she felt like she was in a maze. A multi-floored maze. Well, she was heading towards the cafeteria while looking, since that was where she told him to meet her. When she had touched him, she had used psychometry, and saw the near future of his clothes. Blood, explosions, mass death. Although they claimed it was a hostage situation, they were rather murderous and planned to kill everyone in the building.
¡°What the hell is going on?¡± Alex asked as Izumi looked around. The lights had come back on, but they were dimmer. Furthermore, he could hear gunshots everywhere. It sounded like people were getting hurt, maybe worse. He considered trying to expand his telepathy, but it was possible he would pick up too many people and it would be too confusing. Telepathy was best used on people one could see and identify, small groups if one is good enough. He was good enough to network a classroom, but an entire building full of panicked people? That was a very bad idea. Unfortunately for them, their time to stand around was over. Two people with guns came in from the front, while the third member of their group, Iseball Lucia, was struck on the back of the head by a third who came from behind. ¡°Hmm¡­do we need these brats as hostages?¡± ¡°Probably not¡­but it would be a bad idea to waste ammo¡± one of them said. The one who struck Isabell pulled out a knife, and then attacked Amara. Only the moment he hit her with the knife at full force, the knife shattered and he hurt his hand, as if he had punched a brick wall. After he collapsed, she punched him in the head and that knocked him out completely. This was her Applied Body Barrier. ¡°Sorry I kept it a secret Izumi¡­but I might not be normal¡± she said apologetically to her classmate, who she also considered a friend. ¡°Ah, its okay¡± Izumi said, as the two other people recovered. One went to attack, but then got shot in the back by the other. ¡°I happen to know the rest of us are not either¡±. Izumi¡¯s eyes glowed as he turned back at the third guy, who had believed he shot Alex who charged at him, but now realized he shot his fellow criminal. He quickly raised his gun to shoot them, but Alex created a ball of fire and hit the man with it. The fire was so hot, it even melted his gun, and the man quickly passed out from pain. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you knew¡­judging by the power, Telepath? And you are a barrier user?¡± ¡°And you use pyrokinesis. What are the odds we all ended up in the same group?¡± ¡°Probably the same odds as both me and my sister being espers. Speaking of which, she did give me a weird message before we started, asking if she was sure the building was safe. I think she used her power and learned something would happen, but didn¡¯t know the specifics. Well, she also mentioned meeting in the cafeteria for lunch, so we should try heading there¡±. ¡°Will she be okay on her own?¡± ¡°It all depends on whether she got a weapon or not¡±.
And meanwhile, on another floor¡­ ¡°Why the hell are terrorists attacking?¡± Sarah panicked as Kobayashi sighed, as their whole group¡¯s hands were raised. Right now, five people were pointing guns at them for some reason. ¡°Hey, Zazie?¡± ¡°Shut up you!¡± the terrorists warned them. ¡°¡­yeah, Koba?¡± ¡°By any chance¡­are you like me? Given the situation, I thought it was a good time to ask¡±. ¡°Eh? You too?¡± ¡°I told you all to shut up! That is it, just shoot them!¡± the leader of the squad commanded, but then all of the lights went out. Gunfire rang out, but when the lights turned back on, the four were missing. Furthermore, two of them started to float in the air for no reason at all, and their guns and weapons had been stolen from them. ¡°This is a nice coincidence. How did you know?¡± Zazie asked, as he teleported a gun out of another one¡¯s hand and into his. ¡°I kinda had a feeling. You did too right?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­both of us had a feeling we could tell you¡­its nice that we don¡¯t have to leach each other out of the loop¡± Rukio mentioned. Unlike how one might expect, the bonds of friendship were strong between them, so rather then any fights or displeasure, they were able to accept each other''s logic easily. ¡°Shit¡­they are some sort of monsters!¡± ¡°That¡¯s mean! You should not call children monsters!¡± Sarah said as she moved behind the leader, grabbed him, and flipped him over her shoulder martial arts style. Kobayashi then used Psychoshift, rapidly appearing in front of the fourth guy and kicking him in the gut, sending him flying into a wall and knocking him unconscious. Zazie then teleported behind the fifth guy, sticking his hand under his shirt and then teleporting the man, without any of his clothes, weapons, or gear, to a nearby bathroom that had been locked down. ¡°I think its pretty amazing everyone in our group ended up being Espers¡±. ¡°More like, its not natural. This smells like someone manipulated events¡±. ¡°Agreed¡± Zazie said, nodding to Rukio as he teleported back to the group while Sarah also walked over. ¡°So, lets do a quick sharing session. My name is Zazie, and I am a teleporter¡±. ¡°Rukio, I am a technopath¡±. ¡°Kobayashi, Koba for short. I have Psychoshift, which is kind of like an advanced telekinesis. I can also use it to increase the power and force of my body, and move seemingly instantainously, to a degree anyways¡±. ¡°Sarah, and my power is levitation¡± she said as she canceled her power, causing the first two to fall to the ground and hit their heads, rendering them unconscious. ¡°Anyways, did we get caught up in a terrorist attack or something?¡± ¡°Looks like it. This is way too hardcore for a simple robbery¡­well, there is a lot of advanced tech here. Rukio?¡± Rukio activated his power, and got into the security cameras. ¡°Looks like there are other espers in the building also, fighting. There are also some security forces still alive, but they are getting taken out rather quickly. Also, I cant access anything outside for some reason. Even using my Esper power at full strength¡±. Zazie seemed a bit concerned by this, and so he tried to quickly teleport out and then back in¡­but, when he tried to teleport out of the building, he rebounded, and hit the ground hard after reappearing. ¡°¡­owww¡­okay, I don¡¯t quite get it, but there is some sort of protective barrier around this place that is blocking psychic powers. I cant teleport us, or anyone else, out of here¡±. ¡°It seems like we can use our powers just fine inside though¡­weird¡± Kobayashi added. Rukio then seemed to ponder something. ¡°It might not even be the terrorists¡­.this is the Grand Science Building. For all we know, they are already aware of psychics and this shield is to protect them from outside attacks¡±. ¡°In any case, we should probably try to find a way out of here¡± Zazie mentioned.
¡°Did you get anything useful?¡± Alex asked Izumi, who had been busy psychically interrogating a terrorist they had captured from a second terrorist group they came across. Thanks to Amara¡¯s barriers, and Alex¡¯s firepower, they were fairly unstoppable. Of course, they all knew that all psychic powers had limits. There was no way Amara would be able to protect them from the bullets of the terrorists forever. ¡°Well, I have bad news, and worse news. The bad news is that the grunts were not told the whole story, just that attacking and capturing this place, and dealing with the people and cops while they completed their objectives, was what they needed to do. Worse¡­they have set up bombs across the building, and if it looks bad or once they complete their objective, they will extract if possible, and blow it up to ensure no surviving hostages¡±. ¡°¡­that is pretty bad¡±. ¡°No survivors? Why is that important?¡± ¡°Not sure¡­but, I did see the appearances of their leaders. One was wearing a samurai mask, one was wearing an oni mask, and one was wearing a gasmask¡­and they all had displayed some sort of psychic power¡±. ¡°¡­are you saying those guys are here as well?¡± ¡°¡­probably¡­¡± ¡°We need to get to the cafeteria, now¡±.
Alice walked into the cafeteria, and saw quite the bloodbath in front of her. People trapped in what appeared to be shadow tentacles, with a lot dead already. And in the center, there was a man wearing an oni mask. ¡°Well now little girl¡­looks like you have some bad luck¡±. Alice sighed. She had nothing new to use psychometry on, but she could already tell bullets would not be effective on this guy. So she decided to hope on her brother appearing instead in this instant to help her, as shadows began to slither towards her. Chapter 2: Psi-Waves Chapter 2: Psi-Waves "Attention, Commander Dugall!" one of the anylsts, a woman of around twenty five years old, said as she monitored their sensor readings. Commander Dugall, who Ruu Dugall was standing next to, concentrated on the monitors, which showed their teams having a tough time getting in as a mysterious fog rolled in throughout the city, covering everything. "Yes?" "We are detecting Psi-Waves from within the Fog! This is likely the work of a psionic!" "Ruu?" "It obscures...and hides...confuses, like a maze. Inside of it, our teams will never enter the facility" Ruu replied to his father, narrowing his eyes at the screen. "The futures were bad things happened...have both increased, and decreased". Commander Dugall looked at Ruu, who appeared to be making a pained expression. He quickly took out a bottle of painkillers, and offered one to Ruu. "You cant help anyone if you pass out from pain". "...those painkillers dull my mind, I wont be able to see as well or as accurately with them" Ruu mentioned, while Dugall made a complicated face. As the Commander who was trying to get into the building and stop the terrorists, he found his son''s actions commandable. But as a father, seeing his child in pain hurt him deep inside. "Just dont push yourself. You wont be able to see at all if you faint". "Understood" Ruu replied, as his eyes shined brighter. By pushing himself further, he could see through the fog, and into the various possibilities. The possible futures. The future was always in flux, and no matter how hard he focused, there would never be one set future. That is because his Psi-Waves could potentially be subtly picked up and influenced by others, which would then cause them to potentially change actions or not. Furthermore, any Precog who takes an action after seeing the future could alter the variables, and therefore change the futures seen by all Precogs. Seeing the way the future was flowing, he became convinced. "There is at least one other Precog in play" he confirmed. "Furthermore, for some reason, there is no future where anyone attempts to escape the tower before the fog clears and the explosive perimeter taken down. Likely, there is some sort of psionic barrier there". "A psionic barrier?" "Yes...its what is keeping my readings obscure, making it impossible to find an entrance or exit. I can only see the future from outside the barrier, not inside". Although a few people in the room did not quite understand Ruu''s words fully, it appeared that there was something there jamming them. "Then, its as we thought. We are not the only organization on Astro Island aware of the existence of psychics".
As the group ran through the halls, Zazie suddenly stopped in place, causing the others to stop as well. "What was it?" "I just felt a weird shift run through me". "Really?" "Yeah, its similar to us when we not only do not suppress our Psi-Waves, but actively unleash them". Sarah looked confused, but Kobayashi and Rukio seemed to understand. "So...an esper has gotten serious? What does that mean?" Kobayashi asked, looking around. "Also, how come you felt it first?" "Zazie''s power is teleporation, although it might be more accurate to call it Spacial Manipulation. Essentially, he folds space between two locations until they overlap, and then switches from one to the other. However, since it appears to happen in an instant, people understand better if its just called teleportation". Sarah''s head hurt a little from that explanation. She was not sure if they had just made up some fake science and were childish elementary schoolers, or if they were some sort of supergeniuses. "Rukio is the supergenius" Zazie told Sarah. "Hold on, your a telepath too?!" "No, it was just really obvious looking at your facial expressions". Sarah''s face went red a little, as Kobayashi looked around. "It seems all clear up here...should we avoid the fight, or help whoever it is? If it was just a terrorist that was the psychic, it would not be releasing the Psi-Waves right? So, a psychic must be fighting the terrorists but having a hard time". "Its possible there are two espers fighting each other". Rukio went over to an access panel, and put his hand on it. By physically touching a system, his technopathy became more powerful. "Hey guys. It looks like there are a lot of alarms in the basement level. And...judging by the power draw down there, maybe some sort of secret facility". "...well that sounds like a great way to get shot". "...incidentally, the building is in lockdown, all the entrances and exits are shut, and the only command console that isn''t trashed is down there. Iv tried opening them myself, but the system is resisting me...somehow. Some sort of isolated network maybe, or an emergency security measure. Unless I touch the console, I cant open the shutters, so we are trapped in here". No one liked the sound of that. "Any more news?" "Yeah" Rukio said with a grin. "I got their comm frequency". He then took out his phone, and adjusted it so they could listen in on the terrorist communications. The only one that had a radio was one of the guys Sarah had made fall down from a great height, and the radio was landed on, causing it to be smashed. Even Rukio could not get a frequency from a broken radio. "...and once all the charges are set, your group should start executing hostages every so often. Less likely they will riot and go out of control if there are less, and they see we will use force. Well, we need to kill them all anyways also. For the Highlord!" "Well, that last part sounds culty". "Agreed. Okay, so we cant wait around, and we cant escape unless we go downstairs. Since security has not taken control yet, or rather, since we have not seen any yet, we should assume they all got taken out. Which means...to survive, we have to fight. Since the enemy seems to have psionics on their side, we cant count on a police rescue either". "...my normal school life....I feel like this is going to mark its destruction". "Only if we get caught. Rukio?" "Got it, I do have the cameras and such under my control. I will prevent them from recording us!" "Good. Now, lets head down to the...." Suddenly, the entire building seemed to shake, and everyone felt Psi-Waves this time. "What the hell was that?!" "Unknown if its friend or foe. We need to head towards the one place we know there is a friendly psychic and rally with them!"
A few minutes ago... Alice danced and dodged the approaching shadows, as her opponent seemed to get more and more frusterated. She was able to deftly dodge all of the attacks, with them just barely getting close before missing. This was thanks to two things, the first was that she trained daily in acrobatics. The second was that while there was nothing else around to use Psychometry on to give her an edge right now, her ribbon tied around her wrist was from her mother, who got it from her best friend who was an olympic gymnist. So thanks to that, Alice was more then capable of utilizing those moves. Her body did ache a little, since the skill level her body was using was higher then her trained limits, but this was not the first time she did this so she could manage it to a degree. "You damned little girl! Stop being such an annoyance!" Several shadow tendrils seemed to shoot at her, but she dodged them all. She had noticed quite a few things about this guy''s abilities. First off, he was strong. Really strong. She tried shooting him a few times, but the shadows that attacked could also defend, and bullets would not pass them. Second, although his power appeared to be Shadows, it would be weird for a psionic power to control a massless creation of light blocked by an object. It made no sense, which meant rather then Shadows, it was simply black. Something black that he could control, that could attack and defend. Something that took a strong image the user had. In other words, this was a Psi-Projection. That was what his power was. Still, knowing that did not leave her in a good spot. He could only project from his body, but he could do it actively. Her power, Psychometry, would take a second or two to activate and a bit longer for her to fully register the lunchroom. If the object was small, like a gun that few people held, it would be fine. But the tables, the walls, the floors, had hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people come through them every day. With such an amount, it could take minutes to sort through it all. Too many people made it too filled, and the information she would get would be mostly useless and vague. As she dodged again, she smiled. At least its weak at range. He can only project from himself, after all. "You damned brat!" he shouted, as his "shadows" began to release a few of the civilians around, as well as the already dead corpses, and came after her in force. More attacks made it harder to dodge, but it also meant he would be expending more energy. Which will run out first? My stamina, or your''s? Although she thought that, she already knew. It was likely hers. At least, that was what she thought, until a large scale explosion happened a few stories above. The cafeteria had a higher then normal ceiling, with several balconies on higher floors looking over it. One of the windowed walls on them just exploded in a erruption of flame, as a group of three seemed to be falling down. This caught the shadow psionic off guard, and the few seconds he was stunned made all the difference as Alex came down and punched him in the face. While he went flying, the three of them crashed into the ground at the same time. Alice walked over to them, and saw they were unharmed. "Alice! Are you okay?" "Yeah, be careful. His power is Psi-Projection, and its good for both attack and defense. It can also capture people". Alice pointed to the previously captured people, who all got released once Alex punched him in the face. "By the way, who are your friends?" "Izumi, Telepath". "Amara, Barriers". "Ah. I am Alice, Psychometry". Izumi twitched after hearing that. "...you were fighting him with Psychometry?" "Don''t underestimate a girl''s will to live". "Well, I guess I can accept that". The three stood up and patted the dust off of them. They then looked over to the terrorist, but he was already gone. "He was still conscious after that?" "Like I said, his power is good for defense". "Ah, guys" Izumi warned them, as he pointed over. It appeared the ruckus they made had gathered attachention, because there were twenty terrorists there wearing weird commando gas masks and tactical gear like all the others. Furthermore, they also had all their guns raised and pointed at them. "Izumi?" "I cant trick that many people at once with telepathy". "Amara?" "My barriers wont hold out against all that firepower". "I see...I wont be able to create flames to get them all either". Things did not exactly look good, but then suddenly, everyone noticed a young boy, maybe a few years older then Alice, appear inbetween the Terrorists, his fingers suddenly full of grenade pins as he then disappeared. The terrorists panicked as they realized they were from the grenades strapped to their belts, and while trying to get them off, a few exploded and took out a whole lot of them. Some did manage to throw the grenades away though, but suddenly another boy appeared inbetween them all and delivered an unusually fast strike, blurring again afterwards and appearing a good distance away as the terrorists passed out. Seeing this, Alex did not waste the chance and launched a large scale fire blast at the ones remaining, while Amara protected them all from the panicked bullet fire. Izumi used his telepathy like a radar, looking for anyone still conscious among the terrorists, but found no one.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. "Is everyone okay?" another boy asked. "Sorta. But there are still bombs placed everywhere, and I think terrorists as well". "Yeah, I know. Its a bit of an issue" Rukio said, as he showed the one he picked up. "High yield explosives, but most importantly, analog and operates on radio signals. And its in this glass case, which if breaks, will detonate the bomb, and send the detonation signal to the other bombs". They also saw a timer on it, counting down. Unfortunately, it was an analog timer. It looked like it was set up to detonate once the hour hand and minute hand completed the circuit, but until then, Rukio could do nothing to stop it. "Looks like everyone is okay" Sarah said. "I wish you had waited for me though". "Right, first things first. Introductions and powers". They quickly introduced themselves to each other, and then got back to the matter at hand. "So the bombs have failsafes among failsafes?" "And its all analog! How annoying!" Rukio complained. "Like, its so needlessly complicated!" "Our enemies are psionics, so maybe they considered a technopath trying to stop them" Alex pointed out, making Rukio pout. "Anyways, the objective of the terrorists, and ours as well, is in this secret basement area" Kobayashi explained. "And there is at least three leaders. We know one was here, so another is probably down there, if not all three". "We don''t know what they are after though, but we cant leave until they are defeated". "And if we dont defeat them, and get the bomb deactivation signal, we all die as well". "...is there any actual way to stop the bombs? I mean, they are analog right?" Those words from Alex made everyone get headaches. "No, its possible" Rukio mentioned. "Its not the shutters and lockdown we need to deactivate though, its the Psi Shield covering the building. If we do that, Zazie can teleport all the bombs really far away into the ocean". "I see....if I dont have to worry about how they are aranged, it does make my calculations simper". "Which means, we need people to retrieve all the bombs in the building" Izumi added. "I will do that. Even if Zazie can teleport, he needs to conserve his strength. If I Psychoshift, I can collect the bombs. But, I cant find them". "Leave that to me" Alice mentioned, as she touched the gloves of one of the terrorist leaders. Her eyes flashed brightly. "If I use Psychometry on their hands, it should be a peace of cake. Since it is or was on a living human, I will only see recent memories, unlike this cafeteria which is too impersonal and gets too much foot traffic". "Then, the rest of us should go downstairs" Alex said, a bit relieved. If Alice was up here away from danger, it should be safer. After all, since she found weapons, normal terrorists were small fry to her. So keeping her away from the psychic terrorists would be ideal for his peace of mind. "So, we have pyrokinesis, technopathy, telepathy, barriers, levitation, and teleportation, although Zazie, you need to conserve your energy as well". "That is great and all, but I also need to know when the barrier is taken down" Zazie pointed out. "And we dont know if we will be able to contact each other". "True...alright then, lets get moving".
"Convergance was achieved. Roles delegated" Ruu said, falling to his knees on the ground. He might have looked cute falling like that, if it wasn''t such a situation. "Ruu? Its been too long!" he said, getting out of his chair and putting the pill into his mouth. He then took out a bottle of water, and used it to help him swallow the pill. Ruu''s condition seemed to start to improve a little, but to be safe, the Commander picked him up before sitting down. He took off Ruu''s shoes and socks as well, when he noticed Ruu''s elevated temperature, as well as the panda hoodie. He then felt the sweat coming off of Ruu, and took off his shoes and shorts until he was just in boxers, and took out a towel his assistant brought him to wipe away the sweat. Judging from his breathing, and what he felt, Ruu''s temperature was probably at 112 degrees fahrenheit, or 44 degrees celcius. Since he was a psionic, his average temperature was about 100 degrees fahrenheit, or 38 degrees celcius. Overdoing his powers had caused what they refered to as a Psionic Overheat, which could result in severe fever, and could even result in death. "Damnit Ruu, I told you not to overload like this" he said, as his assistant then handed him an ice pack. She left a set of clean clothes about Ruu''s size folded on the table next to him. "I hope he is okay" she mentioned. "Yeah, its fine. Its his own fault for Overheating after I warned him" he said, as he felt the heat coming off of him start to hurt a little. It was only natural though. In order to keep itself cool, the human body will release heat onto the surfaces around it, including clothes. Ruu''s clothes were actually made of a special heat absorbant fabric, so it would reduce the strain and chance for him to Psionic Overheat. Yet the boy had Overheated anyways, despite a warning, showing how hard he worked. As the commander cared for his sleeping son, he heard him mutter something. "...it will open..." The moment Dugall heard that, his eyes widened. "Everyone! I want camera 38 up right now from the lab area!" The moment they heard that, they were a bit shocked, but continued to operate. A monitor then appeared, showing a strange white cube with glowing green markings covering it. They were always glowing, however...something new had happened. They were pulsing, and pulsing brightly. "We are confirming activaty from the unknown object labeled ''Pandora''s Box''!" "Unknown energy readings detected! It appears to be charging or signaling something!" "We...we are getting a weird energy reading from the Grand Science Building! They are matching the energy released by Pandora''s Box!" The moment they heard that, the Commander''s eyes widened. "I want some sort of communication with the people inside there now! Someone, anyone! Ruu indicated some sort of convergance, and it sounded like a good thing. He must have meant a convergance of allies!" But if he cant see inside the building with his Precog, how did he know that? Dugall felt a little uneasy at this mystery that involved his own son.
Alex and the others were able to make it to the basement, and it didn''t take dumb luck or clever thinking to find the hidden entrance. Leaving aside the technopath that could trace the electricity usage, the terrorists didn''t close it again after they opened it, and there were a lot of dead guards here. "I am amazed the Grand Science BUilding had a secret room like this that no one found". "The building was built by one of the corperations, Ro-tech, before it was gifted to the city and the UHSP that is the government that runs the island. So Ro-tech must have built it, and do they keep strong connections and pressence to it, but...it could have been built by the UHSP as well I suppose". As they went inside, the dark interior changed to one that appeared more advanced, and a bit sterile. There were cameras everywhere, but Rukio was manipulating them all, preventing any of them from showing up. There were a lot of strange labs there though. As they walked through the halls, they saw glass windows they could look inside. There were white tables with restraints, and what appeared to be various medical equipment. Others had assembly rooms and robotics labs. What they all shared though was the fact there were corpses on the ground, people wearing white lab coats had red liquid spilling out across the floor. But what was probably most notable was how they all felt. Their bodies felt a bit sluggish, and while it was not too major of an impact, it was also giving them a minor headache and feeling of confusion. "...I think my temperature went up by a degree or two" Alex mentioned. "Fahrenheit, not celcius". "Same...I think there is some sort of Psi-dampener, or Psi-weakener here. Rukio?" "I know what you are thinking, but I cant access it. Its probably on an isolated system, and encrypted. And probably also protected from Technopaths". "...can we all agree this room is really creepy and foreboding?" "It makes me very happy Alice is not here". Either way, they had to push forward. They encountered more dead security, as well as rooms that looked rather strange. There was one area that looked like it was an isolated area with both a sleeping and eating area, and another that appeared to be a training room. As they went further down, they began to hear sounds of fighting. Thinking it mgiht help them understand what was going on, they ran downstairs. The sounds of fighting increased, but as they finished going down the stairs they found, there was a room with two glass windows and two doors. As they opened the one o ntheir side, the other one closed. And once they entered, a sensor registered them and the door closed behind them. "Beginning decontamination process" it said, as something was sprayed all over them. "Alert, IDs not found". "Rukio!" "Yeah, but its reisting me!" He tried to access the computer, but it seemed completely immune to his power. The room began to heat up. "Its heating up now?" "Tsk! Its trying to raise our body temperatures so we overheat!" Of course, while espers could overheat easier, they also had a higher threshhold for heat tolerance, so in fact this trap would likely kill normal humans completely. However, although Rukio kept failing, suddenly the group felt a massive Psi-Wave seemed to pulse across the entire building. And the moment it did, the decontamination room stopped and both doors opened. "Nice save, Rukio!" Sarah mentioned, only to look back and see Rukio collapsed on the ground, holding his head. She went over to him, and checked his temperature. "I will carry Rukio" she said, putting him on her back. "I dont know for certain, but I think his temperature is a bit elevated. His temperature doesn''t appear too high, and his sweat is only minor, so I think if I carry him and let him rest, he should still be able to use his power to disable the barrier". "Alright, good...that said, I also feel lighter. Whatever that pulse was, I think it took down the jammer". "Then we better hurry!" Zazie mentioned, getting back on his feet. As their feet rapidly pounded the ground, a bit of sweat coming from them all still, they kept moving. There were a few hallways, but it seemed like going straight led towards the fighting. Once they got past the third hallway, and the sounds of battle were much lounder, they opened the door and came across a large room. It appeared to be a large workshop or such, but what caught their eyes was a small helmeted figure around Izumi''s height, holding two swords seemingly made of psionic energy, holding off a trio of masked people. One was wearing the oni mask from before, while the other two were wearing a gas mask and a samurai mask. The fight was intense, but their psi-waves did not go crazy like the fight between Alice and the Oni-Mask guy. There were scorch marks all around, and the one in the Samurai mask noticed them instantly. The one in the helmet also noticed them, but didn''t appear to be in a position to chat or get distracted. Rather, he looked at the other three. "Are they not fighting seriously?" Zazie muttered. "They were under the effect of the suppressor before it got shut down by that weird wave. Besides, three on one, the one guy is probably conserving his strength". As Zazie stepped forward, another Psi-Wave went across the entire building. Only this time, both Zazie and Rukio got headaches. "Eh? Why them?" Izumi asked. "Apparently due to Zazie''s psionic power, he is more sensitive to Psi-Waves...and Rukio is already weakened". However, as that was mentioned, the fight picked up intensity. No one seemed to speak, but they got the impression their actions were communicating a whole conversation in itself. Like the four knew each other. Furthermore, each of them kept glancing to the two white pods. While the man with Psi-Projection kept the helmeted man at bay, his two allies went towards two things in the back. They were like white, egg shaped pods, and were held in some sort of metal holding brace. As the two approached, each one opened up in a weird way, like part of them were organic, even though they could see tech inside of it. But as the two made it to each pod... "...access code....Oracle". Rukio muttered something. As if responding to his words, one of the pods rejected one of the trio, while the other one had already gotten into a pod. Suddenly, the other two moved back to the pod, seemingly giving up on the other one...and then, they teleported away. The moment they did, the helmeted man, or boy, or girl or whatever, looked up at them, and then took the energy sword and stabbed it into a console. The moment he did, he teleported away as well. "Did that guy have two powers?!" "Never mind that! If he teleported away...did he damage the console?" "Rukio! How did you do that?" "...I dont get it...there are thoughts inside my head" Rukio complained. Izumi looked concerned, and used his telepathy. "There are traces of someone else having sent thoughts to Rukio telepathically. Zazie, what about you?" "I dunno, it was mostly pain...but if the barrier is gone, I gotta go back up to teleport the bombs away. Seems like the enemies are gone too". "Alright. In that case, we should check out the pod". "We need to get in...follow them....stop them" Rukio said with a pained expression. "Zazie". "I got it" he said, taking Rukio from Sarah, and then teleporting them both back upstairs. The others moved towards the pod. As they looked inside, it looked like there was enough room for one of them. A tall, fully grown adult would never fit, but they were all sixteen or younger, so it was fine. "...so, who wants to get in the creepy alien pod?" "I will do it" Alex mentioned, getting in. The moment he did, it closed up, and weird tendrils began to surround him. And on the outside, the pod, and everyone around it, disappeared, leaving only their clothes and objects behind. Meanwhile, inside the pod, he felt the tendrils try to move around, or just go right through, his clothes, touching every part of his body. Suddenly, he felt weird, and his mind felt free of his body as it was floating in a larger space. Around him were monitors, showing operational indicators, as well as a monitor out front. For some reason, in front of him, was a tattered and ruined city. "Ahhh! What happened?!" Sarah screamed. He wanted to look in the direction, and it seemed to move as he wanted, looking down to a group of people below who were all completely naked. "What happened?!" Alex asked worriedly. "It looks like none of our clothes or possessions came with us when we teleported or whatever" Izumi tried to calmly explain as he covered himself with his hands. Amara''s long pink hair at least covered her chest, so she seemed more calm, although it was only "more calm". Maybe it helped that the only boy around was Izumi, who was her friend. That was when everyone looked back to Alex, and looked even more shocked. "Alex! You, or at least that pod thing, became a robot!" "Yeah! And you have a cool sword and everything! Also a lot of other interesting looking things!" Indeed, the Pod that Alex was now in had become a giant robot, that stood several stories tall and had a variety of weapons. Alex saw the display systems for various weapons, as well as other information. "Welcome to the Fragmented World" a voice said, although it was disguised. They looked over and saw another robot, one that had two daggers at its side, two guns, two of everything basically. Since only the Gasmask terrorist got into a pod, it seemed that was the robot it formed. But what was very unfair was that the two terrorists with him were still wearing their clothes! "Guess you didn''t come as prepared as us though. But just so you know...we are not the criminals here, nor are we in the wrong. If you do not get in our way, we will not fight you. Our only enemies are the corporations, and the corrupt members of the UHSP". And then, just like that, they disappeared from the Fragmented World without any fight at all. "Erm...okay...now, uhh...how did we leave and go back?" The terrorists didn''t tell them, and since Rukio who seemed ot have the information was gone, they could not ask him either. Izumi regretted not asking Rukio for more details, or even just telepathically examining his head. However, before they could think much of it, a strange light appeared around them as well, and the moment it disappeared, they were gone. "And that is all of them?" Zazie asked as he was sitting against a wall. "Yeah" Alice confirmed, gasping for breath while sitting next to him. "I used my Psychometry a lot to confirm. If you want to be certain". She took out her own personal thermometer, and stuck it in her ear. After a few seconds, it beeped and showed it to him. Her temperature was at 109 degrees farhenheit, according to the thermometer she had that used the US temperature system. Astro Island was weird in that it had some people who used celcius, some who used fahrenheit. "Alright" Zazie said, as he had taken a good rest and was feeling more restored. He didn''t even fight after all, so his teleporation was only used once since his last battle to bring himself back up. Rukio was resting on his other side, now fast asleep. Zazie walked up as Kobayashi brought over the last bomb and added it to the pile. With them all collected, Zazie touched the pile, and teleported all of them at once somewhere deep down in the ocean, far away. Normally, it would be more difficult for Zazie to move objects from one place to another, but that was because he had to do calculations to ensure they remained in one piece. Since the bombs were going to explode anyways, it made more sense to not care. Still, it was not completely easy for him either. Large scale teleportations like that were tough. He then looked over at Kobayashi. "What is the body count like?" "Surprisingly small. I think it helped we all took action immediately, but there were still some casualties. However, no student seemed to be harmed aside from being rendered unconscious. Not even the teachers who moved to protect students were killed from what I found. It seemed they mainly targeted the building''s staff and security first". With that said, the group sat down against the wall and on the ground, and sighed with relief. There were no more enemies, all the bombs were gone, and the lockdown was also now being lifted. It seemed like the best possible scenario had happened, although their allies were still missing. However, as if to disrupt their peaceful rest, the building that could now be accessed from the outside was stormed, as the four of them saw several armed people holding assault weapons coming in. A few seemed surprised by what they saw, but it seemed like one of them, a femail leader with a braided ponytail who took off her helmet as she approached, knelt down. "Are you all okay?" she asked. Zazie saw her patch, it appeared she was a member of SARU, or the Special Action and Rescue Unit. "Ah yea...woah!" Zazie said, as the woman picked up both him and Rukio, while her subordinate picked up Alice and Kobayashi. "Please remember to prioritize children, and bring them to a hospital for a checkup as soon as possible!" With that order, the six of them went back to a SARU assault truck, with the four of them being brought inside. However...the moment that she did, they felt something strange get injected into their necks, and fell right asleep. The last thing they remembered was a radio signal. "Extraction of the psionics is complete. Heading back to base now".