[Rail IC] Academy City

[Lillith]

Jane read the article Jason was talking about and her eyes widened. <"Oh my goodness... That's so creepy and awful! I wonder what happened to that guy.">

"Here you go!" the waitress said happily while putting Jason's order in front of him. "I'm sorry if it took so long. And can I get you something dear?"

"No thanks." Jane looked gloomy at the newspaper.

Before she turned around, the woman looked at the kid's faces. "Oh wow the atmosphere sure changed quickly!" Placing a hand on her hip she looked kind of patronizing towards the two youngsters. Then she quickly bowed forward. "Come on kids, cheer up, I hate to see a sad face. If you two are worried about that comatose kid, I heard he was moved to the Grand Academy City hospital like all the others. Or at least a friend of my said she thinks there are others, she works at the Chronicle. Very handy! I get all the good gossip stories that way. Like last week I heard about the Anti-Skill head of District 2 having an affair with the head of District 5!"

[Silverraptor]

Jason looks back down at the paper.
"[A body in the hospital?]"
His mind is puzzling over it as he continues to stare.

[Lillith]

Inside the cafe

Jason looks back down at the paper.
"[A body in the hospital?]"
His mind is puzzling over it as he continues to stare.

<"I think she means the person is still alive."> Jane responded.

Outside of the cafe
The man that was carrying the blond haired boy seemed to jump in fright, which made him lose control of the body he was carrying. With a silent thud the boy fell to the floor where he remained motionless.

While the guns seemed to slowly lose their shape, the biggest guy grabbed what seemed like a phone and quickly snapped some pictures of Cale and Jirou.
"Urgh, more Espers." He grunted.

"Should we get them too boss?" the middle man asked softly.

He shook his head. "Don't get too greedy." He tried to move, but it felt like something heavy was blocking them. A flash of purple light seemed to cross his eyes while he grinned and slowly said. "Kids shouldn't mess with grownup stuff. Twelve, you know the drill."

The smallest of the three nodded, while the middle one tried to move back towards the boy, and the flash crossed his eyes too. Then all of a sudden he raised his booted foot and smacked in back onto the ground. As soon his foot contacted the ground a devastating shockwave waved through the ground like a large earthquake. Causing large cracks in the buildings around the alley and ruptures in the ground that tore all the way beneath Cale and Jirou, towards the other side of the street behind them and seemed to knock people off their feet. Even the people inside the cafe would be able to feel the earthquake.

[Anyr]

Jirou's smirk slowly faded in the face of his enemies' indifference. Normal thugs usually lost their cool when their weapons fell to pieces, but these men just took it in stride. Watching them talk amongst themselves, Jirou couldn't shake the feeling of being in over his head. Ah well, too late to back out now. When the middle thug made a move towards the boy Jirou decided that (stupid move or not) it was time to step forward; He never got the chance. In an instant the booted foot slammed down, and the world began to crumble.

"No...way."

Jirou fell heavily to the ground, as much from the shock as from the earthquake. His eyes darted around to take in the cracks and ruptures that were spreading across the whole alley at an alarming rate.

"How can these guys have this much power and still be so stupid? Don't they realise that collapsing this place is gonna kill them along with us?"

[Mina Kobold]

Outside the café

Katsu had entered a high-speed mode moments before the shgockwave was sent off and only just manages to avoid being thrown aside by it as he enters the alley at a speed faster than the eye can see.

"Stomping like that will get you nowhere"

The kidnappers may be quite surprised as a long-haired boy appears out of thin air and tries to grab the unconcious body before trying to run at car-level speeds toward where Cale and Jirou have fallen.

The speed level is not high enough to make it completely safe for him, however, as an attentive human can still react to something at those speeds.

[Rhydeble]

tectokinesis.... they were actually fighting someone with tectokinesis.....

It was kind of funny, now that Cale thought of it. earthquakes could be destuctive and murderous, but they always hit a large area... and... they always hit the EARTH.

Another funny thing was that Cale was too busy analyzing tectokinesis to notice he was falling, until he brought up a layer of thick air to soften the fall.


Cale started to create a carpet of air under him, Jirou and Katsu. it wouldn't be immediately effective for them, but if they took a step, they would then be standing on a hopefully earthquake-proof carpet, ready to fight on.

[Silverraptor]

"[Well yes, I know that. But they why would they say a 'Body' if the person was still alive? Are they trying to make it seem like the person was dead to protect him? And if so, they're doing an awfully bad job of it if a waitress knows and tells it to her customers.]"
He looks down again at the paper.

[Lillith]

Inside the Cafe
Jane shrugged. <"Maybe her friend is wrong. I don't know how gossip works."> That probably sounded very stupid, Jane thought, but then again she never had friends to gossip with. Though she was sure her old classmates were probably gossiping behind her back right now. Good thing she never saw them again.

All of a sudden the building of the restaurant started shaking. The vibrations were so strong they knocked off Jason's order from the table. Customers started to scream, others hid behind the table. It was like they were being hit by an earthquake!

Somewhere in District 10
"Kgggg... Yamato-san? Come in Yamato!" The voice of Moreau sounded through his car over the radio. Yamato cringed, he barely left the office and wasn't even near one of the three suspects house. What did they want from him this time?

While with one hand still left on the steering wheel, he picked up the radio and pressed the button.
"What?"

"There has been reports of an earthquake near the Kadokado cafe in district 10. According to your GPS signal, you're close by. We suspect Esper activity investigate that. If it's not, help whoever you can and wait for backup."

Yamato rolled his eyes. Dammit, why couldn't they just leave him alone? The last thing he needed was -another- case on his shoulders. He sighed "Roger Moreau. Over and out." and made a sudden illegal u-turn on the road he was driving, heading to the Kadokado cafe. This just wasn't his day.

The alley
The earthquake had triggered a response in the streets around Kadokado cafe. People were running out of the buildings, screaming. Cars crashed against lampposts and street walks, while pieces of debris started to fall off the walls that surrounded the alley.

Before the middle man was able to pick up the boy, a sudden flash seemed to swipe the kid away in front of his eyes. Then suddenly disappearing again before he could respond.
Boss, they got the target. He said in his soft voice.

The boss seemed to nod while he observed Cale creating something that made them immune to Twelve's attacks. For a second they just seemed to stand there. Doing nothing. Before Boss seemed to grin again.

"Clever kids." He gestured to the middle man, who stood in front of him. "Six, your turn."

Then it suddenly went fast. Six took a deep breath and opened his mouth. For a moment it seemed like nothing happened but almost immediately after he had done this, dogs all across the neighborhood started to howl and bark like crazy. The buildings started to vibrate, causing the cracks in the ground and walls to worsen and pieces of debris started to fall more quickly. People behind Cale, Jirou, Katsu and the boy seemed to grab their ears and screamed their lungs out.

For some reason the attack seemed to be slower to get to the boys, like it had a hard time going through the air, but only by seconds. As soon as it reached the boys it sounded like they were standing next to a giant deafening jet plane taking off.

[Rhydeble]

First the earth shook. And now the air roared with this almost impossible sound. It was an earsplitting noise. Just who the hell were these people...

People like these, adults, with powers, weren't seen often in academy city, they were almost an alien thing to think about....

That was what gave Cale the hint he needed. Aliens... In space, no-one can hear you scream... why??? Vacuum.
Hoping that it would work. Cale started creating a vacuum around him, Jirou, Katsu, and the three attackers in the form of a dome. the sound struck from outside, so Cale thought that it wasn't geographically coming from the gunless gunman.. needing to find a place to put all the gasses he was pulling out... at this time mostly nitrogen but he was starting on the others too... Cale put them in front of Jirou, making a Solid block that was located in between Jirou and the sound-creating man, floating at chest-height

If only it didn't hurt so much to his ears. Cale would be able to concentrate better, and to Tell Jirou about his plan... his solids might be strong, but they could still be moved...

[Silverraptor]

Jason looks around in alarm.
"[What the-? An Earthquake?]"
He remembered the drill about earthquakes. California is well known for being in earthquake country.
"[Quick! Get down!]"
He hurries under the table until the shaking stops. If Jane takes too long in getting under it as well, he will try to pull her under it.

[Lillith]

<"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! OH NO! OH NO! OH NO!"> a sudden urge of panic seemed to hit Jane like a mallet. <"WHAT'S HAPPENING!">

Jason looks around in alarm.
"[What the-? An Earthquake?]"
He remembered the drill about earthquakes. California is well known for being in earthquake country.
"[Quick! Get down!]"
He hurries under the table until the shaking stops. If Jane takes too long in getting under it as well, he will try to pull her under it.

As if like a robot, Jane immediately dove under the table. It wasn't clear if she was shivering or if that was the earth moving. But as sudden as the tremors appeared, they disappeared again.

[Mina Kobold]

Katsu looks panicly around, running backward or upward would get him into the sound and running forward would be like running into a wall of sound, he couldn't get around this.

Stopping his franctic pasing that would be nearly invisible to Cale and Jirou's eyes anyway he puts his hands over his ears and begins pondering if moving faster than sound would stop the noise.

"! ... ?"

He looks around, confused that he suddenly can't talk.

Seeing Cale's look of concentration he throws his hands up in the disappearing air and almost yells out in realisation before noticing that he should be holding his breath.

[Silverraptor]

After the tremors stopped, Jason wasted no time in pulling Jane out from under the able.
"Come on! We have to get outside in case of aftershocks!"
He will steer/pull Jane outside of the building as fast as she will allow him.

[Anyr]

This was ridiculous. No, this was insane. Try as he might, Jirou couldn't bring himself to believe that this situation was in any way natural. The only explanation which made sense to him right now was karmic justice; Meeting these guys ten minutes after extolling the virtues of Espers being able to break whatever they wanted couldn't just be a coincidence. As he knelt in the midst of his own personal armageddon, Jirou made a mental note to be more careful with his words next time...

...If there was a next time.

[Lillith]

Inside the cafe
Why did they have to get away from the table? It felt safe there... oh right... aftershocks. Jane let herself get pulled outside of the building, trying desperately not to get crushed by the other customers. Yesterday that whole fight with Jirou and Cale, today an earthquake. What was up with this place. She gasped, where Jirou and Cale okay?!

The alley
Sirens could be heard in the distance. The street behind the alley was starting to flock with people now that most buildings were empty, though when outside they'd fall to the ground, clasping their ears.

Noticing that his attack became less effective, Six seemed to stop his attack and closed his mouth. He looked confused at his Boss, noticing it was getting harder to breath. He and Twelve were noticing it too.

"Right... guys..." Boss tried to say "Time for... tactic..." but again he seemed to freeze. He nodded and smiled. "I'm sorry kids... it's time to go. We'll see you... next time."

The other two nodded and smiled too. Then all three of them disappeared into thin air.

[Silverraptor]

Jason pulled Jane relatively far from any of the buildings. He looks around at the group of people everywhere before turning back to Jane.
"[Okay. I think were relatively safe here.]"

[Rhydeble]

seeing that the enemies teleported away. Cale released his powers... Why did they have to had a teleporter too, it was just unfair...
oh well, at least they rescued the young esper.

[Anyr]

It took a few seconds for Jirou to adjust to the fact that the battle had ended. The whole thing had come and gone like some sort of drive-by apocalypse. After making sure his ears were still working, he slowly got to his feet and surveyed the aftermath.

"What was that? Seriously, what was that? I've been in some crazy brawls in my time, but nev-"

While glancing at his allies to see if they could shed any light on the situation, Jirou remembered something. It had been a while since he'd been forced to study any geology, but he did recall one important fact: Big gaping cracks didn't just vanish along with the things that caused them. Well, at least not until the surface they were carved in collapsed into a pile of rubble. Rubble not dissimilar to that which was still falling around them at this very moment. How interesting.

"We should go. Now."

[Lillith]

On the street
Jane looked around. There was still chaos on the streets. Sirens were coming from a distance and she reckoned that it wouldn't be long before ambulances and Anti Skill officers would be at the scene.

Worried she looked around, hoping she'd spot Cale or Jirou somewhere. But the only thing she could see was people, running or standing in the streets. Some screaming, some crying, while others tried to help people who seemed injured. But no Cale or Jirou anywhere. The only curious thing she could spot was three men in light blue suits coming out of an alley and getting into a van that quickly drove off into the opposite directions of where the sirens came from.

Inside the alley
The alley looked completely empty except from the rubble and cracks in the walls and ground. A metal object lay on the floor, something that looked like a gun, but wasn't bigger then a human hand. It seemed to shine a bit in the light that fell on it.

Small debris was falling off the walls and fell on the floor. The buildings seemed to softly shake, as if their structure was slowly starting to fall apart.

[Silverraptor]

Jason unfortunately missed the van as his back was turned. He was looking around at the chaotic scene, trying to figure out what he should say for when they take his statement. Having a dad for a police officer gave him special knowledge.

[Mina Kobold]

Alley

Katsu looks up and inspects the walls around them.

"Don't worry, we've got at least ten seconds, plenty of time"

And with that cheery and definitely assuring comment he sits down and tries to check the unconscious Esper's breathing and heartbeat.

It would help if he knew anything about medical science.

[InyutheBeatIs]

[Mori Hajime - Outside the café]

Of course, there were always interruptions.

The sounds, the screeches, the shaking, all of it caused Hajime to recoil. He had never experienced anything quite like this, and he knew of no Espers that were capable of such destruction. At this point, getting a relaxing meal and studying for the next school day was out of the question.

All he could do was slip into the crowd and try and help people at least calm down. Thankfully, there were some herbs about his person that will allow him to do just that, and ever so silently a flower blooms in his long white hair, releasing a sweet, soothing perfume as if it were springtime. A few healing herbs were distributed, before he heard the Anti-Skill cars and ambulances coming down the road.

Not again. Hajime thought. At this rate, they'll probably think he's somehow related to all this mess. Besides, this was one time too often that the spotlight was heading towards him. So, Hajime did what he does best; he dissappeared into the crowd, and away from the scene. Not a single paper was left to indicate he was there, only the herbs on people's wounds and the calming effect he left behind.

[Rhydeble]

Seeing his ally's obvious worry about the crumbling buildings, Cale walked back into the main street. Once there, he started making the air a little thicker above the people that he saw standing under something that might come down.
He wasn't able to help everyone perfectly with this little time... but he could at least try to slow the speed of things falling down.

"I hate those guys...%*&(weird mobster slang cussword undecipherable for most anyone in Academy City)#*^"

[Anyr]

Jirou had long ago stopped paying attention to Katsu's incoherent ramblings. He wasted no time in walking past the babbling lunatic and taking charge of the victim himself. With a grunt of exertion he lifted the unconscious boy onto his shoulders, before making as fast an exit from the alley as could be managed. His spirits lifted immensely upon finally clearing the entrance, though not enough to silence his aching back. After all this was over he'd have to ask for a hit of whatever Katsu was smoking, because it was obviously good stuff.

"Medic! We've got a man down over here! Is there a doctor in the street?"

[Lillith]

Street before the Kadokado cafe
Finally the emergency forces had arrived. Soon medics were crowding in the streets, putting victims on emergency stretchers or examining them on the spot. Some medics were wondering where the herbs came from that some people seemed to carry. One of them, a red haired, freckled male, came running at Jirou's call. He looked about 30 years old and was carrying his emergency first aid bag.

"Over here!" He said, immediately taking the boy from Jirou and lay him spread out on the floor. "Let me look at him. Don't you know you shouldn't move victims around? He might have broken his spine!" Without further ado he grabbed a small blackberry out of his coat and snapped a picture of the boy. The device seemed to buzz a bit, then a file seemed to flash on screen.

Name: Anthony Jackson
Status: Esper
Medical significant details: none

"Good, no allergies. Now what happened to this boy?" He checked his pulse, raised an eyebrow and then immediately opened one of the boys eyelids. Nothing but a vacant stare seemed to meet him. "Oh no, not another one..." He gave the boys a serious, yet angry look. "Quick! What happened to this boy?!"

-------

Jane started to slowly panic. The streets were so busy, she felt kind of lost. She didn't know where Cale was, or Jirou. Medics and Anti Skill seemed to pop up out of nowhere. Should she meet one of them and ask what was going on? Slowly she seemed to stand closer to Jason, which felt like her only anchor point in this chaotic world. All the voices and emotional vibes seemed to bash at her mental barrier, trying to get through. Though she'd be able to keep them at bay, it made her feel like her head was heavy.

<"Jason..."> she tried to hide the panic in her voice as much as possible. <"What should we do now?">

[Silverraptor]

Jason looks around at her.
"[Well... Nothing much at the moment unless they start asking us questions.]"
He then notices how she's acting.
"[Are you alright? You seem... troubled.]"

[Anyr]

..."Good, no allergies. Now what happened to this boy?" He checked his pulse, raised an eyebrow and then immediately opened one of the boys eyelids. Nothing but a vacant stare seemed to meet him. "Oh no, not another one..." He gave the boys a serious, yet angry look. "Quick! What happened to this boy?!"

Jirou felt a burst of annoyance at the medic's tone; This wasn't the sort of reaction he'd been expecting. Not only had nobody showered him with the slightest bit of praise for his gallant heroism, but now some medical moron was harassing him! Well, two could play at that game. Putting on his best mock-helpful face, Jirou replied in the most sarcastic tone he could muster.

"So sorry, sir, but I forgot to check. I got so hung up on fending off the three gun-wielding maniacs who were trying to kidnap him that it totally slipped my mind. Oh, and sorry for moving the guy; I should've left him to get safely buried under ten tons of rubble. Better for the spine, right?"

[Lillith]

Jason looks around at her.
"[Well... Nothing much at the moment unless they start asking us questions.]"
He then notices how she's acting.
"[Are you alright? You seem... troubled.]"

<"I'm... scared."> She said and looked like she was quivering. <"Where are the others? Everything is in such a chaos. It's... kind of heavy on my mind.">

Jirou felt a burst of annoyance at the medic's tone; This wasn't the sort of reaction he'd been expecting. Not only had nobody showered him with the slightest bit of praise for his gallant heroism, but now some medical moron was harassing him! Well, two could play at that game. Putting on his best mock-helpful face, Jirou replied in the most sarcastic tone he could muster.

"So sorry, sir, but I forgot to check. I got so hung up on fending off the three gun-wielding maniacs who were trying to kidnap him that it totally slipped my mind. Oh, and sorry for moving the guy; I should've left him to get safely buried under ten tons of rubble. Better for the spine, right?"

"Kidnapped?!" the medic gasped, completely ignoring Jirou's sarcasm. He somehow looked relieved though. "They must have drugged this boy, he must be brought to the Grand Academy City Hospital at once!" He took out his Blackberry and seemed to dial a number. "This is O'Connor. Bring me assistance to the corner of 24th street we have an attempted kidnapping at our hands. He seems to have been drugged. Also send notice to Anti Skill!" The medic hang up and looked at the boys. "Would any of you mind to go accompany this boy to the hospital? It will probably take a while before we're able to contact his family." He glared at Jirou. "I'm sure his parents will be very rewarding."

-----

Yamato parked his car a bit away from all the chaos. It probably would have been a bad idea to try and drive through a half hysterical mass of people. Left and right ambulances were speeding off towards the Grand Academy City Hospital. His people were already busy with picking people out to interrogate and he knew some of his colleges would be doing the same once they arrived in the hospital itself.

His job wasn't interrogating however, he was going to find out what had caused this sudden earthquake and get to the bottom of this. However then he noticed two very familiar faces... and suddenly this case seemed a lot more interesting.

[Rhydeble]

seeing as there wasn't really anny falling rubble right now, and everyone had survived, Cale released his hold again and walked toward Jirou and the medic.

"Why would it take a while to contact his family? you could just look him up in the City database and find his parents within minutes. are you trying to kidnap him as well?"

Most onlookers would've thought Cale was overtly paranoid. But those people wouldn't have Cale's knowledge of less-then-legal business, He could still remember when his father had started explaining that you should always make sure that the protection-officers were on your side, so a target wouldn't get away.

[InyutheBeatIs]

[Mori Hajime]

Good. He managed to get away from the crowd just in time. Hajime could hear the cars and sirens behind him. He could only hope that his little effort actually helped.

At this point, he ducked into streets, trying to stay out of sight until he reaches the apartment. He simply walked at a brisk pace, trying not to arouse suspicion. The events that had transpired didn't make much sense, and his presence would probably just complicate things. This was Hajime's reasoning for leaving.